Tale of the Twilight Warriors

Chapter 10~ Mystic flames

     The elder dragon started on a full frontal assault, it raked at Shadow casting him aside, then smashed Gabriel with his tail. Saria on the other hand, dodged and tried to run up the dragons back only to be thrown by a mighty flap of it's left wing. As they lay on the ground it breathed the mist in and expelled an abnormal green flame that seemed to ignite the mist around them. The explosions, were so close to the three's faces that if they were to stick their tongues out, they would be burnt to cinders. "Don't move.. the mist seems to float above the ground just enough for us to survive this." Shadow shouted, but the Elder dragon, though ablaze from it's own flame smashed down around them blindly trying to crush anything in it's path.

The flames that encrusted the air faded away with the mist, leaving a clean scent resembling winter in the air (mixed with the scent of burnt wood). Shadow and Gabriel quickly rolled around dodging both the tail and the claws of the mighty dragon, it roared loudly. Saria stuck it with her blade, it hadn't sunk in but five inches before she caught the backlash of the beasts hand casting her back words. It inhaled again yet no mist came and when it breathed out, only smoke came.

     Shadow stood up, crossed his katana's and rushed at the dragon in a defensive stance. It's tail came down unto the X with such force that Shadow was brought down to one knee, but it had efficiently severed deep into the tail nearly cutting it in two. Casting it aside, Shadow made several incisions on the beasts back leg, Gabriel was already working on dicing the other one up with much deeper strikes. Saria lunged her blade into the Dragons neck, her Phoenix blade left her hand as the dragon whipped it's head to the side throwing her sideways at least seven feet.

Gabriel lay the final blow, severing the dragons leg from it's body, howling in agony the dragon flapped it's wings and took flight vanishing into the clouds. "What a challenge, it would run.." Gabriel cursed, Saria lay on the ground staring at the majestic creature flying through the clouds. "We defeated it or?" Shadow looked stumped, but they indeed had defeated the dragon, a voice echoed throughout the forest.

"I, the forest of mist, spirit of the wind congratulate you for defeating an Elder dragon."

"But, we didn't kill it?.." Gabriel looked around for the speaker, none was to be seen.

"It matters not, you have forced it from here, the mist it expels while it sleeps kills and corrupts the forest and all of it's inhabitants, please accept this reward."

The ground quaked, and split open as a stone tablet rose from the ground on top of it lay a chest. Saria sat up as Gabriel opened the chest, a shield outline with no steel nor iron to fill the center, and a set of gauntlets.

"A shield, without being a shield, what is the use of such..?" Gabriel stared at his prize, Saria accepted the Gauntlets happily.

"What about Shadow?" Saria asked the spirit of the forest.

"He... hmm." the forest went still for a moment, "We've not a reward for him... but, the shaman might." "The shaman is to the south."

The voice stopped entirely, as the winds started to blow again throughout the forest, the light peaked through the tree tops and the seemingly lifeless place had returned to it's former glory. Shadow walked swiftly towards the south as Gabriel helped Saria up, a bunny had jumped from the bushes and landed at her feet only to look up and shake with fear. She slowly lowered her hand to pet it, "Don't worry little guy." She smiled at the bunny which was still shaking quite violently out of fear.

Saria walked along side Gabriel clenching her stomach, "Hey are you okay?" He asked. "Yeah, my stomach just hurts.." She started getting nauseous and her step was heavier.

Shadow stumbled upon two large iron doors that were on the ground, he opened one and as he had expected, an underground tunnel or shanty.

Shadow entered the Shamans shanty, only to be met by a stave to his throat, it was lined with some sort of hissing liquid that burned as it touched his flesh.