The journey toward the eastern coast was marked by a sky that turned from blue to a bruised, smoky orange. Marin and Jessica rode hard, the rhythmic drumming of hooves the only sound in the desolate landscape. As they neared the outskirts of Valeria, the signs of the Great Wyrm’s passage were undeniable: blackened forests where trees stood like charred skeletons and fields of wheat turned to gray ash.
Marin pulled her horse to a halt at the crest of a hill. Below them, the once-proud city of Valeria was a jagged wound in the earth. Smoke curled from the ruins of stone towers, and the distant roar of the sea was drowned out by a low, vibrating growl that shook the very ground.
"It’s massive," Jessica whispered, her silver eyes scanning the wreckage. "Even bigger than the scrolls described."
"Size doesn't matter if it can't hit us," Marin said, though she tightened the strap of her shield. "But without Malric’s barriers, we have no margin for error. One breath of that fire, and it’s over."
The Shadow of the Wyrm
They descended into the city under the cover of the drifting soot. The Great Wyrm, a creature of obsidian scales and eyes like molten gold, was perched atop the ruins of the Royal Granary. It wasn't just destroying; it was nesting, surrounded by a hoard of melted gold and shattered masonry.
"Look at the scales under the neck," Marin noted, pointing with her chin. "There’s a gap where the plates don’t overlap. That’s our mark."
"I can distract it," Jessica offered, her hands beginning to glow with a shimmering, silver radiance. "If I flare my light, I can blind it for a few seconds. You’ll have to be fast, Marin. You’ll have to climb it."
The Silver Distraction
As they moved through the shadows of a collapsed archway, the dragon shifted. It sniffed the air, a low hiss of steam escaping its jagged maw.
"Now!" Marin commanded.
Jessica stepped out into the open, her silver light erupting in a blinding supernova. "Hey! Over here, you overgrown lizard!"
The dragon let out a deafening roar, its massive head swinging toward the light. It lunged, its claws shredding the cobblestones where Jessica had stood a second before. She was a blur of movement, leaping over debris and weaving through narrow alleys, leading the beast away from the center of the ruins.
The Knight’s Ascent
While the Wyrm was focused on the annoying "spark" that kept dancing out of reach, Marin moved with the silence of a predator. She didn't approach from the front. She used the ruins of a leaning clock tower to gain height.
As the dragon’s tail swept past, crushing a stone wall, Marin leaped. She landed hard on the beast’s hindquarters, her armored boots clattering against the iron-hard scales.
The dragon thrashed, sensing the weight on its back. Marin jammed her dagger into a chink in the scales to anchor herself, the heat radiating from the beast’s hide almost melting her gloves.
"Steady..." she hissed through gritted teeth.
She began to climb. Every movement was a struggle against the bucking, roaring mountain of muscle. Below, she could see flashes of silver light as Jessica continued to harass the beast’s eyes, keeping it from turning its head to snap Marin off its back.
"Marin! The neck is clear!" Jessica’s voice echoed through the ruins.
The dragon reared up on its hind legs, preparing to unleash a torrent of flame that would incinerate the entire block. Marin saw the soft, glowing tissue beneath the neck—the "Dragon’s Forge" where the fire was birthed.
She let go of her anchor, sliding down the scales as the beast moved. With a roar of her own, she swung her claymore with every ounce of Montclair strength.
The Strike
The blade bit deep. A fountain of blue-white fire and blood erupted from the wound. The dragon’s roar turned into a choked gurgle as the internal fire spilled out, melting the stone beneath it.
The shockwave threw Marin backward. She tumbled through the air, crashing through a wooden roof and landing in a pile of debris.
Silence fell over Valeria, broken only by the crackle of dying fires.
The Aftermath
Jessica was the first to reach her, sliding down a pile of rubble. "Marin! Talk to me!"
Marin groaned, pushing a heavy beam off her chest. Her armor was scorched black, and her shield was warped, but she looked up with a bruised smirk. "Is it dead?"
Jessica looked over at the massive, unmoving heap of obsidian scales. The fire in the beast’s throat had gone out. "Yeah. It’s dead."
Marin let out a long breath, leaning back against the ruins. "Good. Now we just have to figure out how to carry a dragon's head back to the capital."
"And hope Malric hasn't been poisoned by Marley's 'medicine' by the time we get home," Jessica added, offering a hand to pull Marin up.
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