Talia gasped, her breath harsh in her throat as the world began to recede around her. Or rather, the world began to shrink around her. Growing into her 'natural' form was always a difficult task, especially if she was doing it intentionally. She had lost control several times in her past causing her to grow and rampage, but this was not such a time. In the end that was her only saving grace, she wouldn't be fighting against her darker nature which left her level headed and ready.
Just as she could manage to breath again she heard the distinctive sound of wings causing her to look up in a panic. She had never felt such terror as she stared into the blazing eyes of a monstrous beast. She had heard of dragons before of course, but she had never seen one. No one had for thousands of years. In a moment of pure instinct she struck out with her hand as it descended upon her. The impact alone rattled her teeth and most likely cracked all the bones in her hand and arm.
It worked though, the dragon was effectively slapped into the ground as she turned on her feet to try and assess the situation. It was massive, if it stood she was certain it's head would tower over even her own. It had black scales though from what she could see she wasn't certain that was it's true color. It stank of death and yet as it regained its feet she couldn't see any signs of rot.
"That was incredible..." Nico's voice was distant in her mind, reminding her how low she was on mana. She frowned, wondering if she could win a fight against a creature she had no knowledge of beyond legends in just hand to hand combat. That was all she had in the end, her weapons didn't grow with her after all. Only her mask and her clothes.
"Look out!" Even shouting Nico's voice was distant, but she still managed to dodge the whipping lash of the dragon's tail as it slammed down just to the right of her. She stumbled before regaining her balance, rushing forward with a raised fist as she aimed for the dragon's head.
The dragon was about as tall as she was at it's shoulders, but it had a long neck that had once been beautiful and elegant which arced high above her. The dragon also had a long head, narrow and round to match it's neck. From its brow down it had multitudes of thin white spikes which would rattle every time it moved. It also had frills on both cheeks which it would raise and lower as it observed her. She wondered what type of dragon it was, or had been.
She didn't have to wait long for an answer as it raised its head high and opened it's maw, instantly igniting a powerful stream of strange blue flame which enveloped her before she could even blink. If she hadn't been born with a natural affinity to fire she would have likely burned to death, but instead she found the stream of flame to be boosting her mana reserves at an incredible rate. Her eyes widened as her energy recovered and the flames blew past her. It didn't even burn, though she was starting to sweat from the heat.
"Talia!" Nico called in a panic, she could distantly hear his tiny wings flapping above her somewhere. She gritted her teeth as she pushed forward, there was no time to waste if the dwarves were going to survive. She had to minimalize the fallout.
She threw another punch but this time it met flesh. The answering scream of the dragon was deafening causing her to desperately plug her ears and fall back. Luckily wherever she had managed to strike the dragon had temporarily immobilized it. The dragon's cry died out a few seconds later and Talia pulled her hands away from her ears, looking around to see where it had gone when she closed her eyes. Somehow their painfully brief scuffle had stirred up a significant amount of dust.
"To your left." Nico called out. She turned just in time to see the beast rush her, flapping its wings as it attempted to take to the skies. She couldn't allow it to happen, so she reached up and grabbed it by the lower neck before twisting powerfully to slam it into the ground again. It tried to scream, but she crushed its throat as hard as she could.
The dragon was writhing, its tail and limbs flailing about madly as it attempted to break free. Talia took the opportunity to dig her knee into the creatures chest and hold it's right forelimb away from her face. It's other forelimb was conveniently crushed beneath her legs as she attempted to strangle the life out of it. It wasn't the perfect plan, or even a very conventional one but it was the only plan she had.
As the dragon continued to struggle she quickly pulled her right fist back and drew forth an incredible amount of mana, igniting her fist in bright flame. She saw the beast's eyes widen as it too drew forth fire, but in that respect she considered them evenly matched. It let loose a massive breath attack, blue flame obscuring her vision again. She didn't stop to marvel at how it boosted her mana, or how it didn't manage to phase her in the slightest as she landed the punch on the side of the dragon's maw resulting in a massive explosion. It's fire stopped as it's massive skull impacted the dirt raising another cloud of dust.
"Jeadri!" A voice cried, a remarkably feminine voice. Talia pulled back, looking around quickly only to find nothing. The dust was too thick, she couldn't even see her feet.
"Nico, is there a woman here?" Talia called out telepathically. While she was preoccupied the dragon's tail caught her off guard, slapping her brutally from the left causing her to loose her grip and fall. She grunted, grabbing her cheek as the pain blossomed, gritting her teeth as she quickly rolled to her feet again. She couldn't afford to make those kinds of stupid mistakes.
"Hold on I'll look around, just don't get yourself killed!" He replied quickly. She sighed as the dragon too regained its feet. It roared, showcasing it's intimidating razor sharp teeth. Talia paused, she'd never been truly afraid of anything in a long time, and even then usually her fears weren't physically bigger than her. Most things weren't physically bigger than her.
As the dragon started to circle she had to wonder what could win her the fight. It had taken a full hit from her, taking the blow in the side of it's head and yet she couldn't see any indication of severe trauma. If she wasn't breaking it, how could she kill it? If their battle lasted much longer the risk would be too high that she accidentally kill the dwarves, or the dragon would kill them. If that happened her mission would fail and that was unacceptable.
The dragon went to fly again, raisin its wings and rearing up on its back legs. She didn't wait as she ran forward and grabbed it by the top of its head before raising her knee to it's jaw . She pushed as much power into the attack as possible and smiled as she heard the audible snap of its jawbone. But just as she was celebrating her small victory her legs gave out.
She gasped as she fell back, landing on her back causing her horns to impale the earth. She cried out in agony as both legs burned terribly, she couldn't even move them below her knee. She rolled, reaching down to brush her calves only to find nothing. There was no blood, no physical wound... Her heart raced in panic as she watched the dragon writhing on the ground roaring in agony. It wouldn't take it long before it came to eat her head off.
"Talia, I saw the woman! She cast some sort of spell, I think that's why your legs aren't working. It must be some sort of paralysis spell, but considering your size..." Talia groaned as Nico paused, realizing before he even needed to tell her that her size is what saved her. Though that didn't stop the growing numbness as it grabbed a hold of her. How much mana was the woman expending in her efforts?
Talia snarled, allowing her mana to flow freely once more as she ignited her entire body. The numbness went away almost instantly, her own power vastly outpacing that of the woman. From there she regained her feet again, clenching her fists and facing the dragon. It hadn't quite recovered, it was still quivering in pain and rubbing its face into its foreleg. She had to imagine its jaw was absolutely shattered, useless in anything except maybe opening for a fire attack. That was unless it could heal quickly.
"The woman's trying to climb onto the dragon... Do you think...?" Nico's voice was rushed, breathless even in her mind. She tried to peer closer, wondering the same thing. Why would someone climb onto a dragon unless they were aiming to ride it?
"Keep her off that beast Nico, I need to kill it and if they're working in tandem it could make my life a lot harder." She growled, focusing some mana into her hands for a new attack.
"I'll try. If you can keep the dragon on the ground I can raise some cannon fodder to try and distract it. That last hit did good damage, this time hit it with everything you have. Hopefully it'll break it." She nodded with his plan, it was better than anything she had. Only, if it didn't work she'd drain herself of all her mana leaving her more vulnerable than ever even with her incredible physical strength. She sighed, no stopping now.
"Just surrender giant! The dark god will forgive you for your sins! Hand over the egg and you can live." The female voice called again. Talia still couldn't see her, but she gnashed her teeth all the same. Give up? Why did every fight have to have someone demanding their adversary give in to live? If one wasn't fighting to the death what was the point?
"I'll enjoy killing you." She growled. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't true either. She could care less about the mystery woman, but it sounded good. In that instant the dragon rushed forward forcing her to react in a moment, bracing her arms as it plowed her back, pushing it's shoulders into her chest.
She cried out as she felt several of her bones crack, but it didn't stop her from reaching up and wrapping one hand around the dragons neck and grabbing the top of its head. It didn't give her good leverage but she could still start choking it again. This time she started to burn it, focusing on either burning away its protective scales or melting them, whatever happened first. It flapped it's wings hard as it started to beat at her from both sides, screaming and writhing like the serpent it was.
She knew she couldn't withstand it in her current position so she threw it aside again, using its own weight against it. She was already panting heavily, the slugfest was wearing her down all too quickly. But in that moment she noticed the dead animals beneath her feet slowly coming to life, errie blue eyes staring blankly as the started to swarm after the dragon. She smiled, Nico was always on point.
"The woman has fled to the treeline, finish it now before she returns. I can't fight her magic and the dwarves are basically useless at this point." Nico spoke quickly, Talia could tell he was trying to focus on raising as many of his undead as possible. She turned back to the dragon, but his temporary distraction proved costly. She didn't have time to react as it barreled down on her. The only thing she felt as its weight pressed her to the ground was its claws at they raked down the left side of her face and down her neck, breaking her mask causing it to erupt into smoke. The agony was immediate causing her to release a primal scream. She drew her hands up to her face, rolling in the dirt as blood poured from the wounds.
"Talia!" Nico's scream echoed her own. She kicked out desperately, catching the dragon somewhere in its midriff. It fell away from her, but she knew the reprieve wouldn't last long. She struggled to her feet, tears clouding her vision and legs shaking beneath her. She couldn't see out her left eye, she knew that side of her face had been thoroughly savaged. She was in incredible pain, but more than that her rage was unimaginable. Her screams changed from those of agony to those of wrath.
She clenched her fists as she stomped forward, her teeth grinding in anger. The dragon was still struggling to get to its feet as she reached down and grabbed its right wing and bracing her foot against its side. She could see the horror in its eyes, she smiled as she savagely ripped the appendage off. This time the dragons screams were hollow, clouded with the sheer amount of pain it was in. She didn't give it time to recover or accept it, instead she went for her usual handhold and grabbed its head. The beasts eyes widened and for a moment she saw something deep within their glowing red depths, something... Human. Something more. Then she ripped off its head. The cries grew silent as it slumped lifelessly to the ground.
"By the... By the gods Talia..." Nico's voice waivered as he watched the dark black blood flow freely from the now headless monstrosity. She growled, her stomach twisting in both horror and pain as she dropped the head next to the body. She was usually not so brutal, and preferred to kill far more quickly. But more than that she didn't kill a human, she had just killed a dragon. A real life dragon. She really was a fucking monster.
"Talia are you...?" He started to ask, but she ignored him and instead fell face first into the dirt. She was completely exhausted, her body trembling. She could feel the dark poison in her face as it started to seep into her blood and press into her bones. Was this what it was like to feel the infection of a demons darkness? Would she die from it? She couldn't even muster the strength to life her face from the ash and dirt beneath her.
"You've done so well my daughter, and exceeded all expectation. I'm sorry I could not spare you this pain.... But was necessary to your development, and to what comes next. Close your eyes now, rest and know you are safe." Hephatus's voice was soft and soothing. Talia released a shaky breath, all too eager to follow the goddess's words as she sank into a world of perpetual darkness. With the dragon dead she didn't have to worry... Or so she hoped.