Such a Meaningless Death, This Will Be...

[AR_29]

The wind. It was loud, it was cold, and it was insufferable, but it was apparent. Daeron, atop Pyrataes, had been riding with haste through the mountains in pursuit of another dragon rider. Bounty hunters sent by the Adelan government to hunt down Daeron and tie up loose ends. Or at least that's what Daeron thought...

Along the ridge the dragons met, colliding in a almost beautiful mixture of blood and fire in the sky. Digging its claws into the enemy dragon, Pyrataes was able to strike in close enough for Daeron to mount the opposing dragon. With sword in hand, Daeron leaned forward into the enemy plunging his sword into the flesh of the dragon. Slicing through its side and ripping down closer to to its neck as Pyrataes spun violently.

"Fuck." Was all he could utter out as the jaws of the enemy dragon reered up toward him. He attempted to dive out of the way, sliding across the beast's back as he struggled to keep his hands on the reins. An ear-piercing cry came from his dragon as he began to tumble through the air nearing the ground. Daeron was able to climb back up Pyrataes slightly pullig the reins back in a last attempt to avoid death, and for a moment, he thought it was all for naught. In the next moment Pyrataes pulled back and pushed forward with his crippled wings allowing Daeron and Pyrataes to collide with the ground with speed and force. Daeron went flying through the air, screaming before landing away from his now deceased dragon.

Breath. Death. Breath. Death. Breath. Death. It was all Daeron could think of as he lie on the ground, crawling his way back to the corpse of his dragon. Screams and moans were all he managed as he lay his bloody body along the deceased Pyrataes, resting his head upon its tail.

Such a meaningless death, this will be.

[Snake]

The tall grass was hardly disturbed as she slithered through it; silently creeping along on her belly, Syrsaesa crawled toward the crash sight, hidden in her tiny snake form.

As she reached the broken pile of dragon and man, she paused, unsure if the two were even still alive. One ragged breath from Daeron dispelled her suspicions. The dragon, however... No matter. She didn't deal with dragons anyway.

Blood was everywhere, though getting a lick of human blood was a small sight more difficult than she had anticipated; the pools of dragon blood meant Syrsaesa would need to slither to the half dead man and lap up some of the blood on his face, as she did.

If Daeron had any consciousness left in him, he might have been surprised. In an instant, where there was nothing a moment ago, there was instead a massive snake tail, coiled around him. Outside his vision, a voice like a moonless light cooed almost motherly in his ear "Poor thing, you... Relax, you're safe..."

The huge snake lifted Daeron's bloodied body, until he was embraced by a soft, female body. Her surprisingly strong arms held him up in a bridal carry as she moved without footsteps away from the dragon corpse, eventually into a cave.

[AR_29]

It was all such a blur. One moment he was meekly grasping onto life with his bare hands covered in his own blood, and the next he felt the embrace of what seemed to be a woman, or was it a creature? He could not tell...

Drawing short and disturbed breaths he was carried into a cave. Scales and flesh wrapped around him as his eyes fluttered barely open. Eyes of emerald green over a pale ashen skin showing no signs of letting him go.In another moment she was leaned in, whispering in his ear.

Daeron was not sure whether to be comforted or frightened by the woman-snake, and in truth... he felt nothing at all. Nothing but pain and sorrow in knowing that he'd die never accomplishing anything in his life.

Words were a struggle, and nothing so poetic came from his mouth,"S...sw...sword." Was all he was able to utter out for some queer reason.

[Snake]

The cave started off normally, that is, dark and barren rock; though a warm light grew brighter in the end of the tunnel with each step- er, slither. Eventually, Daeron and his saviour passed under a thick curtain, and the space became drastically brighter as they posed through.

Syrsaesa laid the broken man down on a soft bedroll, departing to some corner to fetch something. From his vantage point, the lamia was visible entirely as she was.

The room in the cave was quite cozy, despite being in a cave. The walls were dotted with magic lamps, giving of a hearth-like glow, a small oven was keeping a fire contained, but warming the space pleasantly nonetheless.

"Honestly, you should count your blessings. I just happened to be wandering nearby." Syrsaesa plucked a vial of grayish blue liquid, pouring a drop onto her middle finger. "Don't move around, this is gonna sting. A lot."

The woman, with her free hand, held open Daeron's mouth as she wiped the dot of liquid on the roof of his mouth. A numbing agent, and a powerful one at that, would at least stop the pain while Syrsaesa did her work assessing the man's injures; it would also and a shocking zap through his body before numbing it. Unavoidable side effects, what can you do?

[AR_29]

Darkness was replaced by light when he was taken through the curtain, the room lit up and stung his eyes like a thousand suns. He groaned and tilted his head backward as he was laid down on the bedroll. He welcomed the softness, tilting his head forward and opening his eyes more.

A lamia. A snake-person-thing-human-hybrid.... He almost panicked, squirming around hopelessly before being held down by the beast as she spoke. He refused to open his mouth at first, whimlessly shaking his head before caving in and knowing this was his only chance.

He screamed and tried to wiggle out of her grasp before going almost completely limp.

"Thank you..." was all he was able to utter out.

[Snake]

"That should keep you nice and stable for a little while." Syrsaesa replaced the vial, continuing to rummage through her abundance of medical supplies. "Honestly though, I'm impressed you're still conscious. That dose should have been enough to make a bear drunk... You're tougher than you look."

Syrsaesa picked various tools, herbs, and other medical paraphernalia out from her corner, one by one passing them back to be gripped by the end of her tail, which in turn deftly laid them down beside Daeron.

Suddenly, she paused, taking a moment to look over her shoulder. "Of course, so long as you're awake, we can discuss... Payment. That is, unless you'd rather I don't fix your... Well, your everything."

Both halves of her body lay next to him a moment later, reclining on her elbow. "I can patch you up, back to your old self in one night, 100%. Or you can settle for a few herbs and bandages, and hope your ribs grow back on their own... How about it?"