Lithoniel

Perspiration shone on Lithoniel's brow, but it was a cold sweat that had little to do with the heat. It was something beyond fear, the kind of feeling that arises when you realize all hope is lost. Despair, that's what they were feeling at the moment, because they all knew the behemoth hovering in the air wasn't something they could hope to defeat.

It wasn't a common predator or even a rare monster, but a symbol, the embodiment of power and fear. They were just ants before it, inconsequential organisms the dragon only happened to notice because they moved in its territory, disturbing its long slumber.

Besides, how could they fight against something so big?

It was like picking a fight with a mountain or the sea. The dragon was the same. It didn't look like a living being, but a moving, roaring, hill. Even the Zaruk, the biggest monster she had ever seen, was just one-fifth of the creature before her eyes. It was over two hundred feet long, and its mouth alone was wide enough to devour ten of her. Scattered all across its spine there were dozens of sharp bone spikes, most of which were three times longer than Lithoniel's body and thick as a tree.

As the dragon hovered in the air, the wind produced by its huge wings raising dust and stone, a trail of magma poured down from its hooked tail. Yet, just a small part of the lava fell, rejoining the torrent of fire running below the beast. Something much odder, almost mystical, happened to the rest of it. The dragon was absorbing the lava, its scales color changing to a waxing orange as it seemed to feed on it. The process lasted just an instant, the vapor and smoke dispersing into the air as the dragon's scales regained their original color: a murky black darker than night.

Lithoniel and the brothers were still dazed when the dragon's yellow vertical pupils focused on them. They all froze, unable to speak, move or even breathe. It was like something greater than them, an existence akin to a god or maybe a king was looking at them, gracing them with its attention. However, if the dragon was a god it was a vengeful one, and if it was a king, it just ordered their execution.

It roared, and all that surprise vanished without a trace, replaced by a sharp pain as the soundwave reached them. The atmosphere itself seemed to distort, and huge rocks started caving in, the whirlwind produced by the roar cutting them like a blade. Lithoniel squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears with her hands, but it was far from enough. She was already screaming, blood dripping on her fingers when the roar grew stronger.

That's when the real torture began. It was like the same air they were breathing was on fire, small scalds appearing on their skin as everyone started screaming. She heard Kolvar crying as he rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish imaginary flames, and an inarticulate sound rising from her own throat.

They were about to go crazy when everything ended, all of a sudden. Unfortunately, they had no time to rejoice. The prelude was over, but the main event had only just begun. Lithoniel looked up just in time to see the dragon's huge head jerking back like a snake ready to pounce on its prey. Then its mouth expanded as if it was too small for what the dragon was about to do. A thick column of smoke came out of it, rose into the sky and made the dragon look like a living volcano. However, every volcano has one thing in common, and this one was no different.

When its head sprung forward, everyone knew what was about to happen, but this didn't mean they could avoid it.

Lithoniel had little time to think. She saw a rock big enough to serve as a hiding place and shouted, "There!"

The three of them were still running to take cover when what they most feared finally happened. Yet, it was different from what they expected, not fire but something much heavier; a ball of solid magma that made an odd whistling sound before splitting in the air. Then it wasn't just one fireball anymore, but dozens, raining down from the skies like comets. One of these shooting stars crashed on the same rock they were hiding, cracking it before hurling them away. Lithoniel groaned as she tried to stand up. Then she shrieked, her eyes full of horror when she saw the hard stone was melting like snow in the sun. However, the rock wasn't the only thing that was burning. When that familiar smell hit her nostrils, she didn't understand what it was, but as the images of what happened to Calarel kept flowing in her head, she understood what that meant.

Burnt flesh.

She turned her head slowly, almost fearfully and realized Kolvar was screaming, his excruciating cries of pain muffled as the earth cracked and moaned, the ground itself blistering upward, inflated by the magma surging from the depths. It almost looked like the dragon's roar acted like a catalyst, and because of it, all the lava running underground was coming to the surface. Which meant they had two problems now.

One of them, the dragon, wasn't moving at the moment. Probably the smoke rising from the geysers all around them was blocking its view, but Lithoniel knew it wouldn't last. Rolim must have thought the same thing because he dragged his brother up the mountain for a few meters before seeking refuge in a pit so wide and deep, it looked like a natural trench. Lithoniel followed his example, but she knew they couldn't hide forever. Even if the dragon didn't find them, the lava was still advancing, slowly but inexorably.

They had to leave. However, she knew Kolvar couldn't move at the moment. She fought her instinct, which was telling her not to look, and glanced at him. His right hand was gone, but the lava was still eating his flesh, inch by inch, until just a small part of his forearm was left. Oddly enough, Kolvar was still conscious, his mouth wide open like he wanted to scream, but he had no voice left. Rolim was trying to help him, but judging by how hopeless he looked, he didn't know how.

Lithoniel feverishly looked around, searching for a way out, but without luck. She was about to lose hope when she found something.

A cave? It was really small, but the lava hadn't reached it yet. That was enough for her. The problem, of course, was the serpentine behemoth standing in their way.

It's close to impossible to get past the dragon unharmed, but with Kolvar in that condition...

Lithoniel shook her head, dismissing the idea. The young elf wasn't able to walk at the moment, let alone run and avoid the deadliest creature the Embersea had ever seen.

Unless...

She glanced at the bow Kolvar dropped, and a risky plan started to form in her mind. Her gaze met with Rolim's, and he decisively shook his head, probably knowing she was about to do something extremely stupid.

Save your brother. She gestured and then smiled at him.

Rolim's expression changed several times in a matter of seconds, revealing a range of emotions she had never seen before on his face. There was dismay at first, but it was soon replaced by anger when he realized she wouldn't listen to him, and then fear, because he knew that was a goodbye. Lithoniel glanced at him for one last time, picked up the bow and turned to face the heap of pure brutality hovering in the air.

Then she ran. The dragon's head jerked when she left her hiding place, the malice in its yellow eyes second only to its cunningness. It seemed like it saw Lithoniel, but even when she started running away, it didn't move. It observed her for a second or two before doing something she would have never expected, something that even in her wildest dreams, or nightmares, she wouldn't have imagined.

Lithoniel could just stare at the dragon with shock when it lifted its colossal tail and smashed it somewhere on the mountain behind it. However, that shock turned into dread when she saw the cave collapsing, its entrance buried under tons of rock and earth. And that was just the start. The dragon wasn't done yet.

It looked at the trench where Rolim and Kolvar were hiding. Then it opened its mouth and a tongue of flame came out of it, flying through the air until it touched ground. It started revolving on itself, like a small whirlwind or a coin spinning at high speed. Then all the geysers seemed to explode at the same time, the lava surging and rising impossibly high before converging on the flame. They merged with it, changing it bit by bit until the fire wasn't a smoldering heap anymore, but something solid. Lithoniel's chest tightened with fear when she saw what it was.

A miniature dragon, almost an exact copy of the original. The fire monster was much smaller than its master, barely ten feet long, but it had what the real dragon lacked: mobility and speed. Lithoniel watched with horror as the creature lurked around the trench where Rolim and Kolvar were hiding. However, she had no time to worry about them now.

Someone was staring at her. Lithoniel felt a chill when those huge yellow eyes locked on her. She turned, very slowly, and shuddered. Her efforts hadn't gone to waste.

She had the dragon's undivided attention. The question was if she could survive it.