The knight shoved Wise back with as much strength as he could muster and reached for his blade, only to feel thin air.
Then he heard a guttural laughter, one that sent a chill down his very bones.
"When did you—"
The dragon smiled as he felt the weight of both blades in his hands.
"Let's be quick before the hero arrives, I have a feeling he will be in a very sore mood when he does."
Whoosh!
Moving like lightning, Wise cut right through their ranks. The first two guards were easily knocked out but more knights ran forward creating a barrier between him and their lord.
"Move the carriage!" The lord of Frumen screamed, his eyes wide in panic.
Just as the coachman swung the reins, a sword came soaring through the air, slicing apart the throats of both horses.
Blood gushed out like an unending flood bathing the streets.
The townsfolk screamed when they realized what was going on and scattered in all directions, hoping to escape.
But the ever valiant knights charged, moving with polished grace.
The first one brought down his great sword with a thunderous swipe.
Side stepping him, Wise dug his elbow into his side, sending the mad flying in the opposite direction.
Letting out a battle cry, two others charged forward, one with a lance, while the other held a large shield.
As they advanced, Wise simply waited and then once they were close enough he batted the spear to the side, and then stepped on the shield, using it as a platform to launch himself into the air.
Boom!
Another large explosion erupted right where the first one had gone off.
Wise smiled, knowing that the hero and chief knight were probably buried under the rubble.
Still soaring through the air, towards the head carriage, Wise sucked in a breath and then he set his body free.
His body expanded like a balloon, giving rise to a figure so large that it blotted out the sun.
Scales so thick that they could break through rocks, archaic patterns that seemed to shift underneath the morning light, and a colour that was as ethereal as it was terrifying.
It was like the sun suddenly intensified to an alarming degree. The soft rays of light bounced against the blue gem-like scales of the dragon as though it were glass.
Everyone shielded their eyes from the light but at the same time wanted to get a glimpse at the beauty, all while running of course...
The dragon planted its feet on the ground causing the earth to quake from the impact.
'Alright… you've been practicing this all night!' He thought to himself.
'Suck in a deep breath—tuck in your belly—feel your diaphragm contact and—'
ROAR!!!!
The beast let out a guttural scream, causing all those around to be petrified in fear.
The lord of Frenum as well as his daughter stood frozen, paralyzed by fear.
'Yes! I finally got the roar right!'
'Wait… what is that—'
"Woah!" The dragon exclaimed, as a golden weapon cut right past him, scratching against the thick scales of his face to the point it generated sparks.
Fragments of broken scales fell from the point of impact.
The hero's blade!
'He seems very, very angry.'
'Well, time to go!'
Unfurling his colossal wings, the blue dragon unleashed a gust of wind, soaring into the air.
But not without grabbing the princess who thrashed around in his grip.
The hero blitzed back to the scene only to see the silhouette of the dragon high up in the air.
He turned around, trying to ascertain the level of damage, and just as he had expected—the princess was gone.
He gritted his teeth as he screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Curse you, Wise!!!"
•••
"Hehehehehehehehe." The dragon chuckled as he flew amongst the clouds, his colossal body being graced by its moist texture.
With a massive wave of his wings, he flew even higher.
Save for a proper operation, pissing off heroes was the next best thing. They always had this calm persona, seeping aura with every single step.
"Cocky fools."
It was always so pleasant to see that image crumble anytime they failed to stop him.
The girl in his grip had been thrashing around for some time now but strangely, her movements had slowed.
"Hey, are you alright down there?"
"…"
"Princess?"
"…"
He shook his leg a little to rattle the princess. "Hello?"
"C..a..n't br..eathe."
"Ah!"
He had flown higher than the first layer of clouds just to completely avoid the hero's attacks.
'Regular humans can't breathe at this altitude!'
Grabbing the girl firmly, Wise took a nose dive straight toward the lush forest below.
His body cut through the wind like an arrow and seconds later, the trees violently ruffled, shaking as though they were moments away from breaking from the force of his descent.
Just as he was mere inches away from the top of the first tree, he suddenly transformed, returning to his human form.
His hands were wrapped around the princess as he plummeted down to the floor below.
Wise laid the gasping girl gently on the grass, watching as her chest rose and fell at quick intervals.
She was unconscious.
"Are you okay?"
"…"
The girl's eyes remained tightly shut.
He inched a little closer to the girl. "Hey?" He tapped her cheeks softly to wake her up.
Suddenly, the girl immediately sat up straight, bumping her head into Wise's.
"Ouch!"
"Owww!"
Wise held onto his head and skidded backward while the girl grabbed onto hers with both hands.
Then she peeked from beneath her hands to stare at the man she had just collided with.
The man's black hair was tousled, as though scattered by the wind and his blue eyes were fraught with childish pain as he soothed his aching head.
He was handsome, that much was rather obvious but that was not all, there was something feral about him.
Something she could not quite place her finger on.
When he gazed at her, she finally realized what it was, his eyes had two oval pupils that were slowly turning back to regular circles.
Memories of everything that had happened in the last few minutes came back to her all at once.
She gasped but instead of running, the princess inched closer.
"You're the dragon aren't you?"
The man nodded, seemingly confused.
"Take me with you!"