Master Zoe had been watching Anthony during his whole trials and triumphs, from the time he had saved the barn and this time he had taken the full assault of a large metal wrecking pole and Landslide assault. The hunter had amazing talent and abilities, but he was not a soldier like she was. She had been trained to keep focus even in the heat of battle, act on instinct instead of training when the situation called for it. Acting without thinking was the key to survival in situations against trained professionals like these mages, gained only through experience. So when she saw the two Mages preparing their next attack she felt compelled to snap him out of his current trance.

“Look out, Bios!” She called out, snapping him out of his daze, giving him just the right motivation to break from his defense.

What she hadn’t counted on was that he would actually break the force of the metal pole against his arms. Neither did she expect him to launch the pole against the giant ball of permafrost and break the spell. She had to cover her ears when she heard the explosion, so that she wouldn’t go completely deaf again. When she opened her eyes again, she found that not only was Anthony standing strong, but his opponents were now flat on the ground covered in their own icy dirt.

“Bios, Bios?” Master Zoe called as she rushed over to his side.

Anthony marveled at the events that transpired, but hardly noticed Zoe’s voice until she called him for the third time.

“Bios!”

“Master Zoe.” He finally snapped out of his trance.

“Bios, did you realize what you just did?”

“I think I just used magic to create this strange mineral on my chest...” He suddenly remembered what he had held previously in his jacket pocket. “...my amulet.”

The armor that had once held strong suddenly broke into a million pieces leaving only a small object behind. The strange rock of melded mineral of yellow and blue with a pale-green center fell off his chest in the shape of a large lizard scale plate. Anthony quickly grabbed the odd shaped plate before it fell to the ground, fumbling in it in his hand before carefully examining it. It looked as if the amulet and the broach had been fused together into a new type of trinket.

“What manner of mystical matter is this?” Anthony examined the trinket that was shaped like a large slab of jagged jade rock.

“You can name it later, kid but I don’t think the fight is over yet.” Master Zoe pointed to the fallen mages.

While one mage was down, another had not given up yet. Ar brushed the dirt and ice off his chest and emerged battered and bruised but not out. Ly was practically unconscious but breathing, and seeing him in this sorry state made his blood boil.

“What the hell are you!?” He called out. “Why didn’t you just leave when we asked you?”

“I care not why you’re here, but I know why there’s a storm conjured in these woods.” Master Zoe spoke first. “Do you honestly think four mages can kill a young demon?”

“We’re not here to kill it...”

RAWRRRAW! The bellow of a large shrieking beast echoed in the woods as the earth started moving and shaking spastically. Anthony could sense it only a few yards away and even the gritty Water Mage could sense there was some great pressure in the earth. They turned their eyes toward the surrounding forest and saw beams of bright lightning falling to Earth as a large bombastic sound of thunder was amplified by the sound of war drums beating against the earth. It was a frantic mess of activity but nothing seemed out of place except for Ar’s face which had turned completely white with fear.

At once he grabbed his fallen comrade and started hobbling away from the scene toward the nearest rock face he could find. The earth was practically torn up, but a large rock was available for cover that he hopped aboard. In the midst of this Anthony was dumbstruck as he could feel the same sensation of fear he felt when he first had his premonition.

“Don’t just stand there!” Master Zoe grabbed his shoulder fiercely. “Get to the rocks and fast!”

There was only one rock, but in the moment of panic a new alliance between foes and friends was halted, for the benefit of survival. Before they could even reach the rocks, a sudden geyser of dirt and air scattered around the field from the forest. Anthony’s eyes saw for the first time what he had hoped he never would, a demon or the worst variety, the Earth Dragon.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

It was large like a wide scaly serpent with sections of its skin acting like rough gem-like armor. Its body was covered with bristles that stuck out like from a briar bush. Its teeth were a large collection of swords swirling like a massive void of death. Its eyes were beady like a shark, but it moved like a large eel. Its head popped out of the earth crashing and gnawing uncontrollably for some unknown reason. It was when Anthony heard the sound of a large crash to the earth that he discovered why is driven into a wild frenzy.

Crash! A bolt of lightning hit it’s back as the sound of thunder behind it like a large chain of explosions. Anthony covered Master Zoe from the debris, but his ears were ringing as he turned his eyes to see who was pursuing the creature. It was the Fire Mage Zee and her Wind Mage associate El, working together in elemental cooperation. Despite the heavy shock that followed the Earth Dragon, it was not deterred, but simply turned its black eyes directly at one target and that was Anthony himself.

Anthony pushed his mentor near the rocks as he dodged the feral assault of the wild Earth Dragon charging blindly at him. It barely missed her as Anthony ran into the woods to lead it away from Zoe and the rest. As expected it followed him close behind its breathing loosened dirt and soil as it pursued Anthony in relentless hostility.

“It’s after that guy!” El shouted to his partner.

“Hey, over here!” Zee called to Anthony to follow her.

Without much choice or thinking he followed Zee deep into the woods. His muscles were burning, his nostrils full of fine dust, but his instincts for survival were strong as Anthony he paced to outrun the creature. They didn’t have time to talk but he had to trust that she wouldn’t lead him astray. If his dream had been correct this troop of mages had something prepared that he hadn’t seen. He could only hope that whatever it was, could still be used to quail this relentless foe.

It was as he dreamt, as he entered clearing in the middle of woods. A line of trees and diverted dirt completely cleared from the Dragon’s path. However, in a second he saw that there was something different about this setting, Zee stood at the center of the clearing and raised her hands toward the eye of the storm. The storm that had been set up building torrents of lightning and thunder building for the final strike.

“Run past me, quickly!” She commanded.

Anthony barely had the strength to continue having used all his energy previously. Yet, the Earth Dragon was closely in and if he didn’t he would have devoured him whole. With nothing left to try he ran toward Zee trying to ignore the monster nipping at his heels. When he was only a few feet away he could sense an electricity in the air, like lightning just before the strike. Yet, this was different because all around him he could spy the twinkling of bright lights surrounding every tree. As he passed by Zee in a flash, he could almost make out what she said in a split second, it almost sounded like.

“Gotcha!” A lightning bolt struck Zee’s hands and reflected off the several points of light in the trees.

Anthony collapsed and turned around just in time to see what happened next. There, placed in several points in the trees he spotted small devices attracting the lighting. The devices the energy of the storm as small beams of light directly at the worm. It appeared to be multiple shots of Holy Light, enough to knock the Earth Dragon back and cause it to collapse on the ground in a giant huff. Now, everyone was exhausted, but the real danger was over and Anthony was more than relieved.

It was then that the Wind Mage came over the demon to run an inspection. He pressed his hand against the creature with no fear and closed his eyes to perform some unknown magic. Although nobody could probably see it, Anthony could sense it in the atmosphere that the mage was performing Examination, the first step in the 5th Circle of Wind Mage craft. Through this, a mage could sense the vitals of any living organism in much the same way that lower levels measure sound in their environment. Whoever this mage obviously had some medical training if he was concerned about this creature's well being.

“It’s got some superficial scarring but no breaks in its body or armored scales.” El said.

“Thank the Kings.” Zee felt a sigh of relief. “That means we won’t need to call a clean up crew.”

“What about the bystander?” El simply asked.

“Good question.” Zee quickly turned to Anthony with a cold look that one would find in an interrogator.

However, given the energy he spent against the previous mages and running from the demon he doubted he would be able to fight.

“What’s your name? What are you doing here?”

“I can ask...you the same...question.” He said catching his breath. “What are you doing with a demon and in the Middling regions of all places? Are you smugglers, privateers, or some other kind of nefarious plotters?”

Zee looked at El and then shook her head, he quietly nodded as if some unspoken convention. She reached into her pocket and quickly pulled something out of it. Anthony thought it might have been a weapon, but he was gravely mistaken. As he reached for his own weapon that had fallen to the floor when he rested he saw what she was holding. It was ruby red rock tied to a leather badge and the mark of the Asterisk and the Hunter’s Guild was stamped upon it.

“You’re a hunter?” She smiled back at him as she placed the badge back into her pocket saying.

“Grade A, First Class Hunter, Zena Febronia.” She bowed. “Let’s have a little talk.”