[CW: The usual. Blood, Gore, Death. Awkward boys.]

  Asher beheld the dragon washing itself with awe. As the rapid currents parted the obscene amounts of caked on blood off the dragon, more and more of her scales became visible. He was amazed to see that she was indeed not a red, but a blue. Blue's don't exist, right? First lightning and now blue scales? Is she completely unique or is there an entire type of dragon that these lands haven't seen before? Pondering this while watching her he noticed the tail was different from any kind of dragon he'd heard of before. Instead of a thick and devastating tail tipped by spikes it was long and almost a bit slender. Where every dragon is supposed to have spikes on the sides and tip of its tail, she seemed to have a softer ridge along the top and bottom that almost seemed to puff up and extend as the dragon bathed. Its like those odd long fish I saw at that market in that coastal city my sister dragged me to. That insufferable stuck up woman. But those odd fish, those odd fish. hmm. Eel! They were called eels. Why is this dragon small, slender, and shaped a bit like an eel?

  Breaking his thoughts the dragon seemed to be finally content and walked from the rushing river waters back onto land, coming up to Asher. Asher couldn't help himself from simply staring at her azure scales which seemed to almost hang onto the water forming a layer of dew that sparkled and shimmered in the mid-day light. Speaking without thinking, "Your scales are beautiful, the way they shimmer in the light.." With a small delighted laugh Zephyria preened, striking an elegant pose for the man. "Am I not the most elegant? The most wondrous? Dragons are truly the peak of magnificent creatures. You may continue to praise my scales."

  Interrupting the pair, Derick walked over with Sarah and Daniel each blood soaked holding several hearts each. Derick cleared his throat, "If uh, you aren't busy your great dragon-ness.. I- we have the hearts you tasked us to collect. To honor the dead you said? Do you plan to burn them or something?" The dragon looked at him and tilted her head in confusion, "Burn? Why in the void would I do that? I plan to honor them, not waste their legacy. Mortals are so strange. Place the hearts in a pile here, the rocks are good enough." Dropping the slightly nonsensical pile of eleven hearts the trio all looked at Asher like he was some kind of dragon expert who could explain all this. Zephyria spoke up with a measure of gravitas, "Be honored, worthy prey, you lived and died well with a bright heart. May your soul join the gods of old as your heart-flame burns through me." Snapping her head forward as soon as she was done speaking she began to eat the hearts of the wolves, two or three at a time. When only one remained she looked at Asher and nudged it towards him. Looking at her like she was insane, she elaborated, "For you, to strengthen your heart-flame as thanks for assisting me with such care." Asher pushed back a bit of nausea, frowned deeper in confusion, and responded "Heart-flame? I don't think I have one of those. Not that I can eat your... generous gift. Humans can get very sick if they eat raw meat. My sincerest apologies for rejecting your thoughtful gift, Zephyria." This time Zephyria blinked at Asher in confusion. "You don't have a heart-flame? Then how do you cast magic? Every story I've read has had great human casters in it. The leader of your little group breathed flames as well!" Thinking about this for a minute, Asher said, "For a mortal we channel mana from our mana-cores into spell forms made of sigils, then it is either cast with an application of will and voice. Although simple spell may not require verbalizing a chant, such as our.. Courageous leader's flames. How do you cast magic Zephyria?" Infusing her claws with enough lightning that they crackled and holding them up she explained, "I simply push mana through my heart flame and into the appropriate limb. Spell forms and sigils are a completely foreign concept to me. If it so important for mortals then I don't understand why it was never mentioned in the stories."

  Clearing his throat, Derick cut the dragon off, "As much as I want to stand around in the woods watching a useless cook and a dragon talk theory I believe you said that you had questions for us when you saved us, and that you'd let us go after. I want to go back home, so ask your questions already." Everyone backed away from Derick slowly, eyeing the dragon's reaction to his blatant disrespect to their extremely dangerous savior. Zephyria slowly placed her muzzle right in his face and let out a rumbling growl that caused the skin on all of their bodies to prickle and shift. Even the ever idiotic Derick realized he had REALLY fucked up this one spoke up, "I- uh- Apologies I'm sorry your great dragon-ness your scales are.. nice? And your very merciful and benevolent. Very very merciful."

  With a scoff, the dragon stepped back and spoke. "Your apology is as embarrassing as your continued arrogance. However, I am not a dragon to break my word so easily. I said I would let you go so I will." Looking each of them in the eye, one by one, she snarled slightly, "You are right, however. I have questions." Pausing to collect herself, she spoke again more calmly, "A group of supposed heroes were sent to kill my- A red dragon who had claimed this stretch of forest as her territory. Tell me everything you know about them. You first, leader."

  Derick cleared his throat nervously, "Yes your greatness. I don't know much, mostly rumors. They were some big shots from the capital from what I heard. Every last one a rich spoiled noble trained from birth to be weapons against the noble's enemies. I've never seen em, but supposedly their gear is like nothing else. Shiny and decorative and all that. Must be enchanted or else armor that fancy would be a liability. Also my name's Derick, your scaly-ness." Zephyria sighed at the mans poor attempt at politeness. "Yes, thank you Derick. Your information is somewhat helpful, at least."

  Zephyria looked at the others and spoke, "Do any of you know where they were headed after their hunt? Where their den is? I have reasons to seek them out." Looking between the remaining three the quiet one with daggers, Daniel, shook his head and stepped back. Asher and Sarah shared a silent look, questioning if either had heard anything like that. Sarah shook her head softly so Asher took the lead, "I'm sorry Zephyria. None of us know that information, we don't know anything other than the rumors. However I am in your debt and have a few contacts amongst some of the nobles. I'd be honored to repay my debt by assisting you in this hunt of yours by providing some information after a few days within the nearest city." Sahara did a double take at that one. "Contacts with nobles? You gotta be fucking with us. Derick has been an asshole this entire time, but he is kind of right. You're a decent fighter too focused on being a terrible mage, no noble family would let someone like that exist. They're all too disgustingly perfect."

  Asher cringed back and glanced between the dragon staring intently at him and the three remaining adventurers. Taking hold of his sense of honor and using it as fuel he spoke, "I have some friends is all. I can ask around. I'm not making any promises of finding anything but I do promise to at least try to help." Zephyria studied the man for a moment, saying nothing. Asher thought to himself, I hope she accepts. My family disowned me long ago, but I might be able to help her. And Sunsvegards repay debts of honor, even if they don't see me as one anymore. As though sensing the determination within Asher, Zephyria nodded and finally spoke, "Thank you brave one. Your sense of honor is admirable." Turning to the others she spoke to the entire group at once, "I do not know where your city is and my wing still remains injured preventing me from flying safely. Regardless, the Iron Wolves still roam this forest and despite the loss of their kin you are still easy prey to them. Allow me to escort you back and ensure your safety."

  The four adventurers shared a look, Derick spoke with an uncertain voice, "With our lightning mage gone, and our best fighter dead we only have a ranger, a rouge, and a shitty cook." Asher rolled his eyes at the 'best fighter' comment, 'Killer' couldn't kill a thing with that unwieldy monster he called a sword. He rolled his eyes harder at the 'shitty cook' comment but didn't speak up. "So I think we'll have to accept your great generosity your most.. generous one. Thank you." Derick looked nervously at the dragon, like he didn't believe a word he was saying but knew saying anything else would end with him either wolf or dragon food. The dragon stretched her long neck in close and growled out, "Your attempts at flattery are shameful and you're an awful liar." Leaning back and speaking more cordially, "However you've accepted my offer and that's all that matters. I will be able to ensure you are safe and then my duty is complete." Derick spoke up, with an audible tremor in his voice, "W- Well then. If there's nothing else we need here then we can make our way down the river a bit, cross, and make our way to the city." Looking at the sky, Derick shielded his eyes, "Looks like we lost a while. An hour, maybe closer to two. We'll be back a bit after dark if we continue on without any stops." Asher watched as Zephyria took the lead and hurried to follow her long stride.

  Asher's legs burned matching Zephyria's pace for so long. As the evening sun accompanied his hours long jog he thought to himself, I have half the mind to tell her to slow down, but do I really want to argue with a dragon? We're going faster than we would have normally, at this pace we might even get there at dusk instead of well after sunset. Tired, but we'll get there all the same. As the dragon continued her leisurely stroll followed by her four huffing and puffing jogging adventurers the sun continued to sink down the sky, closer and closer to the horizon.

  By sunset the adventurers had finally had enough with the pace. "Dragon! We have to slow down, I can't keep this pace up!" Derick pleaded with Zephyria. "It is not my fault you are small and cannot keep up with me. You should have said something sooner, I may have been persuaded to slow down." The dragon retorted while she reigned in her pace to something the humans behind her could manage without issue. "If we must slow down, I'm curious about you all. I'm actually rather quite fascinated with adventurers and have read quite a few books in my hoard." Asher was truly surprised by this and blurted without thinking, "Dragons read?" The dragon turned her head without stopping walking and gave him a flat glare and a small growl. "Are dragons not supposed to read? Are we not capable of language and stories like the mortals are?" With a huff she turned away and kept walking, the evening air suddenly chilly. Refusing to let the tension brew for too long, Asher apologized, "I'm sorry Zephyria. Its simply not something I had ever considered before. Mortals know little of dragon culture, and many fools do not even know that dragons are intelligent. I once met someone who didn't even think dragons were real!" Laughing awkwardly he spoke more sullenly, "It was a remark made in ignorance and not malice. I hope you can forgive me, I would like to continue to learn about you." The silence stretched a moment too long, Asher almost tried to cut the tension again when Zephyria interrupted his worries, "It's fine. I didn't know mortals knew so little of us. Perhaps we can trade questions and learn more? Considering I had no idea mortals lacked a heart-flame, I wonder what else I misunderstand about your kinds."

  Asher considered it for a moment, That's right. She may know about us through the books she's presumably stolen but those are almost always fictional, she knows about mortals barely more than we know about her. I still have no idea what kind of dragon she is too. There's so much I could learn, but its risky too. Offending a dragon is never a good idea. "You asked about us, so I'm sure we could all tell you a bit about ourselves. Within reason of course. As you know my name is Asher, I'm a mercenary and a pyromancer-" With a small shout Derick cut him off, "A right shit one! Don't lie to the dragon, boy, she'll eat you." Talking to the the visibly annoyed dragon now, "Don't listen to the weasel. He can use a blade fine enough but I've not seen him conjure a flame once! No. The boy's a cook. All he can do is wiggle the flames around just right and get a perfect sear on a slab of meat. If I had known the daft bastard was nothing but a chef I wouldn't have agreed to bring him along." Frowning, Asher was aggravated but didn't refute Derick's rude remarks. Interceding Sarah spoke up for the first time in hours, "Ignoring those two, I'd speak of our dead first. They deserve the honor at least. We lost one right before you saved us from the Iron Hounds. Rodger was his name. A decent enough man but a right prick. I think he's hitting on me constantly. He said he had a wife in the city at one point, but I'm honestly not sure I believe him. If he does I'll have to find her to let her know he died. I think the Iron Wolves dragged his body off." Shaking her head she finished off, "Derick, tell the dragon about 'Killer', the one who's head she crushed. None of us knew the idiot." Doing his best dragon imitation he growled at Sarah, "Killer, was a great man. The greatest. The finest warrior I'd ever met with the strength to slay a dragon and the dexterity to dodge a speeding shadow panther. A quiet man who let his heroics speak for him." Sarah laughed, "Your one to call the cook out for his shit fire magic when you lick that mans boots like he's the return of the old gods. I never once saw him kill a thing, and then he died during a suicide rush against a dragon. I don't even blame the dragon for it, that was a suicide charge plain and simple. She had just saved our lives for the void's sake!" Asher and Zephyria shared a glance, Asher silently pleading for her to not ask or to cut them off. I sincerely hope Zephyria doesn't cut into that bag of worms, what a mess.

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  Cutting off the two adventurers who were on a crash course towards fighting, Zephyria directed her gaze at the truly quiet one in their group. Asher watched him cringe, visibly shaking his head a little bit. The dragon powered on regardless "You, quiet one. What is your story?" The rouge looked at Zephyria like a kicked puppy and after a pregnant pause, he said, "My names Daniel." Everyone paused, waiting for him to continue. Asher laughed to himself, This might be entertaining, actually. A chatty dragon and the shyest man I've ever met colliding. The dragon prompted him again, "Daniel, then. What's your story? I'm quite curious."

  With a start, Zephyria halted and crouched down. "Quiet, we're prey." Everyone had to take a moment to translate that, stopping several seconds later they drew their respective weapons. Each one looking around for whatever threat the dragon sensed. The dragon spoke up again, in the best approximation of a whisper a dragon could manage. "On my signal, close your eyes." Asher and Daniel nodded, but Derick and Sarah just looked at her like she was crazy. Everyone held their breaths, waiting for the danger that lurked in the twilight. Suddenly an arrow whistled from the shadowed trees, barely missing Asher's chest and sinking into the earth behind him. Eight heavily clothed fighters rushed at them from shadows cast by twilight. With a snarl to match the surprise attack, the dragon shouted, "EYES!" Asher closed his eyes instantly, not understanding why until a moment later a tremendous crack of lightning accompanied by a tremendously bright flash. He heard several people scream, including Derick and Sarah near him. Opening his eyes he took in the sudden battlefield, He couldn't see Derick and Sarah from here, but Daniel was by his side and unbothered as he had clearly closed his eyes too. Ahead of him a bandit lay smoking, his heavy cloth garb was smouldering. With seven bandits remaining, many of them having flinched Asher used this opportunity to get close to Zephyria to guard her right flank. He pressed a palm against her side to make sure she knew he was there and stood his ground. Behind him he heard Daniel dash into the trees, vanishing. On the other side side of Zephyria he heard Sarah and Derick let loose a few quiet curses, presumably having not shielded their eyes from the flash.

  "Fancy trick with that wolzard! But it ain' gon' help you now! Surrender and you'll live with a few less belongings! Fight and we'll gut you, clamp a muzzle on that beast, and take it! You're surrounded and one of your number has run off like a coward. Be smart little boys and girls and we'll be gentle." Asher glanced around and a ninth bandit was flanked by two more for a total of eleven bandits, one of them dead now. Shit. Cowardly Iron Wolves are one thing, but bandits? We might be fucked, depends on what Zephyria can do. They seem to think she's a Wolzard which gives us an opening to attack. Whispering to Zephyria he throws out an idea, "Zephyria, they seem to think your a tame Wolzard, we can use that against them. Play dumb, snarl, the works. We'll pretend to surrender, and when they get close can you try to hit multiple with your lightning?" The dragon snarled and growled, physically tensing at his suggestion. But after a moment she gave him a little nod. "You get that Derick? Get the ones behind us if you can, I'll go forward" "Yea. I got it. Pretend and then let the dragon handle it. Fuck."

  Asher shouted in response, "We surrender! Just don't hurt our pet! You can take our gear just don't mess with it! We raised the beast from an egg and its barely tame, it only responds to us and if you touch her you might get bit!" Please let this work, void please let this work. If they think a fucking dragon is a Wolzard then surely their dumb enough to fall for this too. I'm sorry Zephyria, it can't be pleasant to be treated like a dumb animal. Despite it being his plan, he was honestly shocked when the bandits all lowered their weapons a bit and walked forward closing in from all angles. From behind him the lead bandit spoke again, far closer. "Now that's a good boy, toss your gear and coin bags over here and nobody will lay a finger on your widdle beastie." Zephyria snarled and growled at the bandits as they drew close, her body tensing. Within moments the remaining ten bandits surrounded them, just barely out of striking distance for any of the mortals.

  Taking this as her queue, Zephyria blasted a small group of three ahead of her to her left, with a deafening crack of lightning the battle was started anew. Unable to see past Zephyria's bulk Asher made himself small against her, trying to look weak for a moment. When several bandits, emboldened by being in the dragon's blind spot, rushed him he dropped low and shouted "Zeph! Wing!" in response Zephyria's right wing shot out slamming into the men staggering them. Asher leapt out from beneath the wing blade first, Slashing into the chests and throats of the surprised men. On the other side of Zephyria the world lit up as Derick joined the fight, bathing several men in flames. Screams echoed through the forest as the bloody battle continued. Zephyria shifted her stance, infused her claws with lightning, and raked a man across the chest shredding his lungs. Looking around Asher tried to take stock of the fight, see where he could be the most help. He couldn't see to the left side of Zephyria but the right seemed clear of bandits. The front was clear now too smoking or mutilated bodies littered that side. He turned to look behind the group where he heard the leader speak, only to watch in awe as Daniel fought not only but both of the men by his side. He started to run towards Daniel to help, shouting for help along the way. "Zeph! Behind us!"

  Asher leapt into the fight with the bandit leader, leaving Zephyria and the other two members of his party to fight whatever they had to fight. Grasping at a moment of opportunity he cut into the back of one of the guard's legs hobbling him, as he fell forward Asher drove his blade into his back spearing through his lungs. The other guard was distracted for just a moment which was all Daniel needed to cut him down. The bandit leader was caught between Asher and Daniel now, "The situation has reversed, bandit. Surrender!" The bandit leader looked around wildly and dropped his sword, "Now, boys. This is all a great misunderstanding you see, didn't-" Asher saw Daniel's eyes widen a fraction of a second before Zephyria's fangs snapped onto the bandit leader. Asher watched totally stunned as she picked him up with her maw and shook like a particularly excited dog with a toy. A limp, bloody, and mangled corpse dropped from her maw as silence reined over the battlefield. He heard Sarah and Derick join them as they both bit back curses of disgust. Daniel looked like he would be sick. Asher? Asher was just a bit numb to it all. The man was dead now, and that was that.

  "Void, dragon. The man had surrendered, we could have gotten some information out of him. Turned him over to the city. Something.." Derick criticized in a soft slightly shaken voice. The dragon turned on him growing viciously, "He said he would muzzle me! He was treating me like a BEAST." Snapping her sharp teeth together at the air in anger she continued, "No. He got what he deserved."

  A long, uncomfortable, silence overtook the group. None of them even moving too much. Blood was dripping from Zephyria's maw as she stood next to them. In the twilight it was a strikingly terrifying visage. That's the scariest fucking thing I've ever seen.

  After the tension grew palpable, Asher was the first to speak up and tried to diffuse it some. "So what now? We've got eleven dead, right? Do we just leave them here? Its nearly completely dark, we can make it to the city tonight if we move on but we can't bury them if we do." To Asher's dismay it was Zephyria that spoke up immediately. "I do not respect these fools, but I will not dishonor the dead. Help me gather their hearts so we may help them join the old gods." The humans all blanched at the thought of mutilating the dead. Derick snapped back first, "No, I absolutely will not help with this. I completely refuse to butcher a human. Fuck. You." He panted slightly, "No. I'm leaving. We're close enough to the city if we jog back we can make it back with enough time to wash up before they stop serving drinks. I'm leaving." And with that he immediately turned and ran, not even bothering to say goodbye. Sarah responded more mellowly, "Derick's right. I won't butcher a dead man, that's a step too far. Goodbye." And she ran as well, catching up to Derick in moments.

  Asher and Daniel shared a long look, trying to judge what the other would be doing. Daniel flicked his eyes towards the others as though trying to say he wanted to join them but he didn't run off right away. Asher spoke next and said something that clearly surprised Daniel, "I agree with you Zephyria so I'll help you, but under two conditions." The dragon simply nodded at him so he named them, "First, we will honor the dead the human way as well. I'll help you gather their hearts if you help me bury them. Second protect me overnight, this task will take too long and they'll close the gate entirely at some point. I'll be stuck out here for the evening and I refuse to be stuck out here alone." The dragon stuck its muzzle in his face and growled long and guttural. I might have fucked up with that one, He thought to himself in fear. "You want me to play at a beast? To dig a hole at your command? I am not your pet to order around as you please." Asher bit back his fear and stepped towards her, he carefully reached out a hand and placed it on her muzzle ready to try to pull it back at any moment if she tried to bite. "No, Zephyria. I ask you to help me bury them as a friend. You wish to honor the dead too, and humans do that with burials. A mass grave will be fine for these low-lifes, but we must bury them regardless. And, I am sorry Zephyria. I had guessed at how much it hurt you to be treated like a wild animal, but I had not thought it hurt you so deeply. I do not believe you are a monster, you are a person like any of us. Just.. Rather large and scaly." Zephyria's snarling at that slowed, petered out, and stopped entirely. She let out a deep sigh, and pressed her muzzle into Asher's hand slightly, speaking in a low rumble, "Thank you, Asher. I knew I had reason to like you when we first met. I will help you dig the bandit's graves. Not as a work animal, but a friend honoring the dead. I will continue to ensure your safety as well, you are a good man and the world would be lesser to lose someone like you."

  A long, almost comfortable silence stretched for nearly a minute before Daniel made himself known again. He walked up to Asher, closer than he'd ever gotten to him. Gently taking Asher's hand Daniel spoke softly, "I.. I cannot help with this. Its too much for me. Killing is one thing, but this is another. I'm going to follow Derick back and make sure he doesn't try to run off with your cut of this job. I- I'm.. I-" Daniel sighed and stepped even a little closer, Asher could feel the warmth of Daniel's breath in the twilight air. "I- I really-" Daniel let out another small sigh, "I think your a kind and honorable man, Asher. Come find me back in the city tomorrow, alright?" He let go of Asher's hand and ran off without letting Asher get a word in. Asher was stunned, confused, and blushing slightly. What- What was that about? Why did he- I.. I can process that later, I have a task ahead of me now. Focus, Asher. Bloody work is ahead of you tonight.

  Asher turned back towards a fairly oblivious Zephyria, "Looks like its just us then, got a bloody and grim night ahead of us friend." Zephyria nodded back to him, "I suppose we do… friend?" "Then lets begin, shall we?"