Zikee had always heard that phrase being thrown around as a child. Mostly because she’d used to pretend she was some lost princess stuck in a tower and her parents were evil dragonlings. How wild her imagination had been in those days. She’d even convinced her siblings to play the roles of adventurer saviors a few times, the family goats acting as their valiant steeds.
It never failed to get a laugh out of her. But maybe if she’d listened to their doubts, she wouldn’t have ended up halfway across the continent. Or traipsing through an underground breeding facility.
Life truly is cruel sometimes, isn’t it?
She pushed the thought away as she returned to slamming a man’s face into a table, glass cracking against his cheek.
“Consider that your second warning,” she said, still pressing him down. “The next one won’t be as gentle.”
For someone so small, he had a surprisingly durable skull. It would take another three or four heavy blows before he keeled over. Less if she really didn’t like what he was saying. Which she didn’t. Her hand squeezed the back of his head.
“I-I told you, I just work-“
She slammed him through the glass, pieces shattering below.
“I warned you.”
His arm snapped with a twist, the sound echoing across the empty lab surrounding them. But even then, she held him in place, disregarding his shouting.
“That would be your last! Test me again and I’ll start hacking!”
Her sword gleamed in the dim light, oylian steel pressed against the man’s cheek, not that he seemed to notice. With how much he thrashed he was just as likely to cut himself by accident. Zikee pressed him harder to hold him in place.
Given she was twice his size, it wasn’t a difficult feat.
The giant of a blonde had always been compared to the likes of old-world trebuchets and armored tanks, a massive tower of muscle which very few men, human or otherwise, tended to look at with any degree of comfort. With her wild black hair and burning amber stare, she’d heard the word demon thrown around more than once, even by the writhing scientist under her.
“Please,” the man begged. “I-I don’t wanna die! I have a wife!”
She brought the sword to his left ear.
“So did I.” Her blade inched closer. “We’ll start with-”
“For gods' sake, Zikee! Stop!”
The blade halted short of the first cut, the all too familiar scream of her husband rushing to meet her. And try to push her away, to no avail. The man was even smaller than the scientist with twice the lack of strength. His thin wrists were great at precision cuts, but that was about it. He slid along the ground as he pushed at her.
“Andiz. Aren’t you supposed to be interrogating?”
He pulled on her arm, glaring hard.
“I just did!” he snapped. “Spirits, he told me everything when I asked!”
Zikee could only let out a grunt at that.
“Hmph.”
She finally let the scientist go, Andiz falling over to pour all the healing magic he could. With the waves of restoration emanating from the tip of his staff, the scientist’s broken arm formed back into place in seconds. Zikee boredly watched as he worked, glass cuts and bruises fading. Did he always have to be such a child when it came to these things? They were on a revenge crusade. Sooner or later, he’d have to get over his constant need to heal every bystander that got caught in the crossfire.
She sheathed her blade. “It’s not always foolproof-”
“It’s never foolproof! Name one time that’s worked in our favor?”
She thought back to the other bases they’d hit. The many waves of guards, scientists, and occasional assistants they’d had to bludgeon for information. Hadn’t they all led them to this facility? If not for her constant threats, they never would have gotten to the main breeding chamber, though there wasn’t much to find anyhow.
Surrounding them were a collection of inactive glass cylinders, the contents inside floating in a state of suspended animation. One cylinder held the still pulsating heart of a baby dragon. On the far end of the hall an eyeball seemed to watch their every movement. All around there were bits and pieces that had all seemed to cling to life somehow. Pieces she recognized as draconic in nature, yet the one thing Zikee never saw was a fully grown dragon.
What kind of breeding facility had nothing to breed?
“Well,” Zikee said, “what did you learn?”
Andiz huffed. “The dragons all fled. Quite some time ago, actually. Probably long before this guy got the job. Sorry, friend.”
The scientist was unresponsive, more than likely due to Andiz having cast a sleeping spell as he healed. While he did have the compulsion to jump on every creature with a splinter, the man was wise enough to know not to leave wounded enemies with the same people who wounded them. Or person, in Zikee’s case.
“He’ll be out for a few hours.”
“Good. We’ll have time to search for the others.”
Andiz clicked his tongue, his magic slowly dissipating back into his staff.
“Kiki, I realize we’re on a violent crusade, but can you please save some vengeance for the dragons? Please.”
Zikee smiled. Even if she doubted it would be that simple, she knew better than to dismiss her husband completely. Moving to his side, she kneeled over for the briefest peck on the cheek, which he seemed to reluctantly accept.
“Come. We should check the rest of the facility.”
He didn’t respond, though he did silently follow her lead.
***
By the time they’d finished ransacking the place, the few survivors had been tied and thrown into a broom closet for good measure. And while Zikee would have liked for starvation to run its course, she opted for Andiz to light a signal flare instead. As the facility stood on an unmarked cave in the middle of the forest, it was doubtful adventurers would find it before they had time to escape.
Pulling out his flare vial, Andiz popped the cork to let the fire explode into the air, the torrent of light hovering above like a second sun.
“Hopefully someone will see that sooner rather than later.”
Andiz tossed the empty vial aside.
“Is this more to your favor?” Zikee asked.
“Only slightly.”
She rolled her eyes. Although she wanted to chastise the man for such sympathies, she knew perhaps better than anyone else that this was necessary. For him, at least. Though they’d been bound on their revenge venture for over a year, he’d never quite lost that delicate side of his. She didn’t want him to. And that meant allowing him to indulge in his healer duties when necessary.
Brushing aside his red locks, Andiz peered up at her with a smile.
“Oh. Someone’s already coming. That was quick.”
He went to gather his things, though Zikee was more focused on spotting the would-be rescuers.
Had they not just set the flare down seconds ago? For a rescue team to show up so soon was unlikely? Traveling adventurers? No, they’d have no reason to come this way given they weren’t near any towns. So then, why was someone already arriving? And so soon after they’d finished ransacking the secret breeding facility? Her eyes narrowed at the growing silhouette in the distance.
“Kiki?” Andiz asked. “What’s wrong?”
A haze of shadows was hovering over the forest, gradually drawing near their location. Zikee grabbed her sword.
“That’s no guild member.”
She drew the blade free, brandishing it forward. Whoever it was, the shadow continued to grow and grow, making it easy enough to decipher at least what it was they were dealing with. A creature several times their size who cast all the trees below it into darkness. Even from their distance, Zikee could see the faint glow resonating off its dark green scales.
Wings like mountains broke through the air, gusts of wind sprung up with every flap. Atop its head twin horns grew sharper than any sword a human could create. Claws big enough to sheer through castles tore through any tree in the creature’s path. Seeing it grow closer, Zikee felt a rush of adrenaline boiling inside her.
“That’s…”
“A dragon.”
She flooded her body with magic.
Oh spirits, guide me. Lend me the strength to eradicate my foe. Rend their flesh to bone and soul to ash. I beg of thee. Otelo. Release my might.
The incantation worked in seconds, muscles turning to flame as the blessings took full effect. A single step was enough to send her high into the sky, ready to meet her foe head-on despite their size difference.
A dragon sighting was many things, but unassuming wasn’t one of them. Given their proximity to the base, she could only see two reasons why they’d find one out in the middle of nowhere. Either it was hunting, or it had been led here by another. Neither option mattered when it came down to her response.
Only the oldest dragons could speak, let alone give them the vital information they needed. Thus, there was only ever one course of action to take. Zikee raised her sword at the ready, the dragon spying her and moving a claw to engage. She'd only need one clean blow to take it out.
Come on. Meet your-
The dragon suddenly changed direction in the air. Completely missing her in the process.
End....
She watched as her target came drifting past, spinning out of control and crashing down with a mighty thud that shook the whole forest. Andiz had to put a barrier to shield himself from the impact, Zikee falling back to the grass as gravity retook control. Otelo’s blessing gradually faded from her body as well.
“Kiki! Are you alright?”
She looked over to the fallen beast. It wasn’t moving. Not even as she came over to poke it with the tip of her sword, deep gurgles coming from the lifeless body.
“Hey!”
Andiz came running down after her, of which seemed to take him far longer given his blessings were reserved for healing rather than augmentations. She waited to let him catch up before going to examine the dragon further. Still no movement. Had she scared it to defeat with a gaze? Was she truly that intimidating?
Andiz doubled over to catch his breath while Kiki ventured to try a more risky threat assessment. According to rumor, anytime a dragon’s tail was stepped on, it would send them into a fit of rage regardless of their usual temperament. And with her strength, she knew she could really put the pressure on the monster’s weak point if she so wished.
Raising a boot high, she brought it down hard enough to put a hole in the dirt. But as she stomped on the spot, she saw the body react in a split second.
The minute her foot touched down, the whole dragon’s body shrunk in on itself, almost like a turtle retreating into its shell. Zikee stepped back, both her and Andiz watching as the creature began to rapidly shrink before their eyes, losing its appendages left and right.
The tail retracted until it became only a small nub on the creature’s backside. Horns sharp enough to skewer houses became lowly dots easily missable beyond its thick hair, of which the creature suddenly had in spades. As did it suddenly have a distinct lack of a dragon’s appearance. Though the dark green scales remained, what soon laid before them was no tower of flame she’d ever seen.
In fact, it was almost as small as Andiz. And distinctly human, its frame nearly identical if not for the nub on its backside or the scales on its body.
“S-spirits name. What is this?”
Zikee wasn’t sure how to respond herself. She half-wondered if she’d taken a hallucinogen, but knew that couldn’t be the case. So why? Why had a dragon suddenly turned human-size right before their eyes? And why were they naked? She sheathed her sword, removing her jacket even if she wasn’t entirely sure why.
The creature was a dragon through and through. She’d seen it herself. She knew that. But the way it looked now. How it seemed to so perfectly mimic that of one of their own. To say it was a bit unsightly would have been an understatement. She decided against looking at it any further.
