Pizza delivery, part XII

Dark smoke shot out of the delivery bag. It moved fast, covering the ground between us and the dragon in seconds.

The dragon's jaw was tightening around Callan's torso when the wraith reach it. Unlike in the forest, Smoky didn't await for the dragon to look away. Shifting from dark smoke into an inky goo, Smoky covered the dragon's eyes.

Dropping Callan, the dragon released a high pitched roar unlike any other I'd heard. Tossing its head back and forth, the dragon clawed at its face.

Lorcan moved in, ignoring the raging dragon as he reached Callan. A large man, Lorcan half dragged, half carried the band's leader away from the dragon. Brend and I hurried to over, while Seamus and Rafferty kept watch on the dragon.

Smoky's inky goo now covered most of the dragon's face. Any bit the dragon managed to claw off merely dissolved into smoke and returned to the main mass to become goo again.

We reached Lorcan, and I held back. His armor was dented, and I could see blood where the dragon's teeth had punctured the metal.

"Well, wizard?" Lorcan asked as he worked on removing the armor.

"Keep the dragon away." Brend said, holding his staff over Callan as he began chanting nonsense.

"Can you control the wraith?" Lorcan asked, finally getting the breastplate off.

Callan shirt was bloody.

"I don't know." I glanced toward the dragon, in time to see Smoky's goo cover the beast's nostrils.

"Then keep that bag open." Lorcan jerked his head to my delivery bag, then stood and moved back toward the battle.

My right fingers were frighteningly cold and trembling, so I guessed Smoky was happy. The dragon wasn't looking good.

It collapsed, a garbled noise escaped its throat, along with a weak sputtering of flame.

From the beast's throat, inky goo leaked out. The goo covering its face slid away, and once all the goo was gathered on the ground next to the dragon's head, it rippled and changed into smoke. The smoke rose, lazily drifting through the air.

I could pull my gaze away from Smoky as it drifted closer, passing Lorcan and the others as if they weren't there. The wraith seemed different, larger and more malicious.

I moved away from Callan and Brend, hoping Smoky wouldn't take interest in the unconscious leader.

Taking a step forward, I faced the cloud of smoke. "Alright, you've beaten the dragon." I held up the open delivery bag. "If you want another encounter like that, then killing me now is a bad idea."

Smoky's form shifted, becoming a dragon.

The wraith struck.

Fangs of smoke sank into my wrist, and pain coursed through my veins.

Thrusting my hand into the delivery bag, I shook it. "Get off!"

The pain lessened, and I pulled out my arm and shut the bag.

A static shock filled my fingers, and in the edge of my mind I heard an actual laugh.

A reedy laugh, that I somehow knew came from Smoky the wraith.

Then the pain in my wrist flared, and I fainted.