“We were shot at by your ‘skull blob’ friend.”

Dys frowned at the news, her hackles raised at the idea of Severina being attacked. Of course, the beautiful Seraphim looked completely unfazed, talking of the attack like she was simply discussing the weather. No surprise, really; Sev had years more experience than Jadis and had commanded literal squadrons of Seraphim into battle. A little sniping action wasn’t going to upset her from her usual cool. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Jadis still didn’t like the idea of some bitch attacking her Sev.

“Was anyone hurt?” Dys asked, forcing herself to stay professional in front of the other two scouts. “And were you able to kill the Demon?”

“No to both,” Severina answered with her lips drawn into a thin line. “Manius saw the spell coming and gave us all time to react and avoid the strike. However, the fiend disappeared down another tunnel before we could get to it. Eutychia tried to track the Demon, but the tunnels were collapsed to prevent us from following and she could not locate any other tunnel entrances.”

As she spoke, the justicar motioned towards the two other avatars who had been sent with her to scout ahead. Looking them over, both seemed like they could use some time around Ammy’s stamina fumes, or at least something to eat. They were some of the fastest fliers available, but that didn’t mean that either could hold a candle to Severina’s speed.

Manius was a Seraphim with grayish wings and straight black hair. He was particularly handsome and Jadis had seen more than a few of the female soldiers, and a few of the men, stop to stare at the tall and beautiful winged man. According to Manius, he had some Nephilim in his bloodline, though it was many, many generations distant. Despite his youthful looks, he was actually over ninety years old and had five children.

Apparently, he and his wife were very much in love and had been quite fruitful.

Eutychia was a Dryad, one of the three who had been sent from the seaside grove in the northern reaches of The Crook. She was a druid, similar to Meli in fact, though without the reliance on Nephilim, naturally. With her ability to shapeshift into animal forms, the wild woman with birchbark skin and dark green leaves for hair could transform into something that looked vaguely like a giant albatross. She was technically the slowest of the three, but she was still far faster than everyone else capable of flying among their allies. More importantly, Eutychia had powerful skills that could be used to track enemies and uncover hidden ambushes. Her abilities made her vital for scouting out the planned campsites to make certain no Demons were lying in wait for the army to arrive.

“I am sorry,” Eutychia said in an accent far thicker than Meli’s. “I could smell their scent, but no entrances. I think they are keeping them closed until need.”

“It makes sense,” Dys smiled at the woman. “And it isn’t anything you should apologize for. These Demons are clever. They won’t be making this easy on us. Are any of you hungry? Do you need some time to rest? There’s food and plenty of room here on the airship, if you do.”

“I’m fine, thank you,” Manius waved off Dys’ offer with a polite grin. “I would like to help with the overwatch, if you don’t mind, while I still have plenty of energy.”

Without waiting for more than a nod from Dys, the Seraphim backed out of the open door and leapt into the sky to join the other Seraphim and Dryads who were circling the airship.

“I will check on my kin,” Eutychia said once Manius was gone. “Then I will help with the watch.”

“Thank you,” Dys said as the Dryad took her leave as well.

As soon as both of the avatars had left, Dys turned her full attention onto Sev.

“Can you do me a favor? Everyone else has been checking in with my other bodies on the ground, but I haven’t spoken to Alex since this morning. I’m sure she’s fine, but I—”

“You worry for her,” Severina cut her off by pressing her fingers to Dys’ lips. An act that took some effort, considering their height difference. “Just as you worry for all of us. I will look in on her. I am certain she is well. Alex is strong.”

“You’re pretty strong, too,” Dys replied while giving Sev’s fingers a kiss. “But I still worry. Give Alex my love.”

“I will,” Sev said with her own special smile that Jadis knew was reserved only for her.

Dys watched as Severina leapt from the side of the airship and flew to the front of the marching column. Her thoughts lingered on how Alex was doing on her own among so many strangers. Not that she was truly alone with Ammy and Tiernan there with her, but Jadis still worried. No one had shown open hostility towards the Demon the previous night, but she saw the looks that some gave Alex. Maybe her blue-eyed lover wasn’t in physical danger, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be at risk of mistreatment.

“Got another big group coming from the south,” Maeve shouted to draw Dys out of her thoughts. “Medium threat level, I’d say! Three to five hundred mire hounds at least, and there are definitely other things mixed in!”

Jadis relayed the information as it came to General Ovinius since the approaching mass of Demons was closer to his end of the fighting force. While the individual threats didn’t look like they would be too bad, there were too many lesser demons for just a handful of high CLR mercenaries to effectively combat. The soldiers would be attacked, and that would unacceptably slow the march.

Several mercenary forces were quickly directed towards the incoming threat, along with Ludger, Kerr, and Bridget. With those three powerhouses to take care of any of the stronger Demons, the rest of the mercenaries who were protecting the column should be able to handle the attack. Despite the power of the force sent to counter the approaching mass of mire hounds, General Ovinius directed a small company of Voltonian soldiers to detach and help with the battle. While Jadis had her reservations about the man, she had to give him some credit. He was cautious but not cowardly, reacting to threats with prudence and forethought.

Barely moments after Ovinius had finished giving his orders, Syd shouted out a warning that caused him and the staff and soldiers around him to freeze on top of their horses.

“Dragon!”

“Where?” the general demanded, his tone harsh.

“Up there! Look!” Sorcha pointed with the red flag she clutched in her right hand. “A little to the west!”

Dys squinted at the sky, searching for what Sorcha had spotted as her other selves relayed the information to those around her. It took her a few seconds to find the distant figure, but once she had, there was no doubt about the nature of the beast. Wyverns had only two legs and two wings, while dragons had four legs and two wings. Even as a tiny form flying high in the sky to their north, Dys could see that the creature had the right combination of limbs to be a dragon.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“What are we going to do?” Sorcha asked, concern causing her voice to shake.

“I’m not sure we’ll need to do anything,” Dys said as she watched the slowly growing figure. “Hopefully, it’ll just pass us by.”

“What if it doesn’t? What if it’s mad at us for some territorial reason, like the dragons from before? What if—what if this one’s possessed?”

Those were legitimate questions, but Jadis didn’t give voice to any answers. Having a dragon attack the column, whether it was possessed or not, would be a worst-case scenario. Vetraka, the ice dragon related to Vetregin, had been able to cover huge swathes of forest in a chilling mist that caused trees to crack and break like icicles. Jadis didn’t want to think about what would happen to an army that was hit by such an attack.

As the seconds ticked by, Dys held out some hope that the unknown dragon would simply continue on its way south, ignoring them as it went about its business. That hope cracked and crumbled away as the flying beast drew closer, its head clearly turning in their direction.

“Fuck. It’s coming,” Dys said as she grabbed the helmet she had tied to her waist.

“What are we going to do?”

“Let Aila and the others know what’s going on,” Dys told her goblin lover as she secured her helm on her head. “We’ll see if we can resolve this peacefully. If not… we’ll figure it out.”

A moment later Dys leapt from the deck of the Leviathan, her Succubus wings spread wide as she sailed through the air towards the approaching dragon.

Her other two selves were quick to join her, though unlike Dys they carried passengers. Syd had been quick to find Wilhelm to fill him in on the situation, and naturally the Hero had joined her in the sky. Lucia had been with him when she had explained the situation, though, so Syd had offered to carry the Paladin with her. Lucia could not fly, but she was still incredibly powerful, so if nothing else Syd could toss the pale therion at the dragon if needed.

Jay had taken a bit to find Meli, but the Dryad had immediately leapt onto her back when she had explained the situation. Naturally, that meant Thea had come with her, as the two had been working together as a pair, patrolling the column and responding to threats. Meli was going around in her spider form, and Thea was riding on her as though the druid was some sort of bizarre mount. While the sight was odd, it was a good pairing, since it gave Thea the speed she lacked and Meli the defense she sorely needed.

As the three of Jadis flew high into the skies above the ruined landscape, she took note of the figures who followed her. Severina and Eutychia were winging their way from the front of the column while Wilhelm was coming up from the midline on his mount. There were three our four Seraphim coming behind the Hero as well, though it didn’t look like Noct was in their number. Likely the Valravn was still overwatching the battles to the south of the column. If her brother had been present, Jadis was certain that Tacitus would have taken Noct’s spot to allow her to come join Jadis, but the quiet man had flown south as part of the escort guarding the Roc as it went for supplies in Eldingholt.

That was one small detail Jadis had to be thankful for. At least she didn’t have to worry about protecting two airships from a dragon attack while one of them was making the round trip to the empire and back.

Soon enough, the dragon had drawn close enough to their flying group that Jadis could see the creature’s details. Dark purple in color with black and blue patterns on the webbing of its wings, the beast had a sleek appearance. The small set of horns that crowned its head were smooth and swept back, while its scales had a bright, polished shine to them. The dragon looked healthy and unharmed to Jadis, though that didn’t guarantee that it wasn’t possessed. While some possessions were rough, nasty affairs, some Demons could heal their host bodies. A dragon that was seemingly hale and whole could still be controlled by a malevolent monster within.

“It’s young,” Meli said, her voice barely audible over the wind in Jay’s ears. “Very young.”

“You mean it’s an adolescent?” Jay asked, slowing down a little to try and make it easier for the Dryad to be heard.

“Not anymore,” Meli corrected, her spider legs clacking against Jay’s armor. “But it is perhaps only a few years into adulthood.”

“How can you tell?”

“Look how small it is.”

The gigantic flying lizard didn’t look particularly small to Jadis. The dragon would easily dwarf a city bus and could probably eat three or four passengers in a single swallow. That said, when Jadis turned a critical eye on the beast, she realized that the purple dragon was, in fact, smaller than either Vetraka or Korsregon by a noticeable measure, and it also had a gangly look to its body and limbs that the other two had not possessed.

“Do you think it’s going to attack?” Jay asked as the dragon grew ever closer to their party. “If it’s young, maybe we can scare it off.”

“I do not know what its intentions are,” Meli spoke in her usual straightforward way. “We should wait and let Eutychia communicate with the dragon. If it attacks her, then we know it is hostile.”

“Th—that seems a bit cold,” Thea commented from where she was firmly webbed onto Meli’s back.

“I do not want harm to come to Eutychia. She is a relative of my father. I am simply stating that the dragon’s hostility will be obvious at that point.”

Jadis and the others watched as the giant, leafy albatross flew forward to meet the purple dragon. It felt like a good sign that the Dryad was not met with some kind of breath attack once it was within range, and Jadis breathed a small sigh of relief when Eutychia was able to fly next to the dragon’s head without issue. For a long minute, the two were carried forward on wide wings as they glided across the sky side by side. Jadis couldn’t hear what was said, nor would she have been able to understand anything even if she had, but the lack of any immediate aggression rekindled her hope for a peaceful resolution.

After what felt like a longer time than it probably was, Eutychia broke away from the dragon and rejoined their gathering. For its part, the purple beast flapped its wings and flew higher into the sky, keeping a safe distance from them.

“His name is Tefrathok. He is hungry and is looking for an easy hunt,” Eutychia shouted loudly enough that all of the flying allies could hear. “I have explained that we would not be easy to hunt. He has decided I am right and will continue on to the sea.”

“Well, that’s a blessedly easy resolution,” Wilhelm said as he rode on Taube near the Dryad. “What did you tell him to convince him to move on?”

“I would assume that the dragon realized that he is outmatched once she announced your presence,” Lucia stated matter-of-factly in response to the Hero’s question.

“I did not need to tell him that the Hero is present,” the Dryad corrected. “He saw that we are all very strange in appearance and he assumed that we would be trouble because of that.”

Looking at all of those around her, Syd nodded her head in understanding.

“Well, he’s not wrong…”

Drifting away from the dragon, Jadis and the others began their descent back to the marching column. It was doubtful that anything serious had happened in the brief time that they had been away, but Jadis wanted to get back as quickly as possible to reassure everyone who had been left behind that there was no reason to panic. The dragon was moving on and wouldn’t be bothering them for its meal. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be seeing any more of the scaly beasts for the remainder of the march, but if they did—

A bolt of golden magic whizzed through the air in front of Jadis’ bodies, breaking her train of thought and causing her to flinch. She recognized the malign magic immediately as the same spell that had been fired at her by the skull blob the previous day. With three selves to react with, she quickly turned two sets of eyes to the ground, trying to spot where the shot had come from. The bolt had come from almost directly below them, which meant it was easily within half a mile of the marching column, possibly even closer. Fortunately, the spell had been aimed poorly and had gone far wide of the mark, missing not only Jadis but the rest of her flying companions as well.

At least, that was what Jadis thought for all of two seconds. Then the ball of golden energy struck the side of the dragon, and the resulting sphere of malediction bloodied a section of the beast’s purple scales. An angry roar shook the heavens a moment later as Tefrathok banked in the air and dove for the ground, murder glinting in his gray, reptilian eyes.

Jadis’ hearts sank as she realized that the dragon’s angry dive was going to put the beast directly on top of the marching soldiers.

“So much for a peaceful resolution…”