A Dawn of Dragonfire - By Daniel Arenson Page 0,105
his flames.
The stream of fire roared toward the Starlit Demon, and for an instant, fear filled Elethor. What if his fire burned the beast? What if it attacked them? But the Starlit Demon opened its maw wider, swallowing the flames. Lyana blew fire too, and the demon feasted.
The dragons let their flames die. The Starlit Demon roared.
"Is that all the fire you can kindle?" It made a deep sound like laughter, body shaking. "All the dragons of Requiem would not fill my belly. Ten thousand blew their fire upon me, but I knew no fill."
"If you follow us, we will grant you more fire!" Elethor shouted.
The demon's laughter deepened, cruel laughter that made the chamber shake. The pillar of stone upon which Elethor and Lyana had stood crumbled and fell. Cracks raced across the Starlit Demon's stone body, emitting beams of light.
"The armies of your fathers blew flames from their mouths into mine, but my craving was stronger." The Starlit Demon glared at Elethor, drenching him with light. "And so I toppled their halls, and feasted upon their children. Your kings were not pleased. How will you feed me when your fathers could not?"
Elethor hovered before the beast, his wings blowing rocks and dust off its body.
"I will not feed you dragonfire. I will feed you sunfire itself. Ten thousand phoenixes fly over Requiem, and each is woven from the Sun God's flame. Emerge from your lair, Starlit Demon! Follow me to Requiem, and you will feast."
The Starlit Demon rose, filling the chamber with its girth. Its claws emerged from the darkness below, raining earth; each seemed carved of flint, larger than a horse. It tossed back its head and roared, and the sound crashed against the chamber walls, cracking them. Lyana screamed in pain; the demon's howl knocked her back in the air. Elethor grimaced. He felt like that roar could crush his scales and snap his ribs.
"Will you follow, Starlit Demon?" he cried. "Will you fly to Requiem and feast upon the phoenix fire?"
The demon leaped.
The chamber seemed to explode.
A fountain of stone and light, the Starlit Demon crashed into the ceiling, claws digging, maw biting. Boulders cascaded. Dust filled the air, blinding Elethor. He flew backward until his back hit a wall. He saw nothing but raining rock, clouds of dust, and beams of starlight.
"Lyana!" he shouted.
He could not see nor hear her. A boulder fell before him, grazing his tail. Elethor flattened himself against the wall. Rocks pummeled him. He tried to call for Lyana again, but dust and rocks filled his mouth.
The starlight dimmed, and Elethor managed to blow fire, lighting the darkness. Through the storm of debris, he discerned the Starlit Demon burrowing into a hole in the ceiling, tail lashing. Soon the beast disappeared into the tunnel it dug, driving upward like a great earthworm.
"Elethor!" came a cry from across the chamber, and Lyana flew toward him. Dust coated her blue scales, turning her gray. With three great flaps of her wings, she soared toward the hole in the ceiling. "Come on, Elethor, we follow!"
With that, she soared into the hole above, following the Starlit Demon. Heart hammering, Elethor pushed himself off the wall. Dust and rocks rained against his wings as he flapped them, but he gritted his teeth, narrowed his eyes, and forced himself to fly. The tunnel gaped above him, fifty feet wide. He saw Lyana's tail swish above and he followed.
Tunnel walls blurred at his sides. The light of the Starlit Demon fell in rays. Dirt and rocks cascaded, clanking against his scales.
He flew for what seemed like leagues. The Starlit Demon burrowed and roared, crashing through the stone and dirt. Elethor growled, slipstreaming in the beast's wake. If he swerved to the right or left, boulders would tumble against him, denting scales. Lyana flew above him, drafting behind the demon's tail. The behemoth dwarfed the two dragons, ten times their size.
The demon cut through the Abyss. The tunnel drove through craggy chambers, revealing the horrors of the underworld: nests of squirming eggs, rotten children coiled inside them; bloated worms, six feet long and bearing human faces; bodies that rotted, squirming with insects, yet still screamed in pain. But soon the tunnel grew colder, and Elethor saw bones, rocks, soil, and the buried ruins of old cities.
We are leaving the Abyss, he thought. We are leaving this unholy underworld and entering the crust of the world.
He exhaled a shaky breath of relief, and his eyes stung. How long would