I sat cross-legged as I sipped a cup of caff, slowly carving at a rock with my dagger. This high up in the mountain, the temperature was freezing. Though, as a small mercy, the winds were calm and there was very little snowfall.
To the left was a wide river flowing strongly, and to the right were four of my seven companions, for lack of a better word. Caan, Nara, and Lindra were off scouting. We were getting closer to the dragon. The roars happened every eight to twelve hours. It wasn't the roar of violence or anger; it was pain.
According to Orian, the Magisterium tried to bring it down centuries ago. They threw their best at it, dealing a crippling blow, but before they could finish it, the creature flew off; the damage it sustained should have been enough to kill, but it seemed the dragons were hearty beasts.
“Must you keep carving, Myr? The sound is grating.” Morah complained.
I ignored him, finished the carving, and tossed the rock into the river. While the air was freezing, the water wasn't. If I expanded the sphere of influence on the stone to encompass the entire width of the river, I could have a significant source of power due to the water’s considerably greater energy density.
I stood and drew a large circle around myself, drawing another arcane circle. After a simple binding, I sighed as the air around me warmed gradually.
At my pleased expression, Morah stood and walked over, staring at what, to him, were nonsensical scribbles and a large circle.
He cautiously pushed a hand forward. Then his eyebrows raised as he felt the warm air.
“Magic is quite convenient, isn’t it?” He mumbled to himself.
I nodded, my mind focused on the upcoming battle with the monster. Our plan was rather simple, mostly because dragons were simple creatures. They attacked primarily in two ways. One was to strafe their target from the air, and another was to ambush their targets and simply drop them from a high enough elevation to kill them.
They only attacked from the ground in a truly desperate situation. In that case, we planned to prepare a few traps, assuming that it would give chase.
“It is.” I glanced at the crossbow hanging from his back. “Are you ready? Technically speaking, our lives rely on your aim as much as my magic.”
“Don’t worry yourself over that. I intend to die old and fat with some young lass in my arms, not on this mountain. ”
I nodded, not trusting him in the least, but I would have to; I didn't have that much confidence in my own aim.
I was about to say something before the Andregi came walking out of the brush, looking tense.
“We found it,” Caan announced. “It can fly; the thing flew over our heads back to its nest. Only a few hours' march that way.” He pointed to the northeast.
“Size?” Korin questioned.
“As big as the reports, but it did fly a bit unsteadily, and it had many holes in the wing membrane.”
“Its health?” Norah inquired.
Nara shrugged, “Hard to say. Didn't look skinny, but then again, it was high up.”
‘So, we have to face a 200-foot dragon, and our only advantage is that it isn’t as swift in the air as it could be…wonderful.’
“So, this is it then. We go down in history as dragon slayers or die horribly,” Morah joked; no one laughed.
Korin took a deep breath and glanced at the cloudy sky; her mind was someplace else. Then, after a long moment, she steeled herself, her face filling with determination. “Let us march and pray that fate is on our side.” She said, turned, and marched northeast. We followed behind, with no rallying cries of battle or shouts of bravado; we all knew that what we were about to attempt was insanity.
~
It was hours before we saw the first signs that we were near the dragon’s resting place. Birds, deer, or other predators practically disappeared. It was as if they sensed that there was an apex predator near the top of this section of the mountain.
The dragon nested in a massive cave on a plateau around two hundred feet above the mountainous and slightly snow-covered forest. At the base were our traps; if by some miracle we could lure the dragon onto the forest floor, they would prove effective. In some places, we had to climb; the Andregi had little difficulty, and while the others weren't as skilled, they had significantly greater physical conditioning than I, but it was easy enough for me to compensate with magic.
Our stores of dried meat from the Andregis’ constant hunts kept our energy up as we approached the rocky outcropping.
~
As we crested the plateau, I took a moment to admire the beauty of the horizon. At this height, I could see all around me for hundreds of miles. I could even make out the black, desiccated expanse of the Tar Flats in the far distance. As if Anier herself had prepared this day, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, though this high up, the wind had a constant chill. The plateau was hundreds of feet across, made of mostly rock and sparse bushes.
The corpses of hundreds of animals littered the area. Some I recognized, like cows, oxen, and pigs; others were strange things. One had an odd spiraling horn in the center of its horselike head. Another looked vaguely human, but its forearms and legs were far too massive.
Each set of bones was horrifyingly scorched as if the dragon roasted the creatures to near ash before consumption. It was unnerving to think that this could be my fate. At the far north end of the rocky plateau was a near-vertical cliff face with a cave. It was at least a hundred feet tall and equally wide.
Even though it was high hour and the sun shone bright, I couldn't see very far into the cave. A few hundred feet down the cliff, we built a campfire large enough to burn for hours. At the center was my old silver and gold heat absorption circle. Because it was that far away, the flow of primal energy to my reservoir was cut to an eighth, even with a significant focused binding.
I actually felt a mental strain holding so many bindings in my mind, since I’ve never bound things like this. First were the bindings to protect us from the fire. Starting from the energy ring on the campfire to the seven amulets, then to my platinum and gold energy ring, and finally to the input of the reservoir.
Since the bindings were made in series, I only had to maintain two focused bindings. However, I couldn't regulate them individually. Strengthening the bindings in series strengthened every circuit in the series.
The output of the reservoir was bound to the parallel source circuit. It was a bastardization of the energy forge circuit, but so long as it worked, it didn't matter. The crossbow and bolts were bound using the strongest dual bindings my mind could tolerate without losing control of the rest. From our testing, the bolts should be deadly enough to cripple or kill the dragon.
Finally, there was an empty circuit with a load rune meant to dump excess energy that I had carved into a stone in my pack.
There was a loud rumbling followed by an exceptionally loud exhalation from within the cave. It was inside.
“Alright. Korin, you volunteered for this,” Morah joked.
She stiffened as she stared at the entrance to the cave. She touched her breastplate, where my amulet sat beneath.
“And you are sure that this will prevent the flames from burning me?” She asked, staring at me.
“Yes, Korin, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done the like,” I reassured her. “There’s no chance the flame can burn you with that much protection. All you have to do is get its attention.”
She nodded and walked the distance towards the mouth of the cave.
“Ready with the bolt, the condenser is full, so make it count,” I said to Morah. There was no amusement or mockery in his eyes, only pure focus.
He took a knee, readying the explosive bolt, and aimed at the mouth of the cave.
The bolts flew so fast that there was little need to compensate for distance, even though the shot to the mouth of the cave was 250 paces.
Korin walked, and seemingly, time slowed as she got closer. Then she stood at the entrance and, at the top of her lungs, screamed into the cave. We considered ambushing the beast while it slept, but abandoned the idea.
Fighting the dragon on a mountain in the night, if the initial strike didn't kill it, sounded like insanity.
Too many variables, too many ways it could go wrong. We had one task: give Morah a clean shot with my amulet at maximum power.
Korin’s voice echoed across the plateau over the wind. Clearly, she was giving it her all. Something stirred inside; there was a slight orange glow, and for a split second, I could see the outline of a massive creature.
Then it roared back; deafening was an understatement. It rattled my bones and teeth, and if not for my iron will, I would have lost control of my bindings due to the surge of an almost animalistic fear.
If Korin soiled herself standing so close to the entrance of the cave, I wouldn't have judged her. I looked to Morah, the very picture of focus. For the first time, he actually managed to impress me, since even the Andregi looked rattled.
Korin turned and sprinted away. There was a floating glow inside the cave; it took me a moment to realize that I was staring at the dragon’s mouth.
When creating a binding, I felt a ripple as if the world shifted, and I could feel the primal energy flowing.
This, however, wasn't a ripple but a great wave emanating not from me but from the mouth of the cave.
‘By Anier, how powerful is that magic, that I could feel a binding that wasn't my own being created?’
Immediately, I pushed every heat absorption binding to my limit, and around me and all my allies, the air dropped to its minimum energy point. Then an ocean of fire came from the mouth of the cave. It seemed unending; it swept over Korin’s running form, crossing the two hundred feet distance between us in a matter of seconds. I held my breath and hoped that the rest remembered.
The wave of fire hit us, and everyone disappeared. The flames just kept coming, an unending ocean.
I couldn't even begin to calculate how much energy was being used to generate this much fire. It was hundreds of times what I could do, even with the stone.
What alarmed me was the massive amount of energy I was absorbing and passing through my amulet. I was dumping the excess energy as fast as I could without losing control of the bindings. Even then, it was a close thing.
I’ve never actually lost control of a binding due to having too much energy. Still, the fire raged, consuming the entire plateau, and the amulet against my chest started to warm.
I had a numbing realization that if the dragon didn't stop soon, the reservoir would start burning me. To my surprise, my nose started bleeding from the strain I was under to channel that much energy and maintain all the bindings.
‘This is why a dragon can devastate entire civilizations.’
After nearly thirty seconds, the flames ended. I looked around to find everyone still alive; Korin was on the ground, but it didn't look like she had been roasted.
I looked to Morah, still kneeling, still focused.
‘Impressive, you have my respect, Morah.’
A creature crawled out of the cave, rather batlike in how it moved; its head was large, and its scales were a bright blue, almost like sapphire. To my right, Morah didn't hesitate and loosed a bolt with a loud whiplike crack before even half the beast exited the cave. The metal crossbow jerked violently in his hands and drained a quarter of my amulet’s power. Though half of it was for managing the recoil.
The bolt flew fast enough that I couldn’t track its path. Morah’s aim, while true, didn’t hit its head. The bolt collided with its shoulder. And in the same instant, it detonated.
It blew apart the creature’s flesh, sending scales, blood, and viscera flying as the powerful shockwave drained the entirety of my amulet. The beast rocked to the right, colliding with the side of the cave wall, roaring in agony.
‘Damn, that didn’t kill it.’
“Morah! Another.” I shouted at him, but he was already in the middle of it.
Korin got to her feet and sprinted over the burnt earth, uncaring that it glowed a slight orange from the flame. Thanks to the constant wind, we didn't need to worry about getting fresh air to breathe.
The dragon, after thrashing for a few moments, finally exited the cave fully; clearly, the beast was enraged by the massive bleeding wound in its right shoulder left by the explosive bolt. Though it bled profusely, that didn't stop the creature from crawling forward out of the cave.
It was as the drawing and the descriptions described: a large, scaled creature similar in body to a bat. Two wings for arms and scales that were brilliant blue and glittered in the morning sun. It had spines all along its head, long serpentine neck, and back, all the way to a tail that was almost as long as its entire body.
For a moment, I thought Korin would have been crushed to death under its form. Until it reared back on its legs and extended its wings, revealing its massive wingspan and the many holes and perforations from previous battles.
In a single motion, as if in defiance of gravity, it beat its wings once and leaped into the air.
The membrane for the wings extended nearly ten feet down past the base of its tail. The dragon was actually wider than it was long. Its wingspan was large enough to cover small villages. Each beat of its wings sounded like thunder as it soared over our heads. It was then, as it passed over, that I realized the extent of its former injuries.
Its tail was missing at least four feet in length at the tip. The scales on the right side of its body were largely missing or destroyed. In its place was a complex network of scar tissue.
It soared high into the air as if fleeing, then it pulled a rolling dive, heading back towards us in a maneuver that should have torn the wings off a creature that size. It was adopting the typical attack strategy for a dragon, which was to strafe the target with fire until they died.
Very reasonable, and I imagined that for humanity before magic, it would have been calamitous to witness.
I glanced over to Morah, who was busy with the complex pulley system, making sure the bolt was secure.
My energy was still refilling in drips and drabs. Because of the large distance from the fire and the less efficient energy ring, I estimated that it would take five to eight minutes to refill my amulet.
The dragon, however, would not allow us to wait that long. Already, it was coming back for another pass.
“Everyone ready?” I shouted, and we spread out.
“Moran! Norah, get that damn thing ready.” Caan shouted. My fire would do nothing against that creature; of that I was sure.
The twins were working furiously, but there wouldn't be enough time. We figured that if we spread out and increased the number of targets while making as much fuss as possible, we would direct attention away from Morah. And it proved to be effective.
As, instead of strafing Morah, the beast came directly at me. With my platinum and gold absorption ring ready, I started running as far away from Morah as possible. The speed it was gaining was incredible.
Then, when it was only a hundred feet away, it opened its toothy maw and released more fire. I realized I made a mistake; I never predicted that the creature could change the intensity of the flames. Instead of a wide area of effect flame, it was concentrated, and when it connected, though heat was absorbed, the incredible volume of air knocked me from my feet and sent me tumbling end over end while everything around me burned.
The gale winds of the deep winter were like a soft summer breeze compared to the maelstrom I was trapped in. It only lasted a second, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, the flames stopped, and the creature flew off, no doubt coming back for another pass.
I lay on my back breathing heavily, as I felt like I was trampled by a herd of oxen.
“Myr, are you alright?” Lindra shouted at me.
“Aye, just bruised,” I said, getting to my feet. I watched the creature as it flapped away, performed the same twisting dive, leveled out, and prepared for another pass.
“Morah, any day now,” Nara shouted at him.
“Got it! Ready with energy, Myr?” He asked me.
“Ready, the flames topped me off,” I assured him.
“Well, that’s convenient,” Caan said, sword in hand. Though I wasn't sure what he intended to do with it.
We were spread out all over the plateau, and I watched as the creature was clearly headed for me again.
“Morah, you'd better be ready,” I said, getting ready to be assaulted by another maelstrom of wind.
It was as if time slowed as it opened its mouth; I prepared myself. There was a crack, and then nothing.
~
‘Damn you, Morah.’
I painfully got to my feet. “Morah, aim, dammit,” I shouted. I felt like a single large bruise. While my armor absorbed much of the damage, my shoulder was in agony. Every movement brought pain; at the very least, it wasn't dislocated.
“Next one, I swear.”
“Why did it go after Myr twice?” Korin asked.
“Bad luck?” Nara suggested.
‘If it goes after me a third time, there will be only one logical assumption.’
I waited for it to do the same twisting dive as it prepared for another strafe.
‘Damn you, Anier. It's heading for me again. Is it the magic? Can it tell that I’m the one doing it? It has to be; why else would it focus on me?’
“Morah, make this one count,” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Just as it got in range to unleash its breath, there was a crack and a detonation. Somehow, Morah managed to hit it. There was a spray of blood and viscera from the right shoulder. The creature howled in pain and fell. Just before it crashed into the side of the cliff, it opened its wings again, gliding above my head and crash-landing in a heap.
‘To think it can tolerate a bolt that blows apart stone fortifications.’
There was a pained growl from the creature before it stood on its wings, its blue eyes locked on mine. I stared into the eyes of the dragon. There was only one emotion I could identify.
Hate.
It was so raw and animalistic. I could feel it; it wanted to kill me, not just because I invaded its territory. It was almost personal.
“Myr, run!” Lindra shouted, her voice filled with concern.
As if that broke the standoff, the dragon charged; I turned around and sprinted back. I ran as I recreated the bindings in my gloves, which held the climbing circuit. The dragon caught up to me in seconds.
It should have used fire, but whatever that anger was overwrote its more sensible tactics. I just managed to slide down the face of the cliff, extending my hands towards the stone to halt my plummet towards certain death.
The dragon passed over my head, its toothy maw wide open, clearly wanting to rend me limb from limb.
I slid, tumbled, and fell down the steep slope. The dragon's momentum caused it to continue over the cliff towards the dense forest below, its wings extended to prevent it from falling. As I rapidly climbed down the face of the mountain, I watched as the dragon tried and failed to flap its wings effectively. Instead, it glided towards the forest floor a few hundred feet below.
As I made my way down, I could hear the creature crash-land, knocking over massive pines in the process.
I released all the bindings except for the one on the crossbow, the bolts, and the one on the heat absorption ring as I fell to the forest floor in a heap.
It had to be the blessing of Anier that nothing was broken. Already, I could hear the dragon making its way towards me, destroying everything in its path. Ignoring the pain all through my body, I got to my feet and ran south.
Whether through sound or scent, the dragon tracked me, smashing its way through the first trees, its bulk proving to be difficult to maneuver through the trees. From behind me, I heard the roar of the flames. Unlike the concentrated blast from before, the dragon breathed a wide fire, trying to capture everything, including me, in the ocean of flame.
All it meant to me was that the amulet filled rapidly.
I found the clearing; as I created the bindings, I smiled, pleased that the dragon seemed too focused on killing me.
The difficult terrain, its size, and the numerous injuries were enough for me to keep ahead of it. I crossed the clearing, the dragon hot on my trail.
As soon as I was cleared. I spun to see the dragon behind me, its wide maw dripping with blood and drool. Its eyes, still burning with hate.
‘It’s not just a beast, is it?’
In an instant, ten bindings were stretched to their maximum. The energy in my amulet dropped to nothing as ten large spikes of sharpened wood erupted from the ground. Half of them missed, four pierced through its wings, and the final one collided with its left shoulder. Though the force behind it was significant, the resilience of its scale and hide was enough to reduce it to minor damage, only harming the scales.
The sharpened spikes tore massive holes through the wings, making the dragon emit a pained roar as blood flowed from the membrane.
The spikes didn't fly away, however; they were specifically designed to jut ten feet out from the ground. A design that the Andregi used to trap large beasts. Enraged, the dragon bathed the entire area in fire. I dove behind a tree and quickly rebound the platinum energy ring to my amulet, absorbing the energy from the flames.
It thrashed violently, and after the flames ended, I turned to see the monster tearing the spikes out of the membrane, increasing the damage it was doing to itself. It was bleeding profusely, and most importantly, it was slowing down. Rage could only fuel actions for so long.
As it finally removed its wings from the spike trap, it turned around and tried to flee. This trap pit was actually close to the other energy ring, so I quickly bound it to my amulet, and energy started flowing.
Heavily injured as it was, it moved quickly. But the destroyed trees and trail of blood made its path easy to follow.
It took me a second to realize the creature was heading back to its nest. It crawled up the side of the cliff. As soon as its head peeked over, there was a roar of pain, and to my surprise, it lost its grip and fell to the earth. The roar was deafening as it fell, twisting in the air so it didn’t land on its back. I just managed to catch Lindra’s spear sticking out of one of its eyes.
It roared and writhed in agony. I saw Morah on the edge, aiming; he loosed a bolt with a crack that was loud enough to be heard over the dragon’s wails of pain.
It detonated against its back, destroying its spines and scales and ripping its flesh to shreds. Still, the dragon had fight in it and started spewing fire everywhere in blind fury. Fortunately, they had the sense to duck behind the cliff face. A few waves of flames came in my direction, but only served to fuel my magic.
Surprisingly, the dragon got a hold of itself and managed to get the spear out of its eyes and started crawling up the cliff again, trying to get back to its nest. Then, with an impressive maneuver, it launched itself off the cliff face, extending its massive and horrifically injured wings, and flew.
‘It’s probably using magic to fly; there’s no chance a creature could fly with such damage to its wings.’
Then I realized something: it was running away. “Morah, bring it down,” I shouted. But I didn't need to. He was already loosing another bolt. With either luck or brilliant aim, Morah connected with one of the joints of the right wing. It bent at an awkward angle. Then the creature plummeted to the earth in a death spiral, landing a few hundred feet away.
The dragon wasn't going anywhere fast, so I waited for the rest of the group.
~
“We thought you were dead, Myr.” Morah joked as we ran towards where the dragon landed.
“I led it to one of their traps; that did the trick,” I stated.
“Think it’s dead?” Nara asked.
“I doubt it,” Korin answered.
“Why did it only attack Myr?” Lindra asked.
I answered, “If I had to guess, somehow it could tell that I was the one using magic. I didn't know that was possible, but if it is. Then the creature knew that I was its top priority to kill; once I was dead, the rest of you would quickly follow.”
They nodded along; there was no other explanation anyone could find. “That suggests that it has rudimentary intelligence. ” Korin noted.
“Agreed, there was hate in its eyes. I think it knows what a Magus is, and since I was similar to the ones that attacked it before….” Norah finished for me, “It wanted vengeance. Those wounds, even after centuries, have not healed.”
“No more talk; the final battle is upon us,” Caan stated. We nodded and picked up the pace.
~
The dragon dragged itself to a clearing, a large expanse of grass a few hundred feet wide. It wasn't running, just sitting there watching the trees. We tried to sneak towards it, but as soon as I got within a few hundred feet, its eyes locked onto me, even behind the bushes.
But it didn't roar or charge; it waited. Its right wing hung broken and limp, twisted at an awkward angle. There was no great rage anymore; it almost looked resigned.
‘It knows its life is at its end.’
Morah stepped out from the shrubbery and aimed. The dragon spotted him and instantly hid its head and vital organs, presenting its broken wing and right shoulder as a target. It connected, inciting even more agony in the creature. Then it exhaled, creating a massive wave of fire that consumed the entire area. The amulets consumed the fire and filled the reservoir, but I could hear the beast charging us, even while spewing fire.
‘This is a trap!’
“Scatter!” I shouted.
As I sprinted to the left, I couldn't see anything beyond the fire. I just kept running as the lumbering beast drew closer. There was a massive crash from where I had just been, and the fire stopped. I turned to look only to run into a tree.
There was the sound of a large mass whipping through the air, and the tree next to me disintegrated as the dragon's tail whipped through the air. Somehow, Morah reloaded the crossbow and got off another shot. It seemed the creature wised up and wasn't chasing me anymore. I turned to see it fighting its way through massive trees, trying to kill Morah.
Its movements were awkward with only a single functional wing. It made up for it with violence. Lashing out with its tail, destroying large oaks as if they were driftwood.
I watched as Lindra narrowly avoided being crushed to death by its massive bulk. I thought the dragon would have crushed her to death, but it kept chasing after Morah. The twins ran side by side, dodging trees. Morah dodged to the right, narrowly avoiding being bitten in half by the dragon. I was a hundred feet away, watching the trail of destruction left behind.
It wasn't even using fire anymore, just brute strength to fight its way through the thick forest.
It took me a second to realize that Morah dropped the crossbow somewhere. The dragon’s enmity was focused purely on the man. As far as I was concerned, it was better than it being me.
I followed the trail of destruction, somehow running into Korin and the Andregi minus Nara. They didn't look stricken with grief, so I assumed she wasn't dead.
“Nice job with the spear,” I said to Lindra.
She grinned with clear pride. “Luckiest throw of my life,”
“It’s close to death; we can finish this,” Caan said.
A thought popped into my head: with so many open injuries and damage to its scales and hide, my fire would be rather effective.
The stray fires from all around me started disappearing as I consumed all the heat; the entire forest was burning with dragon fire.
Then, with a double binding, I bound my potential energy ring to my amulet, and as I ran, I absorbed as much energy from the wood around me as possible.
By the time we caught up to Dragon, the amulet was full. If the dragon used fire, they would have been dead by now. Every magic needs a source; perhaps whatever the dragon was using was near empty. The books theorized that magical beings used the energy from food to fuel their magic.
Morah and Norah were running like madmen, narrowly avoiding being crushed to death as the dragon rampaged behind them.
Morah stumbled on something, lost his footing, and tumbled, only to spring to his feet a moment later. But that instant was enough for the dragon to lunge. I was quite sure I was watching his last moments until his brother shoved him out of the way, saving his life. Then the dragon, still enraged, whipped his head to the right at the easier target and, with a violent chomp, bit Norah in two. The dragon didn't swallow; he just tossed the man's torso to the side without a second thought.
The dragon didn't savor the kill, already lunging for Morah, who didn't even look back at his brother. Morah dodged and ducked, using the massive trees as cover. This gave me enough time to cross the distance.
He would have died if not for my intervention. My forty-foot cone of blue-red fire bathed its right flank. Dragon scale and hide might be impervious to heat, but not open wounds and destroyed flesh.
The dragon roared in pain as its mangled wing and open wounds cooked under my flame, filling the air with the scent of charred meat. For the first time, I felt fear from the beast. I started laughing; it was glorious. A dragon, an actual dragon, was shrinking away from my fire.
Nara came from nowhere carrying the metal crossbow and, using the distraction, returned it to Morah, who stopped running since the dragon wasn't giving chase.
The dragon released a painful wail that nearly caused me to pity until it came after me again after I ran out of energy. Caan, however, who is either filled with battle lust or simply mad, charged the beast from out of nowhere; with a leap, he ran onto the creature's back and, before he could be bucked off, stuck his blade into its back. The dragon didn't even react, just gave chase with Caan holding on for dear life.
Glancing at Morah, I shouted, “Make this count.” Then turned and ran. Even though Caan was on his back and the sword was lodged almost to the hilt, the dragon still forced itself to chase me.
But it was slow; I took this opportunity to slowly fill the reservoir as I ran. Using my animus, I pushed my speed to the limit, staying ahead of it, if just barely. I convinced myself that I wasn't injured or couldn't feel pain, and my speed increased even further.
I was making a wide arc back to Morah; if he had any bit of sense, he would be lining up another bolt.
I heard the sound of something whipping through the air; knowing what it was, I dove to the ground before a tail whipped over me. That was what the dragon wanted; it reacted faster than I expected.
I turned around to see it already in the middle of lunging, mouth gaping open, ready to end me. Then a bolt connected with the side of its head. Blowing it apart and showering me in a torrent of blood.
The dragon's body fell to the earth, dead. The mangled remnants of its head and neck fell next to my prone form, pumping out blood and practically drowning me. It got into my eyes, nose, and mouth; some even went down my throat. I coughed, sputtered, and heaved at the bitter taste of it.
~
“Are you alright?” Lindra asked as I stripped myself right next to the dragon, whom Caan and Morah were currently hacking away at to get to the gem. The relief that it was over was palpable.
I shrugged. “Mostly uncomfortable; I’m practically soaked to the bone in dragon blood.”
I spat to the side, “Quite a bit of it went down my throat. If you’re wondering, dragon’s blood tastes terrible.”
Lindra laughed, then her face became serious. “Norah is dead,” she stated flatly.
“How is Morah taking it?” I asked. Lindra’s face filled with disgust. “He didn’t seem to care that much.”
I shrugged, not actually caring; the dragon was dead, and that’s all that mattered.
“Here, here, here,” Caan said excitedly. He was shoulder-deep inside the chest of the dragon, and slowly he pulled out the azurite gem.
Though caked in blood and viscera, it was still beautiful. It was at least the size of a large cabbage head. Unlike my ring, it was smooth and slightly oval, almost like an egg. As Caan cleaned away the blood, the light refracted brilliantly inside the gem.
“Thirty-five thousand golden royals right there,” Morah said, grinning.
I couldn't care less about Morah or his dead brother. I walked around the dragon, staring at its strong body; up close, I could observe the large number of scars and damage to its body from previous battles.
It was missing half of its fingers on one foot. The others talked and laughed, recounting the battle.
But my eyes were only for the dragon. Its wings were destroyed; its scales were broken, mangled, and cracked. A beast was assumed to be a thousand years old. For all its power and ferocity, it meant nothing against modern magic. I imagine if I were Heywood, I could have killed it in a single pass with that beam of light.
A monster that could end entire civilizations was brought down by a simple magical crossbow. From what I knew, there were no other dragons in Aniera; we killed the last one.
‘I suppose all things must die. Even something as great as a dragon. What was the point of it all? A thousand years of life only to be felled by some simple magical weapons.’
With eagerness, after wrapping the gem in thick cloth, the Andregi started prying off scales, removing teeth, and generally hacking apart the creature for trophies.
‘How meaningless life is in the end. Will this be my end? Eventually brought down by time or hired thugs, then my body pillaged for any valuables and left to rot?’
I did not regret killing the dragon, but there was something perverse about the act that I found uncomfortable. I sighed and estimated that we were at least a week ahead of schedule, more than enough time to investigate the dragon’s nest.
While dragons didn’t actually have hoards, there might be something of interest to be found. There was no great feeling of triumph in me. This was just another task, like anything else. I sat down, staring as they worked, then got lost staring at the sky and felt exhaustion soaking through me, all the way to my bones.
'I am so tired.'