Runaway Dragons

"What's this?" Hraldin rumbles while slapping his tail on the ground happily, "Father has a job for me!?"

"Yes!" Tefka says with a straight face. "I just came back from telling father about the noisy challenger at the front door. He said he doesn't feel like dealing with the man, and that I'm to test my mettle against him instead. He wants you to watch me while we fight outside."

Lying to Hraldin isn't nearly as nerve-wracking as lying to Father, since Hraldin is less likely to spot a lie, and he's not nearly as physically imposing.

"Some of the other brothers wanted to join us well to watch," Tefka adds. "Of course, Father said he has so much faith in you, that you'll ensure we all return home safely."

Hraldin slaps his tail more enthusiastically this time, and he thumps his chest with one of his clawed hands. "Leave it to me!"

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Haalfrin has been leaning against a tall tree for over a day now. He WAS standing before, but his knee stump started to hurt, so he got back on the floor to rest.

"Dakka, I wonder if anyone is going to answer my challenge? Am I going to have to start eating the herbs here to get them to make a move…?"

"Why would eating the herbs matter?" Dakka asks in confusion.

"Dragons hate it when people steal from them, right?" Haalfrin shrugs. "I'm sure your grandfather will come out if I make him angry."

Of course, Dakka doesn't answer this.

Just as Haalfrin is resisting the urge to go pound on the door again, the great doors creak open. Excitedly, Haalfrin jumps to his feet and looks to the entrance.

There, he counts 10 dragon men shuffling out of the front hall in single file; the eldest and most powerful are in front, while the youngest and weakest are trailing behind.

The dragon in front has 4 horns, and even in his humanoid form, he's FAR bulkier than Dakka was. If Dakka was a beanpole, then this man looks like a beefed-up giant. His arm muscles are significantly thicker than Haalfirn's legs, and his torso is ripe with rippling muscles.

Haalfrin looks over at the horde of dragons marching toward him, and he doesn't know if he's supposed to be disappointed or not. He was hoping to fall fighting Fheldin. How cool would that be?

At the same time, he's wondering if he'll end up fighting all these dragons at the same time. Why else would they show up in a group? If so, that's probably fine as well; he barely won against Dakka, anyway, who was a newly ascended 4 horned dragon.

Coming up to Haalfrin, the 4 horned dragon in front crosses his arms and looks down at him. "I'm Hraldin, Father's eldest son." He then jerks his hand behind him. "Tefka in the back will be fighting you. You'll be allowed to challenge father if you defeat him."

Smiling, Haalfrin picks up his bone ax and looks around. "Where do you want to do this?"

Hraldin points up on the ridge. "Mother wouldn't like her garden to be destroyed, and father doesn't like strangers wandering around his palace. So, we're going up there."

"Let's do this," Haalfrin says as he starts climbing the long ramp up.

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The mob of dragons normally would've rushed to the top of the ridge, but they don't get to go outside very often, so they're perfectly willing to take their time on the way up, just in case they get caught and forced to stay underground for a couple of decades.

"Most of the dragons seem to dislike humans," Haalfrin surmises. They're all completely ignoring him when he tries to make small talk.

The only dragon who doesn't seem averse to speaking with Haalfrin is Hraldin himself. Most of Haalfrin's and Hraldin's conversation on the way up is all Hraldin blabbering about his own life. Thus, Haalfrin learns a lot about him.

From talking to him, the dragon feels a little oafish, but kind at heart, in Haalfrin's opinion.

'I mean,' Haalfrin thinks, 'the man managed to leave home, prove he's an independent adult, yet he still chose to come back. He wanted his parents to have an easy time, after all.' Hraldin also likes to keep animals, and he spends most of his time guarding his mother's garden and helping to keep his father's territory safe.

On the way up, when Hraldin notices that the human is limping, he stops the entire entourage and asks, "What's wrong?" while pointing at his leg.

Haalfrin rolls up his pant leg – revealing the wooden stump.

It's not just Hraldin – all the dragons are shocked seeing this.

Of course, seeing serious injuries is nothing new to the Drakin clan. The question is, "What kind of suicidal maniac challenges a dragon while they're physically impaired?"

Once they all remember that he came to challenge a 5 horned dragon, they all calm down. "He was a suicidal maniac from the beginning, so nothing changed."

Hraldin, however, gets concerned. He points down at Haalfrin's let and offers, "I can carry you up, if your leg is hurting."

"No thank you," Haalfrin smiles, "but thank you."

"No problem," Hraldin smiles back. When a dragon smiles, they don't look very benevolent – what with the pointy teeth and wide grins.

"So," the eldest dragon asks, "Why did you come here?"

"I came here to die," Haalfrin laughs, "Why else would I come to challenge a nest of dragons?"

Seeing that Hraldin is still curious, Haalfrin offers a bit more. "I'd like my soul to belong to Freyya. I received a prophecy when I was younger that I am fated to die of old age. I figured no amount of luck could save me from a dragon."

"Ahaha!" Hraldin laughs, "Don't worry, little man! If you somehow beat little brother, and if Father doesn't feel like dealing with you, I'll kill you!"

"Aw, thanks."

Hraldin thumps his tail proudly. "Hmph! I'm good at killing people. I'll make it quick."

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Once they finally reach the top, Haalfrin cracks his neck and readies his ax. He gets in his battle stance and watches as Tefka readies himself opposite of Haalfrin and the other 9 dragons encircle them all, as if to watch from every angle.

Tefka – a 3 horned dragon even smaller than the one he beat up earlier – shifts into his draconic form, and he's followed by all the other dragons.

When Hraldin in particular shifts into his larger form, Haalfrin is amazed at how gargantuan the creature is. Even Dakka would've only come up to his knees!

Of course, Haalfrin knew that 4-horned (and above) dragons never stop growing larger, but he didn't quite realize how exaggerated this ability is… until now.

While Tefka is gathering the mana in his body, he's just… standing there.

Haalfrin could've launched an attack, but with the serene feeling in the dragon's spirit and his unmoving body, he's under the impression that the duel hasn't started yet.

Plus, Haalfrin remembers Dakka telling him about how it's proper draconic etiquette to let the weaker party make the first move.

While Haalfrin is waiting for the battle to start, he sees that 8 of the dragons are shuffling away.

"Oi!" Hraldin rumbles to the other 8 spectators after he shifts as well, "Why arrre you all movinnng away."

"We're makinnng sure they have plennnty of room to fight," one of the dragons explains with an even face. In reality, they're spacing themselves out to make it harder for Hraldin to catch them all at once.

Hearing this excuse, Hraldin nods his head. "Hmm… That makesss senssse." With this in mind, he starts backing up as well.

As all the dragons continue moving away without any sign of stopping, Hraldin gets a little anxious. "That'sss far enough, brothers. Ssstay where you arrrre."

They all obediently stop in place and look intently at the fight.

Sensing that it's now time, Haalfrin can't contain his joy any longer as he releases his Aura and shouts to Tefka, "COME AT ME! I'LL PLAY GENTLE!"

The power surges in Tefka's body and he's ready to pounce… Suddenly the brown dragon leaps forward with tremendous strength.

Haalfrin leaps forward at the same time, yet just before he can get a strike in, Tefka flaps his wings, and his body surges upward – avoiding Haalfrin's ax strike entirely.

(Tefka only intended to escape this valley; he never thought much of Haalfrin's strike, and it's only a coincidence his belly wasn't ripped out from that one swing.)

Just when Haalfrin expected Tefka to use his dodge to counterattack, the dragon flies hard into the sky and… disappears while roaring, "NOW!"

Eight of the Drakin spectators unfurl their wings and burst out with strength they had been hiding pretty well. As one, they scatter in different directions.

"YOUUUUU!" Hraldin roars in a voice so deep that the earth shakes. "HOWWW DARREE YOUUUUU!?"

He lifts his tail and smacks the air. A ripple of explosive air shoots out of his tail, and it knocks into one of the dragons – breaking his wing and sending him tumbling to the earth.

For another dragon, Hraldin grabs with a magical grip. He slams his fist into the ground, and the dragon off in the distance is pinned to the ground and knocked unconscious.

One moment, Haalfrin was getting ready for a duel.

The next moment, all the dragons are just… gone.

Tefka and 8 of the spectator dragons have flown off, and Hraldin left to chase them.

... leaving the human all alone with only the lonely whistling breeze to console him.

"…What?" ~ Haalfrin