The Dragonslayer

The sky finally was blue for the first time in what felt like centuries. The road ahead was wide enough for the entire party to walk side by side comfortably. Although the path was made of dirt, it had the added benefit of being moist from all of the recent rain, so the path was actually pretty soft and made for pleasant walking. The area around them was a stretch of land where the forest blended into grass fields mostly owned by farmers, so the mix of trees and grass made the path pretty green. The sun’s warm light lit up the fading forest radiantly. The beautiful scent of wet grass and clean air was refreshing. Yet our party didn’t seem to notice any of these delightful things. They continued on their journey, moving West toward the Great Swamplands. Their attention primarily focused on the several pressing matters.

“So... If I understand correctly, the two of you are both children?” War questioned.
“No, War you see... well... it could be argued that the two are both "Children", but actually no. Not in in the same way you are thinking of children.” Goliath replied, slightly annoyed.

“While Behemoth has physically aged the least out of all of us, he has almost always been here with us. But, as far as we can tell, he is technically still only a child for his species, whatever that may be. We have never seen another of his kind in our lives.” Fenrir elaborated for War.

“As a result of that and our souls being bound. I too am forced to take the shape of my child-self. However our fusion has also made my body mostly stone. So do not worry, I am not to be taken lightly in combat. Behemoth has also gifted me with the ability to control most forms earth and rock.” The stone colt explained as he trotted onward. Outside of his craggy exterior, he actually looked like a small colt.

“So... you are both children?” Freya asked poorly hiding her snicker.

“Well yes and no. They are children physically, but their minds are still mature.” Ziz tired to make it look like Freya actually didn't understand.

“Okay! Now that we have worked out the technical part of our new party member’s appearance, we can move on to the things we should really be talking about. Those things being that three motherfucking soulbound Fuckers nearly got the fucking drop on us again! And we need some kind of hint as to what those fuckers can do! We need some clue as to who and what we are going to eventually fight against. If we fought them now we'd be going in blind.” Feral blared.

“Also, how did Stone Wall and Behemoth get so close without our, or even their noticing.” War added.

“Truthfully, we do not know. To be honest, we felt you all just fine. Same for the other old ones, that is say, we felt them too. Who was there… if I recall correctly we definitely felt Regal. That is why we rushed to you all in the first place.” Stone and Behemoth explained in a rather odd voice, Stone’s voice of a young colt did not mesh well with Behemoth’s utter bass voice.

“That truly is odd… perhaps the soulbonding process is involved with all this?” Fenrir pondered on that for a moment, a quick silence filling the party.

“We really don’t know. However we now know there has to be some kind of link. Something is happening here and we do not really know why. Only time can tell…” Moth let out swiftly.

Fenrir gave a deep breath through Feral. The party was silent for a much longer this time, the only sound being the soil beneath their hoof steps.

“Things could be better right now.” Behemoth rumbled.

“Either way, I think Feral is right, we need to take a look at our enemies.” Ziz remarked.

“Who should we start with?” Fenrir asked for the party.

“Atlas. He is an Elder Dragon, the same as me. We are nearly the original, two of the first. We were some of the first dragons to ever walk this place, or any place really. We are nearly ageless, and our size and power are both mighty and destructive. But we lack the specializations that make some of our dragonkin so frightening. However, Atlas is not to be underestimated, he is our greatest enemy. His weakness is in the fact he sees himself as better than all of us. Stepping away from the safety of the Dragonlands, and fighting us himself is too far beneath him. He’ll throw his goons and foolish followers at us, but until we get to him, he will not come down from the throne he built for himself… At least not until he has all of his dragon forces are mobilized and ready for all out war. He is a danger to all of us, to all living beings and stopping him is our main goal.” Goliath made War Bond give an serious and angry face.

“As for Mandragora,-” Fenrir began “- she was an… odd creature. Mostly composed of… well she is much more than just a talking plant. She is alive, she thinks, acts, and breathes the same as any of us. Yet she also just so happens to be a plant. If I recall correctly, she has a very powerful set of lungs and can screech dreadfully loudly. Even for beings like Goliath and Ziz. She is a great threat, as she can be quite… annoying. She is a problem that we will likely deal with early on in the upcoming fight. Lucky for us, as I recall she isn't a very great fighter, but she will make an excellent distraction for her allies, focusing our attention that should be focused on the real damage dealers like Regal and Hábrók.” Fenrir scowled on Feral’s face.

“Hábrók, is technically a... I guess you would say a cousin of mine. We are related by blood, but the two of us are definitely not family. He is... well, he is an ass, putting others in danger to make himself look and feel better. He is strong, fast, and devastating in aerial combat. Try not to fight him an open spaces where he has room to take to the air. He could become a problem, he is not afraid of any of us. Nor should he be, I believe he maybe one of their strongest fighters, not counting Atlas. His tenacity will be his strongest feature during the fight... " he paused for a moment "Well tenacity may not be the right word... it's more... stubbornness.” Ziz recounted, putting a talon to Freya's chin.

“As for Regal, she used to be friends with all of us, she was nicer back then. However, even in the long gone past, she was...n’t the... greatest of friends.” Fenrir had difficulty finding words suddenly.

“We eventually started to spend less time with her… We grew apart as some friendships tend to do. I don’t know why for certain... but if I recall she got mad at us for some reason.”

“With everything that happened between her and Greep…we shouldn't have been surprised as we were at the time.”

“You should say, what didn’t happened between her and Greep.”

“That isn’t a story any of us have a right to tell. But to put it simply, we aren’t friends anymore, and she is quite hostile toward us now.”

“So none of them should be a real problem, since me and Fenrir were actually able to go one-on-one with Regal and come off mostly on top. If either of us could feel her coming, we would have won easily.” Feral stated with less pride then he wanted.

“That’s the thing pup. Regal isn’t the best fighter. That is why she got help. That’s why she is trying to sneak up on us. She can’t out fight us, so she has to find some other way to best us.”

“So those others are going to do her fighting?” Freya asked kindly smile.
“Sort of. Mandragora will probably focus on stunning us with that scream of her’s.”

“All of us fighting at one time in one big team fight sounds… crazy.” War sounded a bit worried.
“It will be, for as long as we can work together, it shouldn’t be a problem. I claim the firm belief that as long as we work and fight together, we will be capable of defeating anything.” Goliath gave War a proud stance.

The party stopped as they, all at once, noticed that they had stumbled into a rather large open grass field completely surrounded by trees, behind of which was a utterly massive lake. Wide and open it sat gaping, like a mouth in the flat ground. The party took a minute to realize what they were looking at. Realistically, the lake was very well hidden. Nearly a full day’s travel from the nearest town, and it was difficult to spot surrounded mostly by trees.

“Perhaps we should consider stopping to eat.” Ziz virtually asked, a sudden hunger taking him and Freya.

"Let's get ourselves some food. I am sure there are plenty of fish in that lake." Fenrir stated excitedly. Feral's canine tail wagging.

"This far out, we have it all to ourselves." Behemoth and Stone stomped.

With a grin, Freya spread her wings, and leapt into the water with a splash. The sound of static clicked. With a bright flash, the water around her glowed with her electricity. A number of fish slid up out of the water, sizzling slightly...

"We do the same thing with sky-sliders... umm…... Those are basically like cloud fish… you know... fish that “swim” in the clouds… I-Its a griffin thing." Freya gave a grin to her party.

After the fish were collected, a breath of flame made an instant campfire. The fish were quickly set on the campfire to be cooked, Feral had highly recommended that they be cooked this way to get the most out of the opportunity. As the first batch of fish were cooked by War’s pink flames, Freya collected more fish for the party using her and Ziz’s "fishing" technique. She took several dips into the lake, collecting more fish, everyone eating for two meant quite a bit of food was needed.

The party shared a meal of fresh, well cooked fish. None of them had realized that the electrocution had already partially cooked the various fish Freya zapped, so they did not come out quite right, but that did not stop them from enjoying the meal.

War took her time, enjoying her food, granted she did eat most of her fish in a single bite, but she enjoyed that too. Well into her meal she had a realization. She felt bad for a moment, realizing that a large number of fish were being slaughtered… very easily. Goliath reassured by reminding her, that they were fish and would likely die for some other reason because they are fish.

At some point during the meal, every single party member took a moment to watch Feral ravage his portions. They all agreed that Feral didn't taste any of his food. Stuffing his maw and shredding the flesh from the creatures, he devoured the fish. He laughed, enjoying eating everything but the head of the fish, then making it look like the fish head was talking, "No please! I have a family! Noo- then eating the head. Fenrir had to keep telling him not to play with his food. War took the time to make a comment about how he would smell like wet dog and fish now.

Freya ate in the oddest way of the group. Mostly because she was a griffin, and her eating style was culturally different than everyone elses. She delicately pecked at fish, almost strategically. Picking apart the best pieces of each fish, gracefully avoiding things like bones and organs. Ziz laughed when Feral finished his own portion, and moved to eat the scrapes that Freya had thrown away.

Stone wall didn't eat the fish, focusing instead on eating grass he had collected and cleaned. He explained that he wasn't a carnivore. Both he and Behemoth only ate plants. The party ate his captured portion of massacred fish. He coolly munched away on the plants he had collected, giving a short laugh at the other party members’ antics. Moth told Stone to leave the moss growing on his stone hide. It would make a pleasant meal if the need arises.

Once they were through eating and conversing lightly, Goliath cleared his and War's throat.

"Now that we have sufficiently sated our hunger, I would like to take our opportunity to speak with my fellow… aged companions in private.” Goliath stated very seriously.

“What can’t you say in front of all of us?” The “young” colt Stone Wall asked bravely.

“It is not that I cannot say it. More over I wish to speak to my old friends personally and privately, something I haven’t done for a long time. I would also give a chance to get out of each other’s heads for a while.” Goliath retorted.

“I can understand that.” Freya stated with a smile toward War Bond.

“Makes sense.” Stone remarked. His suspicion not fully gone, but warded away for the moment.

“Alright… Fine can’t be too cautious now can we?” Feral added with a grin directed at Goliath and War bond, and a quick look and smile at Stone.

“No, you can’t. I respect your curiosity.” Goliath replied.

The sky was that eerie infinite black. White grass stretched beyond the horizon in all directions. War’s memories of this place were blurry at best. Thinking about it made her head hurt. Instead, she took in the place again. The unmoving water felt just as unnatural as last time she was here.

Her attention was drawn by the utterly giant beings she was in the presence of. The gargantuan ox seemingly made entirely of stone, soil, and gravel, lazily stood tall, roughly the size of Goliath. His body was an ecosystem, plants, trees, grass, and small critter nests covered large portions of his body. Standing perched on the colossal ox, a massive and mighty bird. A great grin on it’s beak. The flurry of such bright green colors that combined to create his feathers popped in the monotone that this … realm seemed to emanate. "Veins" of glowing feather faded in and out of his feathers.

She felt talons pull her body into a hug. The average sized griffin that was Freya still stood very tall to her. Freya gave War a tight squeeze. The griffin looked the same for the most part. Her beak paled slightly, and she lost the feathers over her body. Now she looked like a normal griffin, feathers only on her head and neck. Her fur had come back, and the feathers around her eye’s were now a deep dark purple instead of the bright green they had been.

A tiny colt sat on the griffin’s back. He was a soft yellow color, with brown mane. Cutie mark of a field plow on his tiny hips. He looked almost the same as well, his only changes were that the rocky texture of his skin had vanished, and he was colored now. Stone Wall hung on to avoid the water. He stood shorter than the unmoving water.

An instant passed by, and the old ones were specks on the horizon.

“This place is always so freaky. How do they do that!?” Feral gave a shiver as he moved his body through the unmoving water toward his allies.

“Wow… Feral you're actually handsome.” Freya remarked, letting go of War, and then opening her own arms toward him.

Feral responded with a raised eyebrow.

“What? You are.” Freya replied, beckoning him toward her with a twitch of her talons and a smile.

Feral glared at her and didn’t move. War realized that even without his tail and ears giving away his feelings, Feral was a very easy person to read. At least when he didn't like something.

“I’m good.” He told her. Sitting down in motionless water.

Feral was fine with conversations. But the more they traveled with him, the more they came to realize he doesn't like to be touched. Coincidentally getting close to him didn't phase him, nor did his invading their space, which he did every other day or so to "keep their scent fresh in his head."

As a result they felt they understood him a bit better, Freya responded with the only logical course of action, by pouncing on him with an attack hug.

“What the hell are you doing!” Feral snapped even with his slightly above average size, he could not push the griffin off of himself.

“Combat power embrace.” She grinned, squeezing him tightly with her hug. Her intention was to help him with his boundaries.

“Freya seems a lot more… playful without Ziz I think.” Stone stated, having jumped off Freya before her pounce, he had to stand on his hind legs to keep above the water.

War picked him up without hesitation, placing him on her back. He replied with a gentle nod and a “Thank you kindly.”

Feral pulled himself from Freya’s “combat embrace”. Shooting her a glare, he stood up.

“You weren’t such a sour mood when it was just us here.” War remarked.

“You didn’t try to hug me.” Feral glared, as he shook his entire body like a dog. Freya just giggled lightly.

“War and Fenrir huh? You two were in here all alone.” Freya teased.

“Yeah, I explained the whole… sync rate thing to War Bond. She had just combined with Goliath, so neither of them had come to realize they were syncing up.” Feral elaborated, obviously not getting what Freya was hinting at.

“Freya, you are definitely… out spoken without Ziz.” War stated, obviously getting at what Freya was hinting at.

"I think that much is obvious." Feral continued his angry look at Freya.

“You have a badass cutie mark. How'd you get it?” Freya grinned in reply to the glare. Completely ignoring their comments.

“Me?” Feral asked, confused.

“Well, War does too, but I was referring to you, yes.”

“My cutie mark isn’t cool?” Stone asked, looking a bit disappointed.

“Comparatively? Uhmm… no. He has a wolf skull… eating a moon. And she has a shield with a dragon on it. Those are radical. You have a plow.” Freya replied.

“Plows are cool. However, I would like to know where those came from now.” He replied with a smile. Looking toward the fully grown pony members of the party with curiosity.

“Mine really isn’t a big deal. Got it when my mom taught me how to fight with a shield when I was a filly. That’s all.” War smiled, looking back at her past, she missed her mother’s face. How long ago had it been since she had seen her?

“I got mine when I broke into, and then raided some rich pony’s house. I was a kid back then, so he never expected me to break in and ransack the place. As for the mark, I was really poor, so I always thought of it as me, this wolf among ponies, stealing the moon rather than eating it. Wow that feels like so long ago…” Feral grinned... then scowled.

“What!? Those stories were weak! I was hoping for like… epic battles and stuff.” Freya gave the party a frown for the first time.

“You get a cutie mark when you are a kid. Kids don’t do anything interesting.” War replied, forgetting about the "child" sitting on her back.

Stone just tapped her shoulder and gave her a half eye-lidded look. She gave out an embarrassed squeep.

“Present company excluded of course!” She added hastefully. The party members gave a laugh. Her thoughts her own, for the first time in a long time, War grinned.

I… missed this feeling. Jeeze I might actually miss Lyve or… him… no. This is different. I may have only known these… things? for a few days but… this is different. Real. Funny. Loyal. Kind. These friends are real friends. Not like them. That doesn’t matter anymore though. Not as long as I have these new friends… even Goliath, Fenrir, Ziz and Behemoth. I can’t wait to meet the others… New friends… new everything. This is all happening so fast. I guess that’s how you can tell how great something is. Some days can feel like eons. But the good days, the important days… the bad days, they all go by so fast…

"Do you think Feral or Stone could know?" Goliath brooded. The dragon standing on his back legs. Arms cross, wings stretching out before pulling back onto his back.

"They might be suspicious, but they does not suspect the truth." Fenrir answered, then gave forth a heave and a sigh. Sadness clear in the old wolf's eyes.

"Maybe we should just tell them." Ziz stated, a similar sadness in his voice, but less in his body.

"We should, but we can't afford that moral drop now. Let us wait until the time is right. We should be more concerned with Stone. He is very smart. He might figure something out." Behemoth answered, his powerful bass voice rumbling, it was always hard to tell if he was upset or not. The sheer bass of his volume made it hard to read those emotions in his voice.

"Moth is right. We wait. We need them in top condition, we can't afford to fail, especially not this soon. Once Greep and Levi are with us, and the origins are secured... Then we can tell them." Goliath spoke as he did so long ago, the undeclared leader, guiding his friend's the best he could... Even when things were... Different.

"I am unsure if my Feral can handle it..." Fenrir worried, he face wearing a crown of sadness. “We’ve been together for so long…”

"Too much is on the line Fenrir. As much as we want to tell them... And trust me, I want to tell Stone... We can't. You know we can't. They don't understand the necessity of all this. They wouldn't go through with it if they knew." Behemoth warned, his shame voiced clearly through his bass voice.

"I just can’t... I do not want to do this to Freya, she is... Important to me... I do not want to lie to her." Ziz cringed, he held his face. He wanted to cry. He wouldn’t let himself.

"War Bond is just as important to me. You know that we must keep them ignorant of what must happen." Goliath stated, his heart hurting far more than he wanted it to… more than he knew it could...

"We are not lying, we are just prolonging the outcome of truth." Behemoth tried to rationalize for his friends.

"How is that not different then lying!? Dammit! He is my pup! I love him! I-I-I..... He has a right to know... He deserves to know!" Fenrir snapped, her snarl coming out unintentionally.

"Fenrir... I agree, we all do! We will tell them... Just not right now." Goliath let out a long breath of dark smoke. "When the time comes... Fenrir, Ziz... The truth will be revealed. Fenrir, you have always been the most motherly out of all of us. I know this is hard for you." Goliath tried to comfort her, a gentle claw on her shoulder and a tail rubbing softly against her own. He gave her the softest look he could muster, she settled down a bit.

She knew his scaly body wasn’t the nicest thing for her to lean on. She also knew that Goliath was not the greatest at this particular situation. The fact that he was trying made her feel warm inside.

"It just doesn't feel right..." She cringed.

"Nor should it." Goliath responded.

The old beings sat a moment in silence. Fenrir nuzzled Goliath softly. Ziz stayed perched on Behemoth's horns. The group could feel sadness in the air.

"I... I really wish we had spent these last years together...." Fenrir spoke, breaking the silence.

"We all do." Goliath replied.

"Hey.... Remember when Levi took us swimming... That kracken attacked Goliath, and he ended up stained black from the ink for like twenty year?" Ziz laughed.

"He looked an obsidian dragon!" Moth rumbled out a laugh.

"He did look silly! With his wings still bronze and everything!" Fenrir giggled.

"Remember when Lotus and Ziz first met? We were all still children, and Ziz was doing his little... Display dance?" Goliath retorted, as if somehow ready for that.

The creatures all began to break into a fit of laughter, save for Ziz who just heaved a sigh.

"His little tiny little kicking! Oh and when her tripped and fell over! Bwahaha!" Fenrir burst out.

"I was a just a baby back then! Of course I had no rhythm! I dance way better now! Damn it Goliath! You always bring that story up!!" Ziz defended himself, flicking one wing up and the other down, he danced a intricate and beautiful dance, his under feathers and their various colors fluffing and blaring.

"You alway bring up that kracken."

They really missed each other.

The beings laughed. Fenrir’s tail wagged. Goliath and Behemoth’s deeper voices rumbled laughter. Ziz danced his intricate mating dance, a rainbow of feathers bursting forth.

"War? Where are you going!!?" Freya shouted. Looking much more feathered in the real world.

"The Great Swamplands are only a few DAYS away, we need to start already!" Feral rushed.
“Goliath!”

"Hold on I have to pee!" War explained mid gallop, hurrying to find a place to relieve herself privately. She looked about for a tree large enough to hide her.

"Make it quick my hatchling." Goliath popped in.

"Going to the bathroom is so weird! With you in my head and all." War had forgotten that he was there again. He made trips to the restroom much more awkward.

"Sorry. I will be silent." Goliath apologized.

War Bond hurried behind a tree to relieve herself. The wave of refreshing release washed over her. As she finished up, she was was overcome with a feeling of sickening dread. Her head was fogged, blurry. She couldn't think. Couldn't feel. She felt the cold touch of steel on the front of her neck. The lightest touch of breath on the back of her neck.

"War Bond." A voice stated in an odd accent.

Her mind clouded, she was slow to respond. "Who... are... you?" Every word sent a painful pulse through her skull. The migraine began to form in her head.

"I am an assassin." The voice replied calmly.

"...how..." she couldn’t get anything out.

"Soulbonding has been around as long as they have been. Its nothing new. As with anything, some know more about it than others."

She could tell the voice was male, but not much else. War Bond couldn't focus. Everything hurt her head too much.

"I was hired to kill you. But I am no mercenary, I have honor. Codes of ethics. I was told that you were a living embodiment of evil. From my knowledge, evil does not save a village from chimera, and leave before they can be held as heroes. You are not what I was told you are. Your life is yours for now. But do not make me regret letting you live... Know that you are not as powerful as you think. Know that you can be bested by exploiting the weakness you know not of. Know that you will not remember our meeting, but you will remember my words. Power lies not with size, might, ferocity, or grace. But in truth. In knowledge. In acceptance. Power can be both found and born. If you are to survive you endeavors. Let go. If you remember nothing of our meeting, Remember. Let. Go."

The wave of refreshing release washed over her. As she finished up, she was was overcome with a feeling of sickening dread. An instant later, the dread had vanished.

"Ugh, did you feel that?" War asked, her head aching suddenly.
"Feel what?"
"I'm... Not really sure."
"Come now, let us go. They are waiting on us."