I took a running start and leaped from the island into the water. I sunk like a stone and immediately clambered as hastily as I could across the bottom of the lake. It was awkward, and likely looked goofy as hell, but thankfully there was no one that could see me at the moment.

That was until I clambered up one of the posts that held up the dock, and found myself staring at a confused dragon. The male grabbed at a blade, but I was faster, and shoulder-checked him into the lake. I didn't look to see if he drowned, but I assumed as much given the heavy breastplate and leather armor he wore.

Those foolish gawkers that had remained at the water’s edge were the first to taste my wrath.

A portly red dragon tried to run but managed only a few waddled steps before I simply rolled over him. I felt something snap and squelch under me but I didn't remain long enough to inspect the damage. Coming up from the roll, I launched myself at another dragon, crushing him between myself and the wall of a small building at the end of the pier.

Turning back around, I found that a small number of draconic soldiers had gathered nearby. Their commander was a taller, broad-shouldered black dragon that was yelling orders and waving a whip. Behind him, those under his command were leading away several wagons piled high with slaves and valuables.

I could tell that morale was nearing a breaking point as the four terrified, and young dragons in the front were literally shaking. None had that killer instinct that the others did, so I ignored them for the moment and instead focused completely on their leader. Sprinting directly at him, I brushed aside the guards that tried to get in my way before slamming full force into the whip-wielding male.

The shock on his face was delightful, and I had a feeling he had intended on using his underlings as sacrificial pawns. Unfortunately for him, the small group fled the very moment I brushed them, running into the woods with whatever they had on them. I knew they would be a problem eventually, but that was something I could solve later, as right now I had more pressing concerns.

The whip wielder tried to shove me back, and give himself enough room to escape but I could not be budged. I didn't want to waste time on him however and simply tackled him to the ground, crushing him under my immense weight. Pressing forward, I rolled over his body and leaped back up just as the wagons were starting to move.

Or at least one of two was, as the slaves pulling the closest cart were refusing to move no matter how hard they were whipped. The bloody leather arcing into the air drew my ire immediately and I launched into a sprint the moment my feet were under me. Rounding the wagon, I saw the horrified draconic driver briefly contemplate his options before leaping from the seat.

He tried to run, to flee into the woods, but I wasn't going to let him get far.

Rounding the wagon I eyed the wounded ponies closely, noting that they both stared up at me in wonder. Their expressions bolstered my will and gave me hope that not all who had been captured were broken. I would only find out the full extent of the dragon’s cruelty after I had finished wiping them out.

I continued this grim task with the driver, who nearly made it to the treeline before I caught up with him. Grabbing his legs out from under him, I lifted him up and then slammed him against the cobblestone road. I then repeated this motion two more times, at which point he stopped moving.

“Puny god,” I muttered. “Wait, where did that come from?”

I let that question go unconsidered as I sprinted after the second wagon, studying my targets as I caught up with them. The back was stuffed to the brim with precious metals, gold, and anything shiny. Given its size, it had likely been destined for wherever the head honcho kept his horde. Now, however, some enterprising pair of black dragons had leashed together four ponies and were driving them hard.

Despite the frequent use of a whip, the wagon wasn't going very fast, likely due to the weight or subtle sabotage. Either way, it was to my benefit as I could catch up to them even with my slightly awkward, more circular body. I want quite sure how best to approach the situation, however, as I didn't want to inadvertently hurt the ponies hitched to the front.

“Aha,” I muttered to myself.

A dozen or so feet ahead I noticed that there was a slight hill next to the road. That was exactly the edge I needed, and I made a beeline for the top of the green mound with all haste. I reached it just as the wagon was passing by too, putting them at perfect tackle height for several tons of angry stone and metal.

Slamming into one dragon, my momentum carried through to the second and then out the other side of the wagon. Though a tangled mess of limbs, and flesh, I was able to keep them in front of me. Meaning that when we hit the ground, I had a thick wall of draconic bodies to serve as my crash mat.

The first one I hit, died instantly, his entire upper half crushed under my weight. His friend ended up in much the same situation, only in reverse, with his legs shattered, and his pelvis crushed. Pulling myself out of the bloody mess that had been one of the dragons, I immediately turned my attention to the ponies.

Who had slowed to a stop not far, and were either catching their breath or attempting to free themselves from the reigns. They seemed okay, so I glanced back down at the still-living slaver currently screaming semi-coherently beneath my legs.

“I can't feel my legs, oh by the ancestors, I can't feel my legs!” he cried, tugging at the flattened hunks of meat that had carried him from birth until now.

“In your next life, try not to be a slaver. Or else I’ll find you a second time,” I declared.

I didn't wait for a response, and ran back to town, leaving the sobbing, screaming dragon to the ponies he had been whipping a moment earlier.

As I ran, I felt the wind pick up suddenly, going from a gentle breeze to a howling cacophony in seconds. I stopped and looked up just in time to see a winged dragon crash through a tree and hit the ground hard. I made a note to thank the tree, and ask her name the moment I was no longer pressed for time.

“Augh,” he groaned.

The dragon got his hands under himself and started to rise when I slammed into his spine with my full weight. A moment later I rose from the small, blood and viscera-filled crater I had just created with renewed vigor. I sprinted back toward town once again, following the loudest screaming back to a pair of ponies fleeing from their draconic captor.

“Get back here you worthless horses,” spat the scaly slaver.

After the ponies passed, I emerged from the shadows of a nearby tree and lunged at the dragon with all four of my arms. The moment my foe’s gaze went from the backside of the two fleeing ponies and landed on me, terror bloomed. And I reaped that bloody harvest, tearing his arms from his body and letting him fall to the ground screaming.

With the most immediate targets dealt with I took off down the street, ignoring the confused terror of the pair I had just saved. From one foe to the next I went, killing, maiming, or severely injuring nearly every dragon I crossed paths with. Those that simply ran and made no attempt to steal or enslave, I allowed to leave, unmolested. However, those more avaricious found themselves the focus of my hatred.

Skulls were split, bones shattered, limbs ripped from torsos, and bodies pulped beneath my mass. Over and over I killed, following the sounds of screaming, or occasionally the whispered prayers of panicked ponies. Throughout it all, I did what I could to ensure that my ponies were made safe, though I didn't have time to explain. The occasional look of horror on their face when they saw me was painful to witness, but I assured myself that I would remedy that eventually.

I had to focus on those maddened dragons whose greed kept them from simply fleeing like the others. For without the domineering presence of their leader they were like wild animals, taking what they could and burning what they couldn't. Be it due to panic, malice, or simple accident I couldn't be sure, but a few of the homes bore bright red flames bursting from their tops. Each time I used my earth pulse and each time I was flooded with relief when I found out that there was no one inside.

Time soon became a blur of blood and screams, and I scoured the town starting from the dock. It was only when I reached the point of my initial defeat that I met any real resistance. The main gates of the small castle-like structure had been closed, and a plethora of random wooden objects had been piled behind it.

I took one look at the makeshift barricade and ran right through it, turning it into a mass of splinters and broken metal. On the other side, I found a group of dragons hastily piling all the loot they could from the castle into several wagons. Unlike the last ones, these were not being pulled by ponies but rather by the smaller, younger dragons I had occasionally seen.

“It's here, go go go!” called a voice.

I looked up to one of the watch towers and spotted an angular bipedal green dragon already gliding towards the wagons. I wanted to go after him first, but the clatter of steal distracted me. Glancing back to the manor grounds I saw a squad of dragons equipped in heavy armor rushing to meet me. They weren't as big or as strong as their leader, but they were a fair bit tougher looking than the regular rank and file.

They were tall enough to look me straight in the eye and wide enough that they reached even my abnormally wide form. The quartet of soldiers was also not only better armed than most, but also far more disciplined then the empty-headed raiders I’d fought until now. For as soon as they entered the courtyard the draconic soldiers fanned out but remained relatively close to one another.

It was a smart tactic, and their faintly glowing weapons gave me pause, but it would not save them.

I barreled towards the one that stood between me and the wagon train that was preparing to depart. I knew he wouldn't be able to stop me, but I had not anticipated that he wouldn't even try to do so. Instead, he twisted to the side at the last moment, abandoning the block he had been feigning until that final second.

A sweep of his warhammer took out one of my legs, and I tumbled forward. I tried to save my momentum and roll towards the fleeing carts but was knocked off course when something heavy hit me in the side. Abandoning that rather silly idea, I scrambled back to my feet and prepared to fight the soldiers head-on.

They didn't make the process an easy one as their magical weapons rained down against me, chipping away at my crystalline shell. They weren’t strong enough to do much more than make a few new dents but the constant assault kept me off balance. I soldiered through, however, tearing a warhammer from the grip of a dragon and tossing it toward the forest.

While he retrieved his weapon, I launched my assault on the first dragon I locked eyes with. Slender, with narrow shoulders, and wielding two scimitars, he was obviously the weakest link. Though faster than the others, his attacks did next to nothing to my hardened exterior.

I launched a flurry of fists, which he was able to dodge nearly all of, save for the one that really mattered. Struck in the chin with all the force I could muster, he recoiled, raising his blades in a crossguard maneuver. His allies tried to cover him by pounding away at my arms, but I shrugged off their blows like one may ignore the bite of a rather persistent fly.

In the end, their efforts meant nothing as I easily bowled through the thin dragon’s defenses. With two of my four arms grabbing his throat, I quickly crushed his windpipe and left him gasping on the ground.

A second after the first soldier lay dying, his ally returned and struck me with a powerful two-handed blow. Though it may have crushed a living creature flat, it did not even make me stumble. So certain was my attacker that this would not be the case that he stood there, a look of confusion crossing his face as I turned.

I didn't hesitate to press this advantage, and using one arm I yanked the hammer towards me. And just as I predicted, he held on to the weapon despite how foolish the move was. It was only when three of my arms wrapped around his midsection and began to squeeze did he realize how dire this error truly had been.

A powerful, crushing bear hug slowly squeezed the life out of the dragon while his allies attempted to save him. Blows rained down on me, and they even focused completely on one of my arms in an attempt to remove it. They failed, and I only released their comrade after I had crushed every last bone between his shoulders and his pelvis. He limply tumbled to the ground, a few ragged gasps slipping past his lips before he finally fell silent.

Now only three, and with nothing to show for their defense, I saw panic begin to take root in the eyes of my foes. I knew I didn't have time to deal with them all, so I decided to baste these vile turkeys in a healthy slathering of fear.

“Now, how will I kill you?” I asked, turning to one of the remaining dragons at random. “Perhaps I will pull your arms and legs off one by one, or maybe I’ll just fold you in half so the last thing you see is the inside of your own ass.”

“Fuck this, I’m outta here,” he declared.

“Wait, stop we have to hold out a bit longer for the plan to work!” retorted another.

“Fuck you and fuck your plan,” he spat back.

He then took off, but not before throwing his weapon at my face. Not like I cared mind you, it was rather funny to see the coward run off, leaving his two allies to face me alone. Not like they did so for long, as they spared a single glance at one another before sprinting off in opposite directions.

I ignored them and ran off in search of the wagons that had disappeared a minute earlier. The trail they left behind was pretty obvious, even to someone unversed in tracking such as myself. Three sets of deep ruts were visible in the ill-used dirt road, signaling that they had made off with a considerable amount of loot.

As I followed their trail, I began to notice strange irregularities. Most notable of which was the fact that crushed roots were sticking up out of the ground. Shattered branches also littered the road, though the path was too well maintained to be that overgrown.

“Hurry,” came the ethereal voice of the tree. “I’ve used the last of my power to slow them down but I can do no more.”

I made another mental note to thank them again later. After I had a chance to kill a few more dragons of course.

It wasn't long after that I came across the first of the wagons laying ditched on the side of the road. Its wheels were bound completely in a tangle of foliage so thick that the wooden disc was barely even visible. I barely gave the thing a glance before continuing on, noting that the driver had either been recovered or taken off into the bush.

They didn't matter, and so their presence was ignored in favor of chasing down the leader of this little group. After much running, I started to hear voices from up ahead, along with the sound of what seemed to be rushing water somewhere nearby.

“Leave it! Grab what you can and take wing. We make for the eastern mountain pass!” shouted a familiar voice.

“But I can't fly!” yelled back another dragon.

“Then you just volunteered to serve as our distraction!” spat the leader.

I rounded the bend just as a wingless black dragon had a sword stuffed into his hands and was pushed in my direction. His already fragile morale shattered the moment he saw my bloody visage emerge from the foliage.

“Ahh, it's the murder golem!” he shouted.

“Time to earn your keep, wretch!” spat the green dragon I saw earlier.

Giving his wingless companion another firm shove, the drake shouldered a locked chest stuffed full of valuables and took off. As he flapped his wings, and desperately tried to put some distance between us, I was closing that gap. I passed by the cowardly black dragon a moment later, and simply plucked the sword from his weak, awkward grasp.

I then stopped, took aim, and whipped the poorly balanced weapon as hard as I could muster. Though I had aimed at the back of his head, I hit one of his wings. The result was the same though, as he rapidly fell from the sky, his torn membrane unable to keep him aloft.

“Fuck fuck fuck,” he muttered.

In a panic, he threw his ill-gotten loot away and tried his absolute damnedest to fly out of reach. The hole I had created in his wing was far too big, however, and he awkwardly tumbled to one side. He had been ready to hit the ground running, but I was upon him before he could do so.

I grabbed his ankles out of mid-air, and let his momentum continue so he landed face-first in a puddle. He didn't get more than a few seconds to consider his dire circumstances before I made things much, much worse for him. With a heave, I forced his legs to open impossibly wide.

A scream of panic ripped through the air, and I watched in grim amusement as he clawed desperately in the mud. No amount of struggle could stop me though and I continued to pull him apart like a particularly stubborn wishbone. From crotch to shoulder, I tore ligaments, muscles, and flesh, causing his organs to spill out onto the cool ground.

I didn't spare his horrified subordinate a second look and turned immediately back to town.

As I made my way back, I checked and found that the necklace was still safe in one of the recesses in my chest. It had been a snap decision but one I thankfully did not come to regret.

I also sent out a near-continuous stream of pulses in an effort to ascertain exactly what was going on in the area. From what I gathered the situation was more or less in hand at the moment. Dragon survivors were few and far between, and those who had escaped did so alone or in very small groups. Groups that I could tell contained no pony slaves, but did contain some ill-gotten gains from the town. I cared nothing for the loss of gold or other precious metals extracted from the area and didn't prioritize their recovery at all.

I was about to turn my attention to the meeting place indicated by the diamond dog when I felt something. The stumbling hurried steps of many panicked ponies running alongside nearly as many dragons. The group numbered nearly thirty in total, the majority of whom were equine in nature, I briefly wondered how I had not detected them earlier. Then I felt some of them disappear, their hooves and feet leaving the ground completely only to land again not far from where they started.

“You won't escape me no matter how much you glide,” I muttered to myself.

Though I had only briefly managed to locate their position it was enough to extrapolate where they were headed. Using this knowledge I chose to hit them off at the pass so to speak, selecting a gully they would need to cross. There I waited, my body mostly hidden between the steep slopes of the natural barrier.

I didn't need to remain there for long as I sound heard the sound of wings and panicked shouts on the breeze. A few seconds after I first heard them, I saw them, the dragons carrying a pony under each arm while flying against the turbulent breeze. I let the first and second pass over me before I leaped from cover with all four arms extended.

My upper arms grabbed the ponies, while the bottom two grabbed the dragon by the ankles. Using my momentous weight, I yanked the dragon down into the gully, slamming him against the earth. My immediate desire was to crush the offending creature’s head, but I prioritized the safety of the ponies first.

“Wait here, I’ll get the others,” I ordered, placing the two equines down in one of the gully’s many bends.

I didn't wait around to make sure that they understood me, and sprinted back to the fallen dragon. He had scrambled back to his feet and was clutching a long, remarkably well-made longsword in both hands.

“S-stay back. We mean you no-” was all he could muster before I rushed him.

Charging straight past his guard, I ignored the clang of his weapon hitting my head, and grabbed him by the throat. Lifting him off the ground, I slowly began to squeeze.

“You will pay for your crimes, monster,” I uttered in a low, menacing tone.

“I-erk-”

Whatever he had been trying to say was cut off when I tightened my grip, removing his oxygen supply completely. I was about to enjoy the sensation of his throat collapsing when I felt something hit my leg. Rotating my head one hundred and eighty degrees, I looked down to find that one of the ponies was punching me.

“Let him go you stupid thing, he's not like them!” she demanded.

That gave me pause, and I eased up on my grip while inspecting the dragon a bit closer.

He was a spitting image of the leader drake I had drowned less than an hour earlier. Only where his presumed father was enormous and quadrupedal, this one stood on two legs and was damn near emaciated. As thin as a board, he barely had any muscle on his gangly limbs.

“What is your relation to my ponies?” I demanded.

The dragon coughed a few times before regaining enough composure to speak though he could not meet my steely gaze.

“I’ve been working with them,” he wheezed. “Trying to smuggle them out or at least make their lives easier.”

I spun my head around and looked down at the mare whom I just realized was pregnant. “Is this true?” I asked.

“Yes!” she shouted. “He’s been nothing but kind. Heck, he saved my life!”

I hummed softly. “This complicates matters.”

This is part of the 12 days of christmas, head over here to keep track of all the cool stuff coming down the pipes. If you want to ensure I can afford to keep doing stuff like this, consider backing me over on Subscribestar or Patreon.