“What the hells is going on over there?” Raban muttered as he watched an explosion shatter the sky, off in the distance. “We’re chasing the black bastard, but there’s a whole war that way!”

  “Do you have any other colleagues that you forgot to mention in the area, Archmage Mortimer?” Sir Kenneth asked the old man. Mortimer’s eyes were fixed on the horizon, watching the battle with a keen gaze.

  “Nope, not a clue what’s going on,” Mortimer said happily. He sounded like he’d just been handed a surprise gift that wasn’t socks. “But hoo-boy, look at that Prismatic Shatter! I’ve not seen someone mess with the Laws of Reality in quite some time.”

  “Prisma-what?” Howard queried weakly. He was watching the approaching cataclysm every bit as intently as Mortimer, but with a growing sense of horror. “W-we should turn around right? Th-th-that sounds really bad.”

  “Hmm? Oh, you’re still here Howard? Lucky you!” Mortimer responded. “Most mortals never get to see something like this. Those that do… Well, I’ll admit they only ever see it once.”

  “Powerful magic, too much in one spot damages the world,” T’laanga said tersely from the back of the flying carpet. “Forbidden by divine decree. That’s why there are Witch Hunters.” He said this for Magnus’s benefit. The boy needed to understand the very real danger of wielding magic recklessly, before it was too late.

  “I… suppose we’re doing two jobs at once then,” Sir Kenneth said with considerable anxiety. “The dragon might be fighting the Witch we were hunting. She was supposed to be hiding out in this direction.”

  Sir Kenneth didn’t voice his concerns about the mission. If the Witch he’d been hunting was capable of dueling a dragon and breaking the world itself, how could he possibly defeat her? He’d confidently demanded that two powerful wizards help him defeat a dragon, for gods-sake! The situation was only continuing to unravel into chaos as time went on.

  As they were conversing, Magnus was not paying attention. He watched the sky out ahead of them, but his eyes were vacant. The connection in his blood was growing stronger as he approached the Redstone Hills.

  Suddenly, he felt a powerful need rise up inside of him. Sanguine was up there, fighting, and he needed Magnus’s help. The thing Sanguine was fighting was a true monster, not at all like the kind dragon Edith had told Magnus about.

  The boy’s hand reached up to the sky and he pushed the power within him outwards. Mortimer and T’laanga turned their heads sharply when a surge of magic erupted from Magnus. Before they were able to do anything, the collected energy shot away across the sky. Magnus blinked, and then collapsed unconscious.

  “What did your apprentice do?!” Raban demanded. “Did you not teach him any discipline at all?”

  Mortimer watched as T’laanga cradled the boy’s head in his hands. That had been an extraordinary display. Most mortal bodies would be fried by tossing out that much magic at once, but it seemed the boy was merely unconscious. He’d make an excellent research subject… possibly even a good apprentice. It had been a while since Mortimer had genuinely tried teaching someone.

  “He… Tried a spell that he was not ready for,” T’laanga lied. “To speed up our passage. It failed.”

  Raban seemed ready to argue, but Mortimer interjected. “Oh! ‘Windstride Dash’? Indeed, that would have been useful. Pity he fouled up the incantation. A slip of the tongue is all it takes.”

  The subtle barb that Mortimer threw was not lost on T’laanga, who cursed under his breath.

  “Let’s hope that we didn’t need the boy’s help,” Sir Kenneth said grimly. “If we fail because we needed an apprentice to save us, then we have all failed as warriors and scholars.”

  The magic carpet had crossed from the lowlands to the lower Redstone Hills. As Mortimer flew them higher, their eyes continued to watch the sky.

  “Do you see that? Over there!” Sir Kenneth called, then pointed with one finger to indicate the direction. “Something’s falling from the sky!”

  True to his words, an interlocked pair of ruby red and black figures were plummeting from the clouds. The flap of wings and lashing tails were just close enough to be distinguishable. Howard began to whimper from his seat on the carpet, holding his head in his hands.

  “That’s… that’s two dragons,” Sir Raban said quietly. “Two… bloody dragons.”

  Even Mortimer shut up and watched as the two great beasts bit and clawed at each other, seeming to not care if they both fell to their deaths. At the last moment, they broke away from each other. The black beast sailed up further into the sky, while the ruby scaled creature skimmed the tree tops.

  “Oh! That’s a bad play,” Sir Kenneth murmured, entranced by the display. “It’s like falconry. The black one will swoop down on him like a hawk.” Just as he’d predicted, a couple of moments later the black dragon dove out of the sky with the sun at its back.

  More than one man sitting on the carpet gave a soft gasp when they saw the killing dive aborted at the last second. Their eyes watched the black dragon crash down into the trees, sending a cloud of dust billowing into the air. A few moments later, the red dragon swooped down after it.

  “... Was that a person, sitting on that red one’s back?” Mortimer asked out loud. “I only ask, because my old eyes might be deceiving me.”

  “No, that was definitely a human,” Sir Kenneth said glumly. “If that’s our Witch… We’ll deal with that bridge-fire when we get to it.”

  No one pressed the poor man on it. Things were already looking bad enough already.

  “Nothing for it,” Mortimer declared as the magic carpet flew towards the crash site. “We’ll start off by blasting the black one with full power. The red looked smaller, so we’ll have an easier time taking it down once it's isolated. Don’t want to waste the element of surprise by killing the weaker target.”

  “Have you been on a military campaign before?” Raban asked. “You seem to know your way about this.”

  “With magic you either learn fast or you die, young man,” Mortimer declared merrily. “Taking out the strongest enemy first is just good sense. Now keep your wits about you. Before me and my Colleague throw our ‘big boom’ spells, you’ll want to make yourselves scarce. We’ll have a big target on our backs and need to move quickly.”

  Mortimer directed the magic carpet down into the trees near the dragons. They could all hear the rumbling sound of words being exchanged through the trees. Sir Kenneth and Sir Raban jumped off the carpet with unsteady legs. Mortimer’s staff shoved Howard off as well.

  “Howard, look after the boy would you? Bad place to be, for a young child.”

  Before T’laanga could protest, Mortimer flicked his staff. Magnus’s unconscious body slid off the carpet and into Howard’s lap. At the same time, the flying carpet rocketed over towards the crash site.

  “Bastard!” T’laanga cursed as he gripped his own shepherd’s crook and prepared to attack the wizard. Before he could, they were hovering above the clearing. Beneath them, two dragons were facing off. The Wizard and Sorcerer had just arrived as the words “-how about I borrow yours?” echoed across the space.

  “Dragons-first! Duel-later!” Mortimer rattled off as a sizable ball of fire shot from the end of his staff. It sailed through the air before T’laanga could finish his swing at the crazy old man. The sorcerer cursed darkly and redirected his swing at the black dragon’s head.

  Down on the ground, the fireball hit the black dragon’s back and exploded, covering his black scales in flames. Many of the wounds on his body were cauterized, but that prevented them from fully closing back up. At nearly the same time, a pearlescent image of a shepherd’s crook appeared in the air and caught onto the dragon’s neck, slamming its head into the ground.

  The red dragon wasted no time in exploiting its foe's weakness. It leapt down from the stone outcrop it had been posing on and raced towards the pinned dragon. The image of the crook kept the black dragon’s head pinned long enough that the red was able to swing one foot out.

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  Its claws raked across the black dragon’s face. One claw slipped between the protective scales between the cheek and the ridge above the eye. The black dragon howled as its other eye was put out and it charged forward. A crystalline tinkle echoed through the clearing as the image of the crook shattered.

  Up in the sky, T’laanga gasped from the backlash of his spell being broken. The black dragon’s power had brute forced its way past the sorcerer’s favorite magic. It was one that had saved his life countless times over the years.

  ‘Such monsters,’ T’laanga thought. ‘What if Sanguine turns out like that? Edith-’

  Pain blossomed in T’laanga’s chest. It started out as an ice cold spike through his body, but rapidly spread out into a burning heat. His scarf struck outwards, trying to catch the perpetrator in its coils. A wizened hand clamped down on the fabric and yanked it from T’laanga’s neck.

  Mortimer examined the enchanted scarf as it fought and failed to defend its owner. It was a solid bit of craftsmanship, but not at all suited for dueling a properly equipped wizard. More than one of the rings on his fingers had magic absorbing properties. After a few seconds, the scarf was spent. It collapsed into a lifeless pile of fabric, which the wizard promptly stuffed into his robes.

  “I lied, the duel can come first,” Mortimer said casually to T’laanga as he pulled the serrated dagger out from between the sorcerer’s ribs. “Shame that I needed to cut it short. I tried to warn you, but you valiantly died holding off the dragons.”

  T’laanga tried to gasp out a word, but Mortimer’s staff hit him in the face.

  “Nope, no death curses for you. Go die like a proper Sorcerer, rolling in the dirt.” A gust of wind from Mortimer’s staff swept up T’laanga and sent his body sailing through the air. He landed in between the two grappling dragons.

  “Don’t worry about your apprentice though,” Mortimer said to himself. “I’ll take excellent care of him.”

  I blinked in surprise when I saw two men standing on a flying carpet above the forest clearing. I didn’t know where they’d come from, but I recognized T’laanga instantly. The man was hard to miss between his crook and scarf. Magic from two different sources turned the tide of battle in my favor, which I was grateful for. Hopefully I’d be able to thank the Sorcerer later.

  My feet carried me over to where Third was pinned to the ground. Flames still licked at his body after the initial explosion. I needed to expand my advantage while he was vulnerable. Cassia’s arrow was still sticking out of one eye, its fletching on fire. Taking Third’s other eye would make this fight much easier.

  He sensed me coming and tried to snap at me with his teeth. I dodged back out of the way, then shot back forward with my uninjured front leg. The sensation of Third’s eye popping on my claw wasn’t pleasant, but it was necessary.

  Third bellowed, something between a wail of agony and a roar of anger. T’laanga’s magic broke apart as Third threw his whole body at me. There was no time to dodge. His claws sank into my body and we started to grapple back and forth. The strength behind those black scales was earth shattering. I stood no chance if he got a better hold on me.

  All I had to rely on was the agility of my smaller body and his inability to see. Several times I managed to dodge a swing of his claws or his bite by the slimmest of margins. Wounds on my neck and shoulders continued to stack on top of each other. I suffered a particularly grievous injury when his teeth ripped a panel out of my left wing.

  I hoped the damage I dealt was at least equal to what I received. My own teeth and claws ripped chunks out of Third’s body where he was already injured, re-opening cauterized wounds. His Vitae-rich blood rolled across my tongue, each swallow rejuvenating my magic.

  Something sailed past me, but I was too focused on Third to pay it any attention.

  Unexpectedly, two men rushed out of the woods behind Third. I thought I recognized them, but all I was able to make out was their flashing armor in the scuffle. Whatever their origin was, their blades proved to be effective. One on each side began to hack at the back of Third’s ankles.

  Third tried to wheel his head around and bite the new adversaries at his heels. I made him pay for forgetting about me and sank my teeth deep into his neck. A fountain of his blood gushed down my throat. The sudden surge of Vitae in my body felt like my whole body had been set on fire.

  A strangled screech passed between Third’s teeth. Both of his legs shoved at my body and sent me sprawling. At the same time, his tail lashed out behind him and sent both knights flying. One landed in the pine needles. The other landed on a toppled tree, a broken branch impaling him through the gut.

  For the first time, I sensed fear from Third. He was no longer projecting an aura of terror onto others. He was afraid of death. With both eyes blinded, his body covered in burns, and with a growing collection of wounds draining his blood dry, his vast reserves of magic had finally started to wane.

  Third ran from me like a scalded dog, stumbling blindly across the clearing from me. I turned to give chase. Letting him leave now would be foolish. He’d go hide, replenish his magic, then return to reap a bloody vengeance.

  Unfortunately, Third did not give me a choice. Before I could catch him, a final surge of magic pulsed through his body. The dislocated wing on his right side snapped back into place with a sickening crunch. He started beating his wings as he kept running.

  His immense black body lifted into the air just as I caught up. My teeth snapped out, but only succeeded in catching him on the tail. I bit down in an attempt to keep him grounded. To my surprise, Third lashed out with one of his hind feet, severing the end of his tail from his body.

  Without any further attempt to retaliate, he fled towards the horizon.

  I immediately spread my wings to follow, but the tear in my left wing was too large to let me fly. A roar of frustration erupted out of me. After all of that bloodshed, Third was going to escape!

  “SANGUINE!” I heard Cassia cry from behind me. My head whipped around, looking for her. Her voice was full of anguish and pain.

  Cassia was kneeling near the center of the clearing, holding someone in her arms. Her bow was cast to one side. From where I stood, I could see a red puddle growing beneath her. Forgetting Third, I bounded over to her.

  T’laanga was the person cradled in Cassia's arms. The proud man was gasping for air, bubbles collecting in the corner of his mouth as blood filled his lungs. A gaping hole that ran from his back to his chest let even more leak out. The fact that he was still alive was a miracle.

  A deathly pallor had seeped into his dark skin. He had already lost far too much blood. I could tell immediately that there was no saving him. For a second time, I was faced with the bitter reality of being unable to save someone.

  I wasn’t skilled enough with magic to fix this. The wound in Cassia’s side had been shallow and primarily in her outer flesh. T’laanga had been stabbed in one of his lungs, possibly his heart. Each breath brought him closer to death.

  The only thing keeping him alive, I realized, was him burning through his magic at a prodigious rate. Even compared to Third’s wasteful usage, this was excessive. T’laanga was igniting everything he had just to stay alive a little longer.

  His eyes latched onto me. I could see the burning need inside of him. I was the one he had been waiting for.

  “Magnus!” T’laanga the Sorcerer hissed, his blood seeping from between his teeth. “My blood…” Then his eyes rolled up inside of his head. He still lived, but he was already gone.

  It had only been three words, but they were steeped with Intent. T’laanga had sworn to protect Magnus. He had failed. Now, he needed to pay the price. Nearby, his shepherd’s crook lay shattered on the ground. His enchanted scarf was gone.

  T’laanga only had one thing left to honor his debt with.

  “Sanguine, please!” Cassia begged me. “Please help him!”

  I stared down at T’laanga for longer than I should have before making a decision. It broke my heart to do it. Cassia sensed what was about to happen across the connection. She screamed as I darted my head towards T’laanga and bit down on his body.

  Her hands battered at my head as T’laanga’s life drained into me. For a human, he had a truly impressive amount of Vitae. A lifetime of careful practice and study were condensed into his blood. Even after he’d burned so much of it to stay alive, it flooded my veins in a torrent.

  In spite of the rush, I respected T’laanga’s choice. Only two of my fangs pierced his flesh as I drank deeply. A few moments later and the last dregs of his Vitae flowed into me. His blood had been carried with it, leaving only a dull red stain in the dirt.

  Cassia was weeping as I pulled my head back. She didn’t understand what had happened. In her eyes, I had savagely murdered one of Edith’s closest friends when he needed me most. Perhaps in some ways, that was the truth. T’laanga and I both had made a choice. Only I would have to live with the consequences.

  I turned and rushed into the woods. Magnus’s scent was nearby. T’laanga wasn’t around to explain, but his Intent had said enough. The boy was nearby and he was in grave danger. I burned T’laanga’s magic freely to heal the hole in my wing as I ran.

  Through the trees, I saw the old man with the flying carpet. He was examining Magnus’s limp body in another man’s arms. As I rushed forward, I recognized him. Avery. Bandit Captain Avery. Even if he wore rags and had rolled through a pigsty, I would recognize him anywhere.

  How could he possibly have ended up back here? Either way, I was going to kill him.

  The wizard looked at me as I stampeded towards them. I heard him curse loudly. He reached into his robes and pulled out a small hand mirror. I was barely a dozen meters away when his balled fist smashed the mirror’s face.

  Reality warped around the Wizard, Avery, Magnus, and a white raven perched on the old man’s hat. Prismatic shards exploded outwards, pelting me with razor sharp edges. All four figures vanished into thin air with a booming ‘CRACK’! The scent of powerful magic and ozone washed over me as I slid through the spot where they’d just been standing.

  Coming to a halt, I wheeled back around and inspected the spot where they’d vanished. I could detect a shimmering spot in the air, a thin line that hovered just above the ground. My magic slipped off of it as if it had been covered in oil. Whatever the Wizard had used, it was made so that others could not easily follow.

  No matter how hard I tried, I could not force my way through.

  After several long moments I gave up the attempt. If I could not force my way through, I’d ask the thieving bastard’s other human companions where he’d gone. No mercy was left in my heart. If they didn’t want to answer, I had no issues peeling the truth out of them one claw at a time.