The Harder They Fall

Rage filled Skyrentalimar at that moment, rage the likes of which he had not felt in over a thousand years. How dare these puny, pathetic thieves attempt to steal from him?! He would destroy the infidels, make them sorry they had ever chosen the path of evil. His rage gave him strength, and for the first in years Sky rose to his feet. The roused dragon was a fearsome sight, even at his age. His bones creaked and popped, and scales flaked and fell, but for the moment his body held. His great wings expanded to their full span, and he bared his mouth full of teeth menacingly.

Ranas and Farek knew immediately that they had made a mistake. They turned and gaped at Skyrentalimar, dropping their ill-gotten treasures absentmindedly. Farek kept his wits about him enough at least to fumble at the hilt of his sword, desperately trying to draw it from its sheath. Ranas merely fell to his knee, weeping and shrieking pathetically. Suddenly there was a great wind inside the cave, and the two bandits watched helplessly as the great dragon inhaled and his chest expanded. It would be the last site they beheld in their mortal life.

With the last of his strength, Skyrentalimar let loose his final mighty breath. The temperature in the cavern dropped noticeably as cold winds and ice poured out of the mighty wyrm’s mouth, blasting the would-be thieves, freezing forever their shocking and terrified expressions. The very blood in their veins turned to ice. Within seconds, the forms of the pair could barely be made out inside what was now one huge frozen block, but the glint of the gold that was so precious to them was still visible, lying about their feet, encased with them in their icy tomb.

Sky’s body failed him quickly, and the entire cavern shook with the impact of his bulk crashing to the floor, entire mounds of gold bouncing into the air. The sight of the two thieves encased in icy death was the last image his mind was able to recognize before his eyes closed, and Skyrentalimar the Great did not take another breath.