I had no doubt I could beat this old dragon, Bavray the dark, at first. I was younger, faster, and apparently smarter. I was also the most powerful dragon in the west or north, red as fire and strong as silver.
However, Bavray was from the east. We fought through the night and through the following day. Ryath watched impassively. I knew she was rooting for me, but I wasn't sure if she really thought I could win.
Another day passed, more scales flew. I had never before fought that hard in my life. And I began to doubt my strength. Perhaps Bavray would beat me… he did have much more experience in fighting. As I swirled around him in the air, that was probably the first time I remembered who this dragon was.
Bavray the dark, the dragon which had attacked my clan for no reason, hurting my father. This was the dragon! Bavray had gotten over me, and knocked me headfirst into the ground. I roared, throwing Bavray off of me. "Come meet your doom! I have just begun to fight!" I roared.
"Oh, you have just begun to fight?" Bavray asked mockingly, hovering just off the ground, regaining his balance. "I didn't know you were even fighting yet!"
I roared, and launched at the evil blue, who dodged out of the way and raked his claws down my back. It hurt, not even with the Griffins had their blows hurt so much, only the blow of Tanga's death hurt. Remembering Tanga spurred me on. I roared again, this time louder, and snagged Bavray's tail. With a yank, he crashed into the ground, roaring angrily and futily. He snaked around, and snapped at my belly with his long teeth, dulled by age but still sharp. I dodged that blow, and blew fire at him.
That was the first surprise I got. My fire rebounded off of his scales, hitting my neck instead. I reeled, that had hurt! But I wasn't about to give up. Another day passed, as I wearied and felt the hint of my muscles setting on fire all alone. I was doing too much, working too hard, and I was not strong enough to use up all that energy and defeat Bavray, yet. I was just too small...
Bavray whipped around his tail, hitting me hard behind the horns.
