Life in a new Kingdom

Engulfed in flames, Slyr's head is consumed in the horrific burning image. The single eye peering through the flames aims at Caleb on the ground. Igniting the sparks within his mouth, he prepares to unleash the fire from within. The scales on his throat open, and jet streams of bright orange flames exhaust from the openings.

Looking at the impending doom, Caleb tries to move out of the path of its breath, but no matter what he could do, he would be incinerated instantly. Reeling back, the dark crimson dragon motions to let out its breath. Caleb's life flashes before his eyes, thinking nothing but his friends and family just for his final thoughts.

A sudden blast of heat envelopes his body; it doesn't char his flesh or turn him to ash. His eyes focus on Slyr, whose head is coiled to the side as vines and roots pin its neck to the side. Lukia draws her bow and fires another arrow that the dragon blocks with his hand. The bramble shot entangles the creature while the flame of its breath begins to rain down onto the mountain. Herk and Yann's mounts start to panic as the heat and raining fire causes them to bolt forward, nearly shaking off their riders. Gale fights against his horse to reach the two stranded against the dragon, but with the horse's panic, he gets in the way of Herk and Yann, who ran into him and his horse.

Toppling over themselves, Ivian tries to bring his horse back since it bolted earlier, but the dragon's presence is far too much for the simple creatures. Gale looks over to Caleb and Lukia and tries to run to them. The moment he steps into the clearing, a mass of fire rains before him. Catching his cloak on fire, he tries to put it out, but the flames quickly spread, and Herk has to drag him back.

"No! They're right there!" Struggling against his closest friend, Herk holds onto him tightly, and Yann also runs to help. With their combined strength, Gale continues to push forward. It takes Ivian to stop his advancement entirely and drag him back, looking upon his companions facing off against the dragon alone; again, Gale starts to remember the golem that he couldn't defeat in the past. His heart sank deep into the dark abyss of despair.

"I'm sorry! But we don't have any way to combat dragon's fire! Just hope they can get away! We need to take the horses now before they run off in fear! Ivian, Yann! Grab our mounts; we push forward while Slyr is immobile!" Falling to his knees, Herk holds onto Gale tightly and continues to drag his friend. A nasty burn on his arm and leg from the burning rain stinks the air of the horrid smell of burnt flesh.

Lukia looks in horror as the group leaves, seeing that they have no choice but to go in this situation. Lukia's mount buckles and throws her off. Running in the opposite direction, leaving them stranded. Slyr crunches the roots and vines with his jaws and rips them away in moments. Smoke and sulfur puff through his nose as the anger builds within the looming dragon.

"Caleb, we need to move! I can only fire a few more brambles before my magic taps out!" She grabs his cloak and drags him back to his feet. He holds onto her and watches the dragon exhale more smoke before clicking its tongue for sparks. Lukia notices it with him and fires another bramble shot to stop him.

Seeing the same trick for the last time, Slyr pushes off the mountain and dodges the arrow that flies off the edge. Lukia stares in disbelief. Drawing her bow again, she fires another arrow that the dragon counters with his tail. The vines and roots spread along its length, but its tail knocks it free of the bramble with one swift thrash. The creature's wings lit up in the same orange flames, traveling down its entire body, igniting itself for one massive breath of fire.

Caleb watches the flames spread throughout its body, reminding him of the moment that he expelled the green ooze from the Stalker before coming to the mountain. It looked and acted very similar to a defensive ability. Something for a dragon to use such an ability was jarring to see.

Lukia draws her bow and prepares to fire her final shot. "Lukia, don't!" Caleb tries to grab her arm, but the arrow is released from the bow and hits the flames. A tiny ember in the air before fading to ash as it burns away before touching the dragon. Lukia steps back, a worried look on her face as the horror of such a creature is far beyond what she could have envisioned. The stories and rumors don't do any justice to the legend. The Crippling Dread was beyond what even Juila expressed.

"Now burn!!!" Roars of burning rage emit from the maw of the dragon. Expelling a geyser of flames, flowing toward them. Caleb raises his hands; pain erupts throughout his body, and the curse spreads further down his arm and across his chest. With the full might of his magic and strength, he pours everything he has into a green barrier that encases him and Lukia. Caleb holds his hand to his chest, shielding them from the scorching flames. His screams are muted through the song of fire dancing past them. Lukia sees the curse begin to crawl up his neck and down his back.

Trying to speak, her words are cut silent as the flames continue to rage beyond them. Steam flows from the skin as the sweat from their bodies melts away. Falling to a knee, Caleb's barrier starts to flicker, showing signs of failure. Within moments of the barrier dissipating, the flames part entirely, leaving only charred and magma earth.

"Caleb!" Lukia clutches onto him; his body is burning hotter than before. She can't touch his skin directly as it is burning her from doing so. His skin flushed red by the excessive heat the curse had impacted his body with.

"L-Look..! Slyr..." Caleb moans through the pain and points toward the dragon. Lukia lifts her head to see what he is pointing, realizing in that instant why the dragon hadn't killed them yet.

Upon them, the dragon clutches to the edge in a distraught fit. Gasps of air mixed with smoke cough through the mouth. Caleb examines the dragon and speaks. "He's damaged his throat and lungs by overusing his breath weapon... I knew something was off when he kept using it..." Holding himself up, Caleb draws his sword at the weakened dragon lying on the edge of the cliff.

Lukia draws her bow alongside him. They have no other option but to fight in order to escape. Caleb holds Tempest with both his hands and takes a step forward. "Like me... His body is destroying itself... His flames are magic... Now's our chance!"