The last blast of fire had dulled his senses more than he realized, and with one side of his face already injured he couldn't hear it coming. The tail lashed out, striking him on his now blind side, injecting the deadly poison directly into his gut just as he followed up the initial slash with another strike in the opposite direction, trying to press his advantage and lop off the beast's head for good.

The poison burned as it entered his gut and he fell to his knees almost instantly after his last swing. The blade slipped from his fingers as he dropped to the floor.

Poison, he thought in a panic. I've been poisoned. And like a fool he'd gone off alone, with no one close enough to stop the poison. No one close enough to save him...