| 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. It 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.
|
