《Primordial Flame》


 PF Book One: Chapter 1

    ¡°Lady Thea, we found their base of operations,¡± Thea¡¯s second in command reported after returning from a scouting mission.


    ¡°Good work, we might finally be able to get rid of them,¡± Thea told him. ¡°I¡¯m tired of all these hit-and-run attacks.¡±


    ¡°It is an old fort, it looks like they¡¯ve done work on it but it is still a ruin,¡± he continued. ¡°If we can surround it and clear away the surrounding trees. Even the ones not in the fort would be effectively trapped.¡±


    ¡°Foro, have you figured out who these people are yet?¡± she changed topics to the other matter which weighed on her mind concerning the enemy.


    ¡°I think they are Free Human mercenaries,¡± Foro replied. ¡°They definitely aren''t the bandits or rebels we were told to clear out of here.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if it was just exaggeration in the reports to the Promagistrate,¡± Thea wondered.


    ¡°They are supplied with our weapons and there haven''t been reports of any being stolen,¡± Foro added. ¡°Lady Thea, I think we¡¯ve been deliberately drawn out here¡­¡±


    ¡°Foro, if someone wanted to set a trap for me out here wouldn''t they have used a stronger force?¡± she refuted. ¡°All we¡¯ve been fighting is, as you said, humans.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully, that is all it amounts to, but if you would permit me to take precautions?¡± Foro backed off.


    ¡°Of course, if I learned anything from you, Foro, it¡¯s to never rely on things going as planned,¡± she smiled at him as he gave a crisp salute.


    ***


    A man looked out from the ruin of the old fort. He was careful to stay behind cover as he watched the flames rise up from the surrounding trees.


    ¡°Brontannistine!¡± his second in command shouted his full name after he failed to respond on her first few attempts.


    ¡°What is it Aisling?¡±


    ¡°I strengthened the walls the best I could but if they have that kind of power out there it won''t last long,¡± she reported.


    ¡°Damnit, how the hell did they even find this place, it should have been camouflaged from the sky, we didn''t see any giant flaming birds up there either,¡± Bron¡¯s mind raced to find a way out of this situation while he ranted.


    ¡°I¡¯d assume they scouted us out from the ground,¡± she stated. ¡°They¡¯ve operated in a very competent manner the entire time, even the suppression weapons haven''t been much help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m really regretting taking this contract,¡± he lamented


    ¡°Well, you at least have one trump card to play,¡± she suggested.


    ¡°The last thing I want is to rely on him!¡± Bron almost growled out.


    ¡°No, Brontannistine, the last thing you want is for everyone to die,¡± Aisling replied coldly to his bout of childishness.


    ¡°What do you need to make it happen?¡± he asked in a forced level tone.


    ¡°Blood,¡± she handed him a bowl.


    ***


    ¡°Foro, deploy the field ballistae facing the gate, it looks flimsy,¡± Thea ordered from her perch on a rock that stood behind the majority of her legion¡¯s formation. ¡°Also start throwing fireballs into the courtyard of that fort, make them keep their heads down, and we might get an opportunity to fly in.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lady Thea,¡± Foro relayed her orders to the appropriate runners and sent them on their way.


    She watched over the progress as the legion¡¯s three small field ballistae were deployed and flames were arching over the walls and into the fort. She saw her legionnaires move in close and retreat back, testing the defenses to the sides of the fort.


    The thing that astonished her was how little effect the blunted bolts and fireballs were having. The gate appeared to be rickety and old but the bolts bounced off as if it were made of steel.


    ¡°Foro!¡± she yelled down to him. ¡°Divert half the fireballs to the gate.¡±


    She watched the results carefully. The wood on the gate would catch on fire in several places each time before the flames would be snuffed out in a flash of green.


    ¡°Witchcraft!¡± Foro yelled up at her when he saw it. ¡°They¡¯re using spirits to shore up the defenses!¡±


    ¡°No getting around it, throw everything at it, exhaust the witches!¡± Thea ordered.


    ***


    ¡°Bron I am not going to be able to maintain the reinforcements and do the summon,¡± Aisling seemed to appear out of nowhere and spoke from behind him.


    ¡°How long will you need?¡± he asked with a smile that almost grew feral.


    ¡°I do not know for certain,¡± she answered. ¡°No-one has tried this before.¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Bron laughed. ¡°Who would summon a dragon into the middle of a siege?¡±


    ¡°How do you think he¡¯ll react?¡± she asked, the first bit of nervousness Bron had seen from her.


    ¡°Don''t worry about it, I¡¯ll take that all on me, and he doesn''t like to kill intelligent beings, human or otherwise,¡± Bron reassured her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll move into the keep and finish preparations then,¡± she told him. ¡°You should tell everyone to get off the walls he is likely to appear right above us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send everyone in,¡± Bron said as he caressed the hilt of his large and heavy sword. ¡°I¡¯ll give them a hint of what¡¯s to come, it should buy you enough time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll start when the last of us are in the keep.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Lady Thea, they are retreating from the walls!¡± Foro relayed the reports from the scouts.


    ¡°Good! Have four squads take an assault stance and stand by, one for each side,¡± she ordered. ¡°We need to be ready once we know what they¡¯re planning.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lady Thea,¡± she didn''t miss the prideful smile on his face as he saluted.


    The gate crashed outward. Most of the legion was disciplined enough not to engage in a collective flinch but there were a few who couldn''t resist.


    They could see a silhouette in the dust and smoke. It walked through the gate, a large sword held at the ready.


    The figure took a step and something seemed to bulge out of its back.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Being!¡± Foro yelled. ¡°Everyone at the ready, get back in formation!¡±


    The figure took another step and those bulges took the shape of wings.


    ¡°What in the hells is that?¡± Thea muttered to herself.


    The wings flapped forward blowing the dust and smoke out onto the closer legionnaires. Thea could see the glittering scales they shined a bright crimson with shimmers of purple that seemed to dance around the wings.


    ¡°Dragon!¡± she could hear a nearly collective yell as her legion clamored.


    ¡°Everyone, brace yourselves!¡± Foro yelled out. ¡°He¡¯ll have an aura!¡±


    More than one person stared at the second in command in confusion. Information on dragons was sketchy and rare at best and no military training covered dealing with them. They had no idea what he meant by ''an aura''.


    They learned. It was like a wave washed over them. A feeling of awe, of dread. It was as if they were looking at someone who held their lives in his hands. It was almost godlike.


    Everything stalled. Some fresher recruits even fainted. Many were able to condition themselves and the effect weakened as they got used to it, like swimming in cold water.


    ¡°Fire at him!¡± Thea yelled when she recovered.


    ¡°Fire dammit, you¡¯re legionnaires, not some undisciplined mob!¡± Foro echoed her.


    Thea took note that the fort was enveloped in a green glow behind him but turned her focus to the problem at hand.


    A fireball shot towards the man only to be buffeted to the side with a flap of his wings. Arrows were knocked away, his reactions were extraordinary. Even as far away as she was Thea could see the grin on his face, she had to conceal how unnerved that made her.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The man got close enough to grab one of her men, he tossed him aside like it was nothing. Thea wondered how big the gap must be since that soldier had been a pure blood phoenix.


    The green glow had increased and now seemed to be writhing like some form of living thing.


    ¡°Foro, direct the fire past him at the fort!¡± Thea yelled down to her second. Foro scrambled the message runners again.


    The man moved so fast, he jumped in front of the fireballs one after another. She could see Foro adjusting though. He created a wider arc between the fireballs and managed to get some of them fired simultaneously.


    The green light pulsed. There was a fireball fired that looked as if it would make it through the staggeringly good defense of the dragon-man. It soared through the air. It evaded the man''s valiant attempt to block it by a finger¡¯s width. The green light pulsed again.


    It was eerie like time had slowed down. The world appeared to almost stop. Thea thought she could see the malformation of the fireball as it crashed into the wall. She thought she could see the green light retreating and pulsing upwards.


    There was a green flash so bright everyone had to cover their eyes. It caused the raging battle to stop. It was like a moment was frozen in time.


    The green glow that remained after the flash seemed to condense into itself before it seemed to suddenly implode. In the place where the green glow had been a great reptilian beast had appeared. It had the same crimson and purple coloration of the dragon man¡¯s wings.


    The dragon unfurled its own wings as it began to fall. It tried to arrest the momentum to some extent but still crashed into the wall of the fort. The wall was completely demolished and dust was thrown into the air.


    When the dust cleared the dragon looked over the field of human form phoenixes and the few shifted ones until it located the dragon-man.


    ¡°BOY, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!¡± the dragon roared.


    ***


    Bron winced as he heard ¡®Boy¡¯ and made his way over to the dragon that had sired him. The phoenixes didn''t seem to know what to do and were currently paralyzed in indecision.


    ¡°Well?¡± the dragon asked when Bron had gotten closer.


    ¡°I got cornered,¡± Bron replied.


    ¡°And?¡± the dragon didn''t look pleased by Bron¡¯s halfhearted answer.


    ¡°I don''t want my people to die because of it,¡± Bron told him


    ¡°Why get involved with the Covenant then? The phoenixes are still Covenant right?¡±


    ¡°Because they¡¯re the only ones paying, the mess to the north finally lined itself out,¡± Bron said in an exasperated tone.


    ¡°They''re paying you...to fight themselves?¡± the dragon¡¯s anger seemed to melt away as it was replaced by confusion.


    ¡°Not even that, I¡¯m supposed to let them chase us around and then escape to the north,¡± Bron shrugged. ¡°Their commanders were just¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re an idiot for taking that contract, Boy, warfare is one thing but you just contracted yourself into politics and now your people are all about to get killed,¡± his father scolded him. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to treasure your kin and possessions not sell them off for change.¡±


    ¡°Whatever, help me get them out of here. Whatever I have to do, I¡¯ll do, just help my people,¡± Bron almost shouted.


    ¡°Boy, you need to learn when to reign in your pride and it won''t be getting hurt so much,¡± his father told him. ¡°Just wait here.¡±


    The dragon turned his gaze towards the legion and his aura rolled out to them much like Bron¡¯s had done earlier in the battle. The effects were vastly different, some soldiers even turned and ran. Only the most stalwart of veterans kept their wits about them enough to function.


    The dragon lowered his head and braced himself. He used all four of his limbs to crawl out from the rubble of the wall and charged. Those that had kept ranks without fainting scrambled to get out of the way.


    ***


    Thea tried to shake off the effects of the draconic aura. She wondered how and when she had gone to her knees.


    She stood up and watched as the dragon swatted at the shifted phoenixes who dive-bombed at its eyes. Thea saw a bolt from one of the ballistae get knocked to the side. The dragon looked to the source of the bolt and drew back its neck. It seemed to be inhaling.


    ¡°Scatter! Get out of there!¡± she heard Foro shout towards the ballista crews.


    A crimson blob of fire sped towards the ballistae. It vaporized all but one of them. Thea could see that the ballista crews clutched at burns as they fell back. It gave her perspective on the gap between them and the dragon. A Being of fire should have nothing to fear from flames, and yet the dragon could burn them.


    ¡°Foro!¡± Thea yelled looking around for him. She found him staggering around a short distance away.


    She jumped down from the rock she was on and ran over to him. Thea shook him by the shoulders until clarity came back to his eyes.


    ¡°Lady Thea?¡± he asked as he looked around.


    ¡°Foro I need you to get to the remaining ballista and load it with a suppression bolt,¡± she told him. ¡°I¡¯m going to distract the dragon so it doesn''t dodge it or slap it away.¡±


    ¡°What, no, Lady Thea, I¡­¡±


    ¡°Foro, I¡¯m not very good with the ballistae and I¡¯m stronger than you are, if anyone stands a chance of not dying it¡¯s me. Just don''t miss,¡± Thea emphasized that point.


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°Foro, follow orders.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lady Thea,¡± she watched as he sighed and turned away towards the remaining ballista.


    Thea unbuckled her armor and let it fall to the ground. She was glad for the new design, it was easy to remove in a hurry to avoid destroying it or injury during shifting. She did lament the coming loss of her uniform though, but there was just not enough time to remove it.


    Thea crouched down as golden wings of flame sprouted from her back. They shimmered like a hot afternoon sun. She jumped forward as the shift finished and screeched her challenge towards the dragon. She flapped her wings and hurled indiscriminate flames at its face, anything to get its attention.


    The dragon didn''t seem interested in her attacks. What did draw its attention though, was Foro loading the ballista. It swatted away the last of the phoenixes buzzing around its head and focused its full attention on the last ballista.


    She started flying the moment she saw it raise its head. She flung fireball after fireball at it as its lungs expanded with its inhaled breath. Thea dove as it released its crimson fire and in a whirlwind of her own golden flames did the only thing she could think of. She threw herself into the path of the dragon¡¯s fire.


    The pressure was immense. Thea felt like she was being buried under a mountain. She closed her eyes to the dancing crimson and golden flames which surrounded her and released all of her power. She was not trying to stop the dragon¡¯s breath, she was only trying to deflect it to the side. All she had to do was give Foro enough time to load and fire.


    She felt the pressure lifted and the heat dissipating as the flames dispersed. She was exhausted, barely able to hold herself up off the ground. Her wings drooped down at her sides. She opened her eyes and looked around through the smoke and haze leftover from the clash of flames.


    A shadow obscured what light made its way through, and she looked up at it. A pair of golden reptilian eyes stared down at her. She could see the fangs spread in something akin to a smile. She offered up a cry of defiance that came out as more of a resigned croak. The next sound she heard was a ballista bolt ripping through the air and the thunk as it entered the dragon¡¯s chest.


    The dragon staggered back as the suppression effect took hold. Blood splashed from the wound and landed in front of Thea as she nearly collapsed from relief.


    The dragon shrunk down, getting smaller and smaller. The reptilian features were replaced with human ones. Where the great beast once stood there was left a tall man grasping the shaft of the ballista bolt still sticking from his chest. The end quivered with each breath he took.


    What legionaries that were left still able to take action charged in with their spears. The man grinned, something Thea found it eerie with how much it resembled the fang-filled grin of his true form, and the soldiers stopped in their tracks as the draconic aura flooded out even stronger than it had been when the dragon had first engaged them.


    Thea was affected enough that with the exhausted state she was in she almost fainted. She willed her way out of it and shifted out of her phoenix form. She needed to be able to speak in this situation.


    She went back to her human-form and trembled on her hands and knees as she stared at the ground. Thea wondered if she could even stand. She looked up to see the man was staring at her with eyes filled with mirth. Her temper flared and anger welled up inside her.


    As she started to bring herself to her feet she felt something being draped over her. She looked up and saw that Foro had brought her something to cover herself with. She nodded her thanks and accepted his help in getting to her feet.


    Thea walked up to the man with the ballista bolt still sticking from his chest and willed her way through the aura surrounding him. Foro stayed by her side helping her keep upright.


    ¡°Dragon, I am Legatus Thea Annagenisi, Commander of the Phoenix Legion of the Covenant Army, and Lady of the Phoenix Duchy,¡± Thea formally introduced herself. ¡°I advise you to stand down.¡±


    ¡°You should be quite a bit more burnt up than you are,¡± the man replied.


    ¡°Are you going to surrender?¡±.


    ¡°Why should I do that?¡± the man smiled at her, which she found very off-putting. ¡°If you think I¡¯m in any significant danger here, you are unfortunately very mistaken."


    ¡°You can hold off my men with your aura but it seems Foro and I have adapted to it,¡± she found his flippancy to be grating. ¡°What do you plan to do, stand there until you bleed to death?¡±


    The man smiled at her and reached up to grasp the ballista bolt by the shaft. She clearly saw scales form on his hand and the beginnings of claws form at the tips of his fingers. She glanced over to Foro as her face paled to see that his face had paled as well.


    ¡°It¡¯s OK little birds, the boy should be quite close to finishing up his withdrawal,¡± the man continued. ¡°That¡¯s all I really need to achieve.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Thea couldn''t help but sigh. ¡°Can I take that to mean you¡¯d rather avoid a fight yourself?¡±


    ¡°Well, now, the bird is finally using her brain,¡± he chuckled at his own joke. ¡°That and I would like you to answer two of my questions.¡±


    ¡°My mission was to clear out enemy troops from here, as long as they are withdrawing out of the Forgotten Kingdom area then my mission can be considered successful,¡± Thea slumped her shoulders and conceded. She was simply too tired from the confrontation and none of her legionnaires around her looked much better.


    ¡°Very good,¡± the man grinned at her. ¡°How did you survive my dragon fire and which lord sent you up here?¡±


    ¡°Phoenixes are immune to fire,¡± Thea was confused by the first question, ¡°And the Promagistrate of Tiantang City ordered this patrol.¡±


    ¡°Your education is lacking in some respects, dragon fire can burn anything, and that should have been enough to roast you like a chicken,¡± the man told her.


    ¡°That¡­¡± Thea was at a loss for words and looked to Foro for help, he just shook his head.


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll make you a deal,¡± the man said after he pondered for a moment. ¡°If you¡¯ll heal this wound for me I¡¯ll tell you what kind of fire you actually have.¡±


    Thea looked over at Foro, afraid she was too tired to think clearly.


    ¡°He didn''t lie, I thought you were dead until the flames started deflecting off to the side,¡± Foro told her. ¡°Also something you should know, I don''t think he killed a single phoenix since he¡¯s gotten here.¡±


    ¡°Dragon, there are only three mentions of dragons in our histories, one during the founding, one who destroyed the first human empire and one who killed millions of Covenant beings in the last great war,¡± she asked him plainly. ¡°Are you connected to any of those?¡±


    ¡°I am Zaganursarrum, the target of that, so-called, ''great war.'' The first one you mentioned is my mother and the second, that is an event I have never heard of¡± he looked pensive.


    ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be the ¡®Red Demon¡¯ from the war five-thousand years ago? Why is someone who slaughtered millions willing to show mercy?¡± she pressed him.


    ¡°Are you going to take the deal or not?¡± he growled, his tone reflected his anger at her questions.


    ¡°Fine,¡± she reached up with one hand and grasped the butt of the ballista bolt. The bolt was vaporized in a flash of golden fire and the man was left without even a scar.


    ¡°It¡¯s just as I thought, Primordial Flame,¡± the man said as he stretched his arms and neck.


    ¡°What is that supposed to be?¡± she asked him.


    ¡°Look it up yourself, I¡¯d advise not to talk about it to the snake, but he already seems to want you dead.¡±


    ¡°And what is that supposed to mean?¡± now she was angry.


    ¡°Don''t worry, you more than have my attention, if they get too carried away I¡¯ll just have to remind them I exist,¡± he told her.


    ¡°Just...what?¡±


    ¡°Goodbye for now little birds,¡± he waved as he walked off. Everyone was too stunned by what he said to take action.

 PF Book One: Chapter 2

    ¡°What¡¯s got you in such a down mood?¡± Zag asked Bron when he sighed for the tenth time since he¡¯s invited himself into the cramped office Bron was shuffling through papers in.


    ¡°Huh? Oh, you haven''t left yet,¡± Bron responded after being startled out of his thoughts. ¡°I¡¯m counting the damage.¡±


    ¡°Why are you leading a band of warriors if their deaths put you down this low?¡± Zag asked him, ¡°Isn''t there something about honor or whatever?¡±


    ¡°To some people, I guess,¡± Bron really didn''t want to talk about it.


    ¡°You¡¯re even still bothered by your mother¡¯s death, aren''t you? Did you start leading this troop because you thought you could keep more of them alive than someone else?¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to pick a fight with me?¡± Bron glared at him. ¡°Not only did I lose people but the payment never arrived.¡±


    ¡°Would you feel better if we fought?¡± Zag asked as if he saw it as a legitimate option to cheer Bron up. ¡°You know you¡¯re a loose end in his scheme now, right?¡±


    ¡°Meaning getting any work is out the window,¡± Bron deflated.


    ¡°Speaking of which, I need to hire you,¡± Zag segued into the other reason he was here.


    ¡°What, why?¡± Bron was surprised and his mind tried to find a reason one of the most independent beings in the world would need him to do.


    ¡°Because the witch that follows you around won''t cast spells for me unless I hire you,¡± Zag stated.


    Bron stared at him a moment before he burst out with laughter.


    ¡°What do you need her to cast a spell for?¡± he asked after he got himself under control.


    ¡°So I can keep an eye on the interesting little bird you found for me,¡± Zag leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers.


    ¡°Now who¡¯s getting involved with the Covenant?¡± Bron sarcastically smiled.


    ¡°Boy, my involvement has been more fruitful than yours, I met a mate, made a friend and now I¡¯ve found something even my mother has only heard of and never seen,¡± Zag looked smug. ¡°While you got cheated out of your pay.¡±


    ¡°You really do want to start a fight don''t you?¡± despite saying that Bron was grinning. ¡°I fully plan on collecting from that asshole of a serpent.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what do you plan on doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying but I do have some contacts in his palace,¡± both of them wore the same evil grin. ¡°Anyway let''s discuss the pay for her spell-casting.¡±


    ***


    ¡°You had Zaganursarrum, and you just let him leave?¡± Thea could tell by his tone that the promagistrate was angry after she gave her report.


    ¡°Lord promagistrate, there was no indication that we could actually finish him off,¡± she forced herself to remain calm as her temper tried to flare up, ¡°and the assigned mission was completed with very little loss. I didn''t want to take a risk on something I wasn''t even sure we could complete.¡±


    ¡°All right, what¡¯s done is done,¡± he said waving off the issue. ¡°Take your legion around the southern route back to the Phoenix Duchy, I keep getting complaints that the local authorities in the Werelands are not keeping up with maintenance. Fix what you can and send me a review via courier when you get back home.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lord promagistrate,¡± Thea bowed, saluted and made her exit.


    She made her way to where Foro was waiting and after meeting up they started back to where the rest of the legion was camped outside the city.


    ¡°Was he upset over the dragon, Lady Thea?¡± Foro asked her.


    ¡°It almost seems like he has a personal grievance against the dragon,¡± she answered. ¡°He gave us road duty.¡±


    ¡°Ugh,¡± Foro groaned. ¡°Did you tell him about anything the dragon said to you, about the flame?¡±


    ¡°No, I thought it¡¯d be best to get off the topic of the dragon when he got agitated,¡± Thea replied. ¡°I plan on digging through the records when we get back to the Duchy.¡±


    ¡°Well, now we have to come up with a way to convince a bunch of flying beings not to get defeated by road work,¡± Foro scowled at the thought, Thea nodded her agreement.


    A pair of sad eyes watched them from a window high above in a tower.


    ***


    ¡°What am I supposed to use as a medium?¡± Aisling asked after Zag explained to her what spells he wanted her to cast. ¡°You do know I need something from the target of the spell so the spirits can interact with it right?¡±


    ¡°Of course I know!¡± Zag snipped at her. ¡°The boy¡¯s mother was a witch, you know?¡±


    ¡°I see, and the medium?¡±


    ¡°This,¡± Zag exclaimed as he lifted his hand. A small golden ball of fire rested in his palm.


    ¡°Isn''t your fire usually red? And how is your fire supposed to connect the spirits with that phoenix you¡¯re wanting to check up on?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing, this isn''t just my fire,¡± Zag bounced it between his hands, ¡°It should keep strong ties to its original source.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s true then it should work,¡± she thought for a moment. ¡°How would we get the spirits to display a location?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy, I can''t believe you¡¯ve never even heard of doing this,¡± Zag clenched his fist around the ball of flame to put it out. ¡°You just use a map and a small stone, preferably a smooth one so it is easier for them to move.¡±


    ¡°But spirits don''t understand how to read maps¡­¡± Aisling argued.


    ¡°Do you understand how to read maps?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she narrowed her eyes as an inkling of where he was taking this entered her mind.


    ¡°Then convey that to them, that¡¯s what witches do right?¡±


    Aisling felt a headache coming on.


    ***


    ¡°This is a mess,¡± Foro stated as they arrived in the Werelands and saw the state of the roads.


    ¡°You would think earthbound beings would take better care of their roads,¡± Thea just hoped there weren''t any places the road had completely collapsed.


    ¡°Well, at least we can just burn the overgrowth¡­¡± Foro went into his own thoughts as he planned out a course of action.


    ¡°Keep an eye out for trees suitable for marker posts, we¡¯ll put them in a cart and dry them as needed,¡± Thea added. ¡°I hope the way stations aren''t just piles of rubble.¡±


    The further along the road they went and the deeper into the forest it cut through the more displeased they became. The road had obviously not been maintained properly in at least two years by Foro¡¯s estimation.


    ¡°There is no way this happened without the knowledge of the city lords,¡± Foro complained.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Even if that¡¯s true what do you want me to do about it now?¡± Thea asked amid her own frustration with the task.


    They both sighed and brought their focus back to directing the legionnaires¡¯ efforts.


    Foro led a scouting patrol out to find a good place to set up camp when the sun sunk down into late afternoon. They wound up making camp in a natural clearing that used to hold a waystation. The waystation was nothing more than a pile of stones.


    ¡°It looks like someone tore it down,¡± Foro stared at the rubble before he voiced his thoughts.


    ¡°Why though?¡± Thea didn''t want to admit it but she was feeling worried that Foro¡¯s paranoia might be on point in this case.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know but I¡¯m treating this as hostile territory,¡± Foro crossed his arms. ¡°Permission for double watches, Lady Thea?¡±


    ¡°As you will, Foro, but rotate the watches at half-length, we have a tired legion on our hands,¡± she amended his idea slightly.


    ¡°Yes, Lady Thea,¡± he went off to organize the watch and to make sure the camp was set up properly.


    Thea sighed and returned to her own thoughts. For the first time in a while, they returned to the things the dragon had said to her. She could only hope there were records in her family¡¯s library that covered details from the primordial era. There was really so little knowledge left since it was before the time the beings could keep records.


    She decided to push things off until the morning. She was just as tired as her legionnaires and could use the sleep. She looked optimistically towards the next day since she was almost certain they¡¯d be able to push out of this forest and into the Werelands proper.


    The night set and after eating their dinner the legionnaires went to their beds save for the few that drew the first watch. Some of them patrolled the perimeter of the encampment and others took a stationary vigil throughout the edges away from the slowly dying campfires.


    The night sky clouded up covering what little light the stars and moon gave them. One of the patrolling duos nodded a greeting as they passed another pair.


    They turned back around when they heard the screams only to be impaled through the back themselves. Their wails soon were joined by the rest of the camp as the ambush came crashing down upon them.


    ***


    Aisling wanted to go back to sleep. She had woken up at the break of dawn to try teaching a spirit how to read a map. Considering the spirits didn''t even really exist in this world to a point where they could directly ¡®see¡¯ anything in it that was a task she would have gladly traded to someone else.


    ¡°Absolutely not, you almost lit my maps on fire!¡± Bron argued with Zag compounding Aisling¡¯s desire to be somewhere else.


    ¡°What? It wasn''t me it was the spirit, and you can get new maps,¡± Zag argued back.


    ¡°I have to get them from a Covenant city, do you think anyone here makes maps?¡± Bron was getting more and more heated.


    ¡°Bron,¡± Aisling muttered without raising her head from the desk she was sitting at.


    ¡°And since I currently have one of the Covenant city lords viewing me as a loose end it makes these even more valuable,¡± Bron didn''t hear her.


    ¡°Boy, that one is your own fault,¡± Zag was starting to look annoyed. Besides, I already paid for your little girlfriend to cast the spell.¡±


    ¡°Bron,¡± Aisling said his name louder this time and sat up.


    ¡°How is she going to cast the spell if you burn up the map?¡±


    ¡°Brontannistine!¡± she finally yelled out his full name to get his attention. Zag snickered under his breath but stifled it quickly when she glared his way.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Bron asked cautiously.


    ¡°The spirit gets it now, we can cast the spell,¡± she told him. ¡°Your map won''t catch on fire.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Bron was having trouble coming up with something to say since he was thrown off track.


    ¡°That¡¯s wonderful!¡± Zag clapped his hands together. ¡°Can we start then?¡±


    ¡°On one condition, neither of you are allowed to speak until I am done,¡± she glared from one to the other. ¡°Each time it has devolved into an argument that has made the job infinitely more difficult.¡±


    Bron clamped his jaw shut and glared at Zag. Zag was surprised for a moment before he met Aisling''s eyes and smirked. Her glare settled on him and she stared him down.


    ¡°I like you,¡± Zag grinned. ¡°When are you and the boy having children?¡±


    ¡°Just be quiet,¡± she turned away from him before snatching the map away from Bron as he ground his teeth.


    She laid the map out on the table and put weights at each corner to keep it from rolling back up. Bron moved to help her but thought better of it when all it got him was another glare.


    She placed a small stone near the place that the battle took place and closed her eyes. She muttered as if she was speaking under her breath to someone and the stone gave off a light flash of green light.


    ¡°Now stay where you are and hold out the fire,¡± she ordered Zag without opening her eyes.


    Zag held up his hand and a small ball of golden flame was formed above his palm. Aisling muttered again and this time the flash of green light occurred around the flame.


    Aisling continued to mutter and sweat beaded on her brow as she communed with the spirits that surrounded them. The small stone flashed with a green light and disappeared altogether before reappearing on a different part of the map.


    ¡°That can''t be good,¡± Zag said when he says the location.


    ¡°Quiet,¡± Aisling said over her muttering.


    Zag and Bron both leaned over the table and watched the shaky stone as it twitched every few moments.


    ¡°You can talk now,¡± Aisling opened her eyes and her gaze soon joined theirs on the stone.


    ¡°Why would she be there?¡± Bron asked Zag when the moratorium on talking had been lifted.


    ¡°It¡¯s moving pretty fast too if you look at it to scale,¡± Zag stroked his beard in thought. ¡°It would either be because a battle is going on there or someone is trying to transport her as a prisoner while keeping her hidden, no other reason to be in that remote of an area.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s all swamp too,¡± Bron added. ¡°Not a place you¡¯d send phoenixes to battle.¡±


    ¡°Well, considering the direction they¡¯re moving and the speed since the spirit is showing us their movement to scale and who apparently has an issue with her it would be a safe bet to guess they were going to Tiantang,¡± Zag voiced his inferences out loud.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Bron agreed, ¡°the only other option would be Proelefsi which wouldn¡¯t make sense with her popularity in her own home city.¡±


    ¡°Hey, witch. Can you have the spirit show you what it saw?¡± Zag turned to Aisling and asked.


    ¡°I assume you understand how little that can be interpreted,¡± she responded before closing her eyes and muttering again.


    ¡°It should be enough,¡± Zag watched her patiently.


    ¡°Small storm-clouds, one sputtering gold colored fire in the middle of them and,¡± she paused, ¡°and something they won''t show me.¡±


    ¡°Your level of skill is more terrifying than the boy¡¯s mother,¡± Zag looked genuinely impressed.


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Bron asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to Tiantang,¡± he answered.


    ¡°We?¡±


    ¡°I haven''t been there since before you were born,¡± Zag explained. ¡°Do you think I know where anything is? Besides, you need to collect on a debt, don¡¯t you? Leaving it be reflects badly on all of dragon-kind.¡±


    ¡°So what is the benefit for my side of the partnership?¡± Bron asked.


    ¡°I will take you there. It would be the only way to get there before whatever that snake is planning starts to happen,¡± Zag answered. ¡°He had her captured instead of killed so it¡¯s either an attempt at discrediting her or they want to torture her for information.¡±


    ¡°So you need to get there first to find out which one and then prepare some sort of breakout.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± Zag nodded.


    ¡°You¡¯ll need to fund the trip,¡± Bron pointed out. ¡°Our budget is still pretty tight until I can get what I¡¯m owed out of the palace.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to try to burglarize the palace?¡± Aisling had a shocked expression on her face.


    ¡°If the opportunity is there, imagine how distracted they¡¯re going to be with my father in the middle of the city doing something disagreeable,¡± Bron laughed. ¡°Also the promagistrate hates him.¡±


    ¡°Beyond what the Covenant already does?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes,¡± Zag laughed. ¡°I personally embarrassed him once, I¡¯ll tell you about it sometime.¡±


    ¡°One question,¡± Aisling added, ¡°What did you mean when you said you were going to take us there?¡±


    ***


    Bron leaped off of his back the moment Zag landed. He proceeded to throw up then after wiping his mouth he turned and helped Aisling the rest of the way down. She curled into the fetal position and trembled in denial.


    Zag shifted to his human form and rummaged through the pack they had brought with them for some clothes.


    ¡°I can understand the witch having trouble but why is someone who can fly getting ill from it?¡± he glowered at Bron.


    ¡°It isn''t the same,¡± Bron was still looking a little green, ¡°not even close.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen small children do better than you,¡± Zag accused.


    ¡°I don''t care,¡± Bron replied. ¡°We need to calm Aisling down, or we won''t be able to make it to the city before dark.¡±


    ¡°Just carry her,¡± Zag shrugged.


    ¡°That would make a spectacle,¡± Bron argued. ¡°You wanted to be subtle remember?¡±


    ¡°Just do it. Boy, if anything would calm her down that would,¡± Zag started walking. ¡°We can put her down before we reach the gate.¡±


    Bron sighed and picked Aisling up off the ground. He cradled her like a child while listening to her mutter the words ¡°never again¡± over and over.


    After a while of walking, he could tell she had calmed down, but she showed no inclination towards wanting to be put down. There was only a little ways left until they came to the gate and the foot traffic along the road was easy to ignore, so he decided to humor her. With his Draconic heritage, it wasn''t as if carrying her would strain him in any way, and he enjoyed how soft she felt.


    ¡°Alright lovebirds,¡± Zag said as they reached the last bend before Tiantang¡¯s gate. ¡°Time to get to work.¡±


    Bron lowered Aisling to the ground and she looked away. He could see the tinge of pink on her cheek.


    ¡°I need a tall building with roof access that overlooks the main street through town,¡± Zag ordered.


    ¡°That¡¯s easy, the place we stayed at last time is perfect,¡± Bron explained. ¡°Aisling you lead him there and I¡¯ll go get some dinner while I try to round up some contacts.¡±

 PF Book One: Chapter 3

    Aisling sat drinking tea in the room they rented for Zag. The inn was crowded but luckily there were still open rooms. They had found out that there was a celebratory triumph being held the next day.


    ¡°It seems it is turning out like you expected,¡± Aisling pointed out. ¡°I wonder what exactly is going on, I¡¯ve never heard of the Covenant races being this hostile towards each other.¡±


    ¡°They have never actually gotten along, the only thing holding it together has always been the fear each of them has of Agios Ba,¡± Zag explained. ¡°Something has likely compromised that fear or Huilei has found something that scares him more than the founder.¡±


    ¡°That reminds me,¡± Aisling looked over at him. ¡°Why does he hate you so much?¡±


    ¡°It isn''t just him, most of his family hates me, I embarrassed them pretty thoroughly,¡± Zag began. ¡°I wouldn''t say I was completely in control of the situation that led to it but I went along with things and it led to what it led to¡­¡±


    ***


    Zag had been fast asleep on the bench outside of an establishment that sold a type of honey-wine he had taken a liking to. He was startled awake by a small finger that kept jabbing him in the side.


    He looked down and met the gaze of a little girl who looked at him with curious intensity.


    ¡°What are you, mister?¡± she asked him as her head took on a slight tilt.


    ¡°How in the world did a snake wind up here?¡± Zag muttered to himself as he rubbed his eyes and wondered if he was seeing things.


    ¡°That¡¯s rude!¡± the girl stomped her foot. ¡°I¡¯m not a snake! Also, I asked you a question first!¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t your question rude as well, little girl?¡± Zag was amused by the childish antics, it had been some time since he had dealt with children directly.


    ¡°But I want to know, I¡¯ve never smelled anything like you before,¡± she pouted.


    ¡°Alright then, we¡¯ll trade, I¡¯ll give you an answer for an answer,¡± Zag smiled at her.


    ¡°Hm, that sounds fair,¡± she nodded. ¡°Then what are you?¡±


    ¡°Dragon,¡± Zag answered.


    ¡°Like Sharmelammusarratum?¡± she asked in excitement.


    ¡°Don¡¯t I get a turn to ask a question?¡± Zag asked her back.


    ¡°Yes, and that counts as your turn,¡± the girl looked at him smugly.


    ¡°You aren''t playing fair, little girl, are you sure you want to upset a dragon?¡± Zag tapped her on the forehead with his finger.


    ¡°Ow,¡± she pouted again. ¡°Wait, that was another question!¡±


    ¡°How did you get out from the palace grounds?¡± Zag tried to gain control of the conversation. The girl giggled when she heard the question.


    ¡°I slipped away from the servants watching me and floated out of a window,¡± she looked proud of herself. ¡°The patrols outside the palace are really easy to predict so I just walked out from there.¡±


    ¡°I see, you¡¯re a clever one,¡± Zag couldn''t help but be amused with how easy she made it sound.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m very smart,¡± she nodded back.


    ¡°You¡¯re very well read as well if you know about my mother,¡± Zag commended her.


    ¡°Your mother? Oh!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°Your mother is Sharmelammusarratum? That means you¡¯re Zaganursarrum!¡±


    ¡°Not even a flinch, you¡¯re a brave little girl too,¡± Zag grinned at her enthusiasm.


    ¡°Hmph, as if some old mister sleeping away on a bench smelling of alcohol could do anything to me,¡± her assertion caused Zag to burst out laughing.


    ¡°What is your name, little girl?¡±


    ¡°My name is Liangfeng, my father is in charge of this city,¡± she told him as she took on a pose of smug superiority.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s a very impressive city,¡± Zag stroked his beard and his eyes turned serious. ¡°Liangfeng, what is going to happen to that servant you slipped away from?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be dismissed and never work in the palace again,¡± her demeanor did not change at all, ¡°I told my father that I did not want that psychophant for a servant.¡±


    ¡°Is that the reason you¡¯re out here, to throw a tantrum over a servant?¡± Zag asked her. His distaste for that kind of action was on full display through his tone of voice.


    ¡°Nonsense, do you think I¡¯m so shallow?¡± she scolded him. ¡°I¡¯m not going to go out of my way to cause my father grief over a mere psychophant. This servant was put in place over one I was quite happy with simply because this one was a suck up and my protests were brushed off. The other reason is I¡¯ve never gotten to go outside before. You should know how our culture is, right?¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see,¡± Zag clapped his hands once. ¡°So you were upset and used the excuse of throwing a tantrum to go outside and run off.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to make me mad?¡±


    ¡°Maybe a little,¡± Zag admitted. ¡°Anyway, now that I¡¯m awake I think I¡¯ll go get something to eat.¡±


    Zag started walking through the crowd. The beings, with senses good enough to tell what he was, gave him a wide and very nervous berth, making it much easier than it would have been normal for him to get through Tiantang¡¯s foot traffic. He made his way to a food stall he had become fond of on his current visit to the city.


    The stall served human recipes from the Forgotten Kingdom. It mostly consisted of skewered meats and potatoes. For Zag, who had spent centuries in the kingdom, it was nostalgia given physical form.


    As Zag was waiting in line he felt a pair of greedy eyes as they bored into his side and he heard the loud protests of someone¡¯s very empty stomach.


    ¡°You didn''t plan a way to feed yourself did you?¡± he asked the little girl who had followed him.


    ¡°Nope, I couldn''t exactly rob the treasury,¡± she answered as her eyes kept darting to the food being prepared.


    ¡°Couldn''t figure out a way?¡±


    ¡°I never had a reason to consider the need for it¡­¡± she trailed off as her stomach growled again.


    Zag ordered a handful of meat skewers and handed the little girl one as they walked away from the food stall.


    They had just cleared the densest part of the crowd when Zag felt a force slam into his side. A crack of thunder rolled over the area to join the sound of him crashing into a building. The force brought the building down and it buried Zag in its rubble.


    Liangfeng stared at her meat skewer which had been burnt to a crisp. It was a collateral casualty of the attack against Zag and she had barely eaten any of it. Her eyes watered as she teared up and her lip quivered as she looked to the offending party who made the attack.


    The young man went from feeling on top of the world after making his successful sneak attack to being petrified. He knew that look on Liangfeng¡¯s face could only lead to him suffering.


    ¡°Little sis, Liangfeng, please calm down,¡± he pleaded. ¡°Whatever it is I¡¯ll fix it, I promise, you just need to come home.¡±


    Her expression did not improve. He started to panic as he felt an electric charge in the air from her barely suppressed power. His mind raced as he tried to understand what he had done to make her mad. He didn''t think it was over the being he had blasted into the building, there was no way she could have formed this level of attachment in that time.


    Just as he felt the air start to move in an ominous breeze coming from her direction he heard a crash as the building he had shot that being off into exploded. He could see crimson flames flicker in the dust and smoke and then all he saw was dark spots as he was slammed into the ground hard enough to scrape a small trench into the street.


    ¡°Boy, you¡¯ve ruined my lunch, and hers as well it looks like,¡± the being told him. ¡°Not to mention you ruined a perfectly good outfit of mine and I wouldn''t be surprised if this scratch you put on my side leaves a scar.¡±


    The young man made a pained breathless squeak. His vision cleared enough to see Zag as he looked down on him. He had some tattered shreds of his shirt still hanging off of him, there was a small ugly wound on his side that seeped out blood, a wound the young man thought should be much more severe based off how hard he hit him. On the being¡¯s back two great wings spread out, the young man understood just what he had provoked upon seeing that. Those were dragon¡¯s wings.


    Zag sighed as he saw the panic set in on the boy¡¯s face. He must have finally realized who he struck out at. Zag turned to the little girl and saw her still holding the burnt skewer. She sniffled in grief for the lost food.


    ¡°Hey, little girl?¡± Zag got her attention.


    She looked over at him with a questioning look.


    ¡°Who is this kid?¡± he asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s my older brother,¡± she made sure to highlight the word ¡®brother¡¯ with a displeased tone. ¡°His name is Huilei.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Hey, little girl?¡± Zag asked again.


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kidnap you for a while, I can''t really let a direct attack like that go without causing some trouble.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still hungry,¡± she pouted in response.


    ¡°That¡¯s ok,¡± Zag told her as he walked up to her. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to a place that has food.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± the young man shouted as he pushed himself up. ¡°Liangfeng what are you doing?¡±


    Liangfeng glanced once at Zag before she slowly walked over to where the young man was now sitting. When she was a few feet from him she threw the remains of her meat skewer in his face.


    ¡°What am I doing? What are you doing?¡± she yelled. ¡°You ruined my food, you hurt my guest and you started a fight in the middle of the city breaking a building someone does business in. While I do not yet have proof of it I¡¯m pretty sure that sycophant of a lacky which father replaced my servant with is one of your followers that you have set to spy on me. On top of all of that here you lie in the dirt with none of your guards around you with your identity exposed.¡±


    Huilei¡¯s face alternated between a sickly green and angry red color as he endured the tirade. He visibly twitched when she accused him of replacing her servant, giving himself away.


    ¡°Not only that do you even realize who this person is?¡± she asked as she pointed to Zag. ¡°Even father would rather not fight Zaganursarrum and you just blindly go about offending him.¡±


    Zag was standing off to one side keeping an eye open for any guards that should be attached to the siblings. He was also feeling somewhat awkward as he watched the boy get verbally stomped down. He even started to feel the vestiges of sympathy for his plight even though he obviously brought it onto himself.


    ¡°Hey, little girl,¡± he got Liangfeng¡¯s attention. ¡°We¡¯re leaving now, he can explain to your father how he let you get kidnapped and all that, all things considered, I think you¡¯re winning this little political game you two seem to be playing.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I don''t think it will look good when Father finds out how brother Huilei got me kidnapped by a dragon,¡± Liangfeng giggled as she imagined her father¡¯s reaction to the situation.


    Zag walked over and picked her up tucking her small frame into the crock of the elbow of one arm.


    ¡°Hey wait,¡± Huilei shook himself out of his funk and started protesting again. Zag hit him full force with his draconic aura.


    Huilei sunk to the ground in a cold sweat. Then in his state of outright fear he did something that would scar him for the rest of his life. He wet himself.


    Zag and Liangfeng left Huilei to his shame and flew out of the city. Zag skillfully bypassed anyone that could hamper him taking the daughter of the city lord past the walls and for the first time in her short life Liangfeng saw the grass and trees of the outside world up close.


    Once he had opened some distance between them and the city Zag landed in a clearing and sat Liangfeng down before walking a short distance away from her.


    ¡°It¡¯ll take too long to get there like this,¡± he told her as he tosses his clothes to the side.


    Zag shifted into his pure-blood dragon state and immediately stumbled backward as a little floated up and seemed to appear right in front of his face.


    ¡°I never imagined! Dragons must be the largest beings in the world. Your scales are magnificent! How fast can you fly when you look so heavy? Are you the largest dragon in the world? Can you talk in that form? Qilins have a lot of trouble talking but I can talk just as easily in my celestial form as I can in this one,¡± she went on an excited rampage of questions and statements that left Zag standing there blinking in confusion.


    ¡°Will you calm down, I can''t keep track of the questions amongst all the other stuff you¡¯re saying,¡± Zag grumbled at her.


    She stopped talking and inhaled deeply. Zag was afraid for a moment that she was going to launch into another stream of dialogue.


    ¡°I¡¯m still hungry,¡± she complained instead.


    ¡°Don''t worry,¡± Zag reassured her. ¡°We¡¯ll be there in no time at all this way. Get on my back and hold on to something.¡±


    She floated around his head and sat directly behind his horns. She patted him on the head before she grabbed a horn with each hand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± she ordered through a giggle.


    ¡°That itches,¡± Zag complained as she tittered at him.


    Zag took off and they sped away. He suspected she was doing something because he had reached a speed that he would have normally had to strain himself quite a bit to reach normally.


    The green of the treetops rushed by in a blur until they suddenly opened up to reveal a pristine blue jewel of a lake. Zag slowed down and flared his wings as he went in for a landing on the shore.


    Zag saw something flutter towards the ground out of the corner of his eye but before he could identify what it was Liangfeng was orbiting his head in her celestial serpent form.


    ¡°What are those things in the lake?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Fish,¡± Zag answered as he looked past her form out to the water.


    ¡°Fish?¡± she asked and before he had any chance to respond she had splashed into the water and was swimming out into the lake at a much faster speed than he thought possible.


    Zag blinked a few times before he walked over to a section of beach covered in smooth stones. He scraped them together and breathed fire onto them until they glowed a dim cherry red. He rolled around on the stones scraping off any loose scales, especially around where Huilei had hit him earlier in the day.


    ¡°Wamph er oo ing?¡± he looked up to see the little serpent. She floated near his head with a fish half hanging out of her mouth.


    ¡°Don''t talk with your mouth full,¡± Zag scolded her. She made a face at him that he was sure would have included her sticking out her tongue if the fish wasn''t in the way.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± she asked again after disposing of the fish.


    ¡°This is the best way for a dragon to dispose of old scales that I¡¯ve found,¡± he explained and continued to scrape himself among the heated rocks.


    ¡°Why did you heat them up?¡±


    ¡°The heat helps loosen my scales.¡±


    Zag stood up and shook off the dirt and sand that he had picked up while rolling around. Liangfeng scrunched her nose as she was in the line of fire from what he was shaking off.


    After Zag finished with that he rumbled towards the water and launched into the air. He glided over to the deeper parts of the lake and dove in.


    He came up out of the water with a very large fish and slurped it down before returning to shore. He had to look around for Liangfeng since she was nowhere in sight. He eventually found her snoozing, she had buried herself under some of the still warm stones.


    ¡°Hey, wake up,¡± he prodded her with a claw.


    She mumbled something.


    ¡°Wake up, we¡¯re going to one more place, it¡¯s better than those rocks,¡± he prodded her again.


    Liangfeng floated out of the rocks and looked around for a moment. When she found her dress on the beach she quickly floated over and grabbed it with her mouth before wrapping herself around Zag¡¯s horns.


    Zag took off as gently as he could since he was pretty sure she was napping on his head. He kept the flight as level as possible and after a short while they arrived at the destination he sought.


    Zag shifted to his human form and caught the little serpent as she fell from where his head used to be. He was amazed that a race that grew to nearly matching him in size could be as small as she was at some point in their lives.


    Liangfeng groggily squirmed around in his arms until her eyes froze on the pools of steaming water.


    ¡°Wghmph,¡± she spat her dress out of her mouth. ¡°What is that? I smell sulfur.¡±


    ¡°Water heated by the fires in the heart of this very world,¡± Zag dramatized. ¡°Some of them are probably too hot for you, so go find one that is comfortable and we¡¯ll soak for a while before we take you home.¡±


    She shot out of his arms and started checking the pools. The third one she came to she lowered herself in and floated out to the middle with just her eyes and nose above the water. Zag strolled over and climbed in. He sat down and leaned back with his arms along the edge of the pool.


    He closed his eyes and started sorting his thoughts on the current situation. He¡¯d have to lie low for a while since a fight between him and Liangfeng¡¯s parents wouldn¡¯t leave him unscathed. He started to wonder where most of the humans had gone after the fall of their kingdoms, he could spend some time with them instead of sitting alone in his lair.


    After some time he felt a small hand push the back of his head up straight.


    ¡°You should mind your human appearance too, you look so dignified and fierce as a dragon and yet you look like a drunk vagabond as a human,¡± Liangfeng scolded him as she started doing something to his hair.


    ¡°In my defense, I was recently thrown through a building,¡± Zag protested.


    ¡°You looked like this before you got thrown through the building,¡± she shot down his argument.


    ¡°Well I¡­¡± he started.


    ¡°Stop moving,¡± she ordered him. Zag clamped his jaw and tried to figure out how he got into a situation where he was obeying the orders of a child.


    She worked over his hair until each strand was part of a series of small braids. When she was done she floated around in front of him and sat facing him on his knees. She started braiding his beard in the same manner.


    ¡°Sitting like that isn¡¯t very ladylike,¡± Zag told her.


    ¡°Are you antagonizing someone who, literally, has you by the whiskers?¡± she giggled.


    ¡°Little girl, I want you to tell me something before I take you home,¡± Zag spoke despite her annoyance at it interfering with her work. ¡°Did you lead your brother to where we were or, perhaps, intentionally lead us to where he was?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± her expression gave him no hints one way or the other.


    ¡°You¡¯re more dangerous than he is,¡± Zag sighed.


    ¡°Stop moving so much,¡± she said after she giggled at his statement.


    ***


    ¡°After that I took her back to Tiantang, flying directly over the troops that had been dispatched to chase us down,¡± Zag finished up the story, ¡°I flew over the city and she just floated back down to her tower in the palace grounds. Her father gathered up an army and chased me around for a few years until I ended up in the boy¡¯s and your village and met his mother.¡±


    ¡°A few years?¡± Bron said, having walked into the room in time to catch the last bit of the story, ¡°They chased you around for two centuries!¡±


    ¡°Was it that long?¡± Zag asked. Bron sighed in resignation.


    ¡°So she is the reason you wear your hair that way?¡± Aisling asked.


    ¡°Well, the Boy¡¯s mother liked it so I just kept it like this,¡± Zag shrugged. ¡°Anyway, what do you have, Boy?¡±


    ¡°From what my contacts and the rumor mill have told me this whole mess is because of a coup in the Phoenix Duchy,¡± Bron began as Aisling handed him a cup of tea. ¡°We were used as an excuse to keep the Phoenix Legion busy and out of the loop it seems.¡±


    ¡°I guess they didn¡¯t have a good enough plan to dispose of the Legion at the time, or couldn''t commit the forces,¡± Zag thought out loud.


    ¡°Most likely it was because the forces they needed were tied up since they used the Praetorian to put down a rogue legion led by a rebellious Legatus,¡± Bron continued. ¡°The Legatus of the said legion is scheduled to be paraded through the city as part of a triumph and then executed tomorrow afternoon.¡±


    ¡°As I thought,¡± Zag leaned back. ¡°There wasn''t much else of a reason to keep her alive.¡±


    ¡°I also had someone from the palace approach me,¡± Bron started digging through his pockets.


    ¡°So we were found out?¡± Aisling looked nervous.


    ¡°One of the gate guards recognized me right away,¡± Zag looked surprised that Aisling hadn¡¯t realized it. ¡°None of the beings in this city are human, some of them have a sense of smell that rivals my own and some are even old enough to have come in contact with me.¡±


    ¡°I see, why are you able to just walk into the city?¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t as if there are many beings here who can stop him,¡± Bron snorted a laugh.


    ¡°If the ones strong enough to give me trouble and myself came into conflict, it could very likely destroy the city,¡± Zag shrugged. ¡°Anyway, what did the being from the palace want?¡±


    Bron dug a neatly folded letter out from a pocket and handed it over.


    ¡°She told me she was supposed to hand this over to you but she wasn''t sure she could do it without it being observed and she also seems to be terrified of you,¡± Bron explained.


    ¡°I see,¡± Zag unfolded the letter and began to read through its contents.


    Bron and Aisling watched him read the letter with curiosity and expectation.


    ¡°Have you read this already, Boy?¡± Zag asked Bron when he finished reading through the letter.


    ¡°No,¡± Bron replied. Zag handed the letter over to him.


    ¡°I think you two would be perfect for this job,¡± Zag said as Bron quickly skimmed through the letter¡¯s contents.


    ¡°What is it?¡± asked Aisling.


    ¡°I see what you mean, old man,¡± Bron agreed with Zag¡¯s assessment before he turned to Aisling. ¡°That story he just told you, she wants out and is asking for his help.¡±


    ¡°Did your new contact tell you a place and time to reply?¡± Zag asked.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯ll be during the triumph.¡±


    ¡°Can you do something that will make it easy for you to track my whereabouts?¡± Zag asked Aisling.


    ¡°Yes, but what is going on?¡± she asked. ¡°Why do we need to do that?¡±


    ¡°Because we¡¯ll be leaving separately and this letter mentions some humans integrating themselves into the Covenant governments,¡± Bron answered. ¡°They have some kind of magic that is described in here as ¡°different from the northern witchcraft¡± and the old man is worried something could go wrong with the summon.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m summoning her?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zag answered. ¡°I am not sure where I¡¯ll wind up going with the little bird once I collect her and you¡¯ll need the boy¡¯s wings to catch up to me.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Aisling moved over and grabbed Zag¡¯s shoulder before she recited a quick incantation. ¡°I¡¯ve set a couple spirits to follow you, that should hold up for a while.¡±


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s eat dinner and then get some sleep,¡± Zag ordered.


    ¡°And discuss the pay for the new job,¡± Bron added on.

 PF Book One: Chapter 4

    Zag stood and looked out over the city¡¯s main road and the gate in the distance. The wind battered at his bare chest and back as it swirled haphazardly.


    When Zag had made his way to the rooftop he had been surprised to find an old man lounging in a chair looking out in the same direction. He had been even more surprised when he caught the man¡¯s smell and what he sensed from his aura.


    ¡°What are you doing here, no, how are you even here?¡± Zag asked him once he identified what the man was.


    ¡°Do you think that we are really locked away from the world, young dragon?¡± the man grinned and laughed in what seemed genuine good humor. ¡°We stay where we are because we have no desire to see our children disappear regardless of how rebellious they have become.¡±


    Zag snorted, an almost instinctive distrust showed on his face.


    ¡°As for what, our goals merely coincide at this point, and my little scion turned out to be clever enough to find her own way to escape.¡±


    Zag turned and looked at the man surprised by his statement.


    ¡°Did you think Ifrit would be the only one to pass on his powers, we¡¯re a competitive bunch after all.¡±


    ¡°What is all this about?¡± Zag asked, his impatience flaring up.


    ¡°We don''t have time for that conversation,¡± the old man pointed out to the gate. ¡°Just, at some point soon you need to take the little bird out there to see him, your mother and he will explain it all. You have some work to do.¡±


    ¡°You are as much of a pain to deal with as your children,¡± Zag complained.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± the man tilted his head with a puzzled look. ¡°Well, anyway, I already agree with the path you¡¯ve chosen so I won''t say anything more, fare thee well young dragon.¡±


    Zag had to shield his eyes as the wind gusted up a sudden dramatic amount. With the stirring of dust that resulted from it the old man was gone, no trace of his smell or aura remained.


    ¡°Troublesome¡­¡± Zag muttered to himself.


    Zag turned his attention back to the parade sluggishly making its way down the street. He could hear the trumpets being used to elicit cheers from the crowd surrounding its path. He could see the giant platform with what looked like a giant birdcage constructed on top of it being pulled along in the middle of the military formations.


    He scowled at the entire procession as he crouched forward on the edge of the roof. He grasped the edge with his hand as he shifted into a half-blood form and unfurled his wings.


    He decided they were in far enough that the panicking crowd would lock them down and launched himself from the roof. He made no effort to conserve energy and his wings flapped, again and again, to gain speed.


    Almost before anyone had bothered to look up he slammed into the platform. He landed hard enough that the platform split right down the middle and collapsed. Several of the soldiers that were acting as guards on top of it were thrown off and crashed into the street.


    Zag stood up as the dust swirled around him. He fully released his draconic aura into the panicking crowd and confused soldiers which drove everything into chaos. The crowd and even some of the soldiers broke and ran around blocking off all hope of anything moving or reaching the scene quickly unless it could fly.


    In all the commotion Zag walked to the birdcage. After he examined the material and construction he grasped two of the bars and with a grunt bent one to the side and shattered the other. He cursed the one that broke under his breath as he went about bending the remnants out of his way.


    He stepped into the cage and finally had unhindered access to the phoenix inside. She was lying limp on the floor, nailed to it with some kind of large spear.


    Zag reached out and grasped the spear in his hand. When he made contact he felt a jolt journey through his arm and into his very core. He could feel it drive his body to change and as hard as he tried to resist he was unable to reverse it. Even letting go of the spear didn¡¯t allow him to regain control.


    ¡°Dammit,¡± he cursed as he tried to back away out of the cage.


    He didn''t quite make it. The bars and cage shattered as he grew in height and bulk and if not for having reached out to brace himself he would have fallen on the wounded phoenix underneath him.


    Now that he was in his pure-blood form with his unrestrained aura bashing at the minds of the beings surrounding him the panic kicked up another notch.


    He slowly raised himself up as he looked down through the dust which had renewed its swirling. Once he could see it well enough he grasped the spear in his claws and snapped it in two. Very carefully he wrapped his forelimbs around her prone form, his claws even having to gouge grooves into the floor underneath to be able to grasp her. He slowly lifted her off the remaining part of the spear, her head and wings hung limp. She was completely out of it.


    The healing properties of her phoenix fire were able to take effect once she was free from the spear, all they had been doing before that was barely keep her alive. A low and angry growl rumbled out from Zag as he realized how cruel this imprisonment was.


    He adjusted his arms as best he could and cradled her to his chest to shield her from whatever the response of the few rational soldiers and their reinforcements would be.


    Zag identified who had to be the person in charge. They were trying to rally those with a rational mind. He saw runners take off that were not merely fleeing from his aura, he thought they must be messengers seeking reinforcements.


    He bared his teeth in an approximation of a grin and then let loose a roar that shattered the few glass windows of the buildings in the immediate vicinity. It had the effect he wanted, the commander stopped trying to rally and started barking orders and some of the soldiers scattered to surround him.


    The soldiers started to spark with electricity and one even launched a bolt which slammed into Zag¡¯s leg. He ignored it since it wasn''t strong enough to pose any serious threat without repeated strikes at the same spot.


    Zag let loose his flame straight down at his own feet. It billowed out forcing the soldiers surrounding him to jump back. Some of them began to shift into their forms, qilins, Zag thought they looked like scaled dogs.


    ¡°Are you all weak puppies?¡± he shouted out at them. ¡°Surely you aren''t all bark?¡±


    One of them, the commander, managed not to give into his provocations but all of the others just launched lightning at him.


    The commander shouted at them to stop but was drowned out by the crashes of thunder. One by one the attacks let up as the qilins made themselves exhausted and stood panting with their eyes glazed over. They were barely able to express their shock when the smoke and dust cleared and they saw Zag¡¯s undamaged figure shielding the phoenix in his arms with his wings.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°You couldn''t even damage my wing membrane,¡± Zag taunted them through his laughter. ¡°Look at you panting with your tongues hanging out.¡±


    Zag kept up his taunting as the commander looked around helplessly unable to do anything besides wait for reinforcements. After going on about how the qilins forefathers he fought in the Forgotten Kingdom were at least three times stronger than them Zag quieted down and glared at a spot down the road towards the palace grounds.


    ¡°Little Huilie, that¡¯s a nice trick but why sit there while your subordinates embarrass themselves?¡± he asked what seemed like empty air. ¡°Or were you just afraid of being put on your back again?¡±


    ¡°Zaganursarrum!¡± an angry voice spoke as the air shimmered like it was suddenly in the heat of the desert. A hazy form coalesced out of it taking on the shape of a great celestial serpent with glistening dark gray scales and electricity sparking around him.


    ¡°Eloquently said,¡± Zag lauded him with sarcasm. ¡°Now, are you going to let me take this lovely chick here or do I have to knock you down first?¡±


    ¡°You think you can still knock me down, lizard?¡± Huilei snarled at him. ¡°I am not a child that you can easily bully anymore.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think taking down someone who threw me through a building counts as bullying though,¡± Zag laughed off what he said. ¡°So which is it? Are those shadowy fellows cowering behind the buildings going to get involved?¡±


    He could see Huilei flinch when the figures were mentioned which cause him to chuckle. He could tell the figures were in no shape to do anything as they were just as affected by his aura as most of the beings around him were.


    ¡°Were you depending on them? Were you afraid your power alone wasn''t enough?¡± Zag continued mercilessly taunting the serpent. ¡°You haven''t answered me yet, I¡¯m willing either way.¡±


    ¡°Damn you! Curse you into the furthest reaches of an abyss!¡± Huilei lost his composure. ¡°You knew perfectly well I¡¯d be unwilling to risk the city, but I am perfectly willing to shoot you out of the sky you gods forsaken lizard.¡±


    ¡°Are you, and you think you can finish me off before the city burns?¡± Zag gave him the best smirk he could with his draconic features, ¡°That would be impressive, should I just assume you are going to do that and start letting loose right now?¡±


    Zag thought he could hear Huilei¡¯s fangs grinding together in frustration. Even if he was imagining it his mood was improved at the thought.


    ¡°Well, snake,¡± Zag said when Huilei didn''t say anything, ¡°I¡¯m going now, do your worst or even your best, it won''t matter much.¡±


    Zag spread his wings, the wind from which stirred the dust-up once again. Huilei acted on instinct and directed the dust away from himself. Zag let loose a blast of flame and foul-smelling black smoke right into the mass of swirling air that surrounded Huilei. The heat from the flame created a small updraft which conflicted with the currents Huilei was creating around him and the cloud of smoke rose right up into his face.


    Zag strained his wings as hard as he could, he threw his massive bulk into the air and flew with all his might to create distance in the short time Huilei was distracted.


    Huilei managed to get one lightning attack off, however, in the end, he was left hearing the laughing voice of the dragon asking him to tell his sister he said hello.


    **


    Bron and Aisling were sitting at a table outside of a completely empty outdoor eatery. The establishment was empty even of the cooks and serving people since there would be no business in the area with the parade going on.


    They were waiting for the woman who had given Bron the letter to make contact with them.


    ¡°Is your father going to be fine by himself on this?¡± Aisling interrupted Bron¡¯s impatient fidgeting.


    ¡°The promagistrate could possibly take him down but it would end in the city being gone,¡± Bron replied with a shrug. ¡°The thing is there are no winged beings who can catch a dragon, most of them would even struggle to keep up with me if I pushed myself. He can get away.¡±


    Aisling turned her head as she heard footsteps and saw a serious looking woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, if she were human, approaching them.


    ¡°That¡¯s her,¡± Bron told her.


    ¡°Will he help?¡± the woman asked as she sat down next to them.


    ¡°He will,¡± Bron smiled. ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re here for.¡±


    ¡°He''s not going to directly help?¡± right after she said this they heard loud crashed coming from where the parade should be. ¡°What is that?¡±


    ¡°That would be the old man,¡± Bron explained. ¡°As for helping directly, we¡¯re better suited for doing this than he is.


    ¡°What is he doing?¡± the woman was clearly distracted by the disturbance.


    ¡°He took an interest in the centerpiece of this parade,¡± Bron explained. ¡°Now, we¡¯ll need something from you and your mistress.¡±


    ¡°What is your plan then?¡± the woman still didn¡¯t look too sure.


    ¡°I am going to summon both of you at the same time using spirits,¡± Aisling explained. ¡°I need a medium for that, however, scales or claws something from your bodies that isn''t perishable since we have to travel a ways before we can do the summons.¡±


    ¡°A witch?¡± the woman asked as an expression of disgust flashed across her face.


    ¡°Is that a problem?¡± Bron responded defensively.


    ¡°How does it work? Does the size of the target matter?¡± the woman moved back to the main subject.


    ¡°She summoned my father using my blood as the medium, I think she can handle you and your mistress when she has something actually from the target to work with,¡± Bron was almost boasting.


    ¡°It won''t be a problem,¡± Aisling added while giving Bron an annoyed look. ¡°My name is Aisling by the way.¡±


    ¡°I am Chouyan, Personal Attendant to Lady Liangfeng,¡± Chouyan bowed slightly with the introduction. ¡°Where do you plan on summoning us?¡±


    ¡°If we can catch up with him, it¡¯ll be wherever the old man is, if not, his lair,¡± Bron replied. ¡°How much time do we have?¡±


    ¡°No more than a month,¡± said Chouyan. ¡°I will check with my lady and if she gives her approval to the plan I will return here with the material you need within an hour.¡±


    ¡°We will wait here then.¡± Bron nodded.


    The three of them looked over toward the commotion that Zag was causing and saw black smoke rise over the rooftops. Soon they saw Zag¡¯s figure rise above them as well and watched as he flew into the distance after he brushed off one lightning strike.


    ¡°That lightning had to be the promagistrate,¡± Chouyan claimed.


    ¡°If that is the case you should hurry, the old man probably taunted him and I don''t want to face any retribution for that,¡± Bron hurried Chouyan along.


    ¡°Right,¡± she took off running at a speed that was well above human capabilities.


    **


    Chouyan entered her mistress¡¯ chambers panting from the run. She admonished herself for being out of shape before she straightened up and went deeper into the chambers.


    ¡°I saw him fly away through the window, Chouyan,¡± her mistress said from inside. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Mistress,¡± Chouyan respectfully greeted her. ¡°He sent his son and a witch to help us. They plan to summon us using scales, a piece of claw or horn as a medium. I came to relay that to you.¡±


    ¡°Could the witch even handle that? Oh, she must be how Zaganursarrum wound up on the battlefield with the phoenix legatus,¡± Liangfeng connected the dots almost immediately.


    ¡°That was what they told me as well,¡± Chouyan informed her.


    ¡°Where will they summon us?¡±


    ¡°They said they would either summon us where the dragon is or the dragon¡¯s lair.¡±


    ¡°Then that is what we¡¯ll do. Shift to your pure-blood form and we will help each other remove something.


    Shortly afterward Chouyan was once again sprinting along the streets, this time carrying a bundle that amounted to her mistress¡¯ only hope.


    **


    ¡°Be very careful and do all you can to mask the smell,¡± Chouyan warned Bron and Aisling as she handed over the bundle that contained a piece of her antlers and a scale from Liangfeng. ¡°If you are caught with these most beings will just attack you, especially if it is another qilin.¡±


    Aisling muttered something and the bundle flashed with a green light. Chouyan could no longer smell the contents inside.


    ¡°How is it now?¡± Aisling asked them.


    ¡°I can smell nothing,¡± Chouyan sighed in relief as one of her worries were removed.


    ¡°We will be in the air most of the time anyway,¡± Bron said. Aisling groaned when she heard it.


    ¡°Just make sure to accomplish this as soon as possible, I am not sure the dragon¡¯s actions will not cause the promagistrate to grow impatient. Those humans he has around seemed to be pushing for that as well.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Bron snapped a military answer. ¡°I hope to see you again soon and meet your mistress as well, stay safe.¡±


    ¡°Try to stay close together as often as possible,¡± Aisling added. ¡°It will make the summoning easier. Farewell.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you both stay safe as well. My mistress and I have a lot riding on this, more or less her entire life.¡±


    They parted ways after the farewells. Chouyan went back to the palace, this time not at a run. Bron and Aisling dodged the soldiers who were running around trying to restore order to the panicked public. They slipped over the wall by Bron grabbing Aisling and jumping them over with an assist from his wings.


    Aisling dug through the pack they had brought with them and they rigged some straps that they used to lash themselves together. Once secured Bron took off and they flew away with Aisling complaining to herself about the condition she had just put herself in while trying to not look at the ground.


    Every once in a while Aisling would close her eyes and open up a channel to the spirits tied to Zag. She would point to the direction Bron needed to fly and he would change course accordingly.

 PF Book One: Chapter 5

    Thea found herself running. Giant beasts draped in shadow kept close to her heels no matter how fast she went, no matter how many turns she made.


    She couldn''t shift and fly away, she tried again and again but every time it failed, and she felt as if her soul was being burned away.


    She couldn''t attack the beasts. Anytime she would go to use her flame it was the same soul-searing pain from when she tried to shift.


    She felt helpless, she couldn''t fight, she couldn''t get away.


    To her left and right, she could see the faces, and hear the screams, of her legionnaires as they were ripped to shreds by the beasts. She couldn''t help them.


    Anytime she tried to fight the shadows she would be burned away in pitch black inky flame. She would then wake up to the screams and pain and shadows once again.


    Over and over, she ran and burned and listened to the screams.


    Sometimes she just gave up, but the pain was too much, and she would start running again.


    There was one time the nightmare had an aberration. She was in the midst of fleeing the beasts when a sharp pain as if someone had driven a knife through her body, intruded on the sameness. She almost wrote it off but it was different from the pain she felt gnawing at her soul.


    Thea wondered what it was as it caused her to stumble to a halt. She thought she saw a small pinprick of light in the darkness as the shadows swarmed over and devoured her once again.


    The next time the aberration failed to happen, and she was back in the endless cycle of the nightmare. She began to wonder if it happened at all.


    **


    Zag flew through the night into the northern mountain ranges. He alighted on a well-worn ledge in front of a massive cave.


    He walked through the entrance and laid the phoenix down on a cleared patch of relatively level stone. He finally got a chance to examine her, and she was not in a good state. Her golden flame was sputtering and flickering in a way he could only see as unhealthy for her species.


    He searched through his mind and searched for memories on how phoenixes dealt with their wounded. Most of what he recalled is that they just healed themselves with their fire. However, he remembered the incident where Thea healed him after the battle at the ruined fort, they could heal each other it seemed.


    He puffed out a short stream of flame and practiced working in the golden phoenix flame that she had ¡®gifted¡¯ him with at that time. The fire came out as a stream of crimson with flecks of sun gold fire dancing around inside it.


    He practiced mixing the flames for a while since too much dragon fire would just result in her being burned away.


    When he was satisfied with his control over it he let out a gushing stream of fire and lowered it towards her gradually, careful not to let it come into direct contact with her body.


    He watched as her golden flamed reached up and hungrily grabbed at the fire he was releasing towards her. As her flames grew stronger after absorbing his he would lower the stream of fire closer to her. Eventually, she was engulfed in a whirlwind of dancing crimson and golden flames.


    Her flames looked to be burning on their own after he let his breath dissipate. She was still lost to sleep however, which was something Zag decided to do as well once he was confident she wouldn''t die.


    **


    The dream had changed. The shadows had been eaten by a wall of crimson fire. Her soldiers were replaced by golden lights that ascended up the wall of flame into the sky. The screams were gone, the soul-searing pain was gone. She collapsed on the ground, the nightmare was gone.


    **


    Thea woke up. Her mind was foggy but it did manage to grasp two things, she hurt everywhere and it was pitch dark, she couldn''t see anything. She strained and lifted her head enough to determine by the soft light coming from what looked like a cavern entrance that she wasn''t blind.


    She collapsed back down after that effort and shuffled her legs and wings trying to achieve a more comfortable position on the stone she was lying on.


    Thea wondered where she was. She remembered being knocked out during the battle with the qilins and those shadow...things and then after that she only remembered the pain.


    With her eyes not being useful in this level of darkness, she strained her ears trying to hear anything that was around her. She was used to a night full of sounds but here it seemed oddly quiet.


    There! She could hear the sound of breathing. It was the rhythmic breath of something in a deep sleep. She couldn''t hear breathing coming from anyplace else, she figured it must be only her and whatever was slumbering in this cave and the rhythm wasn''t one that fit a sleeping qilin or phoenix or any other being she was familiar with, too much air was being moved through its lungs.


    She drifted back to sleep with those thoughts racing through her mind.


    **


    She awoke once more. Thea had no idea how much time had passed since she had drifted back to sleep the last time but it was still pitch black. She still hurt everywhere but it wasn¡¯t quite as difficult to lift her head and try to look around.


    Thea cursed her lack of night vision as she looked around. She tried to stand up and even had some success, she wasn''t sure if she could take a step or not, and she was certain she wouldn''t be flying anytime soon.


    ¡°You should go back to sleep,¡± a voice in the darkness told her. She swung her head around to face the direction it came from.


    What she saw were two golden eyes reflecting the soft light from the cave entrance. She flinched back from it which more or less caused her to collapse in a heap.


    ¡°You have nothing to fear in this place,¡± the voice told her. ¡°I am not your enemy. Now go back to sleep, and we¡¯ll talk when you can see properly.¡±


    Lying back on the stone she began to think that there was something familiar about the voice. She thought back on everything and while she was doing so drifted back to sleep.


    **


    Zag sat watching the phoenix sleep as the sun rose and light slowly invaded his lair. She was breathing easier than she had been throughout the night. The telltale twitching and trembling of her nightmares were no longer there and her flames crackled in a relaxed but steady way over her body.


    Overall, Zag thought she looked quite healthy, although he wasn¡¯t sure how she was going to take the drastic change in appearance. He expected her primordial flame would cause some changes once his dragon fire passed on to her but nothing quite this drastic.


    Her feathers were no longer the solid sun gold that marked all phoenixes. They faded into orange and then crimson in streaks and highlights throughout each feather. It made her look as if she was made of natural flame instead of the magically specialized fires of the flame-touched.


    He started to shuffle around the lair amongst his treasures. He dug through different things to kill time by immersing himself in the nostalgia of remembering how the items came to him. Gifts from human kings long dead, books from libraries long-lost to time. He moved some things around and placed some things in an area to be worked on or restored later.


    Eventually, he heard the phoenix stirring around, and he came back over to where she was. She was noticeably stronger. She was able to stand up and hop and walk in the ungainly gate used by most large birds. He could still see her legs wobble, and she had to use her wings more often than she should for keeping balance.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s a good sign, I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if what I did would work or not,¡± Zag said to her. She didn''t panic as much this time, but she still jumped at the sound of his voice. ¡°It was the first time I used phoenix fire to directly affect something after all.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    She stared at him with a blank and uncomprehending look.


    ¡°There are women¡¯s clothing in those crates over there,¡± he indicated several boxes he had brought over while she still slept. ¡°Take what you like from them since I¡¯m sure you have questions. Take a peek in that mirror and you¡¯ll have one more at least.¡±


    She kept one eye, full of suspicion, glued to him as she went over to the crates and mirror.


    Zag watched her as she looked at herself in the mirror. She seemed frozen at the sight, he wasn''t entirely she even breathed during the entire time she gazed into her reflection.


    She eventually pried herself away from the mirror and with stiff movements went behind one of the crates of clothing and shifted to her human form. He watched her shove the top of the crate open and sift through the top layer of carefully folded clothing.


    After several pieces of clothing were dug out and several pieces were put back only to be traded for others she came out from behind the crate. Her expression showed how shaken she was by the changes but the anger was also making itself known.


    ¡°What...did...you...do...to...me!?¡± she held up stands of her formerly sun-golden hair now streaked with red.


    ¡°It was your power that caused it,¡± Zag gave her an irritated glare. ¡°In fact, if anyone were to complain it should be me, I have a golden spot on my chest where you healed me, you know?¡±


    She was rendered speechless. She stood and stared in open-mouthed shock and had no idea what to do.


    ¡°I¡¯m kidding, I¡¯m kidding!¡± Zag reassured her. ¡°Although I think once you understand the benefits the changes won''t seem so bad.¡±


    Thea stood with her feet at shoulder width and crossed her arms under her chest. She took a deep breath in order to calm down after the severe derailment of her thoughts.


    ¡°Go on,¡± she encouraged Zag to proceed.


    ¡°I told you before about primordial flame, this is what it is and does,¡± he explained. ¡°It gifts and receives the fires of the flame-touched. My mother said it is a fragment of the fire god himself but who knows, I doubt she actually asked him personally since they didn''t get along.¡±


    ¡°Gifts and receives?¡± the anger had faded off her face and disbelief had taken its place. ¡°You mean to say¡­¡±


    ¡°I just healed you with fire,¡± Zag replied. ¡°Dragon fire isn''t really known to be able to do that.¡±


    Zag lifted one of his forelimbs up and spread his claws. In his hand, a golden ball of flame danced to life. It looked tiny in relation to his massive bulk but it was the only thing occupying Thea¡¯s sight.


    ¡°And you,¡± Zag continued, ¡°should be able to use my flame to an even greater extent than I can use these phoenix flames.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± she said, ¡°at the cost of looking ridiculous.¡±


    ¡°If you could go back home all the young phoenix lads would be all over you, you¡¯d be cinnamon in a field of wheat.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mock me!¡± she snapped before calming herself down again. She knew full well that she was at a disadvantage if Zag became angry. ¡°What even is cinnamon?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a spice from the south, it has a nice sharp flavor. I wonder if I should call you that from now on¡­¡±


    ¡°I will fight you!¡± Thea yelled losing all pretense of being careful. ¡°You said: ¡°If I could go home...¡± tell me what happened.¡±


    ¡°You probably guessed that, at best, most of your troops are dead,¡± Zag started to explain. ¡°When we were in Tiantang my son found out that there had been a coup in the Phoenix Duchy and the ruling family had been overthrown while you were busy chasing him around in the north.¡±


    ¡°My parents...?¡± the shock and fear of hearing that news caused her entire body to go limp. Zag thought for a second that she would collapse.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what exactly has happened to them,¡± Zag told her. ¡°Were there any strange humans trying to involve themselves in the court?¡±


    ¡°What? Not that I know of,¡± she snapped back up to face him. "Why?"


    ¡°Because it¡¯s has been happening in Tiantang,¡± Zag explained. ¡°I received a letter from Huilei¡¯s sister while I was there.¡±


    ¡°Tell me,¡± she hesitated a little, ¡°what did they do to me after I was captured.¡±


    ¡°They impaled you with a spear that kept you in your pure-blood state and paraded you through the city in a large iron birdcage.¡±


    Her face paled at his blunt description she had never felt so angry. The anger had opened the gates for her grief and frustration to slip past her facade of military logic. Nothing in her training told her what to do.


    ¡°What are you planning to do with me then?¡± she barely kept her composure.


    ¡°Eventually you need to meet with my mother and the ¡®being¡¯ she is watching over, although we have to wait on that for a while,¡± Zag stood back up and stretched. ¡°In the meantime, I don''t really care what you do, I¡¯m just not going to let the Covenant have you.¡±


    Thea looked at the ground for a long time. Zag just stood and watched her. He didn''t want the sounds of him moving to interrupt her thoughts.


    ¡°Why wouldn''t you bring me there right away?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m currently kidnapping Huilei¡¯s sister by proxy,¡± Zag was being very nonchalant. He even looked rather bored from Thea¡¯s perspective.


    ¡°What!?¡± Thea was shocked, ¡°Why? Oh, you must be using the witch who summoned you!¡±


    She was a little freaked out when Zag smiled at her in response. A dragon¡¯s smile just looked predatory no matter what.


    They were interrupted by the sound of her stomach growling.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get something to eat, you might want to turn back to your pure-blood state for it,¡± Zag told her. ¡°Think about what you want to do and if you need to use the bathroom just go outside somewhere. Treat those clothes well they belonged to my first mate."


    She watched as he lumbered out of the cave entrance and leaped off the ledge into the air. Tears were escaping through her mask more and more.


    She walked out of the cavern, still trying to hold back the tears, and took the clothes off. She folded them neatly and set them off to the side with a few small stones as weights to keep them from being blown away.


    She handled her business and shifted back to her pure-blood phoenix form. Still, not really able to fly due to being so weak she clambered up onto the flat top of a large rock and laid down in the morning sun. It was only then that she gave herself over to her grief.


    **


    Zag flew towards his favorite hunting ground, an abnormality of unnatural heat past the hot springs he had taken Liangfeng to so long ago. He looked down as the greenery changed from mountain pines to the trees and ferns that filled the steamy valley he was looking for.


    He observed the creatures in the place looking for one with enough meat on it for both him and the phoenix that was also small enough he could still fly while carrying it.


    He circled again and again until he noticed some kind of predatory lizard slinking around a herd of creatures that were too large for him to carry off. It fit all the criteria and was too focused on its own hunt to notice him. He simply needed to time it just right so the herd of creatures didn''t alert the predator to his own presence in the sky.


    Zag waited and the creature made its move. It charged a young member of the herd and everything was thrown into chaotic turmoil as they scattered. Small birds flew chattering from the trees and brush in alarm.


    Zag dove, he increased his speed to the max with a few flaps of his wings before he tucked them back and let gravity handle the rest. The target gained ground on its own prey and was prepared to make the final sprint to close in and trip it up when Zag hit it. The ground seemed to shake with the impact as the creature was killed instantly from the impact, multiple bones were crushed including the neck.


    The prey it had been chasing ran away even more terrified of its savior than it was of the creature hunting it.


    Zag gathered up the creature into his jaws and struggled back into the sky. He turned back to his cave and made his way there with all the haste his burden would allow.


    **


    Zag made it back to see the phoenix sunning herself on a stone perch. He wasn''t able to tell if she was still awake or not but as he landed heavily and put down the carcass of the creature he had slain she lifted her head.


    The Phoenix scrambled down from the perch and hopped over towards him. She looked back and forth between him and the carcass. She was instinctually wary with him being a larger predator.


    Zag moved a short distance away and laid down in the sun. He kept his eyes locked on her as she tore into the underbelly of the creature with her talons and ripped the flesh from it with her hooked beak to swallow it down.


    He couldn''t help but grin when he realized she was digging her way to the best parts of the feast.


    When she looked like she had her fill Zag got up and proceeded to eat the remains, bones and all. He finished and turned his gaze to find that a bird can look shocked and slightly horrified.


    He watched as she came back to herself and with a burst of fire she burned off the bits stuck in her feathers and melted a hole in the part of the ledge she was standing over.


    Zag huffed muffled laughter as she backed away from the hole once again mired in shock and surprise.


    ¡°It took me quite some time to control the bit of phoenix fire you gave me,¡± Zag reassured her. ¡°You''ll have to be careful with it for a while.¡±


    She glared at him and his unnerving smile.


    ¡°Do you need water, as well?¡± he changed the subject.


    She shook her head to indicate that she did not.


    ¡°Have you decided what you want to do?¡±


    She hesitated, she tried to remain objective in her decision-making. After a moment of thought she nodded to indicate that she knew what she wanted.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go back inside," Zag told her. ¡°Tell me what it is when you finish out here.¡±


    Zag went back into the cavern and laid down not too far away from the entrance. After a few moments, Thea made her way inside as well and walked over to where he was.


    ¡°What do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°I need to find out if anyone survived the ambush,¡± she told him. ¡°There was also something strange going on during the attack I wanted to investigate.¡±


    I see,¡± Zag nodded.


    ¡°Then I need to go home, I need to find out for sure what happened. My mother was very close to laying an egg.¡±


    ¡°Very well, we can leave when you can fly again,¡± Zag curled back up and started to go to sleep. ¡°Work on building your strength back up and controlling your dragon fire. If you get hungry let me know.¡±


    Thea was stunned by how easily Zag accepted everything. She wondered how the world must seem to a being as long-lived as a dragon.


    **


    Over the next two days, Thea rehabilitated her strength to the point where she had no problems with flying. She felt like her regenerative powers were even stronger than they were before she got the unwanted highlights on her feathers and hair.


    Once she was sure she was strong enough she decided to go tell the dragon that she was ready to leave.


    ¡°Dragon,¡± she called to him after she made her way to where he was, ¡°I am ready to leave.¡±


    ¡°Where do we need to go?¡±


    ¡°It was along the southern road leading into the Werelands from Tiantang City,¡± she explained to him.


    ¡°I was hoping the Boy would reach here first but something must have held them up,¡± Zag muttered while he stretched. ¡°They¡¯ll just have to catch up. I assume we¡¯ll go to Proelefsi to find out for sure what happened to your relatives after that?¡±


    ¡°That is my wish,¡± Thea replied.


    ¡°Very well, I¡¯ve actually never been there before,¡± he flared his wings and prepared to take off. ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can keep up.¡±

 PF Book One: Chapter 6

    Bron flew over the trees carrying Aisling who was strapped both securely and quite uncomfortably to him. The fact that they could feel quite a few things and their already fond feelings for one another just created all kinds of sexual tension.


    Aisling tapped his side with her hand, the signal to go to ground so they could talk without shouting over the wind, and he started to look for a clear space to set down.


    They soon came to an empty road and after unstrapping, they both collapsed down from being weak in the knees.


    ¡°This sucks,¡± Aisling complained.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Bron agreed. ¡°Did you just want to take a break?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s moving again,¡± she told him.


    ¡°I see, this has actually gone a lot slower than I expected. I guess I was overestimating myself.¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t go calling me heavy,¡± Aisling quibbed. Bron responded with a laugh.


    ¡°Which direction was the old man moving in?¡± Bron asked after a while.


    ¡°He was getting closer to us but also going towards the west,¡± Aisling reported.


    ¡°Proelefsi, most likely considering who he¡¯s with,¡± Bron pondered out loud.


    ¡°Should we just gamble and go there directly?¡± Aisling asked him.


    ¡°Probably, it wouldn¡¯t hurt us all that much in the long run if we have to go back on course to his lair.¡±


    As Bron finished up his reply Aisling¡¯s attention was turned to their pack where the scale and bit of horn from Chouyan and Liangfeng were stored.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Bron asked when he noticed her troubled expression.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know but the spirits around us are very agitated over it.¡±


    Slowly a small patch of black smoke or mist drifted out of the pack and spread out along the ground. Bron and Aisling backed away from it. The spirits behavior and Bron¡¯s instincts told them each that touching it would be a very bad idea.


    ¡°What in the¡­?¡± Bron muttered as he pulled his sword off his back.


    ¡°I¡¯m having a great deal of trouble getting the spirits to calm down,¡± Aisling told him, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can use witchcraft against whatever that is.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Bron replied as Aisling drew a dagger from her belt.


    The black mist put some distance between them and it before it began to coalesce into a shape. Its form got bigger and bigger until it was the size and shape of a tall man, although still shorter than Bron, and then the blackness faded out until a person stood before them.


    ¡°Ah so a human and a mutt of some kind,¡± the man stated once he had fully coalesced out of the black mist. ¡°A heathen witch as well, this could actually turn out to be quite fun.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck are you supposed to be?¡± Bron demanded.


    ¡°I could ask the same of you, mutt,¡± the man spat back. ¡°I take it you can fly since I couldn''t come out until now. No matter I¡¯m stronger than any half-breed.¡±


    ¡°Well if you¡¯re not going to volunteer any information, should I just start this myself?¡± Bron¡¯s lips curled up into the predatory grin that he shared in common with his father. He could sense that his opponent was strong and his blood was raging at him to prove his dominance.


    ¡°You¡¯re an aggressive one huh?¡± the man continued to taunt them condescendingly. ¡°The little lady in the back is never going to regain control of the spirits with me here and you¡¯re no match for me. Just hand over the scale why don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°No can do,¡± Bron replied sarcastically. ¡°As much as I complain about him I¡¯m not about to disappoint the Old Man for some overconfident human.¡±


    ¡°Well, to be honest, I was going to kill you anyway,¡± the black mist started spreading out from the man again. It went in little rivulets into the surrounding grass and trees. ¡°Let¡¯s find out what kind of bird you are then!¡±


    Something screeched from the surrounding grass. It was soon joined by another, and then another.


    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten a few spirits to calm down,¡± Aisling muttered to him under her breath so the opponent wouldn''t hear.


    The strange man started laughing as the last of the mist trailed off of him into the surroundings.


    ¡°Well, I guess if you had attacked right away I might have had trouble,¡± the man cackled as the screams got closer.


    Bron turned his gaze toward a patch of tall grass that rattled as something moved through it towards him. The grass parted to reveal some kind of small scavenging predator, except it was covered in the black mist and moving unnaturally.


    A low growl escaped Bron¡¯s throat as he readied his sword towards the new threat. More and more corrupted creatures joined the first. They were completely surrounded.


    Aisling moved closer to Bron and the stood back to back with Bron facing the man who was maniacally laughing at the pair.


    Bron took a step forward and shifted. When his wings unfurled the man¡¯s laughter died and he stared slack-jawed. His expression made the feral grin on Bron¡¯s face spread even wider.


    Aisling raised her arms and pointed out toward the creatures in front of her and after a short incantation, the road around one of the creatures cracked as if something heavy had landed on it. A moment later blood and black mist shot out as the creature exploded.


    Bron released his draconic aura and the man dropped to his knees and clutched his head. The creatures just mindlessly charged and the melee was opened with a swing of Bron¡¯s sword severing a head.


    Aisling stabbed one in the head that made it past her defense but immediately screamed out and grasped her hand in agony.


    ¡°Hold them off with a barrier and I¡¯ll circle around!¡± Bron yelled after looking back at her.


    He grabbed one of the smaller creatures that leaped at him with his off hand and drove it into the ground. His hand was smoking and bleeding from the corruption but his naturally high regenerative abilities took hold and he was in much better condition than Aisling.


    ¡°It¡¯s up!¡± Aisling shouted back to him.


    Bron became a dervish. He went around the circumference of the barrier slashing and hacking. He killed them almost as fast as they came but he was being driven back ever so slowly as the barrier took hit after hit.


    ¡°They¡¯re able to wound the spirits!¡± Aisling called out through gritted teeth.


    Bron pushed himself to move even faster. His muscles were strained and he noticed his sword was being eaten away by whatever that mist was. He was no longer slicing through the creatures instead battering them to death with the blunted blade.


    ¡°Focus on the dragon!¡± the man yelled out orders as he clutched his head. He had managed to rise to one knee.


    The creatures started to ignore Aisling and focused on Bron like a spear point. He swung his sword only to hear the steel finally snap. He slammed the hilt into the nearest one and continued on using it as a club. Blood poured from his hand as he was forced to make contact more and more. His regeneration just couldn''t keep up.


    "Bron!¡± Aisling yelled as one of the creatures sunk its teeth into his arm.


    He grabbed it with his other hand and ripped it in half. He took another step back and bumped into Aisling. The barrier was almost gone.


    ¡°Aisling step back!¡± he growled and jumped forward to meet the creatures head on.


    ¡°What!? No!¡± she screamed as the barrier finally broke.


    Bron was swarmed under. The pile would heave back and forth as he struggled within it. Aisling could catch a glimpse of a wing or an arm every now and again.


    Bron was in a state of bloodlust. All he could see was red and all he could feel was rage. In a corner of his mind, he knew he couldn''t win though. A sliver of doubt in a sea of rage. He knew that he would fall here and his flesh would be devoured by this black mist. He knew that when he fell Aisling would be next.


    Aisling would die, he couldn''t protect her.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    He knew she wouldn¡¯t run away.


    She would die.


    His treasure would be taken from him.


    Stillness overtook the struggling pile as he stopped fighting in the midst of it. To Bron, it was as if time had stopped.


    Why should he let his world come to an end like that? Thoughts entered his head and a flicker of crimson started up in the middle of the doubt and fear that was overtaking his rage.


    It was like a candle.


    He felt like he could reach out and touch it. He felt pain in his arm when he tried to lift it and when he turned his head he saw a creature latched onto it. He felt the backs of his legs burn as they tried to sever his hamstrings.


    ¡°Fuck this!¡± he roared with all his might.


    Aisling was dumbstruck. The tears that had been running down her cheeks forgotten. She had feared the worst when the pile stopped moving but it soon exploded out in crimson fire and the stench of burnt fur and flesh filled the air.


    The creatures that somehow survived were flung through the air. One flying over her head to land what would have amounted to a city block away if they were still in Tiantang.


    Bron had transformed. He was no longer just a half-blood, his dragon blood had fully awakened, and he stood there staring down at the now cowering man. The pinnacle of beings, a dragon. Her dragon.


    Bron stalked over to the man who was curled into a ball on the ground as he sobbed. The man couldn''t stand up to the increased aura that Bron now possessed.


    Bron looked down. He saw such a puny insignificant thing. A puny insignificant thing that tried to steal from him.


    He didn''t hesitate. He lifted the man up and as he screamed out bit him in half. Bron spat out the filth as the corruption was seemingly in the man¡¯s blood and it burned Bron¡¯s tongue.


    When he was through he walked over to Aisling''s position and brought his snout close to her. He could see the awe and shock in her eyes as she stared up at him. He sniffed taking in her smell, she was alright, he could tell her hand was injured, but she was alright. The thing that tried to hurt her was dead.


    He felt her uninjured hand on his nose. It tickled somewhat as she stroked him. His eyes never left hers as the look on her face morphed away from the initial shock. The expression Bron saw made his heart beat with desire even with him being in the form of a dragon. He saw pure love in her eyes.


    His form shrunk down until he stood as a human once again, naked and bleeding from the wounds that had not fully healed yet.


    Aisling walked up to him. His eyes were still had the golden irises of a dragon, and they never left hers. She touched his cheek, careful to avoid the scratches and bite marks. He let out a low growl. She could tell his blood was still raging from the battle. Heat as if his blood was on fire came off of him. It was almost to the point of being uncomfortable to touch.


    Aisling wrapped her arms around him and the adrenaline she had been running on caused her emotions to come crashing down. She wept into his chest as he patted the back of her head. They both trembled in each other''s arms from the adrenaline, the shock and the emotions amplified by both.


    After a short while, Aisling lifted her head and looked back up into Bron¡¯s eyes. They flickered back and forth between his dragon and his human eyes. Neither of them said a word.


    Bron brought the hand of his less injured arm up to her chin and lifted her face. He lowered his head and brought their lips together. Aisling unwrapped her arms from around him only to move them up to wrap around his neck and pull him closer. She was forced to stand on her toes to deepen the kiss.


    They began making out more aggressively and soon they both started seeing Aisling¡¯s clothing to be inconvenient.


    The clothes were made up of stout wool since they needed to be able to protect her as she was carried in flight. There were plenty of straps and buckles to contend with, but they were made short work of. Soon her clothing lay tattered on the ground, its corpse providing a cushion for her back against the road.


    They were both too far gone to be gentle. Bron plunged into her mercilessly. Aisling bit into his shoulder to fight back the scream. Her mind was so filled with pain and lust that she couldn''t form a coherent thought.


    Bron¡¯s eyes had settled to the golden color of his dragon form. His blood was raging for a completely different reason than it had been with the battle.


    As the sun began to sink toward the western horizon they each gave one final gasp before collapsing in a heap. They both panted for breath as their bodies finally gave out. They fell asleep there on the road, holding each other tight, wanting the moment to never end.


    Bron was the first to open his eyes. He had slipped out of Aisling sometime while they slept, and she was curled up against his side using his arm as a makeshift pillow.


    ¡°Fuck, everything hurts,¡± he grumbled out loud. He couldn''t feel the arm she was laying on at all.


    Some of his injuries had healed but there were still others that hadn¡¯t. He noticed he could now see well enough by the light of the stars and moon to distinguish the color of his bruises. A product of his ascension to being a pure-blood he guessed.


    He took note that the wounds which had not regenerated fully were the ones that were mostly caused by the black mist. It was almost as if it were a curse attempting to deny his abilities as a dragon.


    ¡°Fuck, everything hurts,¡± Aisling woke up and said the same thing he had.


    He looked over at her and winced when he saw the state of her hand. He wished there was some way he could help heal her.


    ¡°I think my aura helped push us into that,¡± he told her apologetically.


    ¡°It would have been nice if it had been gentler, I will admit,¡± she winced. ¡°I don''t think I can walk, go get me some clothes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I can get up either. Everything seems to want to cramp.¡±


    ¡°Do your best, big strong dragon. Also, can you see my medicine pack anywhere?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Bron handed the pouch to her. It had gotten flung off to the side when the murdered her clothes.


    ¡°Your aura was affecting that wasn''t it?¡± she asked as she started to apply a poultice to her hand.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s safe to say that considering how much that hurt you,¡± he answered choosing his words carefully. ¡°If I¡¯m being honest though, I don''t actually remember much.¡±


    ¡°If anything it was just amplifying the feelings I already had,¡± Aisling sighed. ¡°I wish the consequences didn''t go so far as to prevent me from walking. I wonder why there¡¯s no traffic on this road?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve finished checking, it doesn¡¯t look like there¡¯s any more of them,¡± Aisling changed topics. ¡°Also it looks like that mist is even able to harm spirits in some way, the ones that made up the barrier are very ¡®sluggish¡¯ for lack of a better term.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s disconcerting,¡± Bron found and began to dig through their clothing pack. ¡°Oh, looks like some blood seeped in.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just make a pack out of one of your shirts and burn the stuff that got soiled,¡± Aisling said without looking up from her work. ¡°Unless using that new fire of yours is going to cause you to lose it again?¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t,¡± Bron replied. ¡°So do you want your blue underwear or your green underwear?¡±


    She glared at him and the stupid grin on his face.


    **


    Zag and Thea landed where she remembered the battlefield having been only to find almost no sign of anything having happened there.


    They shifted back to their human forms and Zag rummaged around for some clothes in a pack they had brought with them. They quickly dressed and began to look around. Zag sniffed the air to see if he could catch the scent of anything out of place.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure this is the place,¡± Thea said while looking around.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go look over there,¡± Zag indicated a spot in the trees.


    Thea looked to the left and right as they made it into the trees as Zag crouched down and felt of the leaf litter with his hands.


    ¡°I smell something here, someone tried to hide it though,¡± he explained. ¡°I don¡¯t think a quilin could catch it unless they came close, if it was fresh I think even I would have missed it.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Thea asked as Zag dug into the litter and dirt.


    ¡°A dead body, of a human,¡± Zag answered.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember any humans being present,¡± Thea watched as he dug up the body. ¡°I just recall the strange shadows and the qilins.¡±


    ¡°This human smells like the ones that were with Huilei when I rescued you,¡± Zag explained. ¡°They don''t smell the same as the ones in the north.¡±


    With the body uncovered they examined it to find that it was a shriveled husk. Nothing about it pointed to natural mummification since the area was much too moist. Zag and Thea both pondered what could have caused it as Zag moved the body around to see it from every angle.


    ¡°Well it was definitely killed by one of yours,¡± Zag pointed to a barely discernible wound. ¡°I think whoever did it dried out the body to further cover up the smell.¡±


    ¡°Ahh!¡± Thea exclaimed. ¡°I remember Foro talking about that once before, he read about it in a book, I think.¡±


    ¡°That was your second, right?¡± Zag asked. ¡°Would he have left something for survivors to find?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right!¡± Thea nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with me not to think of it.¡±


    ¡°Go look for it then,¡± Zag told her. ¡°There¡¯s something weird about this corpse that I want to look into.¡±


    Thea hesitated. She looked back and forth between Zag, as he worked over the corpse and the surrounding trees. She felt a cold sweat break out on her back before she forced herself to take the first step.


    Once she took the first step the rest were much easier. Her nervousness remained, however, since she was in the center of the place where the greatest trauma in her life had occurred.


    As she made her way out of sight of Zag she began to go through her memories of the ambush. She remembered where Foro and herself had been when it started. She remembered where he went in the first moments and came to think that he would have had to notice when she got taken down.


    Once she established that she figured he would have been blocked off since she had been the primary target for capture. She took into account the corpse that the dragon was currently examining and narrowed down the possibilities of where Foro would have left a message.


    Once she had decided she walked quickly, her nerves had settled well enough as she focused on her task at hand. She made her way to a tree and looked around the trunk until she found an inconspicuous looking scratch. The scratch told her what she needed to know, and she recovered the message capsule a few steps away buried under the leaf litter.


    **


    Zag concentrated on the shriveled up husk that once was a human. He couldn''t smell much from it, just some subtle hints at decay and remnants of its original human smell. It smelled like the humans that had been cowering from his aura behind Huilei, and he figured they were comrades of some sort.


    He finally prodded the body with a transformed claw. He just couldn''t figure out the peculiarity he was sensing about it. The claw punctured the skin just above the fatal stab wound and Zag heard a hissing of some sort as if there was some small amount of gas that had not yet escaped.


    He looked at it in puzzled bewilderment because there was no accompanying stench. He prodded the body in a few more places eliciting the same reaction each time. He decided one more prod wouldn''t hurt and applied his claw to the neck and yanked it back with a hiss of pain almost as soon as his claw punctured the skin. A small trail of black mist rolled out of the hole as he stared at his finger slowly start to regenerate.


    ¡°Why is your finger mangled... No, how is your finger mangled to that extent?¡± Thea asked after having returned.


    ¡°Some kind of black mist came out of the corpse, I imagine it¡¯s responsible for the shadow things you mentioned,¡± Zag answered while he stared at his finger. ¡°It seems to be able to hamper my regenerative abilities. Try to heal it for me.¡±


    He stuck his finger out in her direction.


    Thea grabbed his hand and golden flames spread over the finger. It had a small effect but was not even close to the amount it should have had.


    ¡°Interesting,¡± was all that Zag had to say.


    ¡°That explains what was happening¡­¡± Thea¡¯s voice broke as she went back to the subject of the ambush. A tear escaped and ran down her cheek as she spaced out somewhere in the air between her and Zag¡¯s hand.


    Zag reached out with his free hand and patted her on the head. Thea snapped back to reality and jumped back a step.


    ¡°What do you want to do now?¡± Zag asked her as he watched his finger finish healing up.


    ¡°I found the message he left, it designated a rendezvous point in Proelefsi,¡± she explained. ¡°I want to go there and find out how many...made it.¡±


    ¡°I see, it wouldn''t be bad to see if there are any of these humans there as well,¡± Zag grinned, it didn''t look nice. ¡°I find myself curious as to their origins and would very much like to ask about it.¡±

 PF Book One: Chapter 7

    Zag and Thea managed to sneak by the lax security of Proelefsi¡¯s walls and into the city without issue. The evening was fast approaching, so they hurried through the winding narrow streets to whatever destination Thea was leading them to.


    ¡°This street plan is a bit of a nightmare,¡± Zag complained as they went.


    ¡°Most of the beings here can fly and so it was not always viewed with importance by those in charge,¡± Thea told him while adjusting the hood of the cloak she had put on.


    ¡°By the way,¡± Zag looked around and sniffed the air, ¡°why are there so many humans here?¡±


    ¡°They supposedly came here when the old human empire to the north was destroyed by a dragon. You mean to say you didn¡¯t have anything to do with that?¡±


    ¡°Nope, I never made it that far north,¡± Zag replied.


    ¡°The thought that there exists the possibility of having two beings like you in the same place is, frankly, terrifying,¡± Thea told him as she tried to match up the streets with her mental map of the city.


    Zag just shrugged the statement off, ¡°So how come Old Agios is ignoring the half-bloods here?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea, I was always so used to them being here I never thought to ask,¡± Thea said after a moment of thought.


    ¡°Where are we going, anyway?¡± Zag asked as he followed along. He was completely certain he couldn''t find his way out of the city without flying.


    ¡°An orphanage that I sponsored, it was something I did on my own and kept quiet so no-one in charge now should know about it. It is where Foro¡¯s message directed any survivors to go.¡±


    ¡°I just had a thought about that black mist,¡± Zag shifted subjects. ¡°If dragon fire can burn it, you could burn off the residue that makes the wounds it causes resist healing and then heal it up normally after that. You might be uniquely suited to dealing with it.¡±


    ¡°Well I hope I don''t have a chance to try that experiment anytime soon,¡± Thea replied dryly as she stopped in front of a dilapidated looking building.


    ¡°This it?¡± Zag asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tea nodded. ¡°It¡¯s disguised pretty well, isn''t it? The building is actually nowhere near this dilapidated.¡±


    Thea walked up and knocked on the door. The knock followed a subtle but slightly different pattern from how someone would normally perform the action.


    ¡°Interesting,¡± Zag muttered to himself when he saw her knock.


    The door opened a crack and someone peeked out from inside. When they saw Thea¡¯s face the door was swung open wider, and she was taken inside before either her or Zag could react and the door was slammed shut.


    Zag walked up and tested the doorknob. He found it to be unlocked, so he let himself in. When he stepped inside and closed the door he suddenly found a fist being swung at him.


    Zag caught it in his hand and the owner of the fist found himself the target of Zag¡¯s aura. He was soon kneeling down on the floor in a panic.


    ¡°Stand down you overzealous idiots!¡± Thea yelled.


    Zag withdrew his aura and picked the soldier up off the floor. He straightened the soldier''s clothes before he turned to look everyone over.


    ¡°Hello there little birds, I brought back your boss.¡±


    ¡°You suddenly feel the need to be condescending?¡± Thea criticized him.


    ¡°Well I was treated rather rudely,¡± Zag gave her a look of annoyance. ¡°I should warrant at least some respect you know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for that, especially if you were the one who brought back our young Lady,¡± Foro said as he walked in from the other room. The left side of his face was covered in a bandage.


    ¡°You should try what I said earlier and heal his face,¡± Zag indicated to Thea as he pointed at Foro.


    ¡°What?¡± Foro was completely puzzled. ¡°There¡¯s a way to heal these wounds? I¡¯m not the only one still injured.¡±


    ¡°The dragon came up with a theory, I don''t know if it will work or not,¡± Thea explained trying to take control of the conversation. ¡°We can try it in a moment if everyone is here. More importantly what is actually going on in the palace?¡±


    ¡°Alright I¡¯ll take you to the others, and we can get each other caught up,¡± Foro led Thea towards the other room and the man that had opened the door followed them.


    Zag watched them leave and chuckled when he heard Foro ask about Thea¡¯s hair. He turned around and looked at the handful of children who were staring at him along with a woman who he assumed was their caretaker.


    ¡°Hello there.¡± he greeted them.


    ¡°Who are you, mister?¡± one of the children asked.


    **


    Thea held off on answering Foro¡¯s question about her hair as they made their way to a sitting room. After having Thea sat down and asking a young woman who was in the room to bring her some tea, Foro went to gather the rest of the survivors.


    Thea thanked the young woman for the tea and after responding with a polite nod the woman left the room. Foro returned with a handful of Thea¡¯s legionaries each sporting some level of injury. Thea had to fight back the tears of guilt to maintain some level of composure.


    When most of the survivors started crying as they greeted her, glad she was alive, the dam broke, and they all wound up weeping for some time.


    ¡°So what happened with your hair,¡± it seemed Foro was not able to continue without this point being resolved.


    ¡°You remember the dragon mentioning ¡®primordial flame¡¯ when we fought him at the old fort?¡± she sighed thinking about the highlights in her hair. ¡°That apparently allows me to ¡®gift¡¯ and ¡®receive¡¯ the attributes of the flames of other flame-touched. The highlights are a side effect of that.¡±


    ¡°Don''t fret so much, my Lady,¡± one of the legionaries consoled her. ¡°It looks quite nice.¡±


    ¡°With the color being what it is and who you came here with. Does that mean¡­?¡± Foro quickly put the pieces of the puzzle together.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Thea nodded. ¡°I can use dragon fire. The dragon can also use phoenix fire to an extent as well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s terrifying¡­¡± Foro muttered.


    ¡°Anyway, all that aside, what has happened and is happening in the palace?¡± Thea moved the conversation along.


    ¡°Lady...your parents were killed,¡± Foro grimaced as he told her. ¡°That bastard Fotismos is sitting on the throne right now.¡±


    ¡°Did you hear anything of my mother laying her egg before all of this?¡±


    ¡°There were two, the announcement from the palace is that it was determined they were both females. Fotismos has claimed he will marry both of them when they are older.¡± Foro was so angry he almost spat at the name of the current duke.


    ¡°Both? The nobility is going along with bigamy now?¡± Thea asked, her own anger leaking out.


    ¡°The nobility that was loyal to your parents has been largely replaced, any that remain are staying neutral out of fear. Your parents are dead and you¡¯ve been labeled a traitor and rebel by The Covenant, they don''t exactly have someone else to support,¡± Foro explained as the rest of the survivors nodded.


    ¡°Well, I might not be able to get the throne back, I don¡¯t know,¡± Thea proclaimed, ¡°but I¡¯m damned sure going to deny him my sisters.¡±


    ¡°Well as nice as that sounds, we''re not in any condition to support you,¡± one of the legionaries pointed out.


    ¡°Oh right!¡± Foro remembered, ¡°The dragon said something about healing?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know if it would even work, and eventually you should be able to heal on your own since phoenix fire does have some effect, but he said the residual effect of those shadows should be able to be burned away with dragon fire and then the wounds could be healed normally with our own flames.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°It sounds feasible,¡± Foro said after hearing the explanation. ¡°It also sounds extremely painful.¡±


    ¡°Well, I have no idea how to tell where the residue or whatever even is,¡± Thea shrugged. ¡°I think I should definitely talk to the dragon about it in more detail before trying.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of the dragon, should we have ignored him and left him in the other room like that?¡± Foro asked.


    ¡°Wait, the dragon is here too?¡± one of the legionaries asked in surprise.


    **


    They found Zag in the orphanage''s main room. Several of the orphans were climbing all over him, and they were just dumbfounded to find him engrossed in entertaining the children. The woman who had served Thea tea stood off to the side and watched the scene with a small smile on her face. She looked over as they filed into the room and her smile lit up brighter as she laid eyes on Foro.


    ¡°Alright youngsters, I need to talk to the people who just came in, you should go see if that nice woman has finished making those snacks she promised,¡± Zag told the children who reluctantly headed off. The woman saw them off before returning to her spot off to the side to listen.


    He stood and brushed himself off before he turned his attention to Thea and her legionaries. Several of the legionaries gulped down their nerves and the one he had met at the door made sure to position himself in the back of the group.


    ¡°Are you done crying?¡± he teased them with a smirk on his face.


    ¡°I wanted you to elaborate on how I¡¯m supposed to burn off the residual shadow from their injuries,¡± Thea ignored him and brought up the reason they had sought him out.


    ¡°You can tell where it is right?¡± Zag turned to Foro and asked.


    ¡°There does seem to be something that feels like it¡¯s eating away at my eye, Lord Zaganursarrum,¡± Foro answered respectfully.


    ¡°And the rest of you?¡± they all replied with a nod, ¡°Then just let them do it themselves.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Thea said after a moment. ¡°We should all go outside then.¡±


    ¡°I want to ask something before you do,¡± Zag stopped them and indicated the woman standing off to the side. ¡°What can you tell me about her, it doesn''t seem she can talk.¡±


    The woman frowned at him with a look of confusion.


    ¡°Ketai?¡± Foro was the one that responded. ¡°She was abandoned here as a kid, she¡¯s been mute her entire life. All we really know is she¡¯s a human and based off appearance descended from that bunch that came down from the north across the mountains.¡±


    ¡°Human?¡± Zag looked back and forth between them confused. ¡°She isn''t a human though.¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± several voices exclaimed. Ketai¡¯s expression echoed their shock.


    ¡°She¡¯s not human, she¡¯s a dragon-blood,¡± Zag explained and motioned Ketai to come closer. ¡°Several generations removed though.¡±


    Ketai looked over at Foro when Zag motioned to her. Foro just looked back and forth before he shrugged. She stepped over to Zag and looked at him inquisitively.


    Zag¡¯s eyes flashed into their draconic form and a low growl escaped his throat. Ketai seemed entranced in his gaze. Soon an answering growl came from her own throat.


    ¡°She¡¯s never made a sound before,¡± Foro whispered.


    Zag¡¯s lips formed a smile as their growls continued to rumble back and forth. Suddenly Ketai¡¯s eyes flashed and changed into the golden irised and slit pupiled form of a dragon¡¯s. She glanced back and forth and seemed to almost be in a panic and the growls faded from both their throats. Then she slugged Zag in the face which in turn made her clutch her hand in pain.


    ¡°Ow!¡± Zag held one of his hands up to his nose. ¡°She¡¯s stronger than I figured.¡±


    ¡°What did you do!?¡± Foro demanded as he collected Ketai. She latched onto him aggressively and glared at Zag. Foro couldn''t figure out if he should glare at Zag or stare at her in shock since she had never been that aggressive in showing affection before.


    ¡°You''re in for a fun life,¡± Zag laughed at Foro. ¡°I just helped her awaken her dragon blood.¡±


    ¡°So would she be some relative you lost track of at some point?¡± Thea asked with a trace of sarcasm.


    ¡°The Covenant killed all of my descendants, not counting Bron when they destroyed what you call the ¡®Forgotten Kingdom¡¯,¡± Zag¡¯s tone made Thea take a step back. ¡°She is the same lineage of dragon though which means either my sister or my mother.¡±


    ¡°It was a dragon that destroyed the human kingdom she¡¯s likely descended from,¡± Foro supplied.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask about it one day since that wasn''t me.¡± Zag pondered.


    ¡°Dragon,¡± Thea asked, ¡°how long has it been since you¡¯ve spoken to either of them?¡±


    ¡°Uh,¡± Zag looked stumped by the question. ¡°I don''t really have the best sense of the passage of time... I guess right after old Agios¡¯ temple was finished?¡±


    Zag didn''t look like he was one hundred percent sure of his answer. Everyone else, aside from Ketai who was snuggling into Foro¡¯s shoulder, looked stupefied.


    ¡°That...was eight thousand years ago,¡± Thea muttered.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Zag changed the subject, ¡°where are you going to heal them up at and how long are we staying here?¡±


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s go out back, so we don''t burn the building down,¡± Thea suggested.


    **


    They went out through the back door of the building and proceeded into a yard of sorts. It was much larger than Zag expected the dilapidated looking building to have. He suspected Thea, or someone before her had organized this place to act as a blind for activities they didn''t want others to see.


    The yard was surrounded by the walls of the buildings with no windows facing into it except for the ¡®orphanage¡¯. Zag smirked as he looked around at all of this.


    ¡°It looks like the snakes aren''t the only ones who play games,¡± Zag said with a laugh. Thea gave him an annoyed glare.


    ¡°How exactly should I do this?¡± she asked.


    ¡°If it is the same for you as it was for me you should already be able to feel the separate flame types. It should be rather natural to ignite and move it, although control was a problem for me, initially,¡± Zag looked around before he pointed to the center of the yard. ¡°Let¡¯s go over there, so we¡¯re as far away as we can be from stuff you don''t want lit on fire.¡±


    When they arrived Zag sat down and Thea followed suite facing him.


    ¡°I found that it all more or less works the same. It¡¯s just with the properties being different things won''t react as you¡¯d expect. Try to make a small flame in your hand.¡±


    Thea did what she was told. Only the small flame was the size of her head and when she tried to shrink it down it almost exploded in her face.


    ¡°Maybe I should have made you change into something that didn''t belong to one of my dead mates before doing this,¡± Zag frowned.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to go change,¡± Thea grumbled before trying again.


    ¡°Well they don¡¯t make clothing that way anymore,¡± Zag complained as she made a flame the size of her fist float above her palm. It was sputtering a bit but more or less stable.


    Zag held his hand above it, ¡°Lower the heat.¡±


    ¡°This is very difficult,¡± Thea said as he kept indicating to lower the heat again and again.


    ¡°Your friends over there will appreciate the effort when they don''t turn crispy.¡±


    They kept working at it until Zag was satisfied with her control over the size and temperature of the dragon fire. Zag was smirking at Foro and the legionaries expressions since they looked as if they saw some kind of alien being or god of some sort. He pointed at Foro and motioned him over.


    ¡°Stick your hand in the fire,¡± Zag told him when he was close enough to reach it.


    Foro looked from Zag to Thea, who had her eyes tightly closed in concentration, before he reached towards the flame with his palm held towards it. He paused just before his hand would make contact and turned to Zag.


    ¡°I can feel the heat from it still,¡± he told him.


    ¡°Lower it,¡± Zag ordered Thea.


    Foro lowered his hand into the flame as the heat was lowered to a level he could stand. He stared at it, the fascination showed through on his face, as he turned his hand back and forth stirring it around in the flame.


    ¡°Ah!¡± he exclaimed after a while, his expression changed to one of shock.


    ¡°Do you feel the dragon fire now?¡± Zag asked.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Foro responded.


    Suddenly the muscles in Thea¡¯s face twitched and Zag grabbed Foro¡¯s arm and threw him off to the side as the flame exploded and sputtered into nothing.


    ¡°It should get easier, you can try mixing the flames a bit. When you¡¯re comfortable go help the rest of them,¡± Zag tells Thea as she pants from her exertion.


    Zag walks over to where Foro is standing with a dumbstruck look on his face. He looked him up and down before his gaze settled on his hand.


    ¡°It didn''t alter your appearance all that much, just a bit on your hand.¡±


    Ketai moved over to them from where she had been looking on and stared at Foros palm from around his shoulder. There was a small red mark on the upper left part of his palm, it looked like a paint smudge.


    ¡°So you saw what she was doing, you basically need to do the same thing, it can still burn you after all,¡± Zag explained. ¡°All you need to do is burn out that black stuff from where you can feel it and follow up immediately with your phoenix fire to heal it up.¡±


    Foro didn''t look too sure of himself after the trouble Thea had controlling it but gave a nod and sat down to try to get used to controlling the bit of dragon fire he inherited. Ketai sat down and stared at the flame like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.


    ¡°You might get your own in time, little girl,¡± Zag smiled at her before turning back to Foro. ¡°You shouldn''t have as much trouble as your leader, you didn''t wind up with nearly as much as she did.¡±


    The rest of the day and most of the night was spent gifting dragon fire to the survivors of Thea¡¯s legion and Zag going back and forth with each of them making sure they didn''t hurt themselves. By the time they were done he had to carry a passed out Thea to a bedroom and Zag only made it so far as to sprawl out on a couch and nobody wanted to put in the effort to move his large frame as he lay there snoring away.


    **


    Zag woke up late and staggered towards the smell of food in a half asleep state. He felt someone guide him towards a chair in what he was vaguely aware was some kind of dining room. He was handed some utensils which his brain some far off recollection of how to use properly. Zag started to use them to move the food from the plate that some blurry shape put in front of him to his mouth. As he ate his brain and eyes proceeded to have less and less trouble interpreting his environment, and he recognized that Thea and the legionaries were sitting at the table watching him eat.


    ¡°What?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I have a request for you but go ahead and finish your meal,¡± Thea told him.


    He finished off the breakfast and leaned back in the chair.


    ¡°Well?¡± he looked over at Thea.


    ¡°I won''t ask you to help me take the throne back from the upstart and I imagine you will eventually start to insist I go and speak with your mother,¡± Thea started, ¡°I just cannot leave my mother¡¯s eggs, my sisters, in the hands of these people. I want you to offer me what help you can, even if it is only giving me time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I can understand that,¡± Zag shrugged. ¡°Do you have some sort of plan?¡±


    ¡°I know several ways to sneak into the palace, Foro can take a team and cause a distraction to pull the troops away since they are undermanned it should open up an opportunity for me to get in and out.¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± Zag crossed his arms and shook his head.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Foro asked him.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to provide the distraction. You legionaries are going to go into the palace and try to locate any humans that are able to use that shadow power and kill them.¡±


    ¡°Why the extra step?¡± Thea asked.


    ¡°What we¡¯re dealing with has to have been carefully planned and I think these humans are the ones behind it and considering what they did to you and your legion I don''t want them tailing us if we cut and run and I don''t want to have to fight them when we come back.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Thea gave him a look that was full of questions. ¡°Well whatever, how are we supposed to coordinate?¡±


    ¡°Trust me, you¡¯ll know when they¡¯re distracted.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Foro looked concerned. Zag just smirked.

 PF Book One: Chapter 8

    Thea, Foro and the legionaries were gathered near the entrance to one of the secret passages Thea knew about. They wore dark, easy to move in clothing and tried to act as inconspicuous as they could, considering the circumstances.


    ¡°Legatus why is there a tunnel that leads from the palace to here?¡± one of the legionaries asked.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Thea started and stopped. Her cheeks held a slight blush since the contents of the district consisted of places that catered to the vices. ¡°Some of my relatives felt like they were living in a cage, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°Stop teasing the Legatus,¡± Foro grumbled. ¡°How long is it going to take before the dragon does something?¡±


    ¡°He probably wants all the advantages he can get,¡± Thea explained. ¡°If there are too many of those shadow users even he could be in danger of dying. It damages him just as easily as it does us.¡±


    They found themselves squinting in the twilight as the sun went behind the horizon. Their vision was at its worst aside from being in pitch blackness. From somewhere out in the city they heard a deafening roar that seemed to rattle the walls even from such a distance away.


    ¡°He shifted?¡± Foro looked like he wanted to panic.


    ¡°Get in the tunnel,¡± Thea ordered. ¡°This should definitely give us the distraction we need.¡±


    They made their way through the tunnel and soon crossed into the compound. Thea cracked open the secret doorway that hid the entrance to the tunnel and peeked out. There were still some people running around in a panic but there were significantly fewer people that there needed to be to properly guard the place.


    ¡°Move,¡± Thea ordered as she opened the door the rest of the way. ¡°Remember what to look for and don''t take any unnecessary risks.¡±


    ¡°Yes Legatus!¡± they responded in sync. They shifted to their half-blood states to allow the extra maneuverability of flight and scattered in different directions.


    Thea marched with the air of a messenger who was rushing to deliver an important communique. She kept the hood of the flame resistant outfit up in order to hide the red in her hair and stayed in her human-form knowing the crimson streaks in her wings would draw too much attention.


    Thea entered the palace through a little-used servants entrance and found herself in the empty dining area. She paused out of surprise, not only was it empty but it looked like it had fallen into disuse. There was quite a bit of dust on the benches and tables. She wondered what the cause could be before moving on.


    She walked down a hallway keeping her hand along the wall searching for the mechanism that opened another secret passage that led to the upper floors. There was one tense moment as someone rushed past her, but they were in such a hurry the paid her no mind.


    She finally located the mechanism and a small door disguised in the wall slid open. She brushed past some cobwebs and carefully made her way up the rickety wooden steps that spiraled up to the second floor.


    Thea couldn''t hold back the gasp and brought her hand up to her mouth from the shock of what she saw when she came out from the other side of the passage. She had been expecting it to an extent but it hadn¡¯t prepared her for how thoroughly her room had been gone through and trashed. What really irked her is there was nothing of any political importance in the room. Just a few of her childhood artifacts and personal items. Which now lay shredded and broken on the floor.


    Thea took a quick glance around while she fought back the tears of having her home stolen away from her. She gritted her teeth and opened the door to the hallway. She peeked around the corner and saw it was clear, much to her amazement.


    Thea walked the two doors down to what had been her parents'' nest. She slowly opened the door, ready and expecting to have to fight her way into where the eggs should be. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw no trace of another being in the room. The only thing there was two phoenix eggs nestled close together in the center of the room.


    She knew this had to be a trap, there was no way, if they were important to the usurper''s plans, that they would be left unattended during an attack. She also knew that she had to spring it.


    Thea walked towards the eggs nervously glancing over her shoulder, constantly wary of an ambush she knew had to come somehow.


    She reached the eggs and knelt down to examine them. Her face paled when she saw that they were darker than they should be and seemed to have shadows moving about inside them. It had to be the work of those strange humans who had aided in wiping out her men and the ones Zag sent her remaining legionaries off to kill.


    She picked up the eggs and cradled them to her breast as she stood up from where they had been. She tried to calm herself down and think rationally, fighting back the panic that she would lose these last members of her family before they even hatched. Her racing mind kept coming back to one thought, over and over, the thought that the dragon might know what to do somehow.


    Then as she turned around she wondered when she had started to see the dragon as a crutch to solve problems that way.


    ¡°Hello cousin,¡± the voice of a man came from the doorway.


    **


    Foro had split off from the others and had made his way to the wall of the guest quarters. He figured it would be as good as any place to start looking for the humans who wielded that strange power.


    He had relayed and reminded the legionaries as to what the human he had killed when he escaped the battlefield had been wearing. Foro also told them to look for humans that seemed to be giving orders or instructions since any humans native to the city wouldn''t be in such a position of authority.


    The dragon had emphasized to them to use their newly acquired dragon fire to finish them off quickly, and they had spent what few hours they could to practice their control over it.


    He tested the windows as he went along until he found one that was unlocked. As he was about to open it and climb into the room he heard voices from around the corner of the building towards where the back exit from the guest quarters would be.


    He couldn''t understand the language. Based off that alone he knew it had to be them. Every being on the continent spoke the same common language with only some variance in dialect. For him not to be able to make heads or tails of it meant they were either from across the sea or from the far north.


    He peeked around the corner of the building and saw six humans arguing with each other. They were standing in a circle, so he couldn''t jump out and ambush them without being seen and there wouldn''t be any reason for a soldier or guard to be coming from the direction he would be.


    He pulls back to look around and see if he can find a way around them without being spotted. As he turned his head he almost jumped out of his skin and into the sight of the arguing humans. He found Ketai standing next to him where she definitely shouldn''t be.


    ¡°Wha... Mph!¡± he started to exclaim before she covered his mouth with her hand.


    She indicated to him to be quiet before removing her hand and motioning him to move, so she could look around the corner of the building.


    ¡°Ketai, why are you here, it isn''t safe!¡± Foro hissed in a whisper. He started to frantically look around for a place to hide her.


    She motioned for him to move out of the way again, but he grabbed her shoulders and tried to direct her towards a storage shed. Shockingly he found he couldn''t move her at all once she took a step to brace her foot to resist him.


    She grabbed his shirt and looked up at him. Her eyes flashed into those of a dragon, and he could feel her aura pressing down on him. He let go of her and sighed before he stepped out of the way.


    She peeked around the corner and then pulled back. She motioned Foro to wait and then sprinted around the corner towards the gate that was on the other side of the arguing group.


    They were distracted by her, yet they weren''t decisive enough to try to stop her and the ones who would have been able to spot Foro turned their eyes to follow her as she sped by. Foro didn''t waste the opportunity.


    He jumped out and sprinted toward the group. Crimson flames danced in his hands. He took the first two at the same time, jamming his fists into the back of their heads. The result went well beyond his expectations, he knew he was strong enough to fracture a human skull with such a move normally but what was left of their heads was a charred lump with a crater in the back. He began to think intent played as much of a role with dragon fire as it did with phoenix fire.


    He smacked the third one as they reacted to his presence. His face simply melted off. It was the most horrifying thing Foro had ever seen. He shifted into his half-blood state and let off an explosion of golden flame laced with crimson stripes much the same way Thea had done to block the dragon¡¯s attack what seemed like so long ago now. The flames engulfed two of the remaining humans. They seemed able to resist the golden flames but each time the crimson stripes touched them they left gashes in their skin. They were cut to ribbons in a matter of moments.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The final one managed to shield himself and blasted Foro away with the black shadow or mist, whatever it was. He felt the soul-searing pain he remembered eating away at his eye and quickly burned it off and healed himself.


    ¡°How! You shouldn''t be able to harm us with your fire,¡± the remaining enemy exclaimed. ¡°You¡¯re going to tell me how.¡±


    Foro smirked and lunged at the man trying to get a blow through his defense. He was repulsed although he could tell it took the man some effort to do so. Foro kept coming and saw his opportunity when the man stopped defending himself and clutched his head in agony. After finishing him off Foro looked up to see Ketai, her eyes in full draconic glory, standing not far away glaring angrily at what now was the man¡¯s corpse.


    ¡°Do you even have a concept of the danger you¡¯re putting yourself in?¡± he asked her in exasperation. ¡°You shouldn''t have come here.¡±


    She looked at him before pointing to the corpses on the ground then to him and then making a cutting gesture across her throat.


    ¡°I understand but I would have found a way to deal with it.¡±


    She shrugged at him and then points off to her left and motions him to go that way.


    ¡°You need to hide somewhere and lie low,¡± he tried again to get her to go out of the combat zone.


    She looked up at the sky when some of Zag¡¯s roars echoed from above the city before turning back to him. She gave a grin that with her golden draconian eyes looked downright feral and almost caused Foro to feel a shiver running down his spine. Then she stuck her tongue out at him and walked off towards the direction she had indicated.


    ¡°Is insanity a racial trait?¡± Foro muttered the question before hurrying after her.


    **


    Thea stared at the man with a mixture of rage and disgust.


    ¡°Fotismos, I see you¡¯ve been dabbling in something rather disgusting,¡± she commented when she saw the pitch black streaks running through his hair.


    ¡°Yes, well what you have been dabbling in looks much more fetching I will admit,¡± he smirked. ¡°Huilei was supposed to kill you although I¡¯m glad you survived, it¡¯ll be so much nicer to have a trio of sisters instead of just a duo.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll get nothing more than an early death,¡± Thea clutched the eggs tighter to her chest.


    They shifted at roughly the same time, Thea¡¯s wings laced with dragon flame spread open behind her back the fire burning so strongly with her anger that various flammable things scattered throughout the room combusted from the heat. Fotismos with his wings laced with eerie shadow began releasing tendrils of dark mist that crept towards her feet.


    As the mist approached her crimson flames would lick out and incinerate it. However, she hesitated to get closer, she didn''t want to put down the eggs or risk getting them damaged if the fight came to close quarters.


    ¡°Those eggs are already mine, my power has already seeped into their very souls,¡± Fotismos sneered and more mist spread off from him.


    Thea didn''t bother responding to his taunting. She let the flames come off of her in a wreath along the ground completely obliterating the mist and if it wasn''t for him generating some of his phoenix flames laced with the shadow power around his feet, Fotismos would have been two feet shorter than he currently was.


    ¡°This is quite unfortunate, this power you have makes you a bit too dangerous to keep around,¡± Fotismos said as he gathered darkness and flames in front of him in a roiling mass. ¡°Luckily I don''t really need your sisters or you, we can just substitute some other eggs, yes that should work fine.¡±


    Thea frowned as he seemed to be almost talking to himself at this point. She also felt her instincts screaming at her not to get hit by that roiling mass of darkness and fire. She looked to her sides and let loose with a massive wave of dragon flame behind her. It slammed into the wall blowing it out in an explosion that left the edges of the remaining stones glowing cherry red.


    She turned and sprinted towards the opening putting as much dragon and phoenix fire as she could between her and that roiling mass that she knew would be coming. She wasn''t sure if she imagined it or if she could actually feel it getting closer. Either way to her it was like time slowed down.


    The writhing mass got closer and closer until it lapped at her wings. The pain was excruciating but in all likelihood saved her life. When the pain shot through her wing she stumbled and fell. Since she didn''t want to throw or crush the eggs she rolled to her side and the mass of darkness shot over her and exploded through the hole in the wall.


    Fotismos was cackling like a madman as Thea writhed in pain while trying to protect the eggs. Her wings were nothing more than mangled stumps with flames and blood shooting out from the wounds as the black mist and shadow tried to eat away her flesh and bone.


    ¡°Maybe I should keep you after all! Yes, I should keep you like this, it¡¯s so wonderful, it¡¯s so beautiful¡­¡± he rambled on further down the road to madness.


    Thea managed to get the wounds and pain under control and looked up at him with pure hatred.


    Fotismos continued his ranting as tendrils of darkness spread out from him slowly creeping like a set of vines towards Thea and the eggs. Thea clutched them tighter to her chest once again and closed her eyes. She was too exhausted and wounded to continue the fight this way. She prayed out of desperation to any godly being who would listen. To the spirits, the humans worship, to the old gods locked away in their prisons. She even prayed to Agios Ba who may even want her killed. It was none of those who crashed into the side of the palace with such force that part of the ceiling crashed down and almost hit Fotismos.


    Fotismos jumped back, the dark tendrils retreating with him, top dodge the debris. As he landed, he saw a man climb through the hole in the wall. The man walked towards Thea in his brazen glory. He exuded an aura that left Fotismos feeling terrified. As the man checked on Thea¡¯s condition the terror started to feed Fotismos¡¯ madness and it grew into an insane rage.


    ¡°Ah... Ah, you! Dragon, they are afraid of you!¡± Fotismos spat at the man. ¡°I¡¯m not, not afraid, I¡¯m the strongest. Even Huilei will fear me, I¡¯ll eventually take Agios¡¯ place in the world!¡±


    ¡°What was done with these eggs?¡± Zag asked looking up at him for the first time. The full weight of Zag¡¯s aura slammed into Fotismos with the question.


    ¡°Mine, mine! They made them mine! For me!¡± Fotismos shrieked at him. He shifted to his pure-blood phoenix state and the shrieking continued in the wordless screams of a phoenix.


    Zag spread his wings and started to walk towards him.


    ¡°In the time that has passed since I have last killed a being many lifetimes have gone by for the shorter-lived. There are maybe only a few left alive that truly remember the horrors of the war with what you fools call the ¡®Forgotten Kingdom.¡¯


    Perhaps you¡¯ve heard the stories, perhaps you haven''t but the biggest terror for the Covenant soldiers who participated in the destruction of that kingdom was me.


    You think you¡¯re stronger than a dragon? A being of the first races who was hatched when the revolt against the old gods still raged in this world? By all means, show me this!¡±


    Zag had walked step by step until he was standing right in front of Fotismos. He brushed off the mist and phoenix fire sent his way from Fotismos attacks. The shadowy mists ate into his skin but it wasn''t enough to bring him down. The phoenix fire did effectively nothing to him.


    Zag reached upwards with his hand as Fotismos struck down. He tried to grab the beak but Fotismos twisted slightly to the side and bit into his shoulder. Zag¡¯s arm was pulled off in the razor-sharp beak of the giant bird.


    He jumped using his wings to gain further momentum and followed the head of Fotismos as he brought away his arm. Zag reached out with his other hand and grabbed the beak with his remaining hand. He pulled himself up and wrapped his legs around the base of the beak. Then he just squeezed.


    Fotismos beak cracked. He started to writhe around as he flapped helplessly trapped in the room unable to escape. Zag used his own wings to further disturb Fotismos¡¯ balance and managed to cause him to stumble and fall on his back.


    The bloody mess that was Zag¡¯s shoulder erupted in golden fire, an effect that caused Fotismos¡¯ eyed to widen in panic even through his madness. When the flames dissipated, what was left was Zag flexing a brand-new arm. He slammed the newly minted fist into Fotismos¡¯ eye and crimson fire burst forth. The flames enveloped Fotismos¡¯ brain and shot out his ears, his nostrils, and his other eye. He let out a pitiful moan as he died and his head reduced to ashes. Ashes he would never revive from.


    Zag stood up and left tracks through the puddles of blood on the floor as he walked to wear Thea was crouched down.


    ¡°Can you heal your wings?¡±


    She shook her head that she could not. She couldn''t even focus enough to respond verbally. Thea held up one of the eggs and looked pleadingly at Zag. Zag examined the egg without taking it from her, his eyes roamed over it and followed the shadows within.


    ¡°I think I know of someone who can help, but we can do nothing here. Just hold onto them,¡± Zag told her as he reached down and picked her up.


    She gave a start but was really in no condition to protest. It would take her wings some time to function properly even if they were healed right away. She could see Zag wince as he readjusted the regrown arm. It seemed like dragons even suffered the pain of a regrown limb.


    ¡°The two closest times I¡¯ve come to dying have been around you,¡± Zag snorted. ¡°Even as much as the Covenant wanted to kill me during the war, they never came this close.¡±


    Thea gave him a sarcastic pat on the arm as he leaped out from the hole in the wall, and they sped away from the palace and the phoenixes brave enough to take to the skies with a dragon.


    **


    Ketai had led Foro to several more of the shadow users and since they were only in pairs or alone he dispatched them with ease.


    When they saw Zag dive into the palace Foro motioned Ketai to stop searching, and they made their way to the first rendezvous point. The other legionaries had the same idea since most of them had already arrived and the rest showed up a few moments after Foro did.


    ¡°Good, I see you¡¯re all more or less intact. Does anyone have any wing damage?¡± Foro checked with them.


    They reported that everything was good to go in that department. Foro tried to ignore the confused looks directed towards Ketai.


    ¡°Commander, why is Miss Ketai here?¡± Foro resisted the urge to punch the legionary who just had to ask.


    ¡°I am not in ''the know,''¡± Foro replied in monotone while Ketai smirked at him.


    The legionaries, their confusion not alleviated, simply shrugged and went with the flow. They had never in their lives expected to see Foro brought to this state by someone, not in his command structure.


    ¡°Well since we¡¯re all in good shape then scatter and meet up at the second rendezvous point,¡± Foro ordered as his eyes followed Zag flying out of the palace with Thea in his arms.


    **


    By the time they had all gathered together in a clearing outside the walls Thea had regrown her wings and was sitting on the ground wincing. Zag was pacing back and forth in some loose fitting clothes they had left at the location ahead of time and the eggs were sitting in a nest made of blankets.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Foro asked as he went up to Thea.


    ¡°Fotismos had the same shadow powers those humans did,¡± Thea responded through a grimace.


    ¡°That¡¯s disturbing, is he neutralized?¡± Foro looked concerned.


    ¡°The dragon burned his face off, although he didn''t escape unscathed either.¡±


    Foro turned to look at Zag and saw he had stopped pacing and was squinting at some far off point in the sky.


    ¡°Foro, why is Ketai here?¡± Thea asked.


    ¡°She showed up while we were in the palace grounds and wouldn''t leave,¡± Foro reported. ¡°I haven''t been able to convince her to go home.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a dragon, you can''t make her do anything she doesn''t want to,¡± Zag absentmindedly explained without taking his eyes off the far off point.


    Ketai suddenly started to make a growling noise and her attention snapped to the same point in the sky.


    ¡°All of you want to get back, and get the growling girl back even if you have to tie her up,¡± Zag ordered in a low voice.


    ¡°What why?¡± Thea asked as everyone turned to look at the point in the sky. ¡°By the Old Gods, that¡¯s another dragon!¡±

 PF Book One: Chapter 9

    ¡°You really need to make some space,¡± Zag implored them. ¡°Remember when the growling girl over there punched me? It¡¯s going to be like that except he won''t stop and will be in a pureblood state!¡±


    ¡°You know who it is?¡± Thea asked.


    Foro ordered everyone to get out of the way and was trying to drag Ketai off with them.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain later, grab those eggs and move!¡± Zag almost roared at her as he started to shift.


    Thea grabbed the eggs and legged it over to where Foro was pulling Ketai.


    Zag turned his attention to the dot in the sky that was rapidly approaching. He felt his blood boil as it had never done before. He had never in his life met with another male dragon and even though he realized who this one was the desire to fight, to establish his superiority, was taken to new heights.


    He spread his wings and lifted his head up to the sky and roared. Thea, Foro and the phoenix legionaries had their hands full with Ketai trying to run out and challenge the oncoming dragon as well and it didn''t help when they all instinctively tried to cover their ears.


    The answering roar came from the distance and the oncoming dragon sped up its flight towards him.


    In no time at all, they were facing off with each other on the ground. They postured, posed and growled and Zag grinned knowing how him being the bigger of the two must irritate the other party.


    ¡°Boy, I can barely understand you,¡± he growled out at the other dragon. ¡°If you really want to do this you should let your girl get down first.¡±


    ¡°Bronntanistine, I would like to live...long enough to throw up from the motion sickness,¡± Aisling groaned from his back.


    Bron snorted, smoke blowing from his nostrils, and then he let loose a heavy sigh of resignation before he started to shift. Aisling was naturally able to step off to the ground as Bron shrank down to his human size. Bron steadied her shoulders as she wobbled on unsteady feet.


    Zag shifted and walked over to them. His expression shifted back and forth between a proud grin and a smirk.


    ¡°Does that mean I win, Boy?¡± he asked when he reached them.


    Bron turned from Aisling and slugged Zag as hard as he¡¯d ever slugged someone in his life. For her part, Aisling leaned away from them, her face turned a sickly green, and she vomited what little material was in her stomach onto the ground.


    Zag fell onto his butt and laughed while he tried to straighten out his nose.


    ¡°I keep getting punched in the face by other dragons recently,¡± he complained between fits of laughter.


    ¡°That says a lot about your personality,¡± Bron told him from where he was taking care of Aisling. ¡°Who¡¯s the girl over there? I can sense her, this is like I was completely blind and deaf before.¡±


    ¡°I think she¡¯s a cousin of yours, she punched me in the face too so definitely the same bloodline.¡±


    ¡°You seem to be enjoying yourself,¡± Bron stated to Zag and looked at the phoenixes and Ketai as they approached.


    ¡°You both have wounds and by the fact that yours hasn¡¯t regenerated yet, I¡¯d say you met our shadow using friends,¡± Zag observed. ¡°Although it looks like the reason the little witch over there is moving very gingerly is from something else.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to get punched again?¡± Bron growled at him.


    ¡°Here¡¯s your clothes,¡± Foro handed Zag his clothing while Aisling did the same for Bron. ¡°How is he a pure-blood now? He was only a half-blood during the battle from what I recall.¡±


    ¡°Indeed he was,¡± Zag responded before turning to Thea. ¡°Lady Phoenix, would you be willing to heal them?¡±


    ¡°Does it even work on a human?¡± Thea asked in response, she didn''t look too thrilled at the prospect of needing to put down the eggs.


    ¡°Why wouldn''t it?¡±


    ¡°Because they don''t share a creator with the rest of the beings?¡±


    ¡°She is the exact same as your human form,¡± Zag explained and pointed at Aisling. ¡°Regardless of what Agios Ba might claim. Besides, she¡¯s reached the point where the spirits would proactively work to keep her from harm.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Aisling was startled. ¡°How can you even tell? Beings aren''t supposed to be able to sense them.


    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s what that is,¡± Bron chimed in.


    ¡°We can, more or less, feel the other reality. I guess that works as an explanation,¡± Zag didn''t look interested in elaborating further. ¡°Hurry and heal them up, please.¡±


    Thea handed the eggs over to Foro and healed Bron¡¯s wounds and Aisling¡¯s hand without any incidents.


    ¡°What is¡­?¡± Bron started to ask.


    ¡°Oh right,¡± Thea had forgotten the bonus effect her flames had when used on another flame-touched.


    Bron promptly tried to use it and had it blow up in his face which set Zag¡¯s laughter off once again. Thea took the opportunity to shove a ball of flame in his face to heal his nose.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Damn woman, my nose was fine!¡± Zag yelled after he choked back a sneeze.


    ¡°Thank you very much,¡± Aisling was the only one who remembered courtesy in all of this mess.


    ¡°Yes, thank you,¡± Bron added.


    Zag gave a non-communicative grunt as she turned back to collect the eggs from Foro.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already had my life saved at least twice now, it is the least I can do,¡± She acknowledged.


    ¡°By the way, Boy, I¡¯m pretty sure that girl over there is a cousin of sorts to you,¡± Zag changed the subject. ¡°Her name is Ketai, the bird she¡¯s clinging to is Foro, Thea¡¯s second in command. Everyone else hasn''t told me their names.¡±


    ¡°I think that might be the first time I¡¯ve heard you use so many,¡± Bron gave a snarky remark.


    ¡°So many what?¡±


    ¡°Names, you didn''t even use Lady Thea¡¯s name when you requested her to heal us.¡±


    I didn''t?¡± Zag looked genuinely surprised. ¡°Anyway, this is Brontannistine and Aisling. My son and soon to be daughter-in-law judging by the¡­¡±


    ¡°Old Man!¡± Bron scolded him before he could finish the sentence. ¡°Don¡¯t be so crass right now.¡±


    Zag snorted in amusement as Bron walked over to Ketai.


    ¡°Greetings cousin,¡± Bron said to her. ¡°I hope we can be on good terms.¡±


    Ketai huffed and went back to clinging to Foro. Bron looked irritated, so he turned his attention back to Zag.


    ¡°Well, Boy, do you feel in top condition?¡± Zag asked with a smile that sent shivers down the spine of everyone present who wasn''t a dragon.


    ¡°Quite,¡± Bron replied with a grin just as scary. Everyone couldn''t help but note how similar they looked to each other.


    Aisling promptly stepped out of the way as the two of them tumbled into a ball of fist throwing.


    Thea almost dropped the eggs from shock, which sent her into a rage. The only thing that kept her from blasting the two of them with her on flames was the very eggs she almost dropped since Foro was in no condition to take them at the moment.


    Foro was trying his level best to keep Ketai from running over and joining in. He really missed the quiet reserved girl who used to follow him around when he visited the orphans.


    Ketai eventually lost interest and turned her nose up at the oblivious father and son before she latched back onto Foro¡¯s arm. For his part, he was nearly crying from frustration and exhaustion. He decided that dragons were too much trouble, allies or not.


    ¡°Ketai, pat Foro on the back or something before he has a complete breakdown,¡± Thea told the girl and sighed. She went closer to Aisling and got her attention. ¡°Is this normal?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what normal is with these two.¡±


    The legionaries, for their part, after the initial shock was over, started betting on the outcome.


    **


    Zag and Bron sat side by side, bruised and battered from their brawl. They were in good spirits and were almost jovial in the face of the interrogation Thea and Aisling were subjecting them to.


    ¡°It isn''t that big of a deal, dragons simply need to establish who is stronger to be able to function around each other normally. Suppressing that is rather uncomfortable,¡± Zag explained.


    ¡°Why did it happen now? Because Bron changed?¡± Aisling asked.


    ¡°Yeah, anytime a dragon has grown in strength like that they¡¯ll challenge the status quo. You should have seen him as a teenager.¡±


    ¡°That was fun, I thought I¡¯d win this time though,¡± Bron laughed.


    ¡°You thought you¡¯d win all the other times too, Boy,¡± Zag grinned. ¡°I guess I should congratulate you even if it is belated at this point.¡±


    Bron beamed as Zag patted him on the shoulder.


    ¡°How hard was it to keep the girl out of it?¡± Zag asked Thea when she looked like she had calmed down.


    ¡°She seemed to think both of you were being stupid,¡± Thea replied with forced calm. ¡°How did this happen anyway, him being a pure-blood?¡±


    ¡°Ah right,¡± Zag clapped his hands together. ¡°All of you should be aware of the reason the Covenant was founded. Agios saw the existence of the human-forms as a curse on the beings for locking up the old gods. His theory was that eventually there would be nothing left but humans and the various bloodlines would die out since it allows the different races to procreate with each other.


    However, what you may not know is the exact reason my mother refused to join and by extension my sister and myself.¡±


    ¡°I have always been curious about that,¡± Foro chimed in. Ketai was still hovering near him, but she did not seem interested in the least.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if my sister told anyone or not but as for me only my mates and children knew the reason since they always would have a target placed on them by certain Covenant heavyweights. It did indeed lead to them and an entire empire of humans being wiped out.


    Bron is the only being remaining alive who I have told.¡±


    ¡°He used your name,¡± Aisling muttered to Bron, and they both snickered quietly.


    ¡°Anyway, my mother, upon consulting with Ifrit about the so-called curse, came to the conclusion that it actually is nothing of the sort. If the offspring are treated well and allowed to learn what it means to be whatever their progenitors may be the blood will flourish and strengthen. Eventually, it should lead to what happened with the Boy here.¡±


    ¡°You''re back to ¡®Boy¡¯ again,¡± Aisling teased.


    ¡°Even Ketai could theoretically do it with as distant as her draconic progenitor is in her family tree,¡± Zag finished off.


    ¡°Why haven''t any of the half-blood phoenixes done it?¡± Foro asked.


    ¡°They aren''t really allowed to flourish as he put it, really we do them a disservice,¡± Thea answered before Zag had the chance. ¡°They really are only second class citizens.¡±


    ¡°Well, to be fair to your family, those half-bloods would be exterminated by the Covenant if they weren''t suppressed,¡± Zag added. ¡°Agios is terrified of the entire concept.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Old Man,¡± Bron spoke up. ¡°When should we summon your little girlfriend from Tiantang?¡±


    ¡°Now there¡¯s a thought that would really horrify Agios,¡± Zag laughed. ¡°We should do it here, there was a lot of worry in that letter.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Thea became concerned.


    Bron rummaged around in his and Aisling¡¯s tattered pack and handed Thea the letter Zag had gotten when they were staying in Tiantang.


    ¡°Isn''t that the name of the Promagistrate¡¯s sister?¡± Thea¡¯s concern turned to worry. ¡°This letter is written in a very casual and intimate way, as well.¡±


    Zag started to answer but thinking of it caused him to snort out a laugh. Bron and Aisling sighed but had trouble restraining their own laughter.


    ¡°So the story goes, he kidnapped her for the majority of a day,¡± Foro chimed in again. ¡°All things considered, since our source for that is the serpents, I¡¯d imagine there was more to it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re quite good friends you know?¡± Zag managed to say. ¡°After we finish this some of us will be going to meet with my mother. I¡¯d suggest leaving your legionaries here to clean up any remaining shadow users and talk you up or something so if you decide to come back people might not try to kill you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay, Ketai can apparently sense them even over quite a distance,¡± Foro volunteered.


    ¡°Good, we¡¯ll be able to get those eggs purified in the location my mother lives,¡± Zag said. ¡°Boy, you¡¯re coming too I want to show you off to my mother.¡±


    ¡°For some reason that scares me,¡± Bron muttered.


    ¡°Well, at least she won''t have any reason to be mad at you, I apparently haven¡¯t visited for ten thousand years or something like that,¡± Zag tried to hide his own trepidation.


    **


    ¡°We¡¯ll need to go to the edge of the clearing, if she¡¯s in her pure-blood state she¡¯ll need room,¡± Aisling directed traffic. ¡°That Qilin is also going to be coming through.¡±


    ¡°Are you well enough to handle this?¡± Bron asked her as he sat out the material they had carried back from Tiantang.


    ¡°I should be fine when she healed my hand it also healed...the other thing,¡± Aisling blushed.


    ¡°Ah, right. I¡¯m sorry about¡­¡± Bron started apologizing while looking sheepish.


    ¡°Don''t keep apologizing,¡± Aisling snapped at him. ¡°Finish laying the stuff out, I¡¯ll have to double check everything since you¡¯ve never done this type of thing before.¡±


    After getting everything set up and double checking it, Aisling walked over to where her audience was watching expectantly.


    ¡°Alright, here we go!¡±

 PF Book One: Chapter 10

    Liangfeng was as nervous as the humans her brother kept around like some kind of advisors. Like them, she was also trying her best to keep it hidden.


    She made her way to the audience chamber in her human-form since it would prevent her brother from reading her emotions and irritate him to no small extent.


    ¡°This could be a problem, Chouyan,¡± She said to the qilin whose head she was riding on. ¡°I think they¡¯re speeding up their plans to get me under control. We might have to take matters in our own hands.¡±


    The qilin nodded a response causing Liangfeng to bob up and down with her head.


    ¡°If things break down you are going to have to keep quite a few of them entertained while I explain things to the misguided fool,¡± Liangfeng warned as they neared the open passageway to the audience hall. ¡°He¡¯s making it public too so there will be no going back. Are you sure you don''t want to step aside?¡±


    The qilin nodded again and snorted her irritation at the question.


    ¡°Very crude Chouyan, we are supposed to be ladylike, you know?¡± Liangfeng snickered. Chouyan gave her a derisive snort once again.


    They entered the hall and took a position in front of the platform where Huilei lay coiled up. He stared down at them, Liangfeng did not fail to see the irritation flash across his face when he saw her human-form, she had the advantage already.


    Her gaze passed over the shadows to the left and right of him with the quick precision of an expert observer who did not want their target to notice the action. She counted three of them, there used to be four, but she had lost track of the other one some time ago. It compounded her nervousness along with waiting for the moment they would lose patience and start to get violent.


    ¡°Sister, the next candidate will be arriving in a few days,¡± Huilei said in a tone of superiority. ¡°Our father will be escorting him from the capital and will be joining us here for some time.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Liangfeng sighed. ¡°So you hope he can pressure me into it do you?¡±


    ¡°He was planning to visit and the timing just coincided,¡± Huilei responded. ¡°Are you not happy to receive a visit from your own father?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I would be glad to receive a visit from my father,¡± she scowled at him even though she knew he would fail to recognize the expression.


    ¡°That is wonderful then,¡± he told her. ¡°What should I tell him when he gets here?¡±


    ¡°Do you plan on not letting me speak for myself to him? That far exceeds your bounds, brother.¡±


    As Huilei was about to continue their banter one of the shadows shimmered and a man stepped forward to whisper something in his ear.


    Liangfeng tilted her head as she skillfully eavesdropped on the conversation. She was inwardly amused by how clumsy Huilei, and they were to not realize she was able to do so. It had let her stay a step ahead of their machinations for quite some time.


    Huilei was so enraged by the news that a low growl slipped through his mask of serene calm. A terrible gaff for their kind who thrived in an environment of manipulation and deceit. Liangfeng wanted to laugh out loud from the mirth it made her feel.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised,¡± she said drawing looks of shock from the two of them. ¡°I was not aware any of you were capable of such stealth.¡±


    ¡°So you heard that,¡± the shadowy man sneered. ¡°We¡¯ve been underestimating you all along it seems, Apostle of Jann.¡±


    ¡°Since you have let slip that your patience with me is spent, does that mean we will no longer be playing your clumsy games? Will you be pulling the string that has my own brother strike at me or will you be extending those shadows and mists you cling to so much in hopes that you can subdue me yourselves?¡±


    The other two humans left their shadowy hiding spots and came over to join their comrade.


    ¡°What are you having that man and his witch do?¡± man number two asked, his tone arrogant to the extreme.


    ¡°It¡¯s rude to ask a lady her secrets,¡± Liangfeng giggled at them, causing them to lose even more composure. They did not seem to know exactly what they should do with her.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°We should just kill her and start over,¡± the arrogant one suggested. Huilei growled at him much to Liangfeng¡¯s surprise.


    ¡°Oh so you are not so far gone that you are a mindless puppet, only just one pretending to be equals with the ones pulling the string,¡± Liangfeng¡¯s insults were merciless. ¡°This is the result of your own stupidity and misplaced jealousy, my brother.¡±


    ¡°I am nobody¡¯s puppet!¡± Huilei roared at her.


    ¡°Be quiet worm!¡± the third man shouted at him. He clapped his hands together and threads of shadow crept out of Huilei and wrapped around him. He was slammed to the ground and could only groan out his pain since they wrapped his snout shut as well.


    ¡°I am sorry, brother,¡± Liangfeng felt a tear run down her cheek. ¡°I tried to warn you and save you, all it took was one promise of power to slay a dragon and you gave your life to these things. I can do nothing more for you, it will be all I can do to save myself.¡±


    ¡°Save yourself?¡± the first man laughed. ¡°No matter what powers the farce of a being calling itself a god gave you, it is nothing compared to chaos itself.¡±


    ¡°An ironic claim considering who it was that pushed said chaos to its current state,¡± Liangfeng snorted her contempt.


    ¡°Boast while you can you bitch of a worm. You will either submit and serve our purpose or die and serve our purpose, it is only more convenient to have you alive. It is far from necessary,¡± the arrogant one added his share to the conversation.


    Liangfeng knew that she was delaying in hopes that Zag¡¯s son and the witch¡¯s plan would be put in motion within the amount of time she could hold out. What she did not understand was why the shadow men were delaying as well. She had seen nothing to indicate they were stupid enough to keep playing along with her. She wondered if she was more necessary than they were letting on.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± she asked. ¡°I cannot help but wonder¡­¡±


    When she started to say something she noticed that the man suppressing Huilei turned as pale as a ghost.


    ¡°Were you somehow expecting to receive reinforcements? Perhaps not, perhaps it was a completely different plan falling apart. Chaos is probably not the best at executing plans in an organized manner.¡±


    ¡°Enough of this!¡± arrogant man shouted and lifted his hands which caused the black mist to rise around him.


    Chouyan gave off something that was akin to a bark but there was nothing cute about it. It was a terrifying sound laced with anger and disgust. The man who was casting some form of shadowy sorcery was engulfed in sparks of electricity.


    The air around him became superheated and scalded away both the mist and his flesh. When it let up there was nothing left but bones so charred some had turned to an ashy powder.


    ¡°What¡­¡± the first man was flabbergasted.


    ¡°Surrendering is always an option,¡± Liangfeng taunted. ¡°Even after everything, I would be willing to concede on several points to have my family back.¡±


    ¡°There is no way you could pull that off again in short order!¡± the third man began his attack.


    Several flashes of green lit up around Liangfeng and Chouyan. They momentarily caused the two men to stop what they were doing which gave Chouyan a chance to gut-punch the third man with a blast of air.


    ¡°Corruption!¡± the first man cursed. ¡°Why are there spirits here?¡±


    ¡°It...must...be that witch¡¯s doing!¡± the third man coughed out as he recovered.


    ¡°Latch onto her, we can''t let her get away!¡± the first man ordered as he blasted shadow and mist towards them.


    Liangfeng took direct action for the first time. She created an updraft that deflected most of the mist away. Chouyan grunted in pain as some of it grazed her sides.


    The flashes of green further intensified and Liangfeng stirred the air in front of the two men. The excited movements of the air caused multiple static sparks which blinded the men and caused their shadow tendrils to miss as Chouyan took the opportunity to dodge unopposed.


    ¡°How much longer is this going to take,¡± Liangfeng muttered to herself as she glanced at the green flashes that surrounded them. They were slowly gaining in numbers and intensity but it seemed like it would take some time she wasn''t sure she could buy before it would finish.


    As their sight returned the men dashed away from each other. They charged at Chouyan and Liangfeng, who still sat on her head, from opposing flanks.


    They released tendrils of shadow from each hand. The tendril looped around to where the only place Chouyan could go was up or towards one of the two.


    Chouyan was canny enough to realize that if she went towards one of them they would draw in the surrounding net. They were willing to throw down their lives to recapture Liangfeng.


    Chouyan felt her mistress stirring around on her head and was alarmed when she glanced up to find her shifting into her serpent form.


    Liangfeng coiled around Chouyan¡¯s body and shielded her from the tendrils that had closed in. The last thing Chouyan saw before her vision was obscured by the writhing coils were the tendril seem to weaken. Going from something meant to kill to something meant to restrain them all she could do was hear her mistress scream.


    Liangfeng had never imagined there could be something so painful, it was like vines of fire were slithering through her veins and the vines were riddled with thorns and nettles.


    ¡°Alright, prepare yourself, who knows what we¡¯ll be facing on the other side of this,¡± she could hear one of the men say.


    ¡°How can there be someone this powerful? I couldn''t even dream of stopping it!¡± said the other man.


    ¡°Well, at least spirit users are no good in combat against our shadows. We can just wear them down as usual.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully that qilin dog is too tangled up to be a distraction,¡± was the last thing she could make coherent sense of before the pain became too much and her screams drowned everything out.


    There was one last flash of green light that illuminated the chamber then everything rattled once and existence itself seemed to pop. Then there was silence only interrupted by the unconscious breathing of Huilei.

 PF Book Two: Chapter 1

    The implosion effect of the spirit magic caused an unnatural stillness to permeate the air. Aisling¡¯s expression told just how strained she was as the spirits used her as a conduit to affect the material world.


    ¡°Something is wrong,¡± she muttered.


    ¡°What?¡± Bron asked as he and Zag lost their relaxed poses and stood at the ready.


    ¡°I guess the only way to describe it would be to say it feels ¡®heavy,¡¯¡± Aisling tried to explain. ¡°Just be ready, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to be much help when this finishes.¡±


    Foro motioned Ketai to help Aisling and the legionaries took positions in front of Thea and the eggs she still carried.


    ¡°Pull her back when the spell finishes,¡± he quietly ordered Ketai. She nodded in return.


    The green glow coalesced into four figured and Aisling collapsed. Ketai caught her under the arms and dragged her back behind the line of legionaries. Zag and Bron went forward, and after identifying who was a friend and who was a foe, they targeted their auras on the two men releasing shadowy tendrils into the celestial serpent who remained coiled around something or someone.


    The tendrils retracted as the men clutched their heads. The one Zag targeted seemed to be affected to a larger extent than the other, he actually collapsed to the ground and curled into a ball.


    Zag lifted his target up off the ground with one arm and glared into his eyes. He had shifted to a half-blood state in the time it had taken to reach the man and his eyes were the slit-pupiled golden hued eyes of a dragon. His wings were unfurled, and he stood as intimidating as he could be without being in his pure-blood state.


    ¡°Where do you people come from, and what is your purpose here?¡± Zag asked.


    Bron, in the meantime, attempted to secure his target but was shocked to find him still able to fight to some extent. The man attempted to lash him with a tendril of the black mist but having experienced the damage that mist can cause Bron dodged backwards.


    Unfortunately, that gave the man time to turn his attention towards his comrade¡¯s interrogation. He lifted his hand palm out towards the two and blasted a palm-sized ball of black shadow which ate away at most of his companion¡¯s left side, killing him almost instantly and preventing Zag from getting his answers.


    The shadowy mist managed to invade the arm Zag had just regrown as well. Eating away at it in spite of his fantastic regenerative abilities and his phoenix flame. In the end, he was left with no choice but to chop off the arm using his free hand and some dragon flame,


    Bron had taken the head off the man responsible as the dark sphere had been in transit. Which didn''t help Zag¡¯s mood since he had lost his chance to get information.


    ¡°Dammit,¡± Zag groused as he glared at the stump of his arm.


    ¡°Sorry, I was trying to knock him out,¡± Bron looked embarrassed.


    ¡°I just regrew this arm, too,¡± Zag grumbled a bit as he went over to the unconscious form of Liangfeng.


    ¡°Is she all right?¡± Bron asked as Zag put his hand on her head.


    ¡°Nothing difficult to deal with,¡± Zag answered and released a burst of golden flames that snaked along her body. ¡°I¡¯ll wake her up, and we can get the Qilin untangled.¡±


    Liangfeng gave a pained groan and began to uncoil herself from around Chouyan. When she was freed, Chouyan leaped back and looked warily at Zag and Bron, she had been able to smell the dragons when she was trapped.


    Chouyan gave off a snort when she realized there were no impending threats and calmed down. She went over to check on her mistress¡¯ condition. Liangfeng panted heavily, still reeling from the effects of the corrosive mists and shadows given off by her now deceased opponents.


    When she caught her breath she began to shrink down as her lithe serpentine form was replaced by the form of a petite young woman with hair the color of dark storm clouds at a length hanging below her waist. She crouched down, the strain still showing on her small and delicate face, her dark eyes slowly regained their focus and turned towards Zag.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Your arm?¡± she asked through the haze of confusion before she looked around for the two humans she had been fighting. ¡°Where are¡­?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re dead, unfortunately,¡± Zag answered her. He walked over and placed his remaining hand on top of her head. ¡°Welcome to the outside world once again.¡±


    Thea, back behind the protective line of her legionaries handed her sisters off to Foro, who took them like they were going to explode if he so much as moved. She made her way behind Zag and after she placed a hand on his shoulder his arm regrew in a burst of golden fire.


    ¡°Ow, ow...ow!¡± he exclaimed, not even having been given time to brace himself. ¡°I was going to handle that myself, vile woman!¡±


    ¡°If you wait it just hurts worse,¡± Thea ignored his complaints. Bron turned away and snickered.


    Thea crouched down and grabbed Liangfeng by the shoulders. She looked her up and down inspecting her for further injuries. Chouyan, still in her qilin form moved over to them and stood next to Bron who was still smirking at his father. Zag grumbled under his breath and rotated his arm in a circle as he tried to work the aches and pains out from having it regrown for the second time that day.


    ¡°Are you feeling all right now?¡± Thea asked Liangfeng.


    ¡°Lady Annagenisi?¡± she asked in return. Thea nodded her response. ¡°I am so sorry, I could not get a warning out to you without compromising my own safety.¡±


    Liangfeng tried to bow her head from her crouched position.


    ¡°I doubt my family will be the last casualty of the machinations of these people,¡± Thea tried to hide her continued grief behind a mask of military practicality.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Zag exclaimed as he remembered something. ¡°Do you know anything about where they come from and what they want? I was hoping to interrogate one of them but haven''t had the opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know a little,¡± Liangfeng stood up with Thea¡¯s help.


    ¡°Clothes first,¡± Thea glared at Zag. She motioned for Chouyan to follow as well and moved them towards the packs where everyone else was standing around.


    Chouyan shifted to her human form and along with Liangfeng she got dressed in whatever clothing best fit her. Liangfeng¡¯s mood brightened, although she looked tired, as the adrenaline from the fight wore off.


    Liangfeng greeted everyone individually and took the time to learn their names. She bowed her head in thanks to both Bron and Aisling as well as apologized for not thinking they could be attacked after hearing of their own fight with the shadow wielding human.


    Zag looked on during all of this and tapped his foot in irritation since they had yet to get back to the subject of the motives of those very men.


    "Lord Zaganursarrum,¡± Chouyan came over to join him. ¡°I can answer most of the questions you might have.¡±


    ¡°You look uncomfortable,¡± Zag pointed out.


    ¡°It is...difficult to get over a fear ingrained in you since childhood. It also seems qilins just fear you on an instinctual level.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Zag scratched the back of his head and winced since it was his newly healed arm. ¡°I¡¯d like to know where they come from and what their goals are.¡±


    ¡°We do not know the exact location, only they come from across the southern ocean,¡± Chouyan answered. ¡°Their motives include taking over The Covenant, as for why Mistress is not sure. We only know that they are familiar with the old gods and that they know of Mistress¡¯ connection to Jann.¡±


    ¡°Ah, right!¡± Zag exclaimed. ¡°He spoke to me in Tiantang, I take it that she has primordial wind?¡±


    ¡°He spoke to you?¡± Chouyan looked concerned. ¡°Neter must be more compromised than we thought.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, maybe not,¡± Zag shrugged. ¡°It isn''t as if any of us could really contain the old gods aside from when they want us to, despite what Agios might say.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Choyan looked pale as she thought over the prospect.


    ¡°How did they get so inundated within The Covenant¡¯s ruling class?¡± Zag scratched his head as he thought about it. ¡°It is completely unnatural for humans to be a part of that.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Chouyan started before Liangfeng appeared and interrupted the conversation.


    ¡°My idiot brother invited them into his inner circle, and they spread like a plague from there,¡± she explained with a disgusted look.


    ¡°What? Why?¡± Zag was dumbfounded by this news.


    ¡°He has been trying to restart the war against you since you made him wet himself in the street, I think they must have promised him the power to do so,¡± Liangfeng sighed in frustration. ¡°He¡¯s been after Agios¡¯ position since he was told, in no uncertain terms, to leave you alone.¡±


    ¡°Well, that explains part of the set up that had Bron and the Lady Phoenix fighting each other,¡± Zag pondered. ¡°I think the humans'' motives go back much further and are connected to the Old Gods somehow.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Liangfeng asked as everyone else joined them to listen in on the conversation.


    ¡°Because Jann was willing to get directly involved to pull you out of Tiantang and that violates all sorts of agreements,¡± Zag explained his reasoning, ¡°It might even have restarted the War of the Gods.¡±


    Everyone who had been taught history to any extent showed a pale face at that thought.


    ¡°We¡¯ll know for sure soon enough,¡± Zag rubbed his palms together and looked at Liangfeng. ¡°You¡¯re coming to meet my mother as well.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Because that is where Ifrit is and very likely where Jann is as well unless he got distracted.¡±


    ¡°Ifrit should be able to help my sisters, right?¡± Thea asked she had regained the eggs from Foro much to his relief.


    ¡°If what I¡¯m starting to suspect is true, then he will undoubtedly help,¡± Zag reassured her. ¡°It¡¯s just that talking to gods is more or less guaranteed to leave you with a headache, they do not think like we do.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Thea looked hopeful.


    ¡°Zaganursarrum, can we speak privately before we leave?¡± Liangfeng asked him quietly.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Zag replied with a questioning look as he wondered what she could want.

 PF Book Two: Chapter 2

    Liangfeng and Zag moved off a short distance from the group. Zag smirked at Chouyan who¡¯s charcoal black eyes were locked on to him as she stood conflicted from her instinctual fear of him and her desire to protect her mistress. Liangfeng paid no mind to the gazes from Chouyan or the others.


    ¡°What happened to your son?¡± Liangfeng started off with a quiet but excited voice. ¡°He doesn¡¯t smell the same, he smells more like you. He also just seems different¡­¡±


    ¡°He fully awakened his bloodline,¡± Zag answered when she finally paused.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± she asked.


    ¡°It means Agios Ba is finally proven to be completely full of shit, the entire reason for The Covenant existing is wrong.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± she exclaimed so emphatically that Zag almost jumped from the surprise. ¡°That must have been what Lord Jann was talking about!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Zag asked for more elaboration.


    ¡°He said the entire disagreement was over the nature of bloodlines,¡± Liangfeng grinned up at him. ¡°Then he wouldn''t speak to me for three days after claiming I was ¡®being annoying.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Eh, he was probably just being an asshole,¡± Zag snorted. ¡°Both him and Ifrit are almost childish in some ways.¡±


    ¡°Well, they really have never had anyone but themselves to influence their personalities, but I digress,¡± Liangfeng said as she continued to grin. ¡°This actually helps my own plans in no small amount.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Zag lifted an eyebrow.


    ¡°Say, Zaganursarrum do I look more ladylike now?¡± Liangfeng arched her back and stretched her arms above her head. She tilted her head down and to the side and looked, with upturned eyes, at Zag¡¯s face to observe his reaction.


    Zag looked at her with a cramped expression that showed nothing but annoyance at her playing around.


    ¡°Ah, fine, fine,¡± Liangfeng stopped posing and pouted at him. ¡°I want to take over The Covenant, or at least break-off Tiantang so myself, and the rest of the women no longer have to live in the manner that we do. Even Lady Annagenisi over there would have eventually been forced into an arranged marriage and prevented from going out in the world.¡±


    ¡°A lofty goal,¡± Zag nodded. ¡°Have you thought out how you are going to make it work, and then make it stick if you do manage to take over?¡±


    ¡°Some things I will have to remain flexible on,¡± she shrugged. ¡°I may have to abandon the plan entirely and just run away to retain my freedom.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Zag said. ¡°I assume there¡¯s a reason you are telling me this?¡±


    ¡°Zaganursarrum,¡± Liangfeng placed her hand on his chest. ¡°I would very much do anything for you to help me.¡±


    Zag reached up and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. She grunted from the pressure of his grasp. Zag cut his eyes towards Chouyan¡¯s position when he heard her move. She stopped in her tracks at his glare. He continued to apply pressure to Liangfeng¡¯s shoulder until she winced.


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to manipulate me into your schemes,¡± Zag growled at her, his eyes changing to those of a dragon¡¯s. ¡°These aren''t childish games you are playing anymore and even those got me injured many years ago in dealing with you.¡±


    She teared up and nodded her head. Liangfeng seemed unable to articulate a reply.


    Right as Zag was about to let go he felt a hand grab his own arm. It was so sudden, and he never felt the presence of the person who did it until they touched him that he jumped back in surprise.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that was about, but is she really someone you want to cause pain?¡± Thea said when he looked at her in round-eyed shock. ¡°You should also stop bullying the qilin.¡±


    It was Zag¡¯s turn to be speechless.


    ¡°Are you done talking to him?¡± Thea asked Liagnfeng.


    Liangfeng nodded and sat down. She still looked shaken.


    ¡°Liangfeng,¡± Zag said softly to get her attention. ¡°I have to prioritize these humans and their connection to the gods if I help you realize that plan or not depends on them. For now, will you let me take you to my where my mother is since that is where we will ultimately find out what is going on?¡±


    She tilted her head and looked at him for a long time. He shifted uncomfortably from the lack of reply. Thea looked impatient as she tapped her foot waiting for Zag.


    Liangfeng nodded her ascent.


    ¡°Good, I am sorry for my reaction and I hope that you can learn that you don''t need to manipulate everyone to get something from them. There are kind people in the world who do not have a vendetta,¡± Zag told her and then walked off with Thea. He apologized to Chouyan as they went past her.


    After they walked off Choyan moved to join Liangfeng, who was now lying on the ground.


    ¡°Chouyan can you be blunt with me?¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°What is it, Mistress?¡±


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯ve manipulated you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve ever felt you¡¯ve needed to,¡± Chouyan replied after a moment.


    ¡°That answer really says everything, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Liangfeng sighed. ¡°I really hate the environment I was in, maybe I should just run away and not bother.¡±


    ¡°I do not think you¡¯re capable of leaving it be after all the work you¡¯ve put into it,¡± Chouyan told her with a small patient smile.


    ¡°I must be crazy, I went to such great lengths to escape my cage just, so I can build another one to lock myself in. I even want to go so far as to drag people into it with me, even a dragon no less,¡± Liangfeng sighed and closed her eyes.


    ¡°There will always be a cage made up of our responsibilities, I think that dragon is much less free than what you like to fantasize. He might even have burdens heavier than your own,¡± Chouyan said as she kneeled down and stroked Liangfeng¡¯s head.


    **


    Zag and Thea rejoined the others. Bron gave Zag a look of concern when he saw his expression, however, Zag subtly waved his hand signaling his desire to put it off until later.


    ¡°I¡¯ve finished briefing Foro on what I want him to do, I should be able to secure my throne when I return here,¡± Thea explained to Zag. ¡°I have doubts on being able to hold it if The Covenant really wants to see me as a traitor, though.¡±


    ¡°As infiltrated as they seem to be, I doubt the shadow users will be happy to leave any independent states,¡± Zag responded. ¡°I do not see the conflict as unavoidable no matter what we do since the gods themselves seem to be involved on some level.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s really to the only reason I¡¯m bothering to try, this is still my home,¡± Thea affirmed.


    ¡°We¡¯ll probably have a much better understanding of what is going on by the time we get back,¡± Zag told her. ¡°I¡¯m putting off any kind of decisions until I get an explanation out of Ifrit, you shouldn¡¯t make any specific plans until you know what you¡¯re working with.¡±


    ¡°You must have spent a lot of time with the Old God, the way you speak of him,¡± Foro mentioned.


    ¡°My mother is Ifrit¡¯s keeper, I was actually born before the war, although I was very young when it happened and don¡¯t remember much of what was going on,¡± Zag explained. ¡°Jann escaped one time and showed up unannounced, he kept trying to teach my sister and I things, but he¡¯s a terrible teacher. Him escaping is how I met Agios the first time and found out about the differences of opinion he and my mother have.¡±


    Everyone stared at him for a moment. Their minds were grappling with the concept of him being as old as the events he just casually mentioned. The war was effectively the beginning of recorded history for The Covenant¡¯s citizens.


    ¡°Oh, right!¡± Zag exclaimed and pointed to Ketai. ¡°You should utilize her ability to sniff out the shadow users and clear out any that are remaining in the city, she should be able to track them down fast enough that they¡¯d have trouble escaping.¡±


    ¡°If they haven''t started to flee already,¡± Foro added. ¡°I guess we should start heading back if we want to catch them.¡±


    Foro motioned to the legionaries, and they all shifted and after a running start took flight towards the city. Foro walked over to Ketai and wrapped his arms around her from behind. As he shifted she squirmed around to face him and wrapped her own arms underneath his and around his shoulders.


    ¡°I¡¯m worried I¡¯ll drop you this way,¡± he told her.


    She squeezed him hard enough that he grunted and then with a strained effort he took off to follow the rest of the legionaries.


    ¡°Your second is an impressive fellow, you know?¡± Zag told Thea.


    ¡°I think it is all the more impressive since he either doesn''t realize it at all or is just genuinely humble beyond words,¡± Thea replied. ¡°How are we planning to travel and how long should it take?¡±


    ¡°Bron and I are going to be carrying everyone since we can cruise faster and longer than you,¡± Zag answered.


    Aisling, who was recovered albeit tired from the summoning, jerked her head up and looked at him in wide-eyed horror.


    ¡°I feel insulted as a being of flight,¡± Thea faked a pout which sent Zag into snorts of laughter.


    ¡°You seem to be feeling a lot better than you did,¡± Zag observed.


    ¡°I am still really worried over my sisters but finding Foro and the survivors still alive has helped,¡± she gave a halfhearted grin. ¡°You not being anywhere near the terrifying monster you are described as has helped as well.¡±


    Zag chuckled at that. Bron snorted out a laugh from the side.


    ¡°The Old Man is a softy,¡± Bron added before he was sent laughing even harder by his own quib.


    ¡°Either way, even if it was for your own reasons. Thank you for all you¡¯ve done,¡± Thea said as she clutched the eggs closer to herself.


    Zag was rendered speechless by her for the second time that day.


    ¡°Didn''t you mention something in your story about being able to go faster when you were carrying her?¡± Aisling asked as she pointed to Liangfeng and Chouyan who were rejoining the group after their own conversation.


    ¡°Ah, yes that would save a lot of time,¡± Zag nodded.


    ¡°What would?¡± Liangfeng asked as they walked up.


    ¡°Whatever you did that made me fly faster when you were a kid,¡± Zag told her.


    ¡°Oh, yes that isn''t very difficult,¡± Liangfeng told them.


    ¡°Can Chouyan do the same thing?¡± Bron asked.


    ¡°She should be able to, she has the same influence over the wind as a celestial serpent would,¡± Liangfeng explained.


    ¡°So I take it you can more or less do the same things as Thea in regard to gifting and absorbing Jann¡¯s attribute?¡± Zag asked.


    ¡°He said it means I¡¯m his apostle,¡± Liangfeng answered proudly.


    ¡°I guess he was easier for you to put up with than he was for me,¡± Zag grouched.


    ¡°Not at all, he can''t focus on anything for very long and since he doesn''t get tired it just becomes unbearably annoying,¡± she responded. ¡°The information was worth it, some of it anyway.¡±


    ¡°Alright, Chouyan do you mind being split up from your mistress on this trip, even if she will be in sight?¡± Zag asked the qilin woman.


    ¡°What are we doing?¡± she was confused since she lacked almost all the context of the travel plans.


    ¡°You will ride with Aisling on Bron and use your powers to make him go faster, I will carry Liangfeng and Thea with Liangfeng doing the same thing for me.¡±


    ¡°I will be riding on a dragon?¡± Chouyan¡¯s face paled although her expression did not show her apprehension.


    ¡°If you promise not to throw up on me I won''t throw up on you,¡± Aisling offered helpfully.


    ¡°That wasn''t what I was worried about, although now it scares me even more,¡± Chouyan gave her a look filled with doubt about the entire thing.


    ¡°Isn''t it strange that the two wind-touched beings can''t fly, yet the two flame-touched beings can?¡± Bron asked.


    ¡°I never even thought to ask Jann about that!¡± Liangfeng exclaimed, regretful of the missed opportunity.


    ¡°Honestly, the flight should be more comfortable for you with whatever it is they will be doing,¡± Zag told Aisling.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be alright,¡± Liangfeng patted Chouyan on the back. ¡°Flying is fun.¡±


    ¡°I have never doubted your sanity more than I do right now,¡± Chouyan replied to her.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Zag interrupted. ¡°Something important for all of you to understand, especially you Boy. We will land some distance away from my mother¡¯s lair. None of you should approach until I give the ok.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the drive to fight another dragon going to be a problem for me?¡± Bron asked.


    ¡°Self-control Boy, I get to go first,¡± Zag said. ¡°That way I can at least tell her who you are, so she goes easy on you.¡±


    ¡°There are so many things wrong with the logic in that, can I just go back home?¡± Bron sighed.


    ¡°No,¡± Zag answered with a grin on his face.

 PF Book Two: Chapter 3

    Foro stood with one hand shading his eyes looking at the front door of a building which had all of its windows covered and boarded up. He was pretty sure it used to be some kind of store based on the layout and design. The paint had peeled away from the walls to the point there were only decaying patches of it here and there along the outside walls.


    ¡°Are you sure there¡¯s one still in there?¡± he looked down to Ketai, who stood barely a hand''s breadth to his left.


    She responded with an enthusiastic grin and a nod of confirmation.


    ¡°Tribunus,¡± one of the survivors, as Foro referred to the men that survived the ambush that wiped out the Phoenix Legion, got his attention, ¡°there¡¯s only one door. Should we still attempt to capture this one too?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not running through a choke point into that mist or whatever it is, and I¡¯m not sending any of you into that situation either,¡± Foro scowled at the building. He expressed his frustration at having been unable to capture one of the remaining shadowmen. ¡°Have everyone fly up above the building where we can see each other, then we¡¯ll just blast it all into oblivion.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    ¡°Ketai, you should head back,¡± Foro told her before turning his attention back to the building.


    He felt her touch his arm before she sped off. He was amazed at how much her physical abilities had increased since her interaction with Zag.


    Foro looked around to make sure the area was clear of civilians, the city had experienced a significant drop in population with the coup and the sight of Zaganursarrum in the sky. He sneered thinking about how the current ¡®ruling council¡¯ was just making things worse.


    His wings spread as he shifted into a half-blood state and flew up to semi-hover in the air above the buildings.


    Three other members of his squad were already in the air waiting on his signal. Foro looked around one last time before he flashed the signal.


    The building exploded outward.


    They had barely raised their hands when the blast knocked them back into the alleys and buildings. Foro smashed into the eave of a roof, bounced off and landed gracelessly on his face in the dirt street.


    His vision faded in and out as he tried to think of what he should be doing.


    He felt something tug on his clothes. He tried to swing his head around to see who it was and was rewarded with the world spinning around in a way it shouldn''t, which promptly made him throw up and groan in pain from the headache.


    Foro felt himself being hoisted up, which did not improve how he felt, and after his vision cleared up a bit he found himself looking into Ketai¡¯s eyes. She had hoisted him up on her shoulder, dealing with that unrealistic situation was too much for him to figure out with his swimming vision and a throbbing headache.


    Foro was rather tall in his human form, tall enough he could even look Zag¡¯s human form in the eyes with barely any tilt to his head. Ketai was shorter than him. Enough so that his feet dangled halfway between her knees and ankles even bent at the waist over her shoulder as he was.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Foro decided to shelve that concept for later, thinking hurt way too much for him as it was.


    He stared at her face, her golden draconic eyes glanced from side to side as she walked quickly towards the smell of one of Foro¡¯s squad. He thought her eyes contrasted greatly with her dark hair.


    Foro wanted to reach out and touch her hair, but he couldn''t quite figure out how he was supposed to do that.


    ¡°You have pretty eyes,¡± he blurted out and immediately wondered where that came from.


    She stopped, he swayed from the sudden halt which caused the world to swim again. She looked at him in shock from the comment only to see his eyes roll back into his head as he passed out.


    **


    Foro woke up completely recovered, he figured someone must have healed him after he passed out.


    As he remembered passing out he remembered the words he had blurted out and a blush started to intrude on his austere exterior. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it off, but he could feel the embarrassment hiding beneath the skin of his face.


    Foro looked around the room and found some clean clothes. He put them on and frowned at his appearance in the mirror until his stomach interrupted him.


    When he opened the door and turned down the hallway he almost ran into Ketai who was hurrying down the hallway towards his room. He grabbed her shoulders to keep them from colliding.


    She looked up at him, startled, then she started patting him down and looking him over with a worried expression.


    ¡°I¡¯m all right,¡± he reassured her.


    Foro gave her shoulder a pat as he let go, and they wound up staring at each other in a moment of awkward silence.


    ¡°You have very pretty eyes,¡± Foro told her as he stared into her dark gray pupils.


    She turned scarlet and lightly hit him in the chest before looking away.


    ¡°This side of you is adorable after how aggressive you¡¯ve been, but we can leave that for later,¡± Foro gave her shoulder a light squeeze. ¡°Was anybody else hurt?¡±


    She shook her head no.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time for dinner, right? Is it ready?¡±


    She nodded again.


    ¡°Good, I need to eat and figure out what to do next.¡±


    Ketai smiled up at him and gestured for him to go towards the kitchen.


    ¡°Thank you for being there for me,¡± he kissed her lightly on the forehead.


    Ketai grabbed his shirt and pulled him down whilst she stood on her toes. She kissed him square on the lips, a brief but proper kiss that startled Foro. He looked at her with wide eyes when she let go.


    She gave off a short giggle, the first sound he had heard from her that wasn¡¯t growling at Zag. His eyes opened even wider as she scampered off around him.


    It took him a moment to come to his senses and proceed to the dining area.


    He walked into the dining area and through a quick count of heads was able to determine that all but two members of his squad were present. He gave a sigh of relief since his standing policy was to have two members on watch at all times in case what currently passes as a government sent someone after them.


    ¡°Who healed me?¡± Foro asked the room as he sat down.


    ¡°Me sir.¡± One of the squad members answered while another rushed over to get Foro a bowl of the stew they were having for supper.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Foro told both of them.


    ¡°Are you fully recovered, sir?¡± asked the one who healed him.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Foro replied. ¡°Also, we aren¡¯t going to play around if we find any more of these guys. Just kill them and be done with it from now on.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean we¡¯re going to be getting involved with that council?¡± one of the soldiers asked.


    ¡°All I¡¯m supposed to do is deal with the shadow men and make sure the city doesn''t burn down,¡± Foro replied between bites. ¡°If they don¡¯t interfere with me, I¡¯ll stay out of their games.¡±


    ¡°What are we supposed to do if they start actively going after us?¡±


    ¡°It depends, I¡¯ve trained some of them and been comrades in arms with others. They aren¡¯t all slime balls scrambling for the throne,¡± Foro sighed. ¡°At least I hope they aren¡¯t.¡±


    Before Foro¡¯s words had faded in the others¡¯ ears, another member of the squad rushed in. His eyes widened a bit as he saw Foro amongst those who stared at his rushed interruption. Their training told them that there was something wrong even before words were exchanged.


    ¡°There¡¯s a group of what paces for the Palace Guard coming in with some sort of official. I wasn¡¯t able to notice them until it was too late. They¡¯ll be here any second!¡± The soldier reported then gave Foro a snappy salute. ¡°Sir!¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯m getting involved whether I want to or not,¡± Foro sighed. ¡°I hate politics.¡±

 PF Book Two: Chapter 4

    Thea watched Liangfeng from her seat just behind Zag¡¯s shoulders. Liangfeng was currently doing halfhearted pirouettes just behind Zag¡¯s horns. She had not stopped moving since the flight began and had traversed the length of his neck just freely singing and dancing almost aimlessly.


    Thea was amazed at whatever technique was used to aid the flight. She felt very little wind, something she was eternally grateful for since her hair was wavy and tended to tangle easily in strong winds and the ground below was going by like a blur at an impossible rate.


    Liangfeng cartwheeled down the dragon¡¯s neck back to Thea¡¯s position, somehow doing so without tangling herself in her extremely long storm cloud colored hair.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Thea asked her when she finished the last cartwheel.


    ¡°I¡¯ve only felt this full of life one other time in my life, for most of it I couldn¡¯t even go outside,¡± Liangfeng answered. She came over and sat down in front of Thea. ¡°I have no intention of being put back in shackles that are not of my own making.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®not of your own making¡¯?¡± Thea found her curiosity peaked by this one line.


    ¡°We all shackle ourselves with responsibilities, even this guy,¡± She patted Zag¡¯s back. ¡°It is the way we bring a better life to ourselves and our children and their children. Right now and stretching back for millennia in the past The Covenant has been shackled by the fear of extinction and parents after parents have shackled their children with the responsibility of continuing the species, at the cost of their freedom, their lives and sometimes their sanity. Even you would have faced this sooner rather than later and been pulled from the field.¡±


    Thea pondered silently for a moment, ¡°Wouldn''t the responsibility I have towards my people be one I inherited from my parents as well?¡±


    ¡°Would that lovely man serving as your second come chase you down and bring you back if you ran away?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Thea replied honestly.


    ¡°You would choose to return though since you¡¯ve already taken it upon yourself for your people to have a better life,¡± Liangfeng said smugly. ¡°Although I imagine some of your views on what that life should be, have been affected by your interactions of late.¡±


    ¡°I fully intend to withdraw from The Covenant if I can take and keep the throne,¡± Thea confided. ¡°If it has progressed to the point where your brother would kill an entire legion just to assassinate me I don''t even want to imagine how bad things are at the capital.¡±


    ¡°Quite bad,¡± Liangfeng answered. ¡°My goals are similar to yours in a way, I want to remove Agios from power through proving his dogma wrong or at the very least take the Celestial Domains away from my brother and father and break away.¡±


    ¡°You want the dragon to help you, or should I say dragons?¡±


    ¡°I did, although Chouyan made me realize something I did not consider in my own selfishness,¡± Liangfeng sighed.


    ¡°What is that?¡± Thea asked. Her head tilted in a questioning posture.


    ¡°What if the dragon has been shackled with responsibilities by others as well?¡± Liangfeng posed the question rhetorically. ¡°We may be entangled in something that makes what we¡¯ve been through seem like petty squabbles.¡±


    ¡°If there is something, I think we got involved the moment those humans started manipulating Covenant politics,¡± Thea responded with a grimace of disgust.


    ¡°Yes, you are right, but I don''t think our involvement is going to be able to stop with the completion of our own goals,¡± Liangfeng halfheartedly smiled.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Thea said and caressed the two eggs one with each hand. ¡°I already owe him everything.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Liangfeng giggled at her.


    Thea glared at Liangfeng in turn.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°There is one thing I have been suspecting more and more as I¡¯ve gone through my life, an ultimate irony one could even say,¡± Liangfeng suddenly said.


    ¡°What would that be?¡± Thea asked still glaring.


    ¡°I wonder if I had not been tricked into bearing the responsibilities of dealing with this incident by Jann, starting from when I was very young,¡± Liangfeng smirked at the thought. ¡°It would be just like him to shackle someone with a responsibility by stoking their desire to be free of those kinds of shackles.¡±


    ¡°Do you think the gods are malicious?¡± Thea asked.


    ¡°I don''t know,¡± Liangfeng responded. ¡°What I do know is they are not imprisoned against their will, at least Jann is not, no matter what Agios may say. Perhaps we can get an explanation when we reach our destination.¡±


    **


    ¡°You¡¯re doing it again,¡± Aisling warned.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Chouyan timidly apologized as she loosened her grip on Aisling¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Do you have to be standing like that to do whatever it is you¡¯re doing?¡± Aisling asked after sighing.


    ¡°No,¡± Chouyan answered with a questioning look on her face.


    ¡°Then sit down and let me turn around,¡± Aisling instructed.


    Choyan hesitated in a brief moment of confusion before doing as she was instructed. Aisling shifted around to face her and repositioned herself a few times until she was able to get comfortable.


    ¡°Talk to me about something,¡± she told Chouyan.


    ¡°Some¡­¡± Choyan tilted her head, a few strands of her coal-black hair shifted to rest over her shoulder, ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°Anything, the history of qilins, The Covenant or even some story you know,¡± Aisling urged her on. ¡°It will help with your anxiety.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Chouyan looked doubtful and paused for a moment to think. ¡°Qilins were created by Jann, the God of Wind as guardians of places he deemed holy.


    To this day we really don¡¯t understand what was holy about them, our god and creator just said ¡®Guard this!¡¯ so we did.


    There was a lot of conflict between the gods and their creations, we wondered more and more what we were fighting over.


    Then one day a celestial serpent named Agios Ba came to us and asked us that same question. He asked us if that¡¯s what we really wanted to do and if we even had to obey since we were given free will just like all the other beings.


    Eventually, he was able to convince us and the others, even the dragons, that the state of the world was untenable and as long as the gods were left free we would be stuck in this endless cycle of killing each other over their petty squabbles.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve wondered for a while now,¡± Aisling interrupted. ¡°Why did they only imprison them?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t actually know,¡± Chouyan answered, ¡°There are a lot of things in the histories that Lady Liangfeng has taught me to question, it could be that they can''t be killed or it could be some other reason Agios Ba only knows¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Aisling indicated for her to proceed.


    ¡°That was the beginning of the war against the gods, it went on for quite some time, nobody really knows how long since we didn''t really have a concept of a calendar until much later.


    During the war, we were supposedly cursed by the gods in retaliation, and we lost the ability to understand beings of a different race at the same time the first encounters with humankind happened and soon we discovered our ability to transform.


    The leadership under Agios Ba, once we found our ability to communicate restored through our human-forms, ordered us to not procreate with other races using our human-forms.


    This order caused the divide between him and Sharmelammusarratum and the dragons, what few of them there were, refused to agree to the treaty, so to speak, that became The Covenant.


    The qilins throughout this went from guarding the holy places to guarding the celestials, including Agios Ba, it seemed to be in our nature and set our place in the world created by The Covenant.


    With our ability to communicate restored we reorganized our fight against the gods, and they soon surrendered and were imprisoned.


    Qilins were among the first beings in The Covenant to realize the usefulness of the human-form in building things. As the humans advanced we even traded with and learned from each other in that respect.


    The first half-blood was actually from a qilin although Agios Ba shortly after decreed that was a sin second only to having a child with a being of a different non-human race. It has proven too difficult to enforce over time, however.


    Time went on pretty peacefully for a time until, for some reason, the leaders declared war on what is now called the Forgotten Kingdom, and we bore the brunt of Zaganursarrum¡¯s wrath when his children died fighting for that kingdom.¡±


    Chouyan glanced in Zag¡¯s direction and frowned when she saw Liangfeng dancing around on his back and neck.


    ¡°We don¡¯t really like to talk about that time, we aren¡¯t really a match for a dragon and the celestials wouldn''t join in until near the end of the conflict,¡± Chouyan continued. ¡°After it was over, instead of being ordered to pursue him, the order came down to never interfere with Zaganursarrum again. That made the ¡®kidnapping¡¯ of Liangfeng a very confusing event since contradictory orders were coming down from the celestials


    Really all I could say to summarize is we were there, doing the grunt work.¡±


    Almost on cue a deafening roar issued forth from Zag¡¯s mouth and was soon joined by one from Bron. The two dragons slowly started to descend in circles so everyone could tend to the business they had built up during the day, eat and sleep for a while.


    ¡°Chouyan, you should look up,¡± Aisling told her and pointed after the whimpering Chouyan uncovered her tortured ears.


    Chouyan looked up into the star-lit night sky and her jaw dropped.


    ¡°Are you still nervous about flying?¡± Aisling asked.


    Chouyan was too stunned to answer.

 PF Book Two: Chapter 5

    Foro had a huge grin on his face in spite of the shackles, made of the same suppression material as the ballista bolt he had shot into Zag¡¯s chest what seemed like eons ago, around his wrists. He was ¡®leading¡¯ a procession of the officer, who walked behind and to Foro¡¯s left side with his hand on his shoulder, and his men who had shown up at Foro¡¯s base of operations and ¡®arrested¡¯ him.


    It was a magnificent farce, one the officer was playing to the hilt.


    Foro had taken a moment or two to remember who the officer was when he had opened the door to confront him. He was someone Foro had trained back before he took his position to aid Thea with her command. In fact, most of the officer''s men were also men that Foro had trained, and he recognized the other as a son of someone he had served with when he was younger.


    After the officer had loudly proclaimed that Foro¡¯s men were not on location, right in front of most of them, he asked Foro to come with him as he was to be brought before a special convention of the council.


    Foro had, of course, asked him to explain which bore no fruit whatsoever.


    The officer simply repeated that Foro was under arrest and must be taken before the council. This was odd enough, on top of the officer telling Foro¡¯s men that they weren''t there, to pique Foro¡¯s curiosity. In the end, after the officer repeated his insistence and vague hints, Foro agreed to go.


    He had to tell Ketai not to follow him three times before she frowned and sulked back into the building. The smirk the officer gave him over that, Foro felt, was very punchable.


    The officer, after cuffing him, had promptly placed his hand on Foro¡¯s shoulder and started to gently guide him in the direction of the council buildings.


    He talked in a voice the civilians they passed by would not hear and told Foro several interesting things.


    ¡°Fotismos dying has set off a war in the frontier amongst his relatives for the throne. The council is ignoring it as long as it stays out there since there are so many issues amongst the city to deal with.


    They are planning on confronting them with force which is why so many former members of the legion have been recruited into the new army.


    You have been ignored for so long because nearly everyone in the new army has some connection to you and a significant portion of the council. Some of them are even pushing for you to be the next duke since there are some serious concerns about the dragon¡¯s involvement with Lady Annagenisi.


    There is someone here from Neter, they¡¯re the reason the council actually issued a warrant instead of continuing to ignore you. I do not know who it is.¡±


    Foro muttered an indication of understanding as he smiled and waved his restrained hands at the very confused civilians.


    The officer continued to quietly feed him information until they reached the door leading into the council chambers.


    Foro was ushered in and announced with full honors, an act he was sure was meant to irritate the guest form Neter.


    When he was finally in front of the council members Foro squinted and surveyed the room, straining his eyes to take in everything his phoenix enhanced vision could show him.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    There were two beings that were obviously not phoenixes in the room. One was a bald man with a large black beard who looked about as interested in proceedings as someone would be in a plain gray rock. The other was an annoyed looking woman with long blue hair, Foro couldn''t tell for sure if her annoyance was directed at him, the council or something else.


    Suddenly he saw something move, it was like a silhouette, invisible aside from a vague human shaped outline. It shot straight for him at such an incredible speed he had almost no time to react.


    The silhouette stopped in front of him as the last bits of his shackles melted off and plopped in the floor. The halt wasn''t because of anything Foro did, nor was it voluntary. The figure shimmered to reveal a man with gray peppered throughout his hair looking down at a sword stuck partway into his gut.


    Foro had just summoned his crimson laced yellow fire and stood staring at the young woman holding the other end of that sword along with everyone else.


    ¡°I knew I smelled dragon,¡± the stabbed man hissed before he turned into a blur and escaped the sword back to the two other non-phoenixes Foro had identified before. He bellowed out, ¡°What is this, another one of his spawn?¡±


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Foro asked Ketai after he recovered from the shock.


    She looked down at the bloody sword she was holding with her, now, golden draconic eyes and shrugged. She looked up at Foro with an expression that could almost be called apologetic before turning back to the man she had just stabbed and glared.


    ¡°I see,¡± Foro replied to her before adjusting his attention to the man. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not the one who needs to answer here!¡± The man continued to bellow out as the blue-haired woman healed him up somehow. ¡°Especially not to the likes of someone that willingly consorts with the enemy!¡±


    Foro turned to the nearest counselor whose face he recognized, ¡°Why is he here?¡±


    ¡°He wants an army to take Tiantang from his son who he claims is in rebellion against The Covenant,¡± the counselor answered without hesitation.


    There were some grumbles of various tones throughout the room origination from other counselors.


    ¡°Then why am I here?¡± Foro asked after hearing the explanation. Everyone was beginning to get nervous over the ball of fire he kept floating above his hand.


    ¡°He specifically requested you,¡± the same counselor answered again.


    ¡°Why?¡± Foro looked over at the man who refused to say anything and was looking angrier by the second.


    ¡°He did not elaborate.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Foro sighed. ¡°I will not be making any moves outside of removing the shadow wielders from Proelefsi until the Duchess returns.¡±


    A few counselors grumbled in dissatisfaction and the now healed up man glowered at Foro. His bearded escort looked as tense as a coiled up spring, obviously treating the situation as being surrounded by enemies.


    ¡°I am not her minister or sitting regent, so I, of course, cannot order the council around,¡± Foro continued. ¡°Whatever you decide is fine, however, my men and I will not be leaving this city as we no longer consider us covenant forces after his son tried to murder us all and assassinate Lady Thea.¡±


    The counselors were veteran enough to catch the emphasis on ¡®my men¡¯ and most of them knew quite well how many ¡®men¡¯ Foro could bring to his side with just a few words with the state things were in.


    ¡°This is a matter of life and death for The Covenant you fools!¡± the man yelled.


    ¡°Sacrificing the entire Duchy to save the Celestial Domains will just leave us in the same situation we are in right now!¡± Foro snapped back at him. ¡°Why don¡¯t you get troops from Neter?¡±


    The man looked away from Foro and refused to answer.


    ¡°Did you fall out of favor?¡± Foro prodded with a disdainful tone. ¡°Is Neter still even in Covenant hands?¡±


    The man still refused to respond.


    ¡°That should give you enough to make a decision,¡± Foro told the counselors. ¡°I wouldn''t think letting him run loose would be good for anyone but that is your decision. May I leave now?¡±


    ¡°Lord Foro, we will deliberate on what to do, wait in the hall as we may have need of you,¡± the council leader spoke up for the first time. His eyes glinted and gave away that he had thought of some scheme.


    Foro frowned at him but only got an amused smile back. Foro put out his fire and wrapped his arm around Ketai¡¯s shoulders before turning on his heel and marching out of the chambers.

 PF Book Two: Chapter 6

    Zag let out a roar as they drew near what appeared to be an out-of-place volcano, standing alone against the flatness of open scrubland and desert. Bron shortly followed suit, and they both descended in gradual circles until they lightly touched down at a spot that actually had a few trees.


    ¡°Get off here and rest in the shade,¡± Zag grumbled. He seemed distracted and kept looking at the nearby volcano.


    Sure enough from that direction came an answering roar, as if the one it was emanating from had waited patiently for them to land before answering their challenge.


    ¡°Get off now, I am not sure how long this will take. I will send the boy back when we are done,¡± Zag told them with some insistence in his voice.


    They all saw her emerge as they unloaded from Zag and Bron¡¯s backs. She was just a bit longer from nose to tail than Zag, but not nearly as bulky. Her gleaming red scales were more of a ruby variant where Zag¡¯s were the crimson color of blood and Bron¡¯s trended towards a very deep reddish-orange color.


    Liangfeng thought she was a lithe, sculpted, masterpiece of what a dragon should be. It more than blew away what she had imagined Zag¡¯s mother would look like.


    Thea was just suddenly struck how fast her environment, beliefs and relationships had changed. She was unable to escape being in awe of being this close to three of the most powerful and profound beings found in this world.


    Chouyan gulped down her nervousness and scooted closer to Aisling. She was just unable to find comfort as more and more dragons entered the picture. It was like trying to convince herself that the stuff of her childhood nightmares weren''t nightmares after all, and it just wasn''t able to hold up when more of them kept entering the picture.


    Aisling just sighed. She was nervous, although not for the same reasons as Chouyan. Her nervousness came from worry that Bron¡¯s grandmother may not accept him, or if she did, then she may not accept her or their relationship. She looked over at Chouyan seeing her subconsciously move closer in her nervousness and gave her a resigned smile.


    Bron and Zag didn''t wait for all these thoughts to finish. They sprinted along the ground towards Zag¡¯s mother with a speed no flying creature should possess.


    They met head-on at roughly the same time in a mighty crash that threw a cloud of dust skyward. Before any of it even had time to drift with the wind Bron was thrown out of it and rolled along the ground, barely tucking his wings in to prevent them from serious damage.


    Thea, watching this, was just astounded that there existed someone who could throw something that weighed that much such a distance. It did seem to settle Bron down as he was made aware of the difference in strength.


    The movement inside the dust cloud soon receded to nothing and as the cloud settled they found that Zag had not fared much better.


    His mother had him collapsed on his side and was standing with one of her back feet on his wing. She had his head mashed into the sandy soil of the desert with her front limbs and had her neck arched in a magnificent display of dominance.


    Thea, Aisling and even the calmed down Bron were all shocked. All of them, having seen him fight at one time or another, had not expected this much of a gap to even be possible.


    Liangfeng wondered if her strength was even something that could be compared to mortal beings, it had to be approaching the gods.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Chouyan decided to just retreat into her diplomating manners training and just not offend anyone here for the duration of the stay. This was too much for her.


    Bron lifted off the ground and glided over to where the rest of them waited and upon picking them up leisurely walked back to give Zag time to explain the situation.


    ¡°Why have you taken so long to come to visit me Zaganursarrum?¡± his mother asked him using the language of dragons since they had not changed forms.


    ¡°I am sorry Mother, I lost track of time and became embroiled in several things,¡± Zag replied with a guilty look in his eyes.


    ¡°Anunnakisarratum has visited me several times even with her getting embroiled in ¡®things¡¯ as well, and she went off further than you did,¡± Zag snorted because he knew she was only half serious about guilt tripping him over this. ¡°Who is the young dragon you brought with you?¡±


    ¡°My son, born of a human, his bloodline evolved just as you theorized would happen with partial-bloods,¡± Zag beamed at her, unable to contain his pride.


    ¡°Oh, so he¡¯s my grandson, how nice,¡± his mother watched Bron approach their position with the rest of the party. ¡°Anunnakisarratum never brought her child here before losing her entire family line.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right!¡± Zag exclaimed. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I found one of her descendants unless you¡¯ve gone about in the world since I left.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly,¡± she admonished him. ¡°Did you bring them here too?¡±


    ¡°She wouldn''t have if I had asked her,¡± Zag explained. ¡°She has attached herself to the right-hand man of the lady phoenix over there on The Boy¡¯s back, and she needed him to keep their city from going up in smoke.¡±


    ¡°Can we speak the human tongue?¡± Bron asked as he made it to their position. ¡°I¡¯m not very good at speaking like a dragon and none of the rest would understand anyway.¡±


    ¡°Greetings, my grandson,¡± Zag¡¯s mother greeted him still using the dragon tongue before she started shrinking down as she shifted to her human form.


    ¡°So, Zaganursarrum, for what reason has this assortment of beings been brought before me?¡±


    Zag¡¯s facial muscles couldn¡¯t help but twitch at hearing her archaic dialect for the first time in a long while.


    ¡°The lady phoenix there has primordial flame, and The Covenant has been infiltrated by a bunch of humans with the ability to use a strange shadow or mist that corrodes things it comes into contact with.¡±


    ¡°Jann had spoken of such when he had arrived here,¡± Zag¡¯s mother looked thoughtful. ¡°I admit that such a thing is still hard for me to believe given Agios¡¯ disposition towards humanity.¡±


    ¡°They seem to be able to manipulate the minds of beings to an extent, Lady Guardian Sharmelammusarratum,¡± Liangfeng interjected with a respectful bow.


    ¡°Would you be the young celestial serpent whom Jann considers his apostle?¡± Sharmelammusarratum asked of her.


    ¡°Lord Jann has referred to me as such, although I consider myself simply to be Liangfeng of the Long family,¡± Liangfeng responded with another polite bow.


    ¡°Well, as such, I am sure young Zaganursarrurum and the lady phoenix will manage to get more information than I have been able to from the mouth of Lord Ifrit,¡± Sharmelammusarratum said before turning to Zag. ¡°Introduce the others to me, you have even forgone giving me my own grandson¡¯s name.¡±


    Aisling watched Sharmelammusarratum as Zag went through the introductions. She couldn''t help but try to compare features between the family members. Her hair was of a lighter shade of black than Zag¡¯s that hung down below her waist, it wasn¡¯t gray, just not the deep midnight black that adorned Zag¡¯s head.


    Zag¡¯s mother was as tall as, if not a finger¡¯s breadth taller than him. It was something that stuck in Aisling¡¯s mind as she would consider both Chouyan and Thea to be tall women, and they might not even reach her shoulders.


    In spite of the height, her form was feminine to the point of being carved out of marble, to the point of making Aisling jealous. She was really hoping that the dragons would put on clothes sometime soon.


    Aisling¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when it was her turn to be introduced. She bowed, as best she could, trying to duplicate the impeccable politeness that Liangfeng had displayed earlier.


    ¡°You are the mate of my grandson?¡± Sharmelammusarratum asked her with a questioning tilt to her head.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Aisling¡¯s voice trembled slightly.


    Sharmelammusarratum leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. Aisling released the breath she had been unconsciously holding. Relief flooded her and she smiled.


    ¡°You may all refer to me as Shar if my name is too heavy for your tongues,¡± Shar told them. ¡°Welcome to my lair.¡±


    ¡°When can we visit Lord Ifrit?¡± Thea asked as she glanced at the eggs in her hands.


    Before a response could be had to that query a roar rang out that caused the grains of sand at their feet to bounce up and down.


    Zag¡¯s face paled like none of them imagined possible.


    ¡°Oh right!¡± Shar exclaimed lightly as if she had just recalled something important.

 PF Book Two: Chapter 7

    ¡°I had forgotten that Anunnakisarratum was visiting with all the excitement of meeting new people.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t she respond to the roaring? No, nevermind that!¡± Zag looked on the verge of panic. ¡°Everyone is too close!¡±


    ¡°It is fine, I would not let anything occur that would harm a guest,¡± Shar responded. ¡°I am concerned about my grandson and you, Zaganursarrurum, becoming entangled with each other as you both try to fight her.¡±


    ¡°This is stupid!¡± Zag complained in a rushed voice. ¡°She is on equal ground with me, how would he have any chance of defeating her? This instinct is beyond idiocy!¡±


    Bron sprinted forward and shifted, no longer able to restrain himself, he flapped his wings and took off towards the now visible silhouette emerging from the sun.


    Shar reached out and clamped a hand on Zag¡¯s shoulder as he took a step forward to follow. He stopped in his tracks and stood there as he trembled.


    ¡°Now we should not have to worry,¡± Shar said in a satisfied tone. ¡°I would advise that all of you stand behind me. The moment I release him from my grasp he is going to be rather out of control.¡±


    ¡°That...is the same thing that the suppression metal does!¡± Thea exclaimed in shock once everyone had safely placed themselves behind Shar.


    ¡°What is suppression metal?¡± she asked without turning her head.


    ¡°A metal that forcefully shifts a being into their human form and restrains shifting out of it,¡± explained Liangfeng. ¡°I have no idea what the process of making it involves.¡±


    ¡°Zag was able to resist and eventually ignore it entirely,¡± Thea used the shortened version of his name without thinking since she was so shocked by the development.


    ¡°I see, that would explain why this is so difficult to maintain,¡± Shar stated in a voice that belied she was experiencing any difficulty.


    ¡°She just slammed into him and knocked him out of the sky,¡± Chouyan pointed out the quickly resolved battle in the distance.


    The next thing they knew they were surrounded by a cloud of dust as Zag was unleashed from his mother¡¯s clutches.


    ¡°That was clever, he retained enough control to cause his own defeat completely manipulating the instinct,¡± Shar said of Bron¡¯s short scuffle.


    Bron flew back to them quickly gaining distance as his father blew past him and slammed into Anunnakisarratum. They were almost immediately obscured by a cloud of dust and sand but by the feel of things he knew he wanted no part of the violence causing it all.


    ¡°I think I saw an arm fly out of that,¡± he said as he shifted to his human form.


    ¡°Last time they fought they collapsed from exhaustion and took three days to heal,¡± Shar explained. ¡°This time Zaganursarrurum will win, probably within the hour, I am quite glad as the neverending string of draws was beginning to try my patience, although your existence does render it all quite moot.¡±


    ¡°The Old Man did say I inherited the bloodline the strongest,¡± Bron started to gloat. ¡°Wait, what do you mean by rendering it moot?¡±


    ¡°I have other grandchildren?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Bron froze, he made an awkward statue of a man who was reaching into a pack for a pair of pants.


    ¡°The family lines...died out in the war between The Covenant and what we now call the Forgotten Kingdom,¡± Liangfeng said through some hesitation.


    Chouyan noticeably braced herself against a hostile response directed at Liangfeng.


    ¡°I see,¡± Shar¡¯s tone left them feeling a cold sweat as she turned back towards the fight between her two children.


    The giant wall of dust and sand was now interspersed with crimson and golden flames.


    ¡°Um, grandmother,¡± Bron interrupted the silence, ¡°what did you mean when you said I rendered their battles moot?¡±


    Shar turned to him, ¡°If you becoming a pureblood was not a possibility, how is it do you think a pureblood dragon would have to be born?¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Are there no other dragons in the world?¡± Liangfeng started to catch on.


    ¡°I have seen no others since I was forced to put down my mate in his madness.¡±


    ¡°What did he do?¡± Bron asked as he finally unfroze himself and began getting dressed.


    ¡°My lovely children were born of the same egg, and he, being one who fell into the falsehoods spread by Agios, saw such an egg as a detriment to the species. He wanted to crush it, I burned him to ash.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Bron didn¡¯t know how to respond to that.


    ¡°Zaganursarrurum has won,¡± Shar pointed out.


    Zag had pinned his sibling to the ground and although he was favoring his right forelimb quite a bit, she looked much worse for wear than he did.


    From her position below him, she started to make a low crooning sound, almost like a very deep purr and tried to wrap her tail around his.


    Zag moved off of her and walked back towards the group, he shifted to his human form in the process. She made a sound that could only be an expression of frustration and shifted as well, she was in the form of a tall woman, as tall as Zag, and could only be described as what he would look like if he was a woman with exquisitely feminine features.


    ¡°What in the name of Ifrit¡¯s balls are you doing Zaganursarrurum!¡± they could hear her yelling as she trotted after him. ¡°All of that, all of this time and you fucking pull that stunt?¡±


    ¡°Shut up, you foul-mouthed, selfish, terror of a woman,¡± Zag yelled back over his shoulder. He actually stopped at his severed arm and threw the limb at her, a sight to behold given the size difference. ¡°I actually came here for something very pressing!¡±


    ¡°More pressing than the survival of our entire fucking species?¡± she yelled as she nimbly dodged the projectile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need you for that!¡± Zag pointed to Bron.


    Bron promptly hid behind his grandmother who was glaring daggers at Zag with her arms crossed.


    ¡°You found another female dragon to cheat on me with?¡± Zag¡¯s sister blurted out while several emotions played across her face.


    ¡°No, you daft fool, mother¡¯s theory about half-bloods was correct!¡±


    ¡°Zaganursarrurum,¡± Shar sharply called to him when they had gotten closer. ¡°Please explain the circumstances of my other grandchildren¡¯s demise.¡±


    Zag looked like the volcano they were in the shadow of had just erupted in his face.


    ¡°Ah, what, how much did you sleep around? Do you prefer human women so much?¡±


    ¡°Be silent Anunnakisarratum, this does not require your input at this time,¡± Shar shut her down completely.


    ¡°They died defending their homes, The Covenant divided their forces and struck in multiple places and sent several groups simply to goad me into distraction.¡±


    ¡°What was the purpose of said warfare?¡± Shar asked.


    ¡°If I may, I am almost completely certain it was out of fear of his offspring and just the sheer number of humans,¡± Liangfeng supplied.


    ¡°I see,¡± Shar took a deep breath and quietly turned and walked towards the entrance of her lair.


    ¡°She¡¯s pissed,¡± Anunnakisarratum stated the obvious.


    ¡°Anu, I found one of your descendants,¡± Zag decided to get away from the subject.


    ¡°Oh, yeah¡­that,¡± her head drooped.


    ¡°Are you ashamed of it?¡± Zag asked in a gentle tone that contrasted a great deal from the yelling between them earlier.


    ¡°Some, the Emperor of the humans drugged and impregnated me while I was unconscious. In a way I was impressed, I keep his mummified balls in a clay jar.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a drug that can affect us that much?¡±


    ¡°Not anymore,¡± she said as Zag walked over and hugged her. ¡°I spent the time to thoroughly exterminate the plant and the empire.¡±


    ¡°How did you lose track of your family?¡±


    ¡°My heart and mind broke when my son committed suicide after his mate died,¡± tears ran down her face as she tried to bury it in Zag¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I wound up here, I don''t remember how.¡±


    ¡°Zaganursarrurum, please explain why you brought members of The Covenant here after such a thing had occurred, and why you did not bring it to my attention after it had happened?¡± Shar had returned, everyone jumped at the sound of her voice.


    ¡°I nearly drove both the qilins and phoenixes to extinction, it did not bring them back. Agios prostrated himself before me and begged, he brought the heads of those he said were responsible for it, some of which would have belonged to people these ladies are descended from. They were not alive at the time, mother. If you blame them for their ancestor¡¯s sins, do you blame me for father¡¯s?¡± Zag¡¯s tone held such conviction in his words that the non-dragons present were left in a mild state of awe.


    ¡°Notwithstanding, we would have prevented all-out extinction in retribution,¡± a voice belonging to what looked like a nondescript old man who had not been there a moment ago firmly denied Shar¡¯s bloodthirst. ¡°Even you will not be allowed to muck up our plans to such an extent, young Sharmelammusarratum.¡±


    ¡°Why are you even here, Wind God?¡± Shar spat out the question and scowled in disgust.


    ¡°I already told you that, were you so spoiled that you simply cease to listen when a deity speaks to you?¡±


    ¡°Lord Jann, do you know what has happened with my family?¡± Liangfeng took the opportunity to ask.


    ¡°No, child, I came here as soon as I finished speaking with young Zaganursarrurum in Tiantang,¡± Jann responded before he turned back to the dragons. ¡°I know you have a terrible perception when it comes to time, however, you have left guests standing around with nothing to do but stare at your nude forms.¡±


    ¡°Go mind your own business you meddlesome breeze maker,¡± to everyone''s surprise Shar was being very petulant with him.


    "I am minding my business, little girl,¡± the surrounding air seemed to take on an ominous feel. ¡°Are you going to bring them to Ifrit or should he just come out here and start a cataclysmic event instead?¡±


    Shar turned her head away and wouldn''t speak to him anymore. The volcano rumbled causing the ground to shake for a moment.


    ¡°Young Zaganursarrurum, bring the young lady phoenix and the eggs to Ifrit, I will fill the rest of them in on what the ¡®shadowmen¡¯ are,¡± Jann finally ordered.


    Zag looked as irritated by him as his mother. He did, however, release his sister and motion to Thea to follow him.

 PF Book Two: Chapter 8

    Thea marveled at what was inside Shar¡¯s lair. Crystal and volcanic glass shaped in the forms of many different beings were interspersed throughout the large open area just past the entrance. Some of the statues were life-sized and some were representations of things Thea didn''t even recognize.


    ¡°There are thousands more of them deeper in,¡± Zag told her after he noticed the look of awe. ¡°I have no idea how she shapes them, I¡¯ve tried and been unable to duplicate it in even a rudimentary form.¡±


    ¡°They are amazing,¡± was all Thea could say.


    They wove their way through the statues and made their way through a dragon-sized portal to face a door that seemed to be a solid slab of volcanic glass. Thea could swear she could see the shadows of a massive inferno through the opaqueness of the obsidian.


    ¡°Do you want that outfit to burn up or would you rather save it?¡± Zag asked as he rested his hand on the doorway.


    Thea hesitated, the military part of her did not want to waste the material while her motherly side screamed to not put the eggs down.


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold them if you will, I can attest to my track record of not dropping things,¡± Zag offered with a sloppy half-grin on his face. ¡°I¡¯ll even swear to the fire god I won''t eat them.¡±


    Thea, for a moment, just stared at him. Her mind, in her high levels of tension, was unable to catch the joke right away, as it slowly sank in her expression changed. Her eyes widened at comprehension, her lips twitched as she tried to suppress smiling at something so stupid. She wound up snorting as she tried to slowly exhale the breath she hadn''t realized she was holding and fell into a fit of giggles.


    Zag¡¯s smile widened as he watched the tension float away from her. He took an egg in each hand after she hefted them up, in her arms, towards him.


    When Thea handed off the eggs she found herself amazed at how large Zag¡¯s hands were. He could hold the eggs, one in each hand, where she had to use her forearms to cradle them to her chest. She was captivated by the gentleness with which he held them, a sharp contrast to the violence she had just witnessed outside the cave.


    ¡°As willing as I am to stand here holding these eggs, we are, quite literally, keeping a god waiting.¡±


    Thea jumped as she was startled out of her thoughts. She turned her head away from him to try to hide her embarrassment as she mumbled an apology. She quickly undid her clothes and re-took possession of the eggs freeing up Zag to open the doorway.


    Zag placed his hands directly in the middle and leaned into it. Stone grated as the bottom scraped along the floor of the cavern. Bits of gravel fell from the top, crumbling from the ancient supports that framed the door.


    The heat coming out of the chamber was immense. Flames belched out from a pool of lava on the far side of the room.


    The haze of heal flickered throughout the chamber as they entered. Zag waited till Thea had crossed the threshold and shoved the door closed.


    Thea looked around for some figure, some physical presence of a deity to mark where she should proceed to. Her eyes picked up a flicker as a wave of heat seemed to rush towards them, at the same time she felt a hot, albeit soothing breeze, brush over her cheek.


    The heat waves formed into what she initially thought was a mirage, it flickered and wavered but soon solidified into two stately figures, two men sitting on rough stone chairs with their hands folded at rest on a stone table.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the wind god? I thought he was staying outside,¡± Thea questioned what she was seeing.


    ¡°I am still outside, the natural laws and paradoxes as you understand them were, in part, formed by me,¡± the figure of the Wind God answered sarcastically. ¡°Why would I not be able to defy them at my leisure?¡±


    ¡°Stop being so dramatic, brother mine,¡± the Fire God said. ¡°They need to have at least a good enough impression of us to hear out the entire thing. The dragons already find you tiresome after all.¡±


    ¡°Lady Thea Annagenisi, I present you with Jann, the God of Wind and Ifrit, the God of Flame,¡± Zag introduced them.


    ¡°Very funny, Zaganursarrum, you present us to her when she is the guest.¡± Ifrit chortled at the subtle joke. Jann sighed in exasperation, impatience clearly marked on his face.


    Zag smirked at the two gods while Thea glanced back and forth between the two parties with confusion.


    ¡°Well, let us get on with this,¡± Jann prompted.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Ifrit agreed. ¡°Allow me to take those phoenix eggs, I should be able to remove the chaos from within them without too much trouble.¡±


    Thea nodded and took a step forward. She was shocked, however, when the eggs floated out of her arms and into the hands of the fire god.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°To do such a thing,¡± Jann grumbled. ¡°It¡¯s amazing in its own way, but completely disgusting.¡±


    ¡°Why don''t you explain to them what we need them to do, and what they will be up against?¡± Ifrit asked of Jann as he rolled the eggs in his hands.


    ¡°What!?¡± Jann looked at him askance. ¡°I¡¯m already well into the explanation to those outside, it¡¯s beyond annoying to have to do it at the same time from two different points!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a god, Little Brother, you¡¯ll be fine¡­¡± Ifrit¡¯s voice trailed off as he held an egg up to look at it more closely.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Thea shouted in a panic and pointed to Ifrit. ¡°Where is the other egg?¡±


    ¡°What? Oh, I merged them together because I was tired of holding two things with the same problem,¡± Ifrit explained without even glancing in her direction.


    ¡°See, you tell me to explain something to them, a task difficult enough already, and then you distract them with your antics!¡± Jann bickered at him before Thea could respond.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, if you had started explaining it already we wouldn''t be having this problem,¡± Ifrit dismissed his ranting.


    ¡°Jann is far from captivating enough to prevent her from noticing that,¡± Zag snarked at the bickering deities.


    ¡°Well it isn¡¯t an issue, I can make them one egg, two eggs, or even more than that if I really wanted to.¡±


    ¡°It is a problem you daft idiot,¡± Thea yelled. She snapped her mouth shut as she remembered what she was talking to.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Ifrit exclaimed as the light of clarity entered his eyes. ¡°You feel protective and cannot help panicking, I see, well don''t worry, they won''t be harmed by this at all.¡±


    He went back to his work on the egg while Jann sat there with his face buried in his hands like he wanted to cry.


    ¡°You really don''t have to worry,¡± Zag told Thea as she looked at him for assistance. ¡°Ifrit is as softhearted as it gets, it makes me wonder if he really represents fire at all.¡±


    ¡°He doesn''t,¡± Jann interjected. ¡°That is part of what I have to explain.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already had my beliefs torn asunder recently, I don''t think I can really bring myself to trust either of you,¡± Thea glared at the gods before turning to Zag with a softer look. ¡°I do trust the dragon, however.¡±


    ¡°Quite, Zaganursarrum is a very honest child,¡± Ifrit agreed absentmindedly as he had gone back to work on the egg.


    Thea turned to Jann, her expression and body language shifted and displayed that she was all business.


    ¡°You said he wasn''t the god of fire?¡± she prompted him to elaborate.


    ¡°Well, not exactly,¡± Jann responded. ¡°My three siblings and I were born out of order and chaos. Think of them as the first gods if you will, although they are more universal laws than actual living existences per se.


    ¡°What we are made of is not the elemental concepts we are associated with, we are all actually the same. We are made of chaos, order, and the other universal laws that stemmed from those two.


    ¡°In fact¡­¡± Jann held up his hand and the black mist or shadow that they had seen the humans they had been in conflict use formed a ball which floated above it. ¡°We are even made of this stuff.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zag asked.


    ¡°There is only a limited amount of what I¡¯ll call ¡®stuff¡¯, for simplicity''s sake, and for the universe to function properly it needs to recycle what isn''t being constructed or used anymore so it can continue to evolve and grow.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying our world is being recycled?¡± Thea looked confused by the explanation.


    ¡°No,¡± Jann shook his head, ¡°this ¡®thing¡¯ is manipulating the universal laws and using it as a weapon to invade this world, without its influence there would be no way a human body could utilize the power the way the ones you have come across have.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any idea how it found this world?¡± Thea continued asking her questions.


    ¡°That...is in part my fault.¡± Jann sighed. ¡°Agios somehow thought he could use its existence to kill me, how he found out about it in the first place, I have no idea.¡±


    ¡°My son told me that the spirits worshipped by the human tribes have an adverse reaction to it,¡± Zag interjected. ¡°Do you know why that is?¡±


    ¡°Those spirits are the remnant of itself that the human god left behind to aid them when they were brought to this world. It is, you could say, an instinctive response as they sense the existences malicious intent when the humans channel the power it provides them. It also may be, in part, due to it being humans who are in touch with the power.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Thea looked thoughtful as she rolled the information over and over in her mind. ¡°Why is it that, if you are going to get involved, you have not simply confronted it where it is trying to come through?¡±


    ¡°We cannot fight something like that and deal with the interference that any of our children it has corrupted at the same time,¡± Jann replied and sadly shook his head. ¡°We also would really like to limit any further harm done to our children, it turned out we trapped ourselves in our own cleverness when we tried to foster your senses of independence through tricking you into believing you needed to free yourselves of us.¡±


    ¡°So, then,¡± Thea looked Jann straight in the eyes, ¡°what is it you want us to do?¡±


    ¡°You are already doing what we would request of you. You already intend to free your people of the threat and my young apostle intends to do the same for her people. I was overjoyed when fate brought you and her to young Zaganursarrum, if it were any other dragon then it would have been even more difficult if no dragon stepped in at all.¡±


    Thea and Zag both tilted their heads with an unasked question at his statement.


    ¡°Dragons do not have the numbers to fight back the destruction shadow wielded by these traitors and no other race possesses a power capable of driving it back. Even the human witches can only slow it down as it even corrodes the collective power their god left behind as the spirits.¡±


    ¡°Power?¡± Thea asked, still confused. ¡°Dragonfire?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you provide the numbers and Zaganursarrum provided the weapon to combat this thing and create a situation where we can move freely with our sisters to remove it from this world.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Thea said after all of that.


    Zag grunted and rolled his eyes, ¡°Leave it to you, WInd God, to turn their own moves against them.¡±


    ¡°Well, I do feel a sense of responsibility for this, since I was the one who initiated the mistrust to cause the revolt against my siblings and myself, and that was what led to this in the end.¡±


    ¡°Seeing you look sheepish has been a more satisfying reward than I ever imagined,¡± Zag taunted him.


    Jann snorted, ¡°You two should leave, it will take Ifrit some time yet to remove the corruption from the eggs and the others have been preparing food outside.¡±


    Thea looked at Zag with concern.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± He gave her a reassuring smile and with his hand on her shoulder, he escorted Thea out of the chamber.


    Zag wondered as they made their way out what kind of disaster the various characters outside would create whilst trying to prepare food fit for human bodies.

 PF Book Two: Chapter 9

    They made their way toward where all the others were by following the elevated sounds of arguing. The most prominent voices that could be heard, Thea recognized as Zag¡¯s sister and Liangfeng. Some other voice would intrude into the confrontation now and then but would be quickly subdued.


    As they got closer both her and Zag¡¯s irritation became clear as their blood pressure rose which caused a vein on each of their persons to grow prominent. Thea cut her eyes to Zag to see him scowling deeply, his eyes were even taking on their draconic characteristics.


    She took a deep breath and sighed as they made the last turn into the cavern and the confrontation came into sight.


    Liangfeng and Anunnakisarratum were in the midst of a very animated argument about how to prepare the food. The object of their argument lay in the cavern, the corpse of some beast the size of a large bull. Thea had no idea what it was, and it seemed to be missing its head. At least she thought it was missing its head, it was hard to tell.


    Sitting atop the beast was Shar, who kept trying to interject into the argument that they should just eat it already since it would go bad if they left it set too long. Liangfeng and Anunnakisarratum would brush it off arguing various ways it should be prepared in a way fit for human bodies since it was too small to feed them all in their pure-blood states.


    Bron, Aisling and Chouyan sat off to the side and watched the conflict proceed not being in a situation to take control of things.


    ¡°What are you two doing!¡± Thea yelled without even thinking. She had felt as if all the pressure she had been under had ballooned out and popped, the pointlessness of the argument just became her last straw.


    Anunnakisarratum stared at her in open-mouthed shock. Liangfeng had the intelligence to at least look ashamed of herself however her jaw was still set in its stubbornness.


    Shar looked over at her like someone who saw some hope of getting to eat a meal after all.


    ¡°Do either of you even know how to prepare the dishes you¡¯re yelling about?¡± Thea scolded right over the look of anger that started to grow on Anunnakisarratum¡¯s face after the shock wore off.


    ¡°But..¡± Liangfeng started to respond.


    ¡°That was a yes or no question!¡±


    Bron snuck his way over to hand Zag his clothes, trying to keep his movements from drawing attention to himself.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Liangfeng answered. Anunnakisarratum just refused to look at her.


    ¡°I didn''t think so,¡± Thea looked over the rest of the party. ¡°Does anyone feel comfortable enough in their skills to cook... whatever that is?¡±


    Aisling and Chouyan tentatively volunteered.


    ¡°I would need someone to light the fire and we would need to make a few things first,¡± Aisling elaborated.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯ll need so I¡¯ll help with that part,¡± Bron volunteered.


    ¡°Good,¡± Thea looked back over at Shar. ¡°Lady Sharmelammusarratum we will need a table and dishes to eat at if it is to be in human form.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Anunnakisarratum you help me with that, I do not have anything of that sort and Zaganursarrum is useless at shaping things,¡± Shar drug her daughter off to some other point in the caverns.


    Thea turned to where Zag had been to find that he disappeared. She started to panic when she found he was missing but aside from her eyes widening a bit she kept it hidden. At least she thought she had.


    ¡°He looked as if an idea had struck him and went back the way you just came from,¡± Liangfeng explained as she walked over to her.


    Thea sighed but soon shrugged off her irritation.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go see if we can help with the preparation, I¡¯m sure I have better control over my fire than Brontannistine does his.¡±


    Liangfeng smiled and nodded before following along beside her with a carefree jovial skip in her step.


    **


    Zag returned just as they were all setting the table and dividing up the roasted meat amongst the plates. He was carrying a very large stone jar that the members with more astute hearing could make out the sounds of a liquid sloshing inside and those with a more astute sense of smell could make out the reek of alcohol.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°What is that?¡± Sharmelammusarratum asked him. Her tone was as sharp as the suspicious glare she directed his way.


    ¡°I figured we¡¯d need something to drink,¡± Zag looked at her with an innocent smile that didn''t quite reach his eyes.


    ¡°You stole my fruits didn''t you?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zag mumbled something about it wasn''t technically him.


    Anu had walked over while her mother and brother bickered about technicalities and filled the cup she was holding by dipping it the stone jar.


    ¡°You made that one didn''t you?¡± Zag asked her about the cup attempting to escape from the conversation with their mother.


    ¡°Yup, pretty nice right?¡±


    ¡°I wonder why I can tell the difference? Anyway, cut that with some water it¡¯s pretty brutal.¡±


    ¡°Stop ignoring me Zaganursarrum,¡± Shar fumed at her son. ¡°Which one of those pathetic excuses for divine beings helped you with such frivolity?¡±


    ¡°Well, I mean, uh, here mother you should have a drink, it¡¯s much better than the original fruit,¡± he walked over to her offering the jar.


    ¡°That isn''t the point, you did it without asking, how many are left?¡±


    ¡°Uh...half?¡± he gave her a sheepish look as her face shifted from anger to despair before it settled on resignation.


    She lightly brought her fist down on his head before grabbing a handful of the small braids in his hair. Zag looked concerned for the first time as the feeling of being trapped sunk in.


    ¡°These make a wonderful handle,¡± her eyes took on a sadistic glint.


    ¡°Thank you and you are welcome!¡± Liangfeng said between barely contained laughter.


    ¡°Do not think I will forget this Zaganursarrum,¡± Shar said. ¡°Let us proceed with the meal, however.¡±


    Zag sighed as she let go of his hair but her follow-up pat on his cheek made his nerves almost short out as he sensed how much retribution he will face later on for disturbing his mother¡¯s favorite snacks.


    The meal proceeded with little incident and with much discussion of plans for the future, although it took some time for Chouyan¡¯s nervousness at being surrounded by dragons to dissipate.


    Things wound down, and the conversation splintered into groups which Zag surveyed with his eyes over his cup of the wonderful alcohol he had shanghaied the resident and guest deities into helping him make.


    Chouyan was trying to escape Anu¡¯s persistent and almost sadistic teasing by scooting closer to Aisling who was half listening to Bron drone on about something she had probably heard several hundred times before. Bron seemed blissfully unaware of his aunt and her teasing of the qilin and he was in slightly more than a tipsy state.


    Anu, herself was slurring some of the words she was using to pester Chouyan and was also continuing to drink.


    Liangfeng kept glancing over at Chouyan¡¯s plight while discussing in-depth her plans with Thea. The phoenix would sometimes agree and sometimes argue a point, but it seemed both ladies had not partaken of the alcohol so much to affect their cognitive abilities.


    Zag gently patted his mother¡¯s shoulders as she was laying her head on the table nearly passed out from drinking too much. Now and then he would hear some lamentation over the fruits and he would shiver as it inevitably progressed to some descriptive horror she wanted to do in revenge.


    The sun sank in the sky and Shar recovered enough for her and Anu to make everyone some raised stone platforms for them to lie out their sleeping equipment on as beds in separate caverns.


    While they went about doing that Thea and Liangfeng came up to him. He had a guess as to what they would ask but what he didn''t expect was for Liangfeng to grab his arm and snuggle suggestively against him while they asked it.


    ¡°Zaganursarrum how much involvement are you going to take with actions that do not directly involve the humans who possess the black mist?¡± Thea asked with a look of pure irritation and what Zag could only see as jealousy over Liangfeng¡¯s actions.


    He was also struck by the knowing glint in Liangfeng¡¯s eyes as she looked at Thea while snuggling up to his arm. This was not a game he was entirely sure how to deal with.


    ¡°I cannot give you a general answer to that, I simply won''t do something I find morally objectionable. I at least trust you not to push me into doing anything like I did in the war so we¡¯ll just have to go case by case, I do not intend on getting too far away from you, however.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Thea smiled up at him but her eyes still held firm her irritation for what Liangfeng was doing. ¡°I feel much better hearing that.¡±


    Liangfeng squeezed his arm tighter when his eyes followed Thea as she left.


    ¡°And what is it you want little girl?¡± Zag asked her playfully.


    She tittered out a giggle and said, ¡°Perhaps I am still on the small side but I am a fully developed woman, you know?¡±


    ¡°Little woman sounds weird off the tongue¡­¡± Zag put on a faux thoughtful expression.


    ¡°If you call me short, I will bite you.¡± Liangfeng showed her teeth.


    ¡°I can bite harder than you.¡± Zag poked her nose causing her face to scrunch up cutely.


    ¡°She likes you, that phoenix girl does, although she is not sure how to act on it.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t miss the purpose of your little performance, although the information surprised me a little. What I am more interested in is is how you will act.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to say I like you?¡± She looked up into his eyes with the most innocent expression she could muster.


    ¡°Well, the signals my poor molested arm are sending seem to show something of the sort.¡±


    ¡°Well, perhaps I should move on to other things if your arm is not up to the task.¡±


    Chouyan watched them both walk off towards the side cavern Zag was using for a bedroom and she almost jumped out of her skin as Anu came up and poked her in the ribs from behind.


    ¡°That yelp was adorable I could almost eat you up if your mistress wasn¡¯t giving me more pressing concerns,¡± Anu told her in a sultry voice. Chouyan could still smell the alcohol on her breath.


    ¡°I will not let you hurt my mistress,¡± Chouyan warned her in a nervous whisper.


    ¡°I would never break my brother¡¯s things, do not worry over that, but I won''t necessarily let him keep them to himself.¡±


    Chouyan could hear her humming a wordless tune between bouts of tittered laughter as she followed the recently departed pair. She could only wordlessly follow and hope the dragons didn''t do her mistress any... unwanted damage.

 PF Book Two: Chapter 10

    ¡°Liangfeng, what are your feelings towards me?¡±


    Zag pulled her off his arm and held her by the shoulders at arm¡¯s length. He stared down into her eyes, using them as a window into her mind and soul, looking for the truth.


    ¡°Are you worried that I am playing games?¡±


    ¡°I could barely read you as a child, I will not take chances after our earlier interactions.¡±


    She crossed one arm around her chest to support the elbow of the other as she tapped her chin in thought.


    ¡°One could say, that you are my childhood crush and I have found no reason not to pursue it. I will admit that my political and ideological goals play a significant part in this decision, along with a curiosity I can just not let go.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zag smiled at her as he poked at her cheek with a finger. He found this thoughtful look brought out even more beauty from her already beautiful face.


    ¡°I want to change The Covenant completely and I am not even come close to the strength of some ancient old snakes of my race. I need someone powerful enough for them to consider what I say and yet still be someone that will not just suppress me for their own ends.¡±


    Zag started to twirl her hair with his fingers as he brushed it against her face. She snickered from the ticklish feeling it gave her but did not pull away. She was glad to enjoy the intimate contact that she had lacked while surviving in the political nightmares of The Covenant¡¯s nobility.


    ¡°What about your ¡®curiosity¡¯?¡±


    ¡°I cannot help but wonder what the results of our union would be¡­¡± She blushed as she trailed off and glanced at the makeshift bed next to the cavern wall. When her eyes lingered over it her face gained even more color.


    Zag smiled at her before he lifted her off her feet and carried her the few remaining steps.


    Liangfeng was immersed in such blissful foreplay as only an experienced and invested lover could dish out. After Zag had tasted seemingly every place on her body, he rolled her on top of him and directed her on how to start the main event.


    After the initial pain started to settle she set a tight deliberate slow pace that she could see was driving Zag crazy. She wanted to keep it up but wasn¡¯t sure how much self-control she could maintain.


    Her speed had just started to increase when outside forces answered all questions about control. Two feminine hands started at Liangfeng¡¯s waist and slid their way up her stomach to grab her pert breasts.


    She gasped and everything tightened. It sent both her and Zag over the edge and he shot into her while she spasmed and looked over her shoulder gaping in confusion.


    ¡°That was worth the wait,¡± Anu muttered, her voice coquettish. She kissed Liangfeng on the nose before rubbing along her face to lick her ear.


    Liangfeng let off a squeal.


    Her first night didn¡¯t go exactly as she imagined it. After it was all over, though, she decided the unexpected things in life really make the experiences all the richer.


    **


    After sleeping the meal off for a short time, Thea found herself too restless to continue lying in bed. After feeling some relief at the assurances that her siblings would be saved her mind seemed to be on a mission to fill up the void with worries she had not been thinking about for quite some time.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    She sighed and slid out of her sleeping gear. After blinking a few times trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness, she remembered she was deep in a cavern and created a small flame which she held in her palm. She went out and wandered through the cavern trying not to listen to some still ongoing activities coming from the caverns belonging to the others.


    She found herself at the main entrance to the dragon¡¯s lair and was surprised to see the Chouyan was already there She watched the qilin sit and mutter to herself about ¡®noises¡¯ before she approached and sat down beside her. Thea looked out at the starscape finding all the familiar constellations.


    ¡°What troubles you?¡± she asked of Chouyan after she didn¡¯t respond to her presence.


    ¡°My mistress followed him into his room,¡± Chouyan explained with a shudder.


    ¡°That cannot be unexpected since she has been throwing herself at him.¡±


    ¡°Anunnakisarratum followed them.¡±


    ¡°Did they fight? I heard nothing,¡± Thea looked at Chouyan with confusion.


    ¡°They did not fight, they¡­¡± Chouyan blushed heavily and could not complete her answer.


    ¡°How are you this innocent?¡± Thea was dumbfounded. ¡°You are older than me, and qilins all go through military service.¡±


    ¡°My service is being her bodyguard, my situation caused there to be several gaps in my education and I have not spoken to my parents in any familial sense since I was a child.¡±


    ¡°Are you jealous, is that the cause of this level of embarrassment?¡±


    ¡°No, I do not think so, I felt¡­¡± her voice lowered. ¡°Desires, so many desires.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Thea grinned at her. ¡°Did you want to join them?¡±


    Chouyan could not answer as her cheeks turned a brighter shade of pink.


    ¡°I should not tease you about it, my own feelings are troubled by this,¡± Thea said as she stretched her shoulders. ¡°This conversation seems to have relieved me of so much stress.¡±


    ¡°When are you planning to return to Proelefsi?¡±


    ¡°I will ask Zag how much rest he needs, I want to return as soon as the dragons are up to the flight.¡± Thea turned to see Chouyan¡¯s startled expression. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You refer to Zaganursarrum as ¡®Zag¡¯?¡±


    ¡°I guess I did, it seems,¡± Thea said and turned her sight back to the night sky.


    The rustle of flapping wings and the patter of bare feet on stone interrupted the conversation. Thea looked over at Chouyan, who glanced toward the sounds, making use of her superior senses in the darkness to identify the source.


    ¡°The Lady Sharmelammusarratum,¡± she informed Thea.


    The person just named came into the sight of the two of them as she approached the entrance to the cavern. She carried a large stone basket filled to the brim with something they could not identify in the low light conditions.


    Sharmelammusarratum, upon noticing them, walked over and sat down after greetings were exchanged. She handed each of them one of the basket¡¯s contents before taking one for herself.


    Thea looked over the large purple fruit before taking a small bite of it, it was like an explosion of sweetness the likes of which her tongue had never experienced and she had to lean forward to keep the juice from running down her chin.


    ¡°Is this what the drink from dinner was made from?¡± Chouyan asked after her own bite.


    ¡°Yea, I do not understand the need that foolish boy had to turn it into such a thing,¡± Shar haughtily said.


    ¡°You drank most of it,¡± Thea rebutted without thinking.


    ¡°That is not the point, it is better this way, is it not?¡±


    ¡°Most definitely,¡± Thea replied as Chouyan nodded agreement.


    ¡°Why are you two not sleeping?¡± Shar asked between munches. She set the basket down within easy reach for the three of them.


    Thea glanced over at Chouyan who was trying to hide her blushing face behind a fruit as her embarrassment cropped up once again.


    ¡°I was restless, she was embarrassed by what was going on in the other rooms,¡± Thea explained. Chouyan gave a stifled groan from hearing it explained that way.


    ¡°Is this really a topic you should tease someone over while being a virgin yourself?¡± Shar admonished Thea in a tone that did not hide her amusement.


    ¡°Perhaps not, but seeing her like this put my mind at ease, I apologize Chouyan.¡±


    ¡°We will probably leave tomorrow as soon as the other children can wake up,¡± Shar told them while reaching for another fruit. ¡°From what the serpent told me things are already dire.¡±


    ¡°You are going as well?¡± Chouyan asked, the shock bringing her out of her thoughts of what she had heard from Zag¡¯s bedroom.


    ¡°None of you can handle Agios Ba if he is complicit in or compromised by the plans of these humans and even that serpent girl¡¯s father can easily match my children in a fight, given the right circumstances, do you think what forces you will have can overwhelm what you are facing?¡±


    ¡°What about the gods?¡± Thea asked with concern.


    ¡°As childish as those two can be, they do not require my presence. They will also know when it is time for them to do their part in this.¡±


    ¡°Well, I will try to sleep before my impatience gets the better of me, I left someone else to fight my succession war and I do not want to leave it that way for any length of time.¡±


    ¡°Truly,¡± Shar nodded before biting into another of the fruits.

 PF Book Three: Chapter 1

    A misty rain drizzled down from high rolling clouds seeming to coat everything and everyone in a feeling of cold and damp that the light gusting winds did nothing to dispel. Foro stood on the walls despite the conditions, staring out at the army that surrounded Proelefsi and the sky beyond them.


    ¡°I figured this is where you¡¯d be, sir.¡± A grizzled voice pierced through his concentration.


    ¡°Report,¡± Foro ordered the soldier.


    ¡°Ammo is running low, I¡¯ve already started moving the rest of the population into the palace grounds, we won''t be able to keep the rest of the city if they attack en masse again.¡±


    The old soldier watched Foro¡¯s reactions trying to determine what his leader would do, he was looking for any ray of hope that they would get out of this alive.


    Foro stepped slowly around to look at the reporting soldier for the first time. He was surprised how much the man conveyed an appearance of wet rumpled feathers even in his human form. The two men locked eyes, each trying to read the thoughts and emotions of the other, the rumpled soldier trying to find something solid in the actions of a man he greatly respected to grasp his faith onto and Foro trying to judge how much longer he can rely on his soldiers faith in him during the siege.


    ¡°You shouldn''t have too much trouble keeping them from finding out,¡± Foro said as he waved his arm to indicate the surrounding forces. ¡°I¡¯ve spotted them getting into four skirmishes this morning alone.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    The pall of silence returned over the two as a burst of wind swirled the misty rain around them. They shivered despite their nature as creatures of flame and shifted from foot to foot to try to relieve the discomfort of their soaked garments.


    Foro could hear the sounds of heated arguing emanating from the camps outside the wall any time there was a break in the wind. He smiled a little thinking of how much solace he took in the sound. He knew they would not have lasted this long without the dysfunction of their enemy and he said a little prayer of thanks for it in his head.


    ¡°Sir¡­¡± The soldier started.


    ¡°It is never fun when you are working off faith, soldier, I understand,¡± Foro cut him off. ¡°And waiting is the worst part of a battle, just hang in there and prepare the best you can.¡±


    ¡°She will come back?¡± asked the soldier, trying for any form of reassurance to re-motivate himself.


    ¡°She will,¡± Foro answered with words filled with conviction. ¡°If there is anyone more duty-bound to this city and its denizens than me it is Lady Thea.¡±


    Foro turned his attention back to the skies, his back straight, his hands clasped behind his back. He made a picturesque statue, seemingly alone amongst the activities of manning the wall. The soldier frowned and turned his eyes to follow Foro¡¯s gaze one last time before going back to his duties.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­¡± the soldier was unable to finish his words as he pointed to the horizon while shock spread over his face.


    **


    Thea crouched as low as she could on Zag¡¯s shoulder bracing herself against the occasional beat of his wings. She peered down into the misty distance catching glances of the walls of her home and the forces that surrounded it.


    ¡°Zag, fly over the top of them and land on the other side of the city, stay out of ballista range just in case,¡± Thea ordered after giving his shoulder a slap to get his attention. ¡°Tell Bron to circle back so he can land behind the force facing this wall.¡±


    After a short wait, she could feel the rumble emanate from deep in his chest as he communicated with Bron. She frowned at the noise hoping it wouldn''t carry far enough to reach the sharp ears of the phoenixes surrounding the city.


    A hand slithered along the side of her neck and squeezed her shoulder, knocking her attention off the city that lay below.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Annu asked her


    ¡°The city is under siege,¡± Thea answered and swatted the hand away before it could make its way into her shirt.


    ¡°You¡¯re no fun, should I go down there and just kill them all?¡±


    ¡°That would not be ideal, some of them might still remember where their loyalties should lie, I just have to remind them I am still here.¡±


    ¡°Did I mention you weren''t any fun?¡± Annu asked in a voice that dripped with boredom and sarcasm.


    ¡°You did.¡±


    Thea looked back to the city and the army surrounding it. She slowly began to count under her breath her eyes darting back and forth calculating the angles.


    ¡°This is about right,¡± she said and lept off the back of the dragon.


    Thea gracefully twisted her body in a perfect arc to get her head pointed towards her target and her wings burst forth in scarlet-gold glory before she folded them back and went into a steep dive.


    ¡°That looks fun.¡± Annu¡¯s words echoed in her ears as the distance grew and the wind whipped around her.


    **


    Zag panicked, he saw her form dive off out of the corner of his eye and it was all he could do to keep from diving after her with a roar. His form rocked in his indecision as his flight became unstable.


    ¡°You keep going and do what you are supposed to do, brother mine,¡± he heard Annu say. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the precious little bird.¡±


    Zag¡¯s thoughts began to settle with her reassurance but he couldn''t help but sigh as Annu made a near-exact duplication of Thea¡¯s dive off of him.


    **


    More and more eyes made their way up to Thea¡¯s diving form until she held both forces'' attention on the eastern side of the wall. She could see some of the soldiers raise their crossbows and then lower them, their faces decorated with a gaping expression that echoed the movement of their bows.


    Some few bolts arced their way towards her and she blew them away with an explosive burst of flame. She looked up as some of them flew by her head and saw Annu¡¯s form diving rapidly after her.


    Seeing the bolts harmlessly bounce off the hurtling dragoness Thea turned her attention back to the army surrounding her home. She flared her wings, slowing her descent to a crawl, and set her feet onto damp muddy soil. Thea stood there looking over the troops within her vision he wings spread and flames swirling around her vaporizing the misty raindrops into wispy sizzles of steam, some of the enemy troops kneeled in awe of the scene.


    Annu thudded down next to her laughing as if it were the most fun she has ever had. Her aura spread out amongst the surrounding people, the fear and despair pervading through their minds made more than a few of them fall to the ground and try to curl into a ball.


    ¡°All of you are following men and women fighting over a crown that is not theirs to take, when an enemy is destroying us from both within our government and pitting outside forces against us, tell me, what are your priorities?¡± Thea¡¯s admonishment echoed through the ranks. ¡°Are you looking to ensure your families do not live through the year? Tell me, what amazing things bought your services away from maintaining the stability of this duchy? What amazing things could cause you to pit yourself against a mentor I know several of you admire and respect?


    ¡°I see by the banners you serve the same lords who immediately bent the knee to Photismos when he murdered my family. Tell me what price did they pay you to follow men who would follow a man who would inject the nefarious shadows or black mist powers, of which you must be aware, into my mother¡¯s eggs, to turn my sisters into some puppet abomination? Well, tell me?¡±


    ¡°You should just kill them all,¡± Annu¡¯s bored tone echoed through the pall of silence following Thea¡¯s speech. The troops added a collective fearful shudder to their looks of shame.


    Thea turned to her, tears of rage barely contained behind the regal exterior she was trying to maintain.


    ¡°Can you find the ones who have given themselves over to the enemy?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm,¡± Annu¡¯s predatory gaze meandered its way over the faces of the fearful soldiers. ¡°That one!¡±


    Before Thea could respond Annu had bolted forward and grasped a lower-ranking officer by the throat.


    The man released a burst of the black mist in a panic which knocked the dragoness back as it burned her arm up to the elbow. The officer, in so doing, blew himself in half and injured a handful of the soldiers nearby that did not already scamper for cover.


    Thea walked over and watched as the dying embers of the officer''s original golden flames futilely struggled against the blood loss.


    ¡°As I am now, I could probably save you,¡± she told the man as the light left his eyes. ¡°However, the only mercy I am willing to show to those who have made the choice you have made is to burn away the corruption you carry and spread!¡±


    Crimson fire swirled from her wings and reduced the two pieces of the man to ash, soon muddied in the drizzling rain.


    ¡°Do not tell my brother about this,¡± Annu emphatically pleaded from behind her as she grasped her regrowing limb.


    ¡°Are there any remaining here?¡±


    ¡°A couple in the distance, I think they are already fleeing, most of the ones that fled at the start of this have already encountered their fates.¡±


    The roars of three dragons echoed from three different points surrounding the force besieging Proelefsi and with most of the officers and leaders of the army having been struck down trying to flee the very dragons they ran into the army¡¯s soldiers weren''t sure what course of action to take and sat paralyzed as the gates of the city opened and the city¡¯s guardsmen poured out.

 PF Book Three: Chapter 2

    Different signal horns sounded over the area rising above the din of roaring dragons and the panicked yells of the besieging army.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± One soldier within earshot of Thea asked another.


    ¡°I¡¯m not attacking anything and I doubt they intend to let us go,¡± another replied.


    They sat frozen, conflicted over what to do, as the city guard rounded up those who would surrender and subjected those who wouldn¡¯t. The resistance faltered severely when the dragons who had been dealing with those who retreated early came back into view of the remaining soldiers, the draconic auras making short work of any spark of honor or pride driving someone towards fighting to the death.


    **


    ¡°Lady Thea, welcome back,¡± Foro said as he made it to her position.


    ¡°I apologize for taking so long.¡± Thea¡¯s gaze darted once towards Ketai before she turned towards the now bored-looking dragon beside her. ¡°Foro, this is Anunnakisarratum, she is Zaganursarrum¡¯s sister. Anunnakisarratum, this is Foro, was my 2nd in command in the Phoenix Legion and Ketai whom of which, I believe, you were told about by Zag.¡±


    Ketai began to direct a low growl at Anu¡¯s presence but was otherwise restrained when Foro put his arm out in front of her.


    ¡°Do you want to test me, little girl?¡± Anu taunted before targeting Ketai with her aura. Ketai flinched and stopped growling but otherwise held her ground. Foro dropped his arm when he was sure she would no longer charge at the full-blooded dragon.


    ¡°I would appreciate it in full measure if there was any way to avoid the standard draconic greeting practices in the middle of such a large group of people,¡± Foro said as he locked eyes with Anu.


    ¡°I think we¡¯ve already established what we need to, it warms my heart to see how amazing my bloodline remains,¡± Anu gloated.


    ¡°She is quite amazing, indeed,¡± Foro agreed.


    One of the dragons roared in the distance, the tone slightly different from the ruckus they had been giving off before.


    ¡°My mother and brother are coming here,¡± Anu translated. ¡°My nephew is fetching the others and our stuff and he''ll be along afterward.¡±


    ¡°Foro, clear enough space for them to land, at least one of them will be in their pure-blood state. Take the enemy army into custody and set up a temporary camp to hold them, we will sort them out later,¡± Thea rattled off orders. ¡°I will ask one of the dragons to check if there are any shadow users among them once they are all in one place.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Foro saluted. ¡°Lady Thea, the majority of the council is on your side, you will need to meet with them before we can move forward with any plans you may have.¡±


    ¡°As always, you provide above and beyond what is asked of you, good work.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my Lady.¡±


    Foro scurried about delegating tasks to the cadre of the city guard and, in short order, had an, albeit muddy, space cleared off for the dragons to land comfortably.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Not a short moment after the rush of air caused by two powerful wings beating their way closer to their location could be heard. Zag swooped over them bringing many of the captured soldiers and even those members of the city guard who had seen him before to look up in awe. He banked left and in a tight circle came back towards the cleared area and dropped in quickly for a landing. He was transforming even before his knees had recoiled back from absorbing the shock from his touchdown.


    Liangfeng floated off from his back as he shrunk into his human form and gingerly touched down in the mud looking back and forth to take stock of the situation her face wore an exhilarated smile that brightened at each familiar face she remembered when she had been summoned away from her brother¡¯s audience hall.


    Zag¡¯s face, on the other hand, was marked by a deep frown when his draconic features receded and he rushed towards Thea so quickly that it caused both her and Foro to flinch in surprise.


    He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked into her widening golden eyes. ¡°You should never do something so stupid! If you die who will help all the people of this realm you care about so much? You are very powerful now but you aren¡¯t invincible!¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Thea¡¯s voice croaked, ¡°I am sorry, I should have told you what I wanted to do, you are right.¡±


    ¡°You won''t do anything that stupid again?¡±


    ¡°I cannot make a promise against calculated risks but I will warn you first if you are present.¡±


    ¡°With your situation, I guess that¡¯s the best that can be expected.¡± Zag gave a heavy sigh that seemed to take the tension out of him. ¡°Hello, Ketai.¡±


    ¡°He...lo.¡± Ketai spoke out in a quiet voice.


    ¡°Good, I figured your voice would recover.¡± Zag grinned encouragement at her to which she replied with a nod.


    ¡°Now, sister.¡± Zag turned to Anu. His eyes gave off hints of a teasing smile that belied the straight-faced serious expression he tried to maintain.


    ¡°What?¡± Anu asked with a voice filled with irritation.


    ¡°Why are your clothes all muddy, did you slip and fall?¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡±


    Thea and Foro bit back their laughter as Anu¡¯s anger was soon distracted by the sound of flapping wings and the whoosh of air under them. Shar gracefully touched down a short moment later and shifted into her human form. The damp misty rain immediately started soaking her excessively long hair.


    ¡°Daughter! How did you get all muddy?¡±


    Foro held in his laughter once again behind a tight-lipped smile. Thea tittered before hiding her mouth behind a hand and Ketai snorted.


    Shar looked around at everyone, perplexed by the restrained laughter and her daughter''s grumpy expression. She shrugged it off when an explanation was not forthcoming and focused her attention on Ketai as one of Foro¡¯s soldiers came up and offered Zag and her a cloak to cover themselves.


    ¡°Hello, child,¡± Shar greeted Ketai with a warm smile.


    Ketai smiled back at her as she took a step forward. They sized each other up with the same smiles plastered to their faces, eyes darting over the other¡¯s figure.


    ¡°Your blood is strong but you are not ready,¡± Shar told her. To those standing near it felt as though the air vibrated and Ketai backed off with a frown. She latched on to Foro¡¯s arm and took on a possessive posture, glaring at everyone present.


    Bron swooped down soon afterward, and the group went through unloading all of their stuff, the dragons who had been in their pure-blood state opting to just wrap themselves in a cloak until they could get inside some shelter before getting fully dressed.


    When everything was unloaded, and he was wrapped in a cloak Bron turned to Anu. ¡°Are...¡±


    ¡°If you mention the mud on my clothes, I will hit you.¡±


    Even Foro finally broke and laughed at the situation after it came up a third time.


    ¡°I was going to ask if you were all right but that answers it well enough,¡± Bron replied and shrugged before he turned to Foro. ¡°Can we get someplace dryer, I don''t want Aisling to have to stand out here any more than is absolutely necessary.¡±


    Foro looked at him questioningly. ¡°Of course, although you willl have to make do with a barracks building, for now, the castle is still broken and most of the houses have been repurposed or torn down.¡±


    ¡°That would be wonderful,¡± Aisling responded. ¡°Although the situation does not require as much worry as he is giving it, this is, I imagine, more uncomfortable weather for me than it is for all of you, Even with Chouyan keeping me dry this entire time.¡±


    ¡°What is the matter?¡± Foro asked with a look of concern.


    ¡°She¡¯s pregnant, so is the snake girl,¡± Anu blurted out. ¡°Being pregnant as a human comes with so many drawbacks, it sometimes took half the day before we could even travel.¡±