As the fire dragon opened its mouth a little wider, Kheda noted that its teeth were as white as he remembered but lacking the unsullied brilliance of the cloud dragon’s maw. The fire dragon’s fangs were more ivory in hue and, towards the back of the creature’s mouth, slightly-stained. One was missing, leaving a bloody hole in the dragon’s jaw where a new tooth was just beginning to appear. Its coppery lip was torn there and the creature’s scarlet tongue kept returning to run lightly over the sore spot. Where the cloud dragon was light and lithe, full of energy, the fire dragon’s movements were slower and more calculated. It was bigger and heavier. Older, Kheda realised, and somehow wiser. Its eyes were different from the cloud dragon’s. The white beast’s sapphire gaze shone with ferocity, pure and simple. The fire dragon’s eyes burned with cunning as well as aggression. It bided its time, weighing up its opponent, waiting for this challenger to make the first move.
The cloud dragon sprang aloft and in the same lithe movement ducked its alabaster head to send a cloud of white vapour at the fire dragon. The red dragon was gone before the freezing breath struck, not into the air but springing forward to the spot the cloud dragon had just vacated. Behind it, the rock cracked and split, blackened craters rimed with frost defying the tropical heat.
Long neck outstretched, the fire dragon breathed a torrent of scarlet flame up at the cloud dragon’s belly. The white dragon shot upwards but the blaze just reached it, catching its trailing tail. The icy spike clouded and dark blue oozed between the white scales. The creature screamed in outrage and turned to dive before abruptly thinking better of that tactic. It shot away sideways barely in time to avoid meeting a second furnace blast full in the face. Recovering with startling speed, it reversed direction to send another cloud of its own freezing breath to envelop its foe.
This time the fire dragon did spread its wings and take to the sky, leaving the icy mist to roll harmlessly across the sloping rock and tumble to the sea below. The cloud dragon shot straight for the red dragon, wings beating, neck outstretched, mouth agape in a lethal snarl. It vanished in a ball of fire, not exhaled by the fire dragon but simply bursting out of the empty air to envelop the white beast. The blazing sphere contracted like the pulse of a beating heart. It shattered outwards, riven by countless bolts of lightning. The cloud dragon was revealed, white scales scorched blue-black around the edges and wing membranes blistered, raw patches oozing cobalt blood. The creature seemed oblivious of its injuries, still intent on attacking the fire dragon hanging impossibly in the air before it.
It was impossible: the real dragon wasn’t there to be attacked. The freezing blast of the cloud dragon’s breath merely enveloped a shimmering apparition wrought of the fire dragon’s own magic. Appearing out of the air behind the white dragon, it sank the coppery claws of one forefoot into the meaty flesh of the cloud dragon’s haunch, just above its tail. Flames burst from the wound and crawled across the cloud dragon’s hindquarter. The creature writhed and twisted, snapping at the fire dragon in agony. The fire dragon ripped its claws free and slashed at the cloud dragon’s eyes. The white beast recoiled just in time but still suffered a deep gash across its muzzle. I .aching out with its tail, it caught the fire dragon in the belly, more by luck than intent. The fire dragon was knocked off balance just long enough for the cloud dragon to flee, the frantic beat of its wings shattering the air.
Bruise-coloured purple blood oozed from the wide gash in its back to trickle down its tail as it shot straight up into the sky. The fire dragon chased it with a startling turn of speed and found itself enveloped in a smothering fog whipped up from the warm sea below. The vapour glowed briefly from within and evaporated to reveal the fire dragon turning its head in all directions, searing the sky with its fiery breath as it searched for its enemy.
The cloud dragon was high above and seized its chance, folding its wings close to fall through the air, all four feet extended below, talons shining in the sunlight. It landed full on the fire dragon’s back and dug in its claws, twisting its head down and around, intent on sinking its teeth into the back of the other creature’s head. It failed and tried again but found it could make little impression on the shield of rugged, solid scales.
As the cloud dragon worried at its neck and clawed the scales from its flanks, the fire dragon fought to stay aloft with mighty strokes of its vast wings. Despite its endeavours it sank through the sky, borne down by the weight of the cloud dragon towards the deadly embrace of the waters below. Bright scarlet blood glistened on its torn sides, drops spitting as they fell to pit the surface of the sea. The fire dragon lashed at its white tormenter with its heavy spiked tail, striking unerringly at the gaping wound in the cloud dragon’s hindquarter time and time again.
The white dragon couldn’t stand it. Releasing the fire dragon, it shot away, screaming its rage and anguish. The red dragon pursued it, glowing with reignited ferocity. The red-gold of its sides shone like flame, brilliant under the full force of the sun. The beats of its great scarlet wings were slower than the frantic flapping of the cloud dragon, but every stroke took it closer, inexorably closing the gap between them. With every beat of its wings, it glowed hotter, its ruby eyes burning with determination. Within moments it was close enough to snap at the cloud dragon’s dulled and soiled tail.
The fire dragon bit and held and ripped its head sideways, pulling the cloud dragon bodily back through the sky. With a flap of its mighty wings, it embraced the white beast. With its muscular legs, the red dragon forced the cloud dragon’s gold-tinted wings close to its sides and, stretching out, entwined its neck and tail with the trapped creature’s. The glow suffusing the fire dragon grew ever more intense and the white dragon began to burn. Its pale flesh charred, blackness spreading from the lethal brightness of the fire dragon’s touch. Blue blood clotted dark and dried before it had a chance to flow. The membrane of the cloud dragon’s wings split and curled away to leave the fine azure bones exposed before they, too, cracked and broke.
The cloud dragon screamed in uncomprehending fear and pain, its long, lean head writhing against the brutal bluntness of the fire dragon’s muzzle. The red dragon held on tight, falling with its dying rival, tongue flickering across the cloud dragon’s muzzle. Its eyes were unblinking ruby malevolence lit with points of fire as the cloud dragon’s eyes dulled, their sapphire light extinguished. The two beasts fell, still entangled, on to the next rocky outcrop in the chain of islets. The impact sent knives of shattered stone in all directions and the rock where the dragons had landed vanished in a cloud of vapour laced with fire and lightning.
Is it gone? Have the wizards finally made good on their promise? Is this an end to it all?
Kheda sprang to his feet, he couldn’t help it. Risala was at his shoulder, so close he could feel her trembling. He threw an arm around her shoulders and held her close, trying to see what had become of the dragons.
The fog of magic, dust and mist faded. The cloud dragon was gone. The fire dragon remained. It lay sprawled on the damp rock, its vibrant colours muted. The scales of its back were the colour of clotted blood, its underbelly a dirty orange where wounds oozed dull crimson. Only its eyes were still bright, brilliant ruby lit by points of white-hot fire.
‘It’s not dead,’ breathed Kheda, horrified.
‘Where are the wizards?’ Risala pulled herself free of his arm and looked around, eyes white-rimmed in her ashen face.