The clashing of steel reverberated through the camp as the day of battle had finally arrived, the few barricades that were set up days prior weren’t enough to hold the formation knights and militias that rallied to slay the being that was deemed a monster, on the other side of zealous defenders held them back to protect that same being that they deemed a deity.

After the disappearance of the scouts it pinpointed the location of the Dragon’s lair in the mountains, the expedition waited for 3 days after they should had reported in before confirming them as captured or dead and moving in the area, they rallied militias from nearby towns crying out that this was a crusade against an abomination that went against The Ancient.

With roughly 700 men in total they marched onwards to what they called the lair of evil and they would only stop once the heretics and the beast that lies in there were dead, while many came in religious fervor, just as many had come for coin, after all, the first dragon’s lair was found with many great riches, why would this one be different?

Though they outnumbered the cultists with over twice the manpower only the knight order at its center could do any damage to the dragon, using the levies to distract its minions the bulk of the knights awaited the appearance of the monster they had come to slay.

Shortly after the initial clash a deep roar reverberated from the cave and reaching the battle, the dragon took into the sky its vast wingspan casting a shadow over the camp, with their master on their side the fervor of the defenders rose tenfold, archers and crossbowmen of the assaulting forces quickly unleashed arrows and bolts in to the flying beast in an attempt to ground it.

In response it throwed a torrent of flames to their lines, dozens fell as the flames melted those in direct contact while does in near proximity burned, burden animals panicked forcing handlers to cut them loose while they hurriedly turned the wheeled ballista to the dragon and fired a bolt with protruding sharp fins from the shaft meant to do as much damage to the wing as possible, the lucky shot went through the membrane of the wings the gaping hole enough to destabilize it.

It managed to regain little control before hitting the ground and managing to crash among its enemies, it roared in outrage and started rampaging along the formation of militiamen, those who tried to approach were swiftly halved by the claws of the monster or outright crushed my any of it’s limbs, however distancing oneself was not an option as the deathly fire was thrown at anything that moved in front of the monster.

The cultist rushed in to protect their wounded idol, the fighting intensified as they impaled, stabbed and cut their way through the line of startled townsmen, sergeants screamed order but their cries were drowned by the screams of those burning by the flames.

At the same time the knights of the crimson spear rushed in, two dozen cavalrymen charged rapidly to the flanks of the zealots who in their rush to aid their master had abandoned their fortifications and ignored their own self preservation, in the middle of this on foot Arnold Crow himself covered in his armor of dragon scales lead the charge against the monster.

The sight of the dragonslayer himself joining the fight with his knights returned the courage of the assembled militia who fought with renewed fervor and forced the charging cultists in to stalemate, in turn the draconic defenders were forced to thin themselves out along the flanks to not be surrounded by their foe.

The force of knights surrounded the dragon allowing the rest of the regular force to focus on the more manageable cultists, observing the armored figures closing in the dragon spun with its tail forcing them to back off, those who did not were thrown like a ragdoll the force sending the unlucky towards their own comrades their armor doing nothing against the blunt force.

The dragon throwed a torrent of flames in an attempt to force a path out of the encircling knights however before it could rush out several knights came rushing in from the sides with incredible speed, jamming spears on the creature side severely inhibiting its movements, it roared in pain and and anger, burning one of them before it could reach a safe distance.

And from the front charged the dragonslayer, the dragon throwed flame to him in an attempt to scorch him, he covered his eyes and let the scales absorb the heat, he went for one of the several spears embedded within the dragon choosing a side randomly due to his lack of vision, once the flames stopped he let his arm go from his eyes just in time to roll under the claws of the monster barely avoiding being crushed.

He pulled one of the spears out to arm himself who had run weaponless expecting any to melt at the touch of dragon fire, the monster gave another roar as the spearhead was pulled out along with blood that quickly coagulated, the dragon swept the ground with its tail Arnold not having enough time to get out of the way braced himself and clung to the tail placing the spear on the opposite side to avoid being thrown away like some of his men had.

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Arnold eventually had to let go, tumbling down to the earth to avoid being crushed as the tail impacted the ground dust from the impact covering the battlefield, he picked himself up throwing the broken shaft that remained from the spear to the ground, he made out the silhouette of the dragon and rushed once more, this time however the monster was ready and swiped it’s claws, it’s eyes having a better sight.

He was thrown to the ground, he looked up and saw the dragon approaching, hate filling it’s eyes, but as it took a single step “FIRE” he shouted with the remaining breath in his lung and almost as soon as he said so a ballista bolt impacted in the neck of the dragon, doing a relatively superficial wound to it, however it did its purpose on startling it and soon after the surrounding knights charged onwards, the first to rush in where those who jammed spears in the first place, this time the hacked at the dragon’s limbs with halberds, first cutting the tail with coordinated precision and strength no normal human should possess.

Once the tail was cut the rest of the knights joined in overwhelming the monster, even though the scales eventually gave way as the flesh was cut and more blood drawn, he took a deep breath and saw someone stretching a hand to him “You’re fine, Sir?” He accepted the hand and got on his feet.

“Sore as a merman on land but sure, let’s go with fine” he said in between breaths, he walked towards the broken remains of the dragon, it kept a gaze of indescribable hatred as nearby knights kept stabbing it, “Let’s finish this off then”, he took one of the spears still imbedded in the side, he walked calmly towards the head, positioned the spear, and with a thrusting motion and a crunch of scale and bone imbedded it deep within, extinguishing it’s life once and for all.

He looked up towards his men “Aid the militiamen to finish off the cult” and with that they rushed off towards the routing cultists who had almost broken through the militiamen in a panicked zeal to save their idol, however, with its demise all but the most loyal believers fled in panic towards the forest, they would be hunted down, enslaved, interrogated or outright executed in public.

He took off his helmet with the victory now secured and allowed himself to take in fresh air, his helmet was almost fully enclosed the only visible hole being that of the visor, however there were tiny gaps between the scales around where his mouth would be, allowing some air to enter to avoid asphyxiation, it made it even more uncomfortable to wear than a normal helmet, however in comparison it offered much better protection as it was proven.

“This went much better than last time” Clandery said behind him, cleaning her halberd with a rag.

“Last time was an unprepared mess” he told her “I’ll need a casualty report and get someone to sever the thing head off” he placed his helmet back on and went off to chase the stragglers.

Eventually after their victory they went to Lacreen, where they paraded the corpse of the dragon until they reached the central square, where it was displayed for hours while the head was being given to their crown and the payment given, the head and subsequently the spear embedded in it would be forever stay as testament of Boulren’s wealth in the walls of their court.

The scales of the rest of its body were used to coat 5 more sets of armor, the rest sent back to the academy once more to replenish their supply, while tough, the many experiments they went through slowly went through them.

However the question of where they came from remains unanswered.

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“Fucking hell.” Jeff swore under gritted teeth, as he was placed to the side of a trunk in the middle of the night, his right leg covered by bloodied bandages, as far as he knew he and Kelrek were the only survivors, this was obviously highly improbable but it didn’t matter.

What he called home and who he could even call friends for months was just gone, along with one of the only thing that gave him any sort of self-fulfillment after years of nothing but a life of banditry and theft, that was the only thing he was good at, he fled from his home village unwilling to be a peasant as all his ancestors were, chasing invisible riches, there were many times he regretted those choices, but never more than now with one of his legs being practically useless.

He didn’t know what to do know, sleep wouldn’t come to him as his leg burned with pain, while Kelrek wasn’t much better for wear with the exception that his blood coagulated faster and his pain receptors basically shut themselves off the moment they were hit, perks of being a giant lizard he guessed.

They had avoided patrols for the whole day and they had been lucky in the sense of not being captured, as is the testament of his injuries, if they weren’t infected he might consider it a miracle.

They sat down and waited hoping they were outside patrol routes, he contemplated trying to talk but quickly dismissed the idea, not much one can talk about with someone missing the ability to do so in the first place, eventually the pain became more manageable to be able to get some sleep, he didn’t knew if he was even going to survive the night, even if he did, what was he going to do?

Eventually however he let his exhausted body get some rest.