Gotta Be A Reason

                                    

                                          
"Are you sure you're well?" Dullahan asked, her steed's hooves slapping against the concrete rhythmically at his side as he waded through the carnage around him. 
"No," Alex replied, "But there's no time for that right now, we've got a dog to put down."
Dullahan stared at his back, eyes burning beneath her helm with an unknown heat. She watched the subtle rise and fall of his shoulders, the way he didn't seem fazed by the ash and blood that stained his face or the bodies that littered the street. His gaze was well beyond anything she could see. She felt her hand rise for a moment, only to let it fall to her side as a roar sounded in the distance, her lance rising in its place.
"I've spent the last several thousand years hoping to do this with you again."
"What?" Alex asked.
"It was my mission, my promise, to who you used to be, oh black dragon." She continued, "He on high pleaded on his hands and knees, and it was you, how could I say no? Every time I've hoped, and every time you were a monster. This is a dream come true."
"I don't understand?" Alex frowned.
"I'm not sure I do either, my mind is frayed, it happens every time I merge with a host. But once the fog clears, I will tell you. I promise, my lord. She will not go quietly into the night."
"You've come at last!" Ares cackled, pulling himself free of the rubble he'd landed in, eyes burning, bone sprouting freely from one of his jaws and flesh crawling back into place around it. "Oh, brother, I've waited millennia for this! Generations upon generations in darkness, waiting, just waiting for this day to come!"
Alex said nothing as the beast trotted towards him, staring down at the boy before him.
"So this is the fleshbag you've chosen." He clicked his mandibles together, "He looks just like you brother, or well, sister, family member. You hit me with one hell of a blast just now, that hurt. It burned straight through me, gods bless this regeneration." Ares snorted, "So are we finally doing this?"
Dullahan raised her lance, and Alex looked up into the eyes of the monster above him.
"Oh? The strong silent type then? Interesting! You're usually so mouthy, so smart. What've you got going on in that little brain of yours?" Ares gasped, holding his hand to his mouth, "I didn't kill one of your playthings, did I? I know I tried! Didn't seem all that successful until right as you showed up, as per usual." He looked Dullahan up and down, "You're the green one, eh? I'd heard about you. His favorite toy." He rubbed her steed's cheeks, ignoring the way it snarled and hissed, "You've got quite the pony. So are we doing this or not? Get on with it, I'm not fighting a preteen."
Alex shifted before him, wasting no time as scales sprouted from his skin, his snout ripping out from his face, arms cracking and stretching out. His tail smacked against the concrete with its spike-like edge, eyes already burning a deep green.
"That's more like it," Ares laughed, "Come on then!" Alex didn't see the blow, only the pain exploding across his maw and the weightlessness that took him as he soared through the air. He felt his body crash through brick and steel. Ash and dust clouded his vision as he pushed himself to his feet, eyes watering as they struggled to gaze through the fire and ash, Dullahan's lance stabbing at Ares and driving the beast back as her horse lashed out with hoof and tooth, the god of war back pedaling as he struggled to bat the creature aside.
Alex flashed forward, lightning crackling in his head as he brought his tail around, the massive spear at the end of his appendage striking Ares square in his side as he did so. He roared, a deep and guttural sound that vibrated through his draconian form. The beast gripped his tail with one free arm, heaving him up over his head and slamming him into Dullahan, sending all three sprawling as he freed himself from her onslaught.