I’ve already experienced that fire just heats the steam up more. It’s possible that super heating it to the point where it is no longer droplets of water could wrench it from Torrent’s control, but that isn’t guaranteed – he doesn’t seem to need to control it directly as it is. It’s possible that all heating it will do is to make it more dangerous.

  Perhaps Earth could help – though that would require me to drag it down to the ground. And even then, it might still be able to hold some sort of cohesive structure underground. A subterranean enemy able to emerge and strike without warning would be even worse for us. Yes, it’s Kalanthia’s domain, but she’s got her claws full with the two Tier threes. And bringing it down to the ground is likely to cause more injuries as my companions come into contact with the hot steam.

  Air would probably work if separating the water droplets is enough to dissolve the magic holding the dragon together, but my attempts to send air-blades into the dragon are met with frustration. I just don’t have enough control over air to create a big enough blade to stop the steam from reconstituting itself immediately after the air has passed through. Possibly regenerating itself uses up energy that reduces the time it can exist, but there’s no guarantee of that and it doesn’t help in the meantime.

  And water would only work if I could be confident about being able to maintain and expand my control once it comes into contact with the dragon. I’m loathe to give Torrent – or his creation – more to work with.

  While I hover in the air considering the situation, I’ve pulled out my bow and have started sending arrows down at the beasts below. I’ve had enough practice at this by now that I can aim, shoot, and control my rebound with my wings without really needing to think about it.

  At the same time, I control barriers of air, doing my best to prevent the dragon from striking at any of my companions. I let it attack the enemies freely, however. Torrent certainly makes a poor ally – his summons is indiscriminate.

  It’s also more intelligent than I was giving it credit for – perhaps realising the source of the barriers that are stymieing its efforts, it strikes out at me.

  I duck a swipe aimed at my head and then deflect the follow-up blast of steam. I notice that the droplets are getting bigger – the creature is cooling down by itself. What will happen when it condenses, I wonder – will it lose its magic and sink into the ground, harmless water again? Or will it transform into a land-bound water summons?

  We’ll find out – if the dragon doesn’t disappear or kill us all before that point.

  As the dragon fully focusses its attention on me, its expression oddly aggravated for a simulacrum of a beast made of water vapour, I find myself hard pressed. I even have to tuck my bow away and pull out an old shield, the wooden form doing better against the jets of hot steam than a metal buckler probably would. My wings work overtime to jet me out of the way of the dragon’s strikes with claws and breath.

  But, I realise after a few minutes of fighting, though it’s fast and powerful, the dragon is somewhat predictable. I see a pattern starting to develop in its movements, and find myself shifting out of the way of the next strike before it even begins.

  It also seems to be changing as time wears on. The power of its strikes has increased, but their speed has definitely reduced. The consequence of the steam losing its heat, perhaps?

  I remain wary of the possibility of it being a trap – of the dragon luring me into expecting certain movements only to surprise me with something different. As the fight wears on, however, the probability of that lessens. The fact that it’s fixated on me even though it’s not making any progress is another indicating that, as smart as the summons seemed at first, it’s probably not actually sapient.

  And with the increased predictability of its movements, I find that I have more breathing space – and time to test some things. Because an idea has occurred to me as I’ve seen it gradually slow down as it cools.

  What if I can speed up that process? And more, what if I can go further? States of matter are only a question of heat, after all, and if I can pull heat out of steam to turn it back into water, why couldn’t I then pull heat out of water and turn it into ice? It surely wouldn’t be able to continue attacking as an ice-sculpture.

  If Layton were here, he’d be able to do it with ease. But I should be capable of it too – when Fire-Shaping ranked up to Journeyman, its description indicated some control over temperature. So far, though, all I’ve been able to do is heat or cool flames, and the dragon is not made of those.

  But how many times have I made a breakthrough in a battle when my need is keenest? I cast a glance down at the battle below, reassured to see that my companions are managing well against the ithans even if they haven’t won yet.

  Then, still deflecting the dragon’s attacks, I flare a tongue of flame towards its body of steam. Following the threads of magic, I see how the flame passes energy into the section that it impacts – the dragon’s left shoulder.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Abruptly, I’m sent flying, a burning sensation carved across my right side. My attention snaps back into my body and the magic fades from view. I glance back at the dragon as I right myself and curse – idiot! The summon’s strike was faster than I expected because I’d just heated its joint up. And I didn’t notice it because my focus was on the magic connecting us, rather than on the fight.

  This is a good way to get killed. Without my armour, that strike would have carved me in half. But I can’t help thinking that this is the path forwards – if I can only keep clear of its claws while not allowing it to target the rest of my companions….

  An idea strikes me.

  Noir, are you busy or can you help me for a bit?

  Lathani and I can take his place here, Bastet answers before Noir can. Go help Pack-leader, she orders.

  Noir sends me a hint of amusement.

  I’m available, he replies cheekily, then sobers. What do you need?

  A mount, I tell him shortly, then explain. Noir understands my point and promises that he will be capable. He soars quickly towards me, demonstrating his qualifications as he loops almost lazily over the three strikes the dragon deals him – once with its tail, once with its claws, and once actually trying to bite him.

  You’ve improved, I note, impressed at his speed and dexterity, as I drop onto Noir’s back and use a length of spider-silk to bind myself to his wing roots.

  I’ve been practising, he tells me proudly. And I find improvements are easier now than they used to be, he admits. That must be the effect of the Class.

  Whatever the reason, Noir proves himself easily able to act as my mount as he taunts the dragon, gliding to just within its reach and then flicking his wings to avoid its attack. I wait just a few moments to be sure that the dragon doesn’t adapt any better to Noir’s actions as it did to me. It doesn’t – I should have brought Noir in earlier to help.

  Trusting in Noir as I once trusted in Hades while fighting the danaris, I once more strike at the dragon, warning Noir what I’m doing. He dodges the dragon’s follow-up attack and I dive into the connection between us, this time not knocked out of it almost as soon as I enter.

  I feel how the fire magic is very quickly dissipated through the dragon’s form, spread along the lines of water magic. Steam truly isn’t anything separate – it is just the combination of fire and water.

  I try pulling out the fire from the section I’m observing, but although it makes a change, it isn’t exactly what I’m going for. Returning to my view from my body, I see that the shoulder has become a mass of water, and that that limb is much more sluggish to respond. But it’s definitely water, not ice.

  Diving back in, I determine that simply withdrawing fire magic can’t be the answer. That way, I lose all influence. No, it must be something about the fire magic itself.

  I feed more fire mana back into the section of shoulder, but I don’t allow it to heat up the water. It fights me – fire and heat are almost synonymous. But does it have to be?

  Fire consumes. What if it just changes what it consumes?

  This wouldn’t be possible back on Earth. On Earth, fire is always an exothermic reaction. But in a world where magic can fill in the gap between possibility and reality, why not?

  I urge the fire mana to draw from the heat around us, to use that part of the fire triangle as its fire.

  My mana doesn’t respond immediately. Perhaps I’m not imagining it clearly enough. That’s usually the limitation with Shaping magic, I’ve learned. I briefly pull out of the connection to check on Noir and everyone else because if I dig deeper, I will lose awareness of time and of the battle at all.

  Reassured that things are currently going fine, if not swimmingly, I dive deeper still. The first couple of times I entered this mindset, I did it accidentally. But after dealing with the inferno in Whalehost, I’ve found that I can trigger a certain degree of it consciously.

  This is different again as there is no fire, just fire mana and heat. I sink into the magic and become one with the spreading tendrils that seek to consume everything around. Yet, differently to an inferno, this seeks homogeneity rather than consumption. It diffuses through its environment, changing it even as itself is changed.

  And that’s the reverse of what I want. Instead of warming up its environment a little as it is cooled a lot, I wish it to draw all the heat to itself.

  I feel the shift like a current in water more than a flicker of flame. Heat gathers towards the centre of me, my tendrils spreading out further and further to seek out other sources of heat.

  It becomes more and more difficult to gather the heat to me. The hotter my centre becomes, the more it presses to explode outwards. I need to vent this in some way.

  This way, Noir’s voice tells me, his tones muffled and more blurry pictures than comprehensible words. I trust him and channel the heat in the direction he sends me. Heat sears at my hands that feel far, far away from my consciousness, and I hear a high-pitched squeal.

  That’s better. With no heat in the centre of me, I am able to pull in more.

  The current begins slowing, not because there is too much heat inside me this time, but because what I am drawing from has become more difficult to penetrate.

  It’s falling! a voice cries.

  Watch out! warns a different being. I cannot place who’s speaking or what they’re speaking about.

  And then the world explodes and I’m thrown back into my body just as I collide headfirst into a tree.

  Darkness.

  here!

  here!

  here!

  here!

  here