The Heroes of the Elemental Academies Book 2: Dragon's Breath

Chapter 25 For Those We Love

Seth

    As Seth watched the shadow dragons approach there were so many of them that a shadow was literally blocking out the Sun from view. Each Dragon was different from the last Some were smaller than the others. Some had dark spikes poking through the thick steel like black scales of their backs. Fire was tumbling from their maws like Molten lava. even from this distance Seth could see the cruel look in their eyes. Seth raised his hand and reach out to the light. A set of ballistae appeared on the wall in front of them tips pointing out at the dragons. Seth waited until the dragons were in range and then he let loose. Ten ballistae fired simultaneously. Normal bolts shot from a ballistae would have little to no effect on a dragon but these bolt were made from the light to they exploded on impact causing Several dragons to be knocked from the sky their roars of pain shaking the whole fortress. Seth then reached out to the power of water and from the nearby fountain thick spikes of ice over five feet in length and as thick as a baseball formed. Seth Sent them flying up into the air. he added a wave of air behind them to boost their strength. But they still had minimal effect most just shattering off scales. Seth watch as the dragons opened their maws ready to attack.

   "Scatter!" Seth yelled as he began to run to the side. Seth looked behind him and saw John stomp on the ground and thick roots burst out of the ground and began wrapping a cocoon around him and Rylee. Seth saw Oliver and Mike hiding behind a wall of light. Oliver's two axes were floating in front him connected at the handle. They began rotating very fast until they blurred together making a solid circle in front of him. Seth had to save his energy so he threw himself behind a wall just as a wave of destruction bathed his world in fire. The searing heat of the black fire was much more intense then he remembered The stone wall that Seth was hiding behind was a at least a foot thick made with bricks of stone, but in front of such heat Seth could even feel the fire through it. The stones heated up considerably but other than that the wall held.

   Seth peeked out from behind the wall. The once beautiful courtyard had been completely destroyed. The fountain was in ruins just spraying water aimlessly. Seth checked on his friends The cocoon that Rylee and John had taken cover in was more than half melted. But it was layered so thick that its inner layers were still untouched. Mike and Oliver of the far side of the courtyard also seemed fine. Their shield was down but they seemed to be untouched. Seth wasted no time running out of cover and reaching out to the power of lightning he cupped his hands as blue sparks of lightning started to form in them. Their attacks were having almost no effect of these monstrosities... they needed to up their game.

   Seth formed a small ball of condensed lighting like a pitcher he wound up and threw it as hard as he could at the closest dragon. Since there were so many dragons in such a tiny air space  They couldn't dodge or maneuver very well. They could only circle the courtyard in the air at a fairly low altitude. The ball of lightning hit the dragon right of the side of his face and a thunderous blast shook the air as the electricity began jumping from one dragon to the next until it had hit at least thirty. Roars of pain and anger filled the air as dragons who were hit by lightning began falling from the sky a black smoke rising from their bodies. However, Seth didn't have time to feel excited about his success because he immediately had to jump to the side as a fire ball made of pure black fire exploded nearby throwing Seth off his feet. He hit the ground with a grunt and managed to roll to avoid being roasted by another attack.

    "Seth!" Rylee shouted. "Are you okay!?" Seth willed a shield of light into existence to stop any more incoming fire balls. Seth looked up Just as Rylee and Mike unleashed a torrent of light bolts. The dragons unleashed another torrent of fire and Seth noticed that most of the dragons had stopped circling and were now just hovering in the air surrounding them from all angles. 

   It was then that Seth felt an overwhelming sense of danger. It was confirmed when he saw every dragon present open its maw, fire ready to be unleashed. Time seemed to freeze as a million thought rushed through Seth's head. he knew he was about to die, but their didn't seem to be anything he could do. Fire from all directions flew towards them. Seth made eye contact with each of his friends in that moment. 

    "It's been a pleasure," John said solemnly as he pulled vines from the ground in an attempt to guard against the incoming attack. Mike's face just seemed s hocked like he still couldn't believe this was happening. Michelle seemed to just smile as she condensed water around her in a shielded dome. Oliver had a grimace on his face as he raised his axes in defense. Rylee was the last one Seth made eye contact with. Her face was serene as she seemed completely calm as if she was going to simply except her death. Seth flashed back at that moment to his promise to Joseph more than a year ago in that tiny bathroom in the small town in Kansas. He had promised to protect Rylee. So, how could he accept this death. Seth felt a familiar energy rise up within himself as all his strength was drained in an instant and a blue light seemed burst forth from within him. The last thing Seth saw as his consciousness was fading was a  massive torrent of water appearing around him with the force of a hurricane.