I made something of a lair for myself in the cove by the lake, using the snow to make a dome to rest in. I would walk on the ice, using my control over it to ensure it would not break under my weight. Mostly to catch fish and drink. I lived there for a few months, catching prey for my mother and my sisters on occasion. It was under the guise of continuing to patrol around the dragonkins’ town, but really I was curious. About the bipeds and their way of life.
Often I would lounge, watching the dragonkins’ training. It was all very curious, but I could see what mother meant. Even their kind was crafty and used tools and weapons to make themselves stronger. Could my kind use such tools as well? Likely they’d need to be different. Their tools and metal shells were far too small for us. Though from the languages they’ve been teaching me I suppose they would call them armor, swords, bows, and so many other things.
The dragonkin knew draconic of course, but I wanted to learn the words the mammoids used. My only real injury in my fight with them was due to their coordination. They found it strange, but nevertheless began teaching me Hylessese and Oshonic. As their village was on the border with the Kingdom of Hylesse and Principality of Velshraine.
Ultimately, seeing some of the ways they fight was why I stayed so long. It was amusing and quite interesting to see how their tools were meant to be used and worked. I had at one point wanted to fight with them, but they refused. It wasn’t like I would’ve killed them… intentionally. As the snow began to melt there were whispers that trouble was coming. I could hear it from the dragonkin and the merchants that came by and saw me in the village. Something about a bounty out for a young dragon’s head. All I knew was that more of the bipeds like the ones I killed were coming. Coming to kill me.
I stayed in my lakeside snow den. The dragonkin would tell me if there were any armies on the move. Until then I would wait outside their village, so as not to invite too much trouble to it. Yet, I wasn’t one to be idle. I continued my nightly scouting for several days. I hadn’t noticed any large groups of mammoids like I had before.
One day around dawn I returned to rest in my little snow den. My presence helped to keep it from melting, but I was too young to allow it to last into summer. I wasn’t quite asleep yet when I heard four voices. They spoke in Hylessese. It didn’t sound like any of the dragonkin I knew so I listened.
“Yea, I see the hole,” the voice chuckled, “how the hell did you remember where the den was?”
“Rough guess, it was one of the coves near the town.”
“This beats the investigation and trap we tried to set up during the oneshot. It was stupid and didn’t even do anything.”
“I know right? Like, I didn’t think our plan was that bad.”
“Pfft, oneshot? My ass still has a whole fucking campaign left with the character. You all should really think again about joining me after this. We’ll crush it with three more of us.”
“Shouldn’t have let your last PC die then, huh Darell?”
“Keep it down, we’re getting close. We don’t want to wake it up. Just take the easy payday and we’ll be on our way to living here!”
“It was a cakewalk last time and it will be this time. Get into the position we talked about.”
“Yea, but it’s different now. You can’t trust it to be as easy.”
I wasn’t quite certain what all they were saying, but it seemed like they were looking for a fight. I kept tracking their presences though they didn’t seem posed to enter. Instead two stood closest to the entrance with the other two further back to the sides. I wasn’t quite sure what they had planned. There were only four of them? Forty of their kind were unable to contest me.
One began a chant of some sort. Was this magic? A sudden burst of heat and flame tore through my ceiling, wrapping and eating at my left wing and backside. I roared out and something struck me in my side.
“Aim for the wing so it can’t get away,” one of them, a … something, called out from the back. They didn’t wear armor, instead some strange pointy hat and cloth clothes, blue fleshed with horns and a tail. But had skin and hair instead of scales?
The closest two began to charge at me with the other two still in the back. Which one did the fire? That one must be their main threat. The rest were meant to get in my way.
I tried swatting at one of the ones running at me with my tail, but they dove to their knees under it. The other one, who also wore no metal armor but the hides of animals, was charging in and went for a leap. Raising a rather large ax over their head they swung it down towards my weakened wing. I took the initiative swinging my wing towards them. They hadn’t the time to strike as I hit them back… they survived it? The one in the distance shot another arrow at me after their buddy was knocked away. It bled me.
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The one who dodged my tail swung at it with their sword. I hadn’t expected much, before the mammoids could scarcely scratch my scales. This one’s slash broke several. My hind leg met them as they prepared for a second strike and knocked them away. What were they? Aside from the blue-skinned one they seemed the same.
The blue-skinned one with horns started chanting. Several bolts of energy came rushing towards me, I tried to dodge, but they shifted in the air. All aimed at the spot in my wing where the fire had seared me. The bolts tore through parts of my wings. Dissipating soon after the hit. All the while the second one in the back launched more arrows towards me. My scales deflected some but others found their way in between them.
So these are the types of bipeds my kin feared. The ones I fought before must’ve been younglings to be so weak compared to these. Strangely they’re similarly sized, but that mustn’t matter to their kind. The blue one in the back seems the most dangerous. That was the mage. The two warriors got back up and were preparing a second charge.
“It hasn’t used its breath yet, make sure you don’t group up!” The blue one called, before chanting. A ball of flames launched towards me. I ran towards it, it stood between me and the mage and who knew if it would follow me or not. If you fear my breath, you shall have it. The warriors struck at me, the ax wielder again at my wing, getting a hit that damaged it beyond use, not that I planned on fleeing. The sword wielder slashed at the side though I struck my tail towards them forcing them to parry it, sliding backwards through the snow. How do they keep surviving my attacks? No, there was no time for that. I kept charging the mage.
“[Ouze piet] fuck, shit [Ooze pit]!” The mage stumbled their spell before the ground between us began to turn to slush and slurry. I leaped in time to avoid falling in. My front claw pinning them in their stomach as I opened my mouth. A rush of cold came out, the once mighty mage was a corpse frozen in ice. I could sense the two warriors rushing towards me, but their movements were more erratic than before. I hit both with a tail swing knocking them over.
“It… It got Issac!” The ax wielder said.
“Is he dead!?” The archer asked.
“Focus on killing it,” the sword wielder yelled, “it’s weak.”
The archer’s limbs shook when I turned my attention to them, their shots erratic. The ax wielder yelled as they charged at me. The sword wielder followed after them. My body burned and ached. The snow in the area was already stained red with my blood and my body strained from all the movement. I spared a glance at the archer, they were the weakest of them.
My strikes and attempts to grab the two warriors proved useless. My breath had left my body cold and hard to move. I blocked arrows with my ruined wing. Only shredding it further. More gashes from the sword and ax began to show on my limbs and chest. I kept my head and neck away from them. I needed to warm up again. They continued to chip away at me. Their grief turned to anger, their strikes harder, more intense, more unfocused. I did my best to block and mitigate their strikes, Claw and scales meeting skin and blades. It was wearing on us all, but me more so.
I felt my body getting warm enough to move properly, or at least as well as it could with the injuries I’d sustained. I didn’t glance at the archer this time. I could tell where they were. I would die if this continued and I didn’t want to give away my final gambit. I leaped away from the warriors and towards the archer. Dashing as fast as I could, but surely they could’ve outran me had fear not caused them to freeze. They began to flee too late as I hit them to the ground. They lived, thankfully, and tried to flee. Not that I would let them. I closed my jaw around them and held them in my mouth. They struggled but couldn’t escape. The warriors ran at me. Fearful of the loss of another ally no doubt.
I held the archer in my mouth, but didn’t bite down. They pulled a small blade and tried to stab me so I shook them until they dropped it. The lake was nearby. I was loath to admit I couldn’t beat them fairly. I’d need my own tricks.
The warriors knew I was keeping their friend hostage. Keeping their blades trained at me as I led them towards the water. Would they know the ice was weak, but I could still walk on it? I walked back on the ice, slowly. I went further, as I hoped they followed. Their loyalty, their undoing. I extended my will, focusing on keeping the ice from breaking under my pursuers as well. A stab inside my mouth almost broke my focus as the archer seemed to have found another blade to stab me. I wanted to keep them alive to give the warriors hope. A little further and I was at the edge of the ice. Behind me was frigid water. I couldn’t afford this gambit to fail. When the warriors got far enough I bit down. The archer’s lifeblood poured into my mouth.
I stood and watched, the warriors were stunned. I glared at them, they didn’t see my intent. I’ll grant them a mercy. Run and you live, come after me and you die.
“You piece of shit, you’ll pay for this!” The ax wielder said, running towards me. My head throbbed from keeping my focus on the ice in three different places. Thankfully, it was no longer needed. I dropped my focus on their locations when the ax wielder got to where the water was deep enough to engulf them. The ice shattered beneath them. The ax wielder fell out of sight and the sword wielder fell down to their mid-waist. Opening my jaw, I let out my breath again, covering and strengthening the ice. The ax wielder was entirely encased and the sword wielder trapped in place.
I returned to the land, exhausted and I collapsed. I won, I suppose. I stared out towards the water. The ax wielder never resurfaced. The sword wielder tried to escape by breaking the ice. They didn’t end up getting very far. It was pitiful to watch. Had I the strength, or if they put down their blade, I wouldn't've let them suffer. I knew how awful the cold was after all.
I didn’t know when I fell asleep or how long I slept for. Were those the strongest bipeds? No, they were too weak to have hunted down my brethren. My father and siblings. There must be worse out there. It’s strange how easily I could take on forty of their kind with nothing but minor injuries. These four meanwhile, left me near death. If I was to leave my mother’s lair I’d need to be able to fight bipeds like these without nearly dying.
I gathered their bodies and belongings. They were worthy foes. I laid their bodies, or the very least the parts I could find, to rest together encased in ice. Their weapons I took. Some seemed to have power emanating from them. Enchanted weapons I believe they’re called? The sword I set aside, its blade curved forward almost like a claw which interested me. The others I would bring back to the village.
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How unique do the different POVs sound? (see author note ramble)
