Legon felt Sasha’s mind firmly reconnect with his and with it came an instantaneous stream of energy from the store. His arm knitted together instantly; the Iumenta looked worried, as he should be. Legon shot forward, swinging with the fenrra, changing his style every few blows. Soon the Iumenta was receiving small injuries, unable to use magic effectively under the constant assault. Legon saw fear in his yellow eyes, saw the Iumenta tasting mortality for the first time in his pitiful existence, saw the pain that it caused. He did not enjoy cruelty, so he decided to put this poor animal out of its misery.
He feinted to his left, and in his fear and fatigue the Iumenta took the bait. Legon crouched and brought the sword up, hitting the Iumenta square in the leg. most of the Iumenta’s weight was on that leg and he crashed down, clutching at the gushing stump. He was screaming in pain. Legon walked to stand over him. the terrified eyes locked on him and the scarlet fenrra he held in his hand. The Iumenta seemed begging for life in Elfish. Legon wasn’t sure; he didn’t know much of the language yet, but the look on the Iumenta’s face was unmistakable. The man wanted something from him. That was obvious. Legon pulled the blade back, ready to thrust it into the thing lying on the ground, and the Iumenta closed his eyes serenely.
Legon stopped. This man wanted to die. he wanted the pain to stop. he didn’t want the humiliation of having to go home disfigured, and most of all he didn’t want the shame of being spared by an Elf. Legon was going to kill him anyway. it was fine that he wanted it, really, but then he remembered the co-op and Sara and the boy that Barnin had told him about.
“Tell the queen hi for me,” Legon said coldly. “Curatias Crurim!” he barked, holding out his palm.
A bolt of lavender shot from his hand to the Iumenta’s stump, stopping the bleeding and cauterizing the wound. Then he kicked him in the head, knocking him out, and gave the order to leave him for his own medics.
Two massive thuds shook him as something hit the ground. He turned to see Iselin fighting the gray dragon. she was covered in cuts and bite marks. It only took him a second to realize that the gray dragon was far more powerful than Iselin. she was going to lose. He left his guard, sprinting toward the two dragons thrashing on the ground. Iselin’s front leg was torn up bad and so was her shoulder. she was bleeding a lot, even for a dragon. To his horror, two Iumenta appeared behind her. One jumped onto Iselin’s back. The Iumenta steadied itself, aiming his fenrra at an open place in her armor. Legon wasn’t going to make it.
He reached deep into the store, sending magic to his legs and shooting himself forward. He jumped, bringing the fenrra up above his head. the Iumenta turned and faced Legon, the look of triumph melting off his face as the fenrra made contact with his lower hip. the blade slid through him like butter, cutting his abdomen and ribcage and catching just a bit as it went through his shoulder blade. Legon landed on the other side of Iselin, winded from the loss of energy. she had no idea he was there. the other Iumenta was coming down at him, blade raised. he couldn’t stop it.
A flash of yellow struck the Iumenta, and Legon rolled to see Feena on top of him, slashing wildly with his claws, ripping off armor and flesh. He sunk his dagger-like teeth in the left side of the Iumenta’s ribcage and thrashed him around like a dog playing with a rag doll. There were muffled screams and a ripping sound as his ribs and shoulder pulled away from the rest of him. Then he stopped screaming and his body separated, one large chunk in Feena’s jaws, the other flung limply to the ground.
Legon heard the rocks under Iselin crunching and he leapt just in time to avoid getting crushed. she fell on her side, the gray dragon tearing viciously at her. Logic and reason told him to run, that she was lost, but he couldn’t leave her. despite his constant dismissal of Sasha trying to set them up, he did feel something for her. It was probably a crush-nothing worth dying over. the fight would be done soon and the dragon might turn its attention to him, and then not even Feena could save him. He thought of what Sydin said about making it count. he would. Iselin would be angry with him putting himself in this situation, but he would make it count.
He knelt down, as did Feena, taking his lead. it was like the dragon was a deer and he a mountain lion. he moved, not wanting to attract its attention. Feena suddenly leapt at the dragon, who moved to bite at him. when the dragon moved he turned his head to Legon’s right, exposing himself. As Legon jumped at the gray dragon, he activated cutting spells and brought the blade down over his head, aiming for where the head met the neck, but the dragon was fast. It saw him and began to turn its head. The fenrra hit the lower part of the dragon’s jaw, stopping just short of going all the way through.
Legon hung from the bottom of the dragon’s mouth, clutching the fenna tightly. He knew claws would be coming soon, but without the fenna he was done for. he twisted his body and kicked hard off the lower tip of the dragon’s mouth, using his body to try and leverage the blade. There was a crack as the bone gave way and the fenna came loose, sending him plummeting to the ground. He hit hard and a congealed liquid splashed his face.
He heard the dragon roar in pain and the overwhelming thud of its wings as it took off. He opened his eyes without thinking. the sky was crimson. He wiped the dragon’s marrow away, returning the sky to gray. The dragon was above him now and he saw gray light from the broken jaw. the dragon’s magic would heal it soon, and his sword was spent. Iselin jumped into the air, thrusting her wings down in a torrent of wind. She flew up and clamped her teeth on the dragon’s throat at the base of its head and neck. It gurgled a roar and she twisted her body in the air like a corkscrew. There was a loud report as the dragon-sized vertebrae broke, and the lifeless body started its descent. Iselin pulled back, ripping a chunk of the Iumenta dragon’s throat out and sent it sailing to Parkas’ command tent, followed by a river of fire.
Sasha felt her jaw drop as she watched Iselin throw the dragon flesh at the enemy. The next moment she clapped her hands to her ears as all of the Elven dragons roared in celebration, causing a deafening din to fill the air.
Everything sped up then. there was a gray flick in the center of the Empire’s lines as the dragon’s spells failed. At once, the resistance and Elven forces surged forward, all of the Venefica dumping energy into the forward group. They split the enemy line in a moment and the dragons all rushed forward, taking the stunned Iumenta off guard. The Iumenta dragons tried to block them, but it was too late. rivers of fire rained down on the Empire’s men, scorching them in an instant.
Sydin had said that the empire would retreat if they lost the advantage, that they weren’t ready to truly try their luck, and he was right. They sounded retreat. all of their dragons pulled back and their men ran, their hopes crushed with the slain dragon. Sasha heard over the mental network that Arkin was hurt, but that he was stable. As the men continued forward to secure the Sentinels, she felt Legon walking amongst the dead and wounded. She ran down to him, almost knocking him over.
He smiled at her. “Hey.”
“You’re an idiot!” she said, feeling the tears fill her eyes.
He smiled weakly and she heard a groan. She looked down. there was a man at their feet, dying. He was mumbling something about his wife and son. She didn’t know whose side he was on and it didn’t matter. they had no strength left to heal him. Legon knelt down and held the man’s head up off the stone.
“Who’s going to take care of them?” he was gasping. “M- my boy is too young and it will break her heart. What if they don’t-”
“They know that you love them,” Legon said in a soothing voice.
She felt him in the man’s mind. he was bring forward all of his happy memories, and with a gentle flick he forgot about his cares. Grateful happy tears filled the man’s eyes.
“Tha- thank y- you,” he said.
After a minute he passed. then she heard the waling and the crying from the other wounded. Legon went to as many as he could. He took their pain away. he made it so they didn’t have to die alone, so that someone was there, comforting. Finally, he was too weak to stand and she helped him across the field back to camp, the whole way biting back bile from what the day had cost.
Epilog
Propositions
