Saving the Sun

The king yelled orders, most of which I didn't catch, except for the one aimed at us: "Get back inside!"

We turned to obey, but stopped as a noise like crackling thunder filled the air. The area of the dome the dragons were attacking glowed like a sunset. Shivering lightning spread from it, fractures that crept further and further out. The dome was failing.

"Too much mana in one spot, they'll break through! We don't have the means to concentrate power to that area!" one of the mages yelled.

Alexandros gritted his teeth, then ran to the king, who looked for a moment like he was going to order us back inside again.

"Your majesty! With your permission, let us take the fight to them. If a fight breaks out over the whole city, we'll have a lot more casualties."

The king looked back at the growing swarm of dragons, then back at Alexandros, and Sigrid who ran to stand beside him, radiating a willingness to fight. Suddenly I was painfully grateful that my coronation had been more of a welcome than anything; the royal burden of sending men and women to die was not one that I desired. The king turned back to Alexandros and nodded.

"Go."

Sigrid grabbed Alexandros's arm. They shared a long look with each other that spoke volumes. Then, with a flap, they were gone, speeding halfway to the dome as soon as I had blinked. I summoned my fire, preparing to follow.

"No!" Asa grabbed me. "Wish, wait, I have an idea."

I struggled to free myself. "I can't let them die!"

"Stop! You can help from here!"

I stopped struggling and Asa released me, then turned to the king. "Your majesty, perhaps I do not understand the dome as well as I think, but I suspect you can boost it with Wish's mana."

I gaped at him. "Why does everyone want to use me as a battery these days?"

The king nodded at Asa. "It's worth a try."

That was all Asa needed to hear before dragging me away, with Eva, Orion, and Sirius trailing behind us.

                                                  ~~~~~~~<><><>*<><><>~~~~~~~

The ground shook as we arrived in the chamber of the sun-saver. Chunks of stone fell from the ceiling. Some of the crystals exploded as we passed by. Asa yelled to nearby mages.

"She-" gesturing to me, "-can power it! How do we do that?"

One stopped briefly. "Doesn't matter, the lens fractured from the power output and reflected mana back inside, the whole thing is starting to shut down!"

I looked closer at the tower, at the railings up top, and what I now realized was a dark cylindrical hole in the ceiling that a column of blinding mana was shooting up through. I turned back to the mage.

"Does it extend upwards? Can it go aboveground?"

The mage nodded. "It's designed to. It should go twice as high as the tallest building in the city. Why?"

I took a deep breath and glanced at Asa. "I have a stupid idea. Raise it." Rather than risk further damaging the equipment around me with my flames, I opted to run to the tower rather than fly. On the side was a ladder, which we started to climb, Asa and Orion going first, with Eva and I behind them, until Orion noticed Sirius casually running through the air on shadows that materialized under his paws; Orion let go of the ladder and starting running on shadows as well, zig-zagging back and forth upwards on a switchback of his own making.

Asa called from above Eva and I, "What's your idea, Wish?"

"Well, if we can't boost the shield, making I can make a new one."

"You're crazy," Asa shot back, "but I don't have any better ideas."

Eva stayed silent as we climbed to the top. As soon as we were over the edge, standing on a circular walkway around the dying column of mana, the tower lurched and we began to rise. Slowly at first, then with a speed and smoothness that amazed me.

Some kind of city square shot past us, then rooftops, then there was nothing but sky around us. The dome had fracturing completely and was falling in chunks, dissolving like fireworks as they went. I turned to stare at the dragon swarm to the north. Even if this worked, some had already come over walls; there would be a battle in the city, no matter what. I hoped to make it a small one. As the tower slowed, my friends looked at me expectantly. I thought back to Sigrid teaching me to direct my fire. At first, we had been focused on using my mana to attack.

I raised my arms, echoing the dance she and I had improvised.

"For a different purpose," I whispered.

I summoned my fire. Not to destroy, but to defend.

I flung out an arc towards the northern wall, then to the northeast and northwest for good measure. Momentum seemed to help, so I did a full turn in place, sending out a spiral of flame. As my feet moved, I recalled dancing with Orion the day the dragon spirits had come, and followed the steps. Fire rippled out, each swathe growing and expanding as I released it, as if it finally had room to breathe now that I wasn't trying to condense it. I unfurled my aura like a flag. It acted as bellows on a forge, turning the flames into an inferno.

As I watched the light of the auroras filter through and mingle with my fire, a part of me was glad for all of this; it was a beautiful sight.

Eva gasped behind me, "Oh, no!"

I turned in my dance and saw some dragons speeding straight towards us. My dome of fire had reached the walls by now, cutting off much of the swarm, but plenty had come through. Twin blazes of gold and scarlet streaked after them, outpacing them and stopping next to the tower, hovering in front of us. Sigrid and Alexandros!

Sigrid smiled that ferocious smile of hers. "Keep it up, Wish, you're doing great."

"Don't worry, we won't let any of them get to you," Alexandros's tone made me pity whoever faced him.

I nodded to them and resumed my dance with all the more fervor as they shot off to intercept the dragonriders. Orion ran off on his shadows, with Sirius on his heels. I saw Asa frown in concentration, then laugh in delight as he began to levitate in the air. Then he too shot off. Eva turned to watch them go, then turned to me with a look that seemed as heavy as the king's burden of sending soldiers to die; I suppose letting them go was just as hard as sending them. She ran towards the ladder with purpose and disappeared over the edge.

I didn't hear what they did during the battle until much later.