PHOENIX

Chapter Sixty One: Dragon

The drop into the pitch black portal wasn't so bad with Dream holding my hand, but the shock from landing on solid ground rippled through my foot and continued to my ankle. Biting back the pain, I stand tall and move forward, allowing space for the next people to come through. As more people pile onto the obsidian ground, I stare up at the pale-yellow rock cliffs, not ready for the daunting task of climbing them.

"That seems to be the closest option," Dream observes, pointing out a strip of rock not too far away from our current floating island. Nodding at Dream's idea, we begin to make a path onto the island. Using what little materials we have left, a staircase is built leading up to where the rocks level out.

"Oh shit," Sapnap calls down from the top. "You guys have to see this".

Exchanging an anxious look with Dream, we climb up to the top, joining Sapnap's side.

Tall, inky-black obsidian towers rose from the ground, forming a circle around a separate podium made of bedrock. On the surface, hundreds of Endermen are scattered around the island.

"That's a lot of fucking obsidian," I breath, not being able to pull my eyes away from the towers.

"But look what's on top," Dream points.

"Are those...End Crystals?" Antfrost asks from behind me.

"I think we should be more concerned about that..." Tubbo pipes up.

"What the fuck-" Tommy shouts, staring above us.

The entire group follows his gaze, watching as a long, black reptile with wings flies over us. Its luminescent purple eyes glare at us, sizing us up as it moves swiftly through the air.

"A dragon?" Lani asks.

"Not just any dragon," Phil smiles. "That's the End Dragon. Never thought I'd get to see her".

"Aren't we supposed to fight a goddess?" Tommy chimes in, confusion in his voice.

"The goddess is the dragon, idiot," Drista replies.

"So we have to kill that?" Purpled questions.

"That is a she," I point out. "And I'm sure you're only making her more mad by acting like she can't understand us".

Just as I turn back around to look for the dragon, a giant purple ball of fire heads right towards my face. Reacting quickly, I sprint sideways, narrowly avoiding being hit.

"Watch out!" I shout, trying to warn the others.

With my warning, everyone moves out of the way, but not entirely unscathed. A few people have to put out purple fire from their clothing, which turns to an acidic liquid in seconds.

"Holy shit, that stuff almost touched my skin!" Punz curses.

"We need to be cautious," Puffy advises.

"We also need to not make the Endermen mad," Fundy adds. "Eyes on the ground guys".

"These are very good points," I agree, looking at Dream and Phil, knowing they are the most knowledgeable about what's happening right now. "But I think we might need to start attacking her".

"True, but there must be a reason that there are End Crystals up there," Dream cuts in.

"Dream is right, and we can only do so much damage while she is flying around. We might have to wait until she gets closer to the ground," Phil responds.

"But we can use arrows and tridents while she's in the air, right?" Sam offers.

"Yes, let's start by spreading out and using ranged weapons," I announce.