Dev’s magic was a ruby inferno by contrast. Wherever he had summoned the power from, he was using it to send gouts of scarlet fire jumping around the entire rock. Balls of flame bounced hither and thither, trailing blazing veils of crimson light. Wherever they landed, the rock melted into incandescence, white heat dying as soon as the magic sprang away. Bright gold faded through blood red to leave black and splintered craters in the grey rock. Dev laughed like a madman, sending blistering spheres ricocheting around the barren islet, gesturing wildly. Ruby light crackled between his outspread fingers. Abruptly he swept his hands together and the burning globes raced to join in a towering pillar of flame. The wizard thrust his hands forward and the column split into two, into four, soon divided into a dizzying infinity of spears wrought of scarlet fire. As Dev swept his hands out and around, the flaming shafts obediently surged forward to surround him with a stockade of burning magic. The flames danced and shifted, now hiding the wizard, now revealing him exulting in his power.
‘It’s not so difficult to catch the bastard’s eye!’ The bald mage wheeled around and made as if to throw something. One of the incandescent shafts of fire soared high into the sky.
Kheda watched the flaming lance shoot straight as an arrow towards a shadow falling out of the brilliant sun. Dev’s magic exploded into a shower of glittering fragments as the dragon met the missile with a blast of blazing breath. It swooped across the scarred island, the clap of its wings like thunder.
Kheda crouched impotently within the wilted circle of nut palms as the leaves rattled and shivered beneath the massive beast’s passing. The breath was frozen in his chest, blood pulsing in his temples. Risala scrabbled for his hand and he gripped her fingers tight.
‘Any time you’re ready, Velle,’ bellowed Dev hoarsely. He sent another spear of flame hurtling up after the dragon, and another, and another. The great beast lashed at the first with its tail, shattering it into crimson shards. Wheeling around in midair, it smashed at the next with a forefoot, striking sparks with its claws as it cut the threat to pieces. Another blast of fiery breath melted the last into nothingness. With a deafening flap of its mighty wings it soared high into the sky, roaring with exultation.
Velindre stood remote and isolated in the midst of the whirling column of dust. The shaft of sapphire light encased her now, magic flowing unceasing into the painful, seductive blue-whiteness hovering between her hands. In the instant before the entrancing brightness overwhelmed Kheda’s sight, he saw the individual bones of her hands dark against the radiance. Then he had to look away or be blinded. As he rubbed his watering eyes, a shadow momentarily darkened the shaft of light from sapphire to slatey blue as the great fire dragon circled around it. It made as if to strike at the magic with its mighty tail but recoiled before the blow landed, tumbling through the sky, wings ungainly and uncoordinated. Seeing its pale underbelly exposed, Dev sent spear after spear of blazing light at the creature. For an instant, Kheda caught his breath in sudden hope. Scarlet was spreading in the angle between the dragon’s foreleg and breast. It faded and Kheda realised with a chill that it was Dev’s magic fading away. The sorcerous shafts had merely shattered on the dragon’s impervious scales. The fire dragon landed at the far end of the islet with a thud that made the whole rock shudder. It crouched, then rose up to stand tall on its massive legs. Long neck extended, it moved its head from side to side, making an untroubled survey of this new challenge. Ignoring Velindre, still frozen within her wizardry, the great beast stalked towards Dev. The barbarian mage’s defences continued to weave their dance around him. Now he was also ringed by a channel of molten rock, but the gaps between the blazing shafts were becoming wider. Earl cast of a blazing lance had thinned his fiery stockade. With a sweep of his hand, the bald mage brought all the shimmering flames together to form a wall of fire between himself and the great creature. The dragon advanced until its blunt snout was almost touching the blazing bather. Then it paused, its claws grating on the grey rock.
Has it seen us? Surely not. The wizards are between us and it. They’re its enemy. So what do we do when it has killed both of them? What will it do to us?
With a furious bellow, the dragon reared up on its hindquarters and began tearing at the fiery wall with its foreclaws. It ripped away great gouts of flame, tossing scarlet fragments into the air. Dev stepped backwards, gesturing as he sought to recapture his magic. His mouth was open, but his words were lost beneath the deafening roar of the incensed dragon. Some of the blazing wreckage spun backwards at his command, thrusting itself into the widening gaps. More escaped his frantic efforts, plummeting into the sea to be lost in a flare of vapour or soaring high to evaporate in the turbulent sky. However hard the wizard worked, the dragon was ripping away the bather faster than he could repair it.
Where is this dragon that the magetvoman promised us? Isn’t Dev her friend? Surely she won’t let him die?
But Velindre was still standing motionless within the sapphire core of the spiral of whirling dust. Kheda looked up to see clouds gathering high, high above, where the uppermost winds were pierced by the needle of Velindre’s magic. Risala screamed as the great dragon tore apart the last scraps of Dev’s defences and pounced.
Kheda felt a yell torn from his own throat as a massive flash of lightning struck the rock. A great concussion knocked him and Risala both back against the blasted nut palms. He scrambled up to crouch among the smoking remnants of the palms’ stubby trunks and scrubbed at his eyes to clear his dazzled vision. Both wizards had vanished. Now there were two dragons facing each other across the empty rock.
The newcomer’s scales were white, the pure white of towering clouds beneath a brilliant sun. Pale blue-grey shadowed the angles between its lithe legs and rangy body, the colour of high, fine cloud against an early morning sky. The spines raked along its back and down the length of its whipping tail were translucent as ice, shimmering with untamed magic. The creature extended its wings slowly, the fine membranes touched with gold like the glow the sun might cast against a fine haze of twilight cloud. Wings bating, the cloud dragon stood tall on its hind legs and hissed a challenge, clawed forefeet extended. Its knifelike talons were bright with the iridescence of a cloud passing before a full moon. Its teeth shone moon-white in its long, lean mouth, flickering tongue the palest blue. Narrow and cunning, its eyes blazed with sapphire fire.
The fire dragon waited, motionless, weight balanced on all four feet, wings half-furled against its sides. Its red—
gold flanks were dusted with grime thrown up from the scarred grey rock, coppery claws dull with soot. It sank down until its pale gold belly flattened against the ground, mouth half-open, running its scarlet tongue around its white teeth. All the while it kept its liquid ruby eyes fixed on the newcomer and the crimson scales fanning around its head bristled. Only its tail moved, a ripple slowly passing down the great muscular length of it, twitching the ridged spike at the tip to and fro.
So this must be it. What can I learn here, to pass on to the future, in the unlikely event that I get out of here alive?
Kheda studied both dragons with the dispassionate curiosity born of a calm beyond terror. He began to notice some differences. The cloud dragon was pristine, untouched by age or strife. The fire dragon showed evidence of a life lived hard. Several of the thick scales that armoured its backbone were ragged with broken edges. The ridges of the spike of its tail showed nicks and gouges. Further up its tail, the regular pattern of its red-gold hide was interrupted by darker, smaller scales. A similar scar marred the hindquarter closest to Kheda. One of the claws on that foot was snapped off short and the rest were chipped.