The dragon before him was big. Colossal so might say, perhaps even gargantuan or titanic. But the only word that could worm its way into Seth's mind, was big.
Impossibly big, since it towered over the very castle that it had once been slumbering within the depths of. That was the impossibility presented to Seth of this creature's existence and yet... here it was, standing in front of him and staring into his eyes.
If he was able to look around properly, perhaps Seth might have noticed the odd jewellery adorning the claws of the dragon. It wore rings on each of its front claws, so with jewels enshrined into them and others without, whilst these rings seed to be made out of a multitude of different materials.
So were familiar and recognisable, such as gold and silver, while others were utterly foreign and tals that he could never hope to na never mind recognise.
Perhaps, he might have been able to notice these rings and the runic markings that adorned them, as well as recognise so of the runes on one particular ring having an inscription involving size. But Alas, Seth was unable to notice such things, as he couldn't look down to analyse the dragons claws, nor the jewellery adorning them, as all he could do was stare directly into the eye looming above him.
The erald eye gazed down at him, boring deep into his very being as if it was so divine beast inspecting his soul, judging him worthy or not. But worthy for what? Seth had no idea, yet he couldn't escape the feeling that is what it was.
It was not looking at him like a predator about to devour prey, nor did it look at him like the insect he was in comparison to its size. It looked at him with curiosity and sothing... more. Sothing he couldn't quite place nor understand. It almost felt like hope, but that would be simply ridiculous.
What could this beast hope to gain from him, other than the power he would give it through his consumption. Yet despite it having the tools, in which I an massive, bone crushing teeth that were bigger than his arm and the ability to turn him into its very own Seth smoothie, it didn't seem to be all that bothered about eating him.
Regardless of whatever it was looking for, and for whatever reasons it was looking for it, the sheer presence this beast exuded was... intense. No, intense doesn't even begin to describe what it was like having this creature's attention entirely on him.
From the corner of his eyes, Seth could see the other humans, and what few beasts remained, were all prostrating themselves before this towering dragon. A most terrible beast that had crawled its way out of the most beloved fairy-tales.
Sotis they were good, acting as the manifestations of nature, but other tis they were forces of chaos and destruction inherent with that sa power of nature. But no matter the story, dragons were always seen as the most powerful, most respected, and most feared creatures of all.
There was little that could compare to them, and the feeling Seth was being barraged with made him understand that all too clearly.
It is not to say that these people were prostrating and bowing out of reverence, perhaps a few were. But he could see many bodies trembling in fear, or as the person silently wept to themselves as they expected their ends to have arrived, yet no matter the reason none of them dared to lift their head and did not dare look into it's eye.
The eye that was looming over Seth, staring into his soul as he stared right back.
He didn't bla them, however. Under the intense gaze, he finally understood what Atlas must have felt like, bearing the weight of the celestial heavens on his shoulders. But it was not a physical weight for Seth, otherwise he would be crushed into a jam this dragon could sar onto its morning toast.
Instead it was a weight that pushed down upon his mind, compressed his soul and forced his willpower to resist with every fibre of his being. This was a creature of untold power. He thought he was strong when he had stepped into the first tier and transcended, but next to this monster he was like a child playing knight in cardboard armour.
This thing, this mighty dragon of legend, was far beyond transcendent. It was no doubt beyond the second tier.
The dragons eye narrowed, causing the already unbearable pressure to multiply. His breath caught in his throat, as if his body was unwilling to consu the air that rightfully belonged to the black scaled beast. His heart ceased beating in his chest, as if it was worried that the noise would disturb the dragon.
Every part of his body wanted to shut down for the cri of its existence, to falter and beco food for his natural superior. And yet despite his vision beginning to blur and his mind feeling like it was being crushed into a point so tiny it would make an atom feel obese, Seth forced himself to keep its gaze.
Whether this was a test, intimidation, playing with a new toy or simply acting as a training thod for his will power, it didn't matter. After everything he had been through, after everything he had lost and had yet to find, he refused to die now. He refused to simply curl up and die because so big lizard was giving him the stink eye.
Then, all of a sudden, the pressure simply stopped as the glow of the dragons eye receded as it blinked softly and raised its head. Seth gasped loudly, gulping in the air his body had forbade him from breathing as his heart thundered in his chest once more.
However, just as he was beginning to feel comfortable, having the weight stripped from his mind, the air around him visibly trembled as the dragon spoke. It's voice full of bass, rumbling deep within its throat and echoing throughout the entire city.
"ROK VIS KOS SAV. JUL VIS SAV MOK. JUL FEN SAV MOK!"
As it spoke, Seth's mind was invaded by a flood of information. Numbers upon numbers, all written in an unknown language, yet still he knew they were numbers. But what did they an?
They poured into his mind like a stream, arranging themselves into a perfect order until finally, when the last number was set, his mind was blasted with their aning. They were co-ordinates.
Co-ordinates to what or to where, he had no idea. Yet he knew on an instinctual level how to get to this place, despite not actually knowing his destination.
With its ssage delivered, the dragon spread its wings and took to the skies. Climbing high above the tallest buildings, then higher above the clouds, until it vanished behind the grey blanket.
It took a few monts for people to truly accept that it had left, until one by one they began to rise to their feet ever so cautiously. When nothing ill-toward ca unto them, all at once, the human army burst into celebration and cries of victory. Not just at slaying their enemy, but surviving.
They cried tears of joy, hugging each other and celebrating the sweet joy of life with each other. There were many muttered discussions and tearful recounts of the situation they had all been through, focusing on the dreadful presence of the mythological beast and how close they had co to death.
Of course, not all had been spared by its presence. While it had spewed its acid throughout the enemies army, it had seemingly been avoiding drowning the humans in acid, but it couldn't be perfect. Either that, or it simply didn't care to be. If you were spraying insects with a hose, would you notice what kind of ant it was unless they were with their groups?
Much like Bob, there had been many caught in the cross fire. So died imdiately, others suffered an agonising death while others simply lost limbs or parts of their skin. It was not a pretty victory, but it was a victory none the less. A truly hard earned and well deserved one at that.
All they needed to do now was clean up the battlefield, as well as take care of stragglers, before deciding what to do with themselves next.
It was only after the fact, however, that Seth would learn sothing about the dragons thunderous ssage to the world. That whilst the words were unintelligible to him, there were many others who did understand its words.
Notably, everyone who owned a communication gift. It seed that, part of the service of communication it provided was translation. Many had simply failed to notice it, how could you if the words were automatically being stread into your mind in a language you understood?
It was only until this mont, when they heard the words coming from such an extraordinary being, and heard from discussions with others that they did not know its aning, that they finally discovered the secondary usage of their gift.
That the gift of communication was not just for posting online with each other and sharing videos, even if that was their favourite part of it still.
According to the information Seth was able to piece together at a later date, the dragons words had loosely translated to the following,
"He can be saved. Humans can save him. Humans will save him."
Yet as revolutionary as this discovery was, it revealed to them very little. That was all it had said, and all the gift was giving them in terms of any aning behind its words. But what was most curious of all, Seth heard nothing beyond the discussion of the words.
Not a single soul ever ntioned anything about the numbers and their destination. It seed, they were just for him. Which begged the question, why was he given the numbers and no one else? What did they an? And who the hell was 'He' and why did they need to save him when the dragon couldn't?
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