Prologue

Enter the Dragon

(that time I was swallowed alive and drowned in a Dragon’s guts)

5:35 PM

My name is Kaeya and I’m dead. It wasn’t old age, disease, or even one of the times many times I’d eaten spoiled food, though I had wished for it many times taking a shit in the woods. No, my death happened at 5:35 in the evening. The sun was just beginning to set in the sky and I could see the outline of a full moon fading back against the blue sky. It was less than half an hour earlier that my guild came face to face with the red elder dragon. We had been on the hunt for weeks. Our guild, the ‘CoreRunners’, we were actually one of the best, or at least the best in our neck of the woods. Rak, Stem, Puck, May, Chel, and I. We’d killed cyclops, chimeras, cacus, chápa, even giant centipedes. We fought a lot of enemies that began with a C. So fighting a Dragon with a big capital D. It was our magnum opus. The last mission we’d ever have to take. I never stood a chance.

We were A++, each of us had a level in the 50s to high 70s. My own level was at 73. Puck was the strongest on our team. Blessed by the gods, he was a magic archer. Able to shoot lightning through bowstrings. Chel was second strongest, a paladin like myself. The two of us had matching great swords. Ebony black, made of meteoric steel, forged in volcanoes by dwarves of old. They were ancient weapons, heirlooms we ‘found’ in our early days of joining together. May and Stem were rogues, but both were very capable of handling any kind of weapon. Rak was a different, most of the time he used an oversized crossbow that was just slightly smaller than a ballista. All of us had grown up in the slums together. We were closer than most families. And together we were unstoppable.

Having moved up from thievery to adventuring in the span of five years after we learned we could make more money slaying monsters than stealing from caravans we had started to make a name for ourselves around the City of Tala. It wasn’t the largest city in the country but it was well-known for having an influx of monsters ever since one of the Dark Lords broke free from their prison in the underworld. The Dark Lord was resurrected by a group of careless sorcerers who thought they were summoning a succubus. Turns out the wind had blown the pages while they were setting up their candles and one wrong incantation later led to the worst case scenario. Dark clouds erupted in the sky. No succubus, just death, mayhem, and destruction.

The temperature was just right as we made our way from our encampment to the last known location of the dragon. We’d been traveling for weeks now, chasing it to the Isles of the Abyss.

The Dragon of course was called here by the Dark Lord to burn the city. And without the city we wouldn’t get paid and none of us wanted to go back to robbing caravans. Especially Puck. “Can’t throw lightning at people you don’t want to kill,” he would say.

Slaying monsters was fun. Grappling them from the ground, climbing along their backs, planting a great sword in just the right spot blood splatters outward like a fountain straight up in the air, none getting on your clothes. And so when we were assigned a quest to slay the dragon while the heroes went after the Dark Lord we were more than happy to say, ‘Yes! Give us all the coin and we’ll slay the beast!’

Thinking a Dragon couldn’t be worst than a giant man-eating beaver we soon discovered we had never been so wrong. Dead wrong.

Name: Kaeya

Race: Human

Level: 73 (Rank A++)

100 / 100 HP

100 / 100 Armor

100/ 100 Mana

Class: Swordsman

Reputation: Misfit

Guild: CoreRunners

Title: Apostle of Fire

Skills:

Quick Draw

Rising Slash

Dragon Strike

First Chain Skill

Slice

Crescent Slash

Wind Slash

Sword Storm

Flash Step

Swords of Illusion

Mana Regeneration

Animal Tamer

Strength: 7

Agility: 8

Endurance: 9

Intelligence: 6

I woke up an hour passed sunrise as usual. My pet Tenrec Gob crawling across my forehead. I stood up and placed the little guy down by my great sword and stroking her spines.

“We’ll eat soon, I promise,” I said.

Rak was already making breakfast for us. Rabbits snared in a trap he had set the night before along with some vegetables he picked up the last time we were in town.

“Always eat your veggies,” he said every morning. He was the caretaker of our group. Always looking out for us. Making sure that we were eating and training properly. “A healthy body is a healthy mind.” He said it all the time, and yet he was overweight, short and had about a pound of cocoa beans hidden under his pillow that he snacked on every night.

We loved him all the more for it. He had been doing it since he was a kid. How he always found cocoa beans in town when they were such a rare item was the real mystery.

Chel, using her kind eyes and wicked good looks managed to score us a boat to sail to the Isles of the Abyss. We had to trade ten gold coins for a compass to navigate the channels but it was worth it. Once we had slain the dragon the Adventure’s Guild promised us a a thousand gold coins per person. It would be enough to retire on if we wanted. More than enough to set up our own headquarters in town.

“Any sign of it?” I ask as we reached the shore of the Dragon’s last known location. Gossip on the mainland was that the Dragon had set up a nest in the Isles on an abandoned castle. From the shoreline we could see the castle towers hovering above us on the horizon. Falling apart if not for their rectangular design and the walls that connected the towers they would have been indistinguishable form the gray mountain peaks. There was however a red flag, the banner of an old pirate king, still flying high.

“That’s mine,” May said, pointing at the flag. She had a thing for collecting rare trinkets and artifacts. In another life I’m sure she was have been an archeologist or historian. She was in love with the history of this world and was already spouting out crazy facts that no one cared about. Some of it though was interesting. The twin long swords Chel and I used, according to her, were part of a great legend. It was said that the swords had been used by a giant as daggers to slay a Titan, the only creatures more fearsome that elder dragons and Dark Lords.

Stem had been my best friend. Always playing games he was also a very talented con artist. When we were starving on the streets he used his talents to treat noblemen out of coins using cups. Other times he would pickpocket them in crowds. He was in charge of managing our money. We were the only ones he never screwed out of pocket.

Chel was the quiet one. Always training. Always doing her best. Her mother had been accused of being a witch when she was younger. Burned at the stake, my family took Chel in. It wasn’t long before others started accusing Chel of witchcraft. Blaming her for bad harvests, cloudy skies. The truth was Chel had been born with magical powers. Maybe the clouds weren’t her fault but when she had bad days it was almost always rain. She worked harder than anyone to suppress her abilities, to train in swords, daggers, and eventually two-handers. She refused to use her magic no matter the cost, even if it meant her own life… or mine.

And of course Gob, my pet Tenrec. The little guy was about to become an meal and an aphrodisiac for a nobleman and his wife when we rescued him from his early demise. The two of us bonded as I plated my great sword in the nobleman’s chest and we’v been partners in adventuring ever since. Gob was always wiggling his way into my coat pocket. Somehow always staying safe. A part of me believed he was good luck, another maybe the little creature had some magical abilities. It wasn’t out of the question.

If dragons, giants, humans, and other animals could tap into the ether why not tenrecs?

“There, the shadow on the side of the mountain, you see it?” Rak pointed.

“I don’t see anything,” Puck grinned. I couldn’t either. Rak wasn’t usually wrong about these things. Puck, despite being a Magical Archer didn’t have the best vision. May and Chel confirmed.

The dragon was close by. Resting on the tower of a castle.

A few hours hike and we were standing outside the castle ruins. A dried up moat, a wooden bridge that had long since fallen apart. Several of the castle’s large towers had already collapsed. Some recently. Even the castle walls looked like the elder dragon had been using them as a scratching post. Claw marks ran up and down the sides like fractals.

I gulped, admiring the damage the creature had done, my heart racing faster and faster as I thought about how we were going to get to fight it.

Every battle was a rush. Tapping into the ether to draw out strength we never imagined we had. Our family fighting as one. Other guilds hated us, called us misfits, slumlords. We never went out of our way to dress in the best armor, most of us were wearing leather. I myself wore a black jacket and a white linen. My pants were dark red leather. Chel had picked them out for me. She said that red brought out my hazel eyes. Gods, I miss her.

May was the stealthiest in our group and acted as a scout, taking point as we entered inside the castle fray. The walls were so broken we had more than enough light to guide our way but there were other things, things worst than dragons we were worried about. Goblins.

Goblins in low numbers weren’t a threat. Large hordes on the other hand. Keeps filled with goblins were deadly. If we accidentally stumbled into a goblin hive the best thing we could do was run. They were also good at planting traps. Tripwires, snares. Anything to catch their prey. Though they didn’t like sunlight we had little doubt that the lower levels of the castle, the dungeons, the archives, the storage rooms, could easily be infested. Goblins would hesitate to come after us if they knew we were there.

“Quiet,” I remind Rak as he stumbles around moving his giant crossbow out from behind his back and carrying it sideways through the tight stairwells that lead up to the top of the wall.

“How did anyone fit through here,” he complains sidestepping up the spiral staircase. “Seriously, don’t castle have furniture, beds, how did they move supplies through these tight spaces.”

“They used lifts, transporting materials with rope outside piece by piece,” May answered him.

“Sounds tedious,” Rak said.

“I agree, would have been much easier just to make the walls wider,” Puck said. Puck absolutely despised enclosed spaces. Worrying that one day he would be buried alive in a coffin. It was one reason he always told us to make sure he is buried in a shallow grave. And if he happens to be dead and comes back as a Draugr we are to immediately take off his head, roast his ashes, and throw them into the nearest running water.

“Even Hobs would have trouble fitting through here,” Stem adds. HobGoblins were a larger version of a goblin, usually ten times their size. It was believed that there were no female goblins and instead Hobs reproduced Asexually. Smaller goblins forming inside of them, chewing their way out when they got too big.

“By the gods,” Chel said emerging just after May to the outside world. The sun was shining brightly upon us. Not a cloud in the sky. Dozens of harpies were waiting, nests scattered all across the top of the wall, some filled with dozens of eggs, others empty. It turns out goblins weren’t going to be an issue this time around. There were hundreds of them, turning their attention to us as we came out one by one. It looked like they were using this island as a mating ground. Several of the harpies had snow-colored feathers, others were gray and old, the younger ones were bright brown.

-Bestiary-

Harpie

Description: Winged creature with a human face, sharp talons, and beaks that can break steel. They nest in low population areas laying between 20-100 eggs at a time. Their cries are debilitating and can cause hallucination.

HP: 20 / 20

Weaknesses: Fire, Lightning, and most magical attacks

Immunities: Water, Poison

“Ideas?” Puck asked.

“Fire Bolts,” Stem suggested.

“Too early, Fire Bolts will cause an explosion and we don’t want to draw the attention of the Dragon just yet,” May said.

“Damnit,” I cried out unsheathing my two-hander. “Chel, with me.”

The two of us began our work. Swinging our swords and striking the harpies with our two handers as we cleared a path for our guild mates behind us. I could feel the ether stretching out from inside my core, wrapping my arms, my blade in an ethereal fire that blossomed around me setting the beasts on fire as I swung.

Dragon Strike Active

+10 Fire Damage

+10 Fire Resistance

Attacks do 20 Damage on Impact

The harpies screeched and attacked, some flew the coup abandoning their nests. They were smart. Older. They had fought against adventurers before and nearly lost their lives. That was the thing about monsters… they were always getting smarter with each encounter. Others fell victim to our blades too soon to react. The snow colored ones were especially weak to my fiery strikes as I cleared five in one blow.

Using the weight of my sword to throw myself through the air into the middle of five harpies, had I been unarmed they would have chewed my eyes out, but I was one of the best. I had to keep fighting. For my friends, for my guild. This was our big break. After this we were going to have our own place to call home, something we’ve only dreamed about. No more sleeping on the outskirts of towns, no more slums, no more taking jobs other guilds refused to do because they were too messy or below them. This was our chance to hit it big. We’d have our own place, pick our own quests, do things our own way. We had no choice but to win, no matter the cost.

Chel followed behind me. I almost hit her with my two-hander swinging wildly in the air. She smiled back at me. I loved that smile. It made my day fighting side by side with her. Growing up together we were practically family but things changed. A couple of years ago after slaying a necromancer in the throes of forgotten abyss, we’d hooked up after some drinks. The two of us have been growing closer ever since, both still too nervous to tell the other how they feel but it was obvious. We promised one another once we were set we’d figure things out. It wasn’t like we planned to settle down but we both knew we wanted to be at one another’s side.

A harpie flies down from above. I feel its talon tear at my shoulder as Chel raises her blade and jabs its side. The harpie falls letting go of me and leaving a nice little monster core as its body vanishes to dust.

“That was a summon,” Chel pointed out. Summoned creatures would turn to dust, leaving behind a monster core after they die. It wasn’t uncommon for summoned creatures to mix with regular creatures. The difference was in how they died. Regular creatures left a mess and were worthless except for their hides, a summoned creature was valuable.

Chel reached down and grabbed the gem, placing it in one of the empty pockets on her leather belt. She always made sure she had room for souvenirs, usually it was a claw, or tooth, this time it was something special.

“You know, we could make a ring out of that,” I smile.

“We could also buy new swords,” she smiled back. “Or a night at one of the royal inns.”

I got distracted. Another harpie attacked from behind. Chel struck it just in time grabbing my shoulder and pushing me down. She used my back to throw herself through the air, impaling the normal snow harpie in the chest. Both collapsed over the ground.

I could hear Chel breathing heavily, nearly out of breath.

I grabbed a blue vile from my pocket, a stamina, and ran over to her side. Handing it off to her she tore the lid off and began chugging it down as two more harpies attacked us from both sides.

I lifted her two-hander with my other hand and used them like scissors. Cutting the head off one and then the other.

“Can I have my sword back?” Chel stood smiling behind me.

“Of course Madam,” I bowed and handed her the sword by the grip. The blade facing outward towards me.

“Next time ask before you take,” she said blowing me a kiss.

Back to back we prepared ourselves for the dozen or so harpies that were coming down to attack us. I grinned. Feeling the blood of battle rush through my veins I let out a war-cry as I activated my magical ability. My mana draining 1% each second. I wasn’t a strong magic user but I was strong enough and had trained hard to master several skills. Dragon Strike, Sword Illusion, and most important Sword Storm.

The roof of the castle wall was swallowed by a storm of small swords that appeared out of the sky. This was my summons, this was my power.

Metal rained down upon my enemies with no mercy until my mana was drained. I killed more than half of the harpies with the attack and destroyed most of the nests.

Smiling I turned to Chel to say something but she was already ten yards away from me finishing off the harpies that fell but didn’t die.

“Nice one,” I tried to say holding my thumb in the air and smiling like a complete goofball. She hated it when I used magic. I knew why but still, she never got mad at Puck for firing his stupid lightning arrows.

She gave me the silent treatment, only smirking with the side of her mouth as Stem and May flew through the air behind her over both of our heads and on top of another group of harpies making their way towards us. That’s when I notice Gob is missing from my pocket. My little Tenrec got lose and one of the harpies is eyeing it as a quick meal. That or maybe it just wants to see one of us suffer before it bites the big one.

I scramble, my heart racing, beating against my chest, I fear the worst. I toss Chel my two-hander and dive, rolling across the ground. I grab Gob in the palm of my hand and pull a dagger from my boot. I feel the dagger enter inside the harpie chest as I struggle to get Gob back inside my jacket pocket. The little guy happily complies, crawling back inside the safety and warmth of my clothing. Despite stabbing the harpie in the chest its still continues to flap its wings, trying its best to reach me with its talons as I dodged its attacks shaking my hips from one side to the other.

“Does this ever end,” I growled.

“Everything ends, its our turn now,” May smiles knocking the harpie out of the air, letting Gob and I retreat back safely. Stem follows behind her smiling, dual obsidian daggers in hand. She and him make quick work of the new horde of harpies coming at us.

“Don’t do that again, alright little buddy,” I tell Gob reaching into my pocket and brushing my fingers against his head. I can just barely make out an audible squeak as the little guy thanks me.

The rest of the harpies moved on us like murder. We retaliated in kind.

At long last an arrow of lightning shot overhead, spiraling out and zapping the harpies that flew in the air. It was way more effective than my Sword Storm had been and also beautiful at the same time as each harpie lit up, the entire castle wall filled with lights like fireworks.

“You shouldn’t have wasted your magical energy like that,” Puck said walking over to us. He was wearing a his best blue robe. One he actually earned from one of our missions. The robe and the bow he used each buffed one another making him not only the strongest member of our guild but the best at using his equipment. Many would say he was best dressed but I’d argue that was Chel or myself. Our outfits were little more that leather but we filled it all out nicely.

Stem made sure to loot some of the eggs for dinner later, placing them carefully inside his backpack. Harpie eggs made a mean omelet.

“We’re going to feast after we kill this dragon,” he smiled. There were dozens of eggs still left unhatched, unbroken.

“We should clear them all out,” Puck said.

“Do you think we should worry some of these were summons?” May asks.

“Doubtful. Summons go feral all the time when their masters don’t call them for awhile. Their masters are probably dead. Especially if they risked facing the dragon,” Puck answered. Stem continued to ignore Puck’s request to destroy the eggs. Gathering several more in his care.

“This whole ordeal has cost us ten minutes, if we are going to reach the dragon before night fall we better hurry,” Rak said.

“And where were you?” Chel asked.

“Greasing,” he answered, holding his weapon up. It was loaded with about a dozen large metal bolts. “You guys had that handled. I wasn’t about to take away your fun. Plus looked like the two of you were flirting.”

Chel blushed, stepping slightly away from me.

“Saw, that, no denying it,” Rak laughed.

“Guys, I think we have a problem,” May said.

We all turned towards her. She was pointing towards the top of the mountain. Our path to the dragon was clear now. Problem was, we were anything but quiet. The colossal red dragon took notice of us the moment the harpies started cawing and it was already flapping its wings wide through the air. Its wingspan the size of several city blocks. We could see the dust rise and cloud the ground around us as gusts of air channeled its way towards us.

“Take cover!” Rak shouts.

We duck as he raises his heavy weapon into the air and takes aim at the dragon.

“What are you waiting for!” Stem shouts.

“It has to get closer,” Rak grunts.

The Dragon is immense, larger than we imagined. Its red scales almost glow as the light hit them. There doesn’t seem to be a soft spot on him as it begins flying down towards us, imitating the smaller, less dangerous, harpies that we fought before.

I grab Chel and pull her closer towards me as the Dragon lands several hundred yards away from us on the other end of the wall. Its hugs the side of the wall with its claws, front and back, pushing forward, its wings folding in behind its back as it opens its mouth. There is nothing but teeth. Darkness. It moves as fast as an entire stampede, shaking the ground beneath us.

We retreat behind Rak who is still waiting for the right moment to fire his shot. As I pass by him I can see he has one eye closed, steadying his rifle as much as he can with the ground trembling under his legs. He is a big man, he knows what he’s doing. He has his legs spread just far enough apart he can hold his own. I’ve seen him do this time and time again under some of the worst circumstances, storms, hordes of monsters rushing in.

-Bestiary-

Elder Fire Dragon

Description: A large daemonic dragon-type. Creates Fire from glands inside of its mouth to create fire. Since it has evolved this way its body is made of Fire Resistance skin. Even the flesh underneath its scales is said to be resistant to fire.

HP: 400 / 400

Weaknesses: Ice, Water, Metal

Immunities: Fire, Lighting, Poison

This Dragon should be no different, it was just larger and more red. It was no different than taking out a giant lizard.

I told myself that again and again. Chel’s hand grasping mine as we ran into the tower.

“Alonsai!” Rak shouts. A dozen metal bolts erupt from his rifle. Several hit their mark, others bounce off the Dragon’s scales.

The Dragon reels in pain, standing up on its back legs and ripping out the metal bolts. I can hear the squish as it tears one from its shoulder. The sound of blood pouring to the ground.

“Don’t worry,” I whisper, “Rak won’t…”

I barely finish my sentence when I see the Dragon slam its body against the ground. I grab hold of Chel’s body and pull her back with me. Puck erects a massive magical barrier in front of the doorway separating us from outside world, and Rak. The entire wall turns to fire.

“Don’t look,” I cry out, holding Chel in my arms. I can feel her tears, her body trembling. Rak is dead. His body smoldering in the smoke for half a second before the wind blows him away.

“All things end,” May snarls. I really wish she hadn’t said that.

“We’ll mourn Rak after, what should we do, run or fight?” Puck says.

Both he and May turn towards me and Chel.

“Pests,” a voice hisses, “Cowards.” Its the Dragon, its deep raspy voice sounds almost like a growl.

I don’t know what to tell them. Of course we should run, its a dragon, how can we few mortal humans plan to win against something like that. One of our guild is dead, its not like we can resurrect him, Rak, who we’ve all grown up with, fought side by side with. Rak, who was always there for us, who devoted his life to our guild, is gone forever.

“Kaeya, please, let me go,” I hear Chel cry. I realize I am squeezing her too tightly in my arms. Both our weapons lay on the ground. I can feel her heart throbbing against my wrist as I hold her back from making a grave mistake. The rage that blossoms in her heart, the same rage I feel building in my own. I want to kill it but the Dragon is right, we are pests, we are cowards, we shouldn’t be here. What chance in hell do we have?

“Kaeya, you’ve never fought against anything you know could beat you,” Puck says. It was true. I’d spent my life measuring my opponents. I had a good eye for what could and couldn’t kill me. Hell, my saying ‘yes’ had been half the reason we all took this mission. We let coin cloud our mind to the real danger facing us, even as high level as we are we aren’t ready. I don’t know if any adventuring guild could hold their own against something like this. This is a job for an army, not a party.

“I…”

“We’ve never run from a fight, what would Rak say,” May starts.

“I agree. We know the enemies weakness,” Stem says, with his mana he creates two daggers made out of magical ice.

“We honor Rak by slaying the beast,” Puck tells us.

I say nothing. Just like the cowards I am. Chel breaks free from my arms. I don’t know if we can really win. I want to tell them the truth. I made a mistake. The Dragon, its more powerful than I imagined. This isn’t the same as taking down a cyclops or even a horde.

“Kaeya,” Chel says, grabbing her sword from the ground, “I’m going to kill that dragon. With or without you. I’m going to slay it for Rak. It’s fine if you are scared. If you stay here.”

I’m trembling. It’s not fine. In no way is this fine.

“I…”

“Kaeya. You are no good to us shaking, you already used up your mana. We’ll handle it from here. We know you would never run from a fight and we’re not asking you to run now,” Puck says. I can see he is already charging up a magical attack.

“Stop it, I can’t let you go,” I grab Chel by the wrist. She pulls away.

“Damnit Kaeya, we are not asking,” she speaks without any emotion in her voice. Her face is almost completely blank. Even now though I can feel she is suppressing her magic. She could surround herself with water for protection but she is doing this her way.

Why? Why did they all believed me when I said we could kill a dragon.

I shut my eyes and take a deep breath. I can’t let them fight alone.

Reaching outward I grab my sword from the ground. I feel sweat fall from my forehead down onto the blade and watch as it turns to ice. My mana is regenerating, slowly, but it is still regenerating. I have about ten percent of it back already. Another useful skill I’ve picked up. I guess it comes down to good company. Having a magical archer as a best friend has made me a better magic user than I could ever dream.

“I’m with you,” I tell them. They nod back in approval.

“Ok, anyone have any idea how we attack this thing?” May asks.

“Puck, you hit it with an Ice Arrow, freeze it if you can. Stem and May go for the wings, if we can climb on top of it and keep it from flying off or using its fire attack on us again we have a chance. Chel will strike from above. Climb the tower and use Haste to throw yourself…”

“No magic,” she interrupts me.

“Don’t think of it as magic. Haste doesn’t really use mana. All your doing is telling your brain to push harder, faster. Throw yourself from the tower and strike the Dragon from above. I’ll follow with another strike. That should be enough to finish it off,” I tell them. Chel nods, agreeing to the plan.

I feel like I’m sending my friends to their death.

Puck’s barrier falls as the Dragon waits for us to make our move. He slides out of the tower as Chel and I make our way to the top.

The Dragon turns, whipping its tail against the tower. The walls burst apart in front of us. Stone crumbling below. Chel stops dead in her tracks.

Puck fires an Ice Arrow from his magic bow. It lands on the backside of the Dragon. Freezing its right back hip down to the bottom of its leg. Its not immobilized though and continues to spin.

The Dragon hits the tower again as both Chel and I leap up over the cracks in the staircase leading to the top. We are nearly there when I catch a glimpse of May and Stem running with their hands behind their backs towards the Dragon’s tail.

May leaps through the air, implanting herself on the tail of the Dragon. Stem follows behind her, missing. May reaches out, grabbing his arm and pulling him up behind her.

Together the two look like specks running up the Dragon’s backside. Dragging their daggers across its hide. Their attacks barely measure, even the Ice Arrow managed to only do about five damage.

The Dragon, annoyed, begins to unwrap its wings. Lifting its body into the air. I see May and Stem dig their daggers into its body as it begins to take flight. My friends are trapped, our plan is falling apart.

“Ice Arrow, on the wing, now!” I shout just as Chel and I reach the roof. Puck takes aim, charging his magic bow for the attack. Puck has a mana reserve close to 800, each charged attack costs him nearly a third of that, plus whatever he used to create the barrier.

The Dragon lands on the ledge of the tower, staring down at Chel and I just as the Ice Arrow clips its wing. It roars loudly and I can feel my muscles tense as the Dragon’s front feet slam down on the tower only several yards in front of us, ice encasing its right wing.

Chel leaps, activating Haste, and attacking the the front of the Dragon’s leg. She lands a critical strike against it and it falls forward stunned. I leap forward with my two-hander and strike down on the front of the Dragon’s face. This isn’t according to the plan at all. My attack barely makes a dent. The Dragon wakes and begins to shake. I strike at it again. This time missing it completely stumbling over the weight of my own sword.

May and Stem continue to hold on for life as it purges its body of ice as Puck prepares another Ice Arrow, I’m not sure how many he has left. The Dragon lifts its back leg into the air to scratch off May and Stem like a dog scratching off fleas. ‘Pests,’ it called us. We are nothing but a nuisance to the monster. They are forced to let go, falling several stories to the top of the wall. I can hear Stem scream as his leg snaps. His mangled body laying across the stone. May just barely manages to roll and runs over to his side.

The Dragon’s body twists and jerks. I can see the wounds on its hide are healing. Not only is it strong but it can regenerate too.

“Rak will be smiling down when we kill this thing,” I grin.

“That’s the Kaeya I know, are you ready,” Chel smirks.

The two of us move towards the Dragon’s underside. Sure, we risked getting stepped on but everyone knows the weakest point in a Dragon’s armor is always near the chest.

We attack it right where its heart would be. Slamming our swords up in the air towards it as it turns around above us.

It has its eyes focused on Puck, the strongest in our party. That’s its strategy. It eliminates the strongest opponents first. Rak, the greatest threat out of all of us with his metal rods wasn’t just an easy target. Puck, our magic archer is next on the Dragon’s kill list.

“Puck, run!” I shout. Its no use. Chel and I turn towards the Dragon’s leg, hoping we can knock it off balance as it readies another breath of fire. I can see its throat glowing orange.

Turning away from its leg I attack. Throwing all my weight, my two-hander at it, trying to knock it off course. At the same time, Puck releases an Ice Arrow, stronger than the other two. The Dragon breathes fire.

The two elements mix and cancel one another out.

“Fall back!” I shout. This time they know I’m not being a coward.

May picks up Stem’s broken body and begins carrying him back inside the tower as Puck follows behind them.

Chel and I disappear down the stairwell as steams flows up from where the two elements cancelled one another out.

We all meet each other at the base of the stairs. The Dragon above us tears a hole through the roof of the tower and stairs down at us growling.

Puck turns firing another Ice Arrow, minimal damage. Just enough to annoy the beast and give us a few seconds head start running.

We enter inside the wall. Following a path that leads us to the inside of a keep. It isn’t long before we hear the Dragon behind us, digging its way through the stone ruins.

“Keep looking forward,” I tell my guild, all the while slowing down to help May carry Stem. The three of us lag behind Chel and Puck. Taking a wrong turn we find ourselves on the other side of the wall starring out at a vast empty courtyard. The bones of dozens of recent adventurers, mounds of ash litter the rocky landscape.

“You were right,” Chel says.

I don’t say anything. Turning around I see the Dragon tear through the stone ruins, following us into the open landscape I can’t help but feel like we are in the middle of an arena.

Surrounded by mountains and castle wall. There is no choice.

I raise my sword to the Dragon. Smiling.

The Dragon makes a sound like its laughing. It pisses me off.

May attacks it from the side. Crossing her arms and daggers in the air in an X formation as she lands against the Dragon’s eye. It roars in pain, half its sight gone reaching out and grabbing hold of her before she can land safety on the ground below.

Puck readies another arrow but the strain of magic is making him slow. He can barely lift his bow anymore.

The Dragon drags its claw across the ground amputating May’s arm from her body. She screams.

The dagger made of ice melts away in a pool of warm blood.

Puck fires his last Ice Arrow at the Dragon’s claw. Parts of the ice cover May, temporarily stopping the bleeding as the Dragon lifts its body in the air and dodges. Puck wasn’t aiming for the Dragon. He was aiming to save May.

“Chel, grab May and get to cover,” I order.

Puck nods, he is already lifting Stem from the ground.

The Dragon flies in circles above us.

I wait… Reminding myself that I’ve never gone against an opponent I couldn’t kill. The Dragon flies down. I feel like I can read its attacks. The Dragon’s plan is to snatch me in its jaws. After I’m dead the others, except for maybe Chel will all be easy targets.

I refuse to let it… Leaping into the air as it dives. I land on the back of its tail. Both of us flying together up into the sky above.

The Dragon growls as I begin to climb over its spines. Inching myself closer and closer to its neck. One clean slash is all I need. I dig my sword into its body as it spins, circling in the air, trying its best to throw me off.

A fall from this height would kill me even if I had enough magic to make a protective barrier.

I fall back a few times. Taking one step forward and another back. We’re so high I can see clouds, the ocean, islands in the distance.

The air is becoming thinner. Colder. This is to my advantage. I activate my Dragon Strike ability to create enough of a flame to keep me warm. Its burns thinner than usual, the lack of oxygen feeding it causing it to burn in and out. Its just enough. Just enough it allows me to keep going. Reaching upwards, grabbing at the Dragon’s spines, swinging my sword around another and crawling as close to the Dragon’s skin as I can.

It’s body feels like iron. Rough, red, there are billions of small bumps across each and every scale. When I drag my hand across it the wrong way it feels like I’m rubbing against sandpaper.

“I can’t let go,” I remind myself. The castle looks so small down below as the Dragon rolls around again. “My family is counting on me.”

I snarl as I pull myself up again. And then… there is nothing.

I’m falling.

I fell.

I was in the air.

Free falling through the air I still had my two-hander in hand, Somehow, the dragon had managed to make me lose my grip. I was an idiot thinking I actually stood a chance. Below me I can see it flying back up towards me, its mouth open, tongue, and teeth. Lots of teeth.

The cold air is making it slow. The sun shining bright behind me, blinding its eyes. Gob, my Tenrec falls forward out of my pocket. I let go of my sword, it falls behind me. Grabbing hold of the little guy I pulled him in close against my chest. I think about apologizing but there isn’t time.

The Dragon’s jaw encompasses the two of us and I feel my bottom half slide over its tongue. I am surrounded by darkness.

Pitch black. The darkest black I’ve ever seen. I barely missed the monster’s teeth. With Gob clutched to my chest I draw my dagger. I drag it along the esophagus, along the guts of the Dragon.

My legs begin to burn. Acid? Fire? I’m not sure. There is an orange glow, a core, no, it is the dragon’s heart beating just beyond the muscle next to me.

I plunge my knife inside of it.

I can feel us falling. The Dragon and I.

I feel us hit the ground.

I feel the Dragon’s insides press against me, my legs, my pelvis, my chest. The weight of the beast burying me alive as Gob crawls out of my hands and on top of my shoulder. The orange glow is gone.

The Dragon’s heart has stopped beating. Did I just slay the Dragon?

There are whispers. Puck, May, Stem, and Chel. Cheering, crying.

“Guys! I’m alive!” I try to to shout, my voice is barely audible. My vocal chords feel like they have been crushed. “Chel…”

I feel the Dragon’s blood around my feet.

The blood of the Dragon is warm and rising with every second I waste trying to call for help. I try to break free, to push the muscle surrounding my body away as the inside of the Dragon fills with blood. I beat as hard as I can at the muscle. I scream as loud as I can. I try to find my dagger. I try to find Gob. I scream louder. I scream until my voice gives way.

My mana reserve is gone, my armor depleted. If I were maybe just a little stronger, if they knew I was alive.

“Kaeya?” I heard Puck’s voice.

He heard me.

“Kaeya! We’re coming for you,” Chel said. I could tell she was crying.

They finally heard me.

Puck was out of mana. No one could break through the Dragon’s hide.

I tried to tell them… I was alive.

The Dragon’s blood continues to rise.

Eventually, it fills my lungs. I drown. I die.

HP: 0 / 100