Kahli sneaked her way towards G'athoong's large dragon snout, diving behind and sometimes even inside the incredibly copious bales of hay surrounding the dragon. She was wearily watching the partying tamavens, all of whom seemed to have completely forgotten that they were there to watch a dragon and make sure it stayed trapped. With that, Kahli quickly approached G'athoong's snout and summoned up her big rock again. With a proud kick, she sent the rock soaring away, away, away... And before long, it was zooming right back around, and with a satisfying ignition of red flame, it zoomed across the side of the ropes, singed them open, and returned to sit at Kahli's big left foot.
Thank you again, Kahli, for all your help, said G'athoong. I will be sure to reward you, and to help you find your companions. I am eternally grateful for you freeing me from these vile tamavens. Now, stand back - it is time for them to see my awesome power!
Kahli backed away, clutching her purse tight to her chest - she didn't want Froufrou to get hurt or anything! Froufrou squelched in affection and fear.
Behold! G'athoong's jaws swung open and, with a massive roar, she shot a huge torrent of water from her gullet and drenched the large party of tamavens. The pressure was incredibly strong, and some of them perished immediately - which Kahli could see for certain thanks to notices from her system. It was, certainly, quite terrifying - but also impressive, and it made Kahli happy that G'athoong was on her side.
It also, once again, made Kahli wonder for a moment why G'athoong hadn't tried to save B'raahsiet herself. Then again, G'athoong had originally been captured by these tamavens - maybe the real issue was, for whatever reason, dragons seemed relatively easy to catch, despite their awesome power. Maybe Kahli would ask G'athoong about that later. When she was in less of an angry mood, Kahli figured. Preferably after she'd saved and reuinted her with B'raahsiet, assuming that was even a possibility at this point. The whole plan of journeying to Clathalia seemed almost null and void right now, with all her companions save for Froufrou missing.
But now was not the time for that - now was the time to see G'athoong in action! The water dragon ripped up her left talon and smashed the two tamavens that had been arguing about the hay bale import-export trade with a single swoop, and in that same breath leveled a good portion of hay bales, too! Then, with a roar, as the birds rushed through the air in a scurrying flurry, G'athoong tore up her back right leg and kicked at them, and destroyed even more bales of hay in the process. Soon enough, she was straining, and growling, and with a mighty snap, snap, snap, she'd freed her wings and then her remaining limbs from the birds' bondage.
G'athoong roared with triumph and she shot into the sky, twirling around a little bit almost like a giant, dragon-shaped kite, before lowering slowly down on her wings to face the scuttering birds.
Only, something now was happening with the tamavens. They seemed to be acting more as a unit, as one foul fowl entity, rather than as individual beasts. And, indeed, as G'athoong blasted bursts of water at them, first in waves, then in beautiful, abberating ringlets that sent rainbows scrying through the air, the birds seemed to be congregating. No, no, they were congealing and swirling and twirling and combining into... something.
Kahli gasped, and Froufrou squelched in terror.
"A mega bird!" said Kahli. She'd only read about them in legends. Mega birds were large, congealed concentrations of birds that formed together into one, collective, gigantic bird shape. And this bird, of course, looked like an enormous tamaven.
The advantages of mega birds were many. For one, any strike aimed at them could easily be abated by the prospective birds simply flying away, while the rest of them could continue their collective attacks. For two, mega birds were substantially more powerful than the birdy sum of their parts. That is to say, they were almost another entity, with a collective mind, when the tamavens formed the mega bird. Thirdly, and perhaps worstly, this collective mind, as all mega birds, had with it a benefit that further tipped the power scales in its favor. Mega birds always had systems, and with that, thay always had [skills].
"A mega bird!" said Kahli again, unable to contain herself. Then, she suddenly became very concenred for G'athoong. Sure, the water dragon was powerful, but how powerful was a mega bird? Two fantastical creatures dueling it out at once. And Kahli was stuck on the sidelines? It didn't seem right - especially not after how far she'd come and how many battles she'd won.
G'athoong flapped her wings and screeched, then she blasted a swirling whirl of water and the mega bird, drenching out a good number of its collective birds - however, they did not die this time.
Kahli, don't be concerned, thought spoke G'athoong. This mega bird has a [skill] that prevents many of its collective members from dying unless I land a crit. It's annoying, but I can manage. I am a powerful dragon, do not be concerned.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Great. Kahli didn't know what she could do. Still, she had to try, right? It was hard to just sit here and watch G'athoong duel it out!G'athoong roared and roared and sliced and stabbed at the amalgamation of birds, and they chirped back at her a thousand birdy obsceneties as they charged up a collective bird blast of red energy.
"Those birds have got to go," said Kahli. She summoned up her big rock and started kicking herself up into the air using its automatic return function, just as she'd done when she was fighting Lloyd the alien way back when. Way back when? It had been, what, maybe two days? Two days that felt like two years to Kahli, with how eventful they'd been.
Regardless, up she kicked, rapidly approaching the fighting titans. G'athoong drew water from the air, and from the clouds in the sky, and directed it at the birds in stinging drops that seemed to be burning their skin!
"G'athoong! Wow! How are you doing that?"
Ever heard of acid rain, kiddo?
Kahli watched as the mega bird quivered and shook, looking fluttery and flustered. It seemed like G'athoong had the upper hadn, after all. Still, she was there with her big rock, kicking lightly off it in order to tread air, just in case. After all, G'athoong had gotten herself captured, hadn't she? It was worth being there to keep her safe - just in case.
G'athoong sprayed more water at the mega bird, and it started chirping and squawking angrily. Kahli felt uneasy as it suddenyl swooped towards G'athoong and, right before the dragoin could swipe at it, split into hundreds upon hundreds of tiny little tamavens and started pecking at her madly!
"G'athoong!" cried Kahli with stress as she kicked her way over to the dragon, who was getting further and further away at a faster and faster pace - the birds seemed to be pushing her away somehow!
Kahli, keep your distance! I broke their amalgamation, but somehow they've managed to activate one last [skill] before they die! And yes - when you break a mega bird's amalgamation, all the birds perish... It's a price they get for combining their forms in such a manner!
Kahli was thankful for the explanation, but she was worried about G'athoong. "Why do you keep flying away from me?"
Because, Kahli - the birds are going to self-
But before G'athoong could finish her thought, all of the tiny little tamavens exploded in brilliant puffs of feathers not dissimilar to the one she saw when she slayed her first tamaven herself, the one who'd threatened to peck out her whole bloodline. Of course, this was different - it was a thronging flurry of birdsplosions that bogged down the mighty dragon and completely covered her scaly form, and when the feathers settled, Kahli gasped to see G'athoong drop straight out of the sky and plummet down, down, down...
"G'athoong!" Kahli zoomed with strong kicks of her big rock over to meet the dragon, soon reaching the ground where her scaly companion had crash landed. Convenienlty enough, she'd landed on a huge pile of bales of hay. She lowered herself beside G'athoong's big, reptilian eyeball. "G'athoong, are you okay?"
No, replied G'athoong. But I will be.
"What do you mean?"
I am... gravely injured. Not so much that I will perish, however, I am now so weak that I can no longer exist in this current form. How much do you know about dragons, Kahli?
Kahli shrugged. "Not a lot." Froufrou squelched in agreeance.
Well, one thing you should know is that while our lifespans are so long, that to taumans they seem almost infinite, we undergo something of a molting phase when we are greatly damaged. And that is what I now must do. I'm going to have to shed my current corporeal form, which of course graces me with many benefits... However, it also will take from me many of my memories, much of my knowledge, and nearly all of my maturity. The G'athoong you know and love will not cease to be... But she will be very different. It will be as if I am young again, when we next see each other.
Kahli didn't necessarily know and love G'athoong that much, but she didn't want to ruin the mood by admitting that uncomfortable truth.
Before I begin my process - which will require that I first transmute myself into beads of water and soar off to the nearest sea - I want to give you something for attempting to rescue me, even though the tamavens ended up knocking me out in the end.
"Oh?"
G'athoong suddenly started coughing and hacking horribly.
"G'athoong!"
The water dragon spat out a small necklace with a glittering, purple pendant dangling from it.
This is for you, Kahli. It is the Necklace of Wakefulness, and it is [enchanted] with great power. Wear this, and ensure that you sleep on your own terms - any interruptions, such as what came to pass to bring us to this sorry situation, will immediately wake you up. And, if you need to pass out, your system will warn you firsthand. Along with that, this extends your abiliy to stay awake so that you can do so for three days without ill effects. Use it wisely, Kahli.
Kahli looked at the necklace with pride and joy. She was eager to equip it. But, she also had something itching in the back of her mind.
"G'athoong, what all did happen while I was asleep? Where are Sahdi and Unit 5a23?"
But G'athoong was perfectly still.
"G'athoong? G'athoong? Are you still there?"
The water dragon suddenly exploded into a thousand water droplets, leaving no sign of her presence other than a large, dragon-shaped indentation the large collection of hay bales.
"Great," said Kahli. "Well, at least she gave me the pendant." Kahli hovered there in the air for a second, unsure of how to process what had just happened. She looked in her purse. "What should we do, Froufrou?"
Froufrou squelched, pointing a tentacle over to the ruins.
"Seriously? You want to go into the ruins now?"
Froufrou squelched in affirmative. And Kahli was inclined to do as she wished - it was the only lead they had.