Sigil [IC]

[Maeriberii Haan]

“Ridiculous.

Absolutely, utterly, ridiculous.

Did I really spent eons just to see my flesh and blood became those useless things?

 

Millions of years of evolution…

And all that I got were snobby brats that were too arrogant to see their own glaring weakness.”

 

Elsa’s cab suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. Soon, she realized about the cause. A mass hysteria had apparently happened somewhere near, and she knew about the most probable cause for it. After paying the fee for the cab, she immediately ran towards where everyone else was running from, and she could then immediately see that her guess was right.

 

And she was completely pissed up about it.

 

The emerald dragon from before stood proudly at the top of a tall building, his presence was seemingly intended to draw as much attention as possible towards him. For Elsa though, it just looked like something an attention whore would do.

 

It was then when several spots on her body started to throb unnaturally. Specifically, her so-called sigils were throbbing hard. She thought it was either some sort of seizure she developed on her body, or a form of mental attack.

 

Though, it didn’t bother her much, if at all. Especially when she noticed someone really familiar somewhere near her. Two, no, three people.

Three people that had an air of familiarity to her, and a complete stranger, all who oddly didn’t run when the dragon appeared. When one of them ran off towards the emerald dragon, she could definitely notice something was very off about her, mainly, parts of her suddenly started to glow enough for Elsa to notice that it was most definitely a sealing sigil.

 

It was then when she realized that the throbbing from before was from her detecting them.

 

Which means…

 

"Come ye who are dragons! We stand together now! The humans and their magic shall stand not against us!"

 

“…

 

Ugh."

 

While she definitely would gladly run towards the emerald dragon and devour him completely, the fact that firstly, she was doubly sealed so she couldn’t access any of her powers, and secondly, the emerald dragon had managed to gather many of his fellow dragons, Elsa felt it was best for her to just lay low for now, and study the full situation, but probably she should ask the three people near her about the current situation. And ask them she did, as she immediately approached the three, and as if she's already a close acquaintance to them already, she started a casual conversation.

 

“Quite a spectacle, isn’t it?

A real dragon, at this era. Sounds like something out of a fairy tale, or some recent fiction or something.

Say, why did you three-“

 

A clearer look at one of the boys stopped her from continuing her sentence, as she was completely surprised. And she then noticed how the other boy actually looked like too, which made her even more surprised. Her eyes became darker, and she started to speak in a lower tone to them, in a language she never really wanted to speak ever again.

 

“Mammon, Minori, what the hell are you two doing here?

Gosh, making your mother worry like that…”

 

Tiamat thought the two of them had perished when Anu sealed her millenias ago. But, here they were, healthy as ever, although in human form. They probably were not with her in her lair during that night.

 

Lucky them. Also, she was able to be completely sure that the girl was 100 percent human, which was a pretty nice fact for her, since it somewhat proved that at least her direct descendant were not as idiotically arrogant as other dragons.

 

“Ugh, this is a bad time and place for a reunion, huh? But really, I’m glad you two were still alive.

Been like ages since I last saw you two. I would’ve asked about how things were going for you two lately, but yeah..

 

...Hey, it seems like you’ve managed to have a quite pretty human acquaintance. Good job on that~.”

 

Elsa said those in an eerily merry tone, compared with how she acted before. Whether it was a honest expression or not was up in the air, but, her apparent 'happiness' of meeting with her direct children was gone immediately when she realized that the emerald dragon would still be problematic.

 

“Uh, anyway, do any of you know anything about that emerald lizard over there? He seems to plan to start a rebellion against human or something, like it’d work well when most of us lizards got sealed.

 

And yeah, please, if you all still have some threads of sanity there in your head, please just ignore him.

Unless you plan to euthanize what’s left from dragonkin. “

 

Elsa stopped right there, gasping for air. She hadn’t learnt much about how to properly say a lot of things in a short time period, which she definitely did just moments before.

 

And then, rain suddenly start pouring in Chinatown. And Elsa knew the day would just become worse and worse for her.

 

---

 

“It’s raining already, huh?

Weird, though with the anomalous weather back then in Cordoba, heavy rain like these were pretty common as of late.

So probably the world had indeed turned crazy.

 

Or alternatively…
 

Elsa’s around here somewhere.

 

Heh, I probably should stop associating her with rainstorms.”

 

Despite saying that, Murdoch did realize that the rate of off-seasonal rainstorms had dramatically increased after Elsa appeared.

 

Though, that’s not important at the moment. While his time with this “The Pantheon” thing was short for now, he did manage to learn several things about what’s currently happening in this world, mainly dragons being awakened gradually from their slumber.

 

And that was why he ran towards the direction of the emerald dragon on top of the building, the ancestral spear that had been passed down his line for generations in his left hand. Speaking of it, he had learned that it had enhanced with some form of really powerful magic, with the singular purpose of overcoming and sealing dragons, though, apparently the type of magic used on it and the seal it generated was kind of different from what today’s mages used. It was also apparently very old, but eh.

 

But, at the last moment before he entered said building, he hesitated, and decided to just observe things for now, as he was still unsure about his abilities yet, what’s with the complete lack of training he had received from the Pantheon’s more senior mages.

 

But really, screw them. Murdoch felt that they hid way too much things, and as an archaeologist and historian, he felt obliged to dig deeper into this issue. Not to mention, he apparently managed to nail the entire dragon business right before any contact with that organization, so that was another incentive for him to learn more about the entire thing.

 

Taking his smartphone from his pocket, he decided to send a message to Elsa.

 

Hey Elsa,

I think I’ll be away for quite a while, longer than what I said in my letter.

Please don’t try to find me, I’ll be alright, I swear.

Also, I hope you enjoy your new job at that bar.

I guess that’s all for now, I’ll message you gradually, don’t worry about that.

 

See you later.

[Jolta]

"Hey, where'd everyone go?"

Orochi had arrived at the scene, watching everyone flee, even the dragon dancers. Her eight distinct sigils hidden underneath her clothes began to spark. "なに?" She questioned the occurence, but then she looked up and saw the large Emerald Dragon. She recognised this being from myths and legends, but just could not put her serpentine tongue to it.

Her mysterious serpent emblems continued to react. She could sense them. The rest of her ancient kind.

"Come ye who are dragons! We stand together now! The humans and their magic shall stand not against us!"

"Eh... Hssss...." Orochi commented to herself as she walked forward to the scene. Presuming everyone here was unafraid for they were dragons as well, Orochi spoke up to a random individual she saw, "Hey, do you know what the green guy is doing now? I just got here..." To a regular human, it sounded like a snake hissing, as opposed to a draconic roar.

Her short stature and adorable, child-like appearance. made it a bit awkward. She was probably the shortest among the dragons in humanoid form. You may think being tiny made her unnoticed, but she stood out pretty well.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

"Come ye who are dragons! We stand together now! The humans and their magic shall stand not against us!"
 
Kalameet and Nidhogg had been wandering in a general direction for a decent while now. The new words, spoken in draconic by the same voice which stirred New York minutes before, let them know their destination was indeed in that direction. Without a word between them, they hastened their pace to the point of running.  Each had their own reasons for doing so– Kalameet because that voice held some familiarity to him in a way he could not yet place; Nidhogg, simply because his guide has suddenly ran off and the humans around them were steadily running in the opposite direction. Chances were the source of the voice was not too far away.
 
And indeed, it soon came to view.  One of the great and ancient dragons, gleaming emerald in the sunlight that poured upon it (Nidhogg hastily raised a hand to shielded his eyes from the reflection), visage striking terror into the humans about it while the two continued their run towards it momentarily. Momentarily, because it was soon only one.  Nidhogg was left charging while his guide stood dumbfounded at what he beheld for just a moment.  It all made sense to Kalameet in a split second, that voice and its familiarity paired with the dragons being called.  Habitually, he clenched his teeth.
 
Nidhogg in turn took about three seconds to realize only his own steps were echoing anymore, and stopped to turn. Truth be told, he was glad to look away from the dragon shoving sunlight onto his eyes. He had spent a good few thousand years– the human had said 2014, had he not?– doing nothing but sleeping in the dark, how could anyone expect to face broad daylight after that, let alone practically face the sun?– but he cleared his head. There was something more pressing at claw, and his new partner was clearly making more sense of it that he was.
 
“What are you standing there for?” Nidhogg said, once he had walked back to the other.
 
“I know that dragon…” the sentence trailed off through clenched teeth as Kalameet found his feet once again, beginning to stride towards the dragon once again.
 
Nidhogg followed the other, asking with a touch of impatience in his voice; “I don’t suppose you’d care to fill me in, then?”
 
"He..." Kalameet began, having to forcibly unclench his teeth to speak, “he does not deserve the breath to explain.  A traitor to our kin, I have heard many names for him and seen many proved deserving.”  His footsteps came faster every moment as he gathered speed, his single eye locked not on the group of others a ways ahead in the street but on the one calling to them.  The sigils on his chest burned away, as surely his companion’s did, and he would not have been surprised to see smoke drifting up from within his shirt.

 

“So you say, but he’s calling us against mankind. And no traitor among dragons ever lived long without humans behind them. Do you mean that one,” he gestured with his head toward the emerald on the rooftop, “was strong enough to fight off both sides?”
 
“You did not see the broken fangs!  The torn wings! The shattered eggs!” He was all but shouting at this point, and his pace was approaching a run once again.  “He must be lying, must be drawing others to slay them!  Oh how I will relish his death when–”
 
Nidhogg stopped dry. “Now hold that thought. You just said he’s laying a trap. And we are walking right into it?”
 
Kalameet was beyond reason at that point, ignoring attempts by his certainly more sensible acquaintance to logically appeal.  Emotion had taken hold.  Wrath, sorrow, guilt, and more flooded the Black Dragon’s mind as he charged forward willing wings that this body lacked to carry him skyward. Even in the draconic tongue, the words he spoke next were barely comprehensible as incoherent rage escaped with them.  “SIGURD!  MY FANGS AT YOUR NECK!”
 
Well this was only going one way, Nidhogg realized, now quite a distance behind the white haired dragon and feeling the I-told-you-so impulse he did not often get to experience. By this point the other would only be running to his death, and if his own current condition was anything to judge by, he would be completely helpless to stop it. Nevertheless, this was his only real chance to escape this death trap that was the ‘city’. Seeing another dragon must have clouded his own judgement more than he would like to admit, for he found himself chasing after Kalameet once again.
 
He did not bother speaking another word, opting instead for giving a closer look to their surroundings. Indeed, this was the place where false dragons dance. Or danced, now that the humans toying with the mocking caracasses of dragons had all but fled in terror. Some of the holes in the, what was the word, ‘buildings’ were smashed in, humans escaping them with a haste which Nidhogg could not help but find hilarious. He was so distracted with whatever he went by as he ran, that he failed to notice a few who were in fact not.
 
And then the throb of his sigil grew sharp for an instant. He turned his head and slammed his feet onto the ground, leaving Kalameet to rush ahead. Two others, somewhat in the distance, had been walking casually up until a moment ago. Their hair looked messy and one of them looked loosely covered in clothing, as though they were recently put on and they were not entirely comfortable with the result. In the rush of the moment he put two and two together with a leap one would not consider entirely logical. He changed courses and rushed to meet them, bending over to catch his breath once he was in front of them. Hesitation cost him a second at worst. “You heard the emerald dragon, did you not? Do you… do you also know it? Is he telling the truth? You don’t seem panicked… do you know?”

[The Warden]

Gloria and Fae were rather inconspicuous as they walked hand in hand with Elizabeth through the crowd. Though their seals burned due to their own proximity, the tattoos itched, as if small creatures were climbing on their skin. Looking through the crowd, the two dragons couldn't make out a familiar face, except, for one: 

 

"Come ye who are dragons! We stand together now! The humans and their magic shall stand not against us!"

 

As Elizabeth rushed ahead, her hand left theirs as the girls stopped to stare at the dragon who had taken roost atop the tall building. His green scales glistened in the sunlight, painting an emerald dream across the sky. Elizabeth stopped her panicked stride to stare terrified at the girls. They were staring intently at something; and in a fool's move she followed their gaze to see the emerald dragon atop a building. Elizabeth screamed again as her mind couldn't process what she was seeing, causing her to pass out.

 

The resounding thud was enough to attract the girl's attention, their fears resonating as Gloria and Fae's mother collapsed. Rushing to her side, Gloria felt for a heartbeat, which was thankfully there, albeit rushed and panicky. She sighed with relief as she looked back to the emerald dragon. "He looks familiar" Gloria remarked, trying her best to keep Elizabeth's head raised.

 

"Indeed, nature dragons were rare. But, one as bold as him... it could only be him" Fae replied.

 

"The dragon slayer, Siegfried" Gloria whispered, chills running down her spine.

 

Yes, the two had heard of the mighty Dragonslayer. A terrifying human who indiscriminately murdered countless dragons for a reason they had never learned. Rather, the two had been downright terrified of the being. And to know, above all else that he was a dragon in human form. Well, the thought only became more sickening to them. Certainly he hated dragons, like they did; but, knowing what he did, Gloria and Fae could not trust this axe crazy maniac.

 

And hopefully, though they were out in the open a decent distance from the street, he will spare them as they moved Elizabeth to a safer location by a wire fence, out of the view of the dragons who were grouping on the street. 

 

Peeping around a rusted car, Fae noticed someone familiar. "Great" she hissed through her teeth, "Mammon's out there, on the street" she reported.

 

Gloria looked up from stroking Elizabeth's head, her eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Him, really? Don't let him see you, he might come over here. Ugh, he was such a dick back then" Gloria groaned.

[Astolfo]

Minori was watching Ouroboros leave when he heard a familiar voice speak his name, the next words confirming the identity of the person. “Mom? I thought you had been sealed away! I’m so glad to see you again!”

“I am pleased to see you alive as well, Mom!” said Mammon brightening up and smiling widely at her, like he always did.

When Tiamat spoke of a certain “pretty human acquaintance”, Minori’s face flushed. “M-Mom, it’s nothing like that! Mammon had found her!”

However, the looming problem of Siegfried dampened the mood for their reunion. At her mother’s words to stay away, he vigorously nodded. “Yes, Mammon and I aren’t going to go anywhere near Siegfried! It’s a trap, Mom!”

“A.. trap? What do you mean, Minori?

And you seem to know about the green dragon. Anything that I need to know about him?” Tiamat was definitely concerned with the tone that Minori used in his sentence.

Mammon spoke up, seeing his brother rather lost at giving a good explanation. “That green dragon is known by everyone, or those who know him at least, as the Dragonslayer. And... I don’t see it likely that the ‘Dragonslayer’ is actually rallying the dragons against the people, he was raised by humans himself,” he said.

“Dragonslayer…
That title sounds familiar.”
But as Mammon finished his explanation about him, Elsa couldn’t help but smile. Probably she had judged the green dragon wrongly.

“Mammon, who is this lady?” asked Lily, cutting in as she was rather annoyed to be left out of the conversation due to linguistic difficulties.

“Ah, pardon me for suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

I am Tiamat, the mother of these two boys, though you could refer to me as Elsa. Did these two give you any trouble so far?

Also...”

Pulling Lily towards her, Elsa then whispered something on her ears.

“Hey, which one of them do you like the most? They’re quite pretty, no?” she said teasingly.

Lily’s usually iron demeanor broke, and she stiffened and blushed, unused to this line of conversation. “I-I...”

“Heh, don’t be shy like that. They’ll like it if you take the initiative on them~”

Though, seeing that teasing her during a time like this was a bit improper, Elsa relented, and returned her attention to the brothers, while Lily let out sigh of relief and straightened herself out.

“Back on a more serious note, boys.

You two, and this fine girl should just move out from this place immediately. That green dragon aside…
I can sense them.

Mages.”

“Thought it was likely,” said Mammon, shrugging. “He wasn’t the thinking type who’d lure his prey in like that, always had someone else telling him what to do.” Mammon nodded towards the green dragon, denoting who he meant by “he”. “But... what will you be doing now, Mom?”

“I guess I will stay here and observe. If this is really a trap set by the green dragon,
I think there is a possibility that he and the mages collaborated to eliminate us all.

And if that is true, then knowledge about this plot should be key. Don’t worry, I’ll survive.”
She had something entirely different in her head though. She knew from her experience that most dragons had too much ego to work with humans, and chances are, the mages were there to subdue the dragon, or at least, were there solely for him alone. And she felt, one way or another, she could aim to gain something from this situation. Either the green dragon or the mages should be a valuable ally to have.

Though, a question still lingered in her head.

“Say…

Who was that girl that ran towards the green dragon’s location? Another one of your girlfriends, Mammon?”

Mammon chuckled and put his hands up in mock surrender. “You got me, Mom, what can I say? I’m a popular boy. No, that was Ouroboros, it seems, that old bat,” he said, returning his hands to his pockets. “She’s apparently interested in fighting the Dragonslayer head-on.”

“....That ancient virgin?” Tiamat was not exactly amused.

“Not a pleasant lady,” said Mammon, shrugging.

“Indeed. So it seems like all these eons had done nothing to her virginity. And her idiocy.”

There was an awkward pause in their conversation after Tiamat’s bold statement. Finally, Mammon broke the silence and his cheerfulness lifting the dour mood to an extent. “We’d be best on our way,” he said, in a tone that would be more suited to a day’s separation than a tone that bespoke of an uncertain future. “Stay safe, Mom.” He flashed her a wide grin.

“You too. And hey,” Tiamat then turned to Lily, who stiffened up again, wary now of further teasing.

“Let’s have some womanly talk sometime in the future, as you seem to be in dire need of those~”

Minori opened his mouth to say farewell when he realized he might not see his mother again for a long time, if ever. Shaking his head to get rid of the thought, he ran up and hugged Tiamat.

”G-Goodbye, Mom. Stay safe, and let’s meet again, soon.”

And with that, the trio turned and left.

When she was positive that her sons and their girlfriend had left the place, Tiamat immediately turned her attention to the emerald dragon once more.

“And now…
I wonder, will you survive to see the next dawn, Dragonslayer?”

A smile formed on her face. No matter how this event ended, she could gain something important from it. The only thing that she need to do now was just to lay low, and enjoy the spectacle.

The three walked in relative quiet for a while, Lily rather sensitive to Minori’s sadness at having to leave his mother again, while Mammon seemed happy as ever, just silently so, leaving Lily to wonder if he was just masking it or really didn’t feel a care in the world about anything.

“Did you have your fill... of sightseeing dragons for today?” asked Mammon, as they traced the steps towards Lily’s home.

Lily shrugged and looked at him, sensing something in Mammon’s tone.

“I’m curious,” he said, stopping behind the other two. “Mom’s up to something, and it sounds interesting. Seems like she didn’t want us involved. Of course, that just makes me want to get involved even more.” There was a sudden flash as something large appeared behind his back. Even through the rain, they sparkled with intensity akin to the stars. Stretching five meters to either side of him were massive diamond wings.

[Mugendramon]

A vein popped visibly from Quetzalcoatl's forhead, and pulsed as though it were about to burst right through his skin. These humans, these gringos, were not only ignoring his manly and dignifying challenge –they were trying to talk they way out of it. What was more, one of them returned a challenge. Quetzal looked to both sides, looking for a reaction in his entourage. To his pleasure it was exactly what he expected to see; they were all tightly clenching their fists and looked about ready to break out and kick their asses anyway.

 

In fact, he was about to throw a light jab at the heavier one, when the small girl got up and took her leave. Quetzalcoatl would have paid no mind, but both men to her sides looked shaken for the briefest moment when she stood. Rather small she was, the dragon noticed. And now that she'd come to his attention, she was not reacting like females usually did. She had not so much thrown a look his way –this did not actively concern him, he siply noticed it with a half smirk. Then his mind returned to the gringos at hand, the woman slipping from his thoughts as quickly as she had from view.

 

"Think that know with what we deal, gringo," he spoke, with anger showing clearly through his voice; "is you who not know. But you will remember!" The dragon was ready to slam his right arm onto the face of one of the irishmen, yet a deep sound stopped him in his tracks. His mind –and his body– were frozen shut for a moment whilst the source of the voice appeared in his head. He had all but forgotten there was another God, another of his kind, cruising the sky. Now that he remembered, this entire affair returned to being the petty triviality it really was. Quetzalcoatl turned around without a second thought, leaping onto the chevvy's driver's seat after a few long strides. "Get on. We go after the God."

 

"But jefe, the gringos–"

 

"SUBAN. A LA. CAMIONETA, MIERDA!"

 

They did. Not one of them would dare stand up to their God, obviously. Once the men were all on the truck, Quetzalcoatl slammed the pedal with his massive foot. The chevvy sped forward and got lost in the echo of the buildings ahead. There could be only one God, Quetzalcoatl told himself, and that had to be him; were it not, he assured himself, he would not deserve to live. His sparkles were not overly bright anymore, instead giving off a more tame, angry glow.

 

OST - Nube Negra

 

The figure of the emerald-green creature finally appeared through the buildings, moving slowly in perspective with the speed of the vehicle. Its eyes were obviously not looking at Quetzalcoatl, but its head somehow seemed to follow their movements. The sight angered him, perhaps as much as it frightened his crew.

 

"Dios mio..." began one.

 

"That's it, we are dead. We are all dead for sure!" broke another.

 

Even Manolo, the bravest of his crew, could not help but shrink away at the sight of the monster. Noticing, Quetzalcoatl allowed himself one hand off the wheel to pat him across his back. "Don't you worry," he began in his beautiful spanish, with such a deep tone and perfect intonation it would have made any poet shed a manly tear; "I will punch that fucker right through that building. You and the guys don't have to worry about a thing, Manolo." The man looked at Quetzalcoatl, who in turn flashed his best confident smile with sparkles and everything. Manolo's face seemed to brighten from that point, and he stared confidently ahead.

 

"Let's kick dragon culo."

 

The word dragon seemed to ring a bell with him, but he could not nail it and it was not important anyway. The road finally ended on some fashion of open field, standing not far from the building atop which the emerald God was rested. Quetzalcoatl commanded the gang to get down, and they hurdled together at his word. "Now what, jefe?"

 

"Now? We climb the building and stab the puto."

[Lunar Origins]

Amita - Evening, Chinatown

 

The sight of the dragon astounded her as it reared its head over the rooftops, crying out for others of its kind.  Now, she was listening intently, her heels on every word emanating from its gaping maw.  Ted had ran off to get the camera, leaving her alone among the hustle and bustle of the streets.  The most interesting thing; her sigil was flaring like crazy as she stared at the dragon.  Much, much more than it had in the past on rare occasions when she tried to access her powers, no this was different, as if it was the very presence of another dragon-kin that caused it.  It wasn't painful; it was more of a dull throb, like a faint shock.

 

She looked down, grasping her head.  The shock's intensity left as her gaze came off the beast.  

 

"What the hell," she said, looking back up, the sigil flaring once more, this time more painfully.  "I'm getting the worst f***ing feeling..."  This time she could tell that it didn't come from that hellish green dragon.  No, it came from somewhere close by, to the north.  Following whatever sense this was, she took off in that direction.  She wouldn't see Ted alive ever again, but this didn't quite cross her mind right now.  Something big was about to happen, and she wanted to be in the middle of it.

 

 

Massive, diamond wings extended from this boy's back, glittering in the setting sun.  Amita stood there in awe, her own sigil absolutely insane, almost making her head spin.  She spoke up, making sure her voice was loud and clear.  "You are also of my kind?"  She laughed, which sounded something similar to a hissing noise.  "You have the wings to prove so." She circled around, noticing that two others were with the boy; she could sense that one of the others was a dragon, and the same type as the crystal-winged one.  The other was a human.  "I am sorry to bother," she said in a sarcastically apologetic manner. "But I have been looking for one of my kind for ages.  Do you know what has happened?  I've been in the dark, and I have been using an idiot human for sustenance."  She eyed the girl, glaring, then shifted her gaze back to the boy's wings.  "How... how did you attain those?  I have been unable to break my seal in the slightest."

[BANZAI!!!!]

“You heard the emerald dragon, did you not? Do you… do you also know it? Is he telling the truth? You don’t seem panicked… do you know?”

 

Kai’s gaze turned suddenly toward the source of his native language, still surprised to be hearing it despite the numerous times it had been spoken in his presence today. Before him stood what Kai could only assume was another dragon, clad in what appeared to be a rather baggy, puffy, and loose-fitting winter jacket, and a pair of sweatpants which were equally loose fitting. Quite comfortable, but it made this new individual look like he had just rolled out of bed. He had bright blonde hair that was sticking out from the hood somewhat, and he looked about as confused as Viintaas still did. Perhaps they were related…

 

Viintaas himself was getting more excited as this new dragon approached him and Kai. It seemed quite a few of them had made it to this strange place. “We were coming to get some info out that green dragon. Other than that don’t know anything about him.” he said.

 

Kai looked at Nidhogg blankly, answering his query in a matter-of-fact sort of tone. He didn't really have time for this on account of the mass panic that the emerald dragon was causing, but it would feel wrong not trying to help one of his kin.

 

“Couldn’t tell you if he’s lying or not, but that’s what we’re on our way over there to find out. My gut tells me that he’s not being truthful with us, however, so if you plan on going this way you’d best be careful.”

 

“Every dragon’s about gut feelings today, it seems,”Nidhogg said in a low grunt, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder, to the figure of a running Kalameet.

 

“There’s more of us… wonderful.” Kai responded, clearly more irritated than before. “Well, lets get going.”

 

“Fine by me. Do you also come with death threats or can we just walk up to a reasonable distance?” He turned in a quick motion remembering there was another. “And you?”

 

Despite the question to simply walk to the dragon’s location Viintaas couldn’t help but almost run. After nearly losing his footing a few times though he slowed to a walk with the others.

Moments after she started running, the Emerald Dragon that Ouroboros was targeting suddenly landed atop a tall building, letting out a powerful roar that scared the humans away from that area. Since she was going against the crowd, she was actually knocked down by a rather imposing man in the chaos. Once the area goes deserted, she got back up to see that the Dragonslayer had taken a human form, and that there were still several people still in the area, people she can only assume are her kind.

Instinctively, she walked towards the group of dragons, carefully trailing behind them so that she doesn’t get noticed.

The once-bustling street in Chinatown, Manhattan was all but deserted, the festival stands, the goods, all left behind as men, women, and children fled for their lives before this mighty beast from the ages long gone. Siegfried, known by many as the Dragonslayer, with slitted eyes, gazed upon the few that yet remained.

 

“You must be my kin,” he spoke in a solemn voice, looking upon each of them closely and carefully. One of them, however, stayed not on the ground like the others.

 

The wall of the building into which Kalameet had charged proved little more than a temporary obstacle, given the presence of a fire escape which had given him ample surfaces to grip onto as he hauled himself upwards.  Rage drove him on, and so it was that he reached the apex of his climb and finally came to stand upon the roof.  There he was, so close that were it not for obvious complications the Black Dragon might have been able to make good on his threat as he had spoken it, but that was not his intention.  “You…” he growled in an attempt to imitate a preferred intimidation tactic, though without a proper set of fangs it didn’t sound right.

Siegfried shifted slightly to take in the white-haired man before him. The two stared at each other for a few moments longer, both getting progressively disgruntled, when the single eye within Kalameet’s head began to glow with great intensity.  In less than a second it had grown to such brightness that normal eyes would find it painful to look upon, at which point the real attack came.  A sudden, intense, focused burst of psionic energy directed with no purpose other than obliterating the dragon on the receiving end, and though Kalameet felt the sigils upon his form searing in protest he unleashed all that he could.

 

A dragon’s lifetime’s, many times greater than even that of the longest-living human’s, worth of battle experience against men and dragons alike honed the Dragonslayer’s instincts to allow him to jerk aside the moment before the blast, but he failed to clear the beam entirely and roared out in pain. Retaliating instinctively against his attacker, he knocked the psionic dragon off the roof with a vicious strike with his claw, and proceeded to pursue, leaping down towards the falling man.

 

Though the breath had been knocked well and truly out of him, Kalameet was far from out of it, or at least he thought so.  He expected to find the ground under him and Sigurd above him, giving him the opportunity to get another shot off while his foe was too focused on chasing him to get out of the way.  What he DIDN’ T expect was to be caught.  By a human.  A very large human, but a- no...there was something different about this one.  The start from being caught, and the freshly intensified...sensation in his sigils kept his attention off where it should have been, the other Dragon he’d just royally pissed off.  Being unceremoniously thrown onto the nearest available surface proved enough to shake him out of that; a few moments and an annoyed glance at the other dragon were all it took to reach his feet again and observe what had become of Sigurd.

From a few yards away, Kai watched the scene unfold with an ever increasing level of irritation. The dragon that his newest companion had pointed out before, who was most definitely incensed by the emerald dragon’s presence, had attacked him. Pointless fighting, for one… and here of all places: in broad daylight causing a mass panic. Worse still, there was another group on the scene, about ten apparently armed men led by a massive, overly muscled, overly tattooed individual. If something wasn’t done, the situation was going to go from bad to worse. The humans, superstitious and fearful such as they were, were probably at this very moment mobilizing some sort of response to the admittedly massive disturbance. The last thing Kai, or anyone located at the epicenter of all this for that matter, needed was the authorities appearing on the scene, after all. Worse still, this whole situation smelled of a trap. It was too obvious.. too overt, of an invitation, and no one, much less a dragon, would be naive enough to consider this an effective rallying cry. Ergo, the emerald dragon had ulterior motives, and the sooner everyone found out what those were, the safer everyone present would be.

 

Kai took a deep breath as he rolled up the sleeves of his sweatshirt, the twin sigils on his forearms beginning to glow faintly. Within a moment, scales began to grow outward from the symbols, enveloping his forearms until two dragon claws, proportional in size to the rest of his body, had seemingly encased his arms from the elbows down. His pupils became rhomboid, giving his golden eyes a more reptilian appearance, and his canines seemed to sharpen, almost giving off the impression of fangs. Nidhogg, following slightly behind, could not help but look at his own human limbs with a helplessness, and envy the release he was witnessing. Kai turned his head back to his two companions, his voice slightly more guttural and reptilian, but still retaining the same level of detachment and annoyance as it had before.

 

“I’m going to calm this situation down. Give me a moment.”

 

“Woah no way, he’s turning back into a dragon!” Viintaas said more to voice his own excitement than anything else.

 

Nidhogg nodded, somewhat absently. With that, Kai jumped up, ascending toward the nearest building, reaching a higher altitude than one would logically expect a seemingly eighteen year old boy to be able to; effortlessly ascending a few stories and leaving a cracked indentation in the pavement where he had been standing. Once he felt the pull of gravity begin to force him back downward, he extended his legs outward, making contact with the wall and kicking off of it in much the same fashion a swimmer does the wall of a swimming pool, only here the was an audible cracking noise as Kai’s feet made another yet larger indentation in the wall, bits of the masonry falling to the ground. He flew horizontally through the air at high speed, clenching his right claw into a semblance of a fist as he approached the descending Emerald dragon. When he was at the right distance from his target, Kai extended his arm in a punching motion, making contact with the emerald dragon before it hit the ground. As he did so, Kai projected a large amount of his built-up kinetic energy into his fist, drastically increasing the force with which his strike connected and sending both himself and the emerald dragon horizontally through the air at high speed and away from where the others present were congregating. Having used a good deal of the propulsive force he’d built up, Kai fell away from the emerald dragon after a few seconds of flight time, the dragon itself continuing on for a while longer before righting himself and flying back toward the rest.

“Now don’t get yourself killed, gringo.” Quetzalcoatl readied himself for the falling green monster once again, replicating his previous stance, now with an amused smile to accompany his shadowed eyes. But it was not falling. Something stopped it mid-air. The glitter had started piling on the floor by now, and as a result Quetzalcoatl looked a whole lot less impressive.

 

“Why are you speaking that barbaric language?”  Kalameet inquired, dusting himself off and fixing the giant of a sealed dragon before him with a quizzical expression.  

“Que? The f*** you say, gringo?” He could not afford to look away, but his smile went away and a confused frown took its place. “Nevermind. Just go away. Is important that I have space.”

 

“Do you mean to say you cannot understand the dragon tongue?” Kalameet just looked upon the muscular one as if he were insane.

 

“Dragon? Make sense, gringo!” Again that word, thought the robust sealed one. What did it mean?

 

“The dragon tongue,”  The one-eyed one began, reaching down to pick up the eye patch that had since fallen from his face and replacing it over the flat spot where another eye socket should have been, “the language of our kind.  If you are anything like me that…sigil on your back is burning.  It does that in the presence of other dragons, as far as I’ve seen.  Now, explain to me how a dragon,” he broke the word in draconic, “grew up without being taught to speak the dragon tongue!” he finished, exasperation in his voice before returning his attention to the emerald one.

 

In Quetzalcoatl’s head, a puzzle had just fit together. His mouth hung agape as he understood a great deal of things all at once, momentarily forgetting his surroundings.

 

“I–”

 

With a few powerful beats of his wings, Siegfried broke his state of motionlessness and returned to his perch atop the building. “You are my kin, but do not think I will overlook such an attack again,” he stated quite plainly, staring down at Kalameet. “I know not what quarrel you may have with me, but now is the time to put them behind us. This is a new world, a new time and age, and the wars of the old world do not carry over. Now is the time we must come together as brothers and sisters.”

 

Saying this, he leaped down to a building closer to the ground. “Dragons! As you see all around you, the humans have completely... have utterly stolen this world from us,” spoke Siegfried. “As a dragon guardian of nature-” he swished his leafy nature dragon’s tail for emphasis “-I deem mankind unfit for this world. Coming here, I have learned of the horrific damage they have dealt to our mother Earth.”

 

“And what’s brought about this change of heart, Dragonslayer?”  Kalameet inquired, now that he’d recovered enough breath to shout back.  “The last you and I met, you were using that sword of yours to cut open our kind.  Or did you forget the wrongs you had done in the sight of Kalameet?”  Still too angry to see the trap for what it properly was, but unable to summon forth another blast of psionic energy to strike out with.

 

“CHING CHONG CHEN!” Quetzalcoatl yelled at the top of his lungs, menacingly pointing a finger in the direction of the nature dragon, following the gringo and his “dragon” tongue.

While Siegfried battered with the disagreeable lot of dragons, and while sirens rang throughout the area as the humans reacted to this emergency situation, a man watched from the window of a nearby building. He was not dressed as people of this age were, although he was yet quite a young man brash and bold as they come, rather he wore an old robe embroidered with various arcane runes upon it, marking him for one who dabbled in the mystical arts.

 

He was not here by coincidence. He had been watching the exchange the entire time, and while all the dragons were busy arguing or otherwise screaming at Siegfried, he pulled out a radio and whispered a command into it with his raspy voice. "Kill them."

 

At this signal, various thugs sprang from their hiding places around the perimeter. They did not have magic, but they were ruthless and armed to the teeth. Without warning, those with guns opened fire.

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Lynn 

[hr]
Top Secret US Army Research Lab, just outside New York.

---

"P-professor Marilyn, please calm down." 

"Yes, this may be a hoax. Please keep a calm head for now, Professor." 

In one of the main corridors leading to the command center of the lab, a blonde woman in a labcoat accompanied two men in black-types, both of which appear to be having difficulties keeping up with the woman's hurried pace, and are desperately trying to calm her down. Upon reaching the end of the corridor, the blonde woman placed her palm on a rather intricate-looking device, which caused the large metal door in front of them to split open, releasing unhealthy amounts of white smoke (water vapor) as they enter the command center. 

 

Surveying the area before her, Lynn could see her beloved lab taken back by a wave of panic and confusion, and the source of said panic can be seen on the main monitor: A video of a large, green dragon hovering over what appears to be New York City. Upon seeing the video, the look of anger on Lynn's face was replaced by a look of disbelief. Mother have told her tales of dragons before, but they always have the same ending: They were all sealed away. The sudden appearance of one, in New York no less, sent a wave a shock through her mind. 

 

"Professor! Have you seen this?!" Cried one of the professors working under Lynn. 

 

"...Huh? O-of course I've seen it you damn imbecile! What do you think these two assholes in suits are here for?!" Despite being in a stunned state, Lynn was more than quick to respond and berate her subordinate, insulting the men in black standing behind her, who can only look down in silence. 

 

"I just got a call from the Secretary of Defense! The old fart thought our lab was behind that dragon, and he sent these useless MIB wannabes down here to 'monitor the situation', or something equally retarded." Upon finishing her rant, Lynn slunk down on her office chair, letting out a long sigh that silenced the entire room. 

 

"Lilinette," Said a rather meek voice that broke the silence. "Have you calmed your senses? Your coffee is already on your table, by the way."

 

"Roy..." Lynn replied to the scientist, apparently named "Roy". "Sure, whatever. I need to confirm this with my own eyes. You guys, send in two of our newest drones to the last area you saw that thing. I want all eyes on it. Record everything, and capture as much footage of that dragon. Roy, you go get your car ready." After a brief pause following her sentence, the entire room scrambled back to their desks and started wailing on their keyboards repeatedly. Roy, on the other hand, stood up and walked towards Lynn, nodded to her, and then took the glass of coffee on her desk and stormed out of the room. "Roy, you bastard! Give me by damn coffee back!" In response, Lynn got up and chased after her subordinate. 

 

---

 

A while later, Lynn got out of the building from the front door, and was immediately picked up by Roy and his car. After loading her very, very large suitcase onto the backseat of Roy's car, Lynn reluctantly tucks herself into his car, with a somewhat awkward and embarrassed look on her face. "The heck are you carrying? Ah, whatever. It's probably one of your new gizmos or something. Here's the coffee you love so much, by the way." He then handed a black tumbler to his passenger, who responded by grabbing it quickly and immediately looked the other way.  

 

"J-just shut up and drive, stupid..." The two left the area just as the two drones Lynn sent earlier took off, unaware that she's about to witness a bloodbath, but not in the way she might expect. 

 

[hr]

 

Ouroboros

[hr]

 

Just like before, just like it was milennias ago, Ouroboros merely watched silently as the events unfolded before her. Siegfried, Dragonslayer, none of that matters to her. Siegfried's short fight only reaffirmed her original thought: Friend or foe, he will be a most excellent feast. She was somewhat confused as to how nobody noticed her presence there, but she didn't care. It's not really her style to be in the front lines, after all. Still, she was about to interject and stop the rather annoying bickering between Siegfried and the other dragon that battled him just a while ago. Of course, she couldn't do it because the dragons was rudely interrupted by the sudden appearance of several armed men, surrounding them completely. She's seen the weapons the men were carrying before, in a wide bright box known as a 'television', so she knew that they were more than just dangerous - they could very well end her existence right there. In reflex, Ouroboros got in a readied stance and started charging her powers to manifest her dragon form's head, creating a rather large white-purple aura around her. And then she got shelled in the forehead by a sniper rifle. 

 

"Got one." Said a rather muscular man, carrying a large Barrett 50 cal, tens of metres away from the group of dragons.

"Great shot, bro!" Replied a skinny guy standing just beside him. 

 

The two's words were the last thing Ouroboros heard before pain suddenly overtook her body. Blood gushing out of her head, she could be sure she was done for. Eons and eons of living were then wasted thanks to a single mistake. Except, she didn't die. Sure, she was in a lot of pain, but she can still see. Her vision didn't blur even slightly, and she is still in full control of her body. Suddenly standing up in a somewhat zombie-like fashion, the large hole in her forehead mysteriously gone for some reason. The shock of seeing what was supposed to be a corpse suddenly move was enough to stop the bullet rain. She then extended her right arm forward, manifesting a snake-like being with a head similar to Ouroboros' dragon form. The snake proceeded to devour two unfortunate men standing closest to the group of dragons. Upon realizing that she can survive normally fatal wounds, Ouroboros let out a maniacal laugh.

 

"Ehyihyihyi... Hyaaaahahahahaha!! That's it! That's more like it! You're all fucking dead! I'll fucking eat all of you, bones and all!" With a sudden burst of white aura from her body, Ouroboros started running towards the armed men, who responded by firing another volley of bullets, none of which did any lasting impact to her other than further angering her. Manifesting two more snake-like appendages for a total of three, Ouroboros started eating whoever was in the line of her snakes. "Hyahahahah! IT'S A FEAST!"  

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

“Dragons! As you see all around you, the humans have completely... have utterly stolen this world from us,”

 “As a dragon guardian of nature,

I deem mankind unfit for this world. Coming here, I have learned of the horrific damage they have dealt to our mother Earth.”

 

“…Idiot.

Go die in a forest fire you pile of shameless weed.”

 

Though, Elsa didn’t have enough time to curse Siegfried more with even more colorful insults due to him betraying her expectations. Soon after he said that, gunmen that had apparently hid around there started to jump into the action and open fire to the dragons.

 

When she tried to walk away, she felt something weird had happened. She was moving too slowly, as if..

 

“Darn it!”

 

Apparently, subtle as it is, her short emotional outburst had made her seal weak enough so she involuntarily accessed her  smaller dragon form, something that in her opinion, was quite a disgrace to be seen. It was similar to a fat, shorter oarfish-serpent-thing that looks absolutely pretty pathetic compared to her Great Serpent or her human form.

 

Not to mention, this form was slow like molasses.

 

And she also needed to avoid getting hit by the bullets due to this form being pretty darn weak physically.

 

Not exactly one of her best days, that’s for sure.

 

---

 

Thankfully the water from the heavy rain that flooded the streets there somewhat helped her in moving, and she managed to utilize the water as a form of protective shield to deflect the bullets. Some of the shooters were still chasing her though, and so, she decided that a desperate measure was needed at that point.

 

After several seconds of gathering electrical currents at the tip of her tongue, Tiamat touched the running water with it, sending electrical shocks around, hopefully able to stun her assailant while she made her escape.

 

---

 

Quite a while later

 

Elsa had managed to return to her human form, and now, she was moving towards a point in a building where she felt the arcane signature of a mage. She was still really annoyed about Siegfried’s statement, though she had to limit her outburst unless she wanted to be stuck in her eel form once again.

 

“..’I deem mankind unfit for this world’ my ass.

It’s as if you’re actually speaking on behalf of Mother Nature, you brat. Heck, the only thing that’s allowed to say it at this point is probably me and me alone. No one else.

 

‘Stealing the world from us’? More like, taking it away from an incompetent caretaker.

If you dragon brats really want Earth, then you still have a long way to go to improve and change your own goddamn mindset about the whole thing.” She grumbled to herself.

 

And without her realizing it, she was already in front of the room where the mage should have resided. Without waiting any longer, she opened the door, and greeted the man inside.

 

“Quite a dire situation, isn’t it?”

 

She perfectly knew that she was defenseless, but she believed that the mage in front of her was not too experienced to pose too much trouble. Though, if she could, she really wanted to keep human casualties at minimum.

 

“Hello, young mage.

I came here with the interest of helping you.

 

While yes, I'm a dragon, I will be quite delighted if humanity defeat that part of my kind that was too arrogant to continue living, and that is why I'm here.

 

What’s with that?

 

Are you itching to kill or seal me here, on the spot, right now?

Not surprised. But here, let me tell you something.”

 

Her sigils glowed brightly for a split second, revealing an image of her Great Serpent form to the mage in front of him. For that split second, the overwhelming power of a natural force like Tiamat flooded the room and the senses of the mage, though it ended immediately due to the sigil still being quite strong.

 

“Now, I’ll introduce myself to you, human.

 

I am Tiamat, the mother of dragons, the primordial ocean herself.

 

If you think you can easily seal me, young mage, then I’m afraid to tell you that your family would not even have ashes to bury when I am done with you.

 

No, I don’t think I’ll spare New York too. So yeah, messing with me is stupid. My seal is already weak, and it will only take a small act of angering me to break me free completely.

 

But don’t be afraid, I’m not here to kill you. As I’ve said, I came here with peace.

 

Though, this is not exactly a good time or place to hold a discussion. Why don’t we meet in a café somewhere near here tomorrow or the day after it?

 

Though, I won’t appreciate it if you come with too much friends. Let’s just treat this as a ‘date’ between us, ok~?” Tiamat said somewhat teasingly.

 

“And now, I’ll go.

 

Also, just want to say, but the sound of gunfire had dissipated out there. You might want to see how much of your men had survived.

 

More of these men will die if you don’t accept my offer.

 

Goodbye~”

 

Without even looking back, Tiamat left the mage alone, making her way out of the building as sneakily as possible.

[Aix]

Mammon turned to face the woman, stretching his wings experimentally and almost hitting Lily in the process. "Pretty great, aren't they?" said Mammon, giving a light flap of his wings. "I'd guess it simply comes with time. But how long?" He shrugged. "I'd say it varies from dragon to dragon. Wouldn't you be better off asking that green dragon over there? After all, I've only just managed to pull out my wings, but that dragon has reverted fully. I'd hurry up, looks like some commotion over there is starting soon." Mammon scrutinized the woman a bit longer, before turning back to Lily and Minori, and walking right past them. "Now..."

"What are..." Lily began turning as he passed, but Mammon quickly grabbed them both, hooking his arms around their waists.

"Don't worry, you're not very heavy," said Mammon smiling at Lily as he had both of the lifted off their feet and carried horizontal to the ground. Before she could respond, with a powerful beat of his wings, he lifted off, shooting into the air. "Woohoo! How's your first taste of flight?"

"I've flown before, and it was much safer than this," said Lily, looking down at the ground forty meters below her.

"Yeah, but I bet it wasn't as fun! Man, I missed flying," exclaimed Mammon, and he began to soar between the buildings. "Thousands of years of sleeping in that dark, sealed dimension... I need to stretch my wings out a bit."

Flying was second nature to Mammon, but Lily could not help but panic a little with the only thing separating her and the certain death by splattering on the ground being Mammon's thin arm wrapped around her waist. However, just as Lily had calmed her nerves a little, they landed on the roof of a medium-sized building, overlooking the plaza which the other dragons had gathered, though far and high up enough to be inconspicuous. Mammon's wings retracted into his back, disappearing altogether, and he set Lily and his brother gently onto the ground.

"I was right," said Mammon, walking over to the railing and watching as a fight broke out. Humans wielding guns charged out of the nearby buildings and opened fire. He looked with interest as Ouroboros got up right after knocked over by a sniper round to the head.

"This is bad," said Lily, joining him.

"Don't worry, there's no bystanders around," said Mammon, scanning the grounds. "Where's Mom?" His eyes located a slithering serpentine form fleeing the fight. Leaping off from the railing, Mammon was in the air again, his wings once more stretching out behind him. He did a nose-dive towards the building where the oarfish disappeared into. "Now, Mom, don't leave me out of things like this," he said following the wet trail she left inside.

--------

Catching the serpent by the tail as it was about to exit, Mammon held it up to prevent it from moving. "Come on, let me in on this, Mom. What were you going on about with that mage over there? He looked so jarred that I managed to just pass him by without him noticing my draconic nature."

--------

"Ah..." Lily sighed as Mammon disappeared off to who knows where. Her attention returned to the fight going on below, her grip tightening on the railing as the sounds of gunshots could be heard loud and clear even from her position.

[Maeriberii Haan]

The first thing Elsa felt when she realized her tail was held by someone was annoyance.

 

That pretty much meant that she had turned into her pathetic serpent form after her display of power in front of the mage.

 

"Come on, let me in on this, Mom.

 

What were you going on about with that mage over there? He looked so jarred that I managed to just pass him by without him noticing my draconic nature."

 

"....Mammon.

 

Seems like you have disobeyed my order."  Elsa spoke, not bothering to use draconian language as it could attract unneeded attention.

 

Really, Elsa was not surprised. She did see this coming, but her chaotic state of mind from Siegfried's blasphemous acts clouded her planning ability. She should've put more thought about how her son would be somewhat suspicious and curious about her business there.

 

"No, I don't think you have to say anything. I know already about why you're following me. Though, I don't think I have a reason to be mad at you."

 

She turned around to face her son, her serpent face staring at him intensely, though without malice in her eyes..Since there's not even any reason to feel angry about it at all.

 

"Alright, I'll tell you about my plan. I was going to stay behind to try eliminating the mages around here, who gathered thanks to our attention-deficit friend up there. Yes, I can do that effectively since I can sense their traces of magic well, though to be honest, I couldn't bring myself to kill any of them now. So..I'm just convincing them to stop in the end, in my own way.

 

But that aside, I guess I shouldn't risking my life too much especially when I'm just limited to this weak form.

 

Sorry for making you worry, Mammon."

 

While yes, it was a lie, she told him that not to save her own face, but just because she couldn't imagine about her telling her own son that she was going to betray their own kind. Dragons deserved it, yes, but still, she couldn't imagine telling that to her sons. Elsa, slowly turning into her human form as her outburst that weakened her sigil had ended, reached out to her son, and started to hug him tightly.

 

"I'm really sorry, my son.

 

It's the first day in eons since we last met, and all that I cared about is my own plans and schemes, while forgetting about the more important thing.

 

Us.

 

I..I'm truly a bad mother, am I?"

 

At this point, Tiamat realized that she still couldn't bring herself to hate her sons.

 

Probably, this was her inner self's desire to still love her own children, like a mother would.

 

Or maybe it was the euphoria of meeting her sons that she had thought to be all but deceased all these millennia.

 

And without any reasoning to hate them yet, Tiamat didn't even fight the love, and relished on it.

 

"But now, I must go.

 

There is many other things that I had to finish now.

 

Hopefully, we'll meet again someday."

 

Letting go of her hug, she walked toward the back door of the building, humming the ancient draconian lullaby, one of the few songs she could actually remember.

 

Before she left, she turned around to face Mammon again,

 

"Tell your little brother that I'm fine and will always be fine, okay?"

 

And with that said, Tiamat soon disappeared in the middle of the downpour.

[Mugendramon]

Seigfried was barely finished his powerful statement, and Nidhogg found himself slowly nodding to himself in thought. The white-haired dragon had spoken ill of the emerald one, calling him Dragonslayer. Thus far, there were no open signs of this nature being truthful, besides a single retaliaton to an otherwise undeserved attack. Was this Kalameet mad, and not the other way around?

 

There was not much time to mull it over, because his thoughts were brought to a halt with a quick repetition of booming noises. The buildings around echoed thunderous, overwhelming Nidhogg from all directions. His innitial reaction was to turn to the other dragon still by his side. Every dragon he had encountered so far was more experienced on this new world, so this one should logically be as well. His eyes twisted into a pleading look, now unhooded and more comfortable with the rain having covered the sky. "What is that?!" he urged; "what kind of destructive human device could make a noise like that? Even the screams of humans are lost in it– what do we do? We should hurry to your unsealed friend and–"

 

Nidhogg was stopped short by a barrage of stinging feelings, hitting various parts of his chest and arms; the pain even reached his head one or two times. He noticed, now fallen on the ground, that the pain came in almost immediate consequence of the booming noice –though it kept going, echoing through the human constructions. He also noticed there was blood coming from his wounds; whatever had hit him had pierced his human flesh. As it covered his eyes, his mind raced. The large markings envelopping his human form flared, burned. It did not last long however; the markings were easing his pain. Faintly, he raised an arm to reach for one of his wounds. He could feel a small object lying on top of his scales– scales! His hand moved up through his arm then reached for his chest; he felt several of the same small things and brushed them aside. Clearing the red blood from his eyes –very happy to find his hand encased in scales as well–  and grinning widely on his back, he turned to where Viintaas had been just now.

 

"How human do I look?" his grin widened as his own hoarse voice answered for itself, but he still wanted to hear the words from the other.

OST - New Mexican Thunderbird

Quetzalcoatl heard the rumbling of gunshots everywhere around him long before the first reached his shoulder, bouncing off like a pebble. His mind would not even have registered the fact, had his followers not reacted with surprising panic. "Don't mind me, find the fuckers and give 'em it!" Quetzal screamed in spanish, glitter practically shooting off his pores, then summarily pointed to the chevvy's back. They all got what he meant; they immediately scrambled and haphazardly made their way to the truck. It provided poor cover, but that was all they needed –the gang members quickly resurfaced with their own firearms. Now evenly gunned, the ten mexicans scrutinized their surroundings and a firefight broke out.

 

Quetzalcoatl had no gun –and definitely did not need it. Once the first three of his men had fallen, the dragon was about ready to kill everyone in the surroundings. With manly tears and spanish lamentation and wails making their way out through Quetzalcoatl's expression, he charged the nearest building against the barrage of bullets. One or two rounds pierced his skin, causing blood to spill violently and beautifully as it mixed with the darkened glitter. Even the men Quetzalcoatl charged would have wept with joy, had they not been overly busy dying. A swift chop on the side of the neck or a punch right through their guts was all it took to wipe them. He was not nearly fast enough to clear the threat by himself, plus he knew his stamina would not last more than the combined rounds of Quetz-knew-how-many machine guns; still the fact remained that attracting their attention would let Manolo and the others handle the matter much less dangerously. The saddened expression had lost itself within a stoic mask now covering Quetzalcoatl's visage, his large brow obscuring his eyes and giving his already manly self an even more intimidating look.

 

Even now, the word dragon and its significance were coursing his head, and for the first time since he could remember Quetzalcoatl was thinking and doing something else at the same time.

[Andx]

Viintaas would have been frustrated at the current situation. The green dragon he'd come to get info out of was being attacked and otherwise being occupied to the point where he didn't see an opportunity to talk to him opening up any time soon. But before that feeling of frustration could set in there was a barrage of noises. It almost sounded like little shots of thunder coming from every direction. Something flew by right over Viintaas' head and in the moment of panic crouched down hoping nothing would touch him. Right as he was doing so the other dragon who had approached him and Kai began asking what the noises were and stating that they should get to kai but was interrupted by something.

 

Viintaas turned to see the other dragon on the ground with blood pouring out of various wounds. A feeling of panic set in as he began to move towards the other dragon. As he moved he suddenly felt a strong burning sensation below his right shoulder. Whatever was happening had hurt him as well though it had only scratched him while the other dragon seemed to have holes for wounds. Then he felt a sort of burning on his back but it felt different than what had happened to his arm. Viintaas still hadn't really seen the large tattoo on his back yet but the feeling gave him some idea of it's shape.

 

He then looked over again to the other dragon and saw him moving. Immediately his eyes were drawn to the scales that had appeared on his arms. The other dragon asked him how human he looked.

 

"You're turning back like Kai was!" he said, stating the obvious. He really envied the scales appearing on his two acquaintances because with these strange objects flying by and hurting them he would have appreciated the protection. Granted he didn't envy taking all the wounds they had required of his new acquaintance. Viintaas tried to help him up but soon gathered he would need to essentially drag him.

 

A quick scan of the area and Viintaas caught sight of what looked to be another side road in between the large structures of the human settlement that he had been spending most of his time today in. Grabbing Nidhogg by the arms to keep his head off the ground he began moving toward the path. Trying to stay low to the ground and move quickly while dragging another dragon at the same time proved awkward and difficult for the recently unsealed dragon. But as the searing pains continued grazing his arms and legs he managed to persevere toward the path hoping it would provide safety. Soon he was leaning up against a wall in the path completely exhausted. It seemed the flying objects weren't hurting him anymore though so it was well worth the effort. He assured Nidhogg was farther from the entrance to the path than he was hoping to give him more of a chance to recover. He had no idea how long the area would be safe.

 

"You still with me?" Viintaas managed to say, his breath heavy from the recent exertion.

 

Taking a moment about think about his own injuries it seemed that somehow Viintaas himself had managed to get out without major injuries but he could see he was bleeding a fair bit. The feeling in his back wasn't subsiding. In fact it was changing. There was a golden glow coming from behind him and despite the rain falling it felt like the light of the sun. The thought of the scales appearing on Kai and Nidhogg's arms flashed through his mind and for a moment he thought he saw his claws and scales instead of the fleshy human arms and fingers. He could almost feel them despite the fact that he still seemed entirely human. It felt like something was closing in on him, something familiar.

 

"Am I turning back too?" he questioned softly but out loud. In the moment he really wanted it to be true, it felt like the only way of ever getting out of the current situation.

[Aix]

Mammon stood there moments after his mother left, letting the rain drench him through. "Even the Mother of Dragons changes through the ages," he muttered to himself as he began walking away. His perpetual smile seemed less than enthusiastic now as a swirl of mixed feelings clashed inside of him. Back there, he couldn't read her intent. He prided himself in being able to read men and dragons like open books, if they deceived him, he would know, and play along only to play them for fools. However, his own mother, who he had known since birth, managed to confuse him this time. He sensed insincerity. After all, what dragon would hesitate so to strike down her enemies? A most ancient dragon no less, and one who was facing those who would threaten her kin. The open-ended and hesitant way which she told him that she would resolve it her own way was definitely a lie, she showed weakness there, and she attempted to push him away, away from investigating further, telling him she would be all right.

 

However, her feelings, her feelings were genuine. Does that mean it wasn't a lie after all? The best liars could lie to themselves and convince themselves that a lie was truth, but that wouldn't work well here regarding plans for the future and he didn't believe that Tiamat was such a brilliant liar either.

 

"Ah, why do I care? I am Mammon. The Trickster. The Puppeteer of Men. The Joker. I don't have a care in the world," he said to himself.

 

However, she yet cared about him, she was, after all, his mother. His travels through the world taught him many things, and many times did he witness the strength of a mother's love, a mother's feelings for her children pervading all else, even among the weak little humans.

 

"Feelings? They only tie you down. I have no need for them." He was not immune to emotion, of course. There were times when he began to grow attached to certain humans, however, he always flew away before any lingering bonds could form. "I am a dragon, and I will always fly freely. Nothing shall chain me down or hinder me. The only feeling I will have is happiness."

 

When he finished reassuring himself of his values, his smile returned fully to his face, with a brightness that seemed silly in this wretched downpour. He is and always will be Mammon, the most happy and carefree being who ever lived. That will never change. Those sparkling diamond wings reappeared onto his back, perhaps slightly bigger than before, and he flew off again to find Minori and Lily.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

OST - Yellow Alert

 

Aidan was unsure who exactly shot the first shot...but all of a sudden there was a hail of gunfire that started filling the streets. On instinct...Aidan turned around and blasted them with fire...well...its what he wanted to do. "Hey...we may need to mo-" he spoke in his native tongue...before finally noticing that Ladon was no longer beside him.

 

"OH COME ON!! YOU JUST RUN OFF WITHOUT ME!?" he yelled, before seeing the gunmen preparing to fire again. "Aw sh-" Aidan had no time to finish that thought, as the gunmen opened fire. He dropped on the ground quickly before scurrying over to a knocked over festival stand. "HEY! Watch the guitar ya idiots!!!" he said in a hot-headed way, as he stood up from his hiding spot, only to have two bullets go right into each of his shoulders. ...the next thing he knew...he was on the ground with bloody wounds in the shoulders...

 

Though once Aidan hit the ground, his human form started to burn...and not the good sort of burn the Fire Dragon was used to. He looked down to see the markings on his shoulders and even the ones he hid around his wrists started reacting. This burning sensation was somewhat killing Aidan, but when he moved his claw to support himself getting up...wait a minute! The bound dragon looked down and couldn't believe his eyes when he saw them...his arms were now covered in his crimson scales and his hands were now claws!! With a huge grin on his face, Aidan stood back up and started walking towards the gunmen.

 

OST - Lightning Flame Dragon Roaring

 

The gunmen got a bit freaked out...but they kept the bullet storm going as they shot at Aidan. The bound dragon only lifted up his arms to block the shots fired, as he lowered his arms with a chuckle. "My turn..."

 

Without missing a beat, Aidan was conjuring up a fireball in his hand, and launching one right after the other at the gunmen. Explosions from the fireballs happened so much that it even looked like Michael Bay's work was amateur, as the street that once was bustling with festivities was now instead burning with Aerog's flames.

 

"D-D-Damn gun...why'd ya have to jam now!!" one gunmen said, as he was the last one left. He worked hard to unjam his gun, but finally Aidan stood in front of him, placing his index claw onto the jammed gun.

 

"Here...let me help with that." Aidan smirked, he knew the gunmen wouldn't understand him...but he knew it would sound cool. Immediately though, the gunmen watched how the front portion of his gun started melting. With that, the melting gun was dropped and the gunmen ran off. "Damn, this just got even more better than I thought!"

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Though he had been busy shouting at a certain vibrant green dragon when the would-be dragon slayers appeared on the scene, it did not take Kalameet long to react to the reports ringing out over their conversation.  That still-gleaming eye of his darted about and he spied a portion of the attacking forces that were nearer than the rest...and also the giant angry tattooed Mexican Dragon that had charged them.  As much as he loathed to admit it, the Black Dragon understood that to remain in this position and attempt to fight the humans with these strange new weapons of theirs was suicide.  They needed an escape plan, and thanks to Quetzalcoatl he had one in mind.

 

"Follow me!"  He cried in his native tongue, hoping those that had gathered around him would listen, before he in turn followed the charging self-proclaimed god.  It was a simple plan, and thanks to Quetzalcoatl he had enough cover to get where he needed to without being torn to pieces by the incoming gunfire.  Moments before his course would have brought him barreling into the Giant's back, he darted to the right and came alongside him to turn that baleful gaze of his on their assailants.  "That means you too, stone-head," he remarked in Quetzal's direction while bathing the humans in the light of his gaze, forced to hold his position to ensure he struck as many as he could.  In less than a second, the psionic force tore out from him once more.  Though less substantial than what he had struck out at Sigurd with, the seal had yet to fully regain its restrictive force and thus even this unfocused attack would have devastating results.  The few seconds for which the attack was maintained was all it took for the thugs before them to be overcome, falling to the ground as the psionic force overloaded their senses, causing intense pain and nausea.  Many of them bore physical injuries as well, bleeding profusely from their eyes, ears, and noses while they lay where they fell.

 

The glow in his eye subsided as Kalameet took just a moment to view the results, and was pleased.  The group before them had fallen, creating a gap in the enemy's formation that, he hoped, the others would follow him through before the humans could close it.  As much as he would have liked to ensure the deaths of those he had struck down, his currently sealed state left him with a vulnerability that could not be ignored; and so he resumed his charge now that the way was clear.  There was an alley ahead, down which he hoped to disappear, that he was denied reaching as a far-off Sniper's bullet struck the back of his left leg.  Though he was more resilient than a human, it still tore into his flesh and left an ugly wound that forced him off his balance and sent him to the ground.  How fortunate he was that he managed to turn that fall into a roll at the last moment, reaching the alley and the cover it provided.  Lifting his head to gaze back at the other dragons, whom he hoped would be following him, he cried out in the dragon tongue one more.  "This way!  We can linger here no longer!"  He cared not if Sigurd heard at this point, and he doubted the Dragon Slayer would pursue them.  His words said, he grabbed a discarded piece of pipe from the ground and used it to help force himself to his feet so that he could continue the retreat he had begun.

[The Warden]

Everything just happened so fast. One of the other dragons assaulted Siegfried with some rather over-the-top fighting moves, leaving the girls not knowing who to root for. Siegfried was a known dragon hater, up until recently it seemed. However, his crimes against their kind were somewhat unforgivable. On the other side, the one fighting him was probably a dragon superioricist, And then, everything went wrong.

 

The humans opened up with their loud weapons, sending the two dragons back up against the fence where they had propped Elizabeth. The loud weapons were rather frightening, and the two dragons could do nothing but cower with their faces to the ground as the firestorm erupted around the street. One of the gunmen ran past their hiding spot, though to their misfortune, he spotted them. Raising his sight, he took aim at the cowering children and their comatose mother.

 

To those visible to the wavelength of the heart, they would notice a pink light mingling amongst his black aura. The influence of this light caused his trigger finger and hand to shake wildly. It just wasn't right, was it? He was told, and of course paid to kill everyone. But, they were just children who couldn't leave because their mother collapsed. They didn't have any part in this. It would be too cruel to kill them. His arm shook from hesitation, though the unusual feeling of mercy in him won out, so he ran off forgetting he even saw them as he open fired on the other dragons.

[Astolfo]

Mammon’s glittering wings had made their way through his Sigil, and his younger twin just stared in awe, wishing he could do the same. When Minori was taken for a flight, along with Lily, he just peered down at the city below, grinning widely from the familiar feeling of flying through the air. It soon ended however, and when his older twin decided to leave the two of them behind to do some exploration, he started to panic, realizing he was left alone with a human.

Perhaps to his relief, the human paid no attention to him at first, instead looking over to the fight that had broken out on the streets below, but as Mammon left and Lily realized there was nothing she could do about the violence she was witnessing, she averted her eyes and turned around... to Minori.

Realizing the human’s eyes were focusing on him, Minori started to make meaningless motions in the air, unsure of what to do. He knew the girl couldn’t understand Draconic, but he couldn’t understand English either. Breaking out in a nervous sweat, he cowered slightly, taking a few small steps to back away and give him space to think of what to do. What would my brother do, what would my brother do, what would my brother do…?

Lily looked at him curiously. “A little shy for a dragon, aren’t you?” she said, although she knew fully well that Minori couldn’t understand. She took a step forwards, only to result in Minori taking another step back. Sighing, Lily stayed where she was and placed a hand on her chest. “My name is Lily.”

Minori assumed she was trying to tell him her name, and tried to pronounce the sound he thought was her name, misunderstanding what she meant.

“Minae…mislilee?”

He looked to Lily anxiously, to gauge how well he did.

Lily creased her eyebrows slightly, but relaxed them. “Lily,” she said, pointing to herself. This time around, Minori got her name right, and Lily smiled, proceeding to hold her hand out to him.

Tentatively reaching out and then flinching very slightly, he shut his eyes as he placed his hand softly in hers, his eyes opening a sliver to watch her. Lily shook it gently, before speaking up again.

“What is your name?” she asked, this time gesturing towards Minori.

“M-Minori…” He stuttered slightly, but he was much more comfortable with Lily now then he was as of a few minutes ago. It was a new feeling for him, but it felt warm inside, and he decided he quite liked it.

“My... name... is... Minori...” Lily enunciated the words carefully and gestured for Minori to repeat them.

“My name is… Minori…” When Lily gave an approving nod, he smiled with satisfaction.

Lily couldn’t help but smile back. The boy was quite sweet, like Mammon, but he carried a strong air of innocence, which Mammon utterly lacked. His shyness was endearing whereas Mammon could get annoying sometimes.

“I’m back!” An all-too-familiar voice chimed in at that very moment, and they both turned to face the source. “You guys seem to be getting along,” said Mammon, who proceeded to repeat the same thing to Minori in the dragon tongue.

Upon noticing his older brother, Minori had an excited expression, repeating what he had learned. Pointing at the girl, he spoke. “Lily!” Now pointing at himself, he said, “My name is Minori!” With a wide grin on his face, he looked at Mammon hopefully.

Mammon raised an eyebrow for a moment before he got it. “Your pronunciation is a bit off, but you’ll get it soon enough,” he said. At his brother’s praise, Minori’s cheeks flushed with joy.

“We should head back, I’m quite soaked,” said Lily, looking up at the sky where rain continued to fall. “And the authorities should be arriving soon. I don’t have any intention of getting tangled up with them.” Sure enough, the sound of sirens rang in the distance. “Mammon, can you fly us home? Try to be discreet.”

“You done sightseeing?” asked Mammon, and Lily nodded.

“I’m going to have hell to explain to my Mom why I brought home another boy,” said Lily wrily, as Mammon hooked his arms around her and Minori’s waists again.

The pink diamond dragon’s wings unfurled once more, and the three of them headed home.

[Jolta]

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

"Huh? What's going-"

Orochi heard a loud buzzing noise. "Hhhhssssssss!" She hissed loudly is response to the irritant. Next, she heard someone.

"[acronym=Kalameet]This way! We can linger here no longer![/acronym]"

Upon hearing this, Orochi quickly dashed forward, her feet sparkling with the force of lightning. From what she gathered, the beast was the Nordic supposed-human hero Seigfreid. She never actually saw the being, but she heard tales of him, and that he gained his invulnerability from bathing in the blood of a dragon he skewered. The very thought sent chills down Orochi's entensive spine.

Orochi dashed towards the dragon who spoke the instructions of evacuation. "Hey buddy, down here. I know I'm a bit short..." Orochi started, "What is happening to us? Who is the green guy, really?"

[Mugendramon]

OST - Escalón

The white-haired gringo yelled out something in his strange blabbering voice right as Quetzalcoatl was smashing through the library's window with one of the fuckers in white with him. Glass, glitter and blood spread outward as they hit the ground, and the continuous sound of bullets against flesh was replaced by their wheezing above his head. He had to admit, despite having smashed a good number of skulls in, this much bleeding could not be good. Getting his hands off the dead man now below him, the muscular figure attempted to get his bearings. He did not need to look behind to picture several more gringos rushing to the window to continue their almost comical shooting at him.

 

His attention was caught as he turned his head left. The man Quetzalcoatl had caught was being shot much the same way he was, making the former somewhat proud that he had saved a strong life. Even if it was a rude gringo. Plus, that was the one who had brought this old word, dragon, back into his mind. Or was it the back of his mind? Nevermind, he decided, subsequently shaking off thoughts too deep to multitask through. The dude with the eyepatch went into an alley, and his pursuers ran after him, somewhat disorganized. Quetzalcoatl took note of the man; with any luck, he could find him and get answers from him. But now,

 

The dragon caught a glimpse of his crew. Five of them were still standing, as opposed to the dozens of blood stained white suits around them. His immediate reaction was to get up and sprint in their direction –interrupted abruptly before he was at full speed by what he could only decide had been a surprisingly well-placed bullet on his back. Quetzalcoatl turned on his other leg swiftly, making eye contact with a mook holding his gun straight at him. His eyes darkened under his brow, causing the man in front of him to freak out and open fire while backing away unsteadily. Naturally, not one bullet struck him –who could aim properly with a God charging at them head-on? A left hook later the goon's head lay on one wall of the alley, with the rest of the body kneeling down and dropping.

 

This bullet on his back was hurting really bad, much more than he would have though a bullet could. In fact, holy shit a lot of wound on his back were hurting a lot.

 

Quetzalcoatl was ready to dart back to his crew, but stopped short at the sight of two small children, just a few metres away from him, hiding in the alleyway. The dragon could not quite put his finger on what it was that drove him to run further in (and away from his beloved companions) into the dark street. Before him now were two little girls and an unconscious white lady. The two children looked terrified, but somewhat steady in their gaze. Quetzalcoatl stared back into their eyes for a moment, switching back and forth between the two. All three of them obviously needed help, and Quetzalcoatl realized not helping them would be unmanly as shit. So, with a bloody forehead –not to mention basically every other part of his shirtless self– he crouched down to their eye level and whispered as quietly as he could. His sparkled were emitting some form of noise however, meaning he needed to raise his voice enough to be heard over them. "You need run away. Jump to my shoulders, I carry your mommy. Hurry, bad men come."

Nidhogg's initial joy subsided quickly –he could not so much as stand up, his consciousness dizzy with relief and blood loss. He was haphazardly regaining his dragon traits, yet he was still powerless against humans and their invisible weapons. He did not really realize how long he laid on the dark grey pebbles embedded neatly in the ground before the yellow-haired dragon started dragging him away. He did not mind it. Even with a sensation of danger everywhere around him, the rasping of his scaled back against the ground felt wonderfully familiar. He could almost feel his tail waggling away as he dug under the Tree.

 

The rasping stopped, and Nidhogg fluttered his eyes open. He found the relative darkness of his new surroundings quite pleasant. Then a halo of light outlining a human shape produced just enough light to force him to squint, accompanied by the now familiar voice of the one who had taken him off the street and the humans' reach.

 

"Turning... back? Whatever do you me–" once again his own distorted human voice answered his own question, this time making his eyes widen with a sudden interest. Yes –this dragon was changing just the same. Feeble as he was, Nidhogg managed only to bring one scaled (and clawed!) hand to slightly shield his eyes from the bright light the other was emanating. "Glowing. You are bright. Your back–"

 

At that instant Nidhogg's mind made a leap, and he relaxed with a dumb-sounding laugh. A laugh that almost reeked of resignation. "You have wings, man. You can fly the fuck away. Save your scales, for the both of us. You can't last long on the ground, probably, with these mad humans and their mad weapons in their mad, ridiculous world."

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

Frankly, Murdoch could already see this happening from a mile away, especially with how he was probably one of the few mages stationed there amongst the abnormally high amount of dragons there, suspiciously so. Though, he’d definitely prefer a more peaceful approach rather than this. A method that did not involve him getting fired at.

 

But really, with how ineffectual that method was, he was now forced into hiding inside a wooden wardrobe in one of the unoccupied apartment rooms, probably had been emptied preemptively by the mage association. Not exactly the best place to hide, but his enchantment and barrier spells and his spear would probably be enough to save him when the need arise.

 

Still, the sound of gunfire from the outside could still be heard clearly even from his position, so he’d probably spend the rest of his day inside it until the situation normalize itself, as a best case scenario.

 

Worst case? He’d return home to Elsa back in Cordoba encased in a coffin.

That’d definitely suck.

[Aix]

Siegfried watched unmoving from his perch as the humans ambushed his kin. Dragons would cause too much havoc and misery to be allowed free reign. Though, he supposed a few of them could be safely let free, like him. He gazed down on the fighting and wondered how many of them could actually be safely released, who actually cared about other living beings. Dragons were, by nature, selfish creatures, strutting around like kings, doing as they pleased and not caring about the consequences.

 

As he watched, however, he realized something was wrong. First of all, the dragons seemed to be able to access their sealed powers, however that was not what he was concerned with the most. He was not familiar with this new human weaponry, but seeing the effects of missed shots on the surroundings, he realized that the humans were shooting to kill. This was not what was agreed upon. Suddenly filled with rage at their deception, he roared and swooped down to the battlefield below. With a few rampant lashes with his tail and claws, he sent the few remaining men flying before they knew what hit them. With a deep growl, he looked around for the mage he knew to be in charge of these men.

[Aix]

It was over. All his men had been taken down, quickly and easily by what were supposed to be a helpless group of dragons sealed in human form while he had been distracted by the apparent appearance of the Mother of Dragons herself. "The intel wasn't f***ing correct, what the f***ing hell! They were supposed to be f***ing sitting ducks!" Ivan cried out, not caring that his shout had gave away his position. He had failed, and in response to his frustration, the nearby furniture suddenly burst out into blue flames. With a furious wave of his hand, his magic smashed a burning chair to pieces.

 

"No, wait, I can still do this, they aren't anywhere near full power yet." He managed to stop himself from causing further needless destruction to the room where he had hid. "What other choice... I can't fail. Those men were useless, that's all, but I can still... ha, these faggots won't stand a chance against my baby." Brightening up, he picked up a large case that had fallen onto the ground and slung it over his shoulder. Pointing at the window, it shattered, and Ivan leaped out.

 

Of course, everyone's eyes were already on him as he landed firmly on the ground, but it didn't matter. Opening up the case, he revealed a thin runed RPG launcher. It was a channelling tool that gathered Ivan's unstable magical energies. While he did have four enchanted rockets ready for action, the launcher controlled Ivan's unrefined power enough for him to create pure energy blasts from the nozzle in quick succession. "Ahahaha! Die, you f***ers!" In his excitement, he barely managed to properly control the first rocket as it shot out. Three energy blasts followed.

[The Warden]

"You need run away. Jump to my shoulders, I carry your mommy. Hurry, bad men come."

 

Their sigils were burning, more so than when the two were usually together. They had already figured out why, so that meant that the man in front of them was another dragon. He didn't seem to pick up on the burning, though that was most likely attributed to the blood loss that was highly evident on his body. Staring deeply into each other's eyes for a moment, the alternative didn't seem highly desirable. Whoever this man was, being with him was probably echelons better than being in the fire fight. "Okay, but be careful with her" Fae commanded.

 

The two girls pushed themselves up from their crouched positions as Queztal hefted up the comatose British woman. "Mommy hit her head pretty hard, try not to jostle her so much" Gloria added as she peered fearfully around for gunmen.