A Dragon’s End(1)

The next few moments of Dealla’s memory were hazy at best. She remembered a battle breaking out as several of the remaining party members attacked the ominous figure. It seemed to be shrouded in the very mists of the shard itself and the miasma coiled around its limbs and torso like a snake. One thing Dealla did notice were key features of the creature’s appearance. First and foremost was the creature’s height, it was easily around 200+ cm tall.

Unlike the Lithe Golems this creature’s body was sleek and muscular. The appearance of its skin held a certain sheen which reminded Dealla of dolphin flesh, even though it’s skin was pitch black. Long pronounced lines ran the length of the creature’s body. It’s shoulders were muscular and well sculpted, it’s biceps well pronounced and its forearms were several times thicker than the rest of its body.

It’s chest and shoulders were broad while it’s head resembled more of a teardrop for lack of a better comparison. There were no eyes to speak of -- at least  none that she could see, nor a mouth. The remainder of its body was shrouded in morphing miasma, but Dealla doubted that these series of features contributed to the monster’s sinister air. With just one look she knew -- this creature was strong.

In the next few seconds, her anticipations were proven correct. The Flame Mage lifted her knotted wooden staff and fired off a spell that she had at the ready. The sphere-like orb of flames expanded at an unprecedented rate and quickly engulfed the towering creature. At the same time Lee’ahn’dra fired off two of her arrows.

Dealla’s eyes glazed over as the heat and light from the flaming sphere backdrafted to her position. Still, she had to struggle to understand what she was seeing. The fireball slowly shrank in size until it fizzled out of existence, but that wasn’t the issue -- the problem was that the Flame Mage’s head was gone.

“What the?” Dealla mumbled as her eyes traced upwards from the headless body to the creature’s large hand. The woman’s head was dripping blood as her corpse spurted the same in all directions as it fell. The creature crushed her melon like it was a grape, forcing a hard exhale from Dealla’s throat.

“Retreat!!” Lee’ahn’dra shouted again, this time more loudly. She once again nocked more arrows, this time she used her powers as an Archer to gather the elements on each arrow’s tip and infuse them with magical power. Flame and wind howled in unison as she allowed the two magics to slowly meld before letting her arrows loose.

The creature’s movements were effortless and speedy as it snatched a nearby party member and lifted him easily. The man shouted and screamed, even as Lee’ahn’dra’s arrows pierced the air towards him. The creature’s grip was monstrous and managed to easily crush his internal organs.

Lee’ahn’dra used the infused mana within her arrows to redirect their path, the arrows arced around the wounded meat shield and slammed into the black skinned menace. As the magical forces joined a large explosion occurred. Although Lee’ahn’dra tried to mitigate the damage, her party member was caught up in it.

*That may have been a mercy.* Lee’ahn’dra thought to herself as the explosion blasted the trapped adventure, depriving him of oxygen even as the creature’s grip crushed his body like an aluminum can. Lee’ahn’dra knew a dangerous enemy when she saw one, in fact the only reason she’d paused to attack was to give the other party members time to flee. Immediately after landing her strike, the elf back stepped several times with her bow at the ready. She planned to fire off at least two more arrows on her way out -- but she wouldn’t get the chance.

Lee’ahn’dra was totally caught off guard by the creature’s impressive speed, it seemed to fade into the miasma and appear near her in the next instant. She would have thought that perhaps the creature had teleported if she didn’t see the shifting miasma trails near it’s body as it cocked back it’s left fist.

*Shi--* Lee’ahn’dra had little time to respond, bringing up her bow in an attempt to tank the strike. Her weapon was made of special wood which was light and harder than most metals, which is why she grimaced when the weapon cracked upon impact. In order to avoid losing her weapon altogether, Lee’ahn’dra was forced to soften her guard. She could feel the overwhelming power behind the blow as her body groaned. Only her quick thinking and reflexes saved her from losing both arms. At the most crucial moment Lee’ahn’dra hopped upwards and away, allowing the strike to push her more than crush her. Still, the damage was unreal. Her body sailed through the air before landing several dozen meters away.

Dealla was rooted in place, partially because the sequence of events had happened so quickly that she had little time to react, let alone move. Half of the six member party was now dead or injured. Though she couldn’t see Lee’ahn’dra it was doubtful that she was dead -- if such happened the buff from her Fleeting Obsession skill would have disappeared.

Dealla felt her heart run cold as the creature slowly shifted its weight, standing straight up as it seemed to glance around despite not having any eyes. In the next instant it was gone once more, the way it moved was almost as if it were leaping great distances by simply shifting its feet.

And she ran. She wanted to go after Lee’ahn’dra , to even stick close to any of the other party members but Dealla’s danger senses were now pulsing in overdrive.

*This is what I felt. I knew it! I knew something terrible would happen!* As cold as it seemed, despite her party’s precarious position , Dealla only thought of Chloe as she ran. Her current party didn’t matter, she simply wanted to escape the shard and meet up once more with Chloe. This singular thought drove Dealla as she dashed through the wooded area. The environs were like a bleak and twisted inverse of the location from which they entered the shard world and she doubted whether she was even moving in the right direction, still Dealla did not stop. She pushed all other thoughts out of her mind and honed her senses for impending threats.

She knew how dangerous it was to recklessly move with such limited visibility but she didn’t care. She needed to put as much distance between her and that monstrosity as possible. Through some happenstance Dealla noticed the dim glow of LEe’ahn’dra’s elven glyph, Pathfinder Glyphs which marked the way to the exit. She quickly veered off in that direction and picked up the pace.

She inwardly cursed the fact that they’d strayed so far from the shard’s entrance even as the sound of footsteps behind her alerted her to another presence.

“Relax. It’s me.” Lee’ahn’dra’s voice echoed as she quickly caught up to Dealla.

“Have you seen anyone else?” She asked as the two ran side by side. For a desperate moment Dealla considered not answering at all, but she grunted “No!” between her labored breaths. Just one look at Lee’ahn’dra confirmed that Dealla’s instincts about the creature were right -- a stream of blood issued forth from Lee’ahn’dra’s crown, dying her baby blue hair and slender pale face in the process. Dealla could also see that her fingers were broken in some places.

“Keep running. No matter what. You have the path. It should be straight from here on out.” Lee’ahn’dra said suddenly as her speed dropped and she gripped her bow as best she could.

“What are you doing?” This was what Dealla wanted to shout but as she turned to glance behind her the hulking form of the dreaded Grimlock parted the sea of miasma. It burst forth and immediately engaged the first person it saw, namely Lee’ahn’dra. Somehow the elf had sensed its approach and dropped back to buy the rest of her party some time.

Dealla’s last view of Lee’ahn’dra was the sight of mana condensing around each of the arrows within the Archer’s quiver. She pulled them out, her speed was a blur as she fired continually. Unfortunately this would not be enough. The creature brought its fist downward on Lee’ahn’dra’s crown, smashing her downward ruthlessly. A spurt of blood blasted in several directions as her bones broke and her skull popped. The arrows which had found a home in the creature’s face and chest slowly lost their mana and turned into nothing but normal arrows.

Dealla felt an unparalleled sense of urgency pushing her on as she turned ahead and focused her entire being into  running. To her delight the shard’s exit point was no more than six meters before her,but to her chagrin she realized none of that would matter if she was stricken down before she made it to her destination.