Jaune at this point was at the precipice of the frozen tower, what really would have been considered the courtyard if the out walls were still, you know, walls. Instead they were just crumbles of rock. He looked around at the keep, trying to find where the trap was. Jaune found no evidence of skeletal archers, or pit traps, or anything. The dreamer couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, honestly expecting for something to come up and try to kill him instantly. Rolling his shoulders, he quickly took stock of everything he might need for this fight. A myriad of weapons, including the Krabcracker?

Check.

Several bottles of health booze, tucked away in his belt and in every other crevice in his fabrics? Please, please, for the love of all things that are holy, stop calling it health booze. B pleaded. Jaune only nodded, confirming he had plenty of spirits.

Check.

All of his armor, in a full set and where it belonged? Jaune did an almost ruffling manner, shaking in his suit. Hrmm, something felt off. Jaune thought, wiggling his hips as he felt for where the chink was.

"Ow. That's the issue." he grunted as he felt the pinch. Reaching down, he pulled it at the mis-meshing chainmail. We need to get a cup. He thought to himself as he pulled the chainmail into its proper position. B was inclined to agree. He was willing to survive much pain and in many forms, but a masochist he was not.

Jaune took in a breath, filling his lungs with the cold air. There was a heavy moment as the only sound was the wind howling. Jaune's piercing eyes almost the color the a clouded, but not overwhelmed sky scanned the scene before him. Frowning, feeling an uncomfortable swell growing in his chest. He had felt it every time he fought the plague doctor back in the Eternal city. Or when he fought the Saint. It was that Sword of Damocles feeling, knowing that if he fucked this up, he was getting a one way ticket back to being alive. It was something one could think that the dreamer would have gotten used to the stress of an impending violence. Honestly, jaune thought he would have gotten used to this too, but what do you know. Pulling out a pale green glass bottle, he took a sip of liquid courage for his trouble. It helped against the cold at the least. He finally broke the silence with a thunderous roar.

"GET YOUR SCALEY ASS OUT HERE, YOU OVERGROWN LIZARD!" he shouted, his challenge echoing off the decaying keep. The bouncing soundwave was deafening in the quiet ice. The world returned to silence as Jaune awaited an answer from the world.

There was a rumbling as something finally stirred from deep inside. A trickle of smoke emerged, then it became a plume. The red dragon emerged from the derelict keep, snorting out heavy clouds of smog.

"You…. YOU!" It roared out, incredibly enraged that the person had taken both the end of its tail and its leg. "You dare to come and face me! You dare, you, you, you-" He sputtered, his entire body shaking as his scales bristled. "You Insolent brat!" the dragon finally spat out.

Jaune tilted his head, giving himself a bit of a swagger. "Man, is it just me, or did you somehow get uglier since the last time we met?" He asked the dragon. "Cause I swore you looked better the last time we met." The dragon bristled even further, looking like he was going to burst a vessel as the dreamer mocked him. The dreamer should have been nothing more than a bug beneath the Wurms feet. Yet not only here he stood, not only openly mocking him, but he had dared to maim him in their last encounter.

"You blithering, insolent insect!" The red lizard roared, rushing forward at the dreamer. He just smiled, his confidence fueled by their last encounter, even to go so far as to start to run forward to meet the dragon.

"Oh? An insect, am I?" He cackled at the red dragon, his feet thumping against the snow, kicking it up in clumps behind him. The dragon was kicking up some much more impressive clusters of snow, ice, and the thinnest layer of dirt that was hidden underneath the permafrost. The dragon, by virtue of one: being several times larger than most cars, making it many more times larger than Jaune, and two: Being the owner of one rather lengthy neck, came into biting range with Jaune a little before Jaune came into whacking range with the dragon. Its eyes narrowed as it was locked onto its target, a salivating mouth full of large, sharp teeth ready to turn the ranger into a fine meal. It could see the nasty humans eyes, a dull grayish blue color only dimmed by the lack of real light. With a motion that would give most people whiplash it snapped down, biting into the figure below him. Imagine his surprise, and much more his disappointment, when that figure burst into a splattering of snow and ice. Its pupils thinned, burning with malice and confusion that this slippery, pesky, and inordinately dangerous thing that was supposed to be so far beneath it. The massive dragon's head snapped around, looking for where the dreaming thing had disappeared to. He had seen this before, during their first encounter.

"You have so many tricks up your sleeve, little rat." He said, peering at Jaune, who was under his wing. His claw scraped across the frosty ground as he made a slash at the dreamer. "But It will not save you this time!"

Jaune dipped backwards, leaning away from the sword sized claw. "Woah, mama! Can't have you messing up the hair!" he called out, clutching at his hood.

Why? B asked. It's not like we've ever combed it out anyway. The things a rats nest. He couldn't help but comment.

Jaune ducked underneath another swiping attack as the dragon turned to face him. Jaune could see the furnace fire glow. He instantly threw up his hands, forcing the ice around him to shove itself upwards in front of him. The gout of flame battered against the wall of ice. Bunkering down behind the unnatural structure, Jaune curled and wove his hands together, stringing bits of mana and magic. Thunder, fire, lightning and other similarly explosive energies tied tightly into a knot about the size of a baseball.

Do you even know what that thing will do? B asked, both curious and fearful of the arcane concoction. Jaune looked up at him, curling around the tangled bundle of energy slightly as he gave it its final tweaks. It was unstable, overly so. It vibrated and hummed in his hands, spitting out sparks and heat. For a moment, Jaune wonders if this was what holding stars must have felt like. So hot that it numbed his hands, making the muscles curl and tremble inwards. A light so bright that it probably needed a welding mask to look at. And yet, the raw unfiltered power was attractive in its own right. There was something beautiful about it, as though it was a living flower. An untamed flower that had equal chances of blasting a hole the size of Hong Kong into the face of the earth or fizzing out like a sparkler. Jaune had absolutely no idea, and that fact alone was thrilling.

"Honestly? I have no fucking clue." He said as he lobbed it over his shoulder. "Just name the crater after me." it arced upwards, high over the ice wall, which had seen better seconds, and into the path of the dragon. The dragon looked up at the apple sized object, glowing as brightly as any star in the sky, as it arced over the melted barricade that this pest had conjured. It sparked and popped rather threateningly as the deformation began. First it seemed to extend, being stretched along its various axis. Then it began to fall apart in the most violent way it could. The tendrils of mana ripped themselves from the knot, arching like lightning to anything it could reach. The dragon, the ground, the dreamer, the wall of ice, it didn't matter. The dragon turned away, raising its scaled leathery wing as it forcefully disassembled itself. Taking advantage of the distraction, Jaune pulled out one of his newly found crossbow bolts. Patting it into place, Jaune gave the metal handle a tug. He couldn't help but let out a frustrated growl when it didn't budge. Flipping it so that his foot was on the mounting dock, he gave it a heave with the full might of his body. With a creaking sound so visceral that you could see the fibers bending and the rope stretching taught as the inner workings pulled the bolt into prime firing position. Turning quickly, he slammed his elbow into the thin ice behind him, creating an arrow hole in the wall. He collapsed down to one knee. The orb had run out of energy at this point, leaving behind several pockets of smoking dust and rubble.

"You know, for all that pizazz, I was hoping for a black hole or something." He muttered as he lined up the shot, aiming for the dragon's neck. Pulling the trigger, the tension snapped, making the rope itself crack like a bullwhip. Jaune lurched forward from the pulling force of the shot, making the arrow fatally miss. It rocked to the side, slamming into the shoulder of the dragon. In particular the shoulder that Jaune had amputated in their last fight. Jaune hissed as he looked at the damage that his shot had caused. The dragon wasn't having any of that, barreling toward the dreamer with a ferocious roar.

Jaune wheezed, turning his head away from the flying spittle. "God damn, man, when was the last time you brushed your teeth?" he asked. The dragon didn't take too kindly to that, trampling over Jaune's fortifications and, by proxy, Jaune himself. He had to roll to avoid the trampling talons. They slammed down, the large claws driving holes into the ground, threatening to turn Jaune into a Jaune shaped shish kebab.

"Ack, ow, hey that was- gah, oof, rude! Stop-ack, gahk- your trampling immediately!" the dreamer shouted from underneath the dragon. He rolled to the side, trying to escape from under the dragon. "Now that that's done-" The dreamer was cut short as something pulled on his cloak, dragging him through. The dragon had reached its long neck under to grab the slippery bastard, pulling him along as the overgrown lizard flapped its wings to take flight up into the sky.
"Woah, mama!" Jaune cried out as he was tossed around like a ragdoll. He scrambled as best he could to steady himself, grabbing at the snout of the dragon. He could hear the cold wind whistle past his ears, or was that just his own blood pumping? He couldn't tell.

The dragon went higher and higher, never coming close to approaching the solid blanket of gray. Jaune couldn't help but look down at the rapidly retreating ground.

"You know," He grunted, clinging to dear life around the snoot of the dragon. "The view here is amazing, but I don't think that the ride is quite OSHA safe." He couldn't help but comment. "I mean, there is a complete- hic-!" He hiccupped, the heavy breath of alcohol hitting him like a brick. That was unexpected. He thought. "A complete lack of safety rails, to start-"

And suddenly Jaune was falling. With a swift shake, the dragon had managed to lose the dreamer. He could feel the wind rushing past him in the worst direction possible.

Nope, nope, nope. B commented over and over in his head. We have come way to far to die to fucking fall damage. He spat with a growl. There is no way in hell I am walking through that ice field again!

Jaune was inclined to agree. The trek here had been hellishly cold and becoming a Jaune pancake was never appreciated. He started to channel the mana around him, forcing the mostly scattered energy into neat little streams and rivers, like paint suspended in the midst of the air. Twisting and braiding them in such a way so that there was a strong bridging river between jaune's rapidly falling frame and the space just above the dragon. Jaune tuned himself into that bridge, taking a passing note of the almost crystalline, shifting patterns woven within the invisible mana structure.

And with an uncaring swing of his hand, the bridge collapsed. And it took with it the space between Jaune and the flying beast. Lurching forward, Jaune teleported forward. He appeared behind and above the dragon. Instantly returning to free fall.

Damn it, I forgot to reverse momentum. He berated himself, twisting to see his foe. The dragon flapped his wings, the one that Jaune damaged in their last fight had clotted over, making it serviceable again. Reeling his hand back, he threw a scythe of ice into the back of the dragon. It impacted with a burst of ice, an almost purple shattered tether jumping from the impacted swell to his hand. A second throw followed soon after the first, matching the ice anchor. With a heave he forced his arms into motion. He was pulled forward on the chains of ice, launching himself into the back of the dragon.

"Ack!" The dragon cried out as it tumbled in midair. "You rat bastard! How dare you-"

"Yeah, yeah, shut your mouth." Jaune said, stabilizing himself on a non OSHA compliant dragon back. He paused to look up, having just had something jump into his head. "And get some new material. The whole 'how dare you' thing is getting a little stale." he commented, digging Glassvain into the thick hide of the dragon. The dragon, who was about to retort that it had been a while since he had an opportunity to insult anyone with a brain larger than a peanut, was interrupted with a howl of pain. The dragon's wings furled backwards, flapping and scratching as he desperately tried to knock the pestering man thing off his back. Jaune ducked down, clinging to the dragon's back for his life. His stomach churned as they hurtled through the air. Holding his stomach together as best he could, he desperately tried to not vomit on his ride.

Wait. I don't like my ride. Jaune realized, releasing his stranglehold on his stomach. The familiar, but very uncomfortable feeling of something welling in the back of his throat came full force as the air blew past him, reminding him just exactly how high up he was. It was frankly a terrible feeling, but the dreamer had to imagine that it was infinitely more uncomfortable for the dragon he was riding on.

There was a shudder throughout the muscles of the dragon as it turned its head to look at its unwanted passenger. Oh, man he could feel the alcohol from the start of this fight burn as it retraced its path from his stomach to his lips.

"Did-Did you just vomit on me, you disgusting heathen?" he spattered in disbelief. Jaune wasn't listening. The force of his spewing had caused a memory to surface unbiddenly.

A burning gun, as bright as the stars and as hot as the furnaces they were forged in, blazing the surface of mercury. Like Starfall its bullets shot across those barren plains-

A heat had built in his chest, pushing and yearning to be let loose. It scorches through his veins, demanding its freedom. To be free. To burn.

Who was Jaune to deny it? He let it shoot through his arms, spiraling into shape in his hands. Two six irons, glowing with a power as potent as sunlight. He examined his newfound coalition of this heated energy, giving them an almost experimental spin in his hands.

"I suppose I'm supposed to have a quippy one liner at this point." he said, leveling his two blazing guns at the dragon's wings.

BANG! They fired off simultaneously, blasting apart the ball and socket joint that held the appendages to the dragon's main torso. Ligament, bone, flesh and tissue was torn apart from the concussive force, and then burned away from the solar energy.

The dragon screamed in terrible pain, an earth-shattering cry that would have broken lesser men. Jaune had never heard such a cry in his life. He wondered briefly if it was the worst thing he had heard in his life.

His attention was unfortunately moved to a separate problem: The dragon didn't have wings.

And they were still quite a bit up in the air.

And another chapter done! I'm entering finals week, so don't expect much out of me at all until about a half month or so. But I wanted to get something out.

When writing this chapter, I wanted for it to feel a little like the God of War fights and I wanted to establish some character traits. However, google docs is being a pain in the ass (Spell check won't correct, just puts things in my personal dictionary. no bueno) so I had to use word for the check here. Should have gotten everything, but if I didn't treat it as usual. I suppose what happens when you reach an 800 some odd page document.

I hope to see you guys soon. I am going to take a nap now. good night.