Fate of the Marked

Kael

Kael's eyes locked onto the dragon with a fire I hadn't seen before. The nervous, uncertain boy who had hesitated at the thought of facing this beast was gone. In his place stood something entirely different—someone entirely different.

His feet shifted, planting firmly into the ground. The air around him buzzed, charged with energy, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

No, not gone. Just... too fast to see.

I barely caught the blur of his movement as he leapt, soaring through the air with impossible grace. In an instant, he was atop the dragon, perched on its massive, writhing back. It wasn't a teleportation spell—I was sure of that. I'd felt no ripple of mana, no disturbance in the magical field. This was pure, unadulterated speed, honed to perfection.

I couldn't help but gape, my mind racing to keep up. "What... in the hells is this kid?" I muttered under my breath, my fingers tightening around my staff.

The dragon roared, twisting its head to dislodge him, but Kael was already moving again, dashing along the creature's ridged spine like it was nothing more than a paved road. He stopped at its head, crouched low, his fist clenched tightly.

The sun blazed high overhead, its light glinting off the dragon's crimson scales. For a moment, the battlefield seemed frozen, time suspended as Kael reared back, his fist glowing faintly with crackling energy.

Then he struck.

The sound that followed wasn't just the impact of his fist against the dragon's skull. It was a roar of thunder, a deafening clap that echoed across the field and shook the very ground beneath us.

From the sky, a bolt of lightning descended, as if summoned by the sheer force of Kael's blow. It struck the dragon's head in perfect tandem with his punch, the two forces combining into a blinding explosion of light and sound.

I shielded my eyes, squinting through the glare just in time to see the impossible.

The dragon, this mighty, seemingly invincible creature, was falling.

Kael's punch, amplified by the raw power of the thunderbolt, had driven the dragon from the sky. Its massive form plummeted to the ground, crashing with an earth-shattering impact that sent shockwaves rippling through the field.

Dust and debris filled the air, but I could still see him. Kael stood atop the dragon's head, his body crackling with electricity, his stance steady despite the chaos around him.

I swallowed hard, my mind racing to process what I'd just witnessed. "Did that... did that kid just—" I cut myself off, unable to finish the thought.

Kael had brought a dragon out of the sky. With his bare hands.

In all my years of fighting, I'd seen feats of strength, cunning, and magic that defied logic, but this? This was something else entirely.

The dragon growled low, dazed but far from defeated. Its massive claws scraped against the ground as it tried to regain its footing.

I pushed myself upright, ignoring the ache in my side as I gripped my staff. My mind raced, focusing on what little I could do to help in this moment. With a whispered incantation, I conjured an orb of water, the shimmering sphere swirling at the tip of my staff.

The dragon's eyes briefly flicked toward me as I launched the orb. It soared through the air and splashed against its massive body, a strike that seemed insignificant against the scale of the beast. But that wasn't the point.

The water spread across the dragon's scales, seeping into the cracks and crevices, leaving a glistening sheen behind. The creature shook itself, as if annoyed, but the damage wasn't immediate. No, that would come with Kael.

Kael's feet shifted, planting into the dirt with a deliberate power, and his body coiled like a spring. Before I could blink, he was gone, a blur of motion that seemed to vanish and reappear atop the dragon's head.

He didn't hesitate. His fist, crackling with pure electricity, descended with a force that defied reason.

When it struck, the thunderclap that followed was unlike anything I'd ever heard, a roar of sound so loud it made the ground tremble beneath my feet.

The dragon recoiled, its massive body convulsing as arcs of lightning coursed across its scales. But then I saw it—the water.

The liquid from my earlier orb had seeped into the dragon's hide, amplifying the impact of Kael's lightning. The electricity danced across the wet surface, crackling and sparking with renewed ferocity. The beast's movements became jerky and erratic, its muscles spasming as the electricity tore through its body with amplified intensity.

Kael didn't stop.

Another punch landed, and another thunderclap followed, each one sending a fresh wave of lightning surging through the dragon. The sky itself seemed to answer his strikes, jagged bolts of lightning tearing through the heavens and meeting his fists with each blow.

Despite the scorching sunlight overhead, the battlefield was a storm of sound and fury, with Kael at its center, relentless and unstoppable.

I watched in awe as he moved, his speed and power unmatched. Each punch landed with surgical precision, and every strike sent another surge of electricity through the dragon's body, the water from my spell acting as a perfect conductor.

"This kid," I muttered under my breath, unable to keep the amazement from my voice. "Magnificent."

The dragon, desperate now, lashed out with claws and tail, but Kael was already gone, dodging and weaving with effortless grace. He stayed on its head, his fists a blur of motion as he continued his assault.

With one final roar, Kael reared back, his entire body surging with electricity. His fist crackled with a blinding intensity, arcs of lightning dancing across his form as if the storm itself was channeling through him.

Then he struck.

The punch landed squarely against the dragon's neck, and for a brief, impossible moment, everything seemed to freeze.

And then, the air itself exploded.

The sheer force of the blow unleashed a shockwave that rippled outward in all directions, kicking up dirt and debris as it slammed into the earth. The sound was deafening, a thunderclap so loud it felt like the heavens were splitting apart.

The dragon's massive head didn't just recoil—it severed entirely from its body. The impact sent it hurtling through the air, tumbling to the ground with a bone-rattling crash that left the field silent in its wake.

The beast's massive body swayed for a moment, as if in disbelief of what had just happened, before crumpling to the ground in a lifeless heap.

Kael stood there, his fist still raised, his body crackling with fading electricity. He was breathing hard, his shoulders rising and falling with each labored breath, but his gaze was steady, fixed on the fallen dragon.

I could only stare, my grip tightening on my staff as I processed what I'd just witnessed.

To be continued...