him with its vines, forcing him to have to back away before running forward again. This was getting us nowhere.
I turned my attention back to the beast, and noticed that four of its tentacles were hovering around its mask-like face: two frantically trying to remove the sticky sop, two crossed defensively in front of it.
“Oy! Dragon!” I yelled, but he did not respond. I repeated myself, and he made for the monster again, hacking off a few of its vines before being forced to retreat. I ground my teeth. He was ignoring me again, and doing useless things like slicing things that kept regenerating. Swallowing my pride, I filled my lungs with air.
“Levent Itzallion!” I screamed. Finally, he turned, seeming slightly bewildered at the interruption. I ignored the unwelcome blood that rushed to my face. I would have to speak quickly and correctly. “Aim for its face! That must be its weakest point! See how it’s protecting it?”
As if it understanding me, the creature half growled, half screamed, and tried to wrap Levent in its grip again. It had removed most of the sop from the mask, but the vines around it seemed to have become stuck together because of the goo. The kin dodged, this time jumping limberly onto the thick vines, using them as a path to its face. His aim was flawless now that he had a specific target, and he embedded his sword deep between the mask’s unseeing eyes.
A final terrible cry tore from the creature’s throat and it collapsed, sending leaves and dust flying toward me. Levent jumped gracefully from the body, putting his blade back into its sheath in midair before he went to retrieve the one left in the creature's side.
I ran up to the huge creature. It appeared to be dead. Before I could reach it, though, the body dissipated into small smoky, flits of light that disappeared into the dark sky. I stared, dumb. It was made of wisps?
A sparkle from the ground caught my eye. Something small and metallic lay on the ground where the creature's mask had fallen. Knowing that I had not noticed it there before, I pointed it out to the dragon-kin. Silently, he bent down and picked it up. A small golden chain dangled from his hand as he inspected it. He examined it in silence for a moment before he seemed to come to a conclusion.
“Here,” he grunted, swinging the pendant in front of me. It was almost pear-shaped: two round containers of sparkling emerald liquid between gorgeous