summoned a gigantic owl to fight for him, but with a single snap of its jaws, the Hermit annihilated the bird before it even finished materializing. The faerie dragon next attempted to blind his foe by conjuring a whirl of colors before its eyes. The linnorn seemed simply to will the illusion away, and it vanished. The Hermit then lifted its prodigious talons, and would likely have ripped Jivex from existence just as easily if Kara, still singing despite the bloody gashes in her side, hadn’t hurtled forward to distract it.
As he dodged a potentially bone-shattering flick of Brimstone’s tail, Taegan struggled not to panic. He and his friends had stood against chromatic dragons, a dracolich, a sunwyrm, demons, and plenty of other formidable foes. Surely they could defeat the linnorn, too.
But no matter how he tried, he couldn’t make himself believe it. Some other night, perhaps, but not then, when they were already spent and luck was running against them.
Unless…
He turned to Pavel and cried, “You have to hold Brimstone back by yourself!” He looked up at Jivex and Kara. “Flee! Get as far away as you can.” He beat his wings and leaped closer to Dorn, Will, and Raryn, who, though still shaking, was struggling back to his feet. “Keep shooting! Hurt the thing!”
“What do you think we’ve been trying to do?” snapped Will, spinning his warsling. “Treat it to a sausage and a jack of ale?”
“Make the Hermit focus on you so Kara and Jivex can get clear,” Taegan continued.
Dorn loosed an arrow. “What’s the plan?”
“Just, trust me.” Taegan rattled off one of the few spells he hadn’t already expended.
The world flickered and leaped around him and he was flying above and behind the Hermit’s colossal head with its writhing hair-like cilia and encrustations of fungus. The reptile’s neck was like a twisting highway beneath him.
Back on the ground, tiny with distance, Pavel, his mystical abilities apparently utterly exhausted, battled Brimstone with his mace alone. Hornblade drawn, Will scrambled to help him. Dorn and Raryn kept shooting at the Hermit and had likewise taken up Taegan’s cry, bellowing for Kara and Jivex to get away.
The dragons were trying, but the corpse tearer wouldn’t allow it. Ignoring the barrage of arrows, it pressed Jivex and Kara so hard they couldn’t escape. Neither could turn tail without inviting a rear attack.
Taegan had hoped to put his own stratagem to the test before the Hermit even realized he was hovering nearby, but plainly, it wasn’t possible. Kara and Jivex wouldn’t break away unless he helped Dorn and Raryn distract the corpse tearer. He furled his wings and dived, hurtling at the Linnorn’s eye.
Up close, the Hermit smelled foul, not with the rotten stink of a dracolich, but a stale, musty reek suggestive of inconceivable age. From instant to instant, its eye looked like black emptiness or a plate of obsidian large as a tabletop, depending
on how the moonlight struck it. A few arrows jutted from the dark surface, moisture seeping from around the tips. Taegan’s sword made similar wounds, narrow punctures and cuts that only oozed fluid instead of gushing it.
Still, he succeeded in capturing the Hermit’s attention. The dark, enormous head at the end of the flexible neck jerked away, then straight back at him, jaws spreading wide to engulf him. He lashed his wings and flung himself clear an instant before the stained fangs clashed together.
The Hermit struck at him again, and then a third time. He dodged, swerving, each time only narrowly avoiding the prodigious teeth. Occasionally he had a chance to strike back. Rilitar’s slender blade pricked and sliced the reptile’s snout. and came away black with slime.
Gigantic claws slashed down, catching him by surprise and only missing by an inch. The Hermit’s tail whipped around at him, and he swooped beneath it. In so doing, he caught a glimpse of Kara and Jivex past the linnorn’s
As he dodged a potentially bone-shattering flick of Brimstone’s tail, Taegan struggled not to panic. He and his friends had stood against chromatic dragons, a dracolich, a sunwyrm, demons, and plenty of other formidable foes. Surely they could defeat the linnorn, too.
But no matter how he tried, he couldn’t make himself believe it. Some other night, perhaps, but not then, when they were already spent and luck was running against them.
Unless…
He turned to Pavel and cried, “You have to hold Brimstone back by yourself!” He looked up at Jivex and Kara. “Flee! Get as far away as you can.” He beat his wings and leaped closer to Dorn, Will, and Raryn, who, though still shaking, was struggling back to his feet. “Keep shooting! Hurt the thing!”
“What do you think we’ve been trying to do?” snapped Will, spinning his warsling. “Treat it to a sausage and a jack of ale?”
“Make the Hermit focus on you so Kara and Jivex can get clear,” Taegan continued.
Dorn loosed an arrow. “What’s the plan?”
“Just, trust me.” Taegan rattled off one of the few spells he hadn’t already expended.
The world flickered and leaped around him and he was flying above and behind the Hermit’s colossal head with its writhing hair-like cilia and encrustations of fungus. The reptile’s neck was like a twisting highway beneath him.
Back on the ground, tiny with distance, Pavel, his mystical abilities apparently utterly exhausted, battled Brimstone with his mace alone. Hornblade drawn, Will scrambled to help him. Dorn and Raryn kept shooting at the Hermit and had likewise taken up Taegan’s cry, bellowing for Kara and Jivex to get away.
The dragons were trying, but the corpse tearer wouldn’t allow it. Ignoring the barrage of arrows, it pressed Jivex and Kara so hard they couldn’t escape. Neither could turn tail without inviting a rear attack.
Taegan had hoped to put his own stratagem to the test before the Hermit even realized he was hovering nearby, but plainly, it wasn’t possible. Kara and Jivex wouldn’t break away unless he helped Dorn and Raryn distract the corpse tearer. He furled his wings and dived, hurtling at the Linnorn’s eye.
Up close, the Hermit smelled foul, not with the rotten stink of a dracolich, but a stale, musty reek suggestive of inconceivable age. From instant to instant, its eye looked like black emptiness or a plate of obsidian large as a tabletop, depending
on how the moonlight struck it. A few arrows jutted from the dark surface, moisture seeping from around the tips. Taegan’s sword made similar wounds, narrow punctures and cuts that only oozed fluid instead of gushing it.
Still, he succeeded in capturing the Hermit’s attention. The dark, enormous head at the end of the flexible neck jerked away, then straight back at him, jaws spreading wide to engulf him. He lashed his wings and flung himself clear an instant before the stained fangs clashed together.
The Hermit struck at him again, and then a third time. He dodged, swerving, each time only narrowly avoiding the prodigious teeth. Occasionally he had a chance to strike back. Rilitar’s slender blade pricked and sliced the reptile’s snout. and came away black with slime.
Gigantic claws slashed down, catching him by surprise and only missing by an inch. The Hermit’s tail whipped around at him, and he swooped beneath it. In so doing, he caught a glimpse of Kara and Jivex past the linnorn’s
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