Friday 21 August 2015

Nameless: Liquid Fire

[Day 22 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

The red robed figure applauded the four remaining adventurers as they finally entered his chamber at the top floor of the Shadowstar Temple. Not one to hesitate, Tanglor let out a loud battle cry as he rushed straight at his target and was caught completely by surprise when the figure tossed off the robe right at him and quickly transformed into a large red dragon!

Since the ornate ceiling here was much taller than any floor before, the monster had no problem extending its wings as it roared back at the interlopers. Confused and terrified by the beast's horrible visage Tanglor could only quake in his boots and wet himself as the great beast opened its maw wide and bathed him in liquid fire, leaving nothing but a charred skeleton clutching a melted axe.


The girls who were farther back had more time to evade, and flanked the beast, weaving under and jumping over claw strikes and tail swipes while trying to land attacks of their own. It soon became clear that light slashes would not pierce the creatures armored scales so, with grit teeth and careful timing Nessa rammed both her blades deep into the dragon.

The beast responded with a heavy strike of its own, and being unable to retrieve her weapons or dodge properly Nessa could only try block the attack poorly, the force of which knocked her off her feet. Coughing blood and in agony she was horrified to find the last two digits on her left hand had been severed.

Amber, thinking that it was her chance to strike, then leaped upon the back of monster thinking that it would be eager to finish Nessa off. In mid leap she realized her mistake as it suddenly turned around with its maw wide open, catching her upper half in its mouth with such force that she dropped her two handed sword.

Not wasting any time the dragon bit through her and using a free claw ripped Amber's legs away, tossing them aside while it swallowed the rest of its still screaming meal by tilting its head back. Nessa could only look on in shock as the bulge in the monster's throat that used to be her ally quickly made its way down to it's belly.

The swallowing action gave Drisana the opening she was waiting for though as she quickly charged in, picked up Amber's discarded blade and sliced deeply through the beast's long neck, causing it to drop its head. With as much force as she could muster she then thrust the blade upwards, piercing through the tissue underneath the jaw, up through the tongue, through its brain and out the other side.

Its eyes wide with surprise, the dragon stumbled backwards and lost its balance, crashing through the wall and falling to the distant ground below. Drisana peered out from the large hole and confirmed that the monster was indeed dead before seeing to Nessa's injuries. It was fortunate that this floor was well furnished too and held enough materials that the girls could re-purpose into helping them climb down safely.

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