“You think? What gave it away? Was it the giant hole in reality or the damned dragon thing sitting halfway through the hole?” Twonger was not remotely happy about what they found at their destination, and Andy couldn’t blame him.
“I believe that is technically a juvenile void dragon. We’d feel the reality-warping nature much stronger if it were any older,” Libby added to Twongers's statement. He didn’t feel reassured by her assessment.
The idea that this was just a young dragon was not a pleasant thought for Andy. The thing was already massive. Its head and two of its legs were resting on the floor of the Library, while the other half was still stuck in the void. This had to be the cause of the widening tear. As it grew, it ripped things open even more. So that meant all they needed to do was kick this monster back to the void and seal the hole behind it. That seemed easy enough. Andy laughed out loud at his thought.
“What?”” Bill turned and looked at his friend.
“Nothing, just thinking what Cal would do about a giant dragon,” Andy answered.
“Say something stupid, charge in, get beaten nearly to death, and decide to take ten more loops to actually do anything about it?” Andrew had pulled a notebook from somewhere and was making notes as he said this.
“Yeah, probably, but let’s see if we can’t do this in one try.” Andy doubted they could, but what choice did they have?
“Wait, seriously. You want us to fight a dragon? No, not doing it.” Twonger said.
“Okay, then what will you do. You’re stuck here in the Library with us, the dragon will be coming through eventually from the looks of it. Are you planning to just hide and hope everything goes okay after we’re dead?” Andy knew Twonger would give in eventually, but wanted to hammer home the point anyway.
“Fine, anyone know what a void dragon is scared of?” Twonger asked. His sword had appeared in his hand as he asked the question.
“Safety, the idea that children will escape them. That creation itself isn’t just another meal for them to eventually have.” Ralth’s answer wasn’t anything Andy had expected and the way he had said it seemed personal. Someday, he would need to explain everything that had happened to him on his long, strange journey,
“That’s a rather specific answer, mate. Do you think children’s happiness will do?” Twonger continued to fiddle with his sword.
“Probably. Just to be clear. I’m not sure this is a battle we can win. While I say that, I want you all to know I fully intend to fight it anyway, but I fear this is far beyond our abilities. Perhaps if I still had my old powers, but not currently.”
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Ralth’s speech was interrupted by Bill. “Yep, but it doesn’t matter. We still have to do this, or a lot of people die, and a lot of knowledge is lost forever. So no doom speeches today, big guy.”
“What Bill said. There’s no sneaking up on this thing, so as soon as we are ready, let’s spread out and rush it as fast as we can.” Andy noticed the dragon staring at them.
“What if, instead of fighting, I offered you all a quick death? I’m hungry, and none of you look particularly interesting to fight today.” The voice started off quiet and grew to room-shaking levels with the final word. It seemed to come from all around them, but it was obvious to all of them if it was the dragon itself speaking.
“I’d rather fight. I don’t like the idea of a loud dragon thing eating me without a fight.” Apparently, its words had been enough to piss off Serilina as she stopped waiting and charged in as soon as she said that. Mr. Wiggles immediately followed.
“Alright, charge, I guess! Dammit,” Andy yelled and then lightly cursed himself. He had hoped to plan this somewhat better, but now, instead, they were all off to die.
“Yeah, stab its face in and push it back to the void!” Twonger yelled, apparently not willing to let his fear shut him up. Sadly, that was all he got to do, as the dragon chose Twonger as the first person he attacked. One simple claw swipe and the man crashed to the ground, bleeding badly. He was a mess, and Andy doubted very much he could survive this.
Next, Serilina and Mr. Wiggles dropped, both caught by the return of its arm before either of them even got a single blast of mana off.
“Andrew, I suggest not summoning your friends. There's no sense in hurting them. I just don’t see this going our way,” Andy called out as he made contact with the dragon’s head. He quickly covered both of its eyes with some of the strongest mana he could channel. Come on, big guy, fall!” He screamed as he poured more mana into the glowing globes, hoping that at least he was blocking its sight.
The dragon roared. Andy had managed to annoy it, and he was glad for that, but not so much for the pain that followed. Coupled with the roar was a feeling of his head rupturing, of everything he had ever known burning to ash around him. All he could see was his complete and utter failure as the dragon's eyes burnt brightly in the darkness.
He managed to raise his head and look around. From what he could see, he guessed the others were either too far gone to experience what he was or stuck in the same horrible waves of loss.
“Dammit, I really hope this counts as being in the loop. I don’t want this all to be a waste for Cal,” Andy muttered as he rolled off the dragon’s head, falling to the ground with a thud. Everything had started to go black.
Wait, was that music? Andy didn’t understand what was happening. The blackness was receding to a warming light.
“Hey Andy, give yourself a second to heal, okay? We’re here now.” The familiar voice said
“Bug?” Andy tried to smile.