“Praise be to Fortuna!” Rythil exclaimed as he quickly made his way over to me. “I thought you wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon!”

I dropped Rapt Glance, landed, and picked up Rythil. “You brave and crazy little noodle!” I took a moment to cuddle him, much to his discomfort. “And I thought you would be little pieces of luck dragon all over the place when you got in my dad’s way!”

“That was very unlikely,” he retorted, a little bit flustered. “Fortuna protects her priests, I don’t think I was really in any danger.”

“Of course you were! Though it was Fortuna who saved you indeed, just not the way you may think.”

He gave me a raised eyebrow.

“It was the curse that saved you! You looked like a little hatchling to my dad! If not for that, you and everykirin else down here would be dead!” I lifted him up higher for all to see. “You saved everykirin!”

For a moment several pairs of eyes were focused on him, and given the fact he wasn’t speaking and seemed to have gone stiff, I had a feeling he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to react. Finally, he just waved it off with his tail. “I just did what had to be done. Fortuna needs to be praised for making it work.”

“Uhm, shouldn’t we care for the wounded?” Rapt Glace interrupted, before making his way past us and towards the kirins laying around.

“Oh, yes!” I placed Rythil back down. Worried, my gaze swept over Grounded Star and the other injured kirins. “How are they?”

“They will survive. Some are in quite bad shape, but I didn’t see any fatal wounds. I did what I could to help them, but they, Grounded Star most of all, desperately need a real doctor.

“I already gave the order for our healers to send kirins to collect the wounded.” Jumping over some rubble, Calmatious Blossom emerged from the chaos around us. “Your friend should also be patched up soon.”

I first gave her, then the more distant surroundings, a glance. “Any… any casualties?”

“Luckily, none so far,” she took a moment to cough, “your dad did a great job at destroying our houses, but he wasn’t interested in killing anykirin in particular it seems. Also, he spared everyone who was accompanying a bornling, which was of great help in reducing the number of wounded. Still, if you don’t help us lift this curse soon, there will be casualties.” After she finished, Calmatious Blossom was struck by a fairly severe coughing fit.

I felt a weight be lifted from my heart. Thanks Aunty. I didn’t know how I would have felt if Dad really had slaughtered the villagers while searching for me. Mom told us, especially Kindling, to not get into situations where Dad would feel the need to follow and rescue us for obvious reasons. It was pure luck that no one had gotten killed thus far!

“What about Calm Tempest? Did anykirin see her?”

“I am over here!” Half covered by the fabric from the broken sales stand, she sat on one of the planks that had fallen down. Somecreature had also used pieces of the fabric to help render aid, wrapping it around her foreleg. As a result, the improvised bandage was now red instead of blue.

“I am afraid it looks as bad as it is,” she continued. “Your dad has a strong slash. I won’t be of much use for the time being.”

“Don’t worry about that, I am just glad you are fi… okay. I am glad you are okay.”

“I would like to point out that we still have a growing fire to worry about,” Rythil interjected, addressing Calmatious Blossom. “You should send your kirins out to extinguish it sooner rather than later.”

“We will take care of that eventually. Ultimately, it is not too high in our list of priorities. Right now there are more pressing matters to attend to, such as raging dragons, Hades’ Curse and azure-kirins. It is not like the fire or smoke will harm anykirin. Besides,” she sighed while looking at one of the burning mushrooms, “there isn’t much we can do anyway, other than supervise it as it burns down.”

Seeing Rythil shift back and forth on his claws reminded me that he in particular was the only one of us that wasn’t fireproof. So it was only logical he was more concerned about the fire than anycreature else.

“You can stay with me,” I whispered as I picked him up and swung him around my neck. “I will protect you from the fire. Is the smoke a problem too?”

“Not right now, but if you are asking if I am resistant to it like the dragons you know, the answer is probably no.”

“I will keep that in mind.” With Rythil around my neck, I made my way over to Grounded Star, who was in the process of being cared for by Rapt Glance. She was laying on the ground and whimpering. The bite marks on her back were already covered in fabric, but it didn’t look like it was doing much more than covering up the wounds. The sheer size of Dad’s fangs and the amount of damage they were able to inflict could quite easily be seen through the blood stained cloth.

“You will be okay,” I said as I sat down next to her and softly stroked over her head. “You will be fine.”

Her gaze moved over to me, and despite her pain, she managed to make a little purr, pressing her head against my claw.

“Everything will be okay,” I once more said as I continued to caress her. It seemed to help.

“We don’t have the time to hold hooves here,” Calmatious Blossom yelled. “More kirins are suffering! We need to hurry!”

I fixed her with an angry stare before turning back to Grounded Star. “I will check on you again later,” I said and carefully ruffled her mane. She purred agreeingly.

That only left one kirin to check on before we could go. “Flittering Echo!” I shouted. “Flittering Echo, where are you?”

For a while nothing happened, and I started to worry. Though, a moment after I shouted again, Rythil spotted her peeking out through one of the holes Dad had broken into the houses, looking down on us.

“Are you alright?”

“I guess so,” she replied while keeping a close eye on our surroundings.

“No need to worry! My dad is back at our carriages! You can come down now!”

Hesitant, she followed my suggestion. Her gaze wandered over Calm Tempest and to Grounded Star on her way down. “Is she alright?”

“She will be.” I skipped further explanations and quickly inspected Flittering Echo. She had no signs of any injury. “Are you okay?”

She needed a second to draw her gaze away from Calm Tempest before replying. “Yes, yes I am fine.”

“Good, while I go and lift the curse that’s befallen these kirins, I want you to stay here and help care for the wounded.”

“Uhm, okay.”

“My mom should also be showing up soon. Tell her I am fine and that she doesn't need to worry. I already told Fertile Dessert to tell her that too, but the more the better. Understood?”

She nodded.

“Alright, and don’t worry about my Dad. I spoke with him, or to put it more accurately, negotiated with him. He won’t be in panic mode or ready to hurt you guys anymore.”

This time she was looking to the side, not willing to agree. “Your dad is scary,” she said.

“I know, I know he is, but that was because he was worried about me. Believe me, he’s calmed down now, also, Mom wouldn’t allow him to hurt anykirin.”

Again she looked away, but eventually nodded.

“If you are done with pampering everyone, we should go,” Calmatious Blossom advised.

I growled at her. For a second it looked as if she was going to return the favour, but then she thought better about it and just stood taller.

“I am making sure, my kirins are well before I move on.” I gave her a challenging look, but she didn’t react, neither looking away nor presenting her fangs. Satisfied, I drew my attention back to my merriment. “These kirins are not our enemies, even if for the time being they are not our friends either. I don’t want you to do anything hostile while I am gone, understood?”

My kirins nodded.

***

“I see you have returned,” Caustic Mercy, who had waited at the entrance to the containment cave, said. “Is everything handled above?”

“No, it is not,” Calmatious Blossom replied harshly as she trotted right past him, only to stop at the threshold of the actual cave, hesitating for a moment. She exhaled deeply, seemingly to prepare herself for going in, and then vanished inside.

“My dad has calmed down,” I explained when I saw his questioning look. “But the mushrooms up there are still burning and several kirins are injured.”

“That is unfortunate.” Without any further words, he also turned around and followed Calamitous Blossom into the cave, and, used to their behavior, so did I.

The interior was as sparse as one might expect given its purpose. There was simply a part of the wall that had been carved out and a wooden fence placed there to prevent kirins from leaving the small area behind it. When Bliz had said that they didn’t have an actual prison down here she hadn’t been exaggerating. The whole thing gave the impression that it had only just been built, utilizing far more good will and magic than actual skill, sacrificing quality for speed. If the young mare behind the wall made even a half-way serious attempt to break out, the ‘cell’ wouldn’t last more than a few minutes.

“Mom!” Sierra Bonsai quickly got to her hooves as soon as she spotted Calmatious Blossom. “Mom, you need to let me out! I heard there is a dragon on the upper levels! We need to scare them away!”

“It has already been taken care of.” Quickly, she sent an annoyed look towards the two guards, it being rather obvious who had told Sierra about what had been going on, before she focused back on her daughter, her face taking on a subtle look of sorrow upon doing so. “We are here,” she coughed and sighed, “for a different reason.”

By the time her mother finished speaking, Sierra Bonsai’s gaze had landed on me and she started to growl.

“Don’t you dare!” Her mother wouldn’t have any of that and grabbed her head with her magic before thrusting it onto the ground.

“But Mom! She…”

She wasn’t permitted to get any further. With a loud roar, her mother silenced her most effectively. Seems I am not the only one with problems speaking up to their parents.

“You have already caused enough harm today! She is our guest now!” It was kind of surprising how many emotions Calamitous Blossom could put in the word she. All her rejection for my kind as well as her anger were clearly audible. “You will not challenge her anymore!”

Sierra Bonsai kept her head low, but I saw her eyes sparkle with hatred as she looked in my direction.

As quick as the anger had overcome Calamitous Blossom, it vanished. She turned to the side and covered her face with a hoof, exhaling deeply. For that brief moment, the burden she had to carry became painfully obvious. And, for the first time, the question of who Sierra’s father was came to my mind. Shouldn’t he be here, helping Calmatious with the situation? Or, is she a single mom?

“You will apologize to her now,” Calmatious Blossom said, her tone one of frustration as she lowered her hoof and turned to her daughter again. “You will apologize and help us lift this curse if possible.”

“Mom I will no…!”

In that fraction of a second, Calmatious Blossom rammed her burning hoof against the fence. The whole construct wavered under the impact. “You will do as I say!” She roared, her whole body burning brightly now. Sierra Bonsai pressed herself to the ground, her eyes darting to the floor as she released a submissive whimper. “You will apologize for attacking her, for breaking the rules of our duel, betraying our pact with Lord Hades! And if you need to kiss her claws while doing so, then you will do it, my hoof upon the altar! I will not have our kirins suffer because of your lack of honour!”

“Just an apology would do nicely,” I whispered, half to myself, as I placed Rythil next to me on the ground and took one step forward. I knew from the few occasions Mom got this angry how Sierra must feel. After all, all she did was protect her mother, it didn’t make sense to have any hard feelings towards her for that.

“Open the door!” Calmatious Blossom yelled at the guards, and when they did so, she gestured to her daughter to come out. Slowly she did, and when she got to the threshold, Calmatious Blossom grabbed her by the neck, forced her forward and pushed her down before me.

For a moment there was silence. It was a very tense silence though, and the flickering of Calamitous Blossom’s flames didn’t help, but still…

“You can’t demand that from her!” One of the guards piped up, prompting a growl to start forming in Calmatious Blossom’s throat. “She,” he pointed at me, “is an azure! She is the enemy!”

“I know what she is!” Calmatious spat back. “She is one of those abhorrent azures our ancestors fled from! She is the worst thing kirins have ever brought forth! An evil I would rather see eradicated from this world!” She then looked in my direction for a second before turning back to the guard, and when she continued, her words were filled with venom, a tone of disgust having been added. “Still, here and now, she stands under the protection of Lord Hades and has the right as winner of the duel of leaders to be here! Don’t you dare question that!”

Hastily, the guard backed down.

“Mocking her heritage will not benefit your case,” Caustic Mercy commented.

For a moment the flames on Calmatious’ back burned even brighter, and I could see her just barely restraining herself from releasing a roar. “Of course,” she pressed out between gritted teeth, “you are right.” She took a few deeper breaths. “My apology for that.” Her gaze wandered to her daughter again and I could see that this new humiliation only fuelled the rage she felt towards her daughter.

“Mom…”

Calmatious Blossom only hissed and slammed her daughter's head back on the ground.

“Mom, she tried to kill you!”

“And I will squeeze the apology out of you if I have to!”

“She only tried to protect you, I can’t really blame her for that,” I tried to intervene.

“Spare us your pity!”

“But I am not even mad!”

“It doesn’t matter! We are not doing this for you! We’re doing this for our people! You as an azure represent everything we reject, everything we oppose! Any other day I would gladly fight you! But not this day! This day you stand as the winner of our duel, a title you would have rightfully earned if it wouldn’t have been dishonorably taken from you! We did you wrong. So while I would like nothing more than to jump at you and rip the scales from your back here and now, I can’t do that!” A hiss of anger escaped from her lips. “Instead, I would drop to your claws and even offer you my life in return for your forgiveness, anything if it would help my people!”

This statement silenced even me.

Calamitous then turned back to her daughter with a scowl. “Now, do as I say and apologize!”

“I… I am sorry,” Sierra Bonsai whispered.

“I accept.” And after a second I added. “You shall be forgiven.”

“Not really a proper apology,” Caustic Mercy judged.

“It will do,” I said. “She said she is sorry, I said I forgive her. Things are cleared.”

“If you say so. I can only hope Lord Hades shares your opinion.”

All of us waited for something to happen, letting our gazes wander over each other and the surroundings, all except Calamitous Blossom, who was keeping her eyes fixed upon her daughter. But nothing changed.

“Well, it was worth a try,” I said. “Still, it may help in the negotiations with Hades.” Not seeing a reason to stay, I attempted to turn around and leave the cave, but Calamitous Blossom held me back. I hadn’t noticed it before, but after my apology, Calamitous’ face had begun to harden. For some reason, the way she looked got me to ask myself if that is what I looked like when I was being forced to give Autumn Blaze back to my brother.

“One moment, there is something else that… that needs to be done.” Atypical for her, her words were quite emotionless, withdrawn even.

With a sense of forboding in my guts, I asked, “And what would that be?” I already had enough trouble on my plate as it was.

Calmatious Blossom let out another deep sigh, her eyes pressed shut and her hooves pressed onto the ground. Along with a, what I would call, sad growl, she reopened her eyes and turned to her daughter.

“Sierra Bonsai.” Calmatious Blossom spoke loud and clear, conveying without question her position as a leader. She waited for her daughter to look up to her and, after a moment of hesitation, even rose to her hooves, facing her mother nose to nose. “Sierra Bonsai,” she paused for a moment, closing her eyes and swallowing, her mind seemingly so opposed to voicing the words she was intending to say that it had attempted to simply swallow them. “Sierra Bonsai, for breaking one of our most sacred rules, for bringing shame on yourself and your family, I am hereby,” her voice cracked for a moment, “ I hereby expel you from our village.”

“Mom! Mom you can’t do that!” Sierry Bonsai hysterically screamed. She attempted to grab her mother by the shoulders, but was immediately pushed back.

“You will leave our village within the hour.” Now tears began forming in her eyes, evaporating with a sizzling sound soon after as they came in contact with her flames. “We have azures roaming around the swamp, so you better make sure to put some distance between you and them before things are settled down here so as to not get claimed.”

“No!” The scream of Sierra Bonsai became desperate. “Mom! Mom no! You can’t do that to me! Please, Mom!” Again she tried to cling to her, only to be stopped this time by her mothers magic.

“Guards!” Calmatious Blossom yelled. “Escort her to our home, see to it that she takes with her what she needs and leaves the village.”

Shocked by the turn of events, I merely stood there with my mouth agape, disbelieving what I had just witnessed. “Calmatous Blo…” I started, but she silenced me with a raised hoof and a growl.

“This is none of your business, azure!” Her voice was a mixture of rage and sadness. “Don’t you dare interfere!” Now the stream of tears ran freely from her eyes, making her sound like a campfire in the rain.

Again, her daughter tried to plead, to reason with her, but it was all in vain. Calmatious Blossom turned her back on her as the guards grabbed her daughter and pulled her from the cave.

We all stood there in silence, only the cries for mercy reaching our ears from the tunnel leading up.

I wasn’t able to say anything. All she had done was protect her mom… Even worse, protect her from me. I didn’t know what to say, what to do. This couldn’t really be happening!

Without a word, Caustic Mercy stepped forward and next to Calmatious Blossom before pulling her in for a hug, allowing her to bury her face in his mane where nokirin would be able to see her tears. Despite the two not seeing eye to eye as far as I could tell, he knew what he had to do.

“Isn’t there a way to…” Rythil started, looking first at the exit then at Caustic Mercy, but the other priest slightly shook his head and Rythil felt silent again.

“This has nothing to do with to whom she did what she did, but that she did it.” He held the crying Calamitous Blossom in his hug while addressing us. “Nothing you can say will change her fate.”

“But all she did was protect her mother,” I bursted out, unable to stay silent. “There has to be something we can do! There has to be!”

“No there isn’t,” he replied, keeping Calamitous Blossom in his hug. “And you only make it worse by asking. You should leave, head for the temple. We will follow you in a…” He looked at his crying leader and then back to us, “we will follow when we are ready.”

This couldn’t be the end of this! My whole body was filled with the need to do something, to save Sierry Bonsai from such a cruel fate, only the will to not increase Calamitous Blossom’s suffering held me back. Before my emotions could get the better of me, Rythil approached and signaled that he would like to be picked up.

“I know you feel like you need to do something about this,” he said, “but we need to speak to someone above those rules.” He waited until I had lifted him and swung him around my neck before he continued. “She,” he nodded at Calmatious Blossom, “is part of the hierarchy, she can not change it on her own. But I am pretty sure Hades can. If you want there to be an exception for Sierry Bonsai, you have to negotiate with him about it.”

“What a splendid idea!” I ruffled through his mane between the ears before pressing him against me with a claw. “You are a little lucky charm!” On the spot I turned around and headed for the temple. There was no need to let Calamitous Blossom suffer longer than necessary!

***

“No.” It was just a single little word, but it was the most disastrous one I could currently imagine. Hades, sitting on his stone throne, looking down on us, shook his head slowly. “I will not remove the curse from the kirins who betrayed our pact.”

That single word struck all three of us, Rythil, Calmatious Blossom and I, like a hammer. We were currently bowing down before him, with Caustic Mercy standing next to the throne and Bliz, as well as a few kirins from the village, had joined us and were sitting at the entrance to the dome.

“I once offered your people sanctum and protection from their enemies, and in return, they swore fellowship to me and to abide by my decrees. Today, you used my own rules to undermine my will in regards to the Godchild of Fortuna, and then, your own daughter broke my rules by attacking her.” His voice lingered in the air even after he had finished. It was like a whispering in the air that reminded me of what we’d heard earlier in the temple.

“My Lord,” Calamitous Blossom dared to speak up, but kept her gaze low. “I only followed your rules by challenging Fiery Leadership to a duel. Her presence down here is an affront to all that your pact with my people represents. I did my duty as leader, as you decided me to be, when I challenged her.”

“In the twisted view of a mortal, that may or may not be true,” Hades answered.

“That… my daughter violated the pact which you and my people formed in ancient times is also not in question, my Lord. We only beg for redemption. My daughter has…” she paused, her breathing quickened and she unsuccessfully tried to hold back her tears, “my daughter has been…”

“Sierra Bonsai has been expelled from the village, my Lord,” Caustic Mercy said. “Her wrongdoing has not been ignored nor forgiven.” He made a calculated pause. “She apologized to Fiery Leadership before this punishment was enacted though, and Fiery leadership has forgiven her.”

“I am aware of this,” Hades replied. There was a slight tone of judgment in his voice, causing Caustic Mercy to step back and bow his head deeply.

“Of course my Lord.”

“That means no permanent harm has been done,” Rythil quietly and respectfully mentioned. “These villagers’ loyalty to you has not been found wanting.”

Silence followed his words. Hades neither reacted to his words, nor dared Rythil to continue. If it hadn’t been such a serious situation, I would guess that it would have felt awkward.

“My Lord,” Calamitous Blossom finally chimed back in. It seemed she had gathered herself enough to continue. “We will do… nearly everything you demand to make amends. What is it you desire from us in return to restore our pact?”

Suddenly, the air in the dome felt a lot cooler and the shadows felt more intense. “Your death shall be enough.” Hades rose from his throne and walked over to us. Blue Flames burned wherever he set his hooves. “It seems time has watered down what you mortals think of me. It was a lack of fear and respect that caused your daughter to even dare to break my rules in the first place. It is time that you mortals learn once more what it means to deal with the Lord of the Underworld.” He came to a halt in front of Calamitous Blossom. “Your death and the death of your people will remind them.”

“That is unfair!” I bursted out, spurred to react due to my sense of guilt. “You can’t just kill them all for the mistake of one kirin!” I stood up and looked Hades in the eyes. “This is just cruel!”

Hades simply picked me up with one hoof, now being thrice his previous size. “If you weren't Fortunas godchild, you would be sharing their fate now, mortal. It would be in your interest to give me the respect I am due, else not even Fortuna will be capable of stopping me from sending you to the realm of the dead.”

An ice cold shiver ran down my spine, and the spot where he was holding me went numb at his touch.

“Furthermore, what do you expect from the Lord of the Underworld as punishment? That I take their luck away? That is for lesser god’s.” And with these words he threw me away like a piece of trash.

“That is not app…” Rythil spoke up, but flinched back immediately once the gaze of Hades was upon him.

“You have even less protection than she has,” Hades spoke down to Rythil, who was now pale and shivering in the face of death. “I grant you only this one warning, priest of Fortuna. Overstep the line again, and your faith will be absolute.”

“If you kill them all, there will be no one to tell how formidable and intimidating you are, Hades.” A new but very familiar voice rose from the crowd. The only creature scarier than Hades had finally shown up, my mom.

“To fear and respect you, mortals must know about you,” Mom said as she approached us, bowing before Hades and spreading wings when she arrived. “Your fame can only spread through the mortal realm if creatures talk about you. I haven’t heard much of you before, but only one look at you and your temple conveyed to me your greatness.”

At first it was not clear how Hades would react, though, after a moment of inspecting Mom, he responded. “You, who once visited my realm, should know more about the god of the underworld. Though, what you say about mortals is true. I will allow you to go on. But be advised, my patience with your kind is thin.”

Mom bowed once more, and threw a sideways glance at me, checking on my well being. “Hades, if you kill all these kirins here and now, you will gain nothing from it, but if you let my daughter claim them, everykirin will soon know the price of defying you…”

“No!” Calmatious Blossom screamed, springing up. “No! We would rather die than serve your daughter! None of us would like to be claimed!” She stepped forward, daring to face Hades directly. “We gladly accept the fate you decided for us if the alternative is being claimed by her.” She pointed at me.

Murmurs and shouts emitted from the crowd, threatening to turn into chaos and turmoil real quick.

“Silence!” Caustic Mercy yelled with the help of his staff, loud enough to overpower any other noise. “You are in the temple of Lord Hades! Show him the respect he deserves!”

Instantly the crowd fell silent and onto their bellies. Everyone except for Mom, Bliz, Rythil, Caustic Mercy and me.

“Forgiveness my Lord,” Caustic Mercy kneeled and touched the ground with his snout. “The old enemy returning has caused my people to lose their minds.”

“Only further proof that you have lost your ways and forgotten who I am,” he replied. “Danger Do, daughter of Cloud Planter Do and Gold Digger Do, your words are true. I am no longer feared and respected in this part of the world as I should be. I accept your suggestion.”

Wild panic was written on the faces of everykirin from down here when Hades raised his hoof.

“The protection I offered you shall be no longer. Go, and be prey for the beings you fear and hate the most!”

Without further warning or time to prepare, whatever had prevented my azure heritage from taking effect suddenly vanished. A flood of emotions as well as the desire to dominate everykirin who had dared to behave as though they were my equal swept into my mind. I bared my fangs and released a roar at the top of my lungs, letting everykirin know that here stands an azure-kirin, leader of our race! Don’t you dare oppose me any longer!

Of course, Bliz followed suit and answered my call with her own. Seems Hades had also restored her presence in my merriment. In a matter of seconds, I could feel new kirins in my merriment. Everyone who had the misfortune of standing next to her in the crowd.

My own eyes however were fixed on Calamitous Blossom. I ignored the restored sensation of feeling the presence of hundreds of kirins and instead focused entirely on her. She had not only dared to attack me and defy my will, but had also told me how much she hated my kind! Now she would have to answer for that! I charged forward, the blue light from my forehead falling upon her in a matter of seconds.

“Fiery!” Mom sprung between me and her at the last possible second. “Fiery, behave yourself!”

I barely came to a halt in front of her, my claws leaving marks on the grass. It took everything in me to not show her my fangs, to not growl at her, but the fact this was Mom guaranteed I wouldn’t.

“Stop acting like a wild animal!” she demanded. “You didn’t do this when you claimed Autumn and our friends from the village.

“They didn’t try to kill me with a great axe!” I tried to dart around Mom and towards Calamitous Blossom, but Mom was a tiny bit quicker. With a yelled “What?!” she rushed into my path again but turned to face Calamitous Blossom while keeping me in her peripheral vision. “You did what?!”

“She challenged me to a duel of life and death and cracked my backscales with her axe! As well as injured my claws!” Reminding myself of this affront, this challenge to my birthright as an azure, my blood started to boil! How dare she!

Mom seemed to think the same. A quick look at my scales and claws and she was on fire! Now I had to be even quicker, or there would be nothing left of Calamitous Blossom for me to claim! I rushed forward once more, ready to claim my prey, when Mom tried to push me back with a hoof. I roared at her and tried to sneak past her, but she held me back again.

And suddenly, something in my head clicked.

Instead of Calamitous Blossom, I aimed at Danger-Kirin!

“Fiery, NO!” Calmly yelled in my head. “Do not attack Mom!”

“Bad idea!” Roary supported her but it was in vain, before they had even finished, I was already crashing into Danger-Kirin.

Together, we rolled over the grass, me growling and hissing, and Danger-Kirin, shocked and surprised, simply deflecting the strikes I was aiming at her. Despite being taken unaware, she was successfully fending me off. She is a Do after all! She had been caught completely off guard by my attack but recovered quickly. As we were rolling, when she ended up on her back with me on top of her, she used her rear legs to kick me off!

“That is Mom! Fiery, stop! Dad will kill us!” Calmy shouted the same moment Roary yelled, “This is not the time to fight her for dominance! Don’t you remember last time?”

I used my wings to land on all fours and immediately roared a challenge at Danger-Kirin! She on the other claw rose to her hind legs, spread her wings and prepared for my next attack.

She knew from the last time that reasoning with me was pointless. And I didn’t let her wait. I rushed forward, spread my now burning wings and jumped half into the air to send a series of kicks in Danger-Kirin’s direction, followed by some slashes with my claws. But she wouldn’t be the adventurer she is if she let that happen. Instead of just taking my kicks, she grabbed onto my left leg and tried to use my own momentum to get me to crash into the ground. That may have worked for creatures without wings, but I countered by flapping my wings faster and flying higher. We struggled for a moment till I kicked her hoof with my free leg and she let go.

“Fiery…” Danger-Kirin said loud and slow, with an aggressive undertone.

I only hissed and spit a lance of fire at her. She jumped aside out of instinct, causing the lance to only ignite some grass.

“Submit!” I roared while already flying in for another attack.

“I will not,” she stated firmly, flying up herself so we would both collided in the air. One would think that with my claws and fangs and us being at such close range I would gain the upper claw quite easily, however, Danger-Kirin had more than a little experience being in a close-quarters fight and had a fair degree of strength in her own right. I snapped at her with my fangs and tried to scratch her with my claws, she countered by grabbing onto my legs while at the same time evading my fangs.

We struggled like this for a while, with neither of us getting the upper claw.

I hissed in frustration at being denied my rightful claim to a new subject, so when we next locked eyes, I spit fire right into her face. Taken off-guard, she let go of my legs to protect her face, giving me just the opportunity I needed. With a heavy kick, I overpowered her and sent her down to collide with the ground. Certain of my victory, I rushed after her and tried to jump onto her back, to bite onto her neck, but she was just that little bit quicker. She rolled to the side so my claws pierced only the ground, and in a swift move, rose into the air and retaliated with a heavy kick of her own that swept me off my claws.

“We need to stop fighting Mom as quickly as possible, if we hurt her, Dad will kill us,” Roary piped up.

I caught myself midair with my wings and started to kick at Danger-Kirin again.

“We must surrender!” Calmly demanded, her voice becoming panicked. “We can not win this!”

“We can not hurt her with blunt strikes,” Roary corrected. “We need to subdue her without biting or scratching her too much!”

He had a point, but I was too engaged in the fight with Danger-Kirin to really pay attention. We exchanged a series of kicks and hits, or more like, I tried to harm her while she just blocked what I threw at her while sneaking her own attacks in the form of surprise punches or a wingbeat here and there. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she dropped her resistance, took one of my hits, and pushed forward. I rose to my hind legs to fend her off with a series of slashes, but that had been just what she wanted. She dodged my strikes and threw herself against me, sidestepping and getting in directly behind me. Before I could respond by turning to face her again, a foreleg suddenly wrapped around my throat and tensed up.

“Fiery, stop it!” Danger-Kirin demanded as she put her weight into the headlock. Instead of listening, I of course tried to break free, shaking wildly and even trying to buck so she would fly over me. Well, like many things, it works best on non-flyers, so it went without saying that I wasn’t able to shake her off that easily. I tried to fly up, but the instant I tried, she swung her wings around us both, preventing that from happening. Like I said, she is strong! I roared and hissed, kicked and bucked, but I couldn’t shake her off. That was until she suddenly roared out in pain and let go of me.

Instinctively, I turned around to hit her, but what I saw caused me to hesitate. Bliz had come to my aid and had bitten Danger-Kirin in the shoulder! Now the two of them were struggling with each other, and it was being made quite obvious just now how much Danger-Kirn had been holding herself back when fighting me. In a matter of seconds, she got rid of Bliz and punched her so hard that one of her fangs flew out only to land next to me.

“That's one of the reasons Mom is so scary and a good fit for Dad,” Roary judged approvingly.

“Though she is soft minded about it,” Calmly added, “look!”

Realizing what she had done, Danger-Kirin got wide eyes and brought a hoof to her mouth in shock. A moment later, she turned back to her normal self and rushed over to Bliz to care for her.

It was at that moment I felt a shiver of ice run down my spine! I had attacked Mom! I dropped to my belly, turned completely kirin and lowered my gaze, whimpering loudly for mercy.

When I heard Bliz growl, I yelled, “Bliz no!” quickly before returning to making submissive bornlings sounds.

I felt both their eyes on me, then, Mom requested to see Bliz’s teeth which she showed no resistance to. The moment I wasn’t willing to fight Mom any longer, Bliz lost all hostility she had for her.

As soon as she was finished inspecting Bliz, likely satisfied that she hadn’t done any permanent harm, Mom walked in front of me. I only dared to look at her hoof tips and increased my apologetic and submissive bornling sounds as best I could.

“Shhh.” Mom lowered herself to pull me in for a hug. “Shhh, all is good,” she repeated. Despite me attacking her a moment ago, she did her best to comfort me.

“Mom,” I barely choked out. "Mom, I am so sorry!”

“I know,” she replied, “I know, don’t worry about it.”

“But I… I… Dad will be…”

“I will handle your father,” Mom said, petting my head and stroking my mane. “I will tell him and he will be understanding and forgiving.”

“But I,” I dared to look up into her eyes, “I attacked you, Mom. I challenged you, again!”

She placed both hooves on my cheeks and held my gaze. “No you didn’t. You attacked an unclaimed kirin that defied your will, you didn’t attack me.”

I was going to disagree when she sealed my lips with a hoof.

“And that is exactly what your father will hear from me. And he will also will hear that I will rip every scale from his body if he dares punish you for it.”

“Thanks, Mom!” I cried out and grabbed her for another hug, but she hissed in pain when I laid my head where Bliz had bitten her.

“It’s nothing,” she waved off before I could say anything.

“But Dad… He will be furious!” My gaze wandered to Bliz, who was approaching us with a lowered head. She came to a halt next to us and, like me before, started to apologetically whimper. She even tried to lick the wounds she had caused, but Mom pushed her away.

“Thanks, but no,” she said, then sighed. “I get it, you wanted to defend my daughter, but this will be much harder to explain to Big Softy.”

Bliz got onto her belly and whimpered.

“Yeah I know,” Mom said. “I know. We will find a solution.”

For a while, we just sat there. Mom stroked through my mane, Bliz and me whimpered. We had screwed up really bad, but that didn’t mean we wouldn’t notice Calamitous Blossom's attempt to use the distraction to sneak away! There was still the turmoil of fleeing kirins and general panic caused by Hades’ judgment, and the little incident with Mom had really drawn my attention, but still, with my azure abilities back in order, I could feel her sneaking away.

Seemingly aware that she was now being watched, she came to a halt and slowly oriented her eyes over to us, realizing that all three of us were now focusing on her. I could also feel Mom’s back heating up, likely remembering what had angered her in the first place, but a quick whimper from me was able to calm her down. We don’t need a second dominance fight between her and me right now, or ever if things go my way!

Still, we had to deal with Calamitous Blossom now. I disengaged from the hug and walked over to her. I ignored the whispers in my ear that I should claim her right now and came to a halt in front of her. She on the other claw lowered herself to the ground, struggling with her desire to flee and the force behind my azureness keeping her in place.

Without intending to, a growl exited my mouth as I spoke. “Calmatious Blossom!” She shrunk even smaller under my growl. “You are no longer under the protection of Hades, that means you shall join my merriment!”

She whimpered, but also growled back. She shook her head left and right as she dug furrows into the grass, struggling to escape my command. “Never!” She spat out. “I will never,” she shook herself, hissing and scratching her head scales, “serve an azure!”

This insolence was oil to the fire that was my heated emotions, I pushed forward with my head and rammed her, causing her to fall onto her back. I was already halfway to biting her throat when the image of the last time I did that and the fight I’d just had with Mom rushed through my mind. I hesitated, my mouth open, my fangs visible, only a few centimeters from her throat.

“We did what we needed,” Roary piped up. “Claim her now. All the struggles we had down here are finally over.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Rythil ran over to us. “These kirins did everything they could to avoid being claimed!” He stopped next to us, not daring to get between her and my fangs.

“Ignore him, what does he know about it? Fortuna supports us claiming the throne and all the kirins, her priest should not go against her will.”

I struggled. On the one claw, yes, they really don’t want to be claimed. They broke off from Shakirin-La to be free from my kind, though… My fangs moved closer to her, on the other claw, she did attack me, she did insult me, and, I am pretty sure Fortuna supports my actions since it helps me grow the numbers to conquer Shakirin-La.

Seeing my mood turning against his advice, Rythil dared to jump onto Calamitous Blossom and form a ring around her neck. “Fiery, please! You should seriously reconsider what you are about to do!”

“Out of the way, Rythil!” I growled, casting a blue light over him.

“No! What you are doing is wrong! There has to be a better way!”

“There is no better way! These kirins will join my merriment! I need them to claim the throne!”

“There must be…” Rythil started, but was cut short when Calamitous Blossom jumped up, her hoof rushed into her mane and came back with the dagger she’d previously offered to me!

“I will never submit to you!” She screamed and tried to hit me! But something in me responded quicker than my mind was able to follow.

“STOP!” My voice echoed through the dome, leaving everykirin stunned. Even I was surprised by this. I did not know where the power to do that had come from or that I was even able to do this in the first place. It wasn’t like with my normal commands that my kirins did their best to follow, this had been a word of power! Right in front of me stood Calamitous Blossom, frozen in her tracks, the dagger still in hoof, her gaze fixed on me and a burning hatred glowing in her eyes. But, she couldn’t move an inch!

I let my gaze wander from her to everykirin around us. The turmoil had stopped, the kirins who had tried to flee a second ago were now staying still, or laid on the ground where they had fallen when my word had reached them mid-run. The only kirin still moving was Bliz, but even she tried to keep it to a minimum. At least that was what it looked like at first, upon a second glance, I saw that Caustic Mercy, who had taken a seat next to his god and was now watching the events unfold, had also been spared.

It seems being a priest makes one immune to my abilities, either that or Hades had excluded him from the punishment.

“Fiery,” Rythils voice brought my attention back to him. “Fiery,” his gaze wandered around just like mine had, “what did you do?” He hopped off of Calamitous Blossom and now stood next to her.

“I am not quite sure actually.” I took another look around but finally focused back on Calmatious Blossom. “But I know what I have to do now.” I stepped forward, pushed Rythil, who tried to get between us, aside and looked Calamitous Blossom right in the eyes.

“She tried to attack us, again!” Roary judged.

“As hard as it is for me, I have to agree with him,” Calmly said. “She can’t be trusted. Better we claim her right now before whatever we caused wears off.”

I took the dagger out of her hoof and threw it aside. A moment later my headscales shone brighter and enveloped her in azure-blue light.

“N…o…,” she growled between gritted teeth, fighting against my command.

This repeated resistance caused me to growl to myself. “I will no longer tolerate your defiance of my will!” And in a quick move, I rushed forward to claim her…

“Mylady! Mylady, the egg cracked!” Nimble’s voice cut through my concentration like a shard of glass. “It is time, my child is ready to hatch! Oh I'm so excited!”

For a second I lost my focus, and that was all that was needed for Calamitous Blossom to break free! Her hoof was shooting forward and her horn was beginning to glow, preparing a spell that would cause who knows what kind of evil effect. Fortunately, I was able to yell, “Don’t” at the last possible moment, causing her hoof to come to a stop only centimeters away from me and the aura enveloping her horn to vanish like a candle being blown out.

“...I can see the hooves! It is… a little kirin, a… colt! I have a little son!” The rest of his message turned into screams of joy and bubbling about how happy he is.

I shook my head, trying to block him out. This was surely not the right moment for his hatchcelebration!But I couldn’t, my mental connection still refused to bend to my will. It was absurd! Here I stood, facing a dangerous enemy, ready to claim a few hundred new kirins, and what did Nimble do? Flood me with happy emotions and babbling! Hadn’t he noticed the new kirins in the merriment Bliz claimed? Or was he too far away for that? Or did he not care since the egg was going to hatch? Either way, his sudden arrival in my head along with the flood of joy he was sending out had broken through the influence my azure heritage had on me, and even if it was just for a moment, it was allowing me to think more clearly. If I wanted to act, I had to do so now!

The moment the light of my forehead dimmered down a tiny bit, I grabbed Calamitous Blossoms head. “Calmatious Blossom, quick! We don’t have much time! You don’t want to be claimed, I get that, but the moment my azure heritage comes back to me with full force, that’s going to be what happens!”

I only saw confusion in her gaze, confusion and mistrust alongside other hostile emotions.

“When that happens I will claim you on the spot! Therefore, we have to make a deal, quick! I think I can offer for you to serve me, without being claimed. Same rules but without the brainwashing part as you call it.”

She just looked at me.

“Oh, right. BE FREE!” I shouted at her,” catching her hoof when she struck out. Though, it was more a reaction than an intended attack at this point. “Stop that and listen, we don’t have much time!”

She scowled at me with suspicion, but held back on attacking me again. “What could you offer, azure! You’ll claim us all the second you get the chance anyway!”

“I am trying to prevent that! If you would just listen! Look, another azure-kirin just connected himself to my mind, keeping the influence of the Call, of my heritage, at bay. But I do not know how long that that will be the case! If my heritage takes over again, there will be no room for negotiations!”

She stared at me, the mistrust of centuries weighing down on her shoulders.

“Decide, now! Do you want to bargain or be claimed?”

With a final growl and a quick look at her people, she nodded. “Speak, what do you propose?”

“That you and your people accept me as your leader…”

“Never!” She bared her fangs and flames started to ignite along her back.

“You do not have a choice on that! I will lead you one way or the other! The question now is if you keep your free will as you call it or not!”

“We would rather die than be claimed by you, and you know that!”

“Yes, I heard you the first time you said that! The only way to archive that though is if you serve me freely! No claiming, but still following my commands!”

I could only imagine the inner struggle she was fighting. Everything she ever learned was about how evil I and my kind were, that we must be fought whenever found. But now she needs to trust me enough to find a solution for their current situation!

“Even if we would accept, you would claim us anyway! Lord Hades' protection is no more! You said it yourself, as soon as your heritage takes over again, you will claim us!”

“Not if Lord Hades protects you again!”

“He will not, he is not a forgiving god!”

“He may, trust me, I have learned something very important about the gods lately!”

“What would that…”

“No time to explain! If I convince him to put you under the protection spell again, will you serve me as if you were claimed? My word will be your command!”

“You can’t just ask us to submit to any orders you may come up with! There needs to be limits!”

“There are limits!” I spat out, “The same that exists for my merriment! They are claimed, and still there are things I can not order them to do! You will have the same degree of freedom as them, no more, no less.” I shook my head vigorously. “No! We can’t bargain about every little detail, this is the only hope your people have to retain their free will! Even if I didn’t claim you, any other azure-kirin would! So yes or no? Will you serve me freely or not?”

“You are not giving me a choice! All you are doing is having me decide how we are to be enslaved!”

Why did she have to be so stubborn? A growl formed in my throat and the light of my forehead became brighter again. I even took a step forward…

“Yes, may the azures be damned by the gods! Yes,” Calmatious Blossom said loudly while taking a step back. “If I only have those two choices, I choose free will!”

Ignoring her words, I followed her, my mouth slightly open, my fangs visible…

“Fiery, stop!” Rythil punched me in the side. “You do not want to do this!”

With another shake of my head, I stopped my approach towards Calmatious Blossom. “Thanks, Rythil, that was just what I needed!”

“You're welcome!” he replied and hopped on my back. For a split second I considered whipping him off with my tail, but realized that he did this to distract me further.

“Alright, Calmatious Blossom, listen. I will speak with Hades, let me do the talking and just play along, understand?”

“What is your plan?” she demanded to know.

“You will see. Trust me.” She opened her mouth to protest but I interrupted her. “Consider this to be my first command, trust me and follow my lead.”

She fought a bit with herself, but eventually closed her mouth.

“Good,” I turned towards the place Hades and Caustic Mercy were standing, or sitting in the former’s case. “Hades, God of the Underworld!” I requested his attention while I approached them. “Hades, these kirins have indeed failed you! Punishing them by sentencing them to be claimed may be a fitting punishment!”

“What are you doing?” Rythil whispered.

“Dealing with a god,” I whispered back. Turning back to Hades, I continued, “But there may be an even better punishment, even more terrible for them!”

Hades only seemed slightly interested in what I said. “I doubt you could propose a worse punishment for them than being claimed, mortal. Do not try to give advice to a god. You may regret it.”

“Of course, oh mighty Hades. You do know best what is a fitting punishment, however, mortals work a lot different then gods! What you consider the worst punishment may be disastrous for gods but only an inconvenience to the mortals! We mortals do have very strange views and habits sometimes!”

Now I could see a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

“If you allow, I would suggest an even worse punishment for those kirins who have failed you!”

Hades looked at me, and I took that as his permission.

“Having these kirins serve me in my merriment is surely something they would hate to do, that is, as they are now. As soon as I or Bliz claim them, they would be compelled to enjoy it. That is how it works. Whoever we claim serves us willingly.”

Hades kept looking at me silently.

“Knowing this, what punishment could be worse than being forced to serve me, an azure-kirin, a being they hate more than anything, but without the benefits being claimed would afford them! To be fully aware of their situation but never allowed any of the usual perks!”

“An interesting proposal, mortal,” Hades finally said. “Go on.”

“I suggest that you place your protection over them again, but force them to promise to follow my command as if they were claimed. None of them would like that!”

“They may not like it, this is true. However,” Hades waved my suggestion off with a hoof,” a promise isn’t as binding to mortals as it is to the gods. This idea needs improvement."

“Whoever breaks this promise shall fall to the ground dead, their life extinguished before their body finished its descent,” Caustic Mercy suggested. “They shall be an example for everyone that the might of Lord Hades is without end and absolute. It will be a reminder for everykirin to never question the authority of our Lord again.”

A smile spread over Hades face. “Well spoken my priest. That sounds far more like it.”

“Wait, what?!” I exchanged a look with Calmatious Blossom. Both of us were shocked! “That is not what I had in mind!”

“Excellent, it shall be so,” Hades proclaimed. “Your suggestion finds my approval, mortal.”

“One moment!” I hastily yelled, but it was in vain.

Hades rose from his throne. “From now on, everykirin of this village who intentionally disobeys your orders when said orders are in their power to complete shall instantly die.” He spread his hooves and an aura washed over everykirin. “This is my bidding, and so it shall be.” He then turned around and walked a few steps before disappearing. The only thing that lingered in the air was the beginning echos of his laughter.

With an open mouth I stood there, unable to even react. My eyebrow twitched and an impending sense of panic crept up my spine.

“This is what Lord Hades has decided based on your suggestion, Fiery Leadership,” Caustic Mercy said as he stepped over to me. “An even worse punishment than before. Well done.”

Author's Note

Woah, this one was a longer one again! But things are really getting out of claw so far! Schatten loves it, and I hope so do you guys!
Also I had a new artist done the artwork this time, hope you guys like it as much as I do!

Schattendrache : Edits and Pre-reading
QueenChrysalisForever: Pre-reading
Spectra_Sus Artwork