An angel’s road to hell

58. Of fights, misjudgements and a little bit of alternatives

Cassandra Pendragon

My chest felt constricted and a quick glance showed me just how much damage he had done. My shirt was ruined, strips of cloth that barely clung to my torso were all that remained of it and the skin beneath showed a colourful mixture of red and white. I sent some energy towards the torn ligaments and raptured muscles and a soothing coolness spread through my limbs while I watched the dragon in front of me closely. His eyes had already healed but huge drops of blood still ran from his nostrils and dispersed into the air with every heavy breath he took. Anger and hatred radiated off of him in perceptible waves that distorted the air and made my fur stand on end while his regrown eyes zeroed in on me. I definitely had his attention.

The way he looked at me unblinkingly and his lips twitched made me assume he was trying to reach me telepathically, good luck buddy. I wasn’t going to complain though and when his eyes narrowed in concentration I charged him again. I couldn’t match his strength but I could obviously hurt him, maybe even more so if I managed to stuff a couple of wings down his throat. Spreading my wings wide I rushed directly towards his face, seemingly trying to go for the same spots again. He snorted and another cloud of blood rose from his nostrils as he opened his maw wide and prepared to launch another ball of black fire my way. I waited until the very last moment when I could practically feel the gathering force in front of me and then I teleported. With a flash I appeared behind his head. Huge spikes grew along his neck and down his back, some over 3 meters long and wider than me, glittering like obsidian in the sun. I anchored myself in between two of them and pushed the better part of my wings forward, brimming with energy to circle around his head and slam into his opened snout. Silvery blue torrents of light easily parted the wave of dark flames and slithered down his throat and towards his carbuncle.

I couldn’t see his expression but the shiver that ran along his spine and his panicked movements when he rolled and tumbled through the sky made me think that he was still nicely occupied. I felt some form of spell or another try to take hold on me but I simply ignored it. The barrel rolls and convulsing twitches of his long neck weakened my grip though and when he suddenly somersaulted and whipped his head from left to right I lost my balance completely, the two horns I had slung my wings around cleanly cut through. I fell and reflexively drew my wings back out of him to latch onto another part of his body but I was just a tick too slow. As soon as the cutting pain and searing heat in his gullet vanished he beat his wings with enough force to create a miniature cyclone and shot away from me. I reached for his neck but his horned tail covered in ebony spikes took me in the side and catapulted me away from him. One of the barbs pierced my skin and liquid fire blazed through my abdomen while I struggle to regain control in mid air, but he wouldn’t let me.

All thoughts of telepathy or magic forgotten he shot towards me like an oncoming storm. Thick streams of black blood flowed from his gullet and I could see the cuts around his snout while I tumbled tails over wings through the air. If he got a hold of me he would tear me to shreds with a single bite, I was sure of it. Without any from of orientation, I couldn’t clearly form my second vision while my wings swirled around uselessly, I teleported again, based only on a diffuse feeling that trickled through my wings. Luckily I appeared above him, less lucky, my momentum wasn’t broken and I still had to regain my balance.

My muscles and nerves protest, the deep hole in my stomach felt like it had been filled with molten lead when I spread my wings wide again and fought against my inertia and gravity. A cry escaped me but I won, just in time. My eyes watered and dark spots appeared in my vision but I finally managed to stop midair. I was still losing blood but I didn’t get a chance to focus on my wound as a looming shadow hurtled towards me from the right. While I had been struggling to regain control of my flight the dragon had spotted me and came for me again. Without thinking I veered to the left, away from the encroaching darkness. I felt the bone rattling snap when his jaws closed only a hair’s breadth away from my legs and I heard the dry crack when one of his horns slammed into my knee and turned it into mush. A fresh wave of agony hit but he was already past me, his speed carrying him further and further away. I should have a couple of seconds before he would be able to turn around for another pass. I closed my eyes and channeled everything I had towards my wounds, I spared only enough to keep me afloat.

I could feel my organs regenerate and my skin seal itself but it took time, maybe more time than I actually had. A lump of fear formed in the pit of my stomach while I watched my body regrown missing tissue at a painfully slow rate. I became much too scared hovering in the sky blindly to allow myself to heal fully. Halfway through I had to open my eyes again and the black incarnation of rage that charged me immediately commanded all of my attention. A small trickle of energy was all I further dared to use on my injuries while the rest went back into my wings, eyes and brain. My stomach still felt like a dagger was stuck in my side and my knee couldn’t possibly support my weight but I would live, for now.

To make things worse the Black didn’t appear wounded anymore, only pissed. An enraged dragon in all his glory headed for me and a thundering roar pushed me back a couple of meters. The blood flow from his maw had dried up and his tongue, which I had torn to shreds, was whole again, the dark red, glittering smears of blood on his scales everything that was left of my attack. At least his horns hadn’t grown back… That was just unfair! Seriously, what would it take to truly injure that guy? Would I have to dig trough his body to reach his carbuncle? That was just wishful thinking, I had had my chance and I hadn’t even gotten close. It was time to try a new strategy. I bolted.

As fast as my wings could carry me I rushed further away from the ship and slowly angled myself towards the ocean. I was pretty confident that he’d follow me after our little tussle. Dragons were prone to fits of rage as far as I knew and this one was well and truly furious. When he saw me turning tails his roar became even louder and the rhythm of his wing beats picked up. Despite my aching limbs I had to smile, if he was following me he wouldn’t butcher the others and now all I had to do was keep him interested and on my tails until they were well away from him. And then I would have to lose him and somehow get back to the ship before my stamina ran out and I’d drown in the ocean but that appeared to me like a problem for later. For now I had to make sure his instincts kept dominating his actions, otherwise he might just turn around or start using more sophisticated magic. While I wasn’t afraid of any direct spells, the minuscule amount of blood that still clung to his tail shouldn’t be enough for a focus, especially with all the impurities it must have been mixed with by now, I wasn’t eager to find out what would happen if he turned the air around me into stone or something else unpleasant. Better to keep him truly and utterly busy. Damn it, that meant I’d have to poke him from time to time, keep him in a state of constant struggle with fangs and claws. What the fuck had I been thinking?

With a weary sigh I slowed down and peeked over my shoulder. The black behemoth was maybe 200 meters behind and slightly above me, fire streamed from his gullet and his eyes glittered menacingly while he powered after me, apparently blind to anything else. The sight still sent shivers down my spine even though I had already faced him by now and once again I had to question my sanity. At least he was still drunk on his rage and I didn’t have to go for another round right then and there. With a thought I picked up speed again and shot away from him, the distance between us slowly widening. Good, if I was faster, I’d be able to simply outrun him later on. For now I tried to match his speed while I glanced at him from time to time to make sure he was still frothing at the snout.

I had to dodge a couple of black fireballs but other than that the next few minutes were rather peaceful except for the ear splitting roars that tore at my nerves from time to time. I even felt confident enough to channel some of my energy back into healing my wounds. I had just felt the last blood vessel seal itself before he remained silent for a longer period of time and I felt the first tentacles of magic wither against my wings. I knew I’d have to reignite his bloodlust if I didn’t want to face a calculating dragon instead of a feral beast. The last two times I had tried to go for different weak spots but I assumed he was expecting that now. I wasn’t willing to try to teleport behind him again only to find myself close to his serrated fangs. So I decided to try a frontal assault. My wings could cut through pretty much everything but I already knew from experience that it’d take longer the sturdier the material was. I had sliced through his horns involuntarily which made me rather confident that I’d be able to get through his scales quickly enough but I wouldn’t risk slamming into him head first.

My wings flared brightly while I suddenly somersaulted and headed straight towards him once again. No roar greeted me this time, instead the tingling of magic intensified while his face turned into a mask of concentration. Now, we couldn’t have that. Within the blink of an eye I was in range and teleported again. His head whipped around, ready to pluck me out of the air but I wasn’t behind him. I appeared on the left side of his neck but still in front of him, my wings angled downwards like an array of spears, ready to dig into his chest. My momentum slammed my wings into his scales while I tumbled helplessly over his shoulder and along his back. Luckily he couldn’t take advantage as the first pain filled sound I had ever heard form him thundered through the sky.

I managed to blink away before I could collide with one of his spikes and materialised in front of him again. With a thought I stopped myself midair and regarded the fruits of my labour.

33 narrow cuts covered his chest. They would have appeared inconsequential if not for the astounding amount of blood that gushed through. His front was quickly slick with dark liquid, small rivers flowing down and vanishing into the sky. He was struggling to keep up his pace, his wing beats erratic and strained. His head was thrown backwards and the sound that pierced the air was more wail than roar. With a grim smile I threw myself at him once more.

My plan was pretty simple: circle his neck while he was busy dealing with his injuries. With a little luck I should be able to sling my wings completely around and restrain or suffocated him. If Fortuna was truly smiling on me I might even be able to cut his head off, but I wasn’t going to bet on it. I sped up and vanished again to appear next to his neck, my wings trailing behind me, ready for round two. Unfortunately, so was he.

As soon as I appeared again, his wounds stopped bleeding and his head whipped towards me. The bastard had been faking! Taken by surprise I couldn’t react in time and while I managed to roll away from his grinding jaws the damned horn on the side of his head crashed into my side. My breath exploded from my body and stars appeared in my vision while I was flung away from him. It felt like an anvil was continuously pushing down on my chest and I couldn’t breathe normally. The lingering fear ignited into panic when I started to suffocate but with a growl I pushed it away and channeled as much energy as I could spare into my lungs and broken ribs. Pain still raced through me but at least I was able to gasp for air again and my vision cleared.

His headbutt had sent me tumbling again and with an astonishing feat of flexibility he neatly flipped his body over and raced after me, eyes aglow with anticipation. His fangs were less than three meters away from me when I finally managed to regain my orientation. My wings were all jumbled together, forming a loose muddle around me. I could easily spread them again but I wouldn’t be able to teleport away in time. There was only one thing left to try. I retracted my wings  and used my tails for balance while I fell towards the ocean. I pressed my limbs tightly to my body and stretched myself to minimise air resistance but I was still too slow. His maw opened and I’d slam directly into the row of razor sharp teeth in his lower jaw. They would cut me into pieces if I didn’t come up with something else, fast.

I unfurled my wings again but instead of pushing away from him I entered his opened snout willingly and flared out my wings with every ounce of power I could still muster. Without a moment’s hesitation I pulled them back and formed a shield of silvery blue light between me and the yawning darkness of his gullet. Torrents of boiling blood streamed from the cuts I had made and drenched me. My skin started to blister immediately. A river of fire shot from the black depth in front of me and the accompanying scream burst my eardrums while I was carried out of his maw on a wave of fire and blood.

If I hadn’t had to deal with a myriad of severe injuries before I would have blacked out in an instant, the boiling feeling from my skin and the bone rattling force that carried me along was simply too much to cope with. Through sheer stubbornness I managed to hang on until I could feel the soothing tingle of my energy targeting my wounds but I was nearing my limits. The channels between my core and my body were starting to ache and burn and I could feel the skin between my wings rupturing while I kept on pushing more and more energy into my body. I wasn’t yet at the point I had been when I had tried to tear apart space but I was getting closer.

Through the shield of light I had used to protect myself I could see the river of black fire cut off and the forces that carried me along disappeared. Wearily I stopped and pushed myself upright. The pain was diminishing but still lingered in my veins. The dragon was spitting blood and I could see it coming through his cheeks where I had managed to punch through completely and for the first time I could smell him, a musky scent, underlying notes of decay covered by the metallic taste of his blood. He was coiling his neck and a faint mewling reached my ears. I used the moment of respite to look at my tattoo and scan the horizon in the indicated direction for any trace of an airship. When I couldn’t find one I felt marginally better but I wouldn’t forget that he had found us, or more precisely Viyara the first time around as well and if I had the chance I’d try to lure him away even further.

While I had been distracted he had pulled himself together, the blood flow had dried up considerably but it hadn’t disappeared completely which I took as good sign. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who was close to exhaustion. His body had lost some of its vigour and his tail was slithering through the air rather limply, I told myself. His eyes still glimmered with unabashed rage but I could see a spark of grudging respect in them. His ugly face was drawn into tight lines and he slowly beat his wings, circling me, like a shark preparing to charge. I called upon my second vision again and prepared to blink away but I didn’t move along the streams of light just yet.