Celeborn's Nine - Riders of the Night

Author: Tiger knows Celestial is a dragon and this creature does not look like Celestial. She may very well be familar with it, but as a monster.
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No one moved as the darkness started to glow and something out of their nightmares roared again. Celeborn moved to the front of the group, his sword at ready as the dragon rumbled again and continued towards them. Creating its own light, it looked up at them with eyes of blazing red gold. Its ebony hide of interlocking scales gleamed and reflected the red light.

"Do we take it here or lead it outside?" Haldir asked quickly, his own sword in hand.

"If we take it outside we could lose it," Celeborn said. "we'll keep it here if we can."

Glorfindel didn't say anything, but he gave Celeborn a look as if to say, "and what if it wants to go outside?" The dragon roared again and spit a plume of liquid fire that lit the cavern like a thousand lamps. Tiger hissed back, shape shifted and sprang off the ledge to a lower one. Haldir yelled at her and followed with his brothers behind him. Whether Glorfindel wanted it or not, the fight was on, but he looked for another way down that was opposite the one that Haldir and his brothers had just taken. Motioning to Celeborn and the twins, he raced along the ledge to a sloping trail that looked as if it would end in the cavern floor.

"Stay up here!" he yelled back at the Galadhrim still on the ledge. "Use what you have but save the blood arrows!" He had a feeling they were still going to need them before they were through here. Looking around to see what Haldir and his brothers were doing, he was relieved to see that they had stopped and were using their bows. But not having shields meant they had to hurry up and get out of the way once they had fired. The dragon was not taking kindly to being shot at.

He couldn't see Tiger, but he could hear her. Reaching the bottom of the path, he looked around quickly for the best way to approach the creature, which was taking its anger out on Haldir who was running quickly along a cache of rocks. The only thing that kept him from being incinerated was a jinn tiger hanging off the dragon's neck. She couldn't kill it, but she could sure irritate it, and the way the dragon was tossing its head, it was irritated

Elrohir and Elladan paused long enough to get off their own shots, which drew the dragon's attention to them, but arrows were only a nuisance to the enormous beast. Roaring its anger, it slashed its tail around and sent rocks flying. They bolted for cover as the monster turned towards them.

Haldir stepped into the open and fired at one of the red-gold eye. Now that hurt, and this time the dragon screamed and clawed at its eye. It also swung around so quickly and snapped that Haldir didn't quite have time to get away. That hurt, too. Tiger sailed clear of the beast and hurried to Haldir's side. Clutching a bloody thigh, he tried to crawl away before the dragon realized it had hurt him. Tiger shifted and grabbed his arm, pulling on him as Orophin and Rumil exposed themselves and fired.

Glorfindel didn't know if this was Himeros' prophecy or not, but he knew if they didn't get Haldir away from the dragon, he was going to wind up either stepped on or eaten. Hurrying to the other elf's side, he grabbed another arm and dragged him into some large rubble that would give him some protection as the wound was tended to by Tiger. Glorfindel didn't have time to check it out himself.
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Haldir was pissed. "Here" he told Tiger and handed her a knife, "cut the legging off." She slashed the pants leg off and looked at the bite marks. She then looked at Haldir for more instructions."Open each one up a little bit so they'll bleed. If you don't the saliva will turn to poison."

Tiger waited a moment, watching him brace himself, then she dipped the tip of the knife into each wound and opened it up. Haldir clenched his teeth but didn't say anything until each tooth mark was bleeding freely. "Tie it up!" he hissed. "Hurry! Tie it up."

Tiger obeyed and then sat back as Haldir stood up. "Go distract him!" he told her and reentered the fight.

The dragon's roar shook the cavern and dislodged several stalagtites that crashed to the floor, narrowly hitting Celeborn who just managed to get out of the way. With the elves ringing him now, he started moving towards the cavern wall with the tunnel at the top of it. The three Galadhrim guarding it fired mercilessly down at the beast. Screaming in rage, it lunged up the wall and made it half way before stopping and cling to the rock like an enormous bat.

Glorfindel raced after him and half ran, half leaped up a narrow path that took him close to the monster. He could hear Tiger snarling on the other side of the thing, and he could tell by the way the dragon was acting that he was trying to get at her. Glorfindel took the diversion to bury his sword in the great leathery wing and rip it down. The dragon threw its head up and screamed even louder than before. Slashing it tail around, it almost hit the elflord who jumped clear and then made another attack on the wing. This time the dragon turned its head towards him and snapped. Glorfindel ran his sword up the monster's nostril and jammed it into meat. Blood started to trickle out, but before the dragon could get another bite as Glorfindel, Tiger came over the top of his head and down his muzzle.

"Do you want to get killed?" Glorfindel barked and yanked his sword free. He then realized they were both on the same side of the dragon, which was angry enough to twist around and slap Glorfindel with his tail.

Glorfindel fell down the side of the cliff wall with Tiger lunging after him. She was suddenly under him, and the next thing he knew he was clinging to her back with a good forty foot drop beneath him. Although it meant dropping his sword, he held on to the scruff of her neck as she tried to decide what she was going to do next. Over them, Haldir and Celeborn were taking their swords to the dragon which was still trying to get up the side of the cave wall. Taking a cue from Glorfindel, Haldir was trying to shred the leathery wing to keep it from flying if it did get out.

Tiger started to back down the cave wall, her sharp talons digging into the rock, but the hold wasn't that good and she started to slide down, her claws leaving long gashes in the rock. When he felt it was safe to drop, he let go of Tiger and fell the rest of the way. Picking up his sword, he stared up the dragon which had made its way to the tunnel. They were going to lose it!

Racing back up the cave wall with the twins and Haldir's brothers on the other side, Glorfindel watched in horror as the dragon headed down the tunnel.
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Melanippus heard the monster coming, heard its roars and screams, and readied his spear. The moment he saw the creature emerge from the tunnel, he knew what he had to do. Waiting, waiting for the right moment, he half reared and charged forward. The dragon raised its head to ready a spit of fire, but Saka arrows crashed into its eyes and the tender skin around them. Rearing on its hind legs, clawing at the arrows, it ignored the centaur until his spear was buried deep in its chest.

Slapping the centaur away, the dragon clawed at the spear in its chest, but it was in too deep. And it was too preoccupied to notice Celeborn running up on its side. The elflord buried his sword into the beast's rib cage, the blade biting into the beast's balck heart.

Glorfindel arrived in time to see the beast die with Haldir's sword in the main artery of its throat. Black blood spewed as the shredded wings beat the ground. Haldir, a black light burning in his eyes, looked up and grinned fiercely. "One down," he said and yanked his sword free. "When do you want to go find the balrog?"

The corner of Glorfindel's mouth twitched. "When you're well enough," he said as Tiger slipped past him and went to Haldir.

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Haldir's leg throbbed uncomfortably as Tiger washed it with clean water in front of the roaring hearth. His brothers watched curiously and refilled his wine goblet when he held it out to them. "Is there any sign of poisoning?" he asked curiously.

Tiger studied the bite marks closely and sniffed them, but nothing foul reached her nostrils. "Just you," she said and took a bandage from Orophin. Wrapping his leg with the soft dressing, she smiled. "You are lucky he didn't get a good bite out of you."

Haldir smiled back at her, his thoughts turning to a different kind of bite. Draining the wine cup, he said, "Finish that up. I want to go to bed."

Tiger returned his smile. She was also thinking of a different kind of bite.