The guard plopped it in Jasper's hands without hesitation. "The dragon is headed straight for the manor. The emperor and empress have been informed."
Dragons were Hexarium's most feared monster. It made everything that much more dire that dragons were leaving their territory in the Lethium Empire and spreading to the other empires. I knew it wasn't just the dragons, though. The rage potion was making all of the monsters act erratically.
We barely had time to put our robes on before Jas shadow-jumped us outside of the manor with the egg safely tucked in his arms.
The night sky twinkled with light from the stars and sliver of moon, but even with the darkness, a colossal shadow descended from the sky as the dragon's powerful wings unfurled. Its scales shimmered in the sunlight, reflecting hues of gold and emerald.
The dragon flapped its wings, creating a gust that sent debris swirling around us. A thunderous roar sent shivers down not only me but from the looks of it, the unsuspecting mages in the capital.
The ground shook violently as it landed.
Just like the last time this happened, Jasper used his shadows to carefully glide the egg toward the dragon. "Come on, you giant fucking lizard. Take your egg and get out of here," he muttered, stretching the egg out closer to it.
The dragon blew smoke out of its nostrils with a loud roar. Its large foot stomped down on its egg and the shadow wisps with one mighty stomp. The squish of the egg caused horror to slam into me as gasps rang out.
With its foot on its crushed egg, it puffed out its chest. The pretty scales shimmered with a fiery hue, and its eyes burned like molten lava with each thunderous flap of its wings. Everything around us shook as it let out another piercing roar.
Most of the homes around the manor crumbled, reducing the thriving capital of the Allura Empire to a wasteland of debris. Even the manor had structural damage from the mere flap of the dragon's wings.
Silas was the first to act once he caught his balance from the violent tremors shaking the ground. "By the power that binds and the forces that restrain, I invoke the stillness, both body and brain. Rooted in stillness, held by my command, in this enchanted state, unable to withstand.Spirits of Hexarium bless." Silas conjured the largest rune I'd seen, and it flew at the dragon, landing and seeping into one of its scales.
The dragon froze, unable to move its body.
However, its mouth parted far enough to let loose a jet of searing flames, reducing what was left of the surrounding structures to smoldering ruins. In an instant, the heat was unbearable, scorching everything in its path.
Trees ignited, and the grasslands caught fire around us. A disarray of water mage guards fled toward the fires, putting out the intense flames to make sure they didn't spread further.
Silas started focusing his water magic on the area around us and everything the dragon tried to light on fire as it stood immobilized.
The dragon was stronger than any I'd seen. The rage potion must've really overpowered the monsters, and I knew we needed to get Bastian back to my cottage to try and create an antidote for them--maybe before we went to save Matthieu. It would be more beneficial.
Bastian grabbed one of those triangular potions that he used on the fire mage last night out of his rune and tossed it at the dragon. Fighting fire with fire wasn't what I had expected from Bastian, but it was an interesting move.
Flames ignited, dancing on its scales with not much effect. The dragon continued breathing fire at everything, even though its body was unmoved and covered in flames itself.
Mages in the capital that hadn't already been killed by the dragon's destruction huddled together out in the open. Their expressions were etched with terror, clutching their loved ones tightly.
It made my heart bleed with agony to see innocents in such despair. They had one life to live, and it was precious. I hated when their fate was tainted with pain and destruction.
I cast a protective barrier over where they huddled together and solidified it with my spirit magic. The magical shimmer glowed over them, and they glanced up at the barrier with a tinge of hope in their eyes.
For the first time, I wasn't theonlymage in the area that could help. I loved knowing that I could count on my bonded mages to help me save them. It wasn't only on my shoulders anymore.
Jasper and Casper met each other's gazes before Jasper's wisp struck forward, wrapping around the dragon and closing its mouth to stop the fire from coming out.
Casper's light magic seemed to grow from inside the massive monster. Its scales lit up from the power inside of the golden light.
Vibrations shook the ground from the dragon's muffled roar, and Aimon further held down the dragon with vines that he summoned.
I shifted into my spirit magic and focused on the spirit that rested inside of the dragon.
Monster spirits were more difficult to push out of the vessel than a mage's. They always had been. The dragons were, of course, the hardest to cleanse of a spirit.
Taking a deep breath, I conjured my spirit magic to the forefront of my vessel. "May spirit be with me endlessly, filling me with power. Please strike down this volatile spirit to save the lives of others. Spirit's of Hexarium Bless." I moved my hands back and pushed outward against the magical resistance that locked the dragon spirit in its vessel. With a couple of more shoves, I was able to dislodge the spirit, the spirit fled its vessel.
Aimon and Jasper managed to lower the dragon's body gently while I kept the spirit away from its vessel long enough for it not to come back.
Soon, the aggressive spirit of the dragon left for wherever Hexarium called it.
