Arad and Aella stood, feeling the cave shaking beneath their feet. The dragon’s roar grew closer, and Arad swung his palm. “Hide behind me!” He shouted, standing in front of Aella.
Aella pulled her bow and pointed at the entrance, “I will shoot!” She said.
“Don’t shoot until we see Jack. I bet he’s running this way.” Arad said, glaring at the darkness.
From the crack, Jack rushed in as fast as he could, “Sorry! I have no other way to run!” Jack cried.
BAM! As Jack screamed, the dragon burst behind him with flames gushing from his jaw. ROAAAARRRR! He was pissed off. In that brief moment, Arad notices the spikes covering the dragon’s lower body. Jack’s trap was successfully activated. But it didn’t take the dragon down.
Crackle! Arad’s palms sparked with lightning. He pointed his hand at the dragon and screamed, “Dodge!”
Jack knew it was coming. He leaped forward, rolling away from Arad’s magic at the last moment.
[Lightning bolt] [Lightning bolt] [Lightning bolt] The magic flashed, illuminating the cave with a bright white light. The three spells hit the dragon, but he wasn’t fazed at all, as if the rage and anger had taken hold of his mind.
The dragon opened his jaw, roaring. With a red spark, a massive blast of flames rushed forward. Aella took that chance and fired an arrow directly at the dragon’s mouth, but the flames burned it and melted the tip before it could reach him.
Jack rolled behind Arad and stood, staring back at the rushing flames.
Arad stepped forward, opening his mouth and screaming as loudly as he could [Fire Breath] Counter flames with flames.
The two breaths collided, burning for a moment before exploding in a massive blast that cracked the cave. Arad’s body flew backward, rolling on the ground and finally hitting the wall. The red dragon’s breath won, mainly because he was heavier and had bigger lungs.
The dragon stood still for the blink of an eye, pondering how could a mere human mana to match his fire breath. He, the mighty dragon, his breath failed to overwhelm the pity imitation of a naked ape. His eyes flashed red as flames gushed from his ears, and he got angrier.
Aella stepped back, aiming her bow at the dragon’s head. PEW! PEW! PEW! She released three arrows. One missed as the dragon moved, while the other two bounced off his scales. The dragon’s head wasn’t a flat surface but had a long shape that helped deflect projectiles. Aella had aimed for the eyes, the softest possible spot to hit on a dragon’s body, but she missed.
Jack rushed to Arad, helping him stand and shoving a healing potion in his mouth, “Stand up! Breath!” Arad shook his head, looking at the dragon. The impact was painful, especially since he was out of breath at the moment.
Jack looked at Arad’s eyes, seeing that he was disoriented. He then pulled a small bottle from his pocket and threw it at the dragon, “Catch!” He said.
The moment the bottle touched the dragon’s hot body, it exploded, releasing a cloud of smoke that filled the dragon’s half of the room. CLAP! Jack then slightly slapped Arad’s face, “Can you hear me? Focus!”
The dragon can’t see them, and neither can they see him. But there is one exception. Arad took a deep breath and walked forward, [Void eyes] 𝗼𝘃𝗹.𝗼𝐫𝗴
The red dragon was a stupidly large ball of magic. All he needed to do was look for that.
Arad opened his mouth, without wasting time, and unleashed a [Lightning breath] at the dragon’s location.
The dragon saw a white flash in the smoke and weaved to the side, dodging the lightning’s breath. Thanks to that, he now knew Arad’s location. Thud! With one powerful leap like a cat rushing at a mouse, the dragon jumped at Arad.
Opening his jaw, the dragon attempted to bite Arad, but he only tasted the air. Arad already moved back a few steps. Frustrated, the dragon used his whole momentum to keep moving forward.
With violence in mind, the dragon swung his claw at Arad at an incredible speed. Arad had expected that, and he easily stepped away from the attack, opening his palm to cast a spell. SMACK! The dragon had another claw coming. He smacked Arad’s side as hard as he could.
CRACK! Arad felt the bones in his shoulder snap, his left ribs broke and his torso moved so fast that his left leg got dislocated. His head accelerated rapidly, knocking him out for a brief moment. Thwack!
Arad’s body hit the ground so hard it bounced back, smacking the wall and then falling further away.
[HP: 108/108]=>[HP: 43/108]=>[HP: 40/108]
Arad wasn’t looking good, bleeding from the inside out, his head going in and out of consciousness as he got hit. Mom tried to scream in his head, but he was unresponsive.
The dragon looked at Arad. But then something smacked his head. BAM! When he looked, it was Aella with her eyes glowing green in the dark. She pointed her hand at him, “Spirits of the woods, grant me the power to blast the monster ahead of me,” She growled [Air Blast] A ball of compressed air rushed at the dragon, exploding at his head like a shockwave. And just before he could rush at her, she fired Three arrows at his face. PEW! PEW! PEW! The three arrows hit, two bounced off the scales, and the last one got deflected by the dragon’s nictitating membrane.
Aella gasped, taking a step back. Even hitting the eye directly with her arrows could damage the dragon. But then she remembered that Arad damaged him by throwing a stone. The membrane is weak against bludgeoning damage, not piercing.
Aella ground her teeth. She doesn’t have flat or ball arrows.
As Aella and the dragon were having that confrontation, Jack rushed at Arad with another healing potion, forcing it down his throat. “This is the second time, Chief,” Jack said with a smile, “That slap sounded horrible. Can’t you do something about your body?” He asked if Arad could transform into his draconic form as that might be more durable.
“I need to get on his back,” Arad said, standing while leaning on Jack’s shoulder. His left leg didn’t have enough strength to carry him, and the potion still haven’t fully taken effect.
Jack smiled, “Well then, Chief, I will make sure you get that,” Thud! Jack rushed at the dragon with a smile.
“Yo! Iguana!” He shouted, and the dragon’s neck snapped, glaring at him, “Your gold is mine,” Jack taunted the dragon, and it worked. The dragon roared, getting lit from rage. This bald ape called him an Iguana.
The dragon’s blood boiled, and he rushed forward, opening his jaw to bite Jack.
With a smile, Jack slid under the attack and below the dragon’s chest. The heat there was so intense that his clothes started catching on fire. With one swift move, Jack pulled a metal spike from his pocket and was about to put it on the ground, but the dragon lept back.
“Come back here!” Jack shouted at him, but the dragon didn’t care, swinging two claws at Jack.
As if to piss the dragon more, Jack dodged the two claws with a smile and ran underneath him again. This time the dragon’s tail was on the wall. So he couldn’t back away.
Jack dropped the metal spike on the ground, and its base exploded, sending the shaft up and piercing the dragon’s scales. The dragon roared. Till this point, only Jack’s weird traps worked.
Jack was determined. He didn’t come here to get rich. Everyone knows that getting rich by robbing a dragon hoard is a stupid idea. Instead, he came for one reason, and for it, he had prepared a lot.
Jack pulled his dagger and pushed it between the dragon’s scales, pulling himself up the dragon’s ember-hot back. His hands burned, but he smiled, “I’m here!” Jack shouted, pulling a small bag from his pocket. He then looked at the dragon’s head, and the dragon glared back at him with one eye.
Jack opened his mouth, dropping the line that snapped the dragon’s head into oblivion, “I’m riding your ass, bitch,”
The dragon stopped moving for a moment as his entire blood evaporated. His eyes flashed from rage, and his body burst into flames like never before.
ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR! The dragon’s roar boomed, and Aella closed her ears feeling as if they are about to explode.
The small bag that Jack pulled emitted a blue light. And suddenly, it exploded into a wave of ice-cold water.
When the cold water met the dragon’s raging body, it evaporated immediately, dropping its temperature in an instant. CRACK! The dragon’s scales evolved to withstand high head, but not the sudden change in temperature.
The dragon’s body jerked, throwing Jack’s burned body away and falling to the ground. He wasn’t dead or unconscious, but the impact of the change hurt him significantly and damaged his scales.