Thranduil walked along the large passage way, it was dark, a lone sphere of mage light orbiting about him fighting a losing battle against the hungry darkness about him, Occasionally he heard the dripping of water,his stomach was tied in knots. He tried walking silently, but it was so quiet and each step he took sounded in an echo about the still long passage way. He was being watched and he knew it, but he could not do anything about it.. all he can do is move forward, he was scared, who wouldn't be? Inside a dragon's nest surrounded by a hunger driven darkness that threatened to envelope him. He tried moving towards one end of the cave, but the longer he moved the more endless it seems, his pulse was getting louder against the Stark silence, except for the occasionally flickering of the fire ball.
He stood still, his Instincts telling him to bolt, but he knew all to well, running in this endless darkness would amount to nothing, and not against a dragon at the very least. He could hear his heartbeat clearly now, he thought about snapping the stick Bora gave him, but thought better of it. More fireballs appeared, they were considerably larger than the first, their light widening his zone, though he still couldn't see far ahead Infront of him, the range of the light was large enough for him to react if anything attacked.
He didn't know how long he had been walking for, his hourglass hadn't been working since he arrived at the dragon realm, for some reason the sand refuses to fall, he stared at the now useless hourglass angrily, as his feet thundered against the ground echoing throughout the cave, his breath getting louder and more ragged, don't stop, he thought, don't stop for anything.
A horrible smell suddenly struck his nose, he stared around frantically, the fireballs going higher so he could see around him, it was no use, the darkness almost seems unreal, his boot scrapped against the floor as he turned around sharply to a sound that came from behind him. It was unsettling, like the scrapping of a board with fingernails. At times like this, he wished he had, Areia's night vision, Cyra's senses or Dan's guts.
"Show yourself," he said, mustering all the courage and calmness that he could muster in his voice"don't hide in the darkness like a coward. He stood still staring into the darkness where the noise had come from, he was expecting a claw, a teeth or anything dragon like, but what he saw terrified him even more.
Something rolled and touched his boots it was wet and Oozing blood, he kicked it in fright, streak of white hair, pale skin, it was a head and a head of someone he knew very well, Areia's.
" You know, she was quite tasty, I've never in my thousands of years of living, have I had the blood of an half elf who tasted so good, came a cold crackling voice from the shadows, Thranduil heard the cracking of bones and fleaf being torn apart.
His eyes couldn't move away from the sight before him, Areia's severed head was on the floor bloodied and wet, her eyes closed like in a peaceful sleep, her pale face and now cut white hair still fresh, slowly he walked towards it, he crouched slowly and touched her face, he flinched back instantly, for a split second the fireballs around him flickered and threatened to go out. It felt real, it felt too real, he knew they had to be some sort of trickery in what he's seeing, but he couldn't detect even a slight trace of magic in what he was seeing, it was clearly all organic. He heard a clang and the two double handed sword Areia had brought with her still in their strap and attached to one of her severed arm, the black tattoo still in her arm, was in front of him, close to her head.
"I caught her barging in here, blowing up walls and destroying the cave's as she went, she was really pretty, I must say, came the voice again. Too bad she had to waste that face, she could have done well seducing a noble or two.
Thranduil couldn't bring himself to look away from Areia's remains, his now exceedingly pale face taking in the gruesome sight, he knew running was no option, he'd get caught before he could take two steps, his hand subconsciously played with the stick Bora had given him, to make matters worst, he doesn't know how the creature looks like or it's exactly location. He heard the creature leave the where it was, it's fingers scraping the ground, heavy thuds that vibrated the earth beneath his feet, the rotten smell getting sharper, he knew it was staring directly at him now, just outside the light's reach.
"You know I'm a coward, the Dragon said, out of all the guardians of Guava, I'm by far the weakest in a fight, he was circling Thranduil now, just outside the light's circle. Though I could still level a kingdom or two, though I might be weak compared to other dragons, I'm a dragon nonetheless.
"What we're her lady words? Thranduil asked slowly, the cave went silent.
"I don't really know, but she said something about someone coming to save her, was it Dan? We wouldn't really know now would we, cause I ripped her throat shortly after, the dragon said.
"I see, Thranduil muttered, now I just have to fight for my life, the dragon didn't know how he knew his exact location in the pitch black darkness, but a gravity arrow suddenly appeared on top of the Dragons head in the darkness, usually the arrow wasn't always portrayed to glow, but in the pitch blackness Thranduil saw the red arrow clearly, the air rippled as a massive blue fire ball shut through the air at incredible speed hitting the pinned dragon full in the face, the darkness slowly dispersed. Thranduil stared at Areia's pieces, they were still there and that unsettled him a little.
"Honestly, the dragon said slowly getting up from the smoke and large debris that had fallen from the crumbling cave,"usually people give up and let themselves be killed when their strongest link is dead, but you choose to fight like a cornered animal, it said slowly. The gravity arrow above it's head broke. It emerged fully from the smoke. It was green dirty green, it's wings showing clear signs of decay and rot, it's green demonic eyes, fixed on Thranduil, it wasn't all that big, a little over 8meters.
Casting one last glance at Areia's remains, combined with the fact that he can see his opponent clearly now, his fears had subsided greatly. Thin blue sparks flickered here and there about him," if you're gonna kill me anyway, I might as well fight, He said seriously, the sparks became more evident and soon manifested turning into a tornado of pure blue lightening.
"Interesting, the dragon said slowly it's voice crawling with malice,"even though you know it's futile you still seem Intent on fighting. It's not going to end well for you. It darted towards Thranduil spraying debris as it goes.
Thranduil's lightning fist clashed with the Dragons snot, knocking it into the ground, the air thundered under the immense pressure, Thranduil had been taken aback by the Dragons sudden speed he had reacted instinctively and punched rather than shot it with a bolt of lightning, it was more effective than he has expected. He lept back as the dragon Wriggled, distancing it self from the fiend.
His knees failed him as he fell down on one knee holding his severely bleeding gut, the dragon pulled it's head out of the hole and stared at Thranduil, it's ugly spikey tail waiving around lazily, it's tip smeered in blood. Thranduil's vision blurred as his body was growing weaker by the second. He didn't waste any time in thinking about what to do, the dragon didn't seem keen on finishing him off either, he made a quick cut around the stabbed and poisoned area, some thick green liquid poured out along with his blood, he placed his palm above the open wound and slowly it started twitching and mending it self, he got up slowly starting at the dragon who watched him do all this.
"For an elf you're strong, the dragon said slowly, getting off it's hind legs and walking round him slowly, but compared to real powerhouses, you're nothing more than a civilian, even your magic is mediocre. Not being able to heal automatically is already a sign of weakness, then again that necessary doesn't mean defeat, it lunged at Thranduil again, moving in quick zigzags, Traundriil eyes could barely trach him, he made a should around him instinctively as the dragon talons and tail struck, shattering the shield, it tail like a whip sent Traundriil flying and gushing blood as he goes, he didn't fall but somehow landed on his feet and skidded to a halt, the sole of his shoe steamed and smelt of burnt leather, he bent down and made a sign, the air became somewhat cold, large shards of ice appeared beside him in great numbers.
"Now that's mildly interesting, the dragon said lazily, it bent down and darted towards Thranduil, it was quickly and was on him in an instant, Thranduil panicked but didn't lose his cool, he froze the ground beneath his feet, trapping the Dragon's feet, he swung the knife he had used to cut himself at the dragon, the large clumps of ice that had appeared, attaching to the dragon and freezing it's decaying flesh, the knife hit the head of the dragon and snapped instantly, it broke free of the ice prison easily and sunk it's teeth into Thranduil's retreating leg, Thranduil placed his palm on the head of the dragon,EXPLODE! The blast knocked him and the dragon far apart, it's teeth tore through Traundriil's leg, he mended it instantly. He looked up in time, to dodge the dragons bony tail, he teleported back some distance.
The dragon walked forward slowly, had Traundriil just met him, he would have assumed this was his original look, half the Dragons face was gone and underneath was it's bones, barely holding on to it's falling flesh,"that was one mighty attack, it said slowly, just keep fighting and make it fun for me, I for one like beating on weaker opponents, it's flesh gathered together in a disgusting twitching manner and covered it's bones and skull once again. Thranduil was on him before his last sentence left it's mouth, he touched teg dragon's snot and teleported as far as he could in the cave, he kept teleporting here and there quickly, he let go of the dragon from a high altitude, held out his hand like he was holding on an invincible arrow and struck, a powerful output of pure electrical energy exploded throughout the cave, the air smelled of Ozone and charred flesh, they was a massive hot zone now in the cave, the blast has struck the dragon squarely on the head. Traundriil's boot landed softly just outside the hole staring Into it,he knew better than to expect the dragon would die from that attack, Cyra had survived multiple in the past, so he wasn't certain but still hopeful.
A deep sinister laughter echoed from deep within the Crater, it boomed long and hard,"I can see why some of my kind take on human form when fighting, it's surprisingly easier and more efficient to move in, the dragon yelled madly, interesting, very amusing, Traundriil backed away from the hole, as it emerged, black dirty bat like wings emerged first, followed by a muscular sour looking man with green hair teh colour of the dragon he had struck, it's eyes still the shade of demonic green, he smiled wickedly at Thranduil, let's keep going now shall we.
The Dragons fist came out of nowhere, it collided with Thranduil's head, a sharp pain exploded in his brain, he was rocked back, packing large clumps of earth and dirt as he went, he didn't go without a fight, the ground exploded around the dragon, two large golems that could have trumped his dragon form many times over sprouted from the ground and attacked without wasting time, the cave was covered with dust and flying debris as they struggled, Traundriil teleported into the frail in an instant and landed two wicked explosions on the Dragons head and chest, the golem's caught Traundriil before he could fly off, but the dragon was sent miles away from them.
"You can summon familiars, the dragon boomed, it's voice running through the cave walls, Interesting.
"Just go down already,"Traundriil yelled angrily towards the place the dragon was thrown," I don't have time for this. He snapped both hands, flame erupted about him and something like looked like human shaped fires appeared beside him, let's get this over with, he said his bloody eyes narrowing.
The golem Thranduil was standing one blew apart in a split second as the dragon flew through it with great speed, Traundriil floated a little then landed on the ground, one of the fire spirits caught the dragon as it made for Traundriil, the dragon smiled weakly, as it struck, the last golem shielded Thranduil, falling debris disintegrated instantly, the air was Instantly heated as if thrown into a microwave, the dragon was blasted by quite the large amount of concentrated fire magic, Blowing apart most bits of the cave, smoke filled the cave, Thranduil cleared a path with air so he could breathe properly.
"I take back what I said about you being weak, the dragon said slowly walking forward, each thud growing heavier, hie wings were gone, burnt to a crisp and a large chunk of him was still on fire as he approached, the two fire spirits floated slowly in front of Thranduil and the golem," you're gonna need more than fire spirits or golems to defeat me, he lunged at them with incredible speed Traundriil couldn't react to in time, but the fire spirits could,"this is annoying," the dragon said slowly, as the cave was heated again, this time way more powerful than the first Initial attack, since the two attacked in sync this time, the cave was heated to a point the earth started melting, Even Traundriil could feel his skin burning away despite the ice he put around himself and the golem covering him.
Thranduil opened his eyes slowly to the sight before him, the cave was now a mini volcano, the spirits were gone, only the golem remained, he sighed, and stared at the sizzling lava in front of him, he was silently hoping the dragon was dead, but he highly doubted it, he spotted the dragon walking towards them over the sea of lava, a wicked smile playing across his face.
"You're running out of mana aren't you? He said suddenly face to face with Thranduil, a large chunk of his flesh gone, his bones could be seen, he smelled of burnt chicken for some reason, his flesh twitched weirdly as it repaired it self, but it's winds didn't come back and remained a stub of what it once was, The golem struck separating Thranduil from the dragon, Traundriil took the time to teleport away some distance, for some reason he can't teleport outside the cave, the ground walked out of the dust cloud that had erupted during the attack, the golem was gone, he was smiling.
"No more tricks, he said slowly, he reached Thranduil before he could teleport, grabbed him by the neck and tossed him towards the lava, Thranduil froze a part, the ice melted quickly, but he used the melting ice as leverage and jumped back out of the lava, he tried teleporting, the dragon's feet came out of nowhere striking him in the gut and sending him feet's into the ground.
" Come on is this the Best you can do? The dragon asked walking slowly towards the hole Thranduil was stuck in, he crawled out slowly. The Dragons foot collided with his nose, there was a loud crack, Thranduil gritted his teeth in pain, the dragon lifted him by the hair, "pathetic, all mages are, he left him as struck him on the face as he fell, sending him flying like a plank shot from a cannon ball, he shattered the cave walls as he went. Thranduil lay still for a moment, he could hear the dragon walking towards him, he could see, his eyes were repairing themselves slowly. He smiled, broken nose, blinded and beaten almost to death, he laughed, the dragon stopped staring at him.
He was something glitter in his hand,"what's that the dragon asked," smiling despite himself,"this interesting mage us definitely cooking up something.
One of Thranduil's eyes repaired itself fully, he stared at the dragon, a face full of glee, he lifted his hand, on it was Areia's severed head, he smiled.
"Have you gone mad? The dragon asked slowly not knowing what he's getting at.
"Originally, I had plan on getting the real deal from the original herself, but I can't just go cut Areia's hair, she'll kill me, Thranduil muttered, though even though this is fake it's clearly made of organic material and could as well be used as a substitute as long as I get the imagination right, he smiled and licked some blood that trickled down to his lips.
"I see what you're getting at, your planning on summoning, no creating a familiar of your dear friend, the dragon said smiling too, go ahead, I'll wait, if it's not worth the effort, this time I'll kill you.
"You might as well be digging your own grave, Traundriil smiled, he plucked some hair from Areia's severed head, and tossed the head itself, the dragon watched with amusement, he rubbed the hair with some of his blood and placed it one the ground, Drawing a rather ragged circle about it with some lightning strikes, he sat down, his forehead breaking into a large beads of sweat as he twitched violently, the hair fluttered and lifted up the ground slowly. The hair started growing Large forming large locks of hair, it slowly grew Into a doll like head, bones formed,flesh covered, it took about 3 minutes,soon sitting on the circle was a naked version of Areia, Thranduil turned around and threw a cloak on her, she sat there not accept or did she seemed inclined to even take it. Her purple eyes stared at the cave, the dragon and it came to rest I'm Thranduil, Thranduil felt chills, even know he knew it was a familiar he felt oddly wierd that she wasn't entirely under his control.
"You summoned a girl, without any weapons or means to fight as your trump card? You've clearly gone senile, the dragon laughed. Even Thranduil stared at her uncertainly, but one thing he knew is that Areia had always seem harmless, except the way she carries herself. The doll opened her mouth, but no sound came out, she felt her throat, she couldn't speak and had just tried to, another red flag, Thranduil stepped back.
She got up slowly, she stared at her legs and it's as if it had just dawned on her that she was naked, she warpped the cloak around her tightly with quick decisive movements, she stared at Thranduil again and walked towards him, Thranduil involuntary took another step back, she was on him in an instant, he didn't see her move, she sniffed him, stared into his eyes looked at his ears, his hair and build, she turned to look at the dragon now getting up.
"It would seem this joke has run it course, The dragon said yawning,"I'll pity the girl dying before even knowing what she did, but it's inevitable.
Traundriil stared at Areia still looking at the dragon, normally a familiar is supposed to attack based on the summoners thought, but Areia's not moving an inch, she wasn't obeying his command, at least not entirely, she hadn't attacked him yet, even though she was inched away from him, same goes for the dragon, she didn't seem inclined to want to attack him either,had he somehow put a little bit of Areia's consciousness in the familiar? The dragon walked towards them, Thranduil teleported back, doubled down and startes coughing out blood, Areia stood still staring at the approaching dragon, she looked up at the dragon as it towered above her, he placed his hand on her shoulder,"sorry about this he said.
"Areia! Don't let him kill you! Thranduil yelled suddenly, if you die how can you get Dan back? He didn't know why he yelled that, but for some reason Areia reacted to it, the dragon disappeared for a split second, Thranduil stared in shock, a second later a loud bang echoed throughout the cave, the lave parted, the cave was blown apart more so they could see the dark void of the demon realm, Areia's arm steamed.
Thranduil smiled," she's weaker than the original clearly," but one thing I know, Areia's way stronger than that dragon.
The dragon was back, blood gushing from practically everywhere of his body, his middle region practically blown apart, his spinal cord was showing, his strike didn't connect, Areia caught his punch, twisted her hip, her leg planted firmly on the ground, she redirected the energy and landed an attack of her own on the dragon, once again he was thrown out of sight, Traundriil stared in awe, it was way better than what he had expected, as long as he doesn't run out of magic entirely, she could handle it along. Her cold gaze landed on Traundriil one last time before she vanished, not by teleporting but with a burst of speed Thranduil couldn't possibly follow.
The dragon's vision was flickering in and out of darkness, he held his head, such force from a girl as small as that? Just who is she, he looked up, fluttering above him was a falling Areia, the cloak wrapped around her was fluttering in the wind, their first connected, the dragon's arm broke and twisted at odd angels, Areia's kick landed on his head, sending him into another cave wall, she was on him again, he raised his hand to shield himself, Areia ripped out the arm and used it as a blunt hammer to send the dragon flying.
"Had I known she was this strong, I wouldn't have used her head to try and made that mage give up," Alicia said she was strong, but she didn't specify how strong, the dragon thought," damn bitch, he yelled a large dark green energy materialized in front of him as he rocketed back still under Areia's momentum, he struck, it was a high level of concerntrated poison, original had the real Areia been in the proximity of it, it would have be quite lethal after all Areia has almost zero resistance to poison, of course Thranduil doesn't know that, so it wasn't part of the traits the doll possesses, as it was a copy just not a perfect copy of Areia, The blast struck the ground melting everything as it goes Areia vanished out of the dragons sight again, she was behind him, she grabbed hold of the stub the only reminder he once had wings, and stomped on his back, he pelted towards the ground like an asteroid.
Loud bangs echoed from the cave, as Thranduil approached slowly, it vibrated across the walls the cave threatened to collapse, Thranduil stared at the extremely large crater, on the ground was the dragon Areia on top of him disassembling him, he kept regenerating but by his slow regeneration, he couldn't possibly keep it up, Areia's punch kept landing vibrating the ground, the sheer force even bounced Thranduil from the ground from time to time, the dragon was yelling curses, then pleading soon he lay motionless, not moving or twitching, no regeneration, just dead, Thranduil smiled, his smile soon turned to a look of terror on his face, Areia's dee purple eyes were suddenly inched away from his, he stood unable to move as she gazed into his eyes, her face covered in green blood and gue, she landed besides him, and used a rock to write something on the ground then walked off, She waived as she went and disappeared slowly, the cloak dropped slowly to the ground, Thranduil stood shocked, he stared slowly at what was written on the ground, clearly written was.
"TRY THIS AGAIN WITHOUT MY PERMISSION AND I'LL BEAT YOU TO A BLOODY PULP, JUST ENOUGH SO YOU CAN BE PIECED BACK TOGETHER BY ANTREA.
He walked to where the cloak was picked it up slowly, he stared, Areia had always terrified him, but this was far more than he bargained for, he stared at the dragon and gulped." No time to ponder,he said to himself, crossing the Crater, he proceeded to wonder more deeply into the dragon nest, not daring to put on the cloak that had been wrapped around Areia, he slung it across his shoulder, took his book from his belt and started healing himself as he went.