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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 3205497" data-attributes="member: 35788">As the battle against the green dragons was waging below at a much lower elevation, the true battle for the control of the villagers was raging in the thin air above.  Llywessiar charged forward against Grixanthrosilithiss knowing that he would need to struggle hard to maintain his speed as he climbed.  The gold dragon could see that he had a size advantage and a speed advantage resulting from that size.  The one thing Grixanthrosilithiss had over the gold wyrm was maneuverability.  Their breath weapons were useless so long as Ausaphaborishan and Sappurapolician fought against the green dragons.  Both red and gold wyrms breathed fire and their own scales were designed to protect themselves from their own breath.  The effect of this was to essentially make the dragons immune to each other’s breath as well.As the red wyrm dove down the mountainside toward Llywessiar, the gold dragon pulled up just a bit and took an approach circling around the red wyrm.  “Ul Fashiir-nuan”  Immediately a storm of ice battered the red dragon, pelting him hard as he surged to meet Llywessiar.  The red dragon roared in fury and the gold dragon merely laughed.  “Come, now, Grixanthrosilithiss.  You didn’t think I’d be unprepared, did you?”The red wyrm roared once more in response.  “With your lackeys gone and the fight between the two of us I’d imagine you would take this battle more seriously than what small amount of damage you spells can do against me!”  The red wyrm was obviously bothered deeply by the effects of the cold.  He used his boiling rage to focus upon the object of his wrath.  He sailed down upon the gold dragon and bit towards Llywessiar.  The gold dragon deflected the blow away with one of his wings.After Llywessiar deflected the blow he twisted his body around and ducked underneath the smaller red wyrm’s body.  The two dragons separated for a short time, circling each other and taking cautious attacks.  Several of these cautious blows missed in quick succession.  It was as though they were testing each other’s reflexes and speed of retaliation.Finally, the gold dragon decided that he had enough of the maneuvering and dove in for a strong bite.  The gold dragon’s teeth crashed into the scaled body of the red.  The bite was solid and Llywessiar rather enjoyed the warmth of the red wyrm’s scales, but the bite was not at all serious.  The gold dragon knew that this battle would not end from one blow alone.  This was a battle of attrition on behalf of the wyrms.  There would be no lucky blows as well armored as these dragons were.  Rather than luck, there would only be the one who outlasted the other flying after they beat up on each other.As Llywessiar bit hard at the red dragon, Grixanthrosilithiss returned the bite.  The teeth of the red were smaller overall, and from the bite Llywessiar knew immediately that if they could merely trade blows one for one that he had the upper hand.  His own bite was far worse than the bite of this younger red dragon.  Fortunately for the gold dragon, he was able to disguise this knowledge from the angry red wyrm.  Grixanthrosilithiss did not seem to recognize that his attack was inferior to the gold dragon’s bite.Armed with this knowledge, Llywessiar turned away from the red dragon and once more flew in a great circle, watching his prey.  The red dragon returned his glare, obviously picking up speed for the next assault.  “You fly as though you are protecting your mating grounds, Grixanthrosilithiss!  I am no upstart red dragon coming in to challenge your territory.  I am a superior gold coming to throw you out!”The red wyrm hissed a loud response.  “These are my people!  You have no right or business interfering with what I do to my own Drakontai!”The red wyrm brought his wings down hard as he finished speaking.  He beat hard against the air, picking up as much speed as he possibly could.  Llywessiar responded with an equal amount of effort.  If the red wanted an upfront battle it would favor the gold anyway.The dragons collided together in mid-air.  Llywessiar was not concerned about the ferocity of the red and opened up a less vital area for the red to attack.  The red wyrm took the offering and sunk his teeth into the tough shoulder scales of the gold dragon.  Grixanthrosilithiss was cautious as he approached; he tried to avoid positioning his body so that it was readily accessible to the gold dragon’s mouth.  Yet, for some reason Llywessiar didn’t seem interested in biting him on this pass.  Just as Grixanthrosilithiss was forced to let go to prevent stalling in the middle of the flight he was struck by a solid object hard from behind.  Llywessiar had used his superior size to bring his tail around in a sweeping arc in a giant blow against the red dragon’s body.  For several seconds the red dragon’s body shook from the blow and as a result the red wyrm lost his flying momentum.  He began to drop in freefall toward the ground.  Before the ground could injure the dragon, the red wyrm was easily able to recover and catch the wind under his wings once more.As he plummeted to the ground, Llywessiar shouted, “People are not owned as possessions, Grixanthrosilithiss!  You have no more right to own them than Ausaphaborishan has to own the Drakontos who summoned us and alerted us to your oppression.  I hope this truth blindsides you as much as my tail just did!”  The gold wyrm laughed as it watched Grixanthrosilithiss struggle to catch himself in flight.When the red wyrm had begun to catch the wind under his wings, the gold dragon immediately started a dive directly aimed at the back of the red dragon.  Grixanthrosilithiss had been so concerned about reversing the stall and avoiding a lethal crash into the mountainside that he had ignored the position of the gold dragon.  Only at the last moment did he hear the whistling of the air over Llywessiar’s golden scales as the gold prepared to skewer Grixanthrosilithiss.The last moment of warning didn’t allow Grixanthrosilithiss to maneuver out of the way.  It did allow him to shield his body so that the gold didn’t have a vulnerable spot to target.  It also allowed him to put himself in a position so that as the gold’s teeth sunk into his heavily armored back he could twist and get in a strike of his own.  The strike from the red wyrm hit the opposite shoulder on the gold dragon as his last blow had struck.  The blows that were traded between the dragons this time had been equal.Llywessiar considered the even blows a victory.  His larger stature implied that he could take more punishment.  If the battle kept going along this path he would emerge the victor quite easily.  The gold dragon released the red wyrm’s back from his mouth and began to fly away in another great circle.  As they moved apart, Llywessiar challenged the red wyrm once more.  “I’d be more concerned about defending yourself, Grixanthrosilithiss!  It would seem as though you grow too increasingly weak to be able to defend the people you claim to own!”  The insults were a ploy to keep the fury of the red reflected onto him.  So far, it had worked.Grixanthrosilithiss turned in the opposite direction, flying counterclockwise against the clockwise motion of Llywessiar.  This would set up another strike as the two circles would meet one hundred and eighty degrees from where their last clash had taken place.  As would be expected, the dragons tried to keep their circles on as flat of a pitch as possible.Grixanthrosilithiss responded to the gold wyrm’s verbal challenge.  “My defense is now their defense.  So long as I still fly, they are my people.  If you want to take them from me, you will have to banish me from the sky!”Llywessiar smiled as he thought of his obvious response.  The gold dragon began to beat his wings hard, tightening up his circle to bring the next clash even sooner.  His deep voice bellowed across the mountain peaks.  “That can certainly be arranged!”The dragons once more collided, although luck favored the faster and larger gold dragon.  Rather than biting at the red or slamming his body in another mid-air collision, the gold veered away at precisely the moment that Grixanthrosilithiss attacked with his bite.  The red wyrm’s teeth found nothing except air.  As the gold dragon passed unharmed by the red dragon a golden tail solidly fell down upon one of Grixanthrosilithiss’ wings.  The force of the blow once more sent the red dragon into a downward spiral.  One more time the red dragon had to fight to control his flight; but eventually he managed to bring himself under control before reaching the sharp mountain cliffs jutting out from below.The gold dragon called down to the red from his higher elevation.  “I can keep knocking you out of the sky, Grixanthrosilithiss.  How long can you afford to keep coming back up to meet me?  You’d be better off fleeing while you still have the strength to hobble home to your cave!”Rage continued to burn within the red wyrm.  “I have never retreated in battle, and I shall not begin here!”The red wyrm surged upward, choosing to take a direct approach against his adversary rather than swing around in a circle and slowly gain elevation.  This put him at an extreme disadvantage with regard to the force of blow that he could muster.  Llywessiar allowed Grixanthrosilithiss’ strike to come in once more, offering up another area of his massive shoulder to strike.  The gold retaliated with a blow of his own, once more slapping the red with his massive tail.  Grixanthrosilithiss seemed prepared for the tactic this time.  He dropped several feet at the blow, but easily spread his wings and caught himself.  As Grixanthrosilithiss flew away he noticed that this last wound had managed to tear a few scales painfully away from the gold dragon’s hide.  There was now a soft spot of flesh that he could aim for should the gold wyrm offer that shoulder again.  Unfortunately for the red wyrm, it was unlikely that Llywessiar would be unaware of the painful wound and thus it would not be likely that Llywessiar allowed the red access to that particular shoulder area again.As the red dragon flew clockwise around to match the gold dragon’s counterclockwise flight, he noticed that he was having difficulty keeping his flight level.  The battle thus far had been considerably strenuous.  The inability to rely on his powerful breath weapon had drawn this battle out much more than he had hoped.  He would need to finish this quickly if he hoped to win.Grixanthrosilithiss focused hard upon the gold dragon as he completed the final turn.  He could see his opponent beat hard to increase his speed.  The red dragon mimicked the move and sped through the air as fast as he could muster.  The dragons collided in mid-air as they had done several times before.  Grixanthrosilithiss was right in that the gold would not open his weakened shoulder to attack.  The smaller red dragon decided to take what had been offered to him and bite at the base of the gold dragon’s neck.  The red bit as hard as he could as he simultaneously felt the stinging pain of Llywessiar’s teeth tearing solidly into his left front leg.  Both wounds were costly to each of the dragons, but Grixanthrosilithiss decided to stick around for enough time to land another vicious bite.  The blow caught the gold dragon off-guard as the red wyrm got in a free shot near the gold wyrm’s softer belly.  Llywessiar was not without retort, however.  His golden tail once more sliced through the air.  This time the blow caught Grixanthrosilithiss directly across his neck.  It was a blow that would have killed many smaller dragons.Fortunately the red wyrm’s neck was strong enough to take the punishment.  His neck was stiff from the blow, but he could manage.  The red wyrm allowed the tail strike to knock him from the sky and Grixanthrosilithiss planned on using the time to gather his strength and recuperate from the hard tail strike that he had just received.  The blow clouded his mind, judgment, and sight for a moment and he needed time to compose himself.Grixanthrosilithiss did not see the bronze and silver dragons approaching from underneath.  They had successfully managed to chase off the green dragons by this point and were well on their way of coming to the aid of their golden leader.  Sappurapolician was the first to bite at the red wyrm; and his bite landed solidly upon the red wyrm’s shoulder.  Grixanthrosilithiss could feel one of his own scales rip free from his skin and out of the corner of his eye he could see it fluttering to the mountain surface below.The red wyrm didn’t focus long on the missing scale.  Sappurapolician’s blow was quickly followed by a bite from Ausaphaborishan.  The silver had been flying in a tight formation behind the bronze dragon as they planned a quick successive barrage of attacks against the reeling red dragon.  After striking, they continued to fly in a tight formation.Grixanthrosilithiss knew that he was nearly mortally wounded, but he also noticed that Sappurapolician and Ausaphaborishan were also significantly wounded.  He also saw a great strike potential against a silver dragon.  Silver dragons and red dragons have long been arch enemies and this would be an opportunity to assert the power of the red dragon in that long line of tension.  He waited as the pair of dragons circled back around for another strike.The red wyrm had lost his focus on the most dangerous threat, however.  Grixanthrosilithiss’ immediate hatred against the silver dragon caused him to forget about Llywessiar.  The gold dragon noticed that the red was no longer paying attention to him as he circled from above.  As the bronze and the red dragons flew in to strike, Llywessiar dove from above.  He knew that he could reach Grixanthrosilithiss before they came into range.  Once more he flew by the red dragon and launched a vicious blow from his heavily armored tail.  The blow caught Grixanthrosilithiss completely from surprise, but it no longer mattered to the red dragon.  His prey was coming into range now and the blow would only imply a minor course correction.  As both the bronze and silver dragons flew in rapid succession the red dragon smiled for an instant before opening his powerful jaws.  Pleasure coursed through his body as flame erupted from his mouth.  All battle long his body surged with the desire to unleash his powerful breath.  Now he had been presented with the perfect opportunity.Sappurapolician and Ausaphaborishan had been prepared for this tactic.  Although the fire singed Sappurapolician he was able to twist and maneuver free from the attack with a minimal amount of damage while still maintaining his momentum.  As he twisted free of the flames he saw his target ahead and unleashed a blast of his own electric breath.  The intensity of the red coloration upon the dragon’s scales increased as the blue electrical energy sparked from scale to scale.  The red dragon smelled of burning flesh and nitrogen as the blast hit home.Grixanthrosilithiss knew that he was clearly outmatched now.  He was weakening with every blow.  Furthermore, he watched as the silver dragon rolled through his flaming breath and survived.  While he had gotten in a good flaming strike, his attack had not brought either of the weakened dragons down.  Grixanthrosilithiss allowed himself to stall in mid-air and then fall into a dive toward the mountain face.Ausaphaborishan flew away from the red dragon, choosing to follow the wounded bronze wyrm rather than pursue the red wyrm for the kill.  “Bondras-tol Fundar”  The bronze dragon healed much of the damage done to it by the red dragon’s flaming breath attack.  Satisfied, Ausaphaborishan called out to Grixanthrosilithiss.  “I give you fair warning, red dragon.  You are the enemy of my kind, and my chilling breath is ready to be used.  You have proven yourself to be a coward by enslaving people under you.  If you flee like the coward I know you to be, I will refrain from using my breath and destroying you.  If you return in your current condition, I am sure that you will be utterly destroyed.  The choice is yours.”Upon hearing the challenge, Llywessiar broke off his pursuit of the red wyrm and returned to the elevation at which the bronze and silver dragons were flying.  The red wyrm slowly circled down to the mountain and landed on his perch as the silver spoke.  Ausaphaborishan’s words cut deeply into him.  He knew that he could not survive an attack from the silver dragon’s mouth.  Yet, he could no longer leave having been called a coward.  If other dragons knew that he had fled after being called a coward his land would perpetually be under attack from all kinds of evil dragons.The red unfurled his long wings and leapt once more into the air.  He would likely die, but he would die in battle.  And if he had any luck he could take the silver dragon – or at least the bronze dragon – with him.  He beat his wings hard and pain shot through every muscle in his body.  The battle had taken its toll on him.As the three dragons circled above him, Ausaphaborishan frowned.  “Get away from me, all of you.  My breath can harm each of you; I am as much of a danger to you now as is Grixanthrosilithiss.  Llywessiar, this is especially true of you and your fire that burns inside.  You are just as vulnerable against my breath as I am against the fire that burns inside you.  Grixanthrosilithiss comes against me.  I will claim responsibility for his destruction.”The bronze and the gold dragons rose to a new elevation.  He could hear both Llywessiar and Sappurapolician casting healing spells upon the bronze dragon from above.  Ausaphaborishan’s focus did not waver.  As the red dragon flew into range, Ausaphaborishan opened his mighty jaws.  The icy breath sprayed forth, coating the surging red dragon’s head, neck, and shoulders with ice.The red dragon didn’t have the strength to fight off the magical attack anymore.  The fire magic inside of himself that gave him strength ruptured forth as the ice magic overtook him.  In a massive magical explosion the red dragon erupted, spraying flesh and bones across the sky.  Slowly, the other two dragons joined the silver wyrm.  The trio performed slow sweeping circles as they approached the tunnel entrance from above.  As they touched the ground, each of the dragons breathed deeply.  It was obvious that the red wyrm had been completely destroyed and his magic had been overcome.  A strong smell of ozone hung in the air.[Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section]As the battle against the green dragons was waging below at a much lower elevation, the true battle for the control of the villagers was raging in the thin air above. Llywessiar charged forward against Grixanthrosilithiss knowing that he would need to struggle hard to maintain his speed as he climbed. The gold dragon could see that he had a size advantage and a speed advantage resulting from that size. The one thing Grixanthrosilithiss had over the gold wyrm was maneuverability. Their breath weapons were useless so long as Ausaphaborishan and Sappurapolician fought against the green dragons. Both red and gold wyrms breathed fire and their own scales were designed to protect themselves from their own breath. The effect of this was to essentially make the dragons immune to each other’s breath as well.As the red wyrm dove down the mountainside toward Llywessiar, the gold dragon pulled up just a bit and took an approach circling around the red wyrm. “Ul Fashiir-nuan” Immediately a storm of ice battered the red dragon, pelting him hard as he surged to meet Llywessiar. The red dragon roared in fury and the gold dragon merely laughed. “Come, now, Grixanthrosilithiss. You didn’t think I’d be unprepared, did you?”The red wyrm roared once more in response. “With your lackeys gone and the fight between the two of us I’d imagine you would take this battle more seriously than what small amount of damage you spells can do against me!” The red wyrm was obviously bothered deeply by the effects of the cold. He used his boiling rage to focus upon the object of his wrath. He sailed down upon the gold dragon and bit towards Llywessiar. The gold dragon deflected the blow away with one of his wings.After Llywessiar deflected the blow he twisted his body around and ducked underneath the smaller red wyrm’s body. The two dragons separated for a short time, circling each other and taking cautious attacks. Several of these cautious blows missed in quick succession. It was as though they were testing each other’s reflexes and speed of retaliation.Finally, the gold dragon decided that he had enough of the maneuvering and dove in for a strong bite. The gold dragon’s teeth crashed into the scaled body of the red. The bite was solid and Llywessiar rather enjoyed the warmth of the red wyrm’s scales, but the bite was not at all serious. The gold dragon knew that this battle would not end from one blow alone. This was a battle of attrition on behalf of the wyrms. There would be no lucky blows as well armored as these dragons were. Rather than luck, there would only be the one who outlasted the other flying after they beat up on each other.As Llywessiar bit hard at the red dragon, Grixanthrosilithiss returned the bite. The teeth of the red were smaller overall, and from the bite Llywessiar knew immediately that if they could merely trade blows one for one that he had the upper hand. His own bite was far worse than the bite of this younger red dragon. Fortunately for the gold dragon, he was able to disguise this knowledge from the angry red wyrm. Grixanthrosilithiss did not seem to recognize that his attack was inferior to the gold dragon’s bite.Armed with this knowledge, Llywessiar turned away from the red dragon and once more flew in a great circle, watching his prey. The red dragon returned his glare, obviously picking up speed for the next assault. “You fly as though you are protecting your mating grounds, Grixanthrosilithiss! I am no upstart red dragon coming in to challenge your territory. I am a superior gold coming to throw you out!”The red wyrm hissed a loud response. “These are my people! You have no right or business interfering with what I do to my own Drakontai!”The red wyrm brought his wings down hard as he finished speaking. He beat hard against the air, picking up as much speed as he possibly could. Llywessiar responded with an equal amount of effort. If the red wanted an upfront battle it would favor the gold anyway.The dragons collided together in mid-air. Llywessiar was not concerned about the ferocity of the red and opened up a less vital area for the red to attack. The red wyrm took the offering and sunk his teeth into the tough shoulder scales of the gold dragon. Grixanthrosilithiss was cautious as he approached; he tried to avoid positioning his body so that it was readily accessible to the gold dragon’s mouth. Yet, for some reason Llywessiar didn’t seem interested in biting him on this pass. Just as Grixanthrosilithiss was forced to let go to prevent stalling in the middle of the flight he was struck by a solid object hard from behind. Llywessiar had used his superior size to bring his tail around in a sweeping arc in a giant blow against the red dragon’s body. For several seconds the red dragon’s body shook from the blow and as a result the red wyrm lost his flying momentum. He began to drop in freefall toward the ground. Before the ground could injure the dragon, the red wyrm was easily able to recover and catch the wind under his wings once more.As he plummeted to the ground, Llywessiar shouted, “People are not owned as possessions, Grixanthrosilithiss! You have no more right to own them than Ausaphaborishan has to own the Drakontos who summoned us and alerted us to your oppression. I hope this truth blindsides you as much as my tail just did!” The gold wyrm laughed as it watched Grixanthrosilithiss struggle to catch himself in flight.When the red wyrm had begun to catch the wind under his wings, the gold dragon immediately started a dive directly aimed at the back of the red dragon. Grixanthrosilithiss had been so concerned about reversing the stall and avoiding a lethal crash into the mountainside that he had ignored the position of the gold dragon. Only at the last moment did he hear the whistling of the air over Llywessiar’s golden scales as the gold prepared to skewer Grixanthrosilithiss.The last moment of warning didn’t allow Grixanthrosilithiss to maneuver out of the way. It did allow him to shield his body so that the gold didn’t have a vulnerable spot to target. It also allowed him to put himself in a position so that as the gold’s teeth sunk into his heavily armored back he could twist and get in a strike of his own. The strike from the red wyrm hit the opposite shoulder on the gold dragon as his last blow had struck. The blows that were traded between the dragons this time had been equal.Llywessiar considered the even blows a victory. His larger stature implied that he could take more punishment. If the battle kept going along this path he would emerge the victor quite easily. The gold dragon released the red wyrm’s back from his mouth and began to fly away in another great circle. As they moved apart, Llywessiar challenged the red wyrm once more. “I’d be more concerned about defending yourself, Grixanthrosilithiss! It would seem as though you grow too increasingly weak to be able to defend the people you claim to own!” The insults were a ploy to keep the fury of the red reflected onto him. So far, it had worked.Grixanthrosilithiss turned in the opposite direction, flying counterclockwise against the clockwise motion of Llywessiar. This would set up another strike as the two circles would meet one hundred and eighty degrees from where their last clash had taken place. As would be expected, the dragons tried to keep their circles on as flat of a pitch as possible.Grixanthrosilithiss responded to the gold wyrm’s verbal challenge. “My defense is now their defense. So long as I still fly, they are my people. If you want to take them from me, you will have to banish me from the sky!”Llywessiar smiled as he thought of his obvious response. The gold dragon began to beat his wings hard, tightening up his circle to bring the next clash even sooner. His deep voice bellowed across the mountain peaks. “That can certainly be arranged!”The dragons once more collided, although luck favored the faster and larger gold dragon. Rather than biting at the red or slamming his body in another mid-air collision, the gold veered away at precisely the moment that Grixanthrosilithiss attacked with his bite. The red wyrm’s teeth found nothing except air. As the gold dragon passed unharmed by the red dragon a golden tail solidly fell down upon one of Grixanthrosilithiss’ wings. The force of the blow once more sent the red dragon into a downward spiral. One more time the red dragon had to fight to control his flight; but eventually he managed to bring himself under control before reaching the sharp mountain cliffs jutting out from below.The gold dragon called down to the red from his higher elevation. “I can keep knocking you out of the sky, Grixanthrosilithiss. How long can you afford to keep coming back up to meet me? You’d be better off fleeing while you still have the strength to hobble home to your cave!”Rage continued to burn within the red wyrm. “I have never retreated in battle, and I shall not begin here!”The red wyrm surged upward, choosing to take a direct approach against his adversary rather than swing around in a circle and slowly gain elevation. This put him at an extreme disadvantage with regard to the force of blow that he could muster. Llywessiar allowed Grixanthrosilithiss’ strike to come in once more, offering up another area of his massive shoulder to strike. The gold retaliated with a blow of his own, once more slapping the red with his massive tail. Grixanthrosilithiss seemed prepared for the tactic this time. He dropped several feet at the blow, but easily spread his wings and caught himself. As Grixanthrosilithiss flew away he noticed that this last wound had managed to tear a few scales painfully away from the gold dragon’s hide. There was now a soft spot of flesh that he could aim for should the gold wyrm offer that shoulder again. Unfortunately for the red wyrm, it was unlikely that Llywessiar would be unaware of the painful wound and thus it would not be likely that Llywessiar allowed the red access to that particular shoulder area again.As the red dragon flew clockwise around to match the gold dragon’s counterclockwise flight, he noticed that he was having difficulty keeping his flight level. The battle thus far had been considerably strenuous. The inability to rely on his powerful breath weapon had drawn this battle out much more than he had hoped. He would need to finish this quickly if he hoped to win.Grixanthrosilithiss focused hard upon the gold dragon as he completed the final turn. He could see his opponent beat hard to increase his speed. The red dragon mimicked the move and sped through the air as fast as he could muster. The dragons collided in mid-air as they had done several times before. Grixanthrosilithiss was right in that the gold would not open his weakened shoulder to attack. The smaller red dragon decided to take what had been offered to him and bite at the base of the gold dragon’s neck. The red bit as hard as he could as he simultaneously felt the stinging pain of Llywessiar’s teeth tearing solidly into his left front leg. Both wounds were costly to each of the dragons, but Grixanthrosilithiss decided to stick around for enough time to land another vicious bite. The blow caught the gold dragon off-guard as the red wyrm got in a free shot near the gold wyrm’s softer belly. Llywessiar was not without retort, however. His golden tail once more sliced through the air. This time the blow caught Grixanthrosilithiss directly across his neck. It was a blow that would have killed many smaller dragons.Fortunately the red wyrm’s neck was strong enough to take the punishment. His neck was stiff from the blow, but he could manage. The red wyrm allowed the tail strike to knock him from the sky and Grixanthrosilithiss planned on using the time to gather his strength and recuperate from the hard tail strike that he had just received. The blow clouded his mind, judgment, and sight for a moment and he needed time to compose himself.Grixanthrosilithiss did not see the bronze and silver dragons approaching from underneath. They had successfully managed to chase off the green dragons by this point and were well on their way of coming to the aid of their golden leader. Sappurapolician was the first to bite at the red wyrm; and his bite landed solidly upon the red wyrm’s shoulder. Grixanthrosilithiss could feel one of his own scales rip free from his skin and out of the corner of his eye he could see it fluttering to the mountain surface below.The red wyrm didn’t focus long on the missing scale. Sappurapolician’s blow was quickly followed by a bite from Ausaphaborishan. The silver had been flying in a tight formation behind the bronze dragon as they planned a quick successive barrage of attacks against the reeling red dragon. After striking, they continued to fly in a tight formation.Grixanthrosilithiss knew that he was nearly mortally wounded, but he also noticed that Sappurapolician and Ausaphaborishan were also significantly wounded. He also saw a great strike potential against a silver dragon. Silver dragons and red dragons have long been arch enemies and this would be an opportunity to assert the power of the red dragon in that long line of tension. He waited as the pair of dragons circled back around for another strike.The red wyrm had lost his focus on the most dangerous threat, however. Grixanthrosilithiss’ immediate hatred against the silver dragon caused him to forget about Llywessiar. The gold dragon noticed that the red was no longer paying attention to him as he circled from above. As the bronze and the red dragons flew in to strike, Llywessiar dove from above. He knew that he could reach Grixanthrosilithiss before they came into range. Once more he flew by the red dragon and launched a vicious blow from his heavily armored tail. The blow caught Grixanthrosilithiss completely from surprise, but it no longer mattered to the red dragon. His prey was coming into range now and the blow would only imply a minor course correction. As both the bronze and silver dragons flew in rapid succession the red dragon smiled for an instant before opening his powerful jaws. Pleasure coursed through his body as flame erupted from his mouth. All battle long his body surged with the desire to unleash his powerful breath. Now he had been presented with the perfect opportunity.Sappurapolician and Ausaphaborishan had been prepared for this tactic. Although the fire singed Sappurapolician he was able to twist and maneuver free from the attack with a minimal amount of damage while still maintaining his momentum. As he twisted free of the flames he saw his target ahead and unleashed a blast of his own electric breath. The intensity of the red coloration upon the dragon’s scales increased as the blue electrical energy sparked from scale to scale. The red dragon smelled of burning flesh and nitrogen as the blast hit home.Grixanthrosilithiss knew that he was clearly outmatched now. He was weakening with every blow. Furthermore, he watched as the silver dragon rolled through his flaming breath and survived. While he had gotten in a good flaming strike, his attack had not brought either of the weakened dragons down. Grixanthrosilithiss allowed himself to stall in mid-air and then fall into a dive toward the mountain face.Ausaphaborishan flew away from the red dragon, choosing to follow the wounded bronze wyrm rather than pursue the red wyrm for the kill. “Bondras-tol Fundar” The bronze dragon healed much of the damage done to it by the red dragon’s flaming breath attack. Satisfied, Ausaphaborishan called out to Grixanthrosilithiss. “I give you fair warning, red dragon. You are the enemy of my kind, and my chilling breath is ready to be used. You have proven yourself to be a coward by enslaving people under you. If you flee like the coward I know you to be, I will refrain from using my breath and destroying you. If you return in your current condition, I am sure that you will be utterly destroyed. The choice is yours.”Upon hearing the challenge, Llywessiar broke off his pursuit of the red wyrm and returned to the elevation at which the bronze and silver dragons were flying. The red wyrm slowly circled down to the mountain and landed on his perch as the silver spoke. Ausaphaborishan’s words cut deeply into him. He knew that he could not survive an attack from the silver dragon’s mouth. Yet, he could no longer leave having been called a coward. If other dragons knew that he had fled after being called a coward his land would perpetually be under attack from all kinds of evil dragons.The red unfurled his long wings and leapt once more into the air. He would likely die, but he would die in battle. And if he had any luck he could take the silver dragon – or at least the bronze dragon – with him. He beat his wings hard and pain shot through every muscle in his body. The battle had taken its toll on him.As the three dragons circled above him, Ausaphaborishan frowned. “Get away from me, all of you. My breath can harm each of you; I am as much of a danger to you now as is Grixanthrosilithiss. Llywessiar, this is especially true of you and your fire that burns inside. You are just as vulnerable against my breath as I am against the fire that burns inside you. Grixanthrosilithiss comes against me. I will claim responsibility for his destruction.”The bronze and the gold dragons rose to a new elevation. He could hear both Llywessiar and Sappurapolician casting healing spells upon the bronze dragon from above. Ausaphaborishan’s focus did not waver. As the red dragon flew into range, Ausaphaborishan opened his mighty jaws. The icy breath sprayed forth, coating the surging red dragon’s head, neck, and shoulders with ice.The red dragon didn’t have the strength to fight off the magical attack anymore. The fire magic inside of himself that gave him strength ruptured forth as the ice magic overtook him. In a massive magical explosion the red dragon erupted, spraying flesh and bones across the sky. Slowly, the other two dragons joined the silver wyrm. The trio performed slow sweeping circles as they approached the tunnel entrance from above. As they touched the ground, each of the dragons breathed deeply. It was obvious that the red wyrm had been completely destroyed and his magic had been overcome. A strong smell of ozone hung in the air. [/Sblock]</blockquote>

Verification