Atli held up his hand and created a small flame on the palm. The heat pulsed a tiny heartbeat in his hand. Lighting up his face in the pitch black of night. It was a small spark of life. It was enough.

Ten seconds.

He extinguished the flame, plunging the ravine into darkness. The corner of his lip turned up.  His body tensed in the darkness. His fangs slid over the tip of his lips in anticipation of the hunt.

Five seconds.

He heard a low sigh from the other side of the dark ravine. Saraiya. He knew the elf's impatient expression inside and out. 

Two...

One...

The ground rumbled beneath their feet.

It was upon him. Forty feet of black scales, red glowing eyes, and flashing teeth. A large black dragon, hungry for the small bit of magic it had sensed. 

Atli rocked back on his heel. It wasn't a younger dragon, barely old enough to fly, and not wise enough to stay away from settlements. Or it was sent here, he thought. Notoriously territorial, black dragons moving in were a problem in itself. Their penchant for devouring magic was well known. They were the bloodhounds of the Fay.  

His fangs slid completely down and he hissed at the serpentine creature in front of him. It faced him, pausing, its red eyes narrowing as it took him in.

The large head darted forward, jaws snapping closed inches from his sword arm, the sword itself rang against the teeth jarring both creatures. Atli leaped back keeping the sword between himself and the dragon. The creature eyed him warily.

"Vampire?" The dragon pulled back. The voice was low and each word hissed like a snake. "Are we not compatriots? You've taken the elixir. Why do you fight me?"

Atli gripped his sword tighter. "I'm of the kin, unless your allegiances have changed, we are nothing."

"I can smell the Elixir on you," The hissing voice continued from behind the red yes. The dragon lowered its head. "The hunger should be so powerful... powerful enough to tempt you." 

It paused its head whipping around as Saraiya came out of nowhere. Her sword plunged into the creature's eye with a sickening crunch, extinguishing the light, as it struck the end of the eye socket. The shaking head flung Saraiya across the ravine, her dark hair flying out behind her, her green cape doing precious little to soften the fall. She struck a tree and slid down as the dragon yowled above her in agony. 

Atli had never heard a dragon scream before. He moved forward, sword up. An eye would be a death blow to any other creature. But a black dragon would simply heal the wound and live with one eye. Some had been known to get replacements from their Fay masters. 

Disoriented the dragon charged at Atli. 

In the darkness it was easy to make out the dragon's head, the glowing red eye all but gave it away. It should have been easier but the moon remained hidden behind gathering clouds. The air carried a hint of mist promising rain.

The dragon darted in claws extended as it sought to keep him in its field of now limited vision. Atli felt the woosh in the space between them. The sting on his arm told him the dragon was more successful than he liked. 

"Shit." He leaped nimbly away. The claw had torn his leather shoulder guard, his shirt, and his skin. The spilled blood filled his nostrils. Enticing, even though it was his own, he could sense the heartbeat of every creature around him for yards. 

Time slowed. 

Saraiya sat up, the movement catching his interest but he dismissed her. His senses honed in on the injured creature in front of him. The one whose blood had been spilled and had spilled his own in return. 

"Your eyes," Saraiya whispered. "They're glowing, Atli."

The dragon inhaled long and hard, a glow forming in its massive jaws. "The elixir won't take long you know. Once it really sets in, no one will be safe around you. It's the price you pay for strength. You are Arkesh's now, you just don't know it."

"I am a descendant of the first," Atli snarled, feeling the rage rise up in him that always accompanied those painful memories. "We are more than what Arkesh tried to make us."

But the dragon only opened its jaws. Flame poured from its open maw. Atli was roughly shoved aside behind a large boulder. Flames surrounded the large stone. Disoriented he grabbed his assailant forcing them flat against the rock. His teeth were fully extended and he was ready to sink his jaws into something.  

"Atli." 

He was face-to-neck with Saraiya. He could hear her heart pounding in her chest, her eyes were wide as she stared up at him, equal defiance and equal surrender. Even in his elevated state that alone tugged at him. Saraiya would never just surrender. 

"Idiot," she snapped breaking their trance. "We're not here to chat with it."

He said nothing. There was still a wall of flame surrounding them. He closed his eyes, releasing her, and reached for his center as he'd been taught. The calm in the storm of a warrior. The fire receded around them and his fangs drew back. He could feel the blood pull falling away as he inhaled the ashy air around them. 

Atli drew his sword. "Under the jaw," he said, keeping his gaze forward. "That's the weakest point. Not the belly, not the sides. They're armored everywhere but there."

"Right," Saraiya said from his left. 

The flames ceased and they both stepped out from behind the rock, which was now badly charred. Flames danced on its surface. The air stank of charcoal and singed foliage. The forest was on fire around them. 

The dragon beat its long leathery wings fanning the flames. The creature was a poor imitation of its more noble brethren. Bearing the mark of being twisted by Arkesh, the dragon would never obtain the size of its forbears.

"Ten-second blast," Atli yelled as he charged forward. "He's out of flames!"

"What?!" Saraiya was right behind him following his lead as he knew she would. 

The black dragon open its jaws and darted forward again. But with its newly missing eye, it was woefully off the mark. Jaws only clamped on air. Atli's fangs slid down again as he tumbled forward into a roll under the dragon's head. His sword pressed upward until it caught the soft flesh of the neck between the jaws and the throat. Dark thick blood spurted onto his face, showering him.  

Saraiya had followed him and her second blade plunged up under the jaw lodging into it even as the creature dragged them back. 

"Let go!" Atli shouted as he released his grip. He tumbled sideways as the large reptile shuddered and flipped in its death throws. Branches cracked and tumbled, smoke filled the air. He could hear Saraiya cough and went to her with an extended hand. 

She flinched when he touched her but accepted. 

The dragon was right. 

The hunger was unbearable. But the only one who could still that hunger was right here. And she'd just called him an idiot.