As we galloped to the dragon, the centaur used me to block a hunk of fire that was spat at us. With the mouse girl on horseback, Steppen's duty was to protect Mishra long enough to do whatever they had planned.
Motes of ice whizzed past us as Aysha fired her ice bolts. They reminded me of what a firebolt was, a lesser version of fireball.
Marlen darted ahead of us. He dodged the dragon's snapping jaw with little effort. He moved so fast, he left a blue blur behind him.
I heard Miska chanting a spell as we galloped. It was in a language I had never heard before. It was more like a series of grunts that vibrated the air. I could feel that heavy weight on me again, though it wasn't as strong as Preyacht or the omnipresent aberration. As she continued her spell, I managed to turn my head to look at her. When she saw me, she paused, placing a peace sign with her finger on her head. She smiled brightly. I swear I saw a glint of light shine off her teeth.
I must be dead. This is hell and I died when the dragon landed.
Since you're reading this, you know that I didn't die that day.
Marlen slashed at the dragon's scaled flesh, his enhanced dagger breaking through. He used the plain one as a defense, blocking the beast's talons. He managed to get the non-enhanced dagger between the dragon's teeth. He slashed its gums with the other blade, a movement that happened so fast all I saw was an arch of blue energy, the remnant of his attack. Two ice bolts struck the wound immediately. The dragon reeled back and roared, the left side of its jaw frozen. Aysha charged up an icebolt the size of the dragon's head and fired it. It melted when it struck the dragon, but enough of it made it through to take effect. The dragon's mouth was completely frozen shut!
The encasing didn't last long though. The beast exhaled enough to turn the ice into steam, spewing fluid fire at all of us. Marlen flickered out of the way as a trail of magma made its way for us. Steppen held me up. Despite my flailing, his grip on me was too good. When the fire reached us, the membrane around me parted it. Like a rock in a river, I split the stream of fire in two. Even if I was being held hostage, I had to admit I was relieved no one got hurt between Miska, Steppen and i.
Maybe this fireproof spell isn't that bad.
Miska's spell was reaching a crescendo. Gravity tried to pull my guts out of me. Either that, or I was about to crap myself. As soon as the dragon stopped spewing flames, Miska stood up on Steppen's back. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she said, "Launch me." Red and blue energy danced around her, the colors of enchantment, power and strength.
Steppen lowered me, holding me to his bare chest. Then at once, he stopped, kicking his hind legs up.
As the centaur bucked her off his backing, Miska was launched into the air. I managed to pull my face out of Steppens pecks to see the final resort. As Miska soared, her body grew. Her feet became the size of boulders, her legs the lengths of trees. Her torso towered over the roofs, her mighty fists and arms rising to the heavens. Her head eclipsed the sun, making her face look as black as night. Despite all that, I still saw her smile, a large grin with gleaming green eyes. The dragon stared up at her. Terror eroded its pupils into slits. Trying to flap its wings, possibly to flee the giant monstrosity that towered over it, it forgot about Marlen, he was able to land a blow to its chin. He darted up its wing and shoulder so he could blitz up its neck. He moved so fast the impact of his dagger sent the beast's head upward against its will.
"Did he just uppercut a dragon?" I muttered.
Steppen chuckled, still squeezing me to his pecks. "Yeah. That's Marlen for you. Always doing the impossible."
With the dragon dazed, Miska slammed her giant fists down on it. Like the hammer of a god, she crushed the dragon's skull with the full strength she beheld in this titanic form. The dragon's eyes bulged out of its sockets, its teeth clamped between its tongue. Even Steppen flinched when he saw that. A shockwave rushed through the street, first degrading the dragon into nothing before sweeping through the rest of us. Miscellaneous goods from the abandoned booths were scattered through the air. As a booth came soaring at us- yes a whole booth was sent flying in the shockwave- Steppen reached for his axe. He barely managed to get his grip on it when a blue streak split the booth in half. It fell in two pieces, one which missed us, the other which Steppen swatted aside.
When Marlen landed beside us, he sheathed his blades.
"Show off." Steppen muttered. Marlen just snickered.
The shadow that came from Miska's giant form shrunk. As Steppen put me down, the sun shone down on me. My knees wobbled, struggling to support me as I staggered to the nearest wall. When I found it, I keeled over and puked.
Aysha handed me a handkerchief. I used it to wipe my mouth, then thanked her. She said nothing as we marched to where the other three were.
Marlen and Steppen stood over a pile of pink cloth. When Aysha and I joined them, I saw what they were staring at.
Miska, who was no longer in her giant form, was the size of my thumb. She hid her naked body behind her wand, which was the length of my forearm. Its handle was a rod with ornate designs spiraling to its head. The head itself could be used as a blunt object like a mace or a morning star. It had an inverted pyramid with red and blue gems placed on three of its faces. Its top face had a carved totem on it, a mouse with three eyes. As you can assume, the eyes were red and blue. The pyramid had two wings that sprouted from it, birds wings with a white hue to them.
Aysha pulled out a fresh handkerchief and wrapped Miska in it. She glared at the three of us, telling us, "The three of you should be ashamed of yourselves. Leering at a naked woman. Where is your decency?" That was the first time I'd seen her display emotion, and she was mad at me.
Steppen flustered. "I was only making sure that my comrade was alive." he nervously inspected one of his axes, taking interest in the sharpness of its blade.
"Don't blame me!" Marlen exclaimed. "I was just…" then his voice trailed off.
Aysha shot a glare at me. "You are less at fault here. You had no idea what you were walking into, since you've never seen the backlash of Miska's giant form."
I raised my hands in surrender. "I was staring at her wand. I didn't even know she was naked." my cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
The other two guys stared at me in disbelief. Then three hunks of ice fell on our heads, giving us welts three times the size of small Miska.