Concluding their scuffle in the sky, Russo, Kaya, and Gyorrkith struggle to pull themselves out of their respective craters. The half-dead ruby and mica dragon continue to drag out their fight, which rapidly devolves into an ugly tit for tat. Subbing in for the mage, Jem lumbers forth into the fray, determined to put it to an abrupt and brutal end.


Icon is © to  DemonRoni

FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT

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Chapter 45

A deep, listless sleep that one was difficult to rouse free from. That seemed like a straightforward enough way to describe unconsciousness. Eyelids creaking open, Russo failed to keep them parted for more than a couple of seconds at most. Limbs heavy and unresponsive, he returned to his slumber. Bouts of painful coughing that stabbed away at the flesh between his ribs wracked him awake yet again, however briefly. “I’m…” Strained, deep breaths were all the mage could follow up with while he took in his surroundings. White, as far as he could see. Alright, that’s a start.

Russo closed his eyes again, only to reopen them an indeterminate amount of time later. Blank and vacant eyes stared out at the smooth track his skidding form had left behind. It was currently being swallowed up and buried underneath the steady precipitation. His mind spun in place, the gears within his head clicking against one another. He had been doing something, but what? Oh, that’s right. “What else we got?” Something solid was pressing up into his back and side, compressing a dull and lifeless arm against his chest. Cool, that was the ground. That is what it is supposed to do, good ground. He never remembered it being this warm and comfy though… “Shit.”

The mage’s head lurched, his view suddenly changing after what felt like but a simple blink. Chin tucked in against his sternum, his eyes settled on the blots of red dripping from the fur and fabric clenching to his chest and waist, staining the snow beneath him. Was that his blood? Or Greg’s? Gloved fingers clenched at the ground, ice and frozen moisture catching and packing along his digits as they carved trembling and disjointed paths. That was… he thought that was supposed to be bad, but fuck was it warm, pooling beneath him and soaking back into his clothes. Who cares. So long as it keeps being that toasty and inviting, that’s all that matters. Nuzzling his head into the bed of compacted snow, he gladly closed his eyes.

“Russo!”

Shrill and panicked, the voice calling out his name refused to let him rest. “Just let me sleep, dammit.” Sighing into his pillow, snowflakes drifting by punched holes in the breath wafting out of his mouth. “Hmm?” Dipping against the bottom of his sockets, the human’s pupils focused on the thin coating of white draped upon his body. “A blanket…” Well, this was a pleasant surprise. Layered upon his still form, it was so puffy and white, growing heavier and heavier as time passed on. That was nice of whoever put that there.

“Russo! Come on Russo, answer me!” Plowing his way forward through a wall of white that came up to his thick and swollen knees, Jem couldn’t help but be unsettled. So many questions buzzed in the rough collie’s head. All that greeted him was a terrible skid mark laced with blood, his friend resting at the end of it. Where were the footprints, the pawprints, the… the anything hinting at just what happened? None were to be found, the snowy plain refusing to disclose the culprit or their methods. He’d have to sort it out later.

“What?” The human curtly answered the rough collie’s calls, either unwilling or unable to pry open his eyes.

Still responsive, thank goodness. Dropping to his knees, the embiggened fur hesitantly reached out to him. “Are you-” Jem’s green eyes hurriedly scanned over the human’s comparatively small and crumpled form. Letting out a soft whine, he pulled his arm away before following up with a much more appropriate inquiry. “…How badly are you hurt?”

Strained but rhythmic breathing was all the canine received in response.

A frustrated growl slipped forth from Jem’s muzzle. “Unconscious or not, I’m still going to lecture you.” His bloated muscles atrophied while he shrank, the collie’s uncomfortably snug and constricting clothing easing up now that there was less of him to cover. “Scoping out a mountain should not be that time consuming or difficult.” Gently, he rested a hand against the human’s neck; pulse was fine. “Nor life-threatening,” he quietly added. Shaking his head, his fingers brushed against the mage’s chest. A worryingly red and sticky substance stained through the snow, his white fur taking on a reddish-pink hue at its touch.

“And should I even bother to ask just what all you got up to? I saw the avalanche.” Dusting aside the snow, he sighed. Once more, silence was the reply provided. Tutting and fussing was proving surprisingly unsatisfying when nobody even bothered to argue back. “Hmm?” When enough of the fluffy white stuff had been brushed away, Jem’s brows went flat at the revelation the human had donned a new wardrobe. “Russo?” The shrunken giant clutched at the dark spots dotting the human’s thick coat of furs, “Where did you get these clothes from?”

“From Kaya.” The words tumbled out of his mouth. Thank God there was only all of three syllables to annunciate. Maybe if he answered some of these nagging questions they’d go away. Not like ignoring them had helped.

“Who?” Those floppy ears of Jem’s perked to attention.

“Kaya.” Staring into the back of his eyelids, ribbons of blue and green melded into one another, rippling in waves across… whatever it was that comprised the black canvas Russo saw when he closed his eyes.

“No, I mean who is Kaya?” Very carefully, the collie peeled back the layers of clothing wrapped around his companion’s chest. The amount of the blood matting together sewn fur and cotton remained consistent with every piece of winter attire Jem pulled back. Almost like Russo had not only bled out but been bled on.

Yesterday. He met Kaya yesterday, right? Sounded right. “She…” Russo fumbled around in the darkness for jumbled memories that didn’t want to form.

“She what?” Repeating the same questions over and over was going to get tedious, but at least the canine was making progress.

Straining his overtaxed and uncooperative imagination, Russo found himself standing before Kaya’s abode, the snowy ground behind him tapering off into the darkness. Slinking through the rocky teeth of stalagmites and stalactites, the winged reptile sauntered towards him. “She’s a dragon.” Wait, was she the ruby one? A burst of light radiated off the Kaya confabulation’s scales, prompting the now red dragoness to glare at the human. No… no, her whole thing was about being not red. Like flakes of paint, the color adorning the dragoness’ body chipped away. Her mica scales shimmered brilliantly in the cracks and gaps that appeared in her false ruby coloring.

“A dragon?” No attempt was made by the warrior incredulity to mask his incredulity. Dammit, Russo really was out of it. “The one that tried to kill us?”

“No, different dragon.” Shaking his head, Russo’s pillow of compacted snow rubbed powdered ice into his ears and hair. “The not red one.” Imaginary Kaya scraped a clawed hand along her side, a particularly persistent patch of red refusing to dissociate itself from her. That’s not supposed to be there. A dull weight grew in his chest, the mage forcing his eyes open uneasily in response. Is it? Viscous and thick, that patch of coloring darkened to a bloody crimson before it began trickling down the dragoness’ side in streams. Memories flooded back to the mage in reverse, starting from when Kaya received her wounds to when he first made her acquaintance. Pressing off the dull arm flattened beneath his torso, Russo tried propping himself up. His limb tingled painfully while he rose. Bruised and broken ribs stabbed at his lungs the instant he gasped for air, sending him back down to the ground in shivering heap.

“What are you doing?!” Jem wrapped his hands around the human’s shoulders, pinning him to the ground.

“Augh…” Wheezing, Russo moaned in pain while the tears flowed. “Ah… ah ha, oh, oh why did I do that.”

With a roll of his eyes, the collie continued to part the sea of clothing compressed against his friend’s chest. He tugged on the human’s tunic, the black fabric pulling away slowly from Russo’s torso; sweat and blood rendering it moist and sticky. A furred hand reached under the cloth and rested gently against the mage’s chest, fingers pressing gently at his ribcage. “Blood and broken bones.” The rough collie’s hand reemerged with a twinge of crimson staining his fur. “Let me see what I can do about bandaging you up.”

“Hey Jem.” Forcing a nervous laugh, Russo feebly smiled up at his companion. “Learn much from the loca-” Painful and wracking coughs interrupted the human’s attempt at small talk. “Blugh, yeah you’re mad at me aren’t you.”

After an extended pause, the canine let out grumpy bark. “Just explain what the hell happened here.” Exhaling through his nose, Jem scrunched his muzzle. “So you met a woman named Kaya?”

“Dragon.” No incredulous response or retort followed Russo’s correction. Jem merely continued staring down at the human. “Err… dragoness.”

“There’s another dragon?”

“There’s another dragon.”

To that, Jem clasped his hands around his muzzle to muffle an infuriated and rasping scream.

“It’s not,” Russo paused, forcing himself to take shallow breaths that wouldn’t expand his lungs. “It’s not’s a bad thing. Kaya-” The mage sputtered as he forced air into his lungs, his own body sending him mixed messages about whether or not that was a desirable thing. “Oh fuck that hurts. Kaya helped me. She helped us.”

Jem remained silent while Russo spoke, tearing the edges of the mage’s discarded coats into long and puffy strips of cloth.

“A favor for a favor. She agreed… to help me take down Greg.”

Head cocked to the side, the rough collie erfed at the drop of the name.

“It’s hard to pronounce, okay!” Fingers splayed out, the back of his gloved fingers sank into the snow. “Greg’s the fire breathing one. The red one.”

“The one that tried to kill us?” Reaching out towards Russo, Jem curled his hand around the back of the mage’s neck. He tilted the human’s head up with one hand and slid tattered furs behind his friend’s noggin with the other. “From what I gathered, it’s…” The collie bit his tongue, slowly dragging the makeshift rags down past Russo’s shoulders. “Not entirely unexpected that ‘Greg’ would conduct himself the way that he has. I mean, that doesn’t justify the wanton death and destruction but,” teeth bared, the canine stifled a snort of disgust, “He did try to kill us on sight. At least we’re in the right to retaliate against that.” Grumbling to himself, the collie tugged the fluffy bandage tight round his friend’s chest.

Agonized wheezes slipped from the mage’s mouth in response to the firm and constricting pressure exerted on his torso. “Stop helping stop helping stop helping stop helping stop helping!” Arms convulsing, he took Jem’s outstretched hand to steady himself through the flaring pain. Russo’s grip became a clamp with every other breath, crunching furred fingers together in his palm.

“That should help a little with the bleeding,” he winced at the feeling of his digits cracking together, “and keep you in one piece.”

Russo’s arm went limp as his breathing steadied. “Th-thanks, Jem.” Swallowing, a slow burning sensation followed the lump in his throat down into his ribs. “And,” the human exhaled deeply, “and I’m sorry.”

“What, you don’t think I’m used to this? Going out of your way to get your ass kicked and making me worry?” He forced a laugh. “It’s fine, Russo.” The smile that followed was a sincere one though. “But I do appreciate the apology.”

“No, it’s not, I fucked up!” Once more, Russo tried to prop himself upon an elbow. Twisting his arm against the snow, he let out a defeated grunt and collapsed back into the ground. “Kaya agreed to help me take down Greg, because he was as much a pain in the ass to her as he was to us. I went through with it so you wouldn’t have to.”

“Russo…”

Now? Now I grow a conscience? The blood pooling beneath him began to coagulate and harden in the frigid temperature. What warmth it once provided had long faded. Why be so shaken up over a dragoness? I’ve taken advantage of and thrown away people before. A handful of giants misled into doing his jobs for him sprung to mind. Terrible people that had it coming. Russo admitted with a forlorn sigh. She had given him clothing, shelter, and protection. Kaya… probably didn’t deserve that. Dammit. It wasn’t so much that he lacked a conscience, he just didn’t have to call on it very often was all. “It turned out about as well as everything else I lay my hands on.” He swatted at the wall of snow compacted around him, irritated at his disappointing consistency.

“What of Kaya?” Maybe she’d be able to explain what the hell happened here, given the mage seemed too sullen and embarrassed to.

“I…” Russo’s mind drew a blank. The last thing he recalled was the backside of the ruby dragon’s scaly hand sailing towards him, a veritable wall of bloodied flesh and scabs. Oh Christ did that actually happen? He gagged in disgust at the thought. Flattening his brows, he replied with a sigh. “I don’t know. She and Greg were still duking it out in the air last I remember.”

Echoing out across the plains, a powerful and malicious roar pierced the brief lull between the chatter.

“That’d be Greg,” Russo mumbled. Eyes closed, he could feel his chest grow noticeably heavier at Kaya’s lacking response.

Jem’s gaze turned this way and that, scanning the flat white horizon that was broken only by the forested mountain before him and the rising smoke from the village they left behind. Settling towards the perceived source of dragon’s bellow, he exhaled deeply. “We came here to complete a job, didn’t we?” Unbuckling straps of leather wrapped around his shoulders and elbows, the metal sleeves of his armor slid off his furred limbs. “I know the smart thing to do is pack it in and go home, swallow our pride and live to see another day.” A chest plate with flame like patterns inscribed into the shoulders clunked at his feet. “This isn’t what we signed up for,” the rough collie tossed his scabbard aside, letting it sink into the snow, “and it’s not like those who called on our help even deserve it. Even so…” Kicking aside his torn pants and tunic, Jem’s body began to fill out and up with muscle. “If we don’t confront this problem, no one else will.” Peering over his pectorals, the gigantifying collie’s eyes dipped to the side of their sockets. “No one who’s capable of solving it, anyway.”

Flat on his back, the human didn’t even come up to the furry giant’s ankles. “So I did drag Kaya into this for nothing.”

The collie’s expression softened, shooting Russo a sad but understanding smile. “We are a team, after all. Whole point is for us to work together and ease each other’s burdens.” The collie’s deep and reverberating voice rattled the mage’s frame. “At least you’re being selfish for all the right reasons now,” he followed up with a wry but reassuring chuckle. Rolling his shoulders, Jem stood tall at his full height, his shifting bones cracking loudly in the dry air. Bearing down on the snow below with tons of fur and flesh, its dense and compacted form was hard as rock beneath his paws. “I’m going to put an end to this mess and then we can go home. I’ll keep an eye out for that Kaya while I’m at it.” Back turned to the mage, Jem plodded forward, boulder sized chunks of snow plummeting from between the scrunches in his padded sole and toes. “Oh!” He turned his head and nested it against the crook of a shoulder. “Could you keep an eye on-”

“Do I look like I’m going anywhere?” Russo shook his head, flakes of white matting into his hair. “Smartass.”

Snickering, Jem merely waved back to his incapacitated companion, leaving a trail of pawprints that left massive indentations in the land behind him.

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“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?!” Snarls and roars laced every other word that dripped out of Gyorrkith’s bloodied mouth. Smoldering, molten scales peeled off his face, exposing the flesh and sinew hidden beneath what was supposed to be his impenetrable shielding. Torrents of fire poured forth from his maw, melting the frigid landscape around him. “KAJASTAA!” A red steam rose around him, the ruby dragon’s boiling blood mixing with the scalding hot moisture wafting into the sky.

Grunting softly, the dragoness dug her claws through layers of snow and permafrost, slowly dragging her battered body forward.

“ANSWER ME!” Liquidized keratin and blood pooled together in clumps all across the right side of Gyorrkith’s face, rendering him partially blind. Clenching his left eye open and shut, he was unable to dispel the tints of crimson clouding his vision. What little self-preservation the dragon possessed had been shattered with his pride. Bested in fight, and in flight? There was no greater shame that could possibly have come to pass. After shaking off the landing, his half-formed and jumbled thoughts became increasingly self-destructive. He swung desperately at the air before him, slicing open the tip of Kaya’s tail. If I fall… so be it. I’ll just have to make your victory a pyrrhic one.

Kaya lashed out with her tail, its broad surface clapping against the side of her aggressor’s head like thunder.

Gyorrkith’s footing faltered, those thick limbs twisting off balance when his neck nearly pulled itself off his shoulders. Tipped over onto his side, the ruby dragon slowly but surely lumbered back to his feet, murderous hatred keeping his body running long past its prime.

Without rest, the mica dragoness continued to slither forward. Her pristine scales glowed dully in the pale light, their reflective surface muted by splotches of spilled blood.

“Why does it matter to you, what I do to those mortals,” the ruby dragon panted, impatiently waiting for the black spots in his impaired vision to fade. “They’re base and ugly creatures.” Sweeping his head side to side, a cone of flame expanded out from between his teeth. He didn’t have to see the dragoness to be able to hit her. “You know that better than anyone,” he growled.

Superheated moisture expanded violently between her scales, stinging and painful welts poking up along her tail and back and forcing apart gaps in her natural armor. There’s no consistency, no rhyme or reason to their morality. Grinding her teeth through the pain, Kaya kept crawling forward. Honor, loyalty, integrity. Neither taught nor inherited, it’s a rarity amongst mortals. Those admirable traits died with the real Kajastaa, lost and forgotten to those worthless bastards and their generations of predecessors that she foolishly… Nnnrrrg what am I saying? That I wished that she was no better than the rest? That she only looked out for herself? The dragoness was admittedly ambivalent about her dear friend’s lofty moral standards.

They were what drew the dragoness towards the ursine to begin with, a curiosity to be smacked around and toyed with. Ideals that could never be reached, yet were something to strive for, always brought the bear back to her feet no matter how many times the dragoness knocked her down. The mica colored reptile cringed every time Kajastaa stood to face her, mentally pleading for the fur to stay down. Realizing that the bear’s body would break long before her resolve, the dragoness stayed her hand. What appeal there had been in testing and ruthlessly teasing the poor mortal had faded and forced the winged lizard to acknowledge that she was conducting herself in a rather shitty manner. It was those same high standards that allowed the true Kajastaa to forgive the dragoness for her transgressions, even after a half-assed apology was dropped at her feet. Those very same standards were what fueled the mica dragoness’ disdain and dismissive attitude towards mortals in general. She knew they could live up to Kajastaa’s example, but without fail chose not to. Russo… he had been the first mortal in decades to approach her for the sake of someone other than themselves.

“…” Strained breaths were the only responses Kaya could force back. Her and Gyorrkith’s entangled bodies twirled violently through the air during their freefall, the dragoness unfortunately suffering the worst of the touchdown. Kaya landed first, the land itself splintering under her weight. An instant later, her body was all but flattened from cushioning the ruby dragon that followed. Forming sentences, much less breath attacks, was out of the question.

“Look at you,” Gyorrkith glowered with contempt. “Beaten and broken at my feet, desperately crawling away.” Placing one claw out before the other, his entire body wobbled with every step forward. The sight should have filled him with some sense of morbid satisfaction, having managed to drag her down with him. Instead, all the ruby dragon could feel was a fluid mixture of disgust and rage. His teeth, claws, and flames; the battle-forged weapons he so prided himself on did not bring him this. All he did was fucking fall on top of her, while unconscious even! There was no tact, no skill associated with it. It was as if he’d been handed a pity prize by fate, an insulting nod from the powers that be that, hey, he tried his best. Choking on his words, Greg’s heart thumped against his chest as molten bile hissing with vaporized blood dripped from between his teeth.

Gyorrkith can barely carry a conversation. Neck craned against her back, Kaya’s pearly eyes met his remaining amber one. His slitted pupil practically vanished as a thick glaze clouded over it. He’s running on instinct, for better or for worse. Dragging her tail against the ground, a wall of dirt and snow rose up to greet Gyorrkith’s conflagration. It exploded into a rain of ash, smoldering remnants painfully pelting and clinging to her scales. Easy to read and react to, a pained growl reverberated within her throat, but impossible to throw off task. Kaya shook her head, fearfully observing the ruby dragon slog through the cloud of ash, his entire body giving off the smell of roasting flesh. The false hope was nice while it lasted. Resigning herself to the bleak reality of the situation, this was going to proceed along as was expected of any other fight between dragons. A sordid, drawn out war of attrition with both sides suffering terribly.

Jaws parted wide, the ancient fiery reptile fell back on his most reliable means of attack.

Digging her claws into the ground, Kaya pulled her arm backwards, shoveling up as much snow as she was able. She could at least try to smother the orange glow radiating out of Gyorrkith’s mouth behind a curtain of white, if only to put her mind at ease for but a moment. Eyes clenched shut, she waited for the inferno to blast through her feeble defenses.

*WHUMPH*

That’s… Continuing to shovel up her surroundings, Kaya dared to open an eye. Unexpected. Gyorrkith had completely disappeared beyond the veil of snowflakes and ice, a large mound of the snow filling in for his presence. I wasn’t tossing up snow that fast, was I?

“The not red one, huh? You must be Kaya.”

Milky eyes cast upwards, Kaya strained to meet the giant’s gaze. “…” Her forked tongue pressed against the ribbed roof of her mouth but no words came out. She simply nodded at him in affirmation.

The looming rough collie smiled down warmly at her. “Heh, Russo will be glad to hear.”

Her eyes went wide, tendrils of nerves unraveling off her chest as relief washed over her.

“He’s not very good at articulating it,” Jem twirled his fingers, “but he was worried about you.”

So he survived!

Dropping to his knees, the gargantuan fur’s long fingers plowed through the snow with ease, scooping up hundreds of pounds of the puffy white stuff into his palm. “You’ll have to excuse me.” Crunching together the mass of flakes between his frigid palms, they grew hard and dense. His wrist flicked upward, a snowball with a radius as wide as Russo was tall sailing up into the air. “

Steam hissed off the mound of ice where Gyorrkith once was, collapsing in on itself as it melted from the inside out. Rivers of water and ice streamed between his scales, blood and bile piling at his feet. An amber eye swiveled towards the interloper, the dragon’s maw still pointed squarely at Kaya. Parting his lips, a guttural growl slipped forth.

Slinging his arm forward, Jem promptly silenced Greg’s mindless threat. The snowball slammed into the bleeding reptile’s side, a strong burst of wind carving up the hills of ice around them as the ruby dragon skidded across the wintry landscape. Plodding forward, the rough collie placed himself between both dragons. Brute force may not have been the Jem’s preferred weapon of choice, but it produced consistent and desirable results, much to his chagrin. He always had to remind himself that even though flexing overwhelming strength was an easy solution to most of life’s problems, it wasn’t always the right one. “I know this might not be the best time to ask,” dropping to his knees, the back of his fingers brushed aside the snowdrifts that had buried the dragoness, “but could you explain what the hell you and Russo have been up to?”

Is this the friend he was so worried about? He truly counts a giant amongst his companions? Steadying her breath, Kaya forced down painful gulps of air. What is he, stupid?! Did Russo honestly throw himself into battle for the sake of someone who was more than capable of defending themself?! Why would… Her eyes flicked up and down, taking in the massive fur’s size. If she could rise to her feet, she might come up to his waist. He does make for a large target, she conceded. It would be child’s play for herself or Gyorrkith to fly circles around him, whittling him down with breath attacks from high above. I suppose in that context it would be akin to suicide for his companion to openly engage Gyorrkith. Her gaze met with the collie’s, who patiently waited for her to form an answer at her own pace.

“…” Gasps and half-formed consonants escaped her mouth, basic words refusing to form no matter how hard she tried. Dammit! She cursed out the battered body that refused to cooperate with her demands.

“You’re just as banged up as Russo was.” A hand brushed across his muzzle, stifling some oncoming snuffles that were summoned forth by the dry, cold air. “Take your time, there’s no rush.” Resting his palms on the forest of fur covering his calves, he pushed off of them and rose to his full height. Jem’s distended shadow swallowed up the ruby dragon limping towards him, its stretched limbs and dark form looming large in the pale sunlight that managed to poke through the clouds. “Let me guess; prior to our arrival, you were without equal on these plains?”

Gyorrkith let out another infuriated bellow. Something, anything, had to be dragged down with him.

“Your only opposition coming up to your chest, the very act of breathing more than enough to stamp them out forever.” Eye to eye with Russo, it was an entirely different world down at his level. Their lives were frightening ones, filled with threats large and small that could snuff out your existence in an instant. “I’m different a matter altogether though, aren’t I?” Bulldozing a paw through the snow, waves of the white stuff headed off the dragon’s attack before it could even get off the ground.

Puffs of smoke escaped from Gyorrkith’s nostrils, a tonnage of snow smothering the fires within.

“Where I’m from, you’re little more than a nuisance.” The collie snorted derisively. “A pest at worst.” It was all a matter of scale. To humans and furs of Russo’s stature, a dragon was a monstrous thing deserving of fear and respect, capable of decimating towns and livelihoods without even having to think about it. To giants, they were the closest thing they had to birds of prey. Like a giant scaly hawk or owl. Obnoxious things that would circle round and harass the nomadic furs with their biting breaths and claws. A well timed swing or swat with an uprooted tree was usually all it took to put them in their place.

The freezing temperatures cooled Gyorrkith’s temper enough to allow rational thought to reign free once more. “Is that what you call it?” Shaking the snow off his back, the ruby dragon glared up at the latest challenger. “Your kind are just are cowardly as the rest, fleeing from us at the first sight!” His grim and self-assured veneer faltered at the burst of laughter he received in response.

“Only because it’s not worth the effort picking a fight with you pests. There are far better ways for any given giant to spend their time than swatting at the air.” Clouds of steam wafted out from the giant collie’s nostrils, obscuring his face. When they parted, Jem glared back at the dragon from beneath furrowed brows.

It was one thing to be struck down by those who were his lesser. To be ignored outright and waived off, Gyorrkith couldn’t even comprehend it. “You…” Voice trembling, that livid anger consumed him once more while his lips peeled back to reveal his stony rows of teeth.

“I don’t think there’s anything more that needs to be said.” Tucking his hand against his shoulder, Jem swung the back of his hand out in front of him. His fist struck against the lunging dragon, embedding Greg into the permafrost with an explosion of snowflakes and ice. Swinging his legs forward at a leisurely pace, the collie stood before the newly christened crater. Thick furred fingers wrapped around the ruby dragon’s tail, crunching it flat in his grip. Scales, blood, and marrow slid between his fingertips. With ease Jem lifted up the thrashing reptile, dangling it out before him. Rotating his wrist, the ruby dragon twirled violently in his grasp. He lifted his arm high above his head, his prey smacking against his broad back. Hurtling his arm forward, Jem slammed Greg into the ground.

A red puddle of equal parts blood, scales, and spines pooled beneath Gyorrkith, contrails of steam hissing off the snow melting beneath him. The dragon had long ceased movement at this point.

Hands still wrapped firmly around his tail, Jem hoisted the dragon over his back and repeated the swinging motion. Scales harder than anything mortal minds could hope to create flecked against the rough collie’s chest at the second impact, entangling themselves in knots in his fur. Globs of crimson stained the collie’s chest, shoulders, and back as he pulled Greg up for a third time.

The still roughly dragon shaped mass of flesh and keratin smashed into the blood stained soil with a wet crunch. The cycle continued until what had been Gyorrkith’s tail tore off in the giant’s grip.

“Not exactly what I’d call a fair fight,” Jem mumbled as his arms draped to his sides. Swinging his arm forward, the flattened stump of a tail flew forward and papped against the dragon’s side. Turning to Kaya, his expression and floppy ears fell when she recoiled back from him. “*Sigh*” Snow crunched and rumbled beneath the giant as he lowered himself to the ground. Sitting cross-legged, he tried to compact his broad form and present himself as somewhat less imposing. Behind him, ice continued to crack and fizzle in the roaring heat escaping from the ruby dragon’s broken body. “I’ll keep my distance, if that’s what you want.”

“I…” Her voice had returned, albeit raspy and weak. “I would prefer that, thank you.” The mica dragoness cautiously regarded her savior and cleared her throat. “You have me at the disadvantage.”

“Jem.” Introductions had gotten off to a rather grating and awkward start. “My name is Jem. Russo and I… we came here at the request of the locals regarding a rather… understated arson problem.”

At the very least, the hulking behemoth’s story corroborated with the mage’s. Given the savage display he had just put on, Kaya wasn’t in much of a position to deny him what he sought. “What would you like to know?”

---

“Jem? Jemmmmmm? JEM!” Russo collapsed back into his makeshift pillow and grunted. “Old Greg’s probably half dead, can’t be that hard to finish the job.” Shifting in place, the compacted snow had grown hard and uncomfortable against the back of his head. “I’m sure he’s fine,” the human worriedly told himself, blinking away the flakes that lazily twirled down into his eyes. He had done his part, now all he could do was leave it in Jem’s much more capable hands. Splayed out on the sidelines, it was a quiet, if not lonely, reprieve from the hard fought battle.

“It’s always reassuring to see one’s investments pay dividends,” a worryingly familiar voice echoed inside the mage’s head. “Another fine performance, Russo.”

“Oh no,” Russo whined.

“Keh heh heh, what, can’t take a compliment?”

Christ, he could already imagine those monstrous teeth circling round him in his mind’s eye. Craning his neck, the human’s chin dipped against his chest. Where the hell was that abomination?

“Hmmm…” Darkness incarnate pondered out loud as tendrils snaked down from the interior of Russo’s gloves, their smooth and jet black surface coiling around his limbs. “You know, I can’t help but feel I’m owed a word of thanks. Why, you’ll be emerging from this ordeal with an ancient and powerful spell at your disposal!” Without his consent, the human’s limbs gesticulated for the god. “If it weren’t for yours truly planting the idea in your head, such a wonderful boon would not have been bestowed upon you.”

Good God, he could even feel them, hear them, coiling and sliding against one another in the back of his cloak hood, hiding in the tiny slivers of shadow where the fabric crumpled. “So I should just overlook the part where a couple people, myself included, almost died? Thanks for nothing, asshole.” An all-powerful one at that, Russo corrected himself while donning a scowl. Said scowl was soon accompanied by pained screams. “OwwwwwOWOWOWOW!” Fingers intertwined, the mage’s arms lazily stretched themselves up high above his torso, cracking his knuckles. Dark’s black musculature overlaid the human’s own, his limbs pulling painfully at their sockets.

“Mouthy as ever,” Dark stated with smug satisfaction. “Not quite what I was looking for, but it’ll have to do.”

The tentacles retracted back up inside the dark confines of Russo’s gloves, the slimy and nauseating feeling that had ensnared the human’s limbs thankfully leaving with them. In their absence, the mage felt a cold dull metallic weight in the palm of a hand. What now? Shaking his still outstretched limb, the foreign object wriggled against his wrist before finally sliding free and plopping down on Russo’s chest, prompting a pained exhale. “This is…” Thumb and index finger wrapped around its smooth surface, his eyes followed along the indentation carved into the crest he had offloaded onto the stone sheep. “Explain.”

“In due time,” the unseen entity chuckled. “Eager as you are to delve into another one of our delightful fireside chats, now is neither the time nor place.” Dark’s voice faded as the echoes registering in human’s ears started to overlap. “Per usual, I’ll be in touch.”

Russo’s frayed nerves relaxed at that final utterance, a signal of the god’s departure. “Like I have a choice in the matter,” he mumbled dejectedly, his fingers tracing along the crescent moon carved into the worn piece of silver.

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