Razing Infernos :Dragon Spawn

In The Beginning....

Wind whistled furiously across the tree tops in sharp gusts that shook the trees to their very core. We were lined up  between the trees. Waiting. I looked around at my men. shaven heads a myriad of scars from years of constant battles. Their eyebrows were thick and bushy making them look like little islands on their otherwise smooth shaven faces. Their eyes were cold and hard. Deadly. sturdy men. The order was to strike quickly and destroy everything and everyone in sight. Despite the cold weather my small band of ten men  wore only  skin skirts. These were not ordinary skin skirts they were spelled with ancient magic to make them fire proof, these covered our loins  and ended their  coverage at the knees. Our deep muscular chests glimmered with sweat in the yellow evening sun that sifted its rays through the trees. Sweat not from exhaustion but from the raw power that pulsed in our bodies. A bird cracked  a branch overhead and flew screaming to safety to avoid the massacre soon to happen

I drew my attention back to  the situation at hand. My Commander had ordered us to  come to the  small hide out to exterminate  the last remaining  Icers who had defected from the Kings rule. The task was fairly simple  they just were a normal bunch of Icers nothing we couldn't handle. But the commander seemed intent on finding a certain stone in possession of these folk. I thought lightly of the matter since it was  not  my place to question authority.

"Auuuuuuuuuuuuu au au auuuuuuuuu. "A wolf's howling. The signal. Me and my men charged  from the forest. With each step  we morphed: first our skin cracking then  steam  coming from the cracks  and finally hot  boiling lava filled the cracks making us look like walking  volcanoes.

The vegetation around us  soldered  and burnt away as we charged. Smoky breath escaped our nostrils  as we ran the one hundred meter distance to the first   stone house. I braced my big  muscles  and barrelled shoulder first into the stone structure smashing the wall in its entirety to the ground. Normal house utensils were strewn across the house in no unordinary fasion. A plate of  roast duck was on the table half eaten and left there. But there was no sing of people anywhere

My men sped past me and did the same  with the other houses. Something wasn't right. We saw the icer vermin enter these houses. I looked around at the smoking  ruin that was the settlement. Then I saw something white whizz  past me and  i had the characteristic thud of   flesh being  pierced. My comrade  stood  rooted to the spot a  giant  hole  in his chest. Thick blobs of  lava dropped from where his  lungs should have been and as if in slow motion he fell on his knees and then lay  face down. Dead.

Facing the direction  of where I saw the object fly from, there stood  twenty or more Icers. Mist emanating from their bodies and dissapearing into the  atmosphere around them. They were bigger than any I had ever seen before. Towering at seven  feet  they were a massive bulk of hard  cold muscle  and  even colder bone. They wore nothing since their morphed bodies concealed the necessary. Sharp frosty barbs protruded from their shoulders. Their chests were also covered in the same fashion but the  barbs were shorter and thicker. Each carried a sword that  seemed to be gleaming a dull  blueish hue. Arctic steel. The only  steel that could kill our kind. One of the creatures seemed to have a sort of  frosty crown on his head. Their leader. His trained  eyes on me.

My men stood  behind me readying themselves for what was to come. "Petra"  I called to  my Luitenant  "Sire" he answered "Go back to the village  tell them to leave immediately". Without a word  he left running going the opposite direction  the sound of his thudding footsteps growing fainter by the  minute. Icers have a habiy of traveling in bands. I wouldnt want this lot anywhare near Valerie and my unborn. They must seek shelter elsewhere.

My attention reverted to the man- beasts before me. The only way to kill an Icer was to crush its head or gorge out its heart. In the present circumstances  none of those seemed possible.  We would have to do this the  hard way. "We will wait for them to attack then we will use the smoke screen, we need to work quickly tides can easily change since we are only eight of us."
"Ant,Beetle,Bee,Mantis since you are the strongest  use your strength to break their legs I and the others will finish them off."Grunting  sounds of approval  met my command.

In a few moments the Icy army charged towards us leaving their leader behind. Drawing a deep breath my  men held it in . Just a few meters before they made contact  my men released their breath high into the air. This was no ordinary breath huge clouds of smoke spewed forth from their lungs enveloping us and our foes in its dark embrace. We could see in this  screen of  blackness but our foes stumbled and fell on top of each other. Blinded. Our chance.

"Destroy" I roared. Wasting no  minute my fist connected with an icers face making it explode into a million shards of  ice.  Burn on my left was having a Jolly time as his  knee crushed another skull and his hand tore open  another's chest cavity leaving the body to drop  on its own. After about  killing  15 Icers the  smoke screen  began to  lift. The bodies of the  icers were melting under our feet  leaving behind the mortal bodies they once were.

The remaining Icers seemed unfazed. Burn seemed exhilarated. "Let me finish them off  sire" He said and charged  towards the  enemy   "Wait you fool" I screamed after him but he didn't listen. I watched as the  scene unfolded before my eyes just as Burn was ready to attack the first  beast he lost his footing and tripped. He fell down at the foot of an icer. In a swift movement  of the sword , Burn stopped moving and his head rolled away from his body.

In mindless  fury my  remaining  band charged  and tried to revenge  their lost comrade  but also got killed but not without going down with their respective  opponents. Fools.

Now only two remained, one hotter than hell the other colder than ice. Regarding each other with caution. Each deadly in its own way. The tension in the air was  electric. Eyes unmoving. Breaths shallow, controlled. Muscles stretching. Readying themselves for the clash to come. I reached for the  small pouch that was strapped to my waist and took out a small  vial. It contained dragon  blood. The last hope of the  getting an edge over an opponent of equal strength or even  greater strength . Opening the vial i drank  its bitter contents. A warm feeling  snaked its way inside my body getting hotter and hotter. Its effects were almost immediate. I could see clearer  and farther. The lava that  flowed through my veins turned  white hot and the ground underneath my feet smoked. Deep breaths i took made a whistling sound in the still atmosphere.

My opponent  viewed my increase in power calmly. It calmly reached behind his  icy back  and drew  two  massive  Arctic steel swords. Brandishing them at his sides  it started walking towards me at first then jogging then finally  full speed sprinting towards me. I changed my arms into swords and  waited. The pain from the  Arctic steel as it collided with my now hardened armswas dulled by the dragon blood as each time  the  ice giant hit  with his sword  fragments of my stone skin would  break. I knew I should end this fast if I was to survive. Waiting for the moment when   both its  swords were  high up in the air ready to strike  again  I kicked him  in the  gut  knocking him down  and the  swords  tumbled out of his reach. Seizing the moment  i reverted my hands back to fists and sat across his massive body  landing  strong  punches across  his face.

Delivering punch after punch Its face   developed  small fissures making me increase my ferocity and  attack speed until I felt   a sharp pain in my torso and side. I couldn't move. The beast pushed me over and I fell to the ground. Two Arctic swords  were buried in my upper torso. The pain was un imaginable.  A flaming foot stopped over near my  face.

My eyes  couldn't blink. Petra had a wicked smile on his  face. His eyes  mischievous. "Well magnus it seems this is the end of the road for you  the  only  fire man now will be me and I will take all  that you in your stupid quest for honor could  not. We should be  gods  Magnus  but you made us dogs now its time for me to...........The words couldn't  leave his mouth since  his throat  had received an unwelcome  steel  vistor by the name Arctic steel. He collapsed to the ground near me where  lava was flowing freely  snaking its way towards the trees  which soon caught fire.

The Icer chief stood  above us all and laughed. Without  saying a word he withdrew his swords from my flesh and left. The life was slowly seeping away from me as I turned human again one word escaped my lips before I  died "Valerie!" Then darkness.