The Phoenix Ring(14)

"Timothy, why did you even-oh." Eleanor had a staff almost exactly like the stone one, except its crown was a fish.

"Timothy, can I talk to you?"

"Oh, don't mind me," Eleanor said, "I need to do some stuff anyways, see you tonight at dinner?"

"See you then!" Timothy said, his cheeks red from just talking to her.

The girl turned and walked out of the building leaving the two boys alone.

"Ok, what did you need. If this is about the Soulrock, then I promise you that we'll get you one-"

"No," Aidan interrupted, feeling another stab of jealousy at the word  Soulrock, "It's nothing like that. I was actually wondering if the  reason that you considered the first staff is because it's just like  your girlfriend's."

"She is not my girlfriend. And …  well maybe, but why does that matter?" Timothy said, more than a little defensively.

"Timothy, do you seriously think she is going to like you any less tomorrow if you don't pick the same staff as her?"

"Well... no. But we don't even know if there is going to be another day!"

"What?" Aidan said, raising an eyebrow.

"Some wizards have a sixth sense. They can't really tell the future, but  they get more of a foreshadowing. Have you ever experienced that?"

"Uh, no. Not even close. But I assume you have?"

"Yes. And for some reason, I feel like something …  bad is going to happen."

Aidan sat down in the floor, contemplating what his friend had said.

"But we're safe here, right?"

"It's not us I'm worried about, it's my father. He's a merchant, and is probably on a voyage to the elven kingdoms. If he dies … "

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Aidan said, feeling that his friend was being  extremely dramatic, though he understood the young boy's need to impress  his girlfriend. But he still had a churning sensation in his stomach as  he and Timothy left the building with the hazel staff.



Aidan couldn't sleep. He had tossed and turned for what seemed like  hours, but he couldn't get the image of the Soulrock cave out of his  head. Every time he closed his eyes, it was there, burned into his  memory.                       
       
           



       

It was about an hour after midnight that Aidan gave up and decided to go for a stroll outside.

Aidan threw his robes on and had just grabbed his rowan staff (which  everyone had forgotten to take away from him) when he heard Timothy  grunt.

"Can't sleep?"

"Not a wink," Aidan answered, "I'm going for a walk, wanna come?"

"You know we aren't supposed to be up this late, right? Sure, let's go."

Aidan chuckled and threw Timothy his new staff.

The two boys found themselves wandering towards the edge of the camp, and then following the safety sphere.

Aidan loved the feel of the fresh air on his face, and the smell of the  forest. For just a single moment, he was able to push down the anger  that constantly lived in his stomach.

"You know, I used to think my father was a really bad person for what he  did, and I still do. But compared to Edwin, how bad can he really be?"

Timothy, who had heard about Aidan's father multiple times, wisely  didn't say anything, but rather just kept walking and listening.

"Even though he left me, even though he left my mother, he can't be that bad, right? It's not like he murdered-"

"Stop," Timothy said, putting his hand out in front of the larger boy. "Something important is about to happen."

"Why didn't you do this 'foreshadowing' thing before?" Aidan whispered.

"It didn't really start until I got my Soulrock. Now be quiet, I hear someone in the bushes ahead."

The two boys dropped to their hands and knees and began to climb forward into the plants.

There were two voices coming from the other side of the bushes, but Aidan could only make out one of them.

"What's taking so long, when are you going to be done?"

Edwin.

"This is a very complex spell," The stranger said testily, "It will take  a while. Unless, that is, you want me to hurry and blow this whole  place to hell with us in it."

Silence.

"There, I'm done."

Aidan saw the blue safety sphere that covered the entire camp fizzle and spark, and then disappear.

Timothy's eyes widened a moment before the cold mountain air, apparently kept at bay by the sphere, rushed into the camp.

"What now?" Edwin asked.

"Now, you're getting out of here. Don't worry, in twenty minutes this place will be nothing but ashes."

Timothy grabbed Aidan's arm right as the shock of what the stranger had said hit him.

Aidan pointed at the side of the bushes that they had come through, and  both boys began to crawl out as quietly as they could. It was only a  matter of moments before they were out, but it seemed like an eternity  for Aidan.

Then they ran. Aidan ran harder than he ever had before, and soon left  Timothy in the dust. As soon as he was in the center of the camp he  started screaming.

"Help, we're under attack! Get up!"

The entire camp began to rouse, Bartemus and Malachi were outside within ten seconds, the rest took longer.

"Where are they?" Bartemus said, looking around. "I don't see any-"

The first fireball hit the ground right beside the old warlock, flinging  him into the air. Somehow he managed to land on his feet right as  everyone looked up.

They were massive creatures, anywhere between fifteen and a hundred feet  long. They each had black armor, and a rider. They came in all colors,  scales flashing in the moonlight, and were terribly beautiful.

"Are those … "

"Dragons." Malachi finished breathlessly.

And then the dragons attacked, and the sorcerers scattered.

Aidan managed to get out of the way of a large fireball right as he spotted Timothy running towards them.

"You can't attack them directly!" One of the wizards shouted, "Their scales defy the laws of magic!"

Then a fireball consumed the unlucky man.

Aidan felt like throwing up and dove out of the center of the fighting,  while most of the older wizards and the two warlocks returned fire.

Aidan saw a dragon hit the girls' quarters, and his heart seemed to stop.

"Eleanor!" Timothy shouted, running towards what was left of the pink building.

"I'm okay," she said, coming out from behind a piece of rubble. "Everyone got out. My staff is history, though!"

Aidan sighed in relief, and Timothy and Eleanor embraced.

It was obvious the sorcerers were losing. They outnumbered the dragons  five to one, but they did not have the advantage of flying. The smaller  dragons were staying far away from the ground, raining fire on the  enchanters, while the larger creatures would physically attack and smash  the buildings and people.

It was at that moment that Aidan saw one of the riders on a small orange  dragon get incinerated by one of Malachi's spells. The creature roared a  mournful noise and veered off, away from the battlefield.                       
       
           



       

"That's it!" Aidan yelled. "Slay the riders!"

All three mages began to run towards the bulk of the fighting, screaming, "Slay the riders!"

Unfortunately, a large dragon noticed them at about the same time as everyone else.

It began to fly behind them, far faster than they could run, and caught  up right as they reached the back of the staff and wand building.

It landed, creating a wall with its body that none of the mages could escape from.

Eleanor was the first to react.

"Mahor-"

She was cut off as the dragon's tail flicked her small body into the building behind them. She fell to the ground, unmoving.

Aidan's heart stopped again.

Timothy let out a roar that was half human, half something else, and ran at the rider, yelling a spell as he did.

The dragon's powerful tail hit him once in the hip. There was a sickening crack, and Timothy screamed and fell to the ground.

"Only one left." The rider said.

Somehow in that moment, Aidan realized all of his surroundings. The  dragon was brown and black, serpentine in shape, and very large. The  rider was clothed all in black, even over his face. He looked like a man  Aidan had once seen that came from the desert to the south of  Gurvinite. His voice was gravelly and deep. Aidan was sure that if the  man flexed his clothes would rip open from the muscles that seemed to be  concealed there.

"May I have the pleasure of knowing who I am about to slay?"

Aidan's fear began to be replaced with anger.

"My name is Aidan Rune, and I am not afraid of you."

"No? Well then fear my dragon!" The creature raised its head so that it was directly above the young mage.

Aidan yelled out the first spell that came to his head.

"Yok!"

He had meant to make the rider fall forward off the dragon, but that was not what the magic wanted to do.