The Elemental Chain Saga Book Two: Dragons Ascending

Chapter Twenty-Two: Altor's Blaze

The air whistled around them as they descended at the first catapult. There were only two, so they decided to take the nearest one first. As they neared, they could hear audible shouts of fear as they looked up and saw the dragon descending on them.

And they opened fire.

Arrows took to the sky and Altor narrowly dodged them, swooping to the left. Altor swung about and arrows raked against his hide. Cooper ducked under the fire, swearing as a lone arrow almost shot through his head.

"Altor," he shouted over the commotion "close in!" Altor squinted his eyes in concentration, streamlining his long body towards the ground, effortlessly avoiding the volley of arrows that tried to intercept his flight. Altor neared the catapult when a boulder was launched.

And it struck him straight on.

Altor gave a roar of pain as he dropped to the ground, slamming onto the hard earth besides the catapult. Cooper was jolted by the jarring impact, his already pained body screamed in protest.

He was dazed and his eye unfocused as he got off Altor's back, looking dazedly up at the cloudy sky. He looked down at Altor. His body was a tangled heep. Many of his fine ruby scales were punctured with arrow holes and the entirety of the dragon's long body was limp. The only definable movement was the slow rise snd fall of Altor's chest; the breathing seemed spaced.

However, it could have been much worse and he seemed to be alright, just winded and disgruntled. Then he saw it.

The scales on his chest where the boulder struck where slightly caved in. Cooper knew that he must be in pain, the dagger-like scales pressing against his lungs and heart as he took in air; at least he was breathing....

A great force swelled around Altor and Cooper, cutting their escape. Cooper began to worry, he couldn't take on all these people alone. But he wasn't going down without a fight.

Cooper drew Cometfell and let his aura erupt around him. He gathered the water molecules in the air and began to stir them, twisting his power into the water, causing it to swell and swirl around himself and his befallen companion. The Andanobii attacked with their magic and the mercenaries dived in.

Cooper fought back. He washed a man down and sent javelins of frozen water at an Andanobii who tried to stay back from him. He built the water around him and pushed it out, a short, circular wall slamming into all the mercenaries that got too close. Cooper tried to hold them back. Some fought through the waves trampling, over their now dead companions.

Cooper leapt forward at them. He slashed at a mercenary and the blade was skillfully parried. He was lunged at with a longsword and he slide the jab to the side with a flick of Cometfell. He slashed low and the blow was hurriedly blocked, he lunged forward, stabbing with full force. The blow struck hard and the mercenary stumbled backwards. Cooper spun and slashed high. The mercenary dropped to the ground.

Cooper had struggled to keep hold on the water. He had lost concentration while fighting the last man and now he was open to attack on all sides. Even though ten or so of the mercenaries were incapacitated, almost all of the twenty Andanobii were still up. They launched shadows at him and a whip snapped across his blind eye as a sword slammed into his shoulder, punching him off his feet. He laid there, writhing in pain. "Ugh," Cooper moaned. He heard as the catapult went off again to his right and as loud footfalls closed in on him. Cooper saw as the shadow blade dissipated, leaving an ugly wound.

His head felt faint. He struggled to a sitting position as the Andanobii closed in a circle around him. He couldn't fight back, he was barely sitting, still dazed and in pain. But he knew he must fight on.

He forced himself to his feet, trying to ignore the pain he so felt. He let his aura take hold and cast one of his finest incantations, one he was taught long ago. He held out his hand and a ball of radiant light grew into a large sphere, floating mythically over his palm. An auric energy glowed brightly around the ball and Cooper fed his aura directly into it. His hand shook as he went to cast it, as his foes once again pressed in. This shall take us all, They will not live and neither I, not in my state, I will die...I will go...all of us together...

And a roar shattered the air like thunder.

Altor took off the ground and into the air, wings spreading wide. He roared again, and the Andanobii scattered. With his maw gaping open, he breathed out and a fiery blaze swelled forth, scorching the ground and any foes within reach.

The aurora-like energy slowly dissipated into threads of ethereal power and Cooper sat huddled under him as Altor singly defeated the last of the Andanobii protecting the first catapult. Cooper watched as Altor turned, striking out at the catapult with his talons, slashing the weapon apart. The dragon finally turned to look down at Cooper "You okay?" Cooper could hear the pain in his voice.

Cooper smiled weakly, trying to act strong for Altor's sake, trying to pretend he had never considered what he did "I'm cool. By the way, way to show off."

The dragon smirked "I'm just getting started, even though all that fire took a lot of fuel. Let's go get that second war machine." Cooper swung up onto Altor's back.

Altor took off, beating his large wings, soaring high into the clouds. As he did, Cooper ripped off part of his shirt sleeve and dressed his wounds. He needed to be ready for the next fight.

As he tied off the bandage, they descended on the flow of the wind. Cooper unsheathed Cometfell and readied himself; it was time to end the catapult barrages. Altor roared in arrogance as he landed, batting down an enemy with a swipe of his claws. Cooper slashed down a foe astride Altor before leaping off his back, kicking a mercenary to the ground as he did.

He managed to just barely build up his whirpool, swirling the water so that it crashed into those that got too close and smashed them against the hard ground. To his right, Alerdreamian forces attacked with renewed vigor and to his left Altor was an one beast army. Altor swiped at Andanobii with his claws, pushed them around with his tail and smacked away their magic like it was nothing; for some reason, he didn't breathe fire.

Cooper dropped a foe with Wind Dragon and spun into the low slash of Water Dragon, catching the mercenary in his legs and then thrust forward, Cometfell striking home, puncturing the man's leather armor.

Cooper removed the blade. He had stayed just focused enough to keep his water defense going, but it began to dwindle. He had used up a lot of his energy already. He let the water release once more into the atmosphere.

He turned to his right. The catapult was nearby. He charged at it, aura billowing around him. He leapt over fallen bodies and sprinted on. A few people tried to intercept him but his comrades met then instead, their weapons clashing in a heated struggle for dominance.

And then it happened.

"Drake bane!" A beam of black lightning blasted from near the catapult before enveloping Altor. The lightning snapped and crackled around him and he roared in pain. He slumped to the ground, his body smoking.

Cooper ran forward. And his eyes met Essence's.

Her blue hair hung down in twisting locks, resting on slim shoulders. Her face was fair, features sharply defined. Her eyes were piercing as an arrowhead. She gave him a small smile, flashing her perfect white teeth his way.

And she lifted her hand in one swift movement, and a bolt of shadows erupted forth, right at Cooper.
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