The Fire Dragon part 4

A week had gone by, since they'd jumped into the river to escape the ambush from the fire dragon and Patrick was getting ready to drop. He wasn't sure if it was from Patricia's libido or if it was the fact that they'd been pushing hard to find that dragon so they could stop worrying about it coming after them when they were getting ready to go to sleep.

He used to be able to continue on with almost any physical activity without any trouble. Yet now, he was feeling the fatigue almost every day when he woke up. While he hadn't kept going with continuous physical activity as long as he had since he'd been shanghaied into this contest, he worried that his increased fatigue wasn't just from what he'd been doing.

As they climbed another hill with the sun high in the sky, Patrick wondered if Patricia might leave him behind if she felt like he was slowing her down too much. While he didn't want that, he couldn't deny that he really was slowing her down. He knew that Patricia wasn't in a good mood either way.

When Patricia reached the top of the rise, Patrick was only around halfway up, doing his best to accomplish something that he knew he wasn't going to manage. Which was to keep up with her.

Since coming here, he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep up with her, but he still had felt rather intrigued by her and didn't want to be without her while they were on this world. He just never imagined how difficult such a task was. Though, if he was left behind by her, he couldn't see how he'd be upset with her if that happened. She was capable of making her own decisions and Patrick wasn't going to stand in her way just because he might not like the results of what that choice might be.

"You're not going to believe what I found!" Patricia called down to him, startling Patrick.

He looked up the slope towards Patricia, not sure what she was getting at, though he didn't change his pace. "I'll take your word for it!" he called back, not wanting to rush up the hill unless there was a threat either up there already or just approaching her.

"Take your time," she called down, sounding rather amused. "It's not a problem, just something that you're not going to believe."

"As I said, I'll take your word for it!" Patrick repeated. He didn't see a reason to say anything more. While he was happy that Patricia was amused, he would like to just not have to worry about if she'd want him to hurry up rather than continuing at the pace he knew he could manage.

One thing Patrick wouldn't mind would be some cloud coverage, but he couldn't say if they might be able to expect any at all. It wasn't like he could watch a weather report to learn if there would be any clouds expected or even some rain. All he could do was hope for it.

Even though his system made him immune to heat and flames, he still would like to give his eyes a rest from the brightness of the sun. Maybe he should have tried to get a hat when he and Patricia were last by a town or city, but when they were near one of those, thoughts like that were typically pushed to the back of his mind from other matters that they often would be dealing with.

Eventually Patrick made it to the top of the rise and when he looked down the other slope, he had to admit that he was surprised. Though, he wouldn't have gone so far as to say that he didn't believe what he saw. Namely that he knew Owen's group was around somewhere in this world, so it wasn't like there wasn't any chance that they'd run into each other, it was just that it hadn't been likely. Although, he wasn't sure that they'd seen him or Patricia with how they were walking along the base of the hill that he and Patricia were standing on.

Still, it wasn't like they were an unwelcome sight. Especially with how he knew even Patricia was still on edge about how the fire dragon had attacked. So, if they were able to travel with Owen's group, Patrick was sure that he and Patricia would be able to get the rest that they needed. Rest that might even be able to resolve Patrick's fatigue altogether.

When Patricia started down the slope without letting Patrick get much of a chance to so much as take a breather, he followed after. It wasn't like he really needed the rest, as far as he was concerned at least. It was more that he was willing to let Patricia take the lead as he could always get a bit of rest later on.

What was also enticing was the idea of getting with Owen's group. Not only would they have better odds against the fire dragon if it appeared again, but it also meant that they'd be able to sleep more during the night from not needing to keep one of them on watch as much. As the others in Owen's group would be able to cover that, and of course, both he and Patricia would be able to do the same for Owen's group.

As they reached about the halfway point of going down the hill, Patrick suddenly stopped and pulled Patricia behind him. He could tell that she wasn't happy with him doing that, but it wasn't like he could say what it was that had suddenly put him on alert. He felt like they were in danger, but there wasn't anything around them.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Patricia demanded.

Patrick didn't reply, he just kept his eyes darting around, trying to see what it was. He knew for a fact there was something, he just couldn't see anything that was either a problem or a threat.

He wasn't sure what had made him do this, but he looked up towards the sun. He knew he wouldn't be able to look at it for long, but a fraction of a second was enough. There was a blue and purple dot by the sun growing larger.

The fire dragon was making another attack.

"Are you going to just stand there and not say anything?!" Patricia raged.

"It's by the sun," Patrick said, not sure if it was heading towards Owen's group or theirs. Yet, he was confident that both of their groups would be able to get involved in the fight. After all, it wasn't like their groups were at odds with each other. They just preferred traveling their own ways.

"What is?" came the response and Patrick was confident she was glancing at the sun to try and make out what he'd seen.

"The fire dragon," he said simply. "I don't know if it's heading for us or for Owen's group, but I'm sure it's going to attack at least one of us."

"Shit," Patricia said under her breath.

"Should we try to reach Owen's group before it arrives?" he asked, though he doubted they'd be able to do so by the time it reached one of their groups.

""Let's form a defensive barrier," Patricia said. "I'm sure Owen's group will at least notice that, if nothing else."

Patrick sighed. He wasn't going to argue, primarily because he wasn't good at figuring these things out. He was more of a doer than he was a planner. Which meant that he'd do better with someone else giving him directions than he would be coming up with his own idea to implement.

That said, he created a shield of flames to guard Patricia. He didn't think it would be especially effective against the fire dragon, with the dragon being made of flames itself, but he was more worried about it sending flames their way while it approached. Which he was confident that his fire shield would be able to handle.

"If nothing else, I think we've been noticed," Patricia remarked as she began creating her own barrier or ice three inches thick.

"What do you mean?" Patrick asked, not willing to take his attention away from the approaching dragon, just in case it was heading for them.

"Well, Owen's group has changed its direction and is heading our way."

Patrick nodded. He wasn't surprised, though he did wish that they had already been able to join forces than how they currently were separate. As then they would be able to support each other in this fight from the start.

"Let's hope that-" Patrick started to say, but when a blast of fire from the fire dragon smashed into his fire shield, he forgot what he was about to say.

In a way, it almost felt like the fire dragon knew they weren't paying attention to him at the moment so he wanted to draw it back to himself.

Or at least, that was Patrick's interpretation of events. All he knew was that it was taking all his willpower to keep from letting his shield shatter under the dragon's flames. Although, he couldn't help but smirk at the idea of a shield made out of fire 'shattering.'

He could tell that Patricia's ice shield was staying strong. Which Patrick wasn't really surprised about, but it at least did provide a little more comfort to him.

"Should we try to hold out until they get here?" Patricia asked. "Or should we go on the offensive the moment we get a chance?"

Patrick sighed. He was all for going after the dragon, but he was still skeptical about how effective his system would be against it. At most it was like his fire shield against the dragon's flames. Mostly ineffective.

Still, he wanted to do more. Even though he wasn't sure exactly how he might be able to go about it.

Though, as the dragon landed, it's weight shattering the ice shield and snuffing out Patrick's fire shield, both of them leapt to the side, each moving in the opposite direction to avoid being crushed by the dragon.

When Patrick stood up, he didn't bother dusting himself off and launched his flamethrower, hoping to at least do something other than be in the way.

However, the fire dragon seemed to ignore him and turn it's attention on Patricia, even though her ice wasn't able to do anything at all to the dragon, given her ice mostly melted before even reaching the dragon's body.

Still, while the dragon was focused mostly on Patricia, Patrick knew he had to watch out for other dangers as well. Such as the dragon's tail that swung itself in his direction like a whip arching though the air.

Patrick jumped back, hoping to avoid the attack. However, as he moved through the air, he realized he'd miscalculated and the tip of the tail was still going to hit him.

He wasn't sure if his system would help him against the flames of the dragon, but he didn't like the idea of testing that theory out. Especially if it turned out that his protection from fire didn't extend to the fire that was the body of the fire dragon.

When the impact came, Patrick could feel the flames burning his skin. Not only that, but it felt like it was a physical blow that sent him flying through the air dozens of feet before he landed, bounced a few times before skidding to a stop.

When he did stop, Patrick looked over towards where the dragon was and saw Patricia fighting it to the best of her ability for a moment before the world went black all around him.