Too many balls in the air....

Whoever the newcomers are who have dared meddle in his game, he surely can take them out.

But that proves to be harder said than done...

See, a human mage of sufficient skill can take on and beat a dragon mage. It would be a brutal and close run battle. I could even be fatal for both battle participants....if not from injuries received then perhaps from the drain put on the body from throwing around all that magic.

Like most dragons who've either have not had a hard lesson taught to them about the real capabilities of human beings (versus the preconceived notions) or have actually quietly studied these odd creatures and not let their egoes discount what their eyes have told them, this Minestus is in for a rude awakening.

Now, in Minestus' favor is the fact that as a Dragon Mage he has a vast store of spells and strength to call upon (i.e. magical and physical might). Therefore, he's not a pushover in either a mage battle or a physical battle (or any combination of the two).

That said, this dragon has some rather large strikes against him in this battle. First is the fact that he's facing multiple fighters and mages who are familiar with how to fight dragons (either because of their life calling or because of having been tutored by dragons in the magical arts). Second, there is the unexpected twist of him having to keep making an effort of keeping the dragoness that's suddenly shown more animation that she should....unconscious! After having heard the female scream and show independent thought, Minestus had figured that he didn't want to face a two way war between the humans AND this dragonness so had made the mental command for her to sleep....only..... Only thing was that like most Thessamers (of whatever age) this female dragon is rather....strong willed and as such keeps on beginning to wake up whenever Minestus tries to concentrate fully on this battle!

Finally, these puny humans keep shouting out his name....and that's playing Hob on his concentration. He can't cast spells and keep the female dragon asleep, so he has to rely on his claws, wings and striking tail to battle this vermin!

Which....proves to be even harder than it sounds....because the mages seem to be of the mind of having their spells pick up various items (discarded shields....large boulders....whatnot) and throw it at him.....quiet painfully. That and quiet effectively, considering he'd expected things such as fireballs and lightning bolts....and had worn counter-charms for such contingencies.

Having been taught by dragons had it's advantages, Jarlath and Andrea had said on more than one occasion.

It's not fair! Minestus shouts to himself, furious.

Then again, it never pays to have too many balls in the air, as what Minestus had been doing in thinking he could do all he'd been doing and win this battle. Dragon arrogance and ingorance strikes again!

Also, after all Fred and Thessamer have been through they don't feel like giving Minestus anything like a fair fight. They wanted him dead! Slow and painful would be nice, but they were realistic and figured that if it was to be done, it was to be done quickly!

Prolonged fights meant more chances of injury and death for more and more people, if you get my meaning. Ferd and Thessamer didn't want to see their new family get hurt!

They had gone through so much for them....and going through even more in this quest for justice....they just couldn't forgive themselves if their new family should get injuried on top of everything else.

Gods! They barely could handle their own personal problems right now!! Without each other....they both would have broken under the strain of it all!

Clang!

Bang

Oomph!!

Thrip!!!

Thrip!!!

Thrip!!!

The last sound makes the Dragon Mage blink....or at least he tries to. They had been made by strange objects that the fighter types had been holding instead of the more traditional sword and shield.. Whatever had shot out of them hadn't seemed to have done any....physical damage. Just a flash of intense pain...and it then went numb....almost like that area had gone asleep.

He figures with an effort of will overcome this new complication.<P.

It takes more of an effort than he figured....and parts of his body have gone numb! In fact, he finds himself collapsing.

See, the adventurers, in the course of things, have not as of yet turned over some of their more interesting weapons back to the Voyager crew. What with happenings of a similar nature like Tiamat with Babylon and other things of that nature on Nantucket Earth, it's understandable why the Star Fleeters are somewhat put out of sorts. Enough to overlook still borrowed equipment. With an evil dragon needing to be put down, it was a perfect opportunity. One which they took.

And thus multiple phasors set on kill make an effective means of temporarily stunning a full grown wyrm! That is, if done enough times!!

Thrip!!!

Thrip!!!

Thrip!!!

"No." Minestus whispers, collapsing into a heap on the ground.

Now, what happens next is due to the fact that Jarlath and Andrea are still unaware of the special nature (the adventurers had taunting Minestus, not aware of it's real effect on the dragon).

A spell to put Minestus merely out is cast. It was only to merely keep the now downed dragon unconscious by effecting certain key points in the dragon mage's mind. Jarlath casts the spell, incorporating Minestus' name to make it just that much more effective. Once done, Jarlath would then have given over to both Fred and Thessamer...letting them deliver the killing blow (and then figure out what to do about this other strange dragon). Instead.....

Andrea's fox ears and tail stand up in surprise as she sees through one of her mage vision (automatically active during spell casting).....

Jarlath.....you just lobotomised Minestus! she says to Jarlath, surprised.

"The magic level of that spell shouldn't have been able to do that to Minestus!" Jaralth nearly shouts, looking down at the demifox lass. "I was just going to put him out!"

"Maybe you should try again." Fred says, pointing to one of the ears on Minestus that had twitched at the mere mention of it's owner's name.

"Fred....I had the strangest dream," the female dragon mutters, shaking her head and awakening (again).

The male dragon's eyes crack open at that name and his head moves a bit in the direction of the others voice.

1. It then grows wide as the male dragon looks into the female dragon's eyes.....

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