*Boom!
Veryda wasted no time
Her body burst forward like a spring, her muscles igniting with a rush of adrenaline as the twin sabers in her hands blazed with ancient runic light.
Each stroke of the glowing etchings along her blades whirred and hemmed with power.
And as she moved with great speed, her figure blurred into a streak of green and silver as the burning glyphs across her blades screamed for battle.
Yet the dragon had already noticed her.
*ROAR!!!
As it reacted instantly.
Its chest swelled grotesquely as blacked smoke and necrotic power gathered in its maw.
Then—
*GROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!
A torrent of decay erupted forward, a vile stream of corrupted breath tearing through the air.
The scent hit first—thick, disgusting rot that stung the nose and breath of Veryda, as if the very essence of death had been exhaled.
The stream of darkness rushed towards her with great speed, twisting and writhing as if it were a living storm.
Yet something was off.
Veryda noticed,
the attack, for all its size and menace…
lacked the overwhelming weight of death and pressure she had expected.
It carried power, yes, but not the devastating force she remembered from Morgroth's kin in the war.
It was restrained—
weaker.
Veryda's eyes flickered briefly towards Saiga's chains, still glowing white hot as they bound the beast.
So it's his doing, she thought.
The boy's power… it's showing signs… of his heritage… of his blood.
Her lips cursed into a faint smirk that meant two things.
One, recognizing Saiga's improvement.
And two—
an opening just appeared.
*BANG!
And so she pressed onward without hesitation, twisting her body in a dancer's fluid motion as her cloak snapped along with her body as she completely dodged another attack from the dragon.
The wave of necrotic smoke screamed past her shoulder, grazing the edge of her hair but never touching flesh.
The air sizzled where it passed, blackening and rotting the ground and trees in the distance.
The dragon noticed.
It's power dwindling.
*ROAR!!!
"M-My power!?" The dragon roared in frustration, its guttural voice rattling the ground as its body trembled violently—necrotic fumes spilling from the cracks in its flesh.
Its once overwhelming aura now flickered like a dying flame, weakening with every passing second.
"THESE DAMNED CHAINS!" the beast snarled,
*sccrk! *sccrk! *sccrrrrrk!
its claws scraping furiously at the bindings locked around its neck.
Sparks of corrupted energy cracked as the dragon's talons dug into its own flesh, desperate to tear the chains draining its power free.
But the chains,
forged from Saiga's power. Only burned hotter in response.
It fed on the dragon's struggle.
*SHHHAAAA!!!
The searing light across the chains then intensified.
The dragon's blackened flesh began to crack and split, fissures opening where the white flames sank even deeper.
*ROAAAAAAAR
Steam hissed into the air as corrupted flesh blistered,
*ROAAAAAAAAAAR!
burned,
*ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!
and cracked apart under the merciless heat.
*GROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!
The dragon shrieked in agony, its voice shaking the mist filled forest as if the land itself recoiled from its torment.
Its body convulsed, muscles thrashing violently as the chains constricted tighter and tighter, burning both the corrupted flesh and the necrotic essence that fueled its strength.
But before the dragon could even recuperate and gather its scattered strength, Veryda was already upon it.
Her movements blurred, swift and merciless, the green ancient runes along her twin sabers flared brilliantly as she snapped them forward when she finally closed in the distance.
*SSHNK!
Both blades carved deep, onto a part of the dragon's flaps.
Then she descended, using the momentum as leverage as she completely tore the flaps of the dragon's right wing.
*sssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhk!
The sound of tearing flesh and shredding sinew mixed with the crackle of runic power filled the air as green light spilled out from both of Veryda's blades.
*ROAAAAAAAR!
The dragon's guttural roar shook the forest as the ruined wing shuddered, blood and necrotic smoke spilling in thick amounts.
"One down," Veryda muttered under her breath, her tone clam and almost cold—like a veteran.
But she wasn't done.
Not yet.
Her legs coiled tightly, muscles primed like springs—before she kicked off once again, using the dragon's leg as a boost, launching herself higher.
Her form streaked upward in a controlled arc…
until she met the beast eye to eye.
"How ya doin'?" Veryda smirked.
"GRYPHON RIDER!!!" The dragon snarled, its jaws snapping open wide, black mist sizzling between its teeth as it lunged for her midair.
Its fangs glistened with decay, aiming to crush her in one bit.
But before the strike could even land—
*CLANK!
Saiga pulled hard on the white flame chains connected to its neck, his arms exploding with head as he redirected the dragon's head at the last possible instant.
*BANG!
Its massive jaw then snapped shut just inches away from Veryda, the shockwave of air released from the bite flew towards her.
"NOW!" Saiga shouted in urgency, sweat running down his brow as the chains wrapped around his arm started to burn even him.
Veryda seized the opening instantly.
Without hesitation, she twisted her wrist—
*FWIP!
and hurled one of her sabers.
The blade spun, whirring through the air, green runes glowing brighter as if singing in unison with her intent.
*CHUCK!
It then landed.
It drove straight into the dragon's left eye with brutal precision.
As a result, a fountain of black, tar-like blood erupted from the point of impact.
It flowed quickly and splattered across the ground in sizzling droplets that ate into the soil.
*ROARRR!!!
The dragon howled in pain, its voice splitting the night like thunder.
*Thud! *Thud! *Thud!
Its massive body faltered, wings thrashing violently in panic and pain, each flap from its good wing scattering debris as if the forest itself was being ripped apart.
The towering beast reeled,
desperate to escape,
its massive body staggering backward as it tried to break free from Saiga's searing chains.
"Let's finish this, you damned dragon!" Saiga's hands burned even more as his chains whirred even more powerfully than before.