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[Chirpadee]

Time was irrelevant. That was the first thing Iruk had discovered after his dark lord's capture. It passed as it pleased and he let it do as it did around him, ignoring its effects, and its implications. His coiled form had stayed, buried, In the murk for weeks. Now, fat off fish, another craving struck. This one petty swamp creatures would not satisfy. It pulsated in him like a second heartbeat.

Kill, it whispered, kill, make them scream, make them cry, kill.

At first he had ignored it, happy to remain deep within his swamp in one of the many pits he had dug deep into the mire. However the longer he waited, the louder it became. Time flowed around him, and he did his best to ignore it, but the call whispered louder and louder. It pounded in his ears, rent at his mind and sent him coiling into fits of snapping rage.

Kill

It insisted deep into his subconscious until finally he flung himself from the inky safety of his self declared home, and cast off the mud he had coated his long, oily coils in.

He threw himself onto land, wheezing and growling at anything stupid enough to come near as he dried. It was night, he decided, as it was dark and he could see the moon glimmering between clouds. His bio-luminescent spots cast eerie light on the world around him, basking his own hideous skin in their soft glow. It might have been attractive on anything but the snarling dragonfish spawn. His prehensile lure flicked to and fro as he observed the landscape. Slowly his massive wings unfurled, their translucent hues doing nothing to filter out the moonlight. It just made the veins look darker against the almost paper thin flap.

He stretched them, and then he plunged forward across the land, his bowlegged gate making him writhe horribly as he got up the speed he needed, bounding like a monitor he launched himself up into the sky. His wings raked the air and their tips skimmed the murky water below as he soared upwards. Another hard flap and the ground dwindled, two more and he reached the bottoms of the clouds. He hissed at the fluffy substance as he plunged through them. He did not slow his rise until he was skimming the far surface of the clouds, the moon and stars glowering down upon the inky monster that polluted their skies. If the clouds parted enough and anyone on the ground looked up, the sight from below was breathtaking. While his body, and thus horrible tainted form, vanished into the darkness of the sky his twin lines of light shimmered like twisted stars as he coiled his way through the night. Beauty in something so vile was almost laughable.

Kill the soft whisper urged.

Patience. He reminded himself. There were traps to be laid, things to set into motion before he could trap something big enough to quell the craving, the want for blood and screams that dominated his conscious.

He drifted down into the swamp that likened a twin of his own and settled in the deepest area he could find that still bordered the edges. Now his work started. He dropped into the water and vanished below the murky surface. His spots shown, just barely visible through the mire, where his coiling form darted. The water above him boiled and bubbled as he did something to his new hiding spot. Slowly the glow from his spots vanished as he worked deeper and deeper. Water rushed in, or did it rush out? As he filled his hollow with his own breath power. He coiled and thrashed turning the spot he had chosen into a variable mud hollow. Deeper and deeper he burrowed and he moved mud through channels of murk, hiding the evidence of his trap. His work continued for more then one day, and reports of something horrible near the edges of the swamp began to surface. Not that anything good was ever reported but these were different. Tales of a massive black water with glowing spots that lingered in the swamp with a tail like a jelly fish.

Several days passed, but the dragon was not ready. He drove off a sekkain forest, and an air who ventured to close to his work in progress. This was not for them, this was for something bigger. Finally confident in his work, he drifted out of his pit to recline at the edges, the indent looking like all the others, shallow, murky, but not dangerous. Perfect in his mind. The moss and algae he had drug from other areas covered it so the depth of his trap was unnoticeable against the backdrop of the ground around it. His eyes squinted at the sun, how long had it been since he had started his work, days, weeks? He did not like day. He could not hide as well in the day, he would rather be in his murky pit. If he wanted to be noticed though, he had to be out when they could see him. It was too bright, too sharp and hard on his sensitive eyes. His frill rose and lowered thoughtfully as he observed the world around him. For now the area was dragon free. Perfect.

KILL!

Soon he answered his psychosis, Soon.

Now he had to set the bait. He swung his legs and waddled off to the edges of the swamp, a good hike, far enough to get someone in a full run, a solid chase, yes this would do indeed. He had chosen his spot well, as he always did in his own mind. There, right at the place where swamp and mire began to become field, he coiled to wait. His tail was drawn close to his face and he observed the fish he had become tangled in his grasp during his work. He was hungry again, every hungry, a belly he could never fill. Unless he caught what he was hoping today. Something massive, and something flightless, something he could rend and tear for weeks. He would drag it down into the darkness he had made, and he would wrap himself around it's neck and hold until it stopped thrashing. He would fill its gasping mouth with water, boiling water so it couldn't do anything but drown. If he was lucky it would have brought its rider, a tasty morsel to drag into the darkness. It would be perfect if he could watch the dragon scream as its chosen was ripped from its back and rent to pieces in his jaws. He snapped his teeth together a few times in excitement. His trap was well laid.

KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!

The voice pounded like an earth against his skull. Over and over, it matched his heartbeat. Every hammer of his twisted blood pumper. He untangled a semi rotten fish from his jellyfish and swallowed it whole. The sekkains couldn't resist a taint on their land, he had already been seen, someone would be here to take care of him soon.

[Megs]

"It was wicked, it was. Huge, too!"

"Really? You're just trying to scare me."

Nirae stared listlessly down at her morning hot cereal, watching small air bubbles break to the surface. She had sat at an empty table, but an air rider and his mate had settled across from her nonetheless. Not quite in a sociable mood, all she had done was nod at them. It turned out they were more willing to engage each other than the earth rider, which was fine by her.

"I'm quite serious, my love. We hardly got away in time. He was long, greasy lookin', huuuuuge teeth, transparent wings...and a jelly fish growing out o' his tail!" he said excitedly, making all sorts of hand gestures and snapping motions to startle his girl, who put her hands to her mouth, eyes wide in alarm. Nirae snapped her head up, drawing their attention to her at last. "What? You don't believe me, either?" the air rider exasperated in a rather childish tone.

"Start over," Nirae said urgently. "Without the unnecessary motions, if you please." Her tone was serious, expression set, eyes hard and trained on his. This sobered the rider, who recounted his ordeal more slowly, and described the Taint the best he could.

"A forest rider even tried to chase 'im off, but we both had to high tail it outta there. Too big for us to chew, apparently," he mumbled at the end of his story. He eyed Nirae's bowl, his cheery, childish attitude sliding back into place. "You going to eat that, lass?" Nirae stared at him a moment, then abruptly took off from her seat, her hair swirling out behind her in a dramatic curtain. She left the couple staring after her, but she didn't care about her manners right then. The moment she was out of the throng of the banquet hall, she was running as fast as she could for her and Sylt's quarters.

Alerted by Nirae's unusual emotions, the pretty earth was slowly gathering herself up out of a cat-like stretch from her earthen bed. As Nirae ran in and darted straight for the closet, she eyed her rider. "What is it?"

"It's been spotted," Nirae said breathlessly, throwing things out behind her as she found what she needed. "The Taint. He's around the swamp. Since we were going to pass through there anyway, I'm volunteering us to scare him off." After that, Sylt couldn't get anything else out of her rider. She was too busy preparing, her mind swirling with thousands of thoughts. Only when they were on their way out from the Academy was she able to get anything else from Nirae.

"If it is there...do you plan on having the Taint killed?" Sylt asked, pausing as her wings came to tuck firmly to her sides as they cleared the Academy, ready to start her run. Nirae looked out across the landscape, a breeze whisking about them. There was an intense moment of silence, then she ran a hand over one of Sylt's colorful spines, any hint of her usual smile long gone. She seemed a lot older now.

"Let's go."

_____

Sylt was a powerful runner. Her muscles rippled under her hide, which all but gleamed in the sunlight. She was silent, saving all her energy for running. They had a lot of ground to cover, after all. And though the war was over, there were still Taints who were more than happy to continue causing problems. Even when they stopped to camp during the nights, one of them was awake at all times. During their journey, not much was said. But as they neared the Zavan Swamp, both were tensed. Nirae, arrow and bow at the ready, sat rim-rod straight, her intense eyes looking about. It was slowly dipping into evening, inviting shadows to come out and play. They could have waited a day, but in order to catch this illusive water Taint, it seemed logical that he or she would probably be out during the night.

"Careful," Nirae said softly as Sylt's massive paws slid in and out of what would be to a human like miniature lakes, but were puddles to the earth. Sylt didn't respond, but paid more mind to where she was stepping. So slowly, they continued on their trek, slowing more, and the darkening evening nipped at their heels...

As Sylt was wading through another murky stretch of water she couldn't avoid, she snorted in surprise as it ended up being deeper than she thought it would be. In fact, she was slipping in a bit too quickly. She scrambled backward, trying to gain purchase, wings flailing out and flapping rather uselessly, but trying to coax more effort into keeping her from slipping completely in.

Nirae's heart began to crawl up her chest in alarm as the darkened waters lapped up Sylt's sides, brushing up against her boots. She was so alarmed she couldn't even cry out.

[Chirpadee]

Iruk lay coiled for hours. His frill slowly raising and lowering as the sun beat down on his slick hide. From time to time he would retreat to the pools only return to where he had been laying, waiting. Slowly dusk fell, and he began to feel what he had expected all along. He was massive, though low, stretching a full 155 feet of horrid wriggling coils and glowing spots, but laying down in the dusk he was a dark spot among many. His wings folded tightly to his sides as he lifted his head. An earth from the feel of it. He could see her shape in the distance. His glee could hardly be contained as he slithered along his belly. He flicked his tail in pride that his trap would work so soon, the jelly dancing hypnotically, pulsating in its faint white glow. In the fading light his spots tinted more of an excited yellow. She was heading right into his trap. There would be no grand chase, no need to escape an angry prowling earth to lead them into his pit and drag them down. Once they were in the water this was his game.

He slid across the ground, an eel in the growing darkness. The last rays of sun shimmered off his flesh casting him into matte, disgusting purples on his lit side, and casting his shadowed side into the soft glow of his own spots. His lure whipped to and fro in his excitement like an oversized lightening bug flashing in the growing darkness. He pulled his bulk into a tributary of his pit and there he lay, mostly buried in mud, his wings tucked close against his form and hidden in the depths. His claws dug into the mud, ready to launch himself forward. The faint yellow glow of his spots were hardly visible against the darkening sludge he pushed his body into. There, concealed excepting the top of his spines lowered spines and his great glassy eyes, he waited. His tail flicked, the jelly dancing at the tip now submerged in water, it flowed in a beautiful dance, hypnotic to any poor fish who ventured close.

His grin only spread as the earth came prowling right towards him, straight at him in fact. His pit was between them, just a few more feet, and there it was. He had gone unnoticed, which suited him just fine. He watched the heavy dragoness begin to slip. He had smoothed the sides into nothing more then slick muddy ramps which sloped so dramatically finding purchase would be nigh impossible, if the earth didn't sink so much. Her bulk slid forward deeper, and deeper. Now was the time.

Irukandji pushed himself forward, his belly sliding across the thick mud beneath him, and his head disappeared into the murky depths of his pit. He would make her fall, this was something he was good at. Dragging creatures into the dark depths where he was the ultimate predator, the king of the deep.

His full form sipped soundlessly into the abyss he had dug over several days, the only sign he had been laying, watching them in wait, was a slight ripple on the far surface. His jellyfish tail dipped beneath the surface at the far end of the massive pit. It was long enough for two earth dragons, and nearly time and a half as deep. How he had managed it was almost a marvel in itself. He had camouflaged it so well. He dove deep and propelled himself with his legs right to the far bank. He shuffled to the side, not wanting to get squashed by the sliding dragoness. As soon as her belly hit the water he darted forward.

His head slipped between her front and back legs, and for a moment his gnashing teeth emerged from the water. The way he turned his head one large dead eye stared out at the rider, faintly glowing in the final rays of light that hit the wide surface. His horrible, toothy grin parted the surface, each one reflecting like a saber as they rose just above the surface. Then his dark black nostrils, covered in a thick, pusey white substance, vanished under the surface again. The slight glow of his spots became visible as he drifted closer to the surface. Showing just how long the beast really was, he was a monster among waters which made him as long as many earths. He lunged around her hind legs with a snap of his muscular body, heaving himself smoothly across the mud in the shallow sands behind her.

Now coiled around her legs, and moving with speed only a beast of the wave could manage in the quickly muddying depths, he yanked himself forward. He cackled to himself beneath the waves as he dove towards the deepest part of the pit and back towards her head. If he had moved fast enough, she should lose any purchase she had with her feet.

He shot out into the depths again, leaving them behind, racing to the far side of the pond. His body just a streak of light against the surface. Hitting the far bank he coiled. Like a viper. His wings spread, and he rose out of the water like a demon from hell just as the final glow of gold vanished from the horizon and the world was bathed in night. Even his eyes glowed soft yellow blue in the darkness. His outstretched wings arching menacingly at where the earth should have fallen. His grin spread far past his eyes, a dark black cavern into his deep throat clear between the jutting fangs.

Blood! Kill! Rip! Chase! Rend! Bite! KILL! KILL! KILL! The voice screamed.

Patience! he snapped back even though it did nothing to stop the demanding wail. He wasn't ready yet. They had to realize exactly what had happened. How foolish they had been to come looking for him. He wanted them to suffer. Even if it meant a harder battle for himself. He was large enough now to feel confident taking on an earth. She was bigger then he, but he was faster, and he was cunning. She had fallen into his trap and in this world he was king, she would drown and he would rip her rider to pieces.

[Megs]

Both Nirae and Sylt were far too occupied to notice the long, sinewy form that slipped into the dark waters across the way. Nirae was panicked enough as it was, not knowing how to help Sylt, her breath short and quick.

"Sylt--"

"Just hold on," the earth rumbled in a strained voice, working her powerful back legs to dig back for purchase into the slimy, muddy decline that seemed far too inconvenient for a dragon such as herself to maneuver. It was like some twisted, evil trap--wait. A trap. No, there was no way someone would know they, specifically, would be coming. Unless..."Nirae, get off, get to the shore!" she ordered, trying to partly turn so that she could use her front legs instead for better maneuverability. But she was sinking, little by little, the harder she tried. She was managing not to panic, to stay calm. She swung her tail, trying to dig the spikes onto the shore for further purchase. But the trap was cleverly made. All her spikes did was slip back in, even as they dug into the mud. Her heavy form was just too much. Her attempt at being calm began to evaporate as she felt something dart between her legs. It wrapped about her legs, before she could use her claws to dig into what she knew must be the Tainted water they had come for. Maw opening, she plunged her head into the water, to see if she could clamp her teeth onto him.

Nirae's heart came to a stop as the head rose above the water, one huge, slitted eye staring right into her soul. Time stopped as well, suspending the brief moment for far too long. Again, she heard the voice of the survivor shakily describing the creature, and knew they had found him. But...he had been ready. But, how? As their eyes locked, an oozing thought splattered across her mind. Had this been the last thing her father had seen before his death? This disgusting creature that froze your veins, made your heart stop in absolute fear, and made you feel like it really was the end of the world? All hope, anything and everything positive, just ceased to exist. Nirae knew what it felt like to be in the claws of death, having been there twice, if not more. But this time, it...was different. More horrifying, more...personal. She was going to experience just how her father had died.

Time decided to move again, and her heart restarted, though at a painful, frantic pace. Her hands, her arms, moved on their own. The string of her bow became taunt from the stress of being pulled back with the arrow, her right arm screaming from the strength she put into it. Releasing, the arrow flew, a spark in the light of the moons making the special steel look like silver fire. It missed by a hair as the Taint dove back down. And time decided to pull strings and make things go far too fast. Sylt's feeble hold onto the mud was lost as Iruk made her footing unstable. The last sensible thing Sylt could do was fill her lungs with as much air as she could--having brought her head up--as, with a big splash, she was yanked under.

The dark water surrounded them greedily, and Nirae felt her bow slip from her hand. Not that it mattered, it was useless anyway. The force of Sylt's dunk had her spinning in the dragon's wake, but one of Sylt's wings came up and bashed right into her. Like a ball hit with a bat, Nirae was flung back toward the surface. And it hurt like hell. She couldn't tell up from down until the top of her head breached the writhing surface. Coughing out water and trying to breath, Nirae saw dots of light dancing before her eyes from the force of the hit. Her body didn't want to move, fear and panic gripping her so tightly it was a miracle she could manage a single breath. Sylt, she needed to get Sylt. Right, what could she do? Yank her up? No, the best thing she could do for them both was to get out of Sylt's way, get to shore. Yes, that was reasonable. Gripping onto the sane thought, she began to inch forward, desperately trying to reach the slippery bank.

Meanwhile, Sylt was trying to get a grip on her panic and form a plan. Her anger was helping a bit. She wanted nothing more than to impale this Taint, like she had so many others. But she kept sinking--goodness, how far down did this hole go?!

[Chirpadee]

Iruk was lucky. Her teeth just missed his darting side, However she was rewarded for her effort by his tail tip flashing close to her face. If she was not careful those tendrils would sting places even earths would find distasteful. The two glowing tendrils gave a small warning of the dangers of his stinging tail. For the moment things were going well for the water dragon. An arrow went whizzing past his head; though as it did not penetrate it was ignored.

Just like that Irukandji saw himself winning. The heavy earth lost all hope of gaining ground on the slick swamp mud that lined his devious trap. The water churned into a brown inky mass as she went down like a falling mountain. Glee fanned through him as he heard a scream. All too soon the yelling stopped, leaving only the sounds of thrashing as the earth sunk fully beneath the waves. He tilted his head this way and that, deciding if he wanted to dive again or not, then he saw the rider come rocketing to the surface. His grin widened, her dragon sinking and the woman so close at hand. He wretched hideously. At first it looked as if he might turn out his stomach into the waves. His sides heaved with the force and then suddenly a great rush of water came pouring out of his gills and mouth. His gills closed and he continued to hack as a thick white substance sealed them, oozing out of them like thick white glue. Then he puffed through his nostrils clearing them of the sufficant he now used to clog his gills.

The moments it took to do this let Nirae get to the far bank. He turned his head this way and that, taking in the puny human with one eye and the other, the way they were positioned on his head made it difficult to see her head on. She smelled, she smelled like something distant. Something he had eaten before. He remembered that sort of thing. Knowing what you had eaten before was important. Sure there were other scents clouding it, but something was there. Then again if he had eaten her she would not be standing here. So the memory was dismissed as unimportant.

kill. Kill. KILL. the voice urged.

He hissed aloud at both her and the voice. His lure snapped wildly back and forth as he cleared his mind and lowered himself into the water, He skirted the edges of his pit, careful for he knew there was a very angry earth below the surface. There was no saying how long the beast could hold its breath, or if it would find a way out. Right now, right in front of him was her rider, so venerable, so pathetic. The earth could wait. He would handle her later.

He cleared the distance with a few lazy pushes of his wings, using them like paddles as he cut the water like a knife. He did not strike though. Instead he threw himself onto the bank and made a vast loop around her with his coils, walling the woman in a dark, dimly lit prison of inky flesh and stinking fins. His back feet were tucked to his body, ready to launch himself if the earth found a way out of his trap. He brought his toothy maw towards the rider, his putrid breath washing over her face, rank with rot and fish.

“Hello meat. You have wandered too far from home I be thinking. You found my stomach empty, which is bad news for you meat. I think I will fill it with dragon tonight.” He croaked out in a voice that sounded like it had not uttered a word in months. Perhaps it had something to do with expelling the water from his lungs, but it gave his voice an slightly echoing, rasping quality that matched his vile form. He brought his tail looping up over his lowered frill, just above his hind legs, and let it dangle about twenty five feet from the ground, so the glowing tendrils on the end of the jelly fish just barely danced over the surface of the shore. The lights swayed hypnotically as he drifted it towards her like some nightmare beast.

While it might not kill her, the poisons could paralyze, or at the vary least send her into shock. The long and the short of it was, if she was touched by one of those arm thick tentacles she would be in a hell of a lot of pain and in danger of something far worse. For now he was taunting her. “Little celestial ass licker, forgot to bring her wing, and brought a dragon that can't fly. Pitiful... pitiful creature. So easy to trap. They always send earths. They never learn do they meat?”

Kill now! BITE!

He ignored the voice pointedly, more then relaxed enough to glance carefully over his shoulder to ensure the earth dragoness was still drowning. He flicked his jelly tail towards where the human had been standing moments before. He turned his head back to ensure she was not behaving badly in her glowing prison. Wondering if she was smart enough to avoid the attack. It was easy to tell, after all with all his spots turned in on her, it was like having a softly lit stage for her slaughter.

[Megs]

This was worse than any nightmare she had ever had. Nirae heard something go on behind her, but didn't stop to look. Dear stars above, she had nothing to face off against this Taint, to defend herself. Something bumped against her thigh as she swam, almost making her scream. Instead it was a gasp of surprise that came out, thinking it was the Taint after her. No, it was her bow. She slipped her arm through it and scrambled up the slippery slope. Sylt, Sylt, her dear Sylt. What had she done to her dear Sylt by bringing her here? Her heart beating frantically, as if it would never stop it's rapid pace, Nirae turned to stare down into the murky depths of the water, as if just waiting for the earth dragon to burst forth...instead, she saw the Tainted dragon swimming right for her, skirting the edges of Sylt's watery trap. Nirae staggered back, panic weighing her down. There was no way she could outrun him, or...her bow. A lucky, distracting shot, that's what she needed. But though she was now gripping her bow in her right hand, she failed to use it. She was encircled by the creature, the stench of rot and fish nearly making her gag and lose whatever meal she had had last. Then, he was talking to her. And still, fear had her rooted to the spot, ever increasing as she was forced to face this monster.

His voice just made things worse. Tremor after unpleasant tremor coursed through her body, but she was able to move enough to turn her head to see that jelly fish at the end of his tail sway slowly toward her. Somehow, she began to step back, trying to put distance between herself and it. But Nirae's back hit up against the wall of stinking, oily flesh instead. She twitched away from it, her wet, tangled hair shifting as she did, trying to look for an escape. She was so terrified at this point, that she was now beyond feeling it. As he looked over his shoulder, to where massive amounts of bubbles were popping up to the surface as Sylt was forced to expel her supply of air, Nirae felt at her back to see if any arrows remained. There were a few, the rest lost to her tumbling about in the water. Fumbling to knock it into the bow, willing her hands to stop shaking, she took aim for the beast's head. As he turned, she took her shot, aiming for his left eye.

But that jelly was being swung right for her. Just as the arrow flew she was forced to try and dodge, but was not fast enough to escape it completely. Some part of it just managed to brush against her arm...and her world exploded into hot, fiery, severe pain. She screamed, but didn't even hear herself. Her bow clattered down into her mud, her legs giving out on her as she fell to her knees, clutching her arm. She had never felt anything like this before, and the thing had just grazed her. Sylt, Sylt, my dear Sylt, I'm so sorry. So sorry, her thoughts cried out to the drowning earthen dragon.


Sylt could feel just how terrified her rider was, as if each frantic heart beat was her own. She wasn't fairing so well down here, either, but her anger was the only thing that kept her from tipping into complete panic. When her own rider's scream penetrated through the water, or just echoed through their bond, Sylt snorted, which just lost her more of her valuable air. Her lungs burned, her eyes stung, an inner darkness slowly taking over her eyes and numbing the stinging. No, she wasn't going anywhere. She had survived this long, she wasn't going to fail Nirae now, or herself. She had been working at the mud, trying to get it to push up at her feet, to get her back to the surface. Now it responded to her with a tremor and a lurch, oozing beneath her, making the water start to rise as the space began to fill. While she couldn't harden it completely, the mud squelched out as much water as it could at her will, becoming firm as four towers formed beneath her massive feet. Just enough that she didn't keep sinking, but instead, began to rise. Her crystal flashed, her markings glowed, her eyes flared. The last of her stored air trickled out of her mouth. It was now, or nothing.

In a massive burst of water, she broke the surface across from Iruk and Nirae. She was deposited on the bank, and she fell on her side, disoriented and dizzy. Get it together, get up, she thought at herself, trying to rise to her shaky legs, drawing in breath and coughing out water.

[Chirpadee]

Irukandji watched the explosion of air with glee. The earth was drowning! Wonderful! His smile only widening, letting it curl and twist around his eyes, opening his already massive mouth further. His red tongue lashed the air, swiveling along the backs of his teeth. He was ready for his meal. And then he heard a twang. His head lashed around just fast enough to keep the arrow out of his eye. Instead the sharp little thing buried into his cheek, deep enough to bring a horrible screech from the massive water dragon. He thrashed wildly, his coils writhing inwards, luckily not landing on Nirae. His screams of rage sounded like a cross between a dieing eagle and a wailing banshee. He snapped his jaws in agitation and swirled around to see her lunging away from his tail.

He roared again and his neck coiled. His skull propelled through the air towards her like a strikeing snake. His jaw opening so wide it looked as if he had unhinged it. Her screams were music to his ears, goading him on. Her pain silenced the voice and soon she would be dead. He would swallow her whole, rid the world of her pesky bow and show her the price for her impertinence. No one fires upon Irukandji and lives. “MEAT! You stupid bitch! How dare you! HOW DARE YOU!” He roared as his vast cavernous maw, and horrible arching teeth came so close they could have grazed her hair.

She was lucky though, so very lucky, at the last moment her dragon exploded out of the water. Distraction of the highest kind. This required immediate attention. How dare the earth not drown! Not succumb to her fate! His teeth slammed shut, inches from her skin, and his neck arched horribly away. “Wait for me meat.” He growled.

Hot blood seeped from where the arrow imbedded as he observed the earth. Now he had bigger fish to fry. He could not let Sylt recover. His feet kicked off the earth and he threw his chest over his back, unwrapping himself. He threw himself forward, uncoiling around Nirae without a second thought. She could wait, she only had her bow. While it hurt. A dragon could truly kill him. Her tiny arrows were pins, the dragon was a mace.

He spread his wings, giving him a bit more stability on land and lunged onto the disoriented earth. His tail swung wide and he threw himself onto her heaving side. His fangs went straight for her flesh, right in front of the shoulder, trying to find purchase in her thick earthen skin. Thankfully his teeth were long. If he could wedge them under her scales, and into her skin, he could get his boiling water under her flesh and hurt her. His hissing roar parted his jaws and he began trying to wrap his coils around her thicker body. He could squeeze her, drag her back into the depths that way. If he could only get a good purchase before she got enough air to recover.

[Megs]

She was going to die, wasn't she? The pain just seemed to get worse, feeling an electrical fire burn and eat away at her flesh, spreading in her veins, torturing her. Iruk's hideous screams did little to bring her even a twinge of satisfaction. She had just pissed him off--she was dead for sure. Sure enough, he came lashing down, those teeth, longer than her--sharper than a blade--gnashing just at her head, a breath away from her hair. He yelled at her, his putrid breath swirling around her, making her body convulse for a moment. This was it, wasn't it? Just as she was looking up into the face of death, biting down more screams of pain, water erupted from where Sylt had been drowning. Water erupted everywhere, showering down upon her and the Taint. Sylt! A flash of relief crossed her heart, but it was snatched away from her.

“Wait for me meat," the Taint growled, uncurling from around her and slipping over to her beloved earth dragon. No, no, no!

"Sylt!" she screamed in warning, trying to make her arm move, to see if she could help her by pricking the Taint with what arrows she had left. But even the slightest movement made the pain flare even worse, and a sickening nausea swelled up her gut.


Sylt's head snapped around at her rider's desperate scream, just as Iruk sprang at her, coiling around her. She roared, feeling his sharp fangs begin to slip in through her scales, penetrating her flesh. Her golden eyes were flashing in fury, and despite her weakened state, she drew in a long breath of air. When she released it, a thick, dark brown goo spat out along Iruk's face and neck. It began to solidify into stone rapidly, crunching at scales and skin wherever it had managed to land. But she was far from done. Her tail, thick with the three rows of thick spikes, swung around to lodge into whatever exposed part of the Taint she could reach with it.

She was so tired, still deprived of proper air in her lungs. But that rage kept her moving, thinking, attacking. Nirae was alive, more incentive to keep going. She was going to kill this bastard, for Nirae, for her rider's father. This Taint had no idea just how big a target he had on him, especially now. Even if he managed to escape her wrath, and they both got out of this alive...she would never stop hunting him now. Nirae had her own to avenge, but it was more than personal for Sylt now. She didn't like being tricked, trapped, or being such exposed to water. She feared drowning, of her own girth weighing her down. Her own, deeper fear had come alive this day. And she was livid. That inner fire kept her fueled, fear on the back burner. Her maw opened again, ready to spit out more at the Taint, her muscles bunching with a determined energy. She was going to rip. Him. Apart.

[Chirpadee]

Irukandji squealed in glee as her scales began to wrench back. Boiling water streamed from his gaping maw into any tare in her armor he made. His claws scraped uselessly at her scales, they were not meant for this sort of work. He was just getting the first loop of his thick length around her when the thick brown goo hit the side of his face. He reeled back, screaming his horrible cry. His neck thrashed and he scratched at his face with his spindly limbs, ripping it off his eye before it could fully harden and leave him half blind. How dare she!

Then her tail lodged just above his hip. He turned into a writhing mass of coils, some wrapping over Sylt, some thrashing against the ground. His tail swing around, lashing at the dragoness's face. His tentacles looking for purchase in her mouth, her eyes, anywhere exposed. It would not be nearly as harming to the earth as it was to her human counter part, but it would not be pleasant if one got into any of those places. Those coils that did make it around her larger frame constricted, tighter and tighter like a boa. Her spikes dug deep into his thick hide and blood began to well, pouring down his side.

Suddenly the hideous monster was rethinking his plan. He snapped his fangs and took a deep breath. From his mouth, and from between every wretched, curving tooth, came a column of super heated water. He aimed it for where he had been shredding her scales, intent on causing as much damage as possible. He yanked back, his arms flailing wildly at the quickly thickening rock on his hide, and he yanked his neck to and fro, sending the scalding water in all directions. He did his best to break some of the horrible stone that now covered half his neck.

“WHORE!” He spat, “DAUGHTER OF DECAY! KEEPER OF FILTH! WONTON HEAVING HELLION!” He raged at her and lunged over her form, his coils unwound from around the dragoness as he dove between her and her partner again. Sylt was more then he had hoped for. She was too good with her body. If she had only drowned. If she had panicked like an earth should in water. This would have been easy, quick. His belly would be full. He would be happy to sink into his pit and feast on her rotting corpse for weeks, beyond the sight of the dragons in their precious Academy. No she had pulled herself together, instead of thrashing she had called the earth, and now she was gaining ground.

His body uncoiled and he bounded around Nirae, looping back so he could stare at his adversary. He was bleeding heavily from the wound she had inflicted with that horrible tail, and anything else she had managed before he had fled to fight dirtier. He was panting, his sides heaved hard. He flared his wings, to make himself look larger, as he wrapped his body closer to the dragoness's partner.

“HOLD BITCH!” He screamed. Iruk's pupils contracted as he snapped his jaws. He held those wicked fangs open above the tiny human. She was so easily squashed, so easily done away with, but then he would have a very, very angry earth to deal with. The dragon knew when he was not coming out on top in a fight. He saw it in that horrid spiked tail and her quickly returning stamina. He hissed and opened his jaws wider, letting cool water pool out of them to fall, harmlessly, on Nirae. “I give you a choice.” He rasped darkly, “are you listening you disgusting excuse for ground dweller? If not I will kill her. I will boil her alive, wrap her in my tentacles and you will have to watch as she screams and twists. There will be nothing you could do. She would be dead before you can reach me.”

[Megs]

The protected, if not pampered, flesh beneath her scales seemed to have way more nerve endings wound into them than was necessary. What was managed to get exposed from Iruk's fangs actually sizzled as the hot-as-hell water was gushed over and into the new wounds. Having never actually had to be too worried about being burned before, this was more or less a new sensation to Sylt. And she did not like it. She roared, her body giving a massive, bone-wrenching twitch as the nature of trying to get away from the source of the burning took over. But he was wrapped around her. What brief fright she had felt was bashed aside by her ever-growing agitation. She was not going to lose, not by this bastard. Her tail scraped down, digging in more, making Iruk's blood seep faster. But his tail came up, the tendrils of that jellyfish smacking into her face. It didn't hurt so much as it had hurt Nirae from just a brush, but her nose was actually quite sensitive, the bridge and area around her crystal on her forehead unprotected by scales. She snorted at the pain, but luckily her eyes were saved by her jerking away. Fangs bearing, she was aiming for a spot to bite on his throat as he screeched insults at her. He was just making her all the more angry. Another attack of the super heated water made her twitch again, made odd colors dance before her eyes.

But luckily, the rapidly hardening stone gloop was becoming a grand distraction. Sylt tensed her muscles, planning on forcing his coils off from around her. She was strong enough, massive enough. She'd try snapping this bastard in two if she had to. There was no way, with the stars above as her witness, that she would allow him to drag her into his watery trap again. Because, she knew, she wouldn't be able to escape it a second time. He was suddenly uncoiling from around her, and she just barely missed sinking her teeth into his exposed neck. She staggered from the sudden freedom, gasping in air, forcing herself to not fall. No, he was going for Nirae again! What low-dwelling, mud-sucking bastard! She whirled, ready to charge him with her horns, but he was already coiled around her rider. Telling her to hold, giving himself an advantage, and her a choice. Hell no. There would be no dealing with this one. There were only two outcomes from this--either she and Nirae would live, or they both died. There would be no, 'get into the water and I'll let your rider live' crap. She knew full well he would kill Nirae either way.

Still, she held back. But she was furious. So furious, the earth elements of the swamp were responding to her. The moist ground trembled, pockets of air long trapped below ground suddenly bursting forth around them as it shifted and vibrated, bringing up water and mud from the force. Her luminescent, golden eyes were seething, trained on Iruk. Her body quivered, but it wasn't from the pain she should have been feeling. It was her anger. Her tail swayed, it's long spikes glistening with Iruk's blood in the chilly moonlight.

"Speak your terms, mud-sucker," she spat, the growl in her voice menacing. She didn't have to charge to reach him. If she so commanded, the earth beneath him was just waiting to do her bidding.

Of course, Nirae was terrified this whole time. She could barely breath. She had been in this situation before, more than she'd like to admit, but for them both being so close to death was...seeing Sylt attacked by this huge water Taint...now Iruk was about her again, his coils forming the cage, feeling the breath of the monster as those teeth hovered above her again. She was still on her knees, still trying to get her brain to work. As a cool stream of water fell from Iruk's mouth onto her, she shivered, knowing it would be worse next time. What could she do? She looked up to see Sylt's eyes on her. They both knew it was all or nothing. Iruk could 'deal' all he wanted, but neither of them would listen. It had been decided, long ago between them...that it was all or nothing. All or nothing. Her hands moved, calmly, smoothly, in this realization. She became numb in her emotions. All or nothing, all or nothing...

Iruk wouldn't be able to see her in this position, not unless he moved his head to see her with one of his eyes, which meant moving his teeth away from their threatening position, even momentarily. A deep breath to still her tremble, her wet hands inserting the arrow at the string. A shift of her body, her left arm screaming in pain as it was forced to draw the string taunt. She took aim, up into his mouth, at the soft tissue within. This would hurt a little more than her first bite at him. She was unearthly calm as she let the arrow fly. But she wouldn't stay in this spot. The moment she let the arrow go, she tucked into herself and rolled away from his mouth.

Oh, his coils, his tail, anything still could get her. But if her arrow managed to hit anywhere in his mouth, the initial reaction may be to snap his mouth shut. All or nothing. Even now, she could feel Sylt begin her charge, the earth trembling beneath them even more.

All or nothing.

[Chirpadee]

Irukandji could feel cracked ribs under the skin where her thrashing brought her down on his side, he could breath, which meant she had not punctured a lung, but he was looking about as ragged as she. Neither was coming out well in this fight. His sides heaved and the water falling from his jaws tinted pink with blood. If he did not leave soon he would be risking death. He might take them with him, but he was quickly losing ground. If he lost too much blood there would no retreating back to deeper waters. He would never make the flight without enough energy. Already he felt the razor edge of his strength dulling. Now was not the time. He could wait. The tainted monster was patient. His rage would boil, and he would destroy them in the worst way he could think of. For now, it was better to flee to the shadows to lick his wounds.

His attention had been fully on Sylt, expecting her to listen, to beg him not to destroy this pitiful thing she loved so dearly. That was what Sekkain's did after all. Defend each other in a horrible dance. He had seen it so often in the war. Perhaps they would have known the vicious eel before he turned, but the twisted horror would not know it. All memory was lost to the drive, that single screaming memory of a faceless human, thing, being ripped apart. Their genders were so hard to differentiate. He didn't know how they told each other apart.

However this was not important; at this moment they were locked in mortal combat. Whether Irukandji did, or did not, remember his time in the Academy was not important. He was fixated on Sylt as she began to coil her muscles, his pupils contracting. He took in her stance for what it was, unrelenting. Then light blindingly flashed before his eyes, pain struck him unexpectedly. A horrible little dart drove itself into the soft skin between his jaws. He could feel the sharp tip boring into the underside of his tongue. He wailed in hatred just as Sylt began to charge.

His eyes cleared as Sylt's massive form gained purchase on the soft bank, the ground around him quaked. Air steamed from long covered vents as if the earth itself was rising up to foil him. His spots tinted a sickly red, almost washing out the blue, and he opened his jaws wide. In a last act of desperation he shot a tempest of boiling water straight into the charging earth dragoness's face. He didn't care if it hurt her, however that much water would cloud her vision, block him from her sights, give him a chance. If he was lucky she would trample her own human in the process. He didn't know the girl was already on the move, he didn't care. The human was no longer a concern. She would rot in hell if he had anything to say about it, but later. Patience. He could be patient.

He snapped his jaws shut, halting the flow and at the same time he dove straight into the massive pit beside him and out of Sylt's snarling reach. There was safety in the water. His long body followed after him. The murky water burned his wounds. Fire lanced his veins and the rock began to loosen with water rushing past it and his skin. Nothing was wounded as much as his pride. They would pay.

As soon as he had enough space, his wings spread and gave one massive pivot. His whole body whipped under the water and vanished into the darkness. It wasn't safe enough though. He dove until his feet scraped the bottom and he kicked off the murky bed with all the force in his tiny limbs. His body twisted to and fro like a banner in the wind, giving him speed, His wings pressed against the water propelling him faster towards the surface.

He exploded skywards, a trail of lights ascending heavenwards, like a bullet from a gun—whatever a gun was—and he twisted into the sky and out of her range. Massive, translucent wings beat the night air. His body was tired. His head was growing foggy but he had to get out of reach, he had far to fly tonight. That did not stop him from screaming his insults and threats into the night. His horrible light fading as he vanished upwards into he clouds.

“I WILL TURN YOU EARTH! I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER! I WILL TURN YOUR HEART BLACK AS COAL! I WILL MAKE YOU LIKE ME AND WHEN I DO I WILL MAKE YOU EAT THE HUMAN! I WILL MAKE YOU TASTE HER AND HEAR HER SCREAMS! MY TEETH WILL SHATTER YOUR CRYSTAL! MY WORDS WILL COMPEL YOU!”

[Megs]

Irukandji's attack of boiling water hit Sylt square in the face, slowing, then stopping her as she had to close her eyes and turn her head, the force and pain of it too hard to ignore. Her entire head smarted, but ticked her off all the more. Honestly, she was so tired of water! AND this bastard Taint! The flow of water stopped, and trying to clear her eyes, she was preparing to finish her charge when Iruk slipped into the water. Seeing this as her only chance to get Nirae, she hurried forward, but her eyes smarted too badly. She may accidentally squish her own rider, and she couldn't have that. But she lowered her head, focused her eyes as best she could, and merely scooped Nirae up onto her nose with a practiced flip. It made the burns on her face flare more, but she didn't care. Nirae was with her, somewhat safe, and that's what mattered. Sylt turned toward the water as she felt Nirae shakily climb up around her crystal, and the dragon backed away from it slowly, blinking her smarting eyes clear as she waited for Iruk to reappear. And reappear he did, bursting out of the water.

He was flying away! An angry roar escaped her, and she stamped the ground so forcefully it erupted about her in a gush of mud, patting against her sides, and Nirae was nearly dislodged. As Iruk screamed down what would haunt the both of them for some time, for now it melted in Sylt's anger barrier. But for Nirae, it had her shaking so bad she could hardly move. She watched Iruk melt away into the growing, dark clouds, the Taint's words still seeming to echo around them. She wasn't sure how long she sat there, clutching to Sylt, so terrified she could barely breathe. But she felt an odd trembling beneath her, and realized it was Sylt. Blood was oozing down her chest, pattering to the ground. "Sylt," she whispered hoarsely, laying her head down against her dragon's, her tangle, matted hair spreading out. She could still feel Sylt's anger, her rush from the battle. Her exhaustion and pain starting to seep through, Sylt realized this was far from being a good place to collapse. Coaxing her rider to navigate her way down to her back, where there may or may not be a seat remaining for her, Sylt didn't start moving until Nirae was there.

Sylt made herself move, but couldn't help but look up at where Iruk had vanished. Turn her? Ha! However, as her anger began to ease, the more she realized something. The Taint seemed...familiar. But her thoughts couldn't seem to focus on it. She began to feel light headed, even. Again, she forced herself to move. They needed to get back, she had to get as far as she could before dropping.

She thought more than asked Nirae to hold on as best she could. Her rider, in silent response, gripped onto the nearest spike, all but curling her body around it. She could hardly feel anything right now. Sylt felt her muscles flame with the rest of her anger, and felt it freshen once she thought of Iruk's threats. It would get her far enough. With that, Sylt shook her head, and began to run once again. This time, she made the effort to avoid every brink of water she could.

I'll be back for you, Irukandji, the name surfacing to her mind sharply, like a polished memory allowed to be viewed again. This revelation, however, would be kept from Nirae.