Sharrag launched himself towards the wolf, striking forward with deadly claws. It was more of a test attack really. More to see how fast and strong this wolf was. Surprisingly the Alpha wolf leapt back at him, powering forwards with the unnatural strength. They clashed in mid air, both stunned by the force of the opponent's attack.

The green dragon backed away slightly and shook his head. He wasn't injured in any way, just a bit winded. Still, he was surprised at the force the Shrrg could apply. He may have the strength to match a dragon. Sharrag snorted and decided to try a different way of approach. He opened is maw and unleashed a torrent of green fire towards the Shrrg. The alpha dodged out of the way, avoiding the dangerous torrent of green fire. Sharrag frowned. Maybe he didn't have wards? He immediately dismissed the thought, the Shrrg was probably just trying to save his strength rather then waste it on defending against flames.

Sharrag swung his tail at the wolf, who jumped out of the way again. Sharrag quickly struck forward with his claws, yet the Shrrg avoided him again and again. The dragon roared in annoyance. This alpha wolf was to fast. He snarled in pain as the Shrrg crashed against his side, causing him to stumble slightly. Claws racked across his scales, tearing a few of them away leaving a bloody gash.

Both of them then retreated from each other and began stalking each other in a circle. Sharrag was favouring his left side where the wolf had managed to hit him. The wound hurt, but not an extreme amount. He was more worried by the lack of scales in that area, it left him open to attack without any defence.

They circled each other, snarling and threatening. Suddenly something slammed itself in Sharrag's mind. He growled in surprise and stopped, shaking his head, then the Shrrg slammed into his side, knocking the dragon over. In a second Sharrag was back on his feet and attacked back with his own mind, swinging his tail towards the Shrrg. He smiled as he finally managed to hit his opponent, knocking him to the side.

The wolf quickly scampered to his feet, snarling. The tail wack didn't hurt much, but he had been winded and he thought that one of his ribs might be cracked. The two foes inched around each other again, weary of the other. Both of them knew that this was not going to be an easy fight to win.

With a roar Sharrag suddenly charged at the Shrrg. He frowned at the dragon's motives but easily ducked out of the way. He then turned and leapt at the dragon, only to be smashed aside by the dragon's wing. He landed on all fours but was quickly on the move again to avoid the green dragon fire Sharrag sent his way. Leaping over Sharrag's tail he attack again, aiming towards the dragon's leg. Sharrag roared with pain and snarled as a few more scales were ripped of his hind leg. He battered the wolf away with his tail before turning on him and striking with his claws. Once again the Shrrg avoided and once again they were circling each other.

'I can't keep up like this,' he thought, 'He'll just continue to give me minor injuries until I can't move on any more."

He snorted as his mind was taken off current matters when the wolf attacked. He breathed fire at him, and was surprised when the wolf completely ignored it and pounced. Sharrag reacted quickly, putting up his wings to avoid injury to his face. He roared again as the wolf landed, tearing through the thin membranes of his wings. He swung one of his wings sideways, catapulting the wolf to the side. He hissed in pain as he looked at his damaged wings. Red blood was covering his green scales and causing a considerable amount of pain. He flapped his wings once, and growled again. There would be no flying out of this fight.

Snarling he glanced towards the wolf angrily, before unleashing a torrent of green fire in his direction. The wolf easily jumped out of the way. Sharrag tilted his head so the fire followed the Alpha, catching him by surprise. With a snarl the wolf jumped out of the fire, only to be met with Sharrag's tail. With a yelp he was cast aside again, landing on his side and skidding across the ground. Sharrag took advantage of the Shrrg's momentary distraction to attack head on. He smashed his claws against him, trying to break through his wards. The Alpha quickly rolled and got to his feet just in time to avoid another strike from Sharrag's deadly talons.

As soon as he was up Sharrag bathed him in another set of fire before bighting down towards him, aiming to crush the wards with his maw. The alpha leapt out of the way again, snarling. He could feel his wards weakening slowly under the continued assault of the dragon. He needed to avoid everything the dragon threw at him, but that was impossible, considering he had so many weapons to utilise.

The wolf leaped out of range of the dragon but instead of the slow circling that they seemed to constantly come back to he began to move in a fast circling around him, not allowing him to get a clear shot again with his fire. Sharrag snarled at him in annoyance. Range and strength were his advantages in this fight. He was not going to let this wolf get the better of him.

With a roar the dragon leapt at him again. This was one of the times where he needed to keep his opponent in defensive, and give him very little time to attack. He struck with his talons at the ever-evasive Shrrg, who avoided him again. Fire and a batter of wings soon followed scorching the ground and stirring up dust. A sharp pain spiked in the side that had already been injured, but he ignored it and instead struck at the source, only to be avoided again.

The circle of Shrrg that were watching the fight had become bigger as the fight continued. The continued pouncing from both sides and the danger of being burnt by green flames had caused them to move backwards in haste. Even now they were moving backwards as the green fire again caused them leap out of the way with frightened yips and yelps.

Sharrag stopped his attack at the same time the Alpha had gotten to far away. They were both heaving for breath, Sharrag slightly more so. They were both putting all they could into this fight. It was then the Alpha attacked Sharrag's mind. The dragon curled his lips in a snarl and strengthened the barriers, blocking the strong attack. He then began to force the wolf's mind backwards with his own. Eventually Sharrag had had enough and breathed his green fire again. This caused the wolf's mentality to stumble and Sharrag smashed against his barriers with all the mental strength he could muster.

The wolf actually staggered backwards under the fall force of Sharrag's mental assault. With a snarl he stayed still and focused on defending himself, only to be blasted again by green fire. The wolf could feel his wards waning under the continuous attacks of the green dragon, yet there was nothing he could do.

With a snarl the Alpha leapt forward with a growl. Sharrag wasn't able to defend without breaking mind contact with the wolf so was unable to stop the attack on his snout. The Shrrg's claw racked across him maw, tearing up scales and drawing a large amount of red dragon's blood. With a snarl Sharrag broke contact with the Shrrg's and with a violent thrust of his head threw the Shrrg into the air, hissing in anger and pain.

The Alpha landed on his feet and leapt backwards instantly to avoid another strike from Sharrag's talons. The green dragon pressed the attack, striking with fire, wings, tail and talons. The Shrrg continued to back away from the dragon, jumping, ducking and dodging, trying to find a way around the continuous assault. Suddenly Sharrag faulted in one of his movements, and the wolf struck, clawing at the rather soft scales of Sharrag's neck.

With a roar he reared on his hind legs and battered the wolf away. But the damage had already been done. His neck was bleeding badly and he could taste blood in his mouth. With a growl of distaste he spat it out, but coughed up more. Shaking his head he felt himself getting a little dizzy, and he stumbled, unable to stand straight.

A sudden wait collided with his side, knocking him over. He landed with a thud, groaning in pain. Everything seemed to be fading in and out of colour. A pain in his side woke him up again and he reached around with his maw, ignoring the pain, and bit down hard. His teeth were met with the stubborn resistance of the last of the Alpha's wards. The wolf yelped in fear as his strength began to steadily drain as the wards struggled to hold the mounting pressure of the dragon's bight.

However Sharrag didn't have the strength to hold the wolf. He let him go, and his head fell to the ground again. He groaned as he watched the Alpha wolf got to his feet, wobbling slightly at the lack of energy. He took a moment to stand. A moment, if Sharrag had the strength, which would have killed him. However the dragon was defeated. It wouldn't take long for him to bleed to death.

The alpha turned around to face the defeated dragon. He stumbled forward and put his claws to the dragon's throat, ready to rip out what he already hadn't. Suddenly an unnatural scream pieced through the valley. The Shrrg growled in distaste, before staggering backwards with a whimper. Sharrag watched with wide eyes as the wolf began to slowly shrink in size slightly and the intelligence leave his eyes. The alpha whimpered in fear as the strength and speed that he had come so much to rely on faded with what only could be the death of the shade. In the distance on the mountain on the opposite side of the valley the colourful speck of spirits fled into the sky, never to be seen again.

Mustering what strength he could Sharrag opened his maw and once again unleashed his emerald green fire upon the Alpha Shrrg. Not having any wards to protect him the wolf screamed in pain. Sharrag watched until the screams were cut off and all that was left of the Shrrg was a pile of ash. The other Shrrg around them watched with surprise as there leader was burned to the ground.

Sharrag smiled to himself before laying his head to the ground. Now seemed like the perfect opportunity to sleep. With a sigh the dragon drearily closed his eyes and let darkness take him.

* * *

The dragon winced as light began to make it's way through his eyelids. The pain that he had been feeling just before he hit the darkness seemed to all come back at once, especially in his throat. He groaned in pain and coughed, which made the pain worse. He groaned again, struggling to stop another cough he felt coming up.

"He's awake!" came a voice that he knew.

'Levial?' he asked with his mind, stretching out to the elf.

"And he's alright," said Levial, coming into the dragon's view, "I thought we lost you for a few days there."

Sharrag let a small smile spread across his maw, before he coughed again and groaned.

"Hey just rest big guy," said Levial, "You and Talismen have done more then enough these past few days."

Sharrag started when he heard the wolf's name, 'Is he...'

"He's fine, a little woozy, but fine," he said, "Killing a shade does that to you I'm guessing."

'He killed the shade!' said Sharrag with a sudden burst of happiness, 'How?'

"Stabbed him threw the heart, how else," said Levial with a smile, "Thought like you he wasn't left unharmed. None of us were. My left shoulder is now scarred badly and hurts whenever I move it. Talismen has a similar injury. Aradon's magic seems to have almost disappeared and you, well, your neck is badly injured. I doubt you'll ever be able to breath fire again, without extreme pain anyway."

Sharrag growled with surprise, before whimpering slightly. Being able to breath fire was one of the things he loved about being a dragon. It was the reason he was so dangerous in the sky and why so many people feared dragons. It was an essential part of him. He whimpered again.

"Hey, cheer up," he said, "Your life is a lot more important then fire. At least you didn't loose that, or your wings. You didn't loose them either. "

Sharrag smiled and nodded, before groaning in pain again.

"Now rest. Once your better you can send your army of Shrrg away. They haven't left since you fainted, although they are a lot friendlier. Tay'el says they are waiting for their Alpha. You."

Sharrag tilted his head in interest, 'Have they accepted me as their alpha? I thought once the shade was defeated they would leave.'

Levial shook his head, "No. You are apparently the 'Great Alpha' or 'Alpha of Alphas'. At least, that's how Tay'el describes it."

Sharrag rumbled a laugh before stopping when he realised how much it hurt.

"Now, rest, it'll take a couple of weeks yet to heal. Even then you won't be fully healed," he said.

Sharrag nodded and closed his eyes once again to welcome sleep.

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Hey guys! New chapter! Hope you enjoyed! I have nearly finished the book, two or three more chapters