Quest The Rising

[Tuon]

Tuon shifted her body to keep the dragon in one corner of her vision and the kids in the other. She could leave them. She should leave them; that was what assured her the greatest chance of survival. Yet her mind kept going back to the two dead bodies by her fire... She did not like how that dragon was moving towards them. If it was going to bond with any of them they would have felt it by now but all Tuon felt was a voice in the back of her mind telling her to go and go now.

She reached a hand through the eye socket of the dead beast and hurled one of the kids to their feet by the scruff of their shirt.

"I said move," she gave whichever one of them it was a firm shove in the opposite direction to the approaching dragon. The spindles on its back stood up and quivered as it dropped into a crouch. She could see the glow deep inside its belly as it gathered the flame. Running was just asking to be burnt to a crisp so Tuon steeled everything inside of her and forced her feet to move slowly, unhurriedly, towards the bleached bones of the dead beast. There were other caves on the other side. They could shelter in the--

Her thoughts were jumbled as from the sky another shadow came. The dragon looked up and Tuon broke into a run.

"NOW!" she shouted, shoving or dragging the kids with her towards the mouth of the cave beyond.

Khaato Khusakhane Zali ​

 

[Vhagor]

As Azad and Lolani continued their terse conversation their attention might not have been on the lake. If it had they might have noticed the ripples did not stop once the rock had finished skimming across its surface. Instead the ripples seemed to grow and then the whole surface of the lake trembled with what was emerging from its depths.

The sea serpents head rose from the water, rivets streaking around its spindled head and cascading from its scales. Fish that had been unwittingly caught up in its stream flung themselves back into the safety of the depths lest the beast return its attention to them. Luckily for the fish and unfortunately for the two transfixed upon the shore, the beasts gaze was entirely fixated on them.

It's head swung to and fro, its forked tongue darting out to taste the air just in front of their faces. For a second it might have even seemed as though the beast could not truly see.

A brilliant light began to form at the back of its mouth which it opened wide to roar at the two humans who had dared disturb its sleep.

Azad Lolani ​

 

[Khaato Khusakhane]

Khaato looked at Zali, dumbstruck, and blinked. In his terror and confusion, the boy completely forgot the sting of his cut. That wasn't going to kill him immediately. The dragon, however, was. He yelped as Tuon abruptly dragged him to his feet. It was enough to spur him to action, and that action was running for dear life.

"Hells, no, I'm not!" he cried. "It's gonna kill us both! Get out!" He vaulted over the rim of the eye socket and took off in a sprint, coughing as he gulped down ash. The black dragon's head snapped back to fixate on him. Then the earth quaked, staggering Khaato. But it wasn't the great black dragon's doing, as it, too, wobbled on its stocky legs. The ground continued to rumble, and the earth heaved to give way to a great, black wyrm. Khaato stopped for a split second, gasping in shock as the serpentine creature lunged at the black dragon, which retaliated with a fireball right to its face. All it did was make the wyrm flinch and shake its armored head. It continued slithering out of its tunnel, coiling up for another strike.

With the wyrm's thick body gradually taking up more and more space, Khaato had to sprint around it. The old dragon's skeleton was quickly crushed in the brawl, its ancient bones shattering to pieces as the behemoths tumbled across it. Fire flashed in the corners of his eyes, and intense heat washed over him. Both dragons doused each other in flames that seemed to do little to harm each other, but the trees around them were reduced to ash if they weren't pulverized first in the melee.

Khaato dashed into the dark cave without the slightest hesitation. The dragons' roars reverberated across the cave's walls, but the two were too busy trying to kill each other to go after him, at least. He fell back against the wall of the cave and turned his head to look outside, double checking to make sure the dragons actually were still preoccupied with going at each other's throats. He, however, hadn't even thought about the shadow that had caught the winged dragon's attention long enough to allow the wyrm to get the drop on it. A feathered dragon dropped into view as it landed in front of the cave entrance. Khaato flinched, but relaxed when he saw the curious—and stupidly brave—creature simply tilt its head and ruffle its wings.

 

[Zali]

Zali had been momentarily frozen as the dragon stomped closer to the skeleton. He had hardly been cognizant of what he had truly signed up for. It was all well and good to say you would either do, or die, but when the “dying” part was actually staring you down in the face, it was hardly as easy to follow through.

The black dragon was watching them, advancing slowly on their position as Zali turned to follow Khaato, fleeting as fast as his legs could carry him. Fortunately, he was physically fit, as years of manual labor and homelessness tended to keep one in good shape. Of course, things always went from bad to worse in this damn place, or so Zali thought. The ground began to shake as the black dragon halted, sniffing the air with a low growl.

Suddenly, the earth shattered in a great rumble and a massive black wyrm erupted from the earth, turning its gaze instantly towards the black dragon. With a roar, the great beasts began to clash, bathing each other in flames that seemed to do no harm to the other. As Zali took all this in, Tuon’s firm grasp yanked him towards the cave.

All three of them cowered inside as the great battle raged outside, the earth shaking and distant lights from peals of flame rent the sky. As soon as they arrived in the cave, gasping for breath and cowering against the wall, a shadow alit over the entrance. A feathered dragon, which must’ve distracted the black dragon and could have attracted the wurm. It peered in on them curiously. Zali was the first to break the silence. “Well, it seems like this one probably doesn’t want to eat us.”

 

[Azad]

Oh thank fuck! Someone reasonable.

As she slid the arrow back into her quiver, Azad had to keep himself from doing a small thrust and quick punch of joy. Another check-mark of success placed in the column of his silver tongue. A really delightful streak which was looking to be-

What had she said. "Eh?"

Dragon? What kind of Dragon had he wanted? Yes, that was what she said.

"Oh, ya know." Azad said as he began to trill around the small clearing of rocks. Kicking a few beneath his feet as he palmed the one in his hand. Feeling almost compelled to draw away his fingers and look at it. "I think, probably something huge."

So it could carry a lot of gold. "But rea-"

Before he could finish, the ripples within the water suddenly seemed to grow a hell of a lot larger. They shifted, growing to waves, and then suddenly thundering into what appeared to be a massive reptilian beast. The great serpent dragon stretching deep into the pool as it's tail flickered up behind it.

Azad stood, frozen, and then it's maw opened.

"OH FUCKING ZREK'S SWEET BACKSIDE I KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!" Azad said, shoving the rock into his coat pocket and breaking into a sprint.

Lolani Vhagor

 

[Lolani]

Something huge? I'll stick this bow where the sun doesn't shine, will that be 'huge' enough? She frowned in annoyance, only to have that emotion immediately replaced as the rumbling began. Her battle instincts kicked in, but upon seeing the large dragon before them, she agreed with the rock skipper's strategy.

Dealing with a sea serpent at the lake might as well be a death wish for both of them. She took off running after Azad. The creature's breath surely quickly follows behind them.

She yelled out to him, "Is that fucking big enough?"

Lolani did her best to run behind trees and swiftly change directions to not give the dragon an easy shot. She had dropped her spear back there, choosing speed rather than another weapon to weigh her down.

"How the hell did you not know a Sea Serpent was in there?"

Azad Vhagor

 

[Tuon]

Tuon eyed the feathered dragon with a look that seemed to say if you try anything I'll make a feather duster out of you. The returning look simply seemed to say I'd like to see you try.

Turning her back on all three dragons, those outside the cave and their apparent new escort, she squinted into the darkness that stretched out before them. They had rushed back into the mountainside out of desperation but she was relieved to find this was not a one way out type of cavern. Not if the faint breeze coming from that direction was anything to go by anyway. She glanced down to the kids panting at her feet, their faces pale, and then back to the road ahead.

You'll be quicker alone... Leave the others to their fate.

Her brothers parting advice. He had won himself a nasty green dragon whose fangs dripped poison three years ago and he had - more importantly - done it alone. But they were just kids... Tuon wanted to snarl at herself but instead she shoved her hand angrily through her hair and took her irritation at her own weakness out on her unlikely companions.

"Get up, we're not sticking around here to see if any of them-" she glanced back at the feathered dragon who still watched them but had hopped closer now "- decided they want to eat us. This way," and then she marched into the darkness beyond.

 

[Khaato Khusakhane]

Khaato looked back outside, pursed his lips, then glanced back at the feathered dragon. It ruffled its dusty brown and black feathers as it chirped. The boy narrowed his eyes at the creature, wondering if it was going to wait for a straggler to pick off. It wasn't nearly as threatening as the brawling beasts outside, but it was still a dragon large enough to kill them. It would've just needed to put in a little more effort than the monstrous ones outside.

"Might change its mind," he replied to Zali.

The teenager nodded and pushed himself off the wall. Now that he wasn't in immediate danger, he felt the cut's stinging pain register again. Khaato frowned and glanced at the once gray fabric that was now stained dark red by dried blood.

"Never going to catch a breather so I can patch this up," he mumbled.

The group encountered a fork in the tunnel, unusual in its gargantuan size. One path may as well have been a massive cavern, so open and looming that many dragons could walk through it easily, and the greatest of them could've squeezed through with effort. The other one, well, the feathered dragon was able to follow them down that one, too, unfortunately.

Said feathered dragon, which Khaato honestly thought was a rather daft thing considering how it followed them right into the darkness, stretched its neck out and tilted its head to stare down at Khaato's face curiously, causing him to flinch. Its eye flicked toward the bloodstain on his tunic. He ducked under its narrow head and tried to move closer to the side of the tunnel such that his injured arm was close to the wall, making it a little harder for it to maneuver around to his wound.

The feathered dragon gave an indignant squawk and tossed its head. The sound echoed off the walls. Khaato drew his shoulders up and gritted his teeth, whirling around to try to shoo the dragon away. It hopped back a few steps. The boy winced at the sound, all too aware that it could've drawn unwanted attention.

And it did.

The wider tunnel suddenly lit up as a dragon's fiery gold eyes flew open. The feathered dragon attempted a hasty takeoff, only to bang its head against the ceiling. Whatever breeze crept in from the other side of the mountain was drowned out by the heat of an encroaching inferno as the red dragon's lips curled into a snarl, smoke curling from its nostrils and lips. It lunged, and the feathered dragon's panicked squawking was cut short as the red dragon's jaws snapped shut on it. Only a few stray feathers were left to drift to the ground.

As thankful as Khaato otherwise would've been to be rid of that pest, there was now a huge, very obviously hungry, violent dragon block his path back with its head. The boy took off into a sprint down the narrower fork, one the monstrous dragon had no hope of following him down. Not that he had a choice in which path he could take. As it twisted its neck around to peer down the smaller path, its eyes illuminated the tunnel. The dragon bellowed, shaking the cave's walls. Khaato didn't dare look back.