Seventh Talon_Dragonrider's Fury

by James Patton

A small woman stepped out the door, and she lightning arced out of her palm and struck the drake. He could feel a tingle where some of the electricity transferred between them.

  Even stunned the drake fought against it, its bloodlust so hot that he started to fear it would attack again. He canceled his spell but prepared to engage the rabid beast if needed.

  “Malinite I presume? Was wondering how long it was gonna take ya to show up.” The small woman told him.

  “What happened to her?” He asked, rubbing his talon across his shredded throat. Moving so that the giant was between him and the drake.

  “Vegeta. The spore has infected her.”

  “I need to touch her. It is the only way to share an ability, we both ranked up our Dragonrider class ability, so she should able to take one of my-”

  “You touch her, and I will kill you,” Taro growled, and he believed the drake, just did not understand what his role in all this was.

  “I need to do so. I have a passive that will cure her, and she can take it from me, but only if we touch, flesh to flesh. A finger is fine.”

  “Taro, he is speaking truthfully,” Aila said softly, but the situation was noticeably less tense. “Reach through the window; you should be able to touch her.”

  He just nodded to her and did as she said.

  The girl’s flesh was pale green, and she mumbled incoherently. He pressed a finger against her forehead and urged the girl to take Inner Fire. It was her best chance.

  “Uhnnn.” As her mouth opened, he saw the web-like structures forming inside. Her teeth and flesh were still whole, but she was starting to change.

  “Take it you foolish elf. Take the ability!” He said roughly but heard the growl of the drake. It was very close.

  Boh

  Chapter 56

  Inner Fire

  Even the strong are brought low by disease and famine.

  -from Matriarch of Sorrows

  The fever dreams were tearing her mind apart, and she relived her worst fears. Vasia was in the dwarven city, and she perched on the broken throne, darkness swirling all around her. Arrayed before the Dark Queen were rows and rows of drakes, awaiting her orders.

  The dark queen looked towards her as if she could see her.

  “Go my pets. Boh has outlived her usefulness, and I have what I need. Destroy her and all those that aid her.”

  Malinite was there too; he looked the same. He was trying to tell her something, but she could not make out the words. The queen looked over at her hatchling but said nothing.

  She turned to flee, but Midnight stood before her. And for the briefest of moments, she felt safe.

  “You let me die.” He told her.

  “No. You told me to run.”

  “You were supposed to fight alongside me. Kill our enemies. You left me to die alone. Coward.”

  She knew she was crying, but she could not refute his words. Before she could try to reconcile with him, his flesh fell away, and she saw a zombie version of the big dragon.

  Vine-like structures grew across the surface of his skin, and white spiderweb-like material spreads across the areas his flesh once existed.

  Midnight was now a plant beast, and it was coming for her. She pulled her weapons and started shooting her mentor over and over. The clip never emptied. The bullets struck, and wood splintered where its flesh should have been.

  She started to weave her hands creating spells she could not comprehend, and a Fireball formed followed by Spider Lightning. Next, it was raining boulders, and the spells kept coming.

  Midnight hunted her while Vasia was laughing hysterically. As fast as Midnight was, she was always a step ahead of him. Until finally, she had nowhere else left to run. Ahead of her was Malinite and she screamed, long grief filled scream that flooded the room with despair and frustration.

  “Take it you foolish elf. Take the ability!” Malinite told her.

  “Stop. Please.”

  “Take it, please.” He said much more softly, and she reached out to him. She felt warmth fill her being and text appeared before her eyes that she could not quite understand.

  You have learned Inner Fire.

  Inner Fire [Secondary Passive] - This ability benefits from a high Willpower.

  - Affinity: Fire

  - Restrictions: Need at least 3 Willpower

  - Effect 1: Incinerator - Your heart is not like a small furnace, and as your blood flows through it, it will clean toxins, poisons, and infections. Ever 3 Willpower increases the heat, increasing resistance.

  - Effect 2: Ice Soldier - Your heart pumps hot blood, this blood spreads throughout your body increasing your resistance to Ice and Cold based spells and afflictions. This increases the rate at which you gain Fire Affinity, but every 5 Willpower will reduce the rate you gain Fire Affinity.

  - Effect 3: Inner Strength - Your body is never cold, it is always in a pre-workout warm up state. This gives you a Strength boon, and for every 10 Willpower you gain 1 Strength. [At your current Willpower you gain Strength +1. Your Strength is now 3.

  Her blood was on fire, and she clawed at her face and skin to release it. Midnight had pinned her to the floor while she was dealing with Malinite. He stood over her, the fungus on his body was starting to wither, but his talon was almost bigger than her.

  “Why? Why didn’t you come back for me?” She let the tears and grief fall. The loss of Midnight tore her world apart, but she did want to face how much she missed the big dragon.

  She was that scared kid in the hospital again, fighting for her life but lacking the energy to do so. Even in her lucid moments, when she knew she was in a feverish state, she did not even bother trying to log out. Leaving was just as disheartening as letting the fever finish her.

  “Are you asking about me? Or your father?” Midnight asked her, which only made her sob even harder. “Boh, you never needed me. You have to see how strong you are, and look at the people gathered around you. They are following you. In my experience, people do not follow the weak.”

  “Who are you?” She asked, and in a lucid moment, she realized she was not talking to Midnight.

  “They call me Vegeta, but that's stupid, and not my name.”

  “So I am infected?”

  “Yes, but I will not claim you. I did not intend to claim all the people I did. I am a victim of my nature. I went through a metamorphosis, like a butterfly.”

  “Then what are you now?”

  “Time will tell. My name is Goku.”

  Boh started laughing and wiped the tears out of her eyes. Finally realizing why she remembered Vegeta. “Seriously?”

  “Hah, no. I once had a rider like you. A Champion and his nickname for me was Vegeta. My real name is Synth. Tell your friends that Inner Fire was a good idea, and it probably saved your life.”

  “So am I going to die?”

  “Nope. I am killing the fungus off as we speak, but I’m afraid I’ll not be able to undo it fully. We will always be connected, but I am removing the spore from your blood. You will no longer be contagious.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Your Nightwalk is gone, it was how I infected you. Luckily no one was Nightwalking at the time, so it did not spread. I cleaned that up, but I’m afraid this is where your Nightwalk goes from now on. Welcome to my … Fungalwalk?”

  “Oh god help us all. I am not calling this a Fungalwalk. Think of a better name.”

  “Fine, but truthfully this is probably safer for you. The glade is full of traitors and spies, and you should trust no one from that place.”

  “Why the nightmarish stuff?”

  “That was not my doing; it was yours. You are a mess, and if half of what I witnessed had even a kernel of truth, you have not had it easy. I feel bad that I have added to your grief.”

  “Synth, I am not mad or angry with you, and I forgive you. Tell me something, is Ramerin safe then? Or do your plant zombie things still exist?”

  “I sent them all to fight against the naga and
the salamanders. Especially the salamanders as fire will burn them up. Safe is relative, but if you burn the parts of the city where the fungus was thickest, it should be fine. Out of curiosity, why do you ask?”

  “Drakes. Thousands of them are invading. I’ve never seen Haase, but I doubt they can stop them.”

  “You are not in Haase; you are in Crosspointe, a military outpost at the crossroads. If what you say is true, you are on the front line. You better wake up now, and we will talk again soon. Wake.”

  The green dragon touched her forehead, and her thoughts sped up as she became aware of her body and surroundings once more.

  Boh

  Chapter 57

  Trust

  The best part of recovering from an illness is when I eat something and my stomach does not flip. I love food, and I am not over any illness until I can eat real food again.

  -from Boh, Audio Roll 2151

  Her eyes snapped open, and she started coughing up a green powdery substance. She rubbed her face and broke the vine like material and brushed the dead fungus from her body.

  “Boh?” Aila asked tentatively.

  “Aila! How much time until the drakes get here?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Less than a day.” A hulking giant of a man told her.

  “Holy shit, Goliath! Where the hell did you come from?” She barked out in surprise, and the big man surprised her by laughing. “Sorry, is there enough time to evacuate people?”

  “To where? Are ya are addled, girl? Ya’ve been out for almost two days. The closest city is Haase, and one drake could take out a whole crowd of refugees afore they made it a mile.”

  “I am not addled. And stop calling me girl. Ramerin is safe; we need to get people there now if we can. We need to warn the village outside the cave too.”

  “How do ya know all this?” Aila said with narrowed eyes.

  “Synth told me. He has left Ramerin, and he apologizes. He cured me too, well mostly,” she said, as she smiled at the pixie.

  “No, Malinite’s ability did.”

  “No. Inner Fire helped and it did save my life, but it was not enough. Synth and I are linked now, but I did not have time to ask him about it.”

  “Ya said Synth? That canna be, he died years ago.”

  “Well take it up with him next time you see him. He said he had not intended to land in Ramerin, but because his body was going through a metamorphosis, he sort of crashed there. He was changing, and only just now came out of his cocoon or whatever.”

  “Son of a bitch!” The giant said. “He became an Ancient.”

  “Aye, It would seem so.” Aila was still looking at her with those eyes.

  “You are sure Ramerin is safe?”

  “He told me that you might need to burn parts of the city where his fungus was thickest, but in its current state it won’t harm anyone.”

  “Daniel, I know you are out there. Get a group together and inspect Ramerin, see if the plant things are gone. And be careful, there is a war going on down there too.”

  “Yes sir,” a voice called from nearby.

  “Boh. Can we talk?” A dragon said from the window. “Taro might kill me if I stay much longer.”

  “Pretty sure I wouldn’t stop him, but I’m listening.”

  “I’m sorry. It does not make it right. I may never regain the respect of my peers, and I deserve no less. I have told the leaders here of my complicity in what we did to you, and I am here in spite of that.”

  “You are not Vasia. I do not like you, but I do not hate or blame you either. And your Matriarch?”

  “Our bond broke her hold on me, and the bond will override any command given to me. Vasia lied to me all my life; the bond is not slavery, it is freedom.”

  She tugged on the tip of her ear as she stared out the window at the Malinite’s scarred face. She saw the wounds from Vasia overlayed with another fresher injury. “Is that why you came, to honor the bond?”

  “I have. I know I am not the dragon you wanted. But what I do know is that I want to see Vasia dead, did you mean what you said? Will you kill her?”

  “I did. And I will” She told him but her voice was cold and her face hard.

  “Then I want to help. You have no reason to believe me or trust me, but I know you believe that. I want her dead, and I will never betray or dishonor our bond again.”

  “What of your curse?”

  “Gone. When my second heart was failing, Vasia sent me off to aid you and completed my mission. She used Submission to do it, and it did not stick. I am free, and I am no longer a puppet of hers or the spire. I’m not going back there, none of them will understand why I did what I did. But you will, and if you can forgive me, then maybe others will too.”

  “Why do you think I would accept you?”

  “I do not think you should. I would not if I were you.” Malinite’s voice hitched. “You were right. I was a coward. I- I was weak, and you shamed me. Never have I seen anyone stand up to the Dark Queen the way you did. You did not beat her with the strength of limb; you beat her with the strength of mind. You were the strongest person in that room. I wanted to honor the small woman that defied the Dark Queen. I was ready to strike at my queen and die for a nobler cause. It would have freed you, and maybe some would think it honorable.”

  “And why didn’t you? Sacrifice yourself, I mean.”

  “You called out to me, and I realized throwing my life away was a cowardly act. I made you a promise, not verbally or mentally, but by blood. I know it will be hard to gain that honor and trust back, but I refuse to be known as a coward.”

  “Taro?”

  “I don’t like it,” Taro said.

  “Taro.” Aila huffed.

  “Damn woman, you didn’t let me finish. I don’t like it, but I respect the decision. A dragon admitting weakness—well I have never heard of it happening.” Taro said, and she could see him standing at Malinite’s shoulder “However, you harm my bonded in any way; I will rip your head off your shoulders and dump your body in the Viperian Sea for the wyverns to devour you.” Taro growled.

  Malinite’s eyes widened as Taro talked. “I had not realized you two had bonded. I apologize to you as well, because I dishonored you both.”

  “I have a question?” The giant said. “My name is Geo by the way. My question is who sired you?”

  “Osric and Vasia.”

  Aila gasped, and Geo had his weapon half drawn.

  “I thought they killed all of Osric’s children,” Aila said. “How is it ya exist.”

  “I am the runt. I was left to die on a barren island, my wings not strong enough to carry me to safety. I was rescued and thought my queen dead. The headmaster Lochlan entered me into the Dragon Spire Academy, which put me in range of my Matriarch again. I am not ashamed of my lineage, but Vasia is no longer in her right mind.”

  “Damn, how big were your siblings if you are the runt?” Geo asked, but it was clear he did not expect an answer.

  They talked some more, but she was checking her messages.

  Event Reward: Warn Crosspointe

  - Speed +1, Speed is now 9.

  Journeyman Dragonrider [Malinite]

  At Journeyman rank you gain the following:

  - Acquire an additional Passive Skill Slot

  Primary Drache Bonuses:

  - Share one Secondary Passive skill.

  One Time Bonuses:

  - Agility +1, Agility is now 10.

  - Magic +1, Magic is now 12.

  Journeyman Drakerider [Taro]

  At Journeyman rank you gain the following:

  - Acquire an additional Active Skill Slot

  Skill Swap Bonus:

  - Rider and Drake can teach one another up to three Innate Skills of their choosing by touch alone. Choose wisely, beyond the first three everything else must be taught.

  One Time Bonuses:

  - Willpower +2, Willpower is now 15.

  - Magic +2, Magic is now 14.

&n
bsp; - Affinity with Fire +3%, Fire Affinity is now 82%.

  Adept Drakerider [Taro]

  At Adept rank you gain the following:

  - Acquire an additional Active Skill Slot

  Skill Swap Bonus:

  - Rider and Drake can share with one another a single Passive skill of their choosing

  One Time Bonuses:

  - Luck +1, Luck is now 6

  - Strength +1, Strength is now 4.

  - Magic +1, Magic is now 15.

  - Affinity with Fire +2%, Fire Affinity is now 84%.

  - Affinity with Earth +2%, Earth Affinity is now 83%.

  Taro [Bond Summary]

  Drache Type: Drake

  Dragon Affinity: Fire/Earth

  Dragon Age: Adult

  Empathic Connection: Medium

  Telepathic Connection: Medium - Can communicate telepathically up to 50 yards away.

  Trust: Companion

  Shared Ability:

  - [Not Shared] One skill of choice

  - [Not Shared] Three Innate skills of choice

  - [Not Shared] One Passive skill of choice

  After processing all of that, she stepped outside the house and walked to Taro. There were several dragons and people around she did not know, but they were all watching Malinite distrustfully.

  *About time! Do you trust Malinite?* Taro asked bluntly. *To communicate with me, send your thoughts and focus on me. Be careful if Malinite is around, if he is touching you he can hear your thoughts too. At Adept he can hear you at a distance.*

  *Hello?* She spoke tentatively at first.

  *I can hear you, go ahead.*

  *Malinite was extremely reluctant to bond with me. Flat out refused initially. She broke his wings with some power, just as she broke all the bones in my body. Do I trust him? Not sure, but I do believe he is sincere, and I believe he wants Vasia dead.*

  *Then I want to give you a skill that your kind sneer at, but please take it to ease my mind. If you are flying, I cannot protect you.*

  *Because you asked, I will accept it. Just send it. And— thank you for saving me.* She informed him and rested her head on his side, feeling a little dizzy. Not caring that Malinite watched.