Private Tales Sleeping with the giants

[Sathirena]

Magnan Smithson and co.

Frostspire mountain, a sight to behold. But not only one of the grandest ice-covered and snow-tipped mountains on Eretejva, it was also the home to one of the most prominent dragons in the area.
Sathirene.
The broodmother.

The mountain would strech far into the sky and it was lonely, none in the vicinity would come even close to half it's size. Whatever dragon rumoured to live here was likely within the caverns within.

---------------------------------------
What is this rumble, the dragon's golden eye snapped wide in a sudden, it listned and waited. The marching of soldiers...many.
The dragon could act...but it could also wait.
It chose the later. For now still out of sight.

 

[Magnan Smithson]

The Eternum marched. Legions of Undead stormed through the freezing climate of the Tundra under the cover of darkness, the sky covered in snow and clouds. Blue light emanated from the corpses as they moved, a sea of blue dots that surrounded the mountain, each and every one moving as the army set up for the oncoming battle. A single enemy, but one that posed a threat to all of them. Artillery pieces rolled through the sleet and loose snow, their payloads walking behind them with a determined steadiness. Bursts of red and orange light would sometimes pop into and out of existence as the mages ensured they were ready. They had been ordered to stay back, to pepper the being and ensure it was grounded. They needed it dead, and unable to fly away.

An elder dragon, titanic in its size, if the reports were anything to go by. A few undead carrion birds had spotted it as they enjoyed the high altitude of the Tundra, not needing to fear the cold or lack of oxygen up there. As they had flown past the mountain, one had seen the tip... move. Upon further inspection, something had been revealed that was quickly brought to the attention of the Eternum high command. A gargantuan dragon wrapped around and seemingly sleeping on top of the tip of the mountain. Such a powerful beast could not be ignored, as it posed a threat to everything they strove for. However, it was also as much of an opportunity as it was a threat, as the more ambitious members had pointed out. Either way, a movement had been created as what free members of the army were gathered, devices constructed and Amankh's devotees mobilised.

Magnasandree peered up at the mountain, completely unable to discern the beast's body from the stone of the mountain. But... they could certainly sense it. It was there, and it was... unlike anything Eilasandree had ever felt. A being of such raw power it made her envious and angry. Magnan, however, felt... reminded of something. He... He wasn't sure, but there was something, in his memory. Something similar... Unfortunately, before he could quite put his finger upon it, he was disturbed by the sound of screeching as a trebuchet scrolled past, wheels struggling in the deep snow to set itself up. Shaking their head slowly, they glance towards Amankh. "Will you be able to keep it grounded?" They questioned, looking once more back up the mountain.

 

[Amankh Kaltar]

Amankh raised his mummified skull up to the skies, eyeless holes observing the mountain that supposedly housed their target. He could make out black forms circling it, raised carrion scouts that had spotted it, but the dragon that lived on its peak was hidden from view for now. He returned his gaze downwards, scanning the undead mages. Magic flared every so often from skeletal hands as they prepared themselves for the oncoming battle, which was likely to be their most difficult encounter yet. However, one must expect difficulty if they wish to grow stronger. If what their scouts are seeing is true, this battle could mean two things: A loss in forces, or a formidable weapon being added to their ranks. It was also one of personal interest to Amankh, a scholar in life as well as an archmage. While many of his memories have been lost during his time within the sands, he distinctly remembered many nights researching the great beasts. He had never seen one for his self, relying on texts and stories to satisfy his curiosity and research. This would be an opportunity to lay eyes on one for himself, even if the circumstances were more violent than research-driven.

He surveyed the gathered forces, specifically those of his devotees. He had been teaching them thoroughly over their journeying, allowing them to further hone their awakened and enhanced arcane talent. He nodded, satisfied at their growth. They've become formidable, but this would be a suitable test to see if their skills would hold up in the intensity of battle. They expressed their talent in different ways, with some showing affinity towards different aspects of the arcane. Some seemed to be attracted to magic involving the cold, a suitable acclimation considering the environment. Those that showed prowess in fire, he decided, were to be directed to focus on controlling fires not only summoned by them but also by others. The undead were vulnerable to the flames, learning to control it and limit its expansion would be as valuable tool as knowing how to use it combatively.

He began to move further up in the army towards Magnasandree. "Yes. With the aid of the artillery and ranged spells from my mages, we will be able to keep it out of the air. Once that is done, I and a select few of my devotees will be able to immobilize it on the ground." As if to demonstrate, he raised a hand, keeping the other firmly on his staff. Ice quickly crystallized along his bones, shards of frost forming and swirling around his hand before turning to mist as he lowered it once more.

 

[Magnan Smithson]

The pair-in-one nodded, shouldering their sword as they turned to look back towards the troops. Everything seemed to be in place, with the multitude of trebuchets house everything from flammable ammunition to undead soldiers stationed behind row upon row of harpoons barbed with wicket hooks and points, meant to inflict pain as much as they were to restrain their large quarry. It seemed there was little else to do but begin. "Eternum!" They roared and whispered within the minds of their soldiers. "Today we sight a foe that very few are able to see within their lives. Today, we combat an enemy that is feared by the mortals for its might! Today, we kill this enemy, and raise it for our own! For freedom! For our people! FOR THE ETERNUM! FIRE!" They pointed their weapon at the top of the mountain as their patchwork Manticore swooped down from the cloud of undead aerial combatants to allow them to mount it. Their might would be required for this battle.

They took to the sky, armour glinting in newfound light as above them streaks of flame were torn into the dark of the night, rock and steel that had been lit of fire soaring through the sky on a collision course with the top of the mountain. Quickly followed by these were streaks and beams of light from the long ranged mages, blasts of destructive power fuelled by their very essence as formations of magic users pooled their power to unleash devastating blasts of multicoloured magical power. The harpoons aimed, but did not fire, hanging back with the rest of the mages that were unable to fire as far as the other weapons. They had a job, however, and needed to complete it.

Magnasandree stood upon the back of their Manticore, behind them a teeming cloud of shrieking and squawking undead. Slowly, they spread their arms wide. A challenge to the beast, the lord of the skies, a creature that could burn the skies themselves. "COME ON THEN!" They roared. "BRING IT ON!!"

 

[Sathirena]

The pompous speech was not unheard by the dragon of old.
Yet things would unravel quickly as the snow on top of the mountain began to slide off in large heaps.
Why.
Large wings spread wide apart, as from the snow rose the figure of the dragon. Like a duellist sliding off his cloak, so the dragon's nightly coating slid down the mountain side, likely causing some kind of minor disturbance down at the foothills. Like a shield it's wings were posed around.
What a nuisance, Sathirena tought to herself as she scanned the massive wing-fleet batting towards her.

A sudden impact at her face from a very heavy object set the dragon in rage.

She'd let a might roar to warn before beating the wings at the airforce.
Some of the magical beams would set through but their course was unaimed and undirected, giving the dragoness time to set into the sky before the bulk of the spells would collide with the ice.

 

[Amankh Kaltar]

Amankh watched the battle occurring above with great interest alongside the rest of the troops on the ground. Many were already firing, the dragon even at its great height within range of their magical beams. A few others restrained themselves, waiting for when the beast came closer to the ground, same as the harpoons. Once Magnasandree's forces and the artillery bring the dragon closer to the earth, then they would fire and ground it. Patience.

He cast his gaze aside as the dragon unfurled its wings, dispersing the coating of white snow from its scales. He watched as the snow began to surge down the mountain, skeletal hands tightening their undead grasp around the staff in preparation. He threw a hand out to the foothills as the snow threatened to overtake the army, an immediate pulse of invisible arcane force freezing the avalanche in place before it made its impact. He lowered his hand, the snow following his movement as it was laid to rest, losing its previous velocity before it could damage the troops. The potential disturbance in their plans averted, he returned his vision to the fight going on above, readying himself for what was to come.

 

[Magnan Smithson]

It flew, and for a moment Magnasandree felt a flash of fear. That was... big. Bigger than they had expected, really. If it weren't for their complete lack of organs, they might have swallowed nervously. As it was, however, they fell back upon action. The cloud of flying creatures behind them let out a unified screech as it moved as one, hundreds of wings beating to lift them upwards and towards the dragon. Magnasandree followed upon their chimaera, racing to meet with the titanic beast. The cloud surged over the dragon, even as it chomped at it, taking out chunks at a time until a mental command from the necromancers below forced it to split into smaller groups, talons raking at what little exposed flesh and membrane there were along the eyes and wings of the monster.

Above it, Magnasandree stood upon their chimaera. They really only had one chance at this, as failure meant that they would be out of the fight until the shield could bring them back. Pausing, they waited until they were absolutely sure of themselves... and stepped off of the chimaera, dropping like a stone through the air. The arctic wind whistled through their armour as they fell, shield placed before themselves. Below, they spotted the small sparks of the flammable trebuchet ammunition being ignited for a second volley, but they had more pressing concerns. They raced towards the dragon, and with a bone shaking whump, the two beings collided as the titan landed on it from above.

 

[Sathirena]

What little they did was enough to annoy the dragon, tearing holes into it's fat wingskin. Stinging. A bellowing roar vibrated through the air as the dragon tried to swat away the undead as if they were mosquitos.
with the beats the dragon would set to the air, swooping the rest of the snow off the mountain.
A large thump on it's head however signalled an intruder on it's own body. Her eyes could not quite focus, but some metal blurr was on her nose.

 

[Magnan Smithson]

Magnasandree landed upon the dragon's head with enough force to have the armoured titan bounce, scrabbling to find purchase upon the scaled and leathery skin of its nose. Their fingers barely managed to catch and wrap around a spike above the beast's left eye, their body coming to a sudden stop. Moving their legs, they managed to find purchase enough to stand straight, hand still holding on to the spike that had saved them from a long fall with a short stop. They glanced down, towards the eye they were now in front of as they stood upon the cheek of the dragon. Shield hand still clutching at the spike to stabilise themselves, they drew their sword back, before bringing it forward into the eye of the beast.

 

[Sathirena]

The dragon let out a harrowing roar. Blinded in one eye, the dragon descended over the army.

 

[Amankh Kaltar]

Down on the snow, the grounded forces waited in silent anticipation. Magic flared as the seconds passed, hovering over decaying palms while the subtle creaking of harpoons as they aimed at their target. Amankh held a hand up at the center of the group, motionless as he watched the battle occur in the skies above. They would have to wait for the perfect moment to set off their first strike, or else they would be facing a rather disgruntled dragon on the ground.

It was then that such a moment made its appearance, as the great winged beast began to make its descent upon the army, its hazed form growing larger and clearer as it came closer. "Now."

Barbed harpoons quickly blasted through the air, their targets the massive wings that adorned the dragon. In unison, the mages that had been waiting in reserve for until they were in range let out torrents of magical blasts, lighting the sky a variety of colors as they made their way to the dragon. Amankh quickly shot out a wave of jagged shards of ice at its wings, waiting for when the beast made landfall to permanently ground it.

 

[Magnan Smithson]

The world shook with the unleashing of the army, battering the lich around and threatening to throw them off with the force of the magic being thrown around. Magnasandree quickly dug their hand into the socket of the dragon's ruined eye, blood gushing over them as they grabbed into the bone of their target and gripped hard enough to crush it, doing their best to hold on. As the blood of the ancient beast washed over them, the cloak of skin that Magnan had taken as his spoils of war from the demonic realm suddenly burst into a familiar black flame, roaring and crackling, yet this time leaving the lich untouched. A stray bolt of magic soared through the air before them, but as it neared the flame seemed to... move. Reaching out with a tendril of black fire, it swallowed the magic like a glutton, before once again returning towards where the duo were clinging on to the dragon.

'Hm. That could be useful.' Eilasandree remarked, even as Magnan ripped his sword out of the beast's eye and brought it down into the bridge of it's nose, trying to pierce its thick scales, yet with no fortune. 'The beast is tougher than even plate!' Magnan remarked with something approaching awe.

 

[Sathirena]

The barbed hooks ripped through the wings. Some tearing deep ridges into the membranes before falling onto the grounds, others lodging themselves into the skin, but barely holding onto the membrane. One pierced the dragon through it's chest, going past it's ribcage and embedding itself deep within the flesh.
the dragon kept roaring before it crash landed onto the snow where the army lay. Hazily the beast began picking itself up, beginning to trash it's head left and right while emitting roars that chileld one to the bones.

 

[Amankh Kaltar]

At last, the winged beast made landfall. Amankh put his staff on his back, raising both of his skeletal hands up at the sight, rags hanging limply. Crystalline ice began to take form across his bones, frost covering the ancient limbs as a chilling mist slowly started to drift out of his mummified visage. He pulled his arms back before quickly shooting them outward, sending pillars of ice towards the downed dragon. The other mages did the same as well, sending small icicles and blasts of cold towards their target. As the ice hit the wings and body of the dragon, it rapidly frosted over, hopefully managing to freeze it to the ground.

The harpoons focused fire on the main body of the dragon, avoiding the head as friendly fire would be too likely. Amankh jerked his head to one of the mages as he took a brief pause from his attack, a skilled wardsmith compared to most of his peers who quickly understood the meaning of the gesture. The undead spellcaster began to conjure a ward in front of the dragon. It wouldn't hold up against prolonged exposure to its breath, but it should provide them a bit of time to get out of the way.

 

[Magnan Smithson]

As the dragon landed the duo found themselves jostled from where they were holding on, sliding down the snout of the beast and scrabbling against its deep blue scales, looking for anything that could be used as a hand hold, to no avail. The dragon swinging its head was the last straw, and with an ‘oh shit’ and and ‘oh dear’, the two were flung off from the body of the beast with enough force to send them sailing through the air, impacting and crushing those too slow or too unfortunate to get out of their way in time. A memory from the demonic realm surfaced within Magnan for a moment, as he lay in the ditch they had created with their landing, recuperating. Eilasandree was already having those destroyed be put back together for later revival, and began organising the troop movements as the few warriors they had brought began to swarm forward in a wave. They washed forward and over the dragon’s feet and legs, stabbing and slicing with abandon as they climbed. For now, however, Magnan was out of the fight.

 

[Sathirena]

It's maw would open up wide, letting out a thick frosty fob before breath of ice would crystalize towards Amankh. The frost built a thick layer of ice against the ward which only grew thicker by the second.
Half a meter, a meter, three meters. The dragon's head tilted to engulf those that apraoched it from the side in ice.

 

[Amankh Kaltar]

Amankh cast a glance towards Magnasandree as their form hit the snow, clearly unable to fight, at least for the time being. A sigh escaped the mummy; that made things difficult. He returned his gaze towards the dragon in time to see it's breath frost over the ward, ice collecting on its surface. "Move," he commanded simply, the ranged forces behind him distancing themselves away, firing arcane blasts as they did so. He held a hand upward and took a few steps back, focusing on the ice that was currently blasting the ward in front of him. The ice against the ward caused by the breath suddenly grew jagged and sharp, and with a quick motion, was blasted back at the dragon as it began to rear its head.

 

[Sathirena]

The dragon's thick hide seemed highly resistant againt magics, only making it throb and shudder on contact. But the dragon still grew slower.

The harpoon that lodged itself between the dragon's ribs was bleeding it dry. Only showing the red lake that formed beneath when the dragon reared as a blast of returned ice shattered over it's head.

 

[Amankh Kaltar]

Amankh watched as the dragon reared its head in response to the redirected breath,stretching it his arms towards it before violently jerking them upward. Pillars of ice erupted out of the ground from under it, curving like claws around the beast's head, holding it up so that its maw was focused skyward and left its underside exposed, including the lodged harpoon.

The mummy kept his focus locked on the spires of ice, molding them so that they maintained their grasp on the dragon's head. A clear trajectory towards their target, the harpoons aimed once more, letting out another shot towards its torso.

 

[Magnan Smithson]

The non-magical members of the army that managed to survive the wave of ice that had washed over them let out a unified, growling and hungry roar as they continue to move. Their forms, rotten and ragged, swarmed over the dragon's legs and began to climb the beast. Their hands gripped at the scales, using them to haul themselves up the beast even as their flesh rips and bones splinter under the sharpness and weight of the titanic beast. Blades, rusted, broken and jagged find their way between the cracks, stabbing with as much force as they can muster. Along the lines of the harpoons, more and more under began to ascend that way, using the ropes to swing and crawl their way over towards the already wounded part of the beast.

For Magnan's part, as Eilasandree commanded the army, he managed to haul their body out of their furrow and march his way over towards Amaknh. "I will do my best to shield you, so focus upon bringing it down." He informs the ancient mummy, already raising his shield towards noble beast. He... wasn't entirely sure about how he felt, killing such an ancient animal, but he supposed it was too big of a risk to allow to live.

 

[Sathirena]

The dragon, exhausted of all it's power collapsed over the floor. The myriad of undead that jabbed at it only seeming as insignificant ants that were slowly being washed over by the ever-growing pool of blood.
The now increased amount of harpoons that lodged themselves deep into it's skin took the greatest toll on the mighty beast that now lay side against the red snow..

 

[Amankh Kaltar]

Amankh nodded appreciatively of Magnan's defense as he said, "Certainly, thank you." His gaze returned to the dragon, red tides flowing out of open wounds as it painted the snow a sea of crimson. The undead remained along the sides of the beast, continuing to batter the exhausted like insects scurrying over a fresh kill as blood threatened to sweep them away. It was at the end of its life. Exhausted, bloodied and battered.

"Dragon," he began, casting a glance to the harpoons. "You fought bravely, a fitting description for a beast of myth and legend. May Abtatu guide you through the sands of death and back to us." His prayer completed, he gestured to the harpoons, a bony finger pointing at the heart of the fallen beast. A swift end, hopefully, and one that won't make the resurrection a too difficult process.

 

[Sathirena]

The beast growled as the last of its lifeforce seeped away with every gallon of blood loss.

"I will make you all suffer for this," the dragon spoke in defiance, it's deep voice shaking the ground lightly.

In a few more minutes the beast's breath had completely stalled.

 

[Magnan Smithson]

"No." Came Eilasandree's voice from their shared body, as Magnan set down the shield and approached the dragon. "I don't believe you will. " They stepped forward, snow crunching beneath their armoured feet as they approached where the dragon's corpse lay. Slowly, their hand reached out, palm tilted upwards as all around them undead bodies jerked. Purple light streamed from those around them as screams tore through the army, the pain unbearable, to the point that one might have envied those who had their entire soul ripped from them as their bodies were judged to be too damaged to move or serve anymore.

The purple and pink light streamed through the air, winding and twisting as it began to coalesce withing Magnasandree's hand, a ball of ever intensifying light that, despite the sheer amount of souul power being collected, did not change size from where it sat. Then the pain and shouting stopped, over as quickly as it had begun as they strode forward. Bringing the ball of light to the head of the slain dragon, they touched the condensed soul energy against the bloodied blue scales as Eilasandree recites an incantation, the blasphemous words twisting into the air as chains erupt from the ball of energy and seemingly pierce the sky. They puncture and wrap around the soul of the dragon as they force it back from the veil between life and death, dragging it and forcing it back into the soul of the beast. The ball of light then sinks into its flesh, even as the chains wrap around the soul and tighten their grip.

"Now, RISE."

 

[Sathirena]

A peaceful departure would have befitted the dragon, but forcefully has the soul been torn from it's right to depart. No. no no no.
A horse of souls expired in the spell's wake, and a frosted purple gloom emanated from above the dragon before settling within.

No matter the condition, the eyes of the great dragon slowly opened, featureless and gleaming in a light pink colour. The forelegs pushed up first before the head rose and soon before them stood Sathirena once more, pacified and still.