Avrae was harassing the great airship like a gnat biting away at the skin of an animal. He was much smaller, yet he played with it as a child would play with a toy. And I couldn't help but wonder how he hadn't managed to destroy the thing already.
As the metallic vessel banked right, attempting to outrun the beast, a familiar figure stood out at the back. My heart began pounding, threatening to burst out of my chest. I couldn't believe that it was Anya, and she was about to be eaten or flayed, or both by a monster of my own making.
'Avrae. Please stop!'
'Anya!'
It was useless; neither one of them could hear my pleas.
'Are you out yet?' Violet called. Her voice alarmed me at first; I'd forgotten about them, and I'd no doubt hear all about it later.
I didn't know why I'd expected to find something like a length of rope just lying around. It didn't stop me from searching, though. 'I don't have anything to pull you both out.'
I could almost hear her sighing from up here. 'Don't tell me you've forgotten how to perform a simple conjuring spell?'
I wanted to slap myself in the face. 'Right.' My speciality lay within the study of rune magic, but that's not to say I didn't know how to perform such an easy spell. It'd just been a while since my last attempt. Back at school, I'd been able to conjure a small bouquet, but that beginner's magic was nothing compared to this.
A golden orb began to materialise out of nowhere, gradually forming into bundles of rope. It was rapidly increasing in size, from a speck of dust to something that could be regarded as 'useful'. When the spell was complete, the rope tumbled unceremoniously to the floor.
'Not bad.' I boast, admiring my handy work.
'Hurry up and get us out of here!'
I was tempted to leave Violet down there for being so rude, but I already felt guilty after a moment spent considering the idea. No one could deserve such a fate. Except for Avrae, him I'd chain up down here in a heartbeat if he hurt Anya.
'I'm tying the rope up now; get ready, and grab hold when I throw it down, okay?'
I could feel the weight of both of them tugging at the other end. If only Violet knew a spell that could make the trek a little easier for us all. I knew I didn't, and as luck would have it, she didn't either.
Leaning down into the cramped shaft, I used my legs as a counterbalance to try to see where they were. I caught a glimpse of Violet first. Bathing in the bright moonlight, she appeared to be smothered in wet, sticking soil, and she was somehow shimmying up, using her back and legs as supports for the arduous climb. Asher, however, was dangling below her, with the rope wrapped firmly around his waist.
I was amazed at her strength, and I could see Asher becoming more alert with every jolt of the tightening rope. Fortunately, the gap was small. I would still bear painful blisters from the friction of gripping it repeatedly with every pull, but I comforted myself, knowing that it could have been much worse.
The clattering of cannon fire above was causing Asher to stir. He finally awoke to the sight of the great airship flying overhead. Its outer hull was on fire and trailing plumes of black smoke. 'My ship!'
With exposed circuitry sparking out across sections of the outer panelling, we could see massive tears down its battered length, where Avrae must have cleaved at it with unsurmountable rage. A few minutes later, the vessel passed out of sight, and we felt a shockwave as it crashlanded.
Anya wasn't fazed in the slightest, though.
I watched the deadly dance with horror. The dark sky was alight with the yellow afterglow of powerful magic, and now hailstorms of razor-sharp ice were charging at the dragon with lightning speed. I could almost see Avrae's smirk from down here, or perhaps I just knew him too well. Darting to the side again at the last second, he parried away the icicles with ease.
Sensing that her tactics weren't working, my jaw dropped as I witnessed Anya taking flight, mirroring the dragon's spritely movements. I didn't know how she was doing it; we'd never studied anything like this back at Feldspar Academy.
Avrae pounced at her again, no doubt believing that she'd be easy prey without the protection of the ship. How wrong he was. Out of the darkness came flashes of bright red as Anya began to paint a strange looking symbol above the dragon. She was moving so fast that it was like watching the digital creation of a piece of art stuck on fast forward. Four straight red lines were forming a star and overlapping an outer circle with pointed ends. It was a pentagram.
Hearing a gasp, I watched as Violet bolted to her feet and ran to tackle me out of the way. 'That bitch is using dark magic!'
I didn't know what she was talking about, but Violet dove on top of me, protecting me as a shield would protect a soldier. Dark magic certainly hadn't been on the syllabus at Feldspar Academy; I'd have remembered it if it had been.
The sky was turning red. And right behind Anya, there was a yellow explosion; the magic was so powerful that it sent dozens of waves rippling outward at an astonishing pace, causing the rock beneath us to tremble even more.
I nearly wet my pants at the sound of a thunderous roar, and by the time I looked back up, I saw a shimmering figure emerging from a wall of darkness. This thing was impossibly huge, dwarfing even the great airship. Its head was as large as Avrae's body, almost resembling a bull, with a black fur covered face, only wearing a crown of grey horns instead of just having the two at the front.
It had long, sharp fangs protruding from its acid-dripping mouth, along with three burning white eyes, which were already piercing into my soul. Its shoulders were barely scraping through the boundaries of the portal, and when they eventually broke free, they revealed two muscle-ripped arms with razor-sharp talons at the ends. Its bald upper torso must have been twice as broad as the castle below, with black patches of hair stretched across powerful hind legs.
At first, the monstrous creature seemed to buckle under the strain of its cumbersome weight, tumbling to the ground below. I could almost hear Avrae's sarcastic laugh at the thing's plight, but before he could finish. Spindly wings of bone burst out from both of its sides, catching the dragon by surprise.
The fall was slow, majestic even and Avrae seemed to be gliding gently to the ground like a leaf on the wind. Trails of splattering green blood were falling in his wake, and I watched with helplessness as my friend tumbled to his death. Avrae was infuriating at times, but he didn't deserve this.
Adding insult to injury, Anya landed gingerly on the monster's back. And it was at this moment when I realised; she did this. She was manipulating the realms, and all of this suffering was of her making. A few seconds later, she was gone.