Nahash and Sirajuddin sat coiled in their wide tent. Wind and rain thundered against the leather. There was no storm, this time — just torrential rain.
Nahash whispered to Sirajuddin, Stars, you said?
Every time a tool flew through the air, said Sirajuddin, a bright, tiny light appeared where the tool had been. I detected a trace of magery each time. I tried to hit one with a heat ray, but they winked out quickly after each toss.
How many tools did we lose? asked Nahash.
Around one in twenty, said Sirajuddin.
So if they can pull this off for twenty days, said Nahash, the woodcutters will have nothing to work with.
A fair assessment, said Sirajuddin.
Nahash let out a low, slow hiss — a draconic sigh. How do we fight something we can’t see?
Sirajuddin shrugged his wings. A good question.
Let’s do another search tomorrow night, said Nahash. We’ll start at that camp we found last time and move outward. See what we can see.
The next night, the pair waited til the gibbous moon was high in the sky before taking flight. They reached Sarah’s camp and spiraled outward from there. After an hour of searching, Sirajuddin whispered to Nahash, I see a cave.
Sirajuddin focused his will and sent a beam of bright light down into the forest. Nahash followed it and saw a wide cave two thirds of the way up a tree-covered hill.
How on Earth did you see that? asked Nahash.
I have good night vision, said Sirajuddin.
Wait here, said Nahash. I’m going to check it out.
Nahash spiraled down into the trees and slithered into the cave. As he did, his nostrils widened. They had been here. Two men and a woman. And something else.
A low growl emanated from deeper in the cave.
Nahash focused and illuminated the way before him with a cone of light. Thirty feet in, he saw a huge black panther with squinting yellow eyes. It hissed and snarled at him, its eyes nearly shut.
Nice kitty, whispered Nahash, slithering towards the beast.
Kulth-Ing bared his teeth and let loose a loud roar.
Never fear, kitten, whispered Nahash. I would never destroy such a magnificent cat.
With that, Nahash focused his mind on Kulth-Ing’s. The cat growled, struggled, stumbled, and fell over asleep.
Sweet dreams, whispered Nahash, gently pushing the jaguar aside.
Nahash went further into the cave, shining light as he went. It sloped downward and narrowed as he went deeper. He folded his wings against his body and continued.
He came to a fork. The left fork smelled of water. The right smelled of his quarry. He examined the right tunnel; it sloped sharply downward, then veered left. It was narrow enough that he would have to wriggle through. He imagined himself rounding the bend, barely able to move, and having one of the men plant an axe right in his brain. He decided against it.
Instead, he focused his will and sent flames hot as he could generate as far down the tunnel as he could see without going too far in. He heard nothing. He slithered backwards and left.
In the skies above, Sirajuddin circled the cave. He stopped short when a tiny star appeared in front of him. He watched as it expanded into a sphere of static that grew to three times his size. Then the image of a man replaced the static. He was blonde, bronze, and muscular. He wore ancient silks and carried a flaming sword.
"Dragon," said the being in a booming voice, "You are trespassing."
Sirajuddin stared at the stranger for a moment. He whispered at the thing, What manner of creature are you?
"A guardian," said the being.
You’re wrong about trespassing, whispered Sirajuddin. Our kingdom acquired these woods as a condition of our peace treaty with the Principality of Kanaark. If anything, it is you who are trespassing.
"These lands are not his to give," said Michael,
"or yours to take."
We’ll see, said Sirajuddin. But what are you?
"Your doom," said Michael.
Michael darted ten yards up in the blink of an eye. Sirajuddin sensed the summoning of energy and waited. Michael tried to disorient Sirajuddin with a blast of light and noise, but the dragon deflected the spell with his mind.
My turn, said Sirajuddin.
He summoned energy and fired a beam of intense heat at the light-being, who dodged easily.
Michael responded in kind with a heat ray of his own. Sirajuddin deflected it. They went back and forth, circling in three dimensions and throwing spells at one another.
Sirajuddin finally landed what he thought was a direct hit, but the being didn’t respond.
That could have melted steel, said Sirajuddin. What sorcery is this?
"No sorcery," said Michael.
Sirajuddin took the opposite tack, trying to channel heat away from the being. After five tries, he landed what he thought was a hit. No effect.
"I fly through the frozen void and bathe in the fires of stars," said Michael.
Sirajuddin recoiled as he failed to deflect the angel’s latest spell. Stars filled his eyes. Sound disappeared. He banked and dived. Pain welled up as fire seared his wing. He serpentined in random directions until his vision and hearing started to return. He got tagged two more times.
Sirajuddin switched to lightning. After a few tries, he hit the angel square. The man in the sphere disappeared, replaced by static. It rapidly shrank to nothing and vanished.
Sirajuddin circled for a moment, watching all around him.
The angel appeared in front of him. "You’ll have to do better than that, serpent."
Sirajuddin switched to sorcery. He did his best to daze, delude, or horrify the enemy. Nothing seemed to work. He took more hits. He had five tiny holes in his wings and three scorch marks on his body.
He heard Nahash in his mind. What is that?
You tell me, whispered Sirajuddin. It seems immune to heat, cold, and sorcery. Lightning seemed to stun it, but not for long. It knows magery, but does not seem high-powered.
Let’s see how it reacts to pure force, said Nahash.
Nahash flew upward. He focused his will and sent a ripple of warped space at the being. Michael dodged to the side. Sirajuddin joined in. The two of them sent volley after volley at the angel until Sirajuddin landed one. The being seemed to vibrate in space, but did not seem to be harmed.
They tried the angel’s own tactic, to blind and deafen it with intense light and noise. No effect.
This, said Nahash to Sirajuddin, is frustrating.
What now? asked Sirajuddin.
Let’s try plain old physical violence, said Nahash.
The pair of serpents lunged at the angel, trying to surround and corner it, but the thing moved far too fast for them. It’s sudden, darting movements seemed to defy the rules of momentum.
After a few minutes of cat-and-mouse, twelve more stars appeared around them and expanded into spheres. One resembled Michael in dress and flaming sword, but had brown skin and black hair. Another looked like a flying serpent with rainbow wings. The rest were a menagerie of exotic animal hybrids.
One looked like a regular man with beige skin and almond eyes. He wore fine silks from an ancient land far away. He grew to be larger than all the others, dwarfing the dragons in size as a man does a mouse.
"I’m bigger than you!" said Lao with a smile.
The serpents stared at him.
"You should go back to camp," said Lao, still smiling.
"There’s been some trouble."
With that, the star folk darted up into the sky faster than any bird or dragon. They winked out one by one, with Lao being last. Before he vanished, he transformed into a cartoonish caricature of a dragon. It had ridiculous tiny wings and angry, human-like eyebrows. One human arm stuck out of its body. The hand made a rude gesture.
Is he mocking us? asked Nahash.
Definitely, said Sirajuddin.
This is maddening, said Nahash. That crack about trouble in camp might be a ruse, but I don’t see what more we can accomplish here. Let’s head back.
They returned to camp to find that the light-beings had been there too. While their allies distracted the dragons above the forest, they fell on the camp and wrought havoc. Most of the woodcutters' tools were lost or destroyed. Part of the stockade roared with flame. Horses ran loose. Their own extra-large tent lay in ashes.
Nahash let out a long sigh. This is a disaster.
His general looked uncomfortable. "Little points of light," he said. "That’s all anyone saw. Some of the men tried to hit them with swords or arrows, but those things were fast. I… I have no idea."
I have an idea, said Nahash. He watched soldiers and camp followers throw water on the flames. He looked out at the forest to the east, then up at the stars. He turned his gaze to Sirajuddin and the general. I’m ready to call this mission a complete failure, he said.
Nahash ground his teeth. We can’t fight what we don’t understand. General, tell the captain to take the company back to Dalton and await orders there. The three of us are going back to Azulan. I have to face the consequences for my failure.
Nahash looked back at the woods. Then, he said, we have some research to do.