As the man with the knife began to make the cut, Eckhart heard a voice he never wanted to hear again in his life.
"I won't lie to you... this is going to hurt."
"Oh Ansgar, please don't tell me it's her again. I wouldn't know how to deal with that." Allowing himself to glance upwards, Eckhart saw that it was, in fact, her. "Fucking hell, really?" The bandit, distracted by the girl, began to laugh. Seeing an opportunity, Eckhart managed to wriggle free of his captor only to see his old foe shoot him a nasty grin. "Shit."
Whatever Eckhart expected, it wasn't what Kaida Black-Hearth would actually do. Her body began to twist and morph into something much larger- Eckhart found himself staring into the eyes of an actual, honest to god dragon. Eckhart's eyes began to water, and he broke into a cold sweat. As the dragon opened her mouth, Eckhart quickly brought his hands to his ears and clogged them, like he did the first time they'd met. The blast of sound that came a few moments later was still deafening, but he was pretty sure his eardrums didn't rupture. The bandits weren't so lucky, and both collapsed.
In a panic Eckhart attempted to stand up, only to collapse again. The arrow was lodged in his leg, which was at risk of becoming infected if he didn't take care of it soon. As he unclogged his ears, he could hear the the bandits scream in agony. Glancing to his side, Eckhart saw one of them writhing on the ground, eyes glassy. His pants were wet, having apparently pissed himself in fear. Eckhart began to slowly crawl backwards, never taking his eyes off of the turquoise dragon in front of him.
Ekhart's mind was white with fear. He couldn't think of anything but survival- something that looked to be impossible. Finally, he was able to stammer out some words, tears forming in his eyes..
"Sh-she said you leave me alone! Why did you come back!"