The dragon reared, obviously taking great care not to put too much weight on its left front leg, spread its wings and roared before launching itself into the sky. As the freed Ganarl ran I could only stare. It was the first time I got a good look at the whole terrifying majesty of the creature. The wings seemed wider than the ziggurat at its base and with its long serpentine neck and the equally long, flexible tail the creature's body seemed just as long. Gold coins started raining down around us and I had to raise my shield to cover my head.

As the flying terror started circling the top of the ruin field's central structure to gain altitude I felt Gash'zur's hand on my shoulder. As the rain of coins subsided I lowered my shield again and turned to face her. “Did you see how it favored its left front leg?”

The giantess nodded. “I saw but please tell me that you have another plan or two we can try before falling back on attacking that flying incarnation of death and destruction head on.”

I grinned like a madwoman. “I might just have an idea.” It wasn't a lie either although I resolved to never tell her just how recently that idea had come to me. I had taken notice of the wind that seemed to come in from the east and the powerful thermals the dragon was using right now to rise higher into the sky. The accursed, overgrown lizard was struggling a little. Apparently the muscles supporting its left wing had suffered a little as well.

The giantess raised an eyebrow, looking skyward worriedly every once in a while as well. I didn't have any time to explain right now though. I was already busy reconstructing the spell matrix Kaele had used to manipulate the forming storm during the battle of the Gap. Back then it had been my sister who had swatted the giant wyvern, and a great many others as well, out of the sky but I was pretty confident that I would be able to recreate the feat. I would be able to channel more power into the spell matrix as well now, thanks to my training in Hearth Forge.

There were only two things I was worried about. The first was finishing before the dragon burned me to cinders. The other was keeping the storm under control. I was confident that I could do the former, I could already feel the winds pick up as I channeled as much power as I possibly could in to the spell. I was not so sure about the latter though. This storm would be a force of nature. It was entirely possible that I would not be able to reign it in. Well, we would find out soon enough.

Gash'zur hadn't been at the battle of the Gap but she must have heard the stories. Her eyes widened and her mouth stood open, for a brief moment at least, as she noticed the wind picking up and realized what I was doing.

I in turn just grinned. I had to dedicate a considerable part of my attention to maintaining the spell matrix and the Mana flow. With one hand I undid my cloak, kepping hold of it just long enough for the giantess to grab it. If everything went as planned and possibly even if things went to hell it would just get in the way, offering the wind too much purchase. I would do better without it. I rammed my weapon deep into the glittering dust at our feet as well just in case I needed something to hold on to.

By now the dragon had noticed as well. It roared in defiance but a single glance told me that it was struggling already to maintain both altitude and course. The strengthening winds were buffeting it about quiet badly. Its big, majestic wings were not an advantage under these circumstances. It didn't make an attempt to land though. Just as well! That probably meant that I would not die a fiery death any time soon.

I wanted to scream at the giantess to run and hide in one of the nearby ruins. They would offer at least some protection against the building storm after all. I couldn't spare the attention though. She might not have listened to me anyway. A moment later I was mighty glad she stuck around though as she started wrapping a scarf around my face, tying it firmly into place as she finished. Then she patted me on the back one last time and was gone. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her seeking shelter as I would have suggested. Good. That was one worry of my mind.

Maidens bless her soul and watch over her in the hours to come. Where would I be without her? Not here for sure. In all likelihood I would have been dragon chow in Gothol'gathrak. And here we were again, facing off against the very same beast once more. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

I didn't have much time to spend on thoughts like that though as the wind grew stronger and stronger. It wasn't just the wind either. As I had expected it picked up loads upon loads of the simmering dust. It was enough already to force me to my knees. I had to mostly close my eyes as well. Not even that and the scarf Gash'zur had wrapped around my face could keep out all of that nasty stuff. My eyes were tearing up as I blinked time and again to clear them. I would have to close them for good soon. Well, it wasn't like there still was much to be seen. The storm had by this point turned the world into a whirling, glittering mess.

Somewhere above the dragon roared again. That it still was able to waste its breath on an action like that was impressive in a way. That it still managed to stay airborne gave me pause as well. In response I kept feeding more Mana into the storm while clinging to the weapon I had rammed deep into the ground just a little tighter as well. It was getting almost too much for me.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Then the dragon roared once more. This time the roar was accompanied by a jet of flame. My eye widened briefly before I crammed them shut again. I hadn't even noticed that the beast had gotten this close. The fire never reached me though. The raging storm tore the stream of burning liquid away from the dragon's mouth faster than it could produce it. The infernal heat just added a little more power to the storm in the end.

In the end the dragon lost its fight against the raging force of nature. It was torn from the sky and smacked into first one and then another of the ruined buildings before finally hitting the ground. This time it didn't roar. No, the sound it produced was almost something like a whimper. Well, I would have whimpered as well if I had gotten smacked around like that.

It didn't even think about staying down though. It fought its way back onto its legs. As it put too much weight on the left front leg it looked like it would collapse again but it managed to prevail. It was maybe a hundred paces away from me and although the storm obscured it almost completely by now I imagined that it stared at me with hate filled eyed.

That wasn't what I was focused on right now though. Most of my attention was still on the spell I was powering. I couldn't help but notice a tingling sensation though, as the hair in the back of my neck rose. This was what I had been waiting for. I let go of the spell controlling the storm and it responded by roaring up in strength even more. If I hadn't been on my knees, clinging to the shaft of my firmly anchored glaive I probably would have been torn away then and there. I wanted to laugh but I couldn't give in to that temptation just yet. I wasn't quite done with that damned dragon yet.

It wasn't done with me either. That thought or something similar must have gone through its mind as it started working its way towards me, clinging close to the ground.

I focused on my next spell as I built its matrix to grab hold of the lighting building in the storm. Already my spell kept it from discharging at random. As I finished the dragon was maybe still fifty paces away from me and yes, there was nothing but hate in its eyes. I could see it well enough now to trigger the lightning discharge and I did.

For a moment a bright white light filled the world as all the charge the dust storm had been building was guided into this one lightning strike. It was a little like that time I had brought down that ogre while spending the night with the harpies in Quu'za's village, except it was much much worse. I had closed my eyes and averted my face the moment I unleashed the spell but it was not enough.

For an instance I could see first the lightning and then the dragon's bones through the closed lids of my eyes. Then the thunder washed over me and where I had managed to stand fast against the storm the force of the thunder sent me tumbling, glaive in hand. I only stopped tumbling as I hit a wall. The impact knocked the breath from my lungs.

Almost like back then with the harpies the storm died within moments this time as well. It was as if I had drawn all the power it had built from it with that one lightning strike. Well, maybe I had. For a moment I just lay there as the airborne dust started to settle like a shroud over everything. My fingers and toes, no my whole body tingled. Not as bad as back then though. Maybe because my armor had shielded me from the worst of the discharge? It certainly had protected me from the worst of the impact against that wall.

I groaned and rolled over to get back on my feet. This was something I could think on later. Right now I needed to focus on other things. Things like that dragon! As I got back on my feet I looked over to it where it lay and disbelief filled me as I noticed it twitching. Were those just spams due to the lightning strike? Or was it actually still alive?

Well, I wouldn't stand around and wait to find out. I grabbed my weapon tighter and made my way over to the crashed beast. The smell of burnt flesh filled my nose as I got closer. It kept twitching occasionally but it didn't look like it would get back up anytime soon. It wasn't just due to the lightning either. I could see now that one of its wings was badly mangled as well. It looked like it was broken in several places and almost torn free of the joint.

And of course there still was the spot where Yath'zur had struck it with my old glaive. The blade carved from the wyvern's stinger was still stuck in its side. The scales around it had rotted and fallen out. The flesh beneath didn't look much better either. Maybe it would have perished from that wound alone in some time. Too bad I couldn't have waited.

I took another deep breath and almost gagged at the smell of rotting flesh mixed in with that of burnt scales. As I shifted the grip on my weapon to strike I recalled my lessons from the Museum of Existential Terrors curtsy to the Arcanist. I recalled the spot where the artery would be closest to the surface and struck with all the force I could muster. The titanium blade of my weapon parted dead skin and rotting flesh with ease.

Only when it cut deeper did it meet resistance. Apparently the still healthy flesh of the monster would not part as easily as orc flesh or ghoul bones. A moment later blood started welling up out of the wound though and I knew that I had found the vulnerable spot I had been looking for. I twisted the blade for good measure and pulled it free. As I stumbled backwards a gush of dragon blood covered me, mixing with the glittering dust still clinging to me, to form a truly disgusting mess.