The saying stuck between a rock and a hard place perfectly applied here. Meera had half a mind to dash and leave the witch and the cultist behind to deal with the dragon and sorceresses. But if she did that, they would fall within minutes, and whoever survived between the sorceress and dragon would come after her. Maybe both of them would. And she didn't really know the way out of this forest, so she needed the witch.

The dragonling was bigger than Kaxus, the last one she had fought, by a considerable margin. Its wingspan must've been about forty feet, if not more, while it stood nearly thirty feet high. Its greenish scales seemed to glow, but they reflected the bombardment happening up in the sky as dragons clashed against the sorceresses. But the most striking thing about it was its teeth. They were a deep red as if permanently stained with blood.

The dragon spoke in his guttural voice and ended it with laughter. She looked to the witch with a frown, who just shrugged. But it seemed Lainor knew the dragon tongue.

"He said that he would like to eat them all, but for now, he would suffice with you, Meera," he said.

The dragon spoke some more, and Lainor translated. "Fear not, I will only eat an arm or a leg as a payment for capturing you. The rest of you belong to his lords."

"You will be eating no one, you overgrown lizard," Nikai snapped. "Those three belong to the sisterhood and will return with me."

"Why don't you two fight it out amongst yourselves, loves," Kalrina said. "Whoever wins, we'll go with them because we're clearly no match for either of you."

Nikai sneered at her. "The less you speak, the better, or I will let the dragon carry out your execution here and now."

Meera tilted her head, and then it struck her. "Hey witch, your execution can be carried out here. We have a dragon, and I'm here to witness that there's no foul play. Why don't you present yourself as a snack to the dragon?"

Kalrina snorted. "That is actually funny."

"I'm no one's executioner." The dragon growled, and his neck began to glow with a fiery light. Then he let forth a torrent of red-hot flames. Meera raised a trio of Mirror Tower Shields, and the witch did the same. Lainor ducked behind them for cover.

Nikai didn't stay silent either. Ink poured out of her arms, covering them up past her elbows. She whipped her right arm, and a dark blade made of ink raced for the dragon, who turned and evaporated the blade with his flames.

Just as Meera thought they might be able to run as the sorceress took on the dragon, her hopes were dashed as they both turned on them. The dragon was fast despite its size. One flap of its wing was enough for it to close the gap between it and Meera's group.

They scattered to avoid being cut in half by his razor-sharp claws. The sorceress wasn't far behind. A whip cracked like lightning and gripped the dragon by the throat.

"That prize is mine, dragon."

The dragonling did a half-hearted swipe with his claws and broke the inky whip. He turned on Nikai, but the sorceress was already rushing at Meera. The dragon didn't stop her; instead, he swiped his massive tail, which would've smashed into the three of them and sent them flying if they hadn't jumped back in time.

Nikai arrived and cracked her whip, gripping Meera's arm. "You're coming with me."

Before Meera could retaliate, the dragonling shot flames from its mouth. Meera raised some Tower Shields, but they alone wouldn't have been enough. The witch added a couple of shields of her own as well.

Surprisingly, even Lainor stepped up as he threw a poison wave at the sorceress, who had no choice but to release Meera and jump away. The witch stepped up beside Meera, as did Lainor.

"Don't think they're going to turn on each other," Meera said.

"Well, pick your dance partner then," Kalrina said.

"I'll take the dragon," Meera said quickly. There was a part of her that was aching to put herself to the test. After all, the grueling training with Veridiana must've taught her something. It had been too long since she had fought against a life-threatening foe.

Kalrina smiled. "Somehow, I knew you would say that. But be careful, dearie, that's almost a full-grown dragon."

"She's not wrong, Meera," Lainor said. "I'll assist you."

"No, I'm doing this alone. You help the witch. She's going to need it."

"Oh, that I am. Good luck, dearie."

"Don't die, witch."

"I don't plan on it, dearie."

"Let's go kill another one," Meera said to herself. Then, more loudly, she called to the dragon. "Hey dragon, remember what I did to Kaxus and his sister? I'm going to do the same to you."

The dragonling's nostrils flared, and he breathed out dark smoke like a chimney. Before he could make a move, she dashed off to the right, all the while littering the ground with mirrors thanks to her armor's ability. Nikai tried to come after her, but Kalrina cut off her path, goading her to fight.

When Meera had moved some distance away, she stopped. The dragonling hadn't bothered to move much, which was perfectly fine with her. She pointed to the dragon and put a Death Mark on him. A white skull appeared on the dragon's belly. He didn't seem to notice or if he did, he didn't care and never took his eyes off her.

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She then pulled off a level 2 chakram in each hand and activated Shadow Coating, covering the chakrams with shadows. It looked like she was holding a disc made of a starry night as the mirror chakram twinkled beneath the shadows. She then activated Druvis Might and shot the chakrams at the dragon. The chakrams might as well have been fired from a tank as they blasted off, leaving only a glowing tail behind.

The dragon had a moment to react. He moved his head to the side, which saved it from being severed, but her chakram still destroyed his scales and left a bloody streak on his neck. The second chakram, however, did much more than that. She had aimed that at his belly. It crashed into his shoulder, just above his right front leg, making the dragonling cry out in pain. He instinctively jumped aside, and that saved his life as her chakram would've ripped through him. Instead, it ran the length of his body, obliterating his green scales and making him bleed their dark green blood.

Meera was more than surprised at that result. Last time, it was so hard to get through the scales of the dragons, and now it was like she had cut through them like they were nothing. She couldn't help but grin. While she was ecstatic, the dragon was livid. But she couldn't help but feel that, for a moment, she noticed a hint of fear in his eyes. Of course, she hadn't recalled her chakrams yet, and they were still flying away. She stopped them in the air using Mirror Wing and placed them strategically behind the dragon.

"Hey, can you see in all directions at once?" Meera asked, provoking the dragon.

It was one of Veridiana's lessons. She had instructed that if you could make an enemy lose their cool, it would be as effective as striking him a wound, as they would be more likely to act rashly.

The dragon said nothing, but instead, steam rose off him in response. It wasn't just a normal steam but a red mist that encircled the dragon.

"Hey, I know you can speak?" Meera called.

"I don't indulge in speaking to those I'm about to eat."

"I see, don't talk to your dinner." Meera nodded. It's a sound strategy. It prevents you from getting any feelings for them, but I just opened you up in two different places. I must've made you feel something, like a bit of pain." He didn't reply, so Meera said, "Okay, I'll make you feel a whole lot of pain, then."

When he didn't reply, Meera realized what he was doing. He was healing himself. The red mist closed his cuts and was even repairing his scales. That's when she unleashed her chakrams. They rained on his back like spinning wheels of death.

One nearly cut off his left wing as it fell, ripped through the leathery part of his wing, embedded itself into his back, and spun like a buzz saw. The other fell on his back and tore through his back to his tail.

The dragonling cried out from the pain and then roared. "Enough!"

An explosion ripped out from him, lighting the place up like day. Meera was thrown back almost to the treeline because of the shockwave while her chakrams were blasted away from him. His blast didn't do any damage to the chakrams, and she recalled them right away.

"Oh, did I hurt a nerve?" She said as she caught them.

"I've had enough of you. You're not going to the lords. I'm going to eat you here and now."

His red teeth glowed like sharp bulbs of harsh red light, casting a red shade on everything about him. Magma dripped from his teeth, making the ground sizzle, and the temperature rose a tad bit. Even the sorceresses stopped to stare. He lunged for Meera, but she wasn't there. She teleported behind him using Mirror Step.

It was a good thing, as when he chomped the air where Meera stood, a gush of lava exploded from his mouth; if Meera was anywhere even near that, she would've taken a bath in it. The dragon swung his neck to and fro, dripping magma. Little flames rose from the grass when the lava touched it.

Meera poked the dragon's tail. "Here."

He swung his tail, and once again, she teleported away to safety. However, this time, she was nowhere to be found, as she activated Shroud of Shadows. It was night, so it was mostly dark, aside from the occasional blasts from the dragons up above.

"Show yourself, coward," the dragonling roared.

"I'm standing right in front of you," Meera called.

He must've had excellent ears as he looked at her precisely and shot magma at her. She, of course, teleported away to safety.

"Oh, you missed me," she called.

He snapped his neck to her and shot his lava again, only to miss her. She did this a few times. She would teleport away, call to him, and then teleport again, laugh, and tell him to try again. Truth be told, she was having quite a bit of fun while the dragon was getting angrier.

"You humans are all the same, pathetic little cowards who dare not face me." The dragonling said, lava dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Okay, I'll face you, but you won't like it," Meera said.

She activated Mirror Phantom. Using the tiny mirrors that she had littered the ground with as the core of the phantoms, not one but a dozen of her phantoms sprang up all around the dragon. The dragon looked around, a little bewildered.

"Come now, don't look so scared. This is what you wanted, isn't it?" Meera asked.

Then, before the dragonling could do anything, she activated Dusk Veil and, instead of exhaling smoke. Shadows, like a dark fog, emitted out of her form and covered the area surrounding her. The light from the dragonling's magma was the only light. The rest was plunged into darkness and shadows. If it wasn't her skill, she wouldn't have been able to see anything. But she wasn't done. She activated Spectral Dominion and called forth three shadow warriors.

With just a thought, she sent them at the dragonling. She had practiced this skill a lot but didn't realize how strong it had gotten. Her shadow warriors hacked and slashed, and each blow from their Shadowsteel weapons cut through the dragonling's scales, drawing blood.

The dragon retaliated with its claws, slashing about and throwing magma, but he didn't hit anything, as he couldn't see anything. He got lucky a few times when his magma hit her warriors, but they were strong enough to take the blows.

Slowly, they bled him down to his knees. She sent a shadow-coated chakram and cut off one of his legs. He fell to the ground with a cry like a dying animal. Slowly, the last of his magma dripped from his jaw. The ground was stained with its thick green blood, but her shadow warriors continued their assault until she snapped her fingers and dispelled them, along with Dusk Veil.

She walked up to the dying dragonling, who looked at her with hate. She knew she was the villain of his story, just as he was of her. If she hadn't killed him, he would have done something similar to her, if not worse. She paused at how easy this had become. A little over a month ago, all this death and slaughter would have turned her stomach.

"Put me out of my misery and pray you can escape my vengeance," he said. Even at death's doorstep, his voice sounded confident and proud.

"I will," Meera replied. "What is your name?"

"Why?"

"I want to remember the names of all those who I've killed."

He glared at her. “Plaron.”

Meera nodded, activated Druvis Might, and took to the air. She gripped the dragon by the horns; surprisingly, he was not as heavy as it looked. Either that or the jump from Druvis Power to Druvis Might was big enough that even a dragon didn't feel too heavy.

Once she had risen to Akhessai's knee, she swung the dragon in a mighty arc and shot him upwards. The dragon flew upwards as if shot from a sling. He reached a max height of about another hundred feet.

Then she flung her chakram and cut off Plaron's head.