[DM'S NOTE ON THE COMBAT]
So the heroes prepared themselves for the final confrontation with the Dragon. Working together, they assembled a list of the protective spells they wanted to be equipped with, then summoned the best wizards the Elves had available to work them, so as to leave Kobort's powers undiminished.
Surya found himself talking to Gláwyn, the same elfmage who'd advised Kobort on the Staff of Defence. He requested of him as many scrolls of the spell Bigby's Interposing Hand as could be made up. Sniffily, Gláwyn indicated that his time was far too important, what with the magical requirements of the rest of the army. Surya exploded with fury, snarling at the Elf that the requirement to keep his King alive superseded any other considerations, and that if the scrolls were not immediately forthcoming, he, Surya, would kill Gláwyn on the spot.
For a long moment, the two glared at each other, neither willing to back down. Finally, huffily, the elf grumped something face-saving, and went off to start work; but he made it clear that he would want to take the matter up with Surya after the crisis was over.
Dawn the next day found the strike force, empowered with magical flight and cloaked in Invisibility, swooping up the Versate pass towards the Dragon's capital city. Aside from Hildraft, Kobort and Surya, the group comprised King Doronond, Vollun Crusher, Eladriel Elvarambor, Thraldor Legárion, and the phase spider Nefkhet-Nephhor (who was keeping pace on the Etheral Plane).
Arriving at the palace, they split into three groups. Surya, Thraldor and the phase spider approached at ground level from the north-east; Hildraft, Eladriel and Vollun from the south-east. These two groups were to form the distraction, allowing Kobort and Doronond to drop from above - through the chimneys - onto the Dragon's back so as to be able to attack him directly.
Entering the cavernous hall, the six at ground level came truly face to face with Varkar Barduric for the first time. The terror and majesty of the titanic monster was unspeakable; for poor Vollun and the spider Nefkhet-Nephhor, it was too much to take. The dwarf froze, his joints locked in fear, and the spider fled.
Thraldor paused, disconcerted by his familiar's abandonment, and for a moment, Surya's heart quailed, and he stopped advancing. For a moment it looked as if all was lost, and then the paladin Eladriel raised his spear and shouted a potent Word of power. In a flash, the fear rolled away, and the companions were themselves again. It very nearly cost him his life.
Then the Dragon moved. Turning his massive head, he looked down at where Hildraft's small party were gliding slowly above the heaps of treasure. "Welcome back," he thundered sardonically, "come in so we can get better acquainted." Hildraft didn't answer. This obviously nettled the Dragon, because the next thing they heard was a deep, hurricane rushing sound - the indraught of breath that precedes a dragon's blast. "Scatter!" yelled Eladriel - and the three shot off at different angles.
In a breathtaking rush of heat and light that lit up the whole hall, Varkar breathed out. A massive wash of fire billowed out, enveloping Hildraft and Eladriel. Defended by the Bigby's Hand spell, Hildraft was only slightly singed, but Eladriel was badly burned, and had to call on his powers again to heal himself.
Above, Kobort and the High King of the Elves dropped silently from the ceiling onto the monster's back, apparently un-noticed. As they fell, the sorcerer snapped off a Magic Missile spell, but watched in amazement as it fizzled into nothing. Magic resistance!
Recovering from the Dragonfear, Surya was overcome with fury. Charging forwards, he hurled himself against the Dragon's left foreleg, hewing with the Sword of the Dead Legions. The blows went deep, slashing into the massively armoured hide of the dragon and drawing blood. For the first time in a thousand years, the Dark Beast had been wounded. His fury was spectacular.
His wings thrashed, and his tail slammed back and forth behind him, smashing out great stretches of the wall of the palace and bringing down a huge section of the roof. One giant forelimb lashed out, aimed directly at Surya. With a desperate twist, he slipped between two of the tree-sized claws, and was then nearly knocked out of the air by the simple wind pressure of the limb's passage.
Behind him, Thraldor launched his most potent spell, a Cone of Cold, and shook his head in despair as it petered out to nothing. Unable to think of anything he could do, he hung back, waiting for a moment to act.
Atop the Dragon's back, Kobort and Doronond started to hack at the creature. Kobort's strikes with the Dyvka made almost no perceptible marks; but the King of the Elves, moving up the Dragon's neck, slashed and hacked with Mergil. The Seventh Sword of the Noldor was a blazing volcano of power, and the King's blows were tearing great chunks out of their foe; blood showered down onto the bright gold below.
Leaning back towards Surya, the Dragon put his weight on his slashed left foreleg - and it gave beneath him. Slumping sideways, his head and neck came low, and the dwarf Hildraft had a sudden clear view of one of the terrible wounds the Elvenking's sword had made in the Dragon's neck.
Straight and true he struck, the great glass axe of the dwarves striking into the wound itself, beyond the armoured hide that had protected the Dragon so well, and smashed through between two of his house-sized vertebrae and into his spinal cord.
With a terrible scream that nearly shattered the companions' eardrums, the Dragon fell. Atop his own indescribable treasure hoard he fell, sending golden coins scything across the hall like shrapnel. For a moment he twitched, in itself making more noise than could be talked over, and then was still.
The companions settled slowly to the floor, their invisibility spells fading, staring at each other in disbelief, unable for a moment to accept the fact that they had not only triumphed, but that none of them had died in the process.
Then Kobort cursed. If the Anakha was here, it was now probably buried under about a thousand tons of dragon meat...