A brilliant light flashed across the dragon’s face, and a moment later it staggered back and roared, clawing its other eye. A couple of snowflakes fluttered down around me, and I opened my eyes to look at them closer.

That was an ice spell.

I looked up.

And it had come from Indigo, who was galloping towards me along with several of the other mercenaries.

“Good job, newbie!” Rusty exclaimed, right as another spell was flung at the dragon, “You really held out!”

I could only smile. I was saved! And more importantly, I could continue to experience this world!

This wasn’t over!

The dragon was still above me though, holding its enormous weight on just two legs, wings splayed. It growled, blowing fire in a wide arc as the mercenaries approached. They quickly fanned out, creating a semi-circle around it.

They weren’t all here.

I didn’t get the best of looks, but I only saw Fletch, Indigo, Rusty, Dagger, and Dr. Duck. Maul and Captain Morningstar were nowhere to be seen, the two heaviest hitters were absent. Against the biggest and toughest dragon, that did not bode well. Still though, the others were doing a fine job at keeping it distracted, either by shooting arrows, flinging spells, or running around and shouting, taking cautionary swings at its legs.

In order to avoid getting stomped, I quickly started kicking out with my feet, sliding my whole body across the sand. The dragon didn’t seem to notice me, in fact, it didn’t seem like it could see at all. My knife was still wedged in its right eye, and the spell Indigo had hit it with had frozen over a quarter of its face, including its other eye.

That blindness was only temporary, but while the dragon was occupied with it, I continued to crawl backwards. I only stopped when a set of hoofsteps came from behind me. I looked up, seeing Dr. Duck standing over me.

“Sheesh, Phos,” I felt his hooves slip under my shoulders, “did the dragon get your other arm too?”

He grunted as he lifted me, before starting to drag me away from the fight.

I shook my head gently, “S-Sir Manuscript has it,” I nodded over in his direction.

“Why?”

“Needed someplace to put it,” I mumbled,

Dr. Duck looked over at the other group practically cowering in front of the carriage, “I see your reasoning. Though I think the captain might have a few choice words with you about endangering our employer.”

“Great.” I groaned. I think I actually want to get eaten now.

“Can you stand?” Dr. Duck asked,

“Y-Yes, I think so.” I sat up, bringing my knees close to my chest.

Luckily, they didn’t pop this time, and I grunted as I tried to shift my weight fully onto my feet. It took a few tries, but I eventually managed to get off my butt, then slowly stand. I wobbled a few times as I found my balance, but then I turned to look at Dr. Duck.

“Alright, what can I do?”

“Uh…” He held up a hoof, “I think you’re done. Just… try to keep out of the way and… maybe try to get your arm back.” He glanced over to Sir Manuscript’s carriage.

“Where are the others?” I asked,

“Finishing up with the other dragon.” Dr. Duck answered,

“Anything bad?”

He shook his head, “There were some pretty nasty cuts, but you’re the most injured by far.”

The dragon roared, finally getting its eye open. It immediately focused on Fletch, who dove out of the way as a stream of fire occupied her position. It didn’t have time to follow her though, as another ice spell impacted its neck. It turned to glare at Indigo, only for a crossbow bolt to ping off the side of its head. Rusty charged forward, but quickly stopped as the dragon spun around, its long tail sweeping across the sand.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go back to helping.” Dr. Duck concluded, before running back into the fight.

“Oh…” I exhaled, “Okay.”

I just watched him for a moment as he approached the dragon from behind. It was focused on Rusty right now, and with Indigo providing support, it was entirely distracted. Dr. Duck used this to get close to its hind leg, then strike just above the ankle with his shortsword. I think there was a tendon there, and I think that’s what he was aiming for, but he didn’t get it, with his sword only getting wedged in the dragon’s scales.

He pulled it out just before it whipped around, then jumped back as the dragon snapped at him. Fletch then fired another arrow, this one actually managing to pierce the scales on its shoulders. It roared, and Rusty followed up with another strike on its back leg, in the same place Dr. Duck hit. His blade went much deeper, causing the dragon’s leg to buckle.

The area was then blanketed with fire, only to be stopped as a few ice spikes rose in front of Rusty. He gave a quick salute to Indigo, then rushed to get around the dragon. It tried to follow him, but with a few more arrows to the front legs, it stumbled, allowing Rusty to get to the other side. Indigo then froze one of its feet to the ground, but since it was just a bunch of sand, it easily lifted the chunk into the air, only to trip over it a moment later, sending it crashing to the ground.

“Here we go!” Rusty shouted as he made his way to the dragon’s front again, this time from the blind side.

It turned to look at him, and he jumped onto its snout, wrapping a foreleg around a horn and keeping his hind legs just out of reach of the mouth. He quickly punched it in the eye, then held on tight as the dragon leapt back to its feet with a strained roar, whipping its head back and forth.

The others jumped into action, with Indigo and Dr. Duck coming around front, and Fletch and Dagger going around the back. They continued to take pot shots from behind, while Dr. Duck and Indigo carefully attacked its front legs, preventing the dragon from clawing Rusty off and effectively keeping it pinned down.

This was exactly how Captain Morningstar described it. I really wanted to learn how to do that now.

Dr. Duck would only attack when it lifted one of its legs, while Indigo peppered it with spellfire. She eventually froze another clump of sand to its other foot, all the while Rusty was wailing on its head with his sword. He wasn’t able to get much leverage with his swings, but it definitely would be annoying to get smacked in the face repeatedly.

The dragon roared, smoke billowing out of its mouth, and it reared back to breathe fire again. With expert precision, Indigo shot a spell into its mouth before the first flames even came out.

“Watch it!” Rusty complained while the dragon gagged on the new obstruction.

It coughed and sputtered, before falling forward with a groan.

“Get to it!” Rusty ordered, punching it in the eye again.

It chuffed and flinched from the attack, but didn’t move much beyond that. Dr. Duck then rushed up with his sword, and aimed it at its neck, before squinting and sticking his tongue out, preparing to stab.

The dragon started to growl, its claws digging into the sand.

“What are you waiting for?!” Rusty demanded,

“I want to make sure I hit the right artery!”

The dragon began to pick itself back up, and Rusty clocked it on the head again.

“Just do it!”

“Okay fine!” Dr. Duck plunged his sword into its neck, “Jeez.”

Immediately blood started gushing from the wound, and the dragon jerked up, coughing and gasping as it frantically clawed at its neck. Rusty then jumped off, and we all took a step back as it struggled.

I… didn’t really want to keep watching anymore.

With that much blood coming from a single stab, it was safe to say that it was a mortal wound. On something as large as a dragon though, it was probably going to take a while for it to bleed out. This was made evident as it flailed across the ground, spraying up sand and dirt as an increasingly large puddle of blood formed around it.

After two arduous minutes, its actions finally started to slow, its body falling still as its one remaining eye glanced around frantically. I could still hear its rapid breathing going on for another minute though, before it started to peter out as well. The area finally fell silent not long after.

What a way to go…

Makes me glad that can’t happen to me anymore. Though the alternative wasn’t much better.

They did it.

No, we did it. We killed a dragon.

“Finally.” Rusty exhaled, sheathing his sword, “I wanted the final blow.”

Indigo scoffed, “You already got the blue one!”

“That doesn’t count!” Rusty argued, “That thing was tiny!”

“Then why did you go for it?” Dr. Duck demanded,

“I- Uh…” Rusty averted his gaze, “I wanted to see if I could kill two dragons in one sitting…” He mumbled,

“Show off.” Indigo began, “Is that why you jumped on it like that? If you were thrown off, then I would not have helped you.”

“Pish posh, it all worked out in the end.” Rusty shrugged, “Now, let’s go get a trophy.”

He began moving forward, but I was already way ahead of him.

I slowly approached the corpse, then placed a foot on its snout. After seeing it die like that, I‘ve lost a lot of animosity for this guy. He still ate my arm though, and would’ve done the same to the rest of me if it wasn’t stopped.

I gave it a very wimpy kick, causing the head to loll back and forth slightly. Rusty then stopped by my side, and inspected its eye for a moment.

He let out a whistle, “Wow, Phos, that’s some hit…”

“It wasn’t easy.” I replied,

“I’ll bet.” Rusty prodded my knife, “You want this back?”

“Oh! Y-Yes please.” I nodded quickly,

Rusty pulled it out and handed it to me. I went to grab it, only to realize my current situation.

“Oh, right.” Rusty gave a single laugh, “Guess I’ll hold onto this for now.”

“Th-Thanks…” I mumbled, trying to make it look like I hadn’t just tried to grab my knife without any arms.

“You know.” Indigo came up on my other side, “I honestly thought we would be pulling you out of that dragon’s stomach by now.”

“What?!” I shuddered, “Why?”

“I didn’t think you would last this long,” Indigo explained with a shrug, "and you've already been put back together once, I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to do it again.”

I think Indigo vastly underestimated the amount of shards that would result from the dragon just chewing me. Nevermind how they would probably have to rebuild me from the ground up, whilst also dealing with partially dissolved shards from the stomach acid. I shuddered again, how would they even pull me out of a liquid solution?

“And you would’ve done that in front of Sir Manuscript?” I asked instead,

Indigo blinked, “Wow, you’re right, that was a terrible idea.” She patted me on the back, “I’m glad you came out in one piece... or..." She looked at my arm, "Less than five. Where’s your arm?”

“Sir Manuscript has it.”

Indigo inhaled sharply, then glanced over to his carriage, “Let’s go get it back.”

“Wh- But what about my disguise?” I asked,

Indigo looked me up and down for a second, “You’ll be fine. It might even grow back.”

“No it won’t,” I whispered, but Indigo was already heading over to the carriage.

I waited for a moment, then started trailing behind her. The soldiers were still gawking at the corpse of the dragon, and while Sir Manuscript was also eyeing it as well, he immediately noticed our approach.

“Is that all of them, captain?” He asked,

Captain?

Both me and Indigo turned around, where Captain Morningstar was following right behind us. He had a bandage hastily tied around his leg, just slightly stained red. Further in the back, Maul was heading towards the dragon corpse, all the armor around one of his forelegs was torn off, but it didn’t look like he was too injured.

“All the known dragons have been dealt with.” Captain Morningstar reported, stepping in front of us.

“Known dragons?” I repeated quietly,

“We only found evidence of those three dragons in the area,” Indigo explained,

I did a double take, “Don’t you think that would’ve been important to tell me?”

“You would’ve known that if you’d been on the patrol,” Indigo retorted, “Besides, we didn’t think they’d all show up at once.”

“Still would’ve been nice to know,” I hissed,

If I had known there were going to be three dragons, then… well… I don’t know if things would’ve turned out differently. I was kind of forced to go on this job regardless. I guess I just would’ve been more prepared for a fight like this…

Maybe I wouldn’t have lost my arm if I knew I was going to be running around like a chicken with its head cut off beforehand.

I just grumbled as Captain Morningstar finished speaking with Sir Manuscript. Just in time for the rest of the mercenaries to gather around. Rusty was wiping off some teeth with a cloth, while Maul simply pocketed a shattered horn.

He looked at me and smiled, “Good job, Phos.”

All eyes turned towards me.

“Um…” I took a step back, “Thanks?”

“Oh yes,” Sir Manuscript began, “I believe I have something of yours.”

I cleared my throat, “R-Right, can I please have my arm back now?”

“Your arm?” Captain Morningstar asked, eyes wide.

“Indeed,” Sir Manuscript turned back to grab something, “Though if I may ask, why do you want it back?”

“I um…” Because it was really important to me, and it was really important that you didn’t find out what I was. “I-If it’s still alive…” I continued slowly, “Then it can be reattached…”

As far as I was aware, that part of my disguise was the only part still alive, not even the plants on my back survived the heat of the fire. That was good, my arm would still look and feel like a bundle of plants. As long as Sir Manuscript didn’t look right at the break, then everything would be fine.

…

What am I saying? Of course he would inspect my arm all over, there was no way he wouldn’t notice the crystal interior. Maybe I can play it off as being crystallized life energy… Or maybe it could be a part of my ‘advanced golem’ design, the break was almost in the center of my upper arm, that could be where one of my gem components was located.

I waited for his response with baited breath.

“Ah yes,” Sir Manuscript nodded, “Plants can have limbs cut and grafted with the right technique. That makes sense.”

I relaxed ever so slightly as he presented my arm back to me.

“But you aren’t a plant, are you?” He finished,

I froze, staring at the mass of exposed crystal he held. Almost all of the plant layer was gone, it looked like he had taken a blade and peeled back as much as he could. All of the bicep and forearm was stripped, with a little bit of the wrist as well. The palm was scraped clean, and a couple of fingers were cleared off as well.

“When were you going to inform me of this?” He asked sincerely,

“I-I-I…” I trailed off, glancing around rapidly.

All the other mercenaries were at a loss as well. Even Captain Morningstar looked unsure as his brow furrowed by the second.

“You realize what this means, correct?” Sir Manuscript continued, turning towards the rest of the mercenaries. “I’m sure Lord Tungsten will be pleased with what you have found. After all, all gems found in this state belong to him. This might be just enough to pay for all your bail.”

“Maul!” Captain Morningstar shouted,

“On it!” He replied, charging forward,

He plowed through the line of soldiers on the side, then brought his axe down on the wheel of the carriage. It sliced through the axle as if it was nothing, and with a follow up hit from the hammer, the wheel was smashed to pieces.

Sir Manuscript barely had the time to process everything. Heck, even I barely understood what was going on. My arm was then snatched from his grip by Indigo’s magic, and all the other mercenaries bolted, running towards the cart. It took me a second, but I started running too, just barely avoiding rolling my ankle on a large rock. I felt the cracks in my legs start to shift, but Captain Morningstar was running right behind me, almost pushing me along, I couldn’t slow down.

“A-After them!” Sir Manuscript ordered,

The group of soldiers that Maul had bowled over struggled to get back up, while the other half of the group just stood there awkwardly for a few moments, before slowly giving chase. By that time we were already at the cart, and I was practically thrown in the back along with my arm. Maul was then hooked up a moment later, and the whole cart jolted forward as he pushed against the reins.

My vision started to vibrate rapidly as the cart bounced, picking up speed as we disappeared into the treeline.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

How tough do you like your dragons? Do you want nigh impenetrable, gem-fed scales? Or something closer to just a large reptile? Either way, dragons are going to be dangerous, some more than others however.