206 - “Breaking Reality?” - Eddiwarth - A Tale of Heroes

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Eddiwarth flew out over the canyon floor, circling away from the bridge, held aloft by blasts of fire pulsing downward from his fists. From that vantage point, he could see the entire battle’s overwhelming chaos. Flames and smoke billowed from his left, sweeping across the bridge. Pillars had fallen, and huge chunks of the bridge edge had broken off from the impact of the dragon’s feet.

He saw the green dragon on the bridge striking at Parith. It smashed its front foot down on the stone bridge as Parith shot his bow and jumped away. Parith scrambled along the edge of the bridge, jumping over the rubble. Eddiwarth could see two or three arrows sticking out of the dragon’s long neck, like needles in a pincushion. It was bleeding, but not much. How are we going to kill this thing?

Beyond the green dragon, Korr was fighting the man in the black cloak. Farther away, clinging precariously to the crumbled edge of one of the water pools on the opposite wall of the canyon, the red dragon sat and growled. It snaked its head from side to side, looking back toward Thissraelle’s father. “Go-o!” it growled. “Go and brrinng him to uss!”

Thissraelle flew up from below on the far side of the bridge. She brought Karendle flying alongside her,  a little lower. Thissraelle pointed, and floated Karendle over to the bridge. As soon as Karendle set foot down, she drew her sword and rushed toward the fight.

The red dragon’s head followed Thissraelle as she flew, and began coughing and churning up its fiery guts. A foul-smelling goo drooled from deep inside his mouth, bursting into flame as soon as it came to air and dribbled off the dragon’s jaw. Its stomach churned, it’s neck flexed, and it’s jaw opened wide.

It’s gonna flame! “Thissraelle!” Eddiwarth leaned and rushed toward her.

Thissraelle saw him and spun in the air. The dragon’s neck pushed its head forward toward her, smoking jaw open. “Get away!” Eddiwarth shouted.

Before she could move, A point of gray energy flew past her, toward the dragon. As it cut the air, it left waves of distorted reality in its wake like the reflections in a pond following a skipped stone. It struck the dragon and exploded, in a way. The dragon looked for an instant like it had been painted on layers of glass, and each layer had been shattered and badly reassembled. Then, in another instant, the panes were put together a different way, but still wrong. The dragon screamed a horrific noise, retching broken streams of fire all around him.

Then just as suddenly, the shards of reality reformed. The dragon shook its head. Eddiwarth saw that its movements were strained, like its bones weren’t quite lined up the same as it had been before. Its neck wasn’t as smooth and fluid, and its wings not as straight. One of its forelegs now protruded from the front of its chest.

It roared again, but it was a strange sound, like its voice came from somewhere else. Its angry eyes fixed on the lone wizard at the far end of the bridge.

A loud voice called out from that terrace. “That’s right! Come and get me! You leave her be!” Eddiwarth startled. That’s Thissraelle’s father? He and Thissraelle both looked in surprise. Her father stood steady and firm where he had before but the world around him seemed to be quaking. He began striding toward the dragon, stepping out onto nothing as if he were walking on solid ground.

The dragon leapt from the pool on the canyon wall and flew at him an awkward jagged path. It spewed its pent-up flames before it at the old man. The wizard waved his hands and the burning retch flew through him as if he weren’t there. The dragon landed on the bridge with a solid crunch.

“What is my father doing?” Thissraelle’s voice beside Eddiwarth startled him.

“I don’t know. I thought you were going to be fried alive!”

Eddiwarth’s eyes were drawn to the bridge just as the green dragon there growled and stomped the stone. It swung its arm before it, catching Parith in the sweep and sending him tumbling and sprawling across the bridge. When he stopped, draped over a broken pillar, he didn’t move.

“No!” Eddiwarth shouted.

“I’ll help him! You draw the dragon!” Thissraelle shot down toward Parith.

Eddiwarth swallowed his fear, and let anger and rage welled up in its place. He flew at the dragon, throwing blasts of fire from his hands, one after the other. The blasts hit the beast, exploding on his neck and chest. Using the flame of his hands as weapons turned his focus away from the flight, however, and he tumbled down, twisting to try and brace for the fall. He crashed hard onto the dragon’s side. Dazed, he landed on the stone of the walkway.

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This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing. If you like this story, support us at our Patreon!
Thank you: Chet Cox, Genevieve Springer!

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