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The Order of the Black Foot Prequel 1: The Burning Day By Draconicon

The Guild of Magical Studies was, perhaps, the biggest guild in the Empire. It stretched from one end of the country to the other, and was staffed by some of the brightest minds in the world. Being a part of the Guild gave one the credentials to teach about magic anywhere, and lent weight to any words one chose to say about a particular project that involved magic.

"So why aren't you part of our group yet?"

Draconicon chuckled at his friend's question, the black dragon turning from the great banner that stretched above the front door to his friend. He patted the robed skunk on the shoulder, shaking his head.

"I prefer my freedom to wander. Besides, you know I could never pay the dues that you guys expect."

"There's plenty of paperwork to get around that, old friend."

"And I like that even less. Come on, let it go."

"You know I have to ask."

"I know. I know."

He patted Badi's shoulder again, stepping through the door with him. The bright glow of the mage lights along the walls kept everything well-lit, from the open books that were in every other hand to the great, wall-sized tome that lay on the far end of the room. Draconicon smiled at it, shaking his head as one of the apprentices turned the page slowly, carefully. The crackle of the paper moving echoed around the room, just one of a hundred different noises that filled the lively place.

The pair of them walked to the rounded desk a few paces away, getting in line with several other blue-robed members of the Guild. Draconicon's black robes stood out like a sore thumb, the dragon feeling the gazes of multiple other people on him, but he shrugged it off as he always did.

Badi patted him on the shoulder as they reached the front of the line, and the mouse at the front desk looked up at them. She smiled, a few little wrinkles around her eyes and lips the only sign of her age. Draconicon remembered Joan being there for the last forty years; he imagined she'd go another twenty, at least, before she was retired.

"Good to see you, Badi, and you as well, Draconicon. Did you finally make up your mind to join us?"

"Not this year, old one. Maybe next year."

"Old? Hmmph. Says the one that has seen hundreds of years pass by."

"Ah, but you have seen much more in your lifetime, milady."

"More than I'd want to, particularly with some of you youngsters. Speaking of which -"

Badi cleared his throat, the skunk blushing.

"So, um, he will be staying with me for a day or two before he leaves again. Does the Guildhouse have any rooms available?"

Draconicon hid a smile at the way that the mouse chuckled knowingly. After looking after so many different mages in the Guild, he imagined that she'd walked in on a number of things. Not only that, he imagined she knew every single euphemism for someone staying the night for some fun.

Which was, admittedly, part of what he was here for. He reached down, squeezing the skunk's rump while the mouse wasn't looking, and was rewarded with a soft groan from his friend.

"Drac..."

"Yes, Badi?"

"Mmmph."

"Yes, yes, there's a room, so how about you get up there before you start giving some of the younger apprentices ideas."

"As if they wouldn't already have them, milady."

Joan tossed him the key, and the dragon bowed his head in thanks. They stepped away, the skunk still blushing like mad as Draconicon looked down at the number on the end of the key. Up on the fourth floor, it seemed; a nice gesture from her.

"Looks like we'll be having a good time tonight, Badi. It's a suite."

"Generous of her."

"Well, she knows what we'll be getting up to. Maybe she thinks a bigger room will be harder to mess up."

The pair of them laughed at that, shaking their heads. If that was the reason Joan had passed it on, then she had no idea of how much they could get up to. Regardless, they started walking to the eastern side of the building, passing by a number of other mages.

Dracoicon smiled at the number of debates raging between the different Guild members, enjoying the various ideas that were passed back and forth. Not one person seemed to be without some new idea of how this spell would work with that one, or how an enchantment might produce different results with different source materials. He let it all slip into the back of his head, where he could sort through it later.

As they reached the stairs, he slid his hand under the skunk's thick tail again, groping him through the blue fabric. That rump was soft and plush, and he grinned as Badi continued to blush under his stroking, squeezing hands.

"What's the matter, my friend? Embarrassed to be seen as my partner for the night?"

"It's kind of...kind of personal, isn't it?"

"Badi, please. We've been sleeping together and fucking each other for years now. If you think that people haven't figured it out -"

"Yeah, but you don't have to be so obvious about it."

"Hmmm, but I want to."

He leaned in, whispering to the skunk as they got further and further up the stairs, the dragon's toe claws clicking on the stone surface.

"Besides...you know you want to be under me, mewling and begging for more like a little slut."

The skunk's little moan in return was enough to stir the dragon's cock, and he chuckled as he pulled his head back. His hand, however, stayed right where it was as they walked up the spiraling staircase. Up and up they went, ignoring the different landings on the other floors until they came to the fourth one.

Passing by a sign that pointed to the library, Draconicon looked at the key again.

"Room...23."

"Well, what a coincidence."

Badi took a step back, and Draconicon turned to look. Right there, by the stairs. Where anyone passing by could hear.

Well, Joan...I don't know if you're a voyeur or if you're giving us a chance to be exhibitionists, but you're going to get an earful if you come by.

As soon as the door was locked, Draconicon picked the skunk up and threw him onto the bed. It was bigger than the ones he was used to on his other visits, by a lot. It might have fit him, Badi, and two more members of the Guild if they'd thought to invite them up.

But that didn't matter. What mattered now was that he had his lover ready for a pounding, and it was time to have his fun.

Draconicon smirked as he grabbed the skunk by the ankle, using his other hand to flip the robe up and over Badi's legs. Not quite enough to expose his crotch, but enough to let him see a lot. His fingers found the clasps to the sandals the skunk wore, and he slowly pulled at them, undoing them.

The leather wraps came apart, and the sandal fell to the floor, exposing the soft underside of the skunk's foot. Licking his lips, the black dragon leaned in, nuzzling against the sole, sighing to himself as his cock started to rise up a little more inside of his robe.

"Heh...I never understand how you like that..."

"You don't have to, Badi. You just have to deal with it until I give your hungry hole the pounding it needs."

"Mmmph...don't tease...I've been dreaming of that thing since you told me you were coming."

"Yeah, yeah, and I've been dreaming of these."

Lifting the other foot, he undid the sandal straps quicker than he had on the first, letting it join its discarded brother on the floor. He held those feet together, keeping them supported at the ankles as he admired the skunk's soles.

They were so lovely. True, they lacked the pads of some of the western skunks, but the smooth, unchanged soles had their own attraction. Blunted claws capped each toe, and the ten little digits wiggled slowly as the dragon stared at them. Long, smooth, and just wide enough to look like they had some meat to them, the skunk's feet were almost perfect to the dragon.

And as soon as I have my fun, they'll be perfect.

He pressed his nose under the toes, taking several deep breaths. Each one filled his nostrils with the scent of sweat and musk, the hot day and the walk up the stairs taking their toll on Badi's feet. The salty, slightly hot smell made the dragon moan, and he brought his free hand down to squeeze at his bulge through his robe.

A glance between the toes showed him that Badi was blushing at the attention, but the skunk's bulge was still there. Draconicon chuckled, sliding his head up enough to give the big toes a little nip. The skunk jerked, almost pulling his feet free.

"What the hell?!"

"Heh, looks like you were enjoying yourself a bit there."

"I'm just hard because I know what's coming..."

"Really? So, this doesn't feel good?"

He lifted one foot higher than the other, and pressed his tongue to the heel. Dragging it up along the arch and then toward the ball of the foot - and collecting little droplets as he went - the dragon made sure to tease every sensitive part of that foot. It didn't take long for the skunk to start shivering, his toes curling in the sure signs of pleasure.

Draconicon chuckled, twisting his tongue around and bringing it back down the foot. Licking from toes to heel, and then heel to toes, he teased those feet, leaving them wet with his spit. The dark soles soon shone, reflecting the mage light at the ceiling, but the dragon wasn't done yet.

Still groaning and moaning, his cock throbbing in his robes, Draconicon brought his lips up to the skunk's toes. He slipped the big ones in his mouth, sucking on them, bobbing his head up and down along the toes. Every now and then, he gave them a little nip, but rather than making Badi yelp...

"Mmmph...Drac..."

The skunk was loving it. Judging by that bulge, Badi was loving it more than he wanted to admit, too; perhaps his friend had gotten something of a foot fetish while he'd been away.

Smiling, the dragon slowly lowered the feet from his mouth, letting them rest on the bulge in his robe. Soft toes curled around it, almost instinctively, and he leaned forward.

"So, tell me, Badi. Do you want my load in your ass...or do you want it stringing between your toes? Something tells me that you want that pretty bad this -"

"Don't...even..."

Groaning under his breath, Badi rolled over, pulling his tail through the hole in his robe and letting the whole thing rest above his waist. There was no underwear under the bulky thing, letting the dragon get a wonderful view of that big, almost swollen looking ass.

Growth spell? he wondered, giving one of the cheeks a little squeeze. So soft, and so bouncy, but definitely bigger than it had been the last time that he'd been here.

"Heh...so no footjob, huh?"

"Maybe later...but I need it in the ass. Now."

"Heh, your wish is my command."

He had no reason to keep the robe on, so he pulled it off completely. Throwing the black fabric to the corner of the room, the dragon gave his erection a couple of strokes, teasing it to full hardness, before he crawled onto the bed. His knees bumped the skunk's a little further apart, and he parted the cheeks to get a good look at that hole.

The tingle he got as his fingers neared it told him that Badi had already laid a lubrication spell on himself. Draconicon chuckled, shaking his head as he slid his cock head against that pucker.

"Been waiting for me for a while, huh?"

"You...tease...Just put it in!"

"Ah ah ah."

"Drac, I swear to the gods..."

"You know what you're supposed to say."

"Mmmph..."

Badi lowered his head to the pillow, mumbling under his breath. Draconicon supposed it might have been a spell, but there was little worry about that. He shrugged, settling for grinding between the skunk's ass cheeks as he waited. They were so soft, so plush, that it still felt very good. His cock bumped that hole every time he slid forward, and he made sure that his lover knew what he was missing out on.

Bump, bump, bump went the tip of his cock against that twitching hole. He teased it with every little bit of his cock head, nudging it, almost pushing it inside, before pulling back. Each little impact made it twitch that little bit more, almost like it was opening for his cock, but he held back.

"Drac..."

"Say it."

"Mmmph...Fine. Please, fuck my ass...fuck me hard and make me moan...remind me why dragons..."

"Yeeeeees?"

"Fuck me..."

"Yeeeeeeeeeeees?"

"Remind me why dragons...are the best...Give me that dragon cock..."

"There you go."

It was a game he loved to play. There was no proof that dragons were the best, nor was there reason for it. But it was nice to be appreciated as one, and be put on something of a pedestal. With a grunt, Draconicon slammed in, forcing his long, fat cock deep into Badi's hole.

The reaction was instantaneous. Badi arched his back, his claws digging into the sheets. Draconicon could hear the smack of the skunk's cock slapping up against his belly, squirting pre up against his chest, and as he pulled back to slam in again, his lover's hole squeezed harder than ever on his cock.

"Man...you needed this more than you were admitting."

"Shut up and fuck me, Drac! I swear, if you don't - AH!"

Draconicon had no intention of holding back; as he slammed in, he grabbed the skunk by his hefty hindquarters and started bucking back and forth, hard. That wet hole squeezed on him, the rim still so tight around his shaft. Every third or fourth thrust, he felt it squeeze down on him again, pulling and tensing as the skunk got into it.

SPANK!

The skunk jerked as the dragon smacked his ass, and Draconicon smiled as it rippled around his cock. Another smack, and another, made that big rump jiggle again and again, rippling to his thrusts, and Badi moaned louder and louder.

In and out, in and out, feeling those ass cheeks bounce against his crotch every time he slammed in. His balls swung forward, slapping against the skunk's, and he could feel Badi's balls slowly drawing up.

"Getting close already, huh?"

"So...so..."

Grinning, Draconicon picked up the pace. In and out, in and out, his cock stretching that hole tight around his member, his thrusts pounding into the skunk's depths. Badi moaned louder, and louder, until -

"AHHHH!"

He chuckled, pulling out and smacking his cock against the skunk's ass, watching him cum as his gaping hole twitched and throbbed. It was like his body was begging for the dragon's cock, begging so very eagerly.

So who was he to hold back?

He slammed in again, just as his lover finished cumming, and went right back to it.

Two hours later...

Draconicon smiled at the skunk's ass, giving the cheeks a couple of pats as his seed oozed out between them. Badi groaned, shaking his head.

"I'm gonna be walking funny for a week..."

"I'd hope so. Not like you want me to go easy on you."

"No...No, I don't."

The other mage patted him on the leg.

"Thanks for coming back again, Drac. I know it's not as comfortable for us to get around these days."

"Yeah..."

He shook his head, sighing. It certainly hadn't been as easy to travel as it had once been. The relatively new Church of the Sun - established by a few clerics that had gotten the Emperor's permission - had been questioning everyone traveling by roads, and when he'd arrived in the capital, they'd been in charge of the toll booths as well as the gates, rather than the army.

If it wasn't for the militant arm of their group, the paladins, it wouldn't be so bad. But when a church's reach extended that far, with a group as powerful as mages in their own way as enforcers, it was a little bit uncomfortable. Particularly considering their...doctrine, if one could call it that.

Only the gift of the sun can be accepted as power among the world. To accept the power of anything else is a compact with the devils of the earth, and must be purged.

Of course, the laws of the Empire protected everyone to do what they wanted, so as much as the church spoke of purging, it was only speech.

Still...

"Has the Guild been having any trouble with the Church of the Sun?"

"Not lately. There was some a few weeks ago, with a small fight in the streets; one of their patrols was harassing an apprentice, and some of the higher ups had to go out and defend her. Joan could probably tell you more; she was involved."

"Might talk with her later. I'm getting a little concerned about them."

Badi nodded.

Despite the topic, the pair of them quickly relaxed again, Draconicon idly stroking the skunk's rump, while Badi returned the favor to the dragon's cock. He smiled as it rose up a bit, the well-used shaft still having some life in it.

He was about to suggest that the skunk put his mouth on it when he heard a loud bang. The dragon blinked, looking at the door.

"What..."

"That can't be good."

The skunk was already on his feet, his robe sliding down him and covering the evidence of their activities. He was already at the door by the time Draconicon was sitting up, and the door was closed before the dragon could actually get to it.

What's going on? To hear it from up here...

He tried to pass it off as an apprentice's spell gone awry, but it was too loud for that. Draconicon pulled his robe back on, tying it tightly before he opened the door again. He stepped outside, walking over to the balcony that oversaw the center of the Guildhouse -

"We come in the name of the Theocracy. You are all under arrest."

The shout echoed through the room, and everyone, everything went silent. Draconicon leaned against the balcony, his fingers squeezing the bannister harder and harder as he stared at the crowd of paladins flooding through the front doors. Three dozen already, and still more coming through.

How? What...this is impossible. Our rights -

"Those mages that surrender will receive the mercy of a beheading. Those that do not will be treated as hostile enemies of the Theocracy, and be sentenced to an execution suitable for their crimes of magic."

"Hold on just a minute!"

His eyes widened as Joan stepped up to the growing cluster of soldiers, the little old mouse tapping her finger against the chestplate of the wolf in charge.

"I don't know who you think you are, but we are protected by the same laws you are. So why don't you leave before we call the real soldiers on you."

"Are you a magic user, woman?"

"What does it matter? You are trampling -"

In a blink, the wolf had her by the throat, and dragged her back to her desk. Several mages took a step forward before swords were leveled at them, and the wood started to splinter beneath the dragon's fingers as he watched the paladin slam the mouse's head against the desk.

"I said, are you a magic user?"

"..."

"Answer me, woman, or you will face the same crimes as all others in this building."

"The Emperor...will make you pay...for this..."

"I will take that as a yes."

Still holding her with one hand, the wolf brought his sword up. Draconicon could only stare from the fourth floor, his eyes locked on the blade as it hit its apex, and then started to descend again. Surely, they couldn't be serious. This was...this was impossible. They couldn't actually kill -

"NO!"

Badi. The skunk leaped out of nowhere, shoving against the wolf just enough to send the blade sinking into the wood. Joan squeaked in pure fright, squirming away as soon as the grip on her throat was released. She slipped behind a wall of robed figures, taking shelter...

But now it was the skunk that was pinned, and there were no questions this time.

"You attacked one of the rightful law enforcers of the Theocracy. For that, the punishment is death."

"There's no such thing as a Theocracy."

"There is now."

It was too much to take in. Draconicon raised a hand, a burst of lightning growing in his palm. If he could aim it just right -

Kraka-boom!

The bolt of lightning shot from his fingers across the room. He'd aimed it perfectly, right for the wolf's wrist. It should have been enough to knock the sword flying and send the wolf along with it. It should have been.

Instead, the bolt fizzled as soon as it hit the metal armor. The dragon's breath caught in his throat as the chestplate glowed, the symbol of the sun brighter than ever as the spell seemed to die on contact with the metal.

Enchantment?

It was the only possible answer. There was no way that the Church would use magic such as they did, but he knew that the clerics had access to some sort of divine power. Theoretically, the two could cancel each other out unless there was a massive power differential, but he had never seen the application...

The blade came down. The skunk was silent - either out of shock, or out of fear - even as it cut into his neck. Fur and flesh parted before the blade, and as the wolf finally let Badi go, the skunk hit the ground...in two separate pieces.

A hush fell over the crowd, nobody daring to speak. Draconicon stared at the severed head of his friend, his lover, and his fingers tightened more and more until the bannister broke beneath his hands. Even that didn't break the silence.

Badi...how...this isn't...Those...murderers...

"Murderers..."

The whisper was taken up by every mage, some in fear, some in shock...and some in rage. In response, the paladins formed up, the hundred-strong group standing in ten small squares, their swords raised. The wolf leader smiled slightly.

"It seems you have elected resistance. We'll make sure that this doesn't take long."

"No...not another..."

The Guildhouse burned around him, but Draconicon barely felt the heat as he walked through the ashes and the broken furniture, the burned books and the torn bodies. He hardly felt anything.

He slowly let go of the white robe of an apprentice, half-buried beneath a fallen bookcase, head missing like everyone else's. A tear slid down his cheek, falling off of his snout, but that had been happening for an hour now. Ever since the retreat from the main room had gone so very, very wrong, and the bodies started to hit the floor.

More paladins bursting from the side doors, coming in from the library. Over a dozen cut down before they could leave the room. Two friends, arguers over the power of divine magic, the first to fall, but hardly the last.

Spells fired, fizzled. Armor glowing as the relentless soldiers chase them into the depths of the Guildhouse. Burning as they go. Burning, slaying, trampling...

Draconicon walked as if in a dream through the burning rooms, pausing at every body he found. Whether he knew them personally or not, he knelt by them, taking their hand and just holding it for a few moments. Reminding himself what had happened. What had been taken.

He felt the flames underfoot, almost roasting his scales as he stepped from the library onto the third floor. He peered this way and that, looking for anyone that survived, who might have hidden.

"_Split up!" someone yells, running into one of the side rooms. The call goes out, and every mage that can turns to run. Most are cut down, but some slip through the lines. Climb the stairs, run to the basement, lose themselves in the library. Something, anything to give them a chance to survive for a little while longer.

He stays with the group, trying to organize a retreat. He tries to fight the soldiers, hoping that his scales will stand up to the swords and the armor. They do, to an extent. One soldier goes down, but another comes by. Hit in the head, he goes down, slumped against a bookshelf, as the killing goes on..._

He'd been lucky. His head still bled, but he wasn't dead. The soldiers had been too busy with the bulk of the mages to cut off his head, and he hoped someone else had had the same luck.

The rattling of metal stopped him in his tracks, and the dragon ducked behind one of the still-standing study desks on the third floor balcony. He pulled his wings in tight, and curled his tail around his waist. With his body curled up almost into a ball, he just barely fit in the space under the desk.

Slowly, the rattling gave way to voices. Two voices. One that he didn't know, and the other...

"Looks like we've just about cleaned them out. Are there any reports from the other operations?"

The wolf. The wolf that had killed Badi. The wolf that had started the whole thing. Draconicon covered his snout, stifling the growl of rage that wanted to spill out. There was no chance he could take two paladins; he was injured, and it was pure luck that he had managed to physically overpower another of them. Trying that now would only get him killed.

"Not much. Looks like someone here managed to get a message out; most of the other Guildhouses in the capital were abandoned by the time we got there. Or, mostly, anyway."

"We'll have to move fast. Any survivors could spread; the heretics must be purged from the Theocracy. Make sure that the riders leave tonight. I want the purging begun in every city by the end of the week."

"It will be done, Hierarch Vend."

Vend...Vend...

He would remember that name. Gods above and demons below, he would remember that name.

"And get someone to finish burning this place down. I want everything incinerated. Nothing can be left."

"And the mouse?"

"She's been used up. Leave her to burn with the rest of them."

Joan? She's still...

A thump of metal on metal was all that he heard as the paladins walked away, but the dragon was too lost in thought to think of any ambush, any backstabbing he might have done. If someone was still alive...

Joan had been the record keeper of the Guildhouse for the last forty years. With the grand tome against the wall burned, she was the only one that still knew the ranks of the Guild, the only one that knew where the storehouses were. Anyone else with the knowledge would be dead, by now.

He slowly pulled himself out from under the desk and started his search, knowing he only had hours - if that - before the Guildhouse would be nothing but smoldering ash.

One week later...

Draconicon laid his head by Joan's side, trying to ignore the scent of burned flesh and the sound of ragged breathing. She wasn't even conscious anymore, and he doubted that she would wake up again.

"Please, Joan...don't make me the last..."

She didn't answer. She just kept breathing, ragged, slow, catching every fourth or fifth one before settling again.

He squeezed her hand, shaking his head. There were no more tears to shed, or he'd be bawling now. Draconicon half-suspected that it had been burned out of him in the fires of the Guildhouse. He'd leaped through walls of it, crashed through the disintegrating rooms in his search to find her.

The mouse had been tied to a bed, with signs of...use...all around her. The paladins had been as cruel to her as they could be to anyone, and when he found her, she was choking on smoke, barely conscious and burned from several pieces of falling debris.

His leap out of the building with her in his arms hadn't helped things, either.

The mouse coughed, and the dragon lifted his head, hoping to see her eyes open. But no, it was just a fit in her sleep.

He turned away, looking at the window of their little hidey-hole. It was a place of the Guild, a safehouse just outside of the capital, a small little apartment that was on the third floor of a different Guild. The rent would be coming due soon, and with the Guild of Magical Studies burned to the ground and all assets seized, he knew that it wouldn't be paid. They'd -

No. No, he had to be honest. There was no way that Joan would survive for the days until they were kicked out. He'd be the one left to leave, and with a body on his back to bury.

"Please...wake up...just one more time, wake up..."

She didn't answer, not to his voice and not to his hand squeezing hers. She just kept breathing. Breathing, coughing, gasping, and sleeping.

Shaking his head, Draconicon pulled the little notebook he'd been keeping in her periods of consciousness since they'd fled. Notes, information on supplies, locations of other, less expensive safehouses. Most importantly, locations of other Guild members that were like him, nomadic or living the life of a hermit. People that wouldn't be caught in the Guildhouses across the country, who could actually be of help.

And he'd need that help. The Empire was dead; the criers had spread the news quickly, with the Church of the Sun forming a theocracy in its place. The army was replaced by the paladins, and the Church was getting a new base in every large city. Draconicon could only imagine the outcry from the other religions, but with the Emperor ousted - a rumor that he had only recently confirmed - there was nothing they could do. Only the Church of the Sun had any military force to work with, and none of the standing military would support another church.

He flicked through some of the pages, trying to put the rumors of other magical guilds getting attacked out of his head. When they were safe, he'd done what he could to spread the news to what people he could, but he didn't know how much they'd listen. A mage that never attached himself officially to any guild was hardly someone that they needed to listen to, and the idea that the Empire would change so drastically...

He wouldn't have believed it, if he hadn't seen it happen.

"Ugh..."

He put the notebook down at the sound, taking the mouse's hand again. She couldn't lift her head; she barely managed to turn it, looking at him through slitted eyes.

"How long..."

"A week, since the fire. A day, since you last talked."

She nodded, hissing softly. Draconicon winced with her. With the number of burns she had, he was amazed she was still alive. But...but that was Joan. A tough old mouse.

"We'll...we'll leave tomorrow."

"Joan -"

"We are not...Not staying here...Not so close..."

"But...you'll die."

"I don't care. I'll not -"

She bit her lip, and he saw a tear running down her muzzle, disappearing into the fur on her neck.

"I'll not...be found and killed...by them. If I die...I die...but I'm not...letting them have the satisfaction."

"...I...I might know a spell..."

"Healing?"

"Lifesharing."

"..."

It was a...somewhat illegal magic type, though not so dangerous as necromancy or as abhorred. Instead, it allowed a link between two individuals, spreading health and vitality from one to the other. The downside was that it didn't heal; it just shared life and kept someone at the state that they were, keeping them from dying at the cost of the caster. Most people considered it a torture to both people.

But now -

"Use it. Too much information...too little time."

"Alright, Joan."

"Information...to fight with."

"Yes, Joan."

Draconicon took her hand, pulling the magic from the core of himself and letting it spread up her arm. She latched onto it, desperately, and he started weaving the spell.

He owed her this. For all that the paladins had taken from him, he still had a life. He still had things he could do. Joan had lost everything; friends, family, and likely children, considering how many people would keep them at the Guildhouse too. His anger likely paled compared to hers.

"We'll...destroy them..."

"Yes. We will."

The End