The wyvern that Adrienne, Merlin and Arthur stirred furiously tore at the magical barrier that Adrienne and Merlin had conjured. The beast roared out in frustration as it angrily attempted to reach its prey. Cracks were beginning to form in the wall; Merlin and Adrienne both knew it would hold for roughly 30 seconds more at most…
"Gods…what do we do…", Merlin uttered, hopelessly.
"We've got to try and kill it! We don't have a choice…", Adrienne responded.
Merlin was mortified at the prospect of fighting a wyvern. They and their dragon cousins were known for burning entire cities to the ground if angered enough. This wyvern didn't seem to be fully matured, however. It stood at roughly 12 feet tall and near 12 feet long. Merlin thought it must be an adolescent. Probably not capable of destroying an entire city, but certainly able to kill the three of them and raze the village at the bottom of the hill…
"Maybe we can beat it", Arthur stated, trying to maintain a façade of confidence, though Merlin and Adrienne could tell by the way his legs were shaking that he wasn't convinced
"I don't think it's fully grown", Merlin stated. "But still, how do we kill it?!"
"Let me take a shot with some fire magic!", Adrienne declared. She threw her right arm up and began to concentrate magic energy. Flames ignited above her hand, much like they had when she was lighting up the cave. However, this time they took the form of a fireball. It started small in size, then grew larger as she channeled more magic into it.
The wyvern continued to claw at the magical barrier, nearly breaking through as Adrienne continued to channel more magic into her fireball, making it grow larger and larger still.
"Adrienne!", Merlin shouted. "If you put too much more into it, you'll end up using all your magic!"
"I'm probably only going to get one shot at this!" she replied. "Once he breaks though the barrier, I'll launch it right at his head!"
Just as she finished her declaration, the wyvern finally broke through the barrier, letting out a triumphant roar, satisfied that the three agitators would soon be dead. But before the wyvern could make another move, Adrienne shouted the incantation of her spell, channeling the last bit of magic to complete it.
"Magna Augue!"
She threw the large fireball at the wyvern's head. It made impact, causing a small explosion and throwing the wyvern's head back from the force alone as it cried out in pain. Adrienne smiled, confident that she had wounded the beast.
"Holy shit…she did it!", Arthur happily yelled.
"Amazing…", Merlin said, stunned.
Their relief soon turned to dread however, as the wyvern whipped its head back towards them, looking angrier than before.
"Oh no…", Adrienne uttered, seeming defeated.
The wyvern inhaled, preparing to torch the dark elf that had the audacity to attack him with fire magic. He unleashed his fire breath as Adrienne stared ahead, seeming to accept her fate.
"Adrienne!!!", Merlin cried.
He tackled her, pushing her out of the way at the last moment. The wyvern's fire breath whizzed past them, singeing Merlin's robes and cloak, and incinerating part of the forest behind them…
"Adrienne! You okay!?", Merlin asked, desperately.
She looked up at him, stunned and angry with herself. She was so shaken at her attack having had no effect on the wyvern that she couldn't dodge its attack or put up a shield, and Merlin had to risk his own life to save hers…
"Y-yeah…I'm okay…", she shakily replied.
"Alright, just rest for a sec and try to recover some magic! I guess it's my turn now!", he yelled in response.
Arthur approached the wyvern with his sword drawn and shield up. He focused his own magical energy around his shield, creating an outward flowing barrier to keep the wyvern away from Merlin and Adrienne.
"Arthur! Keep him distracted for me!", Merlin shouted.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
"Working on it!!", Arthur replied back.
Merlin thrust his left hand into the sky, his index and middle fingers, as well as his thumb pointing straight up while his ring and pinky fingers curled toward his palm. He concentrated magical energy causing a storm cloud to form in the sky above. Streaks of golden lightning shot down from the thunder cloud and into his skyward arm. After a few seconds, Merlin's hand and arm were glowing with electrical energy.
"Arthur, duck!!", he exclaimed.
Arthur dropped to the ground as Merlin pointed his left hand at the wyvern and shouted his incantation, completing the spell.
"Magnum Fulmen!"
The streaks of lightning that had charged Merlin's arm raced towards the wyvern and made contact. The beast cried out in pain as the lightning crackled all over its body, seeming to have had some effect…
The three were confident that this time they were able to cause some damage, but just as quickly as Merlin's spell had damaged the wyvern, the creature recovered. It let forth another deafening roar and took to the skies, hoping to make a fiery strafing run and end this battle for good.
"W-what do we do guys…?", Merlin asked, weakly. "I always heard dragonhide was magic resistant…but we couldn't do anything to it…"
"I don't know, but we better come up with something fast before he torches us all!", Arthur cried.
Adrienne got up from the ground, desperately trying to think of a strategy, anything that could cause some damage to this foul beast. If the hide was too resistant to magic, what else could they do? She noticed Arthur holding his sword, and suddenly had an idea…
"I've got it!", she declared. "Arthur, you'll need to hit it in a weak spot with your sword!"
Merlin and Arthur stared at her in disbelief. Taken aback that she was seriously suggesting that Arthur attempt to stab it…
"How am I supposed to do that?!", Arthur screamed. "It's about to come back around and take us all out!!"
"Just listen to me!", she snapped back. "Merlin and I will hide in the tree line on either side of this clearing! You'll draw its attention. Make sure you put up a strong barrier just in case! But when it gets close, we'll use a binding spell to bring it down…that's when you'll strike! Merlin, you know the spell I'm talking about, right?!"
"Y-yeah…", Merlin answered shakily.
"This is our best shot!", she stated, trying to maintain an illusion of confidence.
"Alright…alright let's do it!", Arthur yelled, seeming to gain some confidence of his own.
Just then, they heard to wyvern roaring in the skies above, signaling to them that it would soon be making its attack. They immediately put their plan into action. Merlin and Adrienne ran to into opposite sides of the tree line, facing each other, and leaving Arthur alone in the clearing. Sweat ran down Arthur's face as he channeled his own magical energy, creating a barrier that covered all directions around him. He decided to refocus the energy, channeling it all into the area to his front, just in case…
"We've only got one shot at this…", he muttered to himself.
With his barrier now created, Arthur screamed into the air and began smashing his sword against his shield to gain the wyvern's attention.
"Hey you stupid lizard! Come and get me!!"
The beast took notice of Arthur and began its descent, diving straight towards him as it prepared a fire blast in its mouth. Arthur began to tremble, his nerves nearly overtaking him. Merlin stared at Adrienne in the opposite tree line, sweat pouring down his face as well. He held up his hands, ready to prepare the spell, but she shook her head as to say, "not yet". He looked up as the wyvern continued its dive, and then to Arthur who was clutching his sword so tight, his hand was turning white. Merlin quickly looked back to Adrienne, who had still not given the signal. Just as he was about to go ahead anyway, he heard her scream, "Now!!".
Both mages channeled magical energy into their hands and thrusted them towards the wyvern.
"Omni Funis!!", they both cried out, completing the spell.
Golden rope-like bands flew forth from their hands, wrapping around the wyvern, entangling it. The beast crashed into the ground with great impact, creating a crater as it let out a cry of tremendous pain. It immediately began struggling to get the magical bindings to loosen.
"Arthur!! Do it now!!", Adrienne screamed commandingly.
Arthur dropped his barrier and raced towards the wyvern. He leapt into the air, letting out a yell that may have been out of determination, fear, or perhaps both. The creature looked up at Arthur preparing to strike and opened its mouth to try and blast him with fire before he would make contact. Adrienne and Arthur both noticed what was happening and were frozen in fear. If Arthur could get there in time, there was still a chance that their plan could work. But if the wyvern unleashed its fire breath first…there would be no way for Arthur to dodge in mid-air…
Merlin, thinking quickly, channeled the last bit of magical energy he had left, and sent out one more golden band that quickly looped around the wyvern's mouth, slamming it shut. Adrienne sighed in relief, while Arthur drew back his sword, ready to strike.
Arthur landed on top of the beast's head, driving his sword deep into its skull, right between its yellow eyes. It jolted about, letting out a terrible screech through its clenched teeth as black blood spewed forth from the wound Arthur had created.
"AAAARRGGHHH!!!", he screamed, driving the sword further in, as far is it would go. The wyvern continued to flail for a few seconds more until finally, its head crashed down to the ground. Arthur jumped down as Adrienne and Merlin came running up. The wyvern weakly let out one final, pitiful cry, and then died…
"We actually did it…", Merlin stated in disbelief.
"Barely…just barely…", Adrienne muttered.
"And now I'm soaked in wyvern blood!", Arthur complained.
The three of them laughed at Arthur's lightheartedness. They had all very nearly died multiple times over. Few, if any, their age could say they've had an encounter with a wyvern or dragon and lived to tell the tale. Yet here they were, having vanquished the beast…
"Alright boys, we should head home. I'm sure Ms. Crystal is wondering what's taking so long!", Adrienne stated.
"Well, at least we'll have a good excuse", Arthur replied.
They all laughed one final time before huddling back together. Adrienne threw the Camelot tablet to the ground, returning them to the temple…