Author's Note

So, it's... been awhile. Long story short, I was in an accident and couldn't write for a very long time. But I should be able to do it more consistently now.

I hope.

Chapter 5: Dragonfire

(No Entries)

As the morning came, the man now called Gabriel rose from his improvised bed. He looked around, noticing Amethyst had already awoken and was nowhere to be seen. He walked toward the window they looked out last night, surprised to see some of the buildings in the town were partially destroyed. The damages didn't seem too severe from where he was, but there was also a large trail of scorched earth where a dirt road once was. He could vaguely make out large footprints going away from the wounded ground and away from the town.

The door to the room opened, and in walked Amethyst, carrying a a few large bags and boxes in a stack on her back.

“Good morning, Gabriel!” she called out, letting the stack fall.

“What's all that?” he asked.

“Well, I figured if you did still wanna leave, I'd get you some better camping supplies and use them to force you to take me with you.” she said bluntly.

He chuckled. “So you went out and got some bargaining chips, huh? Aren't you a clever one...” he replied. “What happened out there?” he asked, gesturing out the window.

“Oh, apparently that freak storm last night was from some dragons having a rumble in the clouds. One of them got knocked down and had to run away.” she said.

“Must've been pretty big dragons...”

“Some of the locals saw it, said it was a big red one that fell down. The other one flew off afterwards, in victory I guess? The red one didn't chase after it, for some reason.” Amethyst explained.

“Maybe it was injured?” Gabriel pondered.

“Eh, who knows. Wanna head into town for something to eat? My treat, naturally.” Amethyst asked.

He smirked, thinking about all the money she was wasting, revealing her childish nature. “You go on ahead, I'll meet up with you.” he said.

“Suit yourself, but don't whine to me if you get lost!” she said as she left, closing the door behind her.

In truth, Gabriel needed to change his bandages and didn't want her worrying herself. He knew she still blamed herself for what happened to him, but he decided it was his burden, not hers. He rushed into a situation that was completely avoidable and paid the price for it. Though he couldn't say he regretted saving Amethyst, she provided some much needed contact with another person; something he had been starved of.

In the process of removing his bandages, his wound looked much better than he expected. It had healed at a rate that was unprecedented, he was certain. If it continued at that pace it would heal completely within the week.

As he put on some fresh bandages, even the pain had seemed to dull a bit. Before he could think on it any longer, he felt the ground shake. He didn't know if the region was seismically active or not, but upon looking outside he saw the cause of the rumbling. A large red dragon was stomping around just outside the town. It made its way closer and every step was met with thunderous force.

It began to roar and breathe fire into the sky, clearly agitated. Gabriel watched as it began to swing its claws and tail wildly, destroying some of the surrounding buildings.

He found himself in a very similar situation. He could just ignore it, even run away from the beast's rampage. But Amethyst had just gone out there and was waiting for him. She had done much for him in the short time they knew each other and he wasn't about to abandon her. The young mare felt indebted to him, despite the fact that they each already saved the other's life. He wouldn't have survived his sudden amputation without her, so in a way he felt indebted too.

He grabbed the bag and heavy sword he had been lugging around, once again feeling the warmth emanating from the blade. He strapped it to his back and headed out of the inn.

….....................................................................

Fear and panic, as well as dozens of residents of the town flooded the streets. The angered Dragon's rampage had strewn chaos all over. People ran for their lives, some stayed behind and locked their doors in an attempt to hunker down. Amethyst ran, just behind a crowd, keeping an eye out for her tall human friend. She hoped he hadn't yet left the inn, since it was pretty far from where the rampage had started.

She watched as a stray ball of fire catapulted toward the crowd she ran with. There was no way everyone could make it out unharmed. Moving before she could give it much thought, she leapt into the fireball's path and threw up a wall of magic. She didn't know the exact specifications of barrier spells so she did all she could. The fireball stopped midair and dissipated and she knew her defense was successful. She turned back to see the crowd of fleeing civilians had stopped and were in awe.

“What are you dummies doing? Get a move on!” she shouted, unsure of her ability to block anymore stray flames.

The dragon seemed to notice that the fireball it had launched didn't impact anything. It turned it's attention toward where it stopped in midair and noticed the purple pony quickly running away. With a low growl, it began to head in that direction.

When the dragon's path of senseless destruction paused briefly, Amethyst turned back to see it headed her way now.

“Oh, c'mon! You've got to be kidding me!” she shouted in frustration.

She rounded a corner and her mind raced, trying to think of literally any way to escape this scenario. She saw the crowd she had helped escape running farther in front of her now. She was still trying to catch up, but the dragon following her caught up to the corner she had made and spotted her again.

A loud roar sounded and the sounds of destruction followed as she ran. The massive lizard behind her had probably knocked down another building, she thought. As she grew closer to the large gathering of most of the town's people, she noticed them unsure of what to do, other than to run.

“We have to do something!” someone shouted.

“No, we have to keep running! We can come back after he's calmed down.” another said.

“Wait, you ponies know this dragon? Does this happen often?!” Amethyst asked, catching her breath.

“No! He lives nearby, something must have set him off...” one of the the townsfolk answered.

Fire began to build up in the dragon's throat, a clear indicator he was charging another fireball.

“Get down!” Amethyst shouted, preparing to try her best to block this one as well.

The townsfolk did as she said as she braced herself. She began to channel her magical energy in front of her as a wall, but it began to flicker and fade. She let out a pained grunt as she kept trying, but to no avail. When her attention turned back to the dragon, he was aiming solely at her and fired his blast. She turned away, her short life replaying in her mind.

She felt herself be knocked to the side, but not by the fire. When she opened her eyes, she noticed the fireball had hit the ground she was just standing on, but she was no longer there. While she had begun to wonder if she somehow teleported, she noticed the one armed human by her side.

“You must be crazy.” Gabriel said to her, his eyes focused on the beast who had also taken notice of him. “What happened to the magic you tried to use to block it?” he asked.

“I-I might be a Unicorn, but we're not all super skilled with magic. I guess. Like I said, I've never met another one.” she replied, a small smile returning to her features.

The dragon roared at the newcomer as a form of intimidation, Gabriel had guessed. “Stay low. I'll get it as far away as I can.” he said.

“Now you're being crazy! You're injured! You can't dodge forever!” Amethyst replied, clearly distraught.

Gabriel's hand reached for the handle of the sword resting against his back. “I have an ace in the hole. Hopefully he'll run out of energy and lose interest. Either way, I'll do what I can. Now go!” he shouted, taking off in a sprint the dragon's eyes followed closely before his body did the same.

Gabriel had known most dragons horde treasure, or at the very least eat it. The sun reflecting off of the sword's handle had done exactly as he expected and caught the beast's eye. Amethyst and the others headed the opposite direction as quick as they could.

As Gabriel began his sprint, the dragon began to pursue immediately. He cursed that his bait had seemed to work too well. He knew he had to wear the beast out before it would give up its spree of destruction. The dragon seemed intent on not harming the shiny object on Gabriel's back, as it fired no projectiles. As he got closer to more buildings, the dragon then decided to swing at him with its massive claws, barely missing and ripping the small storefront they had based asunder.

Before long, the dragon had clearly been agitated and began to swing more frequently. Gabriel did all he could to dodge them, but one had caught his right leg and sent the human flying across the road, into another building. The dragon seemed pleased itself as it approached the prize it had set its sights on. Gabriel knew he had to move, he had to do something to keep the beast distracted.

His mind raced for a way, any way out of his current situation. With one arm, he might not be able to recover and dodge fast enough. The pain from his lost arm and now the impact with the wall was also a constant that interrupted his thinking process. He weighed his options as the dragon got ever closer.

If he couldn't run, maybe he could create enough space between them with a sudden attack. As he felt the dragon reach for the glimmer of the metal on his back, he reached for the handle and swung the sword violently.

It cut the dragon's clawed hand, causing it to flinch from surprise and pain. Gabriel stabbed it into the ground, using it to pick himself up from the floor. When he rose, he took a defensive stance that only served to anger the dragon more.

It reared up on its hind legs, content to simply smash the human and be done with it. He took this opportunity to dodge and get another slash in, finding it ineffective since he could only swing with the one arm. Gabriel knew to make more of an impact, he'd have to put more of his weight into it.

As he continued dodging and occasionally attacking, he began to use the motion of his dodge to put more force behind his swings to great effect. The dragon had numerous small cuts now, growing angrier every second. It no longer decided the treasure Gabriel held was worth it, building a flame from the throat to incinerate the pest stinging it. Gabriel realized this, and began to run as fast as he could, but to no avail.

Flames washed over Gabriel and everything around him. The scarlet fire burned so brightly, but he had stopped running. In that moment, he was sure he was going to die. It was just like when his parents died, he was alone and surrounded by growing fires. He felt his body begin to shake and tears begin to flow. He had done so much soul searching during his time in Equestria and thought he had overcome the tragedy that happened that day.

It no longer haunted his nightmares, but the very image of the billowing flames around him had paralyzed him. Despite the heat, he felt the warmth emitting from the sword, still in his hand. Somehow it burned brighter than the fire around him. He gripped it tightly. He felt as though he had understood what it was communicating to him, even without words.

“You really intend to die here?”

He felt a surge of energy wash over him as his burned flesh began to repair itself and strength returned to him. Even his shaking had ceased.

“I do not. I will not.”

He lifted the blade, preparing to swing it with as much force as possible. As the blade ripped through the air, causing the human's body to spin a bit, the force alone had produced a large gust of wind and extinguished the flames.

The dragon only had a moment to be confused before the human was upon it. It looked down to see the large blade stabbed to into its own chest. Gabriel began to rip the weapon downwards, creating a much more violent looking wound. Blood poured from the beast as it fell over, looking into the human's eyes to see uncaring, dark orbs.

The sword began to glow, much like it had with the spider, as what seemed like light began to pour from the wound, centered on the sword.

As the dragon breathed its final breaths, Gabriel wrenched free the blade from its gut.

It was over.