The Bounty Hunter had finished his meal and watched Alleria and Davion. Suddenly he tensed. Something was not right. It was only the vague sense of something, just at the edge of his perception. It was gone as fast as it had come but Gondar was sure there had been something. Something dangerous.
He tried to spot what it had been but there was nothing and the setting sun didn't make it any easier to look in the sky, because that was where the sensation had been coming from. He had gone completely still, all his senses on high alert. And there it was again. Just for a second there was something in the sky, like a shadow or something, but Gondar couldn't pinpoint its location.
The two humans had stopped talking and were staring at him. Alleria slowly reached for her bow and quiver. Davion followed his gaze, watching the sky as well now. But there was nothing to be seen.
Out of pure instinct, the Bounty Hunter went invisible. He grabbed his weapons and walked to the edge of the trees. His steps were silent and his ears twitched as he tried to sort through the sound of the forest to find something unusual.
Metal clinked when Davion put his armour back on. He was faster this time, the warrior in him clearly visible. The woman had her weapon ready, an arrow already on the string while she scanned the sky and the forest around her.
The Bounty Hunter moved further into the woods. He had been right, something was here. Everything around him grew quite, the creatures sensing that danger was near. And still the Hunter didn't know where it came from. He only moved so far that he still could make out the forms of the two humans on the clearing. As much as it itched in his feet to run as fast and as far as he could, he wouldn't abandon them.
A light breeze made the leaves above him rustle. The Hunter stopped. There was no wind. Nothing natural that could have made the sound. He heard it again, the softest sound that originated from leaves rubbing against each other. A little more to his right, and only there. And still no wind.
When he heard it again he tried to follow the sound. It was fast, whatever causing it moving faster through the air than he could over the ground. But listening to it, finally having a clue what he had to look for, he was able to discern a pattern. The creature was definitely flying and it was circling the clearing. And it was invisible because though Gondar now knew when it was over his head he couldn't see anything.
But he was prepared for occasions like that. He climbed on one of the higher trees and waited. He had to be absolutely sure when the creature would be above him to use the Dust of Appearance that could make invisible creatures visible. He would throw it in the air and it would cling to the skin of the creature, outlining it. Then he could use one of his skills to track it, which would make it visible as well. He only had to see it for a half second to track it, so even if it could purge the effect of the Dust it would still be enough to get it. Once tracked, it wouldn't be able to vanish.
He was crouched on one of the branches, his eyes closed to be able to focus better on his hearing. He had packed his shuriken away, the Dust of Appearance in his hand.
The rustling of leaves, the faintest breeze of air on his skin, then silence. The creature was still circling, making it awfully easy for the Hunter to get its pattern of flight. He waited two more rounds, then he stood up and threw the Dust high in the air. The rustling of leaves, and then a giant form flew over Gondar's head. For one moment he was shocked about how big it was before he tracked it and, having gone visible while using his ability, went invisible again while jumping onto the next tree.
It was the right decision because a second after he was gone from the branch he had been standing on, the creature turned the whole tree into a torch, burning it with a bright red flame. It was so hot, the Bounty Hunter felt the tiny hairs on his body singed away even from where he was crouching now. He left this tree as well, running as fast as he could move while being silent, away from the place. He looked up into the sky where the creature was now fully visible. And his mouth went dry.
It was a dragon. A huge dragon. The biggest he had ever seen and he had met a few of them over the years. He didn't have time to take in more of it before the beast started its attack. It had to know that it was visible now and it wasted no time being a target. It dived onto the clearing until it was near enough to spit another wave of fire, trying to hit the two humans. Or just the man, because the woman had moved out of the middle, away from the warrior.
The dragon had his mouth already open, the warrior ducking behind his shield, when Alleria hit it with some kind of arrow that shackled its mouth shut. It was a true master shot, her aim perfect.
Davion used the time where the beast was confused, flapping its wings and shaking its head. Gondar watched him while he walked around the clearing to get on the opposite side of the dragon than the woman was so they could flank the creature. The warrior lifted his shield, making it look absolutely effortless, as if the huge thing weigh nothing, and then he threw it at the dragon, hitting the beast on the side of its head, hard enough to make it stagger to the side in the air.
He was now without a shield but it didn't matter because in the next moment he was engulfed in some kind of fire and from it emerged another dragon. It was way smaller than the one already hovering over the clearing, dazed by the hit of the shield, but it shot upwards immediately, spitting orbs of blue flame at their opponent.
Gondar blinked a few times at the scene in front of him. The man, the human, had just transformed into a dragon! And suddenly it all made sense. A human warrior with a dragon on his shield, his armour all red and gold, a knight. He was the Dragon Knight, had taken the essence of a dragon into his body once before slaying the beast. He had been a legend even before that but know he was supposed to be even stronger, almost impossible to kill due to the dragons powers he had gained.
Alleria wasn't surprised. She had been shooting arrows at the dragon relentlessly, her movements so fast the Hunter only saw them as a blur. Shoot, grab the next arrow, put it on the string, aim, shoot. But though she shot so many arrows, the dragon didn't seem to feel them. Maybe they didn't pierce its skin or maybe it was so big it felt only like a sting. And it was recovering from the shackle shot and the throwing of the shield, it had even been able to get the shackles away from its mouth. So now the real fight would begin, one dragon against the other.
But though the Dragon Knight was said to be inhumanly strong, the other dragon was much bigger and since it was a real dragon and not half human, it wouldn't be weak, either. Davion attacked without any fear. His smaller size gave him a little advantage because he could move faster through the air. But in the long run it would probably not be enough. At least not in a fight one on one.
Alleria kept shooting all the time, switching positions in interaction with Davion, so she always had a clear line of fire. Gondar saw that she had one of the shackle shots ready but she was waiting for the right opportunity to get the best effect.
They fought as if they had been doing so a lot, their movements totally in tune with each other. The Bounty Hunter watched, definitely impressed by their skills. No wonder Davion had been so sure about fighting. Even against this enormous dragon they had a good chance.
But then the man got a hit against the head by the dragon's tail and the force of it sent him crashing onto the ground. The creature roared, the sound echoing through the forest.
Davion lay motionless on the ground but the woman had kept her shackle shot for such a case. This time it was an even better hit, not only slinging around the dragon's snout to keep it shut, but also binding it to the tree behind it.
That was the moment the Bounty Hunter had to use for an attack. He couldn't engage in an open fight but with the dragon immobilized, at least partially, it was his turn. He started running, not caring if he made a sound anymore, his dagger in one hand and the fingers of the other curling around a shuriken. Still in motion he threw the shuriken and grabbed another one, then he jumped. He aimed for the wing of the dragon, his blade cutting through the membrane easy enough. When he attacked, his invisibility faded and when he hit the ground he activated it again, keeping running to get away from the place where he had landed. He rounded the dragon, which was struggling harder now to get free from the shackle but definitely had a problem with its damaged wing.
The next shuriken was aimed at its eyes but Gondar missed narrowly, the sharp tip burrowing in the skin just underneath the vulnerable spot. However, his next hit with the dagger was as good as the one before even though he was almost hit with the tail. Good thing he was fast and agile. He vanished between the trees before circling again. Never keep standing in one place.
When he had an unobstructed view on the clearing, Davion was standing again. He didn't even look as if he just had hit the ground with such a force there was a hole in the earth behind him.
The dragon, free again, roared, and went for the Dragon Knight. He started in the air, ready to meet the attack of the beast. It was quite a show the two dragons where making, circling, attacking, diving and rising.
The Bounty Hunter would have liked to help but they were too high in the air now for him to reach. Maybe he could throw a shuriken but he wasn't very good at hitting a target over such a long distance. At least it looked as if the injuries to his wings slowed the movement of the giant dragon and made his reactions slower. Gondar would coordinate his next attack with the next shackle shot of Alleria.
He stopped next to her, admiring her grace while she was still shooting arrow after arrow, nothing in her posture or her movements showing that she might get tired. Her hands were fast, the lithe muscles in her arms and her upper body tensing with every shot. Her face showed her concentration, her eyes moving all the time to keep the two dragons in sight while also keeping an eye on their immediate surroundings. Gorgeous, Gondar thought. And more than deadly to most opponents. When she was laughing and running through the woods, she looked so harmless, but right now the Hunter was glad that he was her ally. He could probably escape her as long as he was invisible but if she shackled him to a tree, he wouldn't be able to escape and her attack speed would enable her to kill him before he could even think about a way to escape her shackle.
"Alleria." The Bounty Hunter let his invisibility fade away. The woman only acknowledged him with a short flick of her eyes in his direction before resuming her attack on the dragon. "I can only help when the dragon is near enough to the ground. Even better when he is shackled like you did before. Maybe you could give me a head start and, before you do something like that again, give me a sign. I will be ready and attack as soon as the dragon is near enough. But as it is now, I can do nothing."
Her focus didn't change for even one second. "All right. I will shackle him as soon as he is next to a tree. It is more efficient then. Tell me where you plan to stand?"
Gondar pointed to a place almost on the opposite side of the clearing. "There is this tree with the deep hanging branches. I'll be near this one. I could jump from the branches if the dragon is still a little too high in the air."
"I see it. I give you ten seconds. Stay away from the trunk."
He needed less to reach the tree but only because he ran underneath the fighting dragons.
Looking into the sky, he waited. And witnessed the second hard blow against Davion that made him tumble through the air without focus. He didn't crash this time.
An arrow hit the tree next to him and without a second thought he jumped onto the low branch he had mentioned. The dragon was too high in the air but that was the sign. Never would Alleria miss her mark like that and since she had told him to stay away from the trunk it made sense.
The shackle shot hit at the exactly same moment as Gondar threw the first shuriken and pushed himself off the branch. His blade sliced through one of the wings, since that was the best spot for the Hunter to attack. The skin there was thin and without the wings the dragon would be extremely handicapped. With the dagger free but still in the air, Gondar flipped his body around and caught the edge of the wing, pulling himself on the dragons back. From there it was fairly easy. The creature mad it even easier when it tried to look at him and he could put a shuriken, this time not missing the target, in its eye. He realized that one of Alleria's arrows had already hit the other eye so the beast was now blind. Since it could probably smell better than it could see it was only a small victory but each wound was getting them closer to killing it.
Davion recovered faster and now all three of them attacked while the dragon was shackled, unable to evade the attacks.
When the dragon roared again Davion took advantage of the open mouth. He hurled one of his blue flaming orbs right into the mouth. Then he grabbed the Bounty Hunter, who had still been sitting on the dragon's back, with one talon and raced away from the creature.
It saved Gondar's life because now, with one last ear shattering roar, the dragon kind of exploded. The shock wave still pushed them forward, Davion losing his balance in the air, and crashing into one of the trees. He turned around in the last second, pulling Gondar against his chest while hitting the tree with his back. His growl vibrated through the Hunter's body, and though he was surrounded by a dragon he felt strangely protected.
When he was released from the talon still gripping him, he crawled away from Davion a few feet and stood up. Alleria was already running towards them, completely unharmed. She knelt next to the warrior, the Knight, and checked his body with swift fingers. He growled again and his eyes focused on the woman. He puffed out a breath that made her hair and her cape flutter and when he nudged her with his mouth she laughed and laid her hand between his eyes. "Yes, you were absolutely magnificent."
The dragon was engulfed in flames before Davion appeared, completely covered in armour, sword in one hand, sitting on the ground. "Have you seen how I threw my shield at it?" His voice sounded a little tinny through the helmet but he was already moving to take it off.
Alleria laughed. "Yes, I saw it. It was so cool." She started to loosen the fastenings of his armour.
"Alleria." He swatted at her hands. "Stop that. I can put it off without your help."
"I know." She sighed a little. "I just want to check for injuries."
"I'm alright."
"You hit the ground and the tree very hard." Gondar pointed out. "I think she is right to want to check." Both heads turned in his direction, Davion frowning and Alleria smiling.
"See, he has the same opinion. No stop fretting and let me help you. I'll feel better as soon as I know you are okay."