Enflamed (Book 2) (23 page)

“Where did you get that
armor?”

Gaston blinked. After a moment,
he laughed.
“My ... armor?
A rather
odd but ironic question to ask.
I suppose I can understand your
curiosity. It’s quite lovely, isn’t it? I paid a hefty sum for it on the black
market a few years ago. The armorsmith, also a brother of our cause, obtained
the Dragon scales himself. The female he’d slain was rumored to have also been
a descendant of a royal Dragon clan that has been extinct for over three
hundred years. Amazing, is it not? My armor has history and purpose. That is
why I wear it proudly. Now that I’ve answered your question, it’s time for you
to answer mine—in blood.”

Aidan widened his eyes.
Royal clan?

“I’ve smelled your type
before,” Kyniythyria had told him, the night after Aidan and his comrades were
taken to her cave. “Long ago, there was a clan of silver kin, called the
Koraseru, who were rulers of the Great North. Every Dragon of Exodus knew of
the Koraseru Clan. It was believed that they possessed a power that was
bestowed upon them by the goddess.

“Unfortunately, their
reputation also gained the attention of slayers and fiends. The clan scattered,
but they were uncovered, one by one, and killed. The clan was deemed extinct.
You may be a descendant. If that is true, then you must find a way to restore
your bloodline.”

With Gaston about to kill him,
Aidan jerked up, straining the purple bonds.

“He’s strong, sir!” Devyn
exclaimed, grimacing. “I don’t know ... where this strength has come from ...
but I can’t ...”

Aidan’s blood boiled. He could
feel the spell weakening the more he moved. With a ferocious growl, Aidan
strained his arms and chest and tore through the magical bonds in a rage.

He lunged at Gaston, who
stared.

Aidan smirked. Claws extended,
he reached for Gaston’s throat.

Out of the corner of his eye,
Aidan glimpsed a flash of light just over the tops of the tents. Something
large emerged from beyond them—something much larger than he was.

People screamed. Brimstone and
blood scented the air.

A grotesque creature towered
over the crowd of frightened men. Its crimson body burned like fire.

It easily dwarfed Aidan, and
its body rippled with muscles.
Its
gruesome face
sparked fear in Aidan. The cold fury in its turquoise eyes drove deep into his
soul. For the moment, Aidan forgot Gaston, and his rage quickly subsided.

He heard a sword hit the
ground with a muffled clang, as well as a whisper: “What in Tydus’s name ...”

Fire licked the monster’s red
body, but its flesh didn’t burn. It smiled at the chaos around it—people
screaming and fleeing for their lives, horses scrambling to get to safety—as
parts of the camp went up in flames. The monster summoned balls of fire in its
massive clawed hands and hurled them at tents and fleeing victims alike, until
the entire camp became a raging inferno. A thick, choking smoke rose from the
flames and blanketed the area.

That creature ... So
intriguing, yet so destructive! What on Exodus is it?
Aidan almost didn’t notice when Gaston wriggled away.
He went to grab him again, but Gaston had grabbed his sword and kept it between
them.

Gaston scrambled to his feet
and yelled to his remaining comrades, “Retreat! Everyone retreat!” He fled,
crashing into Carver as the boy ran by, knocking him down. Gaston stumbled, but
remained on his feet.

Carver grunted.
“Sorry, sir!”

Gaston kicked Carver in the
ribs.
“Stupid boy.
Out of my way!”

Carver cried out, and his body
folded in pain.

Gaston motioned to one of the
fleeing men, who carried a large sack. Gaston snatched the sack from the man,
kicked him aside, and fled.

When Gaston had gone, Aidan
made his way to Carver, scooped him up into his arms, and followed the fleeing
group.

* * *

Outside the camp, not far
away, a fantastic display of elemental magic flashed across the sky and ground.
Gratefully, Zarya’s energy boost to Omari’s mind and body still buoyed him.
Without it, Omari knew he surely would’ve fallen prey to Raban’s spells.

Raban’s attacks with the
thorny vines and briars were weakening. Omari quickly countered the attacks
with destructive lightning bolts, which shot from his staff and singed the wild
plants where they sprouted.

“Is that all you can do,
mage?” Raban jeered. Sweat beaded over his face as he concentrated and chanted
more phrases. A slight breeze whistled through the area. Thunder rumbled, and
the wind quickly intensified, whirling into a powerful tempest. Hail fell from
the sky and pelted Omari. The winds concentrated around him, lifting him,
whipping through his clothing. Omari gripped his quarterstaff, his knuckles
turning white as he tried to concentrate. “
Tueri ... elementa ...
” An
invisible barrier surrounded him, shielding him from the tempest. He fell back
to the ground.

The camp glowed,
aflame,
and a creature rose up from the inferno. Shocked,
Omari dismissed his spell. The storm also dissipated.

“Enough of
this stalling, mage,” Raban spat.
“I have more important things to deal with.” He transformed into a crow and
flapped his wings, cawing mockingly at Omari.

The sight of the camp—as well
as Raban’s sudden withdrawal—stunned Omari only briefly.

“
Tenae,
” Omari said.

A small bolt of lightning shot
from his finger toward Raban.

The bolt became an electrified
shield that surrounded Raban and held him in place.

“Not so fast.” Omari walked to
the crow and disabled the shield to seize the shape-shifting druid. He held the
bird with both hands and squeezed its body tight, crushing bones. “You
challenged me—therefore, you will finish the fight.”

Raban squawked as Omari
squeezed more tightly. Omari could feel Raban attempting to shift back into a
man, but Omari managed to break the druid’s concentration.

An electric current surged
through Omari’s body and into Raban’s, shooting thousands of volts into the
bird until its feathers caught fire. Raban cawed loudly, his voice becoming
more garbled as he burned.

The bird fell silent, and
Omari smelled charred feathers and flesh.
Should have
tried that sooner.

* * *

Kaijin remained on his side,
and he smiled darkly at the monster standing before him, a creature like the
one in his dream.

A roaring blaze appeared
around its bare, clawed foot,
then
traveled up the
rest of its body. Kaijin closed his eyes to relish the flames’ heat.

He felt himself be seized and
set on his feet, and he opened his eyes again. Kaijin stared into the monster’s
soulless eyes.

It spoke to him, its voice
hissing and crackling like fire.
“They must die. Show no mercy. Show them
the true power of the Firelord.”

Kaijin’s smile widened. The
firm voice soothed his mind. The red-orange hue around him changed to pure
white, flickering light.

His strength returned to him,
ten-fold. He instinctively reached for the fiery charm around his neck, but it
was gone. He gasped, remembering the theft, looked to the monster, and frowned.

The monster nodded once.
“Find
it.”

Without hesitation, Kaijin set
off into the blazing camp. He clenched his fists, and white fire blazed around
them. The world appeared to burn before his eyes.

They took the one and only
thing most precious to me.
His blood
boiled.
They dared steal my necklace.

He hurled balls of white fire
at two fleeing warriors, and their bodies were instantly consumed by the
flames. Fire roared louder throughout the camp, echoing Kaijin’s fury.

Kaijin spotted Devyn, the one
who had stolen his charm, lagging behind his comrades who fled the burning
camp. The man scrambled to keep up with his leader. Kaijin looked back at the
creature.
“That is him.”

Grinning, the monster
approached Devyn. With its massive claws, it scooped four people—Devyn, Carver,
Gaston, and Aidan—lifting them up and holding them in front of its face.

It plucked Devyn from the
group and held him in its other hand. Devyn screamed and wriggled about
helplessly.

The monster paused, watching
him,
then
closed its fist around Devyn, silencing his
scream. The creature’s fist blazed for a few moments and then went dark.

When the creature opened its
fist, all that remained was the charm, buried in ashes that blew away in a
passing wind.

Gaston’s grip loosened on the
sack he held, and it dropped.

Kaijin ran toward the
creature, focused on the charm in its hand. He beamed, relief spreading through
him, and he waited eagerly for the creature to give it to him.

“Kaijin!
The egg!”
Zarya yelled from
behind him.

Kaijin turned and watched the
priestess, who sprinted toward the falling sack, her hand extended, praying
quickly, “
Almighty Goddess, I beseech your power to extend your gentle hand
upon your endangered child to soften the fall.
”

A glow of white light streamed
from Zarya’s hand and encompassed the falling sack. The sack slowed its
descent.

Disregarding the dangers
around her, she lunged at the sack, catching it in her arms an instant before
it hit the ground. She and the sack tumbled to the ground. The back of her
breastplate crashed into the creature’s massive foot; she gasped, winded.

The men Sigmund had been
fighting had all fled in fear of the flaming creature. Sigmund turned to the
monster, pointed his sword toward it, and shouted, “Creature of the flames, you
have done enough damage to please your master.
Now, by
Celestra’s holy light, return to the Realm of Fire, from whence you came!”

A beam of light, white and
golden, shot forth from the blade. The attack penetrated the creature’s burning
skin, but it remained unharmed.

The monster’s attention
briefly shifted from Zarya to Sigmund. It stared, eyes narrowed, at the
guardian, who frowned.

Nester sprinted past Sigmund,
hiding himself in the shadows on the ground as he made his way to Zarya.

Kaijin focused on his
necklace, but the creature paid him little mind. Instead, its attention
returned to Zarya, who remained at its foot. It dropped the necklace, flung
Aidan, Gaston, and Carver into the wilderness, and raised its foot over Zarya
and Nester, eclipsing them in a large shadow.

Kaijin caught the necklace
with both hands. A surge of warmth and assurance spread through every fiber of
his being.
At last.

He grinned. The charm pulsed,
attuning itself to Kaijin’s heartbeat. He donned the necklace, re-knotting the
hemp cord around his neck. The charm heated his chest; it felt heavenly.

Reality set in once more,
unusually clear. Nester and Zarya were about to be crushed beneath the
creature’s foot.

Kaijin blinked and then
concentrated his mind on the creature.
“No! They are friends!”

* * *

For a moment, Aidan was unsure
where he was. His head still spun. He vaguely recalled being in the clutches of
a gruesome creature.

He first thought he might be
dead—but Carver and Gaston were regaining consciousness beside him. They’d some
distance away from the Legion’s camp, but the creature loomed over its burning
remains.

Gaston stirred. He got up
awkwardly and groaned in pain. His armor was battered. He stumbled forward a
few steps, but managed to maintain his footing and stood upright. “I may have
lost my men, but I will not lose my greatest prize,” he growled, scowling at
Aidan. His gaze then focused on the flaming creature. “That thing took my egg.”

How dare
he
!
Aidan sprang up and yelled, “That is
not
your
egg!” but Gaston ignored him.

Carver slowly stood and
moaned, clutching his shoulder. He recovered himself. “Sir, should we not
leave? We have lost our men. There is no way we can face that thing alone!”

Gaston hissed and backhand Carver
across the mouth. “You are no longer a Legionnaire, Carver! If you want to
cower and run, then do so! I will not leave until that egg is once again
mine
!”

Aidan was about to intervene
when he picked up the faintest scent of the egg amid a blanket of smoke and
ash. His attention turned toward the burning camp. He remembered Kyniythyria’s
voice:
“Restore your bloodline.”

Without another thought, Aidan
sprinted back toward the camp.