by Dante Doom
Van landed atop the dragon's head and began to run down to the creature's back. The dragon was bucking and roaring hard as it engaged in claw-to-claw combat with Jet, but Van quickly pulled a hook from his belt and threw it at one of the little holes in the Emperor's wing. The words Success! You have hooked the dragon appeared as the hook snagged the hole. There was a rope attached to the hook, allowing for Van to scale up and down the dragon without fearing being dismounted by a sudden jerk or shift.
The back of the dragon was enormous, and Van couldn't see what was happening on the other side. But he could hear Sang shouting orders and the agony in Jet's voice as he roared. Van slid down the back of the dragon, making his way to the first wing. According to Jet, the wings of a dragon were pretty weak at their base. He placed both his feet against the back of the Emperor, hanging as if he were mountain climbing, and swung away with his hammer. The hammer smacked against the base of the wing violently and the words Weak Spot x2 damage! 400 damage appeared over his head.
"Yes!" Van shouted as he watched the Emperor's health drop down a little more. The Emperor let out a roar and shook, but Van held on. According to Bidane, most of the team had been equipped with potions of weakness spotting, meaning that this dragon would be in real trouble as soon as the rest of his army was ready to go. They were holding back, in case reinforcements were to arrive. Van was skeptical that the Emperor would be willing to fight this battle alone.
"You fiend!" Jet shrieked as he collapsed to the ground in a heap. Van glanced underneath him to see that Jet was writhing in pain, down to only 25 hit points.
"Hahahah, you may have the willingness to fight, Xevov," the Emperor said, "but that doesn't mean you have the skills for it. These players have spent years earning their ability to fight, and you? You come along and put on a dragon costume, thinking it will make you strong. You've got to earn the right to be strong."
Van felt the dragon shift as it began to descend towards Jet. He was extending his gigantic foot toward the fallen Xevov's head. If Van didn't so something to distract the Emperor quickly, he would finish off their most important ally.
"Rarrrw!" Van shouted at the top of his lungs as he ran along the side of the dragon and then leapt forward. The rope tightened as Van reached the end of the its length, and it carried him forward, allowing him to swing around the dragon's body. He had been on the back, but now he grabbed onto the scales of the soft underbelly of the Emperor. This was, of course, a terrible idea, because the Emperor would grab him, but Van hoped it would be enough of a distraction for someone to heal Jet.
"Ahahahaha, you're honestly trying to attack my weak spot?" the Emperor asked as it seized Van. He was lifted high and, for a moment, Van could see that the carnage in the banquet hall was slowly subsiding. The Iron Dragons were emerging victorious.
"Let me go!" Van said as he felt the boney talons around him begin to squeeze. It wasn't enough to damage Van, but perhaps it was meant as a reminder that the dragon could easily kill him.
"Last chance," the Emperor said as he held Van high enough to make eye contact. "Join me or die!"
"Never!" Van grunted. He took a deep breath then and activated his No Bonds Can Hold Me power. A powerful surge of strength rippled through his body as he forced the dragon's claws open. He dropped down and swung wildly away from the Emperor. He was unable to control where he was going due to the nature of his fall, though, and so he began to swing back to the front of the dragon.
"Crap!" Van shouted as he saw another claw coming at him. He drew his dagger and cut the rope which has been holding him, electing to fall instead of dangle helplessly in front of the Emperor again. He sailed towards the ground, but fortunately his ring of Safe-Falling would protect him from any fall damage.
As he fell, he saw a torrent of flames come flying right towards him. The flames were bright orange, and he could hear the laughter of the Emperor in the background. Van grimaced and braced for maximum pain. A claw reached up then and snatched him from midair, pulling him away from the flames. Van looked behind him to see that Jet was the one holding him, and their ally now back to full health. Bidane was hanging from the side of his right wing and muttering prayer after prayer.
"Come on!" Sang shouted as she rushed up and began to fire arrow after arrow at the Emperor. Her shots kept bouncing off of the enemy dragon, and informing her that her damage rating was insufficient. "I can't seem to kill this bastard!"
Jet placed Van on his shoulder and began to fly backwards, allowing the Dragon Emperor to come right towards them.
"You ready for round two, Van?" Sang asked as she uncorked a potion and began to drink from it. Van could see the bonuses beginning to stack up next to her.
"Yeah," Van said distinctly and climbed atop Jet's head. He steadied himself then, and prepared to leap at his foe again.
As he waited for the Dragon Emperor to attack, the wall to the left of them blew open as two yellow dragons came crashing in. They roared angrily at the crowed. The other wall, on the eastern side, also blew open as a blue and a green dragon emerged.
"Hahaha," the Dragon Emperor laughed. "Now this was the kind of last stand that I was hoping for. These four are my strongest allies, and the most capable of the Draco."
"We shall consume you!" the four dragons all said in unison.
The threat elicited a sigh from the Emperor. "Of course, when you are the strongest of a Draco, you are also the simplest." Nevertheless, he turned to command them. "Kill these fools! Every last one of them, your Emperor commands you!" As the four dragons roared in unison, the Emperor floated away from Jet and merely hovered above his throne.
"After him!" Van ordered, but before Jet could swoop towards him, one of the yellow dragons flew up and bit Jet on the neck. Jet turned his own body in mid-air and began to fiercely claw at the yellow attacker.
Van lost his balance immediately and fell off of Jet. He smacked the ground hard, but fortunately he wasn't too far from the floor, so the damage was minimal at best.
Sang landed next to him, gracefully touching down to the floor with both feet.
"Dragon Force!" Van bellowed at the top of his lungs. "Go!!!"
The wall where Jet had originally emerged echoed with cheers as the real Iron Dragon force came pouring out. Nearly a thousand had been waiting for the go-ahead, and as they swarmed toward the enemy dragons, the Emperor laughed heartily.
"Do my eyes deceive me? What effort, to mask all of those soldiers with invisibility!" He boomed, "You really want to keep your planet, don't you?"
"Screw you!" Van shouted back at the dragon as he pointed his warhammer at the Emperor. "I'm coming for you next!"
"I am trembling with terror," the Emperor gleefully shouted back. Before Van could run over to make good on his promise, though, the blue dragon landed right in front of him, hissing loudly.
This dragon was smaller than the other two and looked more like a Komodo dragon than a traditional dragon. Its wings were small and its body was squat. Being so low to the ground also meant that it would be hard for Van to attack its underbelly, where it would be weakest.
"You are an affront to ussssss," it hissed. "We will consume your bones!"
Van grinned and raised his hammer high. "I'd like to see you try!" he taunted the creature. Sahara rushed up to his side. She was carrying a long trident, which was glowing bright red.
"I'm right by your side, Van!" Sahara said as she flourished her weapon.
Van began to circle to the right of the blue dragon and readied himself for an attack. It had a high amount of hit points, nearly 4,000, but it wasn't going to be as buffed up as the Emperor. And Van's Fierce Rage power was still going pretty strong, so he knew he could make short work of the dragon. He tightened his grasp around his warhammer and rushed toward it.
As he ran forward, the dragon let out a massive shriek that pushed him backwards, interrupting his charge. You are dizzy his UI informed him as the world around him started to spin rapidly. Van tried to continue moving forward, but
each step that he took only made him more confused on where the dragon actually was.
"I've got your back!" Sahara called out as she lowered her trident into a spear form and charged at the blue dragon. It shrieked at her, as well, and she dropped her weapon to the ground. "Ahhh! My head!" she cried as she slipped and fell to the ground.
Van could see that the blue dragon was walking towards him, and he swung his hammer a few times, only to hit empty air. He staggered forward then, but was unable to stop the dragon from biting down on his body, hard. Van's armor soaked up the majority of the damage, but he watched his health drop down to 2,400 points. That was a high hit.
He felt the jaws tighten around him as he was lifted into the air. The dizziness was still being applied and, as he was being lifted, he felt like vomiting. You are being crushed came a notification from the UI, and Van's health began to drop by 50 points every few seconds. He tried to activate his No Bonds Can Hold Me power, but it was still refreshing from the last time he had used it. It would be nearly 3 minutes before it was available, and he would be long dead from the crushing damage by that point.
"A little help here!" Van shouted as he struggled in vain to break free of the tight jaws of the dragon.
"Coming!" Sang replied. He glanced over to see two copies of her running toward the blue dragon. He wasn't sure if it was the dizziness or if someone had used the Mirror Self spell on her.
She ran up and began to fire arrow after arrow at the dragon, but it merely growled at her and swiped at her with one of its claws. The arrows were bouncing off.
"I can't see any weak spots!" Sang shouted to Van, who was still trying to break out of the grip. The jaws were tightening even harder now, and really starting to hurt.
"It's gotta be the stomach," Van said. "Get it to rear up or something and shoot it."
"How? Politely ask it?" Sang shot back.
"Focus on solving the problem and not criticizing me!" Van gasped as he heard his armor starting to break. He flailed his legs and realized that, while his arms and armor were being tightly pinned by the jaws, his legs were relatively free to move around. This gave him an idea, at least. He very slowly tapped his foot upwards, trying to remember the facial structure of the dragon. He remembered that, like a Komodo dragon, the blue dragon's eyes were on the sides of its head. He could probably reach one with his foot. He slowly tapped around until he felt a sharp twinge as the creature began to tighten its grip even more. His health was down to 2,000 now, but he knew he had the right idea. He kicked with all of his might and heard the beast hiss and snarl, but it refused to let go. He kept kicking over and over again, though, until, finally, the beast snapped its head back and forth, letting go of Van.
"Haha!" Van said as he crashed onto the ground yet again. Was he going to fall every five minutes? He quickly rolled over and stood to his feet, preparing his hammer to repel the blue dragon. It narrowed its eyes and hissed at him.
Sang was standing next to Van and was holding her bow high. "These dragons are a nightmare," she said. "But our guys are holding their own against them."
"Are we gonna hold our own against that?" Van asked as he felt the dizziness finally wear off. The dragon had retreated about 40 feet away and was hunched down, waiting for them to make their move. Sahara had managed to recover, as well, and was staggering back towards them.
"What's the plan?"
"That thing wants us to come to it," Van replied. "As soon as we get within range, it'll shriek and dizzy us."
"Maybe we should put something in our ears, to block the noise," Sang said. She reached into her satchel and began to fumble around. "Maybe this would work?" She was holding up a few earplugs.
Van shrugged. "Not a bad idea." He grabbed the earplugs and put them in. "Alright, let me go first. If it works, put yours in and charge after him. If it fails, don't let it bite me again."
"Roger!" Sahara said as she grabbed the earplugs and popped them in. She squatted low to the ground and readied herself to charge.
Van's footsteps were extra loud with each step that he took as he approached the blue dragon. It was glaring at him with contempt. As soon as he walked within thirty feet of the dragon, it let out a roar that caused him to slide back a few inches, but otherwise he was unaffected.
"It worked! Charge!" Van yelled as he rushed at the dragon, his warhammer high in the air. The dragon, surprised at the fact that his shout hadn't worked, clambered forward to meet Van. Van swung his hammer hard and cracked the beast against its head as it snapped at him. The words 225 damage hovered above the dragon. The sharp teeth of the beast sank into Van's armor at the exact same time. The words 0 Defense due to Fierce Rage, automatic hit! 500 damage hovered above him. That dropped him down to 1,300, hit points, and that wasn't good at all.
Sahara came running up right next to Van as quickly as she could, thrusting her trident right into the nostrils of the blue dragon. 100 damage hovered above its head. It hissed and shrieked as the trident lodged itself into the nose of the creature, and then it reared back. As it bucked backwards, its body came up off the ground and, for a split second, the dragon's underbelly was exposed.
"Haha!" Sang shouted as she let loose a torrent of arrows. The arrows made a thwip twhip sound as they sank into the soft, weak area of the blue dragon. The words Weak Spot 1,600 damage floated above the dragon.
The blue dragon shrieked in agony as its health dropped down to 2,075 points. That was plenty of damage to dish out in a short amount of time. Its confidence dropped and it began to snap and hiss some more. It was backing up with each step, however. In the most literal sense, the creature was backing itself into a corner. It had crawled back to where the band had been playing and there was nowhere left for it to go.
Van sharply glanced behind him to see that the rest of the Iron Dragons were engaged in a furious battle. Jet, Bidane, and Fredlin were all locked into combat with two of the yellow dragons, and he could see dozens of soldiers hanging from the backs of both enemy dragons, using their hook systems to stay on. The green dragon was on the ground, dead, but there were a great many of Van's teammates who'd also been killed in the effort. Fortunately, Draco hadn't activated the reality zone system yet, so he knew these players would just respawn somewhere else.
"Should we leave it?" Sang asked as the dragon let out another cautionary shriek. "I'm willing to bet it'll be eight times more fierce since we have it cornered."
"If we leave it alive, it'll keep trying to kill us," Van said as he turned to face the monster. "We can't afford losing more people. Those yellow twins are being held back now, and the Emperor is still unreachable without Jet's help. Let's finish it off."
"Now we're talking!" Sahara said as she raised her trident high. "Let's show these lizard bastards that we mean business!"
"Damn straight!" Van said as he grabbed Sahara's trident. "But I’m taking this."
"Awww, why?" Sahara asked as she released it.
"Because my Fierce Rage will let me bypass its damage reduction," Van said as he eyed the clock. The Rage was down to only 8 minutes of runtime now. The moment that rage ended, he would be useless for the rest of this fight unless Bidane could cast her Holy Restoration spell on him.
"Go for it!" Sahara cheered as Van looked at the two and nodded. He locked eyes with the monster and saw that it was prepared to fight to the bitter end.
He narrowed his eyes and whispered, "This one's for Kylian." With that, Van rushed at full speed towards the dragon, activating his Berserk Charge ability. This would double any charge damage and, with the trident's spearing bonus, he would be doing triple damage. He was moving fast, too, but the dragon decided to change its tactics. It began to float in the air, its stubby wings beating rapidly.
Van kept on running, and just waited for the right moment. As the dragon took off to fly away from him, he leapt up with all of his might, allowing the Fierce Rage strength bonus to increase his leaping distance. As he lunged upwards, he extended his spear as far as it was going
to go. The trident's prongs crashed into the soft underbelly of the blue dragon. The words Critical Hit! Lethal Blow hovered above Van's head as he heard the creature let out another shriek. This time the shriek was one of pure agony, and they both came crashing to the ground. Van landed with ease, but was unable to roll out of the way as the body of the short, square dragon landed atop him.
"Van!" Sang shouted. "Are you alive?"
Van felt the pressure of the creature on him, but his increased strength made it relatively easy for him to throw the beast off to the side. He stood triumphantly as dragon blood poured down his face like sweat. He placed his fingers on his hands and smeared the blood across his entire face. Then he turned to look at the Emperor, who was watching him with extreme curiosity.
"I'm coming for you next!" Van shouted as he triumphantly held up his trident. "You think I'm scared of you? You think you're going to win this one? Think again!"
"What are you waiting for?" the Emperor bellowed back. Van thought he could hear a quiver in the voice of the beast, but he was unsure. "I’m up here. Come and show me what you're made of."
"Sang, I need to get up there, and quickly!" Van said as he pointed to the Emperor. He was hovering well above 100 feet, making it impossible to reach him without flight.
"We searched hard, but we could only get one Potion of Flight," Sang said. "It was made by a very low-level wizard, though."
"Does that matter?" Van asked as he held out his blood-drenched hand for the potion.
"It lasts 30 seconds," Sang replied as she took out a glowing purple bottle.
"That's enough for me to reach him," Van said. "And that's all I need."
"Well, good luck then," Sang said as she tossed the bottle to Van. He nodded at her and took a deep breath, then uncorked the bottle and swigged the potion.
Flight Enabled said the UI system as it informed him that he had a flight speed rating of 10 and a flight duration of exactly 30 seconds. There was no time for him to shout out any orders; instead, Van flew upwards as fast as he could. Fortunately, the potion's flight speed was high enough for him to be able to reach the draconic Emperor.
