The Dream Keeper's Dragon

3.39 A Sea of Fire

The field ignited with the soldiers Valice had burnt. Some had already passed, and their bodies turned to ash, providing light for those still fighting. Some ran screaming and others rolled around on the ground.

Aurelie had hardened within a matter of minutes. Adrenalin took over and all her fears disappeared, hiding behind her natural need to survive. Nothing surprised her. Not even when one of her men was lifted into the air by an invisible force, and dropped back down like a sack of flour.

The pool of blood that had gathered around him suddenly rippled and Aurelie saw the print of a boot disturbing the liquid. She sent a bolt of fire toward the pool and a silhouette of a man suddenly burst into flame.

She remembered her first journey to the Icelands and the footprints that trailed from the queen carriage up to her which she found strange. Perhaps the queen's magic died with her, but this was something else entirely.

King Lukas had invisible soldiers. The battlefield suddenly grew more dangerous and Aurelie ignited her hand and spun in a circle making sure her surroundings were clear.

A loud growl sounded behind her and she turned to see a pack of tigers rush down the mountain and leap toward her men. She spread her fire between both her hands and extended them, forming a large ball. Aurelie released the fire and watched it fly toward the mountain, and spread once it touched the ground. It stopped half the tigers but only for a second. They backed away and sought a different entry onto the battlefield. Some ran back and ran the distance to catch enough speed to jump over the wall of fire that crept up and along the bottom slope of the mountain.

Valice shrieked from above and released another fiery breath. The enemy archers had stopped shooting at the soldiers and focused her instead. Her thick scales protected most of her body, but there were soft gaps between the scales that had been pierced.

Aurelie directed her attention toward the archers. She ran to take cover in the shadows where no fire had burned, and hid behind a tree. From there, she focused on the clothing of the archers and one by one they lowered their bows and beat against the soles of their shoes.

There were still plenty left when Aurelie heard a twig snap behind her. Her eyes had not been accustomed to the darkness. To attack she would have to reveal her hiding place. Without giving it a second thought, she pressed her hands into the ground and a wave of fire burst out at her touch. It caught two crouching men and set them alight. Aurelie ran then, dagger in hand.

"Push them back toward the gate!" she heard someone shout.

She cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted the same thing at the top of her lungs. Her voice was barely audible over the moans and clashing of iron.

A guard she passed—Nic's man—had his sword drawn and his eyes looking at the ground below him. A shadow of a crouching man spread across the ground, but no man near him had been in the same position. His blade swung and Aurelie saw its shadow connect with that of the shadow's neck. A man appeared suddenly, clutching at his neck, his mouth opened and the soldier struck him again.

"Look for the shadows at your feet!" the man shouted. "They're invisible!" He turned and ran to a new target.

The further Aurelie ran into the battle, searching for Kirin, as she set fire to the field and created a wall that pushed back the men toward the castle, the more bodies she found she had to jump over.

The army pushed forward, finishing off the men that had been unfortunate enough to end up on the wrong side of the firewall. Aurelie found herself suddenly at the front.

A blue flame flew across the sky. It passed her faster than she could look up to see what it had been and struck Valice. The dragon lurched sideways in the air and swung her head in the direction it came from.