'It must be the attackers,' he thought, his shining, newly grown body hidden by the thick canopy of the plant. Nerves threatened to overwhelm him, but his character crushed them instantly. That's who he was. Using all his dragon senses, while gripping the deadly looking sword tightly, he tried for all he was worth to figure out what was coming his way.
Tasked with taking the medical facility, the group of nagas were small, well organised and had split up into ones and twos on entering the building. Two teammates (if that's what they could be called) in the corridor that Steel found himself secreted in, had just decided to split up, given the limited resistance they faced. One delved into a walkway, off to his left, while the other continued forward in the direction that Steel had just come from.
Mind feeling fuzzy, muddied and unclear, he knew that if a dragon had been approaching, he would have been able to make out details from where he was hidden. But because he assumed it was another of those beings, the best he could do was just to know that it was heading in his direction, all the time hoping it was alone. Pretty sure it was, he couldn't be entirely certain, which bothered him a lot. Coiled up like a spring, ready to strike, he took one long deep breath. Slithering into view, it wasn't until the naga passed the huge potted plant that it realised something was wrong. By then, it was too late. Steel leapt out with all the speed and agility of the athlete that he was. Wielding the sword at waist height, he put all his power and strength into bringing it around. Instinctively the naga turned and tried to dodge out of the way, but the deadly dark blur of metal was already destined for its target. A target well found. Cutting almost all the way through, the blade sliced into the naga's circular waist, forcing the slippery being to thump to the floor, making far too much noise for Steel's liking. With thick, clear liquid oozing from the snakelike body across the polished floor, the naga seemed intent on uttering some final words. Fearful of it being a spell of some sort, Steel brought the sword back over his head, and then in one swift blow, decapitated the helpless beast. Aghast at what he'd just done, he did his best to hold on to his stomach contents, unfortunately to no avail, with the pot plant gaining a rather new and unusual mix of feed. Aware of how much danger was still out there, he couldn't fathom whether or not to try and hide the body parts lying there in front of him. In the end, he resolved not to bother, figuring speed was now of the essence. Taking a fleeting look at the gleaming black metal of the lethal looking sword in his hand, he decided, despite never having used one before, that he was now, most certainly, an aficionado. Pushing away that thought, he took off after the other naga, the one who had been talking to the naga he'd just killed, before slipping away down the walkway.
Barricaded in the store room at the far end of the facility, the medical staff had cast half a dozen mantras across the door, assuming that would be enough to deter even the most hardened attacker. Shields of various sorts, noise reduction mantras and even a perception puller, should take their mind right off the door, if they got this far, thought their leader. But currently, those weren't the subject of conversation.
"We can't be hiding away in here. It's repulsive."
"What exactly do you suggest?"
"We should be taking the fight to them. Teaching them a lesson they won't forget."
"Did you see what they did to Arthurituris? Not only what they did, but just how easily they did it. We wouldn't stand a chance. Our best hope is to wait here until they're gone."
"You mean cower in fear like frightened animals too afraid to stick up for themselves?"
Her worry wasn't helped by the bickering doctors. She wasn't so much worried for her own life, but for that of her patient. In the end, it all got too much, forcing her to speak up, when normally she wouldn't.
"What about him?" she interrupted.
"WHAT?" replied one of the specialist medics.
"STEEL! What about Steel?"
"H...h...he...he's probably found some cubby hole or other to lay low in, doing very much the same as us."
She snorted in derision.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked the medic, not used to a nurse questioning his judgement.
She'd had it, and decided to speak her mind.
"The greatest laminium ball player in a generation... hiding away? You must be off your head. I very much doubt there's a braver, more courageous and fearless dragon on the entire planet. And let me tell you, the very last thing he'll be doing is hiding. We need to get out there and support him. He's our responsibility. His life was placed in our hands. So this isn't quite what we bargained for. Nevertheless, we should still be doing what we signed up to do, no matter what the price."
The small room suddenly felt very claustrophobic. You could scoop up the tension with a spoon.
The acerbic doctor, whose idea it had been to hide in the store cupboard in the first place, flushed totally red... jaw, cheeks, ears, nose, the lot. Tiny little flames squirted from his nose, looking like flares launched from a boat in trouble. He couldn't remember the last time one of his decisions had been questioned. More to the point, he couldn't believe it was by a NURSE!
Padding along very quietly now, hugging one wall, gripping the sword for all he was worth, he'd sprinted after the other naga, well at first anyway. Having made his way down the corridor, only to be confronted by a huge number of rooms off to either side, not wanting to give away his position, he'd chosen to move slowly, and try to catch the beast off guard. It was only when he was half way down that he spotted it, amazed that he hadn't noticed it before. There in the middle of the walkway, was a very thin layer, almost a film really, of clear liquid. Gazing off down the corridor, he could see the film weave gently from side to side, almost showing the naga looking through the windows in the doors of each room. Most interesting though, was that the film disappeared under a door at the end of the passage, off to the right.
'This is where it has to have gone,' he thought to himself as he stalked after it, not sure whether to lie in wait outside the door or to follow it in. As it happened, the decision was taken out of his hands just as he reached the entrance. Without warning the door came crashing open, the wriggling beast smashing through, both it and Steel each as surprised as the other. With the naga starting to mutter something under its breath, Steel belatedly swung the evil looking sword around. Faster than Steel could believe, the naga slipped out of the way, sliding off to one side, and then rolling back up to its full height on the other side of the corridor. The sword clattered into the door, smashing the glass in the window as it did, scattering the tiny little fragments everywhere. As all of this happened, Steel started to feel... muzzy, as if a thick fog had washed over his brain. Worse still, his vision had gone double, and now there were two corridors, and two nagas both grinning inanely.
As a laminium ball player, chosen at a very young age to be such, he'd never had to learn a lot about offensive mantras and spells. It just wasn't taught. Only those mantras allowed in the game, and few other simple ones had been on the curriculum. That was the same for all the players everywhere. Their sport required them to focus on that only and give their all. And so they did. So it was that Steel now found himself in a real bind. Outmatched and outgunned, so to speak. But he was nothing if not inventive, which was one of the reasons the fans loved him so much. And so wading through his syrupy mind, inventiveness his friend, he selected what he hoped was the right mantra, ignored his double vision and put all his hope, belief and willpower, which was more than a match for any other dragon in the kingdom, behind the magic he cast.