Perilune

Chapter 20

A halo of haze stained the moonlight, bathing the battlefield in a rusty glow as Jex sank through the atmosphere.  Amaris bit her tongue to stifle a shudder; Jex had nearly doubled in size.  What was once red spots had become orange rings covering her body in sickly shades.  Smoke seeped out from under each of her scales, leaving trails of pollution to mark her path through the air.  Her tangerine eyes danced as she bared her yellowed fangs in a sinister smile. 

Deciding her best hope was to strike first and hard, then refuse to allow opportunity to recuperate, Amaris roared and summoned all of her strength.  Before Jex could come within miles of the island, a massive claw of water slashed her from the sky, slamming her into the surface of the sea and pinning her down.  With all she could muster, Amaris attempted to force Jex underwater, hoping to drag her to the darkest depths and put the entire ocean's weight on her throat. 

Jex laughed; her new body was buoyant, pushing back without effort as it took all of Amaris's strength to keep her only partially submerged.  Jex's laughter raised in pitch and ferocity through Amaris's strain.  When Amaris abandoned the effort to conserve strength for more worthwhile blows, the force with which Jex had effortlessly pushed back launched her into the air with a maniacal howl.  Although she didn't spread her wings to slow her descent, Jex sank back down at the pace of a cloud becoming fog.

With an exaggerated sigh of contentment as she landed gently on its surface, Jex lounged across the water, bobbing on the waves like a smug duck.  Amaris hovered overhead with a calculative scowl, her wings beating the night air as if to cope with her growing fear of being beaten. 

"Your precious ocean may have been able to crush me during our last spat," Jex said with a smirk.  Her eyes gleamed as if resurrecting the scripture of a violent religion, "to think if you had been just a little stronger, nobody would have to die tonight.  Remember when her blood glistens upon my claws that this is all your fault." 

Refusing to tolerate the moment's pause which would allow the imagery to be stitched to her skull, Amaris hissed, and lifted her claw to strike.  A serpent of water rose before Jex, and as Amaris aimed for the base of Jex's throat, it became a blade of water far sharper than she'd conjured before.

The impact created massive waves as Jex sank a few feet and quickly floated back up.  While the blow knocked the wind out of her, Jex regained her breath with a howl of laughter, twisting her neck around to make a show of examining her undamaged scales.  "That would have easily killed Volos." 

Something seemed to capture Jex's attention, her gaze snapping to the coast. The look in her eyes became ravenous as malice twisted her grin into a smirk.

"What?" Amaris hissed, the expression causing her stomach to twist with unease. 

"My senses are far sharper now; I see the humans.  Do they intend to sneak along the coast and hide in the caverns beneath the cliff while you keep me distracted?" 

A frenzied race began as Jex spread her wings and leapt into the air; Jex quickly stole the lead.  The smoke which trailed behind her burned Amaris's eyes and throat, adding an obstacle as she gave chase.  Desperate as the distance closed to only a few miles between the city and catastrophe, Amaris hurled a ball of cerulean fire at Jex. 

Sensing the change in temperature the moment flame came into existence, Jex shot out of her cloud as if launched from a crossbow, the stream of smoke from her scales temporarily ceased.  At noticing how meticulous and urgent Jex's movements were, Amaris dove into the water.

The woman Lyra had followed began to argue with the handful of citizens who had been rowing the raft alongside her. "The infirmary is drifting behind; it carries too much weight with too few to row. You are needed there."