Turning Point

Andras pretty much avoided me in the weeks after our fight. It seemed like he was pouting because he had lost, not saying more than a few words even when he did return to the den. I briefly thought that, maybe, I should apologize, but my pride would not allow it. He should be the one apologizing for being so bullheaded!

So, I spent my time in the den alone, basking in the warm sun and the steam issuing from the volcanic vents, trying to clear my head. Until, one day, I felt a disturbance somewhere beyond the rim of the crater.

It was difficult to explain exactly what I was sensing. It was like the feeling of being watched, only I knew exactly where it was coming from. I curiously raised my head just in time to see a figure crest the top of the slope; a human woman wearing an armored dress.

She stood for a moment, planting the butt of the white, long-bladed spear she carried into the ground at her side and scanning the area before finally, her fierce green eyes came to rest upon me. I returned her gaze interestedly. A human, here? I had a dozen questions, but she spoke before I got a chance to ask any of them.

“I had a feeling I’d find you up here, dragon!” She proclaimed triumphantly, beaming a wide smile in my direction. The afternoon sun at her back glinted off of her armor and her vibrant red, twintailed hair, forming a halo around her that made my heart skip a beat. She was young, much younger than any of the other three humans I had seen, and much shorter, too.

And, as I stared in awe at the sight, I also had to admit that she was absolutely, stunningly, beautiful.

She did not wait for my response, grabbing her spear and skipping down the incline to join me in the flat area, where I knew no normal human should be able to withstand the heat for long. Yet, despite the slick sheen of perspiration on her brow, she otherwise seemed unaffected. There, she held her fist to her chest proudly and declared, “I am Alicia Gearfield, of the noble Gearfield Clan of dragonslayers, and I have come here to slay you!”

A breeze whistled across the crater as I gave her a blank stare. My heart began to beat furiously, but I did my best not to let it show, instead trying to think of a way out of the situation. It seemed Andras had been right, after all.

When I did not react to her words, she seemed almost insulted. “Ugh, really? Gearfield! The name’s not at all familiar?”

“Sorry, never heard of you,” I told her, half-bowing my head.

She palmed her face and said, “Whatever. So much for making a dramatic entrance…” She pointed her spear towards me, her bravado evaporating along with her smile, replaced by a serious expression as she dropped into a low stance and prepared to strike. “Let’s get to it, then. Prepare yourself.”

I scrambled to my feet, and quickly attempted to reason with her, “Wait, can we talk before –”

I cut off short as she stabbed forward at blinding speed, and I just barely managed to leap into the sky to dodge the attack. Her spear met open air, but just from the intensity of that one strike alone, I could tell that her spear could easily pierce my scales.

“Hold on!” I pleaded once more, “Please! I showed others of your kind mercy, before. I let them leave here unharmed! We don’t have to fight each other.”

She spun her spear with a practiced motion, craning her neck to look up at me. When she spoke, her voice was ice cold, steeped in finality, “You’re a dragon. I’m a slayer. That’s all we need, to fight.”

I was taken aback by her words, put off-balance by her utter refusal to negotiate. There was a surge of mana as she waved her free hand horizontally in front of her, summoning and launching a barrage of icy lances in my direction. I recoiled, just barely managing to dodge them, ducking under one as it spiraled directly at my face. But it seemed that was all a part of her plan.

I had lost altitude, and although I was still nearly thirty feet in the air, it was enough. She kicked off from the ground hard, flying at me faster than I could react. I gasped as her spear plunged into my chest, shattering my scales and driving in deep. I reacted on impulse, thrashing wildly to throw her away. It worked, and in the process her spear was also dislodged as she spun nimbly in midair to land back on her feet.

I, too, fell to the ground, a bit less gracefully than my opponent. I landed with a heavy thump, struggling to rise, blood gushing from the deep wound I had received. The pain had sobered me a bit, made me realize the gravity of the situation. I did not want to hurt her, but she was a dragonslayer, and had proven herself to be a very real threat. I growled, frustration welling up within me as I resigned myself to the idea of standing my ground.

Seeing my wound, the girl clicked her tongue and murmured, “Damn it. Missed the heart.” She whipped her spear to the side, my still-steaming dragon blood painting the air.

Again, she moved almost too fast to follow, closing the distance between us in an instant. I instinctively slammed a claw down into the dirt, barely missing her and earning a slash from her bladed spear. I snarled in pain and anger as my scales once again failed to stop the blade from biting into my flesh, swiping at her with my talons and tail in a reckless attempt to trample her underfoot. I was fighting out of pure instinct, a survival response, whereas she remained calm and calculating. More than that, she was nimble, and moved around beneath me like a hummingbird, narrowly avoiding every one of my attacks. With her spear continuing to make cut after cut into my flesh, I decided that, above all else, I just wanted her to get away from me!

I backed up and spun, swiping at her with a mighty swing of my tail. But I was not quick enough, and she simply vaulted over my wild strike, using a hand to push herself off into the air, where she reeled back and threw her spear with inhuman might. It flew like a bolt of white lightning and pierced my flank, biting straight through my body and into the ground beneath, pinning me in place. I thrashed around and roared, trying in vain to dislodge it, but my strength was fading fast. I was losing too much blood!

She landed, falling to a knee and for the first time drawing the longsword belted to her waist. The silver blade gleamed, reflecting the sunlight as she leveled it towards me, and for the first time in my life I felt true fear.

I was going to die.

Mana swelled within my core, and I threw everything I had in her direction. She deftly dodged the explosion of a fireball, and countered my lightning bolts with icy spears of her own making. It seemed that she was equally as adept with magic as she was with weapons. My head was swimming, my vision fading, and soon enough, even my mana was all-but exhausted. There was nothing I could do!

Seeing this as her chance, she launched herself into the air directly above me, sword held firmly overhead. It was a killing strike, aiming to sever my head from my neck. I gritted my teeth, waiting for the blow to land while still struggling to free myself from the spear lodged into my side.

There was a flash of silver, and the sound of an impact; the air vibrated from the force of it. The girl was sent flying into the far wall of the crater, where she landed amidst a plume of ash. Above me hovered the familiar form of Andras, a single red smear painting his gray scales. He touched down beside me, plucking the spear from my flank and tossing it away.

“I’m sorry!” I spluttered, my thoughts a jumbled mess, “I should have listened to you, before! This is…it’s all my fault.”

The elder drake made a derisive rumbling noise, and stepped forward, his attention focused on where the dragonslayer girl had landed, waiting for the dust to settle. “I’ve never told you about the height of the war between dragons and humans,” he said softly, “I’ve never told you the truth. Back then, I…I was a coward. When my brethren stood their ground, I ran. They called me ‘the Fleet’ not as a sign of respect, but as one of derision. I have only ever used my speed to save myself, to run and hide! And I have always despised myself for it!”

I said nothing, whatever words I might have offered sticking in my throat. I was stunned by his revelation, in disbelief that the proud, noble, and fearsome friend I had known my entire life had once turned his back on his own comrades.

He continued, pensively, “I’ve been thinking about what you said before. I’ve tried to imagine a world where dragons can once again live freely and peacefully alongside humanity, but that dream is beyond anything I could have ever thought possible. I was content to simply live out the rest of my life here in the Far Reaches, hoping that the eggs I had gathered as I fled would at least allow our kind to live on. But you saw things differently than I. You alone took the first step towards making that far-fetched dream into a reality. So do not fault yourself for how things have turned out, as this is nothing but a setback on your road to realizing your ambition.”

He paused as, the ash and dust having finally settled, we were once again able to see the dragonslayer girl, wiping a streak of blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of a gauntleted hand. She struggled to her feet, faltering briefly in the process.

“Go, Leolyn!” Andras urged, “I may not be as strong as you, or as courageous, but even I have my pride! I’ve spent my entire life running away, and right here, right now, I realize that there are some things that I cannot run away from, things that one must protect no matter the cost. At long last, I understand how my fallen brothers and sisters found such bravery in the face of their demise.”

“No,” I protested weakly, “Teacher, we can fight her together. We can defeat her –”

Calmly, Andras titled his head to look at me, but only one of his emerald eyes remained. The other lid was closed around the hilt of a sword, blood gushing from the wound. With the slightest hint of amusement in his voice, he said, “In your state? You’d only slow me down. No; if this is to be my end, let it not also be yours, for you are destined for so much more. Flee this place, grow stronger, and maybe one day you can realize that dream of a peaceful future…I think I’d like to see that.”

“You will!” I assured him, watching as the dragonslayer girl got back up again and slowly approached, her gait regaining some its former strength and surefootedness.

“You’ve still never beaten me in a race, you know?” Andras chuckled, turning to face our opponent once more. He slowly started walking forward to meet her, adding over his shoulder, “Then, just this once, I’ll let you win. Grab the eggs, and get out of here, now!”

I gritted my teeth, watching as the two engaged each other in a fierce fight. He was right, though. This dragonslayer was stronger than I could have ever imagined, and I was exhausted, solidly at the limits of my strength. In my current state, I really would just be in the way, and she would succeed in killing us both. So, I willed my battered body over to the blackstone circle in the center of the space, back to where I had been born. As the sounds of the battle being waged behind me rang in my ears, I carefully plucked the twinned eggs of red and green from their nest, cradling them under each arm as gently as I could manage.

Then, I took one last look at the scene. I saw flames and lightning, wind and frost, all mingling together with the flash of talon and blade…it was an incredible sight to behold, but I knew that I could not linger. It was obvious that, even though the slayer was tired and injured, she was still overpowering Andras.

I turned away from them and clumsily leapt into the air, struggling to gain lift. My body felt abnormally heavy, and even my wings ached as they strained to drag me upward. I flew as fast as I could, for as long as I was able, wind rushing past my ears as I dug deep, summoning up every single last ounce of energy I had left to flee.

It was hard to say how far I went before I met the absolute end of my strength. One moment I was soaring along, and in the next, my wings buckled. Instantly, I dropped like a stone, my mind no longer able to form any coherent thoughts but still aware that to stop meant death. I tried to force my numb body to cooperate, but it was no use. I was too weak, and falling too fast.

All I could do was coil my body protectively around the eggs I carried as I plummeted out of the sky.