Children of Fire (46 page)

Keegan moved quickly in his new form, covering the ground in great, loping strides. The earth rumbled beneath his feet; trees were bent and broken as he charged heedless through the forest, oblivious of his surroundings. His mind raged with thoughts of Chaos unleashed upon a defenseless city: images of fire, death, and destruction. But when he emerged from the trees on the edge of Ferlhame the city was already burning.

Confused, he stood on the edges of the inferno, taking it all in. The entire north side of the capital was ablaze, the glow from the fires lighting the night sky. Screams of terror filled the air, though he could barely hear them above the roaring Chaos that filled his head. The smell of acrid smoke and immolated flesh assailed his nostrils as he watched the panicked Danaan fleeing the inferno, tiny figures running through the streets to the sections of the city not yet touched by the flames.

And then, from a thousand feet above, he heard something else: a sound no mortal was meant to hear. The shrill cry sliced through the night, shredding the very fabric of the mortal world. The Danaan fleeing the carnage collapsed and threw their hands over their ears, writhing in pain, their minds ripped apart by the terrible shrieking. But Keegan only turned his gaze skyward.

For a brief moment he was mesmerized by the terrible beauty of the creature above, circling so high its forty-foot length was small enough to blot out with a thumb. But even at this distance Keegan recognized the telltale signs of a dragon, greatest of the Chaos Spawn.

The wyrm continued to circle, descending slowly, its eyes piercing the night as it sought out its prey. Its massive body glowed with a supernatural green light, emerald scales not just reflecting the moon but alive with their own inherent illumination.

Keegan knew it was searching for him. He knew it could sense the Ring; the beast was drawn to the well of infinite power contained within the simple gold band. But he felt no fear. The power of the Gods was his to command, and even a dragon was no match for him now.

Never taking his eyes from his enormous adversary, the young mage began another incantation. In response to his spell the sky above began to glow with blue light and jagged, surreal turquoise clouds began to form, coalescing around the still-hovering dragon. The mists thickened and churned as Keegan first gathered the Chaos then unleashed it in a storm of death.

From far below the man who was now so much more watched with morbid fascination as blue lightning struck the dragon from all sides. The clouds opened and poison rain engulfed his reptilian foe. The beast's great body shuddered and trembled beneath the onslaught, but the creature refused to break off its circling descent.

The fury of the storm continued unabated. Wherever the tiny drops of concentrated acid fell on the city they left a scorched hole through buildings, into foundations, and deep into the earth. Hundreds of fleeing Danaan fell victim to the deadly shower, the poison rain turning them into withered husks seconds after burning through their clothes and making contact with their bare skin. But the dragon did not fall.

In the face of his foe's implacable, ponderous circling Keegan's will briefly faltered. And in that instant, deep within himself, he felt something strange. His connection to the infinite well of Chaos contained within the Ring was fading, ever so slightly. And he realized his own power was not so infinite after all.

Surprised, the wizard refocused his will on the storm, drawing on the magic of the Talisman to give his spell more power before his strength faded, channeling ever-increasing amounts of Chaos through him. The lightning intensified, the sky constantly lit up by incandescent blue flashes. The rain became a solid sheet of burning liquid. The torrent of acid dissolved the towers and homes of Ferlhame's central district, melting them like statues carved from salt and thrown into a raging river. Fierce winds rocked the wooden towers, and several buildings—their foundations weakened first by fire and then by the terrible rains—collapsed, toppling still more structures with their falling mass.

But even as the spell grew stronger, Keegan himself was growing weaker. The power of the Ring was being poured forth in an endless gush at the glowing green monster high above his head. It wings thrashed madly in the currents of the storm, and its body was racked by the lightning and corrosive rain. Again and again he threw more Chaos up and into the storm, determined to bring the monster crashing down to the earth, a victim of his irresistible power. And with each thrust of his spell, his ability to call upon the reserve of magical energy diminished.

Finally the dragon fell. Its wings pulled in tight to its sides as it began to plummet to the earth. Keegan's flush of victory was short-lived, however, as he realized the beast was not falling, but diving. At him.

Frantically, Keegan began the incantations of another spell, one to preserve him from the certain death hurtling toward him. The dragon grew in size as it approached, becoming large, then huge, then monstrous. It spread its wings wide, blotting out the sky. It was close enough for Keegan to see the deep scars and horrible burns on its scaled hide inflicted by his storm, but the wounds weren't enough to be fatal. The beast roared once more, the cry making the earth tremble. And it opened its enormous tooth-filled mouth.

The dragon pulled out of its dive twenty feet above him, shooting a powerful jet of flame from its wide-spread jaws as it peeled away. Keegan barely had time to throw up a protective barrier—a shield of pure Chaos—to deflect the fire.

The intense heat of the dragon's breath dropped the wizard to his knees as the stream of magical flames beat against his counter-spell, trying to punch through to consume him utterly. He willed the flames to extinguish, flooding them with wave after wave of smothering magic, pouring an ocean of Chaos onto the descending column of fire until it was completely drowned out.

The entire ordeal had taken less than a second, but it left Keegan exhausted. The seemingly infinite pool of Chaos he had drawn into himself from the Ring was gone, spent in an instant against a single attack by the dragon. He suddenly became aware that he had shrunk back down to his normal size, the spell of transformation broken when he had poured all his energy into deflecting the deadly flames.

The beast was slowly veering around again, preparing another assault. Its great bulk forced it to turn in a wide, lazy arc, giving Keegan the time he needed to prepare his defenses.

He gathered the Chaos once again, drawing upon the Ring to replenish his fading power. But the river of power running through him had dwindled to a faint trickle. Even as he felt the magic gathering inside him, he knew it would never be enough to protect him from another deadly blast of fire.

He cast his mind back to his studies, desperately trying to recall anything he had ever read about dragons during his study and research under Rexol. But the Chaos Spawn were long extinct; it had been centuries since a great wyrm had last taken to the air. There was little he could draw on.

The beast had circled the castle on Ferlhame's western edge and was now flying in low over the city. It gathered itself for another attack, its head rearing back as it prepared to unleash another gout of flame. The great green wings flapped in a powerful, steady rhythm as it glided swiftly toward him.

From the deepest recess of his mind a half-forgotten memory surfaced. Dragons were beasts of fire and flame. It was their greatest strength, but also a weakness that could be exploited—they were extremely vulnerable to cold.

With several quick, complicated motions of his hands and a rapid-fire series of arcane words, Keegan unleashed what little Chaos he was still able to call upon. It was a mere fraction of what had filled him before, but it was still more than any other mortal wizard could have conjured.

The beast's wings were instantly encased in sheets of solid blue ice as his spell took effect. Unable to maneuver, the great wyrm veered off course. The flames that would have incinerated Keegan shot over his head, the beast's aim completely thrown off. The fire slammed into one of the tall towers a block away, and the entire building was instantly alight.

The dragon careened down into the cityscape, the momentum of its flight sending it smashing into towers and buildings, leveling an entire block of the Danaan capital with a great crash before the enormous scaled body finally came to rest beneath tons of lumber and wooden rubble.

They were a mile from the city when they heard the dragon's cry. Their horses reared in response, their fore-hooves churning and kicking at the air as they whinnied in terror. Vaaler and Scythe managed to hold their seats, but Jerrod and Norr were thrown from the saddle. The monk rolled nimbly with the fall and sprang quickly to his feet, but the barbarian landed heavily on the ground. By the time he scrambled back up the horses had run off in the other direction.

“What was that?” Scythe screamed out, struggling to maintain control over her skittish mount.

Jerrod reached out and grabbed the reins, and the animal immediately stopped its struggles.

“Chaos Spawn,” Jerrod replied after a moment's thought. “A creature of pure destruction.”

“It came from the city,” Vaaler said, keeping his voice low while rubbing his mount's neck in an effort to calm the wild-eyed animal.

“The beast must have awoken in response to the power of the Ring,” the monk explained. “Keegan must have felt it. He must have known it would attack the city.”

“That's why he came back!” Norr exclaimed with a broad smile. “He wanted to stop it! He really is the champion who will stand against them!”

Scythe was about to say something scathing, but the words died on her lips when Vaaler spurred his horse into a gallop.

“Keegan might need our help!” he called out over his shoulder as he rode off.

Leaving Norr and Jerrod to follow along once they recaptured their mounts, she charged off after him.

After only a few seconds, she broke through the trees and pulled up short, reining in so that her horse stood beside Vaaler's own. The prince was staring in stunned horror at the scene before them.

The city was a smoking ruin. Buildings had collapsed and hundreds—perhaps thousands—of bodies lay scattered about the streets. But it wasn't the devastation that drew Scythe's attention. Flying in from the western edge of the city was a glowing green monster, a great winged beast that even Scythe recognized as a dragon.

The dragon was homing in on a single lonely figure: Keegan, shrunk once more to his normal size. There was a flash of magic and the beast veered away, a blast of fire erupting from its jaws but missing its target. It slammed into a row of buildings in full flight, its enormous scaled body vanishing beneath the collapsing structures.

A second later, to Scythe's horror and utter disbelief, the dragon rose up from the rubble.

For a moment the beast lay still, but then it shook itself free of the debris. It turned its head first to one side then the other, shooting short bursts of flame at its ice-bound wings then flapping them to dislodge the last shards still clinging to the glittering scales. It took a few lumbering steps on its massive legs, preparing to launch itself to the sky once more.

Keegan lashed out again, throwing every remaining ounce of energy into the hastily conjured spell. Shards of jagged ice flew from his raised fists, ripping through the leathery skin of the dragon's outstretched wings. Great holes tore into the hide, huge rifts in the flesh and sinew of the bat-like appendages, and the dragon screamed as its steaming blood gushed forth from the wounds and burst into flames as it hit the street.

The mage collapsed face-first onto the ground, too weak from the effort to even try to cushion his fall. For a second he just lay there, then with a great effort he managed to roll onto his side to bring his enemy into view once more.

The beast was crippled, but not beaten. No longer able to fly it began a slow, clumsy advance. Its massive, clawed feet crushed everything in its path as it crawled its way through the ruined debris that had once been great wooden towers of the glorious forest city.

As soon as the creature was close enough, Keegan knew, it would incinerate him. He tried to summon the Chaos again, but his will was drained. He could still sense the power of Old Magic pulsing within the Ring, but he could no longer draw it out.

And yet he could release it all at once. He had managed to cage the fury of the Chaos within the Talisman; if he hadn't done so the magic would have overwhelmed him as it had Rexol when he had tried to use the Crown. If he released that magic now it would consume him utterly … but it might destroy his enemy as well.

He struggled to his feet and thrust his left hand up high above him in a clenched fist. The Ring glowed brightly, responding to the presence of the mystical beast that was inching ever closer. The dragon's steaming jaws yawned open. With his last conscious act, Keegan released the full power of the Ring.

Neither Scythe nor Vaaler had moved since emerging from the forest. The scene before them held them rapt, fascinated and horrified by what was unfolding. Their stupor was only broken when Jerrod's horse exploded out of the woods behind them, racing at a full gallop toward the young wizard and the dragon.

Jerrod crouched low in the saddle as he thundered toward the city, the world rushing by in a blur of shadows. His horse's hooves churned up great chunks of earth as he spurred it on. The animal raced across the field separating Ferlhame from the surrounding trees with unnatural speed, sure-footed in the darkness as the monk channeled his own energy and mystical second sight through the animal he rode.

Five hundred yards away from him Keegan unleashed a spell that ripped through the dragon's wings, then collapsed to the ground.

Three hundred yards away the Child of Chaos crawled forward while the wizard lay motionless on his side.

Two hundred yards away Keegan struggled to his feet.