Yeah but Malekith is also a millennia old sorcerer. If he wanted to be able to become a dragon he would have been able to become a dragon by now. He just doesn't bother. Instead he just blasts the fuckers out of the sky with Doombolts galore whenever he feels they're getting too uppity.
The only time Malekith has been shown to be able to just casually deal with Dragons was during an event that made every mage in Ulthuan many times more powerful. And he was still running the fuck away while he did so.
That's because he's a loser
Yet doesn't do the same to Teclis who then triggered Flames of Asuryan embers within his body and bailed out to Realm of Chaos to stop, drop and roll.
Yes, hundreds of dragons and mages, Seraphon crippled in an exchange with Minathnir, and still none of them manage to catch up to the king even while his ride is disabled, because he keeps blasting the fuck out of them from the sky.
Or that Malekith underestimated Teclis, thinking he was just another average Asur to squash... Only to find out the hard way that this sorcerer supreme* was anything but average.
They abandon pursuit because they're unwilling to spend the blood it would take to kill him (especially once he reached the cover of the Black Ark sitting below). And the very fact he was running away rather indicates he thought he was going to lose that fight. Also, Seraphon was injured, but not crippled or dead, and was not indicated to be slowed in any way.
I think it really says it all in terms of just how much dragon blood Malekith was expected to spill in that fight when killing The Witch King was considered not worth the casualties.
The Asur have never been willing to bleed all that much in order to kill Malekith. Again and again they've destroyed his armies, burned his fleets and put him on the back foot. And again and again, they've left him to recover because they have other things to do, and they don't consider the bloodshed worth the price.
Malekith: "I am the Inevitable!"
It was very humiliating for Malekith in a nutshell. Lost to some noob Asur youngster who was born a cripple and needed magic potions just to walk whom he underestimated.
The burn victim vs the magical tuberculosis ravaged cripple.
Teclis vs Malekith at Finuval plains colourized
Or Malekith shouldn't have got himself deepfried by the Flames of Asuryan in the first place and get rid of Morathi, who's the reason why he's the Witch-King, first.
True and that Morathi would assume command of the Druchii after her baby boy Malekith went to the Realm of Chaos to put out the reignited Flames of Asuryan embers in him by Teclis. Can't let them be routed and wiped out by Asur and return to Naggaroth to rebuild and scheme another invasion.
To be fair, that is not in and by itself a sign of desperation. One of the fundamental roles of kingship is that of a Warleader and with limited command and control available once battle is joined, sticking in alongside his retinue, in itself usually some of the best equipped and skilled troops available is hardly a bad idea. In warhammer cnc options may be expanded via magic or flying mounts, but by the same token individual hero fighters are much more capable than they are IRL, so in the end those considerations kinda cancel each other.
Finubar isn't known for his martial prowess but for his diplomacy and intrigue. He's by no means bad at figting, but it's far from his specialty.
The Council of 13 as well.
He strikes me as a prowess 26 kinda guy.
