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Lost Child
Chapter 12: a Fire Dragon, a Golden Man and a Man's Fist

Chapter 12: a Fire Dragon, a Golden Man and a Man's Fist

Lots of action this chapter.   You can find maps and other things at https://yougots.wordpress.com/.

Enjoy.

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A fire ball arced through the aerial beast army, killing most of them before slamming into the second guard tower.   The terrifying explosion swept up Otis mid fall and threw him through the wall of the nearest building.

“Ugh” Otis moaned as he stirred from beneath the debris.  He pushed a piece of the wall off himself and stood up.  “Well that wasn’t pleasant.”  He rubbed his head.

Otis stepped out to the edge of the hole in the building wall.  He saw the fire dragon flying through the sky.  It continued to roar and the sky was aflame.  Half of Flower Hill village was either on fire or destroyed.  

[Black Scaled Fire Dragon Level??? - Farg Legion]

“Where is everyone?”  He surveyed the town.  There is a crater in the ground where the second watch tower once stood.  “Michelle.” He whispered her name to himself.  Otis leapt from the second floor of the building to the ground.  He sped to the area where the second tower once stood, he scanned the area for survivors.  

All the buildings surrounding the tower were burning.  The smoke clouded his vision as he searched through the rumble.  Hearing someone moaning he went deeper into the smoky area.  He found Larry and the preacher laying in dirt injured but alive.  Otis cast [Holy Healing] on both of the men.  

[-264 MP]

[-264 MP]

“Preacher, preacher wake up!”  Otis shook the man till his eyes opened.

“Where is Michelle?”

“Wah...O-Otis” The preacher squinted his eyes looking at the boy.  “Ugh.  Michelle, she threw us out of the tower before the attack hit.  I-I don’t know where she is.”

A sound came into the area it was subtle at first then the buzzing got loud as it approached.  Otis turned his head towards the sound.

“Bugs are over the wall!”  Otis heard Captain Trevino call out from somewhere in the night.  He then saw bright blue ice shards exploding in the sky.  “Let me get you guys to safety.  Bugs are coming.”

Otis carried the two men to the nearest building that was still at least half standing.  “Preacher heal yourself then Larry.  I will bring Michelle back here to you.  Tell Larry to watch for bugs and don’t burn the building down!”

Otis stepped out of the building the dragon swooped down and continued to raze the village.  Otis ducked down and kept to the shadows as he looked for the huntress, hoards of bugs flew past the hidden boy.  It wasn’t long before he heard her call him.

“Otis! Get this bloody thing off of me!”  The woman struggled to get from beneath a stone pillar.

“Stop yelling!  Don’t you see that thing raining death and hell fire down on us?”  He said through clinched teeth.  

“Oh shut up and hurry.  It hurts like hell.”  Annoyed, she shouted stared at the boy.  Otis pulled the stone off of her leg.  He healed her once but the injuries on her leg where too severe.

“My [Holy Healing] cannot stop the bleeding. I need to get you to the preacher.”  Otis could the see the pool of blood continue to grow around her body.

[-264 MP]

“Fine.  Help me up.”  She held her hand up for his help.

“Oh no this is my only chance to carry you like a princess, like I would pass that up.”  The huntress rolled her eyes.  Otis may have said that but in reality she would not last long if she had walked on her own.  He cast another heal on her before attempting to lift her.

[-264 MP]

Some color came back to her cheeks as she regained some more of her life.  “Alright here we go my little huntress.”  

“I am not your little…” She clinched her teeth and winced in pain as he lifted her up.  Now that her wound had been disturbed she bled profusely and her health dropped faster.  

“Hey stick with me.  The preacher will get you fixed up.”  Otis ran back as fast as he could manage without worsening her injury.  

“Tsk.  Bugs again.”  Otis rotated the air around himself.  He then wove threads of fire through the air, before too long Otis and the huntress were surrounded by a column of fire.  The boy ran towards their safe house roasting all the bugs in his path.

“I may not be able to save the leg and she has lost so much blood.”  The preacher’s hands were covered in blood as he attempted to heal the girl.

Otis had knelt next to the preacher, he was holding Michelle’s hand. “Do what you can.  The dragon is getting closer to the bunker.  We need to stop it before we are all dead.”  Otis placed Michelle’s hand down on her stomach and stood.  “I am going to leave her in your care.”

“No don’t do anything crazy!”  The preacher yelled at Otis but he had already left the through the door.  

Otis was running at full speed towards the north side of the village where the dragon was currently attacking.  He split his mind in two.  We know it is a fire dragon.  So blast it with your best ice spells!  He told his second mind.  

An ice spear began to form in Otis’s hand as he ran.  It was several times sharper than that of a normal [Ice Lance].  Otis raised his arm and threw his ice spear at the dragon.  As it flew the ice spear continued to grow in size.  The moment it left his hand Otis triggered the wind magic he had also implanted in the ice.  The ice blasted away towards the flying dragon.  He threw ten more before the first had struck.

The eleven ice spears smashed into the dragon’s scales.  The force of the ice pushed the dragon off its flight path but Otis could tell from it Health bar that the damage was nonexistent.  

The dragon bellowed in anger and dove down towards the boy who dared to attack it.  The dragon shot several fireballs in quick succession.  They lacked the ferocity that the first attack had but it still laid waste to the area Otis had been standing just moments before.  

Otis used his incredible speed and agility to dodge the dragon’s attack.  Otis continued to run toward the dragon, he kicked off a building wall propelling himself into the air.

[Passive Skills Upgraded]

[Passive Skill Footwork Learned]

Otis pulled the wind underneath him pushing himself further into the sky, he used different magic’s to steady himself he targeted the flying beast.  The boy slammed his shoulder and body into the dragon’s massive wing.  The two began to tumble from the sky as the dragon's wing had collapsed.

Otis did his best to keep ahold of the dragon that was spiraling towards the ground.  Moments into the fall the beast regained its strength in the wing.  It spread them to pull itself out of the nose dive.  The dragon wildly shot fire into the sky as it searched for the troublesome human.  

Otis clung to a scale on the dragon’s side.  The ridges of the sharp scales dug into Otis’s gloved hands.  He held on tight as blood ran down his arms.  His black knuckled gloves are part of the armor set that Milo had commissioned for him, it had been completed a few months ago.  While this armor was much better than anything in the armory, it was still just black leather and there was only so much that leather could do to protect against the dragon scale.

Otis gritted his teeth in pain.  “I can’t hang on forever.”  The dragon was still searching for the human that caused it so much trouble.  Otis’s body flung around helplessly as the dragons sped up.  

The boy release one hand from the scale.  His black gloved hand had a magic enhanced steel strip that ran across the knuckles.  The metal strip was also adorned with two short metal spikes.  He circulated mana into his fist and punched the side of the dragon.  

[-5MP]

The dragon’s defense was too high, its health was unaffected by the boy’s blow.  While he may not have been able to injure the dragon, the force from the fist was still great and caused the dragon to take notice of his presence.  The dragon immediately roared in anger, it could not believe that this weak human would dare cling to its side.  Otis did not give up, he circulated more mana into his hand and punched the dragon several more times.  

[-10MP]

[-15MP]    

[-20MP]  

[+1 Strength]

[+1 Strength]

With each punch he increased its supply of mana.  During this time the dragon stopped attacking the town and focused on removing the boy that desperately clung on.  The dragon spun and dove through the air towards the ground.  Otis maintained his accuracy and stuck the same spot with every punch.  His punches now contained 100 mana and in a matter of seconds he had punched the dragon 30 times.  The scale shown a tiny crack but refused to expand further.  Otis’s mana dropped to a dangerous level.  “Break you dumb lizard!” Otis growled.

[-200MP]

An invisible force shot out of Otis’s voice snapping the scale in half.  The dragon jerked upward in shock as pain laced through its ribs.

[-523HP]

The sudden stop flung Otis from the dragon’s body.  Otis descended from the sky at an incredible speed.  “Oh Crap! Oh Crap! Oh Crap!”  The boy panicked as he fell.  Otis grabbed at the air and pulled it underneath him slowing his free fall.

“It’s not enough!”  Otis only had 563 MP and with every pull of air he used a large amount of Mana.  He changed tactics, Otis circulated 400 of his remaining Mana through his body, reinforcing it and bracing himself for the crash.  

The boy collided with the roof of the building, then the floor, then the next floor and the next floor rolling to a stop against a wall.  His breathing was harsh, he looked down at his broken body.  His body was just a tangle of limbs but he had all of them so he sighed in relief.  His health continued to drop and was now beneath 15 percent as he bled on the floor.  He summoned a mana potion to his mouth since he was not able to use his arms.  He used his tongue to remove the cork and drink the foul liquid down.  This is a technique he learned during his training this past year.  You could summon an item from your backpack to anywhere on your body, the only requirement is that it has to touch your skin.

[+500MP]

Otis immediately grabbed the Mana and circulated it into his injury.  He realigned bones, merged them together and ejected debris from his body and sealed those wounds.  Surprisingly he had lost all of the fingers on his right hand to the dragon scale when he was thrown from its side.  He started the painful process of re-growing his fingers.

After some time Otis stood up.  He clinched his right hand into a fist.  “Stiff.  I am not going to be able to hold anything for a while.”  For the first time he observed the room he came to a stop in.  “Armory.  Glad the Captain keeps it cleaned.  I wouldn’t have wanted a pile of swords to break my fall.”

His eyes fell on the golden captain’s armor, even in the dark room it still had a faint golden glow.  The boy nodded as a smile crossed his face.  “Sorry James I will be borrowing this.”  He threw of his shredded black leather armor and put on the captain’s heavy armor.  

Otis tried moving his arms around.  “How the hell does he even fight in this thing?”  After testing his flexibility he stood up straight and prideful.  “But oh do I look pretty.”  Otis sheathed a [Recruits Training Sword] and exited the armory.  

The dragon was frantically searching for Otis.  The boy slammed his visor shut.  He compiled a series of images in his mind of gold and riches.  He laced the images with promises and he finished it with an image of a golden hero.  He pushed the images into the dragon's mind.  A roar responded to the mental attack and the dragon stopped its search.  Its eyes narrowed after it located the golden man.  

The fire dragon shot down to the golden human it landed on the Mayor’s Mansion, crushing it.  The dragon inhaled deeply raised its head and roared.  Debris was blasted away from the dragon and Otis was knocked a few steps back.  Otis quickly recovered and stepped towards the dragon.

The dragon stared at the golden man for a moment before opening its mouth to display a crimson fireball in its throat.  At that moment Otis blasted the dragon with a second series of images containing caves to the west with mountains of gold, lavish rugs, rubies and a blue djinn.  

The dragon roared shaking its head trying to free itself from the images.  Otis pushed more promises of gold to the dragon he became more forceful flooding its mind.  The fire dragon’s eyes glossed over as it stopped shaking its head and drool ran from its mouth.  It ran at the golden man snatching him in its claws and took flight into the sky.

After exiting the town the two flew west over the forest.  Otis trapped in the dragon’s claws struggled to free himself.  Otis used his free hand to push away the claws but the dragon’s strength was far stronger than his, it was like pushing at a solid wall.

“I should have thought this through.”  Otis pulled his sword out from its sheathe.  He attempted to pry the dragon’s claw away from his body.  The sword bent as the finger moved an inch away from the boy’s body allowing him to move.  Without looking at the boy the dragon clinched its three fingered hand breaking the sword.  It crushed the golden armor squeezing the air from the boy’s lungs.  Otis’s vision darkened and his body hung limp from the dragon's fist.  

[Status Effect:  Faint]

...

[3:324:01:15:36]

The sun had risen and warm air buffeted the boy’s hair as he woke.  “What the?  Where am I?”  He looked at the ground.  “Oh Yea.  I am stupid and tried to trick a dragon.”  He check his map they had flown much further north than he had instructed the dragon to fly.  “Where the heck is he taking me?”

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Otis looked to the east.  “We have crossed the mountain already.” They were currently flying north, Otis squinted his eyes as he focused on the dark mass that stood out on the horizon.  He could see a faint red aura coming from the object.  

Otis gasped.  “Its gray army!”  Dark smoke filled the sky to the north as they flew closer.  Otis had frantically struggled to free himself once again.  He stopped struggling, the sun’s glare that reflected off the dragon scales caught his attention.  “The scale!  It is still snapped in half.”

Otis grabbed the shard of the sword he still had.  He split his mind into two and used earth magic to split the shard into a dozen pieces.  He wrapped those pieces in air and rotated it.  His second mind pulled water from the atmosphere wrapping it around the rotating air.  He condensed the water into ice and kept adding to it until it was several inches longer and thicker than his normal ice spear.  

He rotated the sharpened spear drilling into the snapped scale.  As the spear pierced the dragon’s skin flames erupted from the wound melting the spear’s tip.  Otis continue to freeze the spear plunging it deeper and deeper into the dragon.  

The dragon cried out in horror at the surprise attack.  Flames shot from its mouth as it searched around to determine the attacker.  By the time it registered in the beast mind that it's golden prize had attacked it was too late.  The spear was now completely in the flying beast.  Otis exploded the swirling core of the ice spear.  Shrapnel, ice shards and blades of wind wreaked havoc in the beast body shredding its organs.  Otis did not stop, he continued to launch ice spear after ice spear into the dragon’s wound.  Blood and flames flowed from the dragon’s mouth as it fell into a nose dive..

Otis released from the dragon’s grip, climbed on to the back of the free falling animal.  As the ground rapidly approached he circulated mana though his body and reinforced his legs several times.  He pushed off the back of the dragon launching himself free of the dragon.  He crashed through the surrounding trees eventually rolling to a stop.  

Otis sat up and took stock of himself.  “Much better than last time.  Only a few internal injuries.”  The golden armor had bit into his flesh but his mana strengthen body had resisted most of its damage.  He removed the scraps of golden armor from his shoulders and legs.  

A ways from Otis the dragon had landed in a heap.  The beast still breathed fighting to the last moment to keep its life.  The fire from the dragon had spread to the trees igniting the small forest that Otis now stood in.   The last breath escaped the Fire Dragons mouth, as it left the beast, chemicals from its shredded organs mixed causing a frightening reaction.  The Dragon erupted, the explosion flatten the surrounding trees, the waves of fire and earth expanded outwards.  In the aftermath Otis tumbled through the air like a broken kite.  

[Level 21]

[Level 22]

[Level 23]

[OverKill! Bonus]

[+5 to all Attributes]

“Ugh” The boy pushed a tree off himself.  “If I didn’t know any I’d think that dragon was trying to kill me.”  Otis attempted to summon a mana potion from his Backpack.  “Great!  I am out, how could today get any worse?”  Otis merged his mind and stood.  He dragged his broken leg behind him as he moved towards the Mountains to the west.  

“We are almost to the explosion!  Move faster or he will have our heads!”  Otis overheard someone yelling from the flattened, flaming forest.  His [Aura Sense] was screaming in his mind, he was in no condition to fight at the moment. Otis covered himself in shadow and picked up his pace.  His Stamina was below 10% and had begun to affect his strength and awareness.

A pack of wolf howls pierced morning.  “They’ve picked up a scent!  Butch there is something else out here besides the dragon.”  

“Why are you waiting? Send the dogs forward!”  The wolves cried and whined at the man’s shout.  Otis cursed under his breathe, he circulated the mana he regained in the short time to heal his injuries.  He could hear the wolves on his trail, even cloak in shadow the beast could still smell him if that was their skill.

After a minute his leg healed, he ran hard until he reached a wooded area on the mountainside.  He jumped from tree to tree until he reached the top of a tree that was off the path of the wolves.  

Otis scanned the direction he had come from.  A group of thirty trailed the wolves at a distance trying to keep up with them.  The men were too far off.  Otis could not see their titles or levels but they were not all human.  Many were a mix of monsters with arms, torsos and heads from different animals.  The one at the front of the group kept up with the wolves.  He whipped and screamed at the wolves to drive them faster.  It had large pig head and the rest of its body was from an ape like creature.  Its level and Title came into view.

[Gruten 12 - Level 27 Farg Amalgamation]

The wolves changed direction and led the monster to Otis’s tree.  The seven [Twisted Wolf] were the all lower level beast ranging from level 12 to 17.  Their skin was full of sores and sagged from their bony bodies.  Their mangy smell hit Otis as they drew underneath him.  They sniffed the air.

Otis leapt from the tree towards the amalgamation.  In flight he split his mind.  

Spikes shot up from the ground entering the seven wolves’ lower jaws and exiting from the top of their heads.  Two smaller spikes drove up into the amalgamations feet nailing him in place.  It looked up to the sky as a shadow descended upon him.  Before he could scream out a shadowed blade split its pig head from its ape body.  

The shadow never touched the group, it kicked off the ape body throwing the body 30 feet away.  The shadow escaped into the trees.

The group arrived at the dead wolves. “Looks like something survived the fight with the dragon after all.  Gruten 32 go inform the boss.  Everyone else spread out.”  The man licked his gray lips.  “Whoever kills it gets to eat its heart.”  

The group of amalgamations roared with their beast heads or chirped with their beaks.  They split in all directions searching the woods.  

Otis hid in the trees to the north of the group.  He pulled the mana from his arm, his forearms bladed edge shifted back to a normal arm.  A wicked smile crossed his shadowed face as he watched them move further into the woods.  

A bird amalgamation was the closest to Otis, it crossed a tree that Otis had tapped as he retreated deeper into the woods.  As it stepped past the tree a pillar of flame with extreme heat erupted from the side of the tree burning the beast.  The bird screamed until its smoldering body fell to the ground.  The cry in pain drew the others attention.

“Go check it out.”  A beast grunted and gestured to seven of its comrades towards the dead bird.  They ran towards their fallen comrade triggering other fire, ice and earth traps.  

Otis enhanced his body with mana, he fell into the group of screaming amalgamations.  He flowed through the twisted beasts displaying the Martial arts he had learned, every kick and every punch was a killing blow.  The screams were quickly extinguished and the woods became silent once again.  

This time Otis did not wait for the others to investigate the screams.  He sprinted towards the beast who sent the others.  Otis still cased in shadow, jumped into the air landing on the side of the tree, he kicked off it launching himself like an arrow at the amalgamation.  He forced a large amount of mana into his arm.  He sharpened the bones in his forearm once again, he cleanly sliced its dog head from its mixed beast body.  Otis rolled on the ground coming out of it into a sprint he leaped back into the trees.

[-800MP]

[+1 Stamina]

[-80MP]

[+1 Strength]

[-80MP]

[+1 Stamina]

[-80MP]

[+1 Agility]

[+1 Stamina]

[+1 Strength]

[+1 Agility]

[Level 24]

He dispatched all of the amalgamations that ventured into the woods.  He retreated back into the treetops to view the surrounding.  Sustaining the body manipulation drew a large amount of Otis’s mana.  Otis breathed heavily, he rested in attempt to recover his lost Stamina and Mana.   “Where’s the boss?”  Otis frowned.  “He never entered into the woods.”  

[Butch - Elite Level??? Gray Human]

The gray human stood with an axe in hand.  He lazily looked in Otis’s direction, the monstrous gray human hefted the large two handed axe up over its head and with great force he threw the axe.  The axe glowed red from the air friction as it flew at the boy with unmatched speed.  Otis jumped from the tree just before it exploded.  He leapt from tree to tree in retreat.

“You cannot run from me!  I can see through your shadows and tricks!”  The large gray man charged into the woods.  The trees shattered as he battered them with his arms.  Otis continued to jump from tree to tree at top speed but the large man was gaining on him.

The gray human began to uproot trees and throw them at the fleeing shadow.  Otis was blown forward as the tree Otis had just jumped from exploded. Trees collided all around Otis until one smashed into his back, he lost half of his Health as he fell from the treetops.  Otis came to a rolling stop on the ground.  

Otis stood and continued to run through the woods, he dodged boulders and trees that were being thrown at him.  Butch was gaining on Otis even faster now that Otis was out of the trees.  

“What?” A light flashed in front of the gray human as he triggered Otis’s trap.  The light slowed him just long enough for the second trap to take effect.  The Earth rose covering the gray human’s legs, it solidified over his lower body trapping him within a thick dirt mound.  

A smile crossed Otis’s lips as he heard the trap activate.  He turned towards his enemy and formed a Fire Rocket. He launched it at the incoming gray human.  

As the rocket screamed through the air, the gray human grabbed the nearest tree and ripped it from the soil.  He swung the tree smashing it into the rocket.  The explosion caused the tree to scatter in all directions.  The gray human still stood within the mound, a smirk on his face as he ripped off his smoldering shirt.  

Otis was stunned. “You’re kidding me right?”  He fired two more rockets at the monster.  This time Butch did not use a tree.  He let the two rockets smash into his chest.  The terrible explosion shook the ground, smoke and dirt filled in the air.  Otis dusted himself off and looked over to the flaming mound.

[-212]

[-123]

“Is that it?  Is that it!  You wanted to kill me with that weak fire magic?  Come here shadow boy, let me show you strength.”  The gray human let out a sinister laugh as he stepped through the hardened mound like it was air.  His footsteps thundered as he picked up speed.  

Otis paled and turned to flee, the gray human’s laughter boomed in his ears.  As he took a step a chain wrapped around his waist.  “No you are not going anywhere this time.”  The gray human yelled as he yanked the chain back towards him.  

Otis was pulled off his feet by the chain and flew towards the gray human.  He sent mana to harden his fist and spun at the last moment.  His fist crashed into the gray humans face.  Immediately the tension in the chain was released and Otis landed on the ground.

The gray human had been knocked back a few steps.  Otis still tethered by the chain, started his next attack.  His kick landed on the side of the 7 foot gray human’s head and another enhanced fist smashed into the monster's face.  Otis circulated mana into his hand to harden and sharpen his fingers.  He stabbed at the monster's heart.  

The gray human caught Otis’s hand at the last second just as Otis’s fingertips pierced its chest.  Otis’s shadow faded as his arm was caught.

“Great!”  The gray human laughed.  “That really surprised me!  I like it when the pigs don’t give up!”  He spit the blood from his mouth.  Disregarding the tiny wounds on his chest he lifted Otis up to his eye level by his caught arm. “So this is what you look like.  You’re just a child.”  

“No wonder you couldn’t hurt me.  You have little child fist.”  Butch brought up his free hand and balled it into a fist.  “Now this.  This is a man’s fist.”  He punched Otis in the stomach with little effort.  

Otis’s mind reeled into shock.  The enormity of the blow caused Otis’s entire body to go limp. His eyes glossed over as the gray human tossed him to the ground.  “Don’t worry I am not going to let you die.  You will wish I had though.”

The monster laughed as he dragged Otis’s body down the mountainside towards the war camp.  

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Stat at end of Chapter 12

https%3a%2f%2fyougots.files.wordpress.com%2f2015...pter12.png [https://yougots.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/chapter12.png]

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