The Chronicles of Drakken

Chapter 9: Riptide

Buckner stood there looking at Pestilence with a certain amount of disgust on his face. In his short years, the Water Dragon never witnessed anything as foul or as odious as this entity that hovered before him. Buckner was quite sure that if the smell of Pestilence didn't kill him, then the sight of the vagabond would.

"Perhaps he was right." Buckner thought. "Being this close to him is rather brave of me."

Suddenly, Pestilence let loose a blast of green mist that caused Buckner to back away.

"Run all you want, reptile. My poison mist will catch you in the end." Pestilence said in his high-pitchy voice that sent chills down Buckner's spine.

The mist was closing in fast, and Buckner quickly jumped off of his ice platform like that of a professional diver. He hit the water with grace and agility that was common to his race of Dragon.

Buckner floated in the space that was water as he thought about his next move. One thing that came to him was to stop the spread of that mist before it disrupted the ecosystem. However, did he dare use the water of the Great Ocean for such a problem?

His thoughts were cut off by sudden explosions going off around him as he quickly swam out of the way. Buckner figured he had no choice but to attempt to use ocean water to cleanse the air above him and hoped the salt would be enough. He started to swarm in a large circle so fast, he became almost invisible to the eye. His eyes glowed aquamarine and rose out of the ocean in a funnel of water. The green mist began to swirl around the water as the air became cleaner by the minute and Pestilence let out an irritated laugh.

Raising his hand, Pestilence shot a few more energy blasts into the massive water spout. Buckner went flying back into the water as the funnel abruptly splashed back down into the ocean, and he felt utterly dazed. Buckner shook his head, trying to shake off the double vision, and felt a bit of nausea, too.

Finally, Buckner regained control of his senses and looked up at Pestilence; who was facing the other way? This almost seemed too easy as Buckner began Element Working the water again. Suddenly, a giant ice spike the size of a whale shot out of the water at an incredible speed.

Unfortunately, Pestilence was as quick as he was sticky, dodging the spike with steed and all. In fact, he disappeared altogether as Buckner was stunned and raised himself out of the ocean in a pillar of water. He quickly looked around but couldn't see Pestilence anywhere.

Suddenly, he appeared right in front of Buckner, who tried to raise his arms in defense, but too late. Pestilence blew a fine purple powder into Buckner's face, causing him to cough and hack as he backed away.

"What...What did you just do to me?" Buckner demanded and felt his body constrict. He grabbed his right arm and felt a numbing sensation going up, followed shortly after by pain.

"I have poisoned your body with a rather slow and cruel chemical of mine. It is of my own design and is particularly one of my favorite forms of killing someone. This poison causes the body to turn on itself using your own immune system. I figure you have little less than ten minutes to live." Pestilence said with a broader grin.

"It'll be more than enough to defeat you, vile creature," Buckner said with all the strength and bravery he could bring forth. However, he felt the poison creep through his veins and knew that any extraneous amount of energy used would speed up the process. Buckner only had one conclusion to follow, and that was to finish this fight quickly. The trouble was better said than done.

Already, the poison had spread to his chest, and he was having difficulty breathing. Notwithstanding, Buckner thanked the heavens above for blessing him with such extraordinary parents. They, he knew, had him learn everything he needed to know to confront this being in front of him. The academy only polished up what his parents had already made. When Buckner looked back on it, he remembered a precious lesson that he will never forget.