of them struggling to reach such a height, a few coming close, but none succeeding.
Calmly, Abigail nocked an arrow and took aim. The arrow sailed out and down, rapidly gaining speed, but falling well short. She adjusted her aim and fired again, this time scoring a direct hit in the back of a drakini circling below. It tried to glide to the ground but lost control, crashing in a jumble of broken bones.
Izzulft flew straight at the twenty drakini targeting him, crashing into several, claw, fang, and tail thrashing about in a whirl, dead drakini spinning off of him as he passed through their formation and spread his wings to gain altitude for another attack. The wave of drakini, now half their original number, turned to meet the dragon’s next charge.
Magda, riding Nix, was working to get an angle on Zuhl and the remaining two dragons under his control. Anatoly, riding Khazad, was floating along behind her, attacking any drakini that got too close. Ixabrax adjusted his course to be as close to his collared siblings as possible should he need to deliver Abigail and the Thinblade.
Zuhl banked sharply, turning into Magda and unleashing an ice spike six feet long and a foot wide and moving fast enough to cut a man in two. Magda stretched out, reaching past Nix’s neck, and projected a force wall below them. It manifested as an opaque, grey pane of energy and it only lasted for a few seconds, but the ice spike exploded into vapor on impact.
Nix breathed a cloud of frost at Zuhl, but his shield pulsed red and the frost blew past him as steam. She banked up and to the left, circling away from Zuhl, gaining altitude. Zuhl broke away to the right and circled around on Izzulft, who was nearly finished slaughtering all twenty of the drakini that had attacked him. Zuhl got around behind him and cast another paralysis net, the amber orb expanding into a fine mesh that started to settle over Izzulft’s wings. This time he lifted his wings straight up and fell, escaping from under the net and avoiding the paralyzing effect of its touch.
Breaking his fall perilously close to the ground, Izzulft landed hard, crouching low for just a moment before thrusting into the air again. He gained altitude quickly, closing on Zuhl with each stroke. Zuhl cast an ice spike, Izzulft ducked and the six-foot-long shard of ice ricocheted off his back, shattering into pieces. He renewed his pursuit, clawing his way through the air toward his daughter and the mage that had enslaved them for so long.
Floating overhead on Nix, Magda loosed her spell. She knew it wouldn’t penetrate Zuhl’s shield, but that wasn’t her purpose—she meant to distract him just long enough for Izzulft to close the distance. A dozen shards of magical force slammed into Zuhl’s shield, one after the next. It wasn’t a complicated spell, but it was quick and effective, two qualities that Magda favored for combat spells.
Zuhl looked up for just a moment before returning his full attention to Izzulft. As the elder dragon closed the gap, Zuhl removed a ring he was wearing and held it out toward Izzulft. Holding the dragon’s eyes, he pronounced an ancient word and tossed the ring into the air. It vanished in a flare of total blackness. A moment later the two remaining collars flared the same black, and the dragons’ heads came free in midair, two of Izzulft’s children dead in an instant and plunging to the ground.
Zuhl leapt free of his saddle and fell toward the ground, slowing to a manageable speed and landing lightly. All of the dragons howled in fury and pain—two of their family were dead. The man responsible stood in open defiance below them. All eyes fell on him.
He stood in the snow, his white battle armor and long flowing snow-fox cloak blending into the surroundings. He didn’t run or hide or flinch when the dragons roared. He stood his ground and began preparing a spell, while the remaining twenty or so drakini flocked to him, surrounding him in a complete cordon.
Khazad flew over him, breathing a cloud of frigid air as he passed. Anatoly watched as some of the drakini were forced to the ground, their wings iced up, but Zuhl was unfazed, his shield completely absorbing the cold of the attack and countering it with heat while he focused on the words of his spell. An arrow bounced off his shield a