Chapter 43: Clash Of Fangs and Flame[1]
The smell of bound filled the air, the snow beneath their feet was now red looking as if it was never white.
Corpses lay on the ground, lions, tigers, wolves and even dragons. The clash had been a brutal one. As the armies met limbs, heads and torsos flung in the air.
Death came for everyone, it did not discriminate between right or wrong, good or evil. It just took without mercy.
Xior blocked one dragon and looked around him, it was worse than he had thought. Becca, Kayla and Alice commanded their groups with precision as they cut through the overwhelming forces of the dragons.
Not far away he saw Rheagor slaughtering the tribesmen alike, whoever dared to raise their weapons towards him were quickly ripped apart.
His eyes darted across the battlefield, the Dragon Tribe Chief sat on a high platform at the end of the Dragon army, he watched with a grin on his face as the dragons had started to overwhelm the others.
Xior ran towards Rheagor, with one swing of his blade he shot multiple wind blades which cut through the small fry easily.
Rheagor in front of him was about to rip a Rabbit’s heart out but Xior blocked his hand with his sword and stabbed Rheagor’s other arm with the knife he had.
Rheagor didn’t move at all, instead he took in a deep breath and shot fire towards Xior. He try to evade it but he couldn’t, the fire made an impact with his face as Rheagor threw the Rabbit away.
Xior’s arm glowed and a ice shard formed in his hand as he brought it closer to his burning face. It hurt a lot but he endured it, his skin, his eyes, everything burned.
As the fire was put out, Xior’s face was unrecognizable, his eyes were hollow and his cheek bones showing. Rheagor looked at him and laughed.
He thought he had defeated the commander of the opposition this easily but he was in for shock, Xior’s burned skin started healing. Flesh joined and healed as if two people held hands, his hollowed out eyes also came back.
"Did I shock you?" Xior asked as his face was finally restored.
"What are you? Not even my father have a regeneration that quick." Rheagor blurted out.
Xior looked at Rheagor his expression was unreadable, "nothing special, I’m just a human." He said as he charged towards Rheagor.
An arc of fire jumped onto Rheagor’s body as multiple ice spikes shot towards his chest. Scales covered his chest as the ice spikes shattered on impact and he put out the fire with a simple swing.
His body changed, his height increased as more scales covered his body, his wings got bigger and his eyes shited to those of a dragon. This was his hybrid state, his claws were now compete talon, sharp enough to rip most people to shreds.
Xior put his sword back and raised his fists towards Rheagor, Xior punched him full force but he pushed his wrist away and did the same only for Xior to also counter.
Both of them continue throwing punches, kicks and tackles but both dodged or blocked each strike.
Rheagor was in the true sense Xior’s equal but that was when he was in his hybrid form. Xior blocked a kick and ducked under a punch and swung his fist for an uppercut, Rheagor couldn’t defend so he looked at the fist travelling towards him.
Suddenly the fist got covered by ice as it made impact with Rheagor’s chin. Blood dripped down from his chin as he got up.
"I thought we were having a moment, huh?" Rheagor said as he wiped away his blood.
Xior shrugged as Rheagor chuckled, he was caught off guard by someone much younger and inexperienced then him.
Before he could charge towards Xior, Thrank tackled him away from Xior.
*****
On the other side of the mountain, through the snow a lone woman walked towards the base of the Dragon Tribe. She wore simple Wolf Tribe clothes and multiple tentacles which came out of her back covered her body like armor.
Beatrice was tasked to rescue Rain from the Dragon Tribe, as she reached the entrance she noticed that the guards left behind were few in number. From the distance they saw her then she was out of their sight.
Suddenly she appeared in front of them and grabbed both with her tentacles and snapped their necks.
Kayla had been teaching her basic things, speaking, reading, writing and even fighting and now she was showing what she had learned.
She quietly went inside and dispatched the other guards wandering around, now only four left who guarded a small building.
Probably the one where they kept Rain. She didn’t hesitate, she wanted to prove to Xior that she was useful and she didn’t wanted to be confined inside a room.
She blended with the shadows and yanked one of the guards by his foot and shot fire arrows towards the other three guards.
Then she threw the body of the first victim towards them and ran at them with her tentacles aiming for their necks.
She dispatched them quickly and opened the door to the building. Inside she saw a dimly lit room with Rain chained on the opposite wall still bleeding.
Upon hearing the door open with a creak he looked up and saw Beatrice, she quickly removed the chains and laid him down.
From her pockets she took out a healing potion and made him drink it. After five minutes his wounds started to heal. His strength returned as he sat against the wall.
"Well done, Beatrice. With this there wouldn’t be any issues in you joining the Dragon Guild." He said as he patted her head and got up.
"What is the situation with the Dragon Tribe, right now?" He asked.
Beatrice didn’t answer, she only looked outside towards the far end where the battle was happening.
Rain geared up with the things Beatrice brought for him and walked towards the battle, from a top the Dragon Tribe base he saw a massacre as everyone was fighting for survival. It was no ordinary clash, it was a clash of fang and flame.