Dragon Unleashed (Book 1 of the Dragon Mage Saga)

The Fight Rages On

Darla’s heart pounded rapidly within her chest, threatening to burst from its cage. This was so not good…

            Pipperina’s glowing white devil eyes seared into hers. “I can’t wait to watch you burn, Dragon mage. Just wait until I tell His Darkness that I killed Darla Hawthorne.”

            Darla seethed bitterly. “You’re disgusting, you know that? And I’m not going down without a fight.”

            Pipperina let out a deep, rough howl, as coarse as sandpaper. “So let’s fight, darling. You know my friends, the Illyrians?”

            Darla turned towards the slimy beasts which surrounded her on all sides. A dank, foul odor emanated from them, turning the air inside the cave greenish. They resembled gigantic mold-yellow slugs with carnivorous wolf-like fangs jutting out of their mouths. Darla noticed a line of spikes glinting down their backs. Great…just great. She recognized them as Illyrian devils, which she learned about in her Devil History class. The infamous legend, shared over hushed dinner tables, went something like this:

            A wealthy dragon merchant escaped into the human realm, the origin land of monsters. He came across a beautiful girl with hair of fine white silk and eyes blue as crystal waters. Her name was Illyria and her father was a poor shepherd in Greece. The dragon offered the old man a pile of precious gems and gold in exchange for Illyria, in which he happily obliged. So the merchant brought the young girl back to Pharix, where she became his wife inside his luxurious  manor. However, scandal soon broke out when Illyria was caught sleeping with one of the merchant’s stable boys. Angered, he cursed Illyria and turned her into the ugliest devil alive. He replaced her beauty with atrocity and her sweet, loving nature with a bloodthirsty desire to kill. As it turned out, Illyria in devil form had the ability to duplicate, so thus the Illyrians were born: a mass army of killer devils.

            Darla didn’t waste any time. She remembered what Professor Kingsley had said. Illyrians are vicious, but they’re slow. She had the advantage. If only she could shift into a dragon-but the cave was far too cramped. She wouldn’t have enough room to move about.

            Darla allowed the magic pooled within her to bubble out like a spring fountain, forming a glimmering golden sword. Darla beamed and slashed the sword through the air, slicing off the head of the first Illyrian. The grotesque devil dropped to the cave floor with a thud, its limp head rolling down.

            “Oh, you didn’t know?” Pipperina cooed. “Illyrians always grow back their heads-or any body parts, for that matter. They’re practically unkillable.”

            Indestructible devils…she certainly wasn’t prepared for this. If Magixes didn’t work, whatever could she do? Just then, an idea popped into Darla’s mind. Oh, how stupid she was!

            Darla reached under her shirt and yanked out the golden dragon necklace, its radiant azure eyes shining bright like a thousand suns. It still possessed great, devil-subduing magic from the Forbidden Magix Charles, Ruby, and Hugo performed on that horrific battle so long ago.

            Pipperina screamed as the heavenly golden light pierced the air. The devilfire in her eyes grew brighter and brighter as her bodily flames crackled angrily.