A Feast of Dragons - By Morgan Rice Page 0,61

towering over them, it blocked out the sun, casting a shadow over them all. Just one of its scales was bigger than Thor—and it was covered in thousands of them, reddish-green. It raised its two front legs, each as big as fifty men, and Thor could see its huge claws, three on each foot, reaching out to the heavens, each as sharp as a sword and as long as a tree.

Most terrifying of all, though, was its face, with its long, extended narrow jaw, and behind its open mouth, its rows and rows of teeth, each as large as a house, sharper than any weapon he had ever seen.

It threw its head back and roared, and the sound was enough to split a man in two.

Every single Legion member raised his hands to his ears, and Thor did the same, still clutching the scepter. The ground shook, and Thor felt as if his head would explode. Krohn whined and snarled.

When the dragon finished its roar, it lowered its head, pulled back its throat, opened its mouth and breathed.

Fire came hailing down like a tornado, singing the side of the canyon wall. As the dragon moved its neck, the fire spread—and that was when Thor heard the screams.

Several Legion members screamed out in horrific pain as Thor watched them get burned alive. Thor watched helplessly, before turning and sprinting with the rest of the boys, running for their lives.

The dragon lowered a leg, and as its foot met the ground, it left another canyon-sized hole, shaking the earth so much that Thor and the Legion members were thrown into the air, a good ten feet. Thor landed hard on his side, and rolled several times.

Thor scurried to his feet and looked up, and saw the dragon getting closer as the rest of the boys ran. Some of the older boys broke into action. One of them, who had carried with him a long rope and grappling hook, distributed the ropes to several others, and soon, the group ran in circles around it, looping the ropes around its legs, trying to trip it up.

It was a valiant effort, and the boys moved quickly and fearlessly, managed to wrap the rope tightly around its legs twice, to Thor’s surprise. They expected the dragon to trip and fall as it took its next step.

But they were all horrified as the dragon merely looked down, noticed the rope, and snapped it like it didn’t exist. Then it raised a foot and brought it down, crushing several of the older boys into the earth as it did. It swiped with its claws and sliced other boys in half.

Thor watched in horror as O’Connor got hit in the swipe; he missed its claw, but the dragon’s foot still sent O’Connor flying through the air and smashing into the canyon wall. Thor prayed he wasn’t dead.

The other boys began to flee again, all their options exhausted, and Thor knew he had to do something quickly. At this rate, they would all be dead in minutes. There was no way out of this canyon, and the dragon had them trapped.

As everyone around him continued to run, Thor mustered his courage, and stopped. He stood there, in the center of the canyon floor, and turned and faced the dragon. His heart was pounding, and he knew this might mean his death—but he had to do this.

Thor tried to muster everything that Argon had taught him, tried to summon his spiritual power, whatever power he had. If he had any innate power, he knew that now was the time to draw on it. Now was the time he needed it most.

The dragon suddenly stopped and focused on Thor. It threw back its head and roared, as if furious at being challenged, and in that moment Thor wished that he had ran with the others.

As he stood there alone, facing the dragon, Thor raised one palm, determined to use whatever supernatural powers he had to combat the beast.

Please, God. Please.

The dragon pulled back its throat, opened its mouth, and shot flames right down at Thor.

Thor kept his palm out, hoping and praying that this would work.

As the flames came down, showering down all around him, Thor was stunned to see that his palm created an energy shield around him. The flames harmlessly parted ways around his hand, leaving him safe.

The other boys stopped and watched.

The dragon was enraged. It lifted a foot and brought it down, preparing to crush Thor.

But Thor kept