Valtak collapsed in Lith's arms as the light of consciousness faded from his eyes. Lith shrunk the Fire Dragon to human size with Body Sculpting and checked on him with Invigoration, discovering that Valtak was in perfect physical health.
Between the Life Maelstrom still empowering the Fire Dragon and the healing effect of the golden flames, most of his wounds were already gone.
Yet Valtak was still dying. The Elder Wyrm had consumed most of his remaining life force to conjure the Immortal Flames and what was left wasn't enough to keep his heart beating.
Not with the strain that suffering so many injuries had inflicted upon his old body. Not with the exhaustion from withstanding the effects of Valeron's abilities. Not with the blue flames consuming more of the Father of Fire's life force every time they hit.