If anyone was having a relaxing day despite the city-wide lockdown, that was quickly changed by the eruption of a dragon from the streets of the city.  The creature had been growing in the depths beneath the city.  The creature was immense serpentine with horns the length of legs and a mouth that could crunch down on cars.  Its scales were made of slate stone hiding the composition of its body underneath its stony exterior, but sections of red enflamed flesh could be seen.  Anyone with the misfortune of being in the vicinity of its emergence point ran in the desperate and vain attempt to escape faster than it could give chase.

Fortunately for them the monster was more interested in a fluttering piece of coveralls in the sky.

“Shit shit shit” Kate shouted stripping off her restrictive hazard mask and forming her sword as fast as she could while fluttering her wings to find stability.

“Ah the little interloper” The dragon’s face split into a grin as it lunged at her. “You should have stayed gone.  Now I just have to kill you for real this time.”

Kate flapped hard dropping altitude and bouncing off its chin.  The impact sent her spiraling, but at least she wasn’t a snack, at least yet.  Her sword switched into a whip and latched onto the dragon itself to correct her fall and swing her around to its other side before it could lunge again.

“Quick little bugger. I’m going to make chicken with your wings”

“What the CRAP!” Kate shouted finally finding her wings and getting into a more stable flight, “What the heck ARE you?  You can’t be from hell, too physical.”
“Oh no. I’m real.”  The dragon grinned tracking her with its eyes as she flew around him, “You don’t recognize me, do you? I’m hurt”

“Should I?” Kate had to dodge by flapping to the side and barrel rolling to avoid a green viscus spit from the thing’s mouth. She was very certain she had never fought a giant stone covered talking serpent before,  that was the kind of thing that one remembers.

“My poison almost took you out last time.  You’d have burned if my former toy hadn’t saved you.”

Kate blinked, “Toy?  Wait, are you the amalgam freak that had kidnapped Mary?”

“So that’s the otter’s name.  Can’t say I care.” Asmodeus Spat more venom at Kate in between snapping at her. “Think she remembers me more?  Maybe I’ll reintroduce myself once I’m done with you.”

“Not likely!” Kate lunged and smashed her sword against Asmodeus’s hide, cracking some stone, but not sinking in, “Ahh cra…”

Asmodeus swung his head around and caught her with his cheek batting her away, “Your sword can rend flesh fine, but I’m more than just that now.”

Kate gasped for air, that blow had knocked the wind out of her.  This one would not be an easy fight.  She lunged again an again.  Each blow was cracking the brittle shale stone scales, but she was barely even nicking the flesh under it.  To make matters worse the dragon seem dot be able to shift its flesh and move the scales around making it harder to focus on one place to break the armor apart.

Again and again, she dodged and rushed in slashing and bashing at the creature.  She had the advantage as Asmodeus was more serpent than winged dragon and couldn’t fly, but his scale made that fact matter little.  In fact, his scale made him hard to attack as staying out of range meant that getting in close took time, and she was going to get tired before long.

She flapped and dodged the teeth and poison again and hooked her blade into the edge of Asmodeus’s mouth the blade finally too, cutting into and lodging in the dragon’s flesh.  The dragon jerked its head, almost dislodging Kate from its back, probably would have if she hadn’t had her sword coil around her wrist to maintain a grip on her.  Landing on its back she was able to split her sword in two.  One stayed lodged to help hold her in place the other she lined up with a split in the slate scales and started to push in.

The blade slide into the flesh and the dragon roared.  She didn’t know how much damage she was doing, but at least she had finally managed to do something to it.  She smiled to herself and started to twist the blade around inside the beast.

“BITCH!” Asmodeus roared to the heavens, “I’ll turn you into a rug. I’ll peel your flesh and use your head as a soccerball”

“And maybe you’ll make a good windsock” Kate countered twisting harder and eliciting another roar.  She didn’t know how much damage she was really doing, but at the very least she knew she was hurting him.

“Lets just make you into a rug right now” Asmodeus roared, and Kate felt the world begin to turn over as he started to move quickly.

Her moment of gain riding the back of the dragon’s neck became a bit of an issue as Asmodeus flopped backwards his large body rushing towards the street rapidly in an attempt to smash Kate between him and the rubble.  She cursed and left from him narrowly avoiding being smashed into a pancake, but not avoiding eating a good pit of asphalt as she landed hard.  She staggered to her feet as fast as she could only to almost be knocked back on her butt as a large load of green liquid slammed into her stomach.

“Enjoy that” Asmodeus hissed, his body and the concrete groaning as he lifted his bulk out of the crater he had just made in the pavement.

Kate looked down wide eyed at the poison paste that had hit her, then she breathed a momentary sigh of relief. ‘Guess Nyx had a point about the coveralls’ Kate thought to herself.  The suit that Nyx had made her wear before doing into the sewers had caught the poison blast, saving her body from the hit, but was also rapidly deteriorating; it seemed the venom was too caustic for it to handle for long. “Thanks Nyx.” Kate muttered to herself, “Now please be alive”

Stripping her protective suit off, Kate spread her wings and took back to the sky.  She’d have to be even more careful now, another hit like that, and she wouldn’t be fighting much longer.