Lynvok had thought it had the upper hand.

Its opponent was slower, bigger. Lynvok had been known for being fast and agile with a small size for a dragon. But this other dragon knew that, for he was the one who had discovered it.

And he was now discovering something else. He dove sharply at Lynvok, slamming harshly into its side. Lynvok screamed, its scales practically boiling against the heat of its opponent's. Pyradragons had always been annoying for this reason, Lynvok thought bitterly.

But Lynvok had also been known for not giving in easily. It steadied itself, dodging another attack. The Pyradragon had gone in with teeth, but teeth were far too easy to twist away from.

It flapped higher into the sky, the other dragon giving pursuit. Lynvok had not forgotten to be aware of the city below them. It was almost as fragile as humans.

The Pyradragon grabbed hold of the end of Lynvok's tail, to its surprise. It screeched, curling into an odd U-shape as it snapped at the Pyradragon's wings, throwing him off balance. His tail-tip was released as the other dragon released a shrill noise of pain. The Forester used the distraction to kick his face with his back claws. The Pyradragon retreated for a moment, then circled around once more to slam into Lynvok.

This one move kept stunning it. The other dragon was remarkably quick for just enough time to slam full force into it, burning its scales and injuring it farther. It was like all of his energy had been saved up just for that one move. Lynvok found it rather exasperating.

Lynvok recovered slowly, just barely dodging the following attacks. It had to get a grip. It summoned all of its rage, sadness, and pure confusion towards this being and poured it into its attacks, rapidly slashing and biting and whipping. The Pyradragon, bigger and slower, was having a hard time dodging the onslaught.

The Foresterdragon roared in satisfaction.

The victory was short lived as the Pyradragon wrapped himself around it, wrestling Lynvok towards the ground. They tumbled in the air, Lynvok eventually coming out on top. It veered them away from the city and just beyond into the field. The Forester was horribly burnt and shrieking in pain, but the Pyradragon was losing blood quickly. The Pyradragon changed positions once more, flipping them over and making no effort to slash at it. He knew he didn't need to.

"Lynvok," he hissed, in the tongue only dragons understood.

"Everard," it replied in its soft voice--then sunk its teeth deep into his neck. Everard screamed, only for a few moments, before going completely limp, marking the end of his second life.

The dragons hit the ground with a tremendous boom.

Lynvok was hardly aware of whether or not it was alive. It felt a familiar hand on its nose, then looked down to see the Trunswick boy standing there, pity and sadness in his eyes. The adventurer was jogging up to him, stress written in every line of his face.

Lynvok was fond of these boys. They were braver than grown men. For that, it felt they needed to be rewarded. How to, though? It pondered for a moment as the adventurer examined the massive wounds all over its body. It knew that neither of them wanted it to die.

So perhaps it didn't have to. Not completely, anyway.

In the old tales, it was said that the most powerful of dragons had the ability to pass bits of their soul over to any living thing they'd like. Even an ant. These chosen ones received bits and pieces of the dragon's memories a very small amount of its power. Lynvok had never done this before, for it had not needed to, but it focused every last bit of strength it had left within it, and reached out to the boys, just as it took one last shuddering breath.

It fell still and limp.