Sylvia Talgan’s POV.
So much had happened in just a short period of ti I didn’t even know where to start. A talking undead that seemingly knew who I was. One of my uncle’s swords that I hadn’t seen since I was a child. And a promise of a crushing defeat filled with despair?
But only the latter prophecy seed to be coming true…
What in the world is going on?! Is the entire world breaking apart?!
The ground in all directions wasn’t just splitting apart; it was moving. It was as if the soil and rock had turned into water and were moving like waves over an ocean. The place underneath gave away, and I had to jump to the side to avoid falling into a growing fissure.
I had to act quickly. The others were wounded and tired from their battle, and if they fell into a fissure that went to who knows where and got crushed…there would be nothing I could do. Since I didn’t have the ti to be gentle, I just did what I could. I used the blood under my control and commanded it to surround the others.
“Sylvia, wai—!”
Kaladin’s shouts were barely audible over the rumble of the earth, and once the blood had consud him, I used it as a protective shield. I’m sure it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience, but it beat out all the other alternatives. Once all the others were safely in my grasp, I brought them together and suspended them in the air.
I did sothing similar for myself but didn’t wholly envelope myself as I wanted to see what was coming. I wish I could save all those Dwarven soldiers, but there were too many, and they were too far. I also needed to save what I had for whatever was about to show itself. Not to ntion it was draining to control so much blood as it was, and I was still worn out from saving that damn old man from being a hero.
If I knew sothing like this was going to happen, I would have just let him do it…damn…
I continued to endure the violent shaking of the world when it happened. It was like an enormous explosion sprouting out from the ground but without flas. Sothing gigantic broke through the ground and went straight into the air, blocking out the sky. Even through the rubble and dust, I could make out the familiar visage. It was a legendary monster that used only to be told in stories, yet, for so reason, kept popping up at the worst of tis in our lives. And it made the Lich’s final words even more daunting.
A Dragon.
Its scales were muddy brown, and it seed even bigger than the Chaos Dragon that went on a rampage during the school event. The earth shook once it landed on the ground, and I felt my heart thump in my chest. The mories of being cut in half and nearly losing Kaladin and everyone else reared their ugly heads.
I was afraid. Afraid of dying, of course, but more terrified of losing everything. I was the only person able to fight such a creature, and I wondered if I could take it down alone. It was four, even five tis bigger than the Wyrm. Even if I completed Blood Grounds, would that be enough to kill it?
And could I even kill sothing that was already dead?
The Dragon wasn’t just large and imposing, but it was missing large sections of its flesh along its massive body. White bone was exposed to the air, and the fleshy skin had a sickly color to it, like it was rotting. Even its wings were torn to shreds, barely having any skin on it all; in fact the left wing was utterly devoid of flesh. Its face was completely missing; it was nothing but bones with giant horns and ghastly glowing orange eyes, just like a high-ranking undead.
The undead Dragon took one look at the massive Goliath. The other creature looked like a child next to it, and I figured protecting it wasn’t necessary. Even though it was stumbling around the cracked ground, it freed its legs and hesitantly took a step back in fear. The overwhelming presence of the Dragon felt like a weight on my shoulders, and there was no doubt that Goliath felt the sa.
But before the Goliath could move any further back, the Dragon bounded forward. I moved those still trapped in my blood away to safety, going as far as to fling them toward the city. The ride would be bumpy, but they wouldn’t get hurt, at least, but I had to get them out of there. There was no way I could protect them and fight this thing simultaneously.
So what can I do? It still has flesh, and even if it’s rotted, it still has so blood. Could I take control of it? If I did, would it even matter? Could I hold a Dragon down with my powers alone, and for how long?
There was no one to co and save us this ti.
I watched as the two giants clashed. The Goliath even managed to use its massive front legs to defend itself from the Dragon’s charge. And that was when I got my answer. It may be a mindless beast, but it was the next biggest thing around. Goliaths were known for their thick skin and strength. What better ally did I need than an enormous monster that could take the beating for ?
Using blood as a stepping stone, I rushed to the defense of the Goliath. As the two giant monsters wrestled, I launched a preemptive strike on the Dragon. It was so big that I couldn’t miss it if I tried.
I ford spears of blood and sent them at the Dragon as I continued to move closer, but I cursed to myself when I watched my magic helplessly get defeated by its thick scales. Even the ones that managed to strike their bones did nothing. But that was fine.
As the blood splattered, I still had control over it, and I weaved the blood over the scales and into the Dragon’s open wounds. Controlling blood at such a distance was as taxing as it was challenging, but I only needed the tiniest of pricks. As the two creatures battled it out, I felt the sensation of the controlled blood hitting another target.
However, any happiness faded when there was no feedback. I didn’t sense the control or the blood of the Dragon at all. But I knew I had made contact. I should have had control.
I can’t use the Dragon’s blood. Is it because it’s a Dragon? Or because it’s already dead? Or…sothing else?
And the fight with the Goliath wasn’t going nearly as well as I had hoped. It put up a good fight in the beginning, but within minutes, and before I even reached it, the Goliath had been knocked onto its back. The ground continued to shake with every movent of the battle. The Dragon overwheld it with its massive body and pinned the Goliath to the ground.
The Goliath tried to flail and fight back, but a blood spurt was released as the Dragon crushed the Goliath’s chest. I couldn’t even get a sigh in as the Goliath’s head was removed with a single bite from the Dragon. Blood gushed everywhere. I had never seen so much blood co out of a single creature before.
My hopes for an ally were dashed, but I couldn’t give up so easily. Instead of getting closer, I backed off and started the ritual. I gathered the blood that I had used previously, and I even started to move to take the blood of the now-dead Goliath. A part of hoped the two smaller Goliaths would at least serve as a distraction, but those monsters were nowhere to be seen.
Not that they would last more than a second.
My heart skipped a beat as well as I turned to look over my shoulder. While chanting and gathering the blood, it suddenly felt like the Dragon was looking directly at . I should have been nothing more than a speck moving across the ground, yet it spotted in an instant. It could sense what I was doing. Not good.
At the very least, I was getting further away; there shouldn’t be a chance for it to catch if I was quick enough. I have so much blood at my disposal that I can just—
What—what is it doing?! It’s dead, but it can still use its breath?!
A light expanded from its bony mouth and grew in size as the Dragon opened its gaping maw. I dropped the attempt at performing the ritual and, with the gathered blood, commanded it to my defense. Walls of blood sloshed into the air and solidified into shiny crimson barriers. I made dozens of massive walls to protect myself and even used the blood of the Goliath to go on the offensive to try and distract the Dragon.
Bloody spikes sprouted from the corpse and raced toward the undead monster. But once again, my attempts fell short. Not even so much as a distraction, let alone a scratch. I took so of the blood around and coated myself into a protective sphere. There was no way I could take the risk of taking that attack head-on. I couldn’t co back if I were reduced to ash in a second.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and even though I couldn’t sense mana in the sa way others did, I could still feel the imnse power that was about to be released. The sound of the blast was deafening, and I commanded my sphere to toss as far as I could.
I bounced against the bloody surfaces, but the world was lit again with a bright orange light. My eyes widened as a sudden beam of light annihilated half my sphere. I was a hairbreadth away from losing an arm and sinking, feeling that I may not be able to regenerate if I got struck by sothing like that.
And things got even worse when I followed the breath attack angle. I thought maybe it would stop at , but it continued on as it carved a path through the ground and into the Curia. My heart sank further, but thankfully, it didn’t hit Kaladin and the others.
Instead, the beam cut straight through the city walls, and they crumbled and were blown away. I was too far to hear or even see, but I was certain countless people had just died. What made it even worse was that the beam did not stop. It continued to cut through the city and was dragged to the left, aiming right for the castle.
No way it’s—
My worries were for naught when the beam nearly hit the castle, and it seed to stop without anything being there. I couldn’t tell what was happening, but the undead Dragon’s attack was being halted by sothing. At least now I could strike.
Luck was finally turning around. If Kaladin could put a powerful spell into a Dragon’s mouth and kill it, then so should I. I gathered the blood under my control, but before I could even command it, sothing dropped from the sky directly on top of the Dragon. It happened so quickly but the breath attack stopped, and a dust cloud consud the area.
“Damn it! I’m getting really sick of these surprises today! I knew we should have run away to the mountains when we had the chance!” I yelled as I layered myself in a protective shield of blood to block the wave of debris and dust.
I waited a few monts and dropped the blood shield to see what happened, but I only managed a ager yelp as sothing flew toward . I threw myself to the side, but the air was knocked out of the mont sothing grabbed . Before I knew it, I was being carried into the sky. Using the blood still on , I stabbed out at whatever was holding onto , but I looked up and was t with sothing else—an oddly beautiful pattern of blue and pink scales that looked like ice.
Even so, I stabbed what I saw, but my blood fell apart the mont it hit the scales, and a rumbling noise voiced its displeasure with . “Would you stop? If you don’t, I’ll drop you back to the ground, Vampire. You’re far too weak to penetrate our scales with such tricks anyways.”
“Th—then let down! What are you doing?! Who are you?!” I shouted as I flailed around, but I was helplessly in the clutches of a talking monster.
I’m in the grip of a damn Dragon! Ah…is this really how it ends?
“Stop thrashing about! If I wanted you dead, I’d feed you to that abomination!” he growled.
“Then let down!” I shouted back.
“Persistent and dumb as all mortals co! You want to drop you back down there, or do you at least want to work together!” he snapped back.
“Then what is your plan?! Who are you?!” I demanded.
The Dragon let out a low rumble, as if it were sighing. The rushing wind around was deafening as it was chilly, but after I took a few deep breaths, I managed to calm myself.
“Are you…Kelzrenth?” I asked.
“Finally, co to your senses, huh? Are you ready to have a asured conversation, or am I going to have to drop you and scoop back up the puddle, Vampire? Because if you wish to save your friends and that city, we best get started,” he snarled.
“Yes, let’s work together,” I said.
“Good. Now, hold on, carrying you is botherso,” he said.
“Wait, what are you—aaaaaaaaa!”
He dropped ! That bastard actually dropped ! How did we get so high so quickly?! Think I—oof.
I landed on sothing and sprawled out on a sea of icy blue and pink scales. I reached out and tried to grab them, but I ended up cutting my hand on them. Thankfully, that was what I needed, and I used the blood to anchor myself down.
“You bastard! How can you just drop without warning?! What if I fell and didn’t stop myself?!” I shouted.
“Then you would hit the ground and revive. And if you couldn’t manage this much, then all would be for nothing anyway, so quit complaining. You should feel honored to be on my back, Vampire,” he growled.
Damn, overgrown lizard! I see why Kaladin hates you all so much!
“Fine! Then what’s your plan?! You’re a Dragon. Can’t you just beat that thing?!” I yelled.
Kelzrenth circled the sky as the undead Dragon lood below us. The size difference between the two was like that of a child and a parent. I guess that made sense, considering he was supposed to be a kid…
“There is no plan just yet. And if I could beat that abomination, then I wouldn’t need you, would I?” he growled.
“Then what are we going to do? How in the world did a Dragon get turned into an undead in the first place?” I asked.
“I wish I knew the answer myself. I’ve never heard of a Dragon being turned into a Zombie. However, that thing used to be an Earth Dragon. I don’t know who she is, so she must be ancient long before my ti. Judging by her size, she must have been an elder at so point. And before you continue to complain, it’s not like I know every Dragon that ever existed,” Kelzrenth explained with a growl.
“Just how many of you are there?!” I asked.
“More than you care to know.”
“Regardless, this is an unacceptable occurrence. My duty as a Dragon is to defeat this to maintain the balance and return her skull to her resting place. So I need your help, Vampire. I noticed you were trying to do sothing interesting while fighting the Lich. Can you do that now?” he asked.
“You! You were just watching the entire ti! Why didn’t you help?! That Lich was beyond normal! It defied all logic!” I yelled.
“So what? It wasn’t my place to intervene, and I had no idea a Dragon like this thing existed. And I’m significantly weaker than that Earth Dragon by all accounts, even if it’s a shell of its forr self. I can’t bring it down alone, but I must still try. So, can you do it? Whatever that gathering of power was?” he asked again.
“I need blood and lots of it. If you bring closer to the ground, I can gather what’s left over and use the dead Goliath as a source. You have to protect in the anti and stay close enough to the ground. Can you do it?” I asked.
“How troubleso. I would prefer to stay in the air, but it seems that isn’t an option. And there is no question whether I can or can’t. I will do it. It is the only natural outco,” he said a little too proudly.
“Then put that pride to good use, Dragon.”
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