The first drake hit like a falling mountain.
Its claws tore through the dirt, gouging long trenches as it skidded into the middle of their scattered formation.
Wade barely had time to throw himself aside as a gust of hot wind from its wings sent him tumbling.
He rolled, came up on one knee, and swung Toothpick upwards in pure reflex.
The hammer end smashed into the drake's snout with a dull crack, staggering the beast for only a second. Then it roared, its throat lighting up with light.
"Scatter!" Wade shouted.
The creature spat a ball of fire that exploded across the field.
The blast threw two of the adventurers into the air, their screams cut short by the detonation. The others raised shields, the overlapping barriers flickering and melting at the edges.
"Keep your distance!" Rowan yelled, already activating a skill. A cyclone of dust and wind tore up between them and the drake, blinding it briefly.
