Maddison kicked at his steed’s side, checking his shoulder to make sure Endris was still on his tail with Sajus. The black plume of smoke had already crowned the trees before them, and it was no surprise to see its source.

A howling roar rattled the air. Bervolt was in sight, bright red flames lighting up the blackened smoke, illuminating it like a land-born thunderstorm. Closer to the chaos he could hear the dragon's cries of battle, explosions rumbling from the town square.

Maddison wondered if some of the townsfolk had pulled out heavier weaponry on the beast. They’d have had better senses to hide from the intruder, but the spell on the town had likely taken that option from them as well. As much as Maddison hated the thought of standing up to the newly freed drake, he couldn’t leave the villagers to their fate.

Maddison made a quick assessment as they reached the walls of the town. Potential weapons and danger. The two things he was taught to look out for in a fight.

He couldn’t see any mounted weapons on the walls, only a few scorched additions to the smaller stone watch towers where guards had likely tried to prick the dragon from afar. Thankfully the dragon’s sloppy landing had freed up a new passage where one such tower had toppled and collapsed part of the wall. He signaled Endris to tail him as he maneuvered the mount through the opening, quickly coming upon the back end of the spitting dragon. All at once the smell struck him, Horse rearing up to throw him at some hay before taking off. Endris and Sajus received a similar treatment, the small boy slapping hay off his armour with a cross grumble. “I wish you could ride in the town.”

Maddison ignored the grumbling child, lowering his body to look around the dancing smoke for the creature. He felt Endris brush his side, her voice coming out in a shocked whisper.

“What in the hells is that?”

Maddison traced her gaze, the dark shadow of a humanoid creature passing through the smoke to approach the dragon's slithering tail. He could see the purple hue to its skin as it passed them, unable to see them hiding or entirely uninterested as it moved towards the dragon's slithering tail. Maddison squinted as he made out an object in it's hands, a long, splintered wooden beam that it was wielding like a spear.

He frantically searched for better coverage, his attention stolen by the black bird that dived in front of him, squawking before flapping off into the smoke.

Crow.

"Go." Maddison hissed, pushing Endris to run for it before the beast drove the wooden beam into the dragon's tail.

The dragon shrieked, pain spearing through Maddison's skull as he ran behind Endris through the smoke. The ground shook as the dragon flipped around, its wings throwing the haze around in gusts as it blindly bit around at the air to try and find the beast that had snuck up on it. As the smoke began to thin, Maddison's steps slowed, and then stopped completely, He whipped his head over his shoulder, checking Endris' side, and then trying to peer into the thick smoke.

Sajus was gone.

"He's small, he can hide." Endris hissed, reading Maddison's mind as she waved for him to join her in the stone remains of a shop as poor coverage. Maddison complied when he saw Crow perched on one of the crumbling walls, his eyes hungrily skimming the battlefield for a small shadow anywhere in the mess. Sajus was hardly making sense in half the things coming out of his mouth, but compared to the empty eyed counterpart he had been yesterday, Maddison was hopeful that he was overcoming whatever spell had been laid on him.

It was stupid and reckless to have completely forgotten about him in those few critical moments.

Maddison was so engrossed in his search that he nearly tuned out the new voice screaming for their attention.

The familiar voice.

“Oyyy! Over here!”

Maddison snapped his head around, squinting through the thinning haze at a familiar figure. He couldn’t believe the name coming out of his mouth. “Sariel?!”

The figure waved its hands above it's head. “Oh! Oh over here Maddison!” Sariel hollered, not having to ask twice as Maddison shot to his feet to run her down. He pulled Endris with him, the smoke continuing to disperse until he could just barely make out her wild black hair. “Dunno what the logic is behind it or what have ya, but fire’s scared of the air over here!”

“Someone’s set up a barrier.” Endris translated, doubt painting her face as she tried to make out more than the shrouded guest in the burning smoke. “I don’t recognize that woman, friend of yours?”

Maddison watched Sariel continue to wave her arms, but despite his words, he was smiling. Relieved to see her well as they drew closer. “Acquaintance I’ve had the curse of running into twice now.”

As Maddison followed Endris to the supposed barrier he noticed something, once perfectly concealed in the smoke, and what Maddison had initially thought was a brazier. There was a person near Sariel.

If it could be called that.

It had horns of a sort, wrapped with polished gold circlet that matched markings on its charcoal black skin. It’s hair danced carelessly in the wind, it’s tips melding to the flickering points of a living flame. Books aside, he had never seen anything like it before. Its features were too soft for demonic roots, and fairies stood clear of fire in every circle Maddison knew of. He had ideas as to what it could be, and none of them boded well.

He watched it flourish its hands, spelling out symbols in the air as fiery red as its garb. As the ground pulsed with energy, a burning projectile shot out from its hands, ripping through the smoke and colliding with the dragon’s jaw to stop it from biting into the giant purple troll that was still making a kebab out the dragon's tail.

Maddison grimaced as both creatures took a moment to return Sariel’s thumbs up.

He stopped himself from closing the last few feet on Sariel, Endris keeping to his side. “What is that?”

“Calm down, they’re fighting the dragon. Same as us,” Endris muttered.

“Oh Maddison! You haven’t met Cody!" Sariel hollered, closing the distance between them to motion to the strange creature and confirm Maddison's worst fears. "Cody, Maddison - Maddison, Cody.”

Maddison shot Sariel a glare, making no motion to greet her guest. Turning his back for less than a day had resulted in her getting acquainted with a walking torch and a feral purple thing. He sized up the spellcaster, his frown intensifying as he saw the runic circle that had been scratched out beneath his feet. They caught gazes after his inspection, and his ill manners were instantly shot back at him as the creature's orange eyes lingered on him for a brief moment before disgust pricked his lips.

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Endris pushed past Maddison with a sigh, stretching her hand out to Cody with a smile. “Thanks for helping out.”

“Not helping, just killing.” He blew some steam off his hand before shaking Endris’, his eyes lingering on her forehead. “You’re not enchanted.”

“Neither are you it seems.” Endris smiled at Sariel. “Or you.”

“Is that a bad thing? Should I be enchanted?” Sariel hushed, sighing with relief when Cody shook his head.

“Is the purple thing with you?” Endris said, losing some of her front as Cody raised his eyebrows. “I’m sorry, I’m just not quite sure what it… is…”

“His name’s Hord’anne, if you get to close to him he’ll eat you, same as the dragon. I’ll light you both on fire if you try to kill him. We clear?”

Maddison took a step forwards, stopped as Endris instinctively shot out her arm. “As mud, if he kills the beast.”

“Good.” Cody replied, tossing Maddison one last look of disgust before turning back to the dragon and Hord’anne as they wrestled. He stepped back into the magic circle that Maddison assumed he had made, pressing his palm against the hilt of a blade stuck into it's center. Glowing red runes waterfalled down its face as he channeled his magic into it, and the air around it hummed with power. “Should be charged." He cupped his hands, his voice deceptively loud for his size. "Hord’anne make some space!”

Once the beast slipped away from the thrashing dragon, the creature called Cody began on their spellwork. His voice was too soft for Maddison to hear the words, but within the first few verses a dry heat washed over anyone within a couple meters of him. He squeezed the hilt of the sword, the runes now seeping with liquid fire. “Alturia Lizzrahm!” He boomed, the massive shadow in the smoke turning to face him. A swarm of embers rose from the ground, dancing around his feet like autumn leaves. He drew the glowing blade from the ground, raising it to the sky as the fire drizzled down his forearm with no effect. “Shape your wrath so that my enemies are burned into a thousand shards of ash.”

Maddison watched in horrified awe as the embers grew into flames that piled and swirled around him, feeding into the glowing sword and lifting it into the air above his head. The magical flames piled and expanded, until the once silver blade had dissolved into the body of an astral blade, too big for even Hord’anne to swing around. For a moment the perfect spell hovered in the air, Maddison’s stomach pitted with dread at the size of it.

And then, Cody extended his arm, pointing at the dragon. “Kill.”

The blade blasted forth, knocking Endris and Maddison on their butts from the shockwave. The smoke parted in a wall, perfectly illuminating the dragon, chest puffed as it poised to loose a final spray of flames in a vain attempt to stop the spell. The singing whistle the blade made ended with a shrieking cry as it lodged itself through the dragon’s neck, Endris and Maddison barely getting a view of the beast stumbling to the ground before Cody smiled at the whimpering beast - and snapped his fingers.

All at once, the weapon exploded, its powerful shockwave gusting through the village to kill every flickering flame in the area. Everyone covered their faces as the rubble blasted forth, Maddison's ears ringing from the booming crack the spell had made as it split the dragon wide at it's neck. He only raised his gaze when the cracking boom had faded, and the world around them finally fell silent.

Endris was the first to speak, on her feet but still wobbly as she peered into the plume of black smoke the spell had left behind. “Think that did it?” She jumped as a chunk of something burnt and fleshy landed beside her.

Cody kicked a small piece of burnt scale off his boot, unbothered by the rain of organic debris he had created. “It’s dead.” He dusted his robes and cracked his knuckles, ignoring his audience to pay Sariel a smile. “See? There isn’t a thing alive that’s actually fire proof.”

Endris and Maddison let out a collective sigh of relief as they looked around the quiet town. The carnage was apparent, but the bloodshed had thankfully ended with the mysterious hand of help. With the dragon dead, Sajus, and any of the other surviving townsfolk would have at least a chance.

There was just one thing left to kill.

Maddison gave the towering mansion near them a dark look.

The sorcerer.

Maddison's thoughts were derailed as something impacted his side, two small arms trying to wrap around him in a hug. "Glad to see ya Mr. Sungard!" Sariel spoke, ending the hug with a squeeze as the mercenary stood rigid. "Knew you didn't leave!"

"I wouldn't do something like that." Maddison sighed, giving Sariel a once-over to check for injuries. She had some soot on her face, and some cinders had caught the back end of her tunic and coloured it black, but otherwise, she was shockingly unscathed for being so close to a frenzied dragon. He sifted through a selection of scoldings for recklessness he had lined up, every word he had lined up jammed back by the object Sariel slipped off her back and held out to him.

He stared at the familiar sword. His sword. The thought that he had lost it to this infernal town had been gnawing at him since he fell under Bervolt's spell. By whatever graces the gods had placed on Sariel, she had made a choice that she hardly knew the weight of and gone out of her way to find it.

She smiled, oblivious. "Tarson fellow said ya traded it. Back at my village there's the chicken girl, Sadie. Shorts me on eggs every time, and he had that same look in his eye."

He kept the mix of emotions from leaking into his courteous smile, unclipping the cheap blade that had been strapped to his waste and accepting the blade with a short thanks.

Maddison lingered on Sariel for a moment, the excitement on her face reviving a sense of dread that he had hoped to bury. "You should leave Bervolt. We'll kill the sorcerer."

"She can't."

Endris and Cody shot eachother a look at the synchronized response, Endris taking the lead after a couple silent signals. "We're trapped inside, the Gorganos quest is the only one that let's you leave... momentarily."

"Then hide in a building." Maddison sighed.

"Why don't you hide in a building?" Cody retorted.

Cody didn't look at him, busy reading over a tome of spells that was spread wide and floating in the air while stuffing some flint and powders into a metal ball he had pulled out of his bag. His only acknowledgement when Maddison stopped beside him was his judgmental tone.

"No magic. You're just some guy with a sword. Sariel on the other hand, helped me kill a dragon."

Maddison crossed his arms, eyeing the man named Cody with a courteous smile. “Today’s your lucky day.”

“How so?” Cody hummed, snapping his tome closed to match Maddison’s energy.

Maddison still couldn't place what exactly the creature standing in front of him was, but he had seen enough bounties involving sorcerers versed in flames. “There’s a good bounty on Khalin sorcerers after they burned one of Limbral’s towers to the ground. But the hit I’m on right now pays better. I’ll pretend I didn’t see you as thanks for helping with the dragon.”

Cody gave Maddison a long stare as the statement was processed. His eye twitching as he tried to decide on which accusation to address first. “I’m not a Khalin you racist skathead.”

“Don’t feed a gift horse in the mouth.” Maddison growled.

“That’s not the phrase. Is your mum your cousin too-”

“So sorry to interrupt this cat fight.” Endris cut in, standing between the two to draw their gaze to where she was pointing. They both looked to the cloud of smoke, trapped within the barrier that enveloped Bervolt, and twice as thick since Cody loosed his spell in the area. Still, in the deep black clouds, something moved.

Maddison saw Cody's entire form rise, his brow scrunched with worry as he cupped his hands. "Hord'anne!"

A questioning grunt came from the group's right, everyone eyeing Hord'anne who had managed to meet up with Sariel just inside the barrier.

Everyone but Sariel paled at the sight. It was easy to tell even with the cloud of smoke standing strong that something was moving inside of it. They all stared in hopeful silence that it was simply the dragon in its throes of death, but Maddison knew, in his gut, that wasn't the case. Cody had blown it to pieces at the chest. It was dead.

Endris let out a cut gasp, stumbling away from something at her feet and catching herself on Maddison. He eyed the large chunk of flesh in the grass, wriggling with unholy life, the burnt mass dragging itself across the grass and into the smoke as if it was tied by a string.

He looked around, the smaller chunks of debris following suit like an army of bloody and burnt worms.

And then came a sound that no one wanted to hear. A crack, like glass, as a web of lines grew across the forcefield they had taken shelter behind. In a matter of seconds the spell collapsed, and the sea of smoke spilled forth.

“Hells no.” Maddison muttered.