After a full two minutes frozen in place, Dreiki finally dared to look around. Slow as he could, he scanned his surroundings for whatever had broken a branch nearby. Finding nothing, he decided it must've been some sort of wild animal.

He couldn't afford to wait much longer. This Bat Drake needed urgent help.

Dreiki set the beast down. Bat drakes were incredibly sturdy creatures, but Dreiki didn’t know if he could do anything to help it. In this moment, he wished he had been born with an element like water magic to heal this drake. And unlike humans with their varied array of spells which could be any element they desired, Dreiki was limited to the single elemental magic he was born with like every other xiozian.

Dreiki wasn’t going to give up yet, though. The best he could do for now was dress its wounds in clean cloth and tie a splint to its broken hind leg with twine and branches. Dreiki discovered wounds that looked older than the others during his first aid. The beast was hanging on by a thread, but stubbornly so.

“There you are. You’ll need lots of rest and food if you’re going to pull through,” Dreiki said, looking up to the sky.

He could feel a damp cold in the air like it was about to rain, “But first we need to get you someplace safe and dry.”

He tested the drake, trying to see if it was still angry enough to bite him. “I’ll be sure not to touch your injuries, okay? As long as you don’t make any new ones for me.”

The drake grunted but seemed to comply, and Dreiki took the chance to scoop it into his arms and carry it off. The drake was almost as big as Dreiki from head to tail, but when it curled up, it fit neatly beneath his cloak. Its body was warm to the touch despite its otherwise reptilian appearance.

It began licking at Dreiki’s arm that it had bitten earlier.

“Oh, are you apologizing? Don’t worry about it!” Dreiki smiled and recalled how intelligent bat drakes were. They could understand speech and even think independently to a relatively high degree. Their senses gave them incredible awareness of their surroundings.

Bat drakes were often used as companions during hunts, messengers and scouts, or as sentries against monsters that liked to stalk their victims. Some could even grow big enough to become steeds. Provided their xiozian riders didn’t outgrow them first.

A creature like this didn’t need to be beaten into obedience. It would’ve followed the command of anyone it respected as a leader. Dreiki regretted not at least wounding one of them with his ax to teach them some empathy.

The bat drake dug its soft nose into Dreiki’s chest while he carried it, letting out a strange choppy sigh that was somewhere between a cat’s purr and a rattlesnake’s tail.

“Comfortable, Mr.Drake?”

The drake let out a pleased huffing groan in reply.

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“You’re really cute curled up like that!” Dreiki smiled, “What should I call you? I know you’re not out of the woods yet, but my mother always told me you’ll work harder to save a life if you know the name of the one you wanna save.”

He looked to the sky.

“Hmmmm… even if we never meet again after this, I still wanna give you a name. Mom told me there’s a lot of power in names, and that power might help you live a longer life-”

A drop of rain hit his face.

He pulled his cloak over the bat drake and jogged along, being mindful of any marked trees or other signs of animal territory while he searched for a suitable place to stay.

It was about thirty minutes before Dreiki stumbled upon an overhang along a rocky plateau. By the time he was under the overhang, he was soaked down to the bone.

It was times like these that he was once again thankful he’d been born with the fire element. Drying out wood and starting a campfire was as trivial as putting your clothes on for Dreiki. He unpacked his lodgings and gave the drake his blanket.

“Since you’re the one who put so many holes in it, I think it belongs to you now. I usually use my cloak anyways.”

Dreiki hung his cloak out to dry and huddled near the fire.

“Thanks for not making my arm match my blanket.”

He glanced over to the drake, who had fallen dead asleep.

Dreiki didn’t care. If anything, it allowed him to be more open with his words. There was something about having someone or something to talk to. Even if they may not have understood or listened. Talking to himself was always a strange habit of his when he didn’t have other people to bother with his thoughts.

“It really has been a while since I had someone to talk to.” He hugged his legs to his chest and stared at the fire, “Everywhere I went since being on my own, people have avoided me. I suppose it’s a blessing and a curse since mom told me to lay low. But I just don’t like the way people look at me… All because I don’t have a tail. And it’s a shame too because I really do like meeting new people.”

Dreiki sighed, a moment of silence passing before he perked up.

“Oh yeah! A name!”

He cupped his chin as he’d seen his mother do anytime she was deep in thought. He looked to his environment for inspiration. Muddy blackened soil, rain soaked tree bark, the smell of wet leaves and grass. The sound of rain pattering down all around him.

It was calming.

Tranquility…What was the word for it in draconic? “Ezopax?” He said aloud, ”Maybe just ‘Ezo’ for short? Yeah, I think I’ll go with that!”

Ezo’s ears swiveled before it woke up with a start, growling at something off in the distance.

“What’s wrong?-”

It came over him like a wave. That sense like he was being watched again.

Dreiki’s instincts kicked in, his gaze locking onto something in the distance. Though he had long since warmed himself at the fire by now, he caught a chill so deep it felt like he was still standing out in the rain.

There was something watching him off in the distance.

A pale, grinning human-like face. Its teeth were elongated, yellow, and far too numerous. Its grotesque smile was a perversion of joy. Spindly quad-knuckled fingers curled around the trunk it hid behind. The thing fidgeted with unnatural speed. It was twitching the angle of its head, grinning wider than before as it noticed Dreiki could see it. Though it had a smooth surface over where its eyes should’ve been, Dreiki could still feel its cold malignant gaze burning a hole in his chest.

And in the blink of an eye, it was gone.