The monster was enormous. It stood somewhere between twenty to thirty feet tall, easily big enough to give the Dreadraptor Tyrant trouble.

Rory was reminded of a dragon, more or less, except for one major difference. Instead of forelegs, its arms extended out just long enough to support the large wings sprouting off along its length. In place of the scales the Neophytes had, the Wyvern was covered with leathery muscle and tendons. Occasional scaly white growths peeked out here and there pm stray patches of skin.

If only Rory’s Sigil of Knowledge worked actively to let him determine its stats and other information. He was pretty sure whatever he would have learned was bad news, but still. It never hurt to be prepared.

“Have you come to be converted to the faith as well, mortals?” the monster asked.

Its voice was just as Dustin had said. An announcer’s voice, echoing in from all directions so that it overtook any other noise.

“What do you want, Stormscale?” Rory asked, taking a step forward.

The monster stilled. Then its head drew down a little. “You must address me as the Great Lord, or some variation thereof.”

“Oh, Great Lord,” Rory said. “What do you seek of us?”

The Stormscale looked pleased. “For you to become my servants, of course. There is no greater duty in your life than to become my vassals. Bow and accept my dominion over you.”

“I don’t think so,” Trish yelled back. “Turn everyone back to normal and maybe I won’t consider chopping you into mincemeat.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I said, turn all these people back to regular humans.”

“Why would I ever do such a thing?”

Trish was shaking in anger as she stepped forward. “You forced them against their will to become what they are now, so you’re going to reverse it. Immediately.”

There was a strange sensation in the air, a feeling that vaguely reminded Rory of the time they’d first met the Wraith Lord. Thankfully, it wasn’t as deadly or depressing as it had been then. The feeling pressed down like pins and needles on his skin, seeking some sort of elusive entrance it couldn’t find easily.

“It seems you are ignorant of the truth, mortals,” the monster said. “For if you think I forced my power into anyone, you are gravely mistaken.” It leaned a wing forward and Rory noticed the small silver claws protruding out of the tip. “These people you seek to steal from me are mine. They came to me of their own volition. They sought safety, and when they saw I had the power to grant them to it, they chose me.”

“Liar,” Miles said. “You destroyed the school buildings. You made everything collapse and fall on them. Of course, they were desperate for any power that would help them survive. You took advantage of them.”

“The choice was always theirs. One may quibble over terminology and circumstance however much one wishes, but never did I take the choice away from them.”

Trish turned to Rory. “It’s time we killed that thing, right?”

“It’s about twenty times as big as you are, Trish,” Rory said.

“So?”

“It seems you are reluctant to give in,” the Stormscale said. “Perhaps a demonstration of my power will prove what a fatal error that is.”

Well, that answered their question on whether or not they ought to take on a monster that could have swallowed them whole with ease. It flapped its wings once, then rose up with the same serene grace as before. Ten feet into the air, twenty feet, then it paused to hover. Without warning, it opened its mouth and spit a giant ball of blue flames at them.

“Get back,” Trish yelled, throwing a quickly-summoned javelin at the gleaming fireball.

Rory and the others retreated. His heart was pounding hard in his chest. They wouldn’t survive the impact from that. He had his Weaving ready, but he wasn’t at all certain it would be enough.

It was a good thing the fireball exploded upon contact. Trish’s javelin struck it mid-air while it was still several yards away. The resultant explosion shook the entire area, small bolts of fire shooting in every direction, but they were safe. Trish had subsequently summoned a large, round shield for them all to hide behind.

“That was a strong blast,” Miles said.

“Stay wary,” Rory told the others. “It’s coming in for another attack.”

Miles threw his own ball of fire in a long parabola at the monster, but it had no effect. The Stormscale simply covered its body with its wing, and the fire didn’t even leave a mark on the muscle. Then it launched itself higher up in the sky.

“Get ready!” Rory called. He was desperately trying to figure out if the monster had some sort of weakness, but his Sigil of Knowledge hadn’t provided any such information just yet.

The Stormscale was twisting in the air, turning to avoid more javelins and fireballs before shooting down another blast of virulent blue fire. Trish didn’t have another spear ready, and though she pulled her shield before them, Evelyn stepped up. She threw a glob of lava with her Pyroclastic Hellfire, which caused another explosion of blue flames overhead.

Trish’s shield came handy then. None of the falling fire struck any of them.

As the Stormscale landed on the other side with another heavy thump, Rory stepped away from the others. The creature was preparing to launch another volley of blue flames, its mouth bulging with a cerulean glow. Rory wasn’t about to let that happen.

“I’ll distract it with my blizzard,” he said. “The rest of you try to attack it from the flanks. Evelyn, get ready to heal.”

It was as good a plan as any under the circumstances. Rory summoned his Harmonic Blizzard from his staff, picking the monster as the storm’s target of destruction and the nearby Neophytes as the target of preservation. He would have used the preservation effects earlier, but he had worried about attracting unwanted attention. No such compunction anymore.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work. As the others prepared to attack the Stormscale once Rory’s blizzard had set in, the monster began flapping its enormous wings. The resultant gale it sent up blew out the wintry storm as though it was nothing.

Rory stared. His blizzard died rapidly under the stormy winds rocketing off the Stormscale’s draconic wings. There was no way to stop it. He activated his Weaving to catch the monster’s vicious wind before he was blown off his feet. But Trish was there before him, her shield expanding into a larger circle of steel.

The wind hammered into them, and Rory was thankful for the barricade against the ferocious gale. He doubted his Weaving would have worked.

Most of the others didn’t fare well in the sudden storm. Evelyn was close enough to throw herself back into the area protected by Trish’s shield, but the others suffered the full brunt of the tearing winds.

Samson was sent tumbling back over the debris, and Miles’s flames were snuffed out like a candle. He was thrown off his feet as well. All the Neophytes were hammered backwards too. It seemed the Stormscale didn’t bother separating its enemies and its vassals. As if they needed more reasons not to accept its offer.

“It’s getting ready to fire again.,” Trish shouted over the roaring wind.

Rory had missed it thanks to being worried about having his storm turned back upon him and his companions, but now that he knew to look, the blue glow ahead was all too obvious. And it was huge.

“You can’t stop it,” Rory said. “Get back and let me use my Weaving.”

Trish didn’t budge. “You can’t stop it either.”

Rory disagreed. He had stopped the Thunderclaw’s lightning barrage, hadn’t he? This wasn’t going to be any different. If anything, this would be easier since the flames were nowhere near as furious or fast as lightning bolts crashing down from the sky.

Trish tried to pre-emptively stop the Stormscale by throwing another spear at the monster. The javelin flew straight at the bubbling cauldron of flames in its mouth. But when the Stormscale blasted everything it had been gathering in its jaws, the blistering stream swallowed the spear. There was no handy explosion to stop the fire this time.

Ignoring Trish’s protest, Rory pushed himself just beyond her. The storm from the Stormscale had died down just as it had launched its horizontal geyser of blue flames at them.

Rory grimaced. That stream would be like standing under a waterfall that was several hundreds of feet high. Nevertheless, Rory mustered his courage and activated his Weaving, letting his own storm of white lines spread around them all in a protective cocoon. His heart thundered so fast, he was sure his chest would collapse under the pressure at any moment.

When the savage stream of blue fire rocketed into them, Rory’s Weaving held. The pressure from the fiery blast forced the cocoon of white light to coalesce upon them, pushing them all to gather closer to remain safe.

But it held. The fire didn’t push through and burn their flesh off their bones. They were safe. Alive.

An explosion rocked the area. It occurred right in the middle of the fiery stream, finally putting an end to the geyser of overwhelming flames.

Rory glanced around, trying to find the source of the interjection. He was sure he had seen a flash of red within the flames just before it had detonated. There was too much smoke and dust everywhere, and he was forced to turn his eyes to slits to prevent the dust from entering past his eyelids.

Searching with his eyes might have been futile, but he had no trouble listening in.

“Rory,” Viv shouted from somewhere farther off. Rory felt his mouth stretch in a wide smile. Of course, she was here. A red flash brought her next to him with a quick teleportation. “You alright?”

“We’re fine.” He looked around, noting that he could only see Evelyn and Trish in his vicinity. “I think. Did you fight that thing?”

“No. It flew right over us. We tried to attack it, but it ignored us and flew to you guys, for some reason.”

“We attacking or what?” Trish asked.

Viv nodded. “We’re attacking. We’re bringing that thing down and we’re making it fix everything it messed up.”

Rory found himself mirroring Viv’s scowl. It settled then just how messed up the situation was. Attacking and killing people was one thing, but this monster was tricking people into becoming monsters against their will, forcing them to turn on their own kind.

His mind flashed painfully back to the Dreadraptor striking up a deal with people to make them sacrifice other people. It was horrific. Rory was not about to stand for it.

“Agreed,” he said. “We attack and we subjugate. If you need to kill it, then so be it. But try your best to make it reveal the method to turn back the other to regular people.”

A blue glow went up just ahead of them. The Stormscale was preparing another stream of explosive blue flames. A rocketlike whine preceded Ned flying past them with his Burnwing appendages. He distracted the monster by throwing globs of water at it, and it swallowed down its flames before they exploded thanks to a stray drop of water.

Ned was granting them some time. Rory decided to take advantage. Everyone else gathered up, some of them sporting a few wounds and injuries. Nothing serious, though.

“We’re going to tackle it in formation this time,” Rory said.

“Tank-DPS-Healer,” Miles said, nursing a bruise around his shoulder that Evelyn had wrapped with a golden bandage. “Well, as close as we can get to healer.”

Evelyn met his eyes with an unflinching stare. “I’m not backing down.”

Miles rubbed the back his head with his familiar easy smile. “I know.”

“Then it’s up to Trish to take the brunt of the blows,” Rory said. “Reinforce your shield with your Concrete.”

“You sure you can hold that blast of fire for long?” Viv asked. She wasn’t doubting Trish, not really. Rory could tell. It was just her way of being absolutely sure before committing to anything.

Trish seemed to understand. “It will. Just you wait.”

“That’s not all I’ve planned,” Rory said. “Listen up.”

He explained his idea as briefly as he could, with just enough details for them to carry it out without the need for too many clarifying questions. They all nodded resolutely when Rory finished speaking. He was a little afraid that they were so willing to go with something he’d cooked up just then, but then, improvising was their best ticket to staying alive.

“Alright,” Rory said. “Let’s head out. Remember, we’ve all got a role to play here.”

They nodded. It was time to execute their plan, and hopefully, execute the Stormscale.