Water gushed into Stephan’s mouth as he hit its icy surface. He clamped his teeth shut against the shocking cold and forced his eyes open just in time to see the river dragon closing its maw over his head.
Fangs like wet stakes filled his vision, about to end him. His left arm shot forward out on instinct and the massive jaw with spike-like teeth snapped shut around it. He felt the crunch more than heard it as pain flared and his forearm snapped. Inky clouds of red started spreading before his eyes. The traitorously calm water swallowed his scream, and in his pain Stephan acted like a wild animal.
Instead of trying to wrench himself free, he lunged closer, wrapping his whole body around the monster, trying to choke it just as it began to spin.
No matter how tough, the arm would have snapped off in a bloody mess had they been separate, but rather than fight, Stephan clung to the river dragon with superhuman strength, his legs straddling its upper torso and tangling with its stubby limbs.
He spun with the giant monster. Water slammed into his face as he barely held on, the river dragon spinning him until he grew dizzy and could no longer tell up from down, sweet air from certain death.
Hold. Hold. Stephan was eerily calm even as he struggled for breath, water and hard scales constantly hitting his head as he regained his senses. He grabbed the dagger at his belt, then drove it with all the strength he could muster and plunged the blade into the river dragon’s throat.
Scales gave way, more misty blood seeping into the water. The monster’s thrashing and spinning grew wilder and faster than before, yet Stephan kept driving the steel into its neck over and over again. Finally, the river dragon lost hold of his forearm, but Stephan held tight, still stabbing. The monster then surged down, and in a lucid moment Stephan realized there was nothing but death in the depths. He released his hold, letting the water carry him up. He swam with it, kicking wildly with everything he had. He broke the surface and gasped for breath, for the first time feeling his lungs burn with the need for air the fall had knocked out of him.
“—eve!” Muriel’s voice reached him, “thank the gods you’re all right.”
Stephan spat and tried to clear his eyes. There. She was heading for the bank, which was about two hundred yards away from him. A wave closed over him, but he managed to hold his breath.
“Where’s the boat?” he shouted after finding the surface again, his left arm broken and dangling uselessly.
“Forget about it, just swim for the shore!” She turned around and followed her own advice, but Stephan’s arm was ruined.
With a slight exertion of his will, barely conscious, spirit surged into his arm. The limb flashed gold. The bleeding stopped and wounds closed, but the arm still hurt, useless and broken. Stephan healed himself two more times. Fractured bones grew back and snapped into place while torn muscles knitted together. Then, unlike Muriel’s graceful, silent swim, he started splashing water everywhere in his attempt to reach solid ground.
He made it seventy yards before he felt a change in the current and a rush of water behind him. Without thinking, he drew his legs closer, and a maw half as long as he was tall opened behind him, rushing forth. Stephan managed to kick the spike-like teeth and throw himself forward before it snapped shut.
He crossed nearly five yards, half-flying out of the water, without daring to look back as he redoubled his splashing.
“Bless,” he managed, giving himself a tad more speed and awareness, just enough to let him spot multiple logs closing in on him from all directions. Muriel was way ahead, almost at the shore, and there was no way she could help him.
I can’t die like this.
The river dragon behind him surged forth again, blessedly using the same attack and allowing Stephan to avoid it in exactly the same manner. He threw himself another dozen feet forward, right past another snapping maw, and straight in between another pair of massive jaws.
Instead of fleeing, Stephan swam towards one. He dove under it just as the teeth were mere inches from his face. The river dragon’s jaw followed him, but Stephan stabbed the bottom of its skull with the dagger, then the chasing dragon slammed into the first, biting down.
Stephan abandoned his blade, leaving it in the creature, and swam away as the river dragons behind him started fighting immediately. Heavy bodies crashed into each other and into Stephan’s back, stealing the breath out of his lungs, driving him deeper underwater.
He dove for the bank, thinking he could use the chaos to his advantage, surfacing mere ten yards away from the clashing river dragons, body desperate for air.
Instead of safety, all he could see were more logs drifting towards him. They swam slowly, against the current, and yet they were much faster than he was.
The shore was just over ninety yards away, and Stephan drew the spare dagger, then started paddling forward as fast as he could manage.
His heart slammed against his chest, lungs burning as water fought to get into his mouth and nose while he splashed forth. He had barely covered two dozen yards when the sound of fighting behind him died down.
“They are gaining on you!” Muriel shouted. Her voice was clear; she was probably out of the water already.
As he drew closer to the bank, the river’s grip on him grew weaker. The current slowed, but what help it offered him, the Desertcutter gave its dragons twofold. They swam even faster towards him. He was fifty yards from the shore when the surge of water warned him of the reptile’s approach.
Stephan shrank, legs folded up. He kicked the river dragon’s teeth, but his foot slipped. The jaw closed around his shin, and pain flared like nothing Stephan had ever felt before. Flesh parted and bones broke.
He roared in agony, spewing water, and threw himself at the monster. He stabbed at its head, the throat beyond his reach. The dagger chipped at the scales twice, causing next to no harm, but on the third stab the blade nicked the beast’s eye.
The jaw snapped open, and Stephan kicked himself free with his good leg. He healed the injured one immediately, even before his head broke the surface of the water. With no time to think, he swam forward.
“Oi! Oi!” Muriel’s shouts came from the shore.
Still swimming, Stephan spared a glance to see that the rest of the river dragons had changed course away from him and towards her.
Thank you, whatever you’re doing.
He swam forward, the expanse of water ahead of him suddenly void of river dragons. Then, Stephan’s boots hit something soft.
Ground!
He stood without hesitation, the water reaching up to his ribs, but he didn’t care. With purchase, he could walk. The riverbed was soft, but still he could lumber forth faster than he could swim. With his head firmly above water, he saw Muriel splashing a bloody hand in the water about a hundred yards downriver, while the shore was mere forty yards ahead, but the logs were closing in on her.
“Get away, Muriel!” he shouted, and she didn’t need to be told twice. She ran from the water, towards the shrubs and grass.
The water was up to Stephan’s waist when another river dragon lunged at him. For the first time, Stephan could see the creature clearly. He jumped out of its way as the thick, massive lizard threw itself at him, propelled by a powerful, muscular tail. The beast rushed past him, and Stephan used its own force against it.
He plunged the dagger at the base of its neck, the monster’s lunge carrying Stephan who jumped onto it. The river dragon flew a few yards, splashing water, before hitting the surface hard. Stephan drew his dagger, the blade chipped and bent, before jumping off the river dragon’s back, moving closer still to the shore.
The water was hip-deep, and Stephan sprinted the rest of the way to safety as the monster behind him thrashed in place before going still.
He jumped onto the sandy bank, gasping for air, every muscle in his body aching. One of his boots was missing, the bow he had slung across his back gone, but he was still alive.
He started laughing like a maniac, then, in his moment of madness, he sang with everything he had left in him.
“Remember me, the one who lives thereFor she once was a true love of mine.”
“What’s wrong with you? Did you hit your head?” Muriel asked as she ran towards him, her hand still bleeding profusely.
“I was sure I was going to hear that song any moment now.” His palm glowed gold as he healed Muriel’s. “Gods, do I hate that damn thing.”
She stared at him with wide eyes, looking at the torn sleeve and healthy, pink flesh underneath, then at the ripped pants and the missing boot on a perfectly fine leg before making the connection. “You’re the Paladin?”
“I hate that too. Let’s get out of here.”
AN: I had a blast writing this.