Deadly Intentions (Blood Feud - Volume 2) (35 page)

Four more sorcerers came at the elders in
formation, each casting a devastating spell of fire at them. Mina
and Lesariu quickly rolled out of the way; Euri screamed as Socolis
pulled his wings in and dove. Raithia was too slow to react though
and Draconis could see the fire burn her scales from her hind legs
all the way down her tail. He could smell the cooked flesh and
looked for his daughter as a wave of fear griped him. Draconis
banked over to the left to avoid another mystic dragon that
obscured his view of the old blue dragon and his child.

When Draconis had finished his turn, Lesariu
drove her head into the mystic dragon, carrying it up and away from
the King of Dragon’s and his son-in-law, though he had completely
lost sight of his daughter and the elder blue dragon as well. Mina
decapitated one of the mages as Lesariu darted past him again, and
Euri cast lightning from the tip of her staff which caused another
of the mystic dragons to explode and send its rider first up and
then tumbling through the air to his death on the plains below.

Draconis caught a fleeting glimpse of them
and the elder silver dragon pinned his wings to his body and dove
towards Raithia and Annadora as they fell together from the skies.
Two mages continued to cast their pillars of fire on the tumbling
blue dragon, mostly missing, but a few of the shots hit the
unprotected flesh between her chest and legs. Draconis could
imagine the gaping holes of cooking dragon flesh they left in their
wake. The acrid odor of cooked flesh rose up to meet them as he
continued his steep dive.

Both of their breaths caught in their throats
as Raithia spread her majestic wings and used them to bank between
what remained of the smoldering towers. The sorcerers launched
their powerful attacks again, though this time they hit a glowing
blue field that surrounded the pair of them.

You two worry like old women.
Annadora
shot into their minds.

Draconis chuckled as Dion drew a bead on the
sorcerer who was closest to them. The human King let fly as the
magician banked to the right to follow the large blue dragon. The
King’s arrow quivered in the tower as the sorcerer urged his mystic
dragon into a steep climb to escape the elder silver. Draconis beat
his powerful wings and followed after the purple dragon and its
mage rider with Dion firing arrows as quickly as he was able.

Eurydice darted past with Socolis, causing
Dion to hold his shot, and used her staff to catch the magician by
surprise. Even from this distance the King could hear the metal
staff connect with and shatter the leather mask these sorcerers
wore. The mage was lifted out of his seat by the blow and tumbled
through the air as his mystic dragon faded from sight.

You old men need as much help as
possible.
Socolis chuckled in their minds.

Dion released his arrow as another mage drew
level with the white dragon. The arrow struck the sorcerer in the
shoulder, spinning him from the back of the purple mystic dragon.
The dragon winked out of existence as the magicians scream and
errant lightning bolts cut through the silent air.

You were saying?
Dion shot back,
bemused as Draconis’ booming chuckle echoed off of the smoldering
towers around them.

Socolis pulled even with Draconis and Lesariu
who shot both Kings a dark look which was met with light laughter
quickly joined them. Raithia pulled even with them, her body
showing damage from repeated attacks, but otherwise in good
spirits. The younglings darted in from the east, laying fire and
mayhem to the hordes of orcs as they poured through the gateway and
into Terum lands.

In the distance Bethia was battling with a
large purple mystic dragon, neither its rider nor Tristan could be
seen though. None of them were sure if that was for good or ill, so
they focused instead on the seemingly never-ending flood of orcs
and their magician protectors. Bolts of lightning clumsily missed
the four elder dragons as they directed their young far below
them.

Father!
Euri called in Dion’s
mind.

The King looked off in the distance as what
he took to be the horizon now came into sharper relief. A mystic
dragon, of impossible proportions menacingly glid along the
currents, flying south towards the elder dragons. As a unit the
four of them turned towards the large purple dragon. Draconis
organized the four elders and their riders by mind speech and
already he wondered who would be the first to volunteer themselves
to be thrown onto the back of the gigantic…

No.
Lesariu shouted loud enough to
echo in all of their minds.

What’s wrong young one?
Draconis asked
pointedly.

Nothing. It’s of no consequence.
She
said dismissively.

Don’t lie grandmother.
Came the
unmistakable voice of Mina.

Dion’s thoughts intruded into Draconis’ and
the elder dragon felt his son-in-laws shock, it mirrored his own.
The human King could have sworn the young lady was unable to use
mind speech. His suspicions were confirmed by the voices of his
wife and daughter chattering in his mind, obviously as surprised as
he’d been. When the King had been just a lad his father had always
taught him that women are women and men are men, rarely do they
share duties, abilities or intelligence. His mother had been ample
proof that his fathers’ sentiments had been those of a dying breed
of
chivalrous
backwards thinking that negated women based on
their sex.

Dion knew better than most that women and men
were two sides of the same coin and while some women were happy
being subservient to men, they were few and far between in his
experience. This was a feeling that only intensified when he’d been
courting Annadora. While he wanted to spare his wife any pain, it
was done out of love and not out of some archaic thought pattern
dismissing her aid as unworthy based on her sex. The mother of his
grandson bore that same fire that had marked his wife and his
daughter.

The King also knew that living up to the
courage that his son possessed, no matter how much she tried to
hide it, was Mina’s direst wish. While his wife and daughter
continued their barrage towards the young lady, helped in no small
part by Lesariu who simply refused to fly anywhere near the mystic
dragon, Dion calmly nodded his head. Draconis had never been privy
to his daughters husbands thought patterns before. They gave him
newfound respect, though it was tempered with sadness as he knew
all too well the burden of leadership.

Father, you can’t!
Euri shot at
him.

Husband, please!
Annadora shot at
Dion.

She was brave enough to fight alongside
both of you.
Dion shot at Lesariu and Eurydice, who both
averted their eyes in anger.
And she’s been a courageous and
strong woman in battle today!
The human King added, directed at
his wife.
I see no reason why she can’t volunteer.

She’s the mother of our grandson!
Annadora yelled back into his mind.

Both of your sons are down there, and your
daughter fights at your side. If that excuse works on anyone up
here, it’s you more than all combined.
Dion answered her
coldly.

Draconis dislodged his mind from his
son-in-law’s. He’d seen and heard enough to know that Dion was
correct. It was a moot point all the same as further arguments were
halted as the sorcerer riding the back of the giant mystic dragon
unleashed a powerful lightning bolt, forcing the elder dragons to
roll and scatter to avoid being hit. Even so, Draconis felt
lightning travel up his arm and tingle in his right shoulder. Plans
were quickly made to get Lesariu near enough to the purple dragon
for Mina to leap from her back and distract the magician. The elder
dragons were put to task avoiding the columns of purple fire and
lightning being belched by the mystic dragon and the powerful bolts
of lightning being cast by the sorcerer.

Younglings darted up through the clouds,
breathing fire on the giant purple dragon. The columns of fire
seemed so much smaller and inconsequential than it had been when it
was being cast on the orcs. Distracted, the giant purple dragon
rolled over and the mage lashed out with lightning bolts, which
when they connected, instantly killed younglings it struck. The
younglings began falling from the skies at an alarming rate.

Socolis darted in, allowing Euri to fire off
bolts of her own. One such bolt caught the powerful sorcerer in the
shoulder, knocking him down as the giant dragon dropped and flipped
back over. Raithia flew in, flipping over in the air as she belched
out a column of fire that encompassed the mage. Annadora stopped
mid swing with her short sword, not wanting to burn her arm as the
flames rose high enough for her to avert her eyes.

A hand reached out of the flames from the
back of the purple dragon and grabbed the Queen by the hair. Burns
and blacked spots covered the bare forearm as the flames vanished
and the sorcerer unceremoniously yanked Annadora from the back of
Raithia by her hair while thrusting upwards with his free hand.

From the Kings vantage point they had to
avert their eyes as an incredible bolt of lightning pierced through
Raithia’s blue belly. Errant pieces of lightning traveled up and
down her slack body as the mighty purple dragon easily flew out
from underneath her. They watched in horror as the blue dragon fell
from the sky. On the back of the purple dragon lay a dazed Queen
Annadora. The magicians hand was wrapped around her hair as he
launched more bolts of lightning with his free hand; her face was
clenched in pain as she tried to free herself from his grasp.

Lesariu darted past, allowing Mina to leap
onto the back of the purple dragon. The Guisian Princess was a
terrible sight to behold as even from here the two Kings could see
her rage. She lashed out with her whip, severing the sorcerer’s arm
at the elbow. What remained of the hand and forearm went limp as
the Queen slid down the length of the mystic dragon and slipped
off.

Draconis shouted his daughters name as he
pinned his wings to his side again and dove after the Queen. Dion
held on for dear life as Draconis felt his human body lifting off
of his back. They gathered up speed as the Queen came into sight.
Draconis pulled his wings in tighter accelerating their fall.
Draconis could feel the human Kings’ vision began to go black and
white as his peripheral vision began to close in on him, oddly, so
was his.

~

Mina wondered at her sanity as she watched
Tristan’s mother slide off the back of the purple dragon. She tried
to reach out and grab a hold of her, but her palms were too sweaty
to properly grasp the Queen’s silky robes. Out of the corner of her
eye she saw a silver streak dart past. Satisfied that Draconis
would succeed where she’d failed, she instead refocused her
attention of the sorcerer.

He’d recovered faster than she would have;
she looked up just as he unleashed a smaller bolt of lightning.
Ducking for cover, she rolled towards him. She punched with all of
her strength into his stomach. The sorcerer doubled over as the air
was driven from him. Mina then drove the palm of her hand up into
his chin as he leaned forward. The sorcerer rose off his feet. His
mask flew off and his hood fell off as he fell backwards. Mina
ripped the
Dragon’s Fist
from her belt and lifted it over
her head in anticipation.

Instead of rising to his feet though, the
sorcerer launched another bolt of lightning from his back. It hit
her square in the chest, tossing her backwards and off of the
mystic dragon. She tumbled end over end; unable to catch her
bearings long enough to do much more than give herself over to
death. The wind was knocked out of her as scaled claws closed
around her midriff. The Princess’s eyes shot open and she looked up
to see the smiling face of Euri looking down on her.

Slipped did we?
She asked lightly.

There was no mockery in her tone, in fact, if
Mina didn’t know better she would have sworn she noticed tears in
the younger woman’s eyes and deep breathing that only came from a
long period of holding in air.

The large white dragon picked up speed,
heading back towards the mystic dragon. Mina could see Lesariu
weaving in and out of the sorcerer’s visual range, evoking a
continued barrage of weaker bolts of lightning. Socolis chuckled
darkly as he caught up to the purple dragon. He cursed suddenly and
banked to the right as the sorcerer launched a bolt with his
severed arm.

Apparently losing a hand doesn’t affect
magical attacks.
He muttered moodily in their minds.

Toss me.
Mina asked.

I’m sorry, what?
Socolis asked.

You heard me.
She shot in
uncharacteristic anger.

Biting back any witty reply, Socolis merely
wished her luck before tossing her towards the sorcerer. If the
mage had been expecting this tactic, he hid it masterfully behind a
look of complete shock. Mina muttered a quick prayer before giving
herself over to death once again. She wound up with her
Dragon’s
Fist
and whipped it out with all of her remaining strength.

The sorcerer recovered from his shock enough
to launch repeated bolts of lightning at the Guisian Princess. The
first one struck her in the leg, tearing open her simple trousers
and splattering them with her blood. The second one she felt like
hot coal along the left side of her face. The third and fourth
struck her on the left and then the right shoulder. The bolts
turned her slightly mid-flight. She managed to focus her will and
drew her hand back and whipped out with her weapon.

The razor sharp ends of the spines of her
whip wrapped around the sorcerer’s neck. He reached up with his
remaining hand and tried to pull the cord away from his neck. His
fingers bled where he pulled with all his strength as the cord
tightened around his neck. With his severed arm he hit Mina with a
more powerful bolt of lightning, throwing her backwards. The error
of his judgment registered briefly on his face as his throat was
crushed. With a final savage tug, the young woman pulled his head
off his shoulders.