Zodiac Story

The Bay Road and the Teal River Converge Upon Pink and Azure Plains Part 3

If anyone told Urantsog that she was going to be fighting a dragon with weather controlling powers, she would've laughed it off as the result of too much airag. She had fought off a giant worm with teeth the size of a horse a week ago, so this wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

The dragon in question was a fierce and mighty opponent. Despite her attempts to gain the higher ground, the dragon shrugged her off. Now, she was trapped between the dragon, the storm, and possibly the girl with the massive wings. She didn't expect an ally to a dangerous being, but she should have anticipated it. The worm had shown signs of intelligence too, the way it planted false burrows for her to smoke out and waste her time while it ravaged the plains. That meant she had to overcome this creature's capabilities.

She galloped around in circles, watching for a weak spot. In a few seconds, Urantsog noticed that the dragon was always curling around a spot closer to its hind claws, where there was some clear box attached to it. If it was circling it, that must mean it must be a part of its body which needed to be protected.

Pulling on the reins attached to the rocket launcher tightly with her teeth, Urantsog aimed it so that the rocket would have a slightly sloping upward trajectory. Pointing towards the dragon's weak spot, she fired the saddle cannon. The dragon noticed the missile heading for its weak spot, so it lifted its body upwards. Urantsog fired more shots at the dragon, but they never hit its weak spot. The dragon was slowing down though. She bit her lip in subconscious concentration. If Urantsog could shoot it in the head, that would take it down. Thankfully, the rocket launcher had unlimited rockets, so she didn't have to worry about running out of them.

Hail and sleet started pouring down on her, so she focused her efforts on dodging those pellets. A few hit her hindquarters, making her wince in pain and slowing her charge. No matter what, Urantsog aimed her saddle cannon at the dragon's head and fired. She watched as it hit its mark just underneath the blue antlers, causing a cry of pain from the dragon.

Good, she thought, while it's disoriented, attack its weak spot. She fired along its body, getting ever closer to the protected weak spot. The dragon winced and bellowed in pain.

At last, it caught sight of the one that brought it pain through the smoke and it charged at Urantsog. Urantsog fled immediately, but her power wasn't going to sustain her any longer..

"Stop! I know what you are. Your amulet told you that you have the powers of the Seventh Gate?" the dragon called out.

Urantsog stopped sprinting and halted. How would she know this?

"I suppose that not all of us are gifted with speech as animals so I have to ask something of you. Transform back into your human form now. That wasn't a request."

Urantsog snorted. As if she wanted to do such a thing.

"Do it now." The dragon's eyes narrowed. "Or do you want a snowstorm freezing you from the inside?" A black crystal floated by the dragon's claws as it—no, she—was speaking.

Urantsog gritted her teeth as she imagined herself as a human. Slowly, her hooves split apart into fingers as she began to stand upright on unsteady feet. How long was she as a horse? A week, more than a week? However long that was, Urantsog preferred being a horse over this gangly mess of a body. Her ears were upwards and her smoky black tail swished against the howling gale.

"You wanted me to transform? Do it yourself." She grabbed the cannon in her hands and aimed it at the dragon's head. "Prove that you aren't one of those monsters blessed with a smidge of intelligence."

The dragon appeared unbothered by the cannon pointed at her face, but Urantsog noticed that the long body was contracting. The clear box that she thought was the dragon's weak spot turned out to be holding a silvery fish of some kind. Was the fish special or something? Why would a dragon have a pet fish otherwise?