The doors of their home burst open again as Ty ran out, the glint of her dragon form dashing through the sky moments later. Zikee cursed under her breath. Had she dismissed everything she’d been saying?
The guilds had only started to calm down in Kison. They could resume their hunt for the Silver Dragon, but they would still need to be careful to stay out of sight. And yet here Ty was not only soaring in the sky freely but colluding with some dragon when there was work to be done. Even Andiz had taken notice, though he didn’t seem to have the strength to step in.
“She’s just reunited with her friend, Kiki,” he said as they were busying themselves, tending to the garden in their backyard. “We have to give those two time to catch up.”
“We don’t have time, Andiz. Every second we waste is another second that demon gets away.”
She pulled a radish from the soil, frowning at its puny size before tossing it in the basket with the others.
“I say we just kill that damnable elder and move on with our lives.”
“Not everything has to be solved with violence, Kiki.”
“But most things can.”
She pulled out another radish, immediately squashing the puny thing in the palm of her hand. It didn’t bring her much pleasure, only making her more agitated. Whoever this Vivica was to Ty didn’t really matter. Their contract was in jeopardy. That was reason enough for a beheading.
“Kiki.”
Andiz was giving her the look again. She’d grown tired of it, but he’d been using it more often as of late, it seemed. Zikee stood up, using her gardening blouse to dust off her hands.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll simply have a chat with her. No weapons involved.”
“Or punching,” Andiz added. “She’s an elder, Kiki. You might break her.”
Zikee only smiled at that.
***
It wasn’t as if she planned to hurt her much. Just enough to get her point across. As Andiz and Ty slept, Zikee snuck out under cover of darkness, finding her way back into the forest and on the path to Vivica’s campsite.
Despite being in the throngs of dragon territory, the campsite looked to have not moved over the several days that Ty had come visiting. Zikee wondered if that was more for carelessness or sentimentality. It didn’t truly matter. As she crept close, she stopped to check the camp for hidden traps. After her stint with the Dragon Duet, she knew better than to underestimate halflings.
“Oh spirits, guide me. Open my ears so I may hear the voices of the world. Listen to whistles of the sea and cries of the insects. I beg of thee. Yui. Let me perceive them all.”
As she finished the incantation, her ears flooded with magic, Zikee listening for any signs of breakage in the winds. A simple breeze would tell her if someone had disturbed the ground to plant an unnatural trap. After a few moments, she felt satisfied only hearing the soft breaths of someone sleeping.
Perfect.
She let the magic dissipate, creeping her forward and into Vivica’s tent.
In one’s sleep, a person was always at their most vulnerable. Zikee knew this well, looking down at the quietly resting elder. How easy would have been to slit her throat and be done with it? Or to rip the fangs from her jaws? Such thoughts seemed to always come naturally when she was in the throughs of an interrogation.
With a smile, Zikee reached out a hand to begin, fingers wrapping around Vivica’s neck.
“Are you here to kill me?”
Zikee’s hand stopped momentarily.
Despite how dark it was around them, when the halfling’s eyes opened, they shined with an ethereal glow almost like a phantom spotting its prey. Zikee would not allow herself to be prey. Her fingers tightened around Vivica’s neck.
“Yes.”
She immediately stood, dragging the halfling and the tent with her. As Vivica choked against her grip, Zikee didn’t let up in the slightest, watching as the elder attempted to claw herself free. She was a dragon and yet somehow even weaker than Andiz.
“Tell me, halfling,” Zikee asked. “Are you going to show me your true form before you die? Or would you prefer I simply let your neck snap?”
Vivica glared back at her. To Zikee’s surprise, the elder abruptly stopped struggling, bony fingers digging into her hand as she hissed.
“Do what you came here to do. I won’t stop you.”
Zikee smirked, increasing her grip in hopes of calling the woman’s bluff. She still didn’t transform, only starting to choke more without struggling. Her scales began to crack and Zikee could see the light draining from Vivica’s eyes. It was disgraceful.
“Tsk.”
The woman dropped from the ground with a thud, immediately coughing for air.
“Hmph. You would stain my hands with your blood, halfling.”
Vivica rubbed the spot around her neck, still glaring despite being spared for the time being. All the same, Zikee had only intended to send a message anyhow. That she was getting in her way, and that she had no qualms resolving that issue. Vivica coughed more, leaning against a tree for support.
“Petch. Tyana truly was right about you.”
Zikee rose a brow.
“You two spoke of me?”
Vivica smiled bitterly. “Of course. She warned me you were wild. That you had a fire in you. That you would likely kill anyone of us if we stood in your path.”
It wasn’t something Zikee could deny outright. Nor did she wish to. But as she saw Vivica moving to pick up the pieces of her tent, she found herself slightly curious.
“If you knew all that, then why lay there and let me? You’re a dragon. I’m sure you could have escaped me if you wished.”
Thinking on even further, Zikee realized that Vivica must have suspected she’d come sooner or later. Why else would she be so unshaken upon finding the human choking her in the middle of the night? Vivica grabbed a sewing kit from near her bedroll, beginning to patch the hole Zikee had created.
“I chose to stop running the day I escaped Project Ranger,” she said. “If I am to die, I’ll die doing what I desire. Not avoiding people like you.”
Her eyes shifted, ethereal gaze meeting Zikee’s.
“If you’re not here to kill me, at least tell me this, human. Why is that Silver Dragon so important? Is it truly just some petty grudge?”
Zikee eyed the halfling even more curiously. For someone so frail, the elder showed no signs of lingering fear. Or concern. Or even agitation, for that matter. There was no malice to her tone. To say it was unusual would have been an understatement.
“That dragon simply owes me a life,” Zikee said. “And I intend to claim it. Personally.”
“So she was that important then?”
Zikee’s blade was out and before she could realize, resting against Vivica’s neck.
The halfling didn’t move. Or blink. Her gaze stayed locked on Zikee’s, any semblance of concern nonexistent across the elder dragon’s face.
“Your pain does not supersede mine,” Vivica said. “Just as my pain does not supersede yours.”
It was something Zikee couldn’t find a response for, instead watching for the halfling to continue.
“I survived twenty years,” Vivica went on. “For twenty years I was in that Ranger hellscape. I saw friends. Family. Butchered in front of me one by one. Torn apart and reassembled. Forced to endure things you wouldn’t even dream of, human. What makes you think that damnable sword of yours would ever frighten me?”
Zikee was once again quiet.
She’d seen that look before countless times in the mirror. The look of one who’d seen their world crumble and lived to tell the tale. A look of pure hatred. Rage. Desire. Seeing it reflected in Vivica’s eyes now, Zikee knew she could not claim the elder’s life.
“If you are as you say, halfling, then you would know why I can’t afford another obstacle in my path.”
Vivica nodded.
“And I don’t plan on being one.”
She returned to sewing even as her gaze never left Zikee’s. Even now, it seemed, there was no malice in her tone, only a grim determination evident behind her every word.
“You seek the Silver Dragon, yes? That one is hiding just like the rest. If your goal is to draw them out, you’ll need to bring those founders to heel first. I know for a fact they’re already watching one of them.” Her eyes gleamed. “You may even be hunting the same prey.”
Zikee didn’t respond, though it was a safe assumption that Ty had already informed her of their search for Qui Valentina. She only gave a small nod of acknowledgement.
Though she didn’t know why she would know so much, Zikee wasn’t about to turn away free information. She had come as much to get Vivica out of the picture as to see what she knew. And now she was learning just that. Whether it was true or not remained to be seen, but after the elder’s earlier display she’d at least earned Zikee’s attention. Perhaps even respect. She rested a hand on her hilt, regarding the halfling with gratitude for the first time since they’d met.
“Vivica, was it? You have my thanks.”
She started to leave when the elder suddenly called out to her.
“Big One. That was your title, correct?”
She paused at what had somehow become her name among the dragons. Vivica hesitated, seemingly debating what she was about to say, though she finally spoke up after a few seconds.
“The horrors we’ve seen. The pain we feel. Just remember that for as much as it hurt us, that girl was molded in that world. And only that world.”
Zikee didn’t understand what she meant at first, but as she looked at the halfling’s almost pleading gaze, it became all too clear who Vivica was referring to.
“If there is any shred of humanity left in you,” she continued, “then please be gentle with my Tyana. She’s been through more than enough.”
Her eyes searched Zikee’s for a response, but she couldn’t possibly offer any. None that would be satisfactory. She instead averted her gaze, turning away from the campsite without another word.
