Crack!


    The bones in Ezra''s arms shattered as the ceiling caved in onto him. He was tossed to the floor, a piece of rebar spearing through his lungs. He coughed up a dollop of ck blood.


    His vitality surged to repair the damage as he wed his way out. He tore out the rebar and the wound closed, his vitality drained dry. Vren refused to give him any vitality as it raged against X and Mchi.


    Ezra swayed before taking a step forward, stabilizing himself. Seizing the opportunity, Mchi''s tentacles rushed forward, wrapping around Ezra. The dragon roared as it dashed forward to save its master.


    Taking advantage of the distraction, X whirled his chains trapping Vren''s front legs.


    Mchi seized the opening and surged forward, his tentacles thrashing wildly as he unleashed a relentless barrage of acidic ink. The dragon tried to recoil from the burning liquid but was constrained by X''s chains. Its scales sizzled and smoked as it roared in frustration.


    "Now, for the highlight of the show." X grunted as he whirled the end of his chain, pouring a huge load of vitality it. The chain hummed like a fighter jet, gathering great momentum as it whirled through the air.


    The dragon struggled to break its restraints but the chain descended, inevitable.


    Boop!


    The chains bounced softly off of the dragon. "What the hell?" X wondered as his supposed final strike hit the dragon like a soft poke.


    Motion stilled, where darkness reigns. Ezra chuckled darkly. Vren roared once more and X''s chains shattered. The tentacles holding Ezra shuddered, loosening their hold on him. He dropped to the floor and quickly rolled to the dragon.


    Mchi and X took a few steps back as Ezra grinned, the dragon standing beside him. "Looks like it''s my move."


    Attack!


    With amand through the ethereal chains binding them together, Ezramanded Vren and they both surged forward.


    Mchi and X attacked as one. Mchi''s tentacles barred the way with sheer size and numbers but we''re quickly ripped to shreds by Vren''s ws.


    The tentacles fell away to reveal X holding out his hands which were devoid of chains and glowing ominously. "Say hello to daddy!" He eximed as deep blue fire erupted from it.


    Protect me!


    Ezra dived behind Vren who took the brunt of the hot me. The dragon roared in pain as a few scales clinked to the floor, the smell of burning meat filling the air. Ezra crouched as the heat threatened to burn off his tracksuit.


    After ten seconds of intense heat, the fire finally tapered off and Ezra peeked over to see Mchi already descending, holding a giant sword made of shadows.


    "Fuck!" Ezra and Vren parted. Ezra rolled to the side, picking up two dragon scales. The sword descended and cut cleanly into the floor. He whirled and pitched one scale straight at Mchi with all his strength. Mchi dodges but wasn''t fast enough as the scale cut through the side of his stomach.


    Bang!


    Ezra dodged as a fire st passed through where his heart had been a moment before. He danced around the room, dodging the thin streaks of fire sts as Xughed maniacally. Most of the shots hit Vren who shrugged it off as new scales grew over its charred body.


    With a shrug, X materialized his old weapon, the chains whirling through the air like a storm of steel. His chains hit with the force of a speeding train, but with each strike, the dragon seemed to absorb the kic energy, growing stronger.


    Ezra dashed out of the battlefield to Gen who had dragged Olivia out of the way. Olivia''s head was growing slowly. Too slowly for his liking.


    "Give me an axe!" Hemanded.


    "Here." Gen materialized an axe and offered it to him, haft first. She turned her wildly spinning eyes to him. "I''m out of vitality. This is the best I can do."


    Ezra gripped the axe with a solemn nod. "It''s more than enough." Turning, he joined the battle once more.


    As he approached, Mchi turned to face him. With a swing, Ezra cut off the attacking tentacles. A scream of pain resounded from Mchi''s back.


    That''s it! The monster can feel pain! Ezra grinned, showing his fangs. I don''t need a dragon to defeat you, Mchi!


    Mchi''s tentacles iled wildly, leaving trails of acidic destruction in their wake as they sought to overwhelm Ezra.


    Ezra whirled, cutting tentacles even as they regenerated and attacked him.


    Upper left. Cut. Swing. Dodge. Cut.


    He could feel himself sinking into a state of calm. The previously erratic movements of the tentacles slowly began to reveal a pattern. He began to sink into the state he had achieved when he fought X. The Blood Song.


    Yes! This is it! I was born for this! His blood sang in his veins. A song of war. A song of bloodlust and carnage.


    He kept pruning tentacles like a farmer, cutting off Mchi''s actions before they even began. We DESTROY!


    Out of nowhere, X''s chains twisted andshed out. The chain wrapped around his axe and with a sharp twist, the axe shattered into dust. Ezra stumbled as he was jarred out of the Song.


    One of the tentacles wrapped around his arm and he jerked it out in time but not without suffering an acidic burn.


    Ezra dashed to the vicinity of Vren who was hounding X by breathing pirs of solid darkness at him. Ezra jumped onto the back of Vren as Mchi joined them once more.


    "They''re growing weak! Let''s finish them off!" X yelled as he dodged another pir of darkness.


    Mchi recalled his shadow sword and together they dashed at the dragon.


    "VALAREN!" Ezra yelled. Stop holding back! Unleash the beast!


    The ethereal chains around Vren loosened a little. The sound of mad, feminineughter tinkled in his ear like a bell. He could feel the mind of the beast unraveling a little as bloodlust descended upon it!


    With a mighty roar, Vren unleashed a torrent of deep shadows that engulfed Mchi and X, swallowing them whole in a veil of darkness.


    For a moment, all was still as the shadows enveloped them, leaving nothing but silence in their wake. Then, with a triumphant roar, the dragon pounced into the darkness.


    ng!


    Ezra strained his eyes in the deep darkness as Vren''s ws were stopped by the shadow de of Mchi''s sword.


    "I don''t know what the idea was but this is my domain." Mchi chuckled as his deep voice echoed eerily in the darkness. His formerly eight tentacles had multiplied, their true numbers obscured by the dark.


    Vren answered by sending a torrent of jagged, solid darkness spilling all over the ce. Mchi was caught in as chains fashioned from darkness formed and bound him to the floor.


    Vren batted away Mchi''s sword and with a swipe of its powerful ws, ripped him into two at the waist. Mchi, with only his upper torso dragged himself out of the shadows with his tentacles.


    Vren jumped out of the cloud of darkness just in time to see Mchi melt into a shadow and disappear. The darkness of the ck zone surrounding them faded a bit.


    "That bastard!" X bellowed as his chains wrapped around Vren. Ezra grunted in surprise as he felt a pressure on the ethereal chains connecting him to Vren.


    X''s vitality wrapped itself around the chains, his Aura coating the chains in authority. The chains glowed in Ezra''s mind eye and loosened slowly around Vren as X struggled to wrest control from him.


    With a flex, Vren shattered X''s chains. In a sh, X''s arm had been separated from the shoulder.


    "Oh, hell naw!" X yelled before disappearing in a sh.


    Vren stumbled back with a cry. Bloodlust filled its eyes and it beat its wings. Ezra grabbed onto the ridges of its scales to bnce himself.


    The beast shook its head, it''s bloodlust not yet satiated. With a roar, it turned its head to the nearest avable target. Olivia and Gen.


    Shit!