Smoke and crimson flame filled the ruined remains of docking bay 99231. Thick smoke flowed in plumes into the adjoining corridor through the gaping blast doors. Explosions and gun fire could be heard from within for a few seconds, but had abruptly stopped. Tanashi tried to see through the smoke and flames with his draconic eyes and could see nothing. He saw a dark shape in the smoke clouded room and saw something fly at him. He had a split second to react as, what looked like a metallic ball, flew towards his head. He snaked out of the way and the object embedded itself into the wall behind him. He was aghast when he realized it was Howitzer’s head looking back from the crease in the wall where he had just been. He snapped his gaze back toward the blast doors to catch a glimpse of a second object being hurled in his direction. This time he was not quick enough.
A twenty foot long I-beam of support structure pierced through the mammoth body of the dragon, and penetrated the wall behind him. The piece of metal girder had speared him to the wall. Huge gouts of dragon blood sprayed from the wound, Tanashi bellowed in pain and released as big of a blast of fire that he could muster toward the blast doors and the direction in which the object had been thrown. Drax, Faq, and Idol reeled back a few steps from the sheer heat Tanashi had put into his fiery breath, and from the speed and brutality of what had just occurred. The blast doors liquefied in some places and sagged in others as Tanashi poured forth all of his pain and anger into one furious blast of fire.
“Silly creature. I am born of fire.” Zak bellowed as he burst from the ruined docking bay through the melting blast doors, and into the dragon’s flame to land lightly on the metal that impaled the huge serpentine form of Tanashi. He ran the length of the I-beam towards Tanashi and the ugly wound spurting blackish dragon blood. Tanashi swung wildly with his razor sharp claws and caught nothing but air as Zak deftly maneuvered out of the way. He leapt towards the dragon’s head and swung the remains of Howitzer’s bent and misshapen rail-gun connecting solidly with the dragons left eye, shattering the bone and mashing the eye into a pinkish pulpy smear across the dragon’s head. Tanashi cried out in pain again, agonizing draconic bellows of pain. He reached up with his left claw and managed to grab the demon’s leg and yanked him viscously to the floor. The impact rattled the corridor as Zak smashed hard on his back.
Drax opened fire with his TK Rifle. Firing bolts of concentrated force toward the demon. Faq charged in with his heavily enchanted ax, and Idol summoned the arcane power to fling bits of debris at the demon accelerated to sub-sonic speeds. Tanashi, still holding Zak’s leg lifted him in the air again to smash him once again into the floor. As Tanashi lifted up he could see with his good eye that dreadful chain reappear. As he swung with all of his might down towards the floor, the chain lashed out towards the dragons head and spun its way around his snout. Zak impacted the floor again. Tiny bolts of force nipped into his side, and several pieces of surrounding debris hit him with the force of a rail-gun slug. Tanashi lifted him again into the air, and Zak pulled on the chain.
The chain buzzed and dragon blood sprayed the corridor in a windmill of gore. Two pieces of meat and bone hit the floor with a sickening splat. The chain had severed the snout from the serpent. Tanashi’s serpentine tongue flopped, mostly severed, to one side. There was a moment of shocked silence, as if time stood still for and instance. Then the pain rushed in. Tanashi let go of Zak in mid-air and began to flail about on the piece of metal that moored him to the wall. Small fountains of blood sprayed the opposite side of the corridor from garishly ripped flesh. Gurgling roaring pushed out of the devastated dragon’s head. The floor of the corridor was thick with the dragon’s life.
Drax and Idol were stunned by the sheer horror of what they had just witnessed and stood stunned as their friend writhed in unfathomable pain and agony. Faq loosed a battle cry and swung with vicious abandon as Zak landed deftly to his feet. Swing once, twice, both misses. Then Zak caught his gaze and spoke with psychic force into his shattered mind, “You are a child, and I am the thing that goes bump in the night.” Faq stopped, and fell to his knees pleading in the voice of a child not to be hurt. Tears rolled down his face, “P-P-Please…”. Zak reached down gently and took the enchanted ax from Faq’s hand.
“There, there child. Everything is going to be Ok.” holding the “o” in ok long enough to turn it into a growl. The demon pulled back with one of his massive legs and kicked the kneeling crazy in the side. The kick, punted Faq like a rag doll into the smoke of the burning, smoldering docking bay. Tanashi continued to flail about, then settled, and just began to quiver without sound.
Idol regained his bearings, and began to chant another spell. Drax, likewise recovered, and saw Zak closing in. He focused his will and summoned forth a blade formed form pure psychic energy and invoked his amulet to shield him with the Armor of Ithan. Idol finished his spell and cast it for towards Zak. Zak charged in, impossibly fast. His hands, legs, chest and finally head took on a rather glassy look. He sped in on Idol like a nightmare and stated flatly, “I can outlast you.”, and with one massive hand, open palm smashed Idol’s chest into the wall of the corridor. Magical barriers popped and sizzled as they failed under the force of his blow. Idol’s back hit the wall and he felt the pressure building on his chest. The last barrier failed with a faint shower of arcane light and Zack’s palm crushed into Idols chest. The dead mans sternum impacted with his spine, moldy organs squished out several rips in the skin, caused from the impact, in a mush. Idol looked directly into Zak’s dark-void eyes and held them until he collapsed.
As Zak crushed Idol, Drax came in with a psi-sword high. He swung in a downward arc causing a vicious cut under the demons right arm. Zak released Idol, he collapsed to the floor in a heap, and back hand swung at Drax, who easily parried.
“Time to die Melter.”
“Bring it”, Drax spoke coolly, “I’ll have your head for what you did here today”
“Not likely.”
Zak swung with the ax he had taken from Faq, Drax parried . Back and forth the two went exchanging blows both nicking each other with minor hits. Drax noticed the initial wound he had inflicted had already healed and knew that he wouldn’t last long.
The naked form of the man, who was pulled from Zak’s body, when Nefaria took over, looked on in terror. He could do nothing but shudder. There was no where to go behind them, the corridor ended ten feet or so in that direction and the only way out was past Zak. He was unable to even look at the demon out of fear. So he watched the last person able to stand. Drax. He remembered him from a long time ago. He and someone else were the ones who freed him from the Amber Prison, he was still joined to the soul of Zak at that time. Now he was free, with out the demon inside. Without his Nightbane. Then he noticed it. The Mind mage still carried it. There. On his belt. Salvation.
