The sun has almost set. Two cloaked strangers sat at the foot of a mountain by a bonfire, comforting themselves in its heat next to an enormous cave opening. The mountains arced around them on one side while a dense forest of trees and a narrow path with a small river surrounded them on the other. The air was cold and still as the sun slowly gave away the last of its light as thousands of tiny stars appeared in its place.
"Peter, do you really think it's a dragon?" A voice by the fire asked harshly.
"If it is then we better prepare well for it Edward. Not many witchers have fought dragons and won and don't you dare try to show off again. Last time I thought you got killed" Peter replied as they both stared into the crackling fire that separated the two men and comforting them with its warmth.
"Me? Killed? I am Edward of Ergestul, one of The Black Wolves, you know I am tougher than a bunch of were-wolves and Ghouls. And a wraith." Edward replied
"Well." Peter sighed
"What potions do you recommend we use against it?" he added.
"Well first of all we need Cat to see in the dark. Then I recommend we drink the blizzard which will help us dodge any attacks. Swallow is a must because it heals our wounds incredibly fast and I would also say that we need the Tawny Owl since we will need our signs to fight it as well. We should be safe with the toxicity levels" Edward replied with a serious tone in his voice.
Edward of Ergestul was a highly experienced witcher who has slain many monsters before. However, he has never slain a dragon, nor did he ever encounter one until today. Even though he was from Ergestul, his gleaming black hair was tied into a Rivian ponytail style which consisted of a high half pony tail. It complemented his pale white complexion . A silver witcher medallion with blood red eyes around his neck lay flat against his black, hardened leather jerkin with black and white striped sleeves matching the darkness of his hair and complemented his dark brown trousers and belts, which were full of potions and bombs. Like all witchers, he carried two swords. One silver sword that witchers used for monsters and one meteorite steel that witchers used for evil men. The scar that covered his right eye appeared to glow as he stared into the flames dancing energetically in the bonfire with his bright green eyes with cat pupils that also seemed to glow. Peter was almost identical. The only difference between them was that Peter had oak brown hair that was cut short and a slightly softer face complexion. The two witchers were best friends since the very day they met, they always seemed to get along well and they rivalled each other in skill too.
Edward and Peter sat there meditating yet both of them stayed on high alert in case any unwanted guests greet them. The fire soon began casting long shadows behind them as the moon rose above their heads. The forest turned into pitch black as they listened in to their surroundings and focused on devising up tactics that would prove useful in their challenge. At last, they stood up and looked at each other.
"It is time." Peter said.
"Let's get going then, this dragon won't slay himself. Drink your potions and let's get going" Edward replied as they both went through the usual ritual of drinking potions in preparations for their upcoming battles Witcher potions were incredibly toxic to standard humans.
Only witchers were able to consume them without dying immediately due to their mutated bodies and high metabolism but even they were at risk if they drank too much. They were mutants, mutants that were hated by every common folk in the all lands from Temeria to the Redania and beyond. Their pupils were narrowed down to the shape of a cats and they possessed abnormal speed, strength and intelligence. They were also trained to use simple magic signs to aid them in their work. Though they weren't master degree spells, they were still very powerful They were ideal monster slayers that risked their lives for coin taking on every job no normal man was capable of doing.
It took a moment for them to adjust to the potions affect as they took full effect. Their pupils shrunk as they began to see every little detail of the forest that was invisible to them before. Edward folded his fingers into the Aard sign that sent a powerful force of wind into the fire extinguishing it in an instant. The witchers tightened their armour, checked their pouches ensuring that everything they need is there. They turned towards each other, nodded and slowly walked into the mouth of the cave. They gave one last glance on the outside world before entering the completely vanishing into the darkness of the cave.
They walked at a steady pace through the mouth of the cave treading softly in order avoid attracting any unwanted attention that may be lurking inside the cave. The human sized stalactites hanged over their heads as if they were waiting to be disturbed to fall and pierce any unfortunate enough being to pass under them
"So what do you think of the reward?" Peter asked Edward quietly as they scanned their surroundings cautiously.
"Well, altogether fifty thousand orens and a high noble title seems very worth it for the head of what they call a dragon. It's probably just a mutated enormous Wyrm but the reward would be better without the title though." Replied Edward answered.
" I agree, a title for a witcher is worth the same as a leaf for a butcher." Peter whispered smirking. Edward Giggled at this remark as the cave began to curve slightly to the left.
"So how do we kill it?" Peter asked Edward.
"We burn him with the Igni sign until the dragon meat becomes tender and then serve the head along with the rest of the body to the king on a giant silver platter." Edward responded with a heavy tone of sarcasm in his voice. The thought of that made Peter giggle.
"If we are lucky then whatever is at the end of the corridor should be sleeping. If it is, we sneak up on it and kill it. If it isn't then we improvise with whatever we find in that room and attempt to kill it. Aim for anything that may look like a weak spot such as the eyes, throat, heart or anything to kill it. In the worst case scenario where we retreat, we run like hell out of the cave, get on the horses and hope that the bastard is full." Edward said half serious and half joking as they continued walking deeper into the cave that seemed like a corridor with no end.
"So-what are you going to do with your part of reward?" Peter asked curiously.
"I haven't thought of it. I think I may order a new set of swords and armour and the rest I will invest into the future if I ever live to see retirement or even old age. We're witchers after all. Monsters will finish us off faster than age." Edward answered solemnly.
"I guess you are right." Peter sighed with a strong hint of melancholy in his voice. The two witchers stopped talking as the atmosphere got pretty sad. They carried on walking for a bit until Peter decided to start the conversation again.
"So you think you have a chance with that sorceress? What was her name again? Arienth of Cladrath?" Peter asked sheepishly as a giant smirk appeared on his face. Edward turned to Peter and gave him the most grave stare as if he was trying to wound him with it through his sharp cat like pupils.
"Who told you about that? Dandelion? Oh I'm going to slice his legs off next time I see him." Edward growled furiously. Peter quickly replied,
"Don't, he will never drink with me again if he hears I to-". An ear splitting, deafening roar froze the two witchers in their spots. They looked at each other with wide eyes for a second until they both knew that their objective was not far away. They both smirked at each other as they began to unsheathe their swords from the scabbards on their backs.
"The silver one for monsters" They both whispered in harmony as they sneakily yet rapidly made their way towards where the roar came from.
As they hurried to the source, their medallions started vibrating like crazy indicating the danger ahead. The roars got louder and so did their excitement at what seemed to be the biggest challenge in their life. They started to run and before they knew it, they erupted into the grand room of the cave. The monstrosity roared once again and this time, it was right in front of them.
The lair of the dragon was huge just like its owner. It was dome shaped with large rock boulders lying down in at a distance from the dragons nest. On the left of the room there was a small balcony that could be easily accessible by something what seemed to resemble a stair case.
It was unmistakeably a dragon. The first one the two black wolves have ever seen. The owner of the cave was a monster. He was fifty metres high with pointy long ears shaped like the tips of a spear. Its body was covered in shining, thick, black scales tinted with a dark majestic purple. The beasts eyes glowed an emerald green colour as if ablaze and the cat-like pupils were pitch black and stood out like an island in the middle of the deep blue sea. It's long neck was covered in Purple spikes The creature had the wings of a giant bat with black linings and mostly light magenta skin. Curved matte black claws cut through the air as the dragon waved his powerful arms around the cave.
"Look at the size of that thing! " Peter whispered as he stared at the beast.
"Yeah, It's huge- and angry. I cannot believe it's actually a dragon." Edward replied greatly flabbergasted.
"How in the hell are we meant to kill that?" Peter asked as a serious tone formed in his voice.
" We aim for the eyes with our bombs. It cannot attack what it cannot see but that will send it into a berserk rage and it will just attack everything. The layer of scales seem pretty soft under the neck so that is also a possibility but it will be incredibly hard to reach with a blade. Last point seems to actually be the glowing thing at its chest, it's probably the heart of it. Bombing the spikes above us could also be a good strategy but if that hits us then we are dead for sure. So what option do you think we should go for?" Edward answered back in the same form of manner.
"All of them. They all seem to work" Peter replied as he poised himself for combat.
Edward took out a dancing star bomb and began taunting the creature to get its attention.
"Hey You! You ugly snake face come bite me" Edward yelled knowing that the dragon did not understand a word he said. However, the act was not in vain. The dragon turned its head towards and roared at the witchers. Edward quickly lit the bomb and threw it aiming at the creatures mouth. Just as it made contact, the bomb exploded in a flash causing the dragon to jerk its head back in unimaginable pain as smoke slowly flew out of its mouth. Edward smiled comfortably but the smile soon turned into a frown as the dragon recovered from the pain and sent a huge cloud of scorching flames towards them. The two witchers dashed in opposite directions and hid behind boulders that would seem to cover them from the heat. Peter quickly recovered behind his boulder and looked toward Edward, wondering if he has already thought of a plan.
"What do we do?" He screamed over the screeches of the beast.
Edward was just about to reply when the inferno hit him. The flame screeched like a demon as the flames engulfed them and built a wall of red, yellow and orange light between them and hit the back wall. Peter was taken aback as he stared into the flames that engulfed his friend. His silver sword nearly dropped out of his hands but he soon gained his strength back again. The beast ceased its attack as the aftermath was covered with smoke. As it began to settle down and the white glow of the boulder slowly begun to turn red, he noticed Edward. He was standing with his back against the cool side of the rock that was not affected that badly by the boulder. He appeared to be clutching the boulder as if he was holding onto his life with one empty hand and a sword in the other. Peter let out a laugh of relief as Edward took a hold of his senses on the opposite side. He finally looked at Peter smiled and began running towards him.
The beast followed him with its gaze as it unleashed another inferno that followed him as he ran towards Peters boulder. At the final stretch he dived behind cover as the inferno almost caught up with him. Scorching the boulder and surrounding the two in a wall of flame.
"Change of plans." Edward gasped as he stood up and patted the dirt off of his black armour.
"I am going to slice that large lizards mouth into bits for trying to turn me into a roast turkey! I have an Idea" He said angrily.
"What is it ?" Peter enquired as a massive smile formed across Edwards face. That answered the question, Peter did not need an answer to know what Edward was planning.
"I'm going to cut it to pieces!" Edward yelled as he charged from behind the boulder with his sword poised high towards the dragon.
Instinctively, the dragon let out another inferno at Edward who dodged it in the last second –thanks to his potions- and carried on running with the ripples of the flames closing in on his back. Then, the dragon stopped the inferno and used its hands to swipe Edward. At first, Edward was surprised at the change of style but quickly realised that it was because if he continued any closer, the flames would simply hurt the beast itself. Instead, it began swiping at him with its sharp curved claws. Edward saw the claws approaching him at a blinding speed but he managed to jump back far enough for the monster to only scratch the breast plate of his armour and send tiny sparks flying towards the ground. Edward gazed down to see if he was ok before continuing to run at the beast.
The black reptilian raised its giant claw and aimed down at Edward who was still trying to approach it and smashed it down. However, Edward had foreseen this and already come up with a plan. He stopped dead in his tracks. Edward quickly began casting the Yrden sign on the ground which is used for trapping and seriously damaging enemies where they stand. Just as he finished casting the sign, Edward performed a half-spin and dodged the beasts attack just before it slammed into the trap and immobilised the monsters hand, sending massive magical spikes into its arm. The dragon screamed and waved its head around on its long neck as Edward lifted his silver sword over his head and slammed it down into the beasts hand. Astonishingly, Edward managed to strike the dragon in its weak spot in the soft skin and flesh just under the claw resulting in him completely severing one of its sharp dagger-like claws clean off. This time the dragon let out a horrifying screech of pain and anger combined as it decided to bring its head down and with its mouth open and mutilate Edward with its razor sharp teeth. Edward knew this was the end for him.
Flanking the dragon, Peter spotted Edwards time of need and sprinted towards the tail of the beast. He leaped at the last stretch, lifted the sword high over his head and smashed down the edge of the sword at the tip of the dragons tail cutting it off completely. Just as the dragon was about to end Edwards life, It jerked its head back yet again thanks to Peter who ultimately saved his Edwards life. It began flailing its tail wildly. Peter rolled away from the attack but the dragon insisted on hitting him and rammed the bleeding end into Peter with bone crushing force through a boulder and into a wall.
"NO!" Edward gasped as the unfortunate event was executed in front of his eyes. He stared at the wall where Peter was thrown in clear horror.
As the dust from the impact settled, Edward could not believe his eyes. Peter was very much alive. Tiny blue lightning bolts surrounded him as he lay there with his back against the wall. Peter had just enough time before the tail touched him to cast the Quen sign which summoned a protective shield around its caster and absorbed all incoming attacks and damage. Edward could not be more relieved however he had to put that aside and strike the dragon. He lifted his sword once again and ran at the dragons stomach. Just before he reached the point of contact, Edward performed a powerful half spin adding to the impact and he drove the edge of the sword into the scaly stomach of the dragon. However, as they scales and the blade collided. No damage was done. The blade hit the scales with a loud thud as if a blacksmith just struck his anvil with a hammer and bounced back vibrating so hard it almost fell out of his hands.
Edward could not believe his eyes. He has never seen scales so hard that they deflected the damage of a silver sword on a monster. He grabbed his sword and sprinted away from the dragon towards Peter who was slowly recovering from being hit by the tail. Edward ran up to Peter and took hold of him while Peter slung his arm over his shoulder as they quickly hid behind another boulder.
"I've got his weakness" Edward panted.
"What is it?" Peter asked as he slowly gained his breath back
"It's those soft layers of skin, leather and scale around his hands, neck, tail and on the insides of his legs." Edward replied at a steadier pace
"So what is the plan?" Peter asked Edward as he regained his feet and took a strong stance once again.
"I will need you to attract its attention. While you do that I will run over and climb to that balcony thing up there and then draw it towards me. If I'm lucky it will try to bite me down again and will simply slice its mouth, throw in some grape shot bombs and pray that they explode in him. When they do I will jump on his neck and stab my silver sword in his soft spot and he will suffocate and bleed to death." Edward explained.
"You're insane!" Peter chuckled.
"Well this is our only hope so whenever you are ready." Edward answered back
"Fine, oh and next time I see you charging a dragon, I will personally slice you into fucking bits" Peter snarled as the two split up again.
Peter was first, he unhooked a couple of Samum bombs –which usually stunned and froze the opponent but this was not enough for a dragon- from his belt and lit them up before leaping out of cover and throwing them at the dragon to gets it attention. The idea worked. The dragon was infuriated at the remark and began spewing fire after Peter again who used his surroundings for cover. As Peter drew the dragons attention, Edward sheathed his silver sword and rushed towards the stair like pedestals' that led up to the balcony. He made his way up the first few steps and then leaped onto the platform which was elevated high above the steps. He grabbed on to the ledge with his gloves as he slowly began to pull himself up. After a moment of hard struggle, he managed to pull himself up and got back on his feet again. Unsheathing a dagger with one hand and loosening up his bandolier full of dancing star bombs with the other. He then took out a small bottle of alcohol and spilled the contents onto the bandolier. Then, Edward called out to Peter
"Alright Peter I'm ready! Get behind cover and act if you think I'm in danger!"
"READY!" Peter yelled as he leaped behind cover.
Edward took a dancing star out of his loose bandolier, ignited it and threw it at the dragon hoping that this will be enough to grab his attention. As the bomb exploded between the dragons' ears, it took a split second for it to turn around and once again roar in Edwards face. Edward pointed the tip of the dagger at the dragon and taunted him. The dragon opened its mouth and jerked it towards the witcher as if he intended to swallow him whole. Edward ran at his opponent and jumped into the beasts mouth. He stabbed the dagger into the upper jaw of the beast causing it to screech and writhe its head in pain on its unbelievably long neck. The monsters breath was enough to knock out a bear but Edward could do nothing more than gag and carry on with his plan. He used his body and the dagger to prevent the beast from shutting its jaw and crushing it in the process. As the dragon proceeded to wave its head around, Edward grabbed the pommel of his silver sword and unsheathed it from his back. He began swinging the sword in all directions and hacking at anything that was soft and could possibly do damage. He sliced the insides of the dragons cheeks stabbed the tip of the sword deep into the monsters tongue.
The writhing became even more intense as Edward unhooked his alcohol soaked bandolier and cast the Igni sign as he dropped it into the dragons throat causing the belt to ignite in a split second and explode just after entering the creatures throat. Edward was then hauled into the air by the wild swinging of the dragon spinning quickly before falling straight down like a drop of rain on a cloudy day. The dragon straightened its long neck as it gazed at the falling witcher who drove its silver sword into the chin of the beast. Edward then used the momentum of his fall to drive the blade down vertically through the creatures neck opening a huge hole that sprayed blood in all directions before landing heavily on the floor. In addition, Peter somehow managed to climb on top of the dragons head and was now viciously yet controllably stabbing the dragon with the tip of his sword through the snout. The dragon let out its last gurgling screech as it stumbled forwards and its head fell to the ground- causing Peter to leap onto the balcony- signifying the end of the battle.
Peter Picked himself up quickly and jumped down from the balcony ready to celebrate the victory with his friend. He was expecting to see his friend standing there over the dragon but he was not there.
"EDWARD!?" He yelled but he received no response.
"EDWARD WHERE ARE YOU!?" he repeated but to no avail. Then he heard a groan and looked down. Edward was lying on the ground under the claws of the fallen dragon. He was bleeding lightly from his hip. During the dragons fall, the claws must have fallen onto Edward immobilising him but causing no serious damage from the looks of it.
"Help me you idiot." Edward muttered as Peter quickly lifted the wing and claws up allowing Edward to crawl out from underneath. After that, Edward proceeded to stand up slowly clutching at his bleeding side with the help of his hand.
"We're skin every possible part of this bloody dragon and we are either selling or using everything from it. I'm turning all those scales, teeth and claws into armour and weapons. We can be invincible with that stuff." Edward grunted as they stared at the trophy
"I don't think we can carry all of that." Peter said in a relaxed tone as they both loosened up.
"I don't care- we're taking it all!" Edward insisted as he took out his hunting knife and slowly headed towards the dragon to begin the usual skinning.
"You just don't want to give up do you?" Peter asked as a warm smile formed on his face.
"Not with such loot and such a reward on the line!" Edward said seriously.
"Wait you hear that?" Peter asked Edward as they both fell into complete silence.
"Someone is coming." Edward said as he stood up and instructed Peter to hide behind a boulder. They both waited with their sheathes ready for combat as the steps drew nearer. When the intruder was at the entrance of the room where the witchers have previously arrived from, they suddenly heard a scream that sounded like it belonged to a man and a sudden increase in the speed of the steps as if a person was running. The intruder ran towards the boulder heading for the dragon but was rudely interrupted by Edward who appeared from behind the boulder and punched him in the face. The intruder fell down on the floor and moaned in pain.
"Dandelion?" Both witchers asked heavily confused.
"Edward? What did you do that for?" Dandelion moaned.
"What are you doing here?" Peter asked curiously.
"I came to check up if you finished the job and bought some wagons along with some treasure. I saw that your horses were outside and thought you were in here so I came in" Dandelion groaned as he slowly picked himself up from the ground and patted off the dirt.
"Dandelion you bloody genius of a bard!" Edward yelled as he hugged Dandelion so tightly that he lost breath.
"Let me go!" He whispered out. Edward released him from his grip and stared at him.
"Well then, what are you waiting for? Let's go and bring the horses, wagons and whatever can carry items here and lets be on our way for our glorious rewards! We will tell you all about it on the way." Edward said as they headed for the exit.
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