Author's Note: I don't know, Bubba seemed a little too tacky. You know, the
name Bubba puts me in mind of a fat old semi truck driver. Not the kind of
person I wanted Victor to be. DDX, I believe I mentioned this, but no,
Victor never needs to reload. How it works is, when Victor transforms, the
magic that makes his armor also transforms his weapon, like all other
Dragoons. But his is a little different. You see, the magic imbued in his
weapon to make it all Dragoon-y and whatnot also supplies all of the
ammunition. Kinda nifty, if I do say so myself.
Anyway, about reviews changing the outcome of the story, that's not really true. You see, yes, I did speed up the reappearance of the Dragon Block Staff because of a review, but I was going to put it back in anyway, it was just a matter of a few chapters earlier than I had originally intended. The Divine Dragoon Spirit came in at the exact same time as I had intended, that wasn't affected by reviews at all. Occasionally I'll slip a little description in a chapter to clear up a reader's question, but there are no major alterations to the course of the story. The thing about my writing is that it's very flexible. I know the major events I want to work in, it's linking them together that's the fun part.
The demons sit on their hands for several days between attacks on purpose, partly for strategical planning and partly because they just want to make the pathetic humans squirm. But no, they'll probably leave Rayen's dad alone. Although it probably would shove Rayen even closer to the brink, it would take his attention away to something besides the war, and they don't want that. They need him focused solely on the war and nothing else.
OK, all of this chapter will be told from Rayen's POV. Why? Because one, it's easier for me to write big battle scenes from a 1st person perspective, two, because I think some of you need a deeper look into Rayen (no, not because of reviews, just on principle), and three, because I want to. K? Good.
Chapter 67
My breath came out in a lengthy exhale as the coiled Dragon watched me with cruel anticipation, waiting for me to come towards my own demise. I drew Birathion from the ornate sheath that was strapped securely to my back between my wings. I spun the sword through my fingers and tossed once into the air, watching the sun glint off the blade. For some reason, the sunlight seemed pale and without warmth that day, but whether it was just because it was behind a thick gray curtain of winter clouds or if it was a symbol of ominous portents, I couldn't say. I reached up and seized hold of the two intertwined platinum dragons that made up the Protector's decorative hilt, trying to keep my mind on the fight ahead, or the events that would inevitably transpire afterwards, or anything besides the growing sense of terror churning in my gut at the sight of that ravenous behemoth.
Finally, when I had quelled the stirrings within myself, I pushed off the ground, the snow making one final protesting crunch beneath my heavy boots before I was fully in the air, my wings beating rhythmically at my sides. Predictably, the Dragon struck, lunging forward to swallow me whole. I rolled to the right, then thrusted towards the sleek, black, scaled body of the demonized Dragon. The coil merely moved beyond my reach, and my sword's tip passed through empty frigid air. The Dragon lunged again, mouth open wide, but I folded my wings and let gravity take me below the strike, and prepared to send my blade through the creature's neck. However, at that moment my attention was diverted by a thing I had forgotten in my rush to end this battle.
The Dragon's five-spiked tail streaked towards me, and I was forced to cancel my earlier planned blow in order to avoid getting skewered. I wedged Birathion between two of the prongs, and turned the tail aside. Of course, this gave the Dragon a chance to recover and prepare to attack again. Glistening teeth came for me again with a primal hunger to rend my flesh, but again, my small form was able to slip away from the titan's gaping jaws. The Dragon did not strike again with its tail, it would have been far too obvious and easy to avoid or block. Instead, it used its body as a weapon against me, slamming one of the massive coils into my midsection, knocking the wind from my lungs and flinging me back.
I flared my wings, bracing them against the wind and allowing the air resistance to slow my unexpected flight. That hit hadn't hurt much, but I knew that if I didn't get something going very soon things would start rapidly plunging downhill. A blazing orb of flame formed in my palm, and I hurled it at the Dragon, the crackling fire giving my fingertips a brief tingling sensation as the ball left my hand. The projectile detonated against the back of the Dragon's skull, and the monster hissed and turned about, increasing its likeness to a gigantic serpent. It would take a lot more than that to kill this thing, but it was a start.
I was tired of letting the Dragon come to me. I dove, the sword held high above my head, ready to drive it through whatever part of the hulking beast I could get a hold of. But the massive serpentine body rippled away from my grasp, as if I was the wrong pole of a magnet. Try as I might, which I did, weaving and spiraling through the air, I was unable to find a target that remained within my reach. My attempt to gain early leverage was interrupted as the spiked tail came slicing through the air once more, and I had to duck to keep from having my head taken off.
This was not working well, I knew. The Dragon could keep going at this rate for as long as it wanted, but I could not. I needed to gain the upper hand, and the faster the better. Magic, of course, was the way to go to achieve such an objective. What would work well against a Sea Dragon? Fire, obviously, but I needed more than one element to deliver a firm punch to this thing.
I was still racking my brain when the coils that seemed magnetically repelled by me suddenly changed their minds. They shot towards me with surprising speed, until I was trapped in a constricting hold. As the Dragon started to squeeze, trying to either snap me in half or suffocate me, whichever came first, my mind raced frantically. My sword arm was pinned to my side, so that idea was out. Think, damn it, think! Lightning! Everyone knows electricity and water don't mix, right?
I sent a surge of lightning through the Dragon's serpentine body, which caused a protesting roar of pain and a subsequent release on the hold as the monster appeared to have thought better of trying to crush me. Satisfaction flooded my being, giving me a much needed boost. I had my twin weapons now, flame and thunder. Not a pair one would normally conjure up, but they would work well enough, at least against this particular foe. I nurtured the violet and crimson streaks on my armor, until they eagerly consumed the others in their constant contest for strength, and stood ready for my command. I was more than happy to oblige.
"The tiniest spark can transform into something beyond control, as fire and lightning blend together in an eternal dance from which there is no escape. Inferno Storm."
Fire and thunder crackled about me, and I focused their power, turning to my draconic adversary. The Dragon was certainly a big enough target. I wouldn't miss. I channeled the flame to one hand, the electricity to the other, until my hands pulsed with a radience that lit up the sky far better than the weak sun. I was ready. Time to hit hard and fast.
A wildfire can consume a forest in a matter of hours, while lightning bolts are there and gone in an instant. Both fire and thunder moved with incredible speed, and I appeared to have gained that attribute as well. All I know is that I was suddenly able to move very, very fast. It was impossible to tell whether that was an effect of the spell or the adrenaline pumping through my veins, but it didn't really matter. I was hardly complaining.
I let loose a bolt of fire, which made contact right against the Dragon's skull. Although the pyrotechnics were undeniably impressive, it didn't appear to share my enthusiasm. A hiss of pain accompanied the sharp tail seeking to impale me, but I was gone long before it reached where I had been. Just to teach it a lesson, I decided to send a jolt through the tail that had given me such difficulty. Which I did, with great aplomb.
The Dragon writhed in agony at the force of the two blows, and lunged again. I swerved away from the head and fired off another blazing shot. I repeated the process several times, dodging the Dragon's blow and punishing the offending body part. After a while, the beast appeared to wise up, and it waited for me to make a move before attempting to attack. Just to spite it, I brought both of my hands together, pooling the remaining energy, and released it in a single enormous arrow of flame with lightning shooting around the edges. The Dragon was too large and disoriented to hope to avoid it, and the resulting explosion shook the area and jarred some snow loose from the nearby mountains, which cascaded around the slopes.
The Dragon lay on the earth, twitching sporatically. The magic that clouded my hands died, and I drew my sword again, slicing it through the air a couple of times in triumph. That was far easier than I had expected. I was about to turn to leave when my battle sense picked up movement out of the corner of my eye. The tail! The Dragon was still alive! I ducked beneath the thorns yet again, just as the head reared up, its face alight with malevolent amusement.
Now that it had the advantage of surprise the Dragon decided to use magic of its own. It exhaled a cloying cloud of frost that sped for me, obviously hoping to freeze me solid. I powered to the left as fast as I could, and it hit a glancing blow on my right arm. However, the force of the magic took Birathion from my hand, where it was thrown to the ground, encased in a thick chunk of ice. I rubbed my frost-rimmed right arm, assessing the situation.
My sword was unusable, and using the physical or magical energy to free it could prove fatal. I had used up a great deal of my magic on the last spell, and I was unsure of how much I had left. My transformation still had a fair amount of time left on it, but if I was sapped of everything else, what good would that do? The Dragon was weakened for sure, but still very much alive. My hope dimmed, and reality surfaced.
"Oh yeah... I'm royally screwed right about now."
Author's Note: Yes, it's the fight so special it stretches out for two chapters. Aren't you a bunch of lucky people. Yes, I know it was late for the third time in a row, but I have been really busy lately. Anyway, if any of you care, I am going to try to get Chapter 4 of Crimson Wings up before Chapter 68, so I promise you won't have to wait much longer for that. Joy.
Anyway, about reviews changing the outcome of the story, that's not really true. You see, yes, I did speed up the reappearance of the Dragon Block Staff because of a review, but I was going to put it back in anyway, it was just a matter of a few chapters earlier than I had originally intended. The Divine Dragoon Spirit came in at the exact same time as I had intended, that wasn't affected by reviews at all. Occasionally I'll slip a little description in a chapter to clear up a reader's question, but there are no major alterations to the course of the story. The thing about my writing is that it's very flexible. I know the major events I want to work in, it's linking them together that's the fun part.
The demons sit on their hands for several days between attacks on purpose, partly for strategical planning and partly because they just want to make the pathetic humans squirm. But no, they'll probably leave Rayen's dad alone. Although it probably would shove Rayen even closer to the brink, it would take his attention away to something besides the war, and they don't want that. They need him focused solely on the war and nothing else.
OK, all of this chapter will be told from Rayen's POV. Why? Because one, it's easier for me to write big battle scenes from a 1st person perspective, two, because I think some of you need a deeper look into Rayen (no, not because of reviews, just on principle), and three, because I want to. K? Good.
Chapter 67
My breath came out in a lengthy exhale as the coiled Dragon watched me with cruel anticipation, waiting for me to come towards my own demise. I drew Birathion from the ornate sheath that was strapped securely to my back between my wings. I spun the sword through my fingers and tossed once into the air, watching the sun glint off the blade. For some reason, the sunlight seemed pale and without warmth that day, but whether it was just because it was behind a thick gray curtain of winter clouds or if it was a symbol of ominous portents, I couldn't say. I reached up and seized hold of the two intertwined platinum dragons that made up the Protector's decorative hilt, trying to keep my mind on the fight ahead, or the events that would inevitably transpire afterwards, or anything besides the growing sense of terror churning in my gut at the sight of that ravenous behemoth.
Finally, when I had quelled the stirrings within myself, I pushed off the ground, the snow making one final protesting crunch beneath my heavy boots before I was fully in the air, my wings beating rhythmically at my sides. Predictably, the Dragon struck, lunging forward to swallow me whole. I rolled to the right, then thrusted towards the sleek, black, scaled body of the demonized Dragon. The coil merely moved beyond my reach, and my sword's tip passed through empty frigid air. The Dragon lunged again, mouth open wide, but I folded my wings and let gravity take me below the strike, and prepared to send my blade through the creature's neck. However, at that moment my attention was diverted by a thing I had forgotten in my rush to end this battle.
The Dragon's five-spiked tail streaked towards me, and I was forced to cancel my earlier planned blow in order to avoid getting skewered. I wedged Birathion between two of the prongs, and turned the tail aside. Of course, this gave the Dragon a chance to recover and prepare to attack again. Glistening teeth came for me again with a primal hunger to rend my flesh, but again, my small form was able to slip away from the titan's gaping jaws. The Dragon did not strike again with its tail, it would have been far too obvious and easy to avoid or block. Instead, it used its body as a weapon against me, slamming one of the massive coils into my midsection, knocking the wind from my lungs and flinging me back.
I flared my wings, bracing them against the wind and allowing the air resistance to slow my unexpected flight. That hit hadn't hurt much, but I knew that if I didn't get something going very soon things would start rapidly plunging downhill. A blazing orb of flame formed in my palm, and I hurled it at the Dragon, the crackling fire giving my fingertips a brief tingling sensation as the ball left my hand. The projectile detonated against the back of the Dragon's skull, and the monster hissed and turned about, increasing its likeness to a gigantic serpent. It would take a lot more than that to kill this thing, but it was a start.
I was tired of letting the Dragon come to me. I dove, the sword held high above my head, ready to drive it through whatever part of the hulking beast I could get a hold of. But the massive serpentine body rippled away from my grasp, as if I was the wrong pole of a magnet. Try as I might, which I did, weaving and spiraling through the air, I was unable to find a target that remained within my reach. My attempt to gain early leverage was interrupted as the spiked tail came slicing through the air once more, and I had to duck to keep from having my head taken off.
This was not working well, I knew. The Dragon could keep going at this rate for as long as it wanted, but I could not. I needed to gain the upper hand, and the faster the better. Magic, of course, was the way to go to achieve such an objective. What would work well against a Sea Dragon? Fire, obviously, but I needed more than one element to deliver a firm punch to this thing.
I was still racking my brain when the coils that seemed magnetically repelled by me suddenly changed their minds. They shot towards me with surprising speed, until I was trapped in a constricting hold. As the Dragon started to squeeze, trying to either snap me in half or suffocate me, whichever came first, my mind raced frantically. My sword arm was pinned to my side, so that idea was out. Think, damn it, think! Lightning! Everyone knows electricity and water don't mix, right?
I sent a surge of lightning through the Dragon's serpentine body, which caused a protesting roar of pain and a subsequent release on the hold as the monster appeared to have thought better of trying to crush me. Satisfaction flooded my being, giving me a much needed boost. I had my twin weapons now, flame and thunder. Not a pair one would normally conjure up, but they would work well enough, at least against this particular foe. I nurtured the violet and crimson streaks on my armor, until they eagerly consumed the others in their constant contest for strength, and stood ready for my command. I was more than happy to oblige.
"The tiniest spark can transform into something beyond control, as fire and lightning blend together in an eternal dance from which there is no escape. Inferno Storm."
Fire and thunder crackled about me, and I focused their power, turning to my draconic adversary. The Dragon was certainly a big enough target. I wouldn't miss. I channeled the flame to one hand, the electricity to the other, until my hands pulsed with a radience that lit up the sky far better than the weak sun. I was ready. Time to hit hard and fast.
A wildfire can consume a forest in a matter of hours, while lightning bolts are there and gone in an instant. Both fire and thunder moved with incredible speed, and I appeared to have gained that attribute as well. All I know is that I was suddenly able to move very, very fast. It was impossible to tell whether that was an effect of the spell or the adrenaline pumping through my veins, but it didn't really matter. I was hardly complaining.
I let loose a bolt of fire, which made contact right against the Dragon's skull. Although the pyrotechnics were undeniably impressive, it didn't appear to share my enthusiasm. A hiss of pain accompanied the sharp tail seeking to impale me, but I was gone long before it reached where I had been. Just to teach it a lesson, I decided to send a jolt through the tail that had given me such difficulty. Which I did, with great aplomb.
The Dragon writhed in agony at the force of the two blows, and lunged again. I swerved away from the head and fired off another blazing shot. I repeated the process several times, dodging the Dragon's blow and punishing the offending body part. After a while, the beast appeared to wise up, and it waited for me to make a move before attempting to attack. Just to spite it, I brought both of my hands together, pooling the remaining energy, and released it in a single enormous arrow of flame with lightning shooting around the edges. The Dragon was too large and disoriented to hope to avoid it, and the resulting explosion shook the area and jarred some snow loose from the nearby mountains, which cascaded around the slopes.
The Dragon lay on the earth, twitching sporatically. The magic that clouded my hands died, and I drew my sword again, slicing it through the air a couple of times in triumph. That was far easier than I had expected. I was about to turn to leave when my battle sense picked up movement out of the corner of my eye. The tail! The Dragon was still alive! I ducked beneath the thorns yet again, just as the head reared up, its face alight with malevolent amusement.
Now that it had the advantage of surprise the Dragon decided to use magic of its own. It exhaled a cloying cloud of frost that sped for me, obviously hoping to freeze me solid. I powered to the left as fast as I could, and it hit a glancing blow on my right arm. However, the force of the magic took Birathion from my hand, where it was thrown to the ground, encased in a thick chunk of ice. I rubbed my frost-rimmed right arm, assessing the situation.
My sword was unusable, and using the physical or magical energy to free it could prove fatal. I had used up a great deal of my magic on the last spell, and I was unsure of how much I had left. My transformation still had a fair amount of time left on it, but if I was sapped of everything else, what good would that do? The Dragon was weakened for sure, but still very much alive. My hope dimmed, and reality surfaced.
"Oh yeah... I'm royally screwed right about now."
Author's Note: Yes, it's the fight so special it stretches out for two chapters. Aren't you a bunch of lucky people. Yes, I know it was late for the third time in a row, but I have been really busy lately. Anyway, if any of you care, I am going to try to get Chapter 4 of Crimson Wings up before Chapter 68, so I promise you won't have to wait much longer for that. Joy.