In a vast, nearly empty desert with not a hint of civilization in sight. One can barely make out the silhouette of mountains over the horizon.
“Drive faster Anton, we’re already late!” Cor yelled, shaking Anton.
“Sir, stop shaking me before I tell you to drive yourself there. And whose fault do you think it is for stopping on the way to get lunch?” Anton calmly responded. His foot on the mana pedal caused the car to go speeding through a dirt road in the middle of a near barren desert. Then in the distance, they saw a figure riding a monitor lizard blocking the road. Slowing down as they approached, they prepared to fight in case this was some new type of banditry. They got out of the car and stood in front of the figure.
“Halt! You cannot pass this region for a limited period, unless you are the contestant Cor.” The man dressed in loose, white clothing told them.
“That’s me,” said Cor, raising his hand.
“A child? Hmm, your lord must be a very cruel man to send you out here to fight for him. I have confirmed your entry, so you can enter. Your companion must stay here though.”
“Hmm, sure thanks!” he got ready to walk forwards, but sent out a quick mana pulse. He then turned around and ordered, “Anton give me the car.”
“How will I get back sir?”
“Go with him,” Cor said jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the lizard rider.
“I’m not taking him.” The lizard rider shouted.
“Shut up and take him,” Cor said tossing a gold coin at the man. “Or would you like to see what it looks like two feet under?.”
“Yessir.” He promptly responded, worried about offending such a rich person.
“Now go with him, Anton.” Anton sighed as he walked over to the lizard rider. Cor took the car and continued driving.
***
A car rolled to a stop to another section of the vast desert, where a green-haired girl was sitting next to a cactus.
“Scuse me miss but are you sure that this is a good area to be in? I’m supposed to have a battle with some bad guy here and I’m not sure if you’ll be hurt?” Cor asked politely, stepping out of the car to check if the girl needed any help
“Why do you care if I’m hurt? It’s people like you who ruin the environment.” The girl responded harshly. “People who don’t care anything about plants and animals and only ‘progress’” She stood up. “Did you say you were here for a battle? Then I suppose I am this 'bad guy' you’re looking for.”
“Hmm. So I guess you’re my opponent then. According to the rules of Draconian Chivalry, I have to state my name before a battle. The name is Cor,” he pulls out a small pamphlet from his coat pocket, “and I would like to preach to you the reasons to not be a bad guy and join the good-” He suddenly ducks left as spines of cactus pass over where his head, heart, throat would’ve been.
“Shut up. You’re annoying. My name is Thorn. Let’s get this fight over with.”
“What the heck? What is wrong with you? You’re supposed to let the good guy finish his speech before attacking.”
“That’s the problem. You, humans, think you’re always in the right and are the good guys. You never think about all the other life around you!”
“Uhhhhhh,” Cor was unable to respond as he knew she was right. “Well, plants don’t have feelings so it doesn’t matter.” Suddenly, a barrage of thorns flew at where he was standing, but the car behind him split into its smaller components and intercepted the thorns as they flew forward to protect Cor. “Why are you so mad? It’s a fact. Plants have no souls, thus they can’t feel.”
“SHUT UP! You don’t know how wrong you are. What do you mean they have no soul! We dryads are the accumulation of them.” Thorn responded, upset at his speech.
She was planning on a way to beat him quickly and efficiently. They both stood still looking at each other and preparing for what was to come next. A moment later, vines shot out from behind Cor, grabbing his wrists. At the same moment, a tree erupted from the sand, heading at full force towards his chest. The leafy branches blocked the view of Cor for a second and seeing no response she let out a sigh, letting loose the frustration due to what the idiotic brat had said.
Well, he should be dead now. If that’s the best the saints have, returning to my spirit form will be a cakewalk. No more of this damned human body. She turned around, ready to walk back to the small home she was living in before she heard a voice.
“Well I gave you a shot, so it’s my turn now.” Cor stood next to the tree, with the vines still on his wrists, but ripped out from the ground.
“How did you dodge that?”
“I jumped back! Now go forth, Providence Blade.” Blades of light formed into the shape of hilted swords and flew forward. Thorn crouched and put her hand to the sand, causing a thorn wall to rapidly grow in front of her. “Draco Punch,” Cor yelled, jumping forward. His fist managed to break through the wall but was stopped by another.
“Enclose him,” Thorn said as the doubled-layer of brambles began to encircle Cor’s body. But before they could cover the top, a metal dragon soared through them into the air. He hovered above gazing at the woman below. “So you’re a dragon? No wonder you got out of those vines.”
Cor bellows in response. He drops to the ground, and his chest area begins lighting up. Thorn knows of the fearsome dragon breath and thus while Cor charges up, sets up wall after wall of various plants. Cor released the breath, a stream of molten magma burning holes through the walls Thorn had put up. But Thorn was nowhere to be found. Cor searched around and saw her floating in the sky, eyes closed and chanting.
He flapped his wings, giving him the thrust to lift himself off the ground, and flew towards the hovering Thorn. But before he can reach, vines burst out of the ground, grabbing his wings and pulling him back, smashing him into the burning sands. Thorn continued to chant as more vines tied up the struggling dragon. Suddenly a white light covered the area as Cor transformed back into a child. He slipped through the vines and began to run forwards, towards the dryad, as pillars of sand rose to the ground, allowing for him to step on them, bringing him higher into the sky. Finally, a large pillar rose, which he stopped on, at the same height as Thorn.
“So you can use earth magic too?” Thorn asked the approaching Cor.
“Yup. I can use every magic. Back in my not-so-glory days, I ate a few archmages.”
“You ate archmages?!?!” Although Thorn had never come across one, she knew that these were powerful mortals, and from what she heard from the other dryads, the weakest were powerful enough to compete with household deities, who were higher on the divine ladder than dryads. She felt slightly distressed looking at the transformed metal dragon standing in front of her.
I’m afraid? Am I a cactus dryad who survived the harshest of suns, lived for hundreds of years, feared by mortals, afraid of a dragon? She felt a surge of rage towards Cor and began chanting once more.
“You can’t damage me, you know. Steel and dragon both resist grass so I’m impenetrable,” Cor said cockily. Having experienced Thorn’s skills, he was assured of his victory and stood, waiting for the attack. Suddenly his instincts told him to jump off the pillar, which he did, dropping like a rock into the sand. Another white light filled the area, but unlike before, it wasn’t from Cor. From the sky a ray of death fell, and where the sand pillar had been, lay a pillar of burning glass.
“I take it back, I’m sorry!” He yelled hoping that there wasn’t another. He was sure he could survive it but he didn’t like hot temperatures.
“What, you’re scared now? You realized the gap in power between us?” Thorn responded sarcastically but panting from the attack. Her tone still showed clear anger at the dragon.
“No, I just dislike hot thi-wait, I have an idea!” This random exclamation surprised Thorn who immediately went on guard. Unlike before when he yelled the names of his attacks, Cor quietly began to chant. Thorn could hear offhand words like “hell” and “midnight” but didn’t get what he was saying, but still began preparing for the attack that was coming.
“Now go! Blood Crimson Inferno! Followed up with Mercury Lance and Negative Barrage.” A swirling fire circle began surrounding the ground below Thorn as it began to rise into the sky, towards the floating figure. In the meantime, metal poured from Cor’s arms forming a long lance and small black spheres began surrounding him as well. Once the lance was completed, and over 30 spheres formed, they shot forward leaving a trail of silver and black, towards the inferno where Thorn was last seen. When they passed through Cor stopped the inferno and hoped that he hadn’t killed her. The negative spheres just disabled limbs for a short time, but if he hit something important with the mercury lance, that may be bad. But to his shock stood the dryad in a flaming dress where the center of the inferno used to be.
“Are you okay!?!? You’re on fire!” Cor asked clearly confused and worried about breaking his no-killing policy with the dryad.
“I’ve been through harsher. You think that fire would really kill me?”
“Yes?”
“DAMN IT. YOU’RE SO ANNOYING!” She patted the flames off herself, and luckily the dress was fine, except for a few slightly burned areas.
“Yes, I am!” He said unfazed. It was his greatest quality after all, and after hearing Anton say it every day, he didn’t care anymore. Thorn grunted in frustration and released wave after wave of thorns, who intercepted them once more with the car pieces swirling around him until they were surrounded by wood and unusable. But by that time Cor was already done with the cooldown as white light blinded the area for the third time. And the metal dragon rose once more, unrestricted.
Thorn once began chanting as the words for solar beam came out. At the same time, Cor’s body began glowing red hot as he hovered in the air. At nearly the same time, two beams launched, one white while the other red, hitting each other in the middle of the air. The magma blast had the advantage, pushing the white one back. Thorn let out a shout as she poured all her energy and the white one then began pushing back. Almost when it finally reached the dragon, the beam fizzled out as the dryad collapsed.
Cor landed on the ground looking at the fainted dryad before turning back into a human.
“One win in the bag!” He said, pumping his fist. Although the battle was less than twenty minutes and he enjoyed it, he felt lethargic. He looked around at the desert full of scars from the battle including random igneous rocks, scorched sand, and a stairway of sand with dead plants and random metal pieces strewn about everywhere. He also remembered the car he had brought was included in those. “Looks like I have to fly me and Anton home tonight. Sigh, let’s wait till the cooldown ends. Ah before I go!”
***
In the distance are two men slumped next to a giant lizard, playing cards. Both of them didn’t question the random bursts of light and fire, or the metal dragon flying around. Sounds of the battle, as well as random roaring and shouting, could be heard.
“So your master was a dragon?” Asked the lizard rider. It couldn’t be the woman from earlier as she had stated she was a dryad, so it had to be the young nobleman. That would explain his young face and abundance of wealth.
“More like pseudo-dragon. The only part of him that’s a full dragon is his greed. Do you have a 4?”
“Go fish. You like him as a boss?”
“He’s decent. But it’s not like I want a better job. He helped me once so I’m repaying it. How about you? You like the warlord you’re under?”
“Definitely not. The guy is too greedy. Gotta make sure he never sees my wife or else he’s going to take her then cut my tongue out. Got a 6?”
“Yeah. Well, hope you stay safe. If you ever need a job, come looking for us at der rand der Erde.”
“A place?”
“A clue.”
But before they could finish the game a metal dragon touched down and let out a roar.
“It was nice meeting you. Hope to see you soon.” Anton said, picking up the cards.
“Wait, aren't we going to finish the game?”
“Sorry, can’t do. He’s my flight home and if he leaves without me, I’ve got to walk.”
“Ahh, I see. Then may the stars guide your path until our fates cross again.” The rider said as Anton climbed on the dragon. With a short wave before Cor lifted off again, he parted with the rider.
“Sir, did you have to destroy the car? Where will we get another one now?” He asked Cor, reprimanding him.
***
It was night, with a beautiful full moon, a gentle light illuminated the sands, basking them in a pearly glow. In the desert woke Thorn from her nap. She felt thirsty and angry, pissed off by the annoying little dragon. They were always so full of themselves. She pushed herself off the ground, standing up, and notice the damage done to the area.
“Luckily there were no plants or wildlife that could’ve been caught up in the fight.”
She stood up and began the long walk home. She could ask some cactuses she sensed in the distance for some water and could sense an oasis a bit further that had fruit bearing trees. She hobbled along, mainly from her exhausted body from burning up all of her energy. Suddenly she tripped and landed face first into the sand.
“Owwww... What the hell? She looked back and noticed she tripped on a small plate. But there was an entire circle of these silverish plates. Under the moonlight text could be seen that read Join the good guys. Why being a bad guy is outdated. Under were some smaller unreadable lines.
“YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU DAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN DRAAAAAAAAGOOOOOOOOOOOON!”
The desert had experienced one of its first ever intense earthquakes that day.
