The Dragonforce

As she stood in the face of the man towering over her, Umbra’s hand reached for her sword. But before she could draw it free, her companion stopped her, urging, “Umbra, we didn’t come here for a fight, remember? We should conserve our strength for that dragon, not waste our energy here –”

Her gaze still locked on Marik, she said simply, “Butt out.”

The man spluttered, looking back and forth between them before finally realizing that whatever was going to happen was something he should be far away from. A look of resignation on his thin face, he hopped backwards away from the pavilion as the crowds started to jeer the duo, fanning out to give them even more space.

“Well, that escalated quickly,” Julius breathed beside me, watching the scene in disbelief. “Darn it! This might be our chance. Leo, if you transform, do you think you could go bring the others –”

He was cut off as the first blow was struck below. Umbra’s blade leapt from the scabbard, and Marik hefted his axe to deliver an overhead strike that she blocked with her shield. The shockwave of the impact alone blasted the overhead pavilion to shreds, and the ground exploded beneath them, cracking under the raw power of the hit. The attack drove Umbra down onto one knee, but she held fast, bracing her shield with both hands and twisting it aside, causing the massive blade to glance off.

Then, her sword raked open a bloody gash across Marik’s chest, his surprise evident in his startled expression as he stumbled backwards and looked down at the wound curiously. Unfortunately, it seemed more superficial than anything, but the fact that she was able to harm him when I had not even been able to make him flinch was astounding, and it told Julius all he needed to know. Even if I gathered the others, even if we attempted to fight by her side, we would only get in the way. This was a one-on-one duel between two individuals who were at a level we could never hope to reach. All we could do now was watch, and hope that Umbra won.

Marik shook with amusement, and roared, “Finally, a worthy opponent! I’m going to start fighting seriously now, so don’t you go and disappoint me!”

The ground trembled and the air quivered with each blow that was exchanged, a back and forth of attacks that I could barely follow. For his size, Marik moved unbelievably quick, his axe twirling through the air as he struck and defended against Umbra’s sword, sparks flying as it collided with her shield. I watched as each hit made Umbra stagger, her brow furrowed in concentration as she focused on her fight. It soon became clear, however, that she was outmatched.

She blocked another wild attack, and slid backwards across the dirt, breathing heavily. Her previously tidy hair was now disheveled, and clung to her sweat-soaked forehead. Her face remained as expressionless as ever, but the look in her eyes told me that she had realized it too. If this fight went on for much longer, she was going to lose.

Marik shouldered his axe and taunted, “Come now, that can’t be all you’ve got. I can see it in your eyes, there’s still something up your sleeve. Well? Show me everything you’ve got!” He held his arms out wide in a welcoming gesture, as if he had absolutely no fear of death. Seeing his overwhelming strength, perhaps that was true.

Umbra gritted her teeth and tsked, turning towards where her companion stood. “Danis, the staff!”

The man gaped at her for a moment before shaking himself and warily responding, “A-are you sure, Umbra? You know you can’t maintain it for very long…" 

“Just plant the damned staff!” She shouted, and turned back to Marik, a dark grin on her thin lips. “Very well, you should consider yourself lucky. This is the first time anyone, or anything, has driven me this far, in a very long time. The real fight begins…now!”

As Danis reeled back and slammed the butt of his staff into the dirt, the crystalline tip burst into life, shining with a blinding golden radiance. Immediately, the sound of a thousand voices screaming in pain erupted in the back of my head, and I gasped at the unexpected onslaught. Beside me, Rill also held her hands to her ears and groaned in my head, Leo, what is that sound? What’s happening?

I don’t know, I thought back, barely able to get the words across through the incoming torrent of tortured wails.

Julius took his eyes off the fight for a moment to see the two of us writhing on the ground, and explained sadly, “You can hear them, huh? I shouldn’t be surprised. Those gemstones, set into that staff? Those are what the dragonslayers call vestiges. They’re the cores taken from the dragons they’ve slain, like trophies of the hunt.”

I winced against the throbbing in my skull and questioned, “What? That’s insane! Why would they ever do something like that?”

“You’re about to find out,” the man said lowly, gesturing back to the battlefield, where Umbra now stood cloaked in golden light. “They call it the dragonforce. From what I understand, it’s a technique that the ancient dragon riders used in times of great duress, to bring out a temporary burst of incredible power from the bond they shared with their partners. In that case, Rill, you might even be able to do something similar, in time. The version the slayers use is a bastardized copy, a way of squeezing out the last ounce of strength remaining in the cores of the dragons they’ve slain.”

I had many questions, and no time to ask them, my thoughts muddled over with Rill’s and the other voices. Does that mean that Andras also had his core stolen? If so…I’m going to take it back, someday! This is…sick! It’s disgusting! I cannot allow this to happen, not ever again!

I struggled to pay attention as below, Umbra vanished for a moment, reappearing directly in front of Marik before he could react and striking forward with a blindingly quick stab of her sword. Despite its speed, he managed to avoid the brunt of the attack as it lanced through his flank, carving a deep gash in his side. The man grunted and retaliated, but Umbra deftly blocked it with her shield, the resulting clang ringing out loudly.

For the first time, I saw Marik’s face as he acknowledged an actual threat, and his confident grin was replaced with a deep-set look of determination. The two titans continued to exchange blows, their attacks becoming increasingly frantic, and their defenses beginning to fail. Marik slammed the butt of his axe into Umbra’s side, and blood painted the air as the wind was driven from her lungs, and she was barely able to reel away from the giant axe head as it whizzed past her cheek, drawing a red line in its wake.

She roared as she bashed her shield into Marik’s head, and as he recoiled, she drove her blade downward into his thigh, a stream of crimson flowing from the wound. The man grabbed her wrist and grinned triumphantly as he slammed his own forehead down upon hers. I watched the golden light leave her body as her eyes rolled back in her head. But Marik did not stop there. His greataxe discarded, he pommeled Umbra’s limp body, her armor shattering and flying off into the air with each hit.

She fell to her knees, and Marik wrapped one of his large hands around her head, lifting her into the air before him. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his lip as he smiled at the ragged state she was in, gasping for breath, and said, “Guess your time’s up. Too bad, that was starting to turn into a good fight! Now, I’ll give you the courtesy of a quick end.”

“Wait!” Danis shouted, rushing forward. He flinched as if struck when Marik shifted his focus towards him, but waited patiently for the man to continue; if nothing else, he seemed interested in what he might have to say. “She’s already lost this battle, you don’t have to finish her off. We’ll go back to Centrale and forget about the dragon. It’s all yours!”

Marik regarded him for a long time, and just when I thought he would refuse, he spat at the man and tossed Umbra’s limp body in his direction. Danis shook himself just in time to catch her before she hit the ground, and Marik told him, "Begone from my domain, and never return…unless, of course, you're looking for a rematch. But next time, it will be to the death, you have my word on that."

As Danis gathered Umbra into his arms and scurried off, I let out a breath I had not realized I was holding. The screaming in my head having finally abated, my thoughts were beginning to clear, and I shared a concerned look with Julius.

“We should go tell the others what happened here,” he said, sparing one last glance at the scene below, as Marik swept back the flaps of his large tent and disappeared inside. Rill and I followed Julius back to our camp in relative silence.

In my head, Rill said, That dragonforce…I don’t think I could ever use something like that, if it meant causing you that much pain. Those screams were too horrible to bear.

Well, if what Julius said is true, I doubt it would be the same for us. If the ancient riders did it, then it was probably something more harmonious than what we just witnessed. That was…a perversion of the original, something twisted over centuries of hatred for my kind.

She could sense my distaste through our bond, a feeling that was mutual between the two of us. Hmm, I suppose you’re probably right. I guess it doesn’t matter right now anyway, since I haven’t the faintest idea how it works.

Returning to camp, we quickly filled the others in on what had transpired, to looks of utter shock and horror. “Umbra Gearfield was defeated?” Nora exclaimed, and Julius nodded grimly.

“It’s true, we all watched it happen. What’s more, I’m afraid that our original plan is now dust in the wind, so to speak. Based on what we saw, Umbra’s not going to be any help even if we could get her to agree to fight with us, and in her current state, there’s no use in even asking. Danis might be able to patch her up, but it’ll be a while before she regains the strength to lift her blade again. I’ll admit, I underestimated Marik’s strength, even with what Leolyn told us.” As a wave of crestfallen expressions went around the group, Julius added, “But, this is also our greatest opportunity to launch an attack.”

“Are you insane?” I asked him, pointing in the direction of the enemy camp. I could still vaguely sense Marik’s presence. “Umbra was leaps and bounds above any of us, and Marik wiped the floor with her! What chance could we possibly have?”

Julius regarded me patiently. “How about we do a debrief, then. Each of you tell us what you observed during the fight.”

I furrowed my brow in thought, but really, there were no words to describe it. “They’re really strong,” I answered truthfully.

“Marik might be a big guy, but he can move really fast and fluidly when he’s serious,” Rill added.

Julius sighed as we gave our commentaries, and grumbled, “I suppose that’s what I get for asking a dragon and a girl who just learned to hold a sword for an expert-level analysis of a foe’s battle tendencies…” He cleared his throat and continued, “Well, for one, Marik seemed to favor his right side. I’m not sure if that’s because of a previous injury or because of the loss of his eye, but either way, you might have noticed that’s where Umbra struck him. Twice. Once in the ribs, and once in the thigh. He might be able to tough it out, but I know he doesn’t have any healers amongst his ranks, and on top of those injuries, he was more exhausted towards the end than you might think. He’s lost a lot of blood, and that’s not something that someone can replenish very easily. Despite how monstrous he might seem, he’s still human in the end, and vulnerable to the same things we are. If we all were to face him at his full strength, I have no doubt we’d lose horribly. But now? I think Umbra might have actually levelled the playing field for us. This is our one and only chance to take him down, and I intend to capitalize upon it. But I need everyone’s help for this. So what do you say?”

I considered his words for a time. There’s no talking him out of it. And what’s more, he’s got a good point. If we can’t put an end to him now, it was never going to happen. Nodding, I told him, “Alright, I’m in. We need to act before he has time to fully recover. But we’re still going into this without Umbra backing us up. So, what’s the plan?”

A twinkle in his eyes, Julius carefully laid out his idea, ending with, “We attack at dawn.”