Fin’s mind was exploding with the panic and fear of everyone staring at the dragon flying straight towards them. His own hands were trembling, and his mind had gone blank as the King roared orders at his side and Captain Antonio drew his sword.

Mage Lee had grabbed onto Fin’s shoulder and was shaking him profusely, which succeeded in making the redhead turn his head to face him, the screams in his mind slowly losing their volume as the sounds around him began to filter back in.

“-an we do?!”

“What?” the witch asked dumbly.

“What can we do?!” mage Lee repeated as the flapping of great wings drew closer.

Staring back up at the dragon that was coming even closer, something occurred to the redhead then.

“If it’s a dragon… it could breathe fire at us… but why isn’t it doing that?”

Mage Lee opened his mouth to snap a reply, until he realized it was an excellent question.

The King appeared back at Fin’s side. “It might be him demanding an immediate surrender, or… he wants something uncooked.”

“Well… he might… have some trouble getting down here…” the witch announced faintly.

Everyone save for Captain Antonio- who was already commanding Knights to ready spears and crossbows, turned to look at the Viscount who still looked paralyzed with his eyes fixed on the great beast growing nearer.

“Ashowan, make some sense, man! What do you mean he’s going to-” mage Lee demanded as the dragon soared over them circling to land, when all of a sudden the beast’s nose rammed into an invisible barrier that sparked a couple times, and then…

A shield of blue lightning exploded into the sky, it’s dome-shaped existence revealing itself all around the castle grounds and spreading into the King’s forest.

Everyone fell silent as they realized the dragon kept bashing against the shield of blue lightning wrought with ancient symbols, but it was completely unable to break through.

The group turned in awe towards the witch who was glowing, his eyes shimmering more brightly than before. There wasn’t a soul present that could deny the impressive tsunami of his power encompassing them all… and it gave them the tiniest bit of hope.

*

Aidan gripped more firmly to the reign around his familiar’s neck, as well as its back with his thighs as the dragon reared back in shock at the surge of magic that had spread completely over the castle. Once he had secured his position on his back, the fire witch could see the full scope of the shield laid before him, and even he was unable to mask his utter disbelief.

“What in the…” His heart thudded in his chest as his shock and ire mixed dangerously. “How…”

He began to try and figure out what exactly was happening, when he noticed the symbols wrought throughout the blue lightning… it was the same symbol that was scorched into the earth of his old home on Quildon as he was sent flying through the air, the sight of his young son’s face screaming up at him his eyes filled with-

“Fin’s alive?!” Aidan roared in shock and fury as he strained his eyes through the lightning to try and glimpse where his troublesome offspring might be standing.

He couldn’t catch a glimpse of the redhead from his height, especially through the shield, but grinding his teeth as his familiar continued to try and claw its way through the lightning, only to be met with resistance.

“He can’t keep this amount of power up forever, and when that shield is gone I will let you eat him,” Aidan hissed to his familiar as he jerked the reins to force the dragon to fly back.

“Fire on my order!” he shouted while raising his fist in the air. Staring down at the massive dome, Aidan felt the heat in his body burn even hotter.

‘Impressive my son, but not even you can stand against me and win this war.’

*

“Fin… by chance… was this on the list of traps you had Mr. Howard submit?” Norman asked in obvious wonder, his arm hairs rising.

The Viscount was visibly strained as his magic thrummed around them. However, he finally managed to reply after swallowing with great difficulty. “It… was.”

“In the future, ‘magic shield’ is a little ambiguous for all of… this.” Norman gestured around in a small daze. “So nothing can get in?”

“Not… as long… as I maintain it,” the redhead ground out with great difficulty.

“How long can you maintain this?” Norman finally turned his gaze back to the dragon that let out an earth shuddering roar of frustration and swooped backwards for some reason that was filling everyone with dread.

“Hard… to say…” Fin gasped as the cries of children rang out from somewhere on the castle grounds.

A burst of fire erupted from the dragon that had everyone shrieking again. Yet the flames didn’t make it past the shield.

“Maybe an hour… at most,” the witch added on as a thin sheen of sweat spread on his brow.

“Is there any way for us to help you, Viscount? How can we communicate with the rest of the army and witches with this shield up?”

“Ashowan, why won’t my magic work outside the shield?!” Mage Lee demanded frantically while shaking his staff with the dormant crystal at its top.

“We just need… to get rid… of… the dragon. No one can come in, but you can… leave here. No magic comes in… or goes out...” Fin managed to explain as the glow around him grew a bit brighter.

“Mage Lee, come with me. We need to find some way to dispose of that creature before it flattens us,” Norman nodded to the mage who was only just managing to regain his wits.

“How long do you think it will be before he turns that dragon on Austice?” Norman asked Mr. Howard who began walking on trembling legs alongside his King.

“Depends on whether or not the dragon has a limited amount of fire. Then there is the matter that a blazing city could prove problematic for the army that is on its way here…” the assistant pointed towards the boats nearing the docks, though it was at least good to see that a great number of them were on fire.

“Your highness, we need to request a wind and a water witch. They might be able to help the Viscount on the other side of the barrier. From within the barrier I can’t cast any magic to the other side. It honestly is quite incredible that Ashowan is able to nullify magic use to some degree.”

“We have massively bigger matters to discuss right now, Lee. We need to send someone out to summon two of the Coven members,” Norman ordered as he moved purposefully towards the shield that looked incredibly… unwelcoming.

Another blast of fire from above rained down, halting Norman in his tracks. “... Then again they can probably see what’s happening. Alright, let’s get some of our archers at the ready.”

*

Aidan’s fury was unending as the shield continued to hold, and his familiar’s fire dwindled down. He most likely wouldn’t be able to breathe fire for another three days after all he had used over the course of an hour…

“How the hell is he still holding it? I don’t even see signs that he’s using any of his life energy…”

The fire witch was just about to turn the dragon to Austice, where he himself would rain down fire on his enemies, when he noticed then the symbols had begun fading in patches of the shield.

It was beginning to weaken!

With a cruel smile, Aidan reared back, and steered the Dragon towards one of the symbols that had almost faded to nothing.

With its great leathery wings pounding the air behind his feet, the beast charged, and burst through the shield. Behind them the remaining blue lightning faded away.

The dragon let out a triumphant roar, and Aidan laughed delightedly as the ground raced up to meet them, when a sharp sting in his shoulder had his head snapping around. He noticed a cloaked figure in one of the castle windows ducking for cover so quickly that he didn’t get a glimpse of their face, but the blood blooming on his tunic indicated he’d just been grazed by an arrow.

Gritting his teeth once again and pulling the dragon back up to the sky, the fire witch noticed the spears and arrows that were pointed in his direction from the men on the ground, and immediately scattered them by hurling a ball of fire at them from his hands.

A burst of wind nearly knocked him from his seat, and it succeeded in throwing off his trajectory, but the fire witch held fast, and with another great swoop, landed his familiar far enough away that it would take archers and soldiers a long while to reach him.

He dismounted, heat glowing in his hands.

“I’ve come for my wife!” He shouted at the nearest figures. “Hand her over, or I will barrage you all with-”

A shot of water stung Aidan’s face, knocking him back against his familiar who began growling, its yellow eyes fixed on the Daxarian Royal Court Mage that was strolling towards them with the crystal atop his staff glowing.

Two members of the Coven of Wittica weren’t far behind him.

“So that’s how it’s going to be, is it?” Aidan muttered with a bloodthirsty smile. “Have it your way.”

Mounting his familiar yet again, the fire witch took to the sky again, and proceeded to rain down fire. Some of it was extinguished by the mage, while the Coven witch drew water from the air and shielded the barrage from their position on the ground. The steam rose into the sky with a hiss, and subsequently blocked Aidan from view.

As he scanned the grounds he looked for the brat he should’ve drowned when he was a child pleading at his feet to forgive him for not having an ounce of magic.

At first it seemed that his son was hiding, but then managed to find him leaning slumped against a pillar at the front of the castle, clearly weakened. Everyone had run towards where the fire witch had first landed, leaving the redhead alone to catch his breath.

“There you are,” the Troivackian Chief of Military growled happily.

Coming about and dropping to land in front of the castle steps with impressive speed, the fire witch dismounted the dragon, but as he mounted the steps found guards rushing him with their swords drawn.

Aidan held out a hand, intending to burn them to a crisp, only when he tried to do so, a significantly smaller version of the same shield from before appeared, it’s blue lighting crackling smartly at him.

The fire witch’s smile disappeared as he turned on his son, who had straightened, but was drenched in sweat and visibly shaking from the effort.

The guards cheered Fin on, only to stop abruptly when the fire witch once again began to rapidly cast flame after flame at his son.

With a grunt, the redhead deflected each fireball as his father drew nearer and nearer. Sweat dripped down the sides of his face as he struggled to keep an eye on the dragon that was rearing up on its hind legs towards the guards, and his father’s unending assault as the man climbed the front castle’s steps towards him.

Aidan at long last reached his son, and without a moment of hesitation, grabbed him by the front of his tunic, his hands burning away the fabric until it seared his skin.

Fin let out a garbled yelp, his face pale as his knees weakened and he was thrust back into the stone pillar behind himself.

“Where’s your mother, boy?” Aidan demanded as he let his burning hands press even more firmly against his blistering skin.

Staring into his father's black eyes, memories of the last time Fin's father had gipped him like this on Quildon surged forward. The burning hands blistering his skin, the pouring rain, and the scene of his mother’s body being thrown to the ground appeared clearly in his mind's eye. His angered surged as he remembered the sinking helplessness he’d felt… the fear that choked him...

‘I’m not that scared child anymore.’

Through the pain, Fin grit his teeth, and stared infuriated into the glowing black ember eyes of the man who sired him. His mother’s smiling face flashed into his mind, and suddenly he found himself standing back up, his forehead pressed firmly against his father’s while he snarled back at him.

“My mother is somewhere… where you… will never… be able to touch her… again. Now, get out… of my home!”

Lighting filled Fin’s eyes, as his father’s hands burst into flames, effectively setting his son’s clothes ablaze.

With a shout that could only be described as pure primal fury and pain, lightning touched down around them. With an explosion of magical air and static that cracked loudly enough to sound as though the world had split in two, the dragon and Fin’s father found themselves being launched back off of the castle grounds, over the city of Austice, straight into the oncoming Troivackian ships.

As Fin fell to his knees, the flames encompassing his tunic, embracing him into unworldly pain, he found himself too weak to put them out. Instead, he fell onto his side, a familiar darkness was creeping upon him… he’d used far too much magic…

‘I might not be able to use magic… for a few days…’ was the final thought in his head before he succumbed to the comfort of unconsciousness, despite the smell of the fire climbing up his arm and neck until it met his hair being incredibly off-putting...

The guards that had witnessed the entire scene, rushed forward with shouts for a physician and water, each man pulling off their helmets as they bolted towards the witch that had saved their lives, both of them determined that no matter what, the former cook would wake again to hear their thanks.