The wyvern while not the weakest creature with dragon blood is nowhere near as strong as their draconic cousins. There are a few known varients, mostly being different endings on their tails. They are wild and unruly but powerful mounts if they can be controled. Due to how territorial they are aside from a mated pair and their offspring you will never see two adults together unless they are tamed to be mounts. - Common Monsters

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Adrian

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The shadow dragon charges at me again, I take a step but am unable to teleport through the action. It is locking me down, restricting what I am allowed to do in this world. Two can play that game.

The dragon breathes once more at me but I deny its ability to do so. That didn’t stop the charge though and I am bitten in half. I appear once more, my head beginning to hurt behind the beast. I draw a sword and swing at its hind leg, the blade shining a myriad of colors.

The blade shatters and I hear laughter of dozens coming from the abomination before me. What the hell is going on? It should not have had time to notice my reappearance.

[Why do you allow this mockery to stand?]

That is not me-but-not-me’s voice. I don’t care what it is ether, help or be gone. I dodge a kick from the beast’s hind leg. How can I hurt this thing? What is it? It is no dragon.

[It is a mockery. A false dragon, just destroy it.]

I’ve been trying. Nothing is working.

[Nor will it if you keep thinking like that.]

Distracted by my argument I am clawed in twain again. I reform nearby. My head is aches in pain, I am not strong enough to beat this.

[How can someone so weak awaken me? Forget this I’ll just do it myself.]

The pain in my mind skyrockets and my body splits in two. A dark dragon similar to the abomination before me but smaller and emitting a blueish starlight from under its scales now stands at my side.

Me-but-not-me has gone silent, what just happened? My mind continues to ache as the two dragons release their breath weapons at each other. A torrent of shadows flies at us only to be burned away by some blast of radiance from this smaller dragon.

I feel the same familiarity with it as I do with me-but-not-me, yet they are not the same. It’s an ally, at least for now. I teleport away from a claw, there was resistance to my action but less than before. The abomination must be splitting its focus now.

Can I get me-but-not-me to come help as well? I feel no response from her. I create a blade of light and swing at the shadow dragon, the blade cuts a bit before shattering as my last sword did. A small piece of shadow exits the wound before it closes itself.

The shadow flies at me screaming in rage, I crush it in my grasp. I don’t know what it was, but it was a fragment of this thing before me. A claw comes at me and I dodge it, almost I lack an arm now. But I do not feel as weakened as when this creature tore me in two.

I teleport again forming a blade of light, the small dragon bites the beast as it was distracted by me. Another shadow is released from that wound, the dragon no longer seems as overwhelming as it was before. I still know I could not beat it alone but now I don’t think I would lose as badly.

The small dragon gets gored by the larger, and I use it as an opportunity to strike. I release and destroy a few of the shadows as I hack at the creature before it turns to me. I decide to take the hit to stab it in return.

I reappear again, but feel weaker my blade dimmer as well after I recreate it. The dragon is losing some of its size as we injure it and destroy its released shadows. The thing must be an abomination of conglomerate spirits; multiple minds and souls. Its might should lessen by each shadow slain.

I reshape the blade into a pistol, I hope this will work. I jump away from a claw, the thing roaring in its madness. I don’t feel like I can reform myself much more, my will is sapped. I shoot at the creature, and it does injure it but not as much as the blade.

It is because there is less light? I’m not sure but it takes two more shots for a shadow to fall out of the wound. The small dragon has adopted my hit and dodge style, I guess being torn into bits twice was enough for it.

Soon the creature is the size of a horse but I was slain another time by its claws. It charges the small dragon now only four times its size. The little one has its throat torn out, I put several holes into the shadow dragon releasing two more of its horde of spirits.

It is now only a bit larger than me, the small dragon does not reappear. I feel it become a part of me again, it is weak and will sleep. I will have no more aid against this creature. I no longer have the will to tear it asunder as I did to the Althaen, it looks at me and cries out.

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My pistol shatters. I cannot form another, the creature charges and I dodge. I rush to the corpse of the small dragon, it had not yet faded away. I grab claw, it fits easily in my hand. It shouldn’t but I don’t care; it is a weapon and that’s all that matters.

I swipe across its face as it lunges again, it screams spreading shadowy blood on me. That is new, it stopped releasing shadows. Is there only one left within it? Its wound does not close either. I can win this, what I have left is more than it has.

It breathes it breath of shadows a final time as I charge and tear at its throat. My spiritual body corrodes under the dark vapors but I hurt it more than it hurt me. It bites at me but I step away, it is moving slower. Black blood is dripping from its body.

It falls to the ground, I’ve won. Whatever that was it is no more, I walk up and hold the last of its shadow in my hand. I crush it, no mercy for those that try to hurt me. I am now the only one left here, the world is fading a grey fog rolls in. It is time to go back to the real world.

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My mind aches as Sunchaser’s blade falls from both his grasp and my shoulder. I hear dozens of bodies fall to the ground. They are all still breathing, save Sunchaser, and the runes of Talphith are still fading from the air.

I try to heal my shoulder but nothing happens. I took to many injuries to my spirit within the astral I guess. I am far from bleeding out so I suppose I will have to rest and heal normally. I walk over to the nearest body.

All four of the others are looking around is disbelief, I am so glad it was not my magic that did this. I roll the body onto its back, the body is alive but there is no life in the eyes. All their minds are gone, none of them will harm us again. K and Lysan rush to me, they begin to treat my shoulder.

They can see the fatigue in me. Talia took a step towards me and stopped, I don’t want her help anyways. I sit down on the wooden platform and K and Lysan bandage me. I’m not sure where they came from.

K and me turn to look at some approaching people, more Althaen. I cannot deal with them right now. I can’t draw on my magic, the others are too weak to fight from the days without food and blood sacrifices in attempt to heal me.

Trían is leading the approaching group. I might be able to talk my way out if it’s him. I am not sure though. We are too weak to outrun them. I should speak first, I stand and take a deep breath. I need to bluff and intimidate my way out.

“Trían, why are you here?”

I speak as loudly as I can without a yell, my voice carries over to those behind him as well. They appear surprised though I doubt they speak elvish. Trían looks over the fallen, he appears joyful of all the fallen Sunchaser though scowls at some of the other dead. I guess I killed some of his house too.

“I came to speak in you defense, but that seems unnecessary now.”

There is a bit of fear in his voice. Good let him think that it was my spells that did this.

“They interfered in a trial by combat. The punishment is death is it not?”

I hope it is, everything is death or slavery in their laws. My guess should hold. Keep standing strong, don’t let him see that you are defenseless at the moment. He frowns and says something to the soldiers behind him. They take their hands from their weapons, my act is working.

“It is but so many?”

“They all attacked me after I beat Talphith.”

“Can you swear it by the gods?”

I guess they want to use some truth detection spell. Alright it is true, just not everything that happened.

“Sure, who will oversee it?”

Trían motions to an elven male, I think K recognized him. Regardless, he approached and brandished the same type of necklace that Lysan uses in her spells. He chants in a tongue I do not speak, some archaic version of elven before nodding at me.

“I swear to all of the gods that I killed each of these men in retaliation because of interference during my trial by combat.”

The two before are surprised by my words and that the necklace released a small green light. Probably means that my words are true. The elven male retreats back to the soldiers behind Trían. Trían however just looks at me for a moment, he is scared. He believes they all died to my power.

“I will see that the results of your trial are spread to those that remain. Their more valuable possessions will be sent to you.”

Trían then quickly leaves, followed by the others. I breathe a sigh of relief, its over for today. I can rest and recover before we deal with the others. There are too many though, how can I deal significant damage to them all and escape?

We return to the bank, I think it is close to midnight. Something is wrong in how much time passed, it’s probably from whatever Talphith’s spell was. We all just started eating the salted fish when I hear Bryan bolt out of his sickbed.

He woke up, I smile. “It’s alright the wyvern is dead. Welcome back.”

He looks at me and the others before Abagail moves to hug him. I walk to the other room, they need some alone time. I can see it in her tears of joy. The trio leaves with me but Talia does not move to the other bedroom. I don’t know where she will sleep tonight and I don’t care.

Lysan turns to me, “How did all of those men die?”

“Talphith made the worst decision he could have.”

“What do you mean” asks Kythia

“He shifted the fight to the astral.”

“Why would that be a bad decision?”

“Everything I can think of can be done there.”

The two suddenly seem to understand. There is a pause as I get the bed ready before Lysan speaks up again.

“Adrian.”

“Yes?”

“You should talk with sister.”

I frown, I don’t want to deal with Talia. Lysan notices and continues, “I know she said terrible things, but she wants to apologize.”

“That isn’t going to change what she did.”

“We weren’t the only ones that treated you. She did too, she knows she was wrong.”

“Things aren’t just going to change because she regrets her actions.”

“But . . .”

I give Lysan a hug, “I’ll talk to her later, but I’m not ready to forgive her.”

She doesn’t hug me back, I know that I have to talk to her sister. I don’t want to talk to her though, I don’t even want her around anymore. Neither of the two talk again as we fall asleep.

Tomorrow is going to suck, hopefully I can at least get most of what we need to leave.