The Dragon's Moon

Chapter 11: The Battle Begins

Author's Note: Wow! Two chapters in two days! I'm on a roll! Well, as promised, here's the next chapter. Please don't kill me, but I had a bit of trouble with the ending of the chapter. I'm sorry to say that there is another cliff-hanger, but I promise that I will have another chapter tomorrow so that way you don't have to wait.

Now that we have that out of the way, ON WITH THE BOOK!!!

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I fell into a fighting stance as my father came to a stop about twenty feet from me.  His expression was like someone had carved it out of stone, because there was no emotion behind those chilling eyes.  He seemed to inspect me for a moment, as if formulating the best way to attack me without having to deal with my new magic abilities. 

Finally, he snapped his fingers, and the bubbles around Aaron and the others vanished like they had never existed.  Aaron tried to run to me, but just as he was about to pass my father, I heard Lucifer mumble some words under his breath.  All at once, the same blue energy that had surrounded my family, now created a perfect circle that trapped me and my father inside it.  I looked up, hoping that I might be able to fly out, but just as the thought crossed my mind, the walls curved in and closed off my only escape route as the cylinder of magic morphed into a mostly transparent dome.

I locked gazes with my father as he smiled, "I think that I'll enjoy beating you into submission in front of your loved ones.  It will make breaking your will so much more satisfying."

I felt my magic surging through my body as I shifted my arms and legs into Melanie's form, "You'll have to do a lot more than trap me in a bubble to beat me.  Remember, I'm not just trapped in here with you.  You're also trapped in here with me."

He rolled his eyes like I was a complete idiot, "You fail to see the difference between our powers dear child.  You may be a were-dragon royal, but you are only half royal.  The other half of you is nothing more than a common mongrel who has no greater purpose than living at the end of a leash."

Sarah snarled as my eyes shifted to green, "You want a piece of me?!  Because I'll gladly show you what this little 'mongrel' can do to a piece of shit like you!"

He inspected his fingernails like they were the most interesting thing he could see, "And your pity attempt at insulting me was supposed to do what?  I've battled for centuries against far stronger opponents than you.  Compared to them, you don't even rank in the top twenty, let alone come close to my level."  He lowered his hand and looked at me once more, "You might as well give up now, before I'm forced to use more persuasive methods to change your mind."

Melanie and Sarah rolled their eyes, and I smirked as I flexed my clawed hands, "Then you might as well get on with it, because I'll never go back with you willingly."

His calm expression grew cold as his mouth curled into a frown, "You'll wish you hadn't said that.  Very well, I see you need some more lessons before you will submit to my rule."  He fell into a fighting stance, and I almost stumbled backward from the raw power that came off him in waves, "Prepare yourself.  This will be over quickly, so if you want to prove your worth to me, you might as well hit me with everything you have."

I snarled and placed my hands together with my palms facing towards him, "Then have a taste of this!  Voco lumen displosio!"

A beam of golden light shot out from my joined hands, and at first it seemed like I had hit him.  However, my grin of triumph quickly morphed into a look of terror, because as my vision cleared enough to see him clearly, I saw that he had blocked my attack with only one hand.  Even as I increased the power of the beam, his arm muscles flexed to keep his hand in front of my power.  Finally, I couldn't keep up the magic flow any longer, and my arms fell limply to my sides as I gasped for breath.