Xander leapt at him with Bucephalus glowing brightly. He sliced at the Red Dragon, but the lord ducked and jumped back with a laugh as his girth increased. My dragon lord jabbed and swung, but our foe dodged all the blows.
Drake’s voice was now a deep rumble as his face stretched out into a sharp jaw. “Your movements are too slow, Lord of Alexandria, but I will have mercy on you and only use a quarter of my true power.”
Xander clenched his teeth and continued with his fruitless barrage of missed blows. One wide swing at Drake’s gut gave our foe the chance to grab the blade of the sword between two clawed fingers. He had a growth spurt that increased his height beyond the first cross posts of the masts. The fight between seamen and Red Dragons continued, but they scattered to make room for the expanding Drake. With his new height he lifted Xander off his feet so they were face-to-ugly-face.
Drake was now more dragon than man with scales over his body and a long tail out his back. He grinned a toothy grin full of sharp teeth as he swung Xander back and forth. “A strong grip, Ferus, but I am stronger.”
Drake slammed Xander chest-first against the deck. Xander gasped and his grip on his sword was broken. Drake drew the sword up and studied the blade. “A fine weapon, but useless.” He tossed it over his shoulder over the deck railing and the blade disappeared into the water.
Xander climbed to his feet and narrowed his eyes. Drake chuckled. “Are you angry with me, Ferus? Perhaps with that strength you may actually touch me.”
I could see something wrong in Xander’s eyes. They glowed bright red like those of Drake. “Xander!” I shouted, but it was too late.
Xander pushed off from the deck and slammed his body into that of the burgeoning Drake. Drake caught him around the middle and lifted him off his feet. He slammed Xander head-first into the deck, breaking the boards and jabbing one of the cracked pieces of wood into Xander’s shoulder. Drake drew him out to his face-height and the large piece of wood came with him, lodged in his body.
Drake twanged the board. Xander clenched his teeth, but didn’t cry out. Our foe leaned close to Xander and grinned. “I wonder how much pain you can handle until you scream.”
I balled my hands into fists. They glowed a bright blue that enveloped my body. I marched up to the dragon and glared up at him. “Put him down!”
Drake looked past Xander and sneered down at me. “What can a pathetic fae do against a god of dragons?”
I pointed behind him. “That.”
He twisted his long neck around to look behind him. One of my blue dragons wrapped around that slim neck and gave a nice, hard squeeze. Drake wheezed and his grip on Xander loosened. My other dragon slipped around over the railing and snatched Xander from his grasp. It set Xander behind me on his back and I rushed to my dragon lord’s side. His eyes were shut and his teeth were clenched.
I gingerly touched the wood in his shoulder and he hissed. I looked up at my water dragon over my shoulder. “Can you take it out?”
The dragon slipped around the wood and yanked. Xander grasped the deck as the wood drew out of his body. Blood poured from the wound, but I tore a piece off my ruined disguise and wrapped it around his wound.
He opened his eyes and looked at me. Deep down they still held a distinctly murderous look. He tried to sit up, but I pushed him back down. “You’re not going anywhere until we talk,” I insisted.
He glared at me. “I do not need-”
I slapped him clean on the cheek. Xander’s eyes widened and the murderous look disappeared. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared down at him. “Listen, Xander, you’re not going to defeat him by going in there without a brain. We have to think of something-” A deep noise behind me made both of us look over my shoulder. I was in time to see Drake, mouth opened, launch a huge fireball at my dragon. The flame pushed my dragon over the boat and disintegrated it over the water. Drake turned his attention to us and black smoke came out of his nostrils. “-very quickly,” I finished.
Drake got down on all scaly fours and strode over to us with each foot shaking the deck of the ship. He crushed friend and foe alike beneath his clawed feet and opened his mouth wide. I could see the buildup of fire deep within his throat.
Xander sat up and grabbed my arm to draw me behind him. My water dragon slipped on front of both of us and glared at Drake. I could feel the scorching heat from ten feet away. Our foe took in a deep breath to launch his weapon.
A glop of goo hit him in the side of the face. Drake stumbled to one side and whipped his head in that direction. Tillit hovered over the bow of the ship between Magnus and Alice. Behind them flew the seamen from Alice’s ship, or rather, seawomen, for her crew was made entirely of females.
In Tillit’s hands was his tube gun and on his lips was a wide grin. “I hope you’re hungry, Your Lordship, because I have plenty of food for you,” he teased.
Drake growled and lunged at them. Tillit opened fire. The tube gun fired shot after shot of the gooey substance. It splattered Drake and most of the deck.
“Out of the way, lads!” Magnus yelled.
The seamen ducked below deck and closed the hatch after them, shutting out the remains of the Red Dragon troops. They were covered by the Dragon’s Bane and dropped unconscious as their wings slipped into their backs.
Drake, however, remained not only standing but in his dragon form. A laugh rumbled through his throat as he shook off the Dragon’s Bane. “You believe that pathetic mix of herbs can defeat a dragon with the power of the ancients?”
Magnus and Alice dropped Tillit at the bow and landed on either side of him as the sus shrugged. “It was worth a try.”
Drake stepped backward toward the railing. “You underestimate my power, and for that I shall show you my true strength.”
His girth broke through the railing and he slipped backward over the side of the vessel and out of sight. An explosion of red light burst upward from where he had fallen, and the next moment a huge dragon, larger than even Xander under the influence of the waters of Sæ, flew into the sky beside the ship. The red eyes of the giant Drake zoomed in on us. He opened his wide jaws and let loose a roar that made the sails flutter.
Xander narrowed his eyes and climbed to his feet. He took a step forward, but I grabbed his sleeve.
“What the hell are you doing?” I whispered.
He glanced over his shoulder and smiled at me. “Protecting you with my life.”
My eyes widened and I shook my head. “Like hell you-” He broke from my grasp and rushed forward.
His clothes tore apart as with each step he became a dragon. He leapt over the side and-fully transformed-crashed into Drake. Unfortunately, even in his full dragon form Xander was still only half as large as Drake.
Our foe was pushed back by Xander’s velocity, but he flung up his rear legs and kicked my dragon lord away. Xander tumbled backwards into the center mast of the ship, breaking it in two before he dropped to the deck.
“My ship!” Magnus shrieked.
Alice grabbed his shoulders and pulled him out of the way as the upper half came crashing down. “Don’t be gawking when there’s fighting to be had!” she barked at him.
A grin slid onto Magnus’s lips. “Yer right, lass. Now’s the time to have some fun.” His gaze fell on the closed hatch. “Avast, men! Get yer tanned hides out here and protect the ship!”
The hatch flew open and his men charged out with swords over their heads. Nimeni was in the lead. They all stopped when they noticed our gigantic foe off the port side.
“Stop yer gaping and get over to the air!” Magnus snapped.
“Aye, aye, captain!” came the call as they unfurled their wings.
Alice looked up at her crew who now hovered over the starboard side. She raised her sword in the air and pointed at Drake “Attack!”