Call to Adventure: Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Heart of Dragon

With my caprine ally at my side bleating out a warcry and my own hiss following suit, we attacked as one. There was not a moment of hesitation between us as he dove head first into our deadly adversary.

“Trog hatar geitur!” the creature would scream as fury filled its eyes, swiping at us with its terrible claws. (Trog hate goats!)

Ducking below the strike, it passed by over my head but my temporary ally was not so lucky. The troll struck him on the side of the head, making him stagger but now I was upon him. With an angry hiss, I dove at him, launching my entire body at him and latching on to him. I might not be as big as the goat nor as strong as them, I was far more nimble.

“Farðu af Trog!”The creature screamed as I slipped behind its back, forcing it to dance around as it tried to dislodge me. With my claws deep into its thick hide however, he could not swipe me off all too easily. Not even its prodigious wing span could reach me as I got to the small of its back.  (Get off Trog!)

“Die!” I screamed as I reared back before slamming my teeth down hard on its tough leathery hide. My teeth ached as I drove it down hard on the creature's flesh but I powered through, roaring out as I finally tasted blood and it tasted sweet.The taste of his skin was rancid, almost like tasting the scent of an open sewer but the meat below was something different; sweet like berries and I wanted more!

“Trog sár! Sársauki!” The creature babbled out but I could not care for it any less. It staggered forward, past the dazed goat who shook its head as it got back towards the tree line. (Trog hurt! Pain!)

“Come on! Get back up! I can’t do this alone!” I shouted at my companion, pulling away momentarily even as the flesh tried to reknit itself. I was simply too small to do damage, but not my companion. We have a cliff to push it towards too.

Unfortunately, the troll was far smarter than I gave it credit.  Hearing branches snapping, I redoubled in a panic, trying to pierce through the rubber like flesh and at the spine beneath. I felt bone but so too do I feel the sharp stinging slap of a thick and heft branch branch against my back and against my broken ribs.

“Farðu af Trog! Farðu af! Farðu af!” I saw double, reeling from the strike as I nearly fell off. It was only my claws that kept me on this creature but the follow up strike brought me back. I was forced to climb up to it’s shoulder, dancing around the strikes yet still some would keep hitting me, sending lances of pain up my spine every time it graced my ribs. (Get off Trog! Get off! Get off!)

Forced to abandon the hole I made and with the troll getting close to his club, it felt like it was a losing battle. Just as all hope seems lost, help finally arrived. Shooting out like a rocket, the goat came charging at the back of Troll at full speed,“Bah!”

There was a loud crack and the troll fell to its knees once more. “Ouch!” The troll cried out in pain as it turned, swiping at the goat. This time, the goat ducked low, making it stagger as it missed. Not missing the chance, I bit down once more, digging once more its neck and down on its spine.

Running past the troll, I thought my cervine ally was making a run for it but they skidded to a stop as they turned at him. “Go for it! Just push him off the cliff!” I screamed, not even sure if he could as I pulled away flesh and blood. Warm, life giving liquid spurted out from the open wound coloring my vision scarlet and blinding me but I was not deterred, blindly biting and tearing.

“Bah!”

“Átjs!” (Ouch!)

“Just die already!” It was a blur of violence, my draconic blood singing as my heart beat proudly. We were whittling him down as my teeth tore through flesh while my friends horn bruised flesh and broken bones. Feeling the wind rushing up the canyon and the sound of the rapids below, I knew this was the end. This was it, they could do it! “Do it! Butt him off the cliff! Just do it!” I screamed, not even caring any more. If it means I have to go down with him, so be it. I could glide, this troll couldn’t.

“Bah!” my furry friend answered back as the sounds of their hooves thundered on the snowy ground. Biting down, I roared, clenching my jaw until I felt bone… and my own teeth as I finally chomped through the sinew in between the bones.

With a victorious roar, I pulled but right at the cusp of victory, I felt their meaty hands grab me by the neck, squeezing down hard enough that I let go. “Trog mun ekki tapa!” they roared out in a crazed shout as I felt myself swund around before they threw me. (Trog won’t lose!)

Sailing through the air, I felt almost weightless and with my blindness, I couldn’t even orient myself. I screamed helpless, thumbing through the air as I spun around. I flapped useless, trying to find my balance but with the roaring wind buffeting me, and the sound of the water getting closer and closer to my impending doom. I was gonna die.

It was there, in that fall, that I finally heard the voice of my ancestors the clearest. All this time, I’ve merely felt them, now I heard them shout as one, “Stop thinking! Just move!” and so I did.

With long ingrained instinct, I stopped flapping and stretched my wings, arresting my falls as I straightened out but I fell faster, the wind rushing right at me as I could feel the water splashing up at my face. “Not enough! Not enough!” they roared, but amidst the sea of chaos, was a single drop of blood, standing calm as soft laughter echoed through my chest while the warm voice of a mother teaching their child rang inside my head.

“Just like this my child! You might be my most precious of my clutch but you have all the magic you need inside here.” The voice whispered as I felt a touch against my chest with warmth spreading over my wings, the cold blizzard trapped in my chest roaring into life as it coursed through my veins and out to my wings, “All you need is one beat of a wing and off you go!”

“I will not die!” I roared back as I felt the touch of the water up against my tail before I beat my wings, once and hard.

Like a rocket, I felt wind rushing past my head, pushing off the blood staining my eye as I found myself high up in the air. With energy coursing through my wings, I found myself up high in the sky. I was no longer bound by the earth, I could now fly!

“Bah!” A cry of pain echoed down below and there I saw my friend with its horn grabbed by the troll as it started pulling them apart.

“Die!” The creature roared, the goat flailing usually as it found no purchase while it was held aloft.

As I turned, I felt my wings falter, nearly making me plunge down as my flagging core came knocking. My breath and my wings were powered by the same core and I had forced myself to my very limit.

“Flee!” My blood cried for me to lick my wounds and rest. I could indeed, the goat had just been an ally of convenience but… what kind of dragon would I be to let a debt go unpaid? Where was my pride as a dragon?

“Oh no you don’t!” With another beat of my wing, I swooped down, talons spread out as I shouted, “You forgot about me!”

“Wha-!?” It babbled out only to scream as blood spurted from its wide open eyes after my claws dug through soft jelly like orbs. Swooping past the troll, I landed atop the goat that the troll dropped..

“Get up!” I shouted as I grabbed the goat and forced it back on its feet even as it bleated in pain, “Run!”

His protest would soon die as the inarticulate roar of our enemy washed over us. With a shout, he galloped off and I had to hold on to my dear life lest I tumbled off. With one final beat, I shot off his back and up to the sky, flying off in another direction. I flew as hard as my body could allow, the cries of the troll not too far behind me but their cries would soon melt away as I finally out ran them.

Exhausted and tired, I didn’t know how I stayed up for so long but whatever kept me up could no longer fuel me. Unable to hold my eyes up any longer, they fell shot and I tumbled down to the ground. The last thing I felt was the soft and cold embrace of snow and I knew no more.