There was a low growl from disturbingly close behind him, and Arin couldn't help but turn his head. He saw the dull-gold dragon take to the air again, shortening the distance between them again.
Catching his eye, the creature growled again, lifting its lips to reveal a mouth full of dagger-sharp teeth that glinted in spite of the dark. Their effectiveness was already all too painfully familiar to Arin.
If he got caught, he'd be forced to remain within the dream until the distortion gathered enough strength to draw everyone back in again. At the same time, he'd be in for a world of pain in the drawn-out duration as that sadistic lizard's chew-toy.
So, he had to die. He had to die before he got caught!
Just then, Arin suddenly saw some movement in the dark - a barely-there disturbance in his peripheral vision.
He immediately jumped up high while still running, cleanly avoiding yet another ropy snake cutting through his path.
'A sneak attack?' he yelled, feeling a sudden surge of anger. His blood seemed to be rushing and pounding in his head like drum beats. 'What, your stupid dragon wasn't doing the trick? It's no wonder you like snakes so much, Grif. Turns out, you are one yourself!'
Sorry, snakes.
The village head had remained where he'd been standing at the square, and was actually quite far away by now. Arin wasn't even sure he'd heard his jibe. Then,
'You dare call me a sneak, tower magician!? You dare say I - I attack like a sneak!?' came a distant roar.
Oh.
He'd heard him alright.
'You puny weakling! Your summoned beasts have already disappeared - ha! I cannot understand how such a thing as you managed to become a tower magician, even at an unknown, lesser sort of tower such as yours!'
'How dare something like you speak against me? How dare someone like you try to destroy my world, and take it all away from me!?'
Great. He'd made him more mad.
More importantly, his needleworms, and that lazy dragon knocked out in the square, were both gone?
...Yeah, there was nothing he could do in here anymore, besides dying and getting out ASAP.
...
Unless...
'Puny weakling?' Arin exclaimed, rounding around a wide-set building, and circling back around towards the square.
The dragon behind him seemed to still be enjoying their game of cat-and-mouse, thankfully without getting too serious about it. It just huffed in slight annoyance as it tucked in its wings and shifted its large body around to follow after him again.
While racing back in the direction of sir Grif, Arin continued to yell, his own voice ringing in his head. 'I, the puny weakling who has already almost cleared out this damned distortion once? Well, maybe I am, considering I have already called upon officials to put an end to it all!'
The man stared at him in a shocked silence, and even from about twenty feet away, Arin could see his bloodshot eyes.
Regardless, he continued, 'That's right, Grif. Even if you keep me in here, and even if you manage to pull everyone back in, the distortion will still be destroyed by the morning. I only managed to convince them to allow me one night, to try my method, before they take action.'
'You... you didn't. You wouldn't have... reported... my child?'
'I reported the distortion, that has already killed multiple people -'
'But if they destroy it - if they kill her! - then everyone - everyone will die with it!' the large man screamed, furiously swinging an arm.
There it was...
Arin jumped to avoid a volley of incredibly venomous looking snakes, then ducked as a medium-sized, bat-like creature he couldn't name swiped at his head with large claws, before finally rolling away to avoid a burst of hot fire shot at his back.
He wasn't quite fast enough with the last bit, and couldn't get back up immediately. He coughed painfully as his throat stung from the smell of burning hair. His ankle throbbed, and he glanced down to see a small, bloody hole.
So, maybe one of those snakes had also gotten to him...
Most of his back hurt, with the exception of the shoulder of the injured arm, which now felt suspiciously numb.
In short, he felt wrecked.
'If I don't... get them all out...' he coughed, 'they will all die anyway, Grif -'
'Then let them!' screamed the man. Then, he cocked his head to one side, thinking about something, before suddenly chuckling. 'Haha! It matters not! Once it grows stronger, it can draw in people from neighboring villages! It can draw in all those damned officials! It can draw in everyone who even dares venture in our direction! They will keep it fed! Even as these fools die, they will keep it strong! They will keep my Elara strong!'
Arin frowned in pain. It was becoming more difficult for him to breathe. Still, he was unable to tear his eyes from the maddened look on the headman's face. He panted hard, trying to will his body to move.
'Grif... You will die soon, too...' he mumbled, hoping to momentarily distract the man from releasing any more creatures.
It worked.
'Hahaha! No! No! No one will truly die!' the man roared with laughter. 'Everyone my Elara knows shall continue existing here - in here! After it spoke to me today, I've already remembered everything! That - that child, Lana - I buried her myself! But she exists here, doesn't she!? With the exception of losing a few memories, doesn't she remain much the same as she once was!?'
'At first, when it was only my dear Elara, all the people here must've been mere spectres, based on her memories of us. Oh, my poor child... It must have been terribly lonely... But! Once we truly entered the dream, aren't we all our own persons in here? With our own thoughts, and feelings! So! Even if our bodies waste away, why wouldn't you believe that part of us shall continue existing here, feeding it, and maintaining it for a long - long -'
THWACK!
A large stone came flying through the air, hitting the village head squarely in the back of his head.
The man's reddened eyes continued to stare blankly at Arin for just a moment longer, before he toppled over into a dead faint.