boast as it casts its gaze upon me. “Can’t you—”
A loud crack, like thunder, immediately shoots through my whole body, the tremor following it knocking me back as though a gust of hot wind had blasted into my face. I slip and collapse onto the rocks. I get up slowly, dazed and confused, and reach up to feel the back of my head, withdrawing my hand to find some blood smeared on my fingers, a high-pitched noise blaring in my ears like a quiet scream.
Once I’ve collected myself, I glance toward the eastern pass where the explosion occurred, but just then another thunderous crack resonates from the north. This time I am prepared to withstand it as I lean forward on my knees and behold the scene play out. Balls of fire like clouds erupt from the pass to the north, the canyon walls there crashing down and blocking the way out as the stunned draeg watches on.
I shift my gaze to the other entrance, which has already collapsed into itself. The draeg moves frantically toward it and tries to find some route of escape, but even broken, the canyon walls are too high and the dirt and rock too loose for the beast to find any success. The trap worked, but we’re not done yet.
My feet are difficult to find again as I stumble up only to slip once more. The echoing in my ears is very distracting, making me nauseated and disoriented. Yori warned me to be prepared for this, but it’s worse than I expected, though I must push on.
“Come this way you monster,” I yell before choking on my words and coughing.
It is quick to respond this time, much to my surprise, but instead of deliberately heading my direction, it charges right into the wall of rock below me, sending a quaking up my way that nearly tosses me over the edge. I rebalance myself, leaning back and holding to a boulder before completely losing balance, recovering and grabbing the rope Yori left for me.
The draeg does it again, though I’m able to keep my footing this time. It then begins clawing up the canyon wall, springing with its legs and getting within a few dozen feet of the top. One time it gets a good enough grip to be able to reach its front claws right to where I am, but it can’t get any higher.
Studying around, I realize that it might not be coming for me but is rather trying to find a way of escape. The summit I am standing on is the only place in the canyon low enough for the draeg to reach, and likely the only spot from which it could jump and get over the edge of the falls and into the marshes.
At that moment, Wade suddenly appears from a dark thicket of trees behind the draeg carrying something, and I cry out once more to keep the beast’s focus on me.
“You’re never going to make it,” I ridicule, speaking from deep in my throat and gut so my voice carries and demands the draeg’s attention.
Wade pulls something out of his pack and it immediately lights up, a red glow like a fire, but with a pinkish hue and burn like nothing I’ve ever seen. He hurls it toward the beast as he continues to run toward another thicket of trees closer to where I am.
Wade holds his arm up to shield his face when the flame lands as another explosion rumbles the ground and shoots orange flames up toward me. The draeg recoils and stutters to the right, its front paws leaned against the canyon wall to keep it from collapsing. I hold my breath as it slips at the edge of the pool, hopeful that it will fall and this can be over, but I gasp as it instead recovers and begins slowly moving toward Wade.
Rather than backing off, Wade instead begins running toward the draeg, removing a small pouch from his pack and tossing it right at the beast’s head. He then stops, draws his gun, and fires, producing a small but effective burst of flame and smoke that stuns the draeg, prompting it to scamper back to the pool.
Again it slips at the edge, but doesn’t fall. Wade continues forward, firing a couple more shots from his gun, this time directly at the draeg. It twitches as the bullets embed themselves into its dark skin, moving slightly backwards with each blow and cornering itself that much more between the wall beneath me and the pool below the waterfalls.
Once Wade stops shooting, the beast recovers slightly and drops down once more on all four of its legs. But to my surprise, it doesn’t charge at Wade, who has pulled out another one of the pinkish-red flames and is holding it in his hand. Neither moves for a moment, that is until Yori comes into view, circling the shore of the pond from the north.
He holds the same sort of torch Wade has as he moves in, waving it in front of him to keep the draeg from considering charging at him. He stops about the same distance from it as Wade is standing, fifty or so feet, and then removes a large bag from his pack. This, I presume, is more of the dark powder.
The draeg recognizes this as well, but instead of trying to push between Wade and Yori to escape another explosion, it begins violently slamming itself against the canyon wall. At first this seems like nothing more than the desperate and terrified thrashings of an animal that considers itself hopelessly cornered, but then as the walls begin to crack, I realize what it is doing. It is trying to bring a rockslide down on Wade.
Unfortunately, Wade doesn’t recognize this and steps even closer to the wall as Yori moves in to prepare for the final explosion that will send the beast into the pool. I try to call out to Wade to warn him, but he doesn’t seem to hear me. He hardly has a chance to react as a torrent of jagged stone begins pouring down over him, knocking him unconscious.
Without thinking, I grab the rope next to me and tie it quickly and securely around the boulder I’m leaned against. I then launch myself off the cliff and begin sliding down as fast as I can, so fast that my hands begin to sting. I ignore them. If I don’t hurry and find a way to get the draeg’s attention, Yori won’t have a chance to finish what Wade started.
I turn my head toward the base of the canyon as I descend to find Yori doing his best to keep the beast from charging at him, firing his own gun and also tossing out small bags of powder and shooting them like Wade had done. Wade remains motionless among the piles of rocks and boulders.
It seems like only a few seconds have passed once I get to the same level as the draeg’s head. Its back remains toward me, its tail continuing to beat against the canyon wall. I have to jump out of the way a few times before I find a safe place to lean against, at which point I am ready to get the draeg’s attention.
“No, look at me!” I scream, the beast immediately turning and thrashing out at me with its claws.
It barely misses, giving me a few seconds to get away by running along the wall. I quickly make my way toward the pool and swing myself over it with a kick out from my legs. I then look back just as the beast lashes out once more, missing me but tearing through the rope and sending me plummeting down to the water below.
I crash hard into it, its cold touch like an icy blanket instantly enveloping me. As I collect myself and surface, I gasp for air, only to see the creature clawing at me from where it stands on the shore. But just then, a loud explosion sounds behind it, and its body is propelled forward into the water on top of me.
The beast drags me down sinking as its immense weight presses me deeper and deeper. I stroke desperately beneath it to get away, opening my eyes to the blurry underwater haze, but each time I see space and try to swim there, the beast knocks me off course once more.
Finally, as I feel precious seconds away from running out of air, of losing what fight remains within me, I manage to create some distance, thrusting my exhausted body forward until I finally reach the western surface of the pool. I come up coughing for air and choking on water, hearing the draeg behind me whining and roaring as it struggles to escape. I turn and see Yori standing to stop it, defiant and resolute.
He continues removing bags of powder from his pack and tossing them toward the draeg, shooting them in the air and causing the draeg to lose its weak grip of the pool’s slick edges. I watch on as he runs out of bags and simply shoots the exhausted beast as it paws forward. The draeg’s movement is slowing. It is becoming weak. It won’t last much longer.
Soon enough, it gives up the struggle, thrashing feebly a coupl
e more times before sinking below the surface and down into the darkness. Once it disappears beyond view, Yori looks over at me. He doesn’t say anything in that brief second, but then a look of concern flashes over his face and he spins around to face the collapsed rocks behind him. Wade.
I get out of the water as quickly as I can and rush over to where Wade remains motionless on the ground. Yori hovers over him, clearing some debris covering Wade’s arms and chest and putting his ear up against Wade’s lips.
“He’s breathing,” Yori says encouraged.
Kneeling next to him, I become emotional at the sight of Wade’s beaten and bruised body. He has cuts and scrapes on his arms, neck, and face, and dried blood crusted against his forehead and meshed with dirt into his hair. I don’t know why, but I lean in closer and hold my hand behind his head, feeling nearer to him than I ever have before.
As my fingers press against his scalp, he shudders slightly, and I pull back. His eyes then begin pressing against his eyelids, moving around, like he wants to open them but can’t.
“Wade,” I say softly, whimpering slightly, but he doesn’t respond. “Wake up, you’re going to be okay. You did it. We’re safe now.”
With those last words, he suddenly comes to life, staring right at me and ignoring Yori,