About twenty one days before the fire dragon was slain, Patricia was just wanting to sleep. Maybe get Patrick to satisfy her as well, but she acknowledged that she was wearing Patrick out. She couldn't be sure if it was that she had a bigger libido than he did or if it was that she was able to sleep better for some reason.
Regardless of any of that, they were just finishing their dinner as the sky was filling with stars, only dimmed by their small campfire. For some reason, lately the stars on this world seemed to have an almost hypnotic effect on her. She felt, more than was aware herself, of curling up next to Patrick as she felt herself starting to drift off into sleep; the food she'd just eaten settling comfortably in her stomach, adding to her drowsiness.
Patricia didn't plan on getting up for anything. She was confident that they'd be aware of anything that came to close to them, so she didn't have any worries right then.
However, in a moment, there was a bright flash over their campfire and if Patrick still hadn't been awake and quick enough, Patricia suspected that she'd have met her end right then and there. The sounds of something heavy suddenly resting on the canyon shelf above the river they'd been traveling along.
As by the time she opened her eyes, she could see blue and purple flames that seemed to create the shape of a dragon, with a large darkness silhouette beneath the flames. Patricia could see where she had been laying on the ground, underneath the left foot of the creature, as it's fiery eyes followed them.
While she considered that this creature might be the fire dragon that they were supposed to fight and kill, she felt more mesmerized by it right then. It wasn't the same as with the stars, but it still made her feel rather relaxed. She couldn't say if it was because it was made of fire while her element was ice, or if it was just because she was so tired right then, but she found it hard to care at that moment.
Patrick launched an attack at the fire dragon, what he called his flamethrower, which consisted of a stream of white hot flames. When he'd first tested it out in the forest after they'd gotten out of the dungeon and satisfied their libidos, he'd very nearly started a forest fire with it. If she hadn't been able to use up all her MP to create enough ice to put out all the flames, she wasn't sure what would have happened as a result after that.
The flamethrower attack knocked the dragon back, though it looked more like it was similar to pushing a large dog. It might make them move a little, but they weren't likely to fall down and stay down as a result. The creature in this case merely looked like it stumbled from the impact, but quickly recovered and seemed to grow a little stronger from Patrick's flames.
Patricia couldn't be sure if it was the fact that Patrick was fighting or if there was some other reason behind it, but she felt herself starting to grow more alert. At least alert enough to launch out an attack of her own.
She caused a flash freeze around the air by the creature's feet. Although, as she expected, it barely held it for a moment before it broke free, leaving steaming ice shards in its wake.
Even as she launched a volley of giant icicle spears from above the creature, it didn't have any effect on it. She could even see that it didn't even consider her attack to be worth paying attention to with how little damage it had sustained from it.
Patricia could feel Patrick trying to figure out what to do next, but Patricia could tell that their options were rather limited right then. While they could fight to the bitter end, Patricia was pretty sure that they wouldn't even go down in a blaze of glory doing that.
It would be more like the phrasing she'd heard somewhere about 'not going out with a bang, but a whimper.'
She couldn't say if that would apply here, given they weren't going quietly, but she had a feeling it wouldn't be far off the mark with how much of a disadvantage they were in with it. Yet, Patricia couldn't think of what might be done to get away.
She didn't think that they could outrun it, since she knew that both of them were already tired from their day's walk. In addition to how well rested this creature appeared to be, assuming it even needed rest to begin with.
As she tried to think of what they could do, she suddenly felt rather weightless in Patrick's arms as well as a breeze flowing past her from below. She couldn't think what might have caused that, so when she took her eyes away from the creature, she had a brief moment to realize they were heading down into the river before they landed in the water.
As Patricia quickly made her way to the surface, she felt like punching Patrick in the face. Multiple times. He didn't even give her so much as a word about what he was going to do or had already done. Yet, she knew she wouldn't have enough leverage in the water like this to vent her irritation at even the circumstances that led to Patrick jumping into the river without warning.
Though, she at least understood why he had done that as she could see the fire creature watching them as they floated down the river. She wasn't sure if it wasn't following them because it didn't like the water or if it was just that lazy.
However, a moment later, it disappeared, like it had pulled its own flames in on itself. Kind of like it had turned inside out through the center of its chest, only it was gone when it should have still otherwise been there.
While she didn't mind the chill of the water, she couldn't help but wonder where the river might take them before they were able to swim to the shore. Especially with how quickly the current was moving them along. Patricia could only hope that wherever they ended up, that fire creature wasn't going to be waiting for them.
If that was the case, she couldn't help but wonder if they'd need to stay in the river until they found a place they could leave the river without that creature ready to end them. Which Patricia was confident would happen if they couldn't figure out a way to defeat it. Assuming it didn't merely attack them on a whim, just because they were there.
While that was possible, Patricia couldn't deny the intelligence she saw in what looked like eyes for the creature. She couldn't be sure that she hadn't imagined it, but she was confident that it was intelligent if nothing else.
"Any idea where we'll be able to get out of this?" Patricia asked, turning her head towards where she knew Patrick was.
"Your guess is as good as mine, really," he answered.
Patricia sighed. "Any idea of how long we'll be in this river?"
Patrick shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't plan that far ahead. All I could see was that this was our only chance to get out of there alive. If we hadn't gone in, I knew we wouldn't have been able to run from it, we can't be sure we were able to do any damage with out attacks, or even if it might have left us alone after a while."
Patricia nodded, feeling like she should feel like she had a part in them not being able to do anything about that creature. Even though she knew that it wasn't like they could have done anything different. They weren't going to be able to deal with it on their own, more than likely, but that didn't mean they hadn't done some kind of harm to it.
Even if Patrick's flamethrower was brushed aside and Patricia's ice was melted in the moment it got too close to him, even enough to simply break when it should be so cold, no matter how hot its flames were.
Later, as the sky was starting to lighten up with the approaching dawn, they found a place on the river that led onto a bank. Which Patricia was grateful for, if only so she could dry out. Plus, she'd have an excuse as to why she'd be naked, as well as to be able to look at Patrick naked as well. Though, she knew they weren't likely going to be able to do anything for the near future. Simply because she certainly didn't want to fall asleep in the middle of their lovemaking.
Aside from which, it wasn't until they climbed onto the bank that they because aware of the fact they'd lost one of their packs. Which Patricia told herself that they would need to return to get. At some point.
Then later, when the morning announcement was given, Patricia was then confident that it was in fact the fire dragon that had attacked them. As she couldn't see anything other than any way to spin that with what she knew to be true. As they hadn't run from anything other than the creature of fire, nor did they nearly get killed by anything since battle with the troll boss.
The only question Patricia had right then was where they might be able to find some help that they'd be able to trust.