I Guess I'm a Dragon Now (Part 1)

Rescue

Staying as quiet as he could while walking through the abandoned streets of the city, Ergen thankfully hadn't encountered almost anyone as he headed for his goal. Rae was quiet on top of his head, somehow fading the natural light her body gave off so that they weren't spotted by the sentries on the rope bridges above them. And while everything else was silent, each footstep that further crushed the already compacted snow underneath his feet seemed abnormally loud as he grew closer to the village center.

As he walked, Ergen regretfully had to come into contact with several frost trolls that hadn't joined the others in the battle. These were the women and children who had stayed behind, though surprisingly, they were all still armed as they prepared themselves for if their warriors couldn't hold the line. They all wore fierce looking jewelry made up of the fangs of what looked like several different animals, and they also carried either crude spears or clubs with their tusks and squinted eyes making them look as if they had permanent snarls on their faces. However, none of them were apparently ready to fight a dragon before Ergen finally approached the center of the city, only to realize that some of the warriors had actually stayed behind.

"Ve' sah!" The first of the frost trolls that spotted him shouted a warning to the others, and soon Ergen saw a group of warriors gather in a group in the street in front of him. They were apparently gathering to block his progress, but since they'd seen him anyway, Ergen lost all sense of discretion and took a deep breath before he released his frost breath.

Thinking that a group of warriors would be better to test his ability on rather than a group of archers or mages, Ergen was presently surprised when all of the frost trolls froze completely solid and Ergen was able to pass by them with ease. Even though they were frost trolls, they were still vulnerable to being being frozen, and Ergen couldn't complain about that contradiction as he passed by them and walked into the large open area where he found even more resistance. 

There seemed to be at least a hundred frost trolls remaining around the altar, all with heavy shields and large axes as they surrounded the altar with a shield wall. On the platform surrounding the altar, an important looking frost troll dressed entirely in a white feathered garb and a black eye patch was walking across it above the others. As Ergen watched the creature, it set down it's skull covered staff down before drawing what looked like a blood-red serrated dagger, all the while chanting something in a language that Ergen didn't understand as he approached the unconscious elf.

"Hurry! He's going to kill her!" Rae pleaded from the top of Ergen's head, and he responded by roaring as he stormed into the clearing, distracting all of the trolls that had once been facing the direction of the expected attack before he had charged into open view. The important looking frost troll recovered the quickest after the group's moment of shock upon seeing Ergen, and he immediately began shouting orders to his subordinates who started running forward and spreading out so that they could surround Ergen. However, this only made things easier for him they drew away from the altar and he was able to unleash another stream of frost breath towards all of the enemies on his right side.

To Ergen's surprise, while he did manage to get some of the trolls in his attack, many of them escaped by turning into clouds of snow, using the same ability that the fenrir had. However, they didn't seem to have as much magic as they had to instantly turn back into their original forms while catching the aftereffects of Ergen's frost breath as they did. Countless frost trolls screamed in pain as the reappeared in the middle of the residue of Ergen's frost breath and their legs turned into ice, shattering upon touching the ground. While some of them were alive, all of them were out of commission before Ergen turned and repeated the process to the other side, annihilating almost a hundred frost trolls in the span of a few seconds.

Only a small group of frost trolls remained now as they huddled together in front of the altar, all of them clearly shaking either due to fear or pain as some of them had suffered frostbite from being in contact with the mist created by the frost breath. However, all of the still stood their ground, and Ergen growled loudly at them before the frost troll on the platform grabbed it's discarded staff and pointed it at Ergen. After glowing in a bright blue color for a few moments, the end of the staff erupted in a shower of razor-sharp icicles that sped through the air until showering Ergen, making him close his eyes as his scales protected the rest of his body from the deadly assault. Once the attack was finished, Ergen started moving towards the platform with his feet making loud thumping noises on the ground as he stomped forward before turning and whipping his tail across the line of shields that stood in his path. While it had been effective against the fenrir, Ergen hadn't expected it to as powerful as to shatter all of their shields and cut many of the frost trolls in half in the process. And he was starting to become confident in his strength before one of the frost trolls shot an arrow at him and Ergen suddenly felt a sharp stabbing pain on his arm.

Ignoring the pain for now, Ergen reached down and chomped down on the screaming frost troll who had shot the arrow at him, ending his aggressor's life instantly before raking one of his front claws against another two that had rushed him while they thought that he was distracted. And after he dealt with them, Ergen gathered his energy and jumped over the remaining warriors before landing up on the platform with the leader, who instantly turned into snow and escaped before Ergen could finish him off.

As soon as Ergen reached the platform, Rae flew off of his head and moved to help her friend. While he held off the frost trolls with another stream of frost breath, she did something with magic and cut the woman's restraints until the elf's entire body started glowing before she was gently levitated through the air. Eventually the elf was rested on Ergen's back, and as soon as that was done, tree roots seemed to burst from the ground and wrap themselves around Ergen. While he was alarmed at first, he soon realized that it was only Rae's magic as she secured her friend to his back.

"I've got her, so let's go!" Rae yelled after reclaiming her place on the top of Ergen's head, and he instantly saw the reason for her panicked tone as the majority of the frost trolls that had moved to fight earlier were beginning to run back into the clearing. However, many of them had bows and were already shooting at him, though that stopped when Ergen released half of his remaining frost breath towards the narrow street where all of the frost trolls pouring from. The hail of arrows instantly stopped as countless of the creatures were frozen solid, but Ergen didn't stop to appreciate his handiwork as he turned and started heading towards the nearest side of the canyon. Staying in the bottom would be a deathtrap, so he knew that his best chance of getting out of the situation would be to escape up one of the cliff walls where the frost trolls couldn't follow.

Sprinting towards the cliff, Ergen trampled several frost trolls that stood in his way before he jumped and started climbing the cliff, his claws digging into the stone as he frantically scrambled to safety. Every time that he lifted himself, his feet would scratch and break the rock that he was clinging to, sending showers of debris beneath him into the horde of frost trolls that were now waiting beneath him. And despite having several of his footholds give out underneath his weight, Ergen continued to climb while more frost trolls started shooting arrows at him from the rope bridges. Only a few of the arrows managed to make it past Ergen's scales, but those few made his body scream in agony as he climbed. And just when he thought that he was safe while he was about to reach the canyon's rim, Ergen suddenly thought differently as a cloud of snow condensed above him, revealing the frost troll leader with a look of fury on it's face. As he saw it, Ergen paused as the frost troll raised it's staff and pointed it directly at him, already beginning to cast magic that Ergen wasn't sure that he could withstand in his current circumstances.