Erend and Eccar charged forward, their wings cutting through the air as they soared toward the swirling mass of energy.
Each pulse from the vortex sending tremors through the ground beneath them. The force of the energy emanating from the mass was strong, pressing down on their bodies. But neither Dragonborn wavered; they pressed on.
As they neared the vortex the swirling mass of black and red energy reacted to their presence. Tendrils of dark energy lashed out from the vortex like serpents, coiling and snapping with a terrible speed.
Each tendril seemed to be alive, moving with a sentience and purpose that sent shivers down their spines.
Erend was the first to engage. With a swift motion he use his Dragon Wings to move through the air with.
He dodged the first tendril with a sharp roll, feeling the electrifying charge as it narrowly missed him. He retaliated with a blast of concentrated fireball, erupting from his hands in a torrent of white-hot flames that seared through the air.
The flames crashed into the tendril but the dark energy absorbed the fire with little more than a ripple, the energy crackling ominously as it recoiled.
Eccar was not far behind. He, too, dodged the lashing tendrils with expert precision, his body twisting and turning. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned a spear of earth. He hurled it toward the vortex with all his might, the spear cutting through the air with a sound like tearing silk.
It struck the mass of energy but instead of piercing it the vortex seemed to swallow the spear whole, the earth spear disappearing into the swirling chaos as if it had never existed.
"Shit!" Eccar cursed.
The voice from within the vortex laughed again, the sound reverberating through the air with a sinister glee.
"Is this the best you can muster, Dragonborn?!" it taunted. "Your flames and weapons are mere sparks before the storm. You are nothing before the power of the Great Calamity!"
But Erend and Eccar were undeterred. They knew this was only the beginning.
With a shared glance the two Dragonborn silently communicated their plan. They had fought together before and their bond was strong through their Dragonbon heart. They didn't need words to know what the other was thinking. They would push the vortex to reveal more of its power before unleashing the full extent of their own.
They were sure that the mass of energy is significant to the Great Calamity itself.
Erend surged forward, his wings propelling him with blinding speed.
Eccar swung an earth blade with all his might, slicing through a tendril that had coiled around his leg. The tendril snapped back, retreating into the vortex, but more took its place, surrounding him in a tightening circle.
"They're not letting up!" Eccar shouted, frustration creeping into his voice. "We need to break through!"
The tendrils were too many, too fast. They couldn't keep dodging forever. They needed a way to reach the core—something that would allow them to bypass the tendrils or overpower them long enough to land their attack.
He glanced at Eccar, who was fending off another wave of tendrils with a series of precise, devastating strikes.
"We need to go all out," Erend said, "We can't hold anything back. We hit the core with everything we've got, and we do it now!"
Eccar's eyes met Erend's, and he gave a fierce nod. "Right. No more playing around."
Erend took a deep breath and closing his eyes for a moment as he reached deep into the core of his being.
Beside him, Eccar did the same. He too reached within, to the ancient power that lay dormant in his body. The earth itself seemed to respond to his call, the very ground beneath them trembling as the elemental force of the Earth stirred within him. He could feel the strength of mountains, the solidity of the earth beneath his feet, the unyielding force of nature itself.
As they drew upon their inner power, their bodies began to glow with a blinding light. Eccar's form blazed with a radiant green light, the essence of Earth manifesting in a shimmering aura that surrounded him. It spread out from his body.
Erend activating his [Fire Dragon] and [Lightning Dragon] power together. His body was a fusion of searing fire and crackling lightning, his form wreathed in a dance of orange flames and jagged bolts of blue-white energy.
The light that emanated from him was fierce like a living blaze. Sparks flew from his body, arcing through the air, and the flames that engulfed him roared with the ferocity of an inferno.
The tendrils sensed the surge of power and lashed out with desperate ferocity. But this time, they were no match for the combined might of the two Dragonborn.
Erend's eyes snapped open, blazing with the intensity of his inner fire. Without wasting anyttime, flames erupted from his body and sweeping across the battlefield in a tidal wave of searing heat.
The tendrils that had once been so relentless were incinerated in an instant, reduced to ash by the inferno that blazed from his power. The lightning crackled outward, striking and obliterating the remnants of the dark energy that dared to approach.
Eccar wasted no time. With the tendrils momentarily cleared he surged forward, his wings propelling him with incredible speed.
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