It has now been three days since I left the clearing that once contained The Moonlit Tower. Since then I have been on a steady trek north. Waking with the rising sun I would travel all day before going to sleep just after sunset in a small shelter made from earth magic. Along the way the scenery slowly changed. As I got further and further north the trees that once towered over me began to shrink in size becoming smaller yet hardier shifting from large leaves to slender pines. I have also been slowly climbing in elevation and the weather has been getting gradually cooler.

At several points along the way I ran into animals. Most of them avoided me or kept to their own business. The few that approached me had a faint aura of mana around them and had the faint glimmer of intelligence in their eyes. Seeing this I started to form the assumption that all of the animals that I had been able to speak with must have been changed in some way by mana. Those animals that did approach me I asked for information about the drakes. I got precious little information. They knew that the drakes were close by but had been avoiding the areas they were in. I got slightly clearer directions than just north and was able to narrow down the area that I would need to search significantly.

With the new information I was able to reach where I am now. The northern part of the forest reaches up into a large mountain range where the rapid increase in altitude and the harsh weather beat back all but the hardiest of foliage. The area that I was directed to rests in the shadows of two massive peaks split by a narrow pass. I’m not sure if it should even be called a pass as it looks more like a great canyon was carved out of the mountains. The opening was only about 100 paces wide and its shear walls and deep shadows seemed to emanate an aura of malice. Even from my current distance looking at it sends shivers down my spine.

From what I was told the drakes are coming through the pass and into the forest. There was no clear indication of just how many had passed into the forest so far but it was definitely more than one. This presents me with two significant issues. First, I don’t really know what a drake is. I know they are large but that’s it. I’m sure I’ll know one when I see it but I really have no idea what I’m getting myself into. The second problem is the pass itself. Even if I am able to fight off the drakes that are already here there is nothing to stop more from simply coming through the pass once I leave.

“So Mel what do you think we should do?” I ask. Mel responds with a confusing pulse of emotions and sensations. “Hmm, well I’m not quite sure what you mean but I guess we will just have to tackle the issues one at a time then. Let’s start with finding one of the drakes in the forest and see if it is something we can kill.” With that I set off to start exploring the area.

At first it seems that I might have been mislead about where to look but soon enough signs that I am on the right track start to appear. The first thing I notice is a large footprint pressed deep into the soft soil between two trees. The footprint is about as wide as my arm is long and seems almost bird like in shape. Three long joints stretch forward while one faces the opposite direction. Each of the joints seems to end in a long talon bigger than my hand. I swallow hard at the thought of what something like that could do to me.

Looking in the direction the track seems to lead I spot several more before the trail leaves the ground and heads up into the trees. Crushed bark and long scratches indicate that the creature decided to start climbing or leaping from tree to tree rather than continue walking along the ground. The tracks are spread out enough that the drake appears to be rather large but I still can’t quite determine its size.

“What do you make of this so far Mel? Any idea what this thing is actually going to look like?” Mel responds to my question with a pules of uncertainty. “Yeah I guess you wouldn’t know either lets just hope it’s something manageable.”

I continue following the trail until I find myself in a small clearing while the sun hang low in the sky. The clearing isn’t a natural one but instead one that was created by several trees being smashed to splinters. Driven by both curiosity and my desire to find my target before nightfall I step deeper into the clearing. It appears that the drake spent some time here clawing smashing and judging by the large teeth marks on some of the trees chewing everything in the clearing. I am bent over one such tree getting a closer look at the bite marks on it when a low rumbling hiss makes me freeze. With every hair standing on end and my senses practically screaming danger at me I slowly turn to look behind me and get my first good look at a drake.

The easiest way to describe it would simply be to call it a monster. A combination of lizard and snake it looked distinctly unnatural. Thick reptilian legs ending in razor sharp talons connected to a body coated in sickly green scales. A long serpentine neck arched up to a large triangular head adorned with a crown of scale and bone. Slitted yellow eyes glared at me while a forked tong tasted the air as a barbed tail twitched in agitation.

As the drake lowered itself from where it had been hiding in the trees a viscous green fluid dripped from its long needle like teeth. Where it struck the ground it hissed and sizzled before melting into the ground leaving a dead charred hole. In my mana sight the drake glowed brightly with the colors of wind and water but the acidic liquid dripping from its mouth glowed a deep blue black that spoke only of death.

Terrified at the sight of the monster before me I tried to summon an arrow of mana. After failing three times I was finally able to properly shape and condense an arrow and drew back my bow string with shaking arms. My heart pounded rapidly in my chest and my fingers twitched threatening to loose the arrow as I tried to take aim at one of its glaring eyes. With desperate hope that my shaky aim was true I loosed the arrow.

Reacting quickly and with almost contemptuous ease the drake slid its head to the side causing the arrow to impact just above its front right ankle. Rather than piercing through as I had expected the arrow cut a deep gash in one of the scales coating its body and then shattered.

Furious the drake hissed before lunging at me moving faster than anything its size should have any right to move. Reacting on pure instinct I dove to the side and managed to avoid most of the vicious swipe of its claws. Small spikes of pain lanced through my right side as the tips of its claws dug into my flesh. With no time to pay attention to the wound I quickly suppressed a cry of pain and pushed some mana into my healing matrix.

Before it could turn around I had formed another arrow and fired it to little effect. Damn! Its scales are too hard. Maybe if I had a stronger bow I would be able to pierce them but this one isn’t up to the task. I can scratch it but that’s about it. How do I get through? There has to be away, come on think!

Mentally shouting at myself my mind spins through options as I try desperately to avoid the drake’s attacks. The battle has only been going on for moments but I am already at a huge disadvantage. Not only is the drake covered in scales I can’t yet crack but it is also faster than I am, if only just. I narrowly dive over another swipe of its claws only to be slammed in the ribs by a lash of its tail. The loud crack of breaking ribs echoes through the clearing as I am flung into a tree.

A haze of pain filled my head and muddled my thoughts causing me to take several long heartbeats to realize I needed to start healing myself. Even having experienced it before and with pain resistance at a decent level the feeling of my ribs starting to snap back into place still nearly made me black out and I had to fight down the rising bile in my throat.

Raising my head and getting shakily to my knees I looked across the clearing at the drake who stared right back. As I watched it the mana field around the beast began to change, ribbons of black flowing into its bright aura. It reared its head back inhaling deeply and I realized what was about to happen just before its neck shot out in my direction. The instant a dark viscous stream of acid lanced across the clearing a wall of stone burst from the ground in front of me.

The air was filled with a sharp hissing and sizzling steam and acid spraying everywhere as my wall began to sag. Knowing the wall was about to dissolve I dove to the side avoiding the spreading pool of acidic liquid but not the spray that bounced off the wall. Searing pain shot through me as acid fueled by darkness started to eat into the flesh of my left arm and shoulder. I screamed as the liquid ate through layer after layer of skin spreading a taint that resisted my efforts to heal it through the wound. I crashed to the ground and knew that I was burning.

Knowing that letting the pain paralyze me would mean death I quickly created a trio of arrows that I had hoped to never truly need. Loading them I fired all three gravity arrows at the drake’s right leg. Just like before as the arrows impacted the scales they shattered but not before they released the spell I had woven into them. A triple shockwave of gravity blasted out from the impact shattering the scales along the drake’s right leg.

A hissing roar of pain and rage so loud I had to flatten my ears to avoid damaging my hearing ripped its way from the drake’s throat. It turned its head acid dripping from its maw to face me and shot another stream of acid my direction. Rather than summon another wall I wove a blade of wind and shot it back at the drake. The wind blade bisected the stream of acid sending two smaller streams to either side of me and continuing on to smash into the drake’s head. The backlash of the wind crashing into it caused acid to spray everywhere.

The drake let out another roar of pain and rage as its own acid started eating away at the scales covering its head. As it glared at me with eyes full of hate I could feel a weight dragging at my mind telling me that I was running low on mana. I was only going to have enough for one more spell that would be able to do any damage and if I couldn’t kill it in that one strike it would kill me for sure.

As I tried desperately to come up with a solution discarding one idea after another the drake sprung at me. It moved even faster than it had before crossing the distance between us and smashing me in the chest before I had time to react. I flew through the air once more, clearing the pools of acid still filling the clearing and landed hard on my back before my head cracked against a rock.

Stunned and gasping for air driven from my lungs I could only lay there as the drake slowly crossed the clearing and set one heavy leg on my chest. Yellow eyes filled with hate and a mouth full of long needle teeth glistening with acid loomed over me. I could have sworn the beast smiled sure of its victory as it began to lower its head.

“I’m. Not… dead. Yet.” I cough as I shape all of my remaining mana into a spell and strike. My hand coated in a thin layer of mana thrust through the hole of cracked and shattered scales cutting deep into the drake’s leg, then the spell triggered.

Both of us screamed as violet arcs of electricity exploded out of my hand. Power arced through and around us. My muscles locked up and I couldn’t even scream, falling into blackens as for the second time today I burned.