Gaining a little more purchase in his escape from an untimely demise, images of a huge, golden-coloured snake-like creature, thick, bright yellow fluid dripping down the scales at the side of its head, somewhere in a cold, snowy environment, flooded his synapses, causing what remained of his physical body to jerk and writhe in absolute terror, like a possessed demon. Any ground that he'd made up in his attempt to outrun death was instantly lost as he slid back towards the metaphorical cliff edge, beyond which lay the abyss, and of course... HIS CERTAIN DOOM!
To say it was not going well was something of an understatement, thought Vasuki as he trawled through Flash's unruly mind, searching for the trigger he needed to save the brave dragon. Amongst the magical background of the king's private residence, the naga king arced over the wrecked body of the ex-Crimson Guard, his scaled forehead directly atop Flash's, the contact of their skins breaching any inbuilt supernatural defences, providing the best opportunity to save the dragon defender. It was then that their exploits caught some very unwanted attention.
Pride swelled his chest. It wasn't something he often experienced, least of all because of another, but as he watched the woman he loved battle for all she was worth against the unkempt prisoner from Antarctica, who, it had to be said, was considerably more powerful and able than he could ever had imagined, it somehow vilified his decision to crown her queen and give over all of himself to her. She was magnificent, he thought, a rightful mate and the perfect mother to all the offspring she would provide him with.
Watching with glee as she launched yet another foul and depraved magical attack, something behind their personal duel caught Manson's twisted attention. Through the rubble, dust, smoke and haze of supernatural power that saturated the huge chamber they all found themselves in, he looked on with incredulity at what the naga king was doing to Flash.
'That's odd,' he thought, his mind speculating about what on earth was going on. Strangely though, he couldn't come up with anything that would explain what the hell they were doing. He couldn't abide anomalies or anything out of the ordinary, because as a general rule they interfered with the best laid plans, and given that his plans and machinations had been long in the making, the only decision available to him was to go and investigate. And so without further ado, he did.
Reliving his Antarctic experience was enough to destroy what remained of his defences, letting him slide ever closer to the chasm of no return. Curled up in the foetal position, his petrified mind no longer cared whether he lived or died. Luckily for him, someone else did.
Committing to the process, Vasuki gave himself over to saving the dragon that had rescued them from that icy hellhole in Antarctica. Delving deep into what was left of the ex-Crimson Guard, the naga king dropped his defences, ignoring everything going on around them in the physical world, and pushed on in the hunt for the trigger he needed. Urgency threatened to overwhelm him, but he had no idea why. Shrugging it off, he set free the magic that had been his since birth, and allowed it to soak into every last fibre of the being he was trying to rescue.
Batting away a stray wave of electrical energy, the malevolent being that had caused all this in the first place, casually strolled through the carnage, weaving in and out of huge piles of debris, nonchalantly deflecting massive chunks of ceiling, that continued to fall down in his path, harmlessly out of the way. Senses taking in everything around him, he momentarily spied the love of his life in the tiniest bit of trouble. Watching from a short distance away as the former dragon prisoner grabbed her by the throat, ready to throttle the life out of her, Manson decided, against his better judgement, to intervene. Thrusting out his hand in the battling pair's direction, a tiny dark dart, full of potent magic, sped away from him, heading directly towards his love's adversary. Through the dust and the smoke, he looked on, eager to see the results of his handiwork. He wasn't disappointed. As the deadly dart neared its target, the prisoner clearly sensed the danger and with no other choice available to him, relinquished his grip on Earth, before bounding off to one side in a dramatic display of gymnastic ability. With his love free for the moment, the despicable dark dragon decided she'd had enough of his help and turned his attention back towards his intended target, determined to put a stop to whatever abnormal supernatural behaviour was going on.
Still curled up in a ball, what was left of the valiant ex-Crimson Guard now rolled towards the precipice, gaining speed with every rotation, Death looking on, rubbing his hands in anticipation.
Lost in the pull of the magic, Vasuki allowed himself to be consumed by it all, once again experiencing the euphoria that it entailed, even deep inside something as alien as this. The rush was fantastic: think rollercoaster, waterslide, fairground ride and helicopter trip all rolled into one. Briefly he was not only lost for words, but lost in the moment. If his will hadn't been stronger, he could very well have been lost forever. But he was king for several reasons, one of which was his strength of purpose, something those who had met him and served under his command, never doubted for a second. Singlemindedly bursting the bubble of ecstasy he'd found himself in, as the rush of adrenaline washed away he reached out along the tendrils of magic that embedded themselves deep within the young dragon, searching for what he needed. Almost instantly, he found it.
It hadn't been subtle. He hadn't had to sneak or cloak himself using any of his inherent power. All he'd done was stride resolutely across that part of the battlefield, mindful of all the wayward magic, falling debris and slippery rubble. Approaching the naga king, who was leaning almost over on himself, his whole reptilian body forming what looked like a giant S, his pale blue, scaled forehead pressed firmly against the smoking remains of the human he'd briefly battled earlier, Manson once again wondered what the hell was going on, and what on earth could be important enough to totally disregard your own personal safety in the middle of a pitched battle like this. Contemplating the answer for a split second before discounting the question totally, he drew to a halt five metres away, his smug smile once again making an appearance at the thought of finishing off both of these beings once and for all. Running through a list of the most formidable spells he had at his disposal deep within his mind, he carefully chose something that was appropriate to the situation.
Joy at discovering just what he was looking for was immediately tempered by his inbuilt sense of danger screaming furiously at him. Knowing to trust that particular sense wholeheartedly, he grasped the magic he needed, commanded it to follow a very specific set of instructions, before gathering himself up in an effort to return to his own body and the chaos of the battle, hoping that he wasn't too late to face whatever danger lay out there. In the blink of an eye, it was done.
A row of dominos would be a fitting description... DNA dominoes. And all the naga king's magic had to do was knock down the first one. It did, and with impunity, they all began to topple.
That first split second back was the worst. It always felt as though your mind had been forcibly pulled through a hole half its size. It was nauseating at the best of times. Today was not one of those. Heaving his heavy head up and away from Flash's, Vasuki rose to his full height before turning to face the threat that his body had been screaming out for him not to ignore. By the looks of things though, that was far too late.
Rolling brilliant, bright emerald green balls of magic around in both his hands, Manson arrogantly stood only a short way off, amused to see the king of the nagas suddenly realise the trouble he was in.