Christoph sprinted across the loose sand, leaping through the air and skidding to a halt atop Diana’s glass island. Dust settled around him as he came to a stop, the dragon’s tail flicking out above the sand before the beast disappeared from view. Where was Diana? The skimmer was drifting away on the shifting sands, but the elf was nowhere to be seen. Christoph spun full circle, eyes darting over the ocean in search of his companion. Had she fallen beneath the waves?

The sunlight shone down over the glass, and he shielded his eyes as he squinted upwards. There! The elf hung suspended in the air above him, floating immobile far from the dragon’s reach. Christoph readjusted his stance, pushing the woman from his mind. Right now, the dragon demanded his full attention.

Instead of bursting from the sand as it had done so many times before, the dragon rose slowly from the waves, grit falling from its rocky form as it dragged itself onto the island. Christoph laughed as he remembered the so-called ‘plains-dragon’ the Shield of Sacrilege had fought. If that was a dragon then this was a leviathan. The entire body of the plains dragon had barely been larger than the head and neck of this beast, and Christoph felt his breath catch as it clawed its way towards him.

Lunging across the gap with its long back legs, the dragon neary forced Christoph from the glass as he dodged its attack. Rising on its forelimbs again, the monster turned its head to the side and blinked as it stared down at him, a rumbling growl rising from deep within its torso. The long jaws slowly opened again, and he backed away from the beast as they snapped shut with almost deafening force. Shaking its head, the dragon slithered backwards over the island, tail slapping down at the sand as it watched his movements.

Christoph gave his sword a swing and caught his breath, recalling Ruth’s advice about the other beast. He should stay away from the sides of its head, and watch for the tongue… no, this dragon didn’t have such a dangerous appendage, but if it was a dragon, did that mean it had a deadly breath weapon? No, maybe it didn’t… The dragon moved forward again, and he rushed around towards its tail end. The massive reptile reminded him of a creature from his old world, but he couldn’t remember what… Some sort of marine reptile with a shorter neck and legs? The sail looked wrong, too, but he couldn’t be sure.

Dashing past the dragon’s massive jaws, Christoph cut away at the wrist of its forelimb, continuing on towards its hind limbs before it could retaliate. If he could get to its stomach… no the beast’s underbelly was well out of his reach when it stood on all fours, his sword barely reaching to the elbows of its shorter forelimbs even if he angled it upwards. The dragon jerked in response to his attack, tail sweeping across the glass as it twisted around towards him. Leaping into a roll, he barely avoided being struck by the beast’s scaled snout, the closed mouth swinging through the space he had occupied a moment earlier. So fast! Something so large had no right to be moving so swiftly, and on such a small platform as well. The glass rocked as the beast moved, the island tilting into the ocean but stubbornly refusing to sink. How much glass was hidden beneath the waves for it to have such buoyancy? Even so, the dragon was nearly large enough to stretch across the entire platform, and Christoph scrambled for purchase as the ground shifted under his feet.

Maybe Diana had been right to suggest attacking the inside of its mouth? Christoph shook his head at the idea. Even the dragon’s tongue seemed to have been carved out of rock, gemstone teeth bristling from its maw as it snapped at the air. Attacking the forelimbs was his best bet, followed by the tail or hind legs if it tried to escape. Dodging away from a swipe of its claws, he leant into his next swing and lopped off the tip of one of the beast’s talons, snatching the forearm-sized chunk of crystal from the air before it could fall. Retreating to the other side of the island, he waved over at the beast, biting off a mouthful of the claw and crunching it down to liquid inside his mouth. The dragon roared in response, rushing over the glass towards him. Crouching down, Christoph prepared to avoid the incoming attack. This was going to be a long battle.

…

Plume did his best to ignore the crowds as he walked, crossing the street several times to avoid the more dangerous looking adventurer parties. Duels seemed to be commonplace amongst the warriors of Manitas City, and he had already seen several adventurers crossing blades on his way back to the Merry brothers’ store. His sword hung at his hip ready to be used, a straight-edged cutlass like the one his captain had worn. Unlike a weapon, though, armor needed to be fitted and readjusted to each new wearer, and the brothers had told him to come back the next day for the remainder of his gear. Such equipment would ordinarily be on loan from the guild until he paid it back through completing his quests, but the merchant brothers had gifted it to him in exchange for his future patronage.

“Oi, look at that!” A party of four adventurers were wandering down the street across from Plume, and the swordsman stopped his comrades to point out the half-elf as he tried to slink away.

“Is that a pirate?” One of the others said. The group chuckled in unison, the three other men laughing at their friend’s joke.

“No way,” the first man said. “A pirate, in our fair city?”

Plume picked up his pace at the four men approached, looking away as he walked. No good would come from getting caught by such a group, even if it was in the middle of the day.

“Wait up!” the adventurers called. “Hey captain! How much for a trip on your vessel!”

Plume stopped walking, turning back to where the men were jeering over at him. “I’m not a pirate,” he said, reaching into his tunic to display his medallion. “I’m an adventurer, just like you.”

“A bronzer!” The party erupted into laughter, doubling over at his words. “An adventurer just like us, he says!”

“The bronze rank is only probationary,” the tallest of the men said, frowning down at his friends with a sad sigh. A small whistle dangled around his neck as he shook his head. “Just ignore them.”

“No no,” the first man said, beckoning Plume closer. “We’re all Silver rankers, so we aren’t allowed to duel you, but you’re probably low on money, right? Wanna make some cash?”

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Plume started to turn away but paused, looking up at the man with the whistle. “What do you mean?” he asked. He doubted anything they could propose would rival his duties aboard the Charodontia.

“It’s nothing illegal,” the tall man replied, tucking his whistle back into his shirt. “Have you heard about Lord Benvolio’s are-”

“Woah, woah,” another adventurer interrupted him. “Here, we should test him out before saying too much. Where’s King? King! Get over here!”

The adventurer step away, and was dragging a bored-looking human behind him when he returned. “This is King,” he said. “King, say hi. This is…”

“Plume,” Plume replied. King? The boy looked too young to be even the prince of anything. How did humans choose their names, anyway?

“I think we’ll call you ‘Captain Plume’,” the adventurer said. “Well Plume, King’s a Bronze-ranker too, so there’s no problem if the two of you want to duel here and now!”

The half-elf took a step back as the adventurers pushed the human boy in his direction, a hand rising to grasp the hilt of his sword.

“Wait a minute,” the man with the whistle said. “Let me explain the rules. Weapons are allowed, but strikes to the head or chest with them are forbidden. If you aren’t using a weapon, anything goes except for eye-gouging. Clear?”

“You want us to fight here on the streets?” Plume asked.

“It’s a duel,” the man reminded him. “We’ll give you a silver if you win. There’s no charge if you lose, and the doc here’ll patch you both up after you’re done. Duel goes until one of you admits defeat, or disarms the other.”

Plume grinned as the adventurer spoke, drawing his sword and taking a stance. “This is legal?” he asked.

“Of course,” King replied, drawing his own blade. “A duel is a duel. Plume the Bronze, I hereby challenge you to a duel!”

“I accept,” Plume said. His opponent was a human, seemingly much younger than he was… he also fought with a short sword, the tip of which wavered alarmingly as he held it out. Plume’s own cutlass swayed threateningly in return. No matter how he looked at it, this was a duel he couldn’t lose.

The man with the whistle reached into his shirt and pulled the small object free, bringing it up to his lips as he held his arm out to separate the combatants. “Ready?” he asked.

Plume gave a small nod, and a high-pitched noise sounded as the man blew into his whistle. Almost before the taller man could lower his arm, Plume was moving, sword swinging around towards his opponent as he closed the distance. King jerked in shock, shifting his weight to step away from the half-elf’s attack, but it was too late. Plume’s cutlass swept out and knocked his sword aside, sliding past his guard to stop a mere inch before his bare neck.

“Do you yield?” Plume asked. The sword fell from King’s hands as the boy nodded, the four adventurers staring in silence for a moment before they began to shout in excitement.

“You aren’t a regular Bronze ranker, are you?” the impromptu referee asked.

“I guess not,” Plume said, sheathing his sword. “Now, about that silver…”

“Of course,” the adventurer replied, flicking the coin his way. “There’s be more of that if you come with us.”

“A moment, gentlemen.” The adventurer’s turned as a heavily armored warrior approached the group, a serious-looking beast-woman following behind him.

“Are you Plume?” the woman asked, circling around her companion towards the half-elf. The armored man glanced over the former pirate before stepping between his partner and the five adventurers, a long-handled hammer gripped tightly in his gauntleted hands.

“I am,” Plume replied, a hand hovering over his cutlass once more.

“I’m looking for someone in the city,” Leila said, ears swivelling up towards him as she spoke. “I was told that you could help me find them.”

…

Christoph panted as the dragon withdrew across the platform, blood drying on his exposed skin. Twice now the monster had caught him with a sweeping blow, knocking him from the platform and onto the sand. Both times, he was forced to scramble to the side before the beast swallowed him whole, the dragon disappearing under the sand for a while before clawing its way back onto the island of glass. He’d managed to carve numerous wounds into the monster’s forelimbs, but it didn’t seem to feel pain or exhaustion, and the cuts remained dry and bloodless. Was it a golem after all?

The beast lunged towards him with a snarl, snapping uselessly as he dashed around behind it. It might not have managed to land any of its biting attacks, but even brushing up against the dragon’s skin was enough to shred his cloak and tear chunks from his flesh. Rather than smooth scales, the monstrosity was covered in ridged plates, jagged and coarse. Christoph swayed on his legs as he spared a glance up to where Diana remained hovering in the air. The elf hadn’t moved once since casting her spell. Was she unconscious? Christoph wasn’t far from collapsing himself, his mana spent from regenerating his wounds. Had Diana not lent him so much of her strength, he’d have passed out long ago. The dragon’s claws moved faster than its head, and he had taken some careless damage trying to secure edible pieces of the beast’s crystal body.

Christoph slashed out at the beast, catching the small scale he managed to knock loose. If the creature had been smaller, he might had tried draining its mana through his sword, but the beast was simply too large for that to be effective. If his blade got caught, he would be long dead before he could make use of the leviathan’s almost limitless energy. Crunching down on the scale, he gritted his teeth and dodged the creature’s swiping retaliation. He had to end this soon, or it would be the death of him. Racing away from the dragon, Christoph felt the ground lurch beneath him, hooked claws catching him as he slipped. Pain burst through his body as he was batted across the glass, tumbling to a halt on the other side of the island. The beast had tilted the floor by slapping the glass with its tail! Snarling in frustration, Christoph righted himself, feeling his broken ribs slowly healing back into place. This request might prove to be more difficult than he had expected.