The claw bore down on Lyra with impressive force, so much so that the stone beneath her feet cracked and crumbled, but she held firm. She had decided to use this scenario as a test of her physical capabilities, now that her Strength and Agility stats were so incredibly high. As such, she had forgone using any protective spells at all, instead deciding to rely on her body entirely. When the Matriarch had swung at her, she had opted to try and block the swipe, rather than dodging. She caught the incoming claw with both hands, and actually managed to stop it, to everyone's surprise.
"T-that's... not possible! Weren't you a magic caster of some kind!?" the Matriarch said in disbelief, as the tiny elf had just stopped a blow from her claw, at full force no less! She had hoped to catch the elf off-guard, immediately getting physical, to stop her from casting that dangerous spell. Never in her wildest dreams could she have ever imagined that the small mortal would just outright block her attack!
-"Who told you that?" Lyra said calmly, before gripping one of the claws properly. Then, using all her strength, she pulled and twisted her body, pulling the large Dragon along as she flung the Matriarch overhead, slamming her down back first into the ground, the impacting sending another shockwave out across the caldera.
-"You're the arrogant one, making such silly and dangerous assumptions." Lyra added, dusting herself off while the Matriarch slowly rolled over and got back up, limping slightly.
"What ARE you? You cannot be an elf. A demi-god, perhaps?" the Matriarch said with a strained voice.
-"I am just Lyra. Nothing more, nothing less." Lyra responded simply, before rushing forward at breakneck speeds, instantly closing the distance to the dragon. In a split second, the High Elf was upon the Matriarch again, and the dragon was terrified. What kind of a being rushed into melee with a dragon?! In all her life, mortal beings had cowered and run away from her in fear. Now this one was charging straight at her? So this is what it felt like, the fear gripping her heart in her chest, immobilizing her.
When the first punch landed on her right front-leg, or arm if you will, the pain was insane. Her entire arm bent unnaturally under the force of the impact, and she was forced to shift her weight to the other arm. She tried to retaliate, lashing out with her jaw, to bite the elf, but the elf was just too nimble, and ducked to the side. Then for a second, the Matriarch's world went black as she felt a sudden and sharp pressure on her jaw, followed by massive ringing in her ears.
When she came too a few seconds later, she was back on the ground, her jaw dislocated, if not even shattered, for she could barely move it. She realized, when she had gone in to bite the elf in half, she in turn had been struck in the chin which had sent her reeling and even made her loose consciousness for a few seconds there. She quickly understood that she could not fight the elf like a dragon normally would, as she had to protect her head better, the scales just did not offer enough protection. That said, where was the elf? She could not see her anywhere.
To her horror, she then realized something just gripped her tail. She turned her head around, but it was too late. She was spun and then flung as if she was just a children's toy, sent flying across the caldera until she crashed into the caldera wall, the impact sending yet another shockwave echoing across the mountains, as the stonewall cracked. The Matriarch then fell down, tumbling back down onto the ground. She tried to unfurl her wings to stop her fall, but only partly managed, and still crashed down on the rocky caldera floor. She looked up, and saw the elf just standing there in the center. When she had blinked, the elf was suddenly gone. First she assumed it was a teleport, but she had sensed no magic. She realized that no, the elf was just so fast she had lost track of her in the blink of an eye.
As she was thinking this, Lyra was again upon her, kicking her in the side with such force that the Matriarch's body was blasted up against the wall and pinned there, shattering a few ribs in the process. She felt totally and utterly helpless, unable to even retaliate, that's how large the difference in strength was. When her body crashed down into the ground again, she spat out blood, wheezing in pain, the shattered rib-bones digging into her lungs. Even then, the elf did not relent, but leapt into the air, flipped, and then came down with a drop-kick against her neck, which promptly slammed her entire body, head first, back into the ground. The Dragon tried to lift her head off the ground, but she couldn't, as Lyra pressed down her foot against her neck. Her world was spinning, the pain pulsing with each throb of her heart.
All the other dragons witnessing this duel were silent. What could they possibly say, or do? All they could do was watch in shock and horror how the strongest amongst them, their Matriarch, was toyed with. She was not even able to retaliate, that's how badly she was outclassed, and by this small elf of all things! One thing had quickly become apparent to everyone, including the Matriarch. This cannot possibly be just another elf. The being before them could not even be considered a mortal. It was a Demi-God, if not even a god itself.
As the Matriarch wheezed, trying her best to breathe under Lyra's heel, she too realized this fact. Her brother had messed with something he shouldn't have, and she had sent an attack squad to mess with that same thing. However, a small part of her was not upset. If she was going to die... this would be it. Not to illness, or some other dragon or raiding party, but to a Demi-God. She'd go down as the Matriarch so powerful, it took a Demi-God to take her down.
She could barely keep her eyes open at this point, as she struggled to stay conscious, her injuries too grave, and the foot pressing down against her neck to powerful, squeezing her airways shut. She did not even have the strength to lift her tail, much less get the elf off her. Still, her gaze met Lyra's, and they looked at each other for nothing more than a second, yet that second was enough. The Matriarch knew her fate was sealed, and Lyra knew she had accepted her fate. There was no hatred or anger in either party's eyes, just acceptance. The Matriarch had been angry at first, but there was no shame in dying to such a strong and worthy opponent. She had been furious too, to learn her brother had been ripped apart and made into equipment, but now she had changed her mind. To be able to be of use to such a being as this, it was nothing short of an honor.
With her final breath, summoning the last ounce of her strength, she wheezed out: "I... acknowledge... your strength. My one... request... make my death... meaningful. Let me... join... with my brother. May my body... serve you well... in... death..."
The Matriarch meant it. This is the way of life, where the strong will trample the weak. This was the way of the Red Dragon Clan, strength above all, so it would be remiss of her to suddenly refuse to accept this one basic reality. Lyra in turn respected the grace with which the Matriarch accepted her death, which definitely took strength of character.
-"Very well, I shall honor your wishes." Lyra said, as she nodded towards the dying dragon. Then, she watched as the light faded from the eyes of of the Matriarch, and the body grew limp. She kept her foot against the dragon's throat for yet another ten seconds, before she withdrew. She exhaled softly. It had been a good fight, and a good learning opportunity. Even physically, she was superior to even the strongest of dragons now. Faster, stronger, better reaction times. She also had amazing control over her body, and could imitate moves she had seen on the TV in her past life to great effect without any real martial arts training. The Red Dragon Matriarch had been a great experiment for her.
She turned and looked up, gaze drifting against the many other dragons who had witnessed the fighting, if you could even call it fighting. Not a single one made any sound. No one dared. Then Lyra spoke, using magic to amplify her voice:
-"Would anyone else like to try their luck?"
Silence. Good.
-"Great. So long as no one here tries anything funny, I do not care what you Dragons do. Just do not mess with me, or my Spirit Sanctuary. If you do... I will return here, and you do not want that." Lyra added, looking around once more. There were a few nods, but no one spoke. They'd have to fight amongst themselves now, to settle who should be the next Clan Leader, but Lyra was frankly not interested. She had enough of politics from the Revean Empire and Kingdom Alliance conflict, so she did not even want to bother here. Instead, she sucked the body of the Matriarch into her Sub-space inventory and called it a day. Naturally, she had expended the inventory spell a lot, to the point it could now house thousands of tons at once. So a single dragon still left plenty of room.
Then, she floated up into the air again, and took off south, heading home. By the time she saw her house again, it was already evening and dinner time. To her surprise, there was smoke rising from her chimney. Nor could she see Reina anywhere outside, so she was rather on-guard as she landed, but her "Search" spell did not reveal any hostiles what so ever. Thus, with some trepidation, she opened the door to her house, and stepped inside.
Almost instantly, she was tackle-hugged by a red-haired human woman wearing only a shirt who practically threw herself at Lyra, all the while shouting with glee: "Master, you're back!"
Lyra however pushed this strange woman off her using a hand, giving her a stern look, as she said: -"Who are you?"
The red-haired woman offered a pout in response, as she said: "It's me, Master. Reina!"