“Hurry, hurry,” he said, and Pollux wrenched the sack that he’d been carrying from his back and tossed it to Adrissu. He poured the contents haphazardly to the ground, and Pollux seized the chalk they would need and began marking out the runes with a measured quickness of having practiced a hundred times before. “I’ll take the soul first. Then we can heal the body.”
“I’m sorry,” Pollux murmured, barely audible from where he was kneeling on the dark floor. Adrissu shook his head.
“Don’t be,” he replied. “Like you said. Better to kill him than let him hurt one of us. You did very well.”
Pollux nodded curtly, focusing on his task, but Adrissu saw a small hint of a smile playing at the edges of his lips as he worked. Meanwhile, Adrissu sorted through the things they had brought, grabbing the stone he had chosen to capture Tyrsun’s soul. It was a large, unshaped emerald, larger even than the one he had tried to use on the young yellow dragon with Kian.
That set aside, he moved to help Pollux. Soon they had the entire array set up, and chalk markings covered the dark stone floor. With a grunt of exertion, Adrissu pulled Tyrsun’s limp form into the center of it, Pollux fixing any smudges left behind from the body or blood.
“Try your sleep spell again,” Adrissu urged him. “I’ll have to drop mine to start the ritual. But since he’s already asleep, I think yours will stick this time.”
“You’re sure?” Pollux said, eyeing the sleeping red dragon suspiciously.
“No, but it seems unwise to release the spell without backup,” he said. Pollux sighed, sensing his own trepidation—this had been the exact moment where everything fell apart with Kian—but still placed his hand on the dragon’s scales.
“Sleep,” he murmured. Adrissu felt his magic settling over the hold he had on Tyrsun, like a cool, dewy webbing being draped atop him. Bracing himself, Adrissu released his own spell, ready to fight again the second Tyrsun showed signs of waking—but when he wasn’t awake to resist it, he succumbed to Pollux’s magic far more easily, hardly even stirring.
“Good,” Adrissu said, and positioned himself over the dragon. “Alright. Here I go.”
“You can do it,” Pollux said, and Adrissu looked down at him. His eyes were bright, full of conviction; his hair had come loose from its neat braid and was now barely half-contained, messy strands sticking to his sweat-dampened face. He was noble and brilliant and strong and brave, and Adrissu drank in the beauty of him for a long moment, wondering how a mortal creature could contain somuch.But they had little time for him to admire his mate—he filed the memory away in the archives of his mind, then turned his attention to the ritual at hand.
He reached out with his magic, the way he had done so many times before: in all his experiments on animals, on the elf Lorsan, and his failed attempt on the young yellow dragon. Reaching out was the easiest part; it channeled easily into the precious stone, making the runes surrounding him burn brightly in answer, and from there he directed it to Tyrsun.
Delving into Tyrsun’s consciousness was like sticking his hand into a flame. Tyrsun, even asleep, had some awareness of him and raged against him, fighting against the intrusion with such force that Adrissu nearly dropped the stone. But he grit his teeth and pushed harder. He had the strength of his mate behind him, of having been separated again and again, of yearning for an end to their centuries-long struggle once and for all. He could feel acutely how Tyrsun hated him and fought against him with the desperation of a creature clinging to life; but after a few moments, Adrissu finally felt his magic latch onto something strong, something that thrummed with heat and vitality—the dragon’s soul.
He wrenched back as hard as he could. The soul did not want to come free, but Tyrsun had only the power of his will, full of fear at what Adrissu was doing; as far as their magical ability went, Adrissu was easily the stronger of the two. It felt like pulling a pebble out from the bottom of a barrel of molasses, thick and sticky, but Adrissu drew it out all the same. The moment the soul passed through the rock, he released his magic, and the stone flared brightly.
The red dragon’s massive body shuddered, then lay still. In Adrissu’s claws, the stone thrummed with life. He had done it.
“You did it,” Pollux whispered, echoing Adrissu’s triumph. Exhausted, Adrissu nodded and carefully handed him the stone.
“Let’s heal the body up,” he panted. “And then I need to rest.”
Pollux set down the glowing stone in the far corner of the chamber, then diligently went back to the red dragon’s body, placing his hands on the deep wound in his side. Grateful that he had taken the time to learn more about healing magic, Adrissu touched Tyrsun’s side as well, reaching out with his magic once again; this time he mapped out the pathways of his veins and the planes of his muscle, finding where it had been torn apart and knitting the pieces back together. The injury was deep, but its damage was localized, so with Pollux staunching the blood, Adrissu was able to heal it from the inside out without too much difficulty.
After this, he was utterly drained. The moment the wound was closed, he crawled to the other end of the chamber and laid down, barely able to keep his eyes open.
“How long do you want to wait?” Pollux asked, and even with the urgency in his voice, Adrissu could hardly rouse himself enough to answer.
“Give me two hours,” he mumbled, his voice like a low roll of thunder as it echoed. He heard Pollux make a noise of dissatisfaction, but the elf didn’t argue. After a moment, he felt Pollux settle down on the ground next to him, leaning against the softer scales of his exposed belly. They were as safe as they could be, and Pollux would protect him; it was the last coherent thought he had before sleep claimed him.
“It’s been two hours, Adrissu.”
Pollux’s hands on him were too small to really shake him awake, but his voice brought Adrissu to consciousness. He grumbled, turning away, but Pollux nudged him again.
“Come on,” he urged. “I’ve been sitting here doing nothing but stewing in my own nerves for hours. Let’s get this over with.”
Adrissu sighed and stretched. He easily could have slept much longer, but now that he had rested, he could feel enough magic coursing through him to complete the ritual.
“I’m up,” he groaned, pushing himself up off the ground.
“I set up a smaller rune circle, too,” Pollux said, pointing to the opposite end of the chamber. “Figured it would be easier than dragging his body out of the bigger one.”
Adrissu smiled, his rows of razor teeth showing. “Good idea.”
Pollux fidgeted nervously. “So, all that’s left is for you to, well... use the spell.”
“It will work,” Adrissu assured him, and Pollux nodded sharply.
