Chapter 52 — The Fire Dragon
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 7
Zhang Qingyue and Shi Tou were startled again and hurried to look down. In the darkness beneath their feet a firelight suddenly flickered; in an instant the heat in the surrounding space surged upward, and the firelight swelled rapidly, rushing toward them with a howl of hot wind. As it drew near, the three saw it clearly and their faces changed at once: a fire dragon, rearing its head and roaring, came surging up from the abyss below, bellowing as it charged.
In appearance the fire dragon was much the same as the one the three-tailed fox demon had summoned earlier with the Mystic Fire Mirror, yet for some reason this one now far surpassed the former in both size and might.
Though the question rose in all three minds, this was plainly no time for pondering. The fire dragon loomed hideous, the heat filled the sky, and in a blink it was upon them, irresistible. The three hurriedly scattered, urging their artifacts to evade its edge.
The three-colored radiance of their artifacts blazed out to shield their masters, but the fire dragon's might was too great; by comparison it pressed those halos down at once. Zhang Qingyue and the other two were nearly all pushed backward by the immense wave of fire, and a moment later—bang, bang, bang—slammed into the stone wall.
The fire dragon shot straight up, its momentum terrifying. Zhang Qingyue's back struck the hard rock, and the pain made his vision go black. Still, he counted himself lucky: after steadying himself a little, he saw far off Shi Tou's massive frame hurtle square into a cave—and unluckily, in no time at all, the roars of a savage beast came echoing out of that cave.
Zhang Qingyue was badly startled and was about to rush over to help, when amid Shi Tou's great shouts there came a series of bangs from within the cave, and at last a flash of golden light that vanished as quickly as it came. A huge body was flung out—another monster of outlandish appearance, which by the look of it had little breath left in it.
Only then did Zhang Qingyue relax, thinking that the man was called Shi Tou—Stone—for good reason. He was harder than stone indeed!
Just then the fire dragon, which had soared skyward, wheeled in a circle above; with a wild roar it came charging down again, fierce as a thunderbolt.
This time, plunging from high to low, its might was even more appalling. Zhang Qingyue set his jaw, gripped his incantation hand-sign, and from midair flung himself a full zhang to the side, barely evading that hideous dragon. Pointing with his right hand, he sent the Dark Iron Staff screaming through the air straight at the dragon's neck.
The fire dragon gave a dragon-cry; its flame-spewing eyes rolled, and its huge left foreclaw lifted to block the blue light of the Dark Iron Staff. Zhang Qingyue's face went white as he felt the searing heat come rolling toward him in billows; he had no choice but to clench his teeth and hold on bitterly.
Then came a delicate, sharp cry. Above the abyss, lit by the fire dragon, a figure in water-green flashed past: Bili, green robes fluttering, drifted lightly down. The Heartbreak Flower blazed with white light, whirling through the air in a mournful rain of petals that came down over the fire dragon's head.
"Roar..." Amid the raging flames the fire dragon cried out again; a sweep of its right claw immediately drove the rain of white petals back three feet. But with Zhang Qingyue and Bili joining forces, their magic surged, and they pressed the fire dragon a full zhang lower—right onto Shi Tou, who had just burst out of the cave.
Shi Tou looked hard and saw that Zhang Qingyue and Bili were both pitting their full strength against the giant fire dragon, wreathed in flame. Though each had an artifact to shield them, both their faces were flushed red by the firelight.