“Got her,” he yelled in satisfaction.
“How bad?” asked Anna.
“Not enough. Just pissed her off, I bet.”
“She’s coming after you this time,” predicted Eric. He ran for the tree line.
“What’s the plan?” Ryan yelled to them.
“The same,” said Matt, wondering what the rogue was doing but trusting him, “but expect her to go for you. She knows about the armor. It will be a blow, not the fire. Dodge to the ground.”
Ryan nodded. They all looked for Eric and saw him keeping out of sight, two throwing knives ready. Nir’lion was approaching lower this time, as Matt expected if she intended to physically strike any of them. Would she use more than her fire on Ryan?
“Watch for the claws and tail!” he yelled.
The knight didn’t react, the dragon headed straight for him. As she reached the clearing, mouth agape with flames swirling within, first one and then another knife from Eric flew toward her. The first bounced off into the trees. The other pierced her side. The dragon breathed fire all over Ryan, but at the speed of her passage, it didn’t last long. A claw didn’t lash at him. Neither did the tail as she passed, but suddenly it slammed into Matt’s shield as Anna cried out. The shield held firm.
“Didn’t expect that,” Matt observed, feeling weaker. Did Nir’lion know that every blow took some of his strength away? Probably. And every spout of fire at Ryan weakened his armor’s fireproofing. Eric changed positions near the trees, closer to Ryan.
“We have to attack, not just defend,” he yelled.
The knight threw his lance to the rogue and drew his sword. Eric moved to the tree line as if to hide from the dragon, who was circling again.
Matt asked, “Anna, does the goddess have any ability to protect us with a shield of some kind?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I think so.”
“Eric’s right. We need to attack. I can’t as long as I’m protecting us. If you could do it, that frees me to do a spell.”
“Okay, let me try. I need to concentrate.”
“Right. I’ll shut up. Maybe close your eyes. Hold on to me. You don’t need to watch.”
“Easier said than done, closing my eyes to this.” But she put one hand on his shoulder.
Nir’lion appeared to be focused squarely on the knight again. Had she realized Matt was no danger with his shield up? They needed Anna to succeed in shielding Matt herself so the wizard could nail the unsuspecting dragon with something.
As she soared just above the low trees and reached the clearing, Ryan yelled, “Now!”
With one hand on the butt and another on the shaft to guide his aim, Eric threw the lance upward at Nir’lion’s unprotected belly, his entire body behind the motion. Matt thought it couldn’t possibly reach or do much, but it must’ve been lighter than he thought for how high it went. Even as Nir’lion blasted fire toward Ryan, the thrown lance flew high enough to strike, the angle causing it to puncture her belly. The fire abruptly stopped as Nir’lion grasped it with a hind leg and yanked it out. Her tail fell low enough as it passed Ryan that the knight slashed with the sword and cut a gash near the tip. Nir’lion roared as she rose into the sky, throwing Ryan’s lance far into the trees, blood cascading from belly and tail. She spoke a few words and the bleeding stopped.
“Lower your shield,” said Anna.
Matt turned in surprised. “You’re sure?” She nodded. “Because if you’re wrong – ”’
“I’m not. Trust me.”
Their eyes met and he saw only strength and clarity in them. He turned toward the dragon. This time Nir’lion seemed focused on him. What could he cast that didn’t involve gestures until the last second? He mentally flipped through Soliander’s spell book, a choice surfacing. As the dragon neared, he didn’t see the telltale fire swirling in her mouth. Claws? The tail? Her magic? Trusting in Anna, he began his own spell, the words coming easily as he relied on the trusty staff and his most fearsome trick. He hardly saw Eric throw a knife. Then the dragon’s spell sent a hail of large boulders raining down on Matt and Anna even as flames blasted them. One rocked the ground next to them, half buried in earth. Another bounced off Anna’s shield as she grunted. A third slammed into the ground before them and bounced over, a cascade of dirt showering them but ricocheting off the shield. Another struck a glancing blow as dragon fire obscured the rest, though from Anna’s moan it seemed that another scored a direct hit before deflection.
When the flames vanished, Matt retaliated as the dragon soared away, a focused beam of fire bursting from the staff’s crystal to burn deep wounds in the dragon’s back and one wing. She roared and nearly flipped over in the air to plummet toward the clearing, rolling in the sky to land on all fours with an incredible thud. Nir’lion took a few steps forward, swung her backside around, and then kicked out at Ryan, clobbering the knight so that he flew into a nearby tree and didn’t move again. She looked back and sucked in a breath. Flames appeared in her open mouth, eyes on Matt and ablaze with fury. Even as the fire began to rush forward, a knife from Eric struck her neck and she swung the tail across the ground at him. He leapt over it. The flames hung in her mouth. The tail came back and he rolled under it, then threw another knife that bounced off her head. Mouth agape, she brought forth the flames toward the rogue, who ran for the trees.
“Saarilmor nukal o nusaak taasili kuniase mu'unia a rolinmor purta!” Flying metal,
