A Fairy Tale With Two

Chapter 25

    The dragon swiped its barbed tail towards them, and it smashed into the tower. The huge tower shuddered violently, and Quinn's scream cut through Aliyah's panic. Her brother and Quinn were still in the tower!

       Aliyah had never really believed that one's heart could stop, but when she heard her brother's cry of pain, she would have sworn several times over that it did.

        The stone at the base of the tower cracked, and the structure lurched jerkily to the side. Quinn's scream came again, and Marcus's head appeared in the open window, "The witch is here, she—" But he was jerked away again.

       "Marcus!!" Aliyah screamed, but huge talons slashed at her. She bounded up into the air, shrieking as her hands transformed into deadly claws. The dagger-like claws sunk into the stone, and Aliyah sprinted up the side of the shuddering tower.

        Isaiah drew a bow from his back, peppering the dragon's chest with arrows. Each arrow shattered against its scales, doing nothing but capture the monster's attention. It reared up, bringing claws down towards him.

       "Hey, ya giant worm!!" Kaden stabbed his sword into the sensitive skin around the talon, and blood oozed around the blade. The cut was tiny compared to the size of the dragon, but it was a sensitive spot. The dragon bellowed, reeling back as it shook its foot hard.

        Aliyah swung through the window at the top of the tower into the room, and instantly summed up the scene. Quinn's beautiful, long hair had been tied around a doorknob to a closet, and she was shrieking as she tried to pull free.

        Marcus was dodging desperately around blasts of fire from Janessa's hands, not having an recovery time for an attack. Anger surged through Aliyah, "Hey! That's my brother!" Her claws landed a surprise blow from behind, and the witch tumbled forward.

         "You'll pay for that!" Janessa hissed, but Marcus tackled her from behind. Claws tore through flesh, but Janessa's long fingernails found the rod Aliyah realized was impaling her brother's shoulder, and the sharp nails dug into the open flesh. Marcus screeched, jerking away and smashing his hand onto his shoulder. Blood oozed through his fingers, but Aliyah tackled Janessa back. Her claws tore through Janessa's robes, but a blast of energy hit her face. She coughed hard, rolling back, but looked up to see Janessa bringing down a chair towards her face.

        "Paws off!!" Marcus kicked Janessa in the face, and she stumbled away, dropping the chair with a clatter.

        Janessa spread both hands, and blasts of energy knocked them both into the walls. Janessa grabbed the chair again, raising it above Quinn's head. Quinn shrieked, tugging at her hair in a desperate attempt to get it to pull free. But it was bound too tightly by every single strand, making it impossible to pull free. Her scalp burned all over, stinging nastily with the pain, and Janessa brought the now-flaming chair down at her.

        "Hey!" Marcus swiped his claws up, slicing clean through Quinn's hair as he pulled her out of the way. The pain lessened on her scalp, and she nearly cried with relief. Marcus set her down on the floor. Aliyah's foot collided with the flaming chair held in Janessa's hands, and it shattered towards her. Janessa sprang backwards, landing narrowly on the window ledge.

         "You're going to pay for that interference, boy!" Janessa caught Marcus by the wrist, twisting him towards the edge. He shoved her away, but she sent a fiery blast towards his face.

        "Marcus!" Aliyah screamed as he was knocked out of the window with a cry of pain, "No, Marcus!" She bit back a scream from rising in her throat, and she lunged at Janessa.