Kaviel soared through the sky high above the forest riding atop Tempest's shoulders moaning in pain. He was very relieved to have escaped the huge warrior, but not before the half-crazed freak had given him the most savage beating of his life! His entire body was bruised and battered, and one eye was swollen completely shut. He was covered in hundreds of cuts and gashes from his hard landing in the thorn covered bushes, and still had a number of the thorns lodged deep in his backside. His lower back sent a fresh wave of pain through his body every time the dragon beat her wings. His skin was blistered and cracked from the blast of dragon fire, and nearly all the hair had been singed from his body. Every nerve ending in his body was on fire, and it took all his will to keep from passing out.
He moaned in pain, then gingerly touched his ribs and winced. He cursed venomously, and then carefully felt his nose which had swollen to over twice its normal size and was now crooked and discolored. He groaned again, then tried to figure out had had went wrong.
The Dragon Gem had been able to locate the strange warrior and his companions, and he was only planning to observe their activities to find some sort of weakness, when there was an explosion and he suddenly found himself falling through the air. He landed hard in that bed of tiny knives, and the next thing he knew, the warrior materialized from the shadows and began laying into him with ferocity unlike anything he had ever seen!
He just couldn't figure out how the warrior called Damion knew that they were circling silently overhead. He had been careful to make sure they flew high enough to remain hidden from view, but, somehow, he was still discovered. It was almost as though they knew he was coming!
Tempest returned to her lair, and he slid from her shoulders, landing heavily on the cavern floor. He immediately spotted the dead dragonspawn that lay sprawled in a puddle of its own blood. “Where is she?” He snarled, peering around the cavern with his one good eye. “Gone! She's gone!” He raged in disbelief. He turned and stared at Tempest. “Where is she? Where is the girl?”
Tempest settled herself comfortably on cold stone floor. “I haven't any idea. I was with you, remember?”
He screamed in frustration, causing several of the blisters on his face to burst. He whimpered in pain, then threw her a hateful look. “I should send you back where you came from! You nearly killed me with your flames!”
“I tried to warn you!” The enormous dragon protested, struggling not to laugh.
“Shut up!” He bellowed furiously. “Damned overgrown iguana!” Several more blisters burst, and he suddenly went pale as a fresh wave of pain washed over his senses.
Tempest grinned wickedly, then laid her massive head against the stone floor and quickly fell asleep.