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His scent, a musk tinged with sage, filled Dialdon's nostrils. His voice, a rumble in Dialdon's ears, “Such a good pup. So much more promise than your father." His long, slender fangs, sure as the spikes hammered into a crucifix, descended into Dialdon's wrist.

The silver fox woke with a sharp gasp. The scars on Dialdon's wrist stung. The pain long since psychic, but he still squeezed it as if he needed to staunch the flow of blood. He twisted around in his bed to see Selvana still slept. The dragoness, a mound of black scales twice as large as him, had stolen the sheets in her sleep, wrapping them over her shoulder and snoring gently.

By the light worming through their shutters, Dialdon knew it was too late to try and go back to sleep. He scooted out of the dragon-sized bed they shared. His tails perked up when his feet landed on the cold, marble floor. Dialdon cursed and hopped onto a rug set out before his wardrobe, vanity beside it. Neatly stored at the vanity were several makeups and on a stand sat his conduit: a silver gorget he wore over his robes with a glowing ruby set in its middle.

As he opened the wardrobe, he heard a groan from the bed. Selvanna grumbled, “Morning already?"

“Whether we like it or not, love," Dialdon said as he opened the wardrobe. Today did not require him to be in the public eye, so rather than wear something a little more elaborate, he donned a lilac shawl and matching gown threaded with silver accents that matched his fur. A slit was cut down the back that he needed to fuss with to make sure all nine of his tails did not remain confined under his outfit. He cinched a black belt around his waist, then retrieved his conduit, carefully clasping the gorget in place over the shawl so it did not catch on his fur.

He went over to a table set out with a jug of water, several mugs, and crushed teas in individual tins. He poured water into two of the cups, spooned in tea, then signed a glyph over both mugs. Steam lifted from them as the spell warmed water to boiling.

Behind him he heard Selvanna say, “You had your nightmare again."

It was only then, as he waited for their tea to steep, that Dialdon noticed he'd been scratching his wrist again.

Selvanna now sat up, sheets pooling around her hips, leaving her bust exposed. The dragoness's front was banded in snow white scales like a snake's underbelly. He resisted the urge to climb into her embrace and find comfort against those bands.

Dialdon said, “Knowing Karniel is alive and out there again has affected me more than I'd like to admit." In Dialdon's campaign against Gavalon, he thought they had ended the Scourge for good. So many lives had been lost for that one goal, and somehow Basphemen's curse did not take.

“Your father said that he's not the same monster we knew. If he's mortal, my love, then it will be easy for my axe to feast on his blood," Selvanna said as she got out of the bed. She crossed the room, naked, and took his hand. She lifted the scarred wrist to her lips and kissed it. The fur had never grown back over those twin punctures. Just pale, scar tissue on his grey flesh.

Dialdon hugged her. Even being tall for most, he only came up to Selvanna's bust. His face rested against a warm breast, his silver, black-tipped tails wrapping around her legs. “We will end him once and for all," she whispered.

He took a deep breath of her scales, which smelled like rose hips, and released her with a sigh. “Thank you," he said before turning to the table. At the end of it was a letter with a broken seal from the Order of the Faceless. “By this afternoon we should have a team assembled to hunt them. I would have you lead it."

“I'll make sure to be ready," Selvanna said as she took the bigger of the two mugs Dialdon poured. She took a sip, then said, “We will get them, and we will end this."

“It should have already ended," Dialdon whispered. “I don't deserve to be called The Son Redeemed if my father's murderer is still free to roam the countryside."

Selvanna set down her mug and massaged his ears. “You are Mortel's Prophet, love, and you've done more than just try to bring justice to His murder. The work you've done for everyone in the Emerald Cities—"

“I know," Dialdon snapped, flinching soon as he did. Selvanna had frozen but did not step back. He sighed and tried to console her by running his tails up and down her thigh. “I'm sorry. I know I should not be so hard on myself."

She massaged his ears again. “It's alright. How about I go get us something to eat?"

Dialdon nodded. She went to a wardrobe on her side of the room, retrieved a dress, and stepped out of their rooms while tugging it down her scales. From the window, Dialdon heard the morning choir begin to sing with the accompaniment of a harpsichord.

Dialdon went to the window shutters and threw them open, looking out on Sepulcher of Dawn. All throughout the tiered city were brass horns that magically transposed the church's performance throughout it. One such horn was fixed a story below their window. Their apartment rested near the top of the temple where that very choir sang.

Dialdon grabbed his tea, went to the window, and sipped from the mug as he tried to let a hymn to his father, the god Mortel, carry his thoughts away. There would be time for plotting and amassing power later. For now, he could just enjoy the choir lifting their voices in song:

“He has ascended, praise Him

The mortal ascended, the God

Of mortals, come to save us

Come to shepherd us to Paradise"

Slowly, the pain in Dialdon's wrist drifted away.

***

Magic-softened ground could not compare to the bed Mathus had grown used to in Pterodea. His stiff shoulder and neck inexorably dragged him out of sleep, so he stirred to Karniel's scent, musk and sage, chocolate fur tickling his face.

Mathus burrowed into Karniel's side. The big bat now lay on his back. Mathus had fallen asleep, blissfully, in Karniel's arms, Cathka spooning him from behind. Her fingers remained hooked around his waist, one wing extended like a blanket over his chest and face: a canopy of orange, red, and pink feathers. They all slept naked, the clothes they stripped the night before being bunched up and used as pillows.

One of Cathka's claws pricked Mathus' stomach, getting a shiver from the human. Her beak slid right against the curve of his nape, nosed him, and she nipped his skin in the approximation of a kiss.

“You're awake," she whispered.

“Mmm, good morning." Mathus grabbed one of the scaly hands wrapped around his waist and twined his fingers in hers. “How long have you been awake?"

“Just a few minutes. I can feel the spell I put down already wearing off."

“You didn't get up?"

“When the two of you are so warm?"

Mathus struggled to stifle a laugh.

She squeezed him tight, wrapping a leg over him, the fetlock of her hoof brushing his heel. “What's so funny, hmm?"

“Just happy. Feel like I could stay here all day."

“Mmm, if you make it a lavish bed overlooking a beach then I'd gladly join you."

“Would we even get out after one day?"

Her sultry chuckle made him tremble almost as much as her fingers teasing along his pubic hairs. “I'm sure after a week or so we'd get restless."

With a soft groan, Karniel rolled back over onto his side and glared at them. “You two lovebirds are so noisy."

Mathus, one hand still holding Cathka's, reached up with his other hand and touched Karniel's cheek. “Maybe you should be keeping us both company, hmm?"

Rolling his eyes, Karniel still leaned in and kissed Mathus on the lips. His slender fangs brushed against Mathus' bottom lip before the kiss deepened. At the same time, Cathka's fingers wrapped around the human's length. His half chub quickly swelling in her palm. The scales of it were soft and fine as Cathka groped him. Karniel's kiss deepened, tongue working its way inside Mathus' mouth. He still tasted the blood from last night:

Karniel's fangs had pinched inside his wrist, suckling the fresh blood till his lips stained bright red, and when his mouth moved in to kiss Mathus, filling it and exchanging a bloody kiss, Cathka cauterized the bite with a simple, harmless spell, her left breast with a similar bite mark. Mathus had tasted both in Karniel's kiss.

The memory made Mathus moan into his lover's mouth. His dick, now hard, ground against Karniel's soft fur. Cathka had let it go in favor of groping Mathus' pert rear, signing a familiar spell before she slid a finger from Mathus' taint to his pucker. He squirmed as an itching heat made his rim clench. Its needs multiplied as its flexibility.

Karniel cupped the back of Mathus' head while Cathka held his hips. The hippogriff ground her crotch against his rear, sheath bumping his entrance, her mottled, equine cock dropping. She reached down and forced that growing head against his asshole, and as it grew it wormed its way inside Mathus. Cathka tossed back a sigh, “Gods I love feeling myself growing inside him."

At a spell, Mathus became her timid little cock warmer, feeling that thick equine length firm up inside, each contraction of his walls slipping along veiny, magically lubricated flesh. It took all his concentration not to go a little limp in Karniel's arms, his attention flagging enough that Karniel broke the kiss, smirking, “I think our darling Mathus likes it even more."

“Jealous?" Cathka said as her hips continued gyrating against Mathus' butt, her half-hard prick ripening more and more inside him. He mewled, blindly humping back against her. Each bump of her sheath to his entrance made his cock jump with a reflexive pleasure, as if those nerves became tied together.

“It just means I will move elsewhere," Karniel purred before kissing Mathus on the neck. His fangs grazed Mathus' collarbone, just a teasing prick as he worked his way down his human's body. Karniel stopped at one of his nipples, kissing and licking there. The bat's big, slender hand cupped Mathus' crotch, palm rubbing up and down cock, digits digging into his sensitive perineum. Karniel massaged there with enough pressure Mathus felt it along his prostate, which already was being pushed into that touch by Cathka's cock.

It was too much. Mathus shivered against Karniel, who stopped and said, “I do believe our pet is close to cumming already."

“Hehe, we can't have that, can we, Mathus?" Cathka whispered in his ear.

“Ahh, n-no," Mathus breathed. Cathka nipped his earlobe and he clenched on her shaft. It now throbbed and pulsed inside him, an outline of the flat head along his stomach.

“Good boy," she whispered before signing another glyph. Hand burning hot with magic, she cupped Mathus' balls in her palm and said, “These won't cum till I do."

“Fuck, hnng," he felt it. That hot touch would have been the last straw, but, as his cock pulsed in Karniel's palm, it fired nothing more than a few slimy strings of precum.

Cathka's hand returned to his hips. She lifted the wing laid across Mathus, letting unfiltered sunlight finally reach his eyes. The shade of the forest they camped in kept him from getting blinded, but he still blinked back a few tears before Cathka rolled them onto her back, Mathus on top of her.

“You know what to do pet," Cathka purred, and Mathus sat up, struggling to get his footing. Karniel watched his lover whimper, legs trembling as he got on his knees and lifted himself off that horsecock. The spire of mottled flesh visibly throbbed as more and more of it slid out of Mathus' body. He blushed when he noticed the hunger with which Karniel looked at him and only him.

“I must say, I knew Mathus was a slut, but I didn't expect someone to make him into this, at least not without me there," Karniel said.

Cathka's claws dug into Mathus' skin. The human's butt rocked downward and smacked her thighs, his back arched and he moaned. Cathka said around him, as if he weren't there at all, “Yes, well, with you imprisoned for so long, hah, someone had to tame him."

“Quite. Honestly," Karniel said as the two fucked, “I'm not sure which of you two I grow more attracted to every day."

“J-just make it both and come over here," Cathka said, struggling to keep her cool. In their downtime, while Karniel hunted dinner the night before, Cathka had talked with Mathus about what she and Karniel discussed before leaving Pterodea. She had very much fallen for them both and sensed in her conversation with Mathus that he danced around the word love as much as she did. Whether she loved them or they loved her, time would tell, but she had no illusion after last night that she wanted to be with these two. Especially when Mathus had told her, “We'll help you restore your brother, I promise."

She wanted a whole honeymoon's worth of this morning's languid pleasures. She might not have been a part of the pair's marriage, but had no doubt they wanted her close to share in their pleasure and passion.

Mathus' skin felt so good in her palms. His bare back arched before her, dark black hair falling down past his neck in a sweaty tangle. The dimples at the base of his spine almost as enticing to watch flex and relax as that pert rump that bounced on her hips. He existed on another planet at this point, moaning louder than a heated bitch getting bred. She adored seeing him get lost in pleasure. Even when he fucked her or Karniel, he got so caught up in the moment, in everything, that it just made Cathka hotter to watch his eyes grow half-lidded. That dazed bliss that came so easy to him. She got so caught up in him that she didn't notice Karniel kneeling in front of her.

The mushroom head of his cock nudged her beak. Its smell made her nares flare. Pungent, studly male, intoxicating in how strongly it took hold of her senses. She craned her neck back, beak yawning open. Her maw, slick and hot, became enveloped by that fat prick. The foreskin rolled back, and Karniel's arousal stained her palate. Her dick twitched, spitting a gout of pre inside Mathus' slick hole.

It had awed her the first time she tasted Karniel. How much it made her want to rut. As if the potent hormones that sweated from the meaty prick now stuffing her beak were made to make others aroused. Given what bats fed off of, perhaps it did. She didn't so much as gag when his cock plunged its way into her receptive throat. She mewled, slobbering over Karniel's fat endowment. He grabbed her head and started using her in earnest.

When these two woke Karniel this morning, his first thought had been to lash out at them. He had been dreaming of something that felt important. Karniel used to never need sleep that badly, but now, outside of Dea's Cycle, the needs of mortal bodies had been quite a chore. The dreams, especially, had become tiresome and constant. He only ever woke with fragments, though, and with nothing to really say he didn't see a reason to share such things.

Not when he could spend his time savoring the throat that swallowed around his shaft. Sloppy, slick flesh swallowing and sucking along his cock. He could just see the outline his shaft made along the soft white fur of her neck—her labored gasps a nice accompaniment to all the noise Mathus made.

Mathus, wavering like a tree close to being uprooted in a storm. Even as Karniel held Cathka and fucked her face, he watched Mathus and thought about how satisfying it would be to do that to his lover. The human's legs wobbled, and Cathka now had to help bounce him up and down. She fucked up into him and shoved him back. His abused, slutty pucker caved in on every thrust, tugged outward when he lifted off her hips. His body wrapped so perfectly around that meat. Karniel couldn't help feeling a little pride at helping Mathus become this slut.

He imagined it being him who bred Mathus, teeth sinking into his beloved's shoulder. Mathus, back arched against his chest, breathless while Karniel's shaft churned up his insides. The blossom of his sweet, metallic blood on Karniel's tastebuds the perfect complement to his body's surrender. Mathus clutching his neck, begging Karniel to breed him. It became too much.

Another shameful thing about being out of the Cycle: it affected Karniel's stamina more than he cared to admit. He felt his nuts start to clench, and decided he needed Mathus against him. He leaned over and hugged Mathus to his chest, and Karniel clasped his jaw around Mathus' throat, his lips feeling his lover's sweet pulse, the vibration of his howl. Blood exploded into Karniel's maw, and the old pleasures of his body had not left him. Ecstasy flushed through him, and he moaned against Mathus' flesh.

Karniel had pulled Mathus away from Cathka, and she had to thrust herself up on her hooves to keep hilted in the human's delectable rear. She ground and gyrated her hips against his rump, Karniel's treatment of her throat and maw rushing her to a quick finish as well. Her cockhead flared, creating an outline just above Mathus' navel. That was when she felt Karniel's dick try to jump inside her, the orgasmic jerk of his cock enough to make her gag. Her eyes watered, and then the flood of seed washed into her gullet.

Pungent, thick and slimy, Karniel's cum shot faster than Cathka could swallow and oozed back into her beak. Her maw filled with the stuff, its taste sweet and salty, lingering on her tastebuds. Her eyes rolled back in her head, wings fluttering against the ground. Nuts tense, she allowed herself to cum.

Sharp points of pleasure and pain on his throat, Karniel's lips suckling against it. Cathka's dick flared in his core, prostate smashed. His aching nuts trying vainly to cum. His mistress's sheath rubbing against his tender, pucker, puffy and red from riding that fat meat. Mathus had sunk so deep in pleasure that, when Cathka came, he didn't even notice his own orgasm at first.

Thick, virile ropes of hippogryph seed filled his belly. Mathus mewled weakly, dick jumping in the air as he came hands free into the dirt. His balls bobbed and clenched against Cathka's larger equine nuts, which flooded him desperate as a mare in heat. He did not expect Karniel's hand to wrap around his shaft and begin pumping. Mathus flinched away reflexively, his sensitive cock almost stinging as the bat milked him messily, smearing it on those long, slender fingers.

Karniel remained locked to Mathus' throat, still drinking his blood till the flow of it slowed. The bat released his bite, panting as his orgasm tapered off. “That's, ah, good pet," Karniel whispered into Mathus' ear. He slowly continued pumping his lover's cock, other hand rubbing slow circles around Mathus' belly. It had fattened with Cathka's cum, still swelling to almost resemble a baby bump. “You're such a good breeder, hmm?" Karniel cooed, loud enough for Cathka to hear. “Your mistress is going to have you full of foals all the time, isn't she?"

“Gods… Karniel," Mathus breathed, quivering against his partner's broad chest.

“Heh, what is it? Do you not want to be knocked up?"

“You're going to make me addicted to being this full," Mathus whined.

“You already are," Karniel purred. He finally, gently removed his cock from Cathka's beak.

Cathka gasped in a breath and swallowed leftover seed clinging to her beak. Karniel set Mathus down on her hips, her seed already leaking out around her shaft. “You know…" she panted, “if you two want it that badly... there are spells to make Mathus fertile."

Mathus quivered a little. Still in the warmth of an afterglow, the thought of children didn't matter much compared to the idea of being bred. “T-tempting me to use the Heart again?"

Karniel helped sit Cathka up, and he pulled them both into his lap. His half-hard length slid wetly against the soft fur along Cathka's backside. Cathka held Mathus to her, signing a spell to stop the bleeding at Mathus' throat. She joked, “You may have lost a little too much blood to make that decision rationally."

“Hmmph, I'm very careful with you both, thank you very much."

Cathka said, “I'm certain you are. Regardless, I'm not going to actually knock you up, Mathus. The last thing you two need are children."

“I'd say it's the last thing anyone needs."

Cathka rolled her eyes. She felt herself going soft inside Mathus as more of her warm seed slipped out with her retreating length. Maybe it was Karniel's seed still staining her senses, but Cathka swore their clearing already stank of sex as badly as it had at the end of last night.

Mathus touched his stomach, feeling that balmy afterglow slipping away as he said, “I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it."

Cathka nipped his shoulder with her beak then whispered in his ear, “Hold onto that. If anyone could convince Karniel, it'd be you."

Karniel snorted. “Do you just like to pretend that I can't hear you two plotting?"

Cathka chuckled, hugging Mathus and leaning back against Karniel. She craned her neck to look him in the eyes when she said, “If it's one thing I've learned about you, Scourge, it's that love is your greatest weakness."

“Psh," Karniel looked away, pouting at the forest. “I really do let you two get away with too much."

Mathus laughed.

“What's so funny?" Karniel snapped.

“Hehehe, just giddy and grateful."

Cathka shut her eyes and basked in them both. Eventually, she said, “I think we all are."

***

Few laws of the world could be called immutable. Things not even magic could change. One of those simple truths was that dragons always knew when someone knowingly lied to them. Though most considered it a myth or did not know at all, the people in Selvanna's life had learned to not bother with lies.

Selvanna went to the kitchen at the back of the Grand Temple. A large room with a dozen ovens and fluctuating kitchen staff. On holidays, all hands would be called to serve visitors and guests to the temple, but on days like this, just a few cooks and maids worked the kitchen.

Soon as Selvanna ducked under the doors, wearing only a simple dress, she heard another woman call out, “Enjoy sleeping in, Vanna?"

Selvanna offered a grin to a middle-aged lynx, fattening from age with white hairs peppering her gray muzzle. She wore the same plain skirt and blouse most women of the temple wore. Orphans of Sepulcher of Dawn often found their way here, finding room, board, and purpose in maintaining the place of worship.

“Good morning to you, too, Merin!" Selvanna called as she crossed the room, offering hellos to people she passed. “Hope you left something for me to do," she said when she reached the countertop Merin stood beside.

“Of course I did! Wash your hands, there's some dough that needs kneading."

Selvanna giggled and stepped to a nearby sink. “Is that all I'm good for?" The two knobs for hot and cold water might have marvelled those outside the Emerald Cities, but it had been a convenience Selvanna had known all her long life.

“Yes! What else are you using those big arms of yours for?" Merin asked while Selvanna washed her hands. She heard the lynx retrieve a bowl from a proving drawer, and set it down on the counter.

She dried her hands on a terricloth, then turned to the task Merin gave her. “Lucky for you, I like warming up my hands in the morning."

Merin rested her back against the counter while Selvanna deftly handled the dough on the counter. The lynx's head only came up to Selvanna's navel, so she had to look up to say to Selvanna, “You're always in here warming it up on the bread. What about Dialdon, hmm?"

“You know I can't share gossip about him," Selvanna answered in kind.

“I'm not asking about his plans for the Cities, I'm asking if he's been taking care of you."

Selvanna bumped her hip on Merin's shoulder in a teasing nudge. “We've been together longer than you've been alive, so I don't think you need to worry about us."

“Oh come on, Vanna, the men and women here are such bores. Don't tell me you're turning into one, too," Merin kept pressing.

“What's with the sudden interest, hmm?" Normally Selvanna simply listened to Merin spin tail after tail of the goings-on at the temple. She had been gossipy since the day she arrived, but she was always honest, which Selvanna appreciated. Lies did not feel good. They pricked at her scales and made her squirm. Grating like steel scraping awkwardly across a whetstone.

Merin sighed. “Nola says I put people off cause I never let them talk. I'm trying to be more considerate with my friends."

Selvanna laughed, a rich timbre to it that always turned heads.

Merin hackles and ears shot up. “You don't have to laugh!"

“Hehe," Selvanna covered her snout and swallowed a snicker before she returned to the dough. “Sorry, well, you don't need to worry about me. I like listening to you."

“Oh, thank Mortel. Truth be told, aside from asking about your love life I'm not sure what I would talk about."

“I'm sure you would find something."

Merin snapped her finger. “I got it! Have you ever really cut a man in two, Vanna? Head to tail like you did that roast pig years back."

Selvanna cringed. She barely remembered that, having gotten very drunk during the celebrations that broke out after the campaign in Gavalon had been won. Someone goaded her into tossing the whole roast pig into the air and splitting it down the middle with her poleaxe. It had made for quite the party trick and mess.

The thing about that sense for lies, is that Selvanna's own could sting. She did not have the luxury of little white lies.

“Yes," she answered quietly. “Please don't ask me about that sort of work again."

Merin's ears fell back. “Shoot, I'm sorry."

“It's fine," Selvanna said, smacking the dough on the stonetop counter a little too hard.

“I didn't mean to put a cloud over you. I just figured you never talked about that sort of work because how unseemly it was. I didn't realize."

“There are not many of Mortel's enemies I want to see die. I would much rather His word guide them back to the light." She set the dough down, stooped over the counter with her hands spread across it. She took a deep breath and said, “This should be fine. If I've paid my way, I'd like to take breakfast up to my rooms. Dialdon and I have a very long day ahead of ourselves."

“Some trouble afoot?"

“Nothing you need to worry about, dear," Selvanna said. All up her spine, the scales on her back prickled like they wanted to jump out of place and away from the lie she just told.

***

“You know we don't have to resort to roughing it," Cathka said while they waited for a rabbit to roast on a spit. Karniel had hunted the game after their morning romp. The three sat together at a fire pit, Mathus in Karniel's lap while Cathka leaned back against his side, one of Basphemen's books open in her lap.

Karniel told Mathus while he brushed out the human's hair with his claws. “I'm pretty sure she's talking to you."

“We have all sorts of spells for conjuring food. This book here has phase glyphs for teleportation to just about anywhere in the world."

“And you want me to use them," Mathus said while he watched the fire.

“I'm just saying, my conduit would drain pretty quickly using it like that, but you, Mathus—"

“If we get to a point where we're starving, then sure," Mathus touched his chest, still shirtless. “I'm not going to use this otherwise."

“Karniel, talk some sense into him?"

“Psh, I thought by now it was obvious he never listens to me." Karniel punctuated this with a kiss on Mathus' head. “Though, Cathka, how far could you get us with your conduit?"

“To Sepulcher of Dawn, maybe. Even then I'm dubious."

“Well, that's a shame, I was hoping you'd be able to take us a little farther."

“Where to?"

“Toward Sepulcher of Midnight. I was thinking that is where we should head."

Cathka shut her book and rolled onto her knees to face the pair. “We aren't going anywhere near the Emerald Cities."

Karniel scowled. “And why the hell not? I have contacts—"

“You had contacts," Cathka said. “Karniel you've not been in the cities for a long time, and Mathus—" Cathka shook her head. “Do you really think the Church of Mortel is going to just let Mathus walk freely once they know where he is?"

Mathus' brow furrowed. “No one knows about the heart but us, though."

“Basphemen sensed it soon as you used your magic. He's not the only mage, especially in the Emerald fucking Cities, who will recognize the aura of power radiating off you," Cathka snapped. “We're already too close to Sepulcher of Dawn as is."

Coming from the north, the Emerald Cities extended southward starting with Sepulcher of Dawn. Karniel knew by placement of the stars where they were in the world, and he also knew better than anyone how to travel quickly and quietly through the Emerald Cities. Sepulcher of Midnight felt so far away, but if they could just…

“If I get word to the Asher family—"

“They swore allegiance to Dialdon," Cathka told Karniel, exasperated. “Are you even listening to me? Dialdon might not run the cities in name, but he is 'The Son Redeemed,' his authority is just as great there as yours used to be."

Mathus touched Karniel's jaw, getting him to look down at his love when Mathus asked, “Perhaps we should listen to Cathka? We'll have plenty of time to return here once we've figured some things out."

Karniel snarled. “I'm not one for running and hiding."

“And you're also not invincible anymore," Cathka whispered. She relaxed and got close again. “I'm begging you both not to go there."

“And if we do?" Karniel asked.

Cathka winced, but set her beak firmly before she said, “Then I will do my best to protect you."

“Why do we need to go there, though?" Mathus asked Karniel. “There's plenty of world we've still not seen together."

“Because there is nowhere in the world like the Emerald Cities. And," Karniel took a deep breath, “it would be easy to find and get me a conduit there."

“A conduit?" Mathus now fumbled his way out of Karniel's lap, getting to his feet and facing his beloved. Karniel knew this would happen soon as he suggested it. “What would you need a conduit for? You can't use one anyways."

“I could not use one, yes," Karniel said, “But magic conducts to me now, which means the only way to defend myself from it is with more magic."

“You don't need that! You have me and Cathka—"

“Our enemies are many, darling. We need every tool at our disposal to defend ourselves."

Cathka fanned a wing between them to get the pair's attention. She stood on her hooves now as well. “Karniel is right, Mathus," Cathka said quietly.

“You can't seriously—"

“I am," Cathka snapped. “But we don't need to go to the Emerald Cities to get it. Karniel, I have contacts north of here in Jerbaan. We shouldn't have trouble getting you a conduit. It might not have the potency you want, but it should serve for defending yourself."

“It's the two of you I'm worried about defending," Karniel grumbled, glaring at Mathus. He stubbornly refused to back down from Karniel's gaze. The great, noble fool.

Cathka sighed. “You two are impossible. Let's just fill our bellies and get moving. The sooner we get to Jerbaan the better."

***

The barracks for Mortel's Faceless sat in the northeast corner of the Grand Temple's grounds. The warrior cult that served the fallen god now saw Dialdon as its leader and acted as his blade in the Emerald Cities.

Selvanna followed Dialdon into the barracks, now wearing her armor: full plate painted black with ruby red detailing that matched the gemstone in Dialdon's conduit. Over the clothes he put on this morning, he wore a buttercup yellow robe.

In the vestibule of the barracks was a statue of Mortel with a plaque at its foot that read:

No Cost too great

No Will but His

No Life to Live

Dauntless before Death

The Faceless His Vessels

They His Good

Loved, Cherished, Eternal

In some ways, Selvanna admired the simple devotion with which the Faceless lived by. Her devotion to Dialdon had many complications, and she imagined the codes and creed of a dead god made for a simple life. Given how distant Dialdon had felt lately, Selvanna could not help but long for something a little more steady.

She shook off the feeling—Dialdon and her had been through so much over the centuries, and she knew he would come back around. She just needed to cast this darkness out of his life once and for all.

Dialdon, who had stopped to pray to the statue, lifted his head and they both entered the barracks proper. A small temple took up the building's front, with a door behind Mortel's Shrine leading to bunks, a small training ring, and study rooms. Except for the shrine, nothing remained in this room but the four mages wearing similar robes and gorgets to the ones Dialdon wore, and the five Faceless in the room.

Most Faceless lived abroad, but a core of ten remained in Sepulcher of Dawn to train new members of their order and answer special missions like the one Dialdon summoned them for. Selvanna knew all of them by name, knew the faces of some before they donned the mask they could not remove in the company of others.

Dialdon said, “Thank you all for coming here." He moved to the middle of the room, while Selvanna stayed near the doorway. Noladush, a rat who was the shortest of the Faceless in the room, acknowledged her with a little nod, but none of the others did so. They all wore form fitting, enchanted leather armor with facemasks. Mortel's Crest, sun cradled like an egg in a nest of eight tails, was dyed into each of their pauldrons.

Dialdon bowed his head and said for the room, “Father, guide us in our endeavor to avenge your killer and return you to your rightful place here with your flock. Your love and wisdom bless us."

“Amen," came the chorused response from everyone.

When he finished, Dialdon asked one of the mages, “Have preparations been made, Geryon?"

A long-eared hare with gold piercings lining the auburn ears falling down his front nodded. “Per Mortel's guidance, we've scryed their location, and have readied phase glyphs with supplies for the hunt and journey back. They are three in number: the Scourge, the Vessel, and the mage Mortel warned us of."

“And you're certain the Scourge is weakened?" Seljynn, one the Faceless, asked. She was the tallest of the assembled warriors, a gryphon with the features of a crow and leopard under her armor.

Geryon nodded. “In the past, divination spells on the Scourge were faulty and would quickly fail. We found no issues this morning."

“Hardly a confirmation," Seljynn growled under her mask.

“Leave the Scourge to me," Selvanna said. “I've fought him before, and today, with Mortel as my witness, I will cut him down for good."

Dialdon said to the other Faceless, “Selvanna will be your leader for this operation, and will work to neutralize the Scourge. The five of you will be charged with subduing the Vessel and disposing of the mage."

“Will we even have the power to subdue the Vessel?" Fawn asked. The lioness, unlike the other Faceless, did not keep a conduit on her person, just two swords she carried on her back when not in a fight.

“He is not a mage, and his mastery of the Heart is fledgling," Dialdon said.

Geryon added, “Judging by our scrying, he also appears reluctant to use it at all. Meaning any use of it will be unpracticed and unwieldy. Whatever defenses he manages to muster, there will be gaps inside them."

Selvanna arched a brow at that. She asked, “He is reluctant to use the Heart?"

Dialdon answered, “My father informed us this Vessel understands the value of the souls the Heart is a conduit to, but he lacks a higher calling and purpose. He simply refuses to disturb the afterlife of our flock."

Dialdon hadn't shared that about this Vessel. Selvanna tried to brush off that fact and said, “I am grateful he has some moral standing, then."

“And yet he still chooses to be the Scourge's lover," Dialdon said.

Selvanna wondered if she was the only one in the room that silently shot back that Mortel had been Karniel's lover for centuries. It was simply a fact of their very faith that great good could be seduced and swayed by evil. She cleared her throat and instead asked, “What is the name of the Vessel?"

“Mathus, a human far to the north," Geryon answered.

Fawn asked, “And do we know anything about this mage?"

“Just that she did not graduate from any of the academies here in the Emerald Cities," Geryon said.

“Mmm, no threat, then," Kiem, a gangly human among the Faceless, said.

Dialdon asked Geryon, “Is there anything else to report? I wish to have this matter done as quickly as possible."

“If our hunters have no other questions, we are ready to leave immediately."

No one spoke up, so they moved behind the shrine and deeper into the barracks. Dialdon hung back, waiting until the others had exited and left Selvanna last. He touched her gauntleted hand and whispered, “Wait a moment?"

Selvanna stopped, tail reaching for the handle on the door next to her and pulling it shut. “Yes, love?"

He reached up, and she hunched down so he could reach her helm. He undid the clasps under her jaw and removed the helmet. Selvanna took it from him while he stroked her cheek. “I know you want vengeance on my behalf, but you must come back to me," Dialdon said. He drew her in and they exchanged a gentle kiss.

Selvanna nosed his snout with hers then nuzzled into his cheek before whispering, “This won't be another Gavalon, I promise."

During the campaign, Selvanna had breached the walls of the mountain fortress; then Karniel dived upon her and her soldiers like a hawk on a flock of sparrows. She had managed to cleave off his hand, but, undaunted, he snapped one of her wings in two before throwing her off the parapet. Even with Dialdon's best healers, her spine had been broken from the fall, and Selvanna's wings never fully recovered from her landing on her back. Even unburdened with armor, she could only use them to glide and slow a fall. She had not been able to fly since.

Another unfortunate truth of dragons: they did not conduct magic well, making them resistant to most spells for better or worse. She did not have the sort of immunity Karniel had, but magic could only do so much to heal her body.

Dialdon hooked his arms behind her horns, holding her close. He whispered, “Just remember, retrieving the Vessel is the mission. If you have him, don't pursue Karniel at the risk of your life."

“I understand," Selvanna said. “I will return, love." It relieved her to hear him be so vulnerable with her. Ever since that clandestine meeting with his father, Dialdon had been irritable and distant.

He pecked her cheek and released her. Selvanna straightened to her full height and asked while she put her helm back on, “What will we do when this is all over?"

“Hmm?"

“When we return the Vessel and Mortel is revived through him. I know there will be work to do beyond that, but it has been a while since we allowed ourselves time for just each other."

“Heh, you want a vacation?"

“Yes, I was thinking about our cabin out near Sepulcher of Midnight. We could nest there for the summer: snowed in with some mulled wine, you could catch up on your reading, there are all sorts of baking I've wanted to try, and all the other things we've been meaning to explore…"

Dialdon laughed, and it lightened Selvanna's heart to hear something so earnest for once. “I would love it if we could do that." He touched her vambrace and said, “Even more reason that you come back safe, alright love?"

Selvanna smiled under her helm. “I will."

They entered a hall, ignoring the array of doors to the armory, barracks, and classrooms on their right. They eventually reached an opened sliding door on their left that led out to the training grounds, which the barracks surrounded in a U shape. The Faceless waited, with apprentices, prospects, and the other teachers of the Order watching on the fringes of the grounds. In the center waited the four mages dressed as Dialdon, standing on glyphs drawn into dirt of the grounds. A fifth, final glyph, Dialdon went to, completing the pentagon. Inside the pentagon were the five Faceless warriors, a covered wagon laden with supplies and four horses hitched to it, blinders on their faces. They were docile, fat beasts, not meant for more than hauling.

Leaning against the wagon was a poleaxe: its head, wrapped in oiled leathers, sat on the ground, the shaft of the weapon made of steel and thick as a normal man's neck. The whole thing was roughly eight feet tall, one foot shorter than Selvanna. On the battlefield, depending on friend or foe, they called her Mortel's Righteous Axe or Fell Axe. It was a weapon that had brought many to their end.

Selvanna joined the others at the wagon, grabbing her weapon and swinging it up onto her shoulder. Its weight and heft like a friend she hated spending time with but could not sever ties from. She glanced at Dialdon as he spoke to the crowd, saying another prayer to the assembly.

She closed her eyes and imagined them at the cabin, far and away from bloodshed. Snowed in, snuggled up by a roaring fire. She took a deep breath, trying to smell the sweet mulled wine they shared in copper mugs. If she concentrated hard enough, she really could smell it over the sharpness of her plate armor, the pungent stink of the horses, the dryness of this fall morning.

When the assembled crowd said, “Amen," it slipped from Selvanna's lips automatically. She opened her eyes and saw Dialdon, in sync with the other mages, signing the glyphs that would warp their party near the target. Not too close, lest Karniel's keen hearing detected them as soon as they arrived.

Light swirled from mage to mage, the bands growing thicker and thicker, spreading out until all Selvanna could see was it. She clenched her jaw, bracing her footing as the magic tore into them. Her stomach lurched as things flashed with a loud snap of energy, before they blinked into a clearing of an aspen forest, on a hunting trail wide enough for their wagon. Her magic resistant body lurched at the spell, bile filling her mouth as she doubled over, fighting back the urge to vomit in her helm.

She swallowed it, blinking back tears, while she heard Noladush ask, “You okay, Vanna?"

“You know how this stuff hits her, she'll be fine," Fawn said. “Where do we need to go?"

“They put us west of them, and they're traveling north," Seljynn answered.

Selvanna planted her axe in the soft dirt and managed to stand up straight, unabashedly using her weapon for support. She asked Seljynn, “You sense them?"

“Anyone with an inkling of training could sense the Vessel. He's practically a second sun."

“Then let's get moving," Selvanna said as she forced herself to stand without the help of her axe. She turned to Kiem and ordered, “Keep our movements cloaked, we don't want the Scourge hearing our approach."

“We mean to surprise them?" Ralab, the sixth and final member of the party asked. He was the eldest of the Faceless here, a mage so old magic could no longer hide the white streaks on the wolf's tail.

“If we can, we'll surprise them. You will all focus on killing the mage and securing the Vessel while I end the Scourge once and for all."

***

“Need a break?" Mathus asked, arms wrapped around Karniel's collarbone. He rode on Karniel's back while Cathka flew just above the treeline. They all agreed it expedient to move as quickly as possible, and while Karniel wasn't capable of extraordinary athleticism anymore, he could still carry Mathus and jog at a fair pace. He was almost able to keep up with Cathka flying overhead, but the trees slowed their pace. They had found a few game trails, but they did not cut directly north towards Jerbaan, and so had been ignored.

Karniel adjusted his grip on Mathus' thighs and said, “I can, huff, go another hour."

“You've not stopped since we took a break at that stream a few hours ago."

“Daylight, darling," Karniel sucked in a breath, “is wasting."

A fair point. They had agreed to travel by daylight for the time being. They had no reason to believe anyone hunted them yet, and while they planned to avoid the major highways as a precaution, there was no reason to try and sneak furtively around at night.

It was Cathka who ended up stopping them a few minutes later. She had landed in a clearing, with a stone fire pit, animal bones at its foot and some twine strung between two thicker aspens. She said as the pair entered the clearing, “It's a hunter's camp. I thought we might use it for the night."

Karniel did not set Mathus down right away. “We have at least another two hours before sundown."

“Yes, but my wings don't have another minute of strength left. I'll be sore enough tomorrow as it is," she said, and Karniel noticed her shoulders and wings trembling ever so slightly.

“Very well," Karniel said as he knelt down. When Mathus slid off his back he rose and said, “I will get us something to eat. I can hear a few things digging around in their burrows."

“Lovely, more charred, stringy game."

Karniel shrugged as he moved to the first burrow he could hear, only about thirty paces from them. “You two are the mages. If you want to do something about it, Cathka, talk to Mathus, not me."

She glared at Mathus and he shrugged. “I've gotten used to this sort of meal since Karniel and I started our journey."

“Ugh, I used to live in a palace, you know, ate at the King of Sebodal's table."

Mathus pursed his lips. “I'm not going to use the Heart like that."

Cathka sighed and gave Mathus a long look. “No, I suppose you won't. And for some reason, I still respect you for that, even if my tastebuds don't."

Mathus relaxed his stance a little. “You do?"

She cocked her hip, placing a hand on Calth's hilt. “My brother does, too. We aren't used to people with even an inkling of power being so annoyingly principled."

Mathus chuckled. “I'll have you know the Scourge of the Emerald Cities calls it one of my worst qualities."

From a distance, they heard Karniel bark, “I heard that! Shouldn't you two be gathering firewood or do I need to do everything?"

They both laughed and Mathus offered her his hand. “Come on, this shouldn't take long, and when we get back I can massage your wings for you."

Cathka gladly took his hand in hers, “That might be the most important lesson I taught you in Pterodea."

***

Their quarry moved faster than their party could all afternoon. After an hour on a fast march, Selvanna decided to slow their pace. Though she did not doubt any of their endurance, showing up to a fight winded served no one. It was with sunlight dwindling, the air growing sharper, that it appeared the Vessel had stopped moving so fast.

Selvanna doubled their pace again at the news, and by sunset, with the forest canopy casting everything into a premature night, they closed in on the camp. They saw the light of their campfire, and the sound of laughter as the hunters snuck closer. Voices she did not recognize were having a spirited argument while Karniel, a voice she could not forget, only occasionally interrupted the other two.

Selvanna waited until she had an uninterrupted view of the clearing their prey lounged inside of. Only then did she turn to plan out their attack.

***

When Karniel had no ability to detect magic, things like a silence spell became something he trained himself to listen for. The trick was, while it muted sound in an area, so one might not hear the rustle of footsteps or the breaking of a twig, you could notice the absence of sound. Where the wind should rush through trees, it would die in a certain spot. Where crickets might be chirping all around, some might fall unusually silent.

Karniel went quiet, listening until he was certain.

Someone hunted them.

Cathka and Mathus continued to merrily argue about the poetic mechanics still locking up one of Basphemen's tomes when the bat said, “Cathka, put away your books."

“Karniel?"

Remaining still on the ground, sitting cross legged with the three of them, he said, “We are being hunted."

“Shit, what do we do?"

“Were it not for my mortal limitations, I would simply carry you both out of here and all the way to Jerbaan."

“We are at least another two days from the border."

“I know," Karniel growled. “They will pursue us if we try running. There is still some light left, we should take advantage of it and confront them here."

Cathka summoned her purse and threw her books inside the pocket dimension. “How many of them are there?"

“I cannot tell. They are silenced," Karniel said.

“What should I do?" Mathus asked.

“Fight, you fool. Now's not the time to take a fucking moral stand," Cathka said while she unsheathed Calth with her main hand and signed a glyph with the other.

“Tell me where to aim, Karniel."

“Directly behind Mathus, between the two aspens with the tied up twine."

Cathka swung up onto her hooves, the fire from their camp sucking into her hand which she flung at the spot Karniel directed. The flame exploded into a wide arc big enough to threaten to light the whole forest aflame. And barreling through the flames, roaring, was a dragon much bigger than Karniel, her axe upraised.

“Fuck!" Cathka cursed, already signing another glyph. She jumped backwards while Karniel got in front of Selvanna, the Fell Fucking Axe. She swung, and Karniel dashed under her guard, grabbing the haft of her poleaxe and using her forward momentum to roll the dragoness over his shoulder. She slammed into the ground so hard a stunned Mathus almost fell over.

He locked gazes with the dragoness, while Karniel stood over her, his foot pinned on her breastplate. “Selvanna, I thought I killed you in Gavalon."

“Mortel had other plans for me."

Karniel rolled his eyes. “I see Dialdon still has you properly brainwashed—" Karniel heard the whistle of the crossbow bolt but not the snap of its firing. He was not fast enough to do more than step in front of Cathka. The bolt slammed into the small of his back.

“Karniel!" Mathus reached reflexively for his magic, but he did not have the chance to remove the bolt, for out of the trees came three Faceless warriors. A lioness with two swords drawn led the charge. Cathka moved in front of Karniel and unleashed the spell she had saved for Selvanna. A wave of force exploded from her palm, making all the trees ahead of her almost bend double. Those Faceless barely lost their footing with their magically reinforced armor. She only slowed them down long enough to ready a spell.

“Hold them off," Karniel said behind her before she heard the movement of Selvanna. The dragoness had gotten up, retrieved her axe all under Mathus' watch. The fool.

Selvanna drove Karniel back, finding her confidence growing with every swing at the Scourge. He moved slower, and while her distraction for her other hunters hadn't worked quite to plan, she could tell Karniel would not be able to best her. Certainly not without help or some kind of weapon. She kept her swings short and quick, forcing Karniel farther away. He sensed her plan, but any time he tried to move around her Selvanna managed to swing axe or tail in his path.

“Mathus!" Cathka yelled for help as she signed a defensive spell for the rat she saw already signing a glyph. He wielded a staff with a conduit, like one of the other Faceless, whoever fired the crossbolt remained in the cover of the trees, and this damn lioness. Cathka parried a thrust with Calth and backpedalled to avoid a swipe at her head. She couldn't possibly do more than keep herself alive at this rate.

The lash of a flaming whip came through the air. She thought she recognized the glyph the rat signed. She had her counter ready, lifting her arm to catch it. The whip slammed into her arm, fire coiling about it and becoming hers to throw out, but she barely saw the lioness's blades flash. Cathka caught the slash with her handguard, but, with a deftness of a fencer, the Faceless forced the other blade into Cathka's stomach.

It happened in a matter of seconds. Mathus watched it. Saw the sword push out of Cathka's back. He had done nothing with the magic he held onto, with all that force burning in his chest, but it boiled out now. Pearlescent flames erupted from his feet and through the campsite. It drove back all the Faceless, the lioness yowling as her proximity burnt her through the armor she wore.

Mathus caught Cathka in his arms, touching her wound and healing it immediately. Cathka groaned and got onto her knees. “N-next time, don't wait until I've already been stabbed."

“I-I'm sorry. I didn't—I…"

Mathus swooned a little, eyes fluttering. Cathka recognized the sleep spell immediately, and saw the silhouette of an illusion hiding the caster. He had snuck up on them and used the distraction to try and take out Mathus while his allies regrouped. Cathka blindly groped in the dirt, found Calth and signed with her other hand.

Mathus fell over with a soft little whimper, but Cathka ignored him, taking their assailant by surprise. She lunged, touching the base of Calth's blade so when her sword found the armor of the hidden Faceless it punched right through it. A dispel magic enchantment could eat through this armor long as you had a sharp enough point. The Faceless' illusion spell broke. A human, who gasped.

“Kiem!" someone howled. Blade planted in the gasping man's chest, Cathka yanked him around in time so the Faceless acted as a shield for the crossbow bolt that fired at her. Kiem groaned as it slammed into him, pinging off his armor.

“Nothing personal," Cathka said as she signed another spell, and touched Calth's pommel, channeling flames into the blade that coursed through the steel and exploded inside Kiem's body.

She didn't plan on leaving any of these hunters with wounds they could recover from. Kiem didn't so much as scream. Smoke rose from his armor, which trapped the flames inside and cooked then cremated the corpse trapped there. The smell alone would have made Cathka gag if she did not have more pressing concerns. She signed another spell and knelt beside Mathus, forcing a barrier tied directly to what energy remained in her conduit. Another crossbow bolt pinged off it. She ignored the hunters and started signing a spell she hoped would wake Mathus up.

Karniel could not see all this happening, but Selvanna did not drive him so far back he could not hear it play out. He told Selvanna, “Awfully unsporting, fighting six—sorry, five against three."

“There are just the two of us here," Selvanna snarled as she swung her axe. She hewed it into an aspen, almost cleaving clean through its trunk. Karniel had waited for that, coming into Selvanna's guard only to be met by one of her gauntlets. He barely had time to adjust his stance so the dragoness didn't cave his face in. Selvanna punched him in the collarbone, instead, and Karniel stumbled backwards, bleeding from where metal shredded off flesh. She had almost cracked his ribs with that one blow.

Selvanna said, “You're slower and weaker." She ripped her axe from the tree while Karniel got his bearings.

“And you're just as blind in your faith as I remember," Karniel snapped back. He couldn't actually best her. Those other Faceless warriors maybe, but Selvanna? Karniel wasn't sure he'd have a chance even with Cathka's help. They needed to regroup. He could hear Cathka had gotten Mathus awake. They just needed—

Selvanna charged. Karniel dove under the swing of her axe and towards the campsite. She spun and slammed her tail into him, and Karniel got thrown to the ground. He expected it, however, and simply scrambled to his feet, bolting towards the camp. He heard Selvanna right behind him, but expected he could beat her in a footrace, especially with the armor and axe weighing her down.

He really underestimated how weak he had become, how strong others were. He got into the clearing and saw the four Faceless on the other side of it, Mathus and Cathka facing them inside a pearlescent force field Mathus conjured. Karniel opened his mouth to warn them, but something slammed into his back. He knew Selvanna was right behind him, but he didn't think she would overtake him.

Mathus turned at the sound, saw Karniel hoisted off his feet as the spike at the end of Selvanna's poleaxe gored him straight through the heart.

“No!" he screamed, throwing another wave of white flames at the dragoness, but unlike the Faceless warriors, Selvanna weathered it. Her scales as equally resistant to magic as the armor she wore.

“Scourge I judge you guilty!" she roared, victorious and wild, a dark monolith in a sea of white fire.

“Stop!" Mathus begged, feeling a wound opening in his chest. The bond Karniel and Mathus shared tore open inside him faster as his love's life ebbed away.

Selvanna slammed Karniel into the dirt. On his stomach. A rather undignified way to go, Karniel thought, with his face in the dirt. Very something this zealot would do to him. He barely heard the sound of Selvanna lifting her axe over the vortex of magic flying off of Mathus, none of it mattering as she readied to bring it down and cleave head from body like a true executioner.

“If you kill him, I'll die, too!"

The Vessel wasn't lying. Selvanna froze, axe hanging in the air. Mathus stood only ten paces from them, trembling and crying. She might have expected some kind of begging, but he spoke with absolute certainty.

The flames around her died, the heat ebbing away. Mathus made to move towards Karniel, but she menaced her poleaxe in front of him. “Stay back, and tell me what you mean."

Mathus flinched, trembling, cheeks stained with tears. “We carry an enchantment. It was cast on us to make sure I would watch over him and make sure he did right in the world. If one of us dies, the other will perish, too."

Selvanna stared, furious. She wanted to cut the Vessel down just to deny it. So close to her prize, and she knew absolutely what he said was the truth.

“Then undo it," she snapped. “Don't you want to live?"

“No," Mathus shook his head. “I don't know how. It was magic not of this world, but even if I did know how, I wouldn't. I won't let you kill him."

“Child," Selvanna snarled, shaking. Dialdon's words now enraged her, now the only thing that kept her in check. The Vessel was what mattered. Not the Scourge. Karniel. Karniel. Karniel so weak and pathetic they could come kill him any time. She shook it off and demanded, “Child, do you even know what this monster has done in this world?"

“Yes, and I don't care." Mathus touched his chest. “You want this conduit, right? The one attuned only to my body? You need me alive, so you're not going to kill him."

“We're not?" Selvanna asked herself. She could not believe this is what stopped her. Some worthless caveat. Could Mortel's Heart really be worth more than the Scourge's end?

“I will go willingly with you and your hunters. I will cause no trouble, I will not resist. In exchange, you leave Karniel and Cathka in peace."

“D-dammit, Mathus," Karniel wheezed into the dirt. “Just kill her and—"

“No," Mathus whispered. “I'm sorry, love, but we have to confront this, and I don't want anyone else dying pointlessly."

Again, no lies came from the man. If he wasn't the one thing keeping Selvanna from her vengeance, she might have been moved by his resolve.

Because Selvanna could not bring herself to speak, Mathus said into her silence, “If you don't agree, I will use every ounce of energy in the Heart to resist and fight and defy you and every member of your church."

Throat dry, stinging, Selvanna whispered, “Very well, Vessel."

She relaxed her stance and shouted to her companions. “The Vessel has agreed to come with us. We will leave the other two alone. Retrieve Kiem's remains and ready yourselves to return to Sepulcher of Dawn. We will not rest till we've returned."

Cathka, who had been maintaining a barrier between herself and these hunters, did not let up her spell even after most of the Faceless stowed their arms. She heard what Mathus meant to do and knew better than to protest. If it was just Karniel and her, these hunters would have killed them easily. Mathus was the only person who could keep them alive.

Thank the stars Selvanna was a dragon. Had she been any other species, Cathka might have not believed it so simple, but the only creature as stupidly committed to their word as dragons was Mathus of Morgen's Rest.

Barrier still raised with her free hand, sword still in the other, Cathka backed away toward Karniel and Mathus so the Faceless could retrieve their dead.

The lioness came forward, swords stowed. Nothing more than bones and dust lined the remains of that charred armor. She picked it up, and the ash that swept out was caught in the air by the rat, who collected it with a spell. He opened his purse, retrieved a bladder, which the ash siphoned itself into. Cathka kept her eyes on the gryphon who continued glaring. The murderous intent radiating off that woman could be felt throughout the clearing.

Behind Cathka, Selvanna allowed Mathus to roll Karniel over. He placed a hand on his chest, but before Mathus could mend him, Selvanna said, “Heal him only enough to make sure he doesn't succumb to his wounds. Unless you think the Scourge will honor our bargain."

Mathus cringed and looked at Karniel, mumbling under his breath only for the bat to hear: “Sorry, love." He said to Selvanna, “I know he will not."

Karniel coughed, struggling not to choke on his own blood while Mathus began to stitch him back up. Mathus stopped just as Karniel felt like he might be able to stand again. Karniel took his love's hand and asked him, “Do you, ugh, know anything about dragons, darling?"

Mathus glanced up at Selvanna. She was the first he had encountered. He knew all sorts of myths and wives' tales about them, but outside of the Emerald Cities, they were very rare, and even inside the border of the city states they still only numbered a few for every thousand people.

Karniel saw the answer in the look he gave Selvanna. He squeezed Mathus' hand to get his attention. “Never lie to them. They will know."

Mathus understood the warning, but told Karniel, “I've no intention to."

Again, Selvanna sensed only the truth from this human. He spoke plainly and as principled as a dragon would among their own. Mathus stood and told Selvanna, “I've done as you asked. I would like to say goodbye to my companions, then I will follow you."

“Very well," Selvanna said. More truths. He would keep his word, so Selvanna had no reservations in turning his back to him and his companions. She crossed the clearing to her Faceless warriors only to immediately be confronted by Seljynn:

“What in the name of Mortel's fucking tails are we doing, Vanna?"

Voice hollow, still reeling, she simply answered, “The Vessel has agreed to come with us peacefully if we spare his companions."

“Spare the Scourge?" Seljynn hissed, “That fucking bitch mage who killed one of our own? Are you mad? Even Dialdon would—"

All that blistering triumph that had been vanquished, replaced with frustration and rage that came roaring back at Dialdon's name.

Selvanna grabbed the gryphon's head and slammed her into the trunk of the closest tree. Seljynn yowled and thrashed in her grip, signing spells and lashing out blindly, the light of the topaz conduit set into her armor flashing. The puny magic broke on her armor as she pinned Seljynn, speaking in snarls, “I picked up my axe to avenge Dialdon. I've hunted Karniel longer than any of you have been alive. Do not question my orders. I would die a thousand deaths to have that villain wiped from history. The Vessel is the priority here. We will leave with him, and leave his companions in peace."

She dropped the thrashing gryphon to the ground. Hefted her axe and said, “Is that clear?"

Seljynn, blind with her own impotent rage, answered by signing a complex series of glyphs. Selvanna did not let her finish.

The armor of the Faceless could withstand many forces, but not a dragon's raw strength. Selvanna slammed the speartip of her poleaxe into Seljynn with the force of a ballista's bolt. It punctured her armor and gored her in a manner much more lethal than she had done to Karniel. Karniel still had a certain level of supernatural vitality, and a much bigger body to soak the blow. Seljynn croaked and thrashed, pinned to the ground.

Killing her did not release Selvanna from any of her anguish. She swallowed the bile in her throat, turned away from the dying gryphon and faced the remaining three Faceless. “I gave the Vessel my word. Do any of you want to test the conviction of a dragon's vows or are we clear in what we are doing?"

Noladush stepped in front of the other two, hands raised placatingly. “We are clear, Vanna. Please, let us—"

“What happened to her?"

Selvanna actually flinched. Mathus had snuck up on her. The human, unarmored and small, rushed right past her. Pearlescent light already flowed from his body as he signed glyphs, kneeling beside Seljynn. Selvanna watched, amazed, as time worked backward. Her polearm floated in the air where she had held it, and the dying gryphon moved in reverse, her blood sliding back into her body, shattered ribs returning, flesh, feather, then armor sewn together.

Seljynn gasped and sat up, coughing and wheezing while Mathus held her. “You'll be fine," he whispered. Seljynn, seemed to realize who saved her and shoved Mathus away, scrambling backwards only to be caught by Noladush.

As the rat soothed her, Selvanna hoisted Mathus to his feet, having to kneel so she was face to face with the human. “Why did you do that?" Selvanna snarled. “She planned on breaking our agreement. Now she might still do it just to spite me."

Mathus glanced from the trembling gryphon to Selvanna's still helmed face. He shook his head. “I don't think she will, and I told you I didn't want anymore killing."

“She wanted them dead and you punished more than anything."

“Then maybe saving her life will convince her otherwise. Besides," Mathus glanced across the clearing to where Cathka and Karniel watched him, “while your warriors are fierce, I don't think one Faceless will be enough to kill those two."

Selvanna studied the Vessel. In the waning light, his features seemed so unassuming and small. She whispered, “Just who are you?"

“Mathus of Morgen's Rest," he answered before asking, “And you're name was Selvanna?"

“Of Clan Razorscale," Selvanna finished in kind.

“I'll get the name of your companions later, but we should move on before one of your fellow Faceless tries breaking our agreement again."

Selvanna agreed that would be prudent, but as she stood she could not help but set the record straight. “I am not one of the Faceless." She unclasped her helm and took it off to prove a point. “See?"

Even in the dim light and her dark scales, it surprised Mathus just how regal she looked. Angular muzzle ending in a snout, a few fangs showing past her lips. Black scales shined with white bands following under her chin to what little of her throat he could see. Her eyes, no longer obscured by the helm, were a startling red that shone in the darkness, pupils black slits. Despite himself, Mathus flushed a little looking at her.

Selvanna pretended not to see the way he gawked at her. It was rare people found her anything but intimidating, but she also had lived long enough to recognize when they felt something very different. She turned to her Faceless. They had gotten Seljynn to her feet, Noladush still supporting her.

Selvanna said as she put on her helm, “Jynn, I'm sorry for what I did. I am grateful Mathus revived you. There is no amount of atonement that could make up for what I did. Going forward, we must all keep our emotions in check. We will grieve for Kiem on the way back, give his remains their proper rites when we return to Sepulcher of Dawn, then celebrate our victory." Helmet fastened, she picked up her poleaxe from where it had fallen in the dirt, and added, “We subdued the Scourge and proved he was no match for Mortel's chosen faithful. There will be a time hunt again and—"

“Let's hope not."

Selvanna scowled under her helm as Mathus stepped in front of her. “I know none of you believe me, but Karniel has changed."

Everyone stared at the human, truly flummoxed. Yet again, not a breath of lies from him. Selvanna cleared her throat, “You might believe that to be true, but—"

“It is true."

“Enough," Selvanna snarled. She said to Ralab, “Ral, you take the front. We will march till we make it back to camp. I will guard our rear."

At an order, the Faceless warriors started to march, and Mathus followed them back into the woods. He tried his best not to show fear, to remain outgoing to these strange, religious warriors so they might believe him, but the farther he got from Karniel and Cathka the more anxiety cinched knots in his guts.

Eventually he just walked quietly in the dark, feeling himself being led to whatever gallows waited at the end of this new journey.

***

“What are you doing?" Karniel asked. Cathka had cast a light spell on her blade, and used it to search the grounds of the clearing they'd been left in.

“I didn't see them recover the conduit of that Faceless I killed. I'm hoping that means—ah-ha!" She knelt down, tail swaying about as she picked up a set of small, iron prayer beads stringed together on a chain. “I'm going to drain whatever energy is in here and try to heal you."

“Save it," Karniel said. He was propped up against an aspen, patiently waiting for his wounds to heal. “We're going to need all the magic we can get."

“I'm worried about them getting too far away from us. Your kin didn't give us any real idea how far you two could be apart." Cathka knelt beside Karniel, squeezing his thigh. “I'm not going to lose the both of you because of that."

“We should feel it, and have ample warning, so save it for now."

“Karniel…" Cathka dispelled the light on her blade and sheathed Calth. In the dark neither of them were more than silhouettes. She leaned against him and whispered, “I know you're upset."

“Oh I'm furious. With him. With myself."

“I'm sorry." She wrapped her arms and wings around him, careful not to touch where his ribs were bruised. “We'll get him back."

“I've just… I've never felt so weak in my life, Cathka. I don't think I knew what it meant to be vulnerable."

“It's okay. You're you. Your greatest asset has always been your wit, and that's not changed."

“The supernatural speed, vitality, and strength didn't hurt, either."

She chuckled and burrowed into his side. “Shut up. I'm the one trying to make you feel better."

“We will get him back. You're right. In the morning we'll regroup and figure all this mess out."

They talked quietly about nothing until Karniel was too exhausted to let the soreness in his ribs and back keep him from falling asleep. It should have been a dreamless, dark sleep. Deep in the ways only pain and mortal exhaustion, a concept he never once faced, could take hold of someone.

Still, he dreamed. Fractured sky. Tendrils of white snaking down from above. Data… Data… all wrong… File corrupted. Need to purge. The hissing scream of molten metal meeting water on an apocalyptic scale and a voice: Karniel is not—

A blade yanked from its scabbard snapped Karniel awake. Cathka had folded over into his lap, still asleep and snoring gently. In the now sunlit clearing, standing over him with that blade hovering before Karniel's face, was Korlyon.

Hackles raised, the young wolf snarled, “What did you do with Mathus?"