Nuvi didn’t necessarily know how many times these Vasillias were dunking her head into the village’s pond. She just knew a slaughter was commencing, and she was being spared and tortured for saving her little siblings, Rezovena, Ketaraki, and her twin, Neva. And all she could feel were her lungs burning.

Nuvi gasped for air as her head was pulled out again. She looked up, still to see the blood everywhere. She was about to move when the Vasillia dunked her head under again.

She awoke with a gasp, scrambling to her feet, realizing it was another nightmare of her past. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. She stared down at her poisoned claws, remembering she had a weapon to fight with. I can defend myself. I have poison. Nuvi looked around the cave, noticing her carcass she caught yesterday. Some rocks clattered as Nuvi swept past them and bolted out of the cave.

The bright black hole the planet orbited sent down some light, and she again remembered this planet has always had an unusual amount of light despite orbiting something that consumes the light. According to myths the queen of the Avezellias, Queen Eclipse, had given our black hole light since we had an intelligent population here. And even after Exoplydia, the second ruler of this universe, had destroyed over 1,000 different items in space and had been cursed by Eclipse with more immortality than she even had, Eclipse still didn’t bring her rage out on every Prenozin, at least. Which was always something calming.

Nuvi swept past the cave and into the town, a few dragons yelping and sprinting away as she came near. She rolled her eyes, continuing to walk through. The town was studded with a few Elixtras and one Vextra, and was full of activity. Merchants sold poison and food, conversations erupted everywhere, blacksmiths taught their young, and rogues hid in the alleyways.

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Nuvi walked right by them, flicking some knives and daggers that came flying at her and sending them right back to her attackers, decapitating them with their own weapons.

She walked toward her favorite spot: a hidden area, where a large tree grew. Nuvi laid down, resting her head on her talons, and closing her eyes.

Nuvi awoke to getting swung into a wall by a powerful tail. Her eyes flew open. She hissed, looking around. “Who did that?” Nuvi raised her nose, sniffing the air, then punching her throat and spitting blood at her right. A shriek pierced the air, and a dragon came into the light. He was smaller than Nuvi, and clearly more odd. His chest was sizzling with green poison on it. “Okay, okay!” he shouted, his voice young and scared. Nuvi cleaned the blood out of her mouth and spat saliva at the young dragon’s wound, and the poison stopped and faded. “What was that for?”

Nuvi scoffed, staring down at him. “We’re Prenozins,” she sighed. “We were built for fighting, and we will fight.” The young dragon let out a shivery breath. “Well, I didn’t know you could spit poison!” he yelled.

“I don’t spit it, I bleed it, slash with it, and bite with it.” Nuvi said, and she jerked her wing at the wall. There was a bounty poster on the wall. “Kids need to read more.” She sighed. “In fact, what was that for?” Nuvi slashed the bounty poster, the two pieces of paper sizzling with green poison. The young dragon was almost entirely black, but he had white talons and white legs. The tip of his snout was white. He was suddenly swept aside with a yelp, and a dragon roughly Nuvi’s size came along, hissing, “Long story short, he failed his sneak attack.” The dragon said. It was male. “Anyway, if you go to the kingdom of Maliska and kill a Prenozin named Phoenix, I’ll give you a prize. In money.” Nuvi stared him in the eye. “And why?” she asked. “I don’t like killing that much.” He sighed, looking at her. “Toyed with this kingdom’s palace. Scorched it.” he replied.

Nuvi thought about it for a moment. “Fine,” she said. “Give me

a lot though.”