The Great Dragon of the What?

The sun sits at a low point in the sky, the wind blows over the snow calmly blowing particles of snow into the wind. The Trees in the distance move slowly creaking on the wind. It is a calm day upon the edge of the tundra and it shows, as the wind could be heard moving and the bird in the distance were singing. Many people normally walked here yet this place was completely calm and free of any hunters. The forest seemed to host an interesting spot of animals, from deers to foxes to even some wolves. All was working fine and the ones who did travel this far were surely hindered by the cold of this place, being so close to the tundra. Snow covered every bit around here, no spot was left for greenery. In the distance people spoke of dangerous creatures passed the mountain range yet here behind the ridge of this desert of a frozen tundra sits live of lesser creatures.

Among the white snow sits a cabin made of wood, small holes in the roof, and a broken window. With tracks around the house, but not of animals, there were no tracks of animals anywhere near the cabin almost as it was avoided. Yet these tracks were humanoid, barefooted among the snow. These tracks seemed to go from and to the cabin being the only one around. Yet the cabin speaks as there has been nobody here for ages in the current state it is standing there. The door was open and anyone could just wander inside without being stoped. Inside it is filled with the clutter of all kinds of wood and small nicknacks as well as the wall being covered in black like charcoal. The Charcoal looked like a painting drawn by hand, it formed a dragon Long and strong, with two sharp horns, fins around his head, and a mouth full of razors. A tail with a fin going all over the back into two giant wings. Claws as big as its head, standing proud over a rock. It was a magnificent drawing on the right wall one clearly of talent made this once.

Here she lived, the dragon of the North, the Frozen Terror that flew the skies many years ago. where others have failed she still lives, But not as she wanted. A girl about the height of a late teen, wearing a black and green sorcerers jacket as well as a white dress. a Purple bracelet and light red eyes staring into the void. Horns coming from her head sharp and green, a Tail scales of white with a green fin over the middle of her tail. On her arms scales as green as her horns and fin, with red and yellow markings. Her name was known to all when she roamed the world freely Nahkrah Sivaas, Fury Cold Beast. Yet now the once great monster was no longer, and the Fury cold beast had died, becoming just a different beast to roam the world. With no official den and no hoard to protect one would wonder what a dragon would be doing, her answer was, to discover what this body can do. Among the snow she laid there in the forest, her skin touching the snow as well as her arms and feet. She was completely underdressed for this weather yet she did not seem to be bothered. Staring at the sky wondering what could be and planning her next steps. Everything is different everything has changed, even she. Sitting upright from the snow she looked around grumbling to herself being angry at that her presents alone scared away her next meal, and with this body, she could not even catch a single meal at all. Being done with it to even try and catch something she stood up slowly dragging her feet in the snow. back to the cabin where she found herself, where this all has started for her, stumbling and struggling to hold her own balances she kept walking.

Word Count: 675

Despite wanting to keep a low profile, Shane’s reputation as a monster hunter had been inflated slightly after his successful attempts at driving away Chompers from Mackemm, and a steal-and-run mission where he had to steal an egg from a Forest Wyvern and deliver it back safely to the client. It was a far cry from what he had envisioned himself doing after escaping his father’s clutches and the Obsidian Order, but work was still work. As an adventurer tied to the Adventurer’s Guild, Shane was still required to take up jobs. The rewards from the jobs were also what was keeping him afloat financially.

However, his current goal was to join the Golden Titans, and from what he could tell, completing as many tasks as possible to build up his rep was the best way to go.

Despite being clad in a thick jacket that he had grabbed at Mackemm before making the journey to the northmost area of Mirinah, Shane’s weakness towards cold weather was fully displayed as he created four balls of fire that floated around him, providing additional warmth against the frigid wind that was constantly assailing him from multiple directions. The Draconyte wore a gloomy look on his face as he trudged through the snow.

Shane would glance everywhere around him every few minutes. He had heard of the many species of monsters that had made Ventamir their home, and how much more hardy and dangerous those creatures were than the ones that typically resided in the more hospitable terrains. Barring the legendary Froskariun Hound, Shane was constantly on the lookout for the Mystical Wyvern, especially after his encounter with the Forest Wyvern.

Shane’s task this time around was to hunt for a Spokoram for its horns but for some reason, after having spent almost an entire day in this frozen landscape, he hadn’t even encountered any. With the sky beginning to darken and the wind beginning to pick up speed, Shane decided to abandon the task today, and resume his search tomorrow. Since there was still light, the Draconyte turned around back to where he had came from.

He was lost in a moment of thought before a flash of determination changed his gloomy expression. Flames formed around his ankles, creating a ring around each foot and the Draconyte rose into the air. With his wings stripped, Shane had had to learn a new way of attaining flight. Compared to using his wings, Shane was still a novice at this method of flying where the weight distribution to fly was different. And yet, this was also the fastest way he had of leaving this place before the sun went down the horizon.

Taking a gamble and flying against the wind that seemed to be hell-bent on pushing him back into the depths of the tundra, Shane wobbled as he flew forward. As though taking offense at his resistance against the wind, the winds suddenly increased in volume, howling and whistling as it swept across the snow and amongst the jutting columns of sharp ice. For a moment, Shane fought hard to stabilize against the stormy winds but there was no escaping it.

While he could still maintain flight, Shane was no longer the one controlling his flight trajectory. The Draconyte shouted as he was swept up in the wind.

And when it was finally over, after having been tossed and turned upside down left and right, Shane was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, his fall broken by the snow.

Cursing as he picked himself up from the snow, stopping for a moment to overcome a sudden rush of nausea and succeeding, Shane brushed the snow away from his clothes before taking check of where he was.

A wooden cabin stood solitarily in the snow not too far away from him, and when he squinted, Shane could catch the silhouette of a person walking towards the cabin. The gait of the person was odd.

Seeing as the sky had darkened and he had no idea of where he was, Shane walked at a quick pace towards the cabin and its assumed owner. His pace allowed him to catch up to the owner before the owner had even reached the cabin despite the latter’s shorter distance but when Shane could finally see the person, he was mildly surprised.

It was another Draconyte, and from the looks of the fellow Draconyte walking forward in a wobbly manner, Shane frowned slightly as he lunged forward to hold the female Draconyte steady.

“Careful! Are you okay?” Shane asked as he moved forward to catch the girl by her left elbow, supporting her.

[773 words]
[Total WC: 1448]

As the sky began to darken and the clouds moved in Sivaas knew she probably had to rest a bit more to gain back her power. With her hunt ended in complete failure and everything that used to live in the range of the cabin disappeared. The Cabin was in view and soon Sivaas would just lay down and sleep for however long it took for her to wake up from this nightmare. However, not all would end as she was stumbling a bit as she walked back out of nowhere a Thing grabbed her elbow. Straight away her instincts kicked in and she lashed out pulling herself free from whatever was holding her. Landing about 10 feet away from the man Sivaas stood in a combat possession, both her hands in the snow, one knee down and her other leg behind her, as her white silvery tail moved behind her swaying slowly.

Sivaas hissed and saw now from the first time someone else than a deer or rabbit, and she was in a small state of panic as she saw the height of this man. He was much taller than her, yet he looked human, but humans didn't have horns as this man had. "HOW DARE U LAY HANDS ON NAHKRAH SIVAAS!" She hissed and growled low, while her voice sounded low with a taste of silvery lines as she spoke.

It was clear to the naked eye that Sivaas was both scared and also prepared to attack at any change, her red eyes spoke of fire and death yet her body spoke of fleeing and retreat. This was new to her, but she did not need to lose her hope, Now was the time to get answers. "Where is the mage! Where is he!"  She yelled her voice angry and low yet still silvery "Answer Carefully tiny mortal, I may spare your life if you tell me where he is!" She said her voice full of determination, and her eyes spoke louder than her own voice. As behind her eyes, a dark and dangerous present could be seen, and even the bird that was still singing stopped the moment Sivaas spoke.

Word Count: 363
Total Word Count: 1811

Shane never got an answer out of the Draconyte he had just tried to support, because the moment his fingers had brushed on the elbow he meant to kindly support, the latter had been triggered. In stark contrast to her sluggish and unstable behavior earlier, the female Draconyte acted like a whole other being as she snatched her arm free before Shane’s fingers could even close down and sped away as swift as the wind.

The female Draconyte, as Shane finally noticed, had moved away extremely quick and far away from him, keeping a distance of ten feet between the two of them. Shane’s brows furrowed slightly as he eyed the female Draconyte. The pose she had assumed was eerily like that of a wild beast. A cornered wild beast to be exact. It also gave Shane the chance to get a good look at the female’s appearance. Like any other Draconyte, she had the horns and tail. Her tail looked slightly similar to his, minus the color scheme but where she had fins, his had fur. One thing that caught his attention was the lack of wings on the back.

He had never encountered another Draconyte that lacked wings, even in Miriad which had a number of Draconyte clans living within the city. He was an exception, having his forcefully and brutally sawed off.

The female Draconyte chided him while introducing herself, before growling at him. Shane was considering how to reply in a way to diffuse the situation when the female Draconyte spoke further. She mentioned of a male mage and his whereabouts as well calling him a tiny mortal. That last part almost got him choking, as he tried to stifle his laugh but, in the end,, Shane still laughed out loud in amusement.

The angry voice and the threat behind it, with eyes staring daggers at him might have been scary for anyone else, but Shane had seen worse. He could see through the girl’s demeanor. He knew her aggressive front was nothing but an act. If not, she would have attacked him instantly instead of pulling back and using words.

Shaking his head with a genial smile on his face while holding his hands to chest level, palms out towards the girl, Shane replied in a flippant manner.

“I’m a Draconyte just like you. And I think the tiny one here is you,” was his reply while his red tail extended from his back, the transformation magic undone to reveal his full Draconyte features. However, unlike the girl, his Draconyte features was limited to his horns and tail only. He bore no scales or claws on him, which might have been the reason for the girl thinking he was a human. Although normally, Shane would be misidentified as a demon more than a human.

“My name is Shane Stern. Call me Shane. Can I call you Sivas? It’s just easier on the tongue.”

“Also, I’ve got no idea who is the mage you are asking about,” Shane continued as he shrugged at the end of the sentence. “I was actually just trying to help. I thought you were going to faint or something. If I’m not welcome here, then I will leave.”

[537 words]
[Total WC: 2348]

Standing there, her eyes trained on him, full focus not leaving her sight at all. With her powers gone she was primarily weak, and her hunters' instinct was not gonna help her here. What pissed her off, even more, was that at this moment she was completely weak and could not even take down a deer lets stand this guy here. This was useless as even this guy could see that Sivaas was outmatched by a mile, Yet she needed answers and she wanted them now. Tho what caught her off guard was the thing she got called, as it sounded like a race, but Sivaas only knew about Humans, Eldritch, and Gaiyans.

Still standing at the ready Sivaas knew one way or another this was gonna hurt her pride, and as much as she hated it, to work with a mere mortal she had to at this point. Her Stands fell, and her other knee hit the snow and her head hand low, and a sigh came out from her, she was clearly annoyed by the fact that this guy laughed at her. "You speak as if you know me, I'm nothing like you, never was and never will be,"  She said annoyed and lower yet a softer voice with a silver lining. "Your a Half-Blood or something,"  She nodded as his tail appeared behind him. He was clearly a magic user and she hated magic for one good reason.

While her skin was still touching the snow she did not seem to be cold at all, as a matter of fact, she seemed to be at complete calm in the snow. Standing up she stood there prideful and strong, her scales on her arm covered in a bit of snow. "I do not care for the names of Mortals, especially don't need your help, I'm not weak or in pain."  She said with a growl clearly her anger was still there and it was burning. With a sniff, she turned around and walked into the open door of the cabin, "You are free to enter my lair, but don't touch my hoard," she said even tho she did not really have a hoard to claim her own.

Inside snow was coming in the roof and on the wall that was still completely repaired was the drawing of charcoal of the dragon. One with a quick look would think of it as a mere great dragon, yet one who would look long could see similarities between it and The girl before them. With both her tail and horns coming to a one-to-one similarity, yet she was missing well almost everything.

Still being on guard Sivaas stumbled inside, It was clear that she had a lack of balance as she swung a bit left and right as she walked, and sat down on some pillows stacked on top of each other on a small hill "Prove you worth my time Mortal by answering my questions," she said sounding more annoyed than anything. "What is a Draconyte, U called yourself one, yet I do not know what this is. You look like a Half-Blood to me," Saying this she stared him down intensely almost about to stare right into him. "Then another question as well, Where are we? and the last one for now, Do you not Fear the Fury Cold Beast, The Terror of the north, the great Dragon of Snow," She said looking at him as she was in a death of life situation.

Word Count: 567
Total Word Count: 2915

While Shane was acting in a casual way, speaking nonchalantly, he had heightened all his senses and was ready to leap into battle mode anytime. Flames would roll down his arms and legs the moment with a single thought as he conversed with the more feral Draconyte. However, the fight never came. Shane was slightly disappointed, but he was still relieved, nonetheless. There was no reason to the fight anyway, and he wouldn’t have enjoyed himself.

“Half-blood?” Shane mused as he let out a cough and then laughed it off. “Ohh, that’s new. An Anthros referring their own race as half-blood. I don’t really care much about such stuff, but you better not use that word or anything with the same meaning to another Anthros. They might not be as easygoing as I am.”

The girl stood up straight in the snow before reaffirming her physical condition. Apparently, she had taken offense at Shane calling her weak earlier. Shane merely frowned as she brushed off his introduction and invited him into her ‘lair’.

It was anything but. Shane walked into the dilapidated hut with a roof that had already succumbed to the heavy snow buildup. The walls were still standing, although barely and on one particular wall, there was a rough drawing of a dragon made with charcoal. Shane gave the drawing a quick glance, but he had visually captured what he needed. The features of the dragon in the drawing matched the girl’s, who was currently sitting on a pile of pillows that were stacked high.

“Your ‘lair’ seems like it will give anytime a strong wind blows. And what hoard? Your stack of pillows? Don’t worry, I’m not interested,” Shane replied with a sneer as he looked around the room. There was no furniture in the hut, and with a sigh, Shane used his tail to sweep the snow away from a spot on the ground and just sat there, opposite Sivaas.

Another sigh left his mouth when the girl spoke again. The arrogance in her tone was beginning to grate on Shane’s patience, but the Draconyte had gone through more tiresome situations to let this break his patience so easily.

“Not so great with humility eh? But since I’ve got time to kill, I’ll humor you,” Shane replied with a sneer before continuing.

“Draconytes, like you and me, are a subspecies of Anthros. Our race was said to be created by the planet, a hybrid of the planet’s nature magic and the form of man. Hence, allowing our race to possess distinctive animalistic features. Draconytes, are the ones with draconic features which includes scales, wings, horns and tail in general. Apart from us, the other subspecieis are the Neko, Inu, Kitsune, Lapin and Avian. Respectively, the subspecies carries features of felines, canines, foxes, rabbits and birds in the same way we have features of dragons.”

“Our race is a natural creation of this planet, not the interbreeding of different species. You might wanna take care of what you say to other Anthros. They are not gonna be as kind as I am.”

“We are currently in Ventamir Tundra, the frozen north of Mirinah region. And for your final question. I don’t even know how to answer that. Fury Cold Beast, Terror of the North, Great Dragon of Snow? Is that what you call yourself?” Shane scoffed before making a sarcastic reply.

“Then do you not fear Firefist, the Blazefire King, the Burning Lord?” Shane countered with an equal number of made up titles for himself as he smirked.

[591 words]
[Total WC: 3506]

Sivaas stared as the man entered her temporary home, It was clear there was some tension between her and him. She however did not care, she wanted answers she wanted then fast. Yet his answers did not fully get accepted but on the other side, she did get a bit of information. It must have been that the time has passed over the year that she was trapped. The moment however when he mentioned that he does not know about the names she has been given, that her pride and stature completely changed. Fear shot in and anger and her eyes went from demanding to a beast wild stuck in a corner.

"They... don't. I'm really forgotten, Trapped here, Stuck in this body!" She said low but got louder and angrier at the end of her wording. An air got filled with a strong aura and anger, "That Foul Wizard, Ruining my legacy, my body, my powers, I will find him and any of his bloodline and make sure I ruin their life," Sivaas Snarled a bit as she spoke. While it was clear that she was getting angry and feared her own surroundings at the same time. Yet however, for some reason, the cabin slowly started to heat up, snow that was on the pillowed melted away and the heat itself came from the rough location of Sivaas.

All of a sudden She Yelled angrily stood up and fast and with full anger in her eyes smashed her both hands down on the pile of pillows she was sitting on. Feathers flew up covering a lot of the room it was hard to see Sivaas among all of them now, but once it got clearer some of the feathers around Sivaas seemed burned and one feather landed on her shoulder and turned into a crisp very quickly. Once all Feathers either burned or fell to the ground, Sivaas clearly left some damage around, as a quite big hole was left in the wooden floor and the ground beneath it.

She stoot up straight again, her anger still burning as hot as the room itself now. Yet it was clear her body was cooking of heat as her white dress seemed to have a few small burn holes as well on her jacket. The beast before the man was clearly there, a feral monster full of anger, yet it never seemed ready to attack. She walked over to the painting of the dragon, and she spoke calm yet her voice showed a clear sign that she could snap at any time. "In the past, this body," she paused and placed a hand on the drawing where the face was, "This Beautiful creature, flew among the clouds here in the tundra. None could defeat it. A true dragon, an Elder Dragon" She paused again placing her hand on the drawing close to the heart of the dragon and her other hand on her own heart. "This Body belongs to me, her Name Nahkrah Sivaas. The Terror of the north. I will have my revenge,"  She said almost as she was giving a small history lesson to the guy, as well as sounding like one wrong word could set off her bomb.

Word Count:540
Total Word Count: 4046

Shane sneered when he saw the fuss that Sivaas was making about her lost reputation and notoriety, finding it ridiculous that someone of such stature with such powerful titles would actually care about those particular titles. He kept his quiet as the old dragoness trapped in a young Draconyte’s body raged about that wizard she had been spouting about since the beginning and her losses.

Instead, he was more curious about the manifestation of her rage. Despite Ventamir’s unyielding cold and Sivaas’s originally weak condition, the snow in the broken hut was beginning to melt from the heat she was unconsciously letting off. The corners of Shane’s mouth raised slightly at the scene. There seems to be some truth to her words, if the mere outburst of her emotions could cause a leak in her magic.

And that display climaxed when the girl lost her mind and punched with both hands into her pile of pillows. The pillows exploded as feathers burst out to cover the cabin before slowly floating down. As dramatic as the display of power was, it was just pillows. But Shane’s eyes had caught sight of that one feather that had landed on the girl’s shoulder, turning into ashes from a quick flame when it touched her.

“Nope. As much as I want to tell you that I have an inkling of your legacy, I really have nothing kind to offer you,” Shane said, shaking his head to drive in his point when Sivaas finally revealed that the drawing of the dragon on the wall was in her image.

‘Did she spent her time doodling on the wall about how mighty she was?’

A sharp grin appeared on Shane’s face as he suddenly decided what he could do in this situation. An interesting thought had just came to him.

“An Elder Dragon you say,” Shane began speaking with his hands folded across his chest while rocking back and forth on his feet.

“With you currently stuck in this form, hungry, weak and pathetic, you can give up on any notion of revenge. As far as I know Elder Dragons are the wisest and most powerful of the Draconytes, beings of great might and intellect, worthy of the greatest respect.”

“Unfortunately, I see nothing of that in you. All I see is nothing but a whiny little girl just spewing the words revenge repeatedly with nothing to back it up. But I’m interested in this wizard that you mentioned. I’m interested to meet this wizard who was powerful enough to subdue an Elder Dragon, if what you said is true.”

Shane stopped his annoying rocking back and forth and sprung back into a solid stance as he grinned slyly and looked at Sivaas.

“Here’s my offer. My strength may not be much at the moment but I’ll lend you my strength. In return, you shall owe me a debt,” Shane offered. “What do you think?”

Shane waited for the answer from the girl. He had never seen an Elder Dragon, and the closest one the Draconytes had had for ages were Draconytes with powers of Elder Dragon but never an actual one. He had time to kill anyway. And if this endeavor did not turn out in vain, he would have an Elder Dragon owing him a debt.

[551 words]
[Total WC: 4597]

It was clear to Sivaas now, Her past is lost and will never be remembered by anyone who was alive at this point. It must have been a thousand years when she was locked in combat with the wizard. The anger inside her was burning hot and no snow was left in the cabin at all as the heat coming from Sivaas caused it all to melt away. With a simple look, she turn to look at the man and listened to what he had to say, however it did not help her calm her down at all. In fact, it made her even angrier than before and the room clearly was cooking now from the pure heat admitted from her.

Sivaas pupils turned narrow and she stood frozen on the spot, while nothing happened at first, apart from the heat slowly increasing it was clear the air changed. the girl started breathing heavily and a small bit of smoke left her mouth as she did so. She did not listen anymore, not to his mocking or the offer he gave her. Now rage filled her ears and she could hear her own heartbeat going, faster... faster... faster. At her chest where her heart was, a small red glow started, not big but it was noticeable past her clothing. "You meet him ... In death," she said, and before she could even let out another word she lifted up her foot from the wooden floor leaving a dent.

With an insane amount of speed and heat, Sivaas flew right at Shanes's chest. Her hand landed on him and it was clear that her claws and scales wear the cause of her heat. Without any warning of this attack and the man, both flew out through the wooden wall before the man hit a tree standing behind him. Sivaas jumped back from him before letting out an angry roar into the sky releasing a flame of fire behind her revealing two leathery green wings with here and there some white scales. They were half on fire yet they were clearly bigger than her arm span.

The red glow on her chest became brighter and bigger and the rage took Sivaas over completely. "Now it is playtime," she said angrily her voice lost that silvery tone to it and in its place a more dark and almost echoing grumble. The snow around her melted quickly and the grass underneath turned black almost right away. This power was clearly not meant for a small body as the scales on her arms seem to give away from cracks of fire.

"You think you even worthy mocking me, Mortal! U know nothing of the power I once had," Sivaas sounded louder than before and the way she spoke was of pure rage. She jumped up into the sky with her wings plotting her next move. Among the sky she looked bigger with her wingspan was quite a lot bigger than her own body. Before she spoke again a small grin came to her face and with an insane amount of speed she hurled herself towards the man. Her claw in front she aimed straight for him and upon impact pushed him right through 3 trees behind him while still holding him.

Their battlefield had changed, quite a bit distance behind her was the cabin and they now were surrounded by trees among the snow landscape. As soon as she lets go of the man she flew back up into the sky knowing he had to get crafty to catch her. A grin came to her face and she smiled, "I was suspecting you to have died already from that, Not many men can outlast me with two attacks," She said before getting ready for another attack as well as having her guard up high.

Word Count: 639
Total Word Count: 5236

Shane had been confident about his proposal to the female Draconyte, preying on her current weakness and ambition for revenge to make a deal that could only be beneficial to him. He had even expected Sivaas to blow up in rage at his offer. But whatever happened was beyond his expectations.

Shane could feel the magic in the atmosphere boil, becoming turbulent as the Draconyte before him stood and glared at him. Following that, the air itself began to become warm, and its temperature continued to increase. The blonde Draconyte fixed his eyes on the girl opposite him as she began to breath heavily, emitting small amounts of smoke from the corners of her mouth. The snow in the room had already melted away at an alarming rate.

‘It’s come down to this, huh,’ Shane thought as flames burst into life around his hands and feet and from the stumps of his wings, forming a rather magnificent cape of flames. The moment the girl attacked him, charging at him like a rocket, Shane crossed his arms across his chest while leaning back. Flames jetted from the bottom his feet, as he shot backwards in tandem with Sivaas’s attack, hoping to reduce the damage that he would take.

Together, with Sivaas pushing forward onto his crossed arms, Shane gritted his teeth as he was sent crashing into a thick tree. Shane let out a gasp as the air was pushed out of his lungs, gaining a bit of respite when his opponent had leapt backwards from his slouching figure on the snowy ground at the base of the tree. He only took one second to regain his senses and composure, standing back up with a slightly serious look on his face as he faced Sivaas.

His arms did ache from holding on against all that momentum, but apart from that, he hadn’t taken much damage. Yet.

“Is that all you got, Terror of the North?” Shane taunted as he held his left hand out. His ring and little fingers were curled, leaving the other three fingers extended for him to wiggle in Sivaas’s direction with a smirk on his face.

Shane watched as the girl leapt into the skies with her wings spread open, thinking that she would be going for a long-range spell.

He got it wrong. In the face of the sudden speed of her dive, much faster than the horizontal charge earlier, Shane couldn’t defend in time and ended up getting caught by the female Draconyte. Her fighting style was almost similar to his own, a rather absurd thought to have while being dragged through the air and then thrown towards the trees behind him, with enough force to smash through three trees.

“Wow. She wasn’t as weak as I thought, huh,” Shane groaned as he picked himself off the ground. Every breath hurt now, courtesy of the multiple broken ribs from that one attack. Thankfully, his limbs were still intact. He could definitely still fight with broken ribs, it was just more troublesome.

“I need to learn some healing magic soon,” Shane grumbled while shaking his head and looking up at the female Draconyte that had climbed into the skies the moment she released him.

“You still need to work on your trash talk!” Shane shouted back at her taunt. As he spoke, multiple orbs of flames appeared in the air around Shane, forming into flaming spears and shot upwards at the Draconyte in the air. But that was just a diversion. It was almost impossible for him to strike her down with that attack alone, so Shane was already preparing his next move. The amount of flames wrapping around his right arm greatly increased and when he deemed it enough, Shane punched into the air at the flying figure, releasing a gigantic fist of flames in the direction he had expected her to fly towards.

“Come on, I dare you to bring this fight down to the ground,” Shane whispered to himself as he prepped himself.

[670 words]
[Total WC: 5906]

While her first attack got blocked by the man it seemed her second attack did something to him. She was impressed by how strong people have changed compared to the past. Back then she only had to just use a small bit of her power. But because of the rage and the anger inside her now she was clearly going as strong as she could with her new body.

What was quickly noticed by the Elder Dragon was that pain started to run over her entire body. Yet she ignored it for now as the fight was still going, and she was not planning to lose to him.

Focusing back into the battle Sivaas tilted her head a bit by his words, "I don't 'trash talk' my opponent, It was a mere complement of combat, Respect your opponent during a fight and thank them for putting up the show," She said before seeing him form his own attack at her. As the flames moved into a spear he hurled it towards its target up in the sky Sivaas moved out the way. However just as it seems that was his attempt to attack her she was caught by his plan. A fiery first came straight at her, she put up arms to block but she was a bit too late and collided with the fire fist from her attacker.

With this sudden attack, Sivaas lost her balance from the sky and tumbled a bit before landing on the ground. She had not even landed and snow has already begun to melt away, but upon impact, she grinned. Small burn marks were on the Elder Dragons Skin, yet it didn't seem to bother her. But now being on the ground in closer range to her combatant it was a clear picture of her.

Her chest was glowing right where her heart sat, and small cracks from the same glow of her chest started to appear on her body, tail, and wings.  Her body was clearly not used to this power, and it almost look like she was only a vessel to whatever was inside her body that gave this glow to it, it almost looked like she was about to be consumed by her own power and magic from the inside, about to explode into a red mist of fire and blood. Yet as well it also seems the body was fighting back to keep something inside.

She sank a bit through her knee standing there, but she did so any sign of fatigue or injury. "Well played, Mortal," She grinned. "I don't tend to keep my opponent alive, running might be a chance to escape alive. But I promise U will die before me," She said with confidence as she taunted him back knowing her own power consume him.

before she got ready for another strike, She went claw out first straight at him and was ready to strike him right in the chest again. Trying to aim for his heart this time in the hopes to create an impact to cause some harsh damage to his body. However, if he was going to block her again she would change her attack. As she got ready to spin around and smack him right on the head with her tail. Right to the ground hoping to make him stay there by either of her attacks.

Word Count: 564
total Word Count: 6470

“Ahh, even more worse trash talk,” Shane spouted as he watched the female Draconyte try to dodge the spears he had thrown her way, and moved into the way of the real attack, a large burning fist of flames that struck her squarely. With the explosive blast of flames washing over her, Shane once more swung his right arm in the air beside him, creating three more floating orbs of flames beside him.

The red glow across the girl’s chest was getting brighter with each passing time, covering and more of her body. Shane could roughly guess Sivaas’ powers would grow along with the crimson glow. And that was precisely why Shane had kept himself still but on guard despite having scored a direct hit and sent her dropping to the ground. He instinctively knew that this opponent was at least a league above him, and even if he managed to win, he wouldn’t be walking out unscathed.

“How long has it been since I got such an opponent…,” Shane muttered to himself as he moved into his close combat battle stance. The overflowing flames that burst from his wing stumps moved around behind him as though a real cape being blown by the wind. With flames also burning around his forearms and his legs beneath his knees, Shane resembled a superhero.

The trash talk continued from the self-proclaimed former Elder Dragon, with Shane sneering as she continued to call him mortal condescendingly.

“I truly doubt I will die by your hands,” Shane scoffed, but he cut his words short the moment his opponent charged at him with a frontal attack. She was coming for him with her claws out, aiming for his chest again. Did she know that she had broke a few of his ribs earlier?

Shane shook the worthless thoughts out of his mind.

The wingless Draconyte charged forward, as well, flames jetting out of his feet to propel himself further. A shield of flames appeared mounted on his left wrist in a burst of flames. Holding it out to defend against the stabbing attack of Sivaas’ claws, Shane intended to disarm her by blocking her attack and strike her with a flaming uppercut while she was caught off guard.

“Urggh!” Shane grunted as he felt like his entire left arm was going to dislocate upon absorbing the claw attack with his flame shield, and he was even pushed back a few feet. His right arm moved the moment Sivaas had extended her arm forward, an opening created for him to attack. But his fist never found its target. His fist shot upwards without resistance, flames burning against air and the next thing he knew, Shane was struck to the side of his head with a brilliant show of acrobatics combined with a tail whip.

The male Draconyte’s head struck the ground with enough force to cause a concussion in a normal human. Thankfully he wasn’t a human. But the damage was still there.

“Kuuh!” Shane gasped as he pushed himself off the ground with monumental effort and with a burst of flames from his feet, leapt into the air and landed a few feet away from Sivaas.

Shane cursed at himself internally. Despite talking big, having judged the girl to be weak from her behavior, he had been on the defensive ever since the beginning. So far, the score was four to one.

‘Gah, I’m pathetic,’ Shane thought to himself as he stood up once more to face his opponent.

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his left hand, before swinging his left arm by his side to relieve the tension from defending against the claw attack, Shane resumed his battle stance and without any further words, leapt into the air with assistance from flames jetting out his feet and lunged towards Sivaas with a downwards flaming punch to bring her down. The orbs of fire that he had created earlier to hover by his side, which followed him despite being their caster being thrown around, formed into spears again.

If his fist didn’t connect, then the fire spears would chase after Sivaas.

[694 words]
[Total WC: 7164]

It was a worthy battle for sure, Sivaas had fun and it was clear that the Elder Dragon as Young as it looked had a childlike smile on her face. Even if her first attack did get blocked there, it was dealing a massive amount of damage to his defense. And if one thing was known to Sivaas it was that by taking out the weapons of a castle the walls would fall themself. So she took this tactic with her while making for next move. The man became quiet and it really seemed to change his outlook on this battle than he did before.

The surrounding area, the arena of their fight was quiet for a minute and not even a bird or animal could be heard from anywhere. This place was just Her and Shane fighting to either both parties fell down or one of them was going to be dead soon. Neither where Sivaas plan, She was going to kill him or he was going to run.

The Man moved away from her and this gave her a little bit of a second to take in everything, but it didn't take long as soon as she tried to focus a sudden pain shot right through her heart. It burned and it almost felt like a sword was doing into her heart. It was not because of his attacks or anything like that. It was like she had a bomb inside her ready to explode at any minute. The pain got worse and worse to the point of her gritting her teeth causing some blood to spill from her own mouth.

"AAAAAAAAARRH!" Sivaas let out a roar and it was clearly one of pain, her chest kept getting brighter and brighter, and more cracks appeared on her body. At her chest blood started dripping and from a few cracks here and there, slowly dripping of blood. Yet no sign of her ever stopping this fight. At the same moment, Sivaas became more enraged and her wings got now fully surrounded by flames before folding down into the flames shooting from her back like a raging tornado. But the battle was not over, even if flying caused her pain right now and she avoided it, she still had a lot of power by just standing on the ground. As the man went up going on the offensive himself Sivaas got ready, Take out the weapons, and his defenses will fail.

With Speed, just at the right moment Sivaas lifted up her own hand and took a hold of the mans flaming fist. She and he together moved back by the impacts, as not only did the attack hit her and move her back, the Spears he had forming as well hit her and sand moved up. However, Sivaas was not letting go of the man's hand and she smiled as the dust settled. "Done playing?"  she smiled yet again with her childlike smile on her face. As she tried to twist his hand making sure he went to the ground as she turned his hand.

Word Count: 516
Total Word Count: 7680

As the distance between the two combatants got closer and closer, Shane approaching fast after a huge fire-boosted jump with a fistful of flames ready to smash into his target, he couldn’t help but notice the red glow in the center of the girl was getting more and more intense. He could see blood dripping from the cracks that were appearing on her body, and yet, instead of getting weaker by the minute, it seemed like Sivaas was getting stronger instead.

Her power was too strong to be contained within her petite body was the conclusion that Shane quickly arrived at. Could her story that she was an Elder Dragon trapped in this small body be true? Shane had only halfheartedly accepted that story earlier. If it was true and she had accepted his deal, then good for him. If not, then he wouldn’t have made a loss anyway. But seeing her now, the legitimacy of the story began to grow stronger and stronger.

And so what?

There was no time for overthinking things.

She was strong. And they were in situation where either one had to go down first to end it all.

‘So I fight.’

“RAAAAAAAHHHHH!” Shane shouted as he pushed his pulled-back fist into the small figure, flames surging in response to his will. The flames on his back looked like draconic wings instead of a fluttering cape now, fiercely burning in ragged bursts as though real wings were flapping.

But power was power. Strength was strength.

The moment Shane’s burning fist was caught in mid-air by Sivaas, Shane had merely let out a hoarse laugh. The momentum behind his attack did successfully push the former Elder Dragon back. His burning spears caught up at the right moment, striking their target true.

“I guess you weren’t kidding about being an Elder Dragon,” Shane remarked candidly, before being forced into the ground by an arm twist. His left knee thudded against the ground beneath, void of snow from their flames, but was it really the end?

Although his magic and fighting style resembled that of a brawler’s, Shane was a trained assassin. And in the face of overwhelming odds, he had never ever not thought of a way to get away the moment his plan went to hell. Gritting his teeth in anticipation of the pain that he knew was coming, Shane deliberately moved himself into position to dislocate the shoulder of the arm that was being twisted. The unexpected move had always succeeded and equally successful this time, Shane managed to shake free of Sivaas’s iron grip and blasted himself away from where she was by expelling a great amount of flames from both his feet.

Shane landed at least ten feet away from Sivaas with a pale face, cold sweat rolling down the side of his face. He smiled awkwardly while bearing the pain, supporting his loosely hanging right arm with his left hand.

“Kuhhh!!” the man growled as he expertly pushed his dislocated shoulder back into its socket, followed by even more beads of sweat on his forehead.

“It seems like I miscalculated, Nakrah Sivaas. You win, I lose,” Shane remarked nonchalantly with a grin. There was no need to spin the facts around. His words had laid out his thoughts as honestly as possible. “Truce?”

[551 words]
[Total WC: 8231]

The battle was long dragged out, and Sivaas was ready to deal the final blow of this man, she raised her hand and was about to just crash it right into his neck. However, in quick thinking and the weakened state of her own body, the man dislocated his arm and got out of her grip going about ten feet back from her. A move risky for most humans and a clear sign to her, he was not just a human with a dragon-like appearance. Yet he was weaker than her, he was no coward. Death seemed near for him but he faced death as she was standing before her.

Sivaas grinned evil and just looked at Shane before she started tasting blood. 'Am ... I bleeding?' She thought to herself as she moved her arms to check only to see more blood on her arms. It was clearly her blood and it did come from her own wounds. Then she realized, the pain she has been pushing back this whole fight, and the adrenaline fell down as the pain kicked in. Her face turned to an uncomfortable grin and before she even could think she sat down on the ground holding her chest as the pain hurt her there the most. The fire that was on her wings slowed down and they folded back, still clearly on her back but heavily damaged by whatever happened. A good look at the wings, and one could say they got burned and folded in and got stuck, as the before green and white scares seemed black of burn spots.

"Impressive,"  she said as her voice sounded clear of pain as she grinded her teeth. "As... I said many don't survive fighting me," she said again taking a pause before standing up. The glow on her chest went away and the shine from the cracks on her body stopped. Her tailed seemed to have a mind of its own as it was moving left to right for a bit, "The Mortal named Shane, A fighter, A Warrior, and a mage. U mortal gave me the best fight I had in weeks, I enjoyed that." She said as her voice became more light and there was a clear spark of joy, one only a younger person could have. She stood up and here and there struggled to keep a bit on balance.

She took her steps toward Shane and smiled like a child that just had an amazing plan, "My promise stays, you will die before me, I will be the one to kill you. But not today, today you will show me what this world has turned into." She said having her silver-like tone in her voice again and smiling she stoot there. Sivaas had generally fun grinning past the pain she has in her chest, it was the first battle she had in a month and it was fantastic to fly again. She looked at her wings as that thought came to her mind and sight in disappointment, "Won't take flight with burned wings like these," she said beneath her breath trying to move them with no success.

"Mortal!" she said looking at Shane and walking closer to him, "As the customary go of ancient old blood, hereby I set u as my kin by pact," She said smiling giving him a hand to hold onto so they be on even footing again. As her arm was bleeding from the wounds on her body as somehow they seemed to seal up and leave a small mark on her body, almost as the body itself had a safety to heal itself after a fight. Sivaas smiled with a grin as she wanted to get out knowing that her current appearance gave her a free exploration ticket. And she wants to see the world after all these years of being stuck. Somehow this promise seemed safer than fighting her in combat.

Word Count: 657
Total Word Count: 8888

“You should really stop getting impressed so easily. You had the upper hand throughout the entire fight. I was forced to fight to survive, not to win,” Shane said as his grin turned slightly wry.

Shane merely groaned when the girl addressed him formally. Her archaic way of speaking was funny at times but when she was using it to refer to him, Shane could feel himself cringing. The Draconyte watched as his female opponent retract her powers after their fight, a terrible power that raged uncontrollably due to an incompatibility with its current vessel, and the red glow on her body dimmed before going out. However, the self-inflicted damage on her wings and the cracks on her body formed from trying to contain the raging power remained on her body. Shane sucked in a deep breath of air as he thought of the pain that the girl would have to endure after the adrenaline rush from the battle died down. He was no stranger to overexerting his own capabilities that backfired on him in the form of broken bones and cracked skin.

He kept his body still as the girl tried to rise from the ground, albeit shakily. However, what she said next blew his mind. He had only offered a truce so that he could walk away from here in one piece, but it seemed like the girl had other plans.

‘Show her what the world has turned into?’

‘Kin by pact?’

‘What was she talking about?’

‘I didn’t even hit her head?’

Shane’s expression was full of confusion, a frown replacing the earlier grin. He looked at the offered hand in front of him without moving his own. From the corner of his eyes, he had noticed that the wounds on the girl had already healed. It seemed like even with a powerful healing factor as that, it was unable to keep up with the scale of the damage she inflicted on herself by using her dormant powers.

Shane shook his head to clear his thoughts, to return back to the original question at hand.

“I’m sorry. I reject,” Shane replied flatly and held up both hands in the air.

“I can bring you to the nearest town if you want, but that’s it. We met, we battled, we acquainted. That’s it, I guess. Please keep your ancient old blood customs to yourself. I have no interest to be connected anyone as kin anymore. Last I remember, it was my kin that manipulated me into doing things I’m not proud of and that same kin is also currently hunting me to silence me.”

“So, nope. No can do,” Shane repeated again, taking about five steps back from the girl. “Friends, yes. Kin, no. Pact, no.”

[458 words]
[Total WC: 9346]

Sivaas was a bit taken back by the denial of her request, most people would see honor in being called kin by an elder dragon, but it seems Shane had other thoughts. It almost looked like Sivaas pouted like a small child beheld herself back and turned around looking towards the mountains. With her back turned towards Shane, Shane now had a clear sight of her wings, folded in and completely burned almost as they were stuck, and badly damaged. They were clearly not capable of allowing her to fly and even her self-healing body did not seem to heal them.

Sivaas let out a sigh, as she stared into the distance a bit. He didn't seem to want a Pact from Sivaas, and he probably had his own reasons. He would be a fool to accept it as she never explained it to him, But that was something for another day. But she smiled a bit, as he said about his kin hunting him and it made her turn around, "Seems we have one thing in common, or own blood trying to kill us for something of our past. My mother has tried it many times when I was younger, and my father nearly got close... As well as my older brother who I had to kill to even be here today." She paused and laughed a bit, "Maybe we don't have things in common."  She said as she spoke about this very lightheartedly to even smile about it.

Sivaas seemed to be focused on his words, He was fine being friends with a monster, those world made her smile a bit. "U be willing to be friends with someone who was ready to kill you, and who, in your eyes is probably crazy out of her mind. I'm no fool I know you people always will see me as a sort of monster in one way or another. But if you are willing to be friends with me, Fine I won't stop you," She said almost smirking like a child she appeared to me. It was new to her to call someone a friend but it felt nice. Knowing not fully what this word meant she accepted it with open arms.

She looked back to the mountains of the tundra and smiled. Her goals ahead of her were to figure out what has happened to her, and how to restore her honor. Yet on the other side, this opened a new door for her, Nobody know who she was or who she used to be. It was the perfect chance to well... Figure out how things work now without being hunted down or being chased away with pitchforks and torches, especially the pitchforks dam Farmers. "We will travel as soon as you are able to walk, We don't have to fear wolves or other beasts that would hunt at night... They have been... Keeping away from me," she said with a smug smile knowing fully well that her aura was strong for wild animals.

Word count: 506
Total world count: 9852

Shane merely smiled lightly when his refusal to accept the girl’s pact of kinship made her turn around to pout. Her actions seemed childish, a stark contrast to the great elder dragon she had claimed to be. He understood the despair she felt at being reduced from a powerful creature to this current form. He could also understand where her rage was coming from when he had belittled her. Heck, he could even explain the sudden flip in attitude at the end of the battle. But this sudden behavior made him doubt her stories all over again.

Could she be delusional? Was she perhaps brought up in a web of lies, only for her life to fall apart after her parents died or left her or something?

Another thing that caught his eye was the mangled wings that were on Sivaas’s back. She didn’t look like she would be able to fly with those again until she got them healed.

“Nah, I don’t think we have that much in common aside from being Draconytes,” Shane just flippantly remarked, ignoring the fact that the girl might be trying to offload some emotional burden that she had carried for some time.

Shane laughed out loud when he heard the words from Sivaas. He had long since went past differentiating people by their circumstances. Today’s enemy could be tomorrow’s friend and all that mumbo jumbo.

“I don’t really care about that. You can try to kill me today, you can be crazy tomorrow, or you can turn into a monster the day after. As long as we don’t have any conflicting interests, I don’t mind a new acquaintance,” Shane replied with a grin. “Grudges can be erased as long as the benefits outweigh them.”

“Let’s go then. We aren’t that far from the Mackemm. Once there, you can take your time to make peace with the world or do whatever you want. The people there are friendly so you don’t have to worry too much,” Shane replied.

Leaving those words behind, Shane turned around and began trekking in the direction of Mackemm.

[349 words]
[Total WC: 10201]

Sivaas stared at him like he spoke a bit of jibberish and she was confused, this place Mackemm, she never heard of it, and the fact that it was supposedly close by surprised her a bit. How come She has never heard of this place, the name said nothing to her and she was confused not only by the way but also by a small bit that she did not understand Common completely, especially the fancy words.

Noticing that Shane was leaving she took a small hop and followed him, walking next to him calmly looking up at him, literally, as she walked there with him. She stared at his face for a hot minute and tilted her head a bit. She was inspecting him a bit looking him up and down as she followed him a bit.

Letting out a sigh before holding her hand on her chest as it still was glowing as well as her current appearance seemed to be worse with blood coming from a few wounds and her wings of course. Her face changed a bit from her smirking to one of visible pain, as she was holding her chest a bit. But she let go of that outlook as soon as she stared back up to Shane, just to hide her pain from him or anyone that could have been watching them.

"How many winters have you lived through?" she asked him bluntly, wanting to know his age. As well as wanting to know how many years it has been since she was locked up. To follow up with her question she stood still "And how many winters have passed since the fall or White Woods Castle," she said with a smile knowing she was the one that made the castle fall in the first place.

Word Count: 302
Total word Count: 10503