Vegenrage: Dragon Reclaim (27 page)

“It’s got me confused as well. I do not know what kind of magic this is, but it is magic all right.”

Logantrance and Elkwar follow Oriapow through a Dimension Door leading into the courtyard. Oriapow notices Persen right away and calls to his old friend. “Persen, it is you. You have survived, and you are here.” Oriapow runs to hug his old friend.

“Oriapow, wait. Do not touch him.” Vegenrage cannot stop Oriapow, and he hugs Persen slime and all, taking no precaution, and in the blink of an eye, the two of them disappear.

CHAPTER 21
What Happened to Persen

Oriapow was so proud of Persen the way he stood up to Vergraughtu and consumed the life force of the dragon into his Staff of Barrier Breath. Oriapow had never seen the lair of a dragon plundered let alone sweep clean the way Persen had taken everything and put it all into his new Bag of Holding. Oriapow pleaded with Persen to come back to Erkensharie with him so he could tell King Ellith of his victory over the dragon. He knew the king would most likely put Persen in very high regard, and this may allow the elves and humans to unite together. Persen was proud and excited himself. Not only that, but he was already beginning to show signs of magical power of his own as well. Oriapow had witnessed the first human on the Planet Fargloin to learn and use magic on his own. This made him very proud. Persen said yes, he would go to Erkensharie to talk with King Ellith, but first, he had to go to his king and tell him about his adventure with Oriapow and how they defeated the dragon Vergraughtu. Not only that, but he also had all this treasure to share with his king, and this would certainly give the humans much-needed resources in which they could offer the elves in exchange for help against the dragons and hopefully sanctuary in Erkensharie if needed. Oriapow understood Persen’s position and wished him the best as he went home to Hiltor, and Oriapow went to his home in Erkensharie.

Persen got to his home in Hiltor just as the second Dragon Feast had started, and the dragons had set out to eliminate the human kingdom. Most of the forest had fallen due to the rising land, and all the Hiltorians had for protection was their kingdom made out of the lumber from the forest. This was easy pickins for the dragons. Rippencore was under no threat from the wooden arrows and mostly feeble metal weapons that the Hiltorians had. He was walking through the kingdom that did have mortar walls strengthened by wooden beams, but Rippencore was just plowing through them with his massive size and picking the people, fleeing in his jaws, and eating them. There were smaller dragons here feeding as well, but they stayed outside the Hiltorian walls, picking those that tried to run away from Rippencore just to run into the smaller dragons. This was a total disaster, and the humans were all being eaten.

Persen was on foot, and when his home came into view, the first thing he saw was a young midnight blue dragon eating people, trying to run from him. Persen ran at the dragon, yelling at it and screaming, trying to get its attention. He did get the attention of the dragon, and it confidently walked right at Persen. Persen drew the Staff of Barrier Breath and ran at the dragon. The dragon thought this human was looking for a quick end to his suffering and lowered his head so the human could run right into his mouth. Well, Persen ran right at him and swung his staff, slicing the top of the dragon’s jaw right off. The dragon was in shock, raising its head, dripping gallons of blood, and Persen pointed the staff right at the dragons head and said, “Limblim gloing ging railning siiigggghhh!” From the end of the staff shot the first lightning bolt spell from a human on the Planet Fargloin. This bolt struck the dragon right underneath its jaw at first, splintering it and then exploding the head of the young dragon that fell dead at Persen’s feet. He looked around to see no one had seen his accomplishment, but the dragons in the area could sense the death of a dragon.

Persen ran for his kingdom that took him twenty minutes to get there. He ran into no obstacles until he made it into the kingdom and saw Rippencore destroying his kingdom. This was a very simple kingdom. There was not much more here inside the walls of the kingdom other than small homes for the people of Hiltor to sleep in. Of course, the king and the high class had very nice homes in which to sleep in, but the people here were nothing more than craftsman and hunters and spent most of their time outside the kingdom walls. Rippencore had already destroyed most of the inner kingdom and was now focused on destroying the king’s home. King Highgrun and his family were in their home, which was the only shelter left, and Rippencore was slamming his tail into the home, just breaking it apart slowly. It was just a matter of time before Rippencore would make a meal out of the king and his family, and this is when Persen stopped him.

Persen shouted at the dragon and got its attention. “Dragon, stop! Come battle me if you think you can.” The fantastic Rippencore in his brilliant fluorescent green color turned to face the lone human standing confidently, holding a staff in his hand, and pointing it at the dragon.

Rippencore is a fantastic dragon. He is huge in size and at the height of power. He has tangled with Vergraughtu who at this time is the dominant dragon, but Rippencore is ready to make his move at the dominant position. The younger dragons stay very far away from Rippencore even during the Dragon Feast because his is showing off his power and is ready to rip apart any that invade his space. There is one other suitor ready to make a play as the dominant dragon as well, and his name is Blethstole. Blethstole is on another planet, filling his hunger at this time, so Rippencore thinks. Rippencore looks at the small human with his staff drawn right at him and laughs. Rippencore leans toward Persen with his most unique form. He has wings that are attached to his front legs, but his front legs extend out, about six feet from his wings, that start halfway up his legs. His legs are not thick, ending in paws like most dragons. His legs extend out from his wings, long and narrow, and end in four grasping talons. His wings grow from midway up his front legs, widening from his legs until they span much wider than the impressive girth of his body. He can tuck his wings in, and they form long fans that reach back from his legs and extend back over his body. He has a very streamline head with no frills or horns. His teeth are not like most dragons teeth. They are not long round and sharp but small narrow and pointing back toward his throat. They are serrated and very sharp, very good at ripping and slicing flesh from his victims. He has black lines that arch through the middle of his wings and two black lines that run the length of his tail horizontally on each side. Rippencore looks a lot like Gisewear in color but has a much different breath attack than Gisewear as you are about to see.

“What is this? A human that challenges me head on? What are you going to do with that little staff, human?”

“I am going to slay you and steal your life force as I did to Vergraughtu.”

“Vergraughtu. Do not say that name around me, puny human. I will eat you quickly and relieve you of your arrogant thoughts and tongue.” Rippencore takes a step at Persen, and Persen says, “Slybleem slicee grangee!” and slashes his staff through the air like it was a sword in front of Rippencore. A long slice cuts deep into Rippencore’s neck just above his left shoulder and slices a deep gash straight down to the bottom of his neck. This cut is deep, almost to his throat, and very painful. Blood runs down his scales as Rippencore rises his head in pain, taking a huge breath. In anger, he lets loose his Breath of Emeraldsheen. This fantastic breath attack engulfs its victims in pure emerald, entombing them in the precious jewel. The living being is encapsulated, and the jewel around its victim is so smooth. It is soft to the touch, but it is very hard. This amazingly does not kill the victim, but they cannot move; they cannot do anything. This is a living tomb where they remain until the emerald coating around them is broken. This is an amazing sight that completely catches Rippencore off guard. Persen says in the Imblogblem language, “I summon Vergraughtu to consume all breath,” and Rippencore watches as the Staff of Barrier Breath consumes his breath attack. This is brilliant. Rippencore’s breath attack flows as beautiful liquid emerald from his mouth, and the staff consumes it all. He raises his head, stunned to see the human still standing and his breath attack virtually useless. He also notices that the wound caused to his neck is not healing. Persen says the words again and slashes another painful gash along Rippencore’s shoulders and neck. Persen charges at the dragon, and Rippencore walks backward to avoid the charging human. There are people still around, and they watch as for the first time ever, a dragon is being pushed back by one man alone.

The people of Hiltor become embolden and charge Rippencore, shooting arrows into the wounds on his neck and shoulders. These arrows cause Rippencore serious pain and a lot of damage. He takes to the wing, and Persen has driven off the dragon. All the people gather around Persen to praise and congratulate him, along with the king and his wife. This is short lived as someone yells “Dragon!” They all look up to see yet another magnificent dragon swoop down on them. This black dragon releases his Breath of Decadence, and again, Persen consumes the breath attack with his staff. Blethstole flies past the people, noticing that his breath attack had no effect. He keeps on flying after the wounded Rippencore.

All the people gather around Persen and become quiet as King Highgrun addresses Persen. “Persen, you have done it. You have thwarted the dragons. You are the dragon master. Everyone, Persen has done it. He has thwarted the dragons and saved Hiltor. Persen, I have seen it with my own eyes. You have become powerful in the art of magic.”

“King Highgrun, I have learned magic, and my Staff of Barrier Breath can consume all dragon breath attacks. You have all seen it. With this staff, I will defeat the dragons and already have defeated the Violet Violator with it. I have plundered his lair and stole all his treasure that we will use to rebuild Hiltor. The great magic-using elf, Oriapow, was with me as I destroyed the violet dragon, and you have all witnessed how I thwarted the great green and black dragons. I must go to Erkensharie and reunite with my elven friend, and we will unite the Erkensharie elves with the humans of Hiltor.”

“Everyone here has seen with their own eyes what you have done, Persen. If you can unite the elves with us, then we can hunt down the dragons and end their destruction to our kind. Branter, fetch our strongest steed to carry Persen to the Erkensharie. Persen, it is a day’s ride to Erkensharie. You go and return to unite our two kingdoms. We have no time to waste,” King Highgrun said. Branter returns with the fastest horse in Hiltor, and Persen sets off for Erkensharie.

Blethstole is pursuing Rippencore with the intent to eliminate one of his rivals. He catches Rippencore and bites his tail. He bites hard, digging his teeth deep, and faces his wings at Rippencore with a strong flap, halting Rippencore’s momentum. Blethstole thrusts his head to the left, pulling Rippencore at him. Rippencore turns in the air to see Blethstole and turns his momentum right at the black dragon, and Blethstole releases his bite as Rippencore flies at him and catches his neck with a powerful bite of his own. Rippencore wrenches his head back and forth, violently tearing scale and flesh from the neck of Blethstole, and the two dragons grapple in the air. Rippencore digs his talons on his two front legs into Blethstole’s flesh. Blethstole is a thicker stronger dragon by just a little and uses his strength to bite down on Rippencore’s left shoulder. The two dragons now have a bite on each other, and each is ripping flesh and scale from the other as they shake, rip, and tear violently. They are twirling in the air and falling as they wrestle each other, and when they have the sense, they try to maintain their descent by flapping their wings. They bite at each other and tear each other with their front legs, and blood and scale is raining from both dragons. They fall, slamming into the ground. The collision breaks them apart, but they quickly face each other and resume their battle. Blethstole can see the wounds left on Rippencore by the human and darts right for the lower neck with a crushing bite. Rippencore retaliates with a crushing bite to the left wing of Blethstole and tears and rips right through it with his serrated teeth. These two mega dragons look awesome with their muscles tightening and rippling all over as they fight. This is a deadly fight, and they mean to kill each other. They bite and slash at each other with rage and power, and they both exhaust each other in this fairly matched fight. They break from each other’s bite to stare at each other, breathing heavily through their mouths and nostrils. They both have deep cuts and gashes all over their bodies, and the mouth of each dragon is dripping the blood of his opponent.

There are many species in the Maglical System where dominant males fight for the right to mate or fight for territory but very few if any fight with the savagery that dragons do. Dragons fight with all the weapons at their disposal, minus magic and breath attacks. Magic can come into play, but dragons mostly fight through pure aggression and physical strength. Rippencore does not have horns or tusks, whereas Blethstole has the four magnificent horns that grow from his head, and every time he has made a bite to Rippencore, his horns have left one to four deep stab wounds, further draining Rippencore’s strength. When dragons fight to death like this, they do not allow their opponent time to heal magically. These battles are violent and always very bloody. Rippencore is losing his strength very quickly because the wounds left to him by the Staff of Barrier Breath are of a magical kind that weaken dragons, and he cannot heal fast enough, and he knows Blethstole will overpower him.

“Wait, Blethstole, before you kill me, beware what Hornspire has written about. His prophecy is coming to pass. You can overpower me only because the human wielding the magical staff exists. I know because it was the human that left these wounds on me, not you, and I feel it draining my strength. I watched as the human consumed my entire breath attack with this staff, and he made wounds on me without even touching me. I cannot heal these wounds. He will do the same to you.”

“A human did this to you? You are weak. Hornspire and his prophecies about humans that will kill the dragons, I am sick of hearing about him and his writings. The humans are our food and always will be.” Blethstole taunts Rippencore, swaggering and shaking his body, flinging blood and scale into the air. He is showing his strength, ignoring the pain, and walking around Rippencore who lowers his head in submission.