The creature flew back into view, coming for us as I ran to Sindari to help him if he needed it. It dove toward us, and I raised Chopper, determined to get in fast enough to strike at it this time.
But the yellow eyes focused on the sword, and the creature didn’t come within range. It flew over us like a bomber, hurling down magical blasts of energy.
I hurried to form my defenses, imagining mental fern fronds matting together in a dome-shaped barrier over Sindari and me—and hoping it would work. I’d never tried to extend my shield and protect someone else before, and I had no idea how effective my magic would be on this world.
Power railed at us like a hailstorm wind, tearing up the undergrowth all around us and slamming into my barrier. One of the stone structures crumbled as if a wrecking ball had crashed into the roof, and the noise almost startled me into dropping my defenses. Chunks of stone struck the barrier—would have struck us—and bounced off. The creature sailed out of view over more dwellings.
Dwarven buildings are usually indestructible, Sindari noted of the crumbled stone near us.
“I’m glad I didn’t take Zav’s advice to hide in one.”
I lowered my barrier and drew Fezzik again. If the creature wouldn’t come close enough to strike with my blade—maybe it was even avoiding Chopper—I had to figure out a way to make the bullets work. Assuming the creature came back and wasn’t going to join its buddies.
With buildings and trees in the way, I couldn’t see Zav’s fight, but the raw power being expended by both sides clawed at my senses, so intense that it made me want to crawl under a rock and put my arms over my head. Not that doing so would help.
A dragon’s roar thundered through the canyon, echoing from the walls. Zav was not pleased.
It is returning. Sindari shook his fur and crouched to face our foe again.
I started to raise my barrier, but I could only focus on using my power for one thing at a time. In the past, I’d managed to use my magic to burrow holes in the defenses of enemies so that Chopper could slip in and strike. Could I do the same for Fezzik? Or could I weaken the creature’s body? It didn’t seem to have a magical barrier; it was the bones themselves that were impervious.
Our attacker returned, arrowing toward us from above, talons outstretched. I willed my mental fern fronds to combine and twist into spears, then visualized jamming them into the creature’s skull. Faint cracks appeared, and I fired Fezzik’s magical bullets, hoping they would do more damage this time.
Nothing came of the cracks, and the bullets bounced off. I cursed in frustration. The creature’s wings blotted out the sun as it dove straight at me.
I sprinted to the side, leaping behind one of the standing structures for cover. The creature landed instead of flying up into the air again. Seeing an opportunity, Sindari rushed in, leaping for its back while it looked at me.
But the creature sensed him and shifted focus quickly. It spun around, jaws snapping and a taloned limb raking toward him.
Now, its back was toward me, so I rushed in with Chopper. It crouched to spring. I focused all of my magic on the root spell, willing entangling tendrils to grow from the ground and grab it while I swung my blade.
As on the fae world, my magic worked more easily here, and long roots thrust from the ground, grasping its legs before it could spring away. It startled the creature, and it lurched sideways.
I smashed Chopper’s blade into its rib cage. It was far harder than bare bone should have been, but Chopper flared blue, and its magic let it slice through.
On the creature’s other side, Sindari dodged its jaws and clawed his way onto its back. He ran up the vertebrae toward the skull as I sliced Chopper through another rib bone.
A wing lifted and tried to pound me into the ground. I dove under the creature’s rib cage an instant before it struck me, and I came up in a crouch. Shifting my grip, I drove Chopper up into its breastbone. A satisfying crunch filled my ears, even though the creature didn’t react. It felt nothing. Would we have to hack it into a thousand pieces to destroy it?
Another crunch came from above. Sindari sinking his fangs into the creature’s skull, I hoped.
As I tugged Chopper out to strike again, the creature lowered itself.
Startled, I dove to the side, yanking my feet out of the way before it could crush me. A wing smashed down from above, and this time, I didn’t have time to dodge it. It swatted me to the side, and I rolled into one of the buildings, thudding hard against the wall. I avoided cracking my head but lost my concentration, and the magical roots disappeared.
With a blast of power, the creature hurled Sindari off its back and into the trees. Then it turned and stalked toward me.
I leaped to my feet and faced it with Chopper raised. The creature left behind bones and a piece of its skull that we’d cut off, but its eyes still glowed, and its sharp fangs were still intact. What did I need to do to kill this thing?
I formed a barrier around myself again but didn’t trust that it would be enough to stop those fangs, so I crouched to jump out of its path. A burst of magic came from it, hefted me into the air, and pinned me to the wall, my feet dangling several feet above the ground. I managed to keep my magical defenses up, but it didn’t matter. The creature had trapped me with the barrier still around me.
Less than five feet away, it lifted its head, jaws spreading wide. Though pinned to the wall, I could lift my arms. I brought up Chopper and willed all of my energy into my barrier.
The fangs descended like jackhammers. They struck my magical shield and slowed but not enough. The tips drove through and toward my face, the piercing of my barrier jolting my brain like a snapped rubber band.
I sliced upward and sideways with Chopper, cutting through the tips of both fangs. One of them drove down and caught my shoulder, punching me to the ground. The now-blunt fang didn’t pierce my skin, but bruising pain pummeled my body.
A roar came from behind the creature, and Sindari flew out of the trees and landed on its back. Its head turned to face the new threat. I dropped my barrier so I could try to remake the roots, though my head was throbbing almost as much as my shoulder.
Frustrating seconds passed before I could coax them out of the ground. Finally, roots snaked up and grasped our enemy’s legs again.
Distracted, its power disappeared, releasing me from the wall. I fought the instinct to rush away from the creature before it could strike me again and instead leaped in with Chopper. I swung at its skull from beneath, frustration and pain adding strength to my blow. The blade severed the bottom of its jaw, and the bone tumbled free. The blow did not stop its attack.
Sindari avoided its wings and talons and ran up the creature’s back again, this time targeting the vertebrae of its neck instead of its skull. Would severing its head destroy it? I rushed in from underneath and leaped up to reach those same vertebrae from below. With another blast of magic, our foe hurled Sindari away again. But the wave didn’t catch me this time. The tip of Chopper’s blade reached the vertebrae and sliced through them, my sword flaring a bright blue, as if to add its own power to the blow.
Bone crunched, and the skull plopped off. I leaped to the side, barely avoiding being struck by it.
Not trusting that was the end, I whirled to face the creature again. But with the skull detached, the body stopped moving. The bones shuddered, swayed, then collapsed into a pile.