Battle of the Azure Terror
Based on a recent group encounter last weekend that needed to be written in narrative.
The morning was breaking for the afternoon as the caravan traveled through the road. Everything was quiet, even for the lazy countryside. However, thoughts remained deep and flustered to recent events; this god and his ‘game’ was becoming known to the entire company now, yet it was still as enigmatic as first heard. Nor was it truly a quiet subject as their intense warrior Farris continued to grumble and brood with another swig to his seemingly endless alcohol.
Even Bo, distant and murderous as he is, was of different mindset under the falling sun. The monstrous gnoll sat on his haunches, looking at nothing in particular as that familiar face continued to pass his mind’s eye. Numbing the Hunger, thinking to the past’s territory. The master before any; powerful, ruthless and teaching. What cruel illusion foul his eye to remind him of his missing Alpha after freedom?
Suddenly the ground tremored that caused the whine of the Dwarves’ horses and Aled’s curious grunt from his ursine maw.
“Um.” The worg rogue Nerrick hummed immediately, his ears perked and head soon too with worried eyes. “What was that?” As if answering, the ground shook again with the disturbing boom of thunder rolling through the very trees. When the sound stroke their ears, the force behind it shook the wagons into a dangerous tilt before slamming back on all four wheels. The company’s wagon by the slightest, even with their forge and combined weight.
‘What was that!?”
As everyone searched from their spots, Bo was the first - in his bloodthirst - to raise to his feet. His remaining ear twitching and ruined nostrils snorting through his helmet’s fanged maw. The air was too thick with an uneasy surge that made his visible fur stand up on ends, he couldn’t place a picture to this smell. Never have he felt such a sensation, but the howling screech of a roar that ripped through the air and the beat of powerful wings.
Not even the most inept of senses could misplace what was coming…
Aled was already on the move, his great shoulders shaking and trying to pull the reins of his charge when a great beast, bigger than a stone house with hide of sinister indigo and belly as sulfuric yellow as a Dwarven coward’s cry, swooped from the growing cloud of debris to the east. All eyes watched in a stunned sensation of imposed horror watched as it sliced through the air. Popping arcs of raw energy collected from its grand horn and between the powerful cavernous maw.
“Drago-” One brave voice tried to give it a name, but instead, it - and the wagon closest to the front was incinerated into oblivion by the very power of storms collecting in one terrifying blast. Leaving nothing but ruin with the few remaining bodies of guards hurled and landed into popping spasms in their prized platemails. The stench of it curled even the gnoll’s jaded nose.
Xathis’ sockets burned the dim lights of firefoxes at the destruction before snapping his steed into action. Finally regaining motion in his body, the werebear hurtled the cart off his shoulders in the motion of transforming into his upright form. His great axe pulled from its home and clawed hands gripped its shaft. “Quick! Get into cover!” He warned with his billowing voice, Farris was already moving his body along the cart. His crossbow drawn out and bolt preparing to be launched.
“No,” The warrior tried to counter, “The trees might catch in the bolts!” Everyone was scrambling between cover and preparation to fight as well. Nerrick searching and calling for something to shoot a projectile with. All the while, Bo was wide-eyed with a hellish cackle of gnollish worry and desire to kill. Unmoving at all to the possibility of dying today, his ripped cloak fluttering to the beating wings of the Blue Dragon in its turnabout.
“Here it comes again!”
As it roared down upon its found prey, the speed of the armored great skeleton and his long-dead stallion was unaccounted for. Its bony limbs revealed its power still held true to hurl them both into the air with a ghastly whinny, Xathis lept into the climax of height. His noble blade drawn in one righteous motion and struck true at the overlapping scales of the beast’s belly. By the time the second passing slash cut a bloodied X to the forced weakspot, the skeletal warrior was forced to obey gravity and landed roughly on his catching steed, galloping away in their own turnabout.
“Are ye mad!?” The caravan leader cried to the galloping knight, but no heroic or crazed remark was given as he returned to fray.
Catching the point made upon the dragon’s scales, Farris took his crossbow to rest upon armored forearm and aimed down its sights. With the squeeze of his trigger and power of his own defiance, the bolt speared itself through the weakened spot that summoned a furious cry from the dragon. The burning sapphires of its eyes searched for the one responsible, only to down its anger upon the closest wagon to the company. The sheer force nearly knocked everyone back as the raining energy destroyed the trapped horses and its commanders. The whole front of the wagon gone in seconds, leaving nothing but burnt ash and the vehicle looped forward.
Nerris quickly dove off the wagon, well aware which vehicle might be next in the dragon’s assaults but Bo remained, the white gnoll under his black platemail lumbered along the Cart-Home’s length. “Bladefist, Rabbit!” He snarled, his blood-red orb of an eye looked back to his loyal lessers. “To cover, away.” Obeying without question, Milbo was chattered in nervous fright with a salute. “R-Right, Mister B-” Instantly shutting the halfling up, Bladefist wrapped his arm around his waist and jumped off the cart when the Blue Dragon flew overhead. Looking up to the darkened sky, Bo curled his right arm’s claws tight as smoke oozed from the gauntlet’s overlaps and shot burning spiked chains from underneath armor and flesh. Wrapping like constrictors and summoning the bony gruesome heads of fiendish flails to serve their bound wielder. Whirling the triplet heads with a winded scream until he got to the front of the cart with one foot stomping the rider’s seat.
Howling out the abyssal words of Yeenoghu’s burning rage, he swung his weapon and three scorching ray-bolts of hellish fire hurled and arced at the passing dragon. The leading projectile passed the skilled airborne beast’s sudden turn, but the maneuver left it open to the attacks burned into its hide. Finally catching the true adversaries to his meager anguish, it turned and suddenly drop onto the ruins of its beautiful destruction.
Ash fluttering and power radiating off its mighty form, even the blood seemed to cause a picture of terrifying aura.
“You dare,” A deep guttural voice snarled in the common tongue, its reptilian - if one could even call it that - face almost created a form of sneer as it stared beyond its snout, “Insignificant worms, crawling on the dirts of ancient earth. With your weapons of lesser metal and stolen magics of gods, fae and daemon claim to affront me?”
Aled did not give the honour of return verbal banter as he roared a cry and swung his weapon in a pouncing lunge. The dragon jerked his head just enough to avoid his wounded breast from being touched, the bearded head running almost like chainmail across its azure scales but the blunt power was noticed with a savage snarl of pained annoyance. A taloned hand reached to swat at the Werebear, but the ancient warrior returned a startling retort to cut its palm and jammed his axe’s other end at the larger wound.
Screaming out loud enough to make the air ripple and earth tremor, the Blue Dragon snapped down like a viper when the axe refused to budge in the bear’s attempt to retreat. Everyone watched in shock watched as those mighty jaw clamped down on one musclebound arm, provoking the first pained holler from the Aled in a long time. However, what came next was the jittering cry of electricity scorching and cooking the werebear’s bleeding limb before the tyrannical beast hurled him aside with ribbons of meat to give the taste of first blood.
“Aled!” Farris cried out, reaching to the shuddering, curled bear as he fought off the sensations with his unwounded arm already trying to reach for his weapon. Sneering with bared teeth, the human fearlessly whirled his greatsword and lept for the dragon in murderous warcry. However, the beast proved far more agile than his bulk gave and lept back into the air. His wings carrying him even higher with a mocking laughter.
“The game is only starting and there will be no pieces to oppose.”
Only to choke at the Human’s howl, “I thought you was a dragon! Come and fight me with honour or are you as scared as you are yellow-bellied!?” A look of distraught reaction passed the dragon’s face, only to have it followed by the Knight, “He is without it, those wings just add to his fat.” A snarling sizzle gathered in the once-confident creature’s maw, after what they just witnessed. They dare mock him!?
“Hey guys!” Another voice said, brokering the beast’s sight on a wolf-like creature wrapped in leather armor. A crooked smile on his muzzle as he laid against the Human’s plated shoulder by the elbow and clawed hand out, “Don’t tease it. It’s only a oversized gecko!”
“Y-You dare…!”
That was enough of unexpected chaos on the dragon’s part to miss a sudden blast of energy striking at his exposed wound. Screaming out again, his body bucked back and nearly broke his wings’ flight, just in time for two resonating punches of dark air to cave the surrounding scales of his wound in.
“Kill you all!” His returning scream as he dived in like a oversized hawk at the Human and wolf first with talons ready to tear them asunder. One clumsy sweep of his bloody claws barely missed Farris in a duck and another slash that Nerrick flipped away from. When the dragon went to clamp his jaws around the warrior’s head, a snarl of annoyance spat from his crackling maw by the insignificant hit at his haunches. Twisting around, he saw Aled and Xathis.
The dragon spat something vengefully before barrelling on his limbs. His horned head dipped and threw Aled aside again, going straight for Xathis in one savage bite. Barely missed by the knight’s experienced maneuvers, spinning on his heel and struck his sword down on the monster’s neck in a elegant riposte, only to have his blade rake uselessly on the heavily-armored body. In a cruel cackle, the beast sneered, “Your bones will decorate my lair…” and caught his closer arm in a crunching battle.
However, the dragon was surprised by the sheer lack of a bloodcurdling scream...or the lacking of body under the armor but the sudden stop of possibly bone. Releasing in the distracting thought, he was open to the knight suddenly gripping his hilt in both hands and ram his pommel into the open eye. Screaming a hollering roar of genuine pain once, recoiling and clawing at the rippling organ. Enough that Xathis came after him with no hesitation.
Slashing across the snout, the holler and attempted blast of draconic lightning was hindered by a slice across his thick muscle of tongue. Blood spattered. The skeletal knight was a dancing master of his weapon as his unnatural body surged in strike after strike. Hurling into the air as he forced the once-dominant beast in his retreating snaps like a cornered alligator. One lunge when it seemed that a opening was possible, the disoriented and fatally surprised dragon miscalculated and was dodged in a cape-fluttering evasion.
His sword whirling between his hands, Xathis spun and thrusted his blade into the coming dragon’s eye. The momentum couldn’t be stopped, the body plunging its soft spot deeper into the weapon. The other eye was shuddered and looking about in a sudden alien fear, never had it felt a thing. The pain so explosive that it was numbing, body unable to pull away. Limbs were failing. Mind running like a mad horse. Everything was so vivid yet hazy. His growing power halted and slowly tripped. Again and again. Then fell into the abyss as if all his little years and survival was all for naught. Nothing but weight into the Darkness of Death’s grip. The last thing that functioning eye saw was the clearing blue sky…
The blue dragon’s body collapsed in bloody defeat.