Tabitha was excited again as her team set out. Given how loud that roar was she could barely imagine how strong that monster was. The travel went by in a flash with Tabitha not noticing how fast she was going, and she soon left her team behind. As she got closer, she felt a difference in the air, as if a powerful beast had claimed this as its territory. It made Tabitha shudder in pleasure; this was the fight she had been waiting for. Something that could push her to the edge of limits. Of course, she had fought Luke but that wasn’t really a fight now was it. Luke just countered her every move like it was nothing making it no fun to fight him.

As she skated into the clearing, she got a good look at what she was going to fight and for a moment she hesitated. It was as if a dragon had taken the form of a giant. Completely covered in purple scales as large as her head and with massive amounts of muscle that made Tabitha’s mind blank for a second as she witnessed the majesty of the beast in front of her before a small part of her brain spoke to her. “What if you beat that?” It rang through her brain as she stared at that monster. Slowly a smile grew on her face until it was the biggest she had ever had.

Tabitha pushed her ice shaper skill to its maximum creating the strongest armor she had ever made. Yet it felt like it wasn’t enough, so she pushed farther than before with blood beginning to drip out of her nose with it soon coming out at a constant stream, tainting her armor red. She felt something change in her armor before she launched herself forward ready to tear this lesser being apart. Then it moved and it felt like she was standing still.

In one movement it went from a massive beast to 2 meters tall and standing in front of her. Then she blinked and it was in front of her with its fist streaming towards her face. Tabitha mentally scoffed, this dumb beast thought it could break- the fist smashed into her face shattering her armor like glass sending her tumbling away in shock. When her tumble stopped, she was laying on her back staring up at the stars in complete bewilderment. She heard the steps of the monster getting closer but couldn’t muster the strength right now to fight. That was when it spoke, not in a beautiful voice but one teeming with hunger. “Is that all?” Those words burned into her mind. Was this all she had to offer? Was her armor everything she had; no, it wasn’t. Tabitha quickly fixed her armor and created spears of ice which she sent screaming through the air towards this monster who only laughed at her efforts.

Tabitha knew that she would win this fight even as the ice spears shattered on contact with that humanoid dragon, Tabitha wasn’t done. Tabitha jetted forward as the spears made contact and slammed her fist into its face. Only for her ice gauntlet to shatter and for the monster to be completely unfazed. That was when the ground shifted under the beast and Tabitha. With Tabitha getting dragged back while the dragon fell into the ground. That was right, she wasn’t alone she had a team. The ground closed on the monster as her team got into formation as a beam of light shot out from the ground where the beast was buried. Soon it had jumped out of the hole and her team got the first good look at it and they shivered in horror. This had to be a lieutenant and with a collective nod, they started their plan to kill it.

Gabby started it with a blast of fire that left it completely unfazed. Then Madison tried to impale its feet with stone spikes but couldn’t even break its scales or even move it. Both Matt and Ryan got a shot off with both arrows snapping on contact. This was enough time for Tabitha, Rebeca, and Jason to get with melee range. Tabitha noted that it hadn’t moved yet, maybe it was more durable if it was standing still. Tabitha shrugged these thoughts from her mind, they need to win.

Jason got the first hit in with his blade shattering on contact with its scales the same thing happening with both Tabitha’s gauntlet and Rebeca’s blade. The dragon then smiled, showing its angular teeth which sent a chill down everyone’s spines. Then they blinked and Rebeca was flying into a tree. Another blink and Jason was thrown towards another tree. Blink, Tabitha’s armor shattered, and blood welled up in her mouth as she was slammed into a nearby tree. Blink, Matt was sailing into Ryan knocking them both out. Tabitha blinked one last time before passing out seeing the last of her friends being decimated in a total of five blinks. This was the end of her new life, it had been short, but she was the reason it was so. With one last look at her team, she passed out.

She woke up laying in a bed of silk with a warm fire nearby. Her whole body still hurt as she looked around and noticed that everyone on her team was in a mass of silk just like her. She then noticed that the monster was still there and as soon as she tried to move it flashed over to her. Its smile sent her into a spiral of despair and hopelessness. This was it; she was going to die. It was going to eat her now. As she prepared for the worst. Then the most nonsensical words she ever heard.

“Names Jace, thanks for the fight.”