Heavy stones crumbled down as the ancient keep collapsed upon itself. The angered screech of Stavros was muffled under the clash of stone against stone as a small mountain of broken rock piled up where a keep that had survived countless centuries on this alien plane had once stood. Osilliaice and Alustriea watched in worried silence as the stones began to settle on what was sure to be a tomb to both combatants, at least until one side of the rubble shifted and burst forth, a sleek avian form darting into the skies, taking slow careful flaps as it circled the ruins that had once been his home.
Stavros was livid. He knew the kobold was strong but to bring the frozen keep to its foundations? The ice phoenix shook off the dust and dirt that marred its cold blue plumage as it circled the destruction. His keen eyes quickly spotted Alustriea and the fool kobold's companion sheltered in the remains of the gatehouse. Sneering inwardly the large avian swung about to pluck the pair up, the duo would serve his whims until the locals rebuilt a proper structure for his nest.
Stavros was about to dive down on the pair when the rubble shuddered. Three pairs of eyes looked on as stones were tossed aside as a pair of large ebony wings unfurled out of the devastation. A black dragon, no smaller than that of Destorianaxe slowly tore through the rubble of the fallen keep. Both Alustriea and Osilliaice covered their mouths as the dragon stood proud atop the destruction, its yellow eyes watching the phoenix who quickly rose higher away from it.
Xing Lei's body shuddered, loose brick and fragments of furniture rolled off his thickly scaled back. Unlike his former attempts to take this form which left him in a draconic form little bigger than a horse, his attempt this time clicked. Wether it was the prodding of his reverse scale as Osilliaice surmised or something else, when he transformed this time it was in the body of an adult dragon comparable to the centuries old Destorianaxe. His body was thicker and his scales more sturdy in comparison but the feeling of raw draconic might radiated off his body like a storm front.
Even high above, Stavros narrowed his icy blue eyes watching the large black dragon stretch and flex. He too could feel the power in this dragon body and it made his feathers ruffle. Winging higher, the avian felt he was still too close to this emergent dragon, rising higher amongst the frosty clouds and screeched a challenge into the air. Fighting on the ground put Stavros at a disadvantage, while he had easily lead the maddened kobold around by the nose, he had had no true way to strike back, after all, he was a bird not a man, punches and kicks were the domain of the monkies...
The dragon that was Xing Lei looked up at the screeching phoenix, a low rumble traversed his scaled chest, up his serpentine throat before bursting from his maw. The dragons roar shattered the whistle of the winds and scattered the falling snow. Even Stavros felt his body shudder under the sonic waves that rolled out from that primal roar, prompting him to flap his wings harder and rise even higher. The dragon below tensed before leaping upwards with strength that none other of his kind could do, most required a high ledge or at least a running start to take wing. Xing Lei? He merely jumped straight up and started flapping, his push off from the ground sending him to the skies with another roar.
Below Osilliaice shuddered, the dragon fear intrinsic to Destorianaxe's kind was wafting off Xing Lei like an ocean wave. Poor Alustriea was curled into a fetal ball screeching as she gripped her hair. Ghost she may be, but the dragon fear even clutched the core of her spiritual being and shattered her sense of reasoning. Osilliaice herself faired little better. The power and rage Xing Lei emitted washed over her like a tsunami, her heart beat wildly in her chest as her eyes watched her mate turned dragon leapt into the sky like some reverse shooting star, an arrow loosed from a great bow and soared into the heavens after the phoenix...
The phoenix cried out and angled higher as the ebony dragon knifed through the cold skies in pursuit, for the first time since his game began, Stavros felt a twinge of apprehension. His narrow head glanced back as his wings beat faster to see the reddened eyes of Xing Lei locked on him. Were he in his human form a cold sweat would already have drenched his back as that kobold turned dragon was radiating hostility that made even his heart thump wildly in his breast.
In truth he really wasn't afraid of dying. On the prime material plane when Destorianaxe had torn his body apart it had merely banished him back here. Now that he was on his home ground he could truly be killed, were it not for the fact he was a phoenix. Were he to be nearly slain he would simply combust and be reborn, he would have to spent centuries 'growing up' again, but the fact was, attributing to what he was, Stavros was close to immortal. But close was not true immortality.
Stavros could truly die still, it just required proper timing, or a truly relentless attacker. The latter was the true crux of his worry. Most people killing a phoenix would see the bird erupt into a pile of ash and think their job done, ignoring the hatchling hiding in the debris. Xing Lei didn't look to be one who would stop upon his immolation. No, the dangerous fury in those draconic eyes told a tale of his foe wanting nothing more than to devour every ounce of his flesh and blood!
Thus it was that Stavros was flying higher, the kobold wanted to fight him in his natural element? He would show this dragon why he was an elemental lord and king of these skies! He just needed to get higher first, in the freezing cold skies where air was its thinnest he would make his stand. Stavros was laughing darkly to himself as he tore through another cloud and glanced back, yet as he watched the ruptured cloud dispersing he could no longer see his foe! Blinking, Stavros spread his wings wide, gliding slowly on the chilly upper currents as his head craned back and forth, just where had that thrice cursed kobold vanished? Had that dragon form finally run out of steam in his dogged pursuit forcing him to fly back?
Frowning inwardly the phoenix suddenly banked hard, twisting his body to the side and just in time as a large black dragon barreled through the spot he had just been gliding by! Stavros breathed deeply in shock, much as Xing Lei had done with Galdraniae, he had used a technique to transport himself above his foe, unlike the gold dragon, Stavros had enough experience to dodge at the last second, the dragons claws scraping a few feathers from the phoenix's side in passing as the beastial roar of anger swept over the avian before the reptile once more plunged into the obscurity of a cloud bank.
This was not how Stavros envisioned this battle going. A ground licking mortal getting one up on him in the air? If you suggested such to him before they began, Stavros would have laughed himself silly. What was even more disconcerting about thus situation was the quiet, despite Xing Lei's earlier roaring and growling, the only sounds Stavros could now hear was the quick whistle of wind. Not even the beat of the dragon's wings were being picked up! This made the bird even more nervous, his body twisting and turning as it tried to maintain a complete three hundred and sixty degree awareness around itself.
The visual of the once graceful and imposing phoenix was dispelled with the sight of this fellow twisting and turning, his wings beating frantically as he reorients himself over and over in the darkened skies. His head turning all around to try and catch a glimpse of which cloud bank Xing Lei might erupt from. As he rolled over again to check the heavens above, Stavros' eyes went wide when he felt a great strike crash into his spine that was now pointed towards the ground, his beak opened in a silent cry of pain, even more so when he felt sharp claws sinking into his feathered body.
Glancing back, his view shifted as reality seemed to reorient itself. Xing Lei, as if hidden by some field of magic emerged from the empty air latching onto the phoenix, a cruel glare in his yellow eyes. The whistle of the wind had stilled, hell his cries and wildly beating heart made not a whisper! For a brief second, Stavros believed that single strike had slain him... but the pain... that was still there, even as Xing Lei clenched harder the world seemed to resume around the pair, the illusion of calm silence of whistling wind was released and Stavros' cries screeched out into the skies!
The black dragon had used some sort of illusion to mask his presence, to make it seem the air space around him was empty, yet in truth Xing Lei may well have been flying beside him the whole time! Stavros' eyes grew wide with fair as two sets of wings stalled, bird and reptile locked in battle plummeted towards the field of knife like trees below. Stabros twisted, trying to dislodge the vicious claws tug into his body screaming at Xing Lei, "Are you insane?! You're going to kill yourself you wretched lizard!"
Silently the phoenix rejoiced, this was the best option! Xing Lei obviously driven mad with bloodlust and rage was trying to take him out together, such foolishness! Regardless of how a phoenix died, it could immolate and resurrect! Only this stupid dragon was going to kill itself! Continuing to feign its distress Stavros inwardly was gloating, he had won! He would have his revenge and in a few sort decades he would be his elegant self again!
Even as the pair hurtled towards the deathly looking forest below Stavros was gloating inwardly, though the dragon had turned them so the phoenix would hit first the bird knew it ultimately did not matter, with his cheat like natural rebirth method he would be the ultimate winner here. Still he kicked and pecked at Xing Lei, putting up the pretense of a life or death struggle, no sense letting this stupid lizard think that this was anything but a mutual destruction after all!
All too soon the forest and snow packed ground rushed up to meet the living meteor, Osilliaice and Alustriea watched as bird and dragon impacted the forest with a tremendous crash. Shattered tree pieces and great clumps of snow were thrown in every direction. Osilliaice grabbed the ghostly hand of Alustriea dragging her friend towards the scene of destruction, as they scrambled over the lip of a deep crater both covered their mouths in shock.
The basin below was covered in destruction, crumpled to one side the large draconic body of Xing Lei laid limply amongst several vicious spear like tree trunks. Across from him the phoenix laid impaled through its feathered body, its neck hanging low as blood flowed seemingly endlessly from its beak. As they rushed to their fallen lover they stumbled as a weak and evil cackle drew their attention back to Stavros. The beasts head lifted, eyes narrowed on the unmoving body of Xing Lei as the cackle reached a fevered pitch.
Mid laugh the phoenix erupted in ghostly blue flames, a veritable river of ashes falling from the grisly implement of tree branches. A feather-less and weak looking chick struggled out of the pile, Stavros' high pitched laughter erupting from its small beak, "Stupid lizard I've won!"
The pair looked at the gloating baby phoenix when there was a slow cough from beyond the bird. Laughter choked off mid way as a scaled hand reached out to pluck the chick from its nest of ashes bringing the pathetic visage up to a smug looking kobold face, "Who won?"