Not According to Plan

“I hear something!” Aesandoral frantically whispered into my mind. “It's heading your way from the center of the cavern.”

My knuckles cracked as I firmly gripped my staff, ready to leap into action. That was when, in the middle of a sweeping glance of the area, I saw it through the ominous glow of the fog. The shadow of a long, obsidian-scaled neck hoisting a hulking head high appeared as it shifted and scanned the area. And, though it was too far from my current position to strike, I was going to try. It was my job afterall to hold its terrifying attention.

But as I tried to move my legs, they instead remained frozen in place as trembling knees refused to obey the will of my mind. The mere sight of the towering shadow had caused my racing heart to stop and blood in my veins to chill. It felt as though the world had become cold, as hesitation firmly gripped my chest, and a fear of death overtook me.

Move. I ordered myself. Move. Move! Damn it, move!

Yet I didn't. I stared in disbelief at the dragon before me. An actual dragon in my fantasy world. And then, as the denial began to set in, telling me that none of this had been real, and that it was nothing more than a dream, a twisted voice whispered venomous words in my mind.

Weak. Embarrassment. No son of mine. Weak male. Weak boy.

Gripping my staff, I gasped for air, immediately snapping from my trance. There was no way I would let those be the last words I heard. No way I would let those memories control me. I didn't want to die. And I definitely wouldn't die thinking of them!

"Hey!" I shouted, my voice carrying across the cavern. "Hey, over here!"

Leaping forward, I began to run. Quickly, the neck shifted as the dragon turned to look at me. Its glowing, sickly green eyes pierced through the fog and met my stare. We held each other's gaze for mere seconds before the head shifted in another direction and reared up.

Something's wrong. I thought, panic swelling inside me. Why isn’t it aiming at me? Can it tell I’m protected?

A sound closer to that of a cat hissing than a dragon-sized breath marked the deep inhale that would fuel its attack. Still too far away to do anything, I could only watch as the wyrm's head bowed down, targeted the alcove where Sharzin had gone to hide.

No! Attack me! Sharzin!

I watched in horror as the fog burned away from the jet of steaming acid as it cut through the air. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see through the diminished mist as it splashed against the rockface, carving away at the limestone wall and creating pockmarks on the floor where it rained down.

The shadow of Sharzin, who had been at that location a moment earlier, managed to dodge to the side. And while it was hard to tell what had happened from my distance, or how the beast had noticed her, I could see by the way her body tumbled and fell to the ground that she had been hit.

“AHHHH!” Her pained screams echoed through the cavern. "GGGYYAAAAAHHHH!"

With the fog now parted, I could see her clearly as she writhed on the floor in agony, gripping at her shoulder. It appeared to be only a grazing blow, but for the girl who rarely took damage, that was enough to cripple her. Sharzin continued to cry out loudly as the acid burned through her clothing and ate away at the right side of her body with an audible sizzle.

“Zin!” I yelled out, moving away from the dragon as it shifted back into the fog.

Racing over the sand to reach the rogue, I felt myself struggling against the uneven surface. I couldn’t get the traction I typically used to pick up speed. And because of that, I was slower than I had anticipated.

I should have thought about this! I internally cursed myself and my lack of foresight. I should have anticipated the difficult terrain. Damn it! Damn it!

Just then, a pair of arrows flew over my shoulder. I watched as they cut through the fog, impacting the faintly visible dragon’s head as it momentarily reappeared. They struck the scales before harmlessly pinging off into the fog, doing little more than draw the attention of the wyrm away from me. It was yet another turn of events that ate away at my mind since, even at her distance, Aesandoral's flawless aim should have been able to do at least some damage. But it hadn't, and as the flaws in our plan quickly piled up, my mind swirled with anxious thoughts. 

Based on the dragon’s ability to acknowledge that I had been protected and pivot targets to Sharzin could only have meant that it had more intelligence than previously assumed. Then there was the fact that the scales of its head were more developed, capable of withstanding a strike from the naturally accurate and precise Aesandoral. Those two issues together were enough to determine that this wyrm was older than I anticipated. And while it wasn’t yet an adult, it was older than the youthful target we had prepared for.

“The scales are harder than expected. I need to get closer.” Aesandoral spoke up.

“Aes, be careful,” I warned, watching as the dragon looked in the direction of the archer. “It’s older than we anticipated!”

Glancing my way, the creature locked eyes with me. Hateful intent burned behind the glowing gaze before it slinked back into the sand and disappeared.

Wait, can it understand me? Crap! I looked around as I continued my sprint towards Sharzin. Double crap! Triple crap!

“Sharzin!” I cried out as I slid into place beside her and popped a healing potion from my bag.

Feeding her the elixir, I watched as the magic took effect and slowly began to heal her wounds. We had determined that since I needed my magic for my offensive strikes and defensive blocking, I should withhold magical healing at all costs. Luckily, over the course of our looting, we had found more healing potions, limiting the chances that I would pull a dud in this exact situation. I then watched as she withdrew the water bladder from her bag and poured the liquid over her acid wounds, diluting the concentration enough to allow the potion’s healing effects to take hold.

“Get to cover,” I ordered her. “I’ll try and lure it—”

“Iz!” She screamed.

I turned quickly, catching sight of the massive head rising from the sand. The dragon had not gone after Aesandoral as I thought it would, but had chosen to take another pass at us.

It was recognizing me giving orders. Clever girl!

Exposed, I knew the beast was hoping to snatch a two-for-one deal as it again reared its head in preparation for a corrosive spray. But I wouldn't let that happen. Throwing my staff away, I took advantage of my potion of strength by grabbing Sharzin and commenced with Operation Flying Rogue. I channelled magic into my muscles and quickly took her by the shoulders, lifting her small body from the ground. Then, with all my might, I threw her as hard as I could, tossing her out of danger's way before slipping back into a defensive position.

I readied myself as a holy buckler burst forth from my forearms as my own protective magic took hold. The radiant light of my blessed shield glowed brightly, acting like high beams in the fog, obscuring the world even further. But I knew where the attack was coming from, and I wouldn't have to wait long for the mist to part.

The stream raced towards me, splitting the fog as it targeted my body. When the blast hit me, it first splashed over Rionriv’s shield, causing it to flare a brilliant neon green before shattering. It then hit my magical buckler, splitting around me and leaving only a portion of the corrosive bile to splash against my body. The secondary magical barrier flickered as the acid clung to their surface, eating away at the protective coating before finally breaking through.

“GYAAAAH!” I yelled out in pain as what remained of the acid, not completely neutralized by the magic, coated my arms and chest.

The corrosive element sizzled, boiling my flesh away as it melted through the clothing as easily as it did the rock around me. But I still stood, my arms up in a defensive position, blocking the bile from reaching the rogue behind my badly pockmarked body. In the distant fog, I could see the dragon’s glowing gaze watching me before disappearing into the sand as its scales once again deflected Aesandoral’s arrows.

The unimaginable pain eventually got to me, forcing me to my knees. With that, Sharzin was back at my side, dodging the acid pockets across the stone as she quickly rushed to my aid. She splashed water over my wounds as I popped the cork on another elixir of healing. Only, this time, it was all flavour and no magical healing.

I’m really beginning to wish I had thrown all of these out. I thought, searching for a second bottle.

“Sharzin, get to cover." I groaned through the pain as I pulled a small, looted potion. 

Drinking the found elixir, the pain across my body immediately dulled. And, while the wounds didn't disappear, I was happy that at least my mind had cleared enough to think.

"I need you to get shooting." I continued, looking to the rogue and touching my throat. "Aim for the acid dewlap on the underside of the throat. It looks like a little skinfold. That or the eyes. Those are the squishiest bits. Hit the squishiest bits!”

“Okay. Don’t die,” She turned to leave but stopped. Looking at me, I could see a fleeting glance of genuine compassion in her gaze. “Please.”

I nodded with a smirk.

“Obviously.”

Scanning the space, my attention was immediately drawn towards Aesandoral’s pained shrieks. I looked back towards the docks, where the fog had burned away, and the steaming archer lay crumbled on the ground as a shadow drew near. To the edge of the stone pier, the obsidian dragon had decided to seize the rare opportunity of food to crawl its way out of the sand, exposing the entirety of its body. With its long, toothy snout open, it lumbered forward, eager to consume its stunned prey.

“No! No! No!” I yelled and began to sprint.

Channelling magic into my feet as I normally did with my arms, I felt a strange sensation build in my toes. Unlike before, it suddenly felt as though my steps barely touched the sand. As though I was no longer sinking with every movement but soaring over the surface as easily as running through the streets of Dwindlefyre. I could feel my magical power quickly draining as it transferred to the soles of my feet. But I would waste every drop of magic I had to grant me the freedom of movement in this once-difficult terrain. I would use it all to reach her. To keep her safe.

I was in a full sprint, arms reaching out for Aesandoral, but I wasn’t going to make it. I wasn’t going to be able to save her.