Conjunction

Caden made his way over to its skull, then lifted his staff, beginning to jab at one of its fangs with the tip.

"What are you doing?" Kadal asked, cocking her head quizzically.

"Taking back a souvenir," he grunted, succeeding in dislodging one of the teeth. He stooped to pick it up, turning it over in his hand. It was huge, so large that it could have been used as a knife in its own right, one side serrated like a saw. "My Master will love this, maybe it has some alchemic or magical application."

"It seems strange that in such a vast territory, we should come across its body so quickly," Kadal muttered.

"There was likely a late-surviving population living here until relatively recently," Caden posited, appraising the skull. "I'm sure there are more carcasses scattered about the area. I wish we could stop and examine the beast further. What a rare opportunity, to find one in such good condition. Maybe on the way back..."

They left the carcass behind them, continuing on their way, weaving through reefs and bones as they went. Caden noted that some of the whale skeletons had been gnawed on. There were tooth marks on the jutting ribs, some of them snapped to expose the nutritious bone marrow that had once been contained within.

As he had predicted, it wasn't long before they came across another example. This one was considerably smaller, a juvenile, by the looks of it. It had not lived to adulthood, likely due to competition and dwindling resources in the region.

"It's almost sad," Caden mused, stepping around the partially-buried remains. "These creatures must have been magnificent in their prime."

"You said that your people hunted dragons," Kadal said. "Why did they do that?"

"They were too dangerous to be allowed to exist," he replied as he trudged through the red sand. "They would kill livestock and travelers, and their magical properties made them far harder to deal with than a rogue bear or a pack of wolves. The kingdoms eventually formed a knightly order to end their reign of terror, and the battlemages were involved, of course. I'm actually surprised by how many anti-dragon spells were recorded in my book, they had developed quite the repertoire."

***

After walking for a while longer, Kadal stopped in her tracks, gesturing for Caden to do the same as her forked tongue flicking out to taste the air.

"I sense it too," Caden said, gripping his staff with both hands. There was something at the limits of his magical perception, a large aura, which indicated an abundance of life. It lay somewhere ahead of them, but it was impossible to tell exactly what the aura originated from.

"Can you...tell if it's moving?" she whispered, as though she might somehow be overheard.

"I don't think so," he replied.

"Should we double back? Try to go around it?"

"If it were a Borophage, it would be able to see us as clearly as we can see it," he explained. "They hunted through magiception. I say we stay the course."

"Are you mad?" Kadal hissed. "For all you know, we could be walking straight into the maw of a Bone Eater!"

"And for all you know, it could be a simple oasis where we might rest," he replied. "Look around you, Kadal, the Borophages are all dead. What else could create such a large concentration of magical energy if not a thriving oasis?"

She looked like she wanted to argue, but thought better of it, following behind Caden as he continued on. It didn't take long for them to close in on the troubling aura, which quickly grew beyond what could have been possible for a Borophage. As they climbed up a reef to get a look at the land ahead of them, they came upon a verdant ring of dense foliage that overflowed from the bounds of what must be an oasis, the plant life obscuring the water from view.

"See? What did I tell you?" Caden gloated, carefully climbing back down to the sand as Kadal waited for him with a less than pleased expression on her face. They made their way towards the ring of ferns and palm trees, the allure of sitting in the shade for a while putting a spring in Caden's step. "With the simple application of logic, we can overcome the fear wrought by myths and superstitions."

"I should be relieved," she replied with a flutter of her frill that matched the sarcastic tone of her voice, "but your smugness almost makes me wish that you were wrong."

"All I'm saying is that we live in a world based on natural principles," he continued, pushing through the trees. They entered the shadow of the sparse canopy, the leafy fronds waving in the breeze above their heads, the carpet of ferns rising to Caden's knees. "When we understand and apply those principles, we can-"

As they emerged from the cover of the palms, they stopped dead in their tracks. Crouched at the opposite bank of the oasis was a massive shape, an armored head rising to peer at them as water sloughed from its tusked maw. It was a Borophage, just as alive as they were, its thick layers of natural armor catching the glare of the sun. It must have been thirty feet long, powerful muscles rippling beneath its black scales as it shifted its weight on four stout legs, its clawed toes digging into the red sand. From beneath the bony plate that protected its skull, a pair of beady eyes looked out at them, tiny when compared to the immensity of its wide head.

Caden and Kadal stood frozen for a moment, then the thing loosed a growl, a low rumble that had more in common with the sound of an earthquake than anything produced by an animal. They unfroze, bolting back the way they had come, dashing into the trees as though death itself was on their heels. Caden caught a glimpse of the beast as it waded into the pool, giving chase, its enormous mass displacing the water like the launching of a ship. It was fast, far moreso than its size would have suggested.

All that Caden could hear was his blood rushing in his ears and the rustling of the ferns as he ran, his boots pounding on the sand. Facing off against another person had been frightening enough, but this was something else entirely, a distinctly primal fear filling his blood with adrenaline.

Kadal was flying, far faster and more agile than he was, her winding tail vanishing through the trunks of the palms ahead of him. She waited for him on the sand beyond the oasis, her eyes wide with fear as she took cover in the corals.

"Caden!" she wailed, "we have to find a place to hide!"

"There has to be a cave around here, some kind of gap that thing can't fit through. Don't worry about me, Kadal, just run!"

He could see the conflict in her. Although she was far faster than he was, she didn't want to leave him, her tail whipping through the air indecisively. The decision was soon made for them as the Borophage came crashing through the trees behind them, snapping their sturdy trunks as if they were toothpicks, splintered wood flying through the air. It kicked up a spray of sand as it skidded, struggling to change direction, its claws tearing up the earth like the blades of a plow. It was so clumsy, moving like a giant bulldog, great slabs of muscle quivering beneath its leathery hide. Those beady eyes locked onto its quarry, their unthinking stare conveying a dull, primitive violence.

Kadal bolted first, winding between the rocks like a frightened snake, something about the way that she moved seeming to attract it. Caden leapt into the cover of some nearby corals as it wheeled about, kicking up great torrents of sand, its footsteps shaking the ground beneath his feet as it gave chase. His first reaction was a kind of guilty relief, but he quickly overcame it, gripping his staff in hand as he left the safety of his hiding place to follow behind it.

It barreled through the reefs, smashing into them as it threw its immense weight around, the collisions posing no threat to the armored beast. Its ferocity was palpable, the Bone Eater pursuing Kadal like a cat with a mouse, leaving fragments of broken coral scattered in its wake.

Caden glimpsed the end of its armored tail as it turned another corner, the sound of Kadal's terrified cries filling him with a kind of frantic desperation. What if he turned the corner and she was already...

He emerged into a small clearing, a bowl of red sand surrounded by reefs, finding the thing tearing at the corals with its claws. Kadal had slipped into a crevice between the rocks, a space barely wide enough to accommodate her, and the Borophage was scrabbling to get at her. Like a dog digging for a field mouse, it tore at the obstacle with its powerful forelimbs, its wicked talons scoring the stone. Caden had never heard someone scream in terror before, and he never wanted to hear it again.

"No!" he bellowed, his fingers wrapping around his staff. The artifact reacted to his emotions, creating a blast of wind that sent the red sand swirling through the air, its energy pouring into him. He could feel those silvery strands coursing through his blood, boiling it, his heart pumping magma through his veins.

The beast abandoned its hunt, slowly turning to face him, its thirty-foot body seeming to quiver with every step that it took. It could sense magic just as he could, and right now, Caden was a wellspring of surging energy. Everything that he gave his staff was amplified, returned to him tenfold, the very air around him seeming to crackle with magic.

He could see Kadal behind it, her eyes wide with terror as she pressed herself into the crack in the rock. The Borophage was standing between them, its attention now completely focused on him, the creature bellowing a challenge as it stamped its feet.

More than energy, his staff was feeding him something else. That familiar bloodlust returned, an almost irresistible impulse to inflict violence, a willingness to fight that bordered on glee. He embraced that seething rage, letting it flow through him, consuming him. There was no hiding from this thing, no outrunning it. It was going to take a monster to kill another monster.

The Borophage launched into a run, quickly covering the fifty feet between them in a few steps, racing towards him like an avalanche of bone and scale. Caden stood firm, spitting a short, harsh incantation as he drove his staff into the ground.

There was a flash of light as bright as the sun, emanating from the end of his stave, the creature bellowing in pain and alarm as he blinded it. Caden leapt out of its path, the monster's momentum carrying it into the reef behind him, the sound of bone impacting stone echoing across the desert. The thing drew back, sending crumbling pieces of rock falling to the sand beneath its forelimbs, shaking its head like a bull that had just run into a tree. It barely seemed dazed, turning to face him again, its jaws opening to reveal rows of pearly teeth.

Caden was vaguely aware of Kadal calling out to him from what seemed like miles away, but his mind was focused on the fight, on the pair of reptilian eyes that were peering back at him. He was no knight, he had no sword, no pike. If he was going to fell this thing, then magic was his only weapon.

Swirling flame coalesced around the bronze figurehead, the metal glowing red-hot, the fire reflecting in the beast's eyes as it lunged at him. Caden loosed a jet of flame, sending them washing over the Borophage's armored head, dark smoke billowing. The Borophage didn't falter, its open maw emerging through the swirling smoke, its tusks glinting in the sunlight. Caden scarcely had time to react, but his body almost seemed to move of its own accord, muscles imbued with magic swinging his staff with enough force to shatter rock. It connected with the thing's scaly jaw, the impact enough to knock it aside as though it had been punched by a being of its own size and power. He felt the wood in his hands vibrate, the weight and momentum that he had created pulling him along with it, making him stumble.

The Borophage recovered quickly, loosing a roar of frustration that shook the earth, swiping at him with one of its clawed forelimbs. Caden dodged the blow, the speed of his reactions seeming to increase the more he surrendered to the staff's powers, his muscles becoming as hard as iron as they flexed to send him leaping clear.

Those claws would have torn him to ribbons, he could not block a blow from this thing as he had Kadal. He regained his footing in the sand, watching the Borophage shake its head again, the flames having done little more than dirty its bony head plate with black soot. Its hide was thicker than any gambeson, its armor nigh impenetrable.

It seemed warier now, beginning to circle him, its length even more intimidating as it put its flank to him. It was so large that it had more in common with the facade of a building than any animal Caden had ever seen, the slabs of muscle that held it aloft bulging from beneath its loose, leathery hide. Its tail dragged behind it, the overlapping plates of pale bone clattering together with its every step. If he could not penetrate its defenses, perhaps he could find a way to bypass them. The Borophage was evaluating him, too, its primitive intelligence searching for a way to sate its hunger.

Caden had almost finished his next incantation, the static electricity that he was drawing from the air making the hairs on his arms stand on end as it collected around his staff. He concentrated it into a bolt of lightning, sending it arcing towards the beast, a bright flash burning an afterimage into his eyes as it found its mark.

The Borophage reared up on its hind legs like a startled horse, its maw open wide as it loosed a bellow of pain, a puff of smoke obscuring the point of contact. When it cleared, Caden could make out a circle of charred flesh the size of a dinner plate, burnt meat the color of roast beef exposed where the scales had been seared away. It was a severe burn, undoubtedly painful, but it was superficial at best. That was all of the power that Caden could muster, but it hadn't penetrated more than an inch. There was no way that it could do damage enough to be fatal.

The agony sending it into a blind rage, the Bone Eater charged him, lowering its head to bring its serrated tusks to bear. It churned up the sand as it raced towards him, foam dripping from its mouth, what must be twenty tons of pure muscle bearing down on him. Caden tried to hit it with another flash of light, but it was to no avail, the Borophage's momentum carrying it forward. He tried to get out of its way, but there wasn't time, the creature clipping him with its scaly shoulder on its way past. That alone was enough to knock him to the ground, the air forced from Caden's lungs by the blow. He felt like he had been hit by a war hammer, struggling to his feet, wheezing as he tried to take a breath. Without the magic protecting him, his body would probably have been pulverized.

The monster slammed its head into the corals, coming to an abrupt halt, shaking more fragments of shattered rock from its bony plates as it began to turn around. Caden wasn't going to let it dictate the pace of their fight, he had to go on the offensive. With a war cry of his own, he raised his staff and ran at the thing. There was a sound like the crack of a whip, the beast swinging its tail like a flail, catching him in the side. His feet left the sand, the blow sending him sailing through the air, Caden landing hard a good ten paces away.

As he climbed to his feet, leaning on his staff for support, he was vaguely aware of Kadal calling out to him. She was pleading for him to flee, to save himself, but there was no way that he was going to let that thing devour her. So what if the fate of the world rested on his shoulders? What good was he as a savior if he couldn't do this one thing, save this one person?

He took up a defensive stance, wiping away the blood that was leaking from the corner of his mouth. The taste of metal was on his tongue, something inside him was broken, ruptured. There was nothing that he could do about it now, he would have to try healing his injuries later. For now, he felt those strands of magical energy fortifying him, driving back the stabbing pain in his torso. It was as though the staff could sense that he was hurt, doing what it could to keep him fighting. As much as the idea of a weapon that could compel its wielder to fight disturbed him, he needed that power if he and Kadal were going to survive.

The Borophage charged again, and Caden decided that if he couldn't block it, he was going to counter it. The magic helped to focus his mind as he slid his hands towards the far end of his staff, holding it like a battle axe, the bronze figurehead slamming down on the sand behind him with far more weight than it should have had. He needed more, the falcon sinking deeper, its mass increasing as the beast bore down on him.

With a yell, he tried to lift it off the ground, finding a weight like a blacksmith's anvil fighting against him. His biceps bulged as they were imbued with energy, the silvery threads intertwining with his muscle fibers, his mind racing as he visualized the necessary calculations. The weight, the momentum, the angle that he wanted it to travel. Wielding physics itself as a weapon, the staff began to swing, the Borophage looming in front of him like a sheer wall of teeth and scales.

The staff flew so fast that it made a loud crack as it displaced the air around it, its upward arc catching the charging monster in the face, even the magically-imbued wood of the haft bending under the stress. The monster reacted as though it had been hit by the fist of a God, one of its tusks shattering as the figurehead made contact, its head snapping to the left. The blow was enough to change its course, making it stumble, the creature narrowly missing him as it plowed into the sand face-first. The staff had so much momentum that it carried Caden along with it, the figurehead digging a crater in the sand, so large that it looked like a ten-ton boulder had been dropped there.

As the mass decreased, he raised the staff again, turning to see the Borophage climbing to its feet. It loosed a low rumble of what might have been frustration, shaking its head, the motion making its muscular shoulders quiver. It reached up with a forelimb, clawing at its face as though trying to dislodge something. When it turned to look at him again, he saw that its right tusk was little more than a shattered stump, blood giving the foam that was leaking from its maw a pink hue. He had hurt it...

"Come on!" he bellowed, spinning his staff in a challenge. If the beast possessed reason enough to understand him or not, it began to approach, more cautiously this time. When it came into range, it raised one of its clawed forelegs, bringing it down in an attempt to crush him. He dodged out of its path, red sand showering him as its powerful blow created another crater. Like a cat playing with a toy, it swiped at him, Caden resisting the impulse to block it. Instead, he summoned more strength, more mass as he swung his staff to intercept it. The impact was enough to rock the beast, knocking aside a foot the size of a cartwheel, making the creature falter.

Caden followed through with another strike that caught it across the face from the left, not enough to break the other tusk, but enough to send it reeling. It fell onto its side, the impact shaking the foundations of the world, scrambling to right itself as its tiny opponent advanced on it. He lifted his staff again, its weight such that he could feel the stress fracturing the bones in his arms, but he was seeing red. The artifact propelled him onward, dulling his pain, pushing him beyond his physical limits. The consequences of his actions weren't even a factor. All that he wanted to do was defeat his opponent, to feel the satisfaction of the kill.

The staff came down on its armored flank, the impact cracking the thick plating, sending fragments of bone flying through the air. Caden could feel his own ligaments tearing as he continued his attack, harrying the beast with blows as though trying to hammer a tent peg into the ground. The rage was taking hold of him, silencing the voice of reason that was warning him to back off, that he was going to do more damage to himself than the beast if he kept this up. The staff held sway, it demanded violence, and what happened to him was irrelevant.