Pushing the thoughts away, the dragon kept her eyes opened as she flew over mountains. She would sense her sister if she was close. “Is she even on Canelux?” The girl said aloud. A frown left her lips as she started to fly lower to the ground. Her eyes grew confused as she hovered just over the trees. “Where the hell am I?” She thought as she looked around her. A bad feeling grew within her. She had to get out of there.


Before Kiyomi could fly off, something pierced her wing. A scream left her lips as she fell to the ground. “Shiiiittt!” She cursed as she rolled over the ground, her wings wrapping around her. The arrow that was once in her wing was ripped out. Another curse left her lips as tears gathered in her eyes. She wouldn’t let herself cry. Getting to her feet, her eyes widen as she saw what was coming at her. A orc on a wolf, along with a three smaller orcs alongside of him.

Another came at her as she ducked behind a tree. Pain corsed through her wing as it hit the tree behind her making Kiyomi wince. “Alright.” She nodded to herself as she took the katana out of its sheath. She waited for the orc on the wolf to run around the tree first, she ducked as an ax came at her head. Her katana connected with the wolf's neck making it flip forward. The rider flew off and hit a nearby tree.

A smirk came to Kiyomi’s lips as she took her eyes off the fallen orc and onto the other three finally reaching her. She ducked and sliced one in the stomach. As she did this, one grabbed her wounded wing and tossed her into a tree. She held back a scream as the two came at her. Their growls field the air. She wasn’t going to let them stop her, pushing back on the tree, she picked herself back up.”I can do this.” She thought to herself as she readied her katana.

"Oh, bother…what's this now?"

Story muttered to himself as he looked up from washing his face in a stream. Orcs were keen hunters, but in his long life, he had dealt with them before. Even in the heart of their territory, it was relatively easy to trounce about under their nose. The pack that stampeded into the thicket nearby were not hunting any animal. He could tell by the frenzy which they were worked up into. He'd thought he heard a shrill cry earlier as well, but had not been sure what it belonged to.

Curiosity, in the end, overcame his need for solitude at the moment.

Closing his eyes, Story focused on the magic rouge that maintained the form he assumed, and lifted it. The dragon that stood in his place stretched out its neck and jaw, and spanned its wings. Its ebony scales glimmered, as though infused by stardust, shimmering alongside the stream in the light of the moon. The creature's outstretched colorful wings, seeming to possess some sort of luminescent quality in the membranes, shone brilliantly as though they were nebula against the backdrop of the night sky. Brilliant oranges, reds, and golds swirled above the thicket when the dragon took flight.

It seemed the subject of the orc's hunt was many fathoms away, but with the dragon's great bulk, it was present above the scene in just a few beats of its wings. It circled a few times, surveying what was playing out below with its glowing crimson gaze. There was a woman…or was it a welp? She seemed to hold her own quite well. Not able to see the impending horde in the darkness though, she did not seem to be aware that she would be helplessly overwhelmed.

Recklessly, Story dove, crashing down through the trees, and crushing several of the orcs beneath him. His landing, though rough, was precise enough to place himself as a barrier between the woman and the orcs. Arrows and spears flung at the dragon in volleys, but it seemed to be a fruitless endeavor, like striking iron with kindling. Rearing his head up, Story let out a piercing roar. The earth vibrated with its volume, and the immediate instinct of the orcish mounts was to panic - dashing erratically, and relieving themselves of their masters. Looking down at the things with dismay, he cast a fearsome silhouette against the moon, with a reptilian head crown by horns both stag, and devil-like.

A gasp left her lips as she pushed herself back against the tree. A dragon landed before her. Where she stood she only saw his wings and tail. He was larger than her dragon form, but more ferocious. His roar was so loud she had to cover her ears while her wings wrapped around her. Blood still dripped from her wing and now landed on her shoulder. Only a few months ago she heard a roar as loud. Her mother had never been the same from that.

The roar ended and the smaller orcs ran off into the trees, not wanting to fight a monster bigger than they were. Kiyomi slowly brought her arms down along with her wings to stare at the dragon that saved her. Her eyes looked over his black scales and over his large wings. He was beautiful. With a few blinks, she was about to say her thanks when an arrow shot into her other wing. A scream left her lips as she quickly turned around. The orc who hit the tree stood there, unmoved by the dragon.

With her eyes narrowed, Kiyomi ran at the orc. She dodged every arrow he tried to hit her with. Holding up her sword, she hit the bow out of his hands. He roared in her face as he took out his axe. Kiyomi stepped back and waited for him to swing, as soon as he did, she spun around him and hit his back making him stumble. The orc quickly recovered and rose his ax. The second he did she stabbed him in the gut. With a growl, it didn’t faze him. The orc only slide forward on the sword to mock her. “Really?” She said with a stern voice. In a quick movement, the sword was out and his head cut off.

Kiyomi dropped to the ground with the body. She held herself up with all fours as she her breaths came quickly. She never faced orcs before alone. Her mother was always there, but she did it. Along with a fellow dragon. Bringing her eyes up, she looked at the dragon that towered over her. A smile curved on her lips, “thank you.” She managed to whispered before darkness took her. Her body collapsed next to the orc. The blood loss becoming too much for her small body.

Low growls issued from deep in the dragon's belly as the last of the orcs fled. The last one brave enough to stand his ground was slain by the half-blood woman - something that Story watched play out with great interest. The creature's look softened, as did the menacing glow to its eyes when the woman fell, too weak to carry on.

Story needed to get the stranger to safety, but her current state would most definitely prove too delicate to be lifted off in his present form.

Dark violet light enveloped the massive creature's entire body, and the outline of the dragon shrank and morphed until it resembled the outline of a man. Trees swayed and the earth about Story shifted with the sheer amount of energy used in containing what he was. He opened his crimson-brown eyes…took a few deep breaths. Running his fingers through his dark, silver-flecked beard thoughtfully, Story paced around the unconscious woman and decapitated orc, the latter of which he shoved aside with his boot. Kneeling beside her, he admired her wings as he examined the arrow punctures. They would have to be left in for now.

Tenderly and cautiously as he could manage, he lifted the woman up, and carried her over his shoulder. Minding her wings as he situated her, Story then focused upon the same arcane rite that allowed him to change shape. He underwent a change that resembled the female's, able to make use of wings as a man. His were of an ethereal nature, however. They gave him lift, up and over the treeline, where he made his way to where he had made a camp of sorts.


Story laid the woman on the grass, and propped her head up with his cloak, folded over thrice. He tore a bit of his tunic off, and soaked it in the cool stream from whence he had first witnessed the orcs, wrung it, and placed the damp cloth on her forehead. Then, he set about the field, quickly gathering some wild lavender, which he mushed and ground in his fists, and rubbed around the wounds on the woman's wings. This would prevent any further blood loss, and numb the pain as he carefully pulled the arrows out. He managed this procedure without making her wince and sweat too much, and applied more lavender, and some damp cloth from some of his old clothes to the wounds. He removed the cloak he was currently wearing, and covered her up with it. It was a cold night, but he did not dare make a fire just yet; the orcs were still on the prowl.

Several hours passed, and the sun was beginning to peak over the horizon. Story had built a small fire at the woman's feet, and had spent much of the night monitoring her condition. Having relieved her of her weapon, he sat on a rock by the stream, and unsheathed the blade to scrutinize its craftsmanship, and also cleanse it of the orc's blood in the running water.
"Ah, bonjour. I was wondering when you would come to," Story mused softly when he heard her stir behind him. He ran her katana along his sleeve twice, and then sheathed it. "An elegant choice of weapon. Wielded true, as well. Alas, not enough to confront an orcish hunting party, though."

While she was within the darkness, she heard the cries of a baby. She couldn’t say a word, she couldn’t see. The only thing she could do was listen to it’s cries and feel the soft pain in her back. Ever since her little baby sister was taken, she would have this dream. A dream of a crying baby that she couldn’t hear or touch. Kiyomi would always assume it was her sister, Gabriel.

Within the dream, the feel of droplets of water hit her head. She was finally able to reach up and touch her wet hair. Her eyes turned up but nothing was there, only the drops of rain that hit her face. Soon after she let out a gasp, pain erupted in her back, then again. It was almost as if her back was on fire, but there was no fire there. Then after a moment the pain suddenly left replaced by warmth.

Kiyomi didn’t know how much time had passed when she came back to reality. She heard his voice before she saw him.Sitting up, she looked over at him. He held her katana. Standing up, she almost forgotten about her wounds on her wings. “I wasn’t expecting orcs.” She walked over to him and retrieved her sword. She wasn’t one to have others touch her weapons. Looking down she unsheathed it half way. He had cleaned it? She sheathed the weapon once more and strapped it around her waist. The hilt of the sword was simple purple and black, matching her dress, but there was something laid hidden within.

As she tied the strap, she noticed her wings. They had been tended to. Her eyes went to the man again. “Thank you.” She motioned to her wings as she extended her gratitude. A sigh left her lips. She knew she wouldn’t be able to fly with wounded wings. Closing her eyes, she let the wings retracted into her back. The back of her dress left untouched.

“I am Kiyomi Silverstein. Much gratitude for saving my life.” Kiyomi nodded to him. She now owed him a dept. Her first of many, her mother would have said.

Her eyes looked around the area, she knew where she was headed as she flew, but not now. She had no idea where she was. Kiyomi turned to the man before her. She wasn’t one to ask for help and she hated it. Instead, she cleared her throat and asked, “Do you know these woods?” The dragon paused. She didn’t have to right away.  

Kiyomi knew she should be pissed at the man before her. He had swooped in and killed the orcs she wanted to kill herself. She could've handled the situation. Instead, she was too busy looking at how handsome he was and he had saved her life. It had been the first time she had been alone with a man who wasn't trying to kill her.

Story studied the draconic woman carefully as she spoke, not answering to any of her words at first. His soft crimson gaze looked ominously like fire in the first light of dawn, consuming secrets as they were perceived; and perceptive he was, indeed.
"You are searching for something…or someone," he stated bluntly. "Otherwise you would not have so brashly cut into unfamiliar territory."

Graciously, Story handed the sword back to Kiyomi when she gestured for it. "Thanks is not required in the case of necessity," he told her with a wave of his hand as he arose from his rock to stretch. "Having knowledge of your situation and doing nothing when I could have would have been a sin. I do not need any more transgressions written into my book of life. I've plenty to speak of. By the way…"

He nodded to her. "I have been called many things. You may call me Story, miss Silverstein. I know these lands to a point…well enough to avoid detection when passing through them."

Noting Kiyomi's gaze lingering on him in an odd sort of way, he awkwardly paced around the camp, and pointed towards the thickest part of the wood, opposite of and many fathoms away from where he had found her. "Traces of more pleasant civilization are Westward. If we spend today heading that way, you should be able to find a suitable place to lay low before moving on in your search."

Packing up his effects, and donning a cloak, Story led the way through the woods. He was mostly silent at first as they walked, but occasionally paused to point out edible or useful flora, or to answer any questions Kiyomi had. In the distance, he could vaguely make out a structure in a clearing. "I do not remember this house," he muttered before suddenly coming to a full stop.
"Do you smell that?" he asked her. His sensitive sense of smell picked up an all too familiar metallic tinge. The pricking of his senses was confirmed when he found some droplets on a bush, along with some fragments of bone in the dirt. "Blood…and bone. Orcs are brutish, but they are proficient hunters. What I see here suggests some sort of bludgeoning wound. An orc would never use a club to chase down a deer. There's a trail towards the house…be on your guard."

When he mention she was looking for someone. She didn’t bother to say who she was looking. She hadn’t ever been left alone with a person of the opposite sex. Her mind was on that when he continued to speak. When he stood and started to walk around the camp, she kept her eyes on him. When he spoke, she nodded in agreement. She needed a place to heal. She was done searching for her sister. “Eden doesn’t want to be found.” She thought to herself, her heart breaking with every word.

As he walked through the woods, she walked beside him. She didn’t speak and neither did he. Her mind was on her sister. Would she ever see her again? Was she dead? So many questions were running through her mind. Clearing her thoughts, she needed to be on her guard just in case orcs were nearby.

At Story’s sudden stop, she looked at the substance he saw on a bush. Her eyes looked over what he called blood and bone. The half dragon straightened as her eyes looked around the woods and towards the open clearing. The trail they walked on hadn’t been used in a long time. There wasn’t any footprints. Roots stuck up from the middle of the trail randomly, rocks were scattered about, and a few leaves. The trail was barely visible, but they knew their destination.

While nearing the house, their was no sound of any birds. It was quiet. “It’s too quiet.” She whispered trying to keep her voice low. She didn’t want to give up their location. When they reached the house, she glanced in the windows. “Looks like nothing has lived here in a long time.” She said as she looked over the half broken table covered in dust. The couch inside was too. She decided to head inside the house. As soon as she opened the door, the musky smell hit her nose. The door hadn’t been opened in a long time.

Purple eyes glanced around the old house. Dust covered everything. Walking deeper, the wood floor creaked under her boots. She turned into the room she looked in on. The table half broken and laid on its side. A chair she didn’t see before was turned over as well. On the ground there was broken white glass.  “Looks like a struggle happened in here?” She said aloud to the man who was in the house with her. Her eyes moved over to the fireplace. Above the mantle, was a family painted picture. A mother sat on the chair, the father in the background with his hand on the woman. A boy stood beside him and a little baby was held in the mother’s arms.  “I wonder what happened to them?” She asked aloud more to herself.

Looking over the candle covered mantle, she noticed a color that wasn’t matching the white of the mantle. Stepping over to the corner of the mantle, and examined it. Dried blood covered the corner or that is what she thought.  “Story. Is this blood?” She asked as she motioned for him to look.

As soon as he stepped beside her, the floor creaked even more. Her eyes caught something in the window, a mask with antlers. "There's someone—" Her words were cut short as the floor caved in under them. A scream left her lips as they fell into the darkness. When her body hit the wet ground, she rolled. She felt the rocks cut her skin and her head hit the ground before she was able to stop herself. She moaned softly from the pain that erupted in her head.

Kiyomi stood from her spot, the darkness around them was barely lit by one beam of light that came from behind them. Looking to where they came from, she sighed. They’re way was blocked by brick, rock and dirt. The beam of light soon disappeared by some more falling dirt that buried them in.

The tunnel where they stood was damp and was only big enough for a few people to walk through. The ground was covered in a inch or so of water. When they moved deeper in the cave, they would be met by a different assortment of creatures. Kapps roamed the outer cave tunnels. Fish like men with pointed teeth and black eyes. Echidna’s lurked deeper in the tunnels. Half snake women that slithered over the ceilings of the tunnels. They eyes as sharp as a snake and claws sharp enough to cut through skin. They teeth are just like that of a snake.

There were also creatures that were beneath the feet of the strangers. Kiyomi would be the first to meet them. As she took a few steps forward to examine the cave before her, the buddle that didn’t seem like something to be worried about was no puddle at all, but an opened to the water filled caverns below. A scream left her lips as she fell into the pool of water. She was able to come back up for a breath of air, before the man could grab her, she was pulled under. Something had hold of her ankle. Her eyes focused quickly, and the pressure that was on her ancel left. Her eyes looked around the dark water around her. Suddenly, a face of a women appeared before her. Fanged teeth with a fin of a fish. A mermaid.

The mermaid tried to bite at Kiyomi’s neck, Kiyomi struggled and tried to hit the woman before her. Fighting in water was hard for the dragon. She was able to use her dragon strength and punch the mermaid in the face. That moment the mermaid was pushed back from the force of the hit, Kiyomi was able to pull the dagger from her boot. When the mermaid swam at her, Kiyomi was able to stab the woman in the gut. The screech that echoed through the water made Kiyomi cover her eyes for a moment.

Kiyomi swam up quickly to the hole she had came from. She gasped for air as she came out of the water. Climbing out, she hurried to move from the hole a few feet then laid back against the cold floor. “Great..Mermaids…” She gasped out. After she caught her breath she was able to stand up. “We need to get out of here.” She said looking at Story.

If only she knew, that wasn’t the worst in the cave. Deeper in the cave, a masked windigo stood over an alter. Blood dripped of the side’s from his latest kill. Finishing his meal, he stepped back and sat on his throne of bones, waiting for the new comers.

Story was accustomed to the silence that accompanied the presence of the preternatural. The eerie stillness was a known hallmark of areas afflicted with curses that blasphemed the natural order of creation. Vampirism would cause the wind to lose its breath. Lycanthropy silenced the denizens of the wild, for instinctual fear of being made known to such an abhorrent, apex predator. What Kiyomi sensed here was not her imagination. He felt it too. It was a very tangible force that tainted the air.

Clues left around the abandoned house only served to strengthen this notion - that something was gravely amiss. There was more than the anxiety of discovering the site of a violent struggle. Feelings of eyes upon them caught both Kiyomi's and Story's attention simultaneously, but it was too late. They had unwittingly stepped into a trap.

The dark descent into the caverns below the house was so sudden, Story could not react in time to break his fall. He landed harshly amidst the dank, jagged rocks along with his companion, groaning as he gained his bearings to stand. "I'm getting too old for this," he muttered to himself in the half-light, groping along the rock wall to make his way towards Kiyomi's voice. He heard a plunge into deep water a few feet ahead of him, and sprinted forward, almost falling in himself. Hearing the muffled screeching, he was relieved that Kiyomi was able to break free of the assailant that instantly set upon her, and hastily helped her the rest of the way out of the water when she emerged.

Looking around the cavern as his human eyes started to adjust to the darkness, Story grumbled. Almost comically, the whole situation seemed to present more of an inconvenience or annoyance to him than any true mortal danger. The cavern had closed in, and it was too small to simply change his form to try and break free. He could potentially end them both by causing more of the earth to collapse into this network of caverns. He was also unarmed, but this was not an issue. He was knowledgeable of what sorts of creatures dwelt in places like these. His arcane talents would hopefully prove to be enough to keep them at bay as they found another way out.

Story made a sign with his hand, and flung his arm before him with intensity, producing a brilliant arc of flame that illuminated much of what lay around them. Flashes of watchful, hungry eyes and bared fangs scurried further into the black reaches in terror at the display.

There were more divisive and…extreme methods of intimidation or destruction that he could employ. Exploiting these subterranean creature's fear and loathing of light and heat would suffice for now, however; only a fool showed their strongest hand at the start of a game.

"Keep that blade at the ready," Story instructed as he leisurely sauntered forward, leading the way onto a path to the right of the deep water. He held his hand out and made the sign once more, but focused instead on maintaining the flames around his hand to act as a torch.

Kiyomi coughed up the water that was still in her lungs. Now free of the liquid, she watched the man next to her. She was happy she wasn’t alone in the cave. Even if she didn’t know the man beside her, she knew he had a good heart. He did save her after all. Her hand circled her blade and looked through the darkness before them. She sighed, why couldn’t she see in the dark as she did in dragon form? She couldn’t even use her powers in this form. Leaning down, she slipped her dagger into the sheath tied to the side of her boot.

The motion Story’s hand made her purple eyes look at him. He soon lit the darkness around them; her sight automatically adjusted to the change of light. Maybe that wasn’t the best thing he should’ve done. Just a moment after he spoke to her, she heard growls echo through the caverns around them. “Oh man.” She said while tightening her hand around the hilt of her sword that was strapped to her waist. Luckily, one of them had a weapon at hand.

Finally, they started to move through the tunnel. Her eyes staying focus before her. The air smelled fuel the more they moved inward. The dragon tried to keep her banging heart under control. She was always used to her mother next to her. She was strong and had powers in her human form. She had learned over the years to fight by her mother’s side. It was like they were one. They knew who was going to do what move before it happened. That was when she looked through the semi lit area with confidence. “I will not die here.” She thought while she thought of her mother. Katerina already lost two daughters, she wasn’t going to lose another.

For a moment, Kiyomi thought they could have a breath; nothing was coming for them and they weren’t falling from traps. As they moved through the tunnel, they came to a small opening, three others broke away from the one they exited. She turned looking at everyone, but before she could ask which way they should go she was grabbed from behind. Holding back a scream, Kiyomi was able to elbow her captive in the stomach. Turning around, she removed her sword and sliced the fish like man in the gut. Before his body fell to the floor, three more came out of the tunnels around them.

Taking her dagger out of her boot, the dragon tossed it to the man beside her. The moment she had her guard down, a sting shot through her arm. The grows and screeches erupted from the kappas that attacked them. Stepping back, Kiyomi looked at the single kappa that came at her. She ducked a few times at the swinging claw finlike hands that came at her. Side stepping the beast, she was able to cut the kappa in the stomach like the one before. When it fell down down to its knees before her, she turned and chopped off its head. With a thud, the body fell to the ground.

Breathing heavily, she turned to the man beside her. “I bet there is more…” She whispered, hoping nothing heard her.

Story's calm was unbreakable, it seemed. Even as the men-like sea beasts grabbed Kiyomi, and surrounded the both of them, he moved with fluidity and grace, avoiding grasping claws, and kicking the kappa before him onto its back. It splashed in the stagnant puddles on the dank cave floor, but was quick to rise back up to its feet after rocking on its shell for a moment. Having caught the small blade Kiyomi threw to him, Story was quick to dispatch the creature, however, plunging the dagger into the side of its rubbery scaled neck. It knelt before him, giving a gurgled shriek and holding its fin-like hands to the wound. Mercilessly, the dagger was then slit across its throat and gills, and the thing was kicked down a second time.

Blood had sprayed across Story's clothes. Even this did not seem to phase him in the slightest. He was even able to maintain his concentration on sustaining their light source through the whole ordeal of the attack. He was able to anticipate all of their assailant's erratic moves, dipping and feinting, all the while his own slashes and jabs with the loaned dagger connected. Calm apparently did not denote patience. As soon as the last creature was left open, and away from Kiyomi, Story breathed into the arcane torch in his palm, casting the flames in a torrent at the fetid monster. Its flesh was deeply singed and the thing screamed pitifully and writhed on the cave floor when the dragon relented. Story approached it, and swiftly kicked across its jaw. The force of the impact jerked its head to the side strongly enough to sever neck from spine, effectively silencing the cries.

Nonchalantly, Story wiped the blood from the dagger on his clothes and handed it back to Kiymomi. It was abundantly clear that he was quite accustomed to violence.

"No doubt there are more," Story replied, confidently speaking at normal volume in response to his companion's whisper. "Kappa are easily frightened, though. Dispatch a few, and any others will think twice about attacking….Come, I feel a draft coming from the left-hand path. That could mean an exit."

He led the way, leisurely strolling along the path while keeping the flame burning bright.


"Morsels have come, child. Strong ones though too, mother. Mmm. Yes. Meaty."
The wendigo that had trapped the travelers danced with glee before two grotesquely-prostrated skeletons as it spoke to them. They were crucified on some crudely-made wooden apparatus, surrounded by skins both animal, and humanoid, along with various burnt offerings. One of the skeletons was small enough to have been a child.
Bare feet splashed in the rancid water in the large, dark chamber, and the cursed being chattered and chuckled to itself anxiously as it pattered and twirled about.

Bits of earth fell from the bottom of a well that the wendigo had sealed off, casting rays of light upon its throne of bloodied bones.
"No no no no NO!" it growled. It dug and scraped its claws along stone and earth as it scampered up the walls and onto the ceiling, hurriedly arranging and packing the dirt back as it should be.
"That just won't do!" it wailed. "Terrible, terrible for sissy's complexion!"