Chapter Fifty-Eight
Lana Fulmine dropped off Terra on the back of the dragon by Baaghi and Bjorni. The dragon breathed a large swath of acid, cashing Morana and Paanee. The lightning sprite's heart tore as she took off back into the air, watching the monster girls dying.
Vilkas jumped up on the dragon's back, the lightning wolf rushed up the dragon's back to join the three other monster girls. Lana Fulmine hoped they could do something. She felt so useless as she fired a blast of lightning that did nothing.
Feya swung her wand, striking the dragon near the eye in a beam of light. The beast roared and turned so fast. Her head snapped out. The fairy flapped her wings. They beat as she struggled to change her direction.
The jaws snapped down on her, crushing her in a burst of sparks.
"What do we do, Leo?" she cried as he fired a blast of lightning at the dragon.
It crackled across her hide.
"I don't know," he said and soared off to the right.
Esclava whirled in, burning hot. The dragon turned to face the firewhirl and breathed. Acid slammed into the flaming tornado. The acidic breath swirled around with the burning vortex. They washed together.
"Metal missiles fly, let the spikes of Lord Nabu pierce!"
Metal stakes struck the dragon's head and neck, piercing through the scales as she kept breathing. The bitch didn't care about the damage they took. She guarded the king's ruined pavilion. Esclava's firewhirl turned, the acid choking off the flames.
The fire went out.
"No!" Leo cried.
Another monster girl dead.
Despair weighed down on Lana Fulmine.
* * / *
Kassie trembled as she moved with Halia through the ruins. The dragon loomed over them. The halfling mage clutched at her amulet. She had to do something. The dragon was murdering them. Blood dripped from her muzzle.
She could be hurt.
Kassie focused on that. She could be hurt.
"Izi Zum!"
A blast of fire burst from Kassie and hurtled through the air. It smote the dragon in the head. The flames rippled over her scales. The dragon snarled, her head flinching. Hope soared in Kassie seeing the wounds on the dragon.
"She's getting weakened," Kassie said.
"Hit her again," Halia said, holding her humming blade.
"Izi Zum!"
The second burst of fire hit near the jaw. The dragon roared and breathed acid at Lord Leo. He soared through the sky, dodging the attack. The dragon shifted her stance. The ground shook with her every step.
"Izi Zum!"
Her flames struck the dragon in the nose. Fire curled around her nostrils. Kassie gripped her amulet as the dragon snapped her jaws shut. Her wings folded in, her eyes scanning the ground. Fear squeezed about Kassie's heart.
The dragon spotted them. Eyes full of rage and contempt stared at the halfling.
"Izi Zum!"
The dragon's watery breath burst from her mouth, a flood of acid surging right for Kassie and Halia. The mage stared at her death. A calm fell on her. She fought for Lord Leo, the savior of her people.
* * / *
"Lady Sherida, shield us from our enemies!"
The prayer burst from Halia's mouth as she stepped up before Kassie and pointed her blessed blade at the incoming acid. Light burst around them. A brilliance that engulfed Halia and Kassie. Her faith manifested in radiance.
The acid engulfed the light. It sizzled against the purity of Halia's belief. She
knew
Lord Leo was the way. He was the hope for this world. Every sinew in her flesh, every drop of blood in her veins, every breath in her lungs had faith in him. He would prevail.
Her light armored them. Protected them. She stood strong. Resolute beneath it. She would not waver. The dragon would not crush her belief. They would win. The roaring died down. The world sizzled around them. The acidic reek stung her nose.
The light died down to reveal them on an island, puddles of acid sinking into the ground, devouring it as melted tents, stakes of wood, ropes, and the bodies. Kassie stepped up beside Halia, looking around at the destruction then back at the monster.
"What can we do against her?" Kassie asked. "Besides annoy her."
"Believe in Leo!" Halia said, pointing at him soaring through the sky. A boulder crashed into the dragon's head, bursting into stone. She roared in fury. "Believe, Kassie!"
* * / *
"Come on!" His mother cried.
"No!" Siwang fought against his mother's pull. He stared at the fight as she dragged him towards the tunnel that led to the safety of Leo's dungeon. "I have to fight!"
"You can't!" she cried.
The dragon's acidic breath hurtled at Halia and Kassie. Light burst from the paladin a moment before the torrent engulfed them. The dissolving liquid splashed across the ground and washed towards them.
"You're not strong enough!" Xiongbu cried.
The flood rushed towards them. Siwang relented, letting his mother pull him down into the dungeon. Embarrassment flushed through him as they fled. He had to get stronger. He had to become Leo's equal. There was no choice at all.
He was useless.
A parasite until he could become stronger.
Acid washed down the stairs of the dungeon, dissolving the stone. Siwang watched it drip closer, smoke rising. He needed power. Leo sheltered him too much. His hands balled into fists. "Next time," he whispered. "Next time, I'll stand with you."
If there was a next time. How could Leo defeat this monster?
Chapter Fifty-Nine
How do I beat her?
The thought echoed over and over in my mind as I flew over the bitch. I had to switch tactics. Maybe I had to blind her. I found the right Light spell as she turned her attention back to the air. On her back, my monster girls were crouched low, struggling not to fall.
This was hopeless, but...
I could not give up. Everyone was counting on
me.
"Sunlight explodes, let the radiance of Lord Shamash erupt!"
A blinding light exploded before the dragon. A miniature sun burned before her eyes. She screamed in draconic pain and ripped her head from the source. Hope surged through me. Maybe I had blinded her. If she couldn't see.
Her head snapped back, and her eyes focused on me.
"Shit!"
Acid exploded from her mouth.
* * / *
Terra watched the spray of acid streak across the air at Leo. He flew ahead of it while the breath spread out into a deadly rain that fell back on the camp. The soldiers must be running in every direction by now, fleeing their own defender.
"Come on," Terra said as she watched Baaghi, Bjorni, and Vilkas tearing at the scales.
"Hard!" snarled Vilkas.
"Let me!" Terra shifted her balance as the dragon moved and raised both her fists shaped into hammers. She slammed them down together.
They struck, her big breasts heaving. Cracks ran across two of the scales she struck. She raised her arms again and crashed them down on the armored hide. A chunk of the hardened protection snapped off and struck Bjorni in the stomach. The bugbear snarled and grabbed the other half.
She ripped with her mouth.
Baaghi joined her. The two monster girls tore at the broken scales. Blood welled up from beneath. They ripped the protection free, exposing flesh beneath. Vilkas crackled, her electric tail swishing back and forth.
"We're opening a wound!"
cried Terra as she stepped back.
The dragon shifted, her body moving beneath Terra. The golem planted her feet wide, shifting her body with the rocking, and raised her fist. She slammed them down on a new set of scales. The dark-blue cracked again. She hammered at them as Vilkas darted in and tore.
Scarlet ran around their feet and stained the muzzle of the three monster girls tearing up the scales. They ripped a wider hole in the dragon's defense as Leo's voice filled the air with his magical spells. The dragon shuddered and shifted, her tail swishing.
