Death Arrives

D flapped his wing a few times getting the last bit of flames to die out. He had barely managed to push Jeremiah off the platform and sprout a wing to shield himself from the flames. The thin membrane of his wing had been burnt away but it was already healing when he pulled it back into his body. From the darkness he saw two huge green eyes start to glow and a fanged maw grin back with flickering flames dancing inside. "Found you." It hissed.

Below he heard the old man call out "Boy."

D let his eyes shift now that he wasn't being watched as closely and the hovering form came into view. It was just hovering there watching him with an almost curious gaze. Keeping one eye on it D stepped back and called down. "Get your girl. Then Run." The hovering monster seemed to grin broader as if it heard him.

"Boy? What are you talking about? What is out there?" Jeremiah sat up wheezing, still not having fully regained his breath.

D said one last word before turning to face the monster. "Dragon."

"Good you know the death that you stand before. Grovel and offer yourself to me body, mind, and soul. Perhaps then I will spare you." Emerald flames glowed brighter in its mouth and danced up to light its face.

"How much?" D spoke, his rich voice sounding smooth and confident.

Eirlog faltered. They might not have applied the weight of their mind against this creature, not after the painful touch they had felt before. But still, what mortal creature did not cower in fear before a dragon. Cower in fear before Eirlog the Malevolent!

"How much? How much for what?" Eirlog decided it was best to enjoy playing with this creature. Their boredom had grown in the centuries imprisoned in their lair.

"To let you live. If you pay me more. I might let you go." D stood calm and confident on the platform. At his words, the ancient dragon felt their rage burn. Emerald light seemed to emanate around the edge of their scales all along their throat. When they spoke flames sparked and puffed out.

"Let me LIVE? I thought you were one to know what you stood before. But apparently not. I will have to sate my boredom with gnawing on your bones!" Flames boiled up and erupted in a huge blast towards D.

Despite his calm demeanor D wasn't underestimating the monster. It felt too much like the Ancient Destroyer for that. Still, the hunger pangs he felt were far less than when he had dealt with that one. Either he was much stronger or this monster was much weaker. Maybe both. But he knew he couldn't hold back. So, regardless of whether Jeremiah had taken his advice and fled or not D held nothing back. Scales rolled up his body like a wave to cover his chest, neck, and face. His ribs snapped and popped as his lungs sucked in a huge rush of air then he exhaled a matching blast of acid.

He had hoped to simply extinguish or deflect enough that he would be able to regenerate through it. Instead when his breath and the dragon's fire mixed there was an explosion. The shockwave was enough to send D flying off the platform to crash all the way into the awning of the porch covering of the house. Several of the logs of the palisade wall were knocked lose and the dragon was sent tumbling through the air. All of its wings beat wildly as it tried to stabilize its flight.

Jeremiah for his part was knocked down sent sprawling into the house as he had just made it to the door. Glass shattered in the windows and his Dorothy let out a shriek of terror. Although nothing compared to the blast last night, this time there wasn't a magical barrier to dampen the effects. Both the humans thought their little settlement was going to be flattened by the blast.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" A hissing roaring voice cried out angrily from the dark. Overhead the wood of the porch's cover creaked as D stood up. He had already torn his shirt once forcing a wing out so it wasn't much effort to rip it free. He let his body swell until the wood beneath his feet creaked and cracked. Wings spread free as scales thickened and his body changed. Spines and spikes covered him as did bone plating not only over his arms but across his chest like some white plate against the black of his scales.

The porch shattered as he kicked off and took flight on wings that grew out of the balls of his shoulders. Eirlog had righted itself in time to see the now transformed monster taking flight from the human dwelling. "WHAT ARE YOU!" They hissed out angrily a second time. Again, flames licked at their maw before they spewed another gout of it at the approaching enemy. D responded in kind and again when his caustic breath met the strange emerald flames there was an explosion. Both were ready for it this time and though they were knocked apart neither lost control.

Since flames wouldn't work Eirlog decided to simply crush the tiny monster. Flying straight at it they allowed them to make the first strike. D lashed out striking first with multiple tails then his claws when the distance closed. Neither seemed able to pierce the smooth shimmering scales of the dragon. Eirlog hissed out a laugh as he looped coils around his enemy and drew tight around it. "Die you insolent welp! You may look like Dragonkin but you are nothing before the true thing!"

D realized his mistake too late. He had thought he caught the dragon off guard. The way it twisted appeared as if it was dodging but instead, it was simply getting in position to wrap around him. Now the breath squeezed from his lungs preventing him from using his own breath weapon. Bones groaned and strained under the might of that smooth coiled body. He tensed his muscles trying to resist the pressure and his captor grunted impressed by the smaller monster's ability to resist despite themselves.

But it was inevitable, even as D grew spikes and spines in an attempt to impale them they just shattered against the dragon's scales. Since he first changed D had always survived thanks to his incomparable defense. Now, he faced an opponent in a similar situation.

While he felt bones begin to fracture and his struggles to prove fruitless Dean would have been thrilled to know D just then realized how right the Royal Ranger had been. Perhaps not at the cost it appeared to be taking. Darkness was creeping in on his vision and bits of light started to appear in tiny starbursts. D had no wards prepared he could use. Even if he could cast spells there was no breath to draw. He really wished he had a magic weapon like Mil's wand for the first time. Something, anything.

Eirlog grinned as he felt the struggling of his captured enemy grow stronger. It was just a prelude to the final moments when they were too weak to fight back. He longed to feel it take that final weak twitch. Then he would feast.

Below Jerimah and Dorothy stared up at the dark sky. Against the backdrop of twinkling stars they could see the blotch that was the dragon. It was slightly illuminated by the flickering green flames coming from its mouth so they had witnessed it coil around D. Both were familiar with the large snakes in the swamp, they knew how many of them killed. Not with a bite or venom but with the crushing force of their coiled bodies. Jeremiah hugged his daughter to him. He had thought to perhaps run as the boy had instructed realizing this was a foe beyond him. But, it would be useless now. Soon D would die and they would follow.

Overhead the coiled mass of scales and muscle was held afloat by those flapping wings. Slowly drifting closer to Lender's Mire. "Sorry Dorothy." He didn't know what else to say.

Before she could respond both flinched as an explosion of rapid movement erupted from nearby.