I Dare Say that the Color of Stars are Blue[Star Piece Quest]

[Demetri Malius]

This was perhaps the worst situation Demetri had found himself in thus far in his time in the omniverse. Of course, there was the Battle of Nippur, as well as the Battle for Death Mountain, but here he had no others besides he and Iris. The drake had made its way around, heading towards the gryphon riders that trailed behind the thief. In the meantime, the rather odd farting dragon was almost already on their heels.

“Do you suppose that we can control this creature?” Demetri asked as he pulled on the reigns of the gryphon, attempting to steer the flying mount like a horse. With a few bucks and screeches, it finally listened, rather having a stranger guide it than struggle long enough for one of the flying lizards to attempt to fry it.

It seems to be responding well to you, at least for now. We should focus on that smaller dragon, it seems to be much quicker with its... flatulent maneuvers.

With a nod, Demetri angled the gryphon into a nosedive, looking into the distance to the marble that had by now reached the ground. If he planned to make it to the ground without becoming a splatter, this gryphon was his only hope.

Creator, I believe we may have overestimated our lead.

The thief rotated his head to look behind him, seeing the other riders quickly catching up with the two dragons behind them. It appeared that the one he was riding was more keen on joining its allies than escaping completely. Demetri fumbled with his pockets, attempting to find a ranged weapon to defend himself with.

Creator! The crossbow from the man in the forest!

Of course, how could he have forgotten? The thief reached into the void of his satchel before pulling out the stolen weapon, a bit of relief spread across his face. Another screech from the mounts behind him warned him of their approach, wiping away the relief, replacing it with anxiety and anticipation.

"Iris, since we are relying on this mount, perhaps we should focus on combat."

Understood, changing your systems to combat mode.

Demetri took aim with the crossbow as his suit thickened, showing a hint of purple for a moment as it shifted from blue to red. The two riders appeared to have their own crossbows aimed at him, firing before the thief could get a chance to defend himself. The first bolt flew past, causing the gryphon to screech, the sound only escalating as the second embedded itself in its rear. Demetri fumbled for a moment before the crossbow was knocked out of his hand by the wing of his mount.

A split decision to shoot out a chain allowed the thief to snatch the handle of the weapon, attempting to recover his single shot. However, his aim was a little too true, the chain having wrapped around the trigger.

The shot flew through the air, completely missing both targets and falling to the ground below.

“Curse the gods that spit on my luck.” Demetri groaned with annoyance, his anger leading him to swing the useless weapon around, aiming it behind him. The surprised riders had assumed him now defenseless, and had not enough time to react to the wooden incidental projectile. It smacked against the head of on of the riders, causing him to pull his reins, slamming his gryphon against his partner. The two struggled and quickly fell behind as they tried to untangle themselves from each other.

“I suppose that worked just as well.” Demetri gave a smirk as he looked up, before soon realizing something.

“Where are the dragons?”

As if on cue, the large drake came from the side, attempting to slam into them, Demetri tugged on the reins with all his might, barely managing to pull the choked up gryphon up in time to narrowly miss the attack. That is, until a steam of fire flew past them and around, covering the thief and his companions in dark soot and forcing them to cough from the smoke and smell.

“I am honestly not sure what I had expected. That odor would be enough to knock out a giant.” The thief spoke through his hand and mask, trying to keep his head in order. Already the dragon had managed to stop and seemed to growl at the escaping criminals. Demetri’s senses kicked in, causing him to duck as the dragon attempted to ram him while they stood still in the air.

With the distraction of the smaller fiend, the other drake had already circled around and slowed as it arrived at the pair of flying creatures. The head of the drake snapped forward, nearly chomping down on the swamp dragon’s tail, before then turning its attention towards Demetri. The gryphon beneath him squalled and flailed, threatening to kick him off and escape on its own. The thief stroked the creatures neck before having it dash forward, something the animal was all too willing to do.

“I have an idea, but we need to time this right.”

The thief looked down, seeing how close they we're to the ground now. There was no way they would escape without first losing the two dragons, as l they would most likely attract even more attention. Behind them, the two sped forwards, hot on their trail while giving each other glances to make sure the other didn't switch targets.

“Wish us luck Iris.”

Creator are you sure that-

With a quick motion, Demetri took the gryphon into a nosedive, leading the dragons down, glancing behind him to make sure they were in position. The thief then let go of the reins of the creature, allowing himself to fallback before giving himself a push off the beast’s back, launching him towards the two dragons. A chain shot out, latching onto each of the scaled flyers, Demetri only having moments if he didn’t want his arms completely torn from their sockets.

A swift twirl crossed over the chains and knotted them together, while the thief used his nimble fingers to unlatch his bracers. The large drake roared as the smaller dragon was slammed into him from the change of direction, the fumes and fire scorching some of its side. Below, Demetri went into a freefall, angling himself back to the gryphon.

“And now we just-”

As he reach out to grab the reins, the gryphon pulled up, deciding it didn't need its strange rider anymore.

Creator?

“Iris, prepare your pulse.” A stern, serious tone was suddenly apparent in the thief’s voice.

Charging. Creator, what are we gonna do? You have fifteen seconds till impact!

“Iris just charge the pulse!”

Demetri focused, summoning his buckler, hoping it would do something to soften the impact. A series of loud beeps and panicked warnings sounded internally in the suit, its red glow pulsating with what seemed like terror. The ground rushed towards the two, a thicket of tree below them that spread out for at least a few miles. A odd calmness came over Demetri, as if he had accepted whatever was to happen within the next few seconds.

Pulse charged.

“Brace yourself Iris.”

Creator?

1209 words, adding up to 15,918 words

Demetri used the last item in his satchel, it is now empty