Arrows whizzed past us. With not much cover on our side, the villagers could only hope that their shields would catch the arrows, rather than their bodies. Eidechse and Thet were in a better situation. Eidechse stood in the centre of the battleline. The arrows hit, but bounced off harmlessly. Thet had made great use of the little bit of cover that was available to us. She hid for a moment while the fighting had begun. Trying to be forgotten so she could sneak up behind. With no shield of my own, I took to the sky again. The arrows whizzed past me, but didn’t hit their mark. Still, it did a good job of keeping me at bay and making my own accuracy just as laughable as theirs.

 

I was trying to spot their leader, who I figured out was Randy. I wanted revenge. I had come to accept my new life in this world. My anger had subsided months ago. Yet, seeing him still taunt me. Seeing him enjoy my suffering. I had to kill him. I took a good look at the battlefield to try and find something usable. Thet was no longer at the spot I’d last seen her. She had completely disappeared. Vyth, meanwhile, had led a small force over the river going in an arc to avoid direct arrow fire. As I watched him closely, I saw a glint of steel in the bushes and a crooked smile. It took immense patience to not just swoop down carelessly and stab him. I fired off another icy ray more to warn than to hit Randy. It worked. Vyth took notice and jumped him. The two clashed blades. Randy might’ve been bigger, but it was clear he was outmatched. It took all the effort he could muster just to block Vyth’s strikes. He got pushed back against a tree, and right as Vyth was about to break through his defences, the bastard slipped away and disappeared into the greenery once again.

 

Eidechse fired off bolts of blinding light into the treeline in front of him and slayed a multitude of the archers. As his bolts went off, a shield wall slowly made its way across the river. Watching that made me irk for some reason. Then I remembered that large lizard-like monster that had been sitting on a rock here. I couldn’t see it now, though. And the line of townsfolk crossed without issue. It was luck that it wasn’t lurking around. But it’d be even better if it was at the right time, I thought to myself. I flew out of the effective range of the archers before flying down and making my way to Eidechse.

 

“Keep the rest of the townsfolk out of the river”, I asked him in Draconic.

 

“And leave those already across alone?”, he responded.

 

“I only need them out for a little while. I’m luring the monster here”.

 

“Wait, what monster?!”.

“Vyth! Find the bastard and get him in the river!”

 

“Got it!”, he responded.

 

I quickly took off and flew to the right. The river didn’t last much longer on the left, so it was my best bet. Only ten minutes, though the pressure I felt made each minute feel like a dagger. I found it leisurely swimming in the opposite direction. It quickly took notice of me and gave me this awful look. Almost as if it was giving me a sadistic grin. Ignoring it, I flew lower towards it. I made sure to stay out of range, but still look like a tasty snack.

 

At least, that was the plan. The creature’s long tail lashed out towards me and made a large, yet shallow cut across my chest. It let out a sadistic little giggle, making me question whether it was sapient. It gave me the creeps, but if it was, that could help me out.

 

I made sure to stay even further away from it as I circled it, firing off icy rays. It only took two or three shots, before it jumped back into the water and disappeared. Still, I didn’t want to get too close. I continued firing, hoping to provoke a reaction, but to no avail. The blood loss was slowly starting to get bad as well. So I took a risk and dived a bit closer, going towards the still ongoing battle upstream. Just as I had feared and hoped, a long tail lashed out of the water and nearly clipped my right wing. I jerked back just in time but almost smashed head first into a tree in the process. Turning my wings vertical and grabbing onto the trunk, I avoided that catastrophe, only for the creature to whip its tail back around. I pushed myself back off the trunk, but it still managed to make another cut across my back and tail. It stung like a knife, yet kept up the pain like a papercut. I had never felt such pain before. Even my previous death had at least been mercifully quick. Yet, adrenaline kept me going. The battle still raged on and I had to end it. Even more motivating was the vengeance I wanted.

 

We weren’t that far from the ongoing battle. I could kind of hear the general chaos of it and the muffled shouting of commands by Eidechse. So, I gathered my courage and swooped back low to taunt it into following me. It’s tail swept back towards me at great speed. It missed, but the sound of it cracking the wind wasn’t any less comforting. Still, my plan was working somewhat. As I flew away from it and towards the battle, it slowly followed. It wanted to pursue, but it was cautious. The intelligent look in its eyes creeped me out. It was seeing if I was worth the effort. Weighing having to move against the pleasure it would get from tearing me apart.

 

I wasn’t about to leave it to its whim, however. The moment I was out of reach of its whip-like tail, I turned around and sent an icy ray its way. I didn’t even wait to see if it hit. That wasn’t the point. I just wanted it angry. Too angry to weigh its options. As I advanced towards the battlefield, I’d turn around and send another ray. It was working. The creature was following me with far more gusto than before. Once I arrived I slowed down to climb up out of reach of any stray arrows. A few did indeed come my way but fell short. I switched targets and began spamming the ice rays towards the Goblin army, if you could call it that, in the hopes that the creature could close in unnoticed. I never hit, however. Something in me didn’t want to. From this height I could see the entire battle and something in me cracked. It reminded me of the battle for my nest. Except, we were now the big guys. The ones demolishing the smaller, weaker race. The fact that they started it didn’t even matter to me anymore. The fear in their eyes and their constant glances towards where their leader probably was, was enough to tell me everything. They didn’t want this. They were likely bullied into it.

 

That got me thinking, though. My original idea was for the monster to start tearing into their ranks and scare off the rest. But what if I made sure it got Randy first? If he died, the other might stop. Or I could convince them to do so. I called out for Vyth and dived toward the response. Both he and Randy got separated from the main battlefield. Both were covered in wounds. It seemed they were on an equal level, though with different strengths and weaknesses. Their fight had become sluggish as well. They were too exhausted to continue, yet couldn’t just stop. I swooped towards Randy to grab him. But he suddenly seemed to get a boost and back off as quick as he was before. His sword swung down as he jumped back, cutting into my left arm. Nothing too deep, but yet another wound to slowly bleed me out. I had already begun to feel light headed. I knew I couldn’t take much more. I needed to be patched up soon or this would end with me six feet under.

 

I landed near them and fired off another ray. Predictably, Randy dodged it by dashing behind a tree. But he was not my true target. The ray splashed into the water. Vyth started to run to him, as the loyal brother he has always been. It didn't matter to him how hurt he was if someone was fighting me. Still, his interference might ruin the plan.

 

“Leave!”, I shouted at him.

 

“What?! No-”.

 

“Just trust me!”.

 

Vyth hesitated. We locked eyes for a moment and I think that’s when he conceded. He didn’t know what I was planning, just that I had a plan. And he trusted it would work. More so than I did. He started to jog towards our battleline. Seeing him like that made me feel terrible. I had left my little brother to fight this maniac all by himself while I went to fuck around with an overgrown lizard. Then again, I knew he could handle him. That’s just how strong Vyth is.

 

I kept my eyes on the trees around him, ready to fire a shot in case Randy wanted one last lick in. But he never tried it. I was vaguely aware of the slight rustle of the forest undergrowth being walked on. First on my left, then on my right. He was circling me.

 

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this. Hehehehehe”, he said in English, “I know who you are. But that’s hardly a surprise to you, isn’t it?”.

 

“Looks like you’ve only become more of a greasy bastard”, I said, “What happened after you killed me? Did you finally end your own miserable life out of guilt?”.

 

“End my own life?! You’re the reason I died! You’re the fucking reason I’m stuck in the shithole!”.

 

“Oh, really? Guess I managed to do the world some good before I left it. How did I do it exactly?”

 

“Shut up! I’m going to rip your guts out and strangle you with them! I will shatter your kneecaps and stab your eyes with the pieces!”

 

“What happened with all the funny talk and the git stuff?”.

 

At this comment he finally snapped and lunged at me. I jumped up and shot him with an icy ray. He took it quite well, but I could see his skin getting a bluish hue and ice crystals forming. He lunged at me again like a mad man. Screaming: “It’s all because of you, you stinkin’ cockbag! You’re the reason I’m here!” His movements got slower and slower with each hit. Yet, he kept going. It was like he was possessed. He had seemed on the brink of death earlier, so what changed?

 

As we kept up this little dance, I started to back towards the river. I dared to glance back once when we were halfway there. Which is when he threw a sharp dagger at me. It cut into the top of my left shoulder, nearly severing a tendon.

 

“What now? Are you going to cry for help? You’re not going anywhere until I’ve ripped you to shreds and fed you to my lads!”

 

The cut hurt, but at least it told me I was having an effect. He would’ve killed me otherwise. His constant yammering also gave me an idea of how to get him where I wanted him. I began purposefully missing my shots just barely. I wanted him to retreat behind the trees, which is exactly what he did. I started to make a run for it, throwing back an acidic spray every now and then so he’d keep enough distance. He started to run faster and faster. Darting from tree to tree, avoiding all that I threw at him and throwing his last few remaining knives my way. None hit, luckily. The acid stopped their momentum.

 

As we got close to the river, I unfurled my wings in a blatant attempt at flight. I wanted him ready. Once at the edge, I jumped up into the air faster than he anticipated. He lunged forward like a charging bull. Exactly as I thought he would. His knife barely grazed the sole of my shoe, before he plunged into the water. I saw him crawl out of it, before a familiar slender tail wrapped itself around his ankle. A last cry of “What the fu-”, before he was dragged under again. I rushed to the main battle a mere few feet away now and called out to the Goblins.