Gathering Forces

R'lissea raised her staff high, the emerald set atop gleaming brightly. I shielded my eyes as it emitted a pulse of mana, and the elemental dragon raised its head. It was heavily damaged and leaking mana from several fatal wounds, but elementals didn't feel pain, nor could they be crippled like ordinary creatures. Their power came from mana and sheer mass, not muscles that could be easily torn.

"Come back," I whispered, laying a hand on my breast and pushing my feelings through the bond to Fable. 

The giant, hundred-foot-long wolf slashed the dragon once more with his claws before leaping back. After giving it a final, menacing growl, he bounded across the battlefield, going out of his way to trample several groups of enemy soldiers.