Dragon Conjurer 6, page 7
“Hurry!” Bo cried as sweat broke out across his dark forehead. “I cannot hold it much longer!”
Elisabeth shrieked out a response with her beak and darted over to sink her talons into the Slide-Rock Bolter’s remaining eye.
“I think I can cut its tail off,” Ronin said suddenly.
“Yeah?” I looked at my Samurai warrior in front of me with amazement.
“Get me closer, and I will try.” Ronin nodded with determination, and a long-handled astral axe appeared on her lap.
It was the kind of axe I’d used in many medieval-style video games, and a weapon only the largest barbarian characters were allowed to wield. Its blade curved at a menacing angle, and a harsh spike extended out of the back side of the handle.
It was perfect for lopping off enemy heads.
Or, in this case, tails.
I silently commanded Ky to get us in closer to the displaced monster’s tail, and I told him to be ready to get out if this went badly.
My ice dragon nodded and swooped around to lower himself close to the peak where the Slide-Rock Bolter’s tail hooked over the edge.
“Here’s your chance,” I told Ronin. Then I raised my voice for the rest of the team. “Get ready, everyone!”
Nala and Bo braced themselves on either side of the beast. My earth-bending girl blasted up a fresh wall of stone as Bo reaffirmed his hold on the monster’s huge body.
Binta stood back a step behind her boyfriend, and she braced her palms flat on Bo’s back to lend him added support and balance.
Steffi hovered nearby overhead and held her hands up as soft golden light glowed around her fingertips, and she got ready to throw them out in whatever form we needed.
Elisabeth soared around in elegant circles above us, and Nick perched on Beyblade’s back as they slithered through the air together.
Then Ronin posted up on Ky’s wide back and extended her axe out further than I’d ever seen her do before. She raised her weapon over the thinnest part of the Slide-Rock Bolter’s dolphin-like tail, and she hesitated a split second before she slammed the glowing astral blade straight down.
The displaced monster roared loud enough that its screams echoed through the mountains like a domino effect of rock slides. Dark green blood poured around the Slide-Rock Bolter’s body in rivers and down the peak as Ronin’s blade chopped through the top half of the beast’s tail. It thrashed wildly in rage and pain, and the skin on its gaping tail wound ripped further from its jerking movements.
I glanced over at Nala and Bo and saw they were both close to losing their hold on the massive monster. Nala breathed heavily as sweat dripped down her face, and Bo dropped to his knees as he tried to control the wild, twisting body of the Slide-Rock Bolter.
“Again!” I shouted.
The muscles in Ronin’s back and shoulders bunched under her t-shirt and astral armor as she focused her energy on raising the enormous astral blade.
“Aaaahh!” Ronin’s war cry rippled through the mountains as she cleaved the beast’s body the rest of the way from its anchoring tail.
The Slide-Rock Bolter screamed like a million tons of gravel scraping across glass as its body raced wildly down from the mountain peak. A dark green trail of soft tissue and blood smeared across the slope behind the monster.
Nala dropped her walls around the beast and threw up a huge barricade of solid earth just past the deepest part of the valley.
The Slide-Rock Bolter barreled down the slope at a terrifying speed, but it crashed face-first into Nala’s barricade and didn’t get very far up the other side of the mountain.
The creature was effectively trapped in the valley.
Beyblade landed right above the hideous slug monster and blasted an intense burst of flame at the beast’s side. The fire didn’t seem to have much effect beyond turning the Slide-Rock Bolter’s bluish-gray skin a darker gray and blackening the ground beneath it.
Nick hopped off my fire dragon as he pulled the shotgun from his back. The blond nymph stomped closer to the monstrous slug’s face, and he lifted the shotgun to his shoulder.
The deafening boom of his shots ripped through the air as the lead slug embedded itself deep through the ripped tissue of the displaced monster’s eyeball.
The Slide-Rock Bolter roared again and opened its huge jaws of uneven teeth as it thrashed violently to the side. The beast’s mouth came within inches of Nick’s shins, and my stomach dropped just before my best friend was suddenly hurled backward.
“Nick!” Bo shouted, and his hands were raised and curled toward his chest.
Nick landed hard on his butt a few feet in front of the MIA cadet, and his eyes were wide as he looked around.
I realized the Kenyan guy had forcefully hauled my best friend away from certain death, or at least certain dismemberment.
“Woah,” Nick gasped with horror. “Thanks, dude.”
“You are welcome, my friend,” Bo said as he walked over to help Nick off the ground.
“Everybody, stay alert,” I shouted to my team. “This thing still has a lot of fight left.”
“Hold on,” Nick crouched down and phased his hand halfway through a nearby scrub bush. “Shit, is that…”
My best friend’s eyebrows knitted together in concentration as he looked up at me.
“We’ve got another problem, Dylan,” Nick said and then disappeared into the brush for a second before he reappeared several feet away in the roots of a small pine tree that clung on for dear life.
“What is it?” I called.
“There’s a group of hikers nearby,” Nick called back. “They’re coming this way.”
“Shit,” I murmured. “We can’t let them stumble into this mess!”
“Summon Goldie,” Nick shouted as he jogged over and climbed back up onto Beyblade’s back. “Binta, Bo, and I can divert them away.”
“That’s a great idea,” I agreed. “Stay out of sight!”
“Oh, definitely,” Nick chuckled and patted Beyblade’s scales.
I silently ordered Ky to hover a safe distance from the still-bleeding tail of the Slide-Rock Bolter, and then I lifted my shirt sleeve slightly.
“Sokisaseru,” I said.
Goldie burst forth in a glorious flash of white light and swished gracefully toward the ground. My wind dragon gazed up at me and nodded once as if she knew exactly what was happening. Then she lowered her front shoulders enough to allow Bo and Binta to climb onto her back.
“Follow Nick’s orders,” I commanded my white dragon in a hushed tone.
I knew she could hear me even over the rush of wind and the continued roars of the displaced monster in the bottom of the valley.
The sound of Nick’s voice as he directed Goldie toward the group of unfortunate hikers hummed low in my ears through the connection with my dragon, but I shoved his voice and the sounds of rushing wind aside to refocus on the task at hand.
“Steffi!” I cried out. “Keep covering us as best as you can!”
“Right!” my fairy-girl called back, and she blasted another golden shield up to divert a falling tree.
“Elisabeth, can you drop smaller rocks on this ugly motherfucker?” I shouted.
Elisabeth responded with a sharp eagle screech and a quick nod of her feathered head. Then she soared over and scooped up a football-sized stone in her talons.
I knew it wouldn’t do much damage to the Slide-Rock Bolter, but maybe the battering of small stones would disorient the beast enough to allow us the advantage we needed.
“Nala,” I called. “Take a breather for a second and get ready for a huge attack.”
“Okay, Dylan,” Nala answered.
My curly-haired girl bent forward to lean on her knees as she sucked in a few deep, steadying breaths.
“Ky, it’s our turn,” I said quietly.
My ice dragon practically smirked back at Ronin and me, and his huge sapphire lip curled over his long teeth.
“Let’s show this fucker how to chill out.” I grinned.
Ky flapped his enormous wings and soared in a loose circle high above the Slide-Rock Bolter’s fifty foot long body. The steady stream of dark green blood from the displaced monster’s tail slowed to a dribble, and its eyes scabbed over like a disgusting crust of dried-out glue and play-doh layered between scraps of yellow tissue paper.
My ice dragon sucked in a huge breath, and his sides swelled under our legs for a moment as we took a straight-on approach toward the Slide-Rock Bolter. Then Ky began to shoot out a thick, steady stream of ice as we rushed over the length of the slug beast’s body from its snout to the remains of its severed tail.
I held my arms tight around Ronin as I turned over my shoulder to watch the ice rapidly spread across the displaced monster’s bluish skin.
The creature’s huge mouth gaped open, and its ice-covered tongue froze to the rocky earth. One last, low roar like tires on gravel seeped from its throat, but Ky flew over the Slide-Rock Bolter’s mangled tail and spit out a final burst of his ice breath.
Then he circled gracefully around and landed beside the hideous monster.
Steffi fluttered over to join us and landed like a ballerina beside Ky, and Elisabeth soared once more in a wide circle over our heads before she perched on a tall boulder nearby and let out a sharp eagle screech.
“Well done, Ky,” Ronin praised my dragon as she patted his neck affectionately.
Another low rumble came from the Slide-Rock Bolter’s frozen form. A shallow fissure spread out along the thick layer of ice that encased the beast’s slug body.
“Fuck,” I grumbled.
“It’s not dead?” Steffi’s eyes went wide.
“I guess not.” Nala shook her head.
“We need to destroy this thing.” Ronin’s brow furrowed with determination.
“Nala.” I turned to my earth-bending girlfriend. “How much rock can you bring down on this bastard?”
“Enough to crush it like a bug.” Nala smirked.
Elisabeth let out another screech and jerked her head at a weird angle.
I gazed at her a moment to puzzle out what she was trying to say. Her golden eagle eyes narrowed, and she flapped her large wings in the direction Goldie and the rest of our team had flown.
Realization dawned on me.
“Wait a second.” I held a hand up and turned my focus to the connection I shared with Goldie and focused on the sounds that came through her ears.
I could hear Nick’s voice as he whispered something quietly to Binta. The low, friendly conversation of the hikers as they chatted nearby faded slowly as I listened for another moment, but based on what I heard, I couldn’t tell if they were clear of any possible landslides Nala was about to set off.
“Nal,” I turned back to my curly-haired girl. “Check the earth first, make sure Nick and the others aren’t in the path of your landslide.”
“Right,” my earth-bending girlfriend said.
The chocolate-skinned girl bent down and placed both of her palms flat on the ground. She closed her eyes and focused on the vibrations in the stone for a moment before she looked up at me.
“Goldie just took off,” Nala said with a smile. “I can feel the group of hikers. They’re going in the opposite direction and headed down a trail well out of the way.”
“Well done, Nick,” I murmured. Then I looked at my ladies. “Steffi, El, you two get clear. Ronin, stay with Ky. I’m going to summon Thor so Nala and I can get clear, too.”
“Sounds good to me,” Steffi said.
Elisabeth screeched again and flapped her wings to take off into the air.
“Be safe.” Ronin turned over her shoulder to kiss me.
“I will,” I assured her.
I gave her one more squeeze before I lifted my leg over Ky’s back and slid down to the ground. I walked up and patted my sapphire dragon on the neck and leaned in close to his face.
“I know you’ll keep her safe, buddy,” I murmured softly.
Ky stared right at me with his big blue eyes and tilted his head in the slightest nod.
Another gravelly rumble came from the fifty foot long slug beside us. Between the Slide-Rock Bolter’s body heat and the ambient temperature around us, Ky’s ice was rapidly melting at this point. Another large crack shuddered down the length of the slug.
“Steffi,” I called out. “Get going.”
My fairy-girl took off immediately into the air. She and Elisabeth flew up and far enough away to be safe from the landslide of rock and stone Nala was about to unleash.
“Trylle frem!” I shouted.
Thor burst forward into the mountain air in a flash of crackling indigo light. He seemed to know exactly what the plan was as he crouched forward on his front legs to lower his head for us.
Nala and I climbed up onto Thor’s back as the ice that encased the Slide-Rock Bolter’s head started to fail.
We quickly settled ourselves on my storm dragon’s spiny back, and then Thor worked his huge wings and took off from the ground.
The monster began to thrash wildly from side to side and let out an enraged scream that sounded like a million tons of stone crushing together.
“Shit,” I cursed. “Ky, blast it again, give us some more time.”
My ice dragon circled sharply back around and sucked in a deep breath. He blasted a dense stream of ice directly on the Slide-Rock Bolter’s face.
At the same moment, the displaced monster broke through the ice that encased its severed tail, but it was too late for him.
“Nala, finish it off,” I ordered.
“Gladly.” Nala gritted her teeth in concentration and raised her hands up in front of her.
Chapter 5
The earth and stone above the Slide-Rock Bolter started to tremble under Nala’s powers. A huge crack split up to the mountain peak in a jagged line, and the jagged rock faces started to give way.
I glanced at my curly-haired girl.
Nala’s face screwed up with the effort she exerted on the ground below, but she didn’t break her concentration for a second, and the mountain started to crumble like crushed potato chips to tumble down the slope.
The slug monster thrashed with fear and rage and managed to break free of the last restraining layers of Ky’s ice, but Nala used her stone avalanche to squash the displaced monster like an ant under her boot heel.
A split second after the slug freed itself, the entire mountain peak cascaded like a river of stone and crushed its massive weight down on the Slide-Rock Bolter. The deafening crash of boulders shook down my spine as the rubble and debris tumbled down around the displaced slug monster.
A horrible splatter-squish sound echoed under the crash of earth, and once the huge cloud of dust settled, I could see a pool of dark green blood flowing freely from under the massive pile of rocks.
Steffi fluttered higher up as the huge cloud of dust puffed up from the crashing boulders. She twirled a pirouette in the air and laughed, and Elisabeth circled above us and screeched into the wind.
“Yes!” Ronin cheered from her place on Ky’s back.
The earth finally settled a few moments later as the last of the dust drifted back to the ground. The mountainside was completely ruined and was unrecognizable from the landscape we’d arrived at not long ago.
Thor landed heavily on the ground beside the enormous pile of boulders that was now the Slide-Rock Bolter’s tomb.
Ky landed beside my black dragon, and Ronin hopped down as her astral armor slid away.
I climbed down off my storm dragon’s back, and then I reached up to help Nala down.
“Is it dead?” I asked my curly-haired girlfriend. “Can you sense a heartbeat or anything?”
Nala dropped to one knee and laid her hands flat on the rocky ground. She closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side as she felt for any vibrations.
Elisabeth landed gracefully on the ground close by and shifted back into her human body while I waited, and Steffi fluttered over and joined us as well.
“Guys, be still.” Nala screwed her face up in concentration.
Steffi shrugged remorsefully and mouthed a silent apology.
The three girls and I stood quietly and watched Nala as she refocused on the ground beneath her feet. After another moment, she opened her eyes and smiled.
“No, it’s dead,” Nala confirmed as she stood up.
“We did it?” Elisabeth laughed.
“We did it!” Steffi declared.
“That was amazing,” I said as all four of my ladies rushed toward me. “You all did awesome!”
The girls laughed joyously as they surrounded me in a tight hug.
I knew Goldie and Beyblade would be returning soon with the rest of our team, so I allowed the connection with my wind dragon to fill my ears. Now, I could hear Bo and Binta chatting appreciatively about the view and the wonder of flying on a dragon.
“It is incredible,” Bo laughed.
I grinned to myself as I pictured the tall guy throwing his arms out wide with joy.
“It is unlike anything else,” Binta agreed.
“I gotta say,” Nick chuckled. “Flying with Beyblade is a pretty decent perk of being friends with the Dragon Conjurer.”
I gave my ladies another good squeeze and started to pull away.
“I can see someone’s enjoying themselves,” Nick’s teasing voice reached me through Goldie.
“Nick and the others are almost back.” I smirked.
“There they are.” Elisabeth pointed up to the sky and Beyblade’s scaly red body.
Goldie flew gracefully beside my fire dragon and angled off in a wide circle before she landed a short distance from us. Then my wind dragon trotted up beside Thor and nuzzled her head into his scaly black shoulder.
Bo hopped down from Goldie’s back and reached up to help Binta down. Then they walked over to where my girls and I waited.
“Dylan, your dragons are glorious,” Binta laughed lightly.
“Thanks.” I smiled. “Everything go well with diverting those hikers?”
Beyblade slithered onto the ground between Ky and Thor and bumped his head playfully against my blue dragon.
