Crack!
The bones in Ezra's arms shattered as the ceiling caved in onto him. He was tossed to the floor, a piece of rebar spearing through his lungs. He coughed up a dollop of black blood.
His vitality surged to repair the damage as he clawed his way out. He tore out the rebar and the wound closed, his vitality drained dry. Valaren refused to give him any vitality as it raged against X and Malachi.
Ezra swayed before taking a step forward, stabilizing himself. Seizing the opportunity, Malachi's tentacles rushed forward, wrapping around Ezra. The dragon roared as it dashed forward to save its master.
Taking advantage of the distraction, X whirled his chains trapping Valaren's front legs.
Malachi seized the opening and surged forward, his tentacles thrashing wildly as he unleashed a relentless barrage of acidic ink. The dragon tried to recoil from the burning liquid but was constrained by X's chains. Its scales sizzled and smoked as it roared in frustration.
"Now, for the highlight of the show." X grunted as he whirled the end of his chain, pouring a huge load of vitality it. The chain hummed like a fighter jet, gathering great momentum as it whirled through the air.
The dragon struggled to break its restraints but the chain descended, inevitable.
Boop!
The chains bounced softly off of the dragon. "What the hell?" X wondered as his supposed final strike hit the dragon like a soft poke.
Motion stilled, where darkness reigns. Ezra chuckled darkly. Valaren roared once more and X's chains shattered. The tentacles holding Ezra shuddered, loosening their hold on him. He dropped to the floor and quickly rolled to the dragon.
Malachi and X took a few steps back as Ezra grinned, the dragon standing beside him. "Looks like it's my move."
Attack!
With a command through the ethereal chains binding them together, Ezra commanded Valaren and they both surged forward.
Malachi and X attacked as one. Malachi's tentacles barred the way with sheer size and numbers but we're quickly ripped to shreds by Valaren's claws.
The tentacles fell away to reveal X holding out his hands which were devoid of chains and glowing ominously. "Say hello to daddy!" He exclaimed as deep blue fire erupted from it.
Protect me!
Ezra dived behind Valaren who took the brunt of the hot flame. The dragon roared in pain as a few scales clinked to the floor, the smell of burning meat filling the air. Ezra crouched as the heat threatened to burn off his tracksuit.
After ten seconds of intense heat, the fire finally tapered off and Ezra peeked over to see Malachi already descending, holding a giant sword made of shadows.
"Fuck!" Ezra and Valaren parted. Ezra rolled to the side, picking up two dragon scales. The sword descended and cut cleanly into the floor. He whirled and pitched one scale straight at Malachi with all his strength. Malachi dodges but wasn't fast enough as the scale cut through the side of his stomach.
Bang!
Ezra dodged as a fire blast passed through where his heart had been a moment before. He danced around the room, dodging the thin streaks of fire blasts as X laughed maniacally. Most of the shots hit Valaren who shrugged it off as new scales grew over its charred body.
With a shrug, X materialized his old weapon, the chains whirling through the air like a storm of steel. His chains hit with the force of a speeding train, but with each strike, the dragon seemed to absorb the kinetic energy, growing stronger.
Ezra dashed out of the battlefield to Gen who had dragged Olivia out of the way. Olivia's head was growing slowly. Too slowly for his liking.
"Give me an axe!" He commanded.
"Here." Gen materialized an axe and offered it to him, haft first. She turned her wildly spinning eyes to him. "I'm out of vitality. This is the best I can do."
Ezra gripped the axe with a solemn nod. "It's more than enough." Turning, he joined the battle once more.
As he approached, Malachi turned to face him. With a swing, Ezra cut off the attacking tentacles. A scream of pain resounded from Malachi's back.
That's it! The monster can feel pain! Ezra grinned, showing his fangs. I don't need a dragon to defeat you, Malachi!
Malachi's tentacles flailed wildly, leaving trails of acidic destruction in their wake as they sought to overwhelm Ezra.
Ezra whirled, cutting tentacles even as they regenerated and attacked him.
Upper left. Cut. Swing. Dodge. Cut.
He could feel himself sinking into a state of calm. The previously erratic movements of the tentacles slowly began to reveal a pattern. He began to sink into the state he had achieved when he fought X. The Blood Song.
Yes! This is it! I was born for this! His blood sang in his veins. A song of war. A song of bloodlust and carnage. He kept pruning tentacles like a farmer, cutting off Malachi's actions before they even began. We DESTROY!
Out of nowhere, X's chains twisted and lashed out. The chain wrapped around his axe and with a sharp twist, the axe shattered into dust. Ezra stumbled as he was jarred out of the Song.
One of the tentacles wrapped around his arm and he jerked it out in time but not without suffering an acidic burn.
Ezra dashed to the vicinity of Valaren who was hounding X by breathing pillars of solid darkness at him. Ezra jumped onto the back of Valaren as Malachi joined them once more.
"They're growing weak! Let's finish them off!" X yelled as he dodged another pillar of darkness.
Malachi recalled his shadow sword and together they dashed at the dragon.
"VALAREN!" Ezra yelled. Stop holding back! Unleash the beast!
The ethereal chains around Valaren loosened a little. The sound of mad, feminine laughter tinkled in his ear like a bell. He could feel the mind of the beast unraveling a little as bloodlust descended upon it!
With a mighty roar, Valaren unleashed a torrent of deep shadows that engulfed Malachi and X, swallowing them whole in a veil of darkness.
For a moment, all was still as the shadows enveloped them, leaving nothing but silence in their wake. Then, with a triumphant roar, the dragon pounced into the darkness.
Clang!
Ezra strained his eyes in the deep darkness as Valaren's claws were stopped by the shadow blade of Malachi's sword.
"I don't know what the idea was but this is my domain." Malachi chuckled as his deep voice echoed eerily in the darkness. His formerly eight tentacles had multiplied, their true numbers obscured by the dark.
Valaren answered by sending a torrent of jagged, solid darkness spilling all over the place. Malachi was caught in as chains fashioned from darkness formed and bound him to the floor.
Valaren batted away Malachi's sword and with a swipe of its powerful claws, ripped him into two at the waist. Malachi, with only his upper torso dragged himself out of the shadows with his tentacles.
Valaren jumped out of the cloud of darkness just in time to see Malachi melt into a shadow and disappear. The darkness of the black zone surrounding them faded a bit.
"That bastard!" X bellowed as his chains wrapped around Valaren. Ezra grunted in surprise as he felt a pressure on the ethereal chains connecting him to Valaren.
X's vitality wrapped itself around the chains, his Aura coating the chains in authority. The chains glowed in Ezra's mind eye and loosened slowly around Valaren as X struggled to wrest control from him.
With a flex, Valaren shattered X's chains. In a flash, X's arm had been separated from the shoulder.
"Oh, hell naw!" X yelled before disappearing in a flash.
Valaren stumbled back with a cry. Bloodlust filled its eyes and it beat its wings. Ezra grabbed onto the ridges of its scales to balance himself.
The beast shook its head, it's bloodlust not yet satiated. With a roar, it turned its head to the nearest available target. Olivia and Gen.
Shit!