Dragon Unleashed (Book 1 of the Dragon Mage Saga)

Battle at the Barricade

The first thing that captured Darla’s eyes was the Ocean of Erona, which basked on the sandy shore of the beach.  The water was a clear, silvery crystal, reminding Darla of a mirror or some other sort of reflective surface. The water appeared glassy and smooth, drawing to a complete stop at the sandy white beach. The beach was spattered with crumbling green hills dotted with muddied huts and villas, along with teetering trees that looked ages old. Darla noticed the strange fruits growing on the trees-peculiar, yellowish-green substances that twisted and turned at an awkward angle clung to the branches, along with some sort of seedy neon green berries that exuded a toxic odor.

            “Here we are,” Ruby whispered. “Okay, so I bet that’s the cave where the wall with the code on it is.”

            Darla glanced down to where Ruby was pointing. At the end of the beach was a large, spacious gap in the side of one of the hills. A line of guards with icy cold faces stood in front of it, holding large spears in their hands.

            “Yep, looks like it. Okay, the cove appears to be some sort of town square,” Darla noted, looking around at the several tiny shops that dotted the beach. “That means there are a lot of people who need to get out of here. Ruby, Cecily, the invisibility Magix is fading.”

            Cecily nodded grimly. “Let’s go then. I love you guys.”

            Hugo squeezed her shoulder comfortingly as the invisibility dropped, revealing them to the hundreds of devils scattered around the beach.

     Before anyone could react, Cecily let out a scream and shoved her hand out in the direction of the crowd. Darla watched in utter amazement as everyone was flung into the air, toppling down to the ground. Cecily continued to wreak havoc on the Cove, telekinetically knocking down shop after shop, stand after stand, person after person. But she wouldn’t be able to go on forever-Darla noticed that Cecily was growing tired and weak. Her energy was running down fast like sand trickling down an hourglass.

            “Ruby, go,” Darla whispered.

            Ruby grinned and let out an inhuman scream. Two silver balls of fire were instantly summoned out of her hand. She shot them out like rockets, piercing devil after devil. At this time, the devils had all shifted from their human form to their beastly form. Firemongers, White Maidens, and even more….Darla cringed at the sight of a slimy, yellowish thing with gigantic acid-dripping fangs.

            Two Firemongers ran over, wielding fiery swords. They lunged over to Darla and Hugo, but before they could even strike, rain began to pour down from the heavens-boiling hot, magical rain. Hugo raised his hands to the sky, grinning as the Firemongers melted into a heap of burning ash onto the sand.

            “Ever seen a Weatherer before?” he joked to a group of White Maidens, their razor sharp tongues aimed towards them.

            “Forces of nature can’t battle fate, the world is ending and it won’t be late,” the White Maidens chorused in their sweet, angelic voices, their disgustingly grotesque faces scrunched up.