NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 1743653" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 215A large black dragon shot forward on beats of its powerful wings across the plain of ulcers, flying like an arrow toward the small group of adventurers.  Hodge, fumbling with the winch he used to load his heavy crossbow, exclaimed, “What is it with yer people an’ dragons?”  His voice was tense, expressing the fear that they all felt even now, despite their experience, as the creature of countless legends and tales made real drew steadily nearer. “We’ll need to bring it down to the ground, to have a chance,” Dannel said, his voice calm, Zenna’s crossbow cradled lightly in his hands.  His words, even and in control, helped Zenna master the panic she felt fluttering in her gut. It’s just a dragon, she thought.  We’ve killed those before.  “Spread out,” she warned them.  “So it cannot get more than one of us at a time with its breath weapon.”There was no cover, nowhere to hide.  “Well, now we know why there aren’t any beasts out here on the plains,” Morgan said, clutching his javelin tightly, though it looked as though the dragon was maintaining its altitude rather than diving toward them, which made even a strong cast unlikely to score a hit. Zenna noticed something as it drew nearer.  “It has spells up,” she warned, seeing the tell-tale glow of a magical shield.  “Leave that to me,” came Kaurophon’s voice.  The sorcerer, of course, was nowhere to be seen.  Thinking that perhaps he had the right idea, Zenna paused to cast an invisibility spell upon herself as well.  Now that it was closer, they could all see it clearly, a sleek, graceful shape, with long horns jutting from its head, and wings that clutched the air and drove it forward.  It wasn’t as large as she’d first thought, Zenna saw, with its body proper maybe nine feet long, with its long neck and tail, not to mention its broad wings, adding an illusion of size.  Still, it didn’t help ease the sudden rush of dragonfear that washed over her like a wave as it approached, gliding eighty feet above them, unleashing a roar that echoed over the plain.  Zenna drew upon her well-honed discipline and the fear subsided, but she heard the cries of despair from several of her companions, and knew that the dragon’s fearful presence was having an effect. But that didn’t stop them from pressing their attack.  Missiles rose up into the air as the dragon flew over them; bolts from Dannel, Mole, and Hodge, and a hurled javelin from Morgan.  Zenna felt a brief moment of satisfaction as its shield wavered and faltered—Kaurophon’s early contribution to the battle—but even so the majority of the shots either missed the creature entirely, or stuck harmlessly in its hide.  She thought that Hodge’s shot may have penetrated, a suspicion confirmed a moment later as the dragon’s head turned, seeking out the dwarf.  Hodge tried to run, but could not escape as the dragon’s jaws opened, releasing a great gob of sizzling green acid.  Hodge roared in pain as the acid splashed into the soft turf just behind him, splattering his body with the caustic gunk.  The dragon continued past and began a broad turn.  As it began to draw away a small bead of flame rose up to meet it, exploding into a blazing fireball that engulfed the dragon.  The beast flew out of the flames still intact, but Zenna thought it wobbled slightly, affected by the blast. “All right!” Mole yelled.  “Nice shot, Kaurophon!”Indeed, Zenna thought.  Another power he didn’t bother to share with us before...“It’s coming around again!” Dannel said, watching as the dragon swung about in a leisurely arc.“I’m all right... gah!” Hodge said, as Arun helped him up, healing some of the damage he’d taken.  Zenna started toward the injured dwarf, but was captivated as the dragon finished its turn and started toward them again, its jaws opening again expectantly.  Zenna noticed that it had renewed its shield.  “We need to bring it lower!” Dannel said.  “Here!” Hodge said, shoving his crossbow and a bolt into Arun’s hands, before pushing off and staggering out of the way, so that the two of them would not be caught together in another blast of acid.  But there was no time to reload the weapon, as the dragon flew straight at them for another attack. Zenna concentrated on the sky above.  Calling upon her magic, she focused her thoughts on the swirling plasms...A fat, amorphous plasm descended from the sky toward the approaching dragon.  The creature saw it and instantly changed course, turning to the side and accelerating downward to avoid the threat.  Once it got closer it quickly recognized that the plasm was merely an illusion, but it was too late to change its course now.  As it flew over the companions for a second time, it searched the battlefield, looking for the invisible spellcaster who was proving such an annoyance.  Zenna realized what it was doing and held her breath in fear, hoping that the dragon could not detect the sound of her heart pounding in her chest.  Several things happened at once.  Another bolt from Mole and Morgan’s second javelin both struck its body and glanced off.  Dannel had tugged a small object from the necklace at his throat and hurled it at the dragon.  The sphere from his necklace of missiles struck the dragon on its shoulder, exploding into a small fireball that buffeted it roughly backward.  But even as Dannel hurled his missile, the dragon unleashed another line of acid.  It seemed to be a miss, landing far away from any of them, but then they heard Kaurophon’s scream of pain, and saw droplets of red mixing with the smoking green of the acid upon the turf.  But in the moment before he was struck, Kaurophon had also managed another attack.  Streaming strands of adhesive webs appeared directly ahead of the dragon’s path.  Without stable anchors, they quickly started to collapse in upon themselves, but then the dragon flew into their midst, and they snared on its wings, entangling them. Dragonflight is not merely a product of flapping wings and physical strength; the mass of the creatures is too much for even their great wings to effectively lift.  But likewise the magic that infused the drake could not alone keep it aloft, and although its strength and bulk instantly snapped dozens of the entangling strands, the dragon nonetheless could not avoid plummeting awkwardly to the ground.  It managed to spread its wings enough to guide its fall, landing upon its hind legs with enough force that the companions, nearly a hundred feet away, could feel the ground tremble beneath them. The dragon was injured, but still dangerous, and it turned toward the companions with a surging rage, tearing away the last strands of webbing clinging to it with an angry snap of its wings.  Arun and Morgan were already charging toward it, and it moved forward to greet them, preparing its deadly claws and bite, its wings and tail, all its weapons ready to destroy.  Zenna was running toward it too, as her scorching ray had a much shorter range than the fireballs hurled by the others.  I need to learn that spell, she thought to herself.  She saw that the dragon and the two warriors were rushing toward each other, and added a mental shout, Let it come to you!  Don’t charge into its full attack!.  To her surprise, as if they’d heard her, Arun and Morgan abruptly stopped their charge, and spread out to flank the dragon’s stampede. The dragon didn’t hesitate, choosing Morgan as its target, spreading its wings to help carry it in a blazing leap that carried it over the final thirty feet that separated them.  Its jaws snapped down in a powerful bite that would have torn the knight’s head from his shoulders, had it caught its target.  But even though Morgan dodged back, the dragon’s wedge-shaped head slammed into his chest with the force of a battering ram, and he spun violently back, nearly losing his footing, his shining breastplate dented where one of the dragon’s horns had struck him.  Dannel ran toward the battle as well, but instead of rushing straight at the dragon, he came on in a wide arc to approach it from its rear flank.  He was moving incredibly swiftly—his own preparations for the battle had included an expeditious retreat spell—and as he drew near, he tossed aside the spent crossbow, lifting Alakast in both hands.  Hodge, likewise, cautiously approached the dragon from the opposite direction.  His spear gave him a long reach, but despite Arun’s healing his entire back felt aflame, and he knew all too well that he was not invincible.  Still, the sight of Morgan and Arun rushing to meet the creature gave him courage, and he pressed forward, the spearhead bouncing slightly with each long stride.  Morgan held his ground against the dragon’s rush, stepping forward to swing his sword at its darting neck.  The dragon’s shield rose up to block the descending stroke, and his blade flashed aside, utterly ineffectual. But the knight’s assault gave Arun a chance to strike at its body without the benefit of the shield, and the dwarf’s stroke sliced deep into its flesh, the holy power within the blade eagerly cutting into the tainted fabric of the dragon. The dragon instantly turned on this new adversary, unleashing a full assault upon him.  Arun wrenched himself from the grasping claws, leaving glistening red on their dagger-like tips, and he stumbled as a wing buffeted him across the brow.  Finally the dragon’s tail lashed around its body like a whip, stinging the dwarf solidly across his face.  Blood spurted from his broken nose, and his face was a gory mask as he somehow regained his balance and lifted his sword in challenge. “IS THAT THE BEST YOU GOT?” he screamed.  In response, the dragon roared, and opened its jaws wide to finish him.</blockquote>

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