The clearing was still heavy with smoke when the dragon lowered its enormous head. Its eyes blazed like molten gold, its staring point fixed on Luther. The air seed to thicken with its breath’s heat, suffocating, the ground below it turned charred black.
"You should leave," the beast roared, its voice as soft as thunder moving through the trees. "The likes of you should never have discovered this place."
Luther staggered up, bracing himself heavily on his sword, his chest heaving. He tried to laugh, but it was a cough. "What, no ’welco to my lair’? Not even a fruit basket?"
The dragon said nothing. "Your bravery is... comndable." Its eyes slit, its teeth showing in sothing that might be a grin. "But your foolishness will be your end. You will not be leaving here alive if this fight continues."
It swept one wing broad, and with pointed tip, gestured. Luther followed the command and tensed. Liliana and Aithur stayed on the ground, frozen. He didn’t notice until now the widening red flowing by Aithur’s side. Blood stread steadily from a cut near his ribs.
Luther’s throat closed up. "How. how in the world did I miss that?" His hands trembled, weakness and sha. He was so focused on the dragon that he’d let this slip right past him.
The dragon’s voice was cold. "You are already weakening, human. Your breathing shallow, your body splintering. Rescuing them will only speed along your demise."
Luther forced a grin, though it faltered around the edges. "Maybe so... but we’re not leaving without those." He jerked his chin toward the radiant glow in the green grove. The Divine Sword, shining with an otherworldly brilliance. And beside it, the strange plant whose aura pulsed like a heartbeat.
The woods rang with the laughter of the dragon. The earth under its laughter shook. "Do you think I would give up my most valued treasures simply because you asked nicely? Fool!"
Its roar tore the air to pieces, and birds that had been foolish enough to remain scattered. Leaves rained like snow, and trees groaned under the din.
Luther hacked blood onto his palm, wiped his mouth, and sneered anyway. "Who said ask?"
His left hand shot up, his hand shaking, but throbbing with power. Green sparks whirled around his palm, condensing into a glowing sphere of light. They spat and flashed like lightning, drawn from the bone of his body.
The laughter of the dragon faltered. Its eyes widened. "You—"
"Chow on this!" roared Luther.
The green beam shot forward, a wave of raw energy. The dragon snarled and slamd its left wing across its chest, defying the attack with contempt. But as it struck, the beast’s confidence was shattered.
BOOM!
The beam burst upon the dragon’s hide, searing a hole clean through its wing. Charred blood flowed, splintered bone. The huge creature was flung back among the trees, crashing through trunks as though they were twigs.
Its cry of pain shuddered the ground.
Luther did not wait. Luther ran. His body complained, his legs gave way, but he forced them to move. The demon sword he struck, rebounded off his belt, its black energy flickering like a fla held in suspension.
He got to Liliana first, kneeling. Her sword was a few feet from her, half-stuck in the ground. Luther picked it up and forced it back to lie next to her hand. "Don’t say I never do anything nice for you," he grunted, coughing once more.
His chest burned as he stumbled towards Aithur, green motes already coalescing around his fingers. He shoved his hand out and watery spheres erupted into existence, surrounding them both. They glowed with gentle light, radiating healing.
"Stay alive, damn it," Luther snarled. "If either of you croak. on , I’m haunting you."
Pain shot through his back, his body straining with the exertion. Spat blood again but was able to maintain the spell.
Behind him, the trees groaned. The dragon struggled free, snapping branches like glass. Spread wide its good wing, its chest glowing like a furnace about to blow.
"You have the nerve to wound ?" it bellowed, smoke billowing out of its mouth. "You have the nerve to pilfer from ?!"
Luther spun, his shivering body shoved upright. His glare sliced incandescent even through sweat running down his face. "You bet I do."
The maw of the dragon yawned wide. Fires coalesced into a screaming furnace, hotter than the sun.
"You have chosen death," it thundered, voice shaking heaven and earth. "And death I shall grant to you!"
The fireball exploded outward, burning the air, a rolling wave of destruction that swept the clearing. Trees ignited in an instant, the ground scorched.
Luther fled. Every step rattled his bones, every breath ripped his lungs asunder, but he fled. The orbs holding Liliana and Aithur followed close behind, drawn by his will. He fled straight into the grove, toward the light of the Divine Sword and holy plant.
The dragon’s eyes widened. He saw his destiny.
"DO NOT TOUCH THEM!" it roared, fueling the blast with additional fla. The deluge doubled, a fire hurricane that consud everything in its way.
The wall of fla reached Luther, engulfing him in its wrath. His scream was heard, a cry of pain and obstinacy all in one, before the blast consud him.
The explosion set the forest ablaze as though it were daylight. When the light had at last disappeared, the earth was reduced to charcoal in a crater. Earth bubbled smoke, red-glowing embers.
The dragon lowered its head, panting. "Foolish man," it growled. "Did you actually think that you would be able to withstand that? All that remains of you is ash."
It stepped closer, molten eyes binding. "Pathetic. Now to—"
Its words were cut off.
A feeling captured it, painful and cold. Sothing was taken away.
The dragon’s gaze snapped to the grove. It charged ahead, plowing through ash and smoke, its claws tearing at the earth. It stopped before the green glove.
And froze.
The Divine Sword was gone. The holy herb too. Roots and dry soil were all that were left behind.
The treasures where gone.
Embers piled up like ashes, drifted away on the wind.
The dragon burned with fury.
"...."
"THAT. DAMN. HUMAN!"
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