Rundimahair: A new hero for a new adventure by Larry Forkner (summer books .TXT) 📗

“Is that…it’s not possible, but that looks like…” was all he could manage to say.

“Yes Sean, the one with the long red mane is Ashling,” Ailbe said, confirming his fears.

Sean watched in dumbfounded silence, as the dragon form for Eamon and Ashling did aerial battle with a half-dozen dingy gray dragons. He saw three of the dragons lying on the side of the mountain, below where the airborne combat was continuing.

“It looks like they’ve taken out three of them already,” Sean said hopefully.

Ailbe nodded grimly and said, “But there’s still six more in the fight.”

As if to signify the desperate nature of the battle going on above them, Sean saw a gray dragon singe Ashling’s back, as it released a colossal belch of flames.

Eamon took advantage of the gray dragon’s focus on attacking Ashling, roaring in from behind to snatch hold of its neck. He shook the gray dragon’s neck back and forth in a frenzy of anger, snapping it like a twig. When he released the dragon, it fell to the mountainside, joining the other three dead grays.

Three of the remaining grays all attacked Eamon in unison. The last two charged at a clearly injured Ashling. Eamon couldn’t come to her aid, since it was all he could do to hold off the three who were battling with him.

Ashling raked one of the gray’s attacking her with a deadly blast of flames. It took out part of its left wing, making it difficult for the creature to stay airborne.

While she was occupied with trying to disable the injured gray, the second gray managed to take hold of her leg, just below the hip. It raked a deep tear into her flesh, and she couldn’t shake the creature off.

When the injured gray saw Ashling was in trouble, it circled back and began belching flames at her. She was in deep trouble and could expect no help from Eamon.

In the moments before the second dragon could reach Ashling, Sean could see what was about to happen. Ashling was badly injured and would not be able to fight her way free of her attackers.

He felt a surge of anger blast through every core of his being. A feeling similar to the rush of power that he’d felt in the hotel room erupted inside him. The difference was that this feeling was a thousand times stronger.

“Sean, are you all right?” Ailbe asked when she saw his body going into contortions of pain. She watched in helpless awe, as huge lumps began to form all over his body. They were rippling and multiplying so fast that soon she couldn’t recognize him.

She watched helplessly while Sean cried out in agony, as his human form morphed into something unrecognizable. Ailbe started to move to help him, but it was too late. “May the Creator preserve us!” she cried.

Sean didn’t hear her cries, because he was suffering through agony that he didn’t think was possible to survive. His entire body was exploding out of his skin and growing at a fantastic, impossible rate.

It all happened so quickly that he could hardly maintain consciousness. Suddenly, he felt his body expand outward and upward at a tremendous rate.

As quickly as it began, it was over. The pain subsided and was replaced with a feeling of unbelievable, raw power. He glanced at Ailbe and realized he was now at least five-times her height. She was staring at him with a mixture of awe and fear. In the next moment, Sean understood why.

He burst into the air at what felt like supersonic speed. All because he was flapping his arms. That’s when it hit him. He looked at his arms and they were gone. In their place were massive, red wings. Sean was a dragon!

There was no time to contemplate what had just happened, because he was soaring through the air at unbelievable speed. Sean was on a collision course with the flame-belching gray, which was still bent on attacking Ashling.

He hit the large gray dragon from its blind side with tremendous force. The creature already had a damaged wing and couldn’t do much to evade Sean’s attack once it was hit.

From that moment on, Sean’s human reasoning was gone. He could only feel unrelenting anger mixed with an overwhelming desire to protect Ashling. While the injured gray was trying to fly away, Sean bit down on its neck with his massive jaws. One vicious shake of his head and the gray’s neck snapped.

Sean let the dead gray go and turned in a lightning fast and graceful arc. He soared downward, intent on destroying the gray who had its jaws locked on to Ashling’s flank.

When the creature saw what Sean had done to the other dragon, it released the grip on Ashling and tried to flee. It was a hopeless effort.

When Sean was within thirty feet of the fleeing dragon, he released a stream of fire without conscious thought. The searing flames consumed the gray, turning it to dust.

He realized that Ashling was trying to fly over and help her father against the remaining two grays he was battling. She was moving slowly, and he could see she was in no condition to continue fighting.

With seemingly no effort, he put on a burst of speed that allowed him to shoot past her in seconds. One of the grays fighting Eamon saw him coming and turned to confront Sean. It was the creature’s last mistake.

* * *

Eamon finished off the huge gray he’d been battling just in time to see a magnificent, young red dragon bearing down on the last gray. He glanced at Ashling and saw that she too was watching the attack.

They both watched in stunned silence, as the powerful red released a stream of white-hot flame when it was still fifty-feet away from the gray. Eamon could hardly believe his eyes, as the huge gray dragon was incinerated in seconds.

The magnificent red circled back to Ashling’s side, in the blink of an eye. With astonishing swiftness and