Never again.
Orien Vathros made that vow right then and there. He wouldn't skip training again unless there was a very good reason.
Because as he clung to what little reserves he had left, it became painfully clear that he wouldn't have survived even the first attack if he had never left the Nest.
It definitely wasn't him venturing out of his own volition, but had he not been thrust into a different place with different companions, he would've never been able to hold out like this.
"Arghhh!"
His boots screeched against the pavement as he poured everything into his defense. In that random robe and much taller polymorphed form, Orien forced himself to mirror his uncle's stance as best as he could.
But beneath the flimsy safety of that hood, his jaw was actually clenched tight, his muscles trembling as he tried to repel the full force of the fifth dragon's breath aimed straight at the MBE.
His foot slid back an inch.
Then another.
