Like lightning on steroids, she was up, using everything she had to propel herself into the air. Both councillors were caught off guard, absolutely no idea what to do, Aviva heading towards them at speed. Yellow tried to double back in an arc, confused as to how their adversary had gone from her deathbed to airborne in an instant. His partner opened his jaws in a full on challenge, angry at the turnaround of events. Concealing the dagger in her hand, Aviva appeared to ignore Yellow and go straight for the challenger. Dropping his guard, Yellow waited to pounce on Aviva after she had shot by him. It was the last mistake he ever made. Making the sharpest high speed turn possible without ripping both her wings off, she was all over Yellow in an instant, already having located his weak spot, she thrust the dagger into the underside of his belly with as much force as she could. Much as she didn't want to kill another dragon, there was simply no way out of this now. It was kill or be killed. None of this had been part of the plan, for which she was very sorry. But given what they'd both done, not just to her, but the villagers as well, she had no doubt they deserved to die.
Red, the other councillor, was aghast at what had happened, and although on his way to his comrade, he was far too slow to make a difference... the laminium dagger slaughtered Yellow instantly. Aviva's strike was well placed.
What happened next though, even Aviva couldn't have predicted, despite having read the account of the dragon with the trident. Shimmering, Aviva's laminium dagger turned the brightest shade of blue, lighting up the sky all around, as far as the pyramid, more than four miles away. Hovering in place, she was totally blinded by the searing bright light, and she wasn't the only one, so was the other councillor, out to exact revenge for the friend he'd just seen murdered. Unfortunately for him, he'd tumbled around a few times and was now heading in totally the opposite direction, all the time howling in pain.
Overrun with magical energy, Aviva's dagger started to get hot. Not just a little hot, oh no. Hot like the sun. Holding on anyway, she knew that if she was going to boost her powers somehow, then the dagger was key. Smoke fluttered up from her scorched palms. Still she held on, despite fearing she might pass out. Abruptly the heat and the pain passed, replaced by an all encompassing serenity. Bright light all around her appeared to get sucked into the dagger, and then from the dagger into Aviva herself. Everything became completely crisp and clear for a split second. In that time anything was possible, her power unimaginable. She even got the tiniest glimpse into the future, or futures, depending on how you looked at it.
With the light having dissipated, turned into energy and transferred into Aviva, darkness once again cloaked the surrounding area. Soaring up high, she could just make out Ptolemy, terrified, fleeing with his men, back towards the pyramid. On the far side of the village, Red screeched the most unholy noise as he circled low over the ground, mourning the death of his friend, blinded and not knowing where he was. Deep inside she knew she had to finish him off and quickly. Despite her training, murdering another dragon was not high on her 'to do' list, particularly a blind one. However, she'd gotten some idea of just how dangerous he could be, and knew it was best for everyone if he died here and now, especially as she had no idea how long her new found infusion of power would last, or keep the toxin within her at bay. Thoughts of the entire village being killed by the poison that seeped through her spurred her into action as she flew across the village, determined to make it quick and as relatively painless as possible.
Hovering just above the buildings next to the river, the remaining councillor spurted flame in a wide arc, hollering and howling like a deranged werewolf. Aviva approached from high above, already having noted that his weak spot was about half way up his back, just off centre. With nothing else for it but to get on with the task at hand, she nose-dived towards the stricken councillor, who seemed to be going more berserk by the second. Aviva tackled him from behind, much like an experienced rugby player would. Struggling madly, he tried to turn around and get his jaws locked on her. Tangled up, they both scrambled towards the river, as Aviva plunged the dagger into his weak spot. Instantly, mad howling and screaming died out, as the dagger glowed ever so slightly with a bluish tint, but nothing like the last time. As she struggled to take his weight, the councillor's prehistoric body hung limp in Aviva's arms. With nothing else for it but to dump the body in the river, she managed to take him a few extra metres, above the middle of the deep, fast flowing body of water, before finally letting him go. A gigantic SPLASH boomed across the village, as ripples of dark water washed out in concentric circles.
Utterly exhausted, the poison, despite her best efforts to prevent it, had done its job. She was close to death. Determined to right all the wrongs that had gone on in this place before she died, Aviva was desperate to find Ptolemy. Through the fog that clouded her mind, she recalled seeing him retreat back towards the pyramid. Putting what little effort she had left into heading in that direction, the cool night air washed over her pain racked body causing her to shiver like mad. Flapping one of her giant wings sent enough pain through her to contemplate simply curling up and dying. Her amazing willpower had never been tested in any of her adventures like it was being tested now.
Winging her way over the undergrowth that separated the village from the pyramid, she caught a glimpse of Ptolemy, not far from the stone structure's entrance. Flapping both wings in unison, nearly passing out from the pain, she put on one last burst of speed, determined to intercept the scheming human before he found sanctuary in the pyramid. People in the dense crowd surrounding the structure pointed, unable to believe what they were seeing. Panic soon set in, as they all fled in different directions at the sight of Aviva's scaly form descending towards them.
Coming in hard, she crashed to the ground right in front of the pyramid's main entrance, stopping Ptolemy and his men in their tracks. On his orders, the guards closed ranks around their master, forming a circle three deep. As Aviva took this all in, her vision started to blur quite badly, able to see three of everything, knowing that her time was nearly at an end. Leg muscles tightened as she tried frantically to move them and walk over to the group, but to no avail. Ptolemy barked out more orders; Aviva could no longer understand them. All her willpower was focused on destroying him and returning the region to some kind of stability, protecting everyone from this murdering, scheming, would-be king.
Suddenly a ring of archers stole out of the night, surrounding the stricken dragon. Letting out a little chuckle, she looked at them, not knowing just how many there actually were due to her failing vision. With inevitable death only moments away, she drew in the biggest breath possible, which was quite pathetic given what she would normally have been able to achieve, added as much magic as she had left, and let rip with the biggest stream of flame she could manage, in the direction of Ptolemy and his guards. Unfortunately for her, only a tiny smattering of flame appeared from between her ancient looking jaws, barely enough to warm the archer standing directly in front of her, let alone harm Ptolemy. Spent, she collapsed awkwardly to the ground, the cool golden sand spraying up around her.
Through half open eyes, she could just make out her nemesis walking towards her as the guards ahead of him parted. Fighting with all her might to lift her jaw off the ground to get a better look at him, she failed spectacularly, too far gone to move even one muscle, let alone her whole head. Ptolemy appeared only inches in front of her, barking out questions she could barely understand. Through badly disfigured vision, she could just make out his sickening smile. Wishing with her dying breath for one last surge of energy, so that she could bite his head off, the poison finally took hold. As she drifted into nothingness, her last thought was of the laminium dagger.