Hare extended her wings and loudly spoke, “Winning a wits game is always so refreshing!” Flying a bit above Thug, she had yet to turn into her human form, excitement granting her a primal desire to fly, even if she had to dodge the forest canopy.

Thug, jumping and crouching, using the shortcuts his several years of adventuring on these lands had given him, continued his sprint. “Careful with…the trees. Still…aren’t dragons supposed to hate trickery?” Managed to get out with his ragged breath.

“Pffff,” A so human-like expression. A reminder that dragons were also sapient creatures. “ Only reds are so traditional. Mother always said that they had muscles for brains! A challenge is supposed to be a duel where two opponents use all of their power, isn't it?”

Thug managed to nod in agreement, almost stumbling because of it.

“Wouldn’t it then, not using your connections, influence, hoards and partners, not be a disservice to your opponent? You have to fight with all that you have. To put all in the line! That’s the honourable way!” Hare spouted words learned to heart, the ancestral traditions of dragon kind.

“Why would you get angry before then?” Asked Thug, using the conversation to calm his nerves. ‘I really am rusty with the sword.’

“Because, isn’t this a duel between you and that knight? Those two were part of your kind, weren’t they? Yet they betrayed you and interrupted the duel!” A shaming undertone surrounded the edge of her words.

Slowing down, Thug started to breathe normally. “But they hated me? Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to betray me?” Thug, thinking it was youthful ignorance, tried to hamer his point home.

“Grievances are to be taken to duel. Once you are beaten, you are to be loyal! All is washed away upon the strike of claws and fangs!” Strong words, and ones she believed wholly, even if she was paraphrasing the teachings of old.

“Wait a second. Let me get this straight. You are saying that the only reason you followed me was because I beat you?” Asked Thug, flabbergasted.

“Yes! You proved your worth and I follow.” Answered Hare, pride flowing through as if she had been the victor.

“But…didn’t you also beat me?” Thug moved his left hand around, trying to make sense of what she was saying, his run reduced to a fast walk.

“Did I? Oh. I did!!” ‘She had forgotten already?’ Hare’s tail danced a bit before she landed on a branch with her discovery before stopping completely. “I…did?” Hare turned to look at Thug, unsure of what to do.

Thug laughed lightly for a few seconds and stopped in his tracks. “You know. I was never a fan of follower-leader like relationships. What about a partnership?”

“Huh?”

“We both beat each other so, we both follow each other? We both chose where or what to do. Does it sound fine to you?”

Hare nodded several times, her horns scratching the branch immediately above her head. Her tail hitting the trunk of the tree a few times, “I agree, Thug!”

Thug lowered his gaze as he searched into the pouch for his last healing potion, trying to hide the growing smile. ‘She trusts too easily.’ It had been the first time she had called him by his name. Was it a dragon form of paying respects or her just trusting him and having grown closer? He didn’t want to ask. Neither did he want to break the heartwarming illusion.

Rising the bottle and drinking with a straight face, he added. “Then, if you doubt my directions or our pathing, speak up.”

“Will do!” She flailed her wings around.

………

Hare jumped out of the branch and, using her wings to slow her fall, started to polymorph into her human form. Storing her clothes into a special holding, created by her magic, was a bore, but it let her come out already dressed. With the ease only practice could build, her transformation barely took more than five seconds. Her flawless skin was a consequence of her new expertise, appearing now like a completely normal human kid of about nine years, if one overlooked the tail, eyes and horns.

“Let’s keep going.” Thug turned around and, now walking, led the walk. His hand smelled of no new blood, having been cured by the strange liquid he drank.

Hurrying to catch up with him, she asked, “Will we have time to hunt now?” She couldn’t stop her tail from darting around. ‘A partnership! He recognizes me as a worthy foe!’

Thug opened and closed his mouth a few times. “Yes. Yes we will.”

Hare nodded, content. She didn’t mind the scent of wonder and some worry from him. Her mind still couldn’t believe it. ‘An equal…’. Hare nodded again, this time to herself and focused her eyes on the tracking spell that had been there for a few seconds, wondering what the best course of action would be.

“Thug.” She called. Remembering the time her mother had tampered with this very spell, causing the pursues to overreach, her tail started to wildly swing. She would live up to his expectatives!

……..

In the middle of a forest fire, Marc screamed, “To the west, thirty metres!” The last week had been tough. Trying to tail a local inside its zone of expertise had pushed his wits to the end, even with the tracking spell. Having hired so many free mercenaries had not made it easier to coordinate themselves. Their main and real forces were busy tailing a second sighting of a white dragon not that further north after all.

The smoke costing him the ability to see that much into the fog, he watched as her captain plunged her sword into Thug before its body exploded into light shards that soon went off. His senses screaming danger, he turned to look for it.

Dozens of great trees, most of them higher than fifty metres, on fire. The ground had turned bright red with all of the embers that kept falling from the sky, giving the illusion of a rain of fire, and was bathed in dozens of small fires from bushes and small herbs. A hundred and something hectares of burning terrain surrounded them, having caused them to traverse more or less ten kilometres on foot, always just a step behind on trapping them. That had further lowered their manpower, as a great part of it was busy controlling its spread.

Not having the time to take in the netherish vision, he willed a magic shield around himself. A second later, two daggers hit the mana guarding his eyes. Twenty metres to the east, he saw their target, leisurely waiting in ambush for this moment. Alone and too far from backup, he willed another spell, this time a lightning strike. ‘Thank the Gods magic needs no casting time nor preparation.’ Breaking out in a sweet, he watched his attack hit the tree behind Thug, who was lunging forward towards him.

Panicking, he joined his hands, forming a vase-like structure, and tried to will magic flames. His chaotic mind failed him, causing his spell to backfire and ignite his hands in fire. Falling backwards in pain, he screamed as his magic shield disentangled and dispersed in streaks of light. Hitting his head on the ground, he struggled to regain his bearings as he quickly got back up

Shaking his hands, trying to fan out the flames. Marc looked up, only to see Thug’s too close for comfort, a mere three metres away. The crackling and sizzling of the forest hammered his ears, heightening his confusion. He couldn’t believe his eyes, who watched as Ires’ greatsword impacted Thug’s shortsword, snapping its blade in half, and continued its voyage far into where they had come from.

Thug wasn’t yet finished and, as he jumped backwards and threw another dagger with his left hand, as his right was reeling from the collision. What stopped it now was Ires itself, her right hand in specific, as she landed right in front of Marc, disarmed but armoured up.

“Tsk.” Muttered Thug, his right grabbing his pouch, now filled with liquid that Hare had made.

Ires stood to her full height and raised his arms into a brawler stance.

“No talk?” Asked Thug as Ires started to stalk forward. His mouth, wrapped with a leather piece filled with ice, had some difficulty speaking.

“Giving you time is dangerous.” Ires muttered, a prepared line aiming for a gap.

“Couldn’t hold it in after all, h…uh!?” And there it was. Ires jumped forward, trying for a hook that Thug sidestepped as he kicked hot embers into her face.

Ires didn’t bother to dodge, the embers hitting her helmet but not being able to pass through the gaps as a magic wall stopped them. Instead, she pressed the attack. A punch with the right ruffled Thug’s long hair. The left follower broke the dagger he tried to parry it with and lightly hit his face. But defending only gets you so far, and a knee hit found his abdomen, causing him to fly a few steps backwards, hitting the ground with a loud ‘thud’.

Rising up, Thug spat both blood and, “What are you made from, bastard of a knight?”

Ires circled, alertness flaring up. She would fall in no trap again. A quick look around denoted a complete lack of human magic. The runes in her helmet flaring up, she catched an illusion in Thug’s right hand.

“Steel.” Now played around Ires.

“Feels like it…Nethers.” Thug held his stomach. ‘Internal bleeding? The pain sure points at it. I hope not.’.

Ires seemed to lower his guard as her gaze went loose for half a second, searching her weapon. His dagger flew like a snake’s attack, hitting right in the gap of her helmet as she turned to look at him, only to bounce away, harmless.

“Seen that one before.” Stabbed Ires’ words, satisfaction bathing them.

“Was never that good of a trickster.” Thug spat out. Smirking, he followed with, “But that says more about you than me, man.”

“Indeed.” Ires agreed, no ounce of sarcasm. He had played her like a fiddle and gained her respect. But that ended now, inside a fiery inferno. Not daring to go search for her weapon, she nodded to her mercenaries who had circled around, sealing Thug’s escape routes. One rushed to the search.

Stepping forwards, she bypassed the dagger, not paying attention to the mana flow of it, or into it, nor its spells. Grabbing Thug’s clothes and raising him, she asked, “The dragon.”

“You sound like an old man. Dragon this, dragon that, can yo…”

A headbut interrupted Thug, reeling his head backwards. In retort, Thug spat blood onto her helmet, causing a red blind spot in her helmet. Moving her left hand to clean it, she was hit by a dagger in his back, which pierced her armour. Falling to a knee, she dropped Thug, who used his now free right arm to dip his hand into the pouch, drenching it into a black ink like substance, and throwing it into her helmet, completely blackening her field of vision.

Sensing the change and the new, invisible, enemy, her fellow mercenaries rushed in as she tried to jump backwards. Thug tackled her, fighting to reach the sharp enough dagger in her back. Grasping it, he felt the weight of another punch, too close to be as destructive as it should. Thinking quickly, and taking into consideration his position, glued to her waist, he stabbed her knee, twisting the dagger to add as much damage as possible, and jumped away.

Ires’ pained grunt was silenced by Hare’s ice breath, which caused a cloud of smoke, ash and steam, hiding their retreat.

“Fo…follow them!” Ordered Ires. Now out of danger, the runes of her armour flared up, starting to heal her injuries. ‘Yet again!! Another cursed trick at the right moment!! The cowardice!’ Her mind screamed. Recovering from his rage, she remembered the situation.

Under the sounds of footsteps, she turned to check on Marc, still trying to get out a spell from his charred hands. Blood kept tickling from the back of his head.

“Let me see your wounds.” Said Ires as she crouched down, hers already almost healed. The runes lost some shine as they redirected the flow of mana back towards defensive capabilities.

“I am terribly sorry for…failing in my duties. I should have provided backup.” Whisperer Marc between pained breaths. His mask, a magic item specifically built to counter flames, lowered his voice more.

“Holding anything is going to be impossible. The head doesn’t look that bad.” Ignored Ires. “You will be relieved from paperwork duty.”

That made Marc give out a pained laugh, more of a cough. “And let you talk with the Inquisition? No captain, I do not think I will.”

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“So be it.” Her tone regained the edge. “Can you still trail them?”

“They used against us, captain. I do not th…”

“That means they could dispel it but have yet to. However, no matter how bad of an idea it is to play along, it lets us follow them. And we would dance to their tune only until the grasslands.”

“Are you really sure, captain?” Doubt and pain evident in Marc’s voice. His red hair hid the blood too well. His green eyes, tired beyond belief, locked onto hers. His dark skin being resalted by the red-yellowish light produced by the flames.

“Now we know they are onto us. No matter what ambush, I will break it.”. She sealed her frustrations inside her. It was the best decision, no matter how much it irked her.

………

“Good work with the spells.” Outside of the burning area, Thug managed to speak between coughs. Even under the bags of ice, breathing had been too much of a strain. ‘Too close of a call.’ “And a pretty good throw. Not bad, not bad.”

Hare puffed out her chest, an action she had come to do a lot these days.

“Lastly. How far can you put these illusions?” The evil smirk of Thug soon corrupted Hare’s smile.

“I am listening, partner.” The whiteness of her fangs reminded Thug of her true ascendency.

“Can you make ropes?” Thug appeared to change the topic as he started to search in his bag.

“Ropes?” Hare tilted her head to the side.

“Something like this!” Thug, finally finding it, pulled out a thin but robust rope.

Hare nodded and, putting her hands on the grass, started to concentrate. Soon enough, the surrounding plant life started to be sucked below her hands, tying itself into a rope-like end. Its density increasing, it started to grow by the ends, extending to the sides and soon surpassing Thug’s.

“Like this?” Said Hare after breathing in. It had been more draining than what she had expected.

“Exactly like that.” Thug’s smirk turned into a full blown smile as he nodded approvingly. His smile diminished as a drop of water fell on his nose. Looking up, a cloudy sky had started to drop its watery cargo.

Needing refuge from both the growing smoke and the rain, they continued their march until they found some trees good enough to take cover below. ‘Thank the Gods for the rain.’ Even if the night should be cold, the nearby forest fire, even if already decreasing in magnitude, warmed up the surroundings. Nonetheless, he still regretted it.

“No fire for today so...” Started Thug before looking to his companion, who had already fallen asleep, curled in a ball. “Can white dragons catch colds?” Muttered Thug. Covering Hare with his coat full of ash, he shook his head for he had little more to offer.

“Am I teaching her the right lessons?” Thug laughed to himself. If a dragon needed to learn something was how to protect himself from the rest of the species. Nonetheless, a part of him rued their situation. “...a kid's job is to play and learn around ain’t it, Irania? If you were here you would have broken open my skull already… How I miss that pain.” A small pause. “But you are dead, and this lass ain’t. And I will see it to be this way for as long as I can.” Was it grim determination, stubbornness or hope? He did not know.

Falling asleep, he enjoyed his second night without nightmares. His hands still trembled but it was an improvement. Getting out of the floor and groggily walking towards Hare to wake her up, a dark thought came by, ‘If it was always this easy to stop drinking, I can keep on it, can’t I? If it's only a few silver coins for healing potions I can…’ Pinching his right arm was enough to kick it to the back of its head. ‘...Better to keep moving.’

………

“Careful with the footing near the trees! They are filled with…” The sounds of several branches, and a human body, moving dangerously fast interrupted the mercenary’s speech by launching him into the air. The now visible rope danced from atop the tree amidst a heavy rain.

The panicked splash of several boots on mud and puddles were followed by a roar. “Don’t you all have eyes?! Look where you are going, bastards! We are losing them again!” Bellowed Marc, doing his best to inspect the ground, the pangs of pain causing the magic powering his vision to waver in power.

Ires, spearheading the charge, had no problems with the traps, the terrain or the reduced vision. Too heavy to be prey to rope traps, too dexterous to fall into holes and too strong to fall to wet dirt, she was cleaning a good portion of the treacherous trail by herself. Her entourage, however, had no such advantages.

Seeing her third follower get caught in a trap and having his leg impaled in an anomalous sharp and durable green stick, she growled. “We will circle from the west.”

Anger silencing any grievances with her decision, which would cost them another day, the mercenary party turned around.

‘In two days we have lost a third to injuries. If his plan was to gain time he is doing very well. Injured people do not walk fast.’ Meditated Ires, irritation threatening to make her cause an excene. “Once we arrive at the plains we will be able to run them down, so hurry it up!”

In a lower voice, “How bad are the wounded?” She asked Marc.

“No one is at risk of dying but severe injuries are piling up.”

“Are the illusions that good?”

“I am not at my best, captain. They are good enough right now.”

“For how long?”

“Too long I am afraid.”

“So be it. Focus on the tracking spell.” Ires looked up. Between the rain and the shadows, a greenish ‘rope’ still dangled from the top of the tree. ‘So the mercenary has learned how to control the dragon. More reason to nip him into Oblivion.’.

“Is it really the best idea? I do no…”

“What do you propose?”

Marc fell silent for a while. “...what if we give up on the chase? We can focus on the northern rumours about another dragon and, if they prove true, hunt it. That bastard is a drunkard, and he will need to resupply in a city. If we make a few checkpoints he will be forced to play in our lands. He has proven too competent in his.”

Ires breathed in, holding in the anger. “He is but one man. I refuse to believe he can maintain his trickery for much longer.” Admitting defeat without anything to offer was too bitter of a realisation to accept, more so when she would catch him if he didn’t resort to such treacherous tricks.

“Your call, captain.”

The doubt in his voice cracked open the gates that held in her ire. Stopping in her tracks, a plan started to form. “Marc, how much distance can your magic letters cover?”

“From here to the nearest city, Troglod. Why?”

“I will trail them with our old course. You lot circle from the west. A pincer attack should be able to grant us the element of surprise. You are in charge of coordinating me and the mercenaries under my command.”

Marc raised his voice. “Wait! They have proved to have weapons capable of harming you, captain! You are acting rashly beyond belief!”

“They lack the mastery to best me. Do you doubt my skills?” Ires' tone went gelid. Now, her second in command doubted her mastery? How much would that bastard disgrace her?!

“I doubt your reasoning! They are beating you through cunning, not with swordplay! We have all the advantages and cards! Playing for time benefits us if we act on it! Rethink your decision!”

“I have grown accustomed to their schemes. I will come on top.” Doubled down Ires, her tone gaining bluntness.

Marc tried to calm down by scratching his left arm, the pang of pain causing a grimace. “I am against it, captain Ires. Listen to me, please!”

“So be it. Second in command, I order you to do it.”

Gritting his teeth, Marc nodded. “So be it, captain.”

Once they separated and started to march in opposite directions, Marc growled the new orders. “Men, we march an hour east and the rest towards the north. That will get us near Troglod. If worse comes to worst, we will give up on this endeavour. Get moving!”

Riding the captain’s horse, he started to lead this small mutiny. ‘I am not trusting you with this, not alone. I pray that I am wrong about this hunch but I am not leaving it to Dice, Goddess of Luck.’

…….

“The ‘border grasslands’. They sure are as breathtaking as they say.” Whispered Thug. Just outside the forest, tall grass followed in a grand scale. No landmarks, no mountains, no trees, no nothing. Only green, yellow and some white were all the eyes could see. The leaves danced thanks to the cold air, giving Thug a feeling of danger. Complete exposure. They were big noticeable spots on a sea of small plants.

“So big!!” Excitedly screamed Hare, reverting to her dragon form and taking flight. Whereas Thug hated the open space, she felt an addictive freedom.

That got a small smile out of Thug as he followed her. His face soon returned to its earlier position, letting his gaze inspect their new challenge. Owing the name to their position separating the northern duchy from the eastern one, they occupied a third of this last one, biting lightly into the first and separating the old Dwarf Clans, who now were but myths and legends.

“Three more days of walking. Will we find enough water?” A jumping creature surprised him. A hare was running away as quickly as it could, going as far as to dash in front of Thug. Already in its winter fur, it was a flash of white. The hunter? Flying Hare, who managed to land on its back fifteen metres away from Thug, tearing it apart with her talons. Her wings splashing its blood after landing, she bite off its head, quickly devouring it.

“Shouldn’t you wait until there’s a fire?” Asked Thug, in a tired tone after gulping down the tiny instinctual fear of seeing that carnage.

“I missed the flavour of long ears! These were the first ones I learned to hunt!” Hare turned, bloody mouth and with some meat still between her fangs. “I love how they crunch!”

“I see. That’s still no excuse. At least let me cook them first.”

“You are wasting your time on reasoning with a monster.”

“Who are you calling a monst…” Angry, Thug started to retort before turning around in a flash, unsheathing his two last daggers and, locking the surprising figure of that damned knight, throwing one.

Ires simply slashed it in mid air, cutting it in two. “Asking back is not giving an argument.” There it was. She could almost savour it. Payback.

“Didn’t you had enough two days ago? Dammit man, give us some rest.” Cursed Thug. Noticing in his peripheral vision Hare slowly creeping to circle around Ires, Thug shook his head, stopping her. Noticing him, Hare disappeared, waiting for an ambush.

“Catching you off foot? I am enjoying this feeling.” Smirked, behind her helmet, Ires. Her hands strengthened their grip on the greatsword.

Thug danced the dagger into a reverse grip, putting his left arm before it as if to shield it. “What do I have to do for you to leave us the nether alone.”

“The d…”

“I don’t know why I even try!” Cut her Thug as he rushed forward.

The confident stance of the knight rubbed him in the wrong way. ‘I am winning, straight up…Not that I have more than one trick left.’. Darting forward, he surprised her by not darting around but meeting her head on. A somewhat unsure stab was slided with his dagger, letting him pommel strike Ires’ face, or helmet in this case, knocking her head backwards a bit. Thug proceeded to jump the counterattack of a kick, responding with a double kick into her chest, propelling him in the opposite direction and falling her into the ground.

Rolling for a bit, he quickly returned to a crouching position before bolting to the attack. Throwing his last dagger caused Ires, who was already up and too surprised to take the initiative, to parry with her sword, outpositioning it after dealing with the dagger, letting Thug slam into her with all the force he had mustered in his five metre mad run. Nevertheless, Ires won the contest of strength, only reeling a bit and rotating to the right, whereas Thug fell on the ground to her right side after letting loose the end of a green rope, which Ires missed, and sliding a bit before stopping.

Going into the defensive, and fearing a plot, Ires didn’t move from her position, only readjusting her greatsword to aim at Thug. Raising slowly, Thug was grabbing the dagger he had launched at the start.

“Waiting for me to get up? What an honourable thing to do.” He spat as his left hand stayed near the ground.

“I expect no honour from y…” At the sound of her voice, Thug reeled his left hand backwards, tensing the green rope and snaring her right foot. The pull caused her leg to follow the inertia, breaking her position and moving her forward. Still calm, she pulled back and met no resistance as Thug had propelled himself forward, trying to exploit the window. Dagger met greatsword, causing dozens of sparks to fly and destroying one of the blade’s edges of the dagger. Thanks to the normal grab, he managed to push the greatsword up as it was stuck in the dagger’s guard, which hadn’t broken by Karax’s whim, leaving Ires’ chestplate open for nothing, as he had no means to attack thanks to throwing his dagger before.

Noticing his mistake, he inched forward, glueing himself to her and incapacitating her from headbutting. What his new position didn’t stop was a knee strike, but it was a strike that had little weight. Another thing Thug had also erred in had been thinking this was a one on one duel, thing he realised as a dagger hit his left hand, which grabbed it and used it to stab the right armpit of Ires, causing her to weaken her grip of her greatsword. A small hand movement from Thug later caused it to fly away, stabbing deep into the ground.

Ires punched his right flank just below the ribs, causing an enormous wave of pain to Thug, who bent over despite having the advantage. An elbow attack on the back of his head dropped him to the ground and fractured his skull, knocking him out cold.

Dusting herself, she started to slowly walk towards her sword, not wary of the dragon who, she expected, would have run away by now. Unsheathing the greatsword from the dirt with her left arm, she heard Thug come back as he coughed. Her right arm sat motionless at her side, but she did not need it to fell a barely moving target.

“Still not surrendering?” An ocean of pride came over hell, dulling the pained armpit and maintaining the flow of adrenaline. Severely enjoying the moment, she could but gloat as she crouched in front of the toppled Thug, bathed in dirt and pieces of grass, “When you run out of tricks it's as easy as hitting a tree.”

Thug smirked. “Bad dices. I did my job. The dragon’s gone. And, you know what? Go fuck yourself with those trees you speak so fondly off.”

Her growing smirk freezing, she grabbed Thug by the clothes and raised him up into the air, until they were face to face, relishing in the slight fear showing in his eyes. “Your sword is dull, fallen noble. Bravado is worthless without the skills to back it up.” The runes of her armour right side flared up, starting to heal her right arm.

“I need no bravado, thank you. Bravado precedes the fall!!”

At his last word, Ires’ right flank was struck by an ice breath, freezing the armour to its core as its magic was focused on healing and not protecting. Dropping Thug, she tried to move to protect her frozen flank. She wasn’t fast enough. A left punch of Thug cracked the armour, causing some pieces to fall and break onto the ground. After a desperate slash, parried by a dagger, Ires fell onto his back.

On top of her was now Thug, bleeding from his head and armed with a dagger touching her unprotected flank.

“Now we can negotiate, right?”

As if answering him, a lighting strike punched him into the chest, launching him several metres backwards. Hare, now panicking, breather again, creating a wall of ice and dividing the battlefield in two before rushing towards Thug.

A hyperventilating man grabbed Ires by the left shoulder and helped her onto her feet. “Captain…I told you it…was a bad idea…And we are retreating! The backup is an hour behind!”

Ires, too shaken up by her unexpected defeat, followed his instructions.

……….