The Dragonslayer (title is a w.i.p.)

Chapter 9

Armin inhaled a deep breath of air. He looked around and soon located his dunkleosteus. He climbed onto its back and started returning to the shore. Brashik was in a glade nearby, eating something. Armin hopped on his back and flew. Once they were above the first layer of clouds, Armin started looking around. While most things with wings could fly up here, only one does so commonly: Treyis-Devi. The blindingly bright dragon was easily spotted, even from miles away. Armin knew this would be the most difficult fight yet, so he readied Brashik. He gripped his sword tightly in his hand. Armin was within range to attack, and the dragon had not yet spotted him. He got even closer, as close as he could. He was right behind it, 10 metres away, maximum. How had it not spotted him yet? He ignored Brashik and jumped from Brashik with his sword above his head. He neared the dragon when suddenly, as Armin was still mid-jump, it turned. It had noticed him but was pretending it hadn't. It fired a bolt of light at Brashik, who narrowly dodged. Armin struck his sword forward, but Treyis-Devi easily dodged this by moving its head back just a little. Armin started plummetting to the ground, and Brashik swooped underneath, just saving him. The dragon nipped at Brashik with its relatively long neck, then slashed around blindly with its tail. Armin tried stabbing it from below, but with a slight change in its wings, it soared upwards and well away. Armin, still standing on top of Brashik, flew towards the dragon and fired a thunderbolt. However, when the dragon was hit with the thunder, it didn't shrug it off; it absorbed it. Treyis-Devi gets its power from the sun and light energy of almost all kinds; the thunder mercifully gave it ammunition. It whipped its head back and then downward, firing a pinpoint laser directly at Brashik's skull. Armin, out of instinct, tried to hit the ray with his sword; in doing this, the light was reflected in all directions, creating a rainbow spectrum of light. The dragon flinched at this and moved away as if offended. Armin now knew what to do. Treyis-Devi can absorb almost all light energy, but invisible light like infrared and ultraviolet was still absorbed, but the radiation from it weakened it slightly. Somehow, Armin had to reveal as much invisible light to the dragon as possible. Brashik climbed towards the dragon. The dragon, still not aware of it being the reflection from Armin's blade that had hurt it, fired another beam of light, this time much larger but weaker, towards them. Armin held up his sword, and it reflected more light, hurting it even more. Armin

Armin inhaled a deep breath of air. He looked around and soon located his dunkleosteus. He climbed onto its back and started returning to the shore. Brashik was in a glade nearby, eating something. Armin hopped on his back and flew. Once they were above the first layer of clouds, Armin started looking around. While most things with wings could fly up here, only one does so commonly: Treyis-Devi. The blindingly bright dragon was easily spotted, even from miles away. Armin knew this would be the most difficult fight yet, so he readied Brashik. He gripped his sword tightly in his hand. Armin was within range to attack, and the dragon had not yet spotted him. He got even closer, as close as he could. He was right behind it, 10 metres away, maximum. How had it not spotted him yet? He ignored Brashik and jumped from Brashik with his sword above his head. He neared the dragon when suddenly, as Armin was still mid-jump, it turned. It had noticed him but was pretending it hadn't. It fired a bolt of light at Brashik, who narrowly dodged. Armin struck his sword forward, but Treyis-Devi easily dodged this by moving its head back just a little. Armin started plummetting to the ground, and Brashik swooped underneath, just saving him. The dragon nipped at Brashik with its relatively long neck, then slashed around blindly with its tail. Armin tried stabbing it from below, but with a slight change in its wings, it soared upwards and well away. Armin, still standing on top of Brashik, flew towards the dragon and fired a thunderbolt. However, when the dragon was hit with the thunder, it didn't shrug it off; it absorbed it. Treyis-Devi gets its power from the sun and light energy of almost all kinds; the thunder mercifully gave it ammunition. It whipped its head back and then downward, firing a pinpoint laser directly at Brashik's skull. Armin, out of instinct, tried to hit the ray with his sword; in doing this, the light was reflected in all directions, creating a rainbow spectrum of light. The dragon flinched at this and moved away as if offended. Armin now knew what to do. Treyis-Devi can absorb almost all light energy, but invisible light like infrared and ultraviolet was still absorbed, but the radiation from it weakened it slightly. Somehow, Armin had to reveal as much invisible light to the dragon as possible. Brashik climbed towards the dragon. The dragon, still not aware of it being the reflection from Armin's blade that had hurt it, fired another beam of light, this time much larger but weaker, towards them. Armin held up his sword, and it reflected more light, hurting it even more. Armin realised his sword was too thin to completely cover them both, so he simply ensured to save their heads, meaning they were both singed around the majority of their bodies. Armin started looking for something else shiny when he realised what had been staring him in the face the whole time. The armour-like, spiky plates that covered Treyis-Devi were extremely reflective. Brashik was now under the dragon, so it lunged at them with its tail, attempting to stab straight through Armin's chest. As the tail came by, Armin grabbed on with all his might, and as the tail returned to the dragon's behind, he shimmied himself along. The dragon shook its tail very harshly while distracting Brashik with continuous barrages of light. Armin's leg slipped, but he continued. He had almost made it to the dragon's body when it drastically turned out of nowhere and he lost the grip of his other leg. He was now dangling on the edge of certain death by the very bad grip of a dragon's tail that was still being shaken around. Armin knew there was no point trying to hold on; instead, he just lifted one arm and tried to reach around to the other side of the tail as far as he could. With this, he lifted his other arm to the same position. From here, he tucked into a ball, then kicked and hooked his legs around the tail. One of his arms slipped, but he got it back up. He then got his body around and was back to nearing the end of the tail. Once he was on, the dragon stopped playing with Brashik and, using a pincer movement of its head and tail, forced Brashik to fly away for just long enough. It then started climbing high into the sky. Armin grabbed onto one of the plates and hung on as much as he could. Then the dragon started slamming its tail on its body, forcing Armin to swing around. He was stuck there for a while. Armin looked down, and, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Brashik plummeting. The dragon now turned its head towards Armin and fired a bolt of light. Armin pulled out his sword, but then lost grip and began to fall. He stabbed the dragon with his sword just to stay on, but it didn't even go skin deep, barely giving him time to recover before he would have fallen. The dragon, noticing his weakness, swiped its tail along its back. Armin, who was now so high there wasn't enough oxygen to stay very alert, was hit and began falling to his doom. As his eyes eventually opened, he saw blue and realised he was over the sea. He then noticed the wind dragon. Then he noticed the blur. Brashik had deliberately nose-dived into the wind dragons to gain upward momentum. Brashik was skyrocketing at an insane speed. Brashik picked up the barely-conscious Armin on his way upwards. He shot through the air like a missile. Treyis-Devi thought it had won and was on its gentle way back to the cloud layer. Brashik was still speeding through the air. The dragon looked down for a split second before it realised its fate. Brashik burst straight through the centre of the dragon, like it had done to one of his kind. The sheer impact was enough to force the now limp body miles in the sky, and Brashik kept ascending. As the lifeless Treyis-Devi fell to the ground, the sun fell to the horizon. Brashik had finally accepted that he had won. As he slowly spiralled down to the ground for Armin, he looked onto the serene skyline, where a flock of terrorwings, most larger than the still juvenile Brashik, glided freely in the picturesque orange sunset. Brashik knew he had done his species well, and the new air space was exactly what they needed to thrive. realised his sword was too thin to completely cover them both, so he simply ensured to save their heads, meaning they were both singed around the majority of their bodies. Armin started looking for something else shiny when he realised what had been staring him in the face the whole time. The armour-like, spiky plates that covered Treyis-Devi were extremely reflective. Brashik was now under the dragon, so it lunged at them with its tail, attempting to stab straight through Armin's chest. As the tail came by, Armin grabbed on with all his might, and as the tail returned to the dragon's behind, he shimmied himself along. The dragon shook its tail very harshly while distracting Brashik with continuous barrages of light. Armin's leg slipped, but he continued. He had almost made it to the dragon's body when it drastically turned out of nowhere and he lost the grip of his other leg. He was now dangling on the edge of certain death by the very bad grip of a dragon's tail that was still being shaken around. Armin knew there was no point trying to hold on; instead, he just lifted one arm and tried to reach around to the other side of the tail as far as he could. With this, he lifted his other arm to the same position. From here, he tucked into a ball, then kicked and hooked his legs around the tail. One of his arms slipped, but he got it back up. He then got his body around and was back to nearing the end of the tail. Once he was on, the dragon stopped playing with Brashik and, using a pincer movement of its head and tail, forced Brashik to fly away for just long enough. It then started climbing high into the sky. Armin grabbed onto one of the plates and hung on as much as he could. Then the dragon started slamming its tail on its body, forcing Armin to swing around. He was stuck there for a while. Armin looked down, and, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Brashik plummeting. The dragon now turned its head towards Armin and fired a bolt of light. Armin pulled out his sword, but then lost grip and began to fall. He stabbed the dragon with his sword just to stay on, but it didn't even go skin deep, barely giving him time to recover before he would have fallen. The dragon, noticing his weakness, swiped its tail along its back. Armin, who was now so high there wasn't enough oxygen to stay very alert, was hit and began falling to his doom. As his eyes eventually opened, he saw blue and realised he was over the sea. He then noticed the wind dragon. Then he noticed the blur. Brashik had deliberately nose-dived into the wind dragons to gain upward momentum. Brashik was skyrocketing at an insane speed. Brashik picked up the barely-conscious Armin on his way upwards. He shot through the air like a missile. Treyis-Devi thought it had won and was on its gentle way back to the cloud layer. Brashik was still speeding through the air. The dragon looked down for a split second before it realised its fate. Brashik burst straight through the centre of the dragon, like it had done to one of his kind. The sheer impact was enough to force the now limp body miles in the sky, and Brashik kept ascending. As the lifeless Treyis-Devi fell to the ground, the sun fell to the horizon. Brashik had finally accepted that he had won. As he slowly spiralled down to the ground for Armin, he looked onto the serene skyline, where a flock of terrorwings, most larger than the still juvenile Brashik, glided freely in the picturesque orange sunset. Brashik knew he had done his species well, and the new air space was exactly what they needed to thrive.

As Brashik finally landed on the ground, Armin woke up and saw the dead dragon. He looked at Brashik, then the corpse, and then he understood.

"Well done"

"Thanks!"

Armin picked up the dragon's blood, some of which he drank and some he gave to Brashik. He then filled his beaker up and was ready to leave.

When he arrived at Dohl Gago, he noticed that it looked completely different. The marble was replaced with a glassy obsidian, and the gold was replaced with a swirling purple mass. Everyone in the city was standing in the main square, staring at the new look. Immediately, Armin flew to where he could find Whek, and he was allowed in.

Armin assertively and calmly asked, "What has happened?

"It will all be revealed soon, she said, nodding.

"Reveal it now! Why do you want the dragon blood? What are you doing?" Armin exclaimed.

The many guards looked at him; he knew he couldn't draw a weapon in a temple, or the entire nation would want his head, so he calmed down and waited for Whek to reply.

"If you really must know, I will reveal this." She pulled out of her pocket a glass container with a bubbling black fluid in it that looked like tar. "By combining the blood of the first three, I have created the blood of Drenvis-Devi; any member of our religion will be scared by just that name. The other three will help to purify the blood of Treyis-Devi and create Treyeis-Devi. This is all the information I will give. Now leave." Armin was frustrated by the little information he was given but knew he couldn't do anything about it. Once Armin was back at the hotel, he talked to the owner about how the city had drastically changed and what he thought of it. Tomorrow, Armin will prepare. Then it would be time to face Muka-Unta. He laid down his head to sleep.

The following day, he awoke at the crack of dawn. He had heard of a serum that could temporarily protect him from fire, something that would be crucial to his plan. He had woken up early because that's the only time you can easily find baskles in the open. He hopped on a sleepy Brashik and flew to the Kreddon Desert. Once there, he instantly saw a tail slowly digging itself underground. He dove down and grabbed the tail, sticking it out of the ground. He pulled very hard, and it struggled just as hard to escape his grip. Brashik grabbed it with his talons and flapped his wings powerfully, and the baskle was soon lifted above the ground. It looked extremely grumpy as it flopped around in the air. Its tail flapped and flailed as it tried to escape Brashik's grasp. Armin reached a bottle deep into his throat and filled it with saliva. He removed his disgusted hand and then signalled for Brashik to release the baskle, which slithered a few metres away and then slowly started to try and dig itself into the ground, its wound already beginning to heal. Armin closed the bottle and wiped off his arm. He then got back on Brashik and headed for At the nearest wood or grove, he quickly found one and collected a few acorns, which he put in the bottle of the baskle's spit. They instantly started reacting, and the liquid began to fizz. He then found a small pond and found a small fish in it, which he picked up with his hand and put in the bottle. He returned to Brashik and flew back to Dohl Gago, where he went to the market and looked for a fire he could use. There was a market stall selling street food that was being set up, and he asked to borrow the fire, which the nice owner allowed him to, and after heating the bottle for long enough, the fish had completely dissolved and the liquid was a fizzing, indigo liquid. That was by far the most difficult and time-consuming part to do. By now it was almost noon, and Armin had very little to do for the day anymore, so after triple checking that he had everything he needed and then spending a well-deserved day off, he decided to walk around Dohl Gago as a tourist.

The next day, he bid farewell to the owner of the hotel, jumped onto Brashik's back, and took flight towards where he knew Muka-Unta would be. After two hours, he found him. Armin fired a lightning bolt towards its head. The dragon turned its fierce head towards Armin and released a blazing inferno towards Armin. Brashik dove under and towards Muka-Unta, and once close enough, Armin leaped onto Muka-Unta's back.