Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 245: Two dragons (1)

The group began hacking away, stabbing and slashing.

'Yahh'

'Take this'

Some attack the dragon with tears in their eyes.

'This is for Relend'

'Take this! And this!' some yelled as they hack and slash, and smash.

Nearly all of them attack with anger in their heart. The Elves on the other hand climb the low hill and began aiming at the dragon eyes.

Then with one order they released their arrows as rains of arrows were heading toward the dragon eyeballs

But the dragon is smart. It closed its eyes and the scale on its eyes protected it.

The dragon roared again and release an incomplete fire breath toward the small hills but it has enough effect for the archer division to jump from the hills and began taking their position again in a different area and start shooting more arrows toward the dragon.

Some elves began using their healing magic to the survivors, dragging them from the area of battle.

'We can do this!' some yelled. Their morale is rising. Arial landed not far away from the dragon and took a step back as his chest pains attack again.

Velamina leapt through the air and arrived to his side.

'Are you fine?' she asks looking at the pained expression on his face. He is breathing hard

'I'm fine.' He replies as Arial look around at the area

It was a bloody battle. Red blood filled the area around the dragon crash. Arial could see some hand belonging to some dead Orc under the dragon body.

He must have been smashed to death Arial mused. The dwarves began joining the battle. They revealed themselves and run out from their hiding places.

That opportunistic bunch Arial thinks to himself. After the Orcs and Kobold sacrifice their life, only then the dwarves come out of their hiding.

The moment they appear they throw their axes and the axes stuck itself at the dragon chest.

The dragon clawed some of the Kobolds to death because of the pain and he roared again.

'What the-' Arial is shocked.

'Mithril' Velamina explained almost immediately.

Red blood flowed through the caverns and the dragon doesn't seem finished yet. The pains hit Arial again.

'Not now!' he muttered. Velamina was shocked at the sudden expression of pain that flashed on Arial face

'Are you really alright?' she asked as she used her healing magic at Arial then suddenly she stopped. She notices something.

This is not right she mused. What is this malevolent energy swirling around him? She thought to herself.

This is…. poison.

'You are poisoned.' She looks at Arial. Her face is stricken. He smirks with a tired expression and nodded

'Yes' He said showing nothing of his despair, his hand still holding the sword; a little trembling on his hand can be seen.

'You are sick and you are hunting a dragon. ARE YOU CRAZY!' she yells at him.

'Maybe. Maybe I am.' Arial scans his troops, ignoring Velamina screams. He even smiles a bit.

It is crazy he mused. But even as he thought this, his mind is thinking of countermeasures.

The elves are still many. So are the dwarves. But the Orcs and the Kobolds are dwindling. Roughly half of the people in his group died.

Then he looked at Velamina and he notices it.

'You have a broken rib' Arial said. Velamina nodded and replies

'Yes. That dragon is one fearsome beast.' She said before looking at the gigantic creature in front of them. Arial nodded.

Then screams of Orcs resounded again.

'The dragon is rising up again' Arial muttered and spit blood onto the ground. The pain is becoming more intense.

Then before he could stop it, he cough

'Uhuk, uhuk.' He began coughing blood, his hand grabbing on his heart. The blood that comes out from his mouth is black with a mix of red.

It's getting worse, he thought to himself.

That last attack he executed was taxing to his body. It is the first time he ever uses such force.

It's the first time he knew he could unleash such force. His decision to go to Linzi Temple is not wrong at all.

Then he ignores the pain and look at Velamina

'Velamina, we need to cut off his wing. That is the only way we can win this. We could not let it pass the third ceiling or it would fly away'

Velamina shake her head.

'What are you saying? Cancel this expedition. We regroup, hire some more mercenaries and attack the dragon again. Heal your poison first.'

Velamina knows that to find the dragon here again would be next to impossibility but she could not let Arial die.

She views him as a great companion and friend. And probably more than that though she would never admit that

Arial held Velamina arms tightly, while trying to explain as much as possible the reason why he created this group in the first place.

He looks at Velamina with a pained look

'You want to know why I want to hunt a dragon? Here is the truth. I need its heart. And I mean that literally. My heart is dying. I need a dragon heart to replace mine. Got that! SO shut your complaints and let us attack that damn dragon! I don't have much time! Can you do that?'

'Kill the dragon, take its heart and you live?' She asks.

'Kill the dragon, save the dragon' he said. Velamina understand. He once told Velamina that his crest is a dragon in one of their night talks.

She even heard, he refers himself as a dragon and spoke about it ironically

'Fine' she said and a new determination arose from her. She needs to keep Arial alive. After all, if he is alive, she will be alive.

The dragon flapped its unfolded wings.

As it flew away, the wind pressure knocked down many of the short dwarves and their companion, along with the others.

And once again fire holds its reign in the cavern. The unlucky ones were decimated by fire. Some are lucky and manage to run to the nearby hole or hill, hiding behind it as the fire fills the ground.

'AAAH, IT'S HOT'

'MY BODY…MY BODY ARGGHH!!!!'

'SAVE ME…SAVE ME' the others could hear the pleadings of their comrades but can do nothing as the dark caverns turns bright red because of the fire.

Some hills melted down and the surface of the caverns turns bright red

The corpse turned black before dissipating into ashes. Some that is burn but manage to escape is hurriedly sent to the Elves with healing magic. Some survived. Some did not.

Death aura fills the area.

Blood started flowing in Arial after a long time. He is excited even amidst this chaos. Ancient monster.

He has been fighting monsters since he came to the Land of dragons and now he could finally clash his strength against the most powerful creature in the world, a dragon.

He always uses fighting as a mean for securing the peace he envisioned but after he managed to get that peace, he always felt that life is going to be the same life he dreamed off.

He would rule wisely, and one day he will die. He had never any aspiration or dreams other than stopping the Invasion.

But after he stopped the Invasion, he felt empty. But for the first time since a long time, he really wanted to beat this dragon to the ground.

He wanted to kill it, beat it senseless.

Whether it is because it is the first time he is ever in such intense situation or because the power that both he and the dragon display, he doesn't know.

But his blood is boiling.

And he grins. His chest is burning with the spirit of wanting to defeat this beast. And he jumped again into the air, landing on the dragon tail and run fast like lightning to the dragon chest area.

His speed was boosted by his internal energy, making him look like a flash of light that suddenly appears on the dragon chest area

The dragon tries to use its tail to sweep Arial but Arial jumped away from the tail and reached the dragon neck area.

Arial ready his stance and yelled

'TAKE THIS' as he pierces his sword onto the dragon eye and it pierced right through

'ROAR' and the dragon roar with sounds of shrieking that the caverns tremble as it thronged in pain.

Blood flow like rain to the ground.

The dragon shakes its body and Arial had to jump away before he lost his balance, landing on the cavern wall and using his internal energy he dug his fingers onto the wall of the cavern, hanging on the wall surfaces like a spider.

He laughs and such acts are seen by the group at the ground. Then he sang

"Here be dragons to be slain; here be rich rewards to be gain!

If we perish in the seeking, why, how small a thing is death!"

'HAHAHAHA' he laughed.

'Gods, how could he do that.'

'He is laughing.'

'That is…just unbelievable.'

'He managed to blind the dragon.' The group at the ground could not believe what they sawjosei

Even though there is still some fire on the ground, after that last attack, many are ready to attack the dragon back.

The Orcs and Kobold especially wanted to avenge their fallen companion.

The Elves is also ready but they could only watch as the two beasts are fighting each other midair, clashing, like two dragons.

Before they praise of Arial strength but now they know, Arial is not an ordinary human, not even extraordinary.

He is something else entirely. Any preconceived notions that humans are weak was destroyed by that valiant figure fighting with the dragon.

Velamina flew down to the group from a nearby hill and quickly ordered them. She could not follow Arial or interferes in Arial battle.

Arial sphere of attack is wide and the force of Arial strike when it reached the dragon would surely throw her from the battle.

She could not penetrate the thick internal energy barrier of both Arial and the dragon anymore.

Their fighting is too intense and too high level for Velamina to interfere.

But she wanted to help.

She could organize the ground group and coordinate the attack. She has faith that Arial would be able to drive down the dragon onto the ground.

'Peerless under the sky' she muttered to herself. Then she turned back to the survivors.

'We need to have a plan.' She addresses the ground group.

'We have to wait for Commander to bring the dragon back down. Then we must use an all-out assault. Elven units, uses Water barrier on the Orcs. And throw any explosive magic you know that could weaken the dragon. Don't throw fire. That would strengthen it. Throw some Earth bullet, or Water needle. Something like that'

And the magic support division nodded.

'Orcs smash its feet. And find a way to stop it mouth from spitting that damn fire. I don't care how, just find me a solution.'

The Orcs replied with a resounding yell.

'DWARVES, attack its claws. That dragon has had enough of clawing our group to death. Smash it, hammer it, axe it. I don't give a damn! That is your role. Your job is simple. Do It! And don't you dare hide behind the hills again. If not, I would kill you all myself after the battle is over.'

The Dwarves gulp their saliva and nodded for Velamina is looking very commanding and frightening right now

Her desire to save Arial is high.

'The Archer division aim on its open mouth.  Charge it and hit it strong enough and that beast will die…. Fuck that. Aim at all its open spot. Miss nothing. We don't have that much arrow neither we have room for any mistakes. Fail this and we all die.'

They all nodded. Now they looked upwards as the battle between Arial and the dragon still continues up in the air.