Summoning 5.85 (Cerulian Drake)

And the screams of the crowd rose further still as another shape, a larger shape, appeared with a thunderclap in the afternoon sky. Its wingspan wider than many of the vendors’ stalls, a steam-tongued drake cast a shadow over the heart of the market. At Jace’s silent command it circled, hunting for its smaller but no less deadly prey. Jace himself continued onward, thankful that the flying creatures had distracted the people nearest him so that none had seen him cast his spells.

It was the gleam of triumph in Gemreth’s expression as Jace drew near him, more so even than the shriek of the drake, that warned him. Jace spun to see the diminutive demon diving from atop a nearby shop. Even as he dropped once more to the earth, Jace sent a mental shriek for help to his summoned ally.

And the drake replied in the only way it knew how.

A wave of billowing steam washed over the market, a burning spear through the heart of Lurias. In a matter of seconds, Gemreth and his conjured beast were reduced to lumps of seared flesh and sodden bone.

So, too, were a score of the district’s panicked citizens.

They died in terror; they died in agony.

***

Agents of Artifice, Chapter 21