|
Emberwind nodded with a grin. “Oh, yes…” If this thin little elf woman had taken down Testle, she would definitely prove to be a challenge. He was happy; very happy.
For the first time that day, he honestly enjoyed his drink. They sat and chatted, about dragons, and lands they had visited. Her name was Briez. He lied and said his name was Jard. Emberwind remained careful not to let on what he was, and why he was interested in a slayer. He lied, stating that he had learned the location of his own lair, and that he knew an entrance that wasn’t known to the dragon. Although she seemed skeptical at first, the elf eventually accepted it as truth, and agreed to join him.
The pair traveled for days to the east of the city. Conversation was mostly spent on how to approach the dragon they were going to “ambush”. Emberwind had trouble containing his excitement; the elf seemed to take it as enthusiasm. She didn’t suspect a thing.
Every day, Emberwind grew more and more convinced of her skill. Briez carried herself with a calm self-assuredness that lacked any arrogance, the kind born from being truly skilled. She caught dinner several times with a bow and arrow, hitting a rabbit running at full speed from fifty yards, and killing it instantly. He observed her practicing with her blades at camp a few times. She carried a pair of long, pointed swords, and put them through a dazzling display that impressed him more than he cared to admit to himself.
Still, she was only a little over five feet tall, and his natural length was over two hundred; if for some reason she presented a real challenge, he could wipe any evidence she ever existed in one blast of fire.
By the fifth day of hiking and climbing, the pair reached the cave. Not surprisingly, the elf was a nimble and sure climber, so she had no trouble reaching his summit entrance. The two walked slowly into the cave. They took a side tunnel that Emberwind had told Briez would take them behind the dragon, giving them the element of surprise.
They moved with caution and stealth, slowly sneaking into the main chamber. The elf whispered almost completely inaudibly “Wow!” as they exited the tunnel. She had never seen a single room so large. She drew her swords and waited for Emberwind to initiate their attack. He would cast a spell that would launch her high into the chamber. The plan was to attack the dragon’s head.
She had played it over in her mind a hundred times over the past few days, imagining herself in a long, gentle arc, flipping over as she flew, drawing both blades, and coming down hard on the dragon’s head with both swords drawn. If everything went as planned, the creature would be blinded that instant, as she drove both blades into its eyes.
She waited for several heartbeats. “Jard?” Briez glanced over her shoulder. “What’s the m…” He was gone.
She dropped into a crouch and scanned the area. The human man was nowhere to be found. And neither was the dragon.
Briez suddenly jumped to her left instinctually dodging a blast of lightning that blew apart the pile of coins she was standing on. She rolled then came to her feet facing the direction of the bolt. There stood Emberwind, still in human form, and cackling like a madman. “Nice dodge. Very nice.”
His satisfaction was not complete, however. Briez didn’t appear very surprised by the attack. “You will have to do better than that.” Emberwind smiled. “Very well.” He laughed, and started another spell. Before he could finish it, though, Briez flipped one of her swords so that she was holding the blade, and threw it at him.
Emberwind stopped in mid-cast and caught the blade. She rushed in, swinging her remaining sword. He flipped the sword so that he was holding it the proper way and parried her first few blows, but she was too fast for him and managed to land several nasty cuts.
He had wanted a challenge, and he got what he wanted, but this was beginning to hurt. He called upon his natural strength and shoved his open palm at the elf woman when she was in mid swing. She let out a loud “Oof!” as the air was forced out of her lungs, and she toppled backward down the pile of treasure.
“Enough of this!” Emberwind bellowed. “Testle was an impressive kill. He was ancient and powerful.” Emberwind began to back-step, and his breathing became labored. “But he was stupid. Years of bargaining made him weak and trusting. I trust no one!”
The human form of Emberwind bent and twisted, then in one fluid motion, he exploded in size, stretching out into his full reptilian form. Emberwind lifted his massive head up and reared on his back legs. He spread his wings, which touched either side of the gigantic chamber.
“You no longer have even the illusion of surprise. You have no chance. Your death will be swift, but believe me, excruciatingly painful.” He could not hide his glee as the words escaped his mouth.
As Briez ran to retrieve her second sword, there was a huge inhalation that nearly pulled her from her feet. Emberwind was preparing to breathe flame. Inside, he smiled, watching the tiny hero scramble to get her meager blade. She may have had success had she been able to hit him in the eyes, but such a small weapon would do nothing against his hide.
He was exultant the moment he felt the searing blast leave his mouth. He had not felt such pleasure in centuries. The fire erupted down a hill of gold, turning it into a shining river, and completely engulfing the ground surrounding the elf for a thirty foot radius.
He chuckled loudly as the stream of flame ended, but lost some humor when he realized there had been no scream.
As the smoke lifted, he was shocked to see Briez standing in a puddle of molten gold, holding both swords and smiling wickedly.
“So, you cheat…” he scoffed. She must have an enchanted blade. It was not unheard of for adventurers and heroes, especially dragon slayers, to wield magical weapons that protected them from various forms of attack. That would explain her mad dash for the sword just before the blast; she must be protected from dragon’s breath. That would explain her defeat of Testle, he was not the brightest dragon born.
“You may be immune to dragon flame, but that is hardly the limit of my arsenal.”
Without hesitation, Emberwind decided and brutal and humiliating death would be fitting for Briez. He slammed his head down where she stood. He connected with the quickly cooling gold, but missed the satisfying crunch he had expected. He glanced over to see her rolling to her feet again, laughing. Emberwind began to see red. He slammed again, and again missed. He tried and failed a third time, the elf dodging out of the way at the last second on every attempt.
He bellowed in rage. “DIE!” he screamed as he lifted the front half of his body and drove it down with all of his strength. He was so huge, it didn’t matter how fast she was, there was nowhere to go to doge his immense body.
He stopped suddenly with a massive jolt. Something large was wrapped around his neck, and pushed against his chest. He was shocked to find himself staring into the striking blue eyes and silver face of another dragon.
It spoke, and the voice was familiar, and feminine. “Jard? I would have expected something with more syllables from such an old one as you.”
The silver dragon shoved the larger red dragon back. Although she wasn’t as big, she was much bigger than he would have expected from her kind, and much stronger. “A dragon who hunts dragons?”
“Only the bad ones. You really should have stayed here and enjoyed your golden years, Emberwind. I had not had a single good lead trying to find you until I saw you in the streets. You may have fooled those people, but I can quite literally spot a dragon in the crowd.”
The bigger dragon didn’t waste any more time on words. He breathed another gout of flame at his attacker, hoping at least to blind her. She was almost as nimble as a dragon as she had been as an elf. She leapt to the side of the flame and darted in toward Emberwind. She managed to land a horrific bite on his left arm. The giant dragon shrieked in pain and rage, clawing at the silver dragon’s armored face. His massive claws couldn’t even dent the polished silver of her head, and her eyes remained clamped to protect them.
|