They flung Lighting Bolts, Rays of Enfeeblement and their psionic powers at them. Argentarius felt his mind being pierced by dozens of psionic spikes. He stood his ground and fought a mental battle while his knights rushed the spawn of the aberrations, which were the former gnomes and now hideous monsters who attacked them before. As the battle raged on, he began to feel his willpower being drained by the mind flayers' relentless assault. He was only resistant from psychic powers, but not immune like his knights. "Stay strong, my children!" shouted Argentarius, his voice echoing through the cave. "We will not let these abominations take us down!" In contrast to his speech, he felt increasingly hopeless, by now almost ten of the tentacle monsters were hitting his mind with waves of psionic power. The moment he saw his knights being nearly overwhelmed by wave after wave of the aberrations, he snapped and tried on of his last trump cards.
He had thought about the possibility of emulating spells that he only had superficial knowledge of, with his sheer will power. As his new body used stamina to fuel his spells and no longer used spell slots, he concluded that it would be possible but very reckless and dangerous. Argentarius let out a mighty roar and took dragon form, his scales gleaming in the dim light. As Argentarius focused his thoughts, his massive amethyst form began to glow with a bright, pulsing light. The mind flayers recoiled, sensing the immense power emanating from the ancient dragon.
With a deafening roar, Argentarius unleashed the full force of his Psychic Scream, a Level 9 spell. The sound waves were so powerful that they shattered the minds of the surrounding mind flayers, causing them to collapse to the ground, writhing in agony. The massive presure obliterated the remaining aberrations and their thralls. The force of the blast sent the knights tumbling to the ground, their ears ringing and heads pounding. But the strain of casting such a powerful spell was too much for Argentarius. As the psychic energy ebbed away, he felt his consciousness slipping away as well.
As the smoke and dust cleared, they saw that Argentarius had collapsed onto the ground, his once-majestic form now frail and weakened. The strain of casting had literally sucked him dry. Arminius and Hou Yi rushed to their creator's side, fearing the worst. But as they drew closer, they saw that he was still alive, though barely. His scales were cracked and dull, his breathing shallow.
"Argentarius, can you hear us?" Arthur asked, his voice filled with concern. The ancient dragon opened his eyes, revealing a dim light that flickered within. "Yes...I can hear you," he rasped. "Can you move? We need to get you out of here," Hou Yi said, his voice trembling. Argentarius attempted to stand, but his legs gave out, and he collapsed again. "I fear, I am too weak to move," he admitted. We'll carry you," Arminius said firmly, lifting the dragon's head onto his shoulder.
The other two looked more sceptical at the giant body before them. "Can you transform, Father?" Argentarius had already lost consciousness and did not answer. "Well I hope we won't scratch him up." Arminius started pulling with determination, the other two picked up the torso and slowly made their way back towards the surface. The golems struggled to push Argentarius' massive dragon body through the narrow corridor.
His wings were scraped against the walls, and the scales on his back were being chipped away. Argentarius winced in pain in his sleep, as his body was forced through the tight space, his limbs splayed out in awkward angles. “Come on, push harder!" shouted one of the knights as he strained against the dragon's body. "I'm trying, but he's too big!" grunted another, his bronze muscles bulging as he pushed with all his might.
Argentarius let out a low growl of discomfort as he felt his body being compressed, the pressure on his ribcage making it difficult to breathe. His claws scraped against the stone floor, leaving deep gouges in the rock. Finally, with one last mighty shove, the knights managed to force Argentarius through the opening.
He emerged on the other side, his body heaving as he gasped for air. "That was close," Arthur said, his voice strained. "I don't think I could have taken much more of that." He shook his head. "Good thing he designed us after the Iron Golem and its immense strength, or we would have never made it." "How heavy is he anyway?" Hou Yi asked, now a bit less on edge. Arminius chuckled and said: "I bet he would either say something ridiculously low or brag about being as heavy as a mountain."
They all laughed, relaxing a bit. Arthur continued a bit more serious. "That was very close, why did he not just retreat without us? Are we not made to die for him?" Arminius shrugged. "He is emotional and stubborn, his old persona would not have taken on such an un-calculated risk in the first place." Hou Yi chimed in. "Yeah since he became a dragon, his temper really took a turn for the worse. Do you guys think he will be more careful after this?" They looked at each other and just sighed. "Well lets get him somewhere safe and then torch this god damn place."
They dragged the giant dragon along a dry streambed until they found a small hidden cave filled with water. After shoving Argentarius inside they separated, tried to get some food and were glad to discover fish living in the water, which soon after their arrival started to produce more of their kind.
