Duelling Dungeons

Ludol felt a familiar magic flood into his lair; it was an alert, a warning that the Sanctum required his help and that the portal would be coming soon. He slowly rose to his feet, stretched out, then wandered down towards the artificial hollow that had been dug into the side of his lair, surrounded by slowly pulsing magical sigils.

It had been almost ten years since the Sanctum sent its first envoy, bearing gifts and tribute to secure his cooperation in their silly little games. A younger dragon would have just devoured the entire group for having the audacity to approach their territory, but not him. Ludol had lived long enough to remember the last time a dragon and a dungeon master fought, and he had no interest in enraging one of those demons.

Their original offer actually hadn’t been that bad: Every time he answered the call, the sanctum would send him a chest of gold, a selection of livestock, and he’d have the ability to cut loose upon a group of adventurers without any consequences. However, what the sanctum didn’t seem to understand was that, as a dragon, he had his pride, and there was no way he was going to be seen slithering out of a portal like some sorcerous lapdog.

Even though he sent the envoys away, the sanctum kept sending new ones. It wasn’t until that woman, Jyssa, showed up and showed him the proper respect that he took the offer seriously. She promised they’d obscure his identity and plunge the dungeon into darkness so he could hunt comfortably. Instead of appearing as a simple summon, he’d be the dungeon's ultimate weapon, a force of nature.

The offer was intriguing, and the girl knew how to flatter his ego, so he agreed to give it a try.

It was the best decision he’d ever made. Sure, his enemies might not have known his identity, but they knew his power when he was able to rampage through their ranks, ripping them limb from limb.

During the last match, he’d even been able to prove his superiority to a giant: a thrilling fight and a grand victory.

Although he didn’t have any way to monitor broadcasts, he was aware that the Sanctum had another match today, and deep down, he’d really hoped they’d call upon him. That he’d have a chance to let loose once again.

When the ritual finally finished, and an inky black portal ripped open in the middle of the room, Ludol didn’t waste any time; he slithered right in.

He emerged into the now familiar ritual chamber on the other side, cloaked in magical darkness. Stretching out his wings and raising his head to the ceiling, he let out an earth-shattering roar. It was time to hunt.

With a grin, he slunk to the edge of the raised platform and looked down into the room below.

He was so used to finding an army of troglodites waiting to praise him, or a small group of adventurers rushing about, trying vainly to prepare for his arrival, that when he saw the armoured knight standing calmly in the middle of the room, it threw him off for a moment.

“I thought that Nor’Goth said the ritual summoned a dragon,” the female warrior declared. “I didn’t know dragons were so passive.”

Something floated across the back of the room, so Ludol turned just enough to make out some sort of animated training dummy wearing gaudy clothing. “Perhaps he was lying to us? What sort of dragon would hide its identity, only striking from the shadows? It’s pitiful.”

“Are you really trying to taunt me? Enrage me?” Ludol laughed. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

The dummy shrugged. “Eh, I’ve heard so much about the legendary Draconic pride that I thought it was worth a try. We need every advantage we can get,” it said.

“You know who I am, but you haven’t fled?” Ludol asked. “Foolish.”

“Maybe, but we should make a stand here rather than get overrun while we try to retreat,” the female replied calmly. “Besides, if we manage to stop you here, we’ll save the rest of our team a lot of trouble.”

“Stop me? You?” Ludol laughed. “You truly are fools.”

“Maybe, but we’re not the ones hesitating here,” the female replied, raising her sword. “You are.”

Ludol stared at her for a moment in disbelief. Not running was one thing, but calmly standing there and disrespecting him? Unbelievable. “If you’re so eager for death, I’ll gladly oblige you,” the dragon hissed.

The magical darkness was flooding through the room, extinguishing the torches sprinkled around the room, so the pair of insulting humanoids should have had trouble seeing, yet if they did, they didn’t show it. The dummy simply floated back and forth, while the woman didn’t move.

Ludol suppressed the urge to growl as he stalked towards the stairs. He really shouldn’t have gotten sucked into a discussion with them or been annoyed by their taunting, but something about them had intrigued and infuriated him.

As he approached the knight, he expected her to turn towards him, or at least acknowledge his presence, but she didn’t. She just stood there, staring at his previous location.

She showed such bravado that he thought the pair might have had some sort of magical vision that could penetrate the darkness that surrounded him, but now it was obvious all they had was pointless bravado.

He stalked up next to her, moving completely silently, and raised his claw to crush her. Just as he brought his talons down, she shifted, bringing her sword across her body and partially blocking the blow. It wasn’t enough to completely stop his attack; his razor-sharp talons still shredded her magical metal covering and bit deeply into her side, but it was enough to prevent a killing blow.

For whatever that was worth, she’d definitely bleed out before too long.

As he raised his claw to strike, an intense pain again blossomed down his side. His flesh and scales split open.

He grunted in pain, and that seemed to be all the warrior needed to bring her blade around and smash him in the side of the face. It didn’t cause any damage, but the fact that she connected at all infuriated him.

“What is this?” he growled.

“The results of your hubris,” the woman groaned. “Didn’t anyone teach you not to play with your food?”

Ludol backed off, and narrowed his eyes, “Some sort of magic. Inflict wounds? No… some sort of pain split.” he glanced down at his claw, at the viscous red liquids slowly dripping from his talons. “Blood magic.”

“It usually takes people a lot longer to realize that,” the woman laughed. “Guess you’re not just some dumb dragon.”

“Only the strongest, smartest dragons survive,” Ludol snarled. “And that’s not the only thing I noticed. Your wounds are closing, and so are mine. Troll. So as long as I don’t kill you, I don’t have to face the consequences.”

The female swung her blade feebly in his direction. She couldn’t put much into it with one side of her body being completely shredded. “You may have been able to identify my magic, but you can’t prevent what’s about to happen.”

“Oh? And why’s that?” Ludol asked.

“Because we have a contingency,” the dummy replied, from somewhere above his head.

Ludol cranked his neck, snapping at the intruder, but the dummy swooped out of the way and thrust his slender blade not at the dragon, but through the woman’s rent and ruined armour.

Pain shot through Ludol’s chest, and he suddenly was having trouble breathing. As he watched, the woman slowly started dissolving into motes of light. He raised a claw towards his face, and saw it was undergoing the same process. “What?” he managed.

“I guess it’s true what they say,” the dummy said. As it passed a hand in front of its face, its mask changed from determination to a sly smile. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”