Under The Full Moon

Set Ablaze

Gale's lips pulled back in a snarl as the Crone spoke, a rumble rushing from her chest and up her throat, only to expel from her partially opened muzzle. She watched the Crone, her hand still rested upon the scaley head of the wolf creature beside her. "What do you say, Dear?" The Crone croaked, her lips forming another toothless smirk. 

"It's not going to happen..." A voice spoke from behind them. Gale lifted her head and turned enough to see who it was, her eyes lighting upon Wysteria. She stood near Dillan, behind and slightly to the left of the young man. One hand gripped the top of the staff tightly, the end of it rested in the dirt as though she were using it as a walking cane. Toby held her up on her other side, the older man watching the Crone with a hateful expression in his eyes. The Crone cackled a little.

"Of course, you would be the one that has it. Your father was right about you... you are nothing but trouble," She spat, moving her hand off the creature's head and starting toward Wysteria. Gale let out a warning hiss, the sound bursting from her nose and throat in an aggressive manner. The Crone barely spared her a glance from where she now stood, despite the fact that the dragon had turned to follow her. "That staff belongs to someone that knows how to use it... you've no clue what you are doing with it, child.." The Crone's voice grated on Gale's ears again as she continued to berate Wysteria. The young sorceress stood as she was, unphased by the words that were being thrown in her direction. 

"You can say what you wish. This staff is not going to be given to you... not with what you are capable of doing with it..." Wysteria looked from the Crone to Gale, watching her for a moment. "You don't need this staff... nothing good will come of it..." Wysteria didn't get to finish before the Crone turned to Gale. 

"It seems that the choice has been made..." She said, cutting Wysteria's words off. Before Gale could speak, she felt a blow to the side of her neck, a roar leaving her throat as she spun to face her attacker. One of the wolf creatures had made an attempt to attack her, lunging at her throat. Snarling back at the beast, Gale swatted it away with a forepaw, lifting her wings as it made to grab one of the feathered appendages in its jagged teeth. Unseen to Gale, the rest of the pack had rushed the soldiers and villagers, as well as her friends. Rearing up, Gale roared, the sound ripping through the air like a wave of thunder. As the bellow reached its peak, the glands to either side of Gale's throat opened, heat waving from within the dragon as she issued a swell of fire onto the wolf creatures that had surrounded her. The Crone had backed away from Gale to deal with Wysteria on her own. Gale listened as the hounds wailed, some dropping where they stood, others running away a few yards before they too fell. Looking toward the Crone and Wysteria, the dragon let out another bellowing roar. 

Broin looked up as Gale lunged toward the Crone, though he had to turn back to the wolf creature that was making an attempt at him. He fired an arrow, dropping the beast with the shot to the side of its neck as it had tried to trample him. Gale rushed forward, though as she reached the Crone, there was an explosion of light, followed by an intense pain that coursed through Gale in an angry wave. It was unlike anything that the dragon had felt, putting even the pain of her transformations at a mild level. Her entire felt as though she had been stuck with a pin in every inch of her body. Dropping to the ground, the dragon let out a hissing screech. "Let her go!" Dillan shouted, running at the Crone himself before Broin could stop him. The young man made an attempt to get to the Crone, though he himself was thrown backward a distance, his body hitting the ground heavily a moment later. 

"Dillan!" Broin shouted, rushing to the young man. With this distraction, Gale was able to move a little, the pain fading from her body. Lifting her head, she looked to Wysteria, who had backed up a little and looked as though she were about to attack. Giving a snort, Gale was able to get her attention, though she also got the attention of the Crone. As the Crone lifted her hand, Gale expelled a ball of fire in her direction, watching as it seemed to engulf the Crone. As it did so, the old woman let out a screaming wail, her form engulfed in the fire for a moment before a cackling sound came from within the billowing flames. 

"You would believe me defeated so easily..." A voice growled from within the flames, and for a moment, Gale couldn't help but watch in horror as the vaguely human shape of a woman stepped from the fire that had begun to spread. Wysteria watched, her eyes wide before she turned to run to Dillan and Broin. The rest of the soldiers had been fighting off the wolf creatures, and having driven off the rest of them, they watched in confusion and fear as the fight with the Crone had begun. "I haven't even begun," The voice deepened and wings sprouted from the back of what had been the old woman just a few moments before. "You have merely released me from my human prison... you have given me that which was needed..." Gale struggled to get to her feet as the beast that had been the Crone advanced on her. 

Wysteria struggled to help get Dillan to his feet, the young man having had the wind knocked from his lungs. Apart from a large gash to his arm, the young man had luckily survived the knockback. "Get him to safety, I have to help Gale," Wysteria's voice was hurried, Broin looking from her to Gale, the dragon finally getting to her feet. 

The beast that stood in front of her was no longer human, but a black scaled beast with glowing red eyes and massive wings. She resembled a massive bat, the hellish fire of her eyes having been hidden by the milky white of her human form. Gale backed up as the beast continued toward her, her ears back and a growl in her throat. Before she could act, the Crone lunged forward, screeching as she went for Gale's throat, her teeth crashing into the collar that rested about the dragon's neck. Gale tried to get away from her, though one massive claw grabbed her muzzle hard and forced her head into the dirt. Gale lashed out with a wing, driving the sharp spike at the bend into the Crone's shoulder. She released her briefly, giving Gale enough time to get her head from within the Crone's grasp and out of the way just in time before the Crone tried to stomp where her head had been just a moment before. Issuing a ball of fire into the Crone's face, Gale blinded her, turning to her friends as she forced herself to get up. "Go!" She shouted at them, urging them toward the rest of the soldiers where the horses waited. Some of the soldiers had been taken down by the wolf creatures, meaning there would be extra horses for her friends. 

Before she could do much else, Gale's tail was grabbed and she was pulled backward toward the Crone, a hissing snarl leaving Gale's throat as she turned on the beast that had once again gotten hold of her.