Rise of Fire: Dragons Reborn [COMPLETED]

Chapter 7

Talia gasped, her breath harsh in her throat as the world began to recede around her. Or rather, the world began to shrink around her. Growing into her 'natural' form was always a difficult task, especially if she was doing it intentionally. She had lost control several times in her past causing her to grow and rampage, but this was not such a time. In the end that was her only saving grace, she wouldn't be fighting against her darker nature which left her level headed and ready.

Just as she could manage to breath again she heard the distinctive sound of wings causing her to look up in a panic. She had never felt such terror as she stared into the blazing eyes of a monstrous beast. She had heard of dragons before of course, but she had never seen one. No one had for thousands of years. In a moment of pure instinct she struck out with her hand as it descended upon her. The impact alone rattled her teeth and most likely cracked all the bones in her hand and arm.

It worked though, the dragon was effectively slapped into the ground as she turned on her feet to try and assess the situation. It was massive, if it stood she was certain it's head would tower over even her own. It had black scales though from what she could see she wasn't certain that was it's true color. It stank of death and yet as it regained its feet she couldn't see any signs of rot.

"That was incredible..." Nico's voice was distant in her mind, reminding her how low she was on mana. She frowned, wondering if she could win a fight against a creature she had no knowledge of beyond legends in just hand to hand combat. That was all she had in the end, her weapons didn't grow with her after all. Only her mask and her clothes.

"Look out!" Even shouting Nico's voice was distant, but she still managed to dodge the whipping lash of the dragon's tail as it slammed down just to the right of her. She stumbled before regaining her balance, rushing forward with a raised fist as she aimed for the dragon's head.

The dragon was about as tall as she was at it's shoulders, but it had a long neck that had once been beautiful and elegant which arced high above her. The dragon also had a long head, narrow and round to match it's neck. From its brow down it had multitudes of thin white spikes which would rattle every time it moved. It also had frills on both cheeks which it would raise and lower as it observed her. She wondered what type of dragon it was, or had been.

She didn't have to wait long for an answer as it raised its head high and opened it's maw, instantly igniting a powerful stream of strange blue flame which enveloped her before she could even blink. If she hadn't been born with a natural affinity to fire she would have likely burned to death, but instead she found the stream of flame to be boosting her mana reserves at an incredible rate. Her eyes widened as her energy recovered and the flames blew past her. It didn't even burn, though she was starting to sweat from the heat.

"Talia!" Nico called in a panic, she could distantly hear his tiny wings flapping above her somewhere. She gritted her teeth as she pushed forward, there was no time to waste if the dwarves were going to survive. She had to minimalize the fallout.

She threw another punch but this time it met flesh. The answering scream of the dragon was deafening causing her to desperately plug her ears and fall back. Luckily wherever she had managed to strike the dragon had temporarily immobilized it. The dragon's cry died out a few seconds later and Talia pulled her hands away from her ears, looking around to see where it had gone when she closed her eyes. Somehow their painfully brief scuffle had stirred up a significant amount of dust.

"To your left." Nico called out. She turned just in time to see the beast rush her, flapping its wings as it attempted to take to the skies. She couldn't allow it to happen, so she reached up and grabbed it by the lower neck before twisting powerfully to slam it into the ground again. It tried to scream, but she crushed its throat as hard as she could.