A Dragon's Tale Ch. 07

The champion didn't have time to move or dodge, so the spear point hit him directly over the heart. Ethan felt a rush of triumph... but it was short-lived. The Champion's chain mail stopped the thrust completely. Instead of skewering him alive, the Champion was merely knocked backwards by the force, though he rolled through his fall and came up with his sword and shield ready.

Ethan pressed the attack.

With his longer reach and incredibly fast spear tip, Ethan was able to keep the champion on the defensive. Every time the champion started an attack, Ethan would launch a fast and powerful lunge. Ethan even managed to hit the chain mail several times, but the tip just wouldn't penetrate it.

*Turn it around.* Alana said telepathically after Ethan failed the third time to penetrate the champion's chain mail.

*What?* Ethan asked.

*Your spear, turn it around.* Alana repeated. *I specifically picked the spike at the back to penetrate chainmail and had one of Lord Borden's armorers attach it. Use it.*

Ethan stopped attacking for a moment to flip his spear around. As it turns out, the champion was just waiting for such an opening. The champion charged in and began to rain sword blows on Ethan almost faster than he could keep up. Ethan blocked them with his spear and discovered that the shaft was almost impervious to cuts. The champion's blade barely nicked the wood.

Thank God for Alana's enchanting skills.

Ethan stayed on the defense and retreated away from the champion. The champion was so close that the length of Ethan's spear was actually a disadvantage because it was so long.

Ethan retreated far enough that they crossed over his hammer, which lay on the ground after hitting the champion's shield. Ethan waited until the hammer was several yards behind the champion and then called it to his hand. The hammer leapt off the ground and sped toward his hand, hitting the back of the champion's knee in the process. The champion stumbled forward, eventually dropping to one knee to catch himself. Ethan used the opportunity to leap backwards to create some distance.

Ethan felt something inside of him shift at the sight of the champion on his knees.

He was a dragon.

Dragons didn't fear any living creature.

He looked at the champion not as a threat but as prey; his prey. He was a pitiful creature to be stalked, hunted, maybe even toyed with; and then killed like the cattle he was. The dragon part of him wanted out. It wanted to play with this insect who had dared to cut his wing.

A curious kind of calm came over him.

He had spent nearly four weeks with little do but train; two weeks with Heinrich and two on the Argo with Serif. Despite his relative inexperience, he could hold his own against this champion. He could beat him.

Ethan felt a low growl escape his throat; a growl he didn't cause.

*Ethan, what's wrong?* Alana's voice came over their bond.

*Nothing.*

Nothing was actually wrong; he just had this primal urge to hunt. Like a starving man with a banquet suddenly before him, the urge called to him.

It called...

It would not be denied.

Worse, he didn't want to deny it.

* * *

Alana felt the change before she saw it. Ethan's emotions shifted slightly as The Dragon's influence exerted itself. It was a subtle thing, but there. His body language changed. He seemed calmer, more confident, and definitely more dangerous.

"He's gone full dragon hasn't he?" Rachel said from beside her.

"Not quite, but he's getting there." Alana nodded. They were both in chains near the edge of the arena. Soldiers guarded them on either side, but she wasn't paying attention to them.

"What happens if the dragon kills the champion?" she asked Rachel.

"Nothing will be able to save us from the Magistrate's wrath." Rachel replied. "The champion is his son."

"So even if we win, we lose." Alana grimaced.

Rachel nodded.

* * *

Beth had watched the entire fight with bated breath from the violet shades of the astral plane. Gabriella was right beside her, having not left her side since rescuing her from the tendril.

"What's happening?" Beth asked as the dark pulses from Ethan's shadowy halo began to surge in intensity.

"Do I really need to explain?" Gabriella replied.

Beth wasn't sure she needed to. The shadowy vines that stretched from the halo to his head grew noticeably thicker and burrowed themselves deeper into her husband's skull. They started to stretch beyond his skull too. Having gained purchase on his head, thin roots began creeping down onto his neck.

"Please, tell me how to help him." She begged her compatriot.

Gabriella looked genuinely sad as she replied. "I would like to, but I cannot."

"Why!"

"Most importantly, because my Lord said so. But also, if I intervene then Ethan will never meet a few allies he will need, including a delightful Fey. Without these allies, he won't survive the darkness that is to come."

"But--"

"Peace young one." The luminous woman said kindly and gently, but her voice carried such authority that Beth didn't even consider speaking. "It will all be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end."

* * *

The Dragon stood up to its full height and glared down its snout at the pathetic insect before him. He had plenty of mana, so he focused some of it on healing his wing. It didn't take long because the membrane was so thin that there wasn't much to heal. With that done, he took a moment to examine his prey.

He marveled at the difference between seeing while he had let the dragon out and while he kept his instincts bottled up. Every part of the world teemed with life. His eyesight hadn't changed at all, but he could see so much more. The world looked exactly the same, yet completely different.

The champion that had once looked like an armored juggernaut now looked more like a child swinging a toy. Ethan saw everything as before, but now he also saw all of the weak spots he could exploit. This so-called "champion" was no match for him at all.

Ethan crouched low and exhaled. It came out as a low hiss.

"Shall we play?" Ethan said to the champion. For the first time, a flicker of fear entered his opponent's eyes. The dragon smiled. Prey should be afraid, they should be cowering before him. The champion's fear stoked a primeval fire inside of him.

This is how the world should be.

He growled, then attacked.

Before, Ethan felt like he was struggling to hold his own. This time, the situation was reversed and it was like toying with a child. It felt like the champion was moving in slow motion. He tried his very best, but the dragon was simply too good.

For several minutes, he played with his prey. He taunted him, cornered him, used his spear to trip him, knocked his sword out of his hand, let him retrieve it, and then did it again. Ethan played with the champion as a cat plays with a mouse.

And He liked it.

He liked the power, the control...

...and the hunt.

He LOVED the hunt.

The crowd in the stand had gone completely silent. The battle was over and they knew it. The dragon loved the audience's stunned silence. They needed to see this puny human was no match for him. He needed to remind them that dragons are apex predators without peer or equal in the world.

Finally, the dragon grew tired of the game.

He used his hammer to hook the champion's shield and pull it out of the way. The champion counter-attacked, but Ethan deflected his sword with his spear, then lunged his right wing out and used his wing's claw to hook the champion's chainmail sleeve. A quick jerk later, the champion was sprawled face down on the ground. Ethan pinned the champion to the ground with his legs and twirled his spear in his hands.

He had won. He knew it, the champion knew it, and judging by the collective intake of breath from the crowd, they knew it too. He only needed to complete his victory, to plunge the spear through this champion's chest and show the world he was superior.

But he hesitated.

Every instinct in him screamed that he should finish this hunt. The clever hunter's reward was prey. Ethan growled at the champion, who stopped struggling the moment he felt Ethan's spear touch his back.

*Ethan, you've won.* Alana's voice rang in his head. *Let him go.*

He didn't want to let him go. The champion had dared to injure him and all of his dragon instincts screamed that he couldn't let that pass. Slowly -- without consciously meaning to -- Ethan raised the spear above his head. It was just one pathetic human. What did he matter?

Ethan stopped with the spear's chainmail-piercing spike primed for a thrust into the champion's heart.

He wanted to.

He wanted to so badly.

*Ethan, no!* Alana said telepathically.

Ethan shook his head trying desperately to clear it. He couldn't remember why killing humans was wrong. They were mere cattle; utterly insignificant to a creature like himself. Every part of his body screamed at him to plunge the spear directly through the champion's heart. He had never wanted to do anything so badly.

He wanted to punish this pitiful insect for daring to harm him. The urge to finish off this pathetic vermin was overpowering. Ethan -- or maybe the dragon -- raised the spear even higher, then brought it down with all his might.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began on day 40 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms and ended on day 42.

*

STORY TAGS: dragon, fantasy, elf, teen, romantic, virgin, harem, brunette, blonde, redhead