Chapter 12
Huh?
They had avoided it. The cave lizard landed off balance but recovered quickly, turning around to initiate another strike. Just as it dipped its head in preparation for its attack, Servan's lantern collided with the side of its menacing maw with a dull thud that sounded sort of squishy. Steel hissed as Servan drew his sword with a look of grave concentration. The cave lizard recoiled and turned to face him, letting out a menacing hiss as it eyed its new prey. He closed the distance between them in a heartbeat, his movements much more agile than Alistar would have imagined possible.
Sidestepping a snap from a powerful mouth that was littered with dozens of jagged teeth, Servan skirted his way to its side and raised his sword in a double-handed grip. With a mighty swing, he cleaved the huge reptile down its midsection and split it cleanly in two. The limbs on each half kicked in futility as the lizard's life quickly left it. Green blood pooled around the now still carcass of the lizard, the persevering light of Servan's undamaged lantern finally disappearing.
A moment passed before a small flame suddenly flickered into existence above the upturned palm of his free hand, warm air buffeting Alistar's face as his vision returned. He squinted his eyes for a moment, and then removed his hand from Kaila's face. They stared at each other for a few moments, before he pushed himself off of her and helped her up with the utmost care.
The first thing her eyes landed on was the cave lizard's bisected carcass. As her face contorted in horror, her gaze drifted to Servan. He stood there watching them, his sword stained green with gore, a fireball of the purest red hovering above his left hand.
Kaila began to cry, and ran over to Servan. She jumped onto his midsection, clamping her arms down in a frightened hug and wailing uncontrollably while she clung there.
"Whoa now," said Servan, raising his left arm and extending his sword off to the side, away from her sobbing figure. "That's dangerous, you know!" He tossed his sword aside with a flick of his wrist, and lowered his hand to give Kaila's head a soft pat. After a few moments, he looked over at Alistar, who hadn't moved since the confrontation had concluded.
Although only moments before he had been drowning in a state of soul-rending fear—much of which still lingered—he couldn't turn his gaze from the flames that Servan had just conjured. The fireball was a bit larger than Alistar's head, and although no physical fuel existed to sustain it, the flames continued to flourish.
Breathing heavily as his fearful shivers began to subside, Alistar blinked his eyes a few times and then stammered, "M-Mister Servan! That—is that magic?"
"Oh, this?" He cast a glance at his hand and then nodded. "I can't do much, but the gift of the arcane resides within me."
"You can do magic!"