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Lazybones's Keep on the Shadowfell/Thunderspire Labyrinth
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 4876154" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 65</p><p></p><p></p><p>Vhael felt a weird momentary sense of kinship as the dragon appeared before him in all its majestic power and menace. There was intelligence in those dark eyes that fixed upon him, and malevolence in the roar that it unleashed before surging forward toward him. Even as it tossed aside the mangled wreckage that had been a friend and ally just minutes before, he could not help but be awestruck by it. </p><p></p><p>In all his long years and varied experiences, he’d never before faced a full dragon, and in those first few seconds he came to understand the stature that the beasts held in the legends and tales of the world. Dragon stories crossed nations and cultures, and were told by all races, not just those that shared some link of blood with the creatures, as he did. </p><p></p><p>But that realization came and went in a flash, as he had to fight for his life. An answering roar to the dragon’s challenge came from him before he even realized it, and his sword came up almost automatically into a defensive stance. But the dragon’s assault came with the force of an avalanche. </p><p></p><p>He thought it was going to lunge right at him, and he’d even started swinging his sword to intercept its darting jaws before it abruptly stopped, arresting its momentum just out of his reach. Too late he realized what it was doing, too late to avoid the blinding gout of caustic gas that blasted into him. Agony filled his lungs as the gas entered him, burned his scales, sizzled at his eyes and blinded him. It only lasted a second, but even as he fought to recover, the assault he’d expected before arrived. </p><p></p><p>Claws tore into him, shredding armor and scaled flesh with equal ease. The cuts weren’t lethal, but they burned even fiercer than the dragon’s breath. He tore free before the dragon’s sheer mass could overbear him, staggered back and swung at it. But the clumsy stroke failed to even connect with the dragon’s body, dragged him off balance. The roar he issued sounded more like the mewling of a stricken beast than a challenge, and it hurt him just to cry out, his scorched throat protesting even at the passage of air. </p><p></p><p>He tried to recover from his swing, but the dragon lunged in again, seizing his shoulder in its jaws. White knives of fire pierced his body, and he could feel the dragon’s grip tightening, crushing with the force of a vise. He could only hiss in agony as his bones started to give under the pressure. </p><p></p><p>But before the dragon could finish the job it had started, Vhael’s companions came to his aid. A javelin arced high and missed its target, glancing off the ridge of armored scales running along the dragon’s crest without so much as scratching it. Carzen Zelos cursed and drew his sword, but he hesitated there, valor warring with the seeming inevitability of death against such a foe as this. </p><p></p><p>“It’ll tear him apart!” Gral shouted at him, unleashing a series of freezing pulses that struck the dragon, but likewise seemed to have little effect. They’d gotten the beast’s attention, however; with a shake of its head it tossed Vhael roughly aside, blood coursing down his side from the deep punctures where it had bitten him. The dragonborn fell, his sword clattering uselessly from his grasp. </p><p></p><p>“Gods damn it all!” Carzen cried, then he charged, screaming incoherently as he lifted his shield high to block out the dragon’s fearsome visage. Clad in heavy armor, shield raised, his sword trailing behind at the ready, he looked for a moment like a knight out of some old story. </p><p></p><p>Then he met the dragon. </p><p></p><p>His arm tensed, the sword ready to strike as soon as he entered its reach, his target square in the middle of the monster’s chest. But in the split second before he reached his goal, a battering ram slammed into his shield. The impact stole his momentum and reversed it, and he staggered back, his feet barely moving quickly enough to keep him from falling. </p><p></p><p>He lowered his shield, amazed to see a big dent in the hard steel plate. The dragon had batted him like a cat playing with a mouse; he hadn’t even gotten close enough to have a chance of hurting it. </p><p></p><p>He looked up, into the eyes of the creature looming over him, and saw death in that stare. </p><p></p><p>It didn’t attack at once, and for an instant Carzen thought that maybe this was a dream, that he’d been reprieved, and would soon wake. </p><p></p><p>Then the dragon opened its jaws wide, wider than Carzen would have thought possible, and breathed upon him.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 4876154, member: 143"] Chapter 65 Vhael felt a weird momentary sense of kinship as the dragon appeared before him in all its majestic power and menace. There was intelligence in those dark eyes that fixed upon him, and malevolence in the roar that it unleashed before surging forward toward him. Even as it tossed aside the mangled wreckage that had been a friend and ally just minutes before, he could not help but be awestruck by it. In all his long years and varied experiences, he’d never before faced a full dragon, and in those first few seconds he came to understand the stature that the beasts held in the legends and tales of the world. Dragon stories crossed nations and cultures, and were told by all races, not just those that shared some link of blood with the creatures, as he did. But that realization came and went in a flash, as he had to fight for his life. An answering roar to the dragon’s challenge came from him before he even realized it, and his sword came up almost automatically into a defensive stance. But the dragon’s assault came with the force of an avalanche. He thought it was going to lunge right at him, and he’d even started swinging his sword to intercept its darting jaws before it abruptly stopped, arresting its momentum just out of his reach. Too late he realized what it was doing, too late to avoid the blinding gout of caustic gas that blasted into him. Agony filled his lungs as the gas entered him, burned his scales, sizzled at his eyes and blinded him. It only lasted a second, but even as he fought to recover, the assault he’d expected before arrived. Claws tore into him, shredding armor and scaled flesh with equal ease. The cuts weren’t lethal, but they burned even fiercer than the dragon’s breath. He tore free before the dragon’s sheer mass could overbear him, staggered back and swung at it. But the clumsy stroke failed to even connect with the dragon’s body, dragged him off balance. The roar he issued sounded more like the mewling of a stricken beast than a challenge, and it hurt him just to cry out, his scorched throat protesting even at the passage of air. He tried to recover from his swing, but the dragon lunged in again, seizing his shoulder in its jaws. White knives of fire pierced his body, and he could feel the dragon’s grip tightening, crushing with the force of a vise. He could only hiss in agony as his bones started to give under the pressure. But before the dragon could finish the job it had started, Vhael’s companions came to his aid. A javelin arced high and missed its target, glancing off the ridge of armored scales running along the dragon’s crest without so much as scratching it. Carzen Zelos cursed and drew his sword, but he hesitated there, valor warring with the seeming inevitability of death against such a foe as this. “It’ll tear him apart!” Gral shouted at him, unleashing a series of freezing pulses that struck the dragon, but likewise seemed to have little effect. They’d gotten the beast’s attention, however; with a shake of its head it tossed Vhael roughly aside, blood coursing down his side from the deep punctures where it had bitten him. The dragonborn fell, his sword clattering uselessly from his grasp. “Gods damn it all!” Carzen cried, then he charged, screaming incoherently as he lifted his shield high to block out the dragon’s fearsome visage. Clad in heavy armor, shield raised, his sword trailing behind at the ready, he looked for a moment like a knight out of some old story. Then he met the dragon. His arm tensed, the sword ready to strike as soon as he entered its reach, his target square in the middle of the monster’s chest. But in the split second before he reached his goal, a battering ram slammed into his shield. The impact stole his momentum and reversed it, and he staggered back, his feet barely moving quickly enough to keep him from falling. He lowered his shield, amazed to see a big dent in the hard steel plate. The dragon had batted him like a cat playing with a mouse; he hadn’t even gotten close enough to have a chance of hurting it. He looked up, into the eyes of the creature looming over him, and saw death in that stare. It didn’t attack at once, and for an instant Carzen thought that maybe this was a dream, that he’d been reprieved, and would soon wake. Then the dragon opened its jaws wide, wider than Carzen would have thought possible, and breathed upon him. [/QUOTE]
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