Chapter 8. New enemy, old foe part two.

Memories are a curious thing.

People often say that memory is a visual thing. They say that the rest of our senses don't play a major role in it. After all, the more vivid images of our past are just that, images. And this may be true for most of our memories, for the simple ones maybe, but for others, it isn't so simple.

There are memories that are engraved into us, burned deep into all our senses, engraved in our soul. And Rünira realised at that very moment, standing frozen, watching as the green dragon tried to kill the young elves and burn down everything around it, that this was nothing but the truth, as deep-buried memories long left forgotten came blazing into her mind, dragging her into a nightmare of ash and fire.

What do you see?

She saw fire, all-encompassing, all-consuming, igniting the world around her in a roaring inferno.

What do you hear?

She heard the screams of brave warriors set ablaze, fighting despite their scorched flesh and melting armour, faces a rictus of agony, but their pride taller than their pain, duty stronger than fear, even in the face of death.

What do you smell?

She smelled the smoke, threatening to choke her, as her home, the prided bastion of her race, burned to rubble and molten stone, the once tick walls and impenetrable doors, fading like a sandcastle against the tides, completely powerless against such power, against such hatred.

What do you taste?

She tasted the blood in her mouth as she screamed her throat raw from the world collapsing around her, her mind not being able to grasp the magnitude of such destruction.

What do you feel?

She felt the pain in her body, the terror in her soul as an obsidian nightmare made of burning rage, consumed everything she had ever known.

What do you remember?

She remembered hell.

Rünira

She couldn't move.

Rünira!

Fire raged around her, the screams of her people invaded her ears, the ash of her home filled her mouth as the air itself burned in a blazing onslaught.

RÜNIRA!

She could hear her nana calling her, shaking her as she desperately struggled to move her through the rubble and the dead, away from the danger…

…struggled to move her?

No… that didn't make sense, her Nana was strong, she wouldn't struggle to move her at all. It didn't make sense, something wasn't right.

"RÜNIRA PLEASE WAKE UP!"

Like a hammer smashing through stained glass, Elara's plea pierced through the nightmarish world distorting her view, shattering it into a million pieces, memories long past fading from her veiled eyes. A desperate inhale filled her burning lungs as her blurred vision came in and out of focus. Her gaze darted around wildly, heart racing and she desperately tried to make sense of her surroundings.

A pained cry drew Rünira's attention, mind finally starting to focus on the dire situation unfolding before her eyes. The dragon was almost fully out of the waterfall by now, deep green scales shining like emeralds under the glaring light of the high noon, burning gaze fixed on a screaming elven child that had tripped in her desperate attempt to flee, its jaws opening in preparation to unleash a devastating inferno.

She could feel her body moving.

Before Rünira could even think, she had darted forward at full speed, covering the long distance that separated her from the little elf and jumping over her small frame, covering her with her body as she firmly planted her shield in front of them. She had barely enough time to brace for what she knew was coming when the fire hit them with a force she could barely comprehend.

Gritting her teeth painfully, she barely held on as the torrent of flames parted before her shield, enveloping both of them in a burning cage, the fire scorching everything it touched around them. Rünira needed to use all her strength just to avoid being swept away by the blazing onslaught, muscles tensing to their limit trying to protect the little elf from the stray flames licking her from the sides.

The girl's screams couldn't be heard anymore, but Rünira didn't dare to check on her, too afraid that the slightest distraction would cost both of them their lives. The only thing she could do was hope with all her soul that the little elf had just passed out.

The fire continued to mercilessly rage around them, Rünira could feel her left arm burning as her shield began to melt under the fiery assault, the intensity of the flames starting to win against her hastily made defence. But she held on, despite the suffocating heat, despite the burning pain, Rünira held onto her shield and prayed that the melting metal barrier could outlast the dragon's breath, knowing that it was the only thing separating them from a painful demise.

And her faith was rewarded.

After what seemed like an eternity of enduring under the assault, the fire finally subsided, giving her enough room to breathe. Rünira didn't think twice, letting go of the red hot chunk of steel that used to be her shield, she grabbed the unconscious girl and sprinted as quickly as she could in the opposite direction, trying to put as much distance as she could between them and the dragon.

"E-Elara!" Rünira called out, heavy gasps escaping her as she ran towards Elara, having spotted her friend peeking from behind a rock with a terrified look showing on her pale face. "Take her! I'll try to distract the dragon!"

"D-Distract it!? Are you out of your mind!? You cannot—"

A furious roar interrupted whatever was that Elara wanted to say, the earth-shaking under the dragon's heavy steps as it began approaching the place where they had taken cover.

"There's no time," Rünira said desperately, putting the girl in Elara's arms before grabbing The Aflhraûn from where she had unintentionally dropped it and unhooking her hatchet from her belt. "Just take'er and run when I say so, please!"

Elara looked like she wanted to argue but settled for a shaky nod and, giving her a pained look as she held the little girl with trembling arms.

"Don't do anything stupid," she whispered imploringly.

Rünira nodded back, giving her what she hoped was a reassuring smile before turning around and starting to run as fast as her legs would carry her. The sound of clashing steel filling the basin as she started banging her weapons together, hoping that the loud noise would attract the monster's attention.

But much to her dismay, the dragon didn't seem to be interested in her, eyes firmly fixed on the rock the two elves were hiding behind.

'What do I do!?' Rünira thought frantically, seeing the dragon starting to follow after the elves.

Despite the adrenaline rushing through her veins, her mind still felt clouded and her body was already close to its limits, the little strength she had recovered after her training with Vanur completely evaporated protecting the little elf from the dragon's fire, the pain from her burns not helping either.

Desperation starting to fill her, Rünira did the first thing that came to mind, a sure way to make the monster focus on her. Lifting her arm behind her head with practised ease, she took a deep breath to fill her burning lungs, falling into the familiar position like she had done countless times in the past, hatchet held tightly in preparation, waiting for the perfect moment.

Time seemed to slow down, all thoughts leaving her head as her mind became quiet, focusing only on the task before her. There was no fear or anger, no doubt or hesitation, only her axe and her target. Nothing else existed.

Strike once, strike true.

She barely felt the weapon leaving her hand as it exploded forward, cutting the air separating it from its target with a spinning motion, before violently burying itself with a wet splattering sound.

Right into the dragon's eye.

Rünira didn't have time to be surprised as the beast let out an agonising roar, head thrashing violently and spittle flying from its mouth in senseless rage. For a moment she thought that she had lucked out, that her hatchet had buried itself deep enough to kill it, but the thought quickly disappeared as the dragon turned its head to look at her, pure rage rolling out of its remaining eye, murder clear in its gaze.

"Oh, bugger…"

She wanted to get its attention, but she might have gotten more than she had bargained for.

"ELARA, NOW!"

She didn't have time to check if Elara had followed her signal, too preoccupied by the enraged dragon coming her way. She turned around and began to run again as fast as she could.

They need more time, time enough for her friend to escape, and hopefully for the scouts to come. Rünira was sure someone had taken notice by now, there was no way the Dragon's bellows or the fleeing elves hadn't been heard by someone. She just needed to hold on, lure it to the treeline, keep her distance while maintaining the dragon focused on her till someone arrived to deal with it.

'But, is that enough?' an insidious voice murmured in her mind, bringing her to a halt. 'The little dwarf, always running, waiting for someone else to solve her problems. What have you been doing all these years?'

Rünira had prepared for this, years of torturous training and rigorous studying, countless hours spent strengthening both body and mind, and for what? To run away at the first sign of a real challenge? This was her chance to prove her worth, killing the green dragon would make her a legend in the forest, the elves would have no choice but to recognize her for matching the deed of their past king.

It would prove that she was closer to reclaiming her throne.

Half the work was already done, her axe was still stuck in its eye, and one last solid strike to it with her hammer should surely be enough to bring the monster down for good.

A part of her, the sensible part, the part screaming that her body was battered, bruised and burned, knew this was a bad idea, imploring her to just keep running. But the decision was already out of her hands as her moment of indecision had given the dragon time enough to close the distance between them.

Rünira avoided the first attack, barely dodging out of the way as ravenous fangs threatened to snap her in half, the closing jaws missing her by a hair's breadth. She grabbed the Aflhraûn with both hands in preparation, knees bent, position low and ready to dodge again, knowing that it would be impossible to win in a battle of pure strength.

She forced herself to regain control of her emotions, calming her racing heart and muting her pain as she tried to read the dragon's movements, focusing on the taut muscles under its scaly armour, on the way they tensed and coiled in preparation to strike, just as Vanur had taught her.

The first few swipes of the monster's claws were easy to avoid, the sharp digits leaving deep gouges on the rocky floor as it tried its best to dismember her. The dragon was big, almost double that of the dread wolf, but its size played against it, making it slow in close quarters. Rünira leapt and rolled, ignoring her growing exhaustion as she did her best to avoid the wicked fangs and lethal claws hellbent on taking her life, still waiting for her opening to strike.

But as seconds turned into minutes, doubt slowly started to creep into Rünira's heart. She could feel her body beginning to give out, her movements were slowing down, her limbs becoming heavier and her breaths shorter as the brawl continued with no end in sight.

The dragon was relentless, mindless in its pursuit of blood as all monsters were, but be it by instinct or something else, it was doing a good job of keeping its injured eye well away from her hammer, denying her of her only chance to kill it.

And then it happened, the very thing she had been dreading the most.

Through her own heavy breathing, Rünira heard the dragon inhaling deeply, loudly sucking the air around it in preparation to unleash what could only be another blazing inferno.

She needed to stop it, no matter what or how. She needed to stop it right now.

With a furious scream, Rünira launched herself forward closing the thin gap between them, Aflhraûn held tightly in her hands, muscles rippling under her skin as she began to unleash a violent strike aimed directly at the creature's head putting everything she had left behind it. Strength, pain, anger, frustration, fear, Rünira focused all of it into her hammer for that single attack.

She could almost see the glowing of the incoming flames ready to escape the dragon's maw before The Aflhraûn impacted with a sickening crunch against the lower part of its gaping jaws. She let out a cry, feeling the muscles in her arms and back tear from the extreme exertion as the dragon's head was forced upwards and away by the sheer force of the blow, blood and fire escaping through its teeth, mixing in a gruesome spectacle of brutality, the skies being set alight once more by the scorching fire.

But her brief moment of victory was short-lived.

She hadn't seen it coming. Even if she had, she wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. Too focused on teeth, claws and fire to notice anything else, too elated for her apparent success, too exhausted to even move anymore, Rünira didn't notice the attack coming her way until it was much too late.

Her world exploded in a mountain of pain, she could feel her bones shattering and her body breaking as the dragon's tail hit her like a massive flail, sending her flying through the air, impacting violently against the ground a couple of times, before finally coming to a stop in a broken heap a good distance away.

…

…

Weak

…

…

The word barely registered on Rünira's fading mind, her awareness growing faint, body finally succumbing to her grievous injuries.

…

…

Pathetic

…

…

But that little voice in the back of her head just wouldn't let her die in peace.

…

…

Failure

…

…

Yes, she had failed, and now she was going to pay the price.

Rünira could see the dragon through her dimming vision, spittle and blood dribbling down its grotesquely unhinged jaw as it made its way to her. But she couldn't move anymore. Her body felt cold, and she could sense her consciousness fading, her vision beginning to narrow as darkness threatened to swallow her, only pride and stubbornness preventing her from succumbing to the alluring embrace of oblivion.

How had things ended up like this? She had trained so hard, giving her all every day for years… So why? Why wasn't she strong enough?

A wet gurgle escaped her throat as she tried to scream, cursing the heavens for making her weak, cursing herself for not being able to become stronger. Her nerves cried, sending a wave of searing pain through her body as she forced herself to lift her head. If she was going to die, she would do it staring death in the face, like her father before her. Her pride wouldn't allow anything less.

Dull green clashed against burning red in a last act of defiance as Rünira locked eyes with the green dragon, she could see the madness behind the gaze, the burning, mindless hatred it exuded, wishing to consume it all. The monster came to a sudden stop a short distance away from her and Rünira's heart sank as that damned, unmistakable inhaling sound started to fill the air once again.

She would have laughed if she could. It was certainly a fitting end, lying broken and defeated in a pool of her own blood at the feet of a damn dragon just waiting for the fire to claim her the same way it had claimed the rest of her life.

Rünira was sure that the gods above were most certainly laughing at her, wherever they were.

Bloody tears fell down her face, sorrow mixing with anger at the injustice of it all. But at least she had managed to save that little girl, she just hoped Elara and the others would be able to forgive her for leaving them like this.

"RÜNIRA!"

'No…' Panic exploded in her heart at the unmistakable sound of Elara's voice, a deep sense of dread chilling her to the bone, freezing the blood in her veins as she saw the dragon starting to turn its head, slowly looking in the direction of the elf.

'No, no, no, please no!'

"G-Get away from Rünira you overgrown lizard!"

'Why!? why did she come back?' The single, frantic question filled her darkening mind as Rünira opened her mouth to scream, to tell her friend to run. But only a bloody gurgle came out, making her cough and gag painfully, struggling to bring air into her lungs.

"E-Elara run." a broken gasp finally left her battered throat, but it was already too late. She could see the dragon's neck bulge as the fire began to uncontrollably escape through its broken maw.

An instant became an eternity, the image forever seared on her soul, watching as the torrential flames reached Elara before the elf had a chance to react, engulfing her in a sea of fire.

"ELARA!"

She could feel something break inside of her, something deep in her very being irrevocably shattering as she watched her best friend disappear behind the flames.

How it burned.

Through her shattered heart, a red hot inferno escaped, igniting her whole being in a blazing conflagration of pain. Her flesh wasn't on fire but Rünira felt her soul being set ablaze, her body burned and her blood boiled with wrath so intense she thought she was going to lose her mind.

She trashed and writhed in a desperate attempt to do something, to do anything that would make the gaping hole in her heart go away. Her right hand clawed the ground as it was the only limb that still obeyed her commands. Fury fueled her, pain drowned her as she inched closer to the dragon, fighting with all she had against the darkness threatening to take her.

Fire and rage filled her mind, screaming for blood and crying for vengeance, demanding to destroy the monster that had yet again taken her loved ones away from her. But it wasn't enough to delay the inevitable. Her wounds were too deep, the damage too severe, there was nothing Rünira could do to stop it.

The last thing she saw before darkness finally claimed her was a flash of green and silver looming over her, the strident sound of a horn echoing all around her.

The scouts had finally arrived, but it was much too late…

Swift and unstoppable as the autumn gales, Vanur coursed through the royal forest, moving between the trees faster than he ever had before. An unfamiliar sense of urgency clung to him stubbornly, hindering his attempts to clear his mind, to find his centre.

The whispers of danger filled the air around him, the wind carrying silent warnings to any forest dwellers who would listen; their sanctuary had been breached, their home defiled.

His hand unconsciously tightened around the long silver spear he was carrying, still struggling to believe he had been entrusted with such an object.

The first alarm had found him during his usual meeting with King Alf. Vanur had been in the middle of reporting Rünira's outstanding progress when the long-unheard jarring sound of warning had cut him short.

'A dragon?'

He had watched in disbelief as the king, who had been inspecting the hilt of the sword Rünira had broken during their sparring match, had swiftly stood up, heading to the glass display holding the dragonslayer spear, before taking it out and offering it to him without uttering a single word, his eyes enough to convey the message.

You know what to do.

The king's face had been impassive, but the fire and steel in his gaze had filled Vanur with awe, filled him with pride at being entrusted with the safety of their people in the face of such a foe. He had taken the spear with a confident nod, sprinting out the door to gather his men without delay.

Coursing through the streets of his home, he had witnessed with no little disappointment as the hearts of his brethren gave into fear at the thunderous roars that filled the sky with mindless bloodlust, the streets falling into chaos, panic running free amongst the elven people for many still lived that remembered the destruction brought about by another dragon in times past.

It was yet another curse of their long lives.

But they had learned, they were prepared. The alarm had been sounded, the civilians were sheltered and a task force had been put under his command to slay the beast.

And now here he was, speeding from branch to branch, the ringing bells of the city finally giving way to the tense silence of the deep forest, the quiet air only broken by the renewed shows of the dragon's wrath.

He ran as fast as his legs allowed in the direction of the roars, his men struggling to keep up with him, the distance between them growing further and further. Vanur knew he should wait for them, the monster that awaited them was not a simple one, they ought to make a plan of attack, to strategize and prepare, that was the smart thing to do, the right thing. But he couldn't stop, he didn't want to stop. Something kept pushing him further, to go faster, to hurry.

Coming across a group of hysterical children crying incomprehensibly about dragons and cursed dwarves had only made that strange feeling in his chest grow stronger. For a single instant Vanur considered stopping to assist them, but quickly dismissed it with a shake of his head. His men were behind him, they would take care of the children, his priority right now was to deal with the dragon.

That's when he heard it.

A guttural scream piercing the air, dwarfing even the dragon's anger, a cry of sorrow and anguish filled with such pain and grief that even to Vanur it felt like an icy knife to the heart.

And for the first time since he had held a weapon in his hands, Vanur had felt the cold grasp of fear seizing his heart. Not for him, or for what awaited him, no. He was afraid because he knew that voice, he knew that something unspeakable had to have happened for his young apprentice to let out a sound like that.

Passing one last tree, Vanur finally arrived at the hidden waterfall's basin, feet hitting the ground running, speeding through the ravaged landscape. Fires and rubble littered his path as he approached the site of the unmistakable fight.

He could see the beast now, a green dragon like their foe of old, standing menacingly in the distance. Vanur noted with a grim sense of pride that the monster looked mangled, one of its eyes was missing, the instrument culprit still lodged firmly in its eye socket, its jaw too was clearly broken, spittle and blood falling from its twisted maw.

It seemed like Rünira had put up a hell of a fight.

But all those thoughts left his mind as soon as he noticed the unmoving body of his apprentice lying down on a patch of blood-soaked earth, hand extended towards a pile of still burning cinders not far away from her.

"no…"

He approached the prone figure of his apprentice, kneeling on the ground beside her, gaze never leaving the grotesque monster in front of him, knuckles turning white around his spear as a cold fury like he had never felt before began invading him.

She was still alive, he noted. But his relief was short lived as the extent of her injuries became apparent to him. She wouldn't last long like this.

The sound of the alarm horn started resonating around him signalling the arrival of his team. With a simple command, he gestured for some of his men to take care of Rünira, the others taking position behind him, weapons ready.

Standing up, Vanur took a couple of steps forward reading his spear, face completely devoid of emotions as he stared the dragon right into its remaining eye.

"You have made a really big mistake."

A/N: Well... That was tough to write.

Next up! The last chapter of Arc one: Aftermath and Farewell.