Zalan felt many things happen at once that he didn’t fully understand. The first was the new sensations running through his body. He felt strangely relieved and realized that the claw was no longer holding him down. He was free from Hatewing’s grip and had more than enough strength to stand up. He hopped up as fast as he could to escape from the dragon before it put its arm back down. As he ran, he grabbed one of the swords that he used to attack Hatewing earlier, it having fallen away from him when he crashed into the stone floor.
The second thing he noticed was the distinct lack of ice engulfing Rep. Zalan was certain that his friend would be frozen by now, but instead Hatewing had targeted the ceiling for some reason. Hatewing had decided to deliver a combination between an attack and an odd roar. Shards of ice fell from above him and Zalan shielded himself as best he could, taking a few light cuts in his arms. He was surprised by how little his arm hurt, when he was pretty sure it was broken only moments ago. Now it only felt very sore, like he needed to give it some rest and it would be fine.
The floor was littered with dead Roaches, none of them still standing after the sudden explosion of power emanating from Zalan. He was originally rushing toward Rep to help him escape the dragon’s next attack, but a deep squeal came from the dragon and he couldn’t help but see what was happening. When Zalan turned, his eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped.
Hatewing was missing an arm, part of its jaw, and half a wing. The same arm that had been holding Zalan down had been obliterated, revealing a fleshy red interior to the otherwise black and purple scales on Hatewing’s hide. Its head was swinging around in pain as it cried out with its unnerving sounds. Zalan stared in amazement as he realized the bizarre roars he was hearing was Hatewing experiencing pain. Zalan struggled to pull his attention away from the scene, but he soon overcame his astonishment and turned to assist Rep to his feet.
“What happened?” Zalan asked him as they both stared at the Elemental Dragon.
“You happened,” Rep said, surprised that Zalan hadn’t already picked up on it. “You gained a Level.”
Zalan’s eyes went even wider. He was told by Fran and Gorb that gaining a Level at close proximity could be enough to kill a Giant Gargoyle, but he never expected that it would do this to a dragon. How did he even gain a Level when he was pinned down? The answer revealed itself at his feet. In killing the series of Roaches, Zalan had gained enough Experience to go up a Level. He hadn’t even meant to do that. If he realized he could, he would have done it much sooner.
He could have saved Fran.
Suddenly, Hatewing let out a new, sharp cry. A golden arrow was protruding from its exposed flesh. Yelsa was making her way across the room, tears freshly brushed from her cheeks and a determination in her eyes.
“We can hurt it now,” she announced confidently, firing another arrow into what little remained of Hatewing’s arm.
“Kill it!” Gorb demanded vociferously. “Show it all the mercy it showed Fran!”
Zalan threw a bolt of lightning at the exposed part of the dragon’s jaw and got a slight exhilaration at seeing the Elemental Dragon squirm in pain. He could hurt this thing! He threw more lightning as Yelsa increased her firing of arrows. Even Rep was able to blast fire far enough to do a slight amount of damage, but it did the least damage of all.
Hatewing’s menacing aura had disappeared. It no longer commanded the treasure chamber. Instead, it now looked like a terrified creature inching itself away from the incoming travelers. It tried to open its wings and escape, but with only half a wing it couldn’t even get a good enough flap to lift its body anymore. Its eyes weren’t spinning with intent to attack, and the party took it as a good sign to continue their onslaught to the open wounds.
“Get me in closer,” Gorb asked Zalan. “Please.”
Zalan wanted to ask why he would want to get closer. Gorb had the least energy of any of them. But Zalan decided not to slow down Gorb when he was in such a sorrowful state. Rep nodded to Zalan to allow him to go to Gorb. Rep knelt down in place, unable to stand on his own.
Zalan reached out a hand and Gorb pulled himself up, putting almost all of his weight on Zalan. Zalan strained under his large companion, but did his best to move them toward the dragon. He didn’t think he would be able to hold Gorb up at all, but his gaining a Level must have given him just enough Strength to support.
“Keep firing at it, do not let up,” Gorb said.
“Kind of difficult with you on my back,” Zalan muttered.
“Please,” Gorb begged. “Yelsa, we can strike it together.”
Zalan grunted and did his best to join Yelsa in her continued assault against the creature. Hatewing was backed against the wall, slamming into it and causing it to shake. It made low, quick roars at the travelers sounding somewhat like barks. It was trying to get them to back off.
The damage they were doing to Hatewing was rather minimal. Though they had the monster backed into a corner, Zalan couldn’t imagine how they could kill the creature with all these little pot-shots. Against any other creature they may have stood a chance, but the Elemental Dragon was only showing that it was in pain, not anywhere near death throes.
“Are we sure we should get this close?” Zalan asked.
Gorb, Zalan, and Yelsa were within striking distance of its claws now. All it had to do was lean forward and slam them once and they would all be dead. But Hatewing continued to smack its tail and body against the wall behind it, trying to flee the pain.
“I suspect this is the first time anyone has ever damaged it,” Yelsa said, firing another arrow. “It has never felt pain before. It does not know how to react.”
“Perhaps we can also show it what death feels like,” Gorb said intensely.
The dragon’s eyes finally went from fearful to a panicked spin, cycling between its multiple colors. It held a new anger in its face, but its body still tried to escape the situation.
“It’s choosing an Elemental attack,” Zalan warned. “We should back off.”
“Perhaps we can stop its attack if we do not give it time to breathe,” Yelsa said with a confidence that surprised Zalan.
“I thought the same thing,” Gorb agreed.
Zalan still felt a little nervous about moving forward, uncertain as to how much weight he should be putting behind their confidence, but felt like Yelsa would definitely back down if she thought she was in real danger. The three continued, Hatewing roaring all the while. Rep remained behind, too weak to keep up with their pace. Nonetheless, he dragged himself forward, determined to not be left totally behind.
“Two arrows left,” Yelsa communicated.
“Save one,” Gorb instructed.
Hatewing’s eye color landed on orange. Fire. It immediately began breathing in deeply. Yelsa fired an arrow at its wounded wing and the breathing faltered, but didn’t stop. Zalan threw some lightning at its jaw, but it shifted its face to block the attack with its protected side and continued breathing.
“Guys?” Zalan asked nervously.
“Keep moving,” Gorb said, his face defined by revenge.
“It’s going to kill you!” Rep called in fear. “Hide behind something! We can kill it over time!”
“A few more steps,” Yelsa assured him. Evidently, Gorb and Yelsa were on the same page about something.
Zalan picked up his pace, looking up as the dragon stared them down. It could even smack them with its massive head now, pancaking them all. Zalan realized this thing must never have seen battle before. It could deal with all of its fights from a distance before and never learned the use of its sizable claws and body as legitimate deadly weapons.
Hatewing shifted from nervous to confident as it neared the end of the preparation for its attack. Yelsa drew her bow and aimed at the wound in the dragon’s jaw. Zalan looked at the dragon and archer nervously.
“Tell me when,” Yelsa said to Gorb.
Gorb breathed in deep and stopped at the same time Hatewing stopped inhaling. The room was silent for a pregnant pause. Zalan could hear his heart pounding loudly within him. The dragon began to open its mouth and Zalan leaned away, facing the mouth of death with fear.
Fire sprouted from the dragon’s mouth, aimed straight at the trio. Rep tried his best to redirect it, but could barely shift the embers that rained down. His efforts would only be enough to delay their deaths with the sheer volume of flame at the tongue of the dragon.
“Now!” Gorb shouted.
Yelsa unleashed the arrow, and Zalan was surprised to find how fast it flew in the air. There wasn’t an ounce of resistance as it cut through the air, assisted greatly by Gorb’s last desperate application of his Elemental Wind. Gorb used so much of his remaining power that he no longer held himself up at all and he and Zalan fell down under his weight.
The arrow drove quickly through the underside of the exposed flesh beneath the dragon’s jaw. Without any armored hide on the creature’s exterior, there was nothing to prevent it from burrowing deep into the creature. It went straight for the brain.
The fire that was being emitted by the dragon stopped, but the fire that had already reached them burned them greatly. Zalan, Yelsa, and Gorb were filled with maddening pain, but kept their focus on the dragon above them. As much as pain blinded them, they wanted to see what the abrupt stop to Hatewing’s attack indicated.
Rep, Zalan, Gorb and Yelsa all began to glow a low, dim, white. Zalan looked at his glowing arms, stunned.
“Did we just…” Zalan asked, amazed.
“We did it,” Gorb said, looking skyward with a tear rolling down his face as the four of them reached the zenith of the brightness, collectively gaining a Level for killing an Elemental Dragon.
