The castle as it had turned out was terrifyingly deadly to say the least, the tight corridors and twisting layout caused them to have to wander around and circle back on themselves constantly in order to find a path through this place, along the way encountering many creatures who had called this place their home.
These creatures were strange and powerful, enchanted armours which moved on their own, living weapons which soared through the air and some more of the undead sentinels they had become all to familiar with, and yet this did not slow down their progress by much, they had long learnt how to act as a cohesive force in battles so taking out a few creatures here and there was of little trouble for them by this stage.
Despite their best efforts however they still managed to get themselves lost in the terrifying complex, the once dazzling halls down rotting away what little remained of the life which one took place within its walls, the small stories which had passed through his place nothing more than a distant memory cursed to be forgotten until the end of time.
Despite the grim atmosphere there was a building hope emanating from the sleepers, despite having no way of knowing for sure they could feel it, that this was the last leg of their journey and that they would finally be able to return home.
The dragon was sleeping on the roof above, the vibrations caused by its subtle breathing shook the complex as dust shook loose from the ceiling as a gentle warmth filled the space, a person would expect the desolate halls to be as cold as ice and yet they were strangely warm as if welcoming them further inside.
Some of them had hoped to avoid a final confrontation with the dragon in order to avoid as many losses as possible but that didn't seem possible now, emerging into a large courtyard filled with overgrown plants and collapsed statues they watched as above them the vermillion beast lay sleeping where all could see. A set of large doors were positioned directly underneath where it lay and inside they had theorised the way home, they had studied the structure from afar and now it was their time to act on their plans.
It was clear that the heavy doors ahead could awaken the dragon if opened and they would much rather face the creature outside to prevent them from being pushed into a corner and incinerated with no place to escape. So just as they had prepared the produced ladders from their makeshift bags, with each sleeper holding onto different parts which were designed to slot together to form a cohesive whole as they each climbed higher and higher in order to face the terrifying monstrosity.
The beast was as majestic as it was terrifying as the sleepers encircled its massive form, the old roof had been heavily burnt and underneath the creature lay the charred remains of countless creatures of indomitable sizes, the dragon itself was the size of a house and then some making it by far the largest creature they had come across so far, apart from the strange root like abomination in the woods.
As Warden stared at the majestic creature he felt a sense of strange pride fill his chest, he had led his followers to this moment, he had risen to the occasion and became a valorant knight, he would be the first one in history to truly lead an expedition to slay a dragon. He had heard of the old tales, of brave knights fighting against dragons in order to save a princess in distress and found it oddly fitting.
For he had become a knight in appearance and now was his chance to prove it in action, though he was under no illusion he could fell the beast on his own for that would only lead to a quick and painful death, instead they had created a plan to take the creature down as it slept or at least try too. They had seen its power and truthfully did not believe that they could take it down in direct combat, not without some insane luck and terrible losses at least so they had to devise another strategy.
The sleepers readied themselves, forming a ring around the creature as they prepared for their decisive strike, they would only get one chance at this, if they failed now then none of them would be safe, as the archers, melee fighters and those with ranged aspects got into position Warden approached the creatures head as he held his blade steady.
Its bloodied maw bellowed with smoke it breathed, the vibrations sending tremors through the ground where they stood, the smells of ash and death permeated the air lingering long after their sources had faded away.
He stood patiently as he tried his best to relax his mind and his body,
'It's just a dragon.'
Raising his blade high the other sleepers watched in grim anticipation as the battle was about to start, taking a deep breath in his his word gripped tightly in both hands to the point of his knuckles turning white as he tensed every muscle in his body as he brung the blade down with astonishing speed as he shouted,
"NOW!"
As his words carried across the winds all manner of simultaneous attacks were taking place, all aiming at different spots in the dragon's armoured body hoping to find even a singular weak spot, but the sleepers were not the only ones to stir in that moment as the dragon's eyes opened wide.
Its body shifted immediately as its powerful tail whipped around catching a few sleepers off guard as they were hurled to the floor, its powerful wings unfolded as it expanded out to its full size pushing the nearby sleepers away with a powerful gust of wind, and as the blade of Warden fell on its head it met it head on, the blade failing to leave little more than a scratch on its vermilion scales as Warden was thrown back yet he still standing.
The Dragon looked down on him with a look of hunger burning in its eyes, as madness burned in its tortured soul as it let out a dreadful roar, shaking the world itself as a burning light of brilliant flame appeared in its maw as its jaw opened wide.
A wave of flames pushed forward a moment later as Warden jumped to the side barely avoiding the flames as the dragon turned its head in his direction, burning the poor knight, the flames died down as it looked over the small army who had come to claim its nest as their own, this was its castle, and it would not let them take it.
A flurry of strikes of all shapes and sizes bounced off the scales of the dragon, which shone with a metallic light under glorious light of the sun, the attacks left little to no damage on its mighty body as its powerful muscles contracted as it reached forwards with its claws. Despite its size the creature was swift and effortlessly ripped sleepers apart one by one from the front as it bashed them with its tail from behind.
It was a slaughter unlike what any had seen before and yet they continued to fight, slowly chipping away at the outer layer of scales one flake at a time.
///
Jasper had little room to manoeuvre on this roof, the constrained space made it difficult for him to gain enough power to be able to injure the creature in a direct strike, he was the key to their victory and yet he couldn't deliver the necessary strikes in order to drain this creature of its energy. Again and again he tried to break through its defences and yet every time its scales held true, unbending to his blade he was unable to cut even a little into its flesh.
Feeling the tail of the beast crash into him like a tsunami he bounced of the floor and spawled near the edge barely managing to get back to his feet as his wounds knit themselves together very slowly, in truth the dragon was already as good as dead, even the tiniest of cuts to its scales connected it to Jasper and as such its energy.
However the level of energy he received and the weakness of his opponent depended on how badly he had injured them, and with how minor his attacks had been the energy the time it would take for this creature to fall would be far too long, longer than they had left in this fight. He needed to find a way to cut through and fast or else more sleepers would die a senseless death.
As he looked up at the beast he realised something and the beginnings of a plan formed in his mind.
///
Damian fired shot after shot at the beast, trying his best to keep as many sleepers out of harm as possible and yet it simply was not possible, though his bow had the strength to pierce the scales the arrows simply did not, breaking apart as they came into contact or barely even breaking through at all. But despite this lackluster effort he had still managed to do some good in this fight. He had pushed and pulled the other sleepers out of the way of the beasts tail and even taken a few direct hits from the creatures claws, his armor was damaged but not too badly and his new injuries were far from serious, the charm he had received from Javier had caused the creature some damage as small cuts appeared across the creature's body and yet nothing had managed to pierce the defences so far,the creature was dreadfully powerful and he thought about what it meant for it in terms of its rank and class.
It seemed to possess the intelligence of a Monster or maybe perhaps even a demon and yet its strength was unmatched compared to anything they had seen besides the Forsaken Commander, this made Damian feel sick to his very core as a realisation hit him, this creature was of a rank they had yet to encounter so far in their journey, this creature, if his guess was correct was of the ascended rank.
If this was true then they had no right to fight a creature of this power as they were now, the difference in power was clear and it brought great fear to his heart and he still thought on as his courage swelled, Jest must have still been pushing everybody to keep fighting even if they had all seen what had happened to their leader.
The battle seemed lost before it ever started and the hope that they all held in their hearts was beginning to fracture and yet they persisted, as the battle continued Damian smelt the familiar scent of a distant storm roll over the battle as the sleepers moved like a tide to allow for the storm to pass.