98. Metamorphosis

A fricking dragon?

You must admit, it is a fitting form for a being of her reputation.

Not. Helping. Mouse.

Flemeth roared again, spraying fire across the charred ground where a swamp had been about five minutes ago.

"Couldn't've taken the deal, eh captain?" Garott shouted. The dwarf had scrambled under a fallen log, shielding himself from most of the blast.

"If you wanted to face Morrigan's wrath when she discovered the lie, be my guest," Percival replied. He and the dog were crouched behind a tree that couldn't have done much to shield them from the fire.

Felicity, meanwhile, huddled in a ravine with Kazar. She was digging fiercely through her healer's kit, tossing vials and poultices aside in search of enough warmth balm to stave off dragon's breath.

A futile endeavor. No pithy plant puss can defend against the might of a dragon, even a false one.

Yeah, well, Amell is the posterchild for futility.

There was the flapping of gigantic wings, and Flemeth rose into the air above them. All of them ducked as she passed overhead. Kazar left cover long enough to shoot a fireball in her general direction, but it burst in the air past her. Damn, dragons were hard to hit, considering how big they were.

Sten slid down smoothly into their ravine and deposited a coughing dwarf at Felicity's feet. Oghren had gotten the brunt of the dragon's first blast of fire, and he showed it. Felicity went to healing the dwarf's charred skin.

"Bah, leave it!" Oghren growled. "S'just a little sting… no teeny fire can take down a dwarf berserker!"

"Perhaps not, but infection will," Felicity said calmly, healing up most of the burns anyway.

Flemeth must have sensed the magic or something, because next thing they knew, there was a dragon perched on the lip of the ravine above them. Amell threw an elemental shield around all four of them just as Flemeth filled the ravine with fire. Once the blast of fire stopped, Sten jumped and slammed his sword—what was it called: Asail? Asoka?—into her nearest talon, cutting off one claw, and Kazar lobbed the largest lightning bolt he could muster right between her eyes. She shrieked and wheeled off, lifting into the air again.

"Move!" Percival shouted. He appeared at the lip of the ravine, reaching down to help pull them out of it while the dragon roared overhead. Felicity accepted his help, scrambling to keep hold of the warmth balms she'd collected in one arm. Sten lobbed Oghren out, then climbed out on his own.

Kazar wasn't about to take orders, so he waited at the bottom of the ravine while Flemeth wheeled around again. She landed above him and roared.

"Kazar!" Percival shouted. "Get out of there! That's an order!"

Everyone else was just in the way. Show them true power, mage.

Kazar smirked, gathering his magic. And when the dragon rained down fire on him, he took it… he grasped that fire and turned it back on its master, giving it his own burst of power. He laughed as the fire burst against the dragon's skin like a dozen fireballs.

Flemeth growled, and started to climb down into the ravine after him, but there was suddenly an armored man and a mabari nipping at her heels, and she turned her attention to them.

A foolish move, turning her back on us.

Kazar grinned in agreement. He raised his hands up and blasted the dragon's wings with ice, making her shriek. She moved away from the ravine, snapping up Hugo as she moved. The dog howled, Percival's enraged roar joining the dog's on the air a moment later.

The fight was moving out of sight, so Kazar waved a hand toward the edge of the ravine, pulling up on the earth to create a ramp up and out. He sprinted up to the top, finding that the dragon was now perched on a small hillock, the warriors swarming around her feet.

Percival had her attention at the moment, the human hacking fiercely at her foreclaws. She twisted her head to grab him bodily and toss him into the air, but Cousland raised his sword and turned it downward so that, when he came down again, it caught in the dragon's jaw. She tossed her head to dislodge it, and he went flying into the trees.

Still, Kazar could see the dragon's blood trickling out from between her jaws, and he smiled. He could feel its power from here, and he no longer felt repulsed at the idea of using it against an enemy… against one this strong, they needed every advantage they could get.

Kazar sent a bolt into the dragon's face: not lightning, but rather something far more insidious. The magic latched onto the witch's blood, and he gasped at the power he felt there. This was a being far stronger than any he had touched before… it was a being who was beyond mere mortal bonds… the magical contact alone sent elated tingles through his limbs.

Kazar had no hope of controlling Flemeth, not as powerful as she was… but he could at least distract her.

To what end? This is finally an opponent worthy of you! Would you have one of the sword swingers take your glory?

He ignored Mouse's annoyance, twisting his bolt of power to burrow deeper into the dragon's blood, infusing it with fire more painful than any poison. The blood seeping down her jaw popped and bubbled, and he knew that the blood inside her was doing the same.

She thrashed and roared in agony, and Kazar had never felt so strong. He laughed, awash in waves of power that radiated from the creature. For a long few seconds, he felt capable of tearing down the sky, had he the desire.

But Flemeth was no fool, nor was she inexperienced with magic. He felt her do something with her own power, and his link to her blood snapped off like a snipped string. Ignoring the Qunari and dwarf hacking at her flanks, Flemeth leaped into the air and swooped straight toward the mage. A brief flash of fear went through him as her jaws opened wide, but it was swiftly overwritten by defiance, and he raised a fireball to meet her as her maw snapped down.

A hand roughly tugged him out of the way right before she would have bitten him in half, and the fireball detonated right in front of him, throwing him back. Flemeth, who had gotten it in the side of the face, wheeled away and up, swooping around to make another pass.

Kazar climbed to his feet with some difficulty, understanding for the first time why the others got so angry with him when he detonated these in their vicinity. A quick ice spell snuffed the fires that clung to him and his rescuer, but didn't cure the sting of the burns. A moment later, though, Felicity's healing magic washed over him, and he was grateful that she'd gotten so quick with her heals over the weeks.

He turned to his would-be rescuer, finding that it was Garott. "What was that? I had her!"

"If by had her, ya mean she almost ate you, then yeah." The dragon's roar echoed through the trees; she was coming back around. "Come on. I was hoping to use a tin can as bait, but you went and pissed her off, so you'll have to do."

Garott took off running and Kazar, curious despite himself, ran after the dwarf through the brush. The dragon landed heavily behind him, so close he could hear her breathing. Her footsteps as she chased them through the swamp shook the ground, and Kazar sent a bolt of nature magic into the earth that made all the plant life writhe and grow as they passed, slowing her down.

They burst through a stretch of trees and into a bog, where a domed ruin stood half-submerged in the water. Garott hopped toward it on stepping stones, displaying a nimbleness Kazar hadn't expected from the dwarf. For his part, the elf just cast ice over the surface of the water, letting him run without all that ridiculous hopping.

Behind them, he knew when the dragon reached the water by the splash and the wave that washed over his feet. Ew… swamp sludge.

You have waded through worse, have you not? Mouse said with some amusement.

Didn't mean it wasn't disgusting. Garott and Kazar entered the ruined dome together through a hole in the side, and Garott ran them right through it to a window on the opposite wall. There, he grabbed a hanging rope and turned. "Might wanna find some cover, elf."

Flemeth had followed them to the ruin, but she stopped outside it. She sprayed fire at them through the building, and the pair of them ducked behind the old wall.

"Son of a nug, why ain't she following?"

Because she is a wise witch who knows a trap when she is led into one.

Kazar cursed, because Mouse was right. This was no dumb beast who could be walked into a snare. She would need to be pushed into whatever Garott had devised. Kazar hoped it was good.

Kazar snagged Garott's dagger from his belt, ignoring the dwarf's grunt of protest. He plunged the blade into his own hand, and blood and magic poured from it wildly. He could taste the swell of his own power on the air, a biting scent that was both sweet and acrid. Mustering his magic, he blindly handed the dagger back to Garott, the dwarf suddenly seeming a small insignificant speck against the rush of awareness that surrounded him.

He could feel everything… the rush of the wind, the steady lifeforce of the trees, the slow ripples in the water around the ruin… it all opened up before him, and he laughed at the giddy feeling.

"Yep. That's still creepy," a voice rumbled near his physical body, nothing more than a whisper on the wind.

Flemeth's power was a beacon to him now… he'd never sensed a whirl of magic and life and being so intense as what gazed at him from the other side of the ruin. It watched him, knowing him as he knew it, and he laughed again, delighted.

He reached out with his magic, tangling it through the wind around them, weaving it with his will. He wove his power into the water below them, and took all that mass and moved it behind Flemeth. Then, he pulled, wind and water both shoving the dragon from behind in a torrent.

Powerful as she was magically, her body was physical, so it jerked forward. She fought it, but it shoved her into the ruin, sending her toppling to the tilted stone floor. Garott pulled his rope.

It was immediate: flasks burst above the dragon, raining acid down on her. A moment later, the stones themselves came down, the entirety of the structure crumbling on top of her just as she was finding her feet. She was buried with a roar.

The roar and rumble of rock faded out, and the swamp fell silent.

From the far shore, Kazar heard cheering. The others stood, watching them. Percival was leaning heavily on his greatsword, but they all looked fine. A victory, it appeared. Garott stepped up on top of the pile and took a couple bows for their audience.

Still, something had Kazar keeping hold of his blood magic. There… a pulse of life from under the pile.

"She's still alive!" He shouted, but too late. The dragon burst up out of the fallen stones, and Garott was thrown wide, onto the far shore. It was all Kazar could do to freeze the stones in front of him before they crushed him far more effectively than they had Flemeth.

Flemeth rose into the air, her wings spread wide. She turned and swooped upon the warriors, snatching Sten clear off the ground and bearing him high into the air. Kazar, knee-deep in swamp muck, grabbed the streams of wind around her and yanked her down. She jolted in the air, and Sten dropped like a stone, falling with a hard splash into the bog.

When Felicity ran to the side of the pond to cast a healing spell, Flemeth slammed into her hard, and the healer went hurtling to the ground, cracking her head against a stone.

Kazar rained fire and lightning down upon her with wild abandon, feeling his strength waning. He'd done too much too fast… and now that the healer was down, he couldn't trust the warriors to stay standing against a dragon for long.

You should never have trusted in the others in the first place. You are all that is necessary to take the dragon down.

He scoffed, scurrying out of the way as she blasted fire toward him. He skittered around to the opposite side of the rubble pile in the middle of the swamp. He could feel himself weakening from blood loss, and that was all the proof he needed that he couldn't stand up to her.

You can, mage. You are ready.

Time seemed to stop, the dragon hanging in the air as its jaws reached out for Oghren. Understanding washed over him, and Kazar knew what had to be done, like a final piece of a puzzle inevitably clicking into place.

So this was how it was. Not in fear or desperation. Not in power-lust. Not in mindless obedience to a creature who had control over his mind. It was an end… two halves of a whole finally knowing what they were to one another.

Kazar didn't say anything—he didn't need to. He merely dropped the wall that separated them, and the demon rushed in. Kazar gasped at the rush of power he felt as their minds twined, the demon's elation matched by his own.

Finally. It was neither Mouse's voice, nor his, but a bit of both.

Time resumed, and the outside world returned. Oghren was snatched up and thrown across the bog, and Kazar watched in wonder as she chased the flying dwarf with a burst of fire. As if with new eyes, he appreciated the vibrancy of the fire, the shimmer of the dragon's glittering scales, the taste of blood and life on the swamp air.

He raised his hand in front of his face, and laughed. "It's heavy," he whispered in wonder. There was a certain weight to everything here… an indescribable solidity that defied meaning. Of course there was: he'd spent his whole life here, after all, and a swamp was hardly the most wondrous place to come into being… yet it was experienced with the newfound appreciation of one who had spent long centuries wandering the Fade, looking for such a chance as this.

And what a chance. He breathed in, and he could feel power crackling the air. He breathed out, and the twin beings in his mind—both among the most powerful of their kind—burst with experiences and truths and things he couldn't give name to. It was an ending, and a rebirth, his mind awhirl with thoughts and sensations that were at once alien and familiar. He could have spent all day marveling at this new sensation.

However, he did not have all day. Flemeth landed heavily on the rock pile above him, and he could feel her regard. He reveled in it, turning up to meet her. He could still feel all that power strumming through her… more than what she'd let them see initially, like a fire whose bulk was banked.

He laughed, because the bit that she was drawing from suddenly seemed so fragile beside the torrent he held in his hand. He reached out and grabbed hold of the dragon's being, gripping her blood despite the block she'd put up against him. He tore through that shield and flung her bodily away.

The mortals will get in the way. Take her down away from them. This is ours alone. And he couldn't rightly say it was Mouse's voice when it was also his own.

He flung her into the distance, then took off after her, mowing through water and flora with brutal efficiency to reach his prey. A red glow surrounded him, seeping out of his very skin as if his small form was incapable of concealing the power he wielded. Somehow, he knew that were he to look at his reflection, his eyes would be glowing, but the thought only delighted him, because he had no reason to hide his true power here.

He found her half submerged in a bog, fighting to regain her feet against his grip. He laughed, slamming her flat into the water like a child abusing a puppet.

The dragon roared and spit fire into the air, and he released her from his hold so he could summon his power around her. She struggled wetly into the air, but was shoved down again when he unleashed thunder around her, the very air all around the bog crackling with magic. Another extension of will rained fire to join in the storm, engulfing the dragon's form in steam as the fire tore through the water of the swamp, burning it away. He grasped that steam, turning it to an icy blizzard that wound impossibly through the firestorm.

Somewhere, Kazar could hear himself laughing, joyous at the power in his grasp. He was unrelenting, a force of destruction like none other! Only a god could hope to challenge him, and he welcomed them to try!

Flemeth jerked out of Kazar's storm, and he could see the effect his torrent was having on the dragon. Her scales were falling off, her wings singed and torn. She tried to take flight, but seemed unable to get off the ground.

Kazar laughed louder, his demon half providing him with a deliciously insidious thought. This time, when he reached forward with his magic, it wasn't to cast another elemental spell—although he could… he would have been happy to do this all day. But there was an even more delightful option. This time, he poured himself over Flemeth, dismantling her defenses from the inside out. He seeped into her magical resistances, found her shapechanging spell, and popped it.

He felt the magic waver and scatter apart at his touch, and it was exhilarating. The dragon's form glowed and shrank, revealing that of the woman. Physically, she was smaller, but Kazar knew differently. He felt her power surge, the witch more in tune with her own magic in this form.

Flemeth stood up in the middle of the bog, unconcerned and untouched by the filth around her. Slowly, an intrigued smile stole across her face. "Well well, now. What have we here?"

Kazar stood on the edge of the bog. Power crackled around him, and he knew he could still match her, even now. If she wanted to play games, he was all for letting her. All the better when he immolated her. "Are you done holding back, or do you want to get thrown around more?"

She laughed, full and throaty. "My, but you are a spirited one, aren't you? And who could blame you… newborn as you are, you can't know your limits yet."

He wasn't surprised she could sense what he was. It was like recognizing like. "You're an abomination."

Again, she laughed. "A good guess, but it is of no matter. It is but a label, given by those who don't understand. But you understand, don't you, child? What it means to be what you are."

Kazar lowered his staff, though not his guard. "If you're trying to evoke some sort of comradery, you can stuff it. I just want to kill you."

"So eager. Do you truly think you can stand up to my full power, child?"

"Yes!" There was a discordant voice underlaying his own, and the red glow seeping out of him flashed. "I am more powerful than you are. I can feel it."

"Ah, but do you truly know how to use that battering ram of yours?" She eyed him knowingly. "I think not. Perhaps someday, you may be able to kill me in truth, but today is not that day, child."

He could feel her refusal to match him with her full power, and that enraged him. "I will not be toyed with!" he roared, sounding far more like Mouse than Kazar. His magic crackled in the air around them.

"And so you won't. Take your victory today, and then learn. Grow, and discover, and know yourself. I have no doubt we will meet again."

It was a dismissal, and his Pride flared. He screamed his anger and brought his wrath in on her with a crash of fire and thunder. She built a magical shield around herself, but it was a formality, and he crashed through it without trouble. His wrath rained down on her, all the elements of the world slamming through her frail human body. All magical resistance was swiftly overwhelmed. He continued the torrent, until her life was finally snuffed out in a burst of released magic.

Kazar kept it up for another couple seconds, just to be sure. Then he dispelled the storm, panting as he stared at the spot where the witch had died. It was harder to release the rest of his magic, the power crackling around him dissipating in stages. Slowly, Kazar let his magic go, and the glow on his skin and the red of his blood mage aura faded.

He wavered for a moment where he stood, his mortal body taxed and low on blood. However, his demon half drew from the Fade to bolster him, and he felt it rushing over him in a brief restorative flood.

Thus, he was able to turn and walk back through the swamp toward his companions. He reached the shore where the warriors had been, and found them still there. When Percival—standing over Felicity and Garott's unmoving bodies—raised a sword weakly in startlement, Kazar almost laughed. He managed to bite it back, though. He couldn't afford to let them know what he was… they would try to stop him.

Having to kill them because they got in his way would be inconvenient.

When Cousland recognized Kazar, he lowered his sword with a sigh. "Maker, I thought you were dead for sure. Where's Flemeth?"

"Dead." His voice sounded normal again, at least.

Cousland's eyes snapped up, shocked. "What? You?"

"Yeah. I killed her." He wished he could find victory in that, but the bitch had all but let him win. He felt cheated. "Anyone dead?"

"None so far." He leaned heavily on his sword and nodded toward Felicity. "Knocked out." Toward Garott. "Very knocked out… possibly broken arm." He motioned back toward Oghren, who sat up against a tree, spitting blood. "Awake, but that doesn't count for much, with him."

There was a splash of water, and Sten appeared, a certain mabari hound draped over his shoulder. The Qunari was limping, but didn't do more than grunt as he laid the dog gently in front of Cousland. Said noble was pale. "Is he…?"

"Alive. As expected, for so mighty a warrior."

"The same could be said for a number of us." Kazar felt Percival's eyes turn to him, and he met the look. The noble's face read disbelief, and confusion, and a little bit of awe.

He smiled.