Chapter Ninety-Eight

Casting my gaze over my quadrant, quintant? Looking over my section, wings gently flapping, I realized that I probably should've played more of those Total War games, as I had, frankly, no idea what I was looking at. Starcraft was more my speed, but, then again, I wasn't going to be meeting them as they were meeting me, my army versus theirs.

No, I was going to show them why Dragons were army killers.

Though, not fully, as, while part of me wanted to show off what I almost unironically called 'My Magnificence', the rest of me realized that was my instincts talking, not a sane thought.

I was getting better at controlling my… Dragon nature, but it was still a struggle, doubly so because, when I did go full Dragon, it just seemed to make sense to think that way, requiring me to watch my thoughts in a manner which I was still getting used to.

But it had been worth it, spending long hours in that form, to pull this off.

Dropping down to the battlements, I breathed deep, and, with a carrying yell, commanded, "FIRE!"

The defenders on the wall obeyed, sending a half dozen orbs, packed to bursting with Full Dragon-quality Flames, streaking out towards the front line of slowly approaching Grimm, as Beowulfs, Creeps, Ursas, and more walked in lockstep, along with larger Grimm serving as living siege engines, like King Taijutus, Death Stalkers, and the ten-feet tall, long necked, Buffalo-like Catoblepauxs, whose main weapon was their poison breath, which Grimm were immune to.

But, then again, so was I.

With a flap, I took off, following after the shots, like tiny falling stars in the fading light of almost arrived night, reaching behind myself to the basic harness I'd managed to finagle after yesterday's efforts, the compressed space loaded with a dozen spheres of Flame-Shot, as well as a single Ice-aligned one, just in case.

Popping the first of the normal ones out the top of the tube, I slammed my hands together, the reinforced glass cracking like an egg's shell and the conflagration exploding across me, as, with a flex of willpower, the prismatic blaze clung to my form, armoring me, the front line of marching Grimm lighting up as well, turning the dusky twilight into a riot of colors as screams of animalistic pain, rage, and fear ripped themselves from the unnatural throats of my foes, the formations that were struck with my Flames falling apart, but the others were continuing apace.

Nodding to myself, my Flame forming a helm I could easily see through, I dove, heading right into the nearest impact site.

Swooping down into the inferno, touching my Flame, I extended my control over it, even as the nearest formation, one of Ursa, started to charge my way, at first in perfect sync but quickly breaking up over the somewhat uneven terrain, the blank red eyes of the Grimm seeming almost frenzied as they charged like a true Grimm Tide.

Were I a normal Huntsman, I would be taken down by the shadowy sleuth in moments, ripped apart seconds after that.

But I was both Huntsman, and Dragon.

Now… How did he do this again? I thought, having seen Professor Tim pull this trick off a couple dozen times, to different extents, and while if I tried to do it with Dust alone, I'd likely kill myself, these Flames were Mine, and would Obey Me.

The inferno started swirling towards my body, rainbow fire covering me completely, as I closed my eyes, concentrating, trying to mold, no, trying to re-Create a technique and…

Yes.

I became the Flame, and the Flames were me, taking form, lifting me up, as I stretched out, not into the Demon that my instructor favored, but into a Dragon, as was proper.

Specifically, a constructed version of my Halfway form.

The Construct opened its sculpted eyes, and I could see, despite how little sense that made.

But fuck it, I was a Dragon, I didn't need to explain shit.

With a Roar, I counter-charged the formation, leaping over the front line of Grimm bears to land amongst the rest, lashing out with claws, wings, and tail, my Flames burning through the unnatural monsters, tearing through the formation, as another volley of Flame-Shot started landing around me, which I reached out to, and pulled on, rivers of prismatic incandescence streaming towards me as, with a flap of blazing wings, I lifted up and came down on a nearby Catoblepaux.

The Grimm bovine snarled, blowing a long stream of dark-green gas into my Construct's flaming face, enough to kill a civilian instantly, and drop a Huntsman's Aura like a stone.

It pinged my Defenses.

And that was it.

In return, I grabbed its mask, yanked it to the side, opened my construct's jaws wide, and struck, my Dragon-ish head giving me a much more forward bite profile, letting me sink Flame-teeth deep into its unarmored flesh, the creature giving out a gurgling wail as I ripped out its throat, which… spoke to me, on an instinctual level, as my Construct reflexively swallowed the bit of Grimm-flesh, only to gag, as, despite not actually eating it, the damn thing tasted metaphysically terrible, like what I'd expect long-rotting flesh to be like, though I, thankfully, had no first-hand experience for that observation.

As I was distracted, more Grimm closed, but the streams of Flame I gathered to myself burned through them in the process, limiting their immediate numbers, and, throwing my hands out, I grabbed mental hold of the flying ribbons of incandescence, and turned, spinning them about into a whirlpool of rainbow fire that I spiraled into my slowly diminishing form, every burned Grimm negating a bit of my Flame, and thus I constantly needed to replenish it.

Taking off, I'd stopped part of the advance, but my sector was wide, and the other advancing enemy formations had not stopped to watch. Prismatic blazes dotted the battlefield, disrupting Grimm nearby them, but it wasn't enough.

I reached my hand, my physical hand, backwards, grabbing another sphere and breaking it, adding to my form, while calling upon that Flame, I strafed the front line, and breathed, not from my reserves, but from the inferno surrounding me, leaving a long line of Grimm-death to cut off a charging Creep formation, the smaller monsters burning up near-instantly.

Coming down in another pre-existing blaze, stopping a regiment of Beowulfs, tearing into them, I cast my gaze across the battlefield, as while this was good, I could do better.

Dead Grimm started to build up around me, throwing themselves at my blazing form to smother my Fire with their bodies, if nothing else, so I took off again, bodily rolling my shrinking construct through another prismatic blaze, my Construct growing as I did so, and, with another Roar I launched myself into another group, my enemies falling before me. I twisted to dodge a King Taijutsu's white head, its black head coming right after, which I ducked under, my Construct light for its size, or it at least felt that way, as I slammed my hand under its open jaws, a Flaming claw tearing through its underbelly, and ripping it apart.

Sensing something coming from behind, I turned, and saw a Triclops charging me, the kind of Grimm which had caused a Grimm Tide months before now just another fighter in this army, but one still strong enough that, as I tried to match its strength with my own Dragon might, the forty-foot tall Alpha not breaking stride as it kicked through my ten-foot tall Construct, I realized that might not have been wise.

Instead of bringing it to a halt, like I'd thought to, its bone-encrusted foot slammed into my armored chest and fired me out through my 'Half-Dragon's' flaming back, the Flame Construct exploding outwards without me to hold it in place, at least burning my attacker and buying me time.

Or it would've if I wasn't immediately jumped by a pack of Beowulves.

Breathing a gout of Flame around myself bought me a moment, as I pulled another sphere, broke it, and brought the new inferno under my control. The Alpha tried to wade through the Flames I left behind, before, with a pained growl, the semi-intelligent Grimm thought better of it and started to stalk around it, still towards me, giving me another moment to get my head back in the game.

With a distant whine, another barrage of Flame-Spheres landed, one hitting the Triclops directly in the chest, causing the Alpha to bellow in agony as it was covered with its antithesis, using its enormous black and white mitts to try and put out the Flames, possessing so much mass that it could, to a certain extent.

Frowning, I tried to figure out how to handle it, as it was deceptively fast, my Construct's detonation only harming it a little, but… but my ability to use Aura enhanced my other forms as well, and I'd already been fighting that way, from a certain point of view.

Gathering more Flames nearby, very glad I'd spent so much time and effort making the Flame-Shots that fell like intermittent hail, I recreated my Half-Dragon Construct, and, taking a flying leap backwards, to a cleared area, I focused.

And transformed.

My body expanded, filling out the Construct, as the intensity of my internal Flames strengthened, and my ability to control them on a mass scale increased as well, packing my Construct tighter and tighter, until I was no longer floating inside a roiling Creation of Flame.

I was wearing it as solid armor.

Breathing down on myself, packing it even more densely, it was a bit of a struggle, but countless hours under The Wizard's tutelage paid off, creating overlapping plates that completely obscured me from view, still looking from the outside like a Construct, and, most importantly, not giving away what lay just below the surface.

And, while I knew it might just be Dragon Arrogance, I couldn't help but think the Grimm I was facing hesitated, looking upon me, if not in truth, then closer to it than almost any surviving Grimm had in this world.

With a Roar, I charged it, but, as it moved to kick once more, I shifted tactics, not using brute force, like I had against the lesser Grimm, but forging a sword and shield out of Flame, pulled from my Reserves. Re-Creating Bahamut in pure magical incandescence, I flared my wings out, letting me glide around its kick, a compressed Flame blade lashing out to slice into the Alpha's leg, the conflagrant weapon skittering against armor, only scratching it, but then finding the join-points of its natural protections and sinking into the black flesh underneath, though even that still provided some resistance.

The Triclops bellowed in pain, twisting about with what would have been surprising speed, but I could feel the hit coming through my Aura, and was already moving, mimicking Blake as I used a tiny bit of decompressed Flame to force myself backwards, leaving the prismatic plume to burn its dropping fist with a messy 'clone' of my own, another flap taking me back even further as the giant creature lunged for me through the blaze, uncaring of its stance, bone-covered mask twisted with Hate, all three blank eyes glaring my way.

The creature scrabbled after me, on all fours, enraged but ungainly, over-committing the way Pyrrha had taught me not to, allowing me to reverse course with a mid-air blast, like Yang, and come right at it, almost on a collision course, but twisting, at the last moment, I passed over its head, sinking my blade directly into the topmost of its three enormous eyes.

I held tight to my blade, just for a moment, as my full body-weightslammed into my foe's skull through my weapon, before, with a flex of will, I warped my weapon enough for it to slide free, flapping up and away into the air, as the creature, four times my size, bellowing in agony, turned and tried to grab me, its other hand holding its now ruined socket.

Other Grimm surged around us, moving for the wall, and while I wanted to stop them too, I had to trust the Defenders could hold off the dregs of the tide, more Flame-Shot falling all around me.

Looking in one direction, Pyrrha was almost floating across the battlefield, waves of blades spinning about her like streams of steel petals, rising and falling in interweaving patters, and tearing apart everything in her way, a train sized King Taijutsu crashing down upon her, but, with Wuxia levels of weightlessness, the gladiatrix gracefully leapt out of its way, touching down to run almost horizontally along its side, while, in the process, carving through its flesh with a hundred spinning blades like a living buzzsaw in a way that, and it might just be the Dragon part of me talking, was hot as fuck.

Glancing the other way, what I had to assume was Port was laying waste to a dozen of what looked like Creep Alphas, each the size of a tank, the creatures diving in and out of the ground like landsharks, the group of them trying to hem the man in only to be caught and ripped apart one at a time themselves instead, but instead of his normal outfit he was clad in armor of glistening crimson that I, unfortunately, did not have enough time to watch more closely.

Turning my attention back to my Sector, the Triclops had stopped its mad flailing, realizing I wasn't going to oblige and try and take advantage of its 'weakness', and I could feel another set of Flame Shot arcing in, keeping mental tally, meaning that they'd gone a third of the way through their stocks, but, with my Flames burning everywhere, the enemy advance had been stopped cold, or maybe hot, and I had an Alpha to kill.

Struggling to its feet, the Triclops snarled in rage and, bending its knees, leapt for me.

But, while it was fast, that put it on a parabolic arc, while I was nowhere near as constrained.

A simple flap and flip took me over its grasping hands, and let me come down, even as it tried to turn, sending me crashing into the back of its neck, Flame-Blade biting deep, feeling like I caught on something, despite the fact that Grimmflesh was a solid, bright red substance, and, seeing one of its enormous hands coming, to slap me into mush, I put my Flame-shield on top of the Flame-blade, merging the two with a thought, creating nothing so much as a giant incandescent thumbtack

Launching myself away at the last minute, Aura-assisted muscles giving me enormous speed, I slipped away right before the car-sized hand slammed into the space I just was, forcing the Flame-weapon deep, the Triclops bellowing in unexpected pain, and, reaching out a clawed hand myself, I twisted, further compressing the Construct for a single moment, before letting go of my control over it.

With a Detonation of my Flame, the Alphas head exploded- no, it was fired off like a shaken champagne bottle's stopper, flying for the battlements of Gabbro, whups, but, while I wanted to take a moment and savor my victory, a company of Brucha fired a volley of bone-white quills my way, the porcupine Grimm serving as archers in this invading army, requiring me to breathe out a temporary shield of Flame, like Sepper taught me, my focus was dragged back to the fight.

I tore across the battlefield, surging through prismatic infernos to keep myself armored, taking everything I'd learned about Aura use and further refining it to my larger form. My larger, stronger wings were both shields and cudgels, my sinuous tail both blade and spear, my claws blades, and my bite death.

Ursas roared their challenge and charged, but, despite being my size, with a concentrated force of will, the kind that Ren and Nora could use as easy as breathing, I tossed them aside, sometimes whole, sometimes in pieces, spinning about like Ruby to use my Flame-clad tail, now bearing a blazing blade, to hew threw my opponents, Roaring in joy at the feeling of battle, meeting a pair of Ursa Alphas, matching them in strength, though not mass, and tearing them asunder, the creatures tough, but slow, while I was a stream of violence, Flame, and Grimm destruction.

Once I'd fought back the army, which was still slowly marching out, tens of thousands of dead Grimm on the field, I shifted back down to a smaller, weaker form, and toggled the radio that rested in my ear.

"Sitrep, everyone?" I requested.

"Jaune!" Blake shouted, out of breath. "Where have you been!"

I blinked, then facepalmed, my Flame Construct copying the motion.

Right, when I transformed my gear melded with my body, I realized, stating, "Busy killing Alphas. Something I did messed with my Comms. You all doing good?"

Pyrrha chimed in, "Doing quite well, Jaune! We'll have to thank Ruby when we get back to Beacon!"

"I can see," I smiled. "Blake, Yang?"

"We're, good!" the brawler exclaimed, mid-punch from the sound of muted explosion. "Good thing you brought a fuckton of ammo! Had to resupply a couple times!"

More like pulled them from my Domain's armory, but same diff, I shrugged, nodding, "Good to hear. Port?"

"HAVING A JOLLY GOOD TIME!" the man yelled, and, looking at him, his red-clad form had grabbed a Beowulf Alpha and was using it to beat the rest of its pack to death, which… nice. "BUT I'M NOT SO SURE ABOUT OUR COMPATRIOTS!"

I frowned, taking off, going higher and higher until I could get a look and… they'd already used the Flame Chest, the blaze creating a rainbow moat, the Grimm spilling out over into Port's sector, along with Blake & Yang's, but the defenders there were handling it.

Checking my Sector, the Army of Grimm that was still marching out of the ravaged treeline, a mile away, seemingly without end, infernos of Flames dotting the battlefield, burning until they were quenched with the flesh of Grimm, and tried to figure out-

My Defenses rang, as something stuck them.

I paused, concentrating, gliding, until… there.

It was a large shape, lizard-like, with eight legs and covered with armor, but, more than anything else, it was its eyes.

It's glowing green eyes.

Switching my comms to the Defender's channels, and, wow, that was a lot of yelling, I commanded, "Basilisk in Sector Two! Do not look until it has been cleared!"

That particular kind of Grimm was rare, only Advanced versions having been found, and Alphas, like that one clearly was, and it looked like an old Alpha at that, were known to kill entire teams if they weren't careful.

They weren't fast, or strong, or even particularly smart, but they didn't need to be, because merely meeting their gaze turned you to stone. Even not looking it in the eye would slowly kill you, unless you blindfolded yourself completely, as mere reflections of its glowing eyes were enough for it to work through, but looking at it dead on was almost instantly lethal to normal people, even a Huntsman's Aura levels plummeting when they did so, until it broke and they died too. What the damn things were, however, was tough as shit, and, looking more closely, feeling a dozen smaller pings, the Alpha wasn't alone, but it'd brought all its Basilisk friends.

Thankfully, my eyesight as a Dragon was crazy good, so I was the only one that would've seen it clearly, ironically getting the full brunt of the effect, but whatever Behemoth that was in charge of this was pulling out the big guns, as that group alone could probably kill most of the town, rendering the defenders unable to do more than fire blindly as the Grimm slooowly climbed the walls, ready to turn all who dwelt within into unliving stone.

Well, if they're going to bring out their A-Game, I might as well up my own.

Not going Full-Dragon, that was a last resort measure, only to use when the Behemoth showed up, and if we couldn't take it otherwise.

But, I had other tricks up my sleeve.

My control over my Flame had improved, and I believed I was ready, but there was no way to know for sure until I did so, and I might be wrong.

Then again, I was a Dragon.

"Fuck it," I smiled, reaching into a pocket inside my armor, and pulling out a vial full of Dust.

Hard-Light Dust.

Reaching to my harness, I pulled the single adulterated Flame-Shot I'd slotted down there, this one full of Ice aligned Flame, and turned around, throwing it behind me, the shot slamming into a dead Ursa, the creature's armor enough to break the glass, the blue-white inferno exploding outwards, and, keeping my hand extended, I shaped the Flames up and out, until they made a gently curving hemisphere all around me, and, letting it go, the arching Flames, with a Crack!, Froze into ice.

Now hidden from sight, I turned back around, towards the mass of Basilisks, my Defenses rendering their glare powerless, and transformed once more, growing into my half-way form, and gazing back at my foes, vial still in my hand, seemingly tiny, but that meant little when one dealt with magic.

Centering myself, I reached out mentally to the bits of purified element that I held in my grasp, and took it within myself.

I felt myself stiffen, as the Flame within me seemed to vanish, sucked into the void, but that was expected.

What was not expected for the Flames all across the battlefield to sudden shudder, bending my way, as if in a stiff wind, before rising up in prismatic streams, rushing towards my mouth, twisting over each other as if caught in an invisible whirlpool that, following my instincts, I opened my jaws wide to inhale, more and more rainbow Flame flowing into… nothing it all.

And then there was the noise, faint, and vaguely artificial, but quickly growing in intensity.

waa-waa-waa-waa-waa-waa-

Dropping onto all fours, having learned from last time, I opened my scarred jaws wide, focusing on my Aura, strengthening my throat, my mouth, my teeth, my everything for the damage it would take,

Waa-Waa-WAa-WAa-WAA-WAA

The sound built for almost half a minute, and was cacophonous now, my accidental amphitheater refracting it back, the Grimm before me, which had been content to slowly bring their killers up to the walls, had broken into a mad sprint, well aware that something was going to happen, but they'd started too far, waited too long, and I realized part of me was glowing, a bright, harsh white, that cast knife-edged shadows across the mass of Grimm, red eyes wide with impotent Hate.

I felt the tipping point hit, and all of the Flame that had gone came back with a vengeance, the feeling rising as, remembering my training, I shifted my aim to the left, and then all was POWER.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

A flood of pure energy escaped from my lips, far more than I could truly control, only able to shape it, to direct it, to spin it, into a solid beam as, struggling against the stream, like it had momentum all of its own, I slowly swung my head to the right, covering the entire battlefield with utter destruction, nothing able to stand against me, my eyes squinted against the scouring radiance I didn't breathe, I unleashed.

From one side to the other, I barely made it, before the torrent of Annihilation finally petered out, leaving me gasping, as I shifted down, into my humanoid form, woozy from the effort. Checking my Scroll, that'd eaten through most of my Aura, instead of just the half I'd expected, but, with as much as I had, twenty-four percent remaining was still acceptable, and, unlike last time, I didn't seem to have been hurt through the 'shield of my soul', so, progress!

Finally looking up, at the battlefield, it… didn't exist.

No, it was still there, but everything more than three feet off the ground had just ceased to be, all the way to the forest, which was just stumps and fallen treetops looking like so many scattered twigs, and… was that hill always slanted like that?

More importantly, though, was what I didn't see.

That being Grimm.

Toggling the Comms back on, I couldn't help but smile, as I stated, "Sector Two Clear. Where should I go next?"

Music:
Army killers - Dragon Age: Inquisition - Your Heart Shall Burn In Battle
Sensing something coming - Dragon Age: Inquisition OST - Siege of Adamant [extended]
Alpha to kill - Dragon Age Inquisition - 30. Let The Skies Boil OST [High Quality]
Tricks up my sleeve - "Myths" by Alex Productions
Tipping point hit – Godzilla Atomic Breathe Sound

AN: Damn it feels good to be a Dragon.