Prophecies of Cavalon

Chapter 6: True Darkness

True Darkness

The dragon had to be at least sixty feet long, and nearly thirty feet tall if you include his horns.

Several sprouted from the back of his head and then ran down the middle of his spine in ever-shortening spikes.

His tail was armed with a large blade on the end, roughly five feet long and wickedly serrated.

His body took up almost a third of the cavern, and his magical aura was so strong I felt like I had been stuck inside a pressure cooker.

He lowered his head to sniff at us with his great nostrils, the wind almost sucking me off of my feet as a grating rumble began to rise from his mouth.

It took me a moment to realize that the dragon was laughing at us.

"So you are the creatures that overpowered my little puppet."

His voice was so deep it felt like it was vibrating my very bones, "I must say I am impressed that you were able to defeat her so easily, however, her powers pale in comparison with mine."

The grating laugh came again, "You might as well surrender now little ones.

You stand no chance against my magic.

I have had centuries to hone my skills into pure death and destruction.

To even attack me would be like a fly biting the hide of an elephant."

"We're not afraid of you!" Blaze called out under me, "We'll beat you just as we freed Calisto!"

The dragon looked down at Blaze like he was just an insect begging to be squashed, "Very well, if you feel that you can fight me, I will allow you one free shot.

If you are as powerful as you think you are, then I should be severely wounded from your attack."

Blaze rumbled under his breath, condensing his magic into a tight ball just in front of his muzzle.

I tried to stop him but before I could do anything he shot the red sphere at the dragon's head.

The dragon didn't even move as the fireball exploded under his right eye, his entire head becoming engulfed in smoke.

Blaze smiled as he imagined the dragon's head no longer on his shoulders, but as the smoke cleared I felt his jaw drop as the dragon shook his head from side to side, dissipating the thinning smoke to reveal he had not been affected by the attack at all.

His deep red scales didn't show even a scratch from the blast, and he chuckled as Blaze tried to comprehend what had happened.

"I told you your powers were too weak to stand a chance." He shook his head and made a sound of dismissal, "Young ones never listen to their elders.

So, we'll just have to make you learn."

Without warning the dragon arched his neck and spat out a black fireball, the heat instantly making me sweat as it hurtled straight for us.

Blaze threw up a hasty shield but we still took the brunt of the physical impact as the shield protected us from the majority of the heat.

Blaze fell to his knees and I slid off of his so he could rest without my weight on his back.

I looked up at the dragon to find he had seemed to grow, now taking up almost half of the cavern as he switched his gaze from me and Blaze to Cadence and Rina, who were frozen in fear as the reptilian gaze seemed to pin them to the spot.

He licked his lips and slid his tail over to lightly run the very tip of the blade up Rina's leg, leaving a hair-thin cut up her back thigh as she stood rooted to the spot.