Amber eyes flitted around the room, taking in the rows of benches above. She didn't like this place at all. It reminded her too much of the Meteorena in Pyresia. Part of the year, the meteor crater was used as a training ground for fighters, dragons or otherwise. But it was also used for entertainment as gladiators fought each other or other kinds of beasts for money. Or to earn money for their owners. None of this made sense to her. She could easily fly out.
Getting Raffey out would be tougher, though Drache knew her wings were just strong enough to carry a human. Or a keremis. Whatever.
Everything got quiet for a moment and the half-dragon turned back to her companion, "What is it?" Her snout panned slowly as she followed his gaze, watching the trickle of blood work its serpentine way towards the portal.
"Oh, fuck me sidewa--..."
Not knowing what to expect, as soon as the surface of the portal change hue, the dragoness cringed back. One of her wings even swept in front of her, instinctively protective as she squinted. The hellish dome passed through them and rose towards the ceiling, and Drache didn't even bother testing it to see if she could get through. Whatever this was, a mere archaeologist wasn't going to be able to stop it.
The sickly sweet smell washed over her nostrils, almost cloying in its strength as it banished the sour odour from before. They'd never even discovered what was causing it. It was almost fresh, reminding Drache of the rainforest after a rain. Or the inside of one of the gemstone-glass greenhouses. Someone had told her once that the plants purified the air inside.
She began cursing herself under her breath, admonishing her own lack of care and heedlessness. Her draconic words flowed quick and harsh before she turned to Raffey and said in Common. "Yeah, sure didn't want to miss this. I don't know if my magic is strong enough to break through."
Luckily, she didn't have to worry about it. The light in the room shifted as the weird blobby things on the ceiling started to move, and then IT appeared. "Oh. Well now. That is just fantastic."
A growl ripped from her throat as the nasty-looking creature arrived, and she could simply feel that whatever it was, it was infinitely worse than it looked, which was saying a lot. It's name burned across her brain and the dragoness clawed at her temples, a shrill scream hissing through her teeth as she tried to fight the loathsome presence. She wasn't even sure if she was breathing anymore and staggered back, leaning haphazardly against the stone wall over where Raffey had fallen to his knees.
The voice was huge. Far too big. It made Laurel's sweet voice seem like nothing more than a tiny ember in a volcano. It took time just for her to realize what it was saying, let alone retaliate.
The intent to eat them was clear. And not just eat, but devour them, soul and all. Drache was far from religious, but this more-than-just-death threat was panic-inducing on a level she'd never known before. A half-dragon generally had more to worry about in this life rather than the next one. The fact that the creature called her "corrupted" meant little. Just another insult hurled in her direction, nothing she hadn't been told before. Had she realized the full implication of what the monster was suggesting...well...it was well that she did not.
The fear curdled like something cold and foul in her belly. The creature's presence didn't improve, but after the first wave of horror she found it somewhat more bearable. Glancing down at Raffey, she watched him put his foot down and brace his javelin. It seemed almost laughably ineffectual.
The impulse to fly was almost overwhelming. Her wings were lifted high and she couldn't seem to shut them. But the last thing she wanted to do was die fluttering around like a moth trapped in a lantern that was slowly cooking it alive. If death was certain, she'd rather fly directly into the flame.
Briefly, her mind flitted down the list of things she had in her pack. She wasn't terribly organized, be she had a dragon's knack for knowing what was hers. And none of it would help.
Her clawed hand lifted to touch the bump in her pocket that was Cinder in his orb. "I wish you were awake, little one." She felt protective of it. Almost more angry that the little elemental could be in danger from Coria than herself. She supposed it was the most maternal feeling she'd ever had, or ever would have, since she'd never have children of her own.
Then her hand dropped to touch Raffey's shoulder before she started walking towards the monster. She'd faced a water serpent not that long ago and it had been one of the closest brushes with death in her life. And it hadn't prepared her at all for this. "Funny to hear promises of purity from something that looks like a turd cooking on hot lava. Hungry? Eat this."
She inhaled, possibly for the last time ever, and let the fire in her heart surge out in a ferocious roar. It was like holding a matchstick up against a charging tiger, but Drache didn't stop there. The swirling cone began to grow as she focused on it, trying to repeat what she had seen Cinder do in the dilapidated temple. It lengthened but grew narrower, finer, whiter, hotter. No longer a simple gout of smoke-belching orange, it was a fine line of white-hot that hurt her eyes. When her chest ran out of breath she kept the flame alive with her power, blasting it at the oozing thing. Heat. Glorious heat. It was inside her and all around, her scales corruscating with tiny flickers that seemed to erupt from between her scales and feed up into the magical ray. She kept it up as long as she could, pouring more and more into it. All her strength. What else could she do? Die?
Kaithe Dame,
Lyla,
xVampire3go,
Yankee,
deegee,
Obscene Symphony,
Fetzen,
Deadline,
Overlord Thraka,
Rexx
