Dragons and their Slayers 1X1 {Pupper and L2W}

Ametrine and Merek set out on their journey with the rising of the sun, leaving Terrance behind to do whatever he did when not turning humans into dragons. It didn't take long for Merek to catch onto the flight ability after gliding around for a majority of the evening yesterday. Ametrine flew slightly behind and below him, helping him adjust his flight pattern when needed, and pushing him up into the appropriate air currents. Her unshakable calm helped keep him calm, as if she were literally transferring her peaceful emotions to him to use as his own. Finally she rises up to fly beside him. "You're doing well. How does it feel to be flying on your own?"

Merek flew alongside Ametrine, he watched her dance in the air around him as she helped him guide his flying. It was still a strange sensation that he was learning but a strange concept that he enjoyed. It brought a sense of freedom that he had never felt before, even though he had been "free" in a sense most of his life. All Merek felt while soaring above the clouds was calmness; he looked over to Ametrine, again thankful for her unwavering serenity. The man turned dragon found himself looking at her often now, admiring her beauty. When he was a human he found himself admiring her person but now, something was different; he appreciated her in a whole new way. She suddenly appeared beside him, asking a question. "It feels like nothing I've ever felt before, Ametrine. I feel... completely free from everything. It's beautiful."
"It is." Ametrine agreed. "I am sorry that Terrance forced this upon you...and yet I am glad that you get a chance to experience first hand what it means to be a dragon."
"It really is something different. Being a human, well I guess... I'm not really human, but that's despite the point. Being a human is wondrous in its own way."
"How so?"
Ametrine asks curiously. She'd never once desired to be human. They seemed so frail and pathetically short lived.
Merek thought about it for a moment, not knowing what to say and then realized what he meant. Love was different for humans than it is for dragons. "Touch, Ametrine. It's how humans show love and its one of the greatest forces this world has. When you plant your lips on a beautiful woman..." he suddenly trailed off thinking about his lustful days and grinned at his perversion.

Merek could feel Ametrine's confusion. "I do not understand...but neither am I human." Talk of love had turned her thoughts to Topaz and her heart grieved again. She'd done well, not to think of him for the time being, trying to concentrate on making sure they survived. But it was times like these, safe in flight that her thoughts often wandered. She tried to turn her attention back to Merek. "I for one think its better to be dragon than human. Humans are so frail and divided. And your kind only live about 100 years. It is sad."

Merek looked continued to glide through the clouds, thinking of what Ametrine said about living such a short life span. "Well lucky for me I have a longer life span than that I guess..." he didn't know what to say anymore, he had no argument for her. "You might feel differently if you ever get to experience what it is to be human."
Ametrine shudders at the thought. "Trapped in a small frail body, no ability to breath fire or fly through the air? Susceptible to disease and injury. No...I am content being a dragon."
"If you suit yourself" he replied, playfully barrel rolling over her and appearing at her other side. "I'm not mere human though, remember..."
Ametrine chortles and smacks him with her tail. The playful hit quickly turns into a game of in-air tag of which Ametrine excelled at.
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The next 4 days went by quicker than either of them had expected they could go. At the end of every day, Ametrine had Merek expel as much energy as possible to help slow the build up of power in his body. She could already feel the strain it was causing on his life-fire, even if he did not yet notice it. They land on the top of Clover Mountain near the evening of the fourth day. Before them was the tomb that Terrance had spoken of. She pushed away the stone slab covering the entrance, recoiling at the foul smell that was flushed from the tomb. "We must be careful here...the drakens may be small but in great numbers they are a deadly foe. We may be able to sneak past them if we are slow and quiet. They should know better than to attack two full-grown dragons, but they are not known for their intelligence."

She led the way into the tomb, using the same slow deliberate movements that she had shown him in the forest. Drakens screeched irritably from their nests in the ceiling and the holes in the walls. They watched them with intense yellow eyes but made no move to attack...yet. The small hallway opened up into a larger cavern which led deeper into the earth. This was not the tomb of just one man it seemed, but rather a catacomb for one generational line. "It may take longer than we thought to find which bed is Nightengale's and where the amulet is being kept." She notes.
 
It had been four long days and long nights. Ametrine barely let him rest, urging him that it was important for him to practice breathong his fire, or flying, or walking, or just about anything. Her insistence worried Merek slightly and he began questioning her actions. Although he never voiced his inquisition, he suspected that whatever she was making him do had a purpose. When the sun slept for the evening and the moon kissed the sky, Merek sighed a breath of relief. He would be able to rest as well and by the end of their day, he needed it. Being a dragon was exhausting, there was so much to remember all of the time. Four legs, big neck, long tail, mouth breathing fire; be in control of all of it all the time. Being a human, being a demj-god was easier and as much as flying set you free, he was beginning to miss his own two legs.

By the fourth night Ametrine and Merek had made it to Clover Mountain. The tomv was easy to find, it stuck out like a sore thumb against the rock face filled with greenery. Ametrine warmed him of drakens, somerhing he had never bothered with before because as a demi-god you hunted the ultimate prize; the dragon. In his human form he would have felt confident fighting a drakens but now that he was a dragon and was still learning how to engage in battle as the giant beast, he was a bit nervous. Merek choked his nerves down in an attempt to hide them from Ametrine and solemnly followed her into the tomb, copying her precise slow movements behind her.

The two of them emerged into the larger cavern where tho tombs appeared. Several different pathways split off from the cavern and went in every direction possible, the only commonality between them was that they all went down; further into the catacombs. Merek nodded to Ametrine's words and pressed forward to the two tombs before him. He pushed the lid of the coffin off gently with his head and peered inside, staring at the pile of bones now looking back at him. "this one's empty... Maybe these tombs are labelled with their birthdates, death dates, and names? That would be easier than opening every single coffin..."
 
"I am uncertain of how to read the human language. That will have to be your job." Ametrine sniffed the hair. "While you look for names and dates I'll try and sense the Amulet itself." She wandered down a passage way, lighting torches as she went. The drakens screeched at her from their nests in various hollows. One swooped down at her head, but she ducked and did her best to ignore it. They were getting ready to attack but she could sense magic down here.
"There might be something down here, Merek." She called to him through their link. She ventured further into the catacomb, feeling nervous as it took them deeper into the earth. The screeching and movement by the drakens had increased ten-fold. As she reached another room, she figured out why. They were right in the middle of the nesting area. "Merek...move very slowly." She moved aside for him to see what she saw. There were hundreds of nests scattered about this particular room. There were hundreds of eggs and covering the eggs were gems, jewels and other magical artifacts. "It's in there some where. But we will be attacked if we try and go in."
 
Merek nodded at Ametrine's request, what was he thinking? Of course, she wouldn't be able to read the human language. "Just look for nameplates then, on any coffin you believe the amulet is in... just let me know and I will come check it out." Merek released breath through his nose at the dusted over coffin in front of him to reveal a nameplate that did not match Terrance's grandfather's name. He sighed and followed behind Ametrine as she ventured further into the darkness and into the belly of the catacomb. Merek's pace slowed as he heard Ametrine's caution and he approached her with a deafening quietness. His giant eyes peered over her body at the draken's hive; there were nests, eggs, and drakens everywhere. They filled every inch of the room and not on spot was left uncovered except for a few coffins in the center. Merek's thoughts began to race, the amulet was in there, the amulet that could turn him back into a human. He had to have it, he couldn't just sit here... the longer time went by, the closer to death he became; he was painfully aware of this fact.

Merek's large body began to move forward, drawing ever closer to the nest. His stomach began to rumble as he looked around the room, beginning to count the number of foe before him. As Merek's body neared the end of the corridor and appeared at the opening to the room, each draken moved their attention to him. Millions of eyes now stared, millions of screeches began to howl, and just like that the room filled with black and blue fire as it danced from wall to wall scorching everything it touched. The drakens fled in every direction, some of them got caught amongst the hellfire, others began to perch on their eggs for protection and the last of them began to dive at Merek. The giant beast was careful to aim his fire at the walls and the air, purposefully avoiding the eggs below. His breath stopped and he began another assault.

I'm sorry Ametrine, I need that amulet. I understand if you won't help me do this... I might even die, but I need to try. Besides... you told me I had to burn off energy.
 
"I didn't come all this way with you to stop now." Ametrine replied a little offended that he thought she wouldn't help. She had no love for drakens. Ametrine leapt into the room, breathing fire along with Merek, careful to avoid the eggs. The little beasts attacked her scales going for her eyes, one of the few things they could damage. Few survived her fles. She leapt into the air and hovered over the eggs looking for the amulet.

It took several minutes with the beasts blocking her view and attacking her scales but she eventually found it. She snatched it up in her claws and charged then entrance. "I have it!" She had to wait for Merrik to go first. His body was to large to pass by. It took a while to get out of the cavern with drakens attempting to get past their scales but once out the sunlight deterred the creatures and they were in the clear.

Both had a few minor cuts but aside from that they'd succeeded without damage done. "I've got it." She held up the amulet. "Let's go get your body back."
 
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