The Book of Deacon: Book 03 - The Battle of Verril (37 page)

“Stay calm, Ivy. We've got Myn. We can get
through this,” Myranda assured her, scouring her mind for anything
that might be effective against the behemoths.

“C-can't calm down. It's one thing to trust
Myn to catch me if I fall, but what if
she
falls?! What if
she gets hurt?!” Ivy raved.

“Just hold tight and don't think about it. I
won't let them touch us,” Myranda said.

Briefly the wizard considered casting sleep
upon her again. No. The task at hand was difficult enough without
having to keep a helpless body from slipping off.

“I can't stop thinking about it! I can't do
anything! You shouldn't have rescued me! You should have left me
for last! I'm no good to you up here! All I am is another thing for
you to worry about! The best thing I could do is . . . THAT'S IT!”
Ivy said, a burst of yellow mixing with blue for a moment as she
turned to Myranda. “Let me fall!”

“No! We will get through this together, I
can't let . . . “ Myranda attempted to object.

“Myranda, listen! If I fall, I'll be afraid.
I'll turn into whatever it is that I turn into when I am afraid.
There'll be a lot of light and a lot of sound and then I'll wake up
safe and sound, far away. That's how it always happens! It won't
get rid of them, but it'll give you one less thing to worry about,”
Ivy explained.

“It is too risky. We don't know what will . .
. “ Myranda cried.

“Myranda, there's no time to argue. You have
to trust me,” Ivy said.

The hulking forms were close. They would be
upon the heroes in moments. Myranda could not bring herself to
agree. It didn't matter. She didn't have the chance. Ivy hopped to
her feet on Myn's back and ran a few steps along it, leaping in a
graceful dive over the dragon's head.

“Don't catch me, Myn!” she piped in a crazed
cry of mounting terror as she blurred past the beast's vision.

Myn dove to follow.

“No, Myn! She knows what she's doing,”
Myranda said uncertainly.

With all of the will she could muster, she
turned her eyes from the brilliant point of blue light disappearing
through the clouds and faced the dragoyles. She could only see one
well. It would be her first target. She waved the staff in a
circle, stirring the wind with it. In moments she had a howling
gale. It circled around them, growing in force and dragging up
trails of mist. First they were thin streamers, then fat ribbons,
and finally vast sheets of cloud. They whirled and mixed into a
growing maelstrom. The dark creature fought against the wind, frost
building to ice on its black hide. It wasn't enough. Myranda could
hear the massive thing ripping though the wind. Now it was Myn's
turn. She gave a powerful pump of her wings and lurched upward
suddenly, placing her claws in the perfect position to strike. And
strike she did. Stout, powerful talons came down with crushing
force on the creature's head. As the dragoyle's momentum carried it
past, Myn raked her fore claws along its back, lashing with her
hind claws at its wings.

The roar of pain that burst from the thing's
mouth was deafening. It faltered, disappearing into the clouds.
Myranda recovered from the sudden shift and searched desperately
for the second creature while still maintaining the intensity of
their shield of wind. Before she could find it, the creature made
its presence known. The massive dragoyle, easily triple Myn's size,
collided from the side. The rocking blow all but threw Myranda
free. As she clung for her life, the monster clutched Myn with
massive claws. The brave dragon struggled, spouting flame that
scattered uselessly in the wind.

Far below, Ivy plummeted earthward. The wind
screamed in her ears as she tore through the clouds. She screamed
at the top of her lungs. Fear burned her mind and fluttered in her
chest, but it did not bite to her core. Blue sparks of intense aura
danced in front of her eyes, but stopped just shy of consuming her.
Deep inside, she knew that she would be safe. The fear would
protect her. The intricate designs of the ground spiraled and grew
slowly, filling her vision, stirring something in her mind. It
began as surprise and built quickly to confusion. Where was the
transformation? She brushed the concern mounting in her aside.
There was no need to worry. The fear would save her. There was no
need to worry . . .

The realization struck her like a lightning
bolt. If there was no need to worry, then she wouldn't be
frightened enough to change! She would be killed! The epiphany
thrust the reality of the situation into the foreground once more,
and a renewed terror carried her to the very brink of transition.
Unfortunately, the familiar feeling of slipping away from the world
brought with it the relief that she would indeed be safe, quickly
banishing the fear. The fading aura made the rapidly approaching
ground clear to her, surging the fear again, and again came the
relief, extinguishing it. Her mind raced in ever tighter loops as
the cycle of panic and calm grew faster.

“I WAS WRONG! CATCH ME!!!” she cried.

The tangled form of Myn, Myranda, and the
dragoyle dropped into the clouds. The dragon managed to clamp her
jaws onto the beast's wing. Vicious teeth tore leathery hide and
creaked against hollow bone. Puffing up her chest, Myn belched a
column of flame onto the limb still caught in her maw. The dragoyle
howled in pain and released them. After a few moments to steady
herself in the air, Myn made ready to circle back and face the
creature again, climbing to the surface of the ocean of clouds.

“No! Stay in the mist!” Myranda ordered.

Myn obeyed. Myranda scrambled across the
dragon's back to her proper position and held the staff high. The
freezing cold of night grew deeper. The mist became grainier. A
lurching blackness approached from below as the first beast, still
suffering from the long furrows scoured into its back by Myn,
finally made its way back into the fight. Myranda made it the focus
of the cold. Tiny crystals became fat flakes around it. A crust of
ice stiffened the beast's joints. Myranda pushed her mind harder.
The crust became a layer, then a blanket. Soon it was not only the
water around the dragoyle, but the creature's very blood that was
freezing. It squeezed a pathetic, strangled screech out. The cry
was cut off as even the monster's throat hardened into stillness.
Just as the paralyzed form started to drop from view, Myranda
hurled a ball of flame. The intense heat splashed against the
frozen creature and, pushed from one extreme to the other too
quickly, it came apart at the seams. What dropped out of the clouds
was a barely recognizable scattering of frozen anatomy. Without a
word from Myranda, Myn knew what was next. Find the others, and
avoid being found.

Ivy screamed through the air like a brilliant
blue comet. She swept every terrifying thought she could muster
from her memory and piled them one on top of the other. Nothing
could upset the stalemate. She flailed at the air, as though if she
tried hard enough she could dig her fingers into it and hold tight.
As she did, she inadvertently turned about. Her maddened eyes came
to rest on a sight that managed to be even more frightening than
the ground. It was one of the dragoyles. It was not a tiny blurry
speck among the clouds as it should be, either. What she beheld was
a creature just a few seconds behind her, serrated beak trailing a
billowing cloud of miasma behind it. It wasn't flapping its wings,
instead tucking them back and straightening its body into a
streamlined dart. It was falling. And it was falling faster than
she was. Ivy's mind clamped onto the image. It would do.

A blaze of blue surged like an azure sun as
Ivy's fear took over. The cry of fear echoed over the hilltops and
through the trees. A sudden and intense will forced her earthward
far faster than the dragoyle could manage, but still it worked its
wings to catch up. The ground turned swiftly from patches of
silver, gray, and white to icy water, frozen trees, and barren
fields. When she reached the ground, she struck with enough force
to sway the trees of the forest that was unfortunate enough to be
her target. No sooner had the branches swayed to their maximum than
a blue blur flashed out from between the trees and into the field.
A moment later the enormous monster, far too large to overcome its
own momentum, shook the forest again. It was a grotesque sound, a
crunch louder than thunder mixed with the splintering of trees and
a short, agonized squeal. Then there was only silence as the forest
attempted to recover.

High above, Myn pulled herself up through the
clouds and locked her eyes on the remaining dragoyle. Its partially
roasted wing was doing a barely adequate job of keeping it
airborne. Its maw hung open and vast swaths of black breath were
erupting forth. Myn circled to the side. The ponderous beast
attempted to wheel to follow, but it couldn't match the agility of
the smaller creature. Myn clamped down on the beast's afflicted
wing, planted her feet against the monster's body, and pulled with
all of her might. The pair began to plummet through the clouds
again. Myranda kept the thick motes of black mist from them as the
bones and flesh yielded to Myn's jerking pulls. Finally the whole
wing came free. What was left of the creature spiraled and writhed
as it fell.

Myn turned her sharp vision earthward,
locking onto the bright blue streak below that blazed across the
field and over the lake's icy surface toward a small, rocky island
at its center. Perhaps her fear-crazed mind believed it offered the
best cover. Perhaps some small part of her knew what she would find
there. Regardless of the reason, the island was the very place they
sought. Someone the D'karon did not wish to be found was being held
within. A sturdy wooden door in a stone wall splintered as she
roared through it. The dragon dove toward her, but the better part
of the distance between the clouds and ground still lay before her.
The form of Ivy blazed through the narrow courtyard around what
looked to be an outcropping of stone with a doorway carved into it.
When she reached a point behind it that was reasonably hidden from
sight she disappeared inside, the fading blue glow betraying her
position. A moment later a scattering of nearmen climbed from the
hole in the stone and inspected the shattered remains of the
door.

Myn was drawing nearer, but as she did, she
began to slow, even though there was a long way to go. Her eyes
were locked on the shifting layer of ice that had yet to settle
after Ivy's trip across it. As they approached the surface of the
lake, Myranda felt the same tenseness that had marked the approach
of the dragoyles, only more so. Her heart raced. What could lie
beneath the waves? They'd never faced a creature of the water
before. There was no way to prepare for it. Now the water was just
below them. They were just approaching the shore of the island when
a pair of ice drifts collided, sending a spray of icy water high
enough to sprinkle Myn's scales. Something inside her mind gave
way. She pumped her wings madly, as though at any moment the water
would reach up and grab her. There'd been no motion but the ice.
Nothing had touched her but the water, but still she was mad with
fear. Of course . . .

It stood to reason. Myn had always been
afraid of the water, ever since the flooding of the cave when they
were heading to Entwell. Her last serious encounter with it had
literally cost her her life. Even the stoutest of minds would
falter at the sight of it after that. Myranda tried to steady her
friend.

“Myn, just get me to the island, you can
leave me and come back for me after!” Myranda called out.

The terrified creature fought every instinct
in a mind trained for eons to embrace them. She forced herself to
approach the ground at the water's edge. The instant Myranda
tumbled to the frozen stone she shot skyward. The wizard surveyed
the threat before her. As with her rescue of Ivy, the nearmen
before her were magic users. They held black wands at the ready,
but at the sight of her, they did not attack. Instead, they
scurried back into the carved hole in the stone, securing it shut
with a wave of a wand and an uttered word. The door was also stone,
and fit so securely into the opening that, if she'd not seen it
move into place, she scarcely would have imagined there was a hole
at all.

Myranda stepped back. Upon closer inspection,
the structure, if it could be so called, was a low dome of stone
that sloped until it was flush with the ground. In fact, it
actually connected to the ground. Had they simply carved a chamber
into a solid stone island? Or was the whole of the little isle
created by them? She rushed around the edge of it, seeking another
door. The closest she found was a shallow recess on the far side,
the very one Ivy had nestled herself in for protection. The
creature was still there, the blaze of fear replaced by the deep,
unnatural sleep that always followed. The wizard shook her, hoping
to wake her. It was an act of pure optimism. After such an
outburst, Ivy was seldom awake in anything less than half a day.
Sure enough, no amount of jostling produced anything beyond an
uncomfortable shift. Whatever had to be done, Myranda would be
doing it alone.

So be it. Myranda made her way back to the
door and thrust the point of the staff into what little there was
of a seam and put her mind to work. Slowly a tremor was summoned.
The pebbles at her feet began to dance around her. Something was
wrong. Try as she might, she could not will anything stronger than
a light rhythm from the earth. There was an enchantment working
against her. A powerful one. She abandoned the spell and switched
to flame, but no sooner did it splash against the door than it
flickered away. She didn't need to test wind and water to know they
would be similarly ineffective.

“So they've protected it against elemental
magic. That means Ether is inside,” she reasoned out loud.