The huge beast dived again and again, Lark narrowly missing the scorching flame each time. The dragon roared in fury and the glowing embers spewed forth.
"This is getting ridiculous!" shouted Lark. "I have to knock it out of the air!"
The dragon turned again, ready to dive. Lark eyed the creature warily, but stood his ground. He waited as the dragon swooped down at him. The dragon opened its mouth, the flames glowing in its throat. The fire roared from its jaw, forcing Lark to dive away from the arc of flame.
"Damn! It won't come close enough for me to attack. I'll have to use my materia."
The dragon circled above him, watching his every movement. It roared again, scorching the air with its fire like some sort of ritual ceremony. Lark watched the dragon fly, focusing his mind on it. The materia in his armlet flared to life, glowing bright green as he summoned their power. The dragon soared closer, intrigued by the glowing spheres.
"Ice!" Lark shouted.
The air turned cold around him, shards of ice crystallizing in the air. Then the shards shot toward the dragon, ripping through its armored scales. The dragon roared in agony as the frozen spears ripped through its side and underbelly. Drops of the dragon's black blood fell to the earth, forcing Lark to dive away from the acidic ichor. The dragon roared again, sending up another explosion of flames. Lark called upon his materia again.
"Bolt" he yelled as the orb flashed green.
Clouds, darker than the night itself, covered the moon. The sky overhead rumbled with fury as a lightning bolt shot out of the clouds. The bolt hit the dragon, sending convulsions through its body.
The dragon turned its head toward Lark. The piercing gaze of its emerald green eyes showed murderous hate. It roared in challenge, the sound alone enough to knock Lark back. It opened its mouth again, spewing forth the dark fire. Lark dove away, the force of the flame exploding into the earth carried him through the air.
Lark crashed hard against the ground. A large crater was all that was left of where he stood. He picked himself up, wincing as pain shot up his left arm. The left sleeve of his jacket was torn and a large gash ran down his arm from when he landed on the rocky ground. Warm, sticky blood ran freely down his arm from the open wound. Slowly, he called forth the magic from his Cure materia. The sphere glowed dimly, but he was not healed.
"Damn! I need to recharge my magic."
The dragon continued to circle above him, undaunted by Lark's magical assault. It sensed the battle was almost won. It roared triumphantly and dove down for the kill.
"Come and get me you bastard!" Lark yelled with all his remaining strength.
The fear, anger and pain inside him boiled together into hate. Mentally, he channeled that hate toward the dragon, trying to call out some stronger force to destroy the beast. Suddenly, his arms started to glow bright blue. The glow brightened as blue fire shot down the length of his arms. He raised his arms toward the diving dragon, willing the flames to consume it.
"Druid Flame!" he yelled as the fire blasted toward the dragon.
The inferno of blue fire exploded into the dragon and engulfed it. The beast roared in agony as the flames charred its scales. The fire consumed the air around it. It grew stronger as it burned, as if it was feeding on the dragon's pain. The dragon roared again as the fire covered its entire body. It thrashed through the air, trying to quench the sapphire flames. The fire burned through the soft skin of the dragon's wings and the beast plummeted to the ground. The ground shook from the beast's impact and a storm of dust flew into the air. The dirt and stones whirled through the air, but the flames continued to burn as if they were eternal.
Abruptly, the fire flared up and died away. The dragon convulsed on the ground, its body shaking violently.
"That's got to hurt.," said Lark as he stepped toward the dying beast.
Lark lifted his sword above his head and prepared to strike down. He chopped at the dragon's neck, but stopped in mid-swing. The dragon started to glow and its form became distorted. Its size diminished as its form became human-like. Lark fell backwards as he saw what the dragon had become. The dragon had changed into a human woman.