Snippet #1608572

One after another, Urantonon tossed away his attackers. Lily was the first to be struck. She was making her way to a standing position using her bow to help keep her steady. The hatchling must have lashed out with his talons as the elf felt her bow crack under the pressure and sent flying through the air and into a second story window. Her bow must have protected her from the brunt of the sharp talons as she landed with only three shallow grooves along her midsection. Bloodleaf clan wood always was touted for being able to stop a dragon... Only partially true it seemed, as the elf felt the splintered wood under her hands.

"Fuck."

The huntress whispered, watching stars for a moment and distantly wondered what would she use for a weapon now before she slipping into unconsciousness.

Even Mikana wasn't immune to the hatchlings rampant thrashings. The force of the Hatchling buffeting Caine with his wings slammed her head into the ground and rendered her useless for the time being. Even if she did have her head bashed against the cobblestones, Caine saved the elf from getting eaten by his timely appearence. For even if Lily had taken the dragon's attention off of Mikana, he no doubt would have finished her off. Now the hatchling was working on his more... Troublesome prey. The human berserker. Caine was pinned under the dragon's claw, swords all but useless in such a position. He knew the katana was still in his grip, but the saber was elsewhere. Probably sent flying when the wings of the hatchling caught him. Seems like the Mialee didn't do near as much damage to the appendages as he though. Well damn.

Urantonon spent no time gloating to the human. He had learned that lesson. He would do this quick and as painfully as possible. He was going to smash the human's head like a melon! The human was wriggling under the weight of his claw, but it would be useless. There was no escape now! It didn't matter if the human managed to wretch an arm free. What would a single appendage do? Punch him? Pah! There was nothing he could do. The hatchling swatted downward with his massive claw, the beginnings of a draconian smile at the edges of his powerful maw. In his last seconds, the human was futilely tapping on his armor. That wouldn't save him...

... Or would it? Caine punched at the hatchling's incoming claw and effectively knocked it backwards sending the lizard off-balance. Following up, Caine used his new supernatural strength to flip the dragon's other claw off of the rest of his body. He quickly rolled out from under the dragon and got to his feet, sending the rest of his new found strength to his legs and put as much distance as he could between the dragon and himself before turning around before facing his foe.

Both enemies were tired and worn. Lily's incessant rain of poisoned arrows were beginning to take their toll, and the dragon showed it. It panted heavily, a mixture of anger and amazement plastered over it's reptilian face. "You! How! ... You bastard! Why won't you just DIE! It'd be so much easier!" The dragon hissed. Even angered, the dragon didn't look too healthy, it was leaning heavily off of it's front claws, the tag team of Caine's and Mikana's assault bloodying them. There was nothing much left in the tank for
Urantonon.

Caine fared no better. The beserker held his hand under his arm, wracked in pain. The last ditch punch might had saved his life, but he felt the bones crack under the pressure caused by the surge of strength. The Blackguard emblem on his chest flashed once before fading out. Caine had only used one of the three abilities his armored had granted. The sprinting ability to make it to the wall. Now he was just down to one, the lunge. He would save that one for later. He would need ever card he had under his sleeve. Speaking of sleeves, the leather from his live armor was in tatters from being ripped out from under the grasp of the dragon. His armor was beaten, nicked, and generally in disrepair. Blood accompanied the rips and tears in the armor and his hand was looked horrible. His pinky finger looked shattered. A cut along his forehead dripped blood and mixed with sweat and seeped into his eyes. Another cut sliced through his left cheek. He looked like shit. He was bound to get a plethora of scars from this encounter. However, did still have control of his black katana.

He even panted like the dragon, but neither were going to give up until the other was dead. Caine grabbed the katana with both hands, pushing through the pain with raw and unbridled fury. He had never been pushed this far before. He was pissed like never before. If his rage could kill alone, then he would cut a swath through the Dragons themselves. However, he was just going to have to manage one as it.

"Life... Isn't easy, you goddamn lizard!" Caine panted between gritted teeth. He was not himself any more. Just the living embodiment of blind rage a fury. He was going to kill that lizard. Then he charged the hatchling again. His worn legs carried him to the hatchling. "Dammit human! You are a persistent! Little! Shit!" Urantonon growled before lunging neck forward and catching the berserker in his teeth. The hatchling felt the ooze of the berserkers blood on his tongue.

Caine tried to sidestep out of the way, but the dragon managed to catch him. The human's trunk was in the dragon's mouth, the hatchling's head parallel to the ground. The pain didn't register with Caine, he didn't have time for it. What most would have considered game over, Caine saw as an oppertunity. Without missing a beat, Caine hefted the katana up high and plunged the sword downward into the dragon's eye. A roar escaped the dragon as he loosed his grip and recoiled. He tossed his head to the sky and roared a pained howl. He was blinded by that human! The others were sure to make fun of him!

Caine was barely conscious, but now was his chance. He would kill this dragon, here and now. He looked up to the roaring dragon and growled, "Liera... Guide me." He would kill it for Liera.

He smashed the blackguard emblem with his mangled hand, activating the last ability... The jump. Caine took one step... Two steps... Three steps... And then he was airborne. He hung in the sky for what felt like hours. Days. Months... Years. It was all in slow motion. Caine felt his own voice roar along with the dragon, as if watching from far away. The impact was hard, the black sword slamming into the dragon's skull and burying the entire blade. Then the hilt snapped, sending everything back into normal speed. The roar was cut off short and both hatchling and human collapsed into the ground.

Mikana was finally coming back to her senses, awakening to the carnage Urantonon and Caine had caused. The dragon was in a slump... Dead. Mikana slowly made her way to her feet and just stood in awe of the dead dragon... Then something caught her eye. Movement. Something was crawling towards her. It was a bloody mess, but she could see the black hilt in it's hand... Caine. Mikana rushed to his side, and leaned him on her lap.

Caine looked up into Mikana's eyes and smiled. It was a genuine smile, one containing everything Caine was an antithesis of. Happiness, Joy, Sorrow, Sadness. Everything but anger. His anger was burned out, he was done being mad, being pissed off at the world. He was done with it all.

Mikana smiled back and reached for her prayers to heal him.

Yet...

They would not come. She could not heal his wounds. Her eyes widened at the Berserker. Caine nodded, already accepted the fact, "I know. I know," He said in a serene voice. He reached up to her face for the last time. He brushed the loose hair out of her face and looking into the pools that were her eyes. "Thank you," he said... Then.

Then something happened. Mikana's eyes hardened. A mischievious and... Dire grin spread across her face. In his last moments of clarity, Caine remembered something. He stared at the scar on her neck. His eyes widened as the memories flooded back...

A powerful strike clashed against Caine's horizontal strike and sent the weapon spinning off into the murky gloom. With her free hand, Mikana caught Caine's large wrist--which was supposed to deliver a strike to rend her skull in twain--in her delicate palm. The elf, who was barely a third of the berserker's size, caught and held him like an adult would a child with a tantrum. She released a pulse of dragonfire that seared the skin of Caine's forearm from wrist to elbow, her grip tightening. "Do you feel it? What it's like to be powerless? That's how I felt when barbarians like you," this word was punctuated with a burning look at the Legion symbol on Caine's armor, "Came into my village and killed our men...defiled our women...defiled me...

He blinked once.

He stood, and spoke in a voice devoid of anger. "I am a human," He repeated, "I defiled nothing. You," He began again, looking down at the Child. Their roles were reversed. Now it was him who looked down upon the grounded child. It was him who held the upper hand. However, he held no joy or pride in this fact. Caine's next words held hints of an overlying fury, the origins of his title of berserker, "It was you who took my Liera from me. For that alone, I'll kill every single damn one of you." With that, a wet squelch punctuated the sentence. He had stabbed the Child in throat in a fit of rage at the memory of this Liera. As he ripped the saber out of the slain child's throat, a spatter of blood landed on his scarred cheek.

He blinked again, tears welling up in his eyes. She had tried to kill him! He had killed her! Dammit! DAMMIT! She had been the spy! What had he done. Oh Liera... What has he done... As his eyes began to glaze, he stared a hole into her forehead.

"I am still human. You've taken Liera from me twice now... I am... Still human... May she have.. mercy... on my soul. May she... Forgive me. But... I'll see you in hell," And the fury within Caine... Died. Mikana began to laugh, remembering. When her head made contact with the cobblestone, it must have had opened the floodgates to her memory. Everything came flooding back. It might have taken a long time. But she had killed the berserker. The monster. She had repaid him in kind, with the pain of the realization at last. She played his heart like a flute. She made him forsake everything he held dear... For her. She had won.

And then in the white light. Mikana was gone.

Lily watched from her perch on the building, tears falling from her cheeks and her hand pressed against her mouth in horror.