3


    Gildyr had pressed himself to the metal air grate, along with Salem and Mirielle. Unable to tear their eyes away, they stared in shock as a vast and ancient copper dragon burst away from the citadel and into the air; twisting, roaring and trailing flame like a comet.


    Its thundering flight shook the plaza and transport chamber, which already rumbled and swayed, pounded by massive footfalls. Something was coming, almost too big and moving too fast to make sense of. A colossus of flesh, metal and vapor lurched nearer, a mile at a pace. Wreathed in lightning, flanked by tornadoes, it rushed at the dragon like a volcanic mountain collapsing downslope in a blizzard of rock dust and ash.


    Fire lanced from the dragon, which eluded a vast, swinging fist to score on the titan''s grey chest. The stench of burnt flesh and hot metal filled the air, was swept away by a sudden, acres-wide cyclone, snaking its way up from the clouds to envelope that banking dragon like a bathtub toy. Whipped the beast into a flat spin, over the ridgeline and far out of sight.


    Folk in the few scattered dwellings below saw a hurtling copper fireball cross the sky, then slow down and spread its wide, filmy wings. Saw it belch flame and magic as it shot up through the clouds and back at a towering figure of metal and fog and fried meat.


    Maybe no one believed in the war bells, but they rang them anyhow, snapping old ropes and raising a storm of corrosion, for this was a war between monsters, and nowhere was safe.


    High overhead, Gildyr turned to look at Valerian, who seemed to be frozen in place.


    "Milord, I don''t mean to interrupt your meditation, but we''re bang in the kettle, no matter who wins."


    And, dragon or no, the giant was still heading their way. Val did not seem to hear, caught up in his second or third recycle. Not even Cap''n shrieking and pulling his hair got a reaction.


    Kalisandra stood away from the others, irritable and aloof. Clutching her bow, she battled a tide of emotions too strong to express without physical action.


    "He can hear you," she growled, "But he''s occupied working the target sigils. No sense arriving as a thin film of paste, or not at all, Druid."


    She had little use for wood-elves, who had never once come to the aid of lost Lindyn, her former realm. Gruffly, she ordered,


    "Keep watch on the doings, without. We will risk a blind leap, if we must."


    "If it comes to that… to being pressed flat by a giant or burnt with the flame that never goes out, I will leap," cut in the Tabaxi, smelling of crouched-down-low apprehension. "But otherwise, not. And I would prefer hearing these things from Mrowr, She-elf. I do not trust you."


    Kalisandra snorted a bitter, small laugh, then shrugged and moved off, seeking a better vantage point. Sometimes an arrow, fired from cover, hitting just the right spot, could work battlefield miracles. She''d have to remove a grating first, though.


    A sudden, brief simulacrum of Val appeared at her side, then, passing over a spell of greater opening and… a pointed stick. Roughly arrow-length, but unfletched.


    ''More than she seems,'' he hand-signed, adding, ''I love you,'' then popping away like a bubble.


    "Idiot," Kalisandra muttered, taking up spell-globe and stick. Moments later, a bit higher up at the other side of the chamber door, she spotted her hunting blind and started scrambling upward. No joke when the transport chamber was not just shaking, but rocking now like a ship in wild seas.


    The dragon had returned. This time, it did not strike at the weather titan directly. Instead, the rumbling beast burnt away at the cloudscape beneath the giant''s feet.


    The colossal monster bellowed words in a language so old and pure, so close to the Song of Creation that the earth shook for hundreds of leagues all around. It thrust out a massive, spread hand in the dragon''s direction, launching a spell of unmaking. The motion caused violent pressure changes and sudden, wild rain as that enormous limb rent the air.


    The dragon spiraled aside, spewing the flame that never goes out. Lost part of its tail to the spell, which gained enough purchase to begin eating upward, chewing and frying for the wyrm''s heart and head.


    The dragon retreated long enough to snap off a length of its own copper tail, which fell to the cloudy ground of the plaza. There, the length of scaled muscle writhed and flopped, jetting blood from one end, unmaking-runes from the other. Dragon''s blood and shreds of raw manna shot into the transport chamber, blocked by hasty shielding from Gildyr.


    The weather titan took hold of a cloud-stone spire and snapped the thing free of its building with a noise like the uplift of continents. Wielding the shaft like a club, it smashed at the injured dragon. Only, the wyrm had spells of its own. With a furious shriek, it generated dissolving rain, along with a hundred darting, swooping simulacra.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Great chunks of building and cloud-stone crashed to the plaza, smashing the fountain to bits. Gouts of bright dragon flame consumed whatever it struck, leaving nothing behind but ashes and char.


    The makeshift club struck part of the dragon''s wing, tearing the membrane. Those hundred conjured doppelgangers massed their flame in response, aiming for the titan''s metal-clad head.


    A sudden gale sprang up, scattering false dragons like so many shining dried leaves. Vapor jetted from vast round ports on the giant''s shoulders and acres-wide back. The white-hot divine steel of its hood cooled at once. Then, like an ember at first, growing like a newly-birthed star, a single eye opened up in the depths of that metal cased head. Radiating primal energy, it swept a blinding white trail across the plaza and sky.


    Like a finger of the first, shattered god, the light altered or uncreated everything it touched. Statues gained life and sentience, becoming monstrous beings that dropped like meteors onto the ground, far below. Cleansing golems popped out of existence or transformed into startled, winged horses.


    Meanwhile, the dragon had nearly completed burning away the clouds beneath the colossus. Sensing its peril, the giant began a thunderous chant of levitation, raising itself, along with nearby mountains and mortal villages.


    That ray still burnt across cloud and sky, aiming for the dragon, but cutting fast at the transport chamber, as well.


    Kalisandra wiggled into a higher position. Used Valerian''s spell-globe to loosen the grating and then kick it out.


    "All right, ''More than she seems''," the elf muttered, managing to nock that sharpened stick to her bowstring. "This is your moment to shine. Nothing else in my quiver is going to do any good."


    Only… where to aim? Whom to strike? The most immediate threat seemed to be that titan, whom the druid was attempting to entangle with magical vines raised from the ground below. Piercing the clouds, these lightning-grown briars struck at the giant''s legs. Managed to slow, but not stop its advance. One more step would obliterate the central plaza and transport chamber. One sweep of its primal ray would destroy them all, or convert them to gods-only-knew.


    Kalisandra inhaled deeply, drew and took aim at something that flashed and pulsed on the advancing behemoth''s chest. Not a fleshy thing. More like the blazing red gem on an idol… only the size of a mountain lake.


    Lightning flashed from thin air to strike at the dragon. The stick in her firing grip pulsed in time with the titan''s energy bursts, as though attuning itself.


    "Go get ''em," whispered the ranger, as she always did when loosing a shot.


    Released, the dwarven-forged weapon developed a sudden barbed head and sleek fletching. It flew like a godly thunderbolt, nicking the dragon''s other wing. Then, rampaging onward, it buried itself in that pulsing red mass.


    There was a single, bright chiming noise, followed by a sharp crack. The titan flailed, momentarily. Long enough for the dragon to finish searing away the cloudscape it stood upon. The ray flickered out just short of their transport chamber, leaving a smoldering trench in its wake. All of the magically levitated objects twirled like leaves to the ground, only partly supported now.


    The weather giant staggered, missed its footing, then stumbled down through the burnt-away gap. What would have been a fatal drop for elf or human just tripped the monstrosity, which landed with a rumble like bowling with mountains for tenpins and the moon for a ball. It fought to recover its balance, almost succeeding.


    Then the dragon, swinging around at full speed from behind, struck the giant''s back with a resounding BOOM and explosion of flame.


    The monster fell forward onto the ground. No doubt quickly, from its perspective, but so big that it seemed like forever to those who watched, gnat-like, above.


    It wasn''t dead. Began using splayed, giant hands and one knee to push itself upright. Only, the dragon came around for another pass, aiming for the giant''s neck. With talons extended and jaws gaping wide, the beast struck hard, took hold, then savagely ripped out a huge mouthful of metal and spine.


    Shaking its head, the dragon tossed the ragged chunk high into the air, jetted fire into the wound, and then tore out another great mouthful of sizzling flesh. Its victory roar shook the heavens, sending violent tremors through cloudscape and ground. Nearly drowned out Valerian''s sudden words, as the high-elf ended his fourth recycle.


    "I think that I''ve got the sigils properly set," he told them, "but does everyone wish to leave all at once, or…"


    "I think that would be advisable, Milord," said Gildyr, remarkably evenly, all things considered.


    Kalisandra leapt back down from her perch on the air vent.


    "Yes," she said. "Now would be good. We can sort things out further, at Starloft."


    Valerian nodded, picking up on their urgency, if having missed out on most of the reason.


    "Very well," he said, waving them over. "I can send everyone wherever they''d like to go once we''ve some breathing room. Onto the disk, all of you. Quickly."


    He boosted Mirielle, who had darted over the instant he spoke. Lifted the child onto the glimmering transport surface, then offered a hand up to Salem, who butted her head against his shoulder as she went up and past.


    "I do not trust her," hissed the Tabaxi, apparently meaning Kalisandra, for that was the direction those slitted gold eyes were stabbing.


    "I do," said Val, briefly scratching Salem''s velvety ears.


    Gildyr got up there his own way, then extended a hand to Valerian, who accepted, though he didn''t need help. Kalisandra leapt up like a panther, scorning assistance from anyone. The stick, Val noticed, was back in her hand.


    Everyone was present, and the sigils for Starloft wafting about in the directional sphere. He had only to speak the keyword to send them all forth. But first, Val invoked Firelord, saying,


    "Shining One, great harm has been done to this place by the battle of those who were locked here. Part of the fault for their waking is mine, for having entered the cloud giant citadel. For that, I am willing to pay… but not these, who had no say in my doings, and not the folk of this plane, who have helped us. Please heal the damage, with as many as would join you."


    Gildyr added his own plea to the spirits of woodland and moor, invoking recovery. That done, looking suddenly tense, the wood-elf seized Valerian''s arm.


    "There''s something I have to tell you," he said. "You''re going to be angry, but…"


    The druid took a deep, ragged breath and then plunged hurriedly onward, riding his courage as long as it lasted.


    "I know where your brother is. Have known for some time. You can kill me or help me to save him. Your choice, my lord."