Toyotama lunged at Agrond with deadly aim as she sailed through the air towards him. Agrond's mind raced with every possible outcome and choice in that brief instant but could only find one reasonable solution for his current predicament. Just as Toyoytama was about to bear down on him, Agrond threw out his left arm in the hopes that he could strike her with enough force as to knock her unconscious. At worst, he would lose his left arm and still be able to fight. Agrond's own aim was true, but just before his massive forearm could connect with its intended target, Toyotama's mouth opened wider ever-so-slightly to accommodate. Agrond had not considered that Toyotama would have such masterful command over her muscles. In that moment, it was clear that she could alter her bite to accommodate for any changes that may occur in her attack. Even so, Agrond knew that he would have to prepare himself for the worst.
Once Agrond's arm was well between Toyotama's jaws, her teeth came together in the blink of an eye. The pain was excruciating, but Agrond had known worse. He was reminded of when he was brought to his knees as his flesh boiled and peeled away from his body from being in the mere presence of the beast that Animal had become during his fight with Ghast. To him, there could never be a pain in all existence as torturous as that. Feeling this in his heart, he used all his might to continue through with his attack, forcing his fist and arm forward while Toyotama and her teeth tore his flesh in the opposite direction.
Toyotama's teeth peeled the flesh and muscle from Agrond's arm down to the bone, but despite the ndamage she had inflicted, she was forced to release her prey when Agrond's fist had threatened to bury itself deep into her throat. She must have known that she would not be able to bite clean through Agrond's bones. She could have easily swallowed his arm up to the shoulder, but then she would have been at Aground's mercy. No, her intention was to main, gain strength from consuming his flesh, and continue her assault while trying not to give into her own blood lust.
Toyotama hit the water behind and away to Agrond's right side and disappeared beneath the surface, a cloud of crimson blood trailing off her. Agrond breathed heavily, his strength beginning to fail him. Again, the wound would not close and he was left baffled as to why he was unable to use his essence to heal his wounds. He looked around once more to try an find whatever clues he could to solve the mystery. Then, it came to him, and he cursed himself for not seeing the truth sooner. Agrond had been looking for something to explain why his body failed to heal itself, but truthfully, the answer was that there was nothing around him at all. Water is a valuable resource to primerans. In fact, it is all they need to survive along with breathable air. But this lake, this vast and boundless supply of water had apparently been untouched. There was no sign of a village, not even an outpost. Bodies of water this vast would never be left alone unless there was something wrong with it. He quickly thrust his arm into the water and felt the same sharp pain that raced through his ankle. He them pulled the water to his mouth and tasted it, again, there was a slight pain that burned his mouth and tongue
Salt, it was salt water, but not nearly potent enough to sear his own skin, but definitely enough to keep his wounds intact and prevent him healing. Agrond concluded that the lake must feed into the sea at some point and the water became brackish. This seemed almost too clever of a ruse for even Toyotama, a plan like this was far more worthy of Genkaku's trickery. Now that the mystery had been solved, Agrond was left with exactly how he was going to defeat his opponent. But before he could produce a thought, Toyotama began her assault once more from behind. She launched herself from the depths once more, mouth opened wide enough to consume a primeran whole, and teeth dripping with poison water. She latched onto Agrond's shoulder and tore another chunk of flesh from him. Agrond's speed was failing him now too as he was not quick enough to turn and face her. He barely conjured enough strength to grab his foe and throw her off of him. She hit the water with a crash and disappeared once more. It was obvious at this point that she was getting stronger and faster. But how long before she would lose herself to the savagery that would infect her from eating his flesh? Surely she was not so careless as to risk becoming a chimera just to defeat Agrond. Then again, her loyalty to Genkaku was absolute. There really was no telling how far she would ultimately go to serve him.
Agrond knew how this battle would end if things did not change, and that was not an option. He had known for a long time that this day would come, though he had hoped he would have had more control over when it would happen. Agrond had been of age long enough to employ one of the dragons' most coveted secrets, but had chosen to refrain from using it until he had reclaimed all the essence linked to his father. When he was finally made whole after Ghast's defeat, he found that his father's memories had given him more insight into the dragon his father was, and the dragon he too vowed to become. He knew that his rise to power would not be a race, but one of hardship and experience. Agrond did not want to make something easier just because he could. No. He wants to attack the strength of his opponents, not their weaknesses. He wishes to face this world head on without regrets. And so, Agrond decided to shed away the primeran he was to begin the transformation into the dragon he was born to be.
Agrond spread his wings outwards as if about the fly, but instead of rising into the air, something else was about to occur. His wings began to glow a bright orange and burn the very air around them. The waters beneath him even began to steam and slowly begin to boil. Agrond's essence was changing, shifting, and enveloping him. Every cell in his body began to act as if it were on fire. Toyotama knew that something was amiss and tried to approach Agrond beneath the waves, but, she soon realized that her tactics would no longer avail her. The waters began to evaporate around Agrond as the amount of heat his body was producing turned the waters around him into a boiling cauldron. There would be no way she could approach him until this strange event was finished.
Eventually, Agrond's own wings erupted from the amount of heat that his body generated, leaving behind a cascading trail of light that burned in orange and red hues. As his body slowly began to cool, one would have noted several changes that occurred to Agrond's body. Aside from his wings being completely gone, his entire body was covered in thick dark crimson plates of bone-like armor and his hair's color had shifted into a brilliant white. Agrond had entered into his pupal stage. A stage in a dragon's life cycle in which they leave behind the creatures they once were and begin to slowly change into an adult dragon. The lose of a dragon's wings is symbolic. It reflects a dragon leaving behind their freedom to embrace the responsibilities of adulthood. The armor that now protects him hides the changes that will take place over the coming years within his body. When the time comes, he will shed this armor, and become the primeran that he was born to be. But for now, slow he may be, his strength and durability make him even more dangerous than ever before.
This pupal stage of dragons is rarely seen, let alone discussed. This must be a certainty, for if she was aware of what this new from was, Toyotama would not have made her next move. When the change was complete and the water had returned to a reasonable temperature, Toyotama wasted no time in continuing her assault. This time, she lunged for the same arm that she nearly crippled before. Her mouth open wide and her speed like lightning, she raced towards Agrond across the water and latched down onto his wounded arm with all the strength her jaw could muster. For a moment she must have reveled in her success, but then she must have concluded that her opponent made no attempt to evade her or shield himself. Then the pain set it. For all the power she had to close her jaws, Toyotama had no real strength to open them. This was made clearly evident by the fact that she could not pull her teeth from the living armor that now enveloped Agrond's body, his previous wounds now protected and encased in scales harder than steel.
She began to panic and thrash about to desperately free herself but to no avail. She then felt herself being pulled upwards out of the water as Agrond slowly raised his arm above his head, Toyotama dangling from it like a fish on a hook. She became a raging beast attempting to free herself as her claws and tail battered against Agrond's new frame with no effect. Agrond's free hand moved in slowly towards Toyotama's face, and it was clear in her eyes that she was afraid. With his free hand he peeled her jaws from his arm and held her up by the mouth as fisherman would with a prize catch. As she continued to struggle against his insurmountable strength, Agrond then used both hands to slowly peel Toyotama's jaws apart, the pain and agony filling her eyes and only guttural noises escaping her throat. Soul light began to stream away from Agrond's body as a brilliant white light began to build in the back of his throat.
“If you survive this, tell your master that this is not my power... It is the strength of all dragons. THE WILL OF ALL!”
And with that, Agrond spewed forth a torrent of white flames that enveloped Toyoatama both inside and out. The heat was so intense, that it instantly evaporated the waters surrounding them, leaving the two lost in a dense fog from which only one would emerge from the haze upon the shore, ready to finally begin his long journey and fulfill his destiny.
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