As Tate's talon swept past Equ's defense and pierced him in the shoulder, the dragon roared. The sound startled Tate even as he continued to press the point of the blade as deeply into the dragon's flesh as possible.
It was not a fatal wound by any means, especially since he now knew that all the dragon would have to do was to transform back to his original form and all would be healed. It must have hurt for the dragon to let out such a primal sound. It was a bit disorienting to hear a sound he'd only ever heard from a dragon in a dragon's form, but never out of the throat of a human. The sound and the visual did not match up.
Equ's eyes were bulging, Tate could see red veins appearing in them as the shock and pain registered. The dragon's teeth lengthened and they stared at each other as Tate pressed in to end the fight.
Tate wondered if the dragon had ever been beaten before for the simple reason that the wound caused him to drop his talon, Tate heard a dull thump as it hit the ground. Tate internally shook his head, a warrior should know better than to drop his weapon, especially in this kind of situation.
As Tate had passed Equ's guard he was well aware that it was the perfect opportunity for Equ to make his own attack at his open side if he acted quickly enough before Tate closed the distance of his reach. The catch was when you were in such a situation, where you were on the brink of defeat, your blood spilled, you had to keep your presence of mind to a degree as to be able to act through pain and the odds.
Tate was intimately familiar with such fights, he'd been in a few like this during the war only with him on the other side of the equation. It wasn't something that was widely known since those in the Empire believed he'd been born wielding a sword just as he'd been born riding a dragon, but Tate was not always a great swordsman. He'd been a little above average at most when he was younger, it had taken facing off against true masters who were his enemies in the war to take him from that average level to something more.
The first thing he'd learned from these masters was that a fight wasn't over until someone dropped their sword. He'd never dropped his sword even while being wounded, and one time even on the brink of passing out from the pain of an almost life-threatening wound. He would not be alive if he had done such a thing. Instead, he'd gritted his teeth and held on. In those masters' moments of triumph, he'd gathered everything left in him to make his own attack. The two times he'd had to resort to such measures, he'd obviously been successful even if it was just by luck. Those masters now lay as ashes in the far south while he was alive and well in the land of dragons.
He pulled back and the talon slipped out of the male's flesh with a familiar sound. The dragon was making pained noises and moans as he withdrew, but his eyes were turning redder, and redder.
Tate didn't want to draw out Equ's defeat so he did what Bezhar and the others had taught him. He took two steps back and bowed at the waist.
"Thank you for the fight." He told the now trembling male.
He turned his back on a face that was twisting in fury. What could Equ do in front of so many witnesses after all?
....the answer surprised Tate until his dying day.
He heard a vicious-sounding snarl from behind him before fire bloomed on his back. He gasped as the pain seized him for a second before he instinctively whirled with his talon leading the way.
The blade struck true, deeply into the side of the male who inhaled sharply and froze. Equ's eyes were completely red, his fangs out and crowding his human mouth, but the most important point of this partial transformation was the talons extending from his human nail beds tipped in red.
Tate lost it, everything fell away even his pain as rage at the gall of this male to do such a deplorable and cowardly act took over him.
A growl came from his own throat and pressure built up behind his eyelids.
Equ fliched momentarily before he fell to his knees. Confused he looked up at Tate before he fell to his face. Equ gasped as he struggled to breathe under a sudden and immense force.
He squealed in pain and fright, Tate looked down on him the pressure in his mind was a pressure he imagined using to grind the bastard's face into the ground.
When Equ had fallen to his face the talon had dislodged and blood started to pool in the grass beneath him and his eyes slowly started to roll upwards in his head.
Someone grabbed Tate's shoulder and he glanced behind him at them. It was someone he didn't really know but one of the ones he vaguely recognized. The dragon took a hurried step back from him as soon as they made eye contact. They gulped and then seemed to find the courage to say what they wanted to say.
"Human, please release him. He needs to transform to heal. You've done enough damage to him." How could words be both arrogant and a little terrified at the same time? Tate cocked his head considering the creature before him. The dragon was a male who looked to be in his early forties, at least his human form was of that appearance. He had black hair that was greying at his temples, tan skin, and black eyes.
"Ah, he's your man then?" Tate said in an iron voice. It was a statement, not a question.
The male gathered himself up to his full height, which admittedly was a good few inches taller than Tate. He looked down his nose at Tate. "Yes, and again I request that you stop this and let him go. You don't want to be responsible for his life do you?"
Tate scoffed but the pressure in his mind eased of its own accord. "I don't care about that. If he's your man will you take responsibility for the blood on my back, or is it not considered dishonorable in the dragon realm to attack when your opponent's back is turned?"
The male seemed at a loss for words as he continued to glare at Tate. Tate heard a faint moan from behind him.
"It is a dishonor, even in our realm." Bezhar stepped in between Tate and the male dragon, interjecting himself.
The Captain of the Royal Guard who was bigger than the other male, looked down on him.
"Groget, your male has lost. I suggest you take him away so he can transform and heal. It would be in your best interest to let this embarrassing little incident go. Now." Bezhar's tone broked no argument.
The other dragon tried to hold his ground but finally lowered his gaze from Bezhar's. With a hiss of anger he turned and with snaping motions, he waved some other dragons forward. Tate stood still as they cautiously went around him and collected the fallen Equ. They shot him nervous glances even as they passed carrying the injured dragon off to another location to transform.
Tate felt frozen, he felt rage, and his back hurt.
"Tate?" It was Bezhar, Bezhar who hardly ever called him by his actual name.
"Tate, are you alright?"
Tate couldn't speak but he shook his head. How could he be alright when his back was on fire? He expected Bezhar to leave and someone else to come to him to tell him where to go or to bring him some of that healing tea but Bezhar surprised him.
His hand slowly, as if approaching an angry dog, reached out to Tate's own. Tate jumped as Bezhar's skin made contact with the back of his hand. Bezhar lightly gripped him around the wrist and turned him until the dragon could see his back.
The hiss that Bezhar let out told Tate all he needed to know.
"How deep is it?" He asked anyway.
"Deep enough that I'm not sure how you're still standing," Bezhar admitted. "Whenever I've received similar wounds in sparring, on the few occasions it's happened, I'll admit I passed out."
Tate grimaced and hissed out a breath through his teeth as fingers, presumably Bezhars, prodded the area around the talon wounds. "I've had worse." He got out through clenched teeth.
He felt and heard the pause in Bezhar's movements before he kept going.
Suddenly a person appeared in front of him. He blinked once surprised at her presence. He'd completely forgotten that others were there, a lot of others.
Elder Narka was looking at his face with a pinched expression. She just stared at him for long moments and he didn't look away.
At last she spoke still just staring at him. "Bezhar, will you and Koda escort him to his rooms? I'll send a healer along shortly. I think we should postpone the other half of the Quillintine until tomorrow, don't you?"
Bezhar agreed and Tate soon found himself being slowly shuffled off back to his room. It was sinking in now, the pain. He braced his mind against it and did his best to walk away from all those unfamilair dragons as if the huge slashes in his back were just scratches.
He heard a voice calling his name behind him. Some part of his brain was aware enough to identify it as Lou's but he didn't have the strenght to look at or answer him.
Once they were back in the halls of the nest Koda spoke. "You can stop now, Tate. No one is wacthing anymore."
Tate blacked out.