What Makes a Monster

♱Fifty-Five♱

Trapped within the circle, pierced by thousands of thin white spears, is Soran. The darkness around him fades into wisps of smoke that are eaten by the mist within. That mist encircles him. Soran groans, eyes rolling into the back of his head. Body twitching and bloody. Skin growing gray. Eyes a dull red. When he attempts to move, the spears seethe white and he lets out a pained scream that shakes me to my core. The glyph shines even brighter, casting a clear cage around him.

Suddenly all is quiet and calm. All the magic seeping across the castle has dissipated, or rather, it's all locked inside the cage with Soran. By now, I can barely see him within the mist, but I hear him, low groans and hissed curses.

Five of the mages are also missing, only their robes remain. Dead? What happened? Nawa remains, breathing heavily, sweating profusely and stumbling to his knees. He rests on the ground, pale as death.

"This was much easier than expected," says Allvar until I kick the bastard in the shin. He shouts in surprise, but merely smirks at me.

"What the hell did you do?!" I scream, trying to wiggle my way out of the cuffs, but I'm tired. Unbelievably tired. Within seconds, I'm panting like I ran for miles. My eyes are heavy. It's hard to breathe. I end up leaning against the wall, cold and breathless.

Allvar walks over to the cage that continues to hum the same as the stones around us. "Immortal does not mean unstoppable. I suspected you'd make excellent bait, but this is a far better outcome than expected."

There's a loud bang from within the castle. The knights face the noise as Allvar gives an order in their native language. Three knights leave, assumingly to inspect the commotion.

The cage rattles. Within the mist, there's a darkness that hums but is snuffed out as quick as it appeared. Soran's groans are like a caged wild animal, howling and pained. I can barely make out his form inside, trapped in place, hovering above the glyph.

Something. I have to do something. Is there anything here to help? My eyes scan the area. I peer above. I glance to my wrists, now red from the chains. There's nothing. My head drops in defeat. I can't do anything. I'm merely sitting here, being bait, leading Soran to the real monsters. What kind of bullshit is this?

Why am I so useless?

Another noise, much closer and followed by a scream. Allvar stiffens. Nawa stumbles to his feet. Mere seconds pass before the windows in the hall ahead of us melt in deep orange flames that burst through the windows.

"The familiar is gone, what the hell is that?" hisses Allvar, turning to speak to Nawa.

Both curse when a beast bursts through the stone walls. The hallway crumbles in a cloud of dust, revealing only bright yellow eyes the size of a grown man's head. A low growl grows near moments before a beast that every child secretly dreams about perks it's head into the doorway; a dragon. That's definitely a dragon, not necessarily as big as expected, but the scaled beast crouches, long and lean with a head more similar to a bird's, beak and all. It moves like a cat though, ready to pounce with its wings resting at the side. Nawa and Allvar can only cast a shield of golden light when the beast's jaws open to shoot another wall of flames.

I shout, expecting the flames to take me as well, but the beast is focusing on the cage, hitting it with intense heat that is trapped in the room. Sweat trickles from my brow. What am I meant to do? What can I do? I've been asking myself that a lot. I hate it, being weak, being nothing, not being able to help. Soran groans again. Through the mist, I meet his gaze, the dull red flickering like a dying flame.

The cage almost screams out as the fire continues to roar. The tower shakes and cracks. Stones rain from above then the fire stops. My eyes adjust to the sudden darkness, only to widen in terror when Allvar is swatted away by a taloned paw. His sword is drawn in a second, but it's a little too late. The dragon rips the chains from the wall and I'm picked up by its claws like a rag doll. The world becomes small in an instance after it easily bursts through the ceiling, carrying me high above into the sky.