Everything happened too quickly.
Vlad had thought he could finally rest. He was on his way to reach Ethelwulf and had safely began marching toward the mountains with Alear.
Now? He saw her forcefully pushed back towards that hellhole before being completely obscured by a Fell Dragon.
His mind traveled back in time to one of the most crucial moments of his life, when he was about to put his son in charge of the company he built. That balcony was the last time he saw his son alive, and not a single nightmare he'd had since excluded that place.
He was powerless.
Was this situation any different?
No, it can't end the same!
Those thoughts made his heart beat restlessly, and his snarl grew deeper with each moment he stared at the dragon before his hands pulled the reins.
I'll grow stubborn if I have to!
The sudden tug made Hoof dig deep into the dirt with his hoofs, trying to stop. As they slid across the ground down to a halt, Hoof propelled himself back towards the dragon. There was no way Vlad was going to leave Alear behind like this.
He had a promise to keep.
His own, and even an evil dragon wouldn't stop him, no matter how reckless he would need to get.
However, to his chagrin, Hoof was no longer as fast as he was before. Vlad could tell his steed was getting tired and it was time he ran on foot. Once he got close enough to the dragon, he dismounted his steed and shooed him away to safety before bolting into the blast area.
Hoof didn't want to, he neighed in defiance to join his master, but Vlad didn't turn back, his eyes already glued to the dragon in front of them. It took a moment, but the steed decided to obey his master's wish and fled the battle, leaving Vlad alone to himself.
"Well, I guess one less fake Fell Dragon in the world isn't going to hurt anyone." The dragon suddenly raised its paw, and finally allowed Vlad to see Alear on her knees.
Completely disregarding his safety, Vlad dashed towards Alear as fast as he possibly could, even if he was right under the dragon's leathery wings. Shouting would blow his cover, so he had to trust his legs and hope he was going to get there fast enough.
"It was nice not knowing you, 'sister'." As those claws descended towards Alear, who hopelessly stayed in her spot, Vlad jumped in.
He was inches away from getting pierced by those claws himself, but with the momentum he built up, he was able to tackle Alear away from the paw with a loud thud, knocking her and himself down to the ground.
The dragon's paw dug deep into the charred earth, but to his surprise, he didn't feel anything squishy, nor the warm blood that should be staining his claws. He brought the paw up, and there was nothing but dirt all over it. It was when he looked around that he saw Vlad staring daggers at him with Alear in his arms.
His eyes went wide for a moment before he burst into laughter. "Now this is just rich! A boy saving a defect? I don't know if you're stupid, or…"
His laughter became a full-blown hysteria. "No, you're just stupid!"
Instead of paying attention to the laughing fit, Vlad looked down at Alear. He brushed one of her bangs off, only to see her passed out. She was still breathing without any major injuries, and Vlad was able to calm down somewhat.
He was relieved when the realization dawned on him. He was no longer as powerless as before. He could make a difference, and that was enough for him.
Even if they weren't out of the mud yet.
After slowly laying Alear down on the ground, Vlad turned back to the Fell Dragon, who was recovering from his fit.
"This is probably the first time I've seen a human care for a defect," he remarked before a sick grin was plastered on his face. "Tell me, has that little wingless whelp smitten you?"
"No, I'm her caretaker," Vlad stated before unsheathing his sword and pointing the tip at the dragon. "That's all you need to know."
"Sure, whatever floats your boat, but do you really think you can stand up to me?" The mocking tone made Vlad's eyes narrow. "You're just trying to make me laugh at this point."
The grip on Vlad's sword tightened. "Do I look like the type? Look behind me."
He pointed at the hellfire and his expression steeled. "The time for jokes is long past."
Even if the dragon's facial features barely moved, that raised eyebrow was very noticeable. "You're serious? Please, like I care about your insignificant little life. Just get out of my way, this is between siblings. I don't have time for this."
"Between siblings?" Vlad retorted, and veins began to pop on his face. "You don't even know what those words are supposed to mean."
The dragon's eyes narrowed, his slits thinning. "Oh, I know all too well. Try to say that again after you stop caring about your family when they drop like flies."
"I'm not that soulless of a bastard," Vlad said before he grabbed his sword with both arms and dashed towards the dragon.
"That's cute coming from you," the dragon remarked before standing up on its hind legs. "You're just prolonging her suffering instead!"
He redied its paw again, putting his entire body into the blow and letting it drop down like a boulder from a cliff. The ground shook under Vlad's feet, but he still dodged out of the way before striking the dragon's limb with all his force.
Only for the blade to bounce off against tough scales.
The dragon flickered with his tongue, smirking. He leapt back, giving himself more distance before flames began swelling inside its mouth. "Told you this is pointless."
A fireball was shot in Vlad's direction. He jolted in place before quickly rolling to the side, dodging the projectile, but the follow-up explosion rattled his body. It was like a land mine went off, scattering scorched earth everywhere.
"Fuck."
"Vladimir!" Sigurd called out, appearing next to him without his steed. "It's time!"
"'Time'!?" he shot back, his eyes still glued to the dragon. "Time for what!?"
"You know more than anyone!" the knight said. "If you want both yourself and Alear to survive this, we have no other choice! We have to transform!"
He clicked his tongue. "No, I'm not ready yet! You never even told me how—"
A roar from the dragon interrupted them while he began stretching his wings. "So there's the second one. At least you make things easier for me."
With a strong beat, the dragon launched himself towards Vlad, reaching out with his paw. He had no time to react. He tried to bring his sword up, but the paw crashed into his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs before the dragon grabbed him, taking him up into the skies.
Vlad had trouble trying to stay upright. The air rushing into his eyes and ears made it hard to see or hear anything other than the dragon's pleased hums.
Once they were high enough that the settlement below appeared as nothing more than a campfire, one of the dragon's slits eyed Vlad. "Now, let's see how you can handle a little heat."
The dragon's body began glowing an eerie purple color, and heat suddenly surged into the paw clutching Vlad. At first, it felt warm, then it became hot, and then it was scorching until the air itself became distorted.
Vlad began screaming in agony. Burn marks nestled themselves into his skin, and parts of the clothes he wore slowly went from white to black. It was like refusing to let go of a tray left in the oven for too long, except his entire body was burning, not just his hand.
Suddenly, Sigurd appeared on top of the dragon's limb and slashed through the weakened scales. It wasn't a deep cut, but it was enough for the dragon to yelp from pain and incidentally let go of Vlad.
Only for him to start plummeting to the ground.
Sigurd flew towards him in desperation, and reached him, but Vlad was unconscious, limp as he fell towards his death.
"Vladimir! Do you hear me!?" Sigurd shouted, but Vlad didn't stir. The knight clicked his tongue, wishing he had a physical form in that moment.
Sigurd concentrated and made his voice reach Vlad's mind, hoping he could hear him. "You still want to meet your daughter, don't you!? I know we don't know how yet, but you can't let it end this way! Hold on to hope for just a little longer!"
Vlad's eyes slowly trickled open, but he could barely see Sigurd's visage. He tried to speak up, but the rushing wind overpowered his raspy voice.
While the knight didn't hear anything, his expression was resolute. "You just need to speak the words, no matter how silent they are. Trust me, friend."
Vlad looked upon his falling body and the dragon chasing after him. It would be so easy to just give up. Just a few moments ago, he experienced unbelievable pain. Pain that was impossible to bear, yet extremely simple to be freed from.
So why…
Why was the easy road so undesirable? Was he that motivated to see things through? Even if his wish was so far-fetched?
No…
Vlad's eyes glided to his left hand, and the ring glowed a blue light through the half-burned fabric. His fingers jerkishly balled up into a fist while some of his burned skin tore itself apart.
"If you can lend me your power, Sigurd, then give it to me."
As it happened with Ethelwulf, so was Vlad enveloped by a cocoon of light. Burned clothes were replaced by lavish white leather with faint blue highlights, golden pauldrons, and a billowing cape. The wounds he sustained seemed to stitch back together, but the pain was still there. It felt like he was patched up by temporary bandages that only prolonged the eventual floodgate.
Still, Vlad emerged reinvigorated and his eyes snapped wide open. He stopped his fall with a simple twitch of his body and was now standing upright, floating effortlessly. Drawing in a long breath, his lungs eagerly accepted the cool air, before he tilted his head in the dragon's direction still beelining toward him.
His eyebrows furrowed. He grabbed his sword with both hands and took a stance while faint blue light emanated from him. "Thank you."
"Do not thank me yet," Sigurd stated. "Pull yourself together and fight back. We don't have much time."
Vlad wordlessly hummed and waited for the descending dragon. His paw came crashing down at him, but now, Vlad had a way to dodge. Flying through the attack, he dragged the blade across the dragon's entire torso. The weapon felt like it was cutting deep, but once Vlad appeared behind the dragon, all he left behind was just a shallow wound.
However, that didn't stop the dragon from grunting in pain. A low growl vibrated through the dragon's throat while he bore his fangs. "Somebody has decided to show their claws."
Vlad pointed with his sword. "And I've yet to get serious."
He was openly lying. The headache trying to split his skull open was getting worse and worse, but it wasn't like he was going to let his enemy know. Being able to hide weaker inner pain was something Vlad was good at, even if he wasn't proud of it.
"We'll see who gets to gloat," The dragon's maw began filling with liquid fire, "when you are nothing more than piles of ash!"
The dragon's mouth snapped open, launching a geyser of flames towards Vlad, but it felt too slow. How was flying—something only a fool would dream of—almost second nature to him? He just didn't understand it, and while it was extremely useful, his mind thought it was still a good idea to question it.
He deliberately shook his head and focused back on the fire breath inching closer to him. No, now is not the time.
He flew away from the flames before his eyes snapped to the dragon's wings. Let's ground you.
Vlad launched himself, beelining straight towards the dragon while blue sparks began enveloping his body and weapon. He was gaining speed at a rapid pace, and before he or the dragon could even register it, Vlad became a lightning bolt that pierced through the membrane of the dragon's left wing with a thunderclap.
The dragon howled in pain, and Vlad's eyes grew wide as saucers. What… just happened?
His right arm suddenly started to spasm out of control, the burn marks he'd sustained suddenly reared their ugly heads and his body became hot again.
He let out a groan and was ready to lose his grip on the weapon.
"Not yet, Vladimir! Deliver the final blow!" Sigurd's words echoed in his mind, and Vlad gritted his teeth. He tightened every muscle in his body so as to not black out and snapped towards the right wing.
The dragon was already struggling to keep himself afloat, but Vlad wasn't going to give him time to recover. A second lightning bolt crashed upon the right wing, inflicting the same damage, and tearing the membrane apart. The dragon recoiled from the blow, and after a few desperate attempts to keep himself afloat, the dragon came crashing down back to earth, knocked out of the skies.
Vlad struggled to breathe, and he slowly descended as well. Once his feet touched the ground, he found out he couldn't stand up straight and had to lean on his sword for support while gazing at the unmoving dragon in front of him.
The clothes he had slowly withered away, and the half-burned ones came back. His stomach suddenly lurched, and bile rose into his mouth before he threw up. His eyes were half-opened, his head was throbbing, and his limbs were tingling as if they were asleep.
And the pain. So much pain.
Sigurd appeared next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, even though Vlad couldn't feel it. "Are you alright?"
Vlad's head jerked towards him. "Is that… a serious question?"
The knight's lips pursed. "No, I shouldn't have asked. Call your steed, we need to get out of here."
"Hoof… is not here anymore," Vlad exclaimed. "I've sent him to Ethelwulf."
Sigurd's eyes shot wide open, but before he could get a word in, Vlad's eyes rolled up and plopped on the ground with a dull thud.
"Vladimir!? Vladimir! Wake up!" Sigurd shouted but Vlad didn't stir. He clicked his tongue. "Curses."
"So, the vermin has finally lost its bite." Sigurd snapped his body to the dragon, who was now standing, if a little strained. "It shouldn't have been as close as it was. Well, at least I'll take the ring now."
Fire gathered in his mouth. "After I scatter his ashes to the wind—!"
Right when the dragon was about to attack, the weight of an entire building slammed into him, making him choke on his own breath. Another clawed appendage, much bigger than his, grabbed his long neck, sealing the flames within his throat.
He started to cough, and while he had enough strength to look up, all the dragon saw were several silver scales gleaming under the red glow he emanated. Wriggling out of the grip proved fruitless, but he still adorned a sly grin.
"Took you long enough to get here," he said while Lumera's eyes glowed. "Were two whelps just too much for you to handle?"
"Save your breath," she barked at him. "Be glad I'll give you a swift death."
A mirthless laugh echoed throughout the forest. "But yours will be long and painful!"
The dragon roared in defiance despite his constricted neck, but Lumera quickly silenced him. She thrusted her paw inside the Fell Dragon's belly before giving the innards a tight squeeze. A pop reached her ears, and the dragon jolted once before growing completely limp. The body of the dragon slowly reduced to nothing but dark fog, leaving behind a black-robed teenager with a gaping hole in his chest, lifelessly staring up into the sky.
Lumera looked away before taking a deep breath. "It's over. For now."
"Indeed," Sigurd exclaimed. "But let's not stay here any longer. Vladimir needs treatment, quickly."
Lumera's gaze snapped towards Vlad, unconscious on the ground. The burn marks on his body made her breath hitch and she carefully grabbed him. "We'll talk about it once we get back to Ethelwulf."
"A sound idea," Sigurd agreed before disappearing in a flash before Lumera tilted her head to Alear, also unconscious, but free of any serious injuries. She looked down at Vlad before her face scrunched up.
Thank you for protecting her.
She picked up Alear as well before taking flight and sailing north to catch up with Ethelwulf.
{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}
Ethelwulf stayed in the back of the marching band, his eyes glued to the distant candlelight that was the burning settlement. With only a torch in his hand, he was hoping to see both Vlad and Alear in the dark, but with each passing moment, a lump in his throat got increasingly larger.
He let out a strained cough while he hid his mouth, when Celica appeared next to him. "How are you holding up?"
"I've been better," he answered. "I wasn't expecting the transformation to be this draining."
Celica hummed. "I think of it more as a last resort, but using it to make an opening is certainly something I haven't considered."
Ethelwulf clicked his tongue. "Yes, it made an opening, but at what cost? We still had to fight through some of the Corrupted nonetheless, and now, two rings are missing."
He let out a growl. "Because of my shortsightedness."
Celica brought a hand to her chest while balling it up to a fist. "You did all you could. You can't blame yourself over uncontrollable circumstances."
"Yet I still feel I could have done more—"
A lightning bolt flashed across the skies in the distance, illuminating the night in the blink of an eye before a roaring thunder rattled Ethelwulf's ears. His eyes widened, a second flash made him squint, but he somehow still saw the silhouette of a Fell Dragon in the sky.
And a small but visible blue dot near it.
"Was that…"
"Sigurd, and his bearer," Celica finished for him. "They are fighting valiantly."
Ethelwulf stared into the dark sky with a slacked jaw before he hissed. "I never intended for them to fight a Fell Dragon head-on."
He called in the nearest guard he could get ahold of and said, "Tell everyone to stop the march. We went far enough. Start making camp here."
The way the guard's eyes lit up caught Ethelwulf by surprise. "Very well, sir Ethelwulf."
It only took a moment for him to realize it was still night once the guard started to spread the word. Everyone was tired, and they needed a place to sleep.
"Today, I feel like I failed as a leader," Ehtelwulf pondered. "It's sad to see something so trivial as a calm night be so hard to grant."
He looked back to where Vlad was battling before frowning. "I'll have a bottle for you at the ready when you get back, friend. I know you will."
He looked higher into the skies before several glimmering scales pierced the darkness and a relieved smile graced his features. "Lumera will make sure of it."
AN: And that's that. The fight is finally over and it was a thrill to write. To be fair, while I'm not 100% sure if this was the best storytelling I've done - it has a few key moments that feel cliche, but honestly, I couldn't care less. I'm just glad this is out.
Anyway, I'd like to thank Cavik for proofreading today's chapter. Again, he is the one who patches things up and makes up for my grammatical shortcomings.
Thank you for reading today's chapter.
God's speed.