The creature’s massive tail swung out of the deep and slammed into Seth’s side. His shield did little to nothing as his body was tossed by the force and skipped across the sands like a stone over the surface of a lake.
“I call upon Zeus; lord of Olympus, to lend me a bolt so that I might smite my enemy.”
A blue bolt of pure electricity flows out of me and strikes the creature in the crest of its triangular face. It reels back as its body momentarily stiffens. Steam rises from its scales, and it regains its composure.
“A volley, oh djinn.”
Ten flaming arrows form in front of me and scream through the still-damp air as they slam into the throat of the creature. Once more it retreats to its watery depths; the icy collar melting away both from the heat of my spells and the warmth radiating from its body. It reemerges a moment later and tilts its head back while it faces me. Shit.
Earthen Spike.
Spikes try to form in the sand, but the material is too loose to do any good, so the spell crumbles and fails. Shit, what else can I do? I point my staff forward as the waters inside of the creature’s throat begin to boil and steam begins to curl from the corners of its mouth. It wasn’t a spell; no mana coalesced in its throat to make it happen, so trying to counter it like I would a spell would be foolish.
“Breathe through me, oh thou airy daughters of the wind.”
It lurches forward as a geyser of boiling water shoots out toward me. I release Billow to intercept the stream. Our attacks collide, and boiling water splatters in every direction. Some of it manages to land on me and stick to my shield. The heat of the water melts away my repel wherever it touches as if it were a shell of ice and spring was forming in the heavens.
I draw in more and more air mana. Confident I could hold out for longer than it took for his water reserves to run empty. Seth rushes forward and slashes at the air near the waters surrounding the creature. The salt waters freeze tens of feet out from the shore to surround the creature’s neck. Its dark eyes leave me for a second and glance down. Nyt pulls her bow back as three arrows of light form in front of her.
Before they could be released, a burst of divine mana swells around the creature as lightning begins to arc out across its body. My body stiffens before I hear the crash of thunder, and my body is thrown back through two sets of buildings as the great geyser collides against me; my repel melts off, and my vision blurs. I had never felt something this hot before. The steam hissing around my body, as it cools, feels as if I had just dunked my hand into a pot of long boiling water. A stone; dislodged from the force falls from the ceiling and slams into my stomach; driving all the air out of my lungs. I fight to hold onto my consciousness, as I watch the ice at the base of the great serpent crack and break apart. Chunks of ice spit out and slam into Seth’s body, sending him careening back into the sand; skidding to a stop within the yellow shore.
I push the boulder off of my stomach and sit up. Think, Lawrence, think. Nothing we do has done much damage to the creature; save for the ice collar attack; even that was barely a trickle of blood that had already slowed to a stop. The massive creature fell back into the water, only to emerge a second later, and lean its head back. A massive wall of ice ruptures from the waters and intercepts the attack. The steam rose from the hot and the cold curling to the skies. My eye trails these curls and I feel myself joining them.
“...ce….rence….LAWRENCE.”
I snap back into my body. Nyt is standing in the hole in the stone wall with her hand outstretched. I grab hold of it and she helps me to my feet. I dust myself off and pick up my staff.
“Sorry.” I manage to sputter out.
She looks me over, before turning around and firing another arrow.
“What do we do?” She asks.
“I don’t know...nothing we throw at it seems to hurt it…”
She clicks her tongue.
“Right. This is unfair…”
The creature roars again in its discordant howl and speaks in a voice that shakes the whole cove.
“You blood-soaked demons! You harlots of War!”
Nyt stumbles backward as the building shakes, and I catch her by the shoulder.
“You who have betrayed the Mykos; those loved by Shel, who filled these islands with Her songs!” His discordant wails shake the very waters. Shake the parted fogwall in the distance.
“You who have silenced those songs in return for the meager powers granted to you by the Invading Demon! You! Who has stolen my clutch; crushed the future of my kind, and who have turned even my Life Mate against me with your foul poisons!”
The serpent dips into the sea, and the shadow moves away from the shore, emerging a moment later further; about a half mile out into the sea.
“Oh, Shel! Mother of all Beauty! Mother of Art! Queen of the Butterflies, and Ruler of Dance! Oh, Mother-Song! Let this be my last Song to you!” A great surge of divine mana flooded the area. The rainbow scales beneath the black, oozing poison shone brightly. “Let my song be a dirge to the Rainbow Wyrm! A song of sorrow and a song of wrath! A song of vengeance and mourning! Let it be the last Song you hear; thou prostitutes of Roki! And despair!”
The night began to flee as a beautiful prismatic light flowed out of the creature.
“Ikit!” The harmonic call of the rainbow wyrm from the saltwater lake in the cave called out. It rang out like the gong and the mountain.
All at once the light faded as the rainbow wyrm from the cave slammed into the body of the corrupted one. I had noted the size difference when I first saw the corrupted wyrm, but it was incredibly noticeable now. It was as if a garter snake was staring down a boa.
“Alar, my love! Why do you stop me?” Its discordant call turned to the small rainbow wyrm.
“You’re not right in your mind, Ikit!”
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“Alar, these are enemies of Shel! Our enemies! Do you not remember the screams of the Mykos? I hear them even now! They scream! They scream as they burn in their homes; once so colorful, now stripped bare white by the whipping winds of the Sea! They scream as they’re put to the sword and spear and bow. They scream as they beg Shel for her protection! They scream curses! Curses, Alar! Do you not hear the screams? Do you not hear their curses?”
The tumult in their voices draws a deep sorrow into my body. These two could very well be the last of the kind, I think as their struggle causes the sea to ripple, and the ships still moored in the docks a half mile away to bump into one another violently. If it weren’t for the poison clouding the great serpent’s vision and thoughts...wait….poison? I watch the two ships clash violently against one another; a mirror image of the struggle between the great beings, and a plan begins to formulate in my mind.
“Alar! Move aside! I will finish these murderous harlots, and we will work to rebuild these islands as a place of profound beauty!”
“These people are not the ones who caused the downfall of the Mykos, Ikit, dear! They’re fighting against them!”
“I do not believe you! They’ve corrupted your mind, Alar! They’ve silenced the screams!”
The larger serpent rammed its neck into the body of the smaller, sending it skittering away.
“Hold it in place, Seth!” I call down to the man on the beach.
“How the fuck do you expect me to do that?"
Alar, the smaller rainbow wyrm sprang forth from the water and wrapped her body around the larger one.
“Go! Earthean! If you have a plan to put my Ikit out of his misery! Go!”
She sinks her fangs into the corrupted rainbow beast’s neck. Blood flows and stains the water, as the large serpent thrashes. Nyt nods and pulls back her bowstring. A volley of rocks flies out and slams into the larger serpent.
“Aw...fuck it.” Ice forms at Seth’s feet as he steps out onto the waters. He runs across the surface, as I hop along the roofs towards the docks until I hop down onto the beach.
The battle continued the half mile away; as I could still see the two struggling wyrms, and still catch the scent of flowing blood on the cold, howling wind.
“Do I have any unallocated points?”
I ask my Shard.
Yes.
“Pour them all in magic.”
Finally embracing the fact that you’re not a warrior, huh?
Not in the least.
My burning core slows my stride for a moment, as I stumble toward the boats. I hop onto the nearest one, toss my bag down onto the deck, and dig through it. I set the bucket down, and pulled out the gas can I had grabbed from the shed, and the rope. I empty the large gasoline can into the bucket, and I ask myself a few questions to my Shard. Once I’m sure of my plan I set it into action.
I tie the rope on the mast of one, and then to a tie-off thing on the back of the other. With the leftover rope, I cut it dip it into the gasoline, and toss it over a long wooden beam hanging off the mast of the front boat. I want this to be as obvious as possible. After that’s all done, I pull up the anchors. Five or so minutes had passed, and I could tell they were struggling. The base around the rainbow wyrm was frozen; Seth’s normally white ice was stained a deep red from Alar’s and Ikit’s blood. Alar’s screams fill the air. I take a deep breath and light the bucket of gasoline with a little bit of burning ash. The gasoline in the bucket fwooshed to life, as the soaked rope burned like a wick. The fire soon spread to the sails and a dark, undulating shadow was cast over the ship directly behind it.
I cast Billow into the sails of the now burning ship and it pulls the other behind it. I hope it works. I pull the rudder as I hide in the shadows; steering the two boats toward the writhing serpents. About halfway there, the rope between the two of them snaps, and I grab hold of the other end. The fibers of the rope scour my hand and burn the flesh of my palm as I hold onto it. I drew in aether and let it flow out of my palm into the rope so that it didn’t snap.
The burning sail fell from the mast in long orange strands. The bucket melted; sending plumes of noxious fumes into the air. It wasn’t long before the sail was in enough tatter that billow did little more than cast ash to the sky, so I recast the spell into the sea to push the boat along all the faster.
The cold from Seth’s spells cast heavy winds back toward me; made all the worse by the arrows of light shot by Nyt still on the shore. The wind caught the floes of smoke and washed it over me. I choke and sputter as I breathe in the noxious black smoke, and grip the rope in my teeth as I pull my shirt over my nose. I catch the glint of the wyrm’s eyes turning toward me.
“Pathetic ploy, thou arrogant mage!”
Oh gods, did he figure it out? Ikit slams its head against Alar, sending her crashing into the ring of ice around them both. Alar’s massive body shatters the front layer and sinks into the sea beneath. Seth’s ice shelf cracks and splinters as he works to freeze more of the water so his little platform isn’t capsized by the undulating waves. I cast repel on myself.
“Does thou not think I can’t see that ship hid from view behind the lead? Ha! Does thou think that burning ship would do me any harm? Alas.”
I grit my teeth; ripping the rope out of my jaw. It was close now. Too close to do anything.
“Your ruse has been seen through, mage, and your life is forfeit!”
The creature dipped its head into the icy waters and emerged a second later. It takes a short time for a jet stream of boiling water to spit forth from its parted maw. It slams into the darkened ship and tears a massive hull in its hull. In the meantime, the burning ship collided against its massive neck, and I leaped forth from the smoke; jamming my dagger into the flesh beneath one of the scales that had been pried out during the struggle between him and Ikit. I had wanted the burning ship to look like a distraction, so when we neared the intelligent serpent would easily see through the first layer, and focus his attention, instead, on the ship I pulled behind me.
The creature’s massive maw was open and lowered during its attack, so I easily leaped up; using the edge of one of the scales as a ledge, and grabbed hold of one of its massive teeth as soon as the jet stream of boiling waters ceased.
“Arrogance! You’ve climbed into a dragon’s maw, and for what? For thine death!"
It clamps down its jaws, but I throw up my arm to wedge myself in the space between two of its shark-like teeth. The edges of them were still razor sharp and serrated, and I felt the pressure pushing that edge into my flesh, like a hammer against a wedge. I point my staff down its massive maw, and through gritted teeth incant;
“I welcome thee, o weary souls, into the domain of Caer Ibormeith. Let her whisk you away on billowing wings.”
Divine mana flows through me, and I draw in as much as I can as the cold winds rush down the creature’s throat. I feel its jaws slacken, and its body begins to lurch. I cast it again, and again just to be sure. With every passing second the creature’s jaws tighten and push further against me. Bone breaks and nerves flare and scream. Half of my right arm had been severed at this point; its massive jaw cutting through flesh and bone and muscle.
“Freeze the waters around it!” I call as I manage to squeeze out of the clamping jaws without losing my limb completely.
Its body began to sway, and Seth did as I said as I fell out of the corner of the slumbering dragon’s mouth. I turn my body so my right arm is the one to make contact with the frozen shelf; afraid that if I had done it any other way, my left arm would have been torn completely off by the shock of the fall. I push myself up and hold up my staff as blood gushes out of my half-severed right. I step forward and press the end of my staff to the head of the creature.
“Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days.”
Some of the black, viscous liquids fell off the creature. It wasn’t enough. My legs sway, and blackness pulls at the edge of my vision, yet I fight to stay upright. I scarcely hear the other massive serpents emerge from the deep and scarcely hear Seth’s boots scraping against the ice behind me.
“Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days….“Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days…..“Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days…..“Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days…..“Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days.”
Adrenaline pumping through my veins kept the roaring pain at bay, but the wooziness from the blood loss could not be ignored. Oily blackness still hung from the creature’s scales. I press my forehead down against it and repeat the spell more, like a mantra.
“Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days. Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days. Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days…”
The divine mana surges through my brain and squeezes it like razor wire wrapped around it, yet I continue.
“Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days. Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days. Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days.”
At some point, Seth froze my mangled arm to stop the blood flow, but the ice wrapping around the severed nerve sends waves of pain through me. Yet I continue.
Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days. Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days. Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days. Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days. Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp’s bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor’s gaze, and see no more the coming days.”
The oily black venom dripped from the creature. Little by little the luster of his scales returned as the mind-altering venom was cured. Alar blew a mana-filled wind over the both of us; in part to help heal our injuries, and in part to continue my spells. At some point, the serpent stirred, and the clouds that had covered its eyes had vanished. It grunts a single hum of thanks as its eyes flutter open.