Fate Rides Wicked: Volume I of the Lerilon Trilogy by Jonathan Biviano

closer. The
injured one fell to the lawn and stood.
    Tych drew his sword and charged it. Flame came from
its mouth and the prince dove under it, rolling again. He
came up standing within striking range of it and swung.
The demon backed away unsteadily and grabbed at the
sword. A short burst of energy raced up the blade and
burned its hand. It howled in pain. Tych stepped forward
and ran it through. More energy crackled into the demon.
It screamed and fell as two demons landed lightly nearby.
He looked to the sky.
    The first demon and one of the others dove at Lendril,
who did everything she could to avoid their flame. She
then turned and fired at the retreating creature. Each
carried several bolts in their bodies. The grass burned in
several places.
    Tych shouted to Lendril, “Make your way to these two
so the others can’t breathe on you.” He ran towards the
two demons on the ground. Suddenly, the dead demon
exploded and Tych flew into the air. His sword flew from
his hand as he hit the ground hard. He rolled over only to
see a demon approaching from each side.
    His head ached and he hurt all over. A huge shadow
passed over the lawn and he heard a howl of agony.
Seconds later the sounds of branches breaking reached him
from the forest, followed by a thump and an explosion. He
stood and drew a dagger from his belt. In one motion he
threw it at the demon north of him and spun to face the
other one. Lendril came running and tossed his sword to
him.
    As the demon reached for him, he caught the handle
and swung. He heard a crossbow fire to his right as he cut
the demon slightly. Somewhere in the distance, Doleof
roared and one of the creatures screamed. The smell of
sulfur now filled the air and Tych’s breathing became
difficult.
    The Prince of the Endarils ducked a claw and chopped
down, catching the demon in the shoulder. Sparks flew
from the wound. The demon spun and caught Tych in the
side with his tail, knocking him to the ground. The endaril
drew his knees up to his chest. Turning the sword so that
the hand guards laid horizontal, he placed the handle
between his feet as the creature turned to face him. With a
yell, Tych kicked out and drove the sword in all the way to
the guards.
    Leaping to his feet, he grabbed the handle and energy
coursed down it into the beast. Then he pulled the blade
free and backed away. Looking around he saw Lendril
locked in combat, exchanging blows with the last demon.
With a battle cry he ran to help. His last opponent
exploded, but he had run too far to be harmed.
    Lendril had first placed a bolt in her opponent, and then
charged with her axe. She landed a few blows then took a
claw in the side. It dented her armor and bruised her, but
the steel immediately reshaped itself. Since then, two other
hits by the demon had hurt her worse, one of them causing
a break in the armor and drawing blood. Until Tych
shouted to her, she failed to notice that her retreat led her to
the burning part of the lawn and she now stood in a circle
of flame. She parried and ducked an attack, then began to
swing repeatedly, driving the demon back with each blow,
whether it hit him or not.
    Tych watched this as he tried to get around the flame,
and then yelled for her to step back. The demon howled
with surprise as claws grabbed it and swept it into the air at
the moment it thought the advantage had returned to him.
Doleof sped towards the woods, reaching the speed of
sound quickly, and released the demon into the trees. A
branch speared it and it died in a huge explosion. Doleof
teleported himself, moments before also slamming into the
trees, and appeared next to Tych.
    Lendril looked for a way out of the flame but saw none.
Doleof ambled over and laid his body over the flame,
smothering it on one side, then slid around like a snake
until no fire remained. He stood up to see Tych and
Lendril hugging in relief. “Can’t harm my scales,” said the