Deepforge by R.J. Washburn, Ron Washburn

to once again fall back. “Come on, damn you! Change!” Grongor screamed at the tops of his lungs, causing everyone around to wonder where the power had come from. He pushed back his sleeves and waited for the dragon to react. The entire village had gathered around, and all were shouting encouragement, either for Grognor or Orogo.
    Orogo roared again, his fury peaking. The village watched as he transformed before them. His skin now copper scales, his head and body quickly stretched and morphed, wings quickly growing to full size, and his arms and legs transforming. He was huge! The crowd quieted down a bit as they saw the fully transformed copper dragon before them, angry and ready for a fight.
    “Damn! He’s incredible!” Teelena said.
    “Been a long time since we’ve seen an actual dragon!” Taylen said.
    Grognor stood ready, furious and meaning to teach the dragon a lesson. Orogo roared loudly, now realizing he had lost control. He quickly spun around and roared again at Grognor. “How dare you attack me!” He then swung his tail around at the furious dwarf.
    Grognor simply jumped over it. “You’ll never again dictate what the humanoids do!” He then punched down hard on the dragon’s tail as it swept by, causing a massive bruise.
    Orogo roared in pain and slashed at Grognor with his massive talons. “You cannot stop us! We have knowledge of the future that must be!” he roared.             
    Grognor couldn’t get out of the way in time, and took the full brunt of the attack. The dragon’s talon connected with Grognor’s metal breastplate, scraping it deeply and also knocking the Emperor several dozen yards away. He hit the ground hard, but quickly stood back up. “Everyone get out of the way!” he yelled.
    Orogo flapped his wings once and came down to slash at Grognor again. Grognor was ready for it this time, and ducked. The dwarf then jumped up and punched the dragon several times in the snout, splitting open the creature’s flesh.
    Orogo roared in pain again, and couldn’t hold back anymore. He growled deeply…
    “He’s going to spew acid! Everyone run!” Queen Kathryn screamed.
    Grongor looked up and smiled, he knew he had him. Before the dragon could spew, he jumped up and rapid punched him in the snout again. This nearly spoiled the dragon’s attack, but did manage to throw him off.
    Orogo roared again and let the acid go, totally missing the dwarf, and lunging the acid globule at a pile of rubble. It hit and splattered, reducing the rubble to a puddle.
    Before the dragon could recover, Grognor grabbed a hold of his front talon and yanked as hard as he could. The dragon went down in a roar of anger and surprise. His massive body slammed, causing the ground to jolt. Grognor then jumped on the disoriented dragon’s head and began rapid punching him again. Orogo roared and scrambled to get to his feet, flapping his wings and clawing the ground. Grognor climbed up behind the dragon’s horn crown and grabbed hold. As the dragon flapped and took to the air, he tried to reach up and knock the pesky dwarf off. Grognor summoned all his strength and twisted, causing the dragon’s head to turn, and making him crash to the ground, tilling up the road and destroying a small dwelling in the process.
    Everyone ran for cover as Grognor fell off. Orogo stepped up and bit at Grognor. Grognor reacted and reached up and down, grasping the dragon’s mouth open. Orogo then began growling again...
    “Darling! Get out of there!” Teelena screamed and threw her hammer at the beast.
    It flew true and nailed the dragon in the eye. Orogo roared again, as his acid began to race up his throat. Grognor jumped out of the way just in time to miss the globule which flew out, hit the ground and began sizzling. Grognor didn’t miss a beat, and grabbed one of the dragon’s legs, twisting and punching.  He totally missed the tail as it knocked him into the air. Grognor slammed to the ground, and Orogo