209 The Sticking a Fork in an Electrical Outlet Challenge

Dragons are fearsome creatures; their hides are resistant to most forms of magic, and they are unique in that their hearts are magical furnaces; they generate draconic magic with each one of their heartbeats. Other magical creatures (including Wizards) merely absorb ambient magic, which they can mobilize and channel using their Magic Circuits.

As far as Oleandra knew, the only other sources of magic originated from the stars or from the Earth's core through Dragon Veins, also known as Ley Lines. There were also extradimensional sources of magic, but they were few and far between.

And unfortunately, this particular Dragon was very fond of its long-ranged breath attacks; it knew very well that it had no reason to get off of its nest unless the bug buzzing around it posed a real threat! If it had been any of the three other Dragons, Oleandra might have been able to taunt them to get them to follow her away from their nest. This would have given her the opportunity to circle back and grab the egg; but to get this one off of its nest, she would have to hurt it!

All sorts of thoughts occupied Oleandra's dazed head at that moment as she tried to get up to her feet, but she was forced to return to reality when her vision was filled with fire. The Chinese Fireball had just summoned all of the magic at its disposal to shoot a torrent of flames across the field!

"ISAAAAAAZZZ!" Oleandra screamed, adopting the stance of the rune of ice, a thick wall of solid ice materializing in front of her in a desperate attempt to block the incoming flames.

Upon contact with the flames, the ice instantly sublimated into steam, scalding Oleandra's entire body. Still, thanks to the Ice Potion protecting her against flames, this level of heat was still barely bearable, so Oleandra merely gritted her teeth and focused on maintaining Isaz, capturing what little moisture was available in the atmosphere and adding it to her wall! But this wasn't sustainable…

"What a trick!" cried Bagman dramatically. "She's fooled the Dragon into attacking a smokescreen!"

Oleandra's figure had disappeared into a thick cloud of steam; upon realizing that it was no use competing with a Dragon in a contest of magic power, she had completely given up on maintaining her wall of ice. Her marked acorns were scattered across the entire battlefield, so using the steam as cover, she Tree-Ported behind the Chinese Fireball, where it couldn't see her.

Being sneaky was of no use here; no matter how Oleandra looked at it, the golden egg remained firmly hidden under the Dragon's massive hindquarters. And at some point, Oleandra was forced to duck and roll under the Dragon's swishing tail, causing it to hear her as she scrambled across the rocky terrain. The Chinese Fireball instantly stopped breathing fire at the smokescreen and turned its long neck to face Oleandra.

"ISAZ!"

Oleandra was once again forced to summon a wall of ice; and not a moment too soon, as the Dragon once again unleashed its fiery breath on her at point-blank range! Thankfully, it seemed a little out of breath from its continuous stream a few seconds earlier, so her wall of ice lasted long enough to allow her to dart away.

How on Earth was she supposed to beat this thing? It refused to budge its fat scaly bottom from the comfort of its nest, and its indestructible hide could shrug off anything she could throw at it. Oleandra's eyes widened; the Dragon was once again breathing fire at her; probably best to move out of the way.

"ISAZ!"

Yet another wall of ice was summoned to buy some time, which Oleandra used to kick off from the ground and take flight. The Chinese Fireball craned its neck upwards to keep an eye on her as she circled above its head, just out of range.

Oleandra squinted her eyes and scanned the battlefield, looking for something, anything to give her an edge. Visibility was getting low; all of the steam was beginning to condense into a thick cover of clouds above the arena. And that's when she had an idea that just might work…

A single Wizard's magic might not amount to much in comparison to a Dragon's ancient bloodline magic, but even Dragons had to bow down before the power of nature. Even a Dragon would land to avoid a thunderstorm, lest its leathery wings be torn to shreds by high winds or its body be struck by lightning bolts!

"HAGAL!" Oleandra cried imperiously, taking the stance of the rune of storms in midair.

Instantly, the water droplets in the clouds around Oleandra began building up negative charges; once they had accumulated enough potential, the newly created thundercloud would unleash the awesome power of an electrometeor!

Oleandra's long hair began standing up on her head, as each individual strand became positively charged. Uh-oh… If she were to be struck by lightning, even if she was not grounded, the current would still pass through her before making its way to the ground, which would still kill her. And at this rate, being airborne, she would be the lightning's first victim, not the Dragon lower down!

"Hel!" Oleandra swore. She couldn't stay up here; it was certain death. She'd have to take her chances with the fire-breathing lizard without being able to fly herself.

Oleandra dived to the ground, and the Chinese Fireball turned to face her. It was now a race against time; she needed to survive until the cloud finished building up enough charge.

"Ducklifors!" cried Oleandra, trying to distract the Dragon by Transfiguring a couple of rocks nearby into ducks. Panicked at the sight of the apex predator, the newly created ducks immediately took flight in the opposite direction. Oh well, so much for that.

Upon seeing the Dragon's throat glow crimson, signalling that it was about to fire a particularly powerful breath attack, Oleandra immediately began to ready her ice wall.

"ISAZ!" Oleandra shouted.

Unfortunately for her, nothing happened this time. Professor Lupin's words echoed through her mind:

There's a reason why Wizards don't often use lightning magic. You know how Muggle electronics stop working in Hogwarts, yes? At any rate, the opposite is also true. Wherever science is strong, mystery diminishes. Near Chernobyl, for instance. Or during thunderstorms. And there's also the fact that lightning is notoriously capricious. You never know if your spell will rebound on you. There's a reason why Thunderbirds are known as flying calamities…

Oleandra let loose a string of curses… the regular kind.