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(Part 43 of the Final Stand)
(Part 3 of the Battle for Fantasia Trilogy)

"Your skills are admirable." The dragon noted, leaning against an enormous boulder as he surveyed his enemy.

Blaze snorted with indifference, yanking her blade free of her most recent kill. The titanic hound's body seemed to shudder before slowly fading away, dissolving into smoke that trailed first into the atmosphere then to the world beyond.

Slowly the purple giantess turned her attention to the new arrival, Cleaver making its way from her sheath to accompany Stone Heart in her claws. The white dragon seemed amused, arching a brow as if to question the sanity of the dragon queen's actions.

"Careful, careful." He cooed, waving a bleached claw in her direction. "Someone could get hurt if weapons are involved…"

A snarl flowed over Blaze's violet lips as a foot slammed down amid the snow, a low growl escaping her throat as if to offer the male a similar warning.

"It would seem.." He noted, pushing away from the boulder to take a single step towards his adversary. "That you, my queen, have a nasty temper. I suppose I should put you in your place. A new world is coming, one that I think would be much more suited to a dragon king."

Reaching around behind the boulder, the one clearly known as Conquest pulled forth a massive bow. The weapon was nearly as tall as the Horseman himself, towering nearly seven stories into the crisp air. Yet at the same time, the dragon seemed to be able to carry it as though it were as light as a feather from one of its arrows.

Notably though the long bow had no arrows. No quiver presented itself on the snow colored dragon's hip or back, no bundle of projectiles followed their weapon from behind the rock. Yet despite the distinct lack of ammunition, the smug smile on Conquest's muzzle persisted.

Repressing the feeling of confidence brimming inside her the violet dragon took several steps forward, each gaining her speed and momentum until she was practically sprinting towards her opponent. He did not retreat, did not cower or produce another weapon. He simply drew back his bow, holding his fingers as though an arrow was placed along its string.

Clearly by magic the earth around the base of the bow seemed to bubble, the liquid dirt hidden beneath the snow flowing up the side of the weapon's black surface to form a perceptible shape between the dragon's fingers. A feathered arrow tip quickly followed by a shaft and lastly accompanied by a spear-like point shimmered into being, retaining the rusty color of untainted earth as they assumed the form of an arrow.

His dark grin exploding into a toothy, beaming smile, the Nether giant released the bolt and watching as it rocketed forward with enough force that a thunderclap sounded in its wake. It was by sheer luck that the dragon queen managed to dive aside, rolling with the grace and agility of one of her dark elven allies to avoid the coming attack. Yet as the arrow passed her she could keenly feel the power behind the shot as the wind rushed by, cutting a tunnel in the curtain of snow that hovered around the region.

Blaze steadied herself, rising up to level both of her massive bastard swords defensively before her. She rolled her head to the side, pushing her silky black hair back out of her eyes so she could deliver a glare of molten hatred Conquest's way.

"You see?" The white dragon said authoritatively, pulling back the bow string yet again. "It doesn't matter how well you can swing a sword if you can't reach me. I am an archer your majesty, and that gives me a distinct advantage."

The giant flashed his adversary another wide grin. Then his fingers released their hold on the new arrow, launching it towards the swordsman. Grimacing the giantess spun away, narrowly avoiding the bolt as she charged towards the bowman yet again. Her progress however, was hindered as a third arrow flew her way. It was closely followed by a fourth, both of which forced her off her intended path, the detours the only thing sparing her body from the magical bolts.

But as Blaze rolled to dodge the fourth shot she found herself tripped on a stone hidden beneath the snow, throwing off her balance. The fifth arrow, already in the sky, was unavoidable and it connected squarely with the purple woman's shoulder, launching her backwards from the momentum as the deadly bolt tore through flesh and muscle.

Instead of collapsing in a heap the Fantasian used her good arm to pivot herself from the ground, rolling back towards Conquest with a roar of denial. Working off the energy of her residual adrenaline she tore across the glade, rolling under a sixth shot to close in on the male dragon. The Nether warrior however realized his peril and lashed out desperately with a seventh arrow, a shot that forced Blaze off her intended path yet again.

But the dragon queen's attention was hardly diverted for long and the moment the bolt had passed her by, her legs propelled her towards the dreaded Horseman. Conquest seemed to recognize the futility of pulling back another arrow at such close range and instead turned towards the boulder at his left, sizing up the stone for an imperceptible breath of a second before setting a foot on its cold surface.

Pushing back against the boulder the dragon launched himself up and out away from the mountainous stone, spinning as he moved through the blizzard. Blaze, closing in with her blades, found her swords slicing harmlessly low. But Conquest's move was perfectly timed so that his bow, in his spin, connected solidly with the woman's jaw, throwing her to the side in a daze.

Taking advantage of his opportunistic window the Horseman dashed back out into the center of the glade, slowing to a jog after several dozen paces to release a steady stream of earthen arrows Blaze's way. The first of the bolts were poorly shot, either slamming into the ground where they left sizable craters and rifts in the snow or into the boulder at the purple dragon's back, where similar damage etched itself via cracks into the gray stone.

Blaze, recognizing the danger of her situation, ignored the ringing in her ears and pushed around to the backside of the cone-like stone, pressing her spine against its firm side to pant heavily. In the reprieve she found the pain of her wound creeping down from her shoulder, and she turned to grimly survey the wound.

The damage mirrored her intense pain, with raw crimson flesh hanging about the gaping wound as though an army of tiny lumberjacks were using her arm as a tree. An ominous stream of blood spilled down around the injury, running through the gaps in her scales to paint her arm a fearsome red. And that same river of blood eventually came to reach trembling, pained fingers.

Gladly noting that the shot had narrowly missed any bones in her shoulder, Blaze clenched her teeth against the pain and waited. Above the wind and her own frantic heartbeat the dragon queen heard a loud chuckle, floating ominously closer to her cowering form.

"A shame you have to suffer…" Conquest noted with mock sympathy. "I should have made that a clean shot to the heart. No matter, you're good target practice."

The voice was nearly on the opposite side of the boulder when it stopped. Blaze took in a deep, terrified breath, holding it as her muscles clenched in preparation.

Then with a vicious snarl she spat the air out and spun around to the opposite side of the massive stone, Cleaver leading. The metallic edge of the blade clashed with the cracked surface of the earthen barrier, sending a flash of sparks out across the gray stone that cast a deadly red haze across the falling snow.

Her ploy failing the dragon immediately went on the defensive, rolling down low to avoid the shot she knew would come. No sooner had her form dropped to the tundra did a series of three arrows crash into the boulder consecutively, slamming into the stone with enough force to break chips of the stone titan away from the face. Pelted with falling rubble and her own blood the dragon forced herself onward, charging away from the clearing and into the trees just beyond.

Blaze passed between the hundred-foot oaks that marked the edge of the glade, ducking desperately as a pair of arrows launched themselves towards either side of her. Two of the nearby trunks exploded, showing the dragon with debris as she continued her desperate flight, claws tearing through the snowy ground to propel her steadily further from Conquest and the imminent danger he posed.

Several hundred staggering steps into the shelter of wooded ground Blaze stopped for a momentary rest, once again feeling the intense pain in her shoulder. Sheathing the lesser of her two enchanted blades the woman massaged the wound tentatively, more cradling the injury as she surveyed her options.

Her mind first worked on the limitless well of wisdom that inhabited her consciousness. Yet seconds into her intellectual reprieve her thoughts immediately turned frantic and fear-ridden as the sound of heavy footsteps reached her through the groping forest branches.

The dragon queen's silver eyes closed in silent recollection, her lips moving wordlessly as the whole of her being focused on the sole act of survival. The tension within her carved itself across her reptilian features, painting itself across her face as though her fear was nature's most vivid painter. Somewhere in the tangled chaos of her mind the dragon's tongue snaked from her mouth, coming to pass over her lips shakily.

And suddenly, for Blaze, time seemed not to matter. Reality slowed to a halt as she once again passed her tongue over her teeth and gums, a desperate ploy enveloping her frantic will.

* * * * *

Conquest's every nerve seemed timid and shaky as he delved deeper into the unfamiliar Fantasian forest, each step uncertain and slow. An arrow remained knocked along his bow's string, his fingers pressed to its stony surface so tightly that his claws stung, his knuckles whitening past the shade of his seemingly bleached scales under the strain.

The forest had clearly been the sight of a large battle and the ground, save for what little was concealed by falling snow, was torn and twisted. The violet giantess's trail was practically impossible to follow; yet her aroma drew the hunter steadily closer. It was not a definitive scent; the lingering smell of blood matted the fine details, leaving the white titan to merely guess as to how far his quarry had gone.

But the smallest of details could be solved through caution and a well placed arrow; all that mattered was that he was on the right path, gaining ground steadily on the monarch he planned to replace.

A warm vision of his tyrannical form standing over the remnants of the dying world reached out to touch Conquest's mind, momentarily drawing him away from the task at hand. His fantasy was broken only a moment after its birth by a twig snapping nearby, drawing the distracted dragon around in a desperate spin that send a pair of arrows slamming out into the trees. A mindless Nether soldier, the victim of poor location, turned in time to see the massive projectile blast his arcane body into oblivion, its partner following close behind to tear a crater into the earth, eradicating any trace of the footman's existence.

The strain on his nerves seemed almost to tire the dragon, bringing his breathing into a labored pant. It was then he realized how truly stressed and worried he was about the fight. His confidence was a façade to conceal the terrifying truth that he faced off against the ruler of what was likely the most powerful race on the defending world.

The dragon's hand came up to wipe beads of perspiration from his face, tossing the salty droplets away into the underbrush as he sought to steady his nerves. Taking a deep, calming breath, the dragon once again drew back the string of his weapon, his murderous red eyes turning back to scan the forest.

He followed not his sight but his nose, pulling a great rush of wind through his nostrils to feel the tingling hints of his prey dance amid his keen sense. And then, with a snarl, confident footfalls brought the Horseman onward through the white wood.