‘in scales’; Up Through the Ashes.

The anger in Dion was held back no more. The pain in his neck was no longer a significant factor in holding him back. The pure rage made his body move as fast as he could. he bridged the distance between him and the hunter was bridged within moments. The hunter could not strike Rakshasi in time. He did not expect an attack from Dion. Dion threw himself against the hunter with all his weight. His head tilted to look at Rakshasi. It was more an identical move to protect his eyes from any attack from the hunter. Her eyes followed Dion, her lips moving to make a silent protest. It was useless, In blind rage Dion knocked the hunter against the ground, possibly saving her life. The hunter was dazed by the sudden impact, the dragon in blind rage was too much for the unharmed hunter with only his harness to protect himself from the fierce attacks of the dragon. Claws scraped over his harness and he punched Dion full in the stomach. Dion recoiled, giving the hunter time to prepare another blow with the sword. The chainmail moved, the sword dug in between the rings and struck the scaled hide. Dion was knocked aside. Now on the ground he was forced to defend himself from the hunter who swung his sword at him a couple of times. Dion avoided most of the wings by simply rolling around but one struck his unprotected wing arm. He could feel and hear the bones in his wing arm break. He roared out in pain. The hunter however did not allow himself to be fooled again. He moved over to Rakshasi in order to deliver the death blow again. Dion would not have any of it. H saw that his tail was rather close by the feet of the hunter. With only a small amount of effort he knocked the hunter over on his side. Dion could recover himself and back up right. His claws spread out as he walked towards the hunter. His heart pounded in his throat with his anger fuelling it. He was little away from being a feral dragon, with only the thought of saving Rakshasi in his mind next to his own preservation. He was not about to let the hunter recover. Dion saw that the hunter wanted to get upright already. He used one of the kicks that Raksasi taught him. It was a well-placed once, the ball of his right foot hit the hunter’s cheek bone. It crushed under the force. The hunter more and more weakened by the fight with Rakshasi, was thrown to the ground again like a ‘bag of salt’. Now that Dion had the element of surprise he might be able to finish the hunter with the fresh energy he brought. He was wise enough not to bend over to strike the hunter, but to use his feet to try and stomp at his chest. But the human rolled away and Dion only struck dirt. A blow to Dion’s lower leg knocked him against the ground. It was not a bone breaking or even a bloody blow. None the less it threw Dion’s balance out of the way, allowing the hunter to stand up and attack anew. He was met by Dion’s claws who had no problem recovering after the blow. The sword deemed a hard opponent to deal with,  Dion had no weapon or shield able to block the sword. He had to dodge the attack, yet the doge left him open to another one. The hunter dominated the fight with blow another after another. Dion could avoid, them but he knew that if he was struck the game was over. Dion placed a tree between him and the hunter. The move made the sword struck wood and become stuck. Now the blade was stuck Dion unleashed his fury once. The hunter was forced to let go of this sword as a claw whipped across his face. The helmet could barely contain the strength of his blow and the hunter’s skull cracked under the strength. Blood came from his mouth as he fell on the ground. The hunter rolled on his back, facing the furious dragon. Dion did not waste a second. He stomped down hard on the hunter’s chest. This time the hunter was to slow and the left chest recovered the full force of the claw blow full force of the claw was. The plate armour deformed under the pressure. The hunter gave a long gasp as the air was knocked out of him. He gasped to get air back in his lunges, but the bend plate did not allow him the full use of his lungs. With little breath to go on the hunter was dealt another kick by Dion. The claws on Dion’s right feet pierced through the gap between the two armour plates, into the hunter’s skin. With around a finger’s length of, claw to get into the hunters body; his right lung got pierced. Blood filled his lung as he tried to craw away. but Dion sealed his fate without mercy. Dion bent down, his feet up the hunter’s chest. “Please….no” the hunter coughed up a beg for mercy. It was no use. Dion took hold of both sides of the hunter’s head and pulled on it with all his might. The neck broke and the rest of the neck detached partially from his body. Dion did not have  the strength to pull the head of completely but he had come a far way as the skin stretched beyond what should be possible. The head flexed back once Dion let go of the head.

Dion turned around to have a look at the sword in the tree behind him. With his draconic strength he pulled it out with great ease. For a short while he looked at the sword while his feral minded body eased into his more civilized mind. A chill ran through Dion’s body when he thought of the dragons that lost their lives on this piece of steel. He turned around with a low growl, walking to the dead hunter. He gazed over him, with all his might he smashed the sword down so the tip of the sword smashed trough the skull and sunk deep into the hunter’s brain. “That will teach you!” But he was shaken by a sudden realisation: Rakshasi. He rushed back to the lair where he last saw her. He was not surprised to see her still lying at the same place. She moved little. She had a tired look in her eyes as she gazed at Dion. She wanted to speak but couldn’t. Dion kneeled down next to Rakshasi, he laid a finger on her lips to make her silence. He did not speak to her in fear that he might drain to much energy from her. He had to stop the bleeding and get help for her. All he remembered were some vague lessons about first aid and a TV show about surviving in the wilderness. As quickly  as possible he gathered different kinds of leafs to close the wounds. He did not know if any of them were poisonous or not: So he tested some of the juice of the leafs on his own cuts. A leaf shaped like a star with black dots on it caused quite some irritation with Dion. It felt like his wound was on fire, a sign of relief rolled through his mind: he did a good job testing the leafs, he told himself to keep his spirit up. Besides a smaller oval shaped leaf who made his wound irritate, the leafs had a harmless reaction. A large leaf like a water felt quite pleasant; It even eased the irritation caused by the two harmful leafs. He made a kind of rope from long vine-like leafs and used the roped to bind the water-lily like leaf around Rakshasi’s wounds. His heart calmed down when se saw his improvised handy work stopping most of the bleeding. Only the larger cuts still dripped with some blood. Dion did not know how to help that, it would have to wait till they had proper help. Dion inspected her body. He did not want to paralysed because she broken something. Lucky; her neck and spinal cord seemed to be sturdy enough.

Dion grunted as he used the remainder of his strength to lift Rakshasi up. He walked with her through the forest, adrenaline still in his vines. He was still bleeding himself from his would but he did not care; only one thing was on his mind and that was to rescue Rakshasi. She laid still in his arms. Only her open eyes betrayed her conscious mind. Multiple times she tried to make contact with Dion, but he made her keep quit to spare her strength. He could feel she was not comfortable with her position. She had a strange unsure look in her eyes and her lips moved at times into an odd position of pain and displeasure. Silence covered their journey to the village. Only his feet on the ground, only the shallow breathing of Rakshasi in his arms. It was getting late in the afternoon when he arrived at the town’s gate. To his luck the knights were not at the gates. He did not wish to run into them as an encore to the fight. The usual towns guards hurried up to him without delay. with hasty words and comments they offered to carry Rakshasi for him. He would have none of it, she was his responsibility. Rakshasi had closed her eyes. Only her breathing betrayed she was alive. Dion sometimes tried to feel Raksasi’s presence and tried to communicate with her. It was too little effect. She was sleeping like a log in her wounded body. Under surveillance of the guard he made it to a strange house not far from the town centre. During the trip through the village multiple people stopped their business to look at their wounded guardian dragon. Most lowered their heads and some even took off their headwear; fearing her death. If Rakshasi could be saved with respect she would be healed by now. The house itself had a large garden with all kinds of strange plants. A scent of flowers came from the inside as the door opened. An old women rushed Dion inside. Her voice was shaking yet she spoke quickly. Her skin was like parchment, rimpled and fragile looking. Her clothes where nothing special: a brown linen dress. Dion entered the house: It had multiple tables to lay the wounded or sick on. The walls where covered with shelves to store all kinds of strange books and jars. The air was thick with flowery aroma’s. The lady gestures to a table to lay Rakshasi down on. Dion followed quickly: with great care he laid her down up on the table, resting her head on a comfortable looking cushion, her tail out of the way so it was not crushed by her weight. Dion gave a small smile as he watched Rakshasi laying on the table. She was alive and he made it. Now it was the job of the medicine lady to heal her. Dion felt a huge weight fully off his back. Yet at the same time he felt dizzy. He now noticed the medicine lady talking to him in a worried tone. Her voice quickly distorted into something unintelligible. His vision started to fade to black. The last feeling was his head against the ground and a cry for help.

Dion felt a warm glow up on his face followed by a hot blast of air. The heat intensified when he was thrown against something wooden with a mighty force. With a growl of pain he opened his eyes. The forest of the night and the forest of the nightmares were glowing with the blaze of a million fires. Dion’s body did not respond to his movements. He could only move his arms while the fire was closing in on him fast. He tried to crawl over the heated earth, away from the fire. He could feel the immense heat bearing down up on his back and sides. He could feel the flames nearing his feet. Desperately he tried to get away from them. “How could you leave me to die!?” Rakshasi’s voice echoed between the roaring sound of the flames. “How could you!?” The voice echoed again. Dion panicked: The flames caught up to him; each of his sides were blocked by a meters high inferno. Soon the flames surrounded him. He was forced to continue as the flames licked his scales.

“NO!” he screamed, exhaling a great deal of air. Effortless he shot upright, sitting in a dark room. Silver moonlight crept through the cracks in the roof and walls. He discovered the smashed and destroyed building of the elderly woman. His eyes gazed through the room but he could not find the women or even Rakshasi for that matter. He made a smooth motion to stand up on the ground, yet his feet slipped over something liquid. He smashed face down into the wet ground. His nostrils flared by the alarming scent of blood. A mixture of dragon and human. It did not matter to Dion: it filled his heart with fear. In a moment’s notice he had gotten up on his two feet. His claws made sure he was not going to slip again while walking to the door. He was not prepared to see the horrors of what laid behind that door: It opened with great effort only to reveal the town in ruins, flames rising up to the sky. Dion looked defeated to the imagery before him, his limps grew weak. He was thrown against the ground by his own body weight. “No” he cried. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare. To be normal again yet here he was again. He lost Rakshasi. Again he lost the grip of reality, to the point that he did not know what was real and what was a play of his own mind. “Safe me!” a voice penetrated the sky, echoing like something divine. It was not Rakshasi at all, but female none the less, even something Draconic but not Rakshasi. He looked up  at the sky, afraid to act up on the cry of help. “Safe me! only you can!” the voice filled his mind again. He could not bare the cry for help. With effort he stood up an two feet, and with effort he made his way to the source of the cry.

It was Rakshasi. She was tied to a pole. Flamed licked along her body her scales turning black by the fire. Dion’s stomach turned inside out when seeing her burn alive. She opened her mouth “help me!” yet it was not her own voice it was the voice he heart before. Dion’s world began to spin again. He would have none of it. He ran to Rakshasi. He had to safe her again. He had to, but he seemed not to come closer to her even when he was running. He had to watch Rakshasi turn from blackeed and alive into a charred skeleton.

“Rakshasi!” Dion shot upright, his heart pounding in his chest. He found himself in the same cabin he laid Rakshasi. Hastily he gazed around; Rakshasi was laying a table next to him. hH now realized he passed out. he had been laying on a table himself. The elderly woman was holding Rakshasi’s head, and had tilted her slightly upward, a bowl with some kind of liquid placed at her lips. Rakshasi was awake but did not look well at all. Her wounds had been wrapped in blooded cloth. Her body had lost most of its shape and muscles. Her scales had become dull. Dion wondered how long he had passed out. A warm hand suddenly was placed up on his shoulder. He looked aside to find a young woman with blonde hair next to him. She wore a pair of brown trousers with a black linen skirt. Her face was friendly. Her nose was large for her face, but she showed no nasty hygiene issues or  bad breath. Dion thankfully took the bowl. It contained a clear fluid that smelled after a whole arrange of flours and herbs. The women next to him noticed his odd stare at the bowl. With a rather low voice she spoke “To heal you.”

He put the bowl on his lips and sipped. The liquid tasted odd. It was sugary yet with a strong taste of something sour. The taste was awful. It reminded him of a lemon with half a kilo of sugar. Whatever he did drink did help him a bit. His mind slowly started to clear up. He gazed offer at Rakshasi again, worried about her. she was still finishing the bowl that was offered her. Her drinking was not with a lot of energy. She only took small sips and took ages to swallow those. “Rakshasi” he growled softly. The woman next to Dion pushed Dion down agai.n “Rest” she ordered him with her strange heavy voice. She too looked at Rakshasi. She bend to Dion, Her bosom resting against his arm. The women whispered in his ear: “She will be alright thanks to you.”  Dion tilted his head to look at the women. He could do little but nod in understanding and close his eyes to rest more.

Time was lost to him. He did not know how many days he had been in the house. Each time he opened his eyes the young and elderly women had changed their dresses. He could only guess that days had passed but could not count or ask how many days. Rakshasi seemed to recover a little. She was still weak, but small progress was made. The fourth time Dion opened his eyes, he was allowed to stand up. with help of the blonde girl he retained his balance up on his feet. It was a strange feeling to walk again after so many days laying in a bed. With careful steps he made his way around the chamber, finally stopping next to Rakshasi. She was awake, her glance gazing over Dion. She had a hopeful look in her eyes next to the weakened one. Her hand moved a tiny bit. Her clawed hand spread out. Dion lifted his hand to meet it. He felt her hand weakly squeezing his hand. A small smile formed along Dion’s scaled jaws. The grip softened again as Rakshasi drifted into her slumber all.

With Rakshasi still weak and asleep Dion was left to wonder, They had told him it was all right for him to wander the town. The town’s people where all happy to have him around. His teeth got grip of another bite of well cooked pork. He ate for the sake of eating; not for his own need. The pork tasted neutral in his mouth. Even with the fatty juices squirting out of the meat and into his mouth to tickle his taste buds he could not enjoy the food. Two of the guards are sitting nearby; they looked distrusting to some of the newer merchants that came into town the next day. Dion wondered why he was allowed to move around even with the treat of the word that the town houses dragons spreads around. His own give looked over the plaza between the bites, looking at the humans buzzing around. Wives buying food for the evening, men chatting up with the merchants: telling tall tales. Occasionally a voice was raised loud enough for Dion to hear. “…I killed two of those dammed wolves the other day. These beast nearly ripped my arm off. Here just look…” the man uncovered his arm from the leather cloths to show some scars. Dion gave a small snort. They looked more like his wife clawed at him for being drunk.

A hand touched his shoulder. It has a strong grip. Dion’s eyes turned to meet the person to which the hand belonged to. Arryn looked at him with a warm friendly smile. She spoke just as friendly as she looked. “The eggs have been carried to the hall.” Dion gave a small nod in understanding, not wishing to talk. She took his silence an invitation to sit next to him. “How is Rakshasi doing? Recovering I assume” Dion answered with a low pitched growl. Not that he saw her as treat or anything but he wanted to be left alone to his own wandering. “Jaciv ui itrewicir versvesh” Arryn took a moment to understand what he was saying. His words where mingled and soft. “Pray to have fate Dion. We pray to the gods for her health” It made Dion want to explode, and explain how praying would not help, how there was no divinity. He knew it would not help Rakshasi though, so he dismissed the remark with barely contained anger. It was not even their fault that she was now injured to such an extreme point.

Dion opened his mouth to speak again, but he was interrupted by a shout. “Dragon! kill it!” it took
Dion off guard. He did not assume such hostility in the village. Then he realized who was shouting; the two knights who guarded the road had come into the village. The sound of sliding metal silenced the plaza. The villagers looked with angry glares at the knights. Dion bared his fangs almost in instinct. The Jarl at his side stood up in urgency. “You have no authority here”, she called out to the knights. “Do you suggest that you keep beasts safe in town?” The two knights walked with quick passes to Arryn. The tension on the plaza grew as the guards gathered around Arryn. “The only beast I see in my town are you. Get out of my city!” The knights thew an fierce glare at the Jarl. “The king will know of your betrayal!” They turned around and headed for the gates. But Arryn would have none of it. “Kill them” she whispered to the guards, who after the knights. They knights might be better equipped than the guards, but the numbers were overpowering. The first knight was throw against the ground, was the guards bashed up on the knight with mazes. The other of the two knights made his way. The coward left the other behind and ran to his horse to escape the town. “Get him, you fools!” Arryn shouted at the guards who were still bashing away at the skull of the tackled knight. Blood ran over the street, making the dirt slippery: Too slippery for the guards, who fell face down into the blood soaked dirt. After the knight ran to the gates of the village. Outside his horse was bound to a tree. The guards near the gate saw the struggle, they tried to close the gate doors in time and hold the knight trapped back. The guards in the bloody mud had freed themselves, they ran as fast as they could after the knight. With a loud noise the gates slit closed, the knight on the inside. Quickly he was overran by guards. They threw him against the ground to secure him. Opposite to the others, the knight did not resist. Maybe he was hoping that he would not be killed. Maybe he was hoping for a quick death. Whatever the reason it would save the lifes. The plate armour of the knight was ripped from his body by the guards. He was helpless against the masses of guards and villages. They yelled at him in angry voices. For Dion the image before his eyes was surreal as the guards dragged the knight to him.  Arryn looked with much displeasure at the nearly naked knight. Her voice was filled with a disgusted tone: “Judgement is up to you, Dion”