> The Dragon And The Pony 3  Shakirin-La -The Adventure of Fiery
>  by Azure Drache
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prolouge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I leaned against the old, broken wall of what was once a huge guard tower, letting my gaze wander over the planes below. Once, centuries ago, these planes were filled with Kirins from near and far, gathering together to celebrate and enjoy themselves. Now though, with what was happening before my eyes, such notions of peace and friendship happening here seemed even more ancient, or maybe less so... Maybe the day would come when it will be that way again, but for now… for now, the battle raged on.

With pride, I watched my loyal subjects fight for my right to claim the throne of Shakirin-La, to become empress of the new Kirin Empire. Fiery Leadership, Empress of all the kirins. Doesn’t sound that bad, does it? Though, even at this moment of peace above the battlefield, there was this little voice in the back of my mind, telling me there had to be another way, a peaceful way.

I had a feeling that the voice was something I had inherited from my mother, nagging on me. The dragon in me, of course, purred in anticipation for the inevitable victory, my pony side, however... Before it could do any harm though by causing me to hesitate in the middle of claiming the throne, the sound of hoofsteps to my rear brought me back to the current situation.

“Fiery,” the mare, another azure kirin, said. It was clear that she was amazed to see me here, and a smile appeared on her face. “I knew you would make it.” She gave me a respectful nod, one leader to another. “I was hoping to have the opportunity to challenge you to a duel.”

“Blizzard Silence,” I turned around and returned the nod. “You know, as a friend,” I passed my guards and stepped down the few stone steps, raising my spear and pointing it at her nose, “I do not insist on killing you, I would accept your surrender and allow you to become one of my minions.”

Blizzard laughed, waving away her own guards with a hoof before leveling her spear back at me. “We both know that is not going to happen.”

She is a friend, we can’t fight her!

Suddenly, there was that nagging voice again. The thought was just enough to make me hesitate. Blizzard was indeed a friend, was it right to fight her?

“What? Don’t tell me you’re suddenly afraid!” Blizzard teased me. “You know, I would accept your surrender too if you wish.” Her last words were accompanied by a giggle.

I smirked slightly, glad that she had mocked me. I stepped forward again, the little voice in my head? Forgotten.

*

The fight had been quick, like all real fights are. I watched Blizzard's dead body for a second.

We killed our friend! The voice in my head was furious, while at the same time unspeakably sad. How could we do that! I ignored it once more and shifted to Blizzard’s former subjects.

“The victory in the Samandva is mine, so you belong to me now!” I laid my claw on my dead friend's head and let my azure aura flow through her, and from there, to her former subjects. Making them mine by Kirin tradition.

All of them at once bowed and took the oath. “We will to our lady be true and faithful, we will serve our lady faithfully. Let her enemies be our enemies too!”

I nodded in satisfaction. “Then rise my loyal subjects!” I gestured to them to stand up. “You shall…”

The impact of another kirin landing next to me interrupted my speech. My own guards and new subjects quickly tried to attack this newcomer, but with a barely noticeable move of his hoof, he blew them away.

“Who are you?” I asked, removing my spear from Blizzard and pointing it at this new guy. It was obvious that he was not an azure kirin, yet despite this, I couldn’t feel the claim of another on him.

“Bow before me!” I roared, but it had no effect. Instead he laughed.

“Thy expression of dominance is quite a lovely thing, I doth sayeth.” He then sniffed the air, still maintaining a smile. “Thee hath't most certes garnered mine affection.”

I was confused. How could he withstand my command? The answer was made obvious a second later, when his eyes changed from a light purple to a pair of stars set within dark voids.

This guy was one of the gods!

“Ye art quite the clever issue,” he said and licked over his lips. “'t is quite the pleasure to meeteth thee.” When I raised my spear and aimed it at him, he smirked back at me before calmly continuing. “Oh, there beest no need for violence, I hardly see a needeth to resort to such indulgences. While I begrudge not a valorous square, mine goal hither is pertaining to an objective of a wholly different sort.”

My spear stayed where it was in case this was a trick. Just because he was one of the gods didn’t mean I had to trust him. There was more than one troublemaker among the gods. “And what would that be?” I asked.

“Thou,” he purred, though, it sounded more like a threat.

“Me?”

“Verily.” He moved slightly to present me a better view of his body. “Thee shouldst feeleth honored I did find thee worthy of mine attention, and to beest mine future jointress.”

To say that his response took me by surprise would be an understatement. I was so taken aback that I even lowered my spear for a second. Here I was in the middle of taking the throne of Shakirin La, and this guy, whoever he was, just showed up to propose!

“My, thy tongue seemeth to hath't gone missing, hm?” His gaze changed to one of superiority. “Mayhaps 't hath been enraptured by mine form and words.” He proceeded to then use his wing to suggestively stroke his side and flank. “I knoweth well were this not true, its master wouldn't beest just as immobile.”

Well, he was not wrong. He was very attractive, though… My spear returned to a ready position with a growl. “How about no?”

For some reason, this seemed to please him. He laughed in this deep, happy voice. “I love a valorous conquest!” He stepped close enough that his hoof could touch the tip of my spear. “We shalt meeteth again, Fiery Leadership, godchild of Fortuna, and thee wilt beest mine.”

I pecked at him with my spear, but he simply took it without any harm done.

“I await yond day with restless delight …” With these words he just disappeared.

***

I awoke in my room with a small suppressed scream, just as I had every other time I’d had that dream. I placed a claw on my chest before slowly and deeply inhaling a few times to calm my nerves. My cold bloodedness in the dream always frightens me.

“Fiery?” the quiet and tired voice of my batfriend arose next to me. “Are you alright my little flame?” His hoof found its way to the top of my head before starting to gently stroke my mane.

I leaned into his caresses, enjoying the comfort it provided. “It… it was just the dream again.”

He sat himself a bit more upright. “Killing Blizzard again?”

I just nodded and he pulled me into a hug, his warm fur embracing me. Normally it was me who was the dominant one in our relationship, being the source of warmth and comfort, but at moments like this, I loved his caring nature.

“I don’t know why it always comes back,” I turned my head and nuzzled into his fluff.

“Me neither,” his hug got a bit tighter, “but we both know you would never harm Blizzard, so no need to worry or feel bad.”

I sighed. We’d had conversations like this a few times already. He was obviously right, but still…

I rubbed my head against him once more before breaking away. “I know…” I shook my head. “I just… I just need to move around a bit.” I turned around and slipped out of bed.

“Should I come with you?” He was already halfway out of bed when I turned around.

“No,” I caressed him with my fluffy tail for a moment. “Better not provoke mom by roaming around the lair together.”

He still made an attempt to stand up though. “Your mom’s not that frightening, you know? She’s actually a nice pony.”

I pushed him back. “She is. I mean a nice pony.” I removed my claws from him as soon as he was back under the blanket. “Still, she is my mom. It’d be better if you stayed here, just for a few minutes till I am back.”

“You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, I will be in a bit. Just a little walk through the lair to gather my nerves, okay?”

He gave me a closer look. Then he snuggled back, deeper into the blankets. “Okay, but I’m staying awake until you come back.”

I smiled and turned to the door. If the dream keeps coming back though, at some point I’ll have to tell him about the proposal part.

*

As I walked out of my room, I couldn’t help but think about the conversation I’d just had. My mom’s a very nice pony, but, she’s also a Do. It kind of runs in the family to try to behead your female relative’s first lover. I’m still taken aback that aunty Daring tried to rip my dad’s head off after she found out mom and dad had sex. He’s a black dragon! No, I’d better not risk anything here!

That being said though, I wasn’t playing things entirely safe. I am a Do after all. Illu, my pet name for my batfriend Illuminated Cavern, was currently in my bed. Well, it  was kind of a grey area if him being there was bad or not. My eighteen birthday was around the corner, and I kind of asked my dad for permission as a gift. He was the only one who could overrule mom’s word in the lair after all. Though even then, we had to be rather liberal in our interpretation of what was allowed. Illu was technically only allowed to sleep in the lair, not exactly my chamber, and we didn’t tell mom about certain activities for Illu’s safety. She may’ve had a suspicion, she’s not dumb, but she never explicit said we shouldn’t have sex, so… 

Be it as it may, in contrast to the dragons of the family, my brother and dad, she can’t smell it on me, so we should be fine. Still, it was better for Illu to stay in bed.

Speaking of my brother, when I entered the kitchen, I found him with his head in the fridge.

“You want something too, sis?” he asked, roaming around the fridge, probably looking for any sweet fruits. He always knew when I was around for some strange reason. I’d stopped wondering about it years ago.

“Any Kunzite left in there?”

A few seconds later, a small pink gem flew over in my direction.

“Thank you,” I said and took a bite. The hazelnut taste really did me good.

“Since you’re asking for sweets, I assume you had the dream again?”

“Yeah…”

Something in my voice must have alerted him, he stopped his rummaging and peaked over to me. He then closed the fridge and came closer, rubbing his head against my chest, purring calmly.

Obviously, I must’ve looked as bad as I fell.

I purred back and stroked over his scales, causing him to start licking over my throat. Having a little dragon brother can be a wonderful thing...

He sniffed at me. “It obviously wasn’t your Batfriends fault. I can tell you two really enjoyed your alone time.”

...and occasionally a curse.

“Yes, he did great,” I confessed. “Just don’t tell mom about it.”

“I’m not crazy,” he agreed, “mom would kill him on the spot. I don’t think she’d even ask dad to do it. If she finds out,” he paused to rub his head against me once more, “Illu is toast.”

“Yeah, I have to make sure she doesn’t.” I sighed. “Just one more thing to worry about.”

“Maybe you wouldn’t have to worry as much if you just told dad about the dream, maybe he can help.” He thought for a second. “Or aunt Fortuna, she should be able to tell you who that god is who wants to lay you. Maybe she can even help you seduce them in real life. Wouldn’t be the worst mate, being a god and all definitely comes with some advantages.”

While it was some comfort that I could talk to my brother about my problems since I’d told him about the whole dream, as you can tell, he has a very draconic point of view about it.

“I told you already, I don’t want to marry a god. I’m very happy with Illu.”

“Illu is nice,” my brother nodded. “But he’s still just a mortal batpony. I’m sure a godmate would be better for your reputation, Not to mention he probably has a huge hoard.”

I let my head hang. “It’s not only about fame and gold, you know?”

“You are too emotional about this, sis,” he retorted and licked over my head in a calming way.

“I…” I started before realising what my brother was doing. I hissed loudly and smacked him with my claw, barring my fangs in the process.

He jumped a step back and lowered his stance, returning the hiss.

Well, I couldn’t judge him too harshly for his actions, he didn’t do it on purpose. It’s just that since his puberty started, his draconic senses get in the way sometimes.

I spread my wings and raised my tail, showing that I was the more dominant one and was ready to fight to prove it. Normally that does the trick. He may be a bit taller than me already, but I’m his big sister.

He lowered his body in response, getting ready to bounce. Seems today was one of those days.

I was quicker though and stormed forward before he was fully ready, so we collided halfway in the air when he reacted. I felt his claws scratching above my back while I aimed for his neck, trying to bite him.

Having fewer scales than him worked to my advantage. Mom would kill us if we visibly hurt each other, so he had to be careful where he hit me, while I could hit and bite him nearly everywhere.

We rolled over the floor, hissing and scratching each other. That was until we hit something solid, stopping us. I was so deep into this fight that I needed a moment to realise that, whatever we had hit, was moving.

“If you wake your mom, you’re both in trouble,” Dad said and stepped over us, continuing on his way to the fridge.

My brother shuddered for a second at the thought, and I took the opportunity to bite into his neck and push him down with my claws. Of course, he instantly began struggling to get free and tried to punch me with his wings, but I placed all my weight into holding him down, hissing a warning at him while doing so.

With a growl, he admitted his defeat, and I licked over his head, the dominant sibling caring for the weaker one.

I must say, it’s been getting harder and harder to stay on top. In not too long, I may find myself a step down in the hierarchy.

Dad, however, was unaffected by our little fight. Contrary to mom, he accepts it as part of our dragon heritage. Though, if we accidently hurt mom or Kindling, our pony brother, the fun would be over!

“We just had a little dominance dispute,” I explained quitely. “We wouldn’t wake mom.”

“Fiery had a bad dream,” Nightflame added and rose from the ground. “But Illu isn’t to blame, they had some fun not too long ago.”

At the mention of me not doing too well, Dad turned around and rubbed his head against me, sniffing. 

“Daaaad,” I said, blushed all the while, not only for the fact he could smell my batfriend on me, but because I could also very clearly smell what he and mom had been doing. It was pointless of course, as soon as dad noticed I was indeed mildly shaken and uneasy, he bit into my mane and lifted me up. A second later, I found myself on his back and him already purring calmly while rubbing his head against me.

“I’m fine,” I tried to explain, but the only thing I achieved was convincing my brother to hop onto my dad as well and start purring and rubbing against me.

I have to admit, even though it was a bit embarrassing, it was also very comforting. It didn’t take long for me to start feeling a lot better. Laying between dad's wings always has this effect on me.

That was till Illu suddenly showed up, probably alerted due to my fight with Nightflame. He had very sensitive ears after all.

“Are you alright, Fiery?” he asked, looking at the situation suspiciously before stepping closer.

My dad's wings sprung open slightly before he lowered his stance.

It should go without saying I was not alright with him doing this! A spark of panic seized my heart, causing me to jump off my dad as fast as lightning. With dad being a dragon, his natural instinct was to protect his child who he knew needed care. And for him, protect tended mean handling any perceived treat in a rather permanent manner. It wasn’t reasonable, but an approaching batpony, my batfriend or not, counted as such a threat to his dragon mind.

Illu was unaware of this, obviously. But even my brother, encouraged by dad’s behaviour, had shifted into a protective stance as soon as Illu entered the room. I knew that if Illu wasn’t careful, they would tear him to shreds!

“Hold on!” I half yelled as I turned around to calm my family, all the while stepping backward towards Illu. “No one is threatening your bornlings, dad!”

He lowered his head and growled. A bad sign!

“Fiery…” Illu started, but I hushed and pushed him back with my tail almost as soon as that one word passed his lips.

“Not now, Illu,” I said, keeping my gaze on dad as I pushed my batfriend out of the room. “I told you to not come near me or my brothers when we are on dads back. Dragons are very protective!”

“I was just worried about you,” he replied, thankfully while moving further back.

“That’s nice of you,” I stroked over his chin with my tail, “but right now it’s me who’s worried about you.” As soon as we were in the main hall again, I turned around and continued to push him in the direction of my room. I watched the entrance of the kitchen on our way, but no one followed. With one last push, I sent Illu through the door, entered myself, and closed it behind me before leaning against it and exhaling deeply.

“Fiery,” Illu said while placing a hoof on my chest, rubbing up and down slowly. “Aren’t you overreacting a bit? You act like your family’s dangerous.”

“Because they are!” I grabbed his hoof and pulled him closer. “They are dangerous if you’re not careful! Dad would’ve attacked you if you’d’ve gotten only a few steps closer!”

“Your dad knows me, Fiery, he wouldn’t do that.” It was clear from his tone of voice that he doubted what I’d just said. I couldn’t blame him though for initially assuming what he’d said was true since dad had been really nice to him so far.

“He would,” I grabbed his snout, looking him straight in the eyes. “He would shred you to tiny, little pieces! It’s not a rational decision on his part, you can’t rely on him recognizing you! All dad is noticing at that moment is that his bornling, me, was struggling, and that drives him completely into protection mode. And every creature besides my family will be considered a threat! And you know how dragons react to threats!”

Illu shook his head and freed himself from my grip. “Okay, okay I get it. I’ll be careful, but you need to understand -” He laid a hoof on my cheek. “- I care for you, Fiery, as much as your family does. It feels wrong to stay on the sidelines when you need me.”

I grabbed him with my wings so we could hug. “I prefer to have you stand aside and in one piece than laying right in front of me in one hundred.”

He smiled and rubbed against my chest. “That does sound unpleasant to be honest, so I’ll try to avoid that.”

“You better!”

For a moment we fell silent and just calmed down while enjoying each other’s company.

“So you feeling better now?” Illu asked as he wrapped his own wing around my side and looked up at me.

“I… “ I needed a moment to realise that I really did feel better. “I do.” I replied a bit astonished. “Seems like this little fuss was exactly what I needed!”

“That’s good to hear,” Illu replied and leaned in to kiss me. “Then can we return to bed now and get some sleep?” He not too subtly tried to softly pull me with his wing.

“Sleep?” I asked innocently. “Sounds good to me.” I took a few steps with him, but let my tail slide by happenstance between his legs while doing so.

With a loud ‘Eeeeek!’ he jumped up in the air. 

I simply love it when he acts so shy! I started to purr and rub my head against his side as soon as he was on the ground again. “Maybe something more than just sleep?” I inquired with a smirk.

He blushed, and was soon as red as a tomato! So cute!

“Uhm, hmm…” he babbled. “I may… “

I sealed his lips with a kiss and teased him with my tail. “Poor Illu, it seems you are trapped here. There are dangerous dragons outside,” I grinned, “but there is an even more dangerous kirin inside”

He giggled nervously and tried to take a step back. “Are you sure you don’t need your sleep?”

His sweet, shy behaviour is one of the reasons I love him so much!

I stopped his retreat with my tail by winding it around his leg. “You do want your marefriend to feel better, right? I purred seductively while nibbling and playing with his ear a bit.

“Sure do,” he admitted hesitantly, “just…”

I used my special weapon and fluffed my mane up while making my tail as bushy as I could. “Just what?” I whispered and fluttered my eyes.

He stood there a moment, breathing in my shameless attempt to seduce him. I could see that it worked.

“Maybe I have an idea how to make you feel better actually…”

“Great,” I grinned eagerly, “I’ll help you with that!”
> The Call To Adventure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can confidently say with a warm, happy purr, that there is no better way to wake up than with your beloved in your forelegs. The fact he was still sleeping, snoring softly into my mane, only made it better! Just seeing that sooo cute ear fluff of his moving back and forth with each breath simply demanded that I give it a stroke.

Normally he would sneak out of my chamber at the break of dawn. Today though, after the incident a few days ago with my dad and brother, I decided I would let him sleep a little while longer. Luckily, Mom is a late riser, and dad wouldn’t mind seeing him sneak out of my chamber.

Also, he earned the right to sleep in after last night. He made especially sure I’d enjoyed turning eighteen so far, if you know what I mean.

“Fiery,” he suddenly and tiredly mumbled while rubbing his nose through my mane until he found my cheek. “you’re purring again.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I whispered, still purring nonetheless. “It’s hard to control with such an amazing batfriend in my arms.”

I could see his lips curl up, but this was accompanied by him grumbling slightly. He shifted his wings and head a bit until he found a more comfortable position to lay in. After another little grumble, he fell silent.

However, silent didn’t mean motionless. Not too long after settling into his new position, his ear twitched. After that first twitch, his ears went back to being still, only to then flick several times in a row as he growled unhappily.

“What is it?” I wondered.

He sighed. “Just your mom,” he turned around and snuggled against me with his back. “her hooves always make so much noise on the stone floor.”

“Yes,” I giggled, “they do. Even… Wait, what!?” I sat straight up, causing Illu to roll out of bed with a little gasp.

“Ouch!” he said, and then struggled to get free from the blankets. “Why did you do that?”

“Mom shouldn’t be awake yet!” Panicked, I looked towards the door and jumped out of bed. “How are you supposed to get to the guest-chamber now?” I pranced in place nervously. “She mustn't find you in here!” I rushed to the door and pressed my ear against it. Mom's hoofsteps were clearly audible, and they were coming towards my door!

“Ponyfeathers! Quick, hide behind my bed!” I rushed over to him and pressed him down.

“Fiery!” he protested, but we didn’t have time for that.

“Not now! Here -” I threw more pillows on him “- lay still and don’t make a sound! If mom finds you here red clawed, you’re toast!”

It looked like he still wanted to say something, but the idea of my mom finding him here seemed to be more unpleasant, even without him believing how my mom could be.

“Good,” I rearranged his covers a bit and jumped back on my bed just in time, as mom had just arrived at my door. I could hear her whisper to someone, as well as a few whispered replies. Seems the rest of my family was with her too.

I grabbed the last remaining blanket and curled up in a sleeping position, just keeping one eye open for the door.

Slowly, the handle was pressed down and the door opened bit by bit.

I pressed my eyes shut and faked a snore.

“She’s still sleeping,” my mom whispered in delight a few seconds later. The door was then fully opened, and several sets of hooves and claws could be heard as my family entered my room.

Additionally, there was the smell of cake.

However, before I could formulate a plan of action, “Grünchen, no!” escaped the lips of my little brother, Kindling. A second later, Grünchens claws found their way onto my head before he immediately started to nibble on my ear and release a loud, almost choked screech directly into my ear canal in order to wake me up.

For the second time this morning, I sat bolt upright in a split second!

“Surprise!” my whole family yelled in unison while giggling before following it up by singing happy birthday to me.

It would have been quite enjoyable, if not for Illu hiding behind my bed and in danger of getting beheaded…

“Happy birthday big sis,” Kindling yelled when the singing ended before jumping on my bed and giving me a hug.

“Yes, happy birthday,” Nightflame agreed, climbing onto my bed too and rubbing his head against my side, purring.

I wrapped my wings around them and purred in return. “Thank you.” I was going to say more, but I could see Nightflame already sniffing the air, and throwing a suspicious look at the pile of pillows next to my bed.

It wasn’t as if he would spoil anything, it was simply that his behavior, as well as dads as soon as he came over to hug me, would reveal to mom that something wasn’t as it should be. So, with my siblings still in the hug, and Grünchen on my head, I rose up and out of bed, forcing them to move with me.

“Come here,” my mom said as soon as I was out of bed before giving me a tight hug. Not the easiest task with my brothers still in my wings and dad also trying to sneak in with his head to be part of the family hug session. Added onto the challenge was the cake on her back that she had to keep from falling off.

What followed was the usual fluff parents spouted when their bornling reached adulthood. Mom was all happy and emotional, while dad was all purring and cuddles.

Eventually though, it was time for the cake, and given mom’s nature, despite her misgivings with his presence, she probably thought Illu should be able to share in the celebration too.

“Why don’t you go wake your mom and dad, as well as llluminated Cavern, while we move to the kitchen and prepare everything,” she told my dad. “I’m sure they want to congratulate Fiery too.”

“I’m quite busy,” he purred back, still rubbing his head against me. My dad had to be the most cuddle obsessed dragon in the world, well, it was actually either him or Opa, and the verdict on that was still up in the air. “Kindling,” he said, “go and wake the others.”

“Will do!” Kindling yelled, and freed himself from my wing, eager to do as he was told.

“Wait!” I spat out.

He turned his head to me. “Wait for what?”

“I… I… uhm, want to wake Illu myself!” I giggled nervously.

“Oh, okay sis.”

“And while I do so,” I laid a claw on my dad's head, “why don’t you guys gather up in the living room? It may take a moment to wake Illu.”

My mom gave me a look of suspicion.

“I mean, he surely has a present for me too, something romantic that he wants to give me without you all around.”

“I’m sure he does,” my mom said with a sour face.

“I’m confident she’s only referring to a kiss or some other little sweet treasure,” Dad interjected in order to help me out. It was almost a guarantee that he was aware of Illu being in my chamber at this point.

The gaze my mom threw at my father said it all. She was, correctly, assuming that I had inherited his naughtiness, and was more than likely going to act on it when alone with Illu.. For some reason, my mom was quite happy with dad being like this, but not so much so with me inheriting that particular one.

“There’s not much they can do in under five minutes,” his head turned back to me, “and if they need longer, I can always check on them.”

“Sounds fair enough!” I quickly blurted out before mom could voice any objections. “I’ll wake Illu and we’ll meet you at the table in no time!” I started to corral my family out of my room.

I had nearly done so, and saved my batfriend, when suddenly, my haunches started to glow. Or more precisely, my cutiemark. For those of you who don’t know, this is something that happens on occasion when aunt Fortuna, my godmother, drops by.

And indeed, a second later, she appeared out of nowhere, a dark golden kirin with light golden glowing scales and rainbow-coloured wings. Oh, and her eyes were made of starlight, as my dad always described it. They gave glimpses into the void of the universe, at least that’s what I think he said.

“Aunty!” I rushed over and gave her a hug. “You made it!”

“I would never miss my favorite godchild's birthday!” she replied, but in a bit of a hurry. “Though, I barely made it in time!”

“What do you mean? The day’s just started.” I let go of her and made a welcoming gesture towards the living room. “We were just going to eat the cake, why don’t you join us?”

I was really eager to move my family out of my room.

“We don’t have time for that,” Fortuna replied, “only a few minutes till you turn eighteen, and we have to speak before that!”

“What are you talking about?” Mom had joined the conversation at this point. “Fiery’s already eighteen, and what kind of trouble did you bring with you this time?”

Fortuna snorted. “I am not talking about your mortals’ sense of time, Fiery was born seventeen years, twenty-three hours and fifty-four minutes ago, there are only six minutes left! We have to hurry!”

“What is it?” Dad stepped between her and mom, preventing mom from questioning her further.

“I did what I could,” Fortuna started, “held it back as long as possible to give my godchild time to grow up, but the time has finally come.”

“What time?” Mom pushed herself between dad’s leg and wing, making her way over to Fortuna again.

“The azure-gathering, when all the azure kirin’s make a pilgrimage to Shakirin-La!” 

“Wait, what!?” It was not clear who’d yelled it faster, mom or I, but the shock was real for both of us!

“Fiery is far too young to go to Shakirin-La! It’s far too dangerous for her -” she removed the cake from her back and placed it on my nightstand, “- no way will I allow her to go!”

“It’s not like you have a choice.” Fortuna shook her head. “In five minutes, Shakin-La will act like a beacon to Firey.” She turned to me. “Your mind will respond to it, drawing you towards it and driving you to create a collection of loyal subjects along the way. There is no use in fighting it.”

I stood there paralyzed for a second. “And you couldn’t tell me this sooner?” I finally spat out.

“Rules,” my godmother just said.

“What can we do?” Dad asked. It seemed like he was calm, but It was obvious that he wasn’t. His need to protect his bornling was making him flick his tail around restlessly.

“You and your mate have to assure Fiery makes it to the mountains of Shakirin-La, that is the part of the game you two have to play now.”

“Are you kidding?” Mom yelled furiously. “Not only do you want her to go to the most dangerous place outside of Equestria, but you also want us to guide her there? Are you crazy?”

“It is her destiny.” Fortuna made clear. “It is not my doing that she is being forced to go, nor my will to put her in danger, but, it is necessary.”

“Does the other god have something to do with that?” suddenly Nightflame asked. “The red one?”

“Aphrodite?” Dad asked. “What does she have to do with this?”

“No, not that one, the male red one.”

“Who are you talking about?” Kindling asked. “We only know Fortuna, Charon, and Aphrodite so far.”

As you can tell, I didn’t bother Kindling with all the details of my dreams.

“There is one more,” Nightflame simply said.

One look at my godmother made it clear that she knew what he was talking about.

“So it is true? That guy from my dreams is a god?” I had to take a seat and rest my head in  my claws.

“Which guy?” Mom wondered as she came over to hug me. “ And which dreams?”

“There’s this dream that I’ve been having for a while now,” I started, “I go to Shakirin-La, with an army of kirins to back me up. We conquer the place and, yeah, well, when I am nearly done, some god shows up and, uhm, well, proposes to me.”

“What?” Now Illu yelled and threw off his covers. “You never told me that there was a god proposing to you!”

He was right about that, obviously, though his reaction of leaving his hiding spot was not a good one either. Though, it did prove that dad and Night knew he was around since they didn’t react aggressively to his appearance like they would have if he’d really surprised them. Kindling was also calm, at least after the initial shock.

But mom, mom was not!

Her gaze spun to Illu, and after a split second, over to me. Just a glimpse into my eyes, and the look of guilt I was surely showing, told her everything she needed to know.

Have I ever mentioned how fascinating it looks when a pony turns into a nirik? How a wave of flames roll over their back and turns their coat into hot flames? Mom even has fangs in her nirik form. If you’re wondering how she can do that now, when Charon brought her back from the verge of death, he’d used the magic from her collar to breathe life back into her. Without telling us of course, and therefore, that magic had jumped over to mom, allowing her to become a nirik when she gets really, really angry.

Like now!

With a growl that in no way was a shadow of what dad could do, she jumped forward, right at my batfriend. She was so quick that not even I could react. Poor Illu was so shocked that he didn’t even try to evade.

Mom aimed directly for his throat, her fangs shining in the light of her own fire, and her burning hooves stretched out to rip and tear him apart. Only at the last possible second, Dad saved the day. His jaws snapped forward, grabbing mom by her neck before pulling her back. Her burning hooves only barely missing Illu. 

She roared and hissed in his grip. “This scoundrel! This dirty, little…” Another roar prevented mom from cursing further.

Instinctually, Night and I dropped flat on the ground, whimpering in fear while Kindling hastily rushed behind Nightflame to seek shelter.

“Let me go!” Mom yelled at Dad, shaking like crazy, flapping her burning wings and cracking her tail like a whip. Her gaze remained on Illu though. Hate and the unrivaled desire to rip off his head were carved onto her face.

Finally, Illu shook off his paralysis and quickly stepped back. The realisation that what I’d told him about mom was true brought terror to his eyes!

“I don’t think…” Dad struggled a bit with keeping mom under control, “that that would be wise.” He wrapped his arms and wings around her.

“This sneaky lecher has…”

“I know,” Dad replied, but quickly shut mom's snout with his claw. We could only assume that a lot of curses would have followed based on how angrily she growled and mumbled. “I think it would be better if you keep some distance from her for a while,” Dad told Illu. “My mate seems to take issue with you and our daughter having some fun.”

Illu hastily nodded.

“It was a bit inconsiderate of you to do so behind her back,” Dad added, in an attempt to side with mom while not supporting her idea of beheading my batfriend either.

“But… but…” Illu ducked a bit behind the bedframe, “y-y-you you knew. It wasn’t like it was a big secret.”

Mom stopped struggling in Dad's grip.

“That has nothing to do with it!” Dad quickly shouted.

Mom's head began to slowly turn towards Dad.

“Really!” It was obvious from his tone and posture that he was desperately trying to come up with a viable excuse.

My parents’ gazes locked on one another, and the mighty black dragon that was my dad shrunk under the gaze of my pony mom like Night and I would under his whenever we dared hiss or growl at mom when he was around. 

However, before things could progress any further, a wave of something hit me pretty hard. “Papa!” I managed to scream quickly before I levitated into the air, and a glowing blue aura formed around me. Not even a second later, I could feel it. A distant call, echoing deep in my mind. Like the voices of a thousand individuals speaking at once.

It was a simple, one word message. 

“Come!”

And before I could think, my body reacted. Like an amplifier, I spread the signal, shouting out with my own aura, reaching as far as I could.

Then, without warning, it ended as fast as it had started, causing me to black out.

When I finally regained consciousness, I found myself in the claws of my dad. My whole family was looking at me with concern in their eyes. Mom had even turned back to her pony self for the time being.

“That was… something,” I said a bit unsteadily. I rubbed over my forehead, and found that my scales were still a bit warm from using my aura.

“Are you okay, sweety?” Mom’s sorrowful voice was the first to pipe up, but it was accompanied by Dad and Night’s steady, calm purring.

“Yes, just my head. I feel a bit, groggy.”

“That was to be expected,” Fortuna nodded. “Receiving the…” She stopped mid sentence when Dad pressed me against himself and started to hiss at her when she dared to step closer. Godmother or not, having his vulnerable bornling in his claws made Dad very protective. When she stopped where she was, Dad's head turned back to me and he started to sniff along my body, searching for anything wrong.

“I think I’m fine, Dad, you can put me down,” I said after feeling that my dizziness had worn off. “Seems like this… call, didn’t do any damage.”

“Are you sure you’re okay, sweety?” Mom placed her hooves on my head and began rubbing softly over my scales.

“Yes, I am fine.” I looked up at my father. “Daaaaaad!”

Reluctantly, he let me down. But he raised his wings warningly when Fortuna and Illu both tried to come nearer.

“Illu!” My gaze shot to him and I rushed between him and mom. I was so glad he was still in one piece! And I didn’t want mom to change that anytime soon!

“The issue with your batfriend can wait,” Fortuna said, drawing everyone’s attention to herself. “Now that the call has been made, there are more important things to do!”

“Like what?” Dad asked, while my Mom's gaze locked on Illu again. I could see a light glow below the surface of her backcoat, she was very close to turning into a nirik again!

“You have to prepare for the trip. Pack food, water, maybe tents or whatever you mortals need when going on an adventure. And you don’t have much time. Fiery will go with or without you in a few hours.”

“Actually,” I hesitated a moment to listen to myself once more, “I don’t really feel the need to go.” I looked back at Fortuna. “Are you sure about this?”

“There has never been an exception that I know of where an azure-kirin like you didn’t heed the call. So yes, you have a few hours until you’ll want to leave. Those who created the call made sure you would have time to come prepared and not walk straight towards Shakirin-La for days on end, possibly dying of exhaustion or starvation before even arriving.”

“How nice of them,” Dad grumbled. “If that is so, we should… “ His gaze landed on Mom, switched for a moment to Illu, and then back to her. “We don’t have time for that now, Fluffy!” He grabbed mom by the neck and lifted her up, turning her around to face him in the process. “We have to care for our daughter now,” he kissed her, “you can rip off her batfriends wings afterwards!”

“Don’t think I forgot your role in this!” she replied. Still, when he placed her down, she left Illu in peace and turned to Fortuna. “What happens if she doesn’t go?”

“I told you, that’s not going to happen.”

“But what if we hinder her?”

“I assume the inability to follow the call will drive her mad eventually.” She gave me a look. “Besides, it’s in my, as well as her, best interests that she goes.”

“I assume you want my granddaughter to go to Shakirin-La?” A new voice echoed from within the lair, Oma, my dad's mom, had decided to show up. “Fortuna,” she acknowledged the goddess' presence when she stopped in front of my room.

“Perle,” Fortuna replied.

“How did you know?” Mom asked.

“As an azure dragon, I was of course able to feel the call as well, even though it has no effect on myself.” She clicked her claws on the ground as she said this. “Putting my granddaughter in danger is not something I would normally consider, though, having the new empress of Shakirin-La be my relative does sound tempting.”

“You can’t be serious!” Mom yelled. Of course, she was not happy with the idea. Though, by looking at dad, it  seemed like he had to think about it. 

As for me? If what I saw in my dreams was true, or could become true, I would rather not go!

“It would be a great benefit to her,” Oma replied. “Being the empress of Shakirin-La would allow her to live her life as she pleases. A great hoard, loyal subject in mass, a harem if she likes.”

At the mention of a harem, Illu dared to come nearer again and laid his hooves possessively around my back.

“Don’t worry,” I whispered and placed a claw on his hoof, “not going to happen.”
 
“But it’s not safe for her!” Mom yelled. “A hundred-thousand things could happen to her on the way!” She looked at Oma for a second. “And I’m guessing it’s not going to be a friendly discussion about who’s going to become the next empress either with all that azure blood gathering there, am I right?”

“Probably not,” Oma admitted.

“I knew it!” Mom went on. “There’s no way we can let her go! We have to protect our little daughter!”

“Didn’t you listen?” Fortuna shook her head, deciding now to come closer. “You don’t have a say in this. She will go, whether you like it or not.”

“And it’s better for you to guide and help her get there rather than her sneaking out and going on her own,” Oma nodded.

“Has every creature gone crazy? This is our daughter we are talking about!” Mom stomped her hoof and spread her wings in anger. “Big Softy! At least you must agree that this is a bad idea!”

“I don’t think we have much of a choice,” he said. “And if that’s the case, I would prefer to go with her, to protect her.”

“But I don’t want to go!” Suddenly everyone’s attention shifted to me. “You’re all talking like this is something you have to decide on, but it’s me we’re talking about!”

“See?” Mom rushed over to me and shooed Illu away in the process. “Not only is it far too dangerous, but I’m also not going to allow anyone to force my daughter to go either!”

“The call was loud and clear, the magic is strong, even after all these years.” Oma shook her head. “Fortuna is right, I think Fiery will go anyway. The only question is…” she thought for a moment. “The only question is, who activated the beacon spell, and what for?”

“To lure every azure-kirin to Shakirin-La, obviously.” Opa had caught up with Oma and had stopped in the doorframe.

“Indeed, but what for?”

“What purpose does that serve?” Mom wondered.

“Shakirin-La’s layed abandoned for over a thousand years now, and the number of azure-kirins was never really high to begin with. There’s maybe only about two dozen of them now.” Her claw clicked on the ground rhythmically. “What has changed though? What makes this day, or this year, or decade so special? Or in other words, who benefits from this call the most?”

“I don’t care who benefits from this call! We have to find a way for Fiery to not have to go!”

“Why should we?” With a wide yawn, my aunt, Schimmernde Morgenröte, or in ponish, Shimmering Dawn, rose from Omas back where she had been sleeping. “This sounds like a great opportunity.” She jumped off of her mom and made her way over to me. “For the first time in over a thousand years, the title of empress is available, and you’re lucky enough to be alive when it’s happening, Niece. I very well would blame your luck, and therefore Fortuna, for this opportunity.” She paused after this and fetched a small wrapped box from under her wing, presenting it to me. “Also, happy birthday, Fiery.”

I took the present, though most of the eyes were on Fortuna now. What my aunt had said, for sure, had pulled everyone’s attention to the goddess of luck.

“Thank you, Schimmernde Morgenröte,” I said. “But from how it sounds, I don’t feel all too lucky to be honest.”

“You should. For your species, it is the highest and most famous title one can get. It is connected to a lot of might and treasure as well.” She pointed at the box she had given me. “It also makes our present to you more valuable than it already was in the first place. Furthermore, let me offer you my assistance in your attempt to claim the throne.”

Now it was on Oma to get protective. She spread her wings, bit onto her daughter's tail, and pulled her back to herself. “I will not allow you to go on such an adventure! It is far too dangerous if you have no reason to go!”

Schimmernde Morgenröte hissed politely. “I very well will, mother. This is not only an opportunity for my niece, but for me too. If I help her to claim the title, the empress of Shakirin-La would be in my debt. I see that as a great advantage, more so at my young age.”

“We all should help her since she is family, not to gain something for it!” Kindling yelled enraged. “She is my big sister!”

“Yes, that too,” Schimmernde Morgenröte nodded. “Still, for my mom, that would come after protecting her own hatchling.” She turned back to said dragoness. “As I understood it, you would not be allowed to go, nor would dad. I, however, don’t fall under that restriction, and am free to do as I please in that regard. And the possible gain from this adventure is far bigger than the small personal risk I would potentially be taking. Therefore this is an opportunity I am not going to let pass.”

“Wait a moment.” Dad faced his little sister. “Why do you say Mom and Dad can’t go?”

“That is the rules of the call,” she replied. “Mom did some research on the matter of kirins in the past years. Originally, it was for our present, but it comes in clawy now.”

Dad tilted his head. “For the present?” He turned to me. “Unwrap it.”

So I did. The box contained a scroll, and when I unfurled it, a lot of names and family trees showed up.

“This is a list of Azure-Kirins,” Schimmernde Morgenröte explained. “Originally, it was meant to be a list of possible mates for yourself. Now, however, it is a list of your possible competitors. This should provide you with information about them that you may find useful.”

“You do realise I already have a mate?” I said with a flat look.

“For now,” she shrugged. “That may change in the future…”

“Hey!” Illu protested. “Where do you get off saying that!”

Quickly, I rushed over and covered his mouth with my claw. “I’m sorry Schimmernde Morgenröte.” And to Illu I whispered. “Could you please stop trying to kill yourself?” I increased my pressure on his snout when he tried to speak up. “This is not the time for this,” I hissed. “If she or Oma get the idea you are being disrespectful, they’ll kill you!”

I held his gaze and waited till the fire in his eyes dimmed a bit down before I let go of his snout.

“Be it as it may,” Oma spoke up, “I must agree on the assessment of the possible gain of this adventure. Fast Slasher,” she asked, and waved him to her side. “in this matter, your permission is required too. Are you willing to let our daughter go?”

“Mom, Dad is just a black dragon, he…” 

A quick strike of Oma’s claw hit Schimmernde Morgenröte, and when her head collided with the ground, Oma placed her wing on it and hissed warningly. “What did I say about how to treat your father?”

Her daughter laid flat on the ground and made little sounds of submission.

As an azure dragon, Schimmernde Morgenröte was far higher in the draconic hierarchy than Opa. However, as Oma’s mate, he had the right to claim her protection and love, so even their own daughter could not treat him like a second class dragon in her presence. Not even Dad, a black dragon himself, had been allowed to challenge him during his youth.

“I don’t like it, but I think she is right,” Opa said. “But our son should watch over her as well, in the position of the dominant dragon when they go.”

“I see.” Oma let go of Schimmernde Morgenröte and looked over to Dad. “Having your little sister with you should provide a great advantage. Her influence on azure-kirins may be negligible, but any possible dragon parent who comes along would be under her spell already. 

“What if the parent is an azure dragon?” Kindling asked. “Wouldn’t their protective instinct outweigh the azure influence?”

“No azure dragon would mate with a lower species, Kindling. Any azure-kirin is at least one generation removed from their heritage of azure blood. And besides, it would only work so long as no one attacks their bornlings anyway. And Fiery,” her head turned to me, “even if you don’t want all the fame and might, it is still your responsibility to go.”

“My responsibility?”

“Indeed, if you don’t go, who knows who would claim the throne of Shakirin-La instead. It could very well be an individual with unsavory intentions or a thirst for conquering. Many creatures would suffer if the wrong claw touches that throne instead of yours.”

“You can’t know that,” Mom quickly threw in, “don’t put unnecessary pressure on her!”

“Still, it is possible,” Schimmernde Morgenröte agreed and approached me again. “ So that’s just one more reason for her to go.”

“It could also be somekirin with a more pony like personality who claims the throne and everyone can live happily ever after,” Kindling said.

“Still, Fiery would then be bound to the orders of said Kirin, and we shouldn’t forget this god that took an interest in my grandchild.” Oma nodded slowly to herself. “As far as the information we have goes, it’s the best course of action for Fiery to go on this adventure. Conflict on the way can be avoided, even a retreat should be possible if necessary. But staying here and doing nothing would be the worst kind of action for sure.”

Her words hung in the air for a moment. Not only did her words carry a heavy weight, but she was also right. So that settled it. Also, the idea of being a slave to the throne held by some kirin else was not the most pleasurable one to be honest.

“It looks like I have no other choice after all.” I took a seat and exhaled deeply. “I still don’t want to go, but the alternatives seem to be even worse.”

“Are you sure about this, Fiery?” Illu laid a wing comforting around me.

“As Oma and Fortuna said, there is not really a choice for me here. Either I stay here and go crazy, or even if I stay sane, I get bound to the will of the new emperor anyway.” I looked him in the eyes. “Being a slave doesn’t really fit for me, you know?”

He laid his second wing around me and pulled me in for a hug which was answer enough.

“Alright, Oma, Fortuna, what should I expect and take with me?”

“I would say half an army of kirins,” a new voice rose from the hallway, “at least that is what's waiting for you at the entrance.”

“Aunt Daring!” I rose up and gave her a closer look. “What are you doing here all of a sudden?”

“Well, for some reason, half of the village suddenly got on their hooves and rushed over to your lair.” She made her way past Oma and Opa, which she greeted with a slight bow, and came to a halt in front of me. “I only got the tailend of what you guys were talking about, but given what just happened… Shakirin-La huh? Shame that I can’t join you, but I know you’ll make it, you are a Do after all!”

“What do you mean half the village is at the entrance?” Dad's wings sprung open a bit and his tail tip rose slightly. Having so many creatures invading the lair uninvited was something he definitely took issue with.

“Exactly what I said,” Daring explained. “One moment everyone was minding their own business, next one, every kirin was very confused for a few seconds, then dropped everything and went straight for the lair. Every other creature just watched them leave, wondering what they were doing.” She smiled. “I figured it had something to do with our number one Kirin and her birthday today.”

“Good to see you are still capable of making connections, Daring Do,” Fortuna acknowledged. “At least my blessing is not a total waste for you.”

“Thanks, I guess.” She turned her attention back to me and pulled out a present from under her wing as well. “Ah well, I wanted to give it to you later on, but time seems to be of the essence, so…” She tossed it over to me. “Here you go.”

“Uhm,” I mumbled, unsure of what to do. Like she said, time was against us, and we didn’t have a moment to waste.

“Just unwrap it, you can put it to good use right away on your adventure.”

I did as she said, revealing a compass, a safari pith helmet, a spyglass and... a scroll?

“I assumed you want to take part in the family tradition now that you are an adult.” Daring shrugged. “Gave you everything you need for that, including,” she pointed at the scroll, “a guide to a very promising island not that far away.” She sighed. “Well, not going to happen anytime soon, but Shakirin-La should be as exciting as what I had in mind.”

“You’re making this sound like a family trip, Daring!” Mom accused her while trotting over.

“Well, she is a Do after all. She’ll always land on her hooves, uhm, or claws,” Daring replied. Then, she took the helmet from my claws and placed it on my head. “See, fits perfectly.”

I adjusted the helmet a bit and exhaled deeply once more. “Alright then. So,” I turned to my godmother, “what’s the deal with all the kirins coming here?”
> The Autumn Question
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It started with a strange, subtle taste. Even before I could smell them, there was a strong flavor in the air that made my tongue feel like it was vibrating. I slowly licked my lips. This was something new for me,  I’d never been able to ‘taste’ other kirins before. It wasn’t long after this that a smell was added to the taste. It was a strange but inoffensive shock to my senses, being able to detect the presence of other kirins now. No, of course I was able to smell others before, but not from this distance, and with this intensity.

Still, even with this influx of information, it would be an understatement to say I was a bit overwhelmed when I entered our little underground garden!



Can you imagine being greeted by the sight of over three dozen kirins, young and old, sitting or laying everywhere around your home? Some had made themselves comfortable in the grass, laying around like this was a completely normal occurrence, while others were hanging and sitting in the treetops. A few bolder ones had even taken up occupancy on the warm stones near the waterfall, where Nightflame and Dad used to nap in the afternoon.

It was a good thing that they had permission to enter the lair, otherwise Dad would have gone crazy by now. I could see as I passed him at the entrance to the inner lair that his tail tip was rising and swinging nervously back and forth while the rest of it swept over the ground, a sign he was tense, more than likely due to there being so many creatures in the lair, permission or not.

I mean, ever since Autumn Blaze founded the little town at the base of Mount Tail Tip at his request after my brothers were born, he’d gotten used to a few of them hanging around and visiting from time to time, but still. 

Anyway… back to my story.

I took a deep breath and walked ahead, under the curious but respectful gaze of everykirin. Yeah, Fortuna had told me what was expected of me before she vanished, but still, I was more than just a little bit nervous. And everykirin’s reactions weren’t helping. Depending on our previous relationship, I was either greeted with a smile and purring, or, with kirins I didn’t like that much, looks of embarrassment and silence.  

Be it as it may, as leader of the village, a mayor, it was Autumn Blaze who was the first to approach me. In contrast to her normally happy and chatty behaviour, she walked over to me slowly, with her head lowered slightly while somehow still managing to exude a ceremonious aura.

When she was still a few steps away, she bowed deeply, with her head nearly touching the ground, and purred submissively, not really daring to come closer.

I was going to say she should, but something held me back. I mean, I’d known her for most of my life, we’re friends, but still… 

Instead of just telling her to come closer, I reached out for her with my own aura, letting it flow over her like a heavy blanket, soft, but at the same time preventing escape. When I reached her horn, a slight expression of fear or hesitation showed on her face. And in the next moment, I knew why. Like an explosion of feelings, I could suddenly see a glimpse of her mind! It was fascinating! I felt a mix of excitement, of curiosity, but also a bit of worry and insecurity. But they weren’t my feelings, they were hers!

Unconsciously, my claw raised up, requesting her to come closer. I didn’t really know what I was doing. My mind was still focused on the new experience, the stunning fascination of looking into someone's mind, or at least a part of it.

Autumn was quick to obey, and rubbed her head against my claw, purring. And there it was, the moment I could connect her mind to mine, making her my loyal subject. I reached out with my own mind once more, stroked carefully above hers and…

… something forcefully hit me in the side, not only tipping me over, but causing me to roll into the nearby bushes.

Ouch, that had hurt!

I bared my fangs and growled as I got back to my claws and hooves. But you would never believe what had hit me, it was Nightflame! My little brother now stood between me and Autumn Blaze, hissing loudly at me.

Oh boy, if he wanted a dominance fight right in front of everykirin, he was going for a ride! This time I would not hold back, all my future subjects were watching! I was going to attack him, when something unexpected happened! Autumn Blaze growled and bounced at my brother!

I can’t say who was more surprised, him or me. She is his godmother after all. My mental connection to her must really have had an impact! Her attack was more of a surprise than a real threat though, Nightflame is a dragon after all. Though, it doesn’t really matter at this point, since the loud and familiar roar of our father echoed through the lair immediately after Autumn’s attack. As you may have expected, he didn’t respond well to someone attacking one of us.

With just a quick glance, I could see him storming towards us already! And with a second glance, I could see the panic on my brother's face.

“You need to stop fighting!” I yelled.

Night just ducked under a strike from Autumn and parried her following kick with his wing. “Easier said than done!” he yelled hecticly. “Autumn, Stop!”

But she wasn’t in the mood to listen. She only growled in response.

“Stop it!” I screamed as I jumped on Autumn’s back, trying to hold her. “I’ll take care of her, you stop dad!” I told my brother. He was quick to move. Fighting Autumn was nothing he wanted to do. Downside was, I didn’t want to do it either!

Luckily, this turned out to be unnecessary. The moment I jumped on her, and my brother moved away, she calmed down. She even started purring and tried to rub her head against me.

I was totally baffled by her suddenly going from combative to cuddly in under a second, however, there were more important things to consider at the moment!

“What in tarnation are you doing?” I let go of her and grabbed her face. “Dad is going to kill you!”

She shook her head quickly. “I had to protect you,” she said as rubbed over her temples. 

As interesting as that was, we had far more urgent matters! I let go of her face and quickly glanced in the direction of dad. “Move!” I yelled in panic and forcefully pushed her in the direction of the tunnel leading to the surface. “If dad gets you in his claws he’ll rip you to pieces!”

She threw a look at him herself before bursting into a full gallop.

I was unsure what to do. Should I help Night stop Dad, or should I go with her? The decision was made for me when Night and Dad collided. My brother jumped at Dad's chest with his wings spread wide to tackle him. It didn’t work. Like a doll, Night hit the ground. Dad had caught him by the chest mid-air with his claws before then using his own momentum to throw him onto his back.

Yep, so much for stopping Dad. “Faster!” I screamed, following Autumn and grabbing her by her sides, lifting her up and flying her up to the exit. It was only then that I realised what a crap plan this was!

She couldn’t outrun dad in the tunnel, and once she was at the surface, she would be easy prey! Pony Feathers!

Another roar from Dad followed. Far too close for my taste.

“What are you doing?” Autumn yelled. “Let me go!” She supported her demand with heavy struggling in my grip.

“Everykirin to me!” I demanded instead of answering. There were only two beings that could stop dad from killing Autumn now, and we needed time to let them do so. I tried my best to summon my authority and reached out for everykirin with my aura. “Stop my dad!” I commanded.

 “I hope that will buy us some time, you,” I turned Autumn around, “you need to reach Mom or Oma if you wanna live! They are the only ones that can stop Dad!

“But, everykirin…” she started.

“Dad will not kill them, a few broken bones are far better than your head being ripped off! Move!”

But it was already too late. I felt a waft of air and the sound of flapping wings right next to me. Without thinking, I let go of Autumn and kicked her down the ledge.

Not a split second too late! Dad’s claw barely missed her as he flew by. He landed heavily on the ground, but was already using his claws to stop himself and turn around.

“Now!” I screamed. And without hesitation, a couple of Kirins jumped at him. I could see my friend Wind Root was one of them. “Be careful!” I yelled, afraid he could get harmed. But before I’d even finished my warning, Dad had already grabbed his leg and threw him into the garden.

Ouch! That surely hurt!

“Quick! Autumn, back into the lair!” I turned my back on my father and flew down the ledge and grabbed Autumn again.

And this was the oh so wonderful moment I realised that Mom and Oma may not be so willing to stop Dad. I mean, I am pretty sure mom would, but… not one-hundred percent sure, you know? After all, she did attack Night, and Mom can be very similar to a dragon when it comes to us kids. And Oma, well, Night is her grandbornling after all.

“Mom!” my brother yelled when he appeared at my side.

“No! Not mom!” I told him.

While we flew to the inner lair, he quickly threw a look of confusion at me, then back to Dad, before returning his gaze to me. “Why not?”

“Mom and Oma may not stop him!”

“But no one else can!”

“Yes, there is someone else!

“Who…”

With a mighty roar, Dad shrugged off the kirins he was fighting with and jumped into the air, making his way over to us.

“No time to explain!” I dropped Autumn in front of the inner lair right as mom was storming out.

“What in tarnation is going on?” she asked, startled. “Why is your dad so angry?” Without even waiting for a response, she spread her wings and hurriedly flew towards him to stop his rampage.

“Mom will calm him down!” Night said as he stopped to watch her.

“Maybe, maybe not,” I exchanged a quick look with Autumn, pushed her into the lair, and yelled. “Schimmernde Morgenröte! If you really want to be part of my adventure to claim the throne of Shakirin-La, you need to help me right now!”

“She may be an azure, but she is too small to fight with dad,” Night objected.

“She doesn't have to win, she and Dad just have to fight seriously enough for Oma to intervene.”

Night opened his snout to say something, but then stopped for a second. “That, that may actually work.”

“What is it that you need of me, my niece?” Schimmernde Morgenröte came towards us, obviously unimpressed by the previous roaring and fighting that was going on. “Though, be aware that my help will have a price when all this is over.”

“I know,” I said hecticly. “You need to protect Autumn from your brother!”

She threw a quick glance at Autumn, then over to said brother. “Before I agree, what did she do? Make it quick, he is nearly here.”

And indeed, a quick look over my shoulder revealed that he was already past Mom and on his way over to us again! Either Mom wasn’t able to calm him down, or willing to…

“My aura forced her to attack Night when he attacked me. Dad saw it and got protective.”

“I see,” was all Shimmernde Morgenröte said to that before she stepped forward and got in a defensive stance. “You should move deeper into the lair though, I may be able to hold him back, but not if Autumn is still in his line of sight.”

She didn’t need to tell us twice. We made our way over to the living room and closed the door behind us.

“May I know what happened?” Oma asked from her comfortable position on the couch. “It seems to be that there was some kind of trouble going on with my eldest?”

“Yes, what happened?” Illu bursted out, struggled free from Opa’s grip and galloping over, giving me a hug. “I wanted to check on you, but your Opa didn’t let me.”

“Uhm,” a loud roar followed by the distinctive sounds of two dragons fighting arose from outside. “Well,” I rubbed over my neck, “I kind of forced Autumn here to protect me against Nightflame, causing Dad to get angry with her.”

“And now you again asked someone else to fight your battles?” Oma replied with a raised eyebrow and a nod towards the source of the commotion outside while Opa returned to her side.

“I wasn’t sure if you or Mom would protect Autumn.”

“Of course Danger would protect her,” Daring piped up. She made attempts to go outside herself, but I hastily stopped her.

“I’m sure Mom will do her best, it just might take her some time,” I said. “Let her and Schimmernde Morgenröte figure it out before you go outside.” I gave her my best smile. “Please?”

The ongoing fight outside did not really support my point, and for a moment I thought Daring would go anyway, but then she just took a seat again. “Fine.” She crossed her forelegs. “But only because I have trust in your mom.”

“Which brings up the question, what’s taking her so long?” Oma rose up from her spot and approached the door. “Normally the influence of your mom on my son is immense, she should be more than able to settle a little incident of protective instinct. I better check on my children.”

“Are you alright?” Now Illu demanded my attention again. His hooves wandered over my neck and back, searching for injuries.

“I’m fine,” I stopped his hooves. “Thank you, but I was never really in danger. Dad is, even in his rage, very well aware that I, as well as my brothers, are his bornlings.” I looked around. “Now that I mention it, where is Kindling?”

“Here!” Kindling yelled and entered the living room. “Mom heard Dad roar and told me to stay inside.” It was clear from his voice that he was not happy with that order.

“Mom is just being careful.” Night said and moved over to rub his head against his twin. “Making sure you are protected.”

“I don’t need to be protected that much anymore.” Kindling huffed, but rubbed over Night's head anyway with his wing.

I took a deep breath and moved over to the couch with Illu and Autumn in tow. Now that Autumn was safe inside the lair, I could allow myself to calm down again too.

“What an interesting morning,” Opa commented when I took the place next to him.

“You can say that again,” I replied and hopped on the couch, laying down. But to my great surprise, it wasn’t illu who occupied the spot next to me, but Autumn. “Wha…”

She purred and rubbed her head against my chest, demanding some sort of caress.

“Hey!” Illu complained, which caused Night to look up and, once he spotted what was going on, to growl and rush over.

“Not this again!” I yelled and jumped up. “Stop!” I roared, not at Night, but Autumn when she made attempts to stand up too. “I’m handling this!”

“I have to…” She started, but was silenced when Opa grabbed her after seeing me give him a pleading look, holding her tight in his arms so she wouldn’t do anything stupid again.

“Mine!” was all Nightflame growled when he came to a halt in front of me.

I growled back. “She is mine now!” Unintentionally, my forehead started to give off a light blue light.

“My Godmother!” Night spread his wings and raised his tail tip.

“She still belongs to my subjects!” The words found their way on my tongue without me even thinking. Only the light from my forehead started to get brighter.

But Night wasn’t willing to accept that, he hissed, and would have bounced at me if it wasn’t for Daring and Illu, who both rushed between us.

“Stop it you two!” Daring demanded, while Illu just tried to push me away from my brother.

“What has gotten into you two?” Daring continued. “Autumn isn’t an object that you can just bargain about!”

“I think they have to,” Opa joined the argument, gaining everyone's attention.

“Huh?” Daring wondered. “I am very sure Danger would not approve of her children fighting about Autumn.”

“Mom would be mad,” Kindling agreed and hopped onto the couch.

“But this is a matter that should be taken care of,” Opa explained. “Little Autumn here is already halfway under Fiery’s spell, while NIghtflame has justifiable reasons to demand her as one of his belongings.”

“Are you kidding me?” Daring gave him a baffled look.

“Not at all.” Opa rose up and picked up Illu too.

“Hey,” my batfriend protested, but it was of no use.

“I will take care of him for you, Fiery, while you and your brother settle this.” Opa explained.

I nodded in gratitude and turned back to Night. Illu would have surely made a fuss about this otherwise.

“I will not allow this!” Daring once more tried to get in between us, Neither of us paid her any mind though. Night and I were more than ready to fight for our right to claim Autumn as our belonging. “You two…” Daring didn’t get any further. As if responding to an invisible signal, both I and Night stormed forward, going around Daring and crashing into each other.

“Stop!” Daring yelled and tried to seperate us, but she only got scratched for her troubles. 

Dad had taught us both how to fight, and this was shown from the start! This was quickly proven, as well as the fact that there was going to be no holding back this time, when my brother’s claw scratched painfully over my side.

However, I would be damned if I let him have Autumn without putting up a fight! She belongs to me now! I hissed, half in pain, half in anger, and bounded forward. With my snout wide open and my fangs displayed, I faked an attack on his head, which he responded to by pulling it back just in time, only to open himself up to my true target, the side of his neck. 

Once I bit down, I quickly grabbed his claws with my own, preventing him from striking back. I was lucky his wing spikes hadn’t grown in yet, otherwise this would have been far more dangerous! Though, I could barely maintain this position due to how much stronger he was. In only a few seconds, he would break free, but that was all I needed. I pulled my head back as hard as I could while at the same time kicking off of him. Doing this, I was able to rip out one of his scales.

In triumph, after gracefully landing back on my hooves and claws, I raised my head and spit the scale back at my brother’s claws.

Glaring at me with contempt while releasing a livid growl through his bared fangs, Night began to circle me. I reciprocated, walking to my right and matching his pace. 

I growled in frustration, the fight had barely begun, and with one damn lucky strike, he was already in the lead. Ponyfeatheres! 

I tried to hide it with my wing, though, the spot he got me at hurt a lot! I doubted he knew just how much he had injured me, but still, he was in the lead nonetheless. The only thing I had going for me was the thin red line of blood coming out of his neck where I had gotten him, but it didn’t bring me any comfort. One scale getting ripped out might hurt like Tartarus, but three claw marks down most of my side was far more concerning.

Not wanting to remain on the back hoof, I burst forward with as much speed as I could muster straight at him, bowling over a table on the way. Night responded with a quick growl before charging as well, causing the two of us to collide less than a second later and begin rolling over the ground, scratching each other and flipping over the love seat on our way. This gave me an idea! With a quick swing of my tail, I grabbed one of the side tables and threw it at him. Sadly, a quick strike of his claw turned it to splinters before it could do any harm.

This did give us both a moment to take a deep breath though. I growled at him and shifted my wing. The scratch I got still stung, and rolling over the ground hadn't made it any better. Also, I’d gotten a few more during our fight on the ground. Though, I could also see that even with his thick scales protecting him from nose to tail-tip, the blunt strikes I’d landed had managed to injure him. He might be protected from getting cut by my claws or from receiving a proper bite from me due to said aforementioned scales, but they only do so much against blunt strikes. Several of his scales were now cracked, and a fair number of them had fully spit, causing them to start bleeding.

Unfortunately, while my strikes seemed to be doing their job, as Night had begun to growl out in pain, this had the side effect of getting him to try biting me as well now. Getting bit by him was definitely not something I wanted to experience. He could not only bite a lot harder than me, but his mouth was filled with fangs significantly larger than my own, so a solid bite would immediately put me at his mercy.

As if he had just read my mind, after a clean blow to his chest near where I’d torn out his scale, I barely had enough time to register a wide, tooth-filled maw coming straight for my own shoulder. Without even thinking, I desperately threw my full weight into a punch to the side of his face. When it connected, I watched as he not only missed me, instead throwing his head back in pain, but saw as two of his fangs went flying off deeper into the lair.

I immediately froze up when my mind finally registered what I just saw. Dad had expressly forbidden us from attacking each other’s wings for rather obvious reasons, and was adamant we know how to control the amount of force we use when biting the other’s neck. While he had never said anything about knocking out the other’s teeth, this still felt like a foul on my end.

The loss of his fangs, as well as me not pressing the opening I’d just created, didn’t stop Night from repeating his attack though. Unfortunately, this second of distraction was enough for him to quickly snap forward in a way that made evading or deflecting impossible for me. The only thing I could accomplish was preventing him from landing the bite where he’d been aiming. 

I roared out in pure agony as I felt Night’s fangs sink deep into my upper foreleg! I knew I had stepped over a line when I had punched out some of his fangs, but now I was furious! With another roar, this time in fury, I struck his nose with my claw, piercing through his scales and ripping some out.

How do you like to get your skin pierced, huh?

Obviously not that much, as he roared in pain and let go of my leg. Released from his hold on me, I kicked off of him and beat my wings a few times to put some distance between the two of us.

Night roared his displeasure at losing his hold on me. He looked towards where I was standing with a glare far more hostile than any of the looks he had previously given me throughout the fight. 

“She is my Godmother,” Night spat out, “she belongs to me!” A few drops of blood dripped from his scales where I had gotten him.

 “She wants to be one of my loyal subjects,” I countered as I lifted my injured leg off of the ground to keep from putting my weight on it and making the bite wound hurt even more. “I will claim her!” My forehead was shining brightly at this point, but this wasn’t of interest to him or me.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Daring rushing forward again, but Opa was there to hold her back. “You two should hurry,” he said, struggling with three pony sized creatures. “I don’t know how long I can hold all three of them.” And indeed, it took his full effort to handle the three. Both Daring and Illu had been desperately demanding for us to stop this fight throughout our entire engagement, but Night and I hadn’t been paying them any mind.

“Let go of my godmother!”

“She is mine!” I countered, my voice was now deeper and louder than normal. “She belongs to us!” The last word was a dark and poisonous threat!

“Fiery!” Kindling jumped off the couch, rushed over and pressed his hooves on my chest. “Sister, what's wrong with you?”

I hissed at him, raised my claw to strike, and… came back to my senses. Terrified I lowered my claw and shook my head heavily. “Ki- kindling…” I stuttered. “I am so sorry! I…” 

My moment of weakness was Night's chance, while I was distracted he snuck past Kindling and bounced at my side. Before he could do any harm though, he was grabbed by the neck by papa.

At first, Night hissed at him for interfering, but when he realised it was Dad who was holding him, his tune quickly changed. A little parental roaring convinced him to tuck his tail and get into a submissive stance.

“Fiery Leadership!” Now mom's voice cut into my mind like a shard of glass, causing me to flinch and lay my ears back. She didn’t give the chaos around us much attention, but she didn’t need to. I was well aware that due to the injuries Night and I had, it was kind of obvious what had happened here. “Nightflame!” Mom went on, and I saw my brother make himself even smaller than he already was. “What are you both doing! And, -” she gasped and rushed over to look closer at us, “- you both injured each other!” Her voice was an uncomfortable mix of care, motherly comfort, and the promise of the scolding of a lifetime for both of us.

“They had to settle the question to whom little Autumn here belongs,” Opa said and let go said mare as well as the other two creatures in his arms. “Unfortunately, that question is still up in the air.”

I guess if Opa wasn’t used to living with two azure dragons, he would have shrunk under the gaze mom was now throwing at him. Even Illu slowed down a bit in his attempt to get to my side. He still made it though.

“That looks painfu!l” he practically yelled, worried as he examined my side and leg with his eyes, not daring to touch them. “You need to be patched up! Where do you guys store your bandages?” He looked up at my mom, who obviously thought the same.

“Bathroom, little closet left of the towels,” she shortly said and pointed in that direction.

Illu was quick to move. Which gave my mom the chance to take a closer look at the bite mark I’d gotten while Dad began to lick over Nights wounds like a good dragon parent.

“You two are so grounded when all this is over,” Mom said after she’d grabbed some kitchen roll and started to clean my wounds. “What were you two thinking?”

“Night tried to steal one of my…”

“I did not!” he interrupted me. “You tried to steal her from me.” A deep growl from Dad effectively silenced the quieter one that had started to form in Night's throat.

At the mention of Autumn Blaze, Dad's head turned to her for a moment. Luckily though, the urge to care forNight overwhelmed his desire to rip off her head. He still growled at her however.

“First things first.” Mom dragged his attention back to her as she took the bandages Illu offered her as he arrived back at my side. Dad returned to caring for Night for the time being.

“If you don’t allow your children to fight this out,” Oma said as she entered the living room, “this problem will occur over and over again, Lady of the Lair. You need to settle this before you leave for Shakirin-La.”

“I say my niece should have her of course, she will be empress of the kirins soon enough anyway,” Shimmernde Morgenröte supported my right to claim Autumn. “Also, her azure heritage is far stronger than the one Night has in the first place.”

“No,” Dad simply said.

“Dad!” I protested. I also wanted to take a step towards him, but Mom sharply called my name, causing me to stop. “She is one of my kirins!” I tried to complain.

“Autumn Blaze is your brother's godmother, I will not allow you to steal your brother's stuff,” Dad made clear. “She is one of his personal treasures.”

Pony Feathers! That sadly settled things in his favor! We have a rule that we siblings have to share with each other, no matter if it is toys, books, the best napping spot, everything has to be shared fairly. Only a few very personal belongings, like my cuddly stone I had when I was a filly, were excluded from that rule. Those items were only to be touched by the one who possesses them, no exception! Declaring Autumn as one of my brothers ‘core’ belongings took her being one of my subjects off the table!

While I took a seat and made a defeated little growl, Nights head sprung up and he smiled in delight. When he was sure Dad would allow it, he even sprung up and rushed over to Autumn, rubbing his head against her in triumph.

“You need to set her free then,” Oma said to me while she watched my brother cuddling his godmother.

I sighed. “But I don’t know how…” I know it was a weak attempt to delay relinquishing my influence over Autumn, but it was a serious downer to have already lost my first loyal subject. Even to my brother.

“I can show you how to do it later,” Oma just said. “For now, some of your other future subjects seem to need care.”

“My other…?” With a suppressed ‘eek’ I stood up. “Right!” I could hardly wait for my mom to finish applying the bandages to me, and once she did, almost immediately, I  stormed out of the lair. Wind Root and the others had fought Dad and therefore may have gotten injured! In the hectic dash to keep Autumn alive and the subsequent fight to decide to whom she belonged, I had totally forgotten about that!
> Scale-Pen Of Gods
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I burst into the outer lair as fast as I could. “Are you guys alright?” My gaze landed on the group of kirins that had gathered around the pond, looking to be attending to their injuries. Without slowing down, I galloped straight at them. Though to my surprise, instead of groaning and complaining, they started to purr when I’d gotten close enough.

“We did good, didn’t we?” Ocean Sky half purred, half asked. He approached me and stretched his head out to allow me to either pat him or scratch him between the ears.

“Yeah, we were great!” Raising Ebb agreed cheerily, despite the seemingly painful scratch running down one of her sides. “We stopped your dad!” She then offered me her head as well, competing with Ocean Sky for my attention.

For a moment, I was bewildered, but when I came back to my senses, I quickly agreed. “Yes, yes of course you did! I am very happy with you guys!” I took the opportunity to give them a closer look before letting my gaze wander over the others. “No one is seriously injured? Right?”

“We are fine,” now it was Wind Root’s turn to join the conversation, purr, and rub his head against my side . “Though, your dad has a good throwing claw. If he would’ve used any more strength, I would have flown all the way back to The Peaks Of Peril.”

“I don’t doubt that,” I agreed and ruffled his mane with one claw while my other was busy caressing the others. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, thanks to the lovely bushes you grow down here. Though, I’m pretty sure a few of them didn’t fare so well by comparison.”

“The plants down here are used to dragons,” I giggled, relieved no one seemed to be too badly hurt. “A few flying kirins are nothing they can’t handle, so don’t worry about them.”

“If you say so,” he retorted, then looked in the direction I’d come from. “Is Autumn Blaze alright? I mean we slowed him down, but your dad still seemed furious.” His gaze then wandered to my side, and a little growl formed in his throat. “You look like you got hurt?”

“Yes, she is fine.” I wasn’t able to stop a bit of growling from slipping into my voice as well. “She is with my brother in the inner lair. We fought over who had the right to claim her as our own.”

Wind Root looked at me a bit concerned. “You sound like you’re not happy about how it went?”

“I’m not.” The surprise in his eyes caused me to realize how that sounded, and I quickly corrected myself. “Oh, no, I’m happy that Autumn is safe. It's just-” I sighed “- I could have won, but dad decided that my brother has more of a claim to her than me.” I snorted in frustration.

Encouraged by my negative emotions, I felt Raising Ebb rubbing her head against my side. “Don’t be sad,” she said, “we’re still here for you.” Quickly, the others joined in with a purr or other sounds of approval. “We belong to you.” Her affection for me became more eager.

Claim them!

And there was the voice in my head again, telling me what to do.

Claim them, they are ours! They want to be claimed!

I must confess, there was the urge to do so, in fact, it’d started the moment I ‘d gotten close enough to do so. However, these were kirins I’d known for years, so I had my reservations about just claiming them.

Stretching my hoof out, I caressed Raising Ebbs head, which she showed she approved of with a loud purr while taking a seat next to me. A little shiver ran down my spine. It would be so easy, so quick. I just needed to reach out with my own aura to collect them as my subjects.

I let go of her and approached Wind Root again. “Well,” I circled around him slowly, “I may have to give up on her, but, like Raising Ebb said, there are still others to replace her.”

“Uhm, yeah.” He laid down. “I mean, we’re all ready for that, though…”

“Though what?”

“It does feel a little weird, but right at the same time. You know, accepting you as our new leader.”

Show him where his place is! Doubt can not be tolerated!

I shook my head, getting rid of that line of thinking. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” I gave him a little smile. “I am a bit unsure about this all too. Claiming you all as my subjects, leading you to Shakirin-La… I mean it’s what I am supposed to do, and it is not like I have much of a choice, but still.” I sighed. “Anyway, maybe it is easier with a friend?”

“Maybe,” an unsure smile spread across Wind Roots' muzzle. “Let’s just get it over with then, I think.”

“Uhm, yeah, sure.”

“Anything I have to do?”

“I think it will come to you by itself, at least that's what happened with Autumn and me I suppose. I touch you with my aura, you open up your mind, letting me see into your thoughts and emotions, and then, well I don’t know.”

Wind Root had been quite calm up until the point I mentioned I would be able to see his emotions, for some reason, that made him quite uncomfortable. He rose to his hooves, stepping away slightly. “You know, by second thought, maybe we should wait with this a bit.”

I presented my fangs out of reflex for a second before I could suppress it and speak in a calm tone. “Come on, Wind Root, we both know you’re bold and careless, so don’t chicken out now.”

“Uhm, sure, I,” he stepped back further, “would love to of course. Just…”

Ours!  The voice in my head got a little impatient. So I decided to reach out with my aura for him. Not entirely forcing him to submit, but giving him a little push in the right direction. Hesitantly, he stopped his retreat and laid down again. Better. Now I took my time to engulf him completely.

Just like with Autumn before, when I reached his horn I was able to see partly into his mind, splinters of his thoughts and emotions, his…

…

…

Ponyfeathers!

Wind Root kept his head low while raising his flank, wiggling it and his tail while growling at me. Oh, not an aggressive growl, or a challenging one, that would have been much less of a problem. I would have actually preferred that, no, this was his attempt at flirting, seducing me to be exact. To get behind me… literally.

Ponyfeathers, Ponyfeathers, Ponyfeathers!

This was not only absolutely awkward, but rather embarrassing. I’d more or less brought this on myself. No wonder he had been shy about me claiming him! Sure, he knows I am with Illu, and therefore would have never dared make a move. Though, with me practically breaking into his mind and looking into his secret desires just now...

Panicking, I took a step back. What should I do? I couldn’t even roar at him, put him into his place, since it was my fault that we were in this situation!

Ponyfeathers! 

***

“She’s put herself into quite the funny situation,” Aphrodite giggled, playing with her wine glass for a moment before rising from her divan. She walked closer to the little pool she and Fortuna used to look into the realm of the mortals. “You know,” a little smile played across her lips, “if your godchild would just be a little more open minded about polygamy…”

“I seriously doubt that will ever happen,” Fortuna giggled and shook her head. “She has too much of her mother for that.”

 “How unfortunate.” The grin on Aphrodite's face became cheeky. After a flat look from Fortuna however, she quickly moved on. “Anyway, your godchild is in for some more naughty surprises.” She looked at the pool again and smiled. “What do you think will happen next?”

“She’ll move to Shakirin-La.”

Aphrodite sighed. “Yes, sure, but besides that?” She turned to Fortuna and made a circle gesture around the pool with her hoof, “Like, right now.”

“Mortal stuff, I suppose,” Fortuna said. “They will gather what mortals need to travel, leave a few creatures behind to guard their home and stove, perhaps the young too, and then move out.”

“You’re doing this on purpose,” Aphrodite threw an accusing look at the other goddess.

“Fine,” Fortuna spread her forelegs and then rose and joined Aphrodite at the pool. “I can only guess of course, but knowing her, Fiery Leadership’s going to be shocked to find out that every male kirin her age will attempt to mate with her since she’s not officially engaged to her batfriend.” She took a sip from her own wine-glass. “And this will lead to problems with said batfriend of course. Mortals these days are very picky about that. Furthermore…”

She was interrupted when the huge double door at the end of the hall they were in swung open and with a loud bang, Ares, the god of war, entered.

“Ah, tis the fine Ladies which mine eyes so verily needed to gaze upon!” With a vigor that in no way had reduced over the millennia, he more danced than trotted down the stairs, coming to a halt in front of them. “Fortuna,” Ares smirked, giving her the charming smile of a young god. “I findeth thine title a most suitable living for to supp’rt mine notion of how the things which come to be should develop.”

Fortuna just raised an eyebrow. “That dialect ran out of style nearly four thousand years ago, Ares, and doesn’t mesh that well with modern language anyway. If you want something, speak modern with me.”



For a moment, Ares made a sour face, but then bowed his head with a smile. “As you wish, Fortuna, it is always a pleasure to be of service to such a lovely goddess. Now,” he made a wide gesture with his forelegs, “since I’ve already done you a favour, perhaps you could reciprocate the act?”

“Speaking modern is just a way of being polite, not a favour, Ares.”

“Then I did you the favour of being polite,” Ares grinned and quickly went on before Fortuna could object again, speaking with a level of conviction only a god could. “That lovely godchild of yours, my heart desires her, you must help me to win her mortal heart!”

“So you’re already assuming that your plan of entering her dreams and charming her  will fail?” That statement earned her a giggle from Aphrodite.

“Ahh,” Ares flicked a hoof dismissively and began to walk around Fortuna in a tight circle as he used sweeping gesticulations. “A mortal's heart these days is so full of mystery and wonders, not even a god can know how it will turn from one beat to another! Being a god, more so the god of war, of passion and of spontaneity, should be enough to get her to forget any mortal in an instant!” He sighed theatrically and slid to his knees with one hoof stretched out into the air. “Yet here we are, me without such an interesting mortal at my side, and her still bound to this batpony that somehow won her heart!”

“The god of passion and theatricality more like,” Aphrodite giggled while she took another sip of her wine.

“As if,” Ares rose again, his voice more forceful and with a hint of aggression now. “In the old times, that batpony would have stepped aside in an instant, or I would have simply killed it in battle to win the ladies heart! But… “ he sighed, “these days that would only cause more trouble and cause her to drift further away like a leaf down the river Styx!”

“Times change,” Fortuna agreed. “Though, killing one's favorite should have never really worked in the first place. Creatures were very primitive back in the days.”

“You are surely right, oh wise Fortuna,” Ares quickly agreed and bowed, “forgive a younger god his past immaturity! Though, that's exactly the reason I need your help! Just a few words to your godchild would show her what an excellent choice of a mate I would be!”

“And what kind of mate would that be?” Fortuna took a last sip of her wine and placed the glass back on one of the side tables. “What does Ares, god of war, have to offer for my godchild that makes him so worthy of being her mate?”

Now, Ares was speechless for a moment. “Well, I am god obviously!” he finally spat out.

Fotuna just waved him off. “Sure, and so am I, Aphrodite, even Heracles is one. And he was once a mortal too.” She placed her hoof on her chin. “Let’s see, Heracles is stronger than you, Apol is more beautiful, Hera is more clever and, not to forget, Poseidon and Hades produce better offspring than you. The only thing you are famous for is rage and slaughter, oh, and bringing ruin to civilisations and empires.” She shook her head. “Which, my godchild is going to form, actually. I don’t see how an engagement with the god of war would benefit the future empress of Shakirin-La.” With a snort, she continued. “War was the reason Shakrin-La got destroyed the last time, wasn’t it? Its people scattered and its glory and power thrown into the void, lost to time and all but the memories of the azures and those old enough to have witnessed it.”

“It was my influence that made them great to begin with!” Ares was outraged. “I turned the kirins from a few forsaken villages in the middle of nowhere to an empire, ruling over the land, sea and sky from one side of the continent to the other! It was I, Ares, who made that!”

“And it was you, Ares, who caused thousands of them to get killed. One campaign after another, till there were none left to refill the ranks. Their homes and families, defenseless against those who sought vengeance, or just grabbed the opportunity by its tuft!” Fortuna moved right in front of him. “You couldn’t care less of course, they had served you well enough already.” She made a gesture like throwing away a piece of refuse. “You just moved on, leaving them to their fate.” She turned around and inhaled deeply. “No, Ares, you are not fit to be my godchild's mate at all. You are careless and unreliable!”

“How Dare you!” Ares roared, drawing his gladius from his left side. Or more accurately, tried to. As soon as he pulled on the grip, the handle separated from the tang, leaving the actual blade in the scabbard. “What?” He first stared at the useless handle, then at his scabbard. “That was my favorite gladius!” He released the handle and swung his hoof at Fortuna instead. Though the goddess only smiled while he slipped, and, forced by his own momentum, crashed into the divan and fell into the pool with it. When he rose to the surface again, with loud sputtering, he inhaled to yell at Fortuna, only to stop halfway and exhale slowly. “My apologies, Fortuna,” he said instead before climbing out of the pool. “My emotions got the better of me for a moment.”

“I noticed,” Fortuna replied with a raised eyebrow.

Ares took a second to shake himself like a wet dog before he continued as if nothing ever happened. “What prize would you ask for, so that I might acquire your help? What can I, the god of war, do, to help the goddess of Luck?” He started to pace around the room again, leaving a trail of water as he went. “Tell me, what is it that you desire? Oh, I know, what about a new temple? I know you always had an eye on Seven Waters and it's beautiful silver waterfalls. How about I conquer it for you and the main temple on that marble hill will be shared between you and me? Hmm?”

“I don’t think that Anubis would like that,” Aphrodite threw in. “You know our jackal headed cousin of the sands is a bit nit picky when it comes to his territory.”

“Details,” Ares waved off. “But fine, maybe Golden Shores instead? That Island would be perfect for a temple of yours, Fortuna. And the inhabitants, once converted, would make fine followers of the goddess of luck!”

“I doubt they would consider themselves very lucky after being conquered by you, Ares.” And besides, I am in no need for a new temple right now.” Fortuna replied.

“Well, you can never have enough followers! Just think of all the sacrifices they would offer you!”

“Not interested.”

“Okay, how about some mighty artifacts then, I have…”

“No.”

“You are hard to please, Fortuna.”

“And you don’t seem to accept a no, Ares.”

“Of course not, everything has a price my dear, even if it is only the effort you need to take it.”

“If temples and followers are all you have to offer, then…”

“What about our firstborn!” Ares suddenly yelled. “Your godchilds and my first child?”

“I…  am listening.”

“A mighty hero…” Fortunas eyes narrowed. “... I mean, herald, yes herald of Fortuna!  Son of a god and the empress of Shakirin-La, the mightiest of all half gods! Aware of his heritage, completely loyal and bound to you, Fortuna! He would spread your name in all corners of the mortal realm!” Ares jumped on a table and stretched his hoof out towards the horizon. “Just think of all the heroic quests and adventures he would go on in your name!” He jumped back down and approached Fortuna. “You always had a liking for those seeking their fortune... adventurers! You godchild comes from a family of them, these Do’s. What would be better than keeping their family tradition alive in your name, with the help of a god of course!”

Fortuna hesitated with her answer.

“Oh, it seems you are on the right path, for a change, Ares,” Aphrodite said and leaned closer. “A half god herald seems very much to be to Fortunas liking.”

“It does have a certain charm about it,” Fortuna agreed.

“And another huge advantage is that as soon as she accepts my offer, the rules no longer forbid me from directly intervening with her life and her attempt to claim the throne of Shakirin-La. Isn’t that great?”

“So that is what you are really after,” Fortunas nodded. “And for a second I thought the lust really had gotten the better of you again.” She turned to the pool and resummoned the view of Fiery. “My godchild is just an aside for you, isn’t it? What you really want is the throne of Shakirin-La.”

“I…” Ares started, but Fotuna shut him up.

“Spare me your false averments! I know about your protege.” She stomped her hoof on the ground. “I was wondering why you were supporting a champion of your own in his attempts to claim the throne if you were truly after my godchild. Why allow a hero of the god of war, a male one, to go after the throne when you were interested in mating with my godchild anyway? You can drop the farse! You wanted your hero on the throne all along!”

“Fortuna, I assure you…” 

“Shut up!”

“If I may,” Aphrodite piped up. “I’m not really following, Fortuna. Ares offered you their firstborn, so wasn’t your godchild getting the throne the plan all along?”

“No, not at all.” Fortunas gaze locked on Ares. “His plan was far more mischievous. He would have mated with my godchild, and then stopped her from getting the throne with his new, now legit, right to interfere. And after he had his fun, he would have dropped her like an old toy. Maybe pairing her up with his hero, if at all.” She snorted and moved a few steps away from him. “The plan wasn’t that stupid at all. He would have got what he wanted, fun with my godchild, maybe some offspring, his hero would be emperor of Shakirin-La, de facto making him the god of all the kirins and therefore, endless war for generations to come. Or did I miss something, Ares?”

The enthusiastic and relaxed mood vanished from Ares’ face like an old crumbling mask. “Thou woundith me with thine accusations, my dear goddess. Thoust art seeing spect’rs in a house yet settled.” He smiled. “However, thine foresight tis not lacking. Thou must admit, mine own plan wast of a specious and insidious sort. Most assuredly, the first of our consort wouldst been a herald of yours, pacta sunt servanda after all.” He shrugged. “His fate merely wast planned as a shadow of his allotted potential. But alloweth us return the nature of the proximate offing. Mine hero shalt find rest upon the seat of the throne in mine name. And given thine reticence in acceding with such a matter, later fortunes willst find thine godchild,” he paused and stepped over to the pool, “ill situated apropos a bedmate to her emperor.” His smile became wider. “Despair not though, thou serving as embodiment of fate's whim, I hold certain thy capacity to secure her my eye as relates the issue of bedding. Mine mind and nethers still respond favorably to her visage and demeanor, else prior activities wouldst have found their expiry following our nascent tryst.”

“I doubt she will be interested after I have a little chat with her, not that she was in the first place.”

“Thou needest not resort to such excesses,” Ares grinned. “Upon the revelation yond a refusal to recline upon mine sheets necessitates a forfeiture of the continuance of her mortal being, rest assured, as is the nature of any pet, she shalt unquestionably come to heel and willingly present to mineself her raised tail.”

“If you touch her…” Fortunas voice deepened and carried with it a threat not even the god of war could ignore. But Ares just shook his head quickly.

“Oh not at all, my dear, not at all. The rules forbid that anyway. Just as they prevent you from protecting her properly. I’m letting my hero do that for me, mortal against mortal. Speaking of, I really should go check on how he’s doing.” Ares bowed his head. “Always a pleasure.” And with a ‘poof’ he was gone.”

“Quite mischievous for a god of war,” Aphrodite said in surprise before leaning back on another divan. “What happened to the good old brutal and direct approach, living in the moment to the fullest extent, with lust and passion? I must say, I miss that attitude.” She sighed. “I really prefered his predecessor.”

“That's because you slept with him.”

“I deny nothing,” Aphrodite giggled. “That wild and passionate attitude was really refreshing. Anyway, what are you going to do now? Knowing our wargod, I think your godchild may need your help now more than ever.”

“Indeed,” Fortuna took one last look at the pool, to the view of Fiery and her family preparing to leave Mount Tail-Tip. “She will need all the support she can get now. I will have to speak to my High-Priest, Ares is in for a surprise if he thinks he is the only one who can play by the rules and still help his favored.”

Aphrodite wanted to reply to that, but just like Ares before, Fortuna was gone in an instant.

“Well,” Aphrodite grabbed her wine-glass again. “Seems like all the gods and goddesses have their hooves in the game now.” She looked down at the pool and smiled. “Maybe I should talk to my priests too…” 
> On The Road
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Slowly, my gaze wandered over the trail of carriages stretching out upwards of a mile or more behind me. My kirins, my loyal subjects, had been quick to move, gathering all kinds of goods that we might need on our journey and loading them onto every vehicle in town they could find, all in under an hour. It was impressive, as well as a bit intimidating, what they were willing to do for me when I requested something. 

That being said, the number of kirins that were with me was not the same as the number that were bound to me. I’d made sure to tell the children and elderly to stay home. This adventure was far too dangerous for the little ones, and someone had to watch over them. Oma and Opa said they would be staying behind to protect the lair and the village from any intruders, but the notion of making them responsible, or more accurately Oma, for watching dozens of children was not something I wanted to be put into practice.

“We’re going so slow,” Kindling said, his gaze following my own. “It’s going to take us forever at this pace!”

Obviously, my siblings weren’t included in the group of kids being left behind.

“Speed may not be of importance in regards to this matter,” Schimmernde Morgenröte stateded from her spot in the carriage. Of course, she was more than happy to lay around while others pulled the waggon. “If whoever reaches the mountain before us doesn’t have an  army with them, they won’t be able to fortify it to a degree that matters. Strength in numbers is the key.”

“Still, if we get there first, it would be awesome!” Kindling proclaimed, poking me in the side afterwards. ”You could sit on the throne and every kirin would have to bow before you, sis!”



“I doubt that it will be that easy,” I retorted as I ruffled his mane.

The heavy and slightly irregular flapping of my other brother's wings stopped Kindling from replying to that. I looked up, just in time to see Nightflame drop a dead boar onto the loading area of the uncovered waggon in front of us. No wonder he’d been having trouble flying, the thing must have been over two times my weight. It was surprising that he was able to carry it at all.

“Wow,” Kindling said, “that beast is huge!”

 “It sure is!” Nightflame said with pride as he landed next to it. “And I hunted it myself!”

That, along with the impact his catch had on the waggon, earned him the curious looks of the two kirins who were pulling it. It was unclear if they liked what they were seeing or not though. If I had to guess, I would probably say that they didn’t mind the dead animal, but the mess it would leave behind would be another story. Anyway… Night sank his remaining  fangs into his prey and ripped a big chunk out, chewing in delight.

“This is good!” he proclaimed, ripping another bit out. Despite my confidence in my brother’s ability to discern the quality of something’s meat, I was confident that the praise he was giving it was more to do with it being him and not Dad who’d caught it this time. After swallowing another chunk and licking his chops, he turned back around to face the rest of us. “Do you want a bite, sis?”

“No, I am not hungry.” While Dad had shown me how to hunt, and there really wasn't anything preventing me from doing so, it just wasn’t as appealing to me as it was for him. Kindling, however, refused to eat meat, thus why Night didn’t even bother to ask him.

“Your loss,” Night replied before ripping out another piece. Fighting with me this morning must have made him hungry, judging by how fast he was gobbling the boar.

“Maybe Dad wants a piece though?”

“He saw me approaching. He would be here already if he wanted a bite.”

“Mhh, true.”

“What about the kirins?” Kindling asked. “They seem like they’d be interested in a bite.” He pointed at the two pulling our waggon. And indeed, they were eyeing Night’s catch rather intently. Autumn had said back at the Peaks of Peril that hunting had fallen out of style some time ago, but that didn’t mean that seeing a fresh kill was any less enticing to them.

“Not raw, that’s just disgusting,” Winter Sun, the kirin on the left said while ruffling her nose.

“I think what my sister is trying to say is that if you cooked it first and were willing to give us some, yes, a bite would be nice,” Summer Moon stated.

It wasn’t a coincidence that my waggon was being pulled by two mares. Illu was already furious that every stallion considered me ‘available’ now, and I didn’t need to add fuel to that fire! He was already sitting in one of the last waggons after our argument about it, and I was not looking forward to the talk we were surely going to be having about it soon.

Anyway…

Night just growled for a second before he returned to eating.

“Unfortunately for you, since you’re not part of the family, it doesn’t look like he’s in the willing mood,”  I giggled. “You could always fight him for a piece of it, but I doubt you’re that intent on getting a taste.”

“A little snack sounds just about right,” Schimmernde Morgenröte suddenly spoke up. “Nightflame, bring me some of your catch.”

“No, this is mine,” he mumbled with full snout.

“Now!”

I grinned. Had my aunt been subtle with her azure aura, she may have gotten away with it. Nightflame, as a lower class dragon, has to obey her will. Even if he didn’t like it, he would have shared his catch with her. However, since even I could feel the force of her command, surely…

A moment later, Dad landed forcefully next to us, roaring loudly at his younger sister.

Yep, Dad had sensed the magic of her aura too, and was not happy. He had told my aunt that he would not tolerate her ordering Night around, her azure status be damned.

Dad half climbed onto the waggon and grabbed his sister by the neck. Yes, normally she would be able to resist to a degree, but there was the little detail that Oma told her to listen and obey Dad. And if an adult azure dragon mom tells her hatchling to do something, the hatchling’s not going to defy them.

That didn’t mean somepony wouldn’t interfere before things progressed into outright roaring though.

“Hey, Dad!” Kindling stood up and quickly moved over to the two. “Did you see how big Night’s catch is? It’s huge!” Without hesitation, he jumped on Dad's back and laid down. “You should come see it!”

“Don’t use your azure aura on my son!” Dad yelled at Schimmernde Morgenröte shortly after, but let her go just as quickly to look back at Kindling. “I saw it when he flew by, a good catch indeed!”

Nothing distracts Dad better than one of us kids wanting his attention, except perhaps Mom's fluff.

“Come, take a look!” Kindling once more insisted enthusiastically, knocking his hooves softly against Dad's back, causing him to hum in agreement. Before they turned to Night though, I felt Dad's snout rubbing over my back, purring questionly.

“I’m fine,” I said, purring back. That didn’t stop him from sniffing at my bandages and licking over some scratches here and there though.

“You should eat some of the meat your brother caught, it will help heal the wounds.”

“Really, I am fine,” I repeated, but only got a lick over my muzzle.

“Nonsense, you need all the energy you can get. Nightflame!” Dad lifted his head and looked at my brother. “Share with your sister.”

“I already offered her a piece but she said she didn’t want it.”

“Then cook it first.”

And that is what he did. So while Dad and Kindling praised Night for his huge catch, I ended up with a big piece of flame grilled boar in my claws.

“Well here goes nothing.” I took a bite, and was pleasantly surprised it wasn’t actually that bad.

“Are you willing to share, niece?” Schimmernde Morgenröte had risen from her spot and brought her head close to me. “I heard you said you were not that hungry.”

“And since you’re still a growing dragon, you’re always hungry,” I replied.

“That is indeed the case,” she agreed, but kept her eyes on my food.

“Well, yes, you can have half of it.” I split the meat in two nearly equal portions and offered her one.

In only two quick bites, it was gone.

“If you ask nicely, I am sure Dad would get you some more.”

“It shouldn’t be necessary for me to ask.” She snorted. “As a lower class dragon, my well being should be his priority. He should bring me food like the green at home do.”

“You have others offering you food at The Roof of The World?” My curiosity was triggered. I had only been there once, when Oma had called us for my aunt's hatching.

“Isn’t that self-evident? You don’t believe Mom would waste her time with such basic tasks as hunting or digging for gems?” Her eyes wandered to the meat left in my claws. “Mom has far more important things to do. The green are suitable for such a task though.”

I moved my food out of her reach and took a bite. “By the green, you mean green dragons, right?”

“That is correct.”

Dad had told us about the dragon hierarchy a while ago, informing us that green and red are the lowest colours. It made some sense for them to do the hunting and other support duties. “If the green are for hunting, what do the red do?”

She looked at me in confusion. “Gem digging of course. What else would they be good for? No use in wasting their ability to find gems by ordering them to do something else.” She tilted her head and finally lost interest in my meal. “Didn’t my brother tell you about green and red dragons special ability?”

“No, we only went to The Roof Of The World once, when I was four. And besides that, you, Opa and Oma are the only other dragons we really interact with. So, there wasn’t really a need I guess.”

“My brother was as lazy as your teachers must have been.” My aunt climbed over the barrier between the driver seat and the loading area and took a seat next to me.

“Why don’t you tell me about it? It could be useful if we meet some.”

“I am not a teacher.”

“And if,” I pointed at the boar, “I were to get you another piece?”

I could see the lingering gaze my aunt threw at the dead boar before she snorted. “I think I could be generous and spend a bit of my precious time teaching you about dragons.”

“Deal.” I hopped off the waggon and moved between my family. Night just gave me a quick look, not caring much for me ripping off a foreleg from his catch. While I prefered my meat well done, my aunt simply sank her teeth into the raw leg as soon as I’d dropped it in front of her. Being just thirteen, and still a growing hatchling, she was indeed always somewhat hungry.

“So, about dragons and their abilities…” I asked.

Schimmernde Morgenröte wiped her snout before turning back to me and responding. “Reds have a very sensitive sense of smell, they can find gems far easier than other dragons. It would help them with hunting too if it wasn’t for the fact they are so clumsy and brutish. As opposed to the green, whose agility and natural camouflage suits them very well when hunting in forests and jungles.”

“And what about,” my gaze wandered to Dad,” black dragons? What is their special ability?” It’s not like I didn't have enough time to watch Dad or Opa, though, with how few dragons I’d met during my life, it was hard to tell what was ‘standard’ among dragons in general.

“Complete immunity to magic,” Schimmernde Morgenröte replied before taking another bite. “Not my brother though,” she swallowed a huge mouthful, “he’s only a halfbreed. Mom said he didn’t inherit it from dad. Though, he is able to withstand azure dominance to a small degree. That is impressive, while disturbing.” Her tone made it clear that she was not happy that her brother was able to resist her ability.

I threw a look at dad. “Does that mean Opa is…”

“Completely immune, yes,” Schimmernde Morgenröte nodded. “Even a full blast from one of those Alicorns over in this Equestria wouldn’t scratch him. That's why black’s are the majority of the guards at The Roof Of The World. They are low enough in social standing to not cause problems, but at the same time useful.” As she finished this explanation, she turned her head back at the leg between her claws, continuing her lesson while eyeing it for the next bite she would take. “Dad never was one of the guards though. If that had been the case, there would have been the risk of him being one of the other noble branches subordinates. You can probably guess why mating with a dragon like that would be a terrible idea.”

“Noble branches?”

“Didn’t my brother tell you anything?” The disapproving glance Schimmernde threw at him felt almost like a roar due to how displeased she looked while doing so. “The noble branches are the descendants from one of Die Allererste Blaue’s offspring.”

“The very first blue?” I tried to translate. Oma had taught me old draconic every now and then, still, I wasn’t that good at it yet.

Schimmernde Morgenröte snorted and finished off the rest of the boar's leg before answering. “Accurate enough, the modern language isn’t that specific in case of genders. The first azure, a dragoness, had a lot of offspring. Only a few of them were azures though. Those who were, became founders of a branch.”

“Wait a second, doesn’t that make all azure dragons related to each other?” I stood up as the realisation hit me. “Therefore, making this whole Shakirin-La claim a family problem?”

“Kind of,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said. “While azures are as familiar with their ancestry as birds are with flying, knowing who they're related to and exactly how close that is, our lesser, distant offspring, aren’t so inclined. Azures never fight with each other because of this, but being only distantly related, and with a diluted form of our blood in the mix, azure-kirins seem to lack the superior self control we have.”

I was surprised that she’d managed to say that without the arrogant tone she always seemed to have, not even coming across as looking down on me. Being ‘superior’ was just natural for her, it was the foundation for her entire mindset, and she was more than happy to act accordingly…

“So you’re telling me,” I had to sit down again and take a deep breath, “that I and all the other azure krins have the same ancestor? And that we are therefore one family?”

It was at this point that Dad and Kindlings’ interests were piqued, drawn in by what they had overheard.

“I thought that was common knowledge.” The surprise on my aunt's face was shockingly candid. “Don’t you teach your bornlings anything, brother?”

“Mom never told me any of this,” Dad replied. “This is the first time I’ve heard anyone say that all azures share the same ancestor.”

“Doesn’t that mean that all the old azure dragons of The Roof Of The World are our relatives?” Kindling suddenly asked with much enthusiasm. “That means all nobles of the dragons are related to us!” He hopped off of Dad's back and back into the carriage, squeezing himself between Schimmernde Morgenröte and me. “That is so cool!”

“Don’t forget you are also related to the most adventurous and brave of all the ponies, Kindling.” Dad poked him with his snout. “And the best of all mates is your mom.”

“Yeah, Mom's family is okay too,” he waved off.

“The pony side of the family also has the fluff,” Night threw in and sprung between the two carriages with a flap of his wings before moving backwards from there. “Oma and Opa don’t have the fluff, but you do.” And without any hesitation, he rubbed his head against the hint of fluff on our brother's chest. 

Yes, the priorities each of my family members have are quite different. 

“Hey! I am not a napkin!”

Night only purred in response.

“What did Mom say about letting… leftovers, lay around?” Dad growled slightly. “Clean up if you are finished, Nightflame.” 

As Night quickly went about taking care of what remained of his meal, Dad used the chance to lick over Kindlings chest, cleaning off the hints of blood Night had left.

“Disgusting…” my brother mumbled, trying to sweep over his chest with a hoof.

“They will not care that you are related.” Shimmernde Morgenröte replied to Kindlings previous statement, acting as if Night hadn’t interrupted her at all. “You are too low in their opinion to care about. If we weren't so closely related, I wouldn't either.”

“Good thing we are,” I sighed. “How many relatives do you… we, have?”

“Three Hundred Ninety Four azure dragons.”

“And how many of them have kirin grandbornlings?”

“I don’t know.”

That caught me by surprise. “Didn’t you say azures keep a close eye on the family branches? You made me that scroll filled with possible ‘mates’, didn’t you?”

“Azure kirins do not show up in family trees,” she explained. “Not even my brother will be noted down in it, and he is a full dragon. And regarding your second question, Mom and I researched it as a gift for your birthday. It’s not like there was trustworthy data on that subject in the archives. Sometimes azure blood only comes forth generations after an azure chooses a lesser dragon to mate with. Therefore, the list only contains who we could find, that doesn’t mean there aren’t far more.” My aunt paused for a moment in thought after saying this, continuing shortly after in a half aware tone while looking off into the far distance. “If you are able to claim the throne though, Mom may make an exception and add you to the family tree, but it’s unlikely.”

“Mhh, that,” I started, but then a strange taste slipped over my tongue, kind of familiar, but also very tingly. I stood up.

“What is it?” Dad asked and looked in the same direction I was.

“Kirin,” I licked over my lips. “It tastes different though, stronger than in our lair.”

My family looked at me in confusion.

“Oh, right, I didn’t tell you. When I entered the outer lair, I was able to taste our kirins on my tongue, even before I could see or smell them. I just got the same sensation just now, but more intense.” I jumped in the air and flew up a bit, watching the way ahead. The hills made it impossible to see too far ahead though. It was unlikely that an army of kirins would be laying in wait ahead of us, but I wasn’t familiar enough with my new ability to be sure. And this tingling sensation that had been added to it, I don’t know what that meant either.

“Hold!” I used a bit of my aura to reach every kirin and watched as the column came to a halt.

“Can you feel anything useful?” Dad asked.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on my new senses. “I am sure there are kirins ahead. I can’t say how many though.”

“Are they moving?”

“I… I don’t think so. The taste isn’t getting stronger or thiner,”

Dad took another moment to think about it. “Night, you watch over your mom and Kindling, your sister and I will scout ahead.”

I growled. “This is my herd of kirins, I decide what we do!”

“And you are my daughter, I will protect you.” Dad didn’t growl back, yet.

“I am the leader here!” It was at this point that I growled challengingly at him. I really didn’t know where it came from, but Dad giving orders to me in front of everykirin really ruffled my scales for some reason.

Of course, a challenging growl from his bornling was something Dad couldn’t ignore. So I got a parental roaring straight back.

My own roar might not have been that impressive, but the blue glow on my forehead along with presenting my fangs made up for that.

I know, when looked at rationaly, I was in no position to challenge my dad, I just had an irresistible urge to defend my position as the leader of the kirins.

Another roar from Dad followed this, his second and final warning.

My reply was spitting fire at him. I hadn’t even noticed that I’d turned nirik. Fire was harmless for both of us, but it was a clear message.

So the dance of fire and flame began.

Don’t get your hopes up for an epic battle though, I may be swifter in the air, but Dad is, well, Dad. After a shamefully short bit of banter in the air, I hit the ground with my dad's snout wrapped around my neck, pressing me down.

His growl demanded my surrender, but instead I growled back, and the light from my forehead only became brighter. 

“Let go!” I demanded, which was accentuated by a few growling kirins around us. And more were quick to follow. I may be weaker in claw to claw combat, but I had my herd.

Dad also noticed. He increased the pressure on my neck and warned the kirins around us with a growl.

“If you don’t let go, I order them to attack!”

“Fiery!” Mom landed next to us and stomped a hoof next to my head. “Fiery Leadership,” she yelled, “you are going to stop fighting your dad this instant!”

The second I heard Mom say this, the light from my forehead faded and I tucked my tail between my legs while making sounds of submission. Fighting Dad was one thing, but speaking up to mom was way different!

Satisfied, Dad let go, gave me one more quick hiss,  and then rubbed his head against Mom.

“What happened?” Mom asked while caressing Dad's head.

“Our daughter is becoming an adult.” He purred and leaned against Mom's hoof. “Nothing to worry about, but there are kirins ahead. We need to take a look to see what awaits us.”

“I see.” Mom took a moment to look at me. “Listen to your Dad, Fiery!”

I nodded, but remained laying on the ground.

“Then go.”

Dad used the opportunity to lick over mom's muzzle and flew up. After getting permission from Mom, I followed. When we were out of earshot for Mom, Dad spoke again.

“You are not ready yet.”

I remained silent.

“Soon, but not yet. You need to know what fights you can win and which you can’t.”

“…”

“If you would have been fighting some other dragon, they would have snapped your neck and your fellow kirins would have either panicked in despair or followed you to their death. You already have the inner fire to stand up, but you need self control to still make the right decisions.”

“Yeah?” I grumbled, “like all the times you went into a blind rage and tried to kill everything in your path.”

“I protect what I love, and what is mine. But I am a dragon, I can rely on my strength most of the time. You can’t. You have to follow your mothers way of fighting.”

I growled unhappy.

Dad looked at me, then back at our column of carriages. “Your kirins will die if you get blinded by pride and your desire for dominance. I am sure Oma would approve of considering them as subjects that you can sacrifice for your goals, but your pony side would regret it later.”

“I won't sacrifice them! I lead them and care for them!”

“That wasn’t the case a minute ago. If I wasn’t your dad, I would have killed you and several of your kirins before the rest would have run away.” His eyes were resting on me again. “They are not soldiers, Fiery. I am not sure if there are kirin soldiers, but they are villagers, farmers, traders and what else. They are not ready for an encounter with something seriously dangerous.”

I wanted to speak up, to say something to counter his argument, but I couldn’t think of anything so I kept my mouth shut.

“If your ability is anything like my moms, then you are able to send them to certain death. They have no choice but to follow your orders. Keep that in mind when you give them a command. Allow them to make their own decisions while carrying out your will.”

“That, that doesn’t sound like you.” I hesitated. “And how do I do that?”

“It doesn’t sound draconic,” Dad clarified, “but it sounds like something that would work for a halfdragon, halfpony.  For how to do it… take my mom as an example. The way she talks and voices her will towards us. There is a difference between, ‘do that!’ and ‘do that, if possible!’. When you ordered your kirins to stop me from chasing Autumn Blaze, adding a ‘and retreat if you are badly wounded’ would have allowed them to do exactly that. In a serious fight, that will make the difference in whether they survive or not.”

“I didn't really have the time to think that through, you know?`”

“Is that what you want us to write on your subjects gravestones? I didn’t have the time to think that through?”

“Dad!”

“It is how it is. If you are not able to consider your commands' consequences before you give them, you are not ready to lead.”

“But I have to! Fortuna made that much clear. Either I do, or somekirin else will, with all the consequences of that!” I sighed.

The next moment, Dad was right next to me and licking over my cheek midair, purring calmly.
> Nimble Prophecy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a short flight between where we had stopped due to me sensing the presence of another kirin and where we found them. I was surprised though when I saw that it was only the one. He stood in one of the valleys ahead, next to a cart, besides a white dragoness.



“Seems he can sense me as well.” I pointed at the strange Kirin ahead who was now looking up at us. The fact that he was an azure likely explained the sparkling taste I’d gotten.

When the dragoness noticed us, she released a loud warning growl and got into a protective stance.

Dad was quick to reply with a roar of course.

“Wait.” I raised my claw in an effort to calm him down. “If I’m not mistaken, he wants to talk.” At least that’s what this looks like to me.

As soon as the dragoness growled, the kirin moved closer to her and laid his hooves on her side before he began to speak to her. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but it seemed like he was talking in a slow manner, similar to what mom would do with dad in such a situation.

“She is dangerous. And she is a white one!” It was clear from his tone that the fact she was white was enough of a reason in his mind to justify acting hostile towards her. For some reason, it seemed like black and white dragons didn’t like each other, and as the last conversation with my aunt would attest, Dad was not one to talk all that much about dragon culture. I only know that he was worried that Opa would be mad that I was white when I was born. That wasn’t the case, obviously, but Dad had been worried nonetheless.

“She is protecting her kirin,” I said before adding, “and the cart for some reason.” There are enough dragons in the family that I’d learned how to read their body language. I tilted my head and began hoovering. “She is more worried about the cart than him though.”

“Maybe there’s treasure in the cart?” Dad snorted.

I took a closer look at how the two were interacting with each other. It was really similar to Mom and Dad. “Must be a huge treasure if she’s considering her mate a second priority.”

After a second, Dad growled agreeingly.

“Let me talk with him, maybe…”

“No!” Dad yelled in an instant. “I told you she is dangerous! You can see it in her stance.”

“Dad, I want to talk with him, away from the cart and the dragoness. Look how he’s trying to calm her down, he isn’t looking for a fight.”

“It could be a trap!”

“From their perspective, we could also be planning an ambush. Look, they stopped in the middle of the valley, you couldn’t find a worse position to set up a trap. I’m sure they’re trying to show that they aren’t a threat.” I looked around once more. “And I would be able to sense if there were more kirins around.”

Dad's gaze scanned the surrounding hills with utmost suspicion. “It still could be… “ He hesitated. “Mhh,” he grumbled unhappy, “you might be right.”

“I’ll land a safe distance from her,” I nodded at the dragoness, “and see if he is willing to come to me. If not, we can always call your sister to keep her under control.”

Dad just roared out for his sister.

So much for my plan, but he might be making the right decision by being careful. I, however, took that as him agreeing to the rest of my suggestion. I flew down and landed on the road about halfway between the kirin and dragon and where I had been hovering. Dad didn’t follow, instead opting to remain in the air and watch out for threats.

It seemed I had been right about Dad agreeing with my plan.

Thankfully, the dragoness seemed to consider Dad  the bigger threat as she kept her attention on him. This allowed me to take my time and watch the other kirin without fearing an attack. He was scurrying along her chest and was doing his best to rub himself against her, pointing at me now and again while constantly talking.

It took a while, but eventually, she lowered her head to cuddle him and reply to what he’d been saying, but made sure to keep one eye on Dad and her wings slightly flared.

Whatever they spoke about, in the end, the stallion was allowed to approach me, slowly of course. The dragoness’ gaze had completely returned to Dad.

I used the short period of time in which he was approaching to give him a closer look. Azure-blue scales were no surprise, and based on the horn sticking out of his somewhat grey-olive mane, it was clear that he had unicorn heritage. I leaned a bit to the side. Yep, no cutie-mark. No divine blessing it seemed.

“Hello, young one.” He came to a halt a few paces in front of me. “My name is Nimble Prophecy.”

Young one? I raised an eyebrow. I knew my age wasn’t all too hard to guess based on my appearance, but still, he looked like he was still in his thirties. “I am Fiery Leadership,” I said with a nod while looking him over. “You don’t look old enough to call me young though.”

He smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment. If you must know, Fiery Leadership, I am two hundred and twelve. And as long as we are guessing each other’s ages, I would have to say you only recently became an adult.” Now it was him who was examining me from muzzle to tail tip. “Thirty at most,” he judged.

“I am eighteen,” I said flatly.

He took a seat and blinked a few times. “Eighteen,” he repeated slowly. “Eighteen and you’re following the call of Shakirin-La?” His look became suspicious as he licked his lips. “I can sense your entourage, your merriment...” His eyes started to take on a thousand-meter stare, focusing on something  in the distance behind me.

“Mine!” I instantly growled, asserting my claim.

“Certainly.” A pause followed while he sniffed the air once more as he gathered his thoughts. Whatever information his nose was telling him though, he kept it to himself. Slowly, his focus shifted back to me. “I must say, I am feeling a bit uncomfortable negotiating with someone as young as you about the right to lead the kirins. It appears a bit… inappropriate.”

I had to restrain myself so as to not growl louder after hearing that. It wasn’t as though Nimble had said anything specific that had earned my ire, but the attention he’d shown towards my merriment, along with the presence he gave off as an azure, caused something deep down inside of me to want to react.

“Well, anyway,” he said.” I do not have the urge to claim you. Or to be more precise, the will to. You are not what I am looking for.” He sighed. “But I doubt you have the willpower to just walk away from another azure yet, correct?”

For a moment, I was confused. Simply walking away? That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. Was that really an option? I mean, could azure-kirins do that? The thought lingered on my mind till… Our territory! Our right to rule! We can’t let him walk away now!

Yep, there was my inner voice again, telling me in no uncertain terms that that wasn’t going to happen.

Nimble saw the answer in my eyes. “I see. Well, that was to be expected. I can’t blame you, if I was your age, I doubt I would be able to either.” He sighed again. “That puts us in a very uncomfortable position. I really don’t want to claim you for personal reasons, and I don’t want to be claimed by you for similar reasons. So, we only have two options, either you tell me your price for submitting to my will, or we fight by the rules of tradition.”

“My price?” I was baffled. Sure I expected there was a high chance for a fight in the end, but offering my submission freely? No way!

“Yes, your price.” Nimble said, unaware of my inner indignation. “You didn’t expect there was only the way of violence, did you? Under normal circumstances, I could offer you dominion over a small town or village after claiming the throne, but If I’m being honest, I don’t think I’ll make it that far, so I can’t offer that in good faith.”

“I will not submit to you!” I growled, to emphasise my point. “However,” I had to suppress a hiss before continuing, “I would like it if we could avoid fighting.”

He shook his head. “You are far too young to claim me and resist the urge to dominate. I can’t trust you to keep your promises under these circumstances, and, I can’t offer you a prize for your submission, therefore, we will have to fight if you don’t back off.”

I presented my fangs, but then my gaze wandered to Dad and this stranger dragoness. If I was to fight, surely Dad would attack too, leading to a lot more collateral damage than either of us wants.

“Don’t worry about them.” Nimble’s gaze had followed my own. “A traditional fight is not lethal, and dragons keep their pacts. If we fight after a formal challenge, they will not interfere.”

He will be ours, and with him, his mate! We shall accept! We shall grow stronger after our victory!

I sidestepped and clenched my teeth, trying to keep my balance as the heated emotions of my inner voice flowed over me.

Nimble Prophecy raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t settled your inner conflict yet, have you? I can see it in your eyes, the hunger for might, yet the desire for peace.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “You need to find your balance soon or you will get consumed by your conflict.”

“Don’t you dare speak down on me!”

“I wasn’t. I was only stating the obvious.” His tail waved slowly from left to right behind him. “If you don’t get control over yourself, you’ll only be a danger to those you end up in control of.”

I stomped a claw. “Enough of your advice! If you want to fight, so be it!”

“Actually, I don’t w…”

I roared at him. “Call your terms!”

He hesitated and looked back at his mate. With a sigh he nodded then. “Very well.” His gaze returned to me. “A traditional fight is about making the opponent unable to continue fighting without killing or crippling them. That means no biting the throat, no breaking of horns or wings. In short, if it won’t heal, you can’t target it.”

“Reasonable,” I admitted with a little growl.

“If you fail at that, you lose automatically. Even if it was an accident.” He pointed at my claw. “For example, if you scratch my eye in the heat of battle and I lose an eye, you lose the battle.”

“Anything else?”

“No magic, no flying, no artifacts.”

That got my attention. “No magic?”

“Wouldn’t be very fair if I just grab a boulder and smack you with it, wouldn’t it? Or, in return, if you slip though my grasp, fly into the sky, and just grab anything you can get your claws on to  rain down on me until I have to give up.” Nimble Prophecy tapped on the tip of his horn. “I still can use it to poke you, and you can use your wings to slap me.”

What are we waiting for? We will subdue him with our claws! He stand no chance!

“What about magic I can’t control?” I managed to ask through gritted teeth. “Magic I was born with that is not under my control?”

“You mean your azure abilities? They will be of no use against me, don’t worry about them.”

Obviously he was misinterpreting what I was asking about. I was about to address that when a wave of my azure blood's dominance washed over me and caused me to hesitate. It was his problem to be none the wiser of my luck, not mine. If he doesn’t expect me to have some other form or inherent magic, that was just going to made this fight that much easier!

“Seems like we have terms we can fight under.” I growled. “We…”

Nimbles gaze suddenly shifted upwards to look into the sky behind me, with his mate quickly following to look at the new threat that had arisen. My aunt had arrived and was drawing nearly everyones full attention to herself as she made her way down to us.

“Mylady.” Nimble bowed deeply when she landed. “I am…”

“Nimble Prophecy.” Schimmernde Morgenröte said as she waved him off. “Mate of Snowdrift the Determined.” Her gaze wandered over to said dragoness, who lowered her stance in a show of respect, while still positioning herself to protect her little cart. “I know who you are.”

“I am honoured,” Nimble replied.

Schimmernde Morgenröte didn’t react. Instead, she turned to me. “Why haven’t you claimed him yet?”

“We were about to fight this out when you arrived.” With effort, I managed to get my tone to  sound neutral again. “A traditional fight, and the winner claims the inferior.”

“Such nonsense! Did he-” she pointed at the other Kirin “- tell you that? Traditional fights are for equals, and he is in no position to request one.”

“Mylady, it was not like I wanted a fight in the first place. I was suggesting a non violent way to settle this according to my superior age and experience. But I assure you, if a fight is requested, I am more than capable to hold up to my noble origins.”

Schimmernde Morgenröte snorted. “I am not questioning your skill at claw to claw combat, I am questioning your right to ask for a traditional individual fight. You are alone, you have no fellowship, and your mate is nothing compared to me. I see no reason why my niece should accept a fight with you.”

“Wait, I can simply demand his surrender since I have the upper claw?” I was a bit baffled. “Just like that?”

“He can reject your demand, but no creature can prevent you from sending in your minions and relatives to fight for you instead. That is why he wanted to lure you into a one on one fight I think. It was his best chance to get out of this as the winner.”

“That was not my intention,” Nimble protested. “It is just impossible for me to surrender to such a young and inexperienced teenager. It is too dangerous.”

“Teenager?” I growled. “I am a fully grown mare!”

“Then prove it and fight me.”

“I will show you how to…”

“No.” My aunt rested her wingtip on my shoulder and held me back. “Don’t let yourself be tricked into a fight. That is exactly what he wants.”

“I am more than ready to prove my dominance!” I raised my wings to look more intimidating. 

We can handle him! We can claim him! We show how powerful we are!

“Oh are you?” Nimble rose to his hindlegs too and let out a loud challenging roar.

Enough was enough! I ducked under my aunt's wingtip and burst forward, only to bounce back when she grabbed my tail and pulled hard on it.

“Don’t be foolish!” She grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up. “I will handle this without any risk.”

“He is mine!” I struggled in her grip and hissed. “I will claim him!”

“Of course you will,” Schimmernde Morgenröte ignored my attempts to break free and focused back on Nimble Prophecy. “Are you smart enough to just surrender, or do I need to subdue you?”

“Mylady, I simply can’t submit to your niece!”

“You will do it freely, or I will start breaking your bones until you change your tune.”

Nimble hissed and let his horn glow. That was the worst thing he could have done. This did get his mate to finally display a significant reaction though. She began to scratch the ground and fearfully whimper. That being said, the reason for such a reaction could have also been due to my aunt, who was now growling and showing her fangs!

After only a second of this, my aunt threw me behind her like a doll and stormed forward. I quickly stopped myself midair, ready to burst forward too, but hesitated. The only azure-dragon I’d ever seen angry thus far was Oma, and she always kept some kind of nobility. Schimmernde Morgenröte, however, was a blur of blue, claws, and wings spikes.

Nimble may have been telling the truth when he’d told me his age; he was swift, and more than a little bit skilled. Like a squirrel, he zipped around my aunt, sprinting here and there, even using his magic to throw little rocks at her. 

It was the main reason he only ended up bleeding out of a few smaller wounds on his back and side rather than being impaled on one of my aunts wingspikes at the start.

“Soon he will be laying in the dust in front of our claws!”

“Yes,” my voice was eager and full of the thirst for dominance. “He will be ours…”

Hey, I am fully aware I was talking to myself here, but at that moment, I didn’t even notice.

“And with him his mate!”

“No!” A new voice arose in my head. It was free of the thirst for either dominance or bloodshed. Instead, it was more timid or… calm. “We can’t claim his mate for ourselves.”

Since things may get a bit confusing otherwise, I’ll give the voices in my head nicknames for the time being. I will refer to them as Roary and Calmly. I am sure you can figure out who is who.

“Why not? She belongs to him, and he will belong to us!” Roary stated. “He dared to stand in our way, to challenge us! We will dominate!”

Unaware of my inner dialog, or conflict as Nimble had named it, the fight in front of me raged on. With great effort, and a little luck, Nimble evaded the claws of my aunt, but only barely. And more than once, he got another scratch from her wings.

“He will be ours…” I mumbled.

“Yes!” Roary agreed.

“Look at his mate.” Calmly requested. “He isn’t challenging us on purpose.”

Slowly, my gaze wandered over to said dragoness. She was scratching the ground furiously, whimpering in panic, unable to intervene. The aura of my aunt was strong, more so with her fighting. A quick glance at Dad revealed that he was the only one with a clear head at the moment as it seemed. He still was hoovering a good distance up in the air.

“Look at her. Then look at him.” Calmly was referring to Nimble. “What do you see?”

“Don’t pay attention to such unimportant things!” Roary demanded. “Our aunt is winning! We must be ready to claim him!”

“What do you see?” Calmly repeated.

I growled and bared my fangs, fighting my desire to fly down and crash into Nimble, to subdue him myself and claim him as my loyal subject. What, do, I, see? The question lingered on my tongue like a rotten fruit, like a disgusting thought, still, I focused on it.

At the same time, Nimble made a mistake. He ducked under my aunt's wing and tried to change his direction to avoid her following strike. However, said strike never came, instead, she swiped him off his hooves with her tail. He collided with the ground and used his own momentum to roll away and get back up. He was too slow. Schimmernde Morgenröte bounced forward and grabbed him by the throat.

“We must act, now!”

“No! We must understand! Look!”

My aunt's claw closed around his throat and squeezed. “Give up!” she demanded.

“No…” Nimble pressed out. His hooves scratching harmless over her scales.

“You will surrender!”

Nimbles scratches and kicks with his hind hooves became more desperate. “I can’t.. do that!” His face slowly turned more and more red.

“He will be ours!” Roary’s anticipation matched my own.

“Don’t look at him, look at his mate.”

Snowdrift was still scratching the ground in panic, whimpering, fear for her mate clear on her face, still, she remained between Dad and the cart. Unable to move due to my aunt's aura… or was she?

“He didn’t want to fight us, she didn’t try to protect her mate, they both have a different goal.”

My gaze wandered to the cart. What could be so important about it? There was nothing important I could see. Some chests, some food, and a barrel of water maybe. A huge stack of blankets and pillows. Nothing suspicious at first glance.

My gaze returned to Nimble who was slowly turning blue now.

He didn’t want to fight me even before my aunt showed up. And after she did, he was more than eager to do so. I was missing something, something important.

“Last chance,” my aunt growled. “Surrender yourself!”

It was at this moment that the realisation hit me!

There was an egg in the cart!

“Yes.” Calmly said.

“Egg!” Roary shouted. “The egg must be protected!”

“Agreed.”

“Aunt!” I flew over and laid my claws on her arm. “Let go!”

Schimmernde Morgenröte just glanced at me and growled warningly.

“He is not willingly challenging us!”

“He will no longer be able to challenge us at all!”

“He is protecting their egg! There is an egg on the cart!”

“An egg?” My aunt turned around, mustering the cart herself and then roared. “Is there an egg on the cart, Snowdrift?”

“Yes, Mylady.” Snowdrift's eyes hung on her mate. A second later, Nimble was falling to the ground, my aunt having let go of him.

“The egg must be protected,” she said.

“Yes, it must be safe,” I agreed. “Dad!” I formed a funnel with my claws. “They are protecting an egg! They are no threat!”

“I… can’t…” Nible tried to speak but had to cough hard.

“You must go home and protect the egg!” I moved closer. “I will claim you and order you to go home!”

“I… don’t trust… you…” another wave of coughing stopped him again.

“You don’t have much of a choice!” I sprung forward and landed on his belly, placing my fangs around his throat. “You are mine now!” I ignored his weak attempts of fending me off and growled. “You are beaten, you are mine now!”

A spark of resistance built up in his eyes, but then his gaze wandered over me, to my aunt and finally to his mate. They locked eye contact for a moment, before he relaxed. With a deep breath and a sigh, he said, “I surrender.”

“Ours!” Roary cheered in triumph.

“Yes, he belongs to us,” Calmly agreed. “But we have to send him home now, he must protect the egg.”

“All in due time!”

“Actually I am not sure what…” I mumbled before my forehead suddenly began to glow. “Nevermind.” Quickly, the glow became a bright light that engulfed myself and Nimble, extending my personal aura around us. I was more than a little surprised as this was not something I was intentionally doing, rather, it was something I was doing instinctually. Surprisingly, when the aura reached his horn, nothing happened.

I removed my fangs from his throat and took a seat on his belly. “Shouldn’t I be able to see into your mind now?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “I’ve never personally claimed another kirin.”

“Somehow this is… disappointing,” I said as I scrunched up my face. “I imagined claiming another azure-kirin would have some special effect, something just… more.”

“Try licking his horn,” my aunt suggested. “It would make sense for an azure-kirin to be more protected against magic that targets the mind, given their azure blood.

“What does that have to do with it?” I wondered, looking up to her.

“We have stronger willpower than other species,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said as though it was the most normal thing in the world. “It only makes sense for our offspring to benefit from that, even-” she ruffled her snout a bit “-after pairing up with lesser creatures.”

Nimble just raised an eyebrow, either because of the suggestion to lick his horn, or, at my aunt's mildly offensive statement. For me however, the problem was more about the licking part right now. Licking his horn could be seen as just a little bit awkward at best, and as an attempt to seduce him at worst.

“Don’t be so shy now, Niece. There will be more challenging moments on your way to the throne, this is nothing more than a little turbulence under your wings.”

I took a deep breath. “Right. Well, here goes nothing!” Under Nimbles embarrassed gaze, I leaned forward and attempted to lick over his horn. When I actually touched it with my tongue though, I got a shock like I was hit by thunder! My fur and mane stood on end and my wings, which had sprung open, spawned little glowing sparks! That was before everything went black and silent…
> The Kirins, The Dragon And The Pony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next thing I noticed after giving Nimble’s horn a lick was the subtle but distinct scent of lemons and sapphire that tickled my nose. I opened my eyes, and to my surprise, I found myself standing in the middle of someone's living room. I took a step forward and recoiled in surprise when the sound of a parquet letting out a squeak resounded throughout the room. Where was I?

“Hello?” I perked up my ears and listened for a reply before stepping forward again. My gaze began to wander over everything around me. The interior seemed kind of familiar, similar to what the kirins in Autumn’s town had. It wasn’t too different from my own home though, just with more wood than stone, and the presence of windows instead of holes on the ceiling to allow more sunlight to come in. Besides those differences though, yeah, it was kind of familiar.

“Hello?” I shouted once again, peeking into the three connected rooms. “Is anykirin home?”

“Welcome,” Nimble said, having suddenly appeared right next to me, causing me to jump into the air out of shock.

“Nimble! Do you have to scare me like that?”

He remained silent.

I took a deep breath, calming my nerves. “Where are we?” I gestured to everything around us. “What is this place?”

“Home.”

“You mean your and Snowdrift’s?”

He nodded.

“How did we get here?” 

The answer became obvious when my gaze eventually passed over one of the windows. While it appeared that sunlight was spilling in, through the window, I could see that everything was only a blur of white and blue. There was no sun emanating the light, nor was there anything at all out there, just a bright mixture of colours. 

“We’re not really here, are we?”

“No.” He started to move towards the next room, requesting I follow with a nod of his head. “I think this is my memories we’re wandering through.” He tapped against his temple. “We’re in my head.”

I stopped mid-step and stared at him in bewilderment. “We’re walking through your head and you just accept it like it’s the most normal thing in the world?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t expect this, though, it’s not too surprising either. From what I read about azure-kirin gatherings, the fact there would be some kind of mental connection was kind of obvious.” He shrugged again. “That it would present itself like this however, well.”

“Hmm, a good question would be why it’s doing this though.”

Nimble continued his migration into the next room. “One reason I see is that it allows you to be you, for the time being. I would already call that an advantage.”

“Me to be me?” I caught up with him, and together we proceeded through the house, making our way towards, what I assume, was the basement.

“You didn’t notice that your inner conflict didn’t follow you here? The anger, the hesitation?”

I stopped again, listening to my inner self. Roary and Calmly remained silent though.

“The two sides of your heritage, trying to push you in a certain direction. It was impossible to not notice that you were struggling to get them under control.” He threw a look at me. “You seem to be far more… reasonable when it’s just you.”

“Hmm.”

Nimble waited for me to say more, but when I remained silent though, he went on. “You need to get it under control as soon as we’re done here. Otherwise it will either drive you crazy, or one side will overcome the other, leaving you as either only a dragon or a pony in terms of your mind. Not the best outcome.”

“Would stop them from messing with my mind though.”

Nimble snorted. “You don’t want one side to dominate your actions. The balance between them is the key to being a kirin. You are not strong enough to act like a true dragon, with all the fighting and greed. You would spend all your days gathering a bigger hoard or things of value till the day you find your better and perish. On the other hoof, if your inner pony takes the lead, you would lose all your dominance, your inner drive to act, you would become a doormat in kirin society.” He flicked his hoof once in front of himself as though he’d caught a whiff of something foul. “You couldn’t even lead your current merriment.”

“Eh, that does sound significantly less appealing when you put it like that. So, how do I do that? Finding a balance between them?”

He hesitated a moment before answering as he opened a hatch in the floor, leading to a tunnel below. “That depends on you,” he said as he began to walk down the stairs he’d revealed.

“What do you mean? What am I supposed to do?”

“You have to decide what you want to be, that's all. Decide what you want to become, what your personal goals are. Then you put your inner voices in their place, forcing them to support your way, in their way.”

“That doesn’t make much sense…”

“You lead the way and set the goals,” Nimble stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked back at me. “Your inner voices will support you in achieving it, each in its own way. Your inner dragon will suggest more direct approaches and tell you luck favors the bold, while your pony side will think things through, finding less violent or more subtle ways for you. It will be up to you whose advice you take, just make sure it’s your decision, not theirs.”

I giggled.

“What's so funny?”

“It’s just that luck will favor me anyway, even if I was timid and shy.”

An raised eyebrow was his reply.

“Having the goddess of luck as my godmother has its advantages.”

Now it was at him to be baffled. “You are telling me that...”

“Yes, Fortuna, the goddess of luck, is my godmother.” I nodded at my flank. “Gave me my cutiemark and made sure luck follows me wherever I go.” A smile crawled on my lips. “Maybe one of the reasons I didn’t need to fight you to claim you.”

“Maybe,” he agreed, blankly staring at me as the hints of a frown tugged at the corners of his lips.

“Don’t be a sore loser now. I’ll send you home safe and sound so you can care for your egg, and you said so yourself, you didn’t expect to claim the throne in the end anyway. it is not like you lost anything.”

“True.” 

Still, he seemed to be a bit unhappy about it, so I changed the subject.

“Where are we heading actually?”

Nimble thought for a moment. “I actually lack a word for it,” he finally said. “I would describe it as the root of my azure heritage. The part of me that makes me different from other kirins, or more accurately, other non-azure kirins.” He tilted his head. “It’s actually quite interesting, I’ve never been to this level of my consciousness before, and yet, I know exactly where we need to go and what this place looks like.” He glanced at me. “I’m sure you would have the same experience if we were in your mind.”

“Could be, but since we aren't, I’m none the wiser. It’s interesting that it looks like your home though. The idea of having a kirins traditional treehouse mixed with a lair has something to it.” I took a moment to listen to the echo of our steps on the stone floor. “This part reminds me a bit of my own home.”

“It has a positive effect on my mate's mood, the stone that is. I rolled out some carpets to reduce the sounds when we excavated it, but it turned out that hearing me trotting around makes her happy, so we got rid of them.”

“Yeah, I remember Dad saying something about those lovely clippety-clop sounds Mom's hooves cause in the lair. Seems like dragons like that.”

An agreeing hum was Nimbles response. “I still get surprised sometimes about what makes my mate happy and what doesn’t. Just the knowledge that I’m around our home can cause her to be most happy and excited, even if there’s no further interaction, while on other days, anything less than the complete focus on cuddling and spending time together will result in her getting all grumpy and a little bit hissy.”

“Whenever Dad gets grumpy, all mom has to do is fluff up and cuddle him and he becomes the happiest dragon in the world again. Maybe that works with your mate too?”

“Snowdrift’s love isn’t based on my fluff or my body,” he said judgingly. “Our relationship is deeper than that.”

“My parents love each other,” I growled warningly.

“Of course.” He quickly took a step back. “I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.”

“You better have not! There’s a difference between knowing how to make your mate happy and having a relationship solely based on cuddles!”

“It wasn’t my intention to annoy you.” He lowered his stance and looked up to me, making sure his head was lower than mine now.

Satisfied that he knew his place, I snorted and moved on. 

It didn’t take us too much longer to reach the heart of the lair, a large chamber filled with what I assumed must be Snowdrift and Nimble’s hoard. A respectable little hill of gems, gold, and various other potentially valuable items rested in the center of the hall. It was way smaller than what Dad had gathered, but still, it was definitely a hoard worthy of being laid upon. And based on the indentation on top of it, and the fact there weren’t any artifacts there that I could see, it seemed that was exactly what Nimble and his mate were using it for.

“An acceptable napping spot,” I said, letting my gaze wander around while I approached the hoard. In contrast to my parents' lair, Nimble and his mate seemed to be more interested in art. Almost the entirety of the lair’s walls were covered in canvases and tapestries, there were even a few sculptures and one or two exotic weapons I’d never seen before interspersed in there to break up the room. “My parents removed all the weapons back home when my little pony brother was born,” I mentioned. “Too dangerous, mom said.”

“When our hatchling hatches, we may have to do so too.” Nimble agreed. “Though, my mate may not like it. She can be sensitive when it comes to displaying her strength.”

“Dad was hesitant too, ‘what if adventurers invaded the lair’ were his words if I remember correctly. But as soon as my brothers and I started to draw him and mom, the lair was quickly plastered with little drawings instead of weapons.” 

Okay, he kept two spears and placed them out of my and my brothers’ reach, but in a way that Mom could still grab them in the case that something happened when she was alone with us while he was hunting or gem digging.

“Your Dad doesn’t sound that draconic, if I may say.”

I shrugged. “Do you know enough dragons to make that assumption?”

“Hmm… not really. I just can’t imagine my mate hanging drawings from our hatchling on the walls.”

A pause followed, and my attention drifted elsewhere until I stepped on something. I lifted my claw and was greeted to the sight of a thin blue line that, on closer inspection, seemed to be pulsating slowly. I followed it with my eyes and came to realise that it was part of a net, spider webbing across the ground.

“What is this?” I wondered aloud.

“That’s new, I don’t remember any blue strings laying around our lair,” Nimble said curiously before he moved closer. “I’m not sure what this is supposed to mean,” he added as he laid a hoof on the line.

Where he touched it, it started to glow, illuminating the surroundings and washing them in a bright blue light. As soon as he removed his hoof however, it began to dim before finally fading away.

“Whatever it is, it’s only reacting to you, not to me.” I poked the line again just to make sure.

“A mystery for sure, though…” he stopped mid sentence and released a contemplative hum.

“What?” 

Nimble scratched his nose and then moved next to me. “I have an idea. Maybe, this net represents my azureness. That would explain why it has its origin in the core of my home while you’re here. And if we stay with this line of thought for the moment, it could react differently if we touch it together.” He gave me a look. “After all, I think we are here to form some kind of mental connection with each other.”

“We’re here so I can claim you as my loyal subject, not to form some kind of equal mental connection,” I made clear. “When we are done here, I will be in charge.”

“Certainly,” Nimble agreed. “Still, I think that my suggestion would be the way to achieve that.”

Now I was between a rock and a hard place. Nimble had submitted to me in the real world, and I doubted he would try anything risky with their egg nearby, but still, it could be a trick to claim me instead. What if he did know about this net of strings? What if this is all just a trick to lull me into feeling safe?

“Something’s wrong?” he asked. “You seem not to like my idea.”

I clicked with my claws on the ground, thinking. “I’m not sure.”

Nimble took a seat and gave me some time to think.

If this really was a trick, it was a very good one. His offer to let me just wander off, his fight with my aunt, the unwillingless to submit to me and now his submissive behaviour. It doesn’t feel like a trick, and still…

“Alright,” I took a deep breath, “but if this is some kind of trick, be aware, my dad or my aunt will not tolerate any kind of betrayal. If we get out of here with me under your control, you would not live long enough to gain any advantage from it. We didn’t agree on any rules to fight that would hold them back.”

“Your caution honers you,” Nimble replied and smiled. “I’m glad that you don’t trust someone you barely know. This will help you on your way to the throne.” He rose from his spot, and with a little purr, approached me to rub his head against my chest in a submissive manner. “However, I already accepted my defeat. All I wanted in the first place was to return home with my egg, that's why I wasn’t willing to submit to you or fight with you in the first place. That's also why I don’t want to trick you now. You claim me, then send me home. That's all I want.”

“You better be speaking the truth, for your own sake.” I softly but firmly pushed him away with my wing. “Alright then, let us try your idea.”

His tail started to wave behind him as he bowed. “As you wish.” Quickly he laid his hoof on the blue string. “Whenever you’re ready.”

I once again looked for any signs of betrayal in his face. As far as I could see, there were none. Much slower than him, I placed my claw next to his on the now glowing string.

For one or two heartbeats, nothing happened. The string didn’t react to my touch.

“Huh, that didn’t work out it seemed.” I was going to lift my claw when Nimble held me back.

“Just a moment.” He lowered his horn and poked me carefully. As soon as he did, the string of, of whatever, started to glow like a Hearth's Warming Eve tree! And it wasn’t only doing so where we were touching it, it had spread! In all directions the string started to glow and pulsate! I turned around a bit frightened. “What’s going on?” Even the walls and the tunnel we used to come here were covered in thin blue glowing strings now.

“I don’t know either, but I’m sure it’s supposed to be this way.” In contrast to me, Nimble was entirely calm and was just watching with fascination everything that was happening.

My head was swiveling back and forth hecticly. “This is your mind after all, shouldn’t you feel what’s going on?”

“I do feel… something.”

“Can’t you be a bit more precise?” I jumped to the side slightly out of fear when a ruby suddenly hit the ground next to me. When my head whipped around to take in what had caused this, I saw that the hill of valuables was falling apart! Sapphires, diamonds, and all kinds of golden coins started to roll or bounce around randomly.

“If we really were at my home, I would be worried that something might get damaged.”

“If we were, I would be more worried that one of us would get hurt,” I spat out while barrely dodging a few gems that went flying in my direction.

“Oh, yes that too.”

“What is…” I stopped mid sentence when the remainder of the hill of treasures exploded, sending a dense rain of valuable items towards us.

“Take cover,” Nimble shouted as he jumped on me, shielding me with his body.

More and more coins and gems rained down on us. I peeked out from under Nimble and saw several sharp gems crashing into the floor right next to us. Several even pierced the floor, embedding themselves into the stonework and reflecting the surrounding light to become a strange approximation of the night sky.

“Now would be the time for a shield spell, Nimble!” I yelled. “I’m not sure our scales are strong enough to protect us from this!”

He grunted in return. “If I knew any, that would be a splendid idea.”

I felt his body shake when a few things hit him, but from my position, I couldn’t see what it was or if he’d gotten injured. Luckily, as quickly as the bombardment had started, it ended.

“Are you alright?” I pushed free from under him and rushed to inspect his backscales.

“I’m fine,” he said, only interrupted by a tiny wince of pain when I tore out a sapphire from between his scales.

“Yeah, looks like you’re okay. Thank you.”

“No need to thank me, it’s kind of my duty now, isn’t it?”

I wasn’t sure what I should say to that.

“That remains to be seen.” A new voice arose from where the hill of treasures had been. “The last word about that has yet to be spoken.”

Both Nimble and I turned around. Instead of his and Snowdrift's hoard, an azure dragon now stood in the center of the room. His gaze resting on us, examining, lurking.

“And who are you?” I dared to ask, holding his gaze. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t dare challenge an unknown azure this way, but I had a good idea who he was already. 

I was proven right, when Nimble said, “That is my inner dragon. My azure heritage.” He stepped closer to the dragon. “Fiery Leadership, this is Noble. Noble, this is…

“An intruder!” Noble shouted, flapping his wings. “She came to claim you, make you hers!” He finished his statement by lowering his head again and growling at me.

I was quick with answering his challenge with my own growl.

“That is correct,” Nimble mentioned, unimpressed by either of us. “And she has my permission to do so.”

“You can’t allow her to claim you!” Noble objected, his head turning to Nimble. “She can’t be trusted!”

“It is not like we have a choice.” Another new voice arose from the hallway just before a pale yellow unicorn entered. “You saw as well as I did that we already lost the fight.” She came to a halt in front of me and offered me a hoof. “Happy Swiftness,” she introduced herself. “While it is not really a pleasure to get claimed, welcome anyway.”

I shook her hoof, but kept an eye on Noble. “Fiery leadership.”

Happy Swiftness flicked her cream blonde tail in a disapproving manner. “Don’t mind Noble, he can be a bit stubborn sometimes, but he still has a heart of gold.”

“For gold, not out of gold, Swiffy!” Noble snorted. “And I can still fight her!”

“I,” Nimble said loudly, preventing these two from bickering with each other any further, “have decided to surrender already. So you will not fight her, Noble! Is that clear?”

The azure dragon mumbled something under his breath.

“Is it?”

“Yes, Nimble,” Noble spited out between gritted fangs.

“We now must focus on protecting our egg,” Happy Swiftness said. “We need your full focus on that, Noble. You don’t want the egg to get harmed, do you?”

“What? No way! The egg must be protected at all costs!”

“See,” Happy Swiftness gave him her best warm unicorn smile. “So we will just be claimed by our new friend Fiery Leadership here and she will help us protect it.” She turned her head to me. “Right?”

“Of course,” I said slowly, still worried a bit about Noble. “I will send you home, after I claim you that is.”

“Then we shouldn’t waste any more time,” Nimble decided. “Any ideas on how to arrange that? The claiming part?”

“Not really,” his pony side shrugged.

“Me neither,” I confessed.

“Noble?” Nimbles gaze turned to his dragon side. “Do you know how to do it?”

He snorted. “Of course I do.” And then he mumbled, “I am an azure dragon after all…”

“Care to tell us then?”

It took him a few seconds and a few very unhappy swings of his tail, but finally, Noble answered. “Fine…” He moved back to the spot he had occupied under the former hill of treasures, where a softly glowing crystal was embedded in the floor. “This is the heart of Nimble’s azureness,” he explained. “Just mark it as your territory…” he sighed, “and we will be your loyal subjects.”

I stepped closer. Looking at this strange crystal. It seemed to be aware of my presence since it started to pulsate quicker the nearer I got.

“What are you waiting for?” Noble asked. “Mark your territory.”

“How do I do that?”

“How does a predator mark his territory?” he replied.

“I am not going to pee on it,” I said in confusion. “And I have no idea what else I should do to mark it.”

“That would be a sight,” Happy Swiftness giggled.

“Please don’t,” Nimble raised his hooves with a concerned gaze. “I might be alright with you walking through my head right now, but if you start marking your territory like a dog here… it will not be good for my mental health.”

“Are you really sure you want to get claimed by some inept child, Nimble?” Noble threw a questioning look at him, ignoring my growling.

“I don't really have a choice, and my mate prefers me to be alive and claimed over dead and defeated.”

“Fair point,” Noble agreed with another unhappy sigh. “Very well then,” he turned back to me, “just press your forehead against the crystal and extend your aura around it.”

I leaned forward to try, when he stopped me with his claw. “It may tickle though.”

Pushing away his claw, I growled my reply. “I can handle that.”

“If you say so.”

I took my time, allowing my gaze to hang on him for a moment longer. I may not know that many azure dragons, but something about Nimbles was off. I couldn’t put my claw on it, but something about Noble was strange, and I am not only talking about the fact he was more personally involved in things than I would have assumed.

Anyway…

My gaze moved down onto the crystal again. Its pulsing had significantly quickened, and the light it was emitting was strong and played across my fetlocks. There was something fascinating coming from it. Slowly, I raised my claw and slowly let it come to rest against the crystal's surface. It was warm, and indeed, a light tickling began to travel up my foreleg. I took a deep breath, and lowered my head, replacing my claw with my forehead.

As soon as they connected, I could feel emotions! The crystal really had its own personality! I felt a whiff of greeting and welcoming, along with curiosity and a tiny bit of hesitation.

“Nimble, can you…”

“Yes, Mylady, I can,” he nodded and kneeled down, as did his inner dragon and pony.

What a strange feeling, I thought to myself. Suddenly, pictures rushed in before my inner eye. Pictures of Kirins, pictures of places. Too quick and too blurry to really make out any details. It was clear to me though that it was random memories of Nimble.

“Don’t worry about it, it will sort itself out as soon as your connection properly establishes itself. The beginning is always a bit shaky,” a female voice explained.

“Who said that?” I kept my forehead on the crystal but tried to look around. “Who else is here now?”

“Uhm, there is no one else besides us, Mylady,” Nimble answered.

“Somecreature spoke with me!”

“But there is none,” Nimble once more said. “And I should know if someone else was in my head, shouldn’t I?”

“But I heard somecreature, I’m sure about it!”

“He can’t hear me,” that female voice explained. “Only the dominant one can.” A second of silence followed. “Fiery Leadership, I see… the one with the blessing of a goddess. How interesting.”

“Who are you?” I asked, but the voice was already gone. I didn’t know how I knew, but I was very certain about that fact.

“Mylady?” Nimble now sounded concerned. “To whom are you talking?”

“There was a new voice, but now it’s gone.”

“A new voice? Here in my head?”

“It seems so, though, I am still not sure who she was. However…” My thought returned back to the crystal before me. “That mystery can wait for later.” Once again, I reached out with my aura, deeper this time, grasping for the very core of the crystal. It reacted to my actions by glowing stronger until, in a flash of light, I found myself back on the plane, sitting on Nimbles belly.
> Trouble, And Make It Double
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Did.. did it work?” I swiftly looked around before my gaze returned to Nimble. My aunt was still next to me, while my dad remained suspended in the air above us, that much I could tell from a quick glance.

“You need to tell us,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said.

“I…” I stopped when Nimble started to purr and rub his head against my foreleg. “I guess so.”

“Ours!” Roary proclaimed.

“Part of our merriment,” Calmly agreed.

As strange as it might sound, it felt good to hear the two of them again. Despite them being rather irritating, knowing that every azure-kirin had something like them acting as advisors, according to what I’d learned from Nimble’s mind, made their presence far more welcome.

A soft, angry hiss from Snowdrift quickly pulled me back out of my thoughts. Under my Aunts spell or not, seeing and hearing her mate purring at me was surely angering her. I mean, if Mom purred at some random stallion… 

“I appreciate the gesture, but you can stop now.” I patted Nimbles head.

“As Mylady wishes.” He leaned back and just let his tail swing left and right happily.

“Did you just…” I placed a claw on my temples.

“Yes, Mylady.”

I moved my claw to cover my face. Wonderful, that makes three voices in my head now…

“If you can hear him in your mind, I think it worked,” my aunt commented.

“How did you…?”

“You started talking to yourself all of the sudden.”

“Oh, right.” I began to rub my temples with both claws. “If everyone I claim ends up in my head, it’s going to get crowded real quick.”

“You will get used to it. And it will come in clawly when you want to give orders to your subjects.”

“Always thinking like an azure,” I intentionally kept my tone neutral. “Anyway…” I took another deep breath and stood up, allowing Nimble to roll onto his belly. “You better go and calm down your mate,” I ordered.

“As you wish.”

“And talk to me like any other creature would when you’re next to me!”

“Yes, Mylady.” He nodded and trotted over to Snowdrift, who welcomed him with an accusing growl, but grabbed him anyway and began licking over his injuries. I was sure he would get a more serious growl later for cuddling with me, but certain things came first. Speaking of, a moment later, Dad landed next to me and I got the same careful examination Nimble had just received. I wasn’t injured, well, no more injured than what I’d already been due to the fight I’d had with my brother this morning. However, Dad wasn’t about to be stopped by simple facts.

“I’m fine, Dad.”

“I know,” he replied while nuzzling my wing. When I opened it, his nose moved over my side, carefully sniffing.

Used to his overly protective behavior, I smiled and changed the subject. “Did you see, I claimed my first azure-kirin!”

“No, I was watching that white dragoness,” Dad replied, “but I see the result. Well done, Fiery.”

“The first of many to come,” Schimmernde Morgenröte predicted.

I made a sour face about Dad not seeing me claim Nimble, but it didn’t last for long. After all, this meeting had turned out better than expected. Sure, Nimble had gotten a few scratches, but overall, no one was seriously harmed, the egg was safe, and I ended out on top. Yes, it was a good day!

When I realized that, I started to purr, and soon, needed something to rub myself against out of excitement. Luckily for Dad, he was standing right next to me, and so fell victim to my cuddle attack. Not that he was about to complain.

“Die Zeit vergeht,” my aunt mentioned after a while. “There are still things to do.”

I knew she was right, time waited for no one*, still, a little cuddling never hurts. A trait I’d inherited from Dad.

“Alright,” I finally agreed, “let me send Nimble and his family home, then we can return to our caravans.”

“This may be a good time to try out your own ability to speak into his mind,” Schimmernde Morgenröte suggested. “If you’d prefer I not subdue his mate again?”

“You can talk in someone's mind now?” Dad sounded quite excited.

“Well, so far I can only hear him, I’m not sure if I can talk to him the same way.”

“Then try it!” He nudged me encouragingly with his nose.

“Okay, I… “ I stood still for a moment, “have absolutely no clue how to do it.”

“Mhh, I can’t help you with that. Even azure dragons are not able to mindtalk as far as I know.”

“Just ask, Nimble? Nimble was it, right?” Dad wondered. “He should know if he’s already talked to you that way.”

“Good idea.” I turned towards Nimble and his mate. “Nimble!”

“Yes, Mylady?” He shouted back while Snowdrift grabbed him tighter and hissed.

“No,” I laid a claw on both my aunt's and dad’s wings. “It’s alright, I understand her feelings.”

My aunt's gaze fell on me, a hint of displeasure in her eyes. “You are going too easy on other creatures, Niece.”

“Maybe, still, can you let me handle this? Please?”

She snorted and took a seat, getting into what I assume was a noble azure pose, showing her superiority.

“Thank you,” I bowed, before addressing Nimble again. “How do you do this… mindtalking thing?”

Nimble pressed a hoof to his mate's snout and returned her growl. It took a moment while they whispered to each other before he answered.

“I just reach out for you through our bond, and say what I want to say!”

“That's what you do, not how you do it!”

“May I talk to you in your mind for this matter, Mylady? Maybe I can show it more accurately than I can describe it!”

“Go ahead!”

“Well, the first step for me is to focus on my azure aura, it is quite close to how you talk with your inner voices.”

“Focusing on my aura, got it!”

“Second step is to reach out through it, but not with the aura itself, but with the message you want to transmit.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“No, you need to try again,” Calmly said. “You’re talking to us now.”

“Yes, you are focusing on us,” Roary agreed. “Look elsewhere, further away from us.”

For a moment I was confused as to why my inner voices had piped up, but then I realized I hadn’t been talking aloud, instead asking in my head. Without success of course. This whole mindtalking thing was already getting out of claw! “What do you mean by that?” I repeated my question aloud.

“For me it is quite… one moment Mylady.”  He stopped and turned his attention back to his mate, who had started to growl unhappy, knowing he and I had a mental connection. Another series of growls, cuddles, and other little gestures were exchanged before he continued. “My apologies. My mate is still adjusting to the fact that you claimed me. We talked about this whole procedure a while back, but facing the reality and its consequences is quite hard for a dragoness.”

“I understand! Don’t worry about it, continue with your explanation though!”

“What I was trying to say is, that for me, you shine like a little sun, or moon if you prefer, in the horizon of my aura. I just have to focus on you and think of what I want to tell you, I don’t even need to form the words completely, just the concrete idea seems to be enough.”

Easier said than done. I tried to find him in my aura, but all I got were vague shades of my merriment. Despite how hard I tried, I wasn’t even able to figure out which of them was him, not to mention how to send a message through.

“You will learn it eventually, Mylady,” Nimble comforted me after a while when he didn’t get a message from me. “We shouldn’t forget you are only eighteen.”

“We can’t all be old stallions!” I turned back to my family. “It seems it is not meant to be yet.”

“That is unfortunate, you will have to learn it eventually,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said.

“Yes,” Dad agreed, “you will manage soon enough.”

“I hope so. Anyway, time to keep my word now. Nimble! You and your mate can go home now and care for your egg!”

Surprisingly, they didn’t just agree and leave, but started to discuss something, throwing a gaze at the horizon now and then.

“If we may, given the sinking sun, it is unlikely we will make it back home today. It may be safer for the egg if we just wait for yo… the rest of the merriment and set up a camp nearby?”

I threw a look at the sun myself. It was indeed well into the evening, but that hardly seemed to be a problem, there were still a clawful of hours left of usable sunlight.

“I am not so fond of the idea of setting up a camp already!” I yelled.

“Setting up a camp?” Dad piped up. “Doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” He looked around the small valley we were in. “It will take some time until your merriment is used to setting it up. Some extra time on the first few nights may be of use.”

“It would be better for the egg though, Mylady. The more eyes watching over it at night the better.” Nimble said at the same time.

“But it will take us longer to get to Shakirin-La then!” I objected.

“That may be true, but it is still the better option,” Dad decided. “You will gather a larger merriment along the way, so it would behoove you to make sure your current one has the basics figured out before that. Also, we are still within flying distance of home, so if we find out we forgot something, we should be able to fetch it before nightfall if we set up the camp now.”

“A few hours could also make the difference in who claims what kirins along the way!” I pointed out. “If I arrive just five minutes before my rivals, it would totally change the situation if we met some unclaimed kirins!”

“A valid point,” Schimmernde Morgenröte agreed. “Time is of the essence on this journey.”

With a loud ‘hmm’ Dad considered my point. “It would ultimately cost us more time if we can’t efficiently set up camp. Your Kirins would be tired, slower, and less prepared for a possible fight. No, we will settle down here for the night, on top of one of these hills over there,” he said, pointing towards a collection of knolls slightly south of where we were currently standing.

“But, Dad!”

“No.”

I jumped in front of him and growled. “I decide what we do! I lead these kirins!”

Yes, I hadn’t learned anything from the short fight I’d had with him before. And so it ended just as you would expect it to, in a split second, I was once again being pinned to the ground by my dad. Though, instead of my merriment, this time, only Nimble took issue with this.

With a roar, he jumped out of Snowdrift's embrace and rushed over. “Let her go!” Snowdrift was quick on her claws too, but one look from Schimmernde Morgenröte convinced her to return to laying down.

I, however, was pleased that he would come to my aid like a good loyal subject. That thought only lasted for a moment though, as Dad was quick to hiss at him warningly. What Dad had said about leading my subjects came back to my mind and soured the good feeling Nimble’s aid had given me. If he got hurt, it would assuredly weigh on me.

I snorted and growled. “Okay, we’ll set up the camp now. You can let me go.”

Dad took his time, spending another moment looking at Nimble on his way over. Then, he lifted his claws from me.

“Nimble stop!” I rose again and shook the dirt out of my fur. “I decided that this place will be our campside tonight. No need to fight with my dad.”

Calmed by my words, he slowed down and stopped next to me. It was clear though that he wanted to hiss or growl at Dad to show he would not tolerate him threatening me this way.

“No!” I stomped a claw. “No challenging my Dad!”

Nimble lowered his head, but growled unhappily. “As Mylady wishes.”

“It’s better that way.” I gave Dad a challenging look while still addressing Nimble. “Mom is better suited to argue with him anyway. I am sure she can tell him that I can lead my merriment myself!”

“Fluffy will share my opinion,” he retorted with confidence.

***

Unfortunately, he was right. Mom was on his side, telling me to listen to Dad. The fact Dad had been right was causing me to tear out my mane! It was my job to lead these kirins, but Dad kept taking control! Eventually, I had to find a way to prevent him from doing that!

However, at the moment, there wasn’t much I could do about it. So I turned to another issue that needed to be taken care of sooner rather than later, my batfriend and his, more or less, justified jealousy. While my family was gathered by a nearby stream to fetch some water and take a bath, I’d taken the opportunity to push Illu into my family’s tent where we would have at least a little privacy before I began to explain things to him, hoping to calm him down.

“It’s not like it was my choice.” I restlessly trotted back and forth. “It’s a side effect of the Call to Shakirin-La that’s causing them to behave so strangely!”

“Strangely?” Illu’s voice was a mix of anger and reprehension. “Strangely! They're blatantly courting you! They’re shamelessly throwing themselves at you!”

“It is not like they’re doing it on purpose, this whole,” I threw my claws in the air, “deal with being an azure kirin is forcing them to act this way! Neither of us wants that.”

“Neither of you? So you are interested in them too!” Illu’s tone rose a few octaves.

“No! No I am not! It was just a poor choice of words!” I quickly rushed to him and grabbed his hoof. “I am not interested in them that way. I’m just leading them.”

“Yeah, like this new guy who you claimed today.” He snorted and freed his hoof. “He follows you like a house cat while purring at you! He purrs at you, Fiery!”

“That’s just a particularity of us kirins, something we inherited from dragons. We purr at our bel… creatures we like.” I laid a wing on his back and rubbed my head against his side, purring loudly. “And it’s totally different from my special purr for you!”

“Your lucky that I’m a batpony and can hear that subtle difference! Otherwise I wouldn’t believe you.”

I smiled.

He stepped aside and crossed his forelegs. “That doesn’t mean I like it!”

“It’s part of what makes us kirins. It’s part of our behaviour. You can see it with my dad, or my brother, they are dragons, and they love to purr at me and Mom.” I once more approached and tried to snuggle up to him. “And, that very trait was passed on to their half-breed offspring, us kirins.”

He raised his wings and pushed me back. Dammit! When Mom uses her fluffy, cuddly side, she’s always able to snuggle her way into making everything better!

“You could tell them to stop, to not purr at you like they’re doing.”

“They are our subjects! They have to purr at us!” Roary threw in.

I flinched my ears back, trying to keep my focus on Illu. “That's like telling you to not fly anymore or Dad to not spit fire. It’s part of what we are.”

“It wasn’t until today that everykirin felt the urge to start courting you!”

“It wasn’t until today that we became their leader, and therefore, became the best possible mate” Calmly added. 

I shook my head. “Those are two different things! Purring and flirting are… purring is a universal thing. Yes, it can mean I like you, like in order to be seductive, but it can also just be a friendly gesture. Flirting is way above simply purring.”

“Then forbid them from flirting with you!” Illu threw his hooves into the air in frustration. “I’m your batfriend! They know we are together, why do they even bother!”

Actually, that was a fair point. “I can do that.” I took a moment to think about it. “I’m not sure if they will listen though.”

“You said you lead them, and from what I understood, they have to follow your orders, right?” He didn’t wait for a reply, instead continuing on in a huff. “They do whatever you tell them to do, so tell them to stop courting you.”

“Okay, I’ll tell them. But again…” I raised one talon, “I’m not sure if it will work, or if all of them will listen. There are limits to my…” I struggled to find the right word for a moment. “To my… authority. I am pretty sure normal kirins should stop flirting with me, but when it comes to azure kirins, if I claim more of them, it may not work that well.”

Illu grumbled. “Fine…“

I growled back. No, not in an aggressive manner, instead, I tried another one of the tricks I learned from Mom. “My overly jealous batfriend,” I whispered approvingly.

“I am not jealous,” he snorted and looked to the side. “It’s just not right of them to behave like that!”

“Hmm-hm,” I nodded and returned to purring and fluffing up. “Though-” I grabbed his chin and turned his face to me “- insisting on your right to call yourself my batfriend with all your… not jealousy, makes you look rather… attractive.”

With delight, I saw his ears raise up, and their fluff swing temptingly left and right.

“I am your batfriend after all,” he said, and finally, his hoof found its way into my claw.

“Of course you are.” I fluttered my eyelids. “The best batfriend in the world.” I slowly moved forward, carefully giving him my special batfriend purring. “Why don’t we…”

A loud roar outside the tent interrupted my attempt at seduction quite effectively.

“What was that?” Illu wondered as he rushed to the tent entrance. With an unhappy growl, I followed him. When Illu pushed the canvas of the tent aside, he revealed the mangled picture of the camp in utter devastation and chaos, awash in the crimson light of dusk! All over the central campside, niriks were fighting with each other!

“What in Tartarus…” I stormed past Illu and outside. Were we under attack? My senses hadn’t warned me of any incoming kirins! And shouldn’t Dad or Schimmernde Morgenröte have joined the fight if that had been the case? 

You can understand my surprise when it was my own kirins that had turned nirik and were fighting with each other. Only my kirins!

Just as I realized that, Summer Moon rolled past me, clinging onto Ocean Sky as they both growled at each other while trying to bite the other’s neck. Before I could interfere, my attention was drawn to Wind Root, who repeated his roar from a few seconds ago and crashed right into Solid Breeze, causing both of them to fall into the fire pit, which exploded in a cloud of sparks.

“We need to get them out of the fire!” Illu tried to rush past me, but I grabbed him by the tail and pulled him back. 

“They’re fireproof! You’re not, and they may hurt you!”

“Ohh, right.” He stopped and watched the chaos around us. “Shouldn’t you do something about this? If they continue this, there’s a good chance they might destroy the whole camp!”

Instead of answering, I roared over the whole campside. “Stop!” 

Everywhere, Niriks stopped fighting with each other and looked at me. However, this didn’t stop them from hissing and growling at each other. “Silence! What in Tartarus has gotten into you!”

A few of them looked away, while others simply laid down under my gaze. I took this moment to focus on my surroundings and look around. My gaze landed on one of the few kirins that hadn’t gone nirik, Autumn Blaze.

“Wind Root! Autumn Blaze! Come here!” Both of them were quick to follow my order, though Wind Root needed a moment as he, unsuccessful, tried to calm down enough to turn back into a kirin. 

“Care to tell me what ‘s going on here? Why is everykirin fighting?” I demanded to know, my voice barely distinguishable from a hiss.

“Not everykirin is happy with where their tent or wagon ended up, Fiery,” Autumn started. “That's why they were fighting, to determine who gets the best spots.”

“Yeah,” Wind Root nodded. “It makes sense for Autumn to have the best spot next to your tent because she is the mayor, but for the rest of us, it’s not so clear as to where in the hierarchy we are. So, well, we’re fighting over it.”

I stared at him for a whole five seconds, speechless. 

“This all is about how close to my tent you guys can settle down!” I practically roared, not even noticing that my eyebrows had caught fire. “Are all of you bucking braindead?” My gaze wandered over the devastation around us. Burned tentpoles, scorched and shredded canvas, an abundance of splattered and upturned mud and dirt, as well as a hoard of kirins covered in scratches or bite marks. “You decimated our camp in order to simply sleep a few steps closer to me?”

Wind Root laid down and looked towards the ground, and slowly, the fire on his back vanished as he began to squirm. Not out of shame, but because I was displeased with him. “It is important to us,” he told the ground. “We haven’t really had a need to figure out what the hierarchy was till now. So, now that something so important’s arised… it would be comforting to know where everyone stands.”

I faceclawed and took a deep breath before releasing the air as a growl through gritted teeth. “This can’t be true!”

“Maybe this is a good opportunity to show off your leadership skills, Mylady.” Nimble, who I hadn’t noticed before then, rose from his spot next to a carriage. “Determining the hierarchy of your merriment should be your responsibility as leader.”

Now that I was aware he was nearby, I noticed the sparkling taste of an azure kirin that was lingering in the air.

“And why didn’t you do anything to put a stop to this whole turmoil before it devolved as far as it did? You’re an azure kirin, you could have prevented this!”

“You didn’t give me any responsibilities regarding how I was to interact with the kirins under your control, Mylady. The only one in your merriment who holds any power from what I can tell is yourself. In addition, I saw no need to interfere, as my mate has already chosen a good spot for our egg. We’re positioned far enough away from your tent that no kirin felt the urge to fight us for it.”

“It should be self-evident that I want you to prevent our campside from being destroyed!”

“I will remember that if this situation arises again in the future, Mylady.”

I felt a slight warmth crawl up the back of my neck upon hearing his response, and a second later, Illu patting my neck scales as he tried his best to stop the flames from spreading and turning me into a nirik. Also, Wind Root was beginning to whimper as he did his best to flatten himself like a pizza by pressing himself even further into the ground. Autumn Blaze meanwhile had taken a few steps back.

“Arg! I don’t want to see any kirin fighting in our camp again! And you…” I turned to Autumn Blaze, “are responsible for that!”

She rubbed over her foreleg. “Uhm, I don’t really have the ability to do so without being part of your merriment, Fiery. Maybe Nimble would be a better choice.”

“Nimble will be leaving in the morning, I can’t give him that duty!” I growled in frustration. There simply weren’t any kirins with enough authority that I would feel comfortable putting them in charge of the situation when I was occupied elsewhere or distracted!

“I would be willing to do it,” Wind Root offered. His head was still laying flat on the ground like his tail, but he looked up to me with his eyes. “If you put me in charge, I can prevent future turmoil in the camp.”

This statement was met with a fair amount of my merriment shouting ‘No!’ along with several other shouts of protest. A few even stepped forward and proclaimed that they would be better suited. And soon, hisses and growls were exchanged between those vying for the position.

“Enough!” I roared.

“Maybe it would be wise to let them fight this out, just, outside the camp,” Nimble suggested. “Figuring out the hierarchy should prevent more problems like this from popping up in the future.”

I was going to object, when a murmur of approval went through the crowd. It seemed my kirins liked that idea.

“Yes, a good idea! let them fight it out!” Roary agreed.

“We could simply decide on the hierarchy ourselves and avoid any fighting,” Calmly countered. “It would allow us to put our favorites in charge as well.”

“Our favorites may not be the strongest,” Roary retorted.

“Shut up!” I massaged my temples, but felt that my mane was already starting to ignite again.

Fortunately, Nimble understood what was going on and stepped forward to rub his head submissively and supportively against my chest while purring calmly. Well, it would have been a good idea, if Illu hadn’t been standing next to me. He took issue with Nimble doing this of course.

“Stop snuggling with my marefriend!” he yelled while rushing forward and ramming Nimble in the side.

Nimble growled in return… and that was the moment I turned completely nirik. I rushed forward and struck him down.

No kirin was allowed to growl at my batfriend!

I spit a lance of fire into the air, pressed Nimble’s head into the ground with a claw, and roared loudly. “Don’t you dare to growl at my batfriend!”

“But Illu started it,” Calmly threw in.

“Shut up!” I roared again. “Shut up!”

Nimble released a whimper of submission, but spoke up. “Allow me to help you with your inner voices, Mylady. It should ease your anger.”

I hissed.

“Inner voices?” Illu wondered, giving me an unsure look.

“Another crazy new azure ability I learned I have today!” I growled. “It seems like every azure kirin has two advisors in their head, one dragon and one pony, to guide them!”

“That is definitely something we should talk about, later, when you’ve calmed down again.” Illu judged. After taking a moment to breath, he moved to my side and carefully began to stroke my side with his hoof, avoiding my flames as he did so.

I hesitated, but growled at Nimble once more.

Illu booped my nose. “Fiery…”

I scrunched up my snout in irritation in response, but my flames were already dimming down. Evil batfriend tricks I tell you!

“What did we talk about?” Illu asked. “Slowly breathing in and out, ten times.”

I grumbled, but removed my claw from Nimble. “Fine…”

Illu was always worried when I turned nirik, so we had a deal. If I turn nirik in his presence, I have to take a step back and take a breath. If I’m still angry enough afterwards to stay nirik, he helps me with whatever problem I have. If not, well, then it wasn’t that bad in the first place.

“We can’t calm down yet! We have a merriment to rule!” Roary threw in.

Ignoring him, I slowly breathed in and out.

Nimble took the opportunity to rise, and after a short look at Illu, decided to speak. “Maybe you can—”

“You stay out of this!” Illu rebuked. “And don’t you dare snuggle with my marefriend again!”

“Maybe you can find a non-violent solution that satisfies Myladies urge to keep this civilized,” Nimble said unimpressed. “Something, without fighting, but still suited to determine the hierarchy below her and me.”

I could see Illu’s wings spring open slightly while pulling back his upper lip a tiny bit, not showing his fangs directly yet, but still marking his territory.

“Illu is the problem here,” Calmly judged. “We have to remove him from the situation. This is a kirin problem. He doesn't understand.”

“He is our mate, he has to understand!” Roary demanded.

“But he doesn’t yet. Better we handle this without him until he does.”

“Our mate is more important than our merriment, they have to adjust to him, not vice versa!”

“They…” Calmly stopped abruptly when a new sparkling taste tickled my tongue.

“Nimble?” I asked sharply.

“Yes, Mylady, I feel it too.” He turned around. “Everykirin, watch out! Another azure-kirin is on their way here!”

“It’s not only them, I feel their merriment too.” I rolled my tongue around in my mouth. “Some… I would say thirty, maybe fourty.”

“Twenty-eight, Mylady. And they are approaching quite quickly.” 

“Your magical kirin abilities again?” Illu wondered.

I just nodded. “Autumn, you go and warn my family! Wind Root, you and Raising Ebb organize a defensive line! Form a circle with the carriages around the central fire!”

“I have to protect my egg, Mylady.”

“Go!”  Without hesitation, Nimble turned around and galloped towards his own carriage. “Illu.” His head whipped in my direction. “I want you to stay with my family when they come back.”

I could clearly see that he didn’t approve of this order, but he knew he was no match for a burning nirik or a kirin able to use magic, so he reluctantly nodded.

Suddenly, Summer Moon appeared next to me. “Here,” she said, offering me a tentpole she had plucked from somewhere. “Should be useful.” She turned around. “Sister!”

“I am here,” Winter Sun yelled and rushed over to us.

“We protect Fiery.” She tossed a second pole to her sister and used her magic to pluck yet another one from the ruins of what had once been a tent for herself before turning to me again. “We will not leave your side, you can count on us. Whoever tries to go after you has to deal with us first!”

I snorted approvingly and patted her head. “Let’s hope that this won’t be necessary. With a little luck, I can solve this peacefully again.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Winter Sun prophesied gloomily.

“We will see.” My gaze wandered over my merriment and their efforts to fortify our position quickly. They were doing their best, but when Dad and my aunt landed a few minutes later, followed by the rest of my family who quickly vanished into one of the carriages away from the possible front, a sense of relief washed over me.

“Can you determine what kind of kirins are approaching?” Dad got straight to the point while I pushed Illu in the direction of the carriage.

“No, but Nimble said they are twenty-eight in total.”

“Then we have the upper claw already,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said.

“Only if they are only kirins, I can’t sense dragons or griffons or what else.”

My aunt just snorted. “I can handle any dragon, and my brother should be able to deal with some griffons. There is no need to worry.”

“Still, they could fall into our flank without Fiery noticing them.” Dad inspected the little circle of carriages. “We need to keep our eyes open for that possibility. If there isn’t another dragon, I want you to go to your nephews and help Fluffy protect them.”

“If you wish,” Schimmernde Morgenröte agreed. “Though, I may be more useful out here.”

“Maybe, still, you will go and protect your nephews.”

“And Illu,” I added.

She rolled with her eyes. “I can watch over your little batfriend too, niece.”

“Thank you.”

Dad snorted, satisfied. “With that taken care of, we should use the remaining time to…”

“I can see them,” Chilli Crust yelled suddenly and pointed westward. “Over there, between the hills!”

And indeed, several kirins were galloping towards us, a few of them even flying. Whoever this was had pegasus kirins in their merriment.

“If only I had my spyglass,” I mumbled, but it was laying safe and sound in our carriage.

“The female, light blue, pegasus-kirin is the one with azure heritage,” Schimmernde Morgenröte informed me after taking a good long look. Her eyes must be a lot better at distances than mine, not to mention adjusted to the dim light.

 “Light blue?” I repeated, throwing another glimpse in the direction of the approaching Kirins. Could that be? Could it… 

“It seems to be your friend, Blizzard Silence, who is leading them,” my aunt confirmed.

“Blizzard…” A mix of relief and fear felt upon my heart. Blizzard surely wouldn’t attack my merriment. She knows Mom and Dad, as well as Autumn. And she knew the rest of my merriment, except for Nimble, at least cursory. Still, there was the dream of me killing her…

“Shouldn’t you be happy about this?” Winter Sun wondered. “You look like you just bit into a lemon. Aren’t you happy that we likely don’t have to fight?”

“Claiming your friend should indeed be easier,” Schimmernde Morgenröte agreed. “And less dangerous to your loyal subjects. What is wrong?”

“I… I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling about this.” I replied.

A moment later, Dad rubbed his head against mine.

“It’s just, that in my dreams, I… I killed her.” I looked at my Dad. “I know, it was just what this god wanted me to see, still, it… it doesn’t feel...”

“I don’t think Blizzard will force you to use violence,” Dad said. “You two should be able to talk about this reasonably.”

“Are you sure about that? This Call has had some really strange side effects so far.”

Dad licked over my cheek. “I assume so.”

“I hope you are right.”

“If not, I will fight her for you instead.”

“Dad!”

“It may not be good for you if you have to fight your friends,” he said. “You are part pony too. I will protect you from that if I have to.”

“Could be bad for my pony side too if I see my dad fighting one of my friends.”

“Hmm,” he snorted. “It lay in your claws if that is going to happen.”

“Thanks Dad, that is soo reassuring…”

“You're welcome,” he said while rubbing his head against mine once more.
> Blizzard Silence
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“There you are! Oh I am sooo happy I found you!” My friend, Blizzard Silence, wasted no time in prancing in front of me. “It was a close call though, wasn’t it,” she added to no one in particular. “Come, get a hug!” she suddenly requested with a happy smile while extending a hoof and wing while her parents landed behind her.



I hesitated to aproach her. Something didn’t feel right. After a second or two though, I cautiously relaxed my hold on the tentpole Summer Moon had given me before finally impaling it into the ground and moving forward. Before I reached her though, Bliz pranced back and growled, causing Summer Moon to raise her tentpole warningly. But as soon as it had started, Bliz stopped her growling. “No! We will not bite her!” She shook her head and hissed. “Of course she wouldn’t expect it, she is our friend!”

I raised a claw, gesturing for Summer Moon to calm down before I addressed Bliz. “I see you found your advisors already, two little voices in your head, right?”

“How did you know?” Bliz’s head sprung up and turned to me. “Do you hear voices too?” Her eyes were filled with hope.

“Yep, learned today that they’re supposed to guide me. So we’re not going crazy.”

I watched as Bliz’s posture seemed to slaken.

“We may not have gone crazy, however, I am not sure about her,” Calmly threw in.

“And I was thinking I lost it after that little bolt of lightning hit me.”

“I wouldn’t take that off the table just yet,” I said jokingly. “They told you to bite me after all.”

“Right,” Bliz nodded. “Just one of them though. The other one actually believes we should negotiate about something,” she tilted her head and seemed to listen. “She is not sure about what we should negotiate though.”

“About your submission to Fiery,” Winter Sun menacingly demanded before I could stop her.

“My submission?” Blizz raised an eyebrow.

“It is a long story,” I said. “Short version is, all of us azure kirins gather at Shakirin-La, and one of us becomes the new empress of all the kirins. To do so, we have to subdue all the other azure kirins on our way. Like,” I pointed at her merriment, “you already did with your village.”

“So you’re telling me I would become your subject?” Blizzard's voice turned into a growl near the end of her sentence. “Neither of us like that idea.”

“It is not like she has a choice!” Roary proclaimed. “We are more, we are stronger!”

“And we don’t want to fight her,” Calmly added. “Don’t forget about that. Her voice of reason and I may solve this issue nonviolently.”

“It’s not like we have a choice here,” I explained, taking a seat to look less threatening. “That is how this whole thing works. Either I claim you, or you claim me.” I made a gesture that included both our merriments. “It doesn’t have to turn into a huge fight at all though, we also have the option of negotiating it.”

“Sill,” Blizzard Silence’s mom, Blizzard Torrent started, but her daughter just hissed at her, causing her to lay flat on the ground.

“Not now, Mom!” She tilted her head and one of her eyes started to twitch. “I shouldn’t speak that way to mom, no, I shouldn’t do that. Yet, I have every right to, since she is part of my merriment now.”

“I think she’s losing it,” Winter Sun whispered to me.

“I wonder how you would hold up if you were suddenly hit by a magic call that not only put some voices in your head, but caused you to turn your own family into your loyal subjects,” I whispered back. Actually, thinking about it, I would have no problem with becoming more dominant than Dad out of nowhere. Mom however…

“Actually they are all part of my merriment now,” Blizzy went on, not even noticing us or her mom anymore. She then took a seat on the ground and started to slowly rock back and forth while talking to herself.

“If you attack her now, you will have no problem subduing her.” My aunt stepped forward and next to me. “In this condition ,she would be no match for you.”

“I told you to stay with Fluffy,” Dad growled.

“And your mate asked me to watch over Fiery when it was clear no creature was approaching the camp from any other direction.” She snorted. “And I already told you that I was of the opinion that I am more useful out here.” 

I threw a gaze at my aunt, ignoring her banter with Dad for the moment. “Do you have any friends back at The Roof Of The World? Like real friends, not just servants or allies?”

“What does that have to do with it?” she asked, confused.

“If the answer was yes, you wouldn’t suggest I attack one of my friends.”

“And again, you are going too easily on creatures, Niece.”

“I don’t think so.” I returned my gaze to Bliz. “Bliz? Are you alright?” I took one step forward and laid a claw on her shoulder.

“Don’t touch us!” In one quick move, Bliz was on her hooves again and putting some distance between us.

“Bliz, I only want to help you.”

“You want to subdue me, to take control.” She growled. “That’s not going to happen!”

“I don’t want to attack you, despite what my advisor suggests or my aunt thinks is the best. We are friends!”

“Yes, yes we are.” Bliz tilted her head and gave me a weird look. “Friends shouldn’t fight each other.” Her eyes became wide. “Especially on your birthday! It's your birthday after all!” Quickly she turned around. “We brought you a gift of course! Yes, yes a gift!” She looked around hecticly. “Where did we put it…?”

“I think we forgot it at home,” Blizzard Torrent said quietly.

“What?” Bliz stomped a hoof. “How could we? I can’t stand here, head held high, when we forgot Fiery’s birthday present!”

“It’s alright, really, we have other things to worry about.” 

I mean, I was obviously a little bit upset that she forgot my present, but really just a tiny bit…

“It is rude though,” my Dad threw in.

“I know!” Bliz agreed.” I am soo sorry! I…” she groaned, dropping to her haunches and bringing her left leg up. She then began to scratch the scales just behind her shoulders with her hind leg. “This itching is killing me!” she yelled in frustration.

“I think that is a side effect of ignoring the Call,” my aunt said. “Your friend basically came from the direction we are heading. So it looks to me that she was moving in the opposite direction of Shakirin-La. Could very well be that this is causing some… problems for her.”

I looked at Bliz, seeing that she was now rubbing her back against the ground in an attempt to scratch her scales. “If that is what had awaited me if I’d refused to go, I’m glad I left. Though, didn’t Oma say it would take some time?”

“I can only assume it would have been if she’d just stayed home. Moving away from Shakirin-La, however, surely increased the negative effects.”

“Unpleasant.”

“You have no idea!” Bliz yelled while groaning some more. Eventually, she stopped rolling around and sat back on her haunches. This time though, she twisted her head around and began to use her fangs to scratch over the scales she could reach.

“I am sure we would solve her problems if we just claim her,” Calmly threw in. “If she became this unstable and itchy because she refused the Call, being our subject should alleviate that.”

“Not to mention increase our power,” Roary agreed.

“We are not fighting her!” I mentally yelled at my inner voices. “We are not going to attack her, bite her or any other violent nonsense! She is my friend and we are going to solve this peacefully!”

“It would be the easiest solution, and it would help her too! Just look at her,” Roary demanded. “She is halfway crazy already, we need to help her by claiming her!”

“We could let Dad do it, if you don’t want to. He offered his help already,” Calmly added.

“I said no! Enough of your nonsense! We’re doing this the nice way!” I shook my head so forcefully that my ears slapped against my skull. “Bliz?”

“What is it?” she asked without stopping her nibbling of scales.

“I think if you let me claim you, the itching and your… antics would stop.”

“And I become your puppet, like my parents are for me now? No thank you!” She stopped nibbling her scales and started to argue with herself again. Seems that shifting her attention to her claimed parents had a negative effect on her mental stability.

“No, not as my puppet of course. As my friend and companion. I would not treat you like my servant.”

“That's the role she is supposed to have though,” Winter Sun mentioned. “There can be only one leading the merriment in the end.”

Now it was on me to growl. “Silence!” I yelled, and Winter Sun quickly ducked under my gaze. “So,” I cleared my throat, “as I was saying, you would surely be my friend and advisor along the way instead of one of my servants.”

“I don’t think it would work that way,” Bliz replied, though I could see that she’d at least considered my offer.

“Don’t give away your leadership so easily!” A new voice arose from Bliz’s merriment. And quickly, shouts of support and encouragement followed. “We don’t want to follow her, we want to follow you!”

I couldn’t identify who’d shouted that, but the effect on my friend was clear. 

So much for solving this peacefully.

“I think I have to refuse your proposal,” Bliz said a moment later, “seeing as my merriment would surely cause an uproar if I simply submit to you.”

“They would follow your orders,” Schimmernde Morgenröte clarified. “If you decide to serve, they will follow.”

“But I don’t want to serve, I want to lead!”

“She wants to fight! You can see it!” Roary told me eagerly. “We can beat her and claim her the rightful way!”

“Better let our merriment and aunt do the fighting, if we plan to fight at all,” Calmy countered. “Less risk of us getting injured and victory is assured due to our merriment being significantly stronger.”

“But we’ll get less fame and practice in claw to hoof combat. Blizzard Silence is safer to fight than some other kirin we know nothing about.”

“For the last time! We are not fighting Bliz!” I yelled mentally. “Bliz, I do not want to fight with you. I do not want to hurt you. Though I do have the stronger merriment. If you force me, I will send them to fight yours instead. And there’s no doubt about how that will end.”

Bliz’s expression became grim. She looked over my merriment, including Dad and my aunt. I could see it in her eyes that she’d realized what her chances against not only my kirins, but two dragons, were.

“I will not just submit to you,” she finally said. “But we may bargain.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “That sounds great!”

Bliz took a seat again and made an inviting gesture with her wing for me to take the spot in front of her.

“So,” I said, following the invitation and approaching her, “how shall we-” My response was cut short when Bliz rushed forward the moment I sat down and placed a kiss on my lips. “What the…!” I shouted, half jumping as I pulled my head back in confusion and shock. Exactly the reaction Bliz had hoped for it seemed, since she used my disorientation to strike me with an uppercut.

She tricked me! It was a realization that had come a moment too late.

With a challenging growl, and before I’d even had the chance to recover from the blow, she was already up and in the air jumping towards me with her fangs bared. I was barely able to raise my claws in defense to brace for the impact.

“You will be-” Bliz shouted, but was interrupted quite effectively when a tentpole smacked her in the side of the head and let her crash harmless to the ground next to me.

Suddenly, Summer Moon stood between me and Bliz, the tentpole gripped tightly in her magic, growling and going for a second swing. Her sister, Winter Sun, and a few others of my merriment started to form a ring around the three of us, hissing at Bliz’s merriment.

“Stop!” I yelled, briefly wincing in pain when I laid a claw on my jaw and got up. “Don’t.”

Summer Moon growled at Bliz, but followed my order and lowered her tentpole. A quick hiss at my merriment kept them in check as well.

“Arg, my head!” Bliz groaned and put her hooves on the bump she was sure to develop.

“She tried to trick you!” Summer Moon spat out. “Let me beat her up for you and show her what that treachery gets you!” 

Of course, several roars and other noises of anger rose from Bliz’s kirins after that statement, some even moving closer. 

“No.” I laid a claw on Summer’s shoulder, gave her a thankful nod, but pushed her aside. “She isn’t in her right mind at the moment.”

“That is all your fault,” Bliz complained at as I was calming my merriment. “Just distract and attack her! What a wonderful idea! Damn voice!” She looked up and at her people. “Get back!” she yelled.

Quickly, I threw a look at her merriment as well as mine. Many of her group had moved in a way that if something happened, they could easily charge forward. Fortunately though, they seemed content with simply releasing little growls or other signs of unrest. For now, we were able to hold them back, but who knows for how long? I flicked my ears back. Two azure-kirins fighting when they’re standing between their merriments seemed to be one of the lesser good ideas if one doesn’t want things to escalate.

“I told you the element of surprise would have been on your side. If you had only listened to me,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said in an arrogant tone. “Maybe you’ll learn to listen to me more carefully next time.” She turned around, looking at her brother and her tone turned even more accusatory. “Your daughter is not very skilled in the art of war, is she?”

“She is half pony,” Dad replied.

“I see,” my aunt snorted displeased. “A weakness.”

I ignored their little banter, just happy that Dad still considered Bliz as a child. She may be half a year older than me, but still, seeing us grow up and play together assured that Dad would not just try and kill her for attacking me like he did with Autumn or any other adult who would dare to do so.

“Well, sorry about that,” Bliz demanded my attention back, still rubbing the side of her head. “Wasn’t my original intention, just, you really presented yourself as an easy target there.”

I could see Summer’s tentpoles already rising again and poked her with my wing while shaking my head. Slowly, she lowered her weapon again.

“Nimble told me that these voices can try to take over, force your actions sometimes if you don’t take care of them.”

“We do what we must to protect. To achieve victory,” Roary tried to justify.

“Who is Nimble?” Bliz threw a look at her merriment and released a hiss, pushing some of them back a few steps. Obviously, she didn’t want this to escalate either.

“An azure kirin, just like us. We met him and his mate, a dragoness, just a few hours ago.” I raised my head a bit higher. “And, I claimed him!”

“Which was more or less thanks to me,” Schimmernde Morgenröte threw in, spoiling the moment for me.

“Yeah, thanks to my aunt,” I mumbled. “Anyway, he is part of my merriment now!”

“You already got one?” Bliz looked over my merriment. “Where is he? And what happened with his merriment? I only see your townsfolk here.”

“He is protecting his and his mates' egg. And it was just them two, no merriment so far.”

“Oh, yes, an egg must be protected,” Bliz agreed.

“We can still just claim her,” Roary insisted, already a bit louder. “We have the upper claw, she is already injured and an easy prey! Let us attack her!”

I placed a claw on my temples. “I really understand how annoying your dragon heritage can be,” I grumbled. “Bliz, can we just speak about your prize for being claimed,” I ignored her growl, “before one of our inner voices pushed us to an action we would all regret?”

She didn’t have it any easier than me it seemed. I could see it in her eyes, how her attention shifted between me and her inner conflict. If I hadn’t known about the voices, more so, had my own, I would have just assumed she’d lost it for real.

“Fine…!” she spat out between gritted teeth. “What do you offer?”

“To make you part of my merriment, without any fight or violence. As a friend, not as a servant of course.”

“And… what else?”

I rubbed over my head. “Uhm, what else do you want?”

“The goal is to claim Shakirin-La, right? To become the new empress?”

“Yes…”

“Then half the empire, that would be a good offer!” She hissed at the ground. “No! Not three quarters! Greedy voice!”

“Half my future empire!” I shouted out in disbelief. “That would never work!”

“We would split the spoils of the claiming procedure. I would split the empire in two parts and you can choose, as the kirin in lead, which part you want.” Blizzard smiled mischievously. “That would only be fair.”

“Being in the weaker position and demanding half the spoils is outrageous!” Roary was quite pissed. “Let us smash her head into the mud until she rethinks her demands!”

For once, I was tempted to agree with him. Still, I did want to avoid hurting Bliz as best I could.

“No,” I growled. “Even if we are friends, you are in a far weaker negotiating position than me. And in no position to demand that at all. What I can offer you though, is to be my right claw when I claim the throne.”

“So be your servant after all!” She hissed.

“No!” I shook my head. “To really be my right claw, not a servant at all! I would be the empress, but you would be by my side, only one step lower in hierarchy than me.”

“I don’t want to be your lapdog!”

“What about if I give you a title, and your own…” I growled and had to struggle to ignore my inner voices,” ...duchy to rule over.”

“Giving away a full dutchy to an inferior opponent is madness!” Roary growled. “She should be happy to get a barony!”

“While I appreciate the peaceful negotiation, I agree with Roary. The price is too high.” Calmly added.

“A duchy…” I could see that Blizzard's interest had peaked. For a moment she shifted her attention inward, speaking with her inner voices. “But you can do better,” she finally said. “If you become empress, I want to become a queen.”

“A queen?” I repeated disbelieving.

“That’s what you already offered me in the first place, being your right claw, wasn’t it?” She tilted her head and raised her voice. “You do stand by your offers, don’t you?”

I was well aware that all attention was shifting to me now. My kirins as well as hers. Clever move of her, I had to admit. Either I agree to let her be queen in my empire, or, I would start as a word breaker right from the beginning.

I scratched the ground with a claw, trying to suppress my inner voices uproar. “Fine,” I spat out. “If I become empress, you can become a queen below me.”

My aunt released a disapproving snort at my side.

Bliz smiled widely. “It is settled then.” She started to giggle like a filly. “I think I can accept these terms.”

“Then come closer and bow before me so I can claim you,” I demanded sharply, still fighting my inner struggle.

“As you wish.” Not even my aggressive tone could swipe away Blizzard's triumphant smile. Slowly, she walked over to me and laid on the ground.

Finally, this was all over, I thought. I had managed to convince Blizzard to submit to me without my dream coming true. No dead friend today! I lowered my head to press it against hers when she suddenly jumped up again.

“Wait!” she yelled. “This deal only works if you successfully claim the throne! What if you don’t? What if you have to submit to somekirin else too?”

Enough was enough, forced by Roary’s anger I bounced forward and pushed Blizzard over, pinning her down on her back. “What do you want now?” I half roared, half growled in her face.

“Just a little addition,” she said, squirming under me, presenting her fangs. “If you don’t become empress, I still get whatever rank is right under yours.”

“A reasonable demand!” I roared. Obviously she didn’t demand something crazy or bold, just a kind of insurance if things go wrong for me while she’s following me. Still, I wasn’t really able to hold back my emotions while both fighting Roary and Calmly as well as knowing how much my aunt disapproved of all this. “I accept! Now, bow, down!”

Hesitantly, after I let her get up, she did.

I stretched out with my aura and pressed my forehead against hers.

***

“Well, that was something.” I reopened my eyes and took a step back. If Nimble’s mind could be described as well organized and his advisors bound to his will, Blizzard's mind was… more of a roller coaster.

“That was crazy!” Bliz yelled, her wings springing open before she embraced me in a hug. “Oh Fiery, I am so glad we didn’t fight over this!” Her hug got tighter. “I was sooo close to attacking you again! I am also very sorry for the punch!” She mustered my jaw. “Does it still hurt?”

“I’m fine,” I said, a bit confused about her dramatic change in mood. True, Nimble had immediately turned cuddly after I claimed him, but he hadn’t been that hostile to begin with.

“What a relief!” Bliz said before then picking me up. “Your new leader!” she shouted, presenting me to her merriment. And indeed, I could feel that they had been added to my merriment. Along with something… more.

A roar of agreement arose from my new subjects.

While I was enjoying the moment, Dad moved forward and approached me. Well, that was what I had thought, till he walked past me and into the crowd.

“Dad?” I wondered, but he ignored me, heading straight for Bliz’s parents.

“Your daughter hit mine!” He growled while looking down at them.

I faceclawed. Right… The fact that he still considered Bliz a child might have kept her safe from his wrath, but that meant said wrath was focused on her parents. I shouldn’t have been surprised since he’d done this back when I was in school whenever I had problems with a classmate.

“Put me down, quick!” I ordered Bliz before rushing towards her parents as soon as my hooves and claws touched the ground. “Dad, they didn’t have any control over their daughter when they were her subjects!”

“They are still responsible!” he growled, before hissing at them.

Both of Bliz’s parents cowered, lowering themselves to the ground since they knew how dangerous a dragon could be. Specifically, how dangerous my dad could be when Mom wasn’t around. Mom! Yes, that was the easy solution! I swiftly called out for my mom and the rest of the family.

And indeed, after the few seconds it took for her to arrive, and with only a little bit of purring, rubbing against him and a raised hoof along with some scolding for Bliz’s parents, Mom was able to calm Dad down before any harm could be done.

Bliz, however, used the time to either try to cuddle me or, when Night arrived, tried to pet him. A thing he gladly allowed. Though it didn’t last long. As soon as I finished telling Mom what had happened, as well as Illu, it was about time to try and save what we could of the camp and prepare the place for the night. 

“Listen up everykirin!” I hopped on one of the carriages. “Tonight there will be no fights about the hierarchy, we can decide about that tomorrow! It is getting late, and our… my new subjects need to set up their tents from scratch. So first come first serve for tonight! Get yourself a spot and build up your tent or carriage or whatever!”

“Uhm, Fiery?” Bliz piped up and approached my claws.

“What is it?”

Bliz blushed slightly. “We didn’t pack any tents or sleeping bags.”

“You didn’t…?” I looked at her, bewildered.

“Well, yeah,” she rubbed over her leg ashamed. “Seems I was a bit over enthusiastic to reach you or any other azure kirin.”

I faceclawed. “Alright,” I raised my voice to the crowd again. “Since my new subject didn’t bring any camping gear, we will have to host them for tonight. Whoever has a place in their tent will share it! And remember, no dominance fights tonight! You will act like good hosts, and you,” I addressed the newcomers, “will act like good guests!”

“I am happy to share your tent with you,” Bliz threw in with a happy smile from her place by my claws. “Just like a pajama party!”

I raised a claw and was going to object when Nimble approached. Of course, his approach didn’t go unnoticed by Bliz, nor was her presence a secret for him. Like two cats, both of them started to hiss and present their fangs to each other.

“You will not share the tent with our lady!” he proclaimed, and gave her a challenging roar.

“That is not for you to decide!” She replied in kind, flaring her wings and raising her tail warningly.

Quickly, they both started to circle each other, seeking an opportunity to attack.

“Stop it you two!” I roared and jumped down from my carriage, between them. “I said no hierarchy fights today!”

“That's exactly why I object to her sleeping in your tent, Mylady,” Nimble replied growling at Bliz. “She is in no position to claim such an honor!”

“Nor are you allowed to hinder me at it!” she matched his growl with her own.

“It’s a bad idea to allow our azure’s to remain ignorant of their place in our merriment,” Roary mentioned. “Let them fight this out, or they will surely cause tensions to rise and trouble to shortly follow!”

I just waited, knowing that Calmly would add her two cents in a moment.

“We should pick Blizzard Silence as our second in command,” Calmly suggested after a second. “Nimble will leave in the morning anyway.”

“Favoritism will not make our merriment the strongest one, though, in this case, I agree.”

I was baffled. These two agreeing on something?

“Nimble,” I pointed with my claw at him,” you will be below Bliz in the hierarchy.” I was going to explain why to him, but Roary as well as Calmly advised against it.

“But, Mylady!” He sunk to the ground and whimpered, unhappy. “I am far wiser and older than her!”

I growled and he dropped his gaze to the ground.

“A great choice!” Bliz cheered and rushed to me, rubbing her head against my chest and purring loudly. “I will not let you down!”

“Of course not,” I confirmed and started to pat her head, causing her to wave her tail like a flag.

“Still, sleeping in my tent…”

“...will be the best thing ever!” Bliz completed my sentence. She then laid down, tilting her head and changing the tone of her purring to a requesting one.

I had to smile while I rolled my eyes. “Okay, fine.” I started to scratch her between the ears. “If my parents allow it, you can sleep in our tent. But you have to ask them.”

“Whatever you say,” she bubbled while drool began to drip from her mouth as she started to pant lightly.

“Wha… are you alright?” I asked while lifting my claw.

“I am fine,” she purred as she raised her head to make contact with my claw again, encouraging me to scratch her again.

“Are you sure? You look kind of…” I pulled my claw back and stepped aside when the realization hit. “Bliz!”

Slowly, her eyes lost their glassy expression and she made an unhappy sound.

“No way are you sleeping in our tent if you’re going to behave so, so… just like that!”

“I’m not doing anything.” She shook her head and rose to her hooves, trying to rub her head against me.

“I said stop it!” I pushed her head aside and shooed her a few steps away. “What's gotten into you?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about? It just feels sooo good to cuddle you!”

“That’s my job,” Illu commented, stepping between us.

At least he wasn’t mad at her, like he was with every other stallion who dared to try and do that.

“Get yourself a stallion to cuddle, Bliz,” he said jokingly. “This mare is mine.” Calm or not, he still laid a wing possessively on my back. Could be because Nimble was nearby though.

“Don’t you worry, Illu,” Bliz blinked at him. “I will not steal her from you, just, borrow.”

“All mine,” he replied and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Sharing is caaaaring,” Bliz purred.

I laid a claw on my face.

“Fiery?”

I moved my attention away from Bliz and towards Wind Root. “Hmm?”

“I wanted to wish you a good night,” he said before lowering his head while making a requesting purr.

Quickly, I stopped Illu from pushing forward to confront Wind Root for his action. “He just wants some head pats. And,” I stepped forward and gave a meaningful nod to Illu, “I can also use this opportunity to tell him no more courting.” Turning away from my batfriend, I addresed the kirin before me. “Wind Root, you shall not court me anymore, understood?”

He whimpered unhappy and tilted his head while wiggling his tail left and right ever so slightly.

“I said no.”

Wind Root scratched the ground uneasily while shifting from one side to the other where he stood. His whimpering intensified.

“No. More. Courting.”

In defeat, he dropped his head and began releasing a quiet, sad purr.

“See,” I said to Illu, “no need to worry about it anymore.”

Illu still kept a close eye on Wind Root, but it seemed that for the time being, he was happy.

I extended my claw to pat Wind Root, when suddenly, Nimble stormed between us and started to growl at him. For a second I was tempted to put Nimble in his place, but I had the feeling it wouldn’t be right. Thinking about it, Nimble was an azure after all, and thus him getting pat first only made sence.

And I was quickly proven correct in my assumptions. After Wind Root quickly stepped back, Nimble turned to me and lowered his head to recieve the pats Wind Root had been so eager to get.

“Mylady,” he said when my claw touched his head, “I wish you a good night and will retreat to my cart for tonight.”

I nodded and ruffled his mane, an action which elicited a purr from him. “Alright, with that being covered, time for us to get some sleep too.” I obviously meant Illu and Bliz, but before we could go to my family’s tent, one after another, members of my merriment began rushing closer, purring requestingly in hopes of getting some head pats too, starting with Wind Root.

“Well, seems you’ll have to stay up a moment longer,” Bliz said.

*

A good while later, when I caught sight of my sleeping spot, a few blankets and pillows on top of a sleeping mat on the right side of the main area of the tent, I came to realize how tired I was. It had been a long day after all, rising early in the morning, traveling for several hours, fighting Nimble, all capped off with my claiming of Bliz. And that wasn’t even considering the banter I’d had with my brother and Dad. I was really looking forward to some sleep and cuddling.

“Where do you think you’re going, young stallion?” Mom’s voice pulled me out of my cozy thoughts. Illu was just standing in the entrance to our tent when Mom caught up to him. “You can sleep in the carriage!” The growl that lingered below her voice was clearly audible.

“Mom!” My sleepiness nearly forgotten, I rushed over to them.

“No way are you sleeping anyway near my daughter tonight!”

Illu, now knowing what would happen if Mom really got angry, hastily stepped back. “I… well I just thought…”

“No! Don’t you dare!” Mom growled.

“Mom! Leave him alone!” I pushed myself between them. “Please,” I added a little bit late.

“No means no, Fiery!” Mom stomped a hoof. Behind her, Night and Kindling snuck into the tent, followed by Dad, who stopped next to Mom, watching the situation.

“Mom, Illu is my batfriend! He can sleep in our tent!”

“He can’t because he is your batfriend!” Her voice became deeper and the growl in her throat came closer to the surface. “I very much remember what you two had been doing last night!”

“But…”

“No! You,” Mom’s hoof pointed at me, “in our tent. You,” her hoof flicked towards Illu, “in our carriage. And don’t you dare come close to our tent tonight!”

“Mom!” I tried to growl at her, but wasn’t able to. Perhaps to my benefit, since Dad was still watching.

“Listen to your Mom, Fiery,” Dad added. He didn’t growl or anything. He didn’t need to.

“It’s okay, Fiery,” Illu said carefully. “I don’t want any further trouble with your mom.” He laid a hoof on my cheek and gave me a goodnight kiss. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“No,” I tried to hold his hoof so he couldn’t go, but he gave me an apologetic smile and stepped back, towards the carriage.

“Dad!” I looked at him accusingly. “Do something!”

“I said no, Fiery,” Mom insisted.

Ignoring her, I approached Dad. “Dad!” I growled at him, knowing he was the only one able to overrule Mom.

“I share your opinion, but your Mom said no,” he replied.

“How would you react if someone forbid you from cuddling with Mom?”

“That is something quite a bit different,” Mom answered. I could read on Dad’s face though that he understood my point. “Your Dad and I are married and far older than you two.”

“That’s no reason not to allow me to cuddle with Illu!”

“It’s not the… “ Mom lowered her voice slightly, “cuddling I’m worried about.”

“But cuddling is what we want to do!”

“Not letting our daughter cuddle her batfriend is rather callous, Fluffy,” Dad seconded, rubbing his head against Mom’s back. “Cuddling is very important.”

“Don’t think I forgot your role in this either,” Mom held Dad’s gaze for a moment before turning to me again. “You can cuddle your Batfriend all day long on the carriage when we travel, now get in the tent.”

“No!”

Dad was quick to growl. Speaking up to mom was something he would not allow, nor was it something I would normally dare to do, but Illu was important!

“I want to cuddle with Illu!” I stomped a claw and growled challenging at Dad. “You wouldn’t act any different if it was about you cuddling Mom!”

“No, I wouldn’t. Still, you have to obey your Mom’s will,” he replied.

“But it makes no sense!” I yelled.

“Enough of this, Fiery!” Mom roared. “We will not argue about this!”

Once more, I tried to bring myself to growl, or even hiss at her, but wasn't able to. Well, if I couldn’t succeed with behaving like a dragon, it was time for stronger weapons! “I want to cuddle with my batfriend,” I mumbled silently and looked to the ground.

“Fiery…” Mom started, but I was faster, starting to sniffle loudly.

“Oh, don’t you dare!” Mom instantly knew what I was planning. She stretched a hoof out to hold me back, but I evaded and quickly started to sob.

“I want my Illu!” I pressed out, already sobbing, with my eyes beginning to get wet.

“You will not fake cry to force your will on us, Fiery!” Mom scolded me.

I increased my efforts anyway.

“Fiery, stop this!”

“I want my Illu!” Now I was ready and started to cry. Thick tears rolled down my cheeks and I supported my acting with gestures of despair. No one in their right mind would buy it, knowing this was all fake. However… for a dragon who was a father…

With a calming purring, Dad rushed to my side and started to lick over my head, trying to comfort his bornling. Logically, he very well knew what I was doing, but his pure instinct as a dragon dad left him no choice other than to care for his bornling.

“I want Illu,” I cried.

“Fiery, we all know you are faking this!” Mom yelled angrily.

Dad’s purring got louder as he laid a wing on me, doing what he could to comfort me.

“Big Softy!” Now Mom tried it from a different angle. “You know she is not really crying, she just wants to push her will on us!”

Lured by my crying, Nights head peeked out of the tent again. After just a moment of observing, he came over to purr at me as well.

“Not you too! Night back in the tent, and you,” she turned back to Dad who was already picking me up and placing me on his back. “Stop that! She is…”

She came no further. A warning growl from Dad reminded her that I and my brothers were one of the very, very few things that Dad would defend against even her if necessary. Maybe you remember the egg incident with Grünchen Dad told you about? Well, this was kind of a similar situation for Dad.

Under Dad’s purring and other acts of parenting and comforting, I mumbled that I wanted my Illu to cuddle over and over again, letting him know what needed to be done to make his bornling happy again.

It worked of course. After a short while, Dad stood up, walked over to our carriage, and picked up my surprised batfriend, dropping him on his back next to me. Before Illu could express his surprise about his behavior, Dad had already poked him with his snout into my waiting arms.

I made sure with happy purring that Dad knew he had done the right thing and his bornling was happy again. “Shh,” I laid a claw on Illu’s snout. “I will explain it to you later.”

On Dad’s back, under the grumpy eyes of my Mom, we made it into the tent.

“If you try anything funny tonight…” Mom hissed between gritted teeth. If a gaze could kill, Illu would have turned into dust on the spot.

“Don’t you worry Miss Do,” Bliz threw in as she entered the tent behind Mom. “I will keep a close eye on them for you.” Under her foreleg she carried a blanket, a pillow and on her back sat Sealgair, her pet kundeel, a meter long, multi-legged ferret with a head that looked like a fluffy little gecko. “I just saw your show, Fiery, well done!” 

“Thanks, I guess.”

Without further delay, as soon as Illu and I climbed off Dad’s back and sat on my bed, she approached us and started to arrange her bedsheets.

“You brought Seagail with you?” When I turned around, the little kundeel jumped off Bliz’s back to approach and sniff at me, earning her some pets on her lizard-like head. “I thought this journey would be far too dangerous so I left Grünchen at home.”

“You know I can’t let her be on her own for long,” she smiled, “she would starve or set the whole town on fire while chasing some mice around.”

Satisfied with the attention she’d gotten from me, Seagail quickly rushed over to Illu, and from him to Night. With her ten legs and long body, she kind of looked like a giant furred noodle as she did so. Just so you know, Seagail, like most creatures, loves warm places to sleep. So my brother or Dad were very much to her liking.

“Come back here, you little do-no-good,” Bliz giggled, and when Seagail did while releasing loud happy chittering, Bliz picked her up and placed her back on her back. “Let us settle in and we’ll have a warm and cozy sleeping spot ourselves.”

I moved a bit to the side and snuggled more intimately against Illu to give Bliz some more space.

“There we go,” Bliz said, spreading her blanket out and snuggling up to me, laying her wing around my side, happily purring.

“Hey!” I protested.

“Hmm?”

I shifted her wing off of me as well as pushed her backward. “Would you mind giving me a little space?”

“Oh… if you wish…” She did as I requested but started to whimper sadly.

I let the back of my head drop to the ground and stared at the ceiling in frustration.  “This can’t be true…” I mumbled to myself. “Arg, fine.” I squirmed a bit in my bed sheets and made sure a bit of the side of my belly was free from the blanket. “You can lay your head on my side if you want.”

Bliz didn’t need to be told twice. I’d barely ended my sentence before her head was already occupying the side of my belly. She purred in joy about being able to cuddle me. Meanwhile, Seagail wasted no time in securing her own sleeping spot, eventually finding a comfortable spot around her and my legs.

“I will never be able to sleep if she continues making so much noise,” Illu said after a moment.

I contorted my foreleg to grab Bliz’s snout. “Shh.”

The purring stopped.

In the meantime, the rest of my family had prepared their beddings, and it was time to say goodnight. Night was of course the first to gather his parental cuddles and walked over to Dad to rub his head against his chest, purring and getting some licks over his head and wounds. I was told that creatures not familiar with dragons have problems believing how much cuddling and displays of affection are shared between a dragon and his bornlings. Well, Mom could tell them, since as soon as Night was finished with cuddling Dad, his head found its way into Mom’s fluff and nearly tripped her over in the process. And when Mom opened her wings to steady herself, both Dad and Night snuck their heads below them to cuddle with her soft feathers.

Yes, Mom would never have to worry about Night growing out of the cuddle phase like Kindling had. Speaking of him, he neither wanted the good night kiss from Mom, nor was he really fond of the head rubs by Dad. He had learned to deal with them since Dad would make a huge fuss about it if he refused to let him purr at him. A dragon’s need to check on his bornlings was ingrained in them, and Dad wouldn’t be able to close an eye if he wasn’t sure my brothers and I were safe and well.

You can believe how much trouble that was for grandma and grandpa when we wanted to stay over the weekend without him and Mom, or worse, over the week. Dad was always clear about what would happen if one of us got hurt, and Mom told us that Dad was never able to really relax and was really boisterous when we weren’t around. 

But enough of that, now it was my time to get parental attention.

“Goodnight Dad,” I said and raised my head to exchange a head rub. Dad then took a closer look at Illu and Bliz to see if all the ‘kids’ were well.

“Sleep well,” Mom added, giving me a smile before fixing Illu with her gaze for a moment. I could feel how uncomfortable he was as he sank deeper into my embrace.

Before I could react to that though, Kindling spoke up from across the tent. “No, you have your own bed. Go sleep there.”

Unhappy grumbling by Night followed.

When I peaked over, I saw that Night had jumped onto Kindlings bedsheets and had tried to cuddle up to him.

“I don’t want to cuddle,” Kindling insisted. “You used me as a napkin today!”

“I just wanted to cuddle you,” Night replied, trying to sneak his head under Kindlings wing or in his fluff.

“Night, leave your brother alone,” Mom ordered before he could succeed though.

Night’s head sprung around to her and he made a sound close to a whimper before jumping off of Kindlings bedsheets to make his way over to Dad, purring requestingly. I was pretty sure that he would have been able to convince Kindling to cuddle with him like they normally did, but Mom had been too quick. 

“You know what your Mom would say to this,” Dad said and exchanged some cuddling with Night while purring.

“But we are not in the lair,” Night countered. “We are sleeping outside, and I don’t have my hoard with me either.” Then he got an idea and came over, purring questiongly at me.

“Sorry, Night, my bed is quite full already.” Normally, I wouldn’t mind him sleeping in my bed from time to time, but with Illu in it, my cuddle priorities were quite different. Also, I had not forgotten that he had stolen Autumn Blaze from me this morning…

Night whimpered unhappy and looked up to Dad.

Dad looked down at Mom but she shook her head.

“No,” he said, “but maybe your sister would be willing to share and let you have Blizzard to cuddle for tonight?”

I growled. Even if I was not so fond of having her sleep with her head on my belly, Night had already stolen one of my kirins from me today, so he wouldn’t get another one for free!

Night laid down on the ground and made unhappy bornling sounds, making Dad restless and uneasy. He swung his tail around, spread his wings and growled at no one in particular. Mom tried to calm him down, but it was pointless as long as Night was making such sounds next to him.

In the end, Dad had an idea. Quickly, he went out of the tent and was gone for several minutes, leaving Mom alone with Night to care for him. When he returned, he had Autumn Blaze grabbed by her mane in his snout along with what seemed to be her bed sheets. Under Mom’s accusing gaze, he dropped her onto Night's bed.

“Uhm, hello everyone,” she said. “Uhm, looks like I am going to sleep here tonight?” She threw an unsure look at Dad.

“Only if you want to,” Mom asserted before Dad could say something. She facehooved and sighed. “Night can’t sleep well under the current circumstances, and Big Softy seems to think that cuddling up next to you would help him.” Her tone became more accusitory towards Dad as she said this.

Night had no problem with adapting to the situation, and rushed over to purr at Autumn, welcoming her in our tent.

That was the moment I noticed Blitz's reaction to Autumn. Her ears had perked up and her tail had raised as well. Her face had also taken on this predatory expression.

It took me a moment to put two and two together. “Oh no,” I said quickly and pushed her head down. “Autumn belongs to my brother, she is not to be claimed.”

Bliz dropped her head back onto my side, but kept her gaze held longingly on Autumn with her ears stood erect.

“No,” I made clear once more and waited till Bliz returned to a relaxed position.

In the meantime, Autumn had started to rub over Night’s head, “Oh, uhm, well, if it helps, I’d be more than willing to help.”

Dad made a proud snort, sure that he had done the right thing again, while Mom just rolled her eyes.

“Fine,” she gave in. “Now let's get to sleep.”

“You can sleep the first half of the night, Fluffy,” Dad said. “I will take the first watch and wake you up for the second one.”

“What?” Mom lifted a hoof in confusion. “Why do you want to set up a watch? We are still near home and surrounded by Fiery’s merriment. There’s no need to set up a watch.”

“You never can be too careful,” he replied. “Her azure aura may attract other azure kirins. We must be prepared and careful.”

“Nonsense,” Mom waved off and tried to pull Dad to their bed. “Your sister will be out there for a few more hours anyway, watching everything. And all the kirins would alert us if something happened.”

“None of them would stop Fiery and Illu from sneaking out and doing something you wouldn’t be fond of,” Dad mentioned, seeking Mom’s gaze. “No Kirin would dare stand in her way, nor tell you. My sister also wouldn’t bother.”

Mom’s head sprung to me and then back to Dad. “A watch is a great idea!” she proclaimed. “I will take the first watch and you take the second one!” She gave Dad a kiss and stormed out of the tent.

Dad looked after her and purred in approval.

*
> Foreshadowed Fate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Godchild.” Fortuna’s voice drifted through my unconcious like a leaf in the wind. “Fiery. I expect your attention.”

“Aunty?” I rubbed my face and rose slightly from my bed sheets. “Aunty,” I looked around, “Aunty, where are you?”

In a chromatic ray, my godmother appeared before me.

“I am here,” she said, stretching out her wing in an inviting gesture. “There are a few things we need to speak about,” she continued while I rose completely and leaned in for the hug.

“What is it?” Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the light my godmother was emanating and I could see that we were alone in the tent. “And where is every creature?”

“They are still where you left them, sleeping in your tent.”

“So, I am…”

“Yes. I wanted to show you something, and the dream realm is best suited for that.”

“I see.” I replied, but couldn’t suppress a happy swing of my tail. “Did you see that I already claimed two other azure kirins, aunty? My friend Bliz and a guy called Nimble Prophecy. Did you see that?”

“I did notice,” my godmother nodded. “A good start for your adventure. Still, there are things you must be aware of.” She turned around and slowly approached the tent's exit. “Follow me on a walk.”

“Okay,” I rushed after her and matched my pace with hers. “Where are we… -My claw landed on a marble floor- “... going?”

Suddenly, the air was filled with a great deal of unfamiliar noises and smells. At a moment's notice, Fortuna had brought us to some kind of marketplace. And what a marketplace it was! As far as I could see, the place was filled with kirins of all colours and heritages. I saw horns, wings, and strangely enough, none without either of them. They were all happily chattering, singing and dancing in a language I didn’t know. I perked up my ears and listened. It definitely had a similarity to old draconic, there was a word here and there I knew, though, on the whole, it was different enough that I could only guess at what they meant. And while my nose was still trying to catch up with the new sensations this place was giving off, specifically the mix of spicy flavours in the air, Fortuna raised her voice.

“Welcome to Shakirin-La, my godchild.”

“Shakirin-La!” I spun around to face her and my jaw felt agape. With my eyes wide open, I once more let my gaze wander over the hundreds of kirins. “This, is Shakirin-La?” I burst out loud.

My godmother chuckled. “It was. A long time ago. What you see is how Shakirin-La used to be.” Her gaze darkened for a second. “In better times.”

“I don’t know what I should say!” Ignoring her last remark, I pranced around, taking in as much as I could. There was so much to learn and discover! What had their lives been like? Their culture, their songs and customs! This was my folk, my species in their glory days! Sure, I was aware of my parents heritage and what their folks were like, but this, this was my species’ capital!

“I expected you to get excited. So that proves I was right in choosing this location for our little walk.” She smiled. “Sometimes mortals are a little bit unpredictable.”

“This is fantastic, aunty!” I wized around her, unable to stand still for even a second. “We have to take the time for some sightseeing!”

“All in due time. Our walk will lead us through some of the most interesting spots anyway.” She slowly began to proceed through the capital, making her way through the mass of kirins. Despite the fact she was twice, perhaps even thrice the size of any other kirin, no one seemed to really pay her any mind. Everykirin seemed to just made room for her instinctually without even looking at her sometimes.

Fortuna noticed my confusion. “They are not able to see or hear us, they just feel the sudden urge to make room.

“Hmm,” I stopped every few steps to inspect the kirins we passed. There was an interesting stallion I passed that caught my eye. His coat and horn were in shades of green and yellow that reminded me of a grassy plain in summer. He was wearing a brown cloak that exposed his back scales and had a hole at its end for his tail.

“Is that paint?” I wondered aloud as I looked back at Fortuna.

“Yes, it is. But it is not permanent,” she explained. “It was part of their fashion to colour their back scales. The more artistic ones even drew pictures on them on a daily basis.”

“That looks awesome! But,” I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow, “doesn’t it get damaged when, you know, they get upset?” I stopped in my tracks and looked around at the sheer mass of kirins around us. “How do they handle that anyway? I mean,” I made a ‘poof’ gesture with my claws, “that.”

“The most common building material was stone in Shakirin-La, one of the benefits of living next to such a huge mountain. And the wood they use for the bridges was hard to ignite too. So setting the town on fire was not really a risk, though, sometimes a few things did get burned. However, the aqueduct was one of their best inventions and helped a lot in extinguishing developing fires.” Fortuna then pointed at a stone construct above us that ran over the whole marketplace and, as far as I could see, even further through the city. “The aqueduct ensures water is available at all times and all places.”

I looked up at this ‘aqueduct’. It was a series of stone arches on top of another series of arches. Though, I couldn’t see any water.

“And how does that work?” I asked.

My godmother smiled slightly. “If I am going to explain every little detail to you, we will never make it to our destination tonight.”

“I am just curious,” I replied with a mix of guilt and suppressed curiosity. “This is Shakirin-La after all! This is all so thrilling!”

“Well,” Fortuna kept her pace, but was generous enough to explain it to me anyway, “the water is on top of the aqueduct and flows through a channel. The water is brought all the way down from the top of the mountain or nearby hills into all the springs and pools around the city.”

“Woah!” I took another look at the aqueduct.

“There are also some trinkets that can prevent a kirin from turning nirik. An inverse version of the collar your mother once possessed.”

“That must be a great help for Shakirin-La’s society. How are those made?” I rushed back next to her. “Do you know how they’re made, Aunty? I’m sure if I could make some my merriment would have a lot fewer fights and problems in the future. You know,” I rubbed the back of my head, “tonight they nearly destroyed our campside.”

“You need magic to make them, Fiery.”

“Ohh, yeah, right.” I sighed.

“Also, it is far too complex to be made on the road, even if you had some stronger kirins with unicorn heritage.” She turned to the left. “This way.”

“That’s unfort… I mean that is impractical.” I followed her as she entered a stone tunnel. I only stopped at the entrance for a second to look at the letters that were carved into the light blue stones before I spoke on. “Well, maybe we will be able to create some after I claim the throne.”

“I am sure that would be possible. However, that is one of the things we need to speak about. Ares has taken interest in the throne himself.”

“Ares?”

“The god of war, the god that appeared in your dreams.” Fortuna looked back at me. “I thought you had figured out who he was already?”

“Oh, that guy.”

“He is not after you anymore, but he wants the throne of Shakirin-La in the hooves of his puppet. Therefore, he’s sent his own champion to claim the throne.”

A growl escaped my throat. “He can forget about that! The throne is mine!”

This statement brought about a raised eyebrow from my godmother. “We will see. It is important however that you decline any attempts at seduction by him, and not fall for any bargain with Ares. He already tried to bribe me and did so under false claims and assurances. He can’t be trusted.”

“Don’t worry, Aunty, I wasn’t interested in Ares and his offers in the first place!”

“It is not only about you anymore. I was able to discern Ares' true goals. He wants to control Shakirin-La to push them to war again, to return kirins to their old ways and serve him.”

“War? That is the last thing we need!” As I said this, we arrived at the exit of the tunnel. “We don’t even have the numbers for…” My gaze fell upon Shakrin-La, and I lost my train of thought. You thought the marketplace with hundreds of kirins was a lot? The tunnel we had passed through had apparently been bore through a small hill, and what I had thought to be a section of the city had merely been its outskirts. What was in front of me now was the actual city. 

Before me laid the dale of the mountain Shakirin-La was carved into. For miles, hills and cliffs spread across the landscape, all of them filled with houses and buildings of white stone, covered in a greenish plant that looked similar to ivy, but appeared to almost coil around these structures as though it was a kind of serpent. Every crevice in the stonewalls was either carved into a home or made into a pathway to connect said homes. There were even hundreds of wooden bridges hanging below me that served to further connect everything in the city.

“Every labyrinth would crumble in envy at seeing this!” I spat out before bursting forward to the corner where the road took a left turn and began descending into the dale. “How… ?“ I stopped, unable to find the words to properly express my astonishment as well as my excitement.

“The city grew over time, there was no planning. Mortals tend to be unaware of the effect time has on things. When the city was founded,” Fortuna pointed off into the distance, to the base of the mountain, “right over there, they didn’t spend much time thinking about where tens of thousand kirins were going to live. They only built a few threehouses and lived off of what they could hunt and find in this valley. For a few dozen kirins, that was enough. A few hundred years later, they had to improvise.”

“I was more wondering how they find their way through this maze? How do they sustain it? One could wander through this gorges for days without finding what they were looking for!”

“That is indeed the case,” Fortuna agreed and stepped next to me.

“And the amount of things they need,” I jumped onto a little wall that prevented travellers from falling down the slope, “the amount of food alone must be enormous! Not to mention all the other things, like the paint for the scales or whatever else they have down there! Where do they get those?”

“In the case of the food, that is easily answered. If you look a little closer at the top of the sidewalls of the gorges, you will see that they use them as fields for all kinds of vegetables. Their slaves work day and night there to produce a good amount of their daily needs. And the other…”

“Wait, slaves?” Sure Dad and Oma had mentioned once or twice before that the ihabitants of Shakrin-La used to have slaves, but it was quite different to be here and see it myself.

“It was quite common among mortals at the time. The concept of goods for gold alone didn‘t work out in such a society. The amount of work required to keep the city running far exceeded what could be put forth by those willing to put in the effort. Therefore, cheap workers were a must.” Fortuna nodded down into the dale and started to make her way down the pathway. “My knowledge of mortals points out that for a city or empire this big, either a certain level of magic or technology is required. Without it, more drastic solutions had to be used.”

“What do you mean by that?” I spread my wings and flew after her, hoovering next to her in the air, but keeping my gaze mostly on the city.”

“Slavery, war, plundering, all those things mortals tend to do. The more advanced a species is, the less need for those there is. Back in the days, when the concept of farming first occurred, you should have seen what it enabled the tribes of various species to do.”

“Farming?” With considerable effort, I tore my gaze from Shakirin-La and looked back at my godmother. “Sorry, what are you talking about?”

Fortuna stopped and took a moment to look at me. Tapping her hoof tip on the ground, she released a ‘hmm’. “The evolution and history of early tribes may be a bit above your head, I see.” She flicked her tail and moved forward again. “Well, let me put it in terms that will be easier for you to understand. Shakirin-La grew faster than its culture and the abilities of its leaders. They weren’t ready for a population of this size when they reached it. Say,” she suddenly seemed to change the topic, “do you remember the capital of your mothers folk?”

I landed next to her and matched her pace. “Canterlot?”

“Yes, Canterlot. Imagine that city without the use of advanced magic, like they used to form the rocks and build the platforms and houses, not to mention the waterfalls.” She waited a moment for me to place the picture in my mind. “And now remove the train station and teleportation spells that would allow you to bring supplies into it. Do you think it would be a good place to build a city at?”

“If you word it that way, am I supposed to say no?” I tilted my head and gave her a doubtful look.

“Anything bigger than a campside would be a nightmare for you mortals. You would have to carry any food you’d need into those mountains, as well as everything else required for setting up the camp to begin with. The constant supply of firewood or water you’d need to bring in would also be a problem. Mortals would quickly leave due to the effort it would take to simply make it habitable. Or,” she gestured at all of Shakirin-La with her wing, “would force others to do it.”

“I don’t think ponies would do that. My mothers species is too friendly for that. More likely they would befriend some creatures to help them.”

“History tells a different story,” Fortuna replied. “Ponies also had to take some time to get to where they are now in regarding their social norms.”

“What do you mean by that? The ponies I met were always friendly to me. And Kirins have even started to immigrate to Equestria, like all kinds of different species. Ponies are trying really hard to be nice to every creature, even those dragons from the east, despite how strange they are.”

“Modern day ponies, yes. They had some struggles back in the days though. Unicorns, pegasi and earth-ponies didn’t get along so well when this all started. Strangely enough, this didn’t happen for the different kinds of kirins. Runehorns and Luftirins never had a problem with each other, and the few Scalins that were born never caused any problems.”

“Mom never told me about the problems between the different kinds of ponies. I always thought they’d always lived together peacefully.” I took a moment to take a closer look at some kirins we passed. “I can figure out what a runehorn is, I mean, kirin horns do look a little like they were marked with runes compared to unicorns. But Luftrins and scalins? Who is who?”

“Lufti, with an extra i, also, Luft is the old word for air.”

“So luftirins is the name for kirins like me?” I thought about it for a moment and repeated the name a few times and let it roll off my tongue. “That… sounds kind of nice. I could get used to that.” I looked back at Fortuna. “And scalins is a reference to scales I assume? So without wings and horns, it’s just scales that make them special?”

Fortuna just shrugged. “They like it that way.”

“Well, I am sure I can find something better as soon as I am empress!”

“Perhaps you will, perhaps you will not. There surely will be more important things to do if you claim the throne.”

“You sound like you have some doubts about it, Aunty.”

“The future is not yet written. More so with how many gods and goddesses are taking interest in this matter. I do have faith in you though, Fiery. You have a good chance to gain the throne.”

“And I have the most luck,” I added with a smile and rubbed my side against Fortuna’s belly. 

“And you have the most luck out of the contenders, yes,” Fortuna smiled. “Anyhow, you will have to be careful and give it your best to have a chance at claiming the throne.”

“I sure will!”

Fortuna just nodded and focused back on the way down the slope, while I turned back to inspect this ancient town further. With us getting nearer to the bottom, I was able to see what my godmother had been talking about. Several gryphons, minotaurs and some species I didn't know were working on the fields above the gorges, guarded by a few kirins nearby. I have to say, the sight gave me mixed feelings. On the one claw, having other weaker beings do the work for you is kind of appealing, and fit quite well with how my dragon heritage wants things to be. On the other claw, forcing somecreature to do all the stuff I didn’t want to, it seemed wrong.

And of course, it was totally different from my ability to order my merriment around!

While I was looking at these poor creatures, another thought crossed my mind. “Aunty, why don’t we see any dragons here? Oma said dragons had a lot to do with Shakirin-La in the past, but there don’t seem to be any dragons around at all.”

“There are dragons in Shakirin-La,” Fortuna replied. “Though, not as many as your father’s mother think there were. The ones who are here mostly lay in the steam caves around the city. Caves carved into the sides of the gorges and filled with water from the aqueduct by slaves and boiled using fires below the pools. Dragons and kirins alike love to relax in those caves on the hot stones. It can be seen as a form of early sauna if you like.” She paused for a moment. “And of course, they are also used for funtimes now and then. Dragons and kirins tend to get naughty on occasion.”

I raised my head in bewilderment. “Aren’t those caves public places? I mean, you know…”

“Mortals weren’t so prudish back in the days. A thing Aphrodite doesn't get tired of mentioning. You should have heard how she scolded your parents when they were not having sex right after they left my temple.”

“Yeah, I think we can skip that topic, right?” I gave her an innocent smile.

“If I didn’t know how frisky you got with your batfriend, I would have thought you’d taken after your mom in that regard.”

“Don’t worry, I’m just not so found of hearing about the sex life of my parents more often than I have to. Dad tells that story every now and then, so I am quite familiar with how it goes. That and the role dea ex fructices had on their life.”

“I see. Well, if you are not interested in that topic, we can continue on our way to the main square.”

*

There I stood on the marble ground of the main square, staring at the statue of one of the ancient emperors of Shakirin-La. It was not the crown, decorated with golden feathers, nor the cloak, adorned with carved pictures of his greatest accomplishments that caught my interest, or better said, not only that.

“He was quite well equipped, I would say,” I mentioned after a while.

 *

“Yes, he was quite gifted. His seventeen wifes were quite happy with him,” Fortuna explained. “And his concubines too, at least from what I’ve heard.”

“Kirins do spend a lot of time thinking about details when creating these statues, don’t they?”

“They certainly did. The emperors and empresses were quite proud of what they had, and were more than willing to display it. If you look at empress Morning Chill over there for example,” my gaze followed her hoof, “you see her in a passionate hug with one of her twenty husbands. And along the way, you will also find some statues with her and one of her cicisbeos in different positions.”

I nodded while a little giggle crawled up my throat. “Exactly the missing influence of our dragon heritage that Autumn Blaze always talked about wanting for the little village back home.”

“Aphrodite would surely agree on that. However, that is not what we came here for.” Fortuna smiled, turning back to the road and continuing her walk in a slow but steady manner. “Shakirin-La has more to offer than just its precious artwork. The wisdom this place holds is remarkable by mortal standards. You should try to get a claw on it if you have the chance.”

“With my level of luck, that’ll surely be possible,” I replied with a wink.

“Luck will be of use, indeed,” Fortuna agreed. “But there are limits set by the rules of the gods, as you know. I can’t just bathe you in good luck and drop you next to the throne, you have to do your part.”

“I will do my best.”

“I know you will, and I already planned to help you with that.” She pointed with her snout ahead to one of the taller buildings. “It is time for you to visit me at my place for a change.”

“Your place?” I looked at the building ahead. It was made from white marble like most of the buildings around here, and was shaped like a box with several pillars on top of it holding up a dome. Though, instead of the Kurvenglühchen that covered everything else in Shakirin-La, as I learned this green, ivy-like, spicy smelling plant was called, this one was decorated with something that looked like hydrangeas, in shades of green and blue, as well as a few orchids here and there around the entrance and the top of the dome. The very top of the dome, however, was covered in four-leaf clovers. 

“You mean, this is one of your temples?” I flew up a bit and clapped my claws together. “We are going to see one of your bigger temples from the inside?”

“Yes.”

“Woo-hoo!” I had never seen one of my godmother's temples before, so I think my excitement was understandable. Well, yeah, I had seen some small shrines made for worshipping her, but never a real temple. 

“I am so excited! How did you furnish it?” I flew around her and babbled one question after another. “Do you have priests? What about the Fountain? It surely has a great Fountain, right? And when it comes to worshipping you, how is that generally handled?”

“You will see. Yes. Yes. And you will also see that,” Fortuna replied patiently.

“Awesome!”

Way too slowly for my taste, we made our way over to her temple. When we finally arrived, the huge fontain at the entrance was hard to miss. In the centre stood a statue of a kirin, emptying a vase into the basin of the fountain. The liquid was the colour of gold, so it was either because of some magical effect, or maybe… honey? Given how the water in the basin was reflecting the sunlight and dispersing its light to all the colours of the rainbow, honey didn’t seem as likely. Seeing this, I was convinced that magic was the cause, either from my godmother, or from the architects of the fountain. At the bottom of the basin lay dozens, if not hundreds, of golden coins, possibly thrown in there by the visitors of the temple who sought good luck.

With a content smile, Fortuna came up beside me and threw a look at the fountain. “I always enjoy the sight of it. So many good memories.”

“And it looks amazing!” I nodded before sticking my claw into it. Slowly, the chromatic water fell from my claw and back into the fountain’s basin, sadly, without colouring my claw. “I wonder how it tastes,” and with these words, I licked one of the drops. Surprisingly, it only tasted like normal water.

“You can’t fill a jar that is already full, my godchild.”

“Hmm?”

“Drinking from a fountain of luck will not really affect you anymore.”

“Ohh,” I looked back at the pond at the base of the fountain. “Yeah, makes sense.”

“Let us head inside.”

My gaze wandered to the entrance of the temple. It was a huge door guarded by two kirins in shimmering armour, and engraved on the door was the sign of Fortuna, goddess of luck, a rainbow over a golden horseshoe, surrounded by little four clover leaves. An engraving that also adorned the chest plates of the two kirins.

“Oh, those must be your guards, right?” I shook my claw free of the remaining water and trotted over, with the gaze of the two kirins following my steps. At first I didn’t think anything of it, but then I remembered that they weren’t supposed to be able to see me. “Uhm, Aunty? Shouldn’t they not be seeing me?”

“Why should I hide you from my own luck knights?” Fortuna asked as she approached them. The moment she allowed them to see her as well was quite obvious. Instantly, both of them dropped to the ground, lowered their gaze, and began speaking in the strange language I had heard in the marketplace.

Generously, Fortuna stretched out a hoof and patted one of the guard’s heads. “Sweet Ocean,” she said. “I am content with your service, keep acting as you do.”

A loud purr of pride could be heard after this.

Fortuna proceeded into her temple, but hesitated when she saw my confusion. “You do not speak the language of the kirins of old, do you?”

“I never had the chance to learn it,” I replied.

“Seems we need to do something about that.” Fortuna raised her hoof and a wave of echoes and whispers arose around me. Indistinct chattering interspersed with some familiar words reached my ears. However, as quickly as it had arisen, it was gone again.

“What was that?”

“The blessing of our dear Goddess,” the guard, Sweet Ocean, said to me.

My head spun around to him. “I can understand you now!”

“That was the plan,” Fortuna said before moving on.

I quickly trotted after her, but noticed how the other kirin threw a timid glance at her. Probably having hoped for head pats too.

“Aunty, what about your other knight?” I asked while rushing behind her.

“Blossom Wilt has recently managed to stop gambling.”

“Oh, uhm, isn’t that good?”

“It's not right for a follower of mine to not gamble!”

I stopped in my tracks for a second. “That… makes sense I think. Hmm, I never thought about that before. You never encouraged me to gamble though?”

“I never had a godchild before. I think there should be a difference between a familial relationship and a mere follower. My followers want something from me, therefore, have to follow my will and please me with their actions. You, however, are just you, my godchild. You do not need to prove yourself worthy to me.” She looked back at me. “That doesn’t mean I can’t show my disapproval if your behaviour differs too much from what I decide is right.”

“You mean from fulfilling my part of the great game.”

“For example.”

As we spoke, we made our way into the main room of the temple, and I had to stop in my tracks for a second time. Many things caught my attention, like the numerous springs throughout the room, the floating clovers, the kirins that stood or sat in small groups playing dice or cards, and the smell of… freshness, for lack of a better word. 

What stood out most though were two things. First off, a giant, perhaps wooden wheel at the back of the room. I knew my godmother had a wheel to determine one's luck, that was common knowledge, but still, this one was huge, at least twice Dad's size, and was marked along its entire circumference with symbols, possibly representing what would happen if you landed on them. Spinning it would surely be a challenge! 

The second was the long, floating noodle with light-blue fur next to it, doing its best to keep it spinning.

“Welcome, Fiery,” Fortuna said after a while, allowing me to just stand there and take in my surroundings. “Welcome to my temple in Shakirin-La.”

I shook my head to dispel my astonishment. “Oh, well, thank you!” I stepped forward and next to her. “This is not exactly what I had in mind when I imagined your temples, though, it looks kind of nice!”

“Kind of nice?” With a smile Fortuna raised an eyebrow. “I can’t let my godchild remember her first entrance into one of my main temples as just ‘kind of nice’, can I?” She stepped forward, and from her hooves spread light and an array of colours, turning the water in the springs to a golden liquid that emitted a light reminiscent of a sunrise, illuminating the now growing tendrils of clover all over the place. When finally it dimmered down, along with the now strong scent of clover, the smell of orchid and topaz filled the air, harmonising well with the butterflies and little birds that flew around chirping.

Watching my gaze with my mouth hanging agape, Fortuna smiled. “That's better.”

“My goddess!” With a scream of joy just louder than the uproar of astonishment and excitement Fortuna’s display had caused, the flying noodle made her way over to us. Though, while she flew, she looked more like a snake with how her body waved in the air. That was even more surprising since the noodle didn't have any wings! I mean, sure, I know about creatures or even objects using magic to fly, but to see it with my own eyes, more so on this level, was a different story though. Well, to add a bit to my bewilderment, she was not only flying, she was also dragging a little rainbow behind her which vanished as quickly as it emerged from her fluffy tail tip. “My goddess,” the noodle yelled once more when she landed in front of Fortuna and lowered herself to the ground. “You honour us all with your presence! Is there any way I can be of service?”

“Rejinra, high priest of my temple in Shakirin-La,” Fortuna introduced her.

“Your high priestess is a flying noo…”

“Luck Dragon,” Fortuna interrupted me strictly. “She is a luck dragon.” She then turned back to said luck dragon. “Rise, Rejinra.”

Her high priestess did as she was told, and suddenly, I had to look up at her. Standing on her hind legs, with the rest of her body vertical, she had to have been five-metres tall, if not more. Even Fortuna had to look up now.

“They don’t like to be called noodles, Fiery. Rejinra has led my temple for sixty-nine years now and deserves some respect.”

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to annoy you,” I said. “Fiery leadership,” I added, and extended a claw.

“Rejinra,” the luck dragoness replied, leaned down, and shook my claw with hers. “Welcome to the temple of Fortuna.”

“Thanks,” I said while her smell reached my nose. It reminded me of the outside of our lair after a storm. Fresh and clean, but with a hint of moisture.

“I brought Fiery here so you could tell her a little bit about what it means to be a priestess of mine, Rejinra.”

“Oh, you are interested in becoming a priestess of our beloved goddess? What a wonderful idea!”

“Not exactly,” I shook my head.

“Oh?” Rejinra exchanged a quick look with Fortuna. “Well, anyway, uhm, being a priestess of Fortuna is as much a blessing as it is a serious duty. Our goddess grants us a considerable amount of luck and good fortune. In return, we guide her followers and those who want to become…”

“I meant your abilities as my priestess,” Fortuna clarified.

“Oh, yes, of course,” Rejinra hastily nodded. “As a priestess of our goddess, you are granted the ability to influence the manifestation of luck in the world. Be it to grant some as well as to strip somecreature of it.” She pulled a little golden sceptre out of her furr and waved it in the air. “Luck or misfortune, expressed exactly as our goddess wills it to be.”

“That is surely something,” I nodded, though, my gaze wandered to Fortuna, “isn’t that what one would expect?”

“Listen carefully,” she replied.

“Also, there is the fact that you are granted a great deal of luck,” Rejinra added. “Practically no one will ever be able to beat you in a game of chance.” She smiled and fetched some dice out of her furr. For a moment, I wondered what else she might have in there, but she quickly offered them to me. “No one except another follower of our goddess of course. Let me show you.”

I took the dice and examined them. They were three simple six-sided ones.

“Let us gamble! Highest role wins.” She looked me over. “Do you have anything to wager?”

“Actually…”

“Here,” Fortuna said and gave me a few fortune cookies.

… this,” I ended my sentence and held the fortune cookies up.

“Perfect,” Rejinra smiled. “I bet my scepter against your fortune cookies.”

“Your scepter? That's worth way more than my cookies!” I threw a glance at Fortuna, but she seemed to be perfectly fine with this gambling.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rejinra said with a wink. “You will lose anyway and we will share the cookies.”

“If you say so.”

In the meantime, more and more visitors to the temple had gathered near us, making themselves comfortable on the ground.

“Just throw the dice,” Rejinra requested.

“Okay…”

I threw them and they rolled across the floor. 

Four, three, six.

“Not bad at all,” the high priestess said. “Now let me show you what a blessing of our goddess can do.” She bowed before Fortuna and threw the dice. “You know,” she said without even watching them, “it is no dishonour to lose against the high priestess of our goddess.” She stretched her claw out to demand my cookies when a murmur spread across the crowd. “Hmm?” she wondered, and her gaze shifted over to the dice.

One, one, one. The lowest possible roll.

“I think I have an idea,” I giggled, closed her jaw with my wingtip, and rubbing my head thankfully against my godmother.

“Who are you?” Rejinra inquired, desperately wanting to know as she hesitantly offered me her, I mean my, sceptre.

Before I could answer, Fortuna leaned forward, sealed my lips with her wing, and whispered into Rejinra’s ear.

“You are what!?” Rejinra’s fur became stiff and she flew several metres in the air.

The slightest sign of Fortuna’s displeasure quickly brought her back to her senses though. “My goddess,” she said, and bowed deeply as soon as her claws touched the ground again.

“That knowledge is not meant for other creatures to know, yet.”

“As my goddess wishes.”

“Good. Fiery,” Fortuna addressed me. “There is one more thing I want to show you.” With these words, she made her way over to the huge wheel I mentioned when we entered her temple.

“This is one of my wheels of fortune,” she explained. “Whoever spins it will change their luck. Be it for the better, or for the worse. Don’t!” she yelled, and stopped my claw when I tried to touch it. “Not even I can change what is set once the wheel has been turned. You should never try to spin it yourself, but there might come the time when you will want others to turn it.”

“Why would I do that? It doesn’t look like all the possible outcomes are positive.” I pointed at the symbol of a skull. “Looks pretty risky to me.”

“Risky, yes. But it still may be of use.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You will see.”

“Aunty.”

“You know there are rules, Fiery. Don’t worry about things you can’t change just yet.”

“Okay, fine.” I let my gaze wander over the wheel once more. “Aunty?”

“Yes?”

“What did you really bring me here for? I love that I got to see your temple, and more so Shakirin-La, it is amazing! Still, in the last eighteen years, you’ve never invited me over to one of your places, why now?”

“You’ve just learned some very useful information and won a very special item.”

I turned the scepter in my claw. “It surely is special, changing some creature’s luck is a powerful ability, and will surely help me claim the throne. Though, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with the wisdom of what your temple looks like or what your high priestess can do. You already granted me your blessing.”

“The scepter will not be able to follow you into the waking world, Fiery. Better you leave it here, in good claws, keeping it safe for you.”

I deflated a bit after hearing I wasn’t even able to take it with me.

“As for the information you gathered, you will see in due time. Keep them well in mind, you will have use for them later.”

“Hmm,” I turned the scepter in my claw, “I shall do that then.”

“Rejinra,” Fortuna called out. In but a moment, the luck dragoness appeared by our side and my godmother threw a meaningful look at my scepter. 

After putting two and two together, I asked,” Would you please keep an eye on this for me? I am afraid I can’t take it with me right now.”

“I can surely do that,” Rejinra replied as she took it. “It shall be ready for you as soon as you return to retrieve it.”

“And everything went as it should,” Fortuna judged mysteriously. “Now we…” she raised a claw, “one moment.” Her gaze drifted into the distance for a while, far beyond her own temple. “Come in,” she finally said when her gaze returned to the here and now.

“Fortuna,” Aphrodite happily said with a nod after she and another kirin mare appeared out of thin air. “Good news!” She raised her hoof and some kind of bubble surrounded all five of us. “I found a worthy contestant for myself! So I am able to send somekirin for the great game too! Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Why is that good news?” Fortuna wondered, while I was shocked. Of all the gods, Aphrodite was the one I least suspected to challenge me and my godmother for the throne!

“How could you do that, Aphrodite!” I yelled in outrage. “I thought you were on our side!” My gaze landed on the mare she had brought with her, and a growl formed in my throat.

“But we are on the same side, little one,” the goddess replied cheerfully. “And this is not him, this is my priestess, Impulsive Temptation. No need to growl, she is not an azure.” Said priestess bowed before Fortuna and nodded to me and Rejina, which also allowed me to see her green backscales. “Also, that's why I am here! So we can team up!” Her gaze returned to Fortuna. “Isn’t that great? You and me, together, sending our favourites out to claim the throne! Your godchild and my chosen one, his name is Lively Stasis by the way, teaming up, claiming the throne together!”

“I told you that isn’t going to work, my godchild will not be interested,” Fortuna replied flatly.

Waving off Fortunas objections, Aphrodite went on. “Ahh, nonsense. Your godchild needs a kirin stallion anyway, and she can keep her batpony friend as a side stallion. Lively Stasis will not object, more so with his own harem of mares to pleasure him.”

“What?!” I could feel my back already heating up. “You want to pair me up with your favourite? And you’re encouraging us to have side affairs too! Have you lost your mind? No way!”

“I don’t know where your problem lies, Fiery. If you are going to be an empress, you’re going to need kirin children anyway. Otherwise, who would take the throne once you’re gone? It would be a waste of time and effort to claim the throne just to let one of your rivals have it after you’re gone.”

“If, I have children with Illu, they will take the throne after me, no matter their species!”

“And how do you think that is going to work? Only true kirins can use the mental connection, not to mention have the ability to use their azure heritage. Your children would be part batpony, they would not be able to lead the kirins. And having a harem or side affairs is a tradition of the empresses and emperors anyway.”

Now I was speechless. With an open jaw and sparkles coming off my back, I stood there, mentally working through what Aprodite had said.

“My godchild is still young, even by mortal standards. One problem at a time.”

“You knew about this?” My gaze shot towards Fortuna. “You knew my and Illu’s possible children couldn’t lead the kirins?”

“I was aware of the possible complications, yes.”

I groaned in anger and frustration. “Can’t you just use your goddess powers and arrange something?”

Fortuna raised an eyebrow.

“I mean,” I slowly exhaled, “please.”

“That is forbidden,” Aphrodite threw in. “Claiming the throne is a core objective in the great game. No divine intervention of that scale is allowed. If you die without pure kirin progeny, some other god or goddess may place their favourite on the throne and receive the points.” She shrugged and smiled apologetically. “The rules are the rules.”

“Indeed,” Fortuna agreed. “I can do a little bit here and there, but using my influence to allow you to have pure kirin progeny with your batfriend is forbidden.” She raised her claw to suppress my protest. “It’s the same reason why Ares isn’t fighting you and the other azure kirins directly to set his champion on the throne.”

“Great!” I raised my claws to the ceiling and shook them angrily. “And what am I supposed to do now?”

“Like I said, one problem at a time,” Fortuna said. “We can deal with that problem later. For now,” she looked back at Aphrodite, “a non-aggression pact seems to be the best option.”

“Not really what I had in mind, though, it may work out for now. You really should speak with your godchild about polygamy and its advantages. She is a kirin after all.”

“And you should pay more attention to the developments in the mortal worlds in matters of social standards. Anyway, so we agree that there shall be no claiming or other attacks between our favourites on the way to the throne?”

Aprodite nodded. “Sounds good to me, though, we could’ve had an even better agreement. Till they reach the mountain, they are friends. After that, you may reconsider my offer, or things may get complicated.”

“Deal,” Fortuna nodded.

“Deal,” Aphrodite also nodded.

A loud whipping sound, followed by a cry of pain from Impulsive Temptation caught everyone's attention. She was standing next to Rejinra, and we watched as she rapidly pulled back her foreleg from the luck dragon and began rubbing her pastern. Given she was a priestess of Aphrodite, it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened.

“Seems I am not the only one whose offer got rejected,” Aphrodite said giggling. “Be it as it may, we should be going. Fortuna,” Aphrodite nodded and stepped next to her priestess. A second later, both were gone.

“Just so you know, accepting her offer would immediately solve a lot of problems.”

“Aunty!”

“Not every mortal gets the opportunity to receive support from two goddesses and the chance to become the leader of their species too. In the old days, creatures sacrificed their firstborn to get even a splitter of such a chance.”

“But we are no longer in the old times! I never asked for any of this! I love Illu and want to keep him!”

“No one said you had to discard him, just that you would get an additional husband for the sake of the empire. Also, this was a thing most rulers had to do, sacrifice something for the greater good of their kingdom or empire.”

“Not Illu!”

“You are being offered the support of two goddesses, a marriage that will gift you with kirin progeny, and the chance to create your own empire. The entire continent would lay in your claws, if not more. You should at least consider the opportunity, even if Aphrodite didn’t really display much care regarding how she presented it to you.”

“Excuse me, my goddess,” Rejinra said quietly before I could respond. She looked at the bubble once more before continuing. “Speaking of creating an empire and ruling the continent… does that mean something is happening to the kirin empire?”

Oh right, she probably doesn’t know about the fate of Shakirin-La! A feeling of compassion replaced part of my anger as my gaze remained on her for a moment.

“You have nothing to fear, Rejinra,” Fortuna said. “The events that are to come lay hundreds of years in the future from your place in time. But yes, one day, the kirin empire will need to be rebuilt. And it is my will that my godchild will do the task.” Fortunas gaze switched to me. “But this is enough for one night, Fiery. We shall discuss this another time.”

She snapped with a hoof, and in a loud ‘puff’, I was gone.”
> Family, Luck And Dragons
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I had expected to be thoroughly awoken when my Godmother sent me back so abruptly. Instead, my mind was ever so slowly returned from the dreamrealm and back into my body. As I was coming back to consciousness, I barely noticed something nibbling on my wings, or more precisely, on my feathers. With a smile, half ruined by a yawn and a purr, I stretched out my claw to stroke over Illu’s head and encourage him to continue with the preening.

Only to sense that it wasn’t Illu when my claw landed on a lionlike mane.

“Bliz!” I jumped to my hooves and spread my wings, pushing her aside. “What are you doing?” My head spun, around searching for my batfriend. “And where is Illu?”

“She is just a good servant and helping us start the day,” Roary said.

“And Illu should not be far away,” Calmly added the same moment Bliz replied.

“Illu is in your carriage,” Bliz said as she tried to get close to me again. “Your mom's snoring was far too loud for him to sleep.” She made attempts to continue her preening, with her mouth already half-way open, but I pushed her away.

“Stop that.” I shook my head to get rid of the last remnants of sleep on my mind. That was the moment the memory of my dream came back to me with full force. It was at this moment that I also realised that Roary and Calmly hadn’t been around during it, though that was an issue I could address later. “Bliz!” I grabbed her head with both claws while my wings spread open even further. “I saw Shakirin-La! Fortuna showed me the ancient capital of our species!”

“No way!” Her hooves found their way onto my claws and her eyes widened. “You couldn’t have seen Shakirin-La!”

“I did! I did see it! The ancient town, not the ruins, the actual town! Bliz! Fortuna showed it to me, and not the ruins of today, but the whole living town back in the days! I was even able to speak with the kirins from back then!”

“You have to tell me all about it!”

“Of course I will!”

“Wait,” Mom suddenly piped up before she yawned and struggled with her blanket. “Fortuna took you to Shakirin-La?”

“Well, kind of. She visited my dreams, and in them, we went to Shakirin-La! It was sooooo awesome! Though it seems I have to deal with Aphrodite now, in addition to Ares!” I groaned at the memory. “We sort of have an agreement with Aphrodite for the time being though.”

“Hold on, one thing at a time,” Mom rose from her bed sheets and trotted over. “What do you mean we have an agreement with Aphrodite now? She was involved in bringing me and your dad together. I thought she was on our side?”

“It seems like more and more gods and goddesses are taking an interest in Shakirin-La, and those who can are sending their own contestants,” I explained. “Aphrodite made it sound like it’s all just kind of a board game for them. And this agreement is more a non-aggression pact till we arrive at Shakirin-La.”

“And once we are there?” Bliz wanted to know.

“Things get complicated.”

“Great,” Mom said in exasperation as she raised her hooves. “I should have a word with your godmother, she is supposed to keep her fellow goddesses in check.”

“I don’t think she has much influence on Aphrodite in that regard. I tried to convince her to use her control of luck to help me out, but she refused due to the rules.”

“From what we know about her,” my dragon brother mumbled from his spot, with his head still lying comfortably on Autumn's back, “there should be a way to negotiate with her. She probably only wants some fertility rites or something along those lines in the new empire.”

“Doesn’t sound so inconvenient,” Bliz mentioned as she tried to rub her head against me once more.

I slapped her with my wing. “As if it was that easy. Though, ancient Shakirin-La was very much to her liking. Kirins in those days were very naughty, even more than Dad!”

“I kind of doubt that,” Mom said with a smile. “Still, you should tell us about the city, it may come in hoofy to know. Along with everything else that happened in your dream adventure.”

My gaze wandered to Kindling, who was laying on his back with all his limbs stretched out and was doing his best to follow in Mom’s hoofsteps with his snoring. “We will have to wake up every creature first.”

*

… and that is how I ended up in a non-claiming pact with Aphrodite,” I said before sitting back down next to the campfire and waiting for every creature to process what I’d just told them. And by every creature, I mean my family, Bliz, who was laying next to me, Autumn, who occupied a pillow next to my brother Nightflame, as well as Nimble.

“Could have turned out worse,” Roary judged. “We may be able to overthrow Ares with the help of Fortuna, though we should avoid fighting several chosen ones at the same time.”

“And like your brother said, we should be able to negotiate with Aphrodite,” Calmly added.

“Seems everyone wants to get their hooves on my marefriend,” Illu complained as he wrapped his wing around me. “Mine,” he shouted to the skies while shaking a hoof angrily.

“That is how alliances are forged,” Schimmernde Morgenröte nodded. “You are for fun and love, while a marriage is for securing one's standing and social position. My niece shouldn’t pass on such an opportunity to calm your feelings.”

Quickly, I grabbed Illu’s snout and shook my head to signal for him to be silent. “Let my aunt voice her opinion, I don’t share it,” I whispered. “It’s bad enough already that Mom wants your head, don’t get on my aunt's list too, please.” I saw the anger in his eyes and tried to calm him down with a kiss on the cheek.

“It is for Fiery to decide which offers she accepts and which she refuses, not Fortuna nor Aphrodite,” Dad said and rubbed his nose over Mom's back. “Mom wasn’t happy with my decision at first either,” he told his sister, “though now she is approving of it. You can never know what possible gain there is when choosing a mate beforeclaw. Fiery may be better off with Illu than with any god or chosen one. Politically speaking, Fluffy wasn’t the most promising mate at first, but she turned out to be the best mate in the world.” He stopped cuddling with her for a second and looked at his sister. “Keep that in mind when your time comes to decide on a mate. Politics be as they may, you can never know where exactly choosing a mate will lead you.”

“I know exactly where my choice will lead me,” Night threw in. “To a lot of fluff and the throne of a kingdom. I will even surpass your choice, Dad,” he added with a raised head.

“I told you that a princesses of Equestria may be a good choice, but not better than your mom.”

“I’ll decide on that once I get to test the softness of their huge wings,” Night retorted.

“They lack the chest fluff,” Dad snorted disapprovingly. “It is clear that they are inferior to Fluffy!”

With a lenient headshake, Mom rubbed over Dad's side. “You still have a few years to decide on that, Nightflame. And while I agree with Softy on the matter of Fiery’s choice of a mate, I think we should focus more on the here and now. That's why…” She paused when she saw Dad suddenly tense up and lift his head into the air, sniffing. “What is it?” Mom asked.

“A strong scent of pine tree,” I answered for Dad, lifting my nose as well. The last gust of wind had carried this new scent over to us, which was strange since there were no pine trees nearby at all.

“There is also an undertone of something draconic to it,” Dad growled while his head spun around, looking for the source of it. After a moment, he rose completely to his hindlegs and scanned our surroundings. My gaze followed his, but there wasn’t anything that shouldn’t be here. My merriment, our carriages, Snowdrift and Nimble’s cart… 

“Sister,” Dad turned to Schimmernde Morgenröte, “do you sense any dragons nearby?”

“No, I do not,” she replied. “And I do not smell one either,” she added with a ruffled nose. “You must be mistaken.”

I couldn’t smell any dragon who wasn’t supposed to be nearby either, though I didn’t know of any other scents that could be mistaken for that of a dragon.

Meanwhile, Bliz and Nimble moved closer to my side, looking out for threats.

“Somecreature is approaching,” Chilli Crust yelled from the outskirts of our camp. “Some creature… looking like a very long ferret. Or a kundeel who’s missing the middle legs.”  

Hearing this, Dad released a loud, challenging roar, and sprang up into the air. Meanwhile, Summer Moon and Winter Sun appeared by my side.

“Big Softy!” Mom yelled, flying up as well, trying to calm down Dad’s protective instincts.

“You should take a look, Mylady,” Nimble suggested. “We do not know if it is friend or foe. Better you find out before your father attacks them anyway.”

“Right,” I pushed off Illu’s wing, quickly rubbed my head against him, and rose into the air myself. To my surprise, I simply saw a luck dragon approaching our camp on all four claws. I couldn’t push the image of a close to the ground, floating noodle aside. This one was even longer than Rejinra, but instead of the light blue colour she had, this one was turquoise.



Unsurprisingly, they had stopped as soon as they saw Dad had made it halfway to them. Dad on the other claw was only stopped from landing right in front of the newcomer by Mom.

“Dad!” I shouted. “This is the species I was talking about! The luck dragon from Shakirin-La!” I caught up with him, hanging in the air beside him, and not too long after, Bliz did the same, except hovered between me and the luck dragon.

“Greetings! I mean you no harm.” The luck dragon remained in his stance while looking up to us. “ So, uh, I take it I wasn’t exactly expected.” Their gaze rested on Dad, who was showing his fangs and making it very obvious he saw this as his territory.

“Oh that,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said pejoratively when she spotted the luck dragon herself. “That’s what you smelled and identified as dragon?” She snorted. “Only a lower class dragon would consider them as a dragon.” Her gaze also wandered to Dad. “Sure, your instincts tell you to fight him for trespassing, but it is unnecessary. These hairy flying snakes are of a different mindset. They will not try to claim what is yours, they would try to bargain, if even that.”

“Well, it does lead to fewer conflicts if we’re not trying to take everything from others.” As he spoke, it became clear from his tight, slightly high pitched but melodic voice, along with my aunt's comment, that he was male. “And we are indeed dragons. Just because we don’t have wings and aren't covered in scales doesn’t make us any less draconic.”

“You can’t even breathe fire or other basic dragon things,” Schimmernde Morgenröte waved off with her tail.

“Fortuna called them luck dragons though,” I said before this could get out of claw.

“He smells like a dragon!” Dad shouted, still aggressive. As you may remember, dragons tend to not get along so well with each other outside of The Roof Of The World. So if his nose tells him this stranger is a dragon, they would have to fight this out if neither of them retreated from this meeting.

“Big Softy,” now Mom sprung in. “Let him have the chance to tell us what he wants before you scare him off.” She poked Dad in the side and demanded him to focus on her for a moment. “He said he means no harm, let us see what he wants first. Then you can scare him off if you need.”

Hesitantly, Dad snorted agreeingly.

“The influence of your mate on your dragon-heritage is disgusting,” my aunt commented.

“Thank Fortuna kirins are more like ponies.” I heard the luck dragon say under his breath with barely restrained irritation as he looked up with closed eyes, only saying it loud enough that I could just bairly make it out. He opened his eyes after this and looked towards me with a small smile. “So, correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought I heard you say Fortuna told you what my race was called?”

“Yes, she did. When I first saw one of you, last night, I was going to call your species a n… I mean I wasn’t aware of your species name and she told me what you are called.”

“Wow! You must also be a-”

The luck dragon’s response was cut short when Dad shifted his attention back to him and a growl formed in his throat. Territory conflict be as it may, protecting his bornlings was practically engraved in his scales. And this stranger could possibly be a threat after all.

“As I said,'' my aunt intervened, “they are not aggressive and don't count as dragons, brother. Control your instincts, maybe he is of use for my niece's endeavor.

“What is it that you want?” Mom piped up, one hoof on Dad’s side.

“If I’m being honest with you, I can’t exactly say. I was sent here by Fortuna and told I would figure out what she wanted me to do. I’m pretty sure I know as much as you do regarding why I’m here.”

“Sounds like her,” Mom sighed with a little smile. “She never really goes into detail if she can avoid it.”

“I’m pretty sure she would say it was due to the rules if you ask her,” I added before smiling myself. “She has some strange ways of helping me for sure. Still, she does what she can I suppose.”

“Maybe he knows something about Shakirin-La,” Bliz whispered. “You know, if your godmother's high priestess was a luck dragon, and now one shows up at our doorstep, there might be a connection.”

“Mhh, good point,” I nodded. “Say, Mr luck Dragon, do you know by happenstance something about Shakirin-La?”

“Only that it existed. I preach at a temple of Fortuna that was built near the end of the empire, and there are even a few ruins and artifacts from that time in the area or in the temple. But other than that, all I could tell you about it was that Fortuna had one of her primary temples there, the one for the Kirins.”

So this guy was a priest of Fortuna. I mean I assumed that much, but it's good to have confirmation.

“Yeah, I saw that one, it was amazing! You should have seen it! It even had a luck dragoness leading it as well!”

The luck dragon nodded with a content smile. “Makes sense, we have rather close ties to Fortuna. I have to say though, I’m rather impressed you were able to find the ruins. To my knowledge, the capital was lost and no one’s been able to find it since. Are you just coming back from there?”

Before I answered, I took a look around. Most of my merriment had gathered around us by now, keeping a close eye on the newcomer.

“We are actually on the way to Shakirin-La. But Fortuna showed me what her temple looked like back then, she was of the opinion I would have use for that knowledge.”

Now murmurs were heard from my kirins on mass. I hadn’t found the time to tell them just yet.

“Silence!” I shouted. “Well,” I continued when the murmur had turned down again, “if Fortuna sent you here right after she showed me her temple and made me aware of your species, there’s surely a reason.” I looked over to Mom and Dad. “Let us invite him to the campfire and speak about it, maybe we can figure out what her reason was.”

When I looked back at the luck dragon, I could see that his happiness seemed to have faded, and the cordial smile he’d had on for the last minute had slipped slightly, appearing as though it was being forced now.

“He still smells like a dragon,” Dad retorted.

“So do you, and so does Nightflame,” Mom commented. “Be nice, Big Softy. If Fortuna sends someone to help us, we shouldn’t be hostile towards them, right?” She added a bit of her pegasus magic to her words.

Dad growled, but snorted his agreement after a moment. “Keep your distance from my bornlings!” he warned. “Then I will allow you to enter our camp.”

“It is my camp, Dad!”

“It is our camp,” he insisted and subtly released a growl of me. For whatever reason, it just seemed that since the call, I was unable to not challenge him over who had authority. I was well aware that it was unnecessary in this case, and I was stepping out of line, still, it ruffled my scales!

“It is everyone's camp,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said. “With your kirins inside as well as my brother's family. Including you.”

“What Big Softy is trying to say is that you are welcome at our fireplace, as long as you don’t get too close to our children until we know you better. With you smelling like a dragon,” she looked at my aunt and then back to the luck dragon, “even if you are one or not, my mate would have trouble holding himself back if you make the impression of posing a threat.”

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of doing anything untoward, I’m just here on Fortuna’s command. If I step out of line, just tell me and I’ll stop.”

“Sounds fair enough,” Mom quickly replied before Dad could.

*

“So Fortuna sent one of her priests to you, right after she let you see her temple and how her religion operates.” Nimble scratched his chin while he thought out loud. “There should be a use for him, I just wonder why she didn’t tell you. Mylady,” he added, slightly delayed.

“Your godmother sent her minion to support us of course,” Roary explained. “And to increase her influence on us.”

“She surely will benefit too if her chosen one claims the throne,” Calmly added. “The knowledge of how her temple once was and how her religion was practiced can only lead to one conclusion. She wants you to rebuild her temple and establish her superiority above the other gods in Shakirin-La.”

“She helps us gain the throne while making sure she is the most worshiped goddess in our empire. It does make sense. A fair deal,” Roary judged.

Actually, I hadn’t thought of that. I mean, sure, it does work out, still, from how my godmother normally behaves, I doubt she would be so selfish. There had to be more to it.

“...maybe she just wanted to protect us from another god’s influence.” I only caught the tail end of Winter Sun’s sentence after snapping out of my inner dialog.

“That could be the case,” Nimble agreed. “With more and more god’s getting involved, it is likely that one will try to pull you to their side, Mylady.”

“That brings up the question, how do the other gods regard Fortuna, or what is her standing amongst them?” Bliz looked at Rythil, as that was how the luck dragon had introduced himself. “We do know there is a non-aggression pact between her and Aphrodite, and also kind of a conflict with Ares for the time being. What awaits us if we encounter one of the other god’s followers?”

“This is the first time I’m even hearing about the gods being in competition and lines getting drawn. As far as I knew, all the gods were on relatively friendly terms. Not the closest, but definitely not hostile.” He then scrunched up his face and turned it to the side while raising an eyebrow. “But I have to ask, why are you even asking me about Fortuna’s relationship with the other gods? Shouldn’t you already know this? It’s basic knowledge even priests in training are familiar with.” He then turned to me. “Furthermore, why are the other gods even interested in getting you on their side? I’ve never even heard of a god trying to take a priest away from another god, let alone try to get them to preach for them.”

“Oh, I am no priestess,” I giggled after a second of surprise. “I am forced to conquer Shakirin-La, claiming the throne and forming a new empire.” I even managed to say that without going crazy due to the task that lay before me… “And that it’s all part of the great game the God’s play, with every goddess trying to place their favorite on the throne for bonus points.”

“Fiery!” Mom admonished me. “Don’t speak like they’re just playing a boardgame, you never know how they’ll react if they’re listening.”

“It doesn’t seem like they can directly intervene so as to not ruin the game for themselves,” Nimble remarked. “Mylady should be able to safely speak her mind in that regard.”

“And Fortuna would growl at any god who interferes with your business anyway,”  Night Flame asserted while sneaking his head under my wing and ruffling through my feathers.

Rythil’s face scrunched up even more. “I know Fortuna is the goddess of luck, but even she’s pushing it by trying to groom you into being her high priestess.”

“High priestess? Where does that come from?” I cuddled my brother with my wing while looking at Rythil. “Didn’t you listen? I said I claim the throne, therefore I become empress not priest.”

“You know, having the empress of Shakirin-La also be the high priest of Fortuna would give your godmother even more power and control over the kirins,” Roary’s voice sipped into my mind.

“Fortuna went into your dreams and not only showed you Shakirin-La at its height, but took you to her temple and introduced you to her high priestess at the time, telling you that it was pertinent for her to do this to give you knowledge that you could use. On top of that, she’s speaking to you on a fairly regular basis. I’m a priest and she’s only talked to me twice, and the vision I received from her was what I can only describe as a still image. There's no doubt that she wants you to become her next high priestess. And given this, I can confidently say she sent me here to teach you how to do just that.”

Some of us released a humm of thought after Rythils statement. I mean, it would make sense, though, my godmother would have told me if she would like me to become one of her priestesses, wouldn’t she?

“Becoming a priestess of your godmother could increase what she can do to help you claim the throne,” my brother mumbled from under my wing. “Could be part of her plan.”

While my brother spoke, I noticed two things. First, Bliz’s eyes widened in amazement at the opportunity to preen me again, and, second, Rythils face took on an expression of shock and disbelief.

“Wait, godmother? Like, if your parents died, they want you to be taken in by a church of Fortuna?”

“Oh, no,” Mom explained. “Quite literally, if something happened to us, Fortuna would be directly responsible for Fiery’s well being. It's kind of a longer story, but Fortuna caused Big Softy and I to come together more or less, and also arranged everything for me to get Fiery. So, in return for all her good work, I requested her to be godmother, with all the benefits of that.” She failed at suppressing a smile at Rythils expression and added, “She also likes to drop by every now and then to share some cake or cookies with us. She bakes good fortune cookies.” 

During Mom’s explanation, Rythil’s face progressively showed more and more dissbelief, confusion, amazement, and awe. When she finished, Rythil just sat there in stunned silence, eventually opening his mouth to respond, only to close it again shortly after. This happened several times.

“All mine,” Illu made clear and laid his wing possevely over me, entangling it with my other wing and hindering my brother from cuddling with me in the process. This not only made Night growl at him, but also caused Bliz and Nimble to rush towards me, purring and requesting their share of attention too.

“Stop it! No one is stealing me from you, Illu! Night, if you don’t stop growling at my batfriend, no cuddles for you anymore, and you two,” I pointed with my claw at my follower azures, “you get cuddles when you get them! Sit down!”

“But he,” Illu started.

“No, he didn’t do anything. He is a priest of Fortuna and she didn’t tell him I am her godchild, how is he supposed to react? You should have seen Rejinra when Fortuna told her, she nearly sprung out of her body!” I shifted my attention back to my brother and caressed his head with the wing I’d freed from Illu. Bliz and Nimble, meanwhile, were well behaved and settled down in front of me. Not without longingly looking at me in hope of attention and praise, but that I could tolerate. “Kindling,” I said after inhaling deeply, “could you please cuddle with Night for a bit? He is very clingy and I don’t have the patience for it now.”

He didn’t look very happy about it either, but he still fluffed up and spread his wings slightly, attracting his brother's attention with it. Like I mentioned before, Night using him as a napkin really ruffled his feathers, but still, his desire to cuddle his twin overcame that obstacle quite quickly if Mom didn’t interfere. So after a moment, everycreature was calmed down again and we could listen to what Rythil had to say after he found his voice again.

“I.” Rythil’s voice immediately cracked, squeaking that one word so thoroughly it was as though the revelation of who I was had caused him to become a child again. After a cough, his voice returned to its proper tenor. “I wasn’t expecting that of all things. I have so many questions, but I think I’ll try to come to terms with you being the godchild of Fortuna before burying you under them.” 

“Maybe he was sent here for his own sake instead of yours,” Schimmernde Morgenröte snorted. “From how he’s behaved so far, he has some issues with his life as priest of Fortuna. Could be your godmother is using you to get her priest back in line.”

“Your optimism is really contagious,” Mom said. “Could you try not to see everything so negatively? I am sure Fortuna has good intentions.”

“If you say so, mate of my brother.”

This caused me to raise an eyebrow. My aunt never held back in expressing her disapproval with my mom’s species and their habits, though she tried to avoid directly speaking up to Mom. I wonder why that is, though, that was a topic for later. It was just taking me off guard how combative she was being today.

“I can ask my godmother about Rythil later,” I tried to calm her. “No offense intended, Rythil,” I added. “Though, for the time being we should just assume that everyone profits from him being here.”

“None taken. I’m sure we’ll figure out what Fortuna sent me here for exactly soon enough.”

*

A little while later, I had a moment of peace, and was sitting next to the diminishing fire while everyone else was busy breaking down the camp. That was when Wind Root approached me with some kind of fabric attached to his back.

“Fiery,” he called out, lowering his head when he was next to me.

“Hmm?” I ruffled through his mane, causing him to purr quietly.

“I made something for you!” he proclaimed with a happy voice and fetched the fabric from his back. “Here,” he said while hoofing it over.

“What is it?” I unrolled the fabric and revealed an artistic, hoof drawn picture of me with some red and dark green colours as background. The whole thing smelled like grass and strawberries.

“I designed a banner for you!” he proclaimed. “I thought that we could use it to represent you, and I can be your herald!”

I gave the thing a closer look. It was definitely made with great effort and passion, even though it lacked the proper skill.

“I don’t know if I need…”

It was at that moment that Bliz rushed over to us, growling and pushing Wind Root back with her presence. Obviously, she had been eavesdropping on us. “I am Fiery’s second in command,” she proclaimed, “if anythingl, I will become her herald!”

“But I…” Wind Root started, but was cut short by another loud growl from Bliz, so he ducked down and pulled his tail between his legs.

With her head held high, Bliz turned around to me. That was till I grabbed her ear and twisted it, forcing her to bow down and eventually lay on the ground. “Don’t you dare,” I growled, louder than she had before. “It was Wind Root who put effort into this, and it is he who received the praise for it!”

Bliz whimpered submissively.

I let go of her ear and took the banner to examined it closer while gesturing to Wind Root to come next to me. “It is a great first try,” I ruffled his mane and patted his head, “but it still needs a bit more work. Go and work on it a bit more.”

“Sure!” he said overenthusiastically due to my praise. “I will do my best!” He took the banner back from me and rushed back to his carriage.

“You really should try to do better, Sill,” Blizzard Torrent suggested while she approached.

“Indeed,” Bliz’s Dad, Blizzard Frost agreed. “You made Fiery angry with you. You can do better than that.”

Their happy approach was interrupted when Bliz growled at them. They were just acting like parents, but with their daughter standing higher in the hierarchy then them, it was a huge mistake.

“If I want to hear your opinion, I will tell you what it is!” she hissed, raising up.

Instantly, her parents laid flat on the ground, lowering their gazes.

“Don’t you dare to speak with me that way again!” Bliz scolded them. “It’s me who’s in charge of you now!”

Wrong place wrong time, Bliz. While I didn’t mind what she was doing, she did this in full view of Mom. So when Mom noticed how Bliz was speaking with her parents, she excused herself from the talk she and Dad were having with Rythil and flew over to us.

“I must say, it is not right for you to speak that way with your parents, Bliz. Show a little more respect,” she demanded.

“But they are below me now, miss Do. I am supposed to lead them, not the other way around.”

“It doesn’t seem right to me though. You parents just want to help you, like we do with our daughter.” She laid a hoof on my back. “That is what parents do.”

“And leading is what azure-kirins do,” she retorted.

“But not your parents. Especially not when you’re so young. It's not right.”

“Luckily that is not for you to decide, it is kirin culture.”

Mom’s wings sprung open a little bit, a clear warning signal. If Bliz wasn’t careful, she would be in trouble.

“I very well have a say in this,” Mom insisted. “This kind of misbehavior can’t be allowed. For your own sake too. I demand that you handle your parents with the respect they deserve.”

“You demand?” Now Bliz wings sprung open. “They are below me in the hierarchy! I have the final say here!”

I noticed how my Dad’s head sprung towards us due to Bliz' raised voice, unfortunately, Bliz didn’t notice.

“Listen up young lady,” Mom raised her hoof, causing Bliz to growl in defense. I am sure she didn’t even mean for it to be aggressive, still…

I cringed while releasing a little sound of compassion right before directing a sharp ‘stay’ at Bliz parents when Dad crashed into their daughter. Surely Bliz wasn’t in any serious danger given Dad still considered her a child, however, growling at Mom was something neither I nor Night even dared to do. I mean, Kindling can do it…

“Big Softy,” Mom rushed next to him and used her head to push him up and cuddle him out of his defensive stance.

Bliz, in the meantime, had this ‘I am toast’ expression written on her face.

“Growling at my Mom is a no go, Bliz,” I said in the calmest tone I could muster.

She simply nodded.

“This kirin hierarchy is a mess,” Mom proclaimed. “Whoever came up with this idea of children ruling over their parents was a feather brain!”

Dad rubbed his head agreeingly against her, but used his presented fangs to further intimidate Bliz.

“Surely they didn’t even think about teenagers when they created it!” Mom went on. She turned to me. “Good thing we can help fix that oversight here and now!”

“Huh?” Was all I could say.

“You can set the hierarchy in your merriment, right?”

“Uhm, yes?”

“Then set Bliz's parents above her.”

I stared at her with wide eyes. “But… they are not azure kirins, they can’t be higher than her in my merriment.”

“Nonsense,” Mom waved off. “If you say they are, then they are.”

“But, but I don’t want them above Bliz.”

“It is not right for a kid to rule over their parents, Fiery, so do as I say and set them higher.”

“But Mooooom!”

“I will not repeat myself.”

“Mom it is my merriment!”

Dad then turned his attention to me, and my neck scales started to tingle a bit.

“You don’t have to set them at the top, just above Bliz,” Mom decided.

Now Bliz looked at me too. She pleadingly shook her head.

“I dunno, Mom, it doesn’t feel right.”

“Do as your Mom said, Fiery!” Dad growled.

“Fine… “ I looked at Bliz with an apologetic smile. “Here goes nothing. Bliz, you will treat your parents with respect.” I looked back at Mom. “Happy now?”

She just gave me an raised eyebrow, seeing through me like I was out of glass.

I sighed. “Alright… Blizzard Torrent, Blizzard Frost, you two are above Bliz in hierarchy when it comes to parental matters. Not in general,” I quickly added. “Bliz still is my second in command, but, when it is about something between you and her, you have parental authority just like before the call.”

Mom snorted agreeingly while Bliz and her parents slowly rose from the ground.

“So, what was that about you telling us our opinion when you wanted to hear it?” Blizzard Frost asked furiously with his back already catching fire.

“Yeah, you are in charge now, huh?” Her mom sprung in, sparks already spreading from her back.

“I… I mean…” Bliz slowly stepped back from her parents who were both growling now.

Seeing this, I rushed forward and quickly grabbed an ear from each of Bliz’s parents. “We don’t want to rush things here, now do we?”

Instantly their growling stopped.

“That's way better. Now,” I looked at Bliz, “you and your parents surely have a lot to speak about.” I increased the pull on their ears. “Without any grudges, right?”

Both purred agreeingly, and when the little flames vanished from their backs, I let go of them.

“You know, Mom,” I said when Bliz and her parents had put some distance between us, “you do make my life complicated sometimes.”

“Do you think it was wrong to settle things between them?” Her voice didn’t sound like she was asking me a real question, though at the same time, there was real curiosity in her question.

I rubbed over my head, thinking. “When we met them yesterday, I would have said this was good for them. Now, however, after Bliz was more or less normal again, I don’t know. Placing her parents above her again… it seems wrong to me.”

“It is their duty as parents to guide their bornling,” Dad piped up. “Till the bornling has grown enough to decide on their own.” He leaned over and rubbed his head against mine, ruffling my mane with his nose while emitting soft purring and fatherly love. “Your friend isn’t ready yet, and neither are you.” He finished his explanation with soft licks over my forehead.

***

As you just saw, my parents both still interfere way too much in matters of my merriment. I wish I could find a solution to that sooner rather than later, however, for now, there were two more important things that required my attention before we could continue our adventure to Shakirin-La. One was the dominance fights and the establishment of a hierarchy. With Bliz’s former merriment and mine merging into one, we had to get that sorted out or the fights we’d had so far would look like minor arguments in comparison. And the other was sending Nimble home. I wasn’t so happy with losing one of my azures, though, the egg must be protected, and he had to be around for the hatching.

When it came to the hierarchy fights, they took a while longer than I would have liked, though, as Nimble had predicted, everykirin was happier than before when they were over. It also left me with some kirins in remarkable positions, like the captain of my guard, Summer Moon. As well as her night time equivalent, her sister Winter Sun. Not to mention our quartermaster Chilly Crust, and the head of lodging,  Timeless Blossom, one of Bliz’s former merriment, responsible for our carriages and camp placement.

So in the end, we lost some time, but received a better organization of my merriment.

In regards to Nimble leaving however, the only thing that stood out was Illu getting furious when Nimble rubbed himself against me to say good bye for now. Well, to be fair, Snowdrift didn’t respond to Nimble’s affections towards me positively either. Both seemed to be upset with the situation, but aside from that, since Nimble promised me he would stay in touch mentally, it wasn’t such a big deal.
> The Day Of A Leader
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Good morning, Mylady! I hope you have a great day!” Nimble’s voice drifted through my mind like it’d done every other day in the last week and a half, pulling me out of my sleep and leaving me more than a little bit grumpy. I really should have told him to wait to contact me till after breakfast, but how could I have known he was a morning pony? And now it was too late for that since I was still unable to respond mentally, so I couldn’t do anything about it.

I sighed and let my gaze wander to Illu, who still was cuddled up and sleeping peacefully against my side. I was really grateful that these new cork ear plugs were doing a really good job despite Mom and Kindling’s snoring, allowing him to sleep in our tent. His presence did well at improving my mood, and when I stretched out one claw to play with his ears, just a tiny little bit of course, I was also so generous as to bury my other claw in Bliz’s mane, massaging her head.

Her soft purring tickled my belly and reminded me that the world was good for the time being. At least until my mind turned back to the task that lay before me today. Yesterday we had arrived at Hundred Waters, a small town that got its name from the conversion of half a dozen local streams. This was insofar good, as we were able to stock up on supplies and get a tent for most of my kirins as well as one for Rythil. Who would believe Fortuna would send one of her priests to me without any suitable gear? Anyway, the downside of my current position was that there were two paths in the direction the Call was pulling me. The first was a very long and winding route through the Mountains. It was guaranteed that going this way would be exceedingly exhausting due to all our carriages, not to mention more than just a little dangerous. The other more or less implied path was through the swamps, which wasn’t much better.

And for once, the choice really was mine alone, since I was the one feeling the Call, therefore, was the only one able to tell which way was more fitting.

While was deep in thought, I felt something wet rubbing against my belly and gave Bliz a little slap behind the ears out of reflex. She pulled her tongue back where it belonged and returned to purring softly.

If I went with the Mountain path, we would surely lose a significant amount of time with how slow we would be, as well as be vulnerable to any kind of attack. Furthermore, an avalanche or even a rockslide could be disastrous. I mean, I like the mountains, we live in one, but still, traveling through them with my merriment was far different. The swamps however, well, they were swamps.

A slight growl of frustration escaped my lips. The first time I could decide something big regarding my merriment and it had to be something so tricky. Alerted by my growl, Bliz quickly moved upward and purred questiongly. This in turn woke up Seagail, who wasted no time in occupying the warm spot on my belly where Bliz’s head had been resting. Sneaky little thing.

“It’s alright.” My claw remained in Bliz’s mane and I continued to fondle her. “Go back to sleep.”

She took a moment to sniff at me, to check if I really was alright, before she sleepily tried to lay her head back on my belly, only to collide with Seagail. It was a bit of a silent back and forth, but in the end, her kundeel accepted that she had to make enough room for Bliz to get in touch with me again.

Though, in the end, it was all for naught. Unsettled and mildly awake, I was unable to fall back asleep. I tried, but all I accomplished was shifting in my bed sheets, and if I would have just kept laying there, I would have surely woken up Illu, or worse, everyone in the tent. Realising this, I decided to get up and take a little walk.

I slipped out of my blankets and slowly rose up, carefully not to make any noise. It was a very difficult task with Bliz and Illu cuddled up to me, but I managed. I had to take a moment though to show my fangs to Bliz when she, half asleep, tried to snuggle up to Illu now that I was gone. Once she realized what she was doing, and whose batfriend she tried to cuddle, she tucked her tail and got into a submissive, apologetic position.

Suppressing a growl, I rubbed my head against Illu’s cheek to mark my territory before turning around and leaving the tent. 

Once I was outside, the first thing I noticed was my dad’s gaze hanging on me. He was laying comfortably by the firepit, having watched over the camp during his half of the night shift. However, even the smallest movement near the family tent caught his attention. 

What caught me more than a little off guard though was when I shifted my gaze and saw my aunt cuddled up next to Dad with her head laying on his back.

As soon as our gazes met, she pulled back from Dad and put some space between them.

“You are up early today,” Dad quietly said when I approached them. He lowered his head to exchange some head rubs and gave me some parental purring.

“Yeah, I couldn’t fall back asleep after Nimble woke me today.” I pointed at my aunt. “What’s up with her?”

“I have no clue what you are talking about,” she retorted.

“You were cuddling with Dad.”

“I was not! I stand above such things.” She snorted and got up. “I have no need to cuddle with my brother.” With these words, she turned around and trotted away from us.

Watching her leave, Dad explained, “She is still a young hatchling. She needs some comfort now and then, despite being an azure.”  

I raised an eyebrow.

“Just don’t tell your mom about it. Your aunt wouldn’t like her to know.”

“I never expected azure dragons would be into cuddling with their siblings,” I confessed.

Dad just shrugged. “My mom cuddled with me like any other dragon parent does with their hatchling. I don’t see why azure hatchlings would be any different from non-azure’s in that regard. Cuddling is very important.”

“With Night being unsettled about not having his hoard with him and sleeping outside the lair, I would say Schimmerne Morgenröte’s holding up quite well by comparison.”

“More or less.” Dad shifted his attention to me and I saw that I’d underestimated just how much his sister had driven him into cuddling mode. With a quick move of his wing, he pulled me over and started to rub his head against my side and wings.

“A little bit of family cuddling doesn’t sound so bad,” I giggled. “Just be careful with the feathers, Dad! If you mess them up, Bliz will pester me all day long till I let her preen me!”

“What a terrible fate,” Dad retorted, ruffling my feathers even more. “You could also make it so that Illu would preen you.” He sniffed at me. “Since you already found a way to have some special alone time with him despite Fluffies best effort to hinder you.”

“Dad!” I started to blush.

“This nose knows,” he replied and poked me with said dragon-nose. “Good thing for you that Fluffy can’t smell as well as me.”

I gave him an angry stare. Then my own nose told me something too. “Papa!” I growled and pushed him out of my feathers. “You haven’t had any fun lately!”

His expression turned from mischievous to guilty.

“Mom will get grumpy if you two don’t have your alone time! No wonder she yelled at the saleszebra today!”

“I know, I know,” he tried to play it down. “Fluffy just isn’t in the mood at the moment, seeing as we are on the road. You know how she is. She doesn't want creatures to know that she is like a dragoness in that regard.”

“And that is a reason to put everycreature in danger? It's been nearly two weeks since we left home! The last time you and Mom didn’t have sex for this long was when she was on an adventure with aunt Daring! Don’t you remember what she was like when she was finally back? She even growled at Daring when she asked if she could stay the night!”

“Your…”

“No!” I flared my wings in indignation. “You have to take care of that Dad! I don’t want Mom to run around the campsite and growl at everykirin! As soon as the sun comes up, you and Mom need to fly ahead and scout the path ahead of us! And don’t come back without… resting a few times!”

At first it looked like he wanted to protest, simply due to the fact that I was trying to order him around, but after thinking about what I expected him to do, a little smile crept over his face.

“It would be beneficial for somecreature to scout ahead,” he agreed. “Though, I will not be able to convince your mom to leave you and Illu behind unsupervised.”

I sighed. “Mom should finally accept that I am half dragon. We kirins are supposed to be more naughty than a pony. If mom ever sees how Shakirin-La used to be back in the days, she’ll lock me up in the lair for the next five hundred years!”

“She very well might,” Dad giggled. “Fluffy occasionaly has some strange pony views on things, still, she is your mom.”

Well that was true, Mom was still Mom. I had to come up with something. 

“Dad?” I tilted my head and looked up to him.

“Mhh?”

“Can I speak up to Mom about this?” I saw his displeasure and quickly added, “only this one time? Pleeease?” I stretched the word out while making my best hatchling eyes; trying my best to look cute, young and in need of support from my dragon parent.

“You know I do not approve of this,” Dad growled.

“But this is a matter about me being a kirin!” I rubbed my head against his chest. “You said yourself that Mom is a pony, and you are a dragon! It’s my kirin heritage we’re talking about! You and Mom both told me I could discover what that means for me as I grew up!” I pulled my head back to look him in the eyes once more while stretching a wing out to gesture towards the whole camp. “And you know,” my cheeks reddened even more, “you can smell that my merriment is engaging in naughty matters while we are on the road. Kirins are naturally more naughty than ponies!”

“And a dragon’s bornling doesn’t speak up to their mother. Being a kirin doesn’t change that.”

“I don’t want to speak up to Mom, but she is wrong and you know it.”

His gaze drifted to the side and he scanned the camp for a moment before replying. “I will not allow you to speak up to your mom, Fiery.”

“But Dad!”

“That being said, I will be taking Night for a hunt before we move on. We need to be well fed before we enter a more barren or swampy area.” His gaze returned to me. “We will be gone for a while.”

After a moment of processing what he had said, I smiled and gave him a hug. “Thanks Dad.”

“Don’t thank me, I assure you that I will be furious if I come back to find Fluffy angry at you for speaking up to her. If you do that, you better make sure you convince her to be on your side afterwards, or you are in serious trouble.”

“I will do my best.”

“I am serious about this, Fiery.” He rubbed his head against my back. “I will not tolerate you speaking up to your mother if I hear about it.” He paused for a moment. “So make sure Mom does not tell me.”

*

I stayed with Dad for a while, making sure he was well cuddled. Eventually though, I saw Autumn Blaze approaching us, and it was obvious she wanted to speak with me but didn’t dare interupt Dad and his cuddle time with his bornling.

Clever choice.

“What is it, Autumn?” I brushed my wing over Dad’s chest before trotting over to her. He snorted, but with Autumn being respectful and waiting till I moved over instead of interrupting us, he was generous enough to allow it without complaint.

“Well, I… I would like to ask you something.”

“Is it about Bliz again? I told her to leave you alone, if…”

“No, not about her. It’s about… my former village.”

“The Peaks of Peril?”

“Yeah, well, I was wondering if they would also be traveling to Shakirin-La. I’m pretty sure that that’s the case. Or at least, I have a strong feeling that they would be going. The question though is if they’re on their own or as a part of a merriment.”

“If you’re asking me if I know, I couldn’t help you, sorry. My azure abilities don't allowing me to know about other kirins across the sea.”

“It’s not about your azure abilities, but about what route we’ll take today. I looked at the maps, and from what I can see, the swamps would take us close to the route they would take, if they’re going that is. Or at least it is one of the possible paths they could take.” She looked at her hooves. “I know you are fonder and more familiar with mountains, but I was hoping we could, well, you know.” Her gaze lifted and she looked me straight in the eyes. “I just don’t want you to fight with them, they are my friends after all. So if they got claimed by somekirin else on their way…”

“I get it.” I placed my claw on her chest. “I wouldn’t want to fight my friends either. I was just lucky that Bliz was willing to submit and not in the mood for a real fight. Though, even if we take the swamps route, and find your former village inhabitants, it may be that they are already claimed.”

“I know. Still, the longer we wait, the more likely is it that they run into some azurekirin else. If every one of your kind is dragged towards it, the distance between you will diminish more and more.”

“True. Still, there’s the chance your friends are still back at The Peaks of Peril. As far as we know, normal kirins may not be forced to go if no azure is near enough to spread the Call.”

“Yeah, possible.” Her gaze wandered to the ground again, and she drew little circles in the ground with the tip of her hoof.

“No need to worry. If nokirin has a good reason for us to go over the mountains, we will take the swamp path to look for your friends.”

“Really?” She looked back up and suppressed a twinkle of hope from appearing in her eyes.

“Only if there isn’t a reason for us to not to go into the swamps. I will send some scouts ahead to make sure we know what to expect. I’ll wait to make my decision till I hear from them, though, I’ll keep in mind that you would prefer that we go through the swamp.”

She bursted forward and hugged me. “That is all I can ask for. Thank you, Fiery!”

I patted her back and was going to respond when a very familiar growl reached my ears. Oh, not my Dads, but my little brothers.

“Mine!” He shouted aggressively while quickly approaching us.

“I was not going to steal her from you, Night.”

He came to a halt in front of us and growled challengly. Normally I would reply in kind, but Autumn had already been declared to be a part of his personal treasure, so it was pointless. I suppressed a growl and gestured for Autumn to make some room between us. As soon as she stepped back, Night got between us and marked his territory by rubbing his side against his godmother.

“Mine!” he repeated.

“I know.” If I had a clue what else to say to put him back in his place without actually challenging his claim of Autumn I would have added it, but as it stood, I felt I should end it there.

Satisfied with my reaction, Night stopped his territorial behavior and turned to Autumn. Though, to his surprise, she crossed her forelegs and looked at him reproachfully.

“Can I at least talk with your sister without you getting jealous?”

“But you belong to me! I have to make sure my sister is not stealing you!” He tried to rub his head against her but she stepped back.

“I am your godmother, not part of your hoard, little dragon. If I want to talk with your sister, I should be able to do so without you growling and challenging her.” She took a seat and placed both hooves on the side of her belly. A bit like Mom would when scolding us. “If you keep behaving like this, I will talk with your Mom about it.”

Night hastily shook his head. “I don’t mean to annoy you. It’s… It’s… it’s a dragon thing between siblings.”

“Then you better…

“Would you excuse me,” I interrupted her. “It seems Winter Sun needs my attention.” With a nod, I made my escape from this conversation. I really don’t need to witness that one! If Autumn really was going to speak with Mom, and I got involved, it would only lower my chances to speak with her about Illu. No thank you!

So to avoid that, I made my way over to the outskirts of our camp, or to be more precise, to the little caravan that was modified to serve as a watch. Instead of a roof, this one had an elevated structure made out of wood and some ropes that served as an observation tower. This way, one kirin could watch out for threats while we were on the move without a Luftirin having to hoover above us all the time.

It had been Summer Moon’s idea. At this time of day though, it would be Winter Sun who would be watching over the camp.



“Everything as it should be?” I called out for her when I reached the observation tower.

“It seems so,” she replied and came to the edge of the tower to look down at me. “At least I don't see anything suspicious around here.” She nodded towards something left of me. “With the exception of your friend the luck dragon maybe.”

My gaze followed hers and I saw Rythil was already up and preparing everything for the morning prayer. Since he had settled down in my merriment, he had started to preach to my kirins about Fortuna and her doings. A few of them had taken an interest and joined him in his worship.

It felt a bit strange at first to have my kirins worshiping my godmother, though, I can’t really see a problem with it. As long as Fortuna doesn’t want the throne of Shakrin-La for herself, I see no conflict of interest here.

“Don’t worry about him,” I said with a smile. “He’s just doing his luck dragon stuff. Anything that keeps him busy and out of reach of Night is to his liking.”

“Hmm,” Winter Sun snorted agreeingly. “He doesn’t like the interest your brother is showing in his fur, that much is clear. Everytime your brother approaches him to inspect his fur, he seems kind of uncomfortable.”

“I know,” I giggled. “If he’s not careful, Night will make a blanket out of him sooner or later.”

“Mhh, makes me wonder, if at some point there was a dragon in your family born with fluff, would they be able to do anything other than cuddle themselves all day?”

“Probably not,” I smiled, “good thing not everycreature is as into cuddling.”

“Some creatures have to do their duty first, indeed.” Winter Sun replied. “I take my responsibility most seriously.”

“I have no doubt about that,” I said with a smirk while stretching my claw out for her.

“I’m not that interested in cuddling,” she tried to deny, but I could see from her waving tail and how her eyes widened how tempted she was.

With raised claw, I waited.

“And I am on duty, I have to keep watch as the night guard.”

“Mhh-mh.”

Slowly, Winter Sun moved along the railing, one step after another. Her gaze wandered over our surroundings, making sure everything was fine while keeping my outstretched claw in her peripheral vision.

“I am not into cuddling,” she insisted once more.

“I am aware of that,” I said while giving her a warm smile.

A little purr escaped her mouth, betraying her.

“You do seem to like it if I do it though,” I teased.

“I do not,” she replied, having already crawled halfway under the railing, only to go sliding down the side of the tower a second later. When she was on the ground again, she wasted no time in sneaking nearer, only stopping to make sure no creature was watching.

When she was close enough, I let my claw sink into her mane and started to stroke her around the neck. For her, the spot between the ears didn’t work for some reason.

“Who is a good kirin?”

She grumbled something under her breath but it was already being swallowed by her purring which was quickly raising in volume.

“You don’t like to be pat at all, obviously.”

“I… do… not like it,” she lied while her left hind hoof started to twitch.

“Of course not,” I agreed with a smirk.

She laid down and rolled on the side, happily purring under my affection. “Not a tiny bit,” she confirmed.

“Are you seducing my sister again?” Summer Moon appeared out from between the tents and strolled towards us. “You do know that she doesn’t like any affection.”

“I noticed,” I replied while Winter Sun rushed to her hooves and made her best attempts to look as unhappy as possible.

“Using your evil azure trick on my helpless sister, how dare you!” Summer Moon jokingly said while lowering her head to take the spot her sister had just left.

“I did not… I wasn’t, I…” Winter Sun tried to deny any accusations.

“It’s alright sis, I’ll take it from here.” With loud purring, Summer Moon appreciated the head pats and fondling through her mane. “I will take this evil azure tricks for you.”

With a huff and red cheeks, Winter Sun turned around and vanished in the direction her sister had just come from.

“Spoilsports,” I said.

“I would never,” Summer Moon replied with loud purring.

“Greedy Spoilsports,” I clarified.

***

“Mom,” I pushed the tent tarp aside and entered. “Mom, can we talk?”

“Sure, sweety.” Mom placed the map she was holding back on the table. “What is it?”

“I…” I looked around. “Is Kindling here? I haven’t see him for the last few minutes.”

“Your brother said he wanted to hang out with Wind Root and Raising Ebb while we wait for Big Softy and Night to come back. I assume they’re playing hoofball or something. Do you need something from him?”

“No, I was just curious if he was around.” I approached her and came to a halt next to the table. “Actually, I wanted to speak with you, without anycreature listening.”

“Oh?” I could see Mom's stance shifting from mildly interested to motherly curious. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

“It’s about me and Illu…”

Mom's expression turned as impenetrable as stone. Well, for a dragon, stone was everything but impenetrable, but you get the idea.

“Mom,” I took a deep breath. “I am a full grown mare now. It is time for you and Dad to let me make my own decisions.” With these words out, my heart started to beat twice as fast, and I could feel my fur standing on end due to how nervous I was.

Mom however, took her time with her answer. She moved around the table till we stood eye to eye.

“I am all ears,” she simply said.

“I want you to,” my voice lost a lot of its force at this point and turned rather timid, “stop interfering with my love life.”

“I don’t have anything against your relationship with Illuminated Cavern,” Mom stated.

“Moooom,” I could feel how my cheeks reddened. “You know what I mean.”

“And you know what my thought are on it,” she replied.

“Yes, but you’re forcing me to adhere to your pony standards. I am not a pony, Mom, I am a kirin.”

“Which means you are half pony. And some things are not proper for either dragons or ponies.”

“But that’s for me to decide, not you.”

“I am responsible for your well being as well as your education on proper behavior. And getting too excited with your batfriend is really nothing you should do at your age.”

“You weren't much older when you and Dad…”

“Fiery!”

“It’s the truth. And opposed to you, Illu and I are using protection.”

Mom snorted loudly. “If we had known that Fortuna had her hooves in it we would have too! And just because I overstepped the line doesn’t mean you have to too!” She turned around and started pacing through the tent. “And even with protection, it’s not one hundred percent safe! You really don’t need to make me a grandmother just yet!” She came back and grabbed my claws. “Fiery, your dad and I are very grateful for having such wonderful kids, we wouldn’t trade you for anything in the world. But, a pregnancy is a serious thing, and more than just a bit frightening. More so with having a partner from a different species. I don’t mind your relationship with Illuminated Cavern at all. Just, I don’t want you to rush something, okay?”

“Illu and I are in love, Mom. We are not rushing anything. We just…” I couldn’t stand her gaze anymore and looked to the side, “we just want to… you know.”

Her voice turned a little bit sour, even though it was clear she tried her best to let it stay neutral. “Oh yes, I know exactly what you want to do.”

“Dad doesn’t mind,” I tried a different approach while keeping my gaze on the floor. “As long as we use protection that is.” 

“Big Softy is used to,” she stopped mid sentence, let go of my claws and started again. “Dragons have a very different culture in that regard. For them, a relationship needs to be as much physical as it is mental. It wouldn’t work out for them without the cuddling and, that.”

“And I am half dragon Mom, it is important for me too.”

“It’s important to you to be a bad example for your brothers?” Mom countered. “Oh yes,” she went on when she saw my bewilderment. “Night is watching his big sister closely and how your Dad and I react to how you behave. If you get away with overstepping the line by being naughty with your batfriend, he very well may take that as an example and start to act more dragonlike in your merriment.”

“Night is too young for that, Mom. He wouldn’t go around my merriment and… you know.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh wouldn’t he? He is a full dragon, Fiery. And he is in his puberty phase. Big Softy already warned me about it.” She waved off with a hoof. “Of course he doesn’t mind at all, he is a proud father. But he knew I would mind if now two of my kids were getting naughty.”

“I, ehm… I don’t think Night would do anything in that regard that you would disapprove of.” Actually, I hadn’t thought about that before. Sure, Night is a dragon, they are naughty, but then again, hatchlings listen to their parents, and Night wouldn’t dare to act against Mom’s will. At least for the time being. In a few years that may change, but not now…

“He sure would,” Roary said. “If you ask Dad about it, he will surely tell you he started to be interested in dragonesses at that age.”

“Actually, pony stallions are not much different to be fair,” Calmy added. “Kindling may also start to take an interest in our merriment.”

“You two are not helping!”

“Night may be holding back because I tell him to, true. Though, he also knows your father does not disprove, so he may act on it eventually anyhow.”

“Mom, that’s not the point. I’m not responsible for Night's behavior.” I took a deep breath. “In contrast to you, as you know, he can smell if me and Illu have been having fun together, so if it had any effect on his behavior, it would already be happening.”

Mom went silent for a moment, while the information I’d just given her sank in. “Fiery! You want to tell me th…”

“And I can also smell what you and Dad are doing, or not doing!” I quickly added, believing that changing the topic would help me here.

Now it was Mom’s turn to blush. “What your father and I are doing is none of your business!”

“And what Illu and I are doing is none of yours either!”

“That's completely different!”

“It’s not! You expect me to travel over a continent or two and found a new empire, all while subduing my fellow azure kirins along the way and not want to do something that makes me happy? Not to mention that the gods are involved too, and may or may not try to stop or help me along the way. I’m old enough for all that, but not for a little naughty time with my batfriend?”

With a snort, Mom turned around. “You are not old enough for any of that. Not for conquering Shakirin-La, nor for having funny naughty times with Illuminated Cavern.” She sighed, turned back to me and grabbing me for a tight hug.

“What?”

“I know, Fiery! I know all that! You are barely eighteen and yet have to go on such a dangerous adventure! I don’t want you to have to do this, and I definitely don’t want you to have naughty times till you are at least a hundred and fifty!” She let go of me and took one step back. “And here I am, a mother who can’t stop either!”

“That means… you approve?”

“I do not approve, Fiery! Of course not, though,” a little growl escaped her mouth, “you're your father’s daughter. I can’t say I didn’t see this coming. So I’ll stop hindering you…”

I rushed forward, grabbed her for a hug and purred at her while rubbing my head against her side. “I am also your daughter! There’s a good chance I inherited this side from you and not Dad if grandma’s to be believed…”

I felt Mom tense up in my forelegs after this remark, luckily only for a moment before I could feel a giggle begin to develop in her belly before making its way out of her muzzle.

“If only somepony had told me what it was like to raise half dragon kids!” She yelled at the ceiling while giggling. “And you should know,” she leaned back so we could look eye to eye, “It was your grandma who told your Dad all the good tricks when we first visited my parents!”

Now it was my turn to be baffled. “You mean you know about that? Dad thinks it’s his best secret!”

“Fiery, I’m not an idiot.” She shook her head. “And I know my mother quite well. Nopony would think that Big Softy just happened to get all these new ideas coincidentally while we were are at my parents house after he had some alone time with my Mom. And, to top it off,  my parents most loved picture of me somehow found its way into our lair the day we returned from that trip! A picture that conveniently, neither of my parents have asked to have back, nor consider to have been stolen. It was clear to me my Mom and him had some sort of agreement.” Now a mischievous smile crossed over her muzzle. “And it occasionally comes in hoofy that your dad thought I didn’t know and was afraid I would find out. Gave me quite a few opportunities. Take that as motherly advice for your relationship.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You are the most sneaky pony of all, Mom!”

She smiled while faking blushing. “I have to be, I am dancing with dragons.”
> Bloom And Wilt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I released a mildly irritated groan as I let my gaze wander over the trail of carriages in front of me once more. It'd been days since we’d entered the swamp now, and every second we spent in here felt like its own trial. The sheer amount of insects and critters that began pestering us the instant we’d crossed into the bog was enormous, but not too surprising. I mean, it was to be expected given the environment, but even with all the torches and the occasional kirin bursting into flames every now and again, the bites and buzzing just wouldn’t end. 

Seagail, in contrast, seemed to be enjoying our trip through the swamp. She was getting a little bit more round lately, and was regularly climbing onto someone to snatch the little insects that landed on them.

“We really should have taken the mountain pass, sis!” Kindling snuggled his head under my wing as he spoke. “These mosquitoes are a pain in the…”

“Kindling!” Mom yelled.

“I mean they are really annoying!” He slid closer to me and tried his best to use my wing as a shield.

“The swamp’s not going to continue forever,” Mom said. “We,” she had to stop for a second to  slap one of the little bloodsuckers, “should be through it any day now.”

“You said that yesterday, and the day before that!”

She sighed. “I know, I know. And it looked like it from above.”

“Just because we can see where the swamp ends doesn’t mean your sister's merriment is able to take the shortest route,” Dad piped up before shifting his attention to me. “The next time you go to claim some kirins, try to find luftirins. If enough of your kirins can fly, we could just lift all the carriages and fly over such obstacles.”

“It’s not like I can choose who we bump into, Dad.”

“Maybe not. However, your godmother could lend you a little bit of luck in that matter.”

“I sadly don’t think that our comfort is one of her top priorities at the moment.”

“You could pray for it though,” Kindling mumbled. “Maybe she will listen and free us from these mosquitoes!”

“We could also ask Rythil about it,” Night added enthusiastically while using the opportunity to snuggle up close to Kindling to protect him. “He’s not getting stung by these insects at all, and he’s mostly covered in fur.” 

“That probably has more to do with his personal luck than with any extra prayers,” I said. “I think her priests have nearly the same amount of luck as I have. Though, it couldn’t hurt to ask him if he would be able to help us with that.” I think it should be self evident, but I wasn’t getting pestered by the mosquitoes at all.

“Can you go and ask him, sis? If you’re the one asking, he can’t say no.”

“I would, though,” I tried to lift my wing a tiny bit a few times, “there is a tiny pony attached to my wing, so I’m unable to move.”

“I am not tiny!”

“No, but you are small and cute,” Night said before I could and started purring.

“That was my line! I wanted to say that this time!”

“Neither of you should say that to me!”

“But it’s true!” I giggled, and since he was already in my wing’s embrace, I pulled him closer and ruffled through his mane with my nose. “My cute little baby brother!”

“Fiery!” Kindling spat out as he suddenly struggled to get free.

Maybe I would have let him go, but Night quickly wrapped his wings around both of us, preventing Kindling from escaping.

“Moooomm!”

“Fiery, Night, your brother is not a plushy.” You could hear it in her voice that this was a line she’d said hundreds of times already, still, we let go of him.

Not that it helped him much.

“And don’t forget that he’s getting more and more fluffy each day,” Dad added approvingly before grabbing Kindling by his neck and pulling him over to cuddle him as well. And it was true, over the last few days, Kindling’s chestfluff had started growing more and more. Even if it wasn’t that easy to see at the moment with how strongly he was struggling to escape Dad’s claws.

“Big Softy,” Mom said, half amused, half reproachful, as she rose to help Kindling. “That also goes for you. Our son is not a plushy,” she grabbed Kindling and pulled him out of Dad’s grip, “not even for dragons.” Seeing Dad’s sad face, she quickly jumped into his arms though.

My brother on the other claw just stomped a hoof and fled back into our carriage while loudly releasing mumbled curses.

“I told you to not cuddle him too much,” Mom toldsaid to Dad. “He is a pony, and a teenager at that. He doesn’t like it.”

Dad snorted.

“Big Softy!”

“He is my son, I am supposed to check on his well-being as well as reassure him of my love. A bornling needs a lot of affection to be well.”

“The more the merrier,” Night threw in, rushing over to lay his claws on Mom’s side while she was in Dad’s arms. He also waved his tail happily, expecting to get a chance at cuddling with Mom and Dad simultaneously.

“Greedy dragons,” Mom giggled while stretching a hoof out to pat Night’s head. “Still, if Kindling doesn’t like to be cuddled, you two must respect that.”

Both dragons snorted at this ridiculous statement. For Dad and Night, there could never be enough cuddling. 

I shook my head and momentarily looked towards where Kindling had disappeared. While it was true that his dislike of cuddling was a bit strange, I agreed with Mom that they had to be careful or my little brother would be most angry with them…

Well, there wasn’t anything I could do about it at the moment, so I may as well try speaking with Rythil. I hopped off the carriage and, with a nice splashing sound, landed in the swamp’s omnipresent mud that pretended to be a path. I sighed, and watched my not-so-white-anymore fur soak up the mudwater like a parched sponge.

I looked forward to when we were finally past this swamp!

With newly drenched claws, I made my way over to where I expected the luck dragon to be at this time of day, our Watchtower, which happened to be the carriage directly behind my family's in our caravan. I was sure that when I looked up at the tower, I would see Rythil taking a nap while curled around its foundation. If nothing else, I’d at least find out that eastern and western dragons shared the belief that napping was most important. A trait that also went for batponies. 

However, when I arrived at the tower, I only saw my cute batfriend’s sleeping form dangling from one of the joists, swinging in rhythm to the movement of the cart, while Rythil was occupied in a conversation with Ocean Sky and Fertile Desert.

Seeing Illu like this, I of course remembered that this was an opportune position for kissing him. Dangling head down brought him within easy reach of a kirin standing at the base of the tower, a fact you can guess I was very happy to take advantage of. With a smile, I began making my way in his direction when Ocean Sky called out, interrupting my plan.

“Oh, Fiery!” He turned to face me while lowering and tilting his head a little bit. “You should see this! Fee-De found a very interesting plant!”

With a huff, I decided to let Illu sleep in peace, changing course to instead join Rythil and the others. “What plant?” I asked, quickly ruffling through Ocean’s mane when I reached the three and matched my pace with the track of caravans.

“This one!” Fertile Desert held up a dark purple flower bloom. “It not only looks quite interesting with the pattern of its petals, it also has a very interesting effect if you eat it. You should try it! Just take a little bite and you’ll see what I mean!”

With a raised eyebrow, I inspected the plant closer and gave it a sniff. Well, the lighter streaks of orchid running down the purple petals did look cool, though the stinging smell of wild garlic mixed with the muffled flavor of cocoa didn’t really appeal to me. “What does it do?” Instead of waiting for an answer, I leaned forward and took a tiny bite off of one of the leaves. “Hmm, tastes like paprik…” With a huge burp of flames, I was suddenly stood there in my nirik form, flaming tail and mane included.

“What the heck?” I held my claws in front of me and watched the flames run over them. “I don’t even feel annoyed, so why am I burning like I’m in a rage!” I flapped my wings just to make sure. Yep, like a phoenix.

“It’s great, isn’t it?” Ocean Sky proclaimed. “All the fire protection, none of the anger issues!”

“And it grows like grass in here!” Fertile Desert added. “There’s enough for everykirin!”

“No more mosquito-bites!" Ocean Sky cheered.

“That surely is an advantage,” I agreed. “And it also dried my fur. So, how long does it last?”

“I don’t know, maybe it depends on the amount you eat? When I found it, I ate one leaf and stayed nirik for several minutes.” Fertile Desert waved her tail in anticipation and lowered her head a little bit. “So, I found something useful, right?”

“Seems so to me.”

Her tail increased the speed in which it was waving, and a soft purr could start being heard.

I rolled my eyes but patted her head anyway. My kirins hoping I praise them for every little thing they do still irritates me sometimes. “And what does it do to non-kirins?” My gaze shifted to Rythil. “What’ll happen if you eat it?”

“I have no clue,” he confessed, “but I doubt I will burst into flames.”

“Let’s find out!” Ocean Sky enthusiastically suggested.

Rythil took one of the leaves from Fertile Desert and turned it around in his claw. “I don’t know, seems kind of risky to me.

“You are a priest of Fortuna, what’s the worst that could happen?” Fertile Desert inquired.

“Yeah, you will be fine,” Ocean added.

“Could be,” Rythil answered hesitantly. After another short examination of the leaf, he looked into the sky and said, “May Fortuna smile upon me,” before he ate it.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

“And? Do you feel anything?” Ocean inquired.

“Any tingly feeling?” Fertile wondered.

“No, not really,” he replied.

“Ohh, that's a sha…” she started, but stopped when she noticed Rythil’s horns suddenly start to glow, and the onset of a sneeze began to play across his muzzle. 

When Rythil finally released it, he exploded in a cloud of blue sparks, and when the flash of magic faded, where the relatively huge luck dragon had been, a tiny one now stood, maybe not even a tenth his usual size.

“What in the…” Rythils voice had become very high pitched, and his claws rushed to cover his snout the second he realized this.

“Oh look at you! You are so cute!” Fertile Desert giggled as she picked him up by his armpits. “I didn’t know luck dragons could do that!”

“I told you I saw him at different lengths when he’s curled around the watchtower, Fee-De. You just never believed me.”

“Well I knew they could fly, but them shrinking is new even for me,” I threw in as Rythil floated up to escape Fertiles grip. “Is that something you can do whenever you want, even without the flower, Rythil?”

“Yes,” he said, sounding like he had inhaled a whole bottle of helium. “Though,” his horns started to glow for a moment, but nothing else happened, “normally I can turn back just as easily. And it doesn’t affect my voice!”

Just for a moment, a smirk crossed my muzzle. Just the image of my brother finding out about this…

“Well, it should only last for a few minutes. So nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing to worry about? That’s easy for you to say! Half your merriment is now going to start pestering me to shrink down so they can cuddle and treat me like a pet, starting with your brother!”

I looked at the two kirins pulling the watchtower, both whispering to each other and giggling while looking at Rythil. “That might be true for my merriment, maybe, but my brother would treat you better than that, he would just try to make you a part of his hoard and made sure that you were well cuddled at all times”

“That’s not at all a bett-”

“Hold!” The loud shout of Bliz reached us from the first carriage just a moment before the whole train stopped.

“Huh? What happened,” Ocean asked, rising to his hind legs to get a better view.

“You should go check,” Fertile said to me. “We can speak about anger-plant later.”

“Anger-plant?” I shook my head in irritation. “We are not going to name it anger-plant.”

“But shrink-plant sounds kind of lame.”

“We’re not calling it shrink-plant either.” Before she could reply, I placed a claw on her muzzle. “No, we will find a good name later.” Good thing kirins are fireproof, since I just remembered that my claw was on fire. Being nirik without being angry really feels strange.

“Fiery! Could you please come over here?” Bliz yelled. “I think we might have a problem!”

*

“Are you sure you are alright?” Bliz remained in her submissive stance and kept her distance while her gaze shifted back and forth between me and the ground.

“I told you, it is just a plant. I am not angry at all. The effects are just causing me to look like I’m a nirik without actually being one. I should turn back any moment now.”

This didn’t seem to help though as she gave me an unsure glance while remaining in a submissive posture with her tail tucked. I ignored this though and looked at the bridge ahead, or more accurately, what remained of it. In front of us laid what used to be a suspension bridge, only now the wooden blanks were buried in the swampy water and the ropes that had held it together hung split and frayed from what little remained. At least that was what I could see, as a thick fog hung over the area. It was so thick, I was only able to see as far as I could toss a stone, making it impossible to gauge where the bridge ended, let alone how far it stretched.

“We either need to fix the bridge, or lift our carriages across with wings and magic,” Twisting Compass said. He too kept a submissive stance, but at least still had the guts to try to give me advice. “It will be a lot of work and will take forever, but we could carry them over one by one I think. Fixing the bridge could be quicker, if we can fix it. But there is no guarantee it would hold the weight of our carriage as we cross it.”

“If we carry them all over, we will be exhausted for sure and won’t be able to do much afterwards. We haven’t faced any dangers so far, but I just think we, ehm, you should keep that in mind Fiery,” Chilly Crust added. “If we happen to run into something on the other side, if we didn’t fix the bridge, we wouldn’t be able to pull back as quickly as we might like too.”

“We should send someone to check out the other side first, before we decide to repair the bridge or fly over it en masse.” Wind Root advised. “Who knows what's hidden in this fog. Could be the other side is hundreds of hoofsteps away, or the water’s deep enough at some points that the bridge’s debris is out of our reach, meaning we couldn’t fix the bridge even if we wanted to.”

“Those are all fair points,” I nodded. “Bliz,” I gestured for her to stand up and come to my side. “What do you think?”

After giving me another hesitant look, she stared at the broken bridge for a moment. “Sending someone to scout ahead seems like a good idea. On that I agree. And when it comes to fixing the bridge,” she scraped the ground with her hoof a bit, “I mean, it would be the right thing to do, you know? Could be a while before someone with the ability to do so comes along again. We have the numbers and the magic to do it. Creatures without magic or wings may get stuck here in the middle of nowhere, and they’d only find that out after having traveled the swamps for a week. I don’t like that idea, but…” She hesitated to speak further.

“Yes? What’s on your mind?”

“It would cost us more time to do it, and like Twisted Compass said, we can’t say for sure if it would be able to even support our heavy carriages. So fixing the bridge costs us time that might not end up being worth it in the end, time you need to reach Shakirin-La. So it may be better to just fly everything across.”

Now it was on me to be surprised. The thought of the fate of other travelers hadn’t even crossed my mind. I felt a little bit guilty about that, though, Bliz's argument was right, fixing the bridge might take a lot of time, with even five minutes making a huge difference in if we run into some unclaimed kirins.

“Now that you bring it up, I don’t like the idea of travelers being stuck here either.” I sighed. “Time is against us though, we can’t risk being late. We will tell the next town or village about the bridge’s condition and try to just fly over as well as we can. But first things first, we…”

“Just because it is more convenient for us, doesn't make it right,” Calmly suddenly piped up. “If we are to lead an empire, we must be a good example. Fixing the bridge to benefit everycreature should be what we do.”

“Fiery?” Bliz asked uncertainly, even daring to come closer to poke me with her nose.

I just gave her a quick shake of my head and pointed at my temples.

“A few travelers are unimportant compared to the battle we would have to fight if we miss the chance of claiming more loyal subjects before our enemies!” Roary countered. “Creatures may die if we pass on the opportunity to be faster. We are meant to lead, we can care for the inhabitants of our empire after we’ve claimed it!”

“The kind of decisions we make determines what kind of leader we are. We can’t know if repairing the bridge will really cost us more time in the end. We don’t know if a few minutes or an hour really makes a difference. We do know, however, that repairing this bridge would help the creatures that try crossing this swamp.”

“As much as I would like to be helpful to creatures here, the risk is too high.” I decided. “If we don’t fix the bridge, creatures may have to take a multi-day deture to reach the other side of the swamp. Not claiming kirins I otherwise could have would be a disaster though. We will fly over the bridge if we can.”

“Bliz, take two luftirins and fly to the other side. I want to know how far the other side is away, as well as if the path continues without any more surprises like another collapsed bridge or something.” Suddenly, Dad’s words drifted through my mind again, so I added, “And if you happen to find anything dangerous, return immediately.”

She purred agreeingly and turned around to fulfill my orders.

“Wind Root,” I waited a moment for him to approach, “you and Twisted Compass prepare our carriages for the flight. Make sure the weight of our stuff is distributed equally among them and nothing is attached loosely so we risk it falling off.”

“Will do!” Instead of going straight to do as I told him though, he took a second to step closer and, despite my flames, rub his head against my side one time. After this, he turned around and left to do as I instructed.

I looked after him as he left, unsure how to react. On the one claw, we’d known each other since we were foals, so him rubbing against my side was nothing so out of line. Though, with me being his leader now, as well as my jealous batfriend, I don’t know if I should allow such familiarities. As a reward for good behaviour or as praise for good work, sure, though without any special reason… I don’t know. Unintentional, I started to tap on the ground with my claw until I finally pushed that topic aside and returned my gaze to the damaged bridge and the fog beneath.

***


Blizzard Silence


My first real mission for Fiery! What an honour! Just scout the other side of the bridge, tell her what I find, and then, I receive a lot of head pats and praise! All the praise! The easiest thing in the world, and such a delightful reward for it! 

Or, so I thought. Though, life had other plans…

Choosing my team proved to be a challenge. There weren't many luftirins in Fiery’s merriment to begin with, and, as you can understand, I was not interested in taking one of my parents with me after Fiery set them above me again. So, with my limited options, I took Flittering Echo and Heat Wave with me. Flitter is quite agile and short, so she might be of use if the need to scout on undetected should arise. Not that I thought it was likely that we were going to fly into somecreature, but you never know. And Heat Wave was quite strong for a luftirin, he would be responsible for any muscle work that may come up.

I was sure that Fiery would be alright with my choice! When we gathered at the bridge though, she only spent a moment looking at Flitter and Heat Wave before returning her gaze to the bridge. At least she had returned to her normal self.

“Be careful over there,” she said. “I don’t want one of you to get hurt.”

“Will do,” I replied, and offered my head for some good-luck head pats before we lifted off. With her mind still clouded in thoughts, Fiery stretched a claw out to pat me without even looking in my direction. I had to make this mission a success to get her full attention and all the praise again!

I lifted my head back up as soon as Fiery withdrew her claw. “Okay guys, let’s see what we find on the other side!” I spread my wings and lifted off, a second later, Flitter and Heat Wave followed.

Quickly, we made our way along the broken bridge, accompanied by the buzzing of the many insects and popping bubbles of swamp gas beneath us. I took the opportunity to inspect the suspension towers and a few planks I could see along the way. They were in terrible condition; covered in mold, splintered, or mostly rotten away.

“Looks like fixing the bridge is not an option,” Flitter mentioned, saying what I was thinking. “We would have to build up a new one essentially from scratch.”

“Yeah, that would take like forever and a few days,” Heat Wave added.

I agreed. “Sadly so. But it shows how wise Fiery is by deciding to fly over this obstacle.” 

Both of them released a 'hmm' and nodded. It was good to know that Fiery was a good leader!

Though, as we flew along, a little bit of concern began to grow with every passing minute. Heat Wave was the first to speak it out loud. “This bridge is quite long, or was. I wonder if we’ll really be able to lift everything across it. The few small spots of grass we saw between the towers of the bridge don’t seem like they would fit a whole carriage on them to take a short rest.”

“Maybe it would be better if we build a raft? Or at least a few small platform along the way where we can drop the carriages for a moment?” Flitter looked at me. “What do you think, Bliz?”

“Both seem to be an option. I’ll tell Fiery about it when we get back.” Speaking of, I threw a look back at the shoreline behind us, but it had already been swallowed up by the fog.

*

“Mud, mud, mud, nothing but mud,” Flitter cursed when we reached the other shore,instantly sinking into the ground up to her fetlocks when she landed. She flew back up and shook her legs, tossinging mud in all directions.

“Watch where you’re throwing that!” I scolded her, and, much more careful, landed a few steps ahead. I still sunk in a bit, but not nearly as much as Flitter had. “Okay everykirin, let us see what we find over here. Flitter, you scout ahead and see where this path leads. Slowly though, Heat Wave and I will follow you, watching left and right for anything of importance.”

“Okay,” Heat Wave replied and moved to my side while Flitter took the lead. He shook his shoulders a bit when he’d gotten closer. “It’s kind of cold here. Damn fog blocking out the sunlight.”

“Now that you mention it, I agree.” It hadn't come to my attention before, but he was right. “It is kind of cold.”

Without asking for permission, Heat Wave laid his wing on my back and pressed up against me. “I can keep you warm.” He even started to purr.

Instantly, I loudly hissed, whipped my head towards him, and I pushed forward, presenting my fangs! What did he believe he was? I am an azure-kirin! How dare he snuggle up against me!

With a whimper, he fell to the ground, straight into the mud and kept his gaze low.

“Don’t you dare cuddle me without my permission!” I growled.

“I didn’t mean to,” he mumbled quietly. “I just don’t want you to freeze.”

I was going to scold him further when two things happened. First, my, how had Fiery called them, ah yes, advisors piped up, arguing about the benefit of having one's subordinates voluntarily be of service versus them acting only when demanded. And second, Flitter turned around to us, making a ‘shhhh’ gesture and sound.    

It took me a second to focus on her. I really wonder how Fiery is dealing with her advisors so well. “What did you say?” I finally managed to say after silencing the voices in my head.

“If you keep growling and hissing so loudly, our presence won’t be a secret anymore. I don’t know what may or may not be lurking in these swamps, but if you continue to be so loud, everycreature will know we are here.”

My first reaction was to growl at her too, since she dared to scold me, though her next words silenced me most effectively.

“What will Fiery say if you mess this up? She sent us here to scout and not alert everycreature of our presence.”

That hit me hard! No way was I going to miss out on all the praise, or even worse, get scolded instead! No, no, no! My first big mission has to be a success!

“Alright,” I now whispered way calmer. “We will talk about this later.” I pulled up Heat Wave by his ear. “Let’s move along. Silently.”

Slowly, we got into motion. The flapping of our wings was the only sound we made. I stopped mid flight and listened. Actually, it was the only sound that I could hear.

“Strange,” I mumbled. Since we entered the swamp, a simple growl did nothing to silence all the insects. Could be that the fog had swallowed all the sounds.

“What’s wrong?” Flitter asked, looking back over her shoulder.

I shook my head. “Probably nothing.”

*

“There is something beside the road.” Flitter landed quietly and pointed ahead and a little to the left. “There between the overgrown trees,” she whispered.

She must have better eyes than me. Even when I landed next to her, I saw nothing besides the pervasive green and brown of the swamp. More so with the dim twilight caused by the remnants of sunlight that made it through the fog.

“Some kind of hut maybe?” Heat Wave narrowed his eyes and stared into the wall of plants before us. “Or maybe some kind of wagon? Definitely something out of wood,” he added a second later.

All three of us moved behind a nearby bush.

“I don’t see anycreature.” Flitter turned to me after we had taken a moment to observe whatever it was we’d found. “No movement, no lights, no treacherous sounds. Seems abandoned, whatever it is. Shall I go check it out?”

“Hmm, yes. But be careful though. Heat Wave and I will cover your back. And keep in mind what Fiery said, if anything looks dangerous, pull back.”

“Will do.” More skilled than I had expected, she flew up and into the canopy. A moment later, she disappeared.

“If I didn’t know she was here, I would be none the wiser,” Heat Wave commented quietly. “No way anycreature would hear her coming.”

“Let’s hope you’re right.” 

Feeling Flitter’s presence in the foliage got me thinking that maybe somecreature else would be able to sense her as well, but I discard that idea. If there was somekirin ahead with that ability, I would have sensed them too.

So we waited. Only one time did I see Flitter for a quick moment when she emerged from the crown of leaves next to the… thing, and as fast as she appeared, disappeared into the thicket below.

“She reached the thing,” I whispered while forcing myself to look around once more. There was still nothing other than silence and fog.

Heat Wave gave me a short nod and kept his gaze on the track behind us.

Confident he would alert me if anything suspicious happened, I returned my focus to Flitter. I couldn’t see her though. The thicket blocked my view most effectively. And so another few minutes passed while I waited for her to show up. Only the calming feeling of her presence moving around before me prevented me from worrying too much.

“She is coming back,” I finally announced when I could feel her coming nearer again. We moved a bit backward and waited for her to show up.

“It’s an old carriage,” Flitter explained while she hoovered down to us. “Several in fact.” She made a gesture including the fields behind it. “Maybe a dozen or more. They are all abandoned. Seems to be a trading caravan, or, was one.”

“How do you know that?”

“They are still partially loaded. Boxes and chests mostly. A few rusty cooking tools and goods for daily use. But no tents or other things that would imply that they were traveling with a larger group like what we’re doing.”

“Why would a trading caravan leave all their waggons behind?” Heat Wave wondered. “More so the freight? If they couldn’t pass through the swamp due to the broken bridge, they surely would have turned around instead of dropping their wagons into the thicket.”

“I don’t think they did so intentionally. Some of the carriages have areas that’ve been scorched, and here and there on them some wood’s been splintered like it was hit by an axe or mace. Or some very strong and angry creature.”

“Did you see anycreature?” I moved a bit so I could throw a look at that one overgrown carriage I knew was there.

“No, no one was there. Whatever happened did so a while ago. At least that’s what I think given all the plants that have overgrown everything. ”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I don’t know. That’s just the impression I get.”

“Hmm,” I tapped the ground with my hooftip a few times. “Maybe it’s best if I take a look myself. Come.” I gestured for them to follow and walked towards the abandoned carriage.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Heat Wave trotted up to me and threw nervous glances at the thicket around us. “What if it was some bandits? They still could be around.”

“Not if everything’s started to get overgrown. I don’t know the swamps, but it should take days or weeks for that to happen, not a few hours. Even if it was bandits, they left days ago.”

“Or they’re just lurking around here waiting for the next careless group of travelers which has to stop due to the broken bridge. Maybe it was them who destroyed it in the first place, to cut off creatures escape route.”

“That is a possibility,” Flitter agreed and added, “but then they would be lying in wait further ahead, where there was still a chance that creatures with a lot of valuables would come across them. You saw how difficult it would be for us to transport our entire caravan over here, I doubt that they’d expect anyone with as much stuff as we have to be coming from this direction.”

“We should keep that in mind,” I agreed. “But Flitter is right, there would be no point in watching the bridge anymore. If they are here, they’ll be looking in the other direction. And it’s our job to find out if they are there at all. Fiery must know if it is safe to ferry everything across.”

As I was saying this, we reached the first carriage. Now that we were closer, I was able to better make sense of what I was seeing below all the shrubs and tendrils it was buried under. “You have good eyes, Flitter. I wouldn’t have seen this from a distance at all.” I stretched my hoof out and patted her head as a reward. For a moment, she closed her eyes and enjoyed it, but soon she started to throw suspicious glances around.

“We should hurry a little. I don’t like standing here on a silver platter,” Heat Wave murmured.

“Right.” I made my way around the shrubbery, and hopped onto the hoof board of the carriage to peek inside. What I saw matched Flitter’s description. Some broken boxes, grain and hay spilled on the floor, rusty tools laying around randomly. Something felt off about this, though, I couldn't put my hoof on it, but something wasn’t right with this.

Heat Wave hoovered up next to me and took a look too, but he didn’t say anything.

“Let’s look into the others,” I decided and moved over to the next one. While doing so, I came to notice the damaged parts Flitter had mentioned.

“Looks a bit too small for an angry creature,” Heat Wave judged after measuring the missing parts and some holes in the wood. “These holes are not much bigger than my hoof.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you ever seen the damage Fiery’s dad does when he punches something?”

“Yeah, once or twice.”

“Well, the edges of the holes he leaves behind are always extremely jagged. So the hole is actually bigger than his claw.” He pointed at a hole in the side of a carriage. “As I said, these ones are a little over the size of my hoof.” He fit his hoof through it to demonstrate. “That means that if a creature punched it in, they must be smaller than me, with trice or more times the strength. I mean look at this plank. It’s supposed to hold for years and protect the cargo. It’s thick! A mace can punch a hole in it, or a sledgehammer I suppose. But doing it by hoof, no way.”

“Makes the bandits idea more likely,” Flitter threw in.

Heat Wave nodded. “I guess so.”

“Makes sense,” I also nodded. “I would prefer a few bandits over some wild swamp creature for sure.” I turned around and jumped onto the next carriage. This time however, I heard the sound of coins clack against each other when I landed. “What is that?” I mumbled and leaned down to pick up a small pouch from the floor of the hoof board. When I shook it, the sound repeated. I turned the pouch around and emptied it into my hoof, revealing several bits.

“What did you find?” Flitter asked and hoovered next to me.

“A pouch of bits.” I threw the stack up and down a bit, guessing its amount. “Not a fortune, but still worth taking.” Puting the coins back, I wrapped the cord around my neck and secured it with a knot. “Seems whoever caused all this overlooked some stuff.

It turned out I was wrong though. They didn’t overlook some stuff, they had simply ignored all the money. In many of the carriages laid at least a few bits. In one or two there was even a few dozen scattered around. And not only the one bit coins, but also the five bit yokes and a few ten bit saddles.

“I guess we can discard bandits,” I said. “No way they would have left behind so much money. All in all we have like…” I estimated the sum, “four hundred fifty bits? That's probably not enough to buy a tavern, but it is to have a comfortable life for a year or two.”

“Given that, and the fact they didn’t steal most of the food brings back the question of who did this then?” Heat Wave looked around once more. “Maybe the carriages only had one or two highly valuable things that the bandits were after, though, even then they would have taken the bits. And out here, I’d bet food’s pretty valuable.” He stomped a hoof. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Maybe we should fly back and inform Fiery about all of this, surely she can make sense of this.” Flitter suggested.

“Flying back with only guesses and vague ideas? No.” None of us would get any praise for that, surely! “We have to look more closely at this. Spread out and see what else you can find. When we return to Fiery, I want to be able to report something useful to her.”

They did as I instructed, and to my delight, it didn’t take long for us to indeed find something. A trail of broken branches and compressed grass leaving the caravan and leading deeper into the swamp.

“At least we know where they came from now,” Flitter said.

I leaned down to sniff at the trail, but there was no scent besides the foul smell of the swamp.

“And now we know where they went,” I added. “Flitter, you’re the most skilled of us in regards of moving unheard or seen. See if you can find out where this trail leads. Maybe there’s a camp at the end, or a cave. Whoever did this must have some kind of base nearby.”

“You want me to follow these unknown tracks?” She swallowed and looked along the muddy path leading into the foggy bushes. “Alone?”

“The more go, the more likely we are to get seen.”

“Yes, but…”

“No buts. Go and tell me what you find.”

“It could be dangerous,” Heat Wave threw in.

“So you want me to tell Fiery we couldn’t find out anything because you two got cold hooves?”

“No,” both squeeked out in unison.

“Good, then go, Flitter,” I ordered. “Heat Wave and I will stay here and look for additional clues.

***


Fiery


Moving all our stuff around took far more effort than one would imagine. Not only did we have to make sure the weight was spread equally, but also that everything would get back to the owner afterwards, so everything had to be labeled somehow. My merriment did their best, but it felt like it took forever!

It also didn’t help my patience that we still hadn’t heard from Bliz and her team. 

“They’ll be fine.” Illu, who had read my mind, said, extending his wing over my back. “They are just being thorough in scouting ahead. Scouting is just something that takes some time.”

I snuggled against him. “I know. It’s just that they’re doing so on my behalf. That makes things kind of different.”

“I understand. And they will be fine. Don’t you worry.” He supported his attempt to distract me with a kiss on my cheek.

“My mom always warned me of evil dragon, kirin, and pony tricks,” I purred. “But she never mentioned evil batpony tricks.” 

“Her mistake.” Illu smiled.

“How careless of her. I…” Panick rushed into my bones and I pushed Illu aside, turning towards the bridge. 

“What is it?” Illu tried to lay a hoof on my shoulder. “Fiery, what’s happening? What’s wrong?”

“Bliz and her team!” I yelled. “I… I could sense three of my merriment over at their side, but now there’s only two!”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t feel one of them anymore! I could feel that they were over there, three of them. I can’t tell who is who, but I can feel their general presence! Illu, now there are only two!”

“You mean…?”

In that moment, another presence in my merriment diminished…
> Possibilities
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Quick! We must hurry!” I yelled as we made our way through the fog, flying towards the other side of the bridge. “I can still sense one of them!”

“Stay behind me when we reach them!” Dad shouted sharply. Obviously, he hadn’t let me go without him when he found out what happened. Neither did Summer Moon, of course.

“Dad! They are my kirins!”

“And you are my daughter!”

I was too worried to get into an argument with Dad, so I just didn’t react to that. Instead, I looked over my flock of luftirins and the three runehorns they were carrying. Summer Moon, Fertile Desert and Rapt Glance. The last two because they were the closest we had to doctors in my merriment, and we might need them dearly. And as per my order, they were all armed with at least a club or similarly primitive weapon. In contrast, Dad and Rythil remained empty clawed, but the reason why seemed rather obvious.

“And you are my Goddess’ Godchild,” Rythil, now back in his longer form, added while catching up. “I will stay by your side too! It’s my duty!”

“We need to find them, not protect me! Focus on that!”

“Fortuna would rip off my tail if I do that! I have to stay by your side!”

“She will watch over me if she wants! Your duty is to help me find my kirins!”

“But I…”

I hissed before sharply yelling, “I will tell Fortuna that you are a pain in the rump if you refuse to help me find Bliz and the others!”

For several seconds he stayed silent, watching me, obviously having trouble deciding on what to do. In the end he grumbled,” Fine, I will help you search for them, but we have to talk about this later.”

I just snorted. He can lecture me all he wants when this is over, for now though, it was of no concern.

The moment we arrived at the other side and my claws touched the ground, I wasted no time in roaring out for my kirins. I couldn’t see far, but my voice would probably carry for some distance.

“Shh!” Dad shushed me, but I didn’t listen. Instead, tears started to form at the corners of my eyes.

“Fiery, what is it?” Rythil wondered, throwing his gaze back and forth between me and the path ahead.

“I can sense the kirin ahead now, with the taste on my tongue instead of my merriment sense.”

“And?” Dad turned his attention to me too. “What is the problem?”

“It doesn’t have the sparkling taste…”

While Rythil looked at me with confusion, Dad licked over my cheek while releasing calming and comforting sounds.

“What does that mean?” Rythil asked.

“That Blizzard Silence didn’t make it,” Dad explained quickly.

A great deal of sad whimpers could be heard from my merriment after Dad said this. I couldn’t help but imagine what else I would be hearing if I hadn’t forced Bliz’s parents to stay back and convinced Illu to watch over them. I shook my head and forced those thoughts away. I couldn't handle the idea of telling them.

I felt Rythil’s claw on my back, rubbing slowly over my scales. I think it was his way of showing compassion. 

However, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing her! She was my friend! So despite all the evidence to the contrary, I clung to the spark of hope that Bliz was still alive.

Forcefully, I rubbed my nose and wiped the tears away. “We must go on, one of them still needs our help!” I gave Rythil a thankful nod but shook off his claw. Then, I lowered my nose to sniff the ground and search for where they had gone, but my clogged nose prevented me from finding any clues. Dad and Rythil didn’t have such problems though and quickly began to lead the way.

It didn’t take us long to find the forsaken bunch of carriages, and in no time at all, Dad and Rythils noses led us directly to the hidden path that drove deeper into the wild parts of the swamp.

“Looks like they stood here for a while,” Rythil said after lifting his head out of a reedbed. “Their smell is particularly strong here.”

“But only Flittering Echo went ahead,” Dad added. “ The other two remained here.” He sniffed through the reeds to the left and right of the path. “This is strange. I can’t smell them leaving, nor can I smell another creature. It’s like they dissolved into thin air.”

“We have to search the surrounding area!” Windswept Granite hectically spat out. “They have to be here somewhere!”

Once more, I simply roared out for my kirins. Dad gave me a look, but didn’t say anything. If it was me or my brothers that were missing, he wouldn’t be silent either.

A moment later, a reply came! It was Flittering Echo!

Without hesitation, I burst forward in her direction, spread my wings, and flew towards her as fast as I could. Or that had been my plan, till Dad caught up and grabbed my tail, pulling me back. I wanted to turn around and hiss at him, but he let go of me almost as fast as he caught me, satisfied with simply flying next to me.

The rest of my luftirins were quick to follow after Summer Moon issued the command, shifting into two lines that flew above and to the left and right of the path, with three luftirins carrying our runehorns.

“Flittering Echo! We’re here!”

“Fiery?” The surprise in her voice was clear as she emerged from the fog in front of us. “Fiery, what are you doing here?” Her gaze wandered over the others. “Where are Bliz and Heat Wave?” 

Instead of answering, I rushed at her, grabbed her head, and started to lick over the scales on her forehead. Confused as she was, she not only let it happen, but welcomed my caresses with happy purrs. This and her question made it obvious that she was about as in the dark as we were.

“What happened to Bliz and Heat?” Agitated Harmony pressed. “Where are they?”

“Uhm, they were supposed to wait for me, right where all these carriages are. Bliz sent me ahead to see where this path was going.” Flittering Echo had to stop for a moment to enjoy the affection she was receiving from me. “From what it looked like, these merchants, at least that's what we think they were, got attacked by something. So I was supposed to find out by what, so we could,” she looked me in the face, “report back to you.”

“Heat Wave and Blizzard Silence are missing,” Dad informed her. “Fiery isn’t able to sense them anymore.” He rose to his hindlegs and scanned our surroundings. “Something must be lurking around here. Probably the same thing that attacked these carriages.” He also began sniffing the air, but like with my merriment, no one smelled anything suspicious.

“What do you mean you can’t sense them anymore? They were right there, not even half an hour ago!” She pointed back down the path. “I left them right there!”

“But there is no trace of them anymore,” Agitated Harmony said and shook her head, “No smell, no hoofprints in the mud, nothing!”

“Maybe they flew off?”

“Then their smell would linger in the air,” Dad pointed out. “Also, if that were the case, why did Fiery lose her connection to them, and where would they have gone?” He looked down at Flittering Echo. “It is very unlikely that they would leave you behind in such a potentially dangerous situation for no good reason.” He turned to me and dropped back down onto all four legs. “It would help a lot if you manage to learn this mindtalking thing soon.”

I wrapped a wing protectively around Flittering Echo. “I tried, Dad! I just can’t do it now!”

“We should keep the next azure-kirin we find who is able to do so and get them to teach us,” Roary said.

Distracted by my inner dialog, I noticed too late that something was moving in the thicket to our right. However, by the time I focused on it, it was already gone, but there was now rustleing coming from between the reeds. Dad also heard it, and before I could even react, he had already rushed into the thicket himself. My kirins instinctively formed a ring around me. Flittering Echo wanted to join them, but I held her tight, so she, I, Summer Moon and Rythil were in the centre.

“No creature is here,” Dad yelled after a moment. “But I found this…” He emerged from the greenery with something small in his claw. It was revealed to be a stone. “This one has a certain smell on it.” His eyes became slits and he suspiciously looked around us. “Somecreature threw it to distract us.”

For some reason, this seemed to put him at ease.

Now my merriment threw suspicious glances at the greenery around us too. The ring around me contracted.

“Means we have to deal with some sort of sentient creature, too weak to fight us head on.” Dad tossed the stone over to me so I could memorise the smell. It was a mix of fine woody nutmeg below the dominant smell of reeds. I passed on the stone so everykirin knew what we had to look out for.

“Hey that smells like the strange overgrown building I found,” Flittering Echo said when she sniffed at the stone.

“What building?” I wondered.

“The one this path leads to. There’s a stone building not that far ahead. It’s in surprisingly good condition given the surroundings, and it smells just like this stone does. Without the smell of reeds that is.”

“Then we know where our observer went,” Dad said. “Still, the question remains as to where Blizzard Silence and Heat Wave went. Since Flittering Echo didn’t see them, they couldn’t have gone this way at all. The same goes for what attacked them.”

“And… if they are just dead, laying somewhere in the swamp around us?” Rythil hesitantly suggested. My throat tightened from his words, but it was a question that needed an answer.

“There was no blood on the ground, no sign of a fight, no trail of their smell. Even if someone managed to overwhelm them, dragging the body into the swamp would surely leave a trail. And killing them both, two kirins that were prepared and on guard without spilling some blood, or at the very least trampling down some grass, is nearly impossible,” Dad explained.

“How do you kn…” Rythil stopped mid sentence, staring at Dad for a second. “Oh, uhm, yeah.”

“We don’t have the time to make assumptions,” I said and fetched a fortune cookie from under my wing. “We need to find them quickly!” Without delay, I broke the cookie and retrieved the piece of paper from within. After all, these cookies were from Fortuna herself.



When walking an unknown road, if one wishes to see things to their end, it is necessary to first lower one's head.


“Lower one’s head?” I wondered and exchanged a look with Summer Moon and Rythil. “Well, these cookies were never wrong before, so…” I bowed down, and not a moment too soon, as the moment I did so, an orange ball of magic shot over my head, missing me by the width of a feather, and crashed into Summer Moon instead, sweeping her off her hooves!

“Summer Moon!” I yelled and rushed over. I could already feel her presence in my merriment fading. The moment I reached her however, I was pushed to the ground by the weight of Dad who had sprung on top of me. I was still able to crouch forward, so I did. “Summer! Are you alright?” I couldn’t see any blood or signs of injury, but she wasn’t moving! 

I laid a claw on her chest. . . and felt her heart beating below her rips! She was still alive!

“I just want to help!” Fertile Desert yelled suddenly. “You need to let me through!”

It took me a second to realise what was happening. “Dad! Dad, let her through, Summer Moon needs her help! She is on our side!”

A moment later, Fertile Desert slid under Dad’s belly and started to examine Summer Moon. “She’s breathing,” her hooves wandered over Summer’s body. “She has a pulse, I can’t find an impact wound.” She turned to me. “Whatever hit her seems to be purely magical.”

“Over there!” One of my kirins suddenly yelled, and a few seconds later I could hear something wooden colliding with the trees around us.

“Watch your aim!” Windswept Granite shouted. “Only throw if you are sure you will hit!”

“Wha… what happened?” Summer Moon whispered and slowly opened her eyes. “What was that?”

“You’re alive!” I rushed forward, pushed Fertile Desert aside by accident, and licked over Summer’s headscales.

“Eughh, that's disgusting!” She pushed me aside. “Stop that!”

Well that was strange! I only doubled my effort to get a hold on her and check on her well being.

“Fiery!” she yelled in anger, “leave me alone!”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “But, but… “ I took a deep breath, calming my nerves. Summer was hit by some strange magic, I couldn’t feel her in my merriment anymore, and she was acting very very strange. Though, I had no urge to claim or fight her either. Something definitely was off! My gaze wandered to Fertile Desert, but she just shrugged.

That was the moment Dad jumped up into the air, spread his wings, and crashed into the tree line in about two seconds. What followed was a cry of pain before a body impacted with some force on the ground a few metres to my left.

It was a kirin! A runehorn, but none like I had ever seen!

He was wearing face paint and had attached some feathers to his mane, making him look kind of tribal-ish. Also, he had tried to camouflage himself by dappleing himself with mud, though the huge bleeding claw mark on his belly was now ruining the effect. I didn't have much time to examine him though, as Dad’s loud, challenging roar resounded through the swamp, followed by him jumping off the tree he had collided with and flying in our direction. This kirin had attacked one of his bornling, and had to pay the price.

Without thinking, I stormed forward and threw myself onto the unconscious kirin, protecting him from Dad’s attack as best as I could. This wasn’t entirely intentional though. I didn’t know what he had tried to do to me, I just wanted to save his life out of instinct as a kirin myself.

Dad altered his course so he didn’t crash into me, and in anger roared at me the moment his claws touched the ground. Just the thought that this kirin would be killed the second I backed off gave me the strength to hold my ground and even fend Dad off when he tried to pick me up. Luckily, Rythil intervened and came to my aid.

“This guy isn’t a threat anymore!” Rythil yelled, trying to get between me and Dad. “Your child isn’t in danger from him anymore, there’s no need to kill him!”

Dad just roared straight in his face and presented his fangs.

Rythil returned the favour, presenting his own fangs while growling. His fur also began puffing up, making him look a little like Grünchen when he got upset, and just like him, it failed to help him argue with Dad. If anything, it only served to make him look more cute in Dad’s eyes.

It still wasn’t enough to prevent Dad from attacking though, and so I flinched when Dad reached back to hit him. However, the moment before he went to do so, he slipped, missing Rythil in the process. Not that it stopped him from trying again, and another time. It took like six tries before Dad realised whose priest Rythil was, and that he would not be able to harm him.

“Dad! Stop! He’s on our side!” I yelled.

With a frustrated roar, Dad stopped his attack. If nothing else, it had at least given him the time to calm down and no longer consider the unconscious kirin as a threat.

Though, that didn’t mean I could really care for him yet. As soon as Dad left his ‘kill anything that could be a threat to my bornlings’ mode, he instantly changed to ‘must check on my bornling’. He picked me up and laid his wings protectively around us while he sniffed at me to see if I was hurt. “Fertile Desert!” I managed to spit out, “throw a look at our newcomer! Rapt Glance!” I peaked my head above Dad’s wing, “throw a look at Summer Moon, she’s acting quite strange for some reason!” I knew that Fertile Desert had already taken one, but the more eyes the better. And while Fertile Desert was skilled with herbs and tinctures, including some to stop bleeding, Rapt Glance was more of a formal physician than her. I also assured Dad that I was alright, but as you can imagine, he had no interest in listening to my assurances.

“She looks to be alright,” Rapt Glance said when Dad finally let go of me. “I share Fee-De’s opinion though. No injuries of the physical kind, a purely magical attack. Whatever it was seems to have only affected her mindset.”

“And he,” Fertile Desert stood up and nodded at her patient, “is in quite bad shape.”

Dad snorted proudly.

“He will survive, probably,” she added.

“Can,” I ruffled my nose, “can you say something else about him? I couldn’t sense him at all, nor could I sense Summer anymore after his attack.” I perked up when the realisation hit me. This meant Bliz was probably still alive and just got hit by whatever this magic did too! “Dad! Bliz could still be alive!” I turned around and addressed everyone. “I can’t sense Summer Moon anymore after that attack! The same could have happened to Bliz and Heat Wave! They could still be alive!”

The news was received with happy purring!

“Does that mean she’s no longer part of your merriment?” Rythil asked, still keeping his position between Dad and the strange kirin.

“It seems so for the time being.” I tilted my head. “I have no urge to claim her though. It feels a little bit like it feels with Autumn Blaze. Just, I can’t feel her presence. With Autumn I still know that she is around. Summer Moon, on the other claw, has vanished from my kirin senses completely.”

“So just like it was before the call, right?” Summer Moon stated. “Doesn’t sound so bad to me.”

This earned her a growl from the kirins closest to her.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Flittering Echo said, surprised. In all the chaos and worry about Summer, I had completely forgotten that she was here. She moved closer to me and rubbed her head against my side. “Being part of the merriment is the best thing that has happened to us in a long time.” She underlined her words with some purring.

“Having free will sounds better to me if I’m being honest,” Summer retorted. “Supporting you isn’t a problem, Fiery, but being your loyal subject without a choice is something different.”

“We need to claim her again, now! Such insolence can’t be tolerated,” Roary roared furiously. “She belongs to us, our will has to be her will as well!”

“At least she is still willing to support us and not rebel instantly,” Calmly said. “Could have been worse if that magic ball had hit some kirin that would have been less loyalty to us.”

I could feel a moment of realisation going through my head. Not my own, but Roary’s.

“We could use that against our opponents! If we hit enemy kirins with this spell, they would not follow their azure leader anymore!” I felt his mighty, hungry laugh in the back of my mind. “We would be unstoppable!”

“This spell could also be used against us!” Calmly retorted. “If the knowledge of it slips out, anykirin could use it against us as soon as we claimed the throne! The knowledge of this spell must not be known by the common kirins, or worse, other spellcasters like unicorns!”

“Fiery!”

I shook my head and focused back on the here and now.

“Fiery,” Fertile Desert repeated. “What should we do with him?” She pointed at Summer Moon. “And her?”

“Keep him! Claim him and force him to tell us how to cast that spell!”

“Ask him where Bliz and Heat Wave are, then let him go.”

I rubbed my temples. “Agitated Harmony, you and Windswept Granite take Summer Moon back to our carriages. Make sure she doesn’t run away. Fertile Desert, see if you can wake him up,” I said, pointing at the stranger.

“We can only hope that this spell is not permanent,” Flittering Echo whispered while we watched them leave.”

I fetched another fortune cookie from under my wing and turned it around in my claw. I didn't have an endless amount of them though, so I placed it back after a moment. I could still use them later if I had to. “Yeah, I hope so too.”

*

Before us was an old building that looked like it had seen better days. Vines and moss dug into the stonework and were starting the long process of devouring it entirely. If I had to take a guess, this building had been sitting here abandoned for the better part of a century. Though on a closer look, it turned out that it was just the entrance to a long hallway slowly leading underground. The tunnel we were facing had a walkway in the centre and two streams to either side that nature had already taken over.

“They have to be down there!” I looked down the tunnel leading below the surface, hearing as my echo sent my words back at me. “They just have to!”

“It is possible,” Rythil said. “But we don’t know who else could be down there with them.” He sniffed the air. “If there are kirins down there that your kirin senses can't detect, who knows, a hundred or more could be lurking down there.”

“So far we only saw one, and that one isn’t a threat anymore,” Fertile Desert threw in. She nodded at our tied up visitor who was still unconscious. “Though, even one more could be dangerous. I don’t want to be hit by whatever that was that turned Summer into… into… whatever her condition is called.”

“And we don’t know what happens if this magic hits you,” Dad added with worry in his voice. “The first shot was aimed directly at you. Either these kirins dislike azure-kirins, or, perhaps, your connection to your whole merriment would collapse if you get hit.” He stepped closer and licked over the side of my neck. “You are the heart of your merriment. Without you, it may crumble to dust. That could have been the plan all along, and it makes sense with Blizzard Silence being attacked.”

“If this is true,” Calmly piped up,” it could also be our way out of this whole Shakirin-La thing! No one would be able to force us to submit to their will if we knew such a spell ourselves. I take back what I said before. Thinking about this again, this spell could be a great benefit!”

“A way out,” I mumbled.

“What?” Dad asked as he rubbed his cheek against mine.

“This could be a way out for me.” I turned my head and looked up to him. “Calmly pointed out that if I get disconnected from my merriment by getting hit, this could be my way out of this whole Shakirin-La adventure. No more Call for me, no one else who could force me to do their bidding.”

“You would lose your opportunity to claim the throne though. And the fate of the kirins would lay in another’s claws too,” Dad retorted. “Having you back home in the lair safe and sound doesn’t sound bad, though, I doubt that Fortuna and the gods would allow it to be so easy.

A worried whimper from Fertile Desert pulled me out of my thoughts. She had approached me and was now searching for comfort from me.

“Don’t you worry,” I said and laid a claw on her head. “It’s currently just a thought. I haven’t decided anything yet, and we need to find Bliz first anyway.”

“And Heat Wave,” Rythil added.

“And Heat Wave, I agreed.”

“So what are we going to do?” Flittering Echo asked.

“We have no choice but to go down there and see if we can find them.”

“And if they are like Summer? If they refuse to come back with us?”

“Bliz is my friend, she will come with us anyway. And I don’t think Heat Wave would like to stay in the swamp anyways. They may have trouble following my orders for the time being, but they surely wouldn’t mind us rescuing them.”

“Then your dad should go first while I stay next to you to protect you from any harmful magic that comes your way.” Rythil stepped next to me. “Black Death, you are the most protected of all of us, you should take the lead while I use my luck to try and protect my goddess’ godchild as best as I can.”

“What about us?” Fertile Desert hissed as she raised her tail and wings, enraged. “We’re here to protect her too!”

“You are vulnerable to this new spell. It doesn’t make any sense to use you as shields for Fiery when you could potentially turn on her if you get hit.”

Dad raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Fertile Desert quietly said while looking at the ground.

“I don’t think any of them would cause any problems, even if they get hit!” Quickly I wrapped a wing around Fertile Desert. “They are all from our or Bliz’s village after all. We know each other. They’d listen to me, with or without the Call.”

“The confusion alone would cause problems,” Dad said. “If we run into a trap or an ambush of some kind, kirins who just stand in the way with no clue on what to do would be a problem.”

“Still better it hits us than Fiery,” Rapt Glance proclaimed before moving next to us. “Based on what we saw, this spell does no physical damage at all. If one of us gets hit, that's bad, but if Fiery gets hit, as you said, the whole merriment may collapse. So the best course of action would be you, sir, as a dragon, walking in front, and behind you, in a circle around Fiery, are us kirins. And as the last line of defence, our friend the luck dragon Rythil stays next to Fiery to intercept everything that may get past us.”

We all considered the plan Rapt Glance had just presented to us, and since no one presented another one, I decided we would go with it for the time being.

“Alright, then that is what we are going to do,” I decided. “Our top priority is finding Bliz and Heat Wave still. We go in there, deal with any problem we may come across, and get them both back safe and sound!”

“I don’t like this,” Dad growled.

“Dad, we need to find them! I know you are always worried about me, but we can’t let Bliz and Heat Wave stay behind if they are down there!”

He moved his head next to mine and pushed everyone else a bit back with his wings. “I know how much Bliz means to you,” he whispered. “You consider your kirins nearly as close as if they were your eggs. That is the only reason I’m allowing this attempt at rescuing these two in the first place.”

“Dad…”

“I am not done talking.” He licked over my head scales. “We will go and search for them. But, if anything seems to me like a real threat to you instead of just some fancy magic, I will pick you up and bring you to safety without a second thought, even if it means leaving everyone else behind.”

“Dad, we can’t leave Bliz and Heat Wave behind, I told you!”

“This isn’t up for discussion, Fiery. I will make sure you come back home safe and sound no matter what, you are my bornling.” He now started to purr fatherly.

Evil Dad tricks! Oh no, he wasn’t just purring fatherly, he was also using his ‘I am your dad and you have to obey my will’ emergency purr! One day I’ll be immune to it for sure! However… that day was not today.

“Fine,” I just mumbled unhappily. “But we try to save them first!” Then, an idea came to my mind. “Fertile Desert?”

“Yes?”

“Say, did you bring some of those new plants you found with you?”

“Uhm, yeah. I have some in my pocket.”

“Good, I think we have a use for it…”
> Below The Surface
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What is this place? I’ve never seen something like this before.” Calm Tempest wondered while brushing over the wall with her wing, causing loose flecks of masonry to come off and fall into the thin stream of water below her. “It’s completely covered in moss, but it doesn’t look like the underlying stones have been eroded.”

“Hard to tell. I can’t see anything distinctive that would narrow down who built this and when,” Rythil replied. “If we find any engravings or something with more individual style than tunnel walls, we might be able to tell.”

“If it wasn’t for the swampy water and the fact everything is more or less overgrown with moldy moss, this place would probably be pretty homey,” Fertile Desert said. “Nothing against a green home, the more plants the better, but please, no mold.”

“Nothing a bit of fire can’t cure,” Grounded Star started. “A few more bites of this  anger-plant…” 

“I said we’re not calling it anger-plant,” I threw in.

“... of this useful plant Fee-De found, and we could get rid of all the mold in no time.”

As you can see, we were able to make good use of the plant Fertile Desert found. A few of my kirins had eaten a bunch of those leaves before we entered the tunnel and were now shedding a good amount of light for the rest of us.

“I wonder why it doesn’t smell though,” Fertile Desert wondered aloud. “Normally mold reeks, however, all I’m smelling is nutmeg with a hint of earth beneath the scent of stone.”

“It’s also very quiet. No sign of the usual insects.” Rapt Glance added.

That brought a smile to Calm Tempest’s face, since she was among the members of my merriment who got stung the most often. “Whatever’s suppressing the smell must also be keeping the insects out. Sounds like something useful for the summer for sure. And for this swamp.”

“I would bet it’s a spell. If I lived in a swamp, I would surely develop a spell like this too,” Rapt Glance said. “Not that I’m all that into magic to begin with, but in an area like this, it seems indispensable.”

“It would be good if you kept your muzzle shut,” Dad growled back at us. “If anykirin is lurking around down here, we don’t want to alert them.”

“If they don’t already know that we’re coming,” Rythil whispered back.

“Why do you assume that?” I wondered.

“It’s just an idea. It’s entirely possible that there are other kirins living here, and given the last one targeted you specifically, it’s highly likely they know about this whole merriment thing. And since they’ve already captured Blizzard Silence, I doubt they wouldn’t have come to the conclusion that she isn’t the leader of your merriment.” He began stroking his whiskers. “So they would expect some kirin higher in rank to come looking for them.”

“Mhh, maybe, but only if they figured out that Bliz isn’t the leader. They could just not know.”

“If Fortuna wills it, luck will be on our side.”

I stopped in my tracks and faceclawed. “I should have asked you to bless Bliz and her team before I sent them over. Fotuna even made sure I knew what ability her priests possessed. She even told me I would have use of that wisdom later.”

“Wouldn’t that be against the rules you mentioned they’re following in this regard?”

I bit my lip and released a little ‘hmm’. “I’m not sure. I think directly intervening is not allowed, though, if you’re just doing something you do anyway as her priest, it might be okay? If it is against the rules though, she can just deny your request.”

“That kind of makes sense.”

“Remind me next time to ask you for a blessing for my merriment.”

“Will do.”

*

We continued our treck deeper into the tunnel until eventually the walls spread out to form a larger hall. How could I tell that it was large? The moment we entered, two braziers on the other end, besides a huge stone door, ignited themselves and gave off enough light to confirm the rooms size.

“Anyone else finding this disturbing?” Fertile Desert asked.

“I’ve seen stranger things already,” I replied while stepping into the hall behind Dad. My gaze wandered over the pale grey tiles covering the ground. Some of them were cracked, and here and there, a bit of moss was growing between them, but they were mostly still intact.

“At least this hall isn’t flooded, the water must drain away somehow,” Rythil commented. And indeed, the two small streams flowed into two small pools at either side of the hall. Just like at home, there must be a hole in the wall letting the water out.

“I wonder where this door leads,” Grounded Star piped up and hoovered a little higher. The light she was emitting allowed us to see the rest of the hall better, and see that besides the huge stone door and the hall we had just walked down, there were no other exits.

“I’m sure that this new guy could tell us if he was awake,” Calm Tempest replied. “Still no success in waking him up?”

“No,” Rapt Glance shook his head. “He hit the ground quite hard, I don’t know when he’s going to wake up.”

“Well, we could give him a bite of the anger… I mean of the shrink plant,” Fertile Desert suggested.

“I said we’re not calling it shrink plant either!”

She just ducked and whimpered.

“This could be a trap,” Dad's sudden words drew my attention. He held the kirins behind him back with an outstretched wing. “Fluffy’s cousin wrote a lot about places like this.”

“You mean aunt Daring.”

Dad ruffled his snout and slightly growled. “This looks exactly like one of the places she describes in her books. Some old building in the middle of nowhere connected to a system of rooms, tunnels or similar, and every time there are deadly traps, monsters, or one of her enemies to try and kill her.”

“Maybe I should go first then, kind of runs in the family to survive such things.”

Dad’s growl was answer enough.

“Well, I can go first,” Rythil offered. “I should be protected by luck enough to not get us into trouble.”

“Or we can all simply fly over,” Grounded Star suggested from above. “If there’s a hidden trigger buried in the ground, we should avoid it if we can.”

“Or maybe, this is one of the cases where there are no traps at all?” Rapt Glance threw in. “Maybe this is just an old abandoned underground hall, and all the traps are long degraded, if there were any to begin with.”

“Possible, but unlikely,” I said. “Dad is right about aunt Daring’s books. This place looks exactly like it was taken from one of them.”

“Flying over it makes the most sense,” Dad decided. He lowered his wing. “Fortuna has great might, Rythil, you fly over first.”

“Alright with me,” Rythil said and started to float into the air. Slowly, he drifted towards the door while the rest of us followed him with our gaze. As he flew, he threw concerned glances at the ground below him as well as at the pillars next to the door, as if they could collapse if he just thought too much about it. He made it to the door without any incident though. Once there, he waved at us, signaling for us to follow.

Grounded Star was the first to follow his request. “Seems safe enough to me,” she said and flew over as well. However, unlike with Rythil, when she reached the middle of the hall, something did happen. 

Behind us, the rumbling and scraping of stone over stone could be heard.

“Watch out,” one of my kirins yelled, pointing at the entrance. Some even tried to hurry back, but it was too late. With a loud crash, a stoneplate dropped into place and blocked our path back. 

“So much for all the traps being long gone,” Rapt Glance said quietly.

“Seems we’re trapped in here now,” Fertile Desert added.

My gaze wandered over the plate. It was common stone, maybe a wingspan thick if I had to guess. “It isn’t much of an obstacle with Dad by our side. The worst it can do is slow us down.”

“May take me a few minutes to dig through it,” Dad nodded. “Better I do so now instead of later when we might be in a hurry.”

“Guys!” Rythils voice yelled from the other end of the hall. “This could be of interest!”

Glowing text, emitting a golden shine, had suddenly appeared on the huge stone door next to him.

“It appeared the moment the other exit was blocked! Unfortunately, I’m unable to read it.”

I exchanged a look with Dad. “Can you at least say which language it is?”

“I am not sure. I think they could be the symbols the kirins used back in the days, but I never learned to read them, so I am not sure if they really are the same or not.”
  
“If they are,” Dad said, “I can’t read them either. Maybe Fluffy could, she once had a vision gifted by Fortuna where she was able to speak that language, but not me.”

“Maybe I can read it then! In my dream of Shakirin-La, Fortuna gave me the ability to understand the language of the kirins from the past!” I nodded at the blocked path. “You carve us an exit, Dad, while I go see if I can read that message over there. Maybe it gives us a clue as to what is going on here.”

Dad took his time to look through the hall. “Alright, but be careful, and if something suspicious happens, you come back to me.”

I wanted to complain, but I couldn’t. Damn parental purring! It hadn’t worn off yet! “Okay,” was all I could say before I made my way over to Rythil, accompanied by most of my kirins. I only left two with Dad to watch out for threats while he was distracted with digging. Truth be told, Dad was possibly the most dangerous thing down here, though, it was my way of speaking up without speaking up.

I landed in front of the door and started to inspect the writing on it. Sadly, without any success. “I’m not able to read it either. I don’t know what these symbols stand for.”

“I can read them,” Roary proclaimed. 

“That’s inconvenient,” Rythil laid a claw on his chin. “Maybe…”

“Shh! Roary thinks he can read it.” I focused on my advisors. “You can?”

“That doesn’t mean I know what the words mean,” Roary explained. “I know these symbols, I can speak them out, but the meaning behind them? A mystery."

“Then do tell me, maybe I know.”

And so he did. And it was indeed the language of Shakirin-La! My godmother had only granted me the ability to understand that language, not to read it. Why Roary was able to read it though, that was a mystery to solve later.

Slowly, I spoke out what Roary told me.

“Der Eingang zur Unterwelt ist für alle gleich, ob arm, ob reich, ob jung oder alt, es macht keinen Unterschied.'' Früher oder später enden alle Reisen vor meinem Tor, und meine Geduld ist unendlich…

Doch noch ist dein Werk im Land der Lebenden nicht getan, Sterbliche. Kehre um, und ich bin sicher, wir werden uns wiedersehen.”

“I’m not familiar with this language, Fiery. Would you be so kind as to translate it to the common language?” Rythil asked.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, kind of habit to use old draconic for ancient texts. Let me translate it for you…”

“The entrance to the underworld is for all the same; rich, poor, old, young, it matters naught. For sooner or later, all journeys find their end before me, and my patience is eternal… 

However, your work in the realm of the living has not yet concluded, mortal. Turn around, and I am sure we will meet again…”

“That sounds welcoming,” he replied and took a step back, watching the door and the structure it was leading into. “If I am not mistaken, this would be a temple of Hades then. God of the underworld.”

“God of the Underworld?”

“Yes, Hades is the God of the Underworld.”

“Like in ‘The Underworld?’”

“The land of the dead, yes.”

“I really hope Bliz isn’t in there then. I don’t want to go into the underworld to get her back!”

Rythil took another step back. “You would need to be very good with music oras strong as Herakles to get her back then.”

I gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“From what I’ve heard, Hades has only allowed a mortal to take something out of his realm twice. First one was Oarhays, who played the lyre so well that even Hades was put in a good mood, allowing him to try to rescue his beloved Equidike. The second one would be Herakles, who fought with him and, after he won, borrowed his dog, Zerberus.”

“Zerberus”? Isn’t that the three headed dog that guards Tartarus?”

“Maybe that's an offspring of his?”

“Herakles went in there and borrowed a huge three headed dog, one that is able to guard all the monsters in Tartarus?”

“Well, that is partly correct. This is a temple of Hades, not the underworld propper. Herakles went into the underworld to borrow the dog.”

I shook my head in astonishment. “What kind of guy is he?”

“He is a god now. He fulfilled twelve tasks to prove his worth to the gods, and as reward, was turned into one himself.”

I stared at Rythil.

“What?”

“He is a god now. A real god?”

“Yes.”

“So the only two creatures to ever go in there and get someone back are a musician and a god.”

“Not in there, into the underworld, huge difference. Still, if they are in there, I think we would have to deal with the landlord to get them back. And Herakles wasn’t a god back then. He became one after he fulfilled his tasks.”

"That's reassuring.”

“That’s all interesting, and a little bit frightening, but what are we going to do?” Grounded Star asked. “Do we turn around or do we open that door and rescue Blizzard Silence and Heat Wave?”

“We will try to rescue them!” I decided. “Question is, if we really need to go in there to do so?  If possible, I really would like to avoid going in there. Also, if we have to go in there, how would we do so without angering the landlord? We can’t simply crack the door open like with the exit.” I threw a look back at Dad, still able to hear the sound of breaking stone as he worked on it.

“A way in would be to die first,” a new, deep, even voice arose next to me.

I jumped into the air out of shock and hissed loudly. Standing where the voice had come from like he had grown out of the ground was a huge kirin-stallion! With his black coat and mane made of blue flames, he sure looked frightening! Instantly, my kirins placed themselves between him and me, with their fur on edge and their wings spread. He had startled us all! And on top of that, a second later, when Dad noticed what had happened, he also added a loud roar to the situation while flying over, coming to protect me with my final two kirins in tow.

“It’s not a good idea to hiss at him,” Rythil whispered urgently while pulling me back by the mane.

“Who are you?” I demanded to know while shaking my mane free.

“I am ‘The Landlord’ as you called it. This is my temple, mortal.”

Suddenly, a shiver ran down my spine as I still felt a chill grip my body. Not only had I not expected Hades to show up, but hissing at the god of the underworld sounded more than a bit questionable. On top of that, his voice had an undercurrent of finality to it that implied every word spoken was an irrefutable truth. 

I quickly stopped hissing and ordered my kirins to fall back.

Sadly, I couldn’t do the same with Dad, as he landed between us and roared straight into Hades face.

“Dad! That’s not a good idea! That’s Hades! One of the Gods!”

Luckily, that prevented Dad from attacking him, but still, he was on high alert, with his wings spread and his wing spikes raised threateningly.

“You are lucky, Warming Breeze, hatchling of Perle Des Hohen Berges and Fast Slasher, that you are part of the great game. I do not intend on ruining the fun for my fellow gods and goddesses by inviting you into my halls here and now.”

That did take Dad off guard. He threw a quick look to my merriment, back to Hades, and then back at my kirins. It was clear that it was not to his liking that the god had spilled his true name to everyone. Though, with him being a god, there was not much Dad could do about it.

“Tell me, what brings you here, Fiery, daughter of Warming Breeze and Danger Do,” Hades now addressed me. “Your time has not yet come.”

Unsure, I still tried to shake off the shiver that constantly tried to run down my spine whenever Hades directed his attention to me. “I was looking for my friend, Blizzard Sillence, and a member of my merriment, Heat Wave. I suspected them to be down here.”

I heard how Dad more or less successfully suppressed a growl. He knew this was a god, and he hadn’t the whiff of a chance to fend him off, still, he wanted to protect me from him.

“These two haven’t died yet, why do you suspect them to be in my realm?”

A huge stone fell from my heart. So they were still alive! If I wasn’t facing Hades, I would have shouted in joy!

“I wasn’t aware your temple would be down here,” I said. “They both went missing in the swamps at the surface. I thought whoever had captured them would be hiding down here.”

“No mortal would dare hide in this place. However,” Hades walked, or better levitated as his hooves never touched the ground, next to me, “if finding your lost souls is what you desire, I can make you an offer.”

Now Dad growled. Hades was way too close to me in his opinion.

Ignoring him, Hades went on. “If you can pass my Temple, you shall find what you are looking for on the other side.”

I took a step away from him. “On the other side? No thanks! I don’t want to die!”

Hades looked confused for a moment, then his expression changed to understanding. “I speak of literally the other side. There is another exit at the other end of my temple.” He lifted a hoof and the stone door glided upwards into the wall. Instantly, my merriment and I stepped backwards. Clouds of fog poured out over the floor as whispers could be heard coming out from the dark, deeper down in the temple. My imagination told me they were the voices of the dead, even though I had no proof for that. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t dare even think about going in there.

“A simple task,” Hades explained. “Make your way through it, and you shall find your missing souls. For Fortuna’s godchild it should be easy.” His gaze wandered to my merriment. “For the others though, it would be quite dangerous.”

“You can’t go in there!” Rapt Glance exclaimed, stepping between me and the door. I could see as he kept his gaze on the temple that his fur was on edge and his mane stiff. “It is dangerous!”

“He is right,” Rythil added. “The temples of Hades are not meant for mortals to roam around in. You don’t even know the rules needed to survive in there.”

“And I will not allow it,” Dad said, stepping in front of me. “We need to find a different way. There has to be a way behind the temple without crossing through it.”

Before I could bring to bear the strength to speak up to Dad, as well as my merriment, Damn parental purring, Hades said, “Yes, there is another way. You do not have the time to search the swamps for it though. It could take you days or even weeks to find it. Weeks you do not have. You must also be aware that the inhabitants may try to hinder you as well.”

“We may find them in less than an hour if we are lucky,” Dad replied. “And the inhabitants should be more afraid of us then we of them.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not. Being Fortunas godchild may keep your daughter alive, but it will not help her in tasks connected to arriving at Shakirin-La the quickest. Searching the swamps is an obstacle that is a part of her quest, so her luck will be of no help here.”

“She will not enter your temple!” Dad growled.

Despite how intimidating Hades' place was, the fact that Dad was forbiding me from entering was nearly enough for me to want to go inside! 

Despite all the horrors that might be lurking in there, I was convinced it was my best option. Hades may be right about our chances at finding Bliz and Heat Wave quickly if we try to find a different way, as well as his assessment that Fortunas blessing should protect me from whatever he had in store. The only other creature that may be able to do it was Rythil, and I could see how his legs were shaking a bit already, along with the fur along his spine being raised. Given the uneasy feeling I had in my scales, I couldn’t blame him.

“Dad, I can do it.” I straightened up, calmed my nerves, and moved next to him, ignoring the whispers in the air. “He is right, it may cost us a lot of time if we search the swamps, and who knows what’ll happens to Bliz and Heat Wave in the meantime. Fortuna will protect me, don’t worry.”

“No! It is dangerous!” Dad quickly wrapped a wing around me and pressed me close to him. “I will not allow it!”

“Would you prefer somekirin else to go?” I said while raising my claws to create a little space for myself. “Or some luckdragon else?”

“Any creature but you!”

“Dad, nothing will happen to me! I will be fine!”

“No!”

“I… I can go,” Rythil offered suddenly with a shaking voice. “I can go,” he bowed before Hades, “ if you allow it, Hades, god of the underworld.”

“You may try, priest Rythil, son of Sankaril and Mekiri. But be aware, your service as Fortunas priest will not protect you if you fail.”

“I see.” Rythil bowed down again, before he turned to me. “I see it as my duty to protect you as well, so I will go in your place and bring back your friends.”

Truth be told, Rythil may know a lot more about the gods than me, and may be best suited to go instead of me, but no way would I let him take the risk for me!

“You will not go in there alone! How am I supposed to explain this to Fortuna, huh? You worry about what she’ll tell you if you let me get hurt, what do you think she would have to say if I let one of her priests get put in harm's way while staying on the sidelines safe and sound? We go together!”

“I said no!” Dad growled. “You will stay here!”

No, I wouldn’t do that. I just had to come up with a plan to prevent Dad from stopping me. And it was already forming in my head.

“Rythil, what are the rules in the temple of Hades that one should know of?” I intentionally ignored Dad and shifted the attention away from me as best as I could.

“Uhm, one should neither eat nor drink something while in there. It is not as bad as in the underworld itself where you can’t leave anymore if you do, but it would be very hard to leave the temple if you do partake of anything in it. Hades,” he paused a moment to look at the god before he continued, “Hades may also offer you treasures of the underworld, but if you take them, you also wouldn’t be able to leave anymore. That or you get hunted by the ghosts of the underworld for the rest of your short life.”

While Rythil explained all this, Hades simply stood there with an expression like all of this was none of his business. However, this explanation did what it was meant to do, it shifted a tiny bit of Dad’s attention. Unnoticed by him, I gesticulated to my merriment what I wanted them to do. It was not easy with Dad being so close and with all of them afraid of Hades, but I think I managed to get the idea of what I wanted across.

“Even more reason to not let you go!” Dad judged.

I sighed. “Maybe you are right Dad, it is very dangerous.”

“Yes, it is,” he snorted.

“Okay, it may be best if Rythil goes then. But we should make sure he’s equipped for that.” I struggled a bit under Dad’s wing. “Let go of me! We need to pick out what he should take with him.”

Hesitantly, Dad lifted his wing.

“Fertile Dessert, Rythil should take some of your herbs with him.” I walked over and made a requesting gesture with my claw. “Let us see how much you have.” When Fertile Dessert took the bag from her neck and opened it, we both looked inside in order to be ear to ear. “On my signal, you and the others jump at my dad,” I whispered while roaming in the bag. “Don’t fight him though, you just need to distract him. I don’t want him to hurt one of you.”

“No, not that one,” she said aloud. “That one causes your scales to itch.” She lowered her tone and made sure her lips couldn’t be seen from Dad’s position. “If you are planning on going in there, we will not be able to delay your dad’s reaction by more than half a second. When it comes to you, he is very persistent in his duty to protect you.”

“I know,” I picked some leaves of the anger-plant, pony feathers, now I was starting to call it that too, out of the bag and clawed them over to Rythil who quickly moved over after recieving a requesting gesture. “This should be helpful,” I proclaimed loudly.

“But thi…”

I poked him in the belly and gave him a look.

“Ye..es, that seems helpful indeed,” he said instead.

“We do this together,” I whispered. “On my signal, my merriment will distract my dad while we both run into the temple. Don’t stop till we are far inside,” I emphasized heavily. “If Dad reaches us, we will not get a second chance.”

Rythil gulped. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I hope so too. Fertile Dessert, tell the others, subtly. Rythil, grab what you think will be useful in there. You are the expert when it comes to the other gods.”

“Are you sure you want to do this? We may arrive at Shakirin-La later than you’d want, but we can avoid going into this temple. We can still find your friends by searching the swamps.”

“I am sure. I can’t afford to be late to Shakirin-La, and I definitely can’t afford to leave Bliz behind.” I shook my head when he wanted to add something. “Stop it, I made up my mind. With our luck, we should have no problem in there. You heard what Hades said.”

Without any further delay, Rythil was packed with anything my merriment thought he could need. Though, we weren't really equipped for such an endeavor in the first place. Some torches, a wooden spear, a rope and the like. We also considered taking our new friend with us, but since we didn’t know for sure what awaited us, we decided against it. Whatever he’d done, bringing him in and exposing him to the dangers of Hades temple didn’t seem fair.

“Good luck in there,” Dad said to Rythil, after Rythil had grabbed everything and stored it into his fur and on his back. With him thinking I was out of danger, Dad was far more friendly than usual.

“I hope Fortuna is watching my steps,” Rythil replied as he walked towards the doorway, wading through the layer of fog coming out from the opening.

“You are ready, mortal?” Hades hovered next to the stone door leading into his temple.

“Yes, I am,” Rythil said, stepping next to him, and, after one last look back at us, into the temple.

With another wave of his hoof, Hades started to close the door. I hadn’t expected that, but it worked perfectly for my plan. Slowly, so as to not drag Dad’s attention onto me, I moved closer to the door. 

It was a quarter closed by now. 

I increased my speed a bit. 

Half closed.

Dad turned around to me.

I pretended to move towards him.

“Don’t worry too much, I am sure Fortuna will watch after him,” Dad said.

“Sure she will,” I replied and moved next to him. A little purr and my wing rubbing over the side of his belly kept him at ease. As at ease as he could be in the presence of Hades that is. I made my way past him, but instead of turning around to rub my other side against him, like a bornling that needed comfort from their parent, I moved torwards the door.

It was three fourths closed at this point. That was the moment Dad got suspicious. He turned to me and I could see in his gaze that he quickly put two and two together.

“Now!” I yelled and burst into a gallop. Without delay, Dad started his pursuit, roaring loudly. You may think that a dragon needs a second to build up speed, but not so with Dad. Grounded Star was the first to jump at him, but he was too quick! She had just grabbed his tail when she was thrown off of him. And she was one of the better ones at stopping Dad. Most of the others didn’t even get a hoof on him!

“Fiery!” he shouted. I could already hear him start to purr. I had no doubt that it was that evil parental kind of purr! I covered my ears with my claws and flew the last few meters. A quick glance backwards showed that Dad was already close to grabbing my tail! I pulled it back and increased the flapping of my wings. 

It would be close!

And there was another problem! The door was closing too fast! The opening was already smaller than me while running!

There was no turning back now! I dropped to my stomach with my legs extended and slid over the ground, pushing forward with my wings. Without my ears covered though, Dad’s purr did its evil magic and my will started to falter. 

I slowed down.

“Fiery, stay here!” Dad shouted, panicked.

The thought of stopping myself by scratching the ground with my claw came to mind. A bornling had to listen to its parent…

I was too slow. Without the will to give it my all, I wouldn’t make it.

In that moment, a burst of magic hit me, pushing me forward and over the threshold. I could feel my mane scratching the door, right before it closed with a loud ‘thud’.

“Are you okay?” Rythil ran towards me. He switched the torch he was holding to his other claw and leaned down, offering me his now free claw to get up. “That was close!”

A bit unsteady, I grabbed his claw and let him pull me up. “Yes, yes I am okay. I just need a second to shake off my Dad’s purring.” I shook myself like I had water in my fur and gave myself a slap on the cheek. “Come on!” I scolded myself. It was like waking up from a deep slumber, when your mind was still cloudy.

Rythil turned towards the door. “I can’t hear a single thing, but I am guessing your dad is throwing a tartarus of a tantrum on the other side.”

“He sure is,” I agreed. “And I will get a tartarus of a scolding later too. But for now, we need to find Bliz!”
> Temple Of Hades
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I watched as Rythil pressed his ear against the wall, trying to hear what was going on on the other side. 

“They’re alright, I can at least feel that much,” I said. “I would guess they're quite worried, but they’re not in any real danger.”

Rythil removed his ear from the wall. “Well, that’s at least something. With your dad and Hades on the other side, it could have turned out worse.”

“Dad wouldn’t hurt them, not when I’m not around them. He may be growling and roaring, but he has no reason to be angry at them.”

“You mean except the kirin who pushed you over the doorstep.”

“Ohh, right. Did you see who did it?” I shifted my attention to him.

“No, but the options are very limited. With only two Runehorns accompanying you, it had to be one of them.”

“I hope Dad was too occupied to have noticed who it was. Fertile Dessert or Rapt Glance could get in trouble if he saw who it was.” I sighed. “The earlier we get back, the better. I’d prefer it if Dad growls at me instead of them.” I gave the door one last weak punch with my claw before I turned around and started to inspect the interior of the temple closer. In the dim light from the torch Rythil was holding, I could see that we were probably in some kind of hallway. It was a little chilly, and the whispering in the air didn’t make the place any more welcoming. Though, at least the fog had probably cleared up a bit, which was great in terms of seeing what was around us, however, the black marble that made up the floor, ceiling, and walls absorbed a good proportion of what little light we had. Only the fine strings of, possibly gold, inlayed into them, forming strange patterns along the way, helped by reflecting at least some of the light.

“It is indeed gold,” I said in surprise after licking one of the strings. “There’s a huge amount of gold in this temple, given how far these lines seem to stretch.”

“You can say that by simply licking it?” Rythil was astonished.

“Yeah, kind of. One of the traits I got from Dad. It works better with gems, but gold, silver and other precious metals have their own tastes too. I can’t tell if it’s pure gold, but I can say it’s extremely close if it isn’t.”

“Given different circumstances, I’d have a comment or two to make about that, but, ” he raised his torch and illuminated the hallway a bit more, “I think I’ll save those for later.”

“That's probably for the best. Well, we should move on and see if we can find the other side. Would you claw me over the bag of herbs, please?”

“Sure,” he fetched it from out of his fur and offered it to me. 

“Alright,” I took some not anger plant leaves out of it and returned the bag to Rythil. “At least we’ll have some more light.” While saying that, I noticed how he took a few steps back. “Don’t you worry, you already saw it doesn’t make kirins angry, it just turns us nirik.” I placed the leaves in my mouth and swallowed. Even though I already knew how it would turn out, it took me a moment to look at myself again. Being engulfed in flames without being angry was still an interesting feeling. “Okay, that should help, let’s go.”

“Would you mind if I take the lead?” Rythil asked while keeping his distance. “I think that’s what Fortuna would expect of me. Also, I have a feeling that I can see better in the dark than kirins can.”

“We can walk side by side, the hallway is wide enough for that.” That was all I was willing to tolerate. I mean, he may or may not see better in the dark, but leading was in my name.

“Yes, but what if something attacks us? Based on what Hades told us about his temple, it seems possible.”

“And you think you can fight better than me then?” A slight growl punctuated my words.

“Perhaps, I mean, I am twice your size and a full dragon,” he said slowly. “but that’s not the point. Your dad as well as my goddess may take issue with you getting hurt when I am meant to be watching over you.”

Ponyfeathers! Unlikely as it was for me to admit it, he had a point. And the worst part is, it wasn’t even his fault. If I insisted on taking the lead or walking in first, if something happens, he will be the one getting blamed.

I growled unhappy. “Arg, fine, take the lead.” I raised a claw. “ But only because it would be your head rolling if something went south!”

“Thank you.”

I wasn’t entirely happy with this, but we were able to keep moving. Rythil in front and me in the rear. Fortunately, we had more than enough light now. So it was no wonder that we noticed the gold ornamented reliefs along the walls now.

“Look at this,” Rythil said while brushing his claw over one of them. “If I am not mistaken, these are kirins doing some kind of,” he paused and took a closer look, “no, kirins leaving some kind of settlement.”

“We are not here to admire the engravings, Rythil, we are here to rescue Bliz and Heat Wave.”

“Of course, just,” he sighed. “Normally such engraving are either presenting a piece of history or something of cultural significance. It may help us understand Hades temple a bit better.”

I gave the engravings a short look. “Look, I am normally very curious about my species’ history and culture, but this is not the time. I… “ When my gaze landed on the name of the settlement in the picture, I froze. There was something familiar about it, despite my inability to read it.

“Shakirin-La,” Roary said. “The picture is showing some kirins leaving Shakirin-La.”

“Shakirin-La,” I repeated slowly while placing my claw on the name. I turned my gaze to Rythil. “This settlement is named Shakirin-La.”

“You think it is the Shakirin-La?” He held his torch closer and inspected the engraving of the settlement. His claw wandered over the golden lines which I assumed were supposed to represent several houses.

“I don’t know of any other city or town with that name. If there was a second one with that name, it would be strange. It was my species capital after all.” Now my claw found its way to the houses as well. “Another strange thing is that all these houses seem to be perfectly fine, there aren’t any signs of destruction or fighting. I think the city was abandoned after the empire fell, but that’s just my guess. There are even little kirins between these houses.” I pointed at them. “There.”

Rythil wanted to take a closer look, but for some reason hesitated to get any closer to me.

“What’s the matter?” I wondered. “I told you I won’t bite.”

“I am actually more concerned about you burning right now. Also, you might damage the image if you start to melt the gold out of it.”

I gave a confused look at the gold below my claw. “I’m not burning nearly hot enough for that. Sometimes I wish I could, but you need a stove for that.” I returned my gaze to him. “But why are you concerned about that? You are a dragon, fire doesn’t do a thing to you.”

“Oh, it very well does. I would burn like a frayed carpet with all my fur.”

“Wait, you’re flammable? Like, setting on fire flammable?”

“Yes. Unfortunatley, luck dragons are not immune to fire.”

“But,” I raised an eyebrow and pointed at him, “you are a dragon?”

“Of course I am. Luck dragons are just attuned to water, not fire, that's all.”

“No wonder my aunt has trouble accepting that statement…”

“Hey!”

“Nevermind, forget that I said that. Though, you know, that would have been an important piece of information to know from the start. With you joining my merriment full of kirins who can turn into walking campfires, not to mention my family…” I let that linger in the air for a second. “You really should have told us. Just imagine if my brother had tried to help you dry off after you washed yourself! He would have set you on fire on accident!”

“Well, I didn’t think it would be important. And why would your brother do that? Spitting fire at creatures is not typical dragon behavior as far as I know, and I am one.”

“One that can’t spit fire himself, and as it turned out, can’t be spit at without turning into a bonfire. Doesn’t seem to me like you would know how dragons handle fire.” I shook my head when he tried to reply. “My brother and my Dad use their fire all the time, even for drying off after taking a bath. Night even set Kindling on fire when they were kids since he didn’t know that some creatures aren’t immune. For dragons like Dad, my aunt, or any other dragon I know of except your kind of dragon, there’s nothing more common than fire. So as soon as our rescue mission here is over, you are going to tell everyone everything about luck dragons and what it means to be one. Who knows what other things are just common for us that would kill you, or vice versa. With your ability to use magic, something I know the dragons I know of aren’t capable of, who knows what kind of powers you can invoke that may be harmless for you but would hurt my merriment or family.”

“As I said when I joined your merriment, I have no intention of hurting any of you. None of my abilities should pose a threat to you or your family. In my family-tree, there aren’t any abilities that have been passed down that would be very useful in harming others directly. There are luck dragon families that have that, like the emperor's family line for example, which has had dozens of luck dragons who can summon typhoons, but that ability is very rare.”

“You are telling me there are luck dragons that can just summon a typhoon out of nowhere?”

“Yes.”

I rubbed over my forehead. “My Mom’s folk can move the sun and moon, your folk can summon devastating forces of nature, and mine has some form of mental connection that can span the entire species as it seems to have in the past. Not to mention the god’s who can do who knows what. With all these folks out there, no wonder some kind of catastrophe plaques Equestria every other weekend.”

“Equestria?”

“The place my mother is from. A pony country where my grandparents live. Every now and then some powerful being tries to take over. And now I fear that as soon as I manage to resurrect the kirin empire I’ll have to deal with that on a regular basis too.”

“If you make Fortuna your patron goddess, I’m sure you will have far fewer problems than the other kingdoms or empires in that regard. With her also being your godmother, you should have it far easier than any other leader out there in general.”

“Hmm, that is true. Still, we will need some powerful magic sooner or later to keep certain threats at bay.”

“You should also consider that not all creatures out there are hostile to begin with. I am sure there are many powerful beings that are not interested in attacking your future empire at all.”

“I hope so.” I took a deep breath. “Enough of that though, we should move on. So,” I returned my attention to the engravings on the wall, “why are these kirins leaving Shakirin-La?”

“Maybe we’ll find out if we take a look at the other engravings.” Rythil pointed down the hallway with his torch. Sure enough, when I looked where he was pointing, I could see that all the way down the hallway there were images engraved in the wall.

“Could be.”

We moved over to the next picture. It turned out that it was actually several pictures in one, like a comic book. At its top, two lines of kirins were depicted following what was probably their leader. “That must be an azure kirin,” I said. Even though  they weren’t painted blue, it only made sense that their leader was an azure. “They lead the kirins away from Shakirin-La.” I looked over the following panels and winced slightly. “They weren’t very good at it it seems. It looks like while they were traveling quite a few kirins perished. Some were picked off by dangerous creatures, like rocs or manticors, others got lost or were crushed by rocks while crossing a mountain path. There was also one particular kirin in the middle of some curly lines that I was guessing was meant to be water. Only his front legs and head were displayed sticking out of them, and he had this desperate expression on his face. At the end, a far smaller group was depicted in a swampy area in the right bottom corner of the whole engraving.



Curious, we moved to the next picture. The kirins that had made it to the swamp seemed to have settled down, but not at the surface, but below. The picture showed a lot of tunnels and caves, filled with kirins doing various things, like crafting tools or, maybe farming plants? I wasn’t sure. Though the overall impression was that they built some kind of settlement in these caves.

“Maybe these kirins built all this?” Rythil guessed. “This temple and the building at the surface had to have come from somewhere.”

“It seems so. The question is why though? Leaving Shakirin-La is one thing, but traveling this far and through all these dangers just to end up in a swamp? I don’t see the reason behind this. Why?” I tapped my chin. “Why would they do this?”

The answer became clear in the next picture. While the kirins we saw before were underground, looking fearfully in the direction of the surface, a new bunch of kirins had shown up. Above the caves, a group of kirins stood, but they were wearing armor and wielding spears, also, they were led by a kirin which, this time, had blue gems in the places where the scales on their back and forehead would be.

“Seems I was wrong. The leader in the previous picture wasn’t an azure-kirin. Which makes this even more strange. Why would a group of kirins leave Shakirin-La, and why would an azure-Kirin follow them here?”

“Whatever the reason was, I don’t think they had good intentions. Look there,” Rythil pointed at a little kirin at the edge of the scene. They were kneeling in front of a little shrine, praying. ”Looks like one of them knew how to get some help.”

“Depends on who he was praying to. Some gods are more helpful than others from what I’ve heard. Given that they were able to make these engravings though, and where they’re at, I think I have a good idea to whom they were praying.”

“Sounds logical, but something about it just seems… off. I don’t recall hearing or reading about the kirin empire worshiping Hades to any real extent. I am pretty sure they knew about him and they might have had a temple or two dedicated to him, but even then, from what I heard about Hades, he isn’t really the protector kind of god.”

“What do you mean?”

“If one of these kirins prayed to Hades for protection from their enemies, I don’t think Hades would have sealed the entrances, summoned some mist, or even scared the attackers away with illusions. It’s more likely that he would have cursed them with decay or deadly illnesses. That or he would offer the petitioner knowledge on how to beat their enemies themselves, even requiring them to prove themselves to him.”

“Doesn’t sound very comforting, this whole decay and illness thing.” I shook at the thought. “Knowing that, the knowledge probably wouldn’t be very nice either.”

“I am sure we will know in a second,” Rythil pointed at the last engraving.

Curious, we both walked over and took a look. After we had taken a look though, we both stood there for a moment, unsure of what to say. We only looked at the engraving and the flickering light dancing across it.

“At least we now know what happens if I get hit by that magic our new friend was throwing at me,” I said with my ears flicked back and pressed to my skull.

“We should try to avoid that. It doesn’t look like it would do you any good.”

In the image before us, one of the kirins from the settlement, possibly the one who had prayed to Hades, faced the azure-kirin and their followers. From this kirin’s forehead, a thunderbolt exited and struck the azure, who was now displayed as a skeleton.

“I doubt that I would be turned to bones and ash. Summer Moon seemed to be fine after she got hit. But I agree, whatever is happening here definitely looks unpleasant. Also, you see how their merriment flees in all directions after they got hit? I think we can take it for granted that my connection to my merriment would break if I get hit.”

“Makes it an effective weapon in a fight with kirins being lead by an azure. It just seems a little bit less drastic than what Hades would normally come up with. This also raises the question of whether these kirins are fleeing because they are afraid of also getting hit, or if it is a side effect of the spell causing panic and confusion.”

“I assume if the mental connection was suddenly interrupted it would cause quite a bit of confusion. From what I learned from Nimble, and Fortuna when we visited Shakirin-La, the mental connection allows us to efficiently guide our subjects and coordinate their actions. If you are used to it and suddenly it's gone, yeah, it would take them,” I pointed at the picture, “some time to regroup for sure.”

“I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this.” Rythil began stroking his whiskers in thought. “If these pictures are to be believed, and I’m sure we can, there could be a good deal of kirins able to use this magic lurking below the surface of these swamps. Whatever reason they had to leave Shakirin-La, it’s been quite a while since then.”

“Oma said over a thousand years ago.”

“Over a thousand years, that means several generations for dragons and a few dozen for kirin. Even if only fifty or so made it here, their numbers could be in the hundreds by now.”

“You have a talent for painting the darkest possible situations, you realise that?”

“I’m just giving you a possibility. All that being said, I know we’ll have luck on our side. Fortuna seems to have every intention to protect us. At least that’s what you make it sound like whenever you bring her up. Also, I would assume they don’t have any problems with luck dragons, so they may not be immediately hostile towards me. That could help us if we try to negotiate with them.”

My gaze returned to the azure-kirin in the picture. “I wonder if that is even possible. If they shoot me on sight, there’s hardly room for negotiation.”

“They may not immediately realize you’re an azure while you’re in your nirik form.

“We know an azure when we see one.” Both Rythil and I turned around in shock. We hadn’t heard anyone approaching us! “You can try to hide below your flames and lack of proper colouring, but you will not fool the skilled eye.”

From the shadows of the hallway emerged a kirin. He was on the older side, holding a staff in one hoof and wearing a black mask on his face. However, the mask was more decorative than anything else, having a few flowers attached to one side and only covering the area around his eyes, leaving his muzzle and forehead exposed.

“Normally I would welcome you to the temple of Hades, strangers, but you,” he came closer while pointing his staff at me, “are far from welcome in this place.”

Rythil stepped between me and the newcomer, and when I opened my mouth to reply, he dared to close his claw around my muzzle. He quickly let go of me again though when he was reminded that I was on fire.

“Ouch!” He yelled and shook his claw. 

“Serves you right!” I growled before addressing the stranger. “We are…”

“We were invited by Hades himself to pass through,” Rythil interrupted me. “He was the one who let us in.”

For a moment I withdrew my attention from the stranger and growled at Rythil while presenting my fangs. How dare he assume he could take the role of leader here just because I agreed to let him walk in front of me before!

“How about you let me do the talking,” he whispered between gritted teeth. “I’m just trying to prevent this from immediately going downhill.” I could see a little bit of panic in his eyes as he said this, but at that moment, I couldn’t care less.

“You do not speak for me!” I hissed.

“It may be for the best if you let him though,” Calmly dared to pipe up. “He is not, NOT, challenging us here.”

“Of course he is!” Roary yelled. “We have to do the talking, we are in charge here!”

“Silence!” I yelled, earning me a worried look from Rythil. “We are here because you foalnap…”

Rythil quickly closed his claw around my muzzle once more, suppressing a whimper of pain. “We are looking for two of our lost friends,” he bursted out quickly. “There may have been a misunderstanding between the kirins here and the ones we came with!” As soon as he finished the sentence, he let go of me and placed his claw in his mouth.

I was this, this, close to biting him!

“Hmm,” the stranger intoned, “and who are you, that my god decided are worthy to wander these halls?” He looked at Rythil to answer the question and not me, which proved that Rythil had overstepped his position!

“Riitheeel,” Rythil mumbled, “preest of Fort-una.” He removed his claw from his mouth. “And this is Fiery Leadership, godchild of Fortuna.”

The stranger lightly tapped the ground with the bottom of his staff a few times. “I see.” He turned around and started to walk towards the shadow in front of us again. “If that is the case, you may follow me.” He continued his walk, leaving the choice to do so or not in our claws. “I am Caustic Mercy, priest of Hades,” he continued without even looking back.

I exchanged a quick look with Rythil and then trotted forward to follow him. When he tried to walk past me though to take the lead again, I gave him a challenging hiss, making it clear that he was no longer allowed to. He opened his snout to say something, but, after another look at my fangs and fire, reconsidered. With that settled, we followed Caustic Mercy deeper into the Temple of Hades.

*

Silently, we had made our way deeper into the temple until we reached what seemed to be the inner Sanctum. Any attempt at reviving the conversation with Caustic Mercy as we’d done this had been in vain though, since he had not been willing to continue speaking with us after his short introduction. However, as soon as we arrived and walked over the bridge dividing the outer temple from the inner one, something interesting happened. As the fog disappeared, so too did the cacophony of whispers we had been hearing since Hades had opened the door leading down here. They had been so prevalent that I must have tuned them out.

When the fog had mostly disappeared, revealing the inner temple to be a grassy field with a small forested area at its center, I couldn’t resist looking over the side of the bridge to satisfy my curiosity and see just what was down there. When I did, I was both surprised and confused. Below us was what looked like a canal filled with… something. It looked similar to the grody water we’d seen thus far in the temple, but it had a green shimmer to it that made the hairs and scales across my whole body want to stand on end. 

Following the length of the canal, I saw that there were two other bridges, one to my left and one to my right, that also lead to and from the inner temple, and below both of them were streams of the suspicious water flowing into the canal. After leaning further over the side of the bridge and looking down, confirming that under this bridge there too was a stream feeding the canal, a thought hit me, how was I able to see all this?

Even though I was on fire and Rythil had a torch, there was no way just the two of us were giving off enough light to illuminate an area as large if not larger than the outer lair back home. Looking around, I found the answer, glowing moss covering the walls and ceiling of this underground chamber. Strangely though, rather than the usual green I expected moss to be, this moss was a light blue.

Disconcertingly, despite knowing Caustic Mercy likely hated me for being an azure and probably wouldn’t hesitate to attack me, the fact the water below us and the moss around us were the colors the other should be was putting me more on edge.

When the three of us finally crossed the bridge, I finally noticed a white dome peeking out over the top of the trees. Focusing on this, I eventually realized that the forest looked to be surrounding some kind of massive marble gazebo if I was not mistaken, at least that’s what I could see between the trunks and the leaves.

Frustratingly, attempting to look through the trees to make out what I was seeing had caused me to slow down. This in itself wasn’t the problem, it was everything that happened because of this that caused me to scowl.

Caustic Mercy still did not seem like he wanted to acknowledge our existence, so he maintained his pace, causing him to start putting some distance between him and me. Additionally, with me slowing down and us now being in an open field, Rythil took the opportunity to attempt to subtly walk past me and take the lead, but a more hostile hiss and presentation of my fangs brought him back in line. Not wanting Rythil to try undermining my leadership a third time, I picked up my pace to catch back up with Caustic, realizing as I did that we were headed to the large gazebo I had seen.

When we reached the tiny forest, Caustic Mercy spoke up again. “This is the Neighcromantion, any traveler who comes to this temple has to pass the test of Hades.”

“And what kind of test is it?” I wondered.

“Nothing too difficult,” he replied. “You have to assemble a meal, purify yourself, and then, cross the pool filled with the water of the styx.”

“We have to do what?!” Rythil yelled, earning him a look over the shoulder from Hades' priest. “Mortals can not swim through the water of the Styx, it is impossible!”

“Only if you fail the test, if you properly purify yourself, you have nothing to worry about.”

“What’s the deal with the water?” I whispered. “I mean, if it is actually water and not this greenish soup that’s flowing through the canals here…”

“That isn’t any normal water,” Rythil spat out. “That water is evil! It was created by an old king of the luck dragons, Takataniri! If you touch it, it will rot your flesh from your bones! No mortal can swim through it!”

“Fairy tales,” Caustic Mercy snorted. “The water of the styx was created by the gods themselves, a barrier for mortals to separate the world of the dead from the world of the living. It is true though, the unprepared and the disbeliever may perish in it.”

“And you want us to swim through it?” My wings puffed open. “Have you lost your mind? I don’t care who created it! If it will kill me, I will not go in there!”

“The choice is yours of course. Just keep in mind that you fail the test if you don’t.” He made a vague gesture with his free hoof. “With all the consequences that entails.”

“What do you mean by that?” Rythil asked before I could. “Deciding that we failed just because we refuse to die isn’t how the rules of the gods work!”

“Maybe the rules of your goddess doesn't work that way. The rules of the lord of the underworld very well do. It is all about life and death in the end.” As Caustic Mercy spoke, we arrived at the Neighcromation, and I could see the pool he had been talking about at its center. “You see, Hades, as a god, sees far beyond the bindings of mortality.” He grabbed one of the cups standing on the altar, filled it with, as far as my nose could tell, wine, and turned around to face us. “All the little problems, all the trifles of life, they matter not within these walls.” He offered us the cup. “The question now is, are you willing to do what is necessary, or are you not?”

“I am here to rescue my friend and a member of my merriment, not to die!” I took a step back. “And I heard that it is not a good idea to drink or eat anything around here in the first place!”

“Yes, we are aware of the rules regarding the temples of Hades, at least the general ones,” Rythil added as he denied the cup as well.

“Well, ‘tis your loss,” Caustic Mercy said before emptying the cup in one go. He wiped his snout with his foreleg and placed the cup back on the altar. “The food and drinks are the best part of the ritual. And besides,” his smile suddenly became a hint mischievous, “it is already too late to pass on the food as you have already partaken.” His gaze hung on me as he said this.

I exchanged a confused look with Rythil. “I haven’t eaten anything from this temple!”

“We arrived only a few minutes before you found us,” Rythil confirmed. “Neither of us took anything from the temple.”

“Is that so?” Caustic Mercy tapped against his cheek with the tip of his staff. “And what about the leaves of the nirandir? You didn’t eat any of it when you were already inside the temple?”

“Nirandir? What is that suppo…” My stomach suddenly began to feel weird, followed by the flames along my body starting to flicker as a little bit of steam formed around my neck and the lower part of my forelegs.

He was talking about the anger plant! Ponyfeathers! I ate some leaves after I entered the temple!

“I see,” he went on. “You do know what I am talking about.”

“Don’t tell me…” Rythil’s snout hung agape. He looked as shocked as I must have been. “The leaves!” His gaze sprung over to me. “I am so sorry!” He rushed over, shrinking himself as he did so. When he was in front of me, quite a bit smaller than me at this point, he dropped to the ground, with his hind legs fully compressed, his back arched, and his head to the ground so that his forehead and muzzle were against the ground between his front legs. “Please, forgive me! I have failed in protecting my goddesses’ godchild!” Now his tail was swinging widely left and right, while his claws scratched aimless over the ground. “Oh, she will be so angry! What have I done! She will curse me for sure!” He lifted his front claws from the ground and started to pull at his mane. “She will empty her caldron of misfortune over me! Throw me right into the deepest depths of the Tartarus!

“Rythil!” I yelled. “Calm down! She isn’t going to rip off your head!” I am aware that I could have been more sensible there, Fortuna is his goddess after all, but in my defense, I wasn’t really calm either. “She will do neither of those! It was as much my fault as it was yours. You warned me about eating anything here. Neither of us knew the leaves were included in that!”

Now he dared to look up to me, and I could see the panic in his eyes. “It is my duty to watch over you! My responsibility!”

“Watching over me is my responsibility!” I growled. Probably not the right time or place for my sense of dominance, though… “I am the one in charge here! I am responsible for my well being!”

“Let me interrupt you two,” Caustic Mercy said. “The day is progressing, and you can decide later who’s fault this is. For the moment, there is a test waiting for you. Or, would you prefer to remain in this temple, let’s say, for the rest of your days?”

“The rest of my days?” Now I growled at Hades priest. “What do you mean by that!”

“I mean,” his voice became more sinister, and a cloud of darkness formed around him as he raised his staff menacingly, “that you are in the temple of Hades, god of the underworld, and have eaten leaves of the nirandir! Those who have eaten in the temple of Hades without permission are cursed to stay in it till they are turned to dust or manage to bargain with the Landlord!” Near the end of his speech his voice turned normal again and the cloud of shadow dissolved itself.

“Alright,” I gulped and fought the shiver that wanted to go down my spine, “noted.”

“So, do you wish to cross the pool now or not?” Caustic Mercy asked in his normal voice. “I think we can pass on the purifying in your case anyway.”

My gaze moved over to the basin of greenish soup that pretended to be water. “It is not like I don’t want to follow your rules here, but I don’t really see a way to cross that… that… well, that,” I pointed at the pool. “If touching it will kill me, how am I supposed to cross it?”

“It wouldn’t be a test if it was easy, would it?”

“And if I simply fly to the other side?”

“No flying allowed I am afraid.” He didn’t look like he was in any way apologetic about that.

“Hmm,” I stepped closer to the pool and threw a look into it. A soft, green glow seemed to lurk deep below the surface, and I could see that there was something off with my reflection. I lowered my head to have a better look, only to push myself back with a suppressed ‘eek’ a moment later.

“What is it?” Rythil was quick to jump to his claws and rush over. While he was still shaken to the core, he was not so foolish as to disappoint Fortuna by getting sloppy at what he thought was his duty, to protect me. Also, seeing him running over to me when he was barely bigger than Kindling almost made me forget the horrific thing I had seen, almost.

“I saw my face, as a skull! My full body was only bones! My neck, chest, everything!”

“I told you that water is cursed!”

There was absolutely no way I would swim through that! Greeny shimmering water is one thing, but water that shows you what you look like as only a collection of bones and nothing more, no thank you! I took several steps back and put some distance between me and the pool.

“How am I supposed to swim through that?!” My question was directed at Caustic Mercy. “Shouldn’t a test by a god at least be possible to pass?”

“No one said you have to swim,” he replied. “If you can walk on water, that would also suffice for passing the test.”

“As if anycreatue could walk on water!” I retorted. “And even then, it would melt my claws or something for sure!” Suddenly though, an idea crossed my mind. “A boat! What if I build a boat to cross? Would that count?” There was plenty of wood nearby. I mean, I didn’t know what Hades thoughts on me cutting down his garden would be, but it couldn’t be as bad as swimming through flesh melting water, right?

“You can most certainly try.”

With a newfound sense of hope, I galloped over to the trees nearby, though, with my burning claws… “Rythil, come here, help me with this!”

“This won’t work,” he said when he arrived next to me. “Wood can’t withstand the water of the Styx either.”

“You’re kidding me!”

“No, sadly not. Look.” He picked up a branch from the ground, moved over to the pool, and threw it in. With curiosity as well as a growing sense of panic, I saw it land in the water, only to immediately begin hissing before dissolving in the water like it had fallen into lava, just without the fire of course.

I could hear Caustic Mercy giggling.

I felt on my haunches.

“Again, I am so sorry!” Rythil stepped next to me. “If I can do anything…”

“What will happen if I just try to leave?”

“You will not be able to find the exit I suppose, get lost in the fog, something like that.”

“You said it would be difficult, not impossible to leave once somecreature ate something here!”

“Yes, well, you can bargain with Hades. As I told you, it is possible, but maybe… maybe you could try your luck…” He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, “well, try to pass the test, somehow.”

“There must be a way to cross that darn water!” I got up and stomped a claw. “There has to be!” My gaze then landed on the bony image of myself on the ‘water’s’ surface. “Bones! That’s it!” Hastily, I rushed over to Rythil, trying to open his bag to rummage through it, but he just as quickly pulled away.

“You’re still burning!”

“Oh, right… “ I threw a helpless glance at my claws. “Quick! Grab me a bit out of your bag!”

“What for?” He alarmedly wondered. He did as I said though and dropped the bag and started to rummage though it.

“You will see in a second!” Impatiently, I shuffled from one claw to another.

Various items were tossed aside by him as he searched, he eventually even turned the bag upside down, spreading everything across the ground. “There aren’t any bits in here I am afraid,” he said.

“There has to be! Those little coins get into everything, even socks in the washing machine! Look into everything!”

He did as I told him, though, unbelievably, we had no luck!

“Ponyfeathers!” I yelled loudly.

Rythil looked over to me and stopped searching. “What do you need a bit for anyway? What is it good for?”

“For Charon! Charon demands a coin to help you cross the styx! He told my parents about it when he came to Mom’s birthdays!”

Rythil shook his head slightly in disbelief. “Don’t tell me you know Charon too.”

“Sure I know him! He saved my Mom’s life when my brothers were born, since then he comes to her birthdays to eat her cookies!”

Obviously speechless, Rythil just stared at me with his snout hanging open slightly.

“He always demands something in return for a favor though. That’s what I need the bit for!”

“He… he normally takes coins,” Rythil slowly said and rummaged in his fur. He pulled out a very small bag and threw it over to me.

“What’s this?” I caught it with my claw, unfortunately setting it on fire in the process. “Sorry!” I yelled, but was distracted as soon as the bag fell apart and a few coins were spilled on the ground. “Coins!” I picked one up and turned in my claw. It was gold and struck onto it was the image of a luck dragon on one side and some kind of bird on the other. “Perfect, exactly what we need!” I turned to the pool and stepped to its very edge, trying to remember the exact words Charon had told my parents back in the days.

“What is it now?” Rythil asked as he stepped next to me. “What do you need?”

“I’m trying to remember the words that are needed to summon Charon.”

“A coin for the ferrystallion,” he replied.

“A coin for the ferrystallion, right!” I pulled back my claw to toss the coin in the pool but held back at the last moment. “Wait! Two coins! We need two coins! He shall carry you over as well!” Quickly, I turned around and fetched another coin. “Two coins for the ferrstallion!” I yelled while throwing the coins into the water.

With a mix of hope and fear we waited, even Caustic Mercy made his way over to us and looked over the pool for any sign that Charon would show up.

Though for the time being, nothing happened.

“What a shame,” Caustic Mercy said. “Meeting Charon surely would have been interesting. It seems it was not meant to be though.”

“Did we do something wrong?” Rythil leaned forward and tried to look where the coins had sunken down to. “Maybe it only works if one is dead?”

“It only works if the god whose temple you enter is willing to let me in,” Charon's rusty voice rose from behind us. “You know, it is like one of those houses for you mortals, you can’t just burst in and expect everything to be fine and dandy.” He shook his hoof a bit left and right. “I mean technically you can burst in, but like with you mortals, the owner may get upset.”

“Charon!” I rushed over to him and offered him a tight hug. “Thank you for showing up!”

He just stood there, neither returning nor denying the hug. “You have summoned me, Fiery, this is not a friendship visit, this is business.”

“Oh, right, sorry.” I smiled sheepishly and stepped back. “Business, of course!”

“So what do you want and what are you willing to offer? I am on a tight schedule as you know.”

“I would like you to carry me and my friend Rythil here,” I pointed at him, “over this pool full of water from the styx.” Rythil meanwhile just slowly waved at Charon, obviously having trouble dealing with another god showing up because I aske.., I mean summoned them.

“I see, two passengers, one way trip. Payment?”

Knowing how to play my cards, I retorted right away. “One box of the finest cookies made by my Mom, the next time she bakes some.”

“Intriguing, but no.”

“What? No? But you love those cookies!”

“Yes, but what if your mother dies before she can make some more? Mortals are very fragile, and your journey isn’t exactly the safest. Also, you do remember I first met her when she was dying.”

“Okay, fine. I get it. If she can’t do it, I will make the cookies for you next time I get the opportunity to make some. May take a little while, but…”

“No, you may also die. Making deals with mortals that depend on future outcomes is not to my liking.”

Truth be told, dealing with Charon is far more pleasant when he is not on duty if you ask me!

“Alright, do you have something in mind then?” I gave him my best smile. “Something that I can offer that I actually possess right now, or that I can fetch real quick?”

“Do you carry something with you that you hold dear?”

“Uhm, not right now, no. Also, you know how we mortals cling to such things, making you delicious cookies or a cake or two is far better to offer up in the long run. I just need a tiny bit of time till I get back to an oven.”

“In this case, I don’t see a deal being possible. If you would excuse me then, I have things to do.” He turned around and made an attempt to leave.

“Wait!” I rushed back in front of him. “Okay, I have an idea! You are able to transport creatures for some distance, right? Like Aphrodite did with her priestess?”

“That is correct.”

“Okay, so, hear me out. What if you take my Mom for a short trip to our home, let her bake you a lot of cookies and then come back to carry me over this pool? Oh, and my mother back to my merriment of course? This way you get the cookies first and then fulfill your part. No risk for you,” I quickly added.

“No.” He attempted to step past me but I laid a claw on his shoulder to hold him back.

“What if… Ouch!” He had grabbed my claw and twisted it around so I had to follow, laying now on my side before him.

“Careful, Fiery Leadership,” he said.

“Sorry! Sorry.” He let go and I raised from the ground. “My bad, again, sorry!”

“Maybe I can offer something,” now Rythil sprung in. “Perhaps…”

“That’s not how it works,” I denied before Charon had to explain it. “I am the one who wants to bargain, not you. Anything that gets offered has to come from me.”

“I am glad you paid attention, Fiery Leadership.” Charon gave me a short nod. “Anyway, if you have nothing by your side at the moment that is worth offering, we are wasting time.”

Sadly, he was right. My mind was spinning hecticly, searching for anything of value that I had with me, but nothing I could find was worthy. That means, wait a minute! The Fortune Cookies! I still had some of those!

“What about these?” I held one up and offered it to Charon, “is this to your liking?”

“These are useful, but the taste is not really to my liking. I think I have to deny. Do you have anything else?”

I let my head hang. “No, I do not have anything else of worth with me right now.” I mean, the thought of breaking another fortune cookie did cross my mind…

“Wait, that is not correct!” Now it was Rythils turn to speak again, however, as he said this, I could see that he seemed to be struggleing to voice his thoughts. “There is one thing you possess that you can offer.”

“What would that be?”

“Your memories. Charon also takes happy memories as payment.” Rythils voice was incredibly hesitant, and his tone made it clear that he most definitely did not want to tell me this.

I threw a bewildered look at said ferrystallion. “You do? You never told me this.”

“Not my favorite payment, and there was never a need before to tell you,” Charon replied. “Though, it is true, I also take those as payment for small favors.”

“Like carrying two creatures over this pool?”

He clicked his bony hooves on the ground for a moment. “Perhaps,” he finally said.

“So if I share a happy memory with you, you’ll carry us across?”

“No, not share, give it to me. I will take the memory from you, you will forget it, and I will gain it, that is how that works.”

I involuntarily flicked my ears back. “That doesn’t really sound all that good!”

“It is how it is,” he replied, then his gaze wandered into the distance for a moment. “Well, our time is up anyway, so take it or leave it.”

“I…”

“Alright, see you then,” he raised his hoof to gesture goodbye and disappear.

“Deal!” I quickly yelled, unaware of just what I was agreeing to. “Deal. One of my memories in exchange for safe passage across the pool.” I moved over and extended my burning claw.

“Fine.” Charon exended a hoof and shook my extended claw.

“So, how is it going to happen?” I asked after we let go.

“Take a seat,” he said and gestured towards the ground. When I did as he said, he laid one hoof on my head. The moment we touched, dozens of memories floated across my inner eye. Tons of memories. I saw my first attempts at flying, as well as that one time Dad took me and Nightflame to the volcano-plains so they could take a bath while I enjoyed the warmth from the side. I also saw the time I first bit Uncle Never, as well as the first time I got naughty… A small blush crept across my cheeks at seeing that last memory, but Charon so far didn’t seem to be interested in anything I was seeing before me. It took a while, but finally he said, “Yes, that is what I would like to have.” The memory we were currently looking at was myself, at the age of four, proudly purring right after I had given him my plushy stone and saved Mom. “This memory would be perfect,” he said. “Not only is it one of your happiest memories, but also it involves myself. A very good offering indeed.”

“But… but it is such a valuable memory for me!” I flicked my tail nervously. “I don’t want to lose it! You said if I agree, I will not remember it anymore, right?”

“Correct, you will lose all memory of this event, while I gain it. And no return of course.”

I gulped. The day I saved Mom. I was so proud of myself. So happy. It would be hard to loose the memory! Again, I gulped. “Can’t you…”

“Take it or leave it.”

“I… I…” Hesitantly I nodded. “Alright,” A small tear formed in the corner of my eye and evaporated right away. “Take it. If that's what I need to save my friend and Heat Wave, so be it.” Unintentionally, my claws formed to fists.

 “Alright.”

I closed my eyes. I could feel Charon's hoof softly stroking over my head.

“This will not hurt, “ he assured me.

Slowly, the image before my inner eye lost its colour. The lines between the different ponies and dragons blurred, the whole image faded away… and bursted back to its full glory the same moment a loud roar echoed through Hades Temple and Charon’s hoof was ripped from my head.

I reopened my eyes and saw my Godmother standing there, roaring straight at Charon while she threw him a good distance away from me. Taking the position between me and him, she growled warningly at him, daring him to approach. In her form, more than twice as tall as dad, she looked quite intimidating from my mortal perspective.

“Don’t you dare!” Her voice just barely below the level required to shake and damage Hades Temple.

“We were just having a civilized bargain, Tuny.” He got up and swept the dust from his bones. “Nothing to be furious about.”

She just growled in return.

“What is the meaning of this commotion?” Now another voice, deep and threatening, echoed through the temple. It was Hades again. He flew towards us from the other side of the inner sanctum, and a wave of shadows and fear crawled over the ground behind and below him. His mane was now burning red instead of blue, and like my godmother, the ground shook with each of his words, if not simply from his sheer presence. “Fortuna! What are you doing in my temple?” He grew to twice her size and was surrounded by a fog made out of shadows and what I can only describe as faces or souls of the dead. “I didn’t invite you here!”

I rushed behind my godmother's tail and tried to hide myself, while she, unimpressed, just answered. “My godchild was in need of my help. It was my duty to come to her aid.” 

“It is forbidden to help ones chosen one on their journey! You are breaking the rules!” Hades seemed to be more furious that my godmother may have spoiled the fun of the great game than her breaking into his home.

“Not if it is one of us attacking them!” She returned her gaze to Charon. “And from my perspective, forcing her to offer you her memories by denying any reasonable bargain counts as an attack!”

“That is debatable,” Charon replied.

“I do not care!” Hades shouted again. “Your interference is improper!”

“I am obligated to!” Fortuna countered, not that much quieter than him. “She is part of my family! She is my godchild! If you had a godchild you wouldn’t act any different, Hades!”

Hades was going to respond, but then he hesitated. Slowly, the flames on his neck turned back to their, I believe, natural blue. “Perhaps,” he finally said. “This also falls under the rules. One has to protect their relatives.” He landed and shrank down to the same size as my godmother. “Still, you burst into my temple without even knocking!” He moved forward till he stood eye to eye with Fortuna.

“I brought something to compensate you for it,” she snorted and then growled at Charon, “and also to bargain with you.” Without further delay, she pulled a basked full of cookies out of the thin air.

“Are these those special cookies you get from the mortals?” Hades eagerly asked. The little dispute they’d had already forgotten. “The ones with extra amethyst sprinkles and cinnamon?”

“Exactly those,” my godmother replied. “You can have some because I bursted into your temple, and you,” she looked at Charon, “may have some as payment to carry my godchild and my priest across Hades test.”

Both gods seemed to be more than eager to agree. Their eyes were glued to the basket, and as soon as Fortuna placed it in front of them, they both shrunk down to far smaller sizes and pillaged the basket to the best of their abilities.

“Seems we all agree on this,” she said with a smile.
> Ancient Reputations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Thanks for helping me out, Aunty!” I rubbed my cheek against Fortuna’s belly. “I really didn’t want to lose that memory!”

“It would be in your interest to never let me find you trying to sell memories with me in them again,” she growled with a raised hoof. “What were you even thinking?”

“I,” my gaze flicked between her and the surroundings a few times, “I, well, I didn’t really have any control over what Charon was interested in.”

“And that resulted in you agreeing to let him have such a precious memory?” Her voice raised two octaves as she whipped the ground with her tail, leaving a crack in the grass and causing me to take to the air slightly. “I do not approve of such behaviour!” 

That much was rather obvious already given everything she’d done and said in the last few minutes.

Flapping my wings a few times, I was able to land safely on my hooves and claws again. “I’ll try to remember that, Aunty! Don't you worry!”

“And you owe me a basket full of delicious cookies,” Fortuna added. “Not the normal ones, but those delicious dragon-cookies your mom knows how to bake.”

“Sure thing! Next time we have the opportunity, I’ll help mom bake you some, I promise!” I rushed to my godmother's front and rubbed my side against her chest as high as I was able to reach, purring all the while.

“Having a mortal godchild can be irritating sometimes.” Finally she let one hoof sink onto my head and fondled my ears. “Very irritating, you are so unpredictable when you are in the mood for it.”

“That’s what makes life interesting, isn’t it?” I stopped in my tracks and looked up to her.

“Attempting to distract from your misbehaviour will not work in your favour, Fiery. You are very lucky that I kept a close eye on you, otherwise you would have lost a great treasure.”

“Lucky me,” a little smirk crept onto my mouth. This resulted in Fortuna picking me up by my neck and holding me at eye level for her.

“Of every mortal that exists, you are the one with the most reason to say so.” Her left eyebrow raised a bit when my smile just became wider and I started to wiggle my tail like a happy dog. “But yes, you do make life more interesting.” She shook me slightly and I hung there, back as my kirin self again. “That seems better,” she commented before placing me back down.

“Soooo, now what?” I wondered after I’d taken a moment to look at my wings and flank. Secretly, I was hoping she would stay a while and accompany us on our way in this potentially dangerous area, though I was well aware that this was very unlikely.

I was proven right when she said, ”Like so many things, that is up to you. I would advise you to let Charon carry you over the pond and then go to find your friends. It will be far easier while you have the permission of Hades to roam around. He has been appeased for now with the cookies I’ve given him, but that will only last so long. You should hurry, my godchild. I would be rather irate if I had to come to your aid a second time in one day.”

“I will try my best so that doesn’t happen. And I am feeling very lucky today!” I added with a blink after Fortuna raised her second eyebrow. I could also hear her hoof tapping on the ground ever so slightly seeing as she was a kirin-goddess three or four times my size at this point.

“You inherited your father’s cheekiness,” she judged. I was unsure if she approved or not, seeing as she’d put up her goddess aura of mystery. “Be it as it may, you should go now.” She pushed me forward with her wing. “Charon is needed elsewhere, so don’t make him wait overlong.”

I was already walking in his direction when my gaze landed on Rythil. The poor guy had shrunk himself to what was possibly the smallest form he could take before lowering himself into the grass, unable to even look at Fortuna with how guilty he felt. With one claw hovering in the air, I hesitated before making my way back to my godmother.

“Aunty? What are you going to do with Rythil now?”

“I told you Charon is waiting, Rythil should not be your concern.”

“He was supposed to come with me.”

“I decide what he is supposed to do, Fiery.” Fortunas words had gained a more serious undertone to them, one that told me that I should be careful if I intended to press the issue.

“So, you’re going to decide to let him come with me then?” I asked in a cheerful, sweet voice.

“I’m considering throwing him into the depths of Tartarus or into a lava pit at the moment,” she replied with a growl. “Or maybe I’ll just set him on fire, the kind that can’t be extinguished by mortals for several months.”

Rythil, while still crouching on the ground, was now shaking in fear. Seems he was not so wrong about how my godmother would deal with him if I wasn’t around to help him out! Despite the ongoing problems I had with his attitude of trying to take the lead, I couldn’t let him take all the blame when it was as much his fault as it was mine!

I rushed towards Fortuna and placed my claws on her chest, looking up with the best godchild eyes I could muster. “You surely wouldn’t do something like that, Aunty! Rythil is a loyal follower of yours! And he’s really tried his best so far in helping me!”

“His best was not good enough! He failed me, Fiery!” I was pretty sure she would have turned Nirik if it wasn’t for the fact that she was a goddess first and a kirin second. “It was his duty to look after you in my name, to make sure you are fine when things come along that I am forbidden from preventing! And now, here we are!” Her gaze fixed on Rythil again. “I only have this one Godchild!” she yelled in outrage, “and you put her in danger!” Ignoring me clinging to her, she walked over and, towering before him, picked him up by a horn. “Of all my priests, I trusted you with caring for my godchild, and this is the situation I find her in? What do you have to say to defend yourself?”

I too would have been very curious what he had to say to wiggle himself out of this situation, but he simply hung there in Fortunas hoof unable to speak a single word. If I had to guess, I would say her sheer presence at the moment was simply overwhelming him. I mean, meeting your goddess for the first time is something, but her being angry at you and considering throwing you into Tartarus or setting you on fire for months, months, that's its own level!

“Aunty…!”

“Silence, Fiery!” Fortuna shouted at me. And for the first time, I got a glimpse at what it meant for mortals to meet a god or goddess that they were not related to. My godmother sure is scary when she’s angry! Still, I couldn’t let Rythil hang in there alone! I switched to a better trick, I whimpered loudly at her side, rubbing my snout against her side.

This only earned me a push back from her wing though, not even taking her attention away from Rythil. Gods are not dragons, that much was clear!

“Aunty, you…”

I didn’t get any further as Fortuna’s wing pushed my head to the ground like I was a misbehaving bornling. She didn’t hurt me, but her wing felt like a mountain. It would have been easier to tip over Tailtip-mountain with my own claws than to lift her wing off of me.

“Be quiet!” She once more growled. “Rythil is one of my priests, I decide what to do with him!” She turned her gaze back to him. “Not only did you give her the nirandir to eat! You also talked her into trading a memory with Charon!”

“P-please, forgive me, Fortuna,” Rythil pleaded, his barely audible voice wavering with fear and trepidation. “I… I did-didn’t know it would be this-this bad. I… I… I was just trying to help.”

“You brought shame on you and your whole family! I can only name a handfull of one of my luck dragons that have disappointed me to this extent!”

“I am… sorry!”

“We must act now! If we don’t stop our godmother, we will lose one of our valuable allies!” Roary spoke up. “She is going to rip off his scales or worse if we do not interfere!

“And what am I supposed to do?” I retorted, losing track of what Fortuna was saying while focusing on my advisor. “There’s not much I can do from down here!”

“Fortuna is a goddess, she doesn’t think like mortals do! The gods act on emotions rather than cold logic, use that to your advantage!”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“He means,” Calmly piped up, “that she is enraged at the moment, she is not interested in forgiveness or letting this one slip! That’s not how god's work! You must go along with her mood and push it into the right direction!”

“Yes,” Roary affirmed, “go along with her rage and satisfy it!”

“Satisfying her rage? How?”

Suddenly, both my advisors went silent and I was back in the here and now, getting the tail end of what my godmother was saying.

“... should choose one of the classic punishments for you!” she yelled.

This was just perfect, I had to convince my godmother to not punish Rythil using the worst tortures she could imagine. By what? Using her anger to convince her to be less angry with him? Easier said than done! All she was interested in now was what punishment fit best for Rythil failing in his duties!

Suddenly, I felt her wing lift off of me, allowing me to quickly stand up again. The problem now though was that she had only freed me so she could turn around, Rythil still in one hoof, and make her way over to the pond of stygian water!

She was going to throw him in the pond!

“Godmother!” I yelled, flying up and in her way, “you can’t do this! You can’t throw him in there!”

“I do not intend on throwing him in there,” she growled while simply pushing me aside, “I will just submerge him for a few seconds, that should teach him not to disappoint me.”

Now panic crept up my spine. Only a few seconds? That would melt the fur and the scales off of his body! “Godmother!” I yelled once more, “please stop!” I even tried grabbing her wing to pull her back, to not the slightest effect of course. I tried the same with her tail, grabbing the tufft at the end and slamming my hooves into the ground, but all I archived was creating a furrow in Hades’ grass!

“If you weren't my godchild, you would share his fate for these actions, Fiery,” Fortuna growled. “I am a goddess, mortals shall not interfere with our will, Godchild or not.”

“I can’t let you throw Rythils in there, Aunty!” I pressed out while pulling at her tail as hard as I could. “Please! Show him mercy!”

Unimpressed by my begging, she made her way over to the pond and lowered her hoof to do as she said.

“The only thing she will accept is a suggestion of an even worse punishment,” Caustic Mercy, who had suddenly appeared by my side, mentioned. I didn’t have the time to process where he had suddenly come from or why his tone sounded like he was speaking about the weather, but he probably knew the gods better than I did!

I had no choice, I grabbed every straw I was offered. “Wait!” I let go of her tail and flew between her and the pond, coming dangerously close to the surface of it. “I have an idea for a better punishment! One that is far worse than melting his fur off!”

Fortuna unfortunately kept lowering her hoof, the panicked Rythil helplessly squirming, trying to remain unmelted for as long as possible. She took a moment to reply, but when she did, she stopped the decent of her hoof and raised an eyebrow. “I am listening.”

“Well…” I hoovered there, desperately searching for an idea. “You could…”

“Yes?” Fortunas voice made clear she was losing interest incredibly fast!

I threw a look at Caustic Mercy, but the priest of Hades just looked back at me, seemingly unimpressed by the whole situation. Whatever his intention had been for telling me to come up with another punishment to save Rythil, he had said what he wanted to say and was now only mildly interested in the outcome.

“The best punishment for Rythil would be…” My gaze landed on him for a second again, he was trapped in Fortunas hoof in his tiny form, unable to escape, “...to curse him to stay in this tiny form and become a teddy bear for my brother Nightflame!” I bursted out. “He would hate nothing in the world more than being treated like a plushy!”

I was well aware that I was bubbling straight nonsense, I didn’t even know where the idea had suddenly come from, but I’d simply run out of options to save him!

“Make a plushie out of him! Yes, the curse of smallness combined with the duty to cuddle everyone he meets should they desire! That would be the perfect curse for your priest, Aunty!”

Fortuna just looked at me. Several seconds passed. It felt like an eternity for me, and given how fast a goddess can think, it may be one for her. Then, she lowered her hoof. I was going to scream in shock, but watched as she dropped her priest just at the edge of the pool.

“Yes,” she said, “that is indeed a better punishment for him.” I sighed in relief at being able to pull off the small miracle of convincing my godmother to drop her plans to melt Rythil’s fur, and probably his skin off, while he was alive and accept my suggestion. “Very well then. Rythil!” Her voice echoed through the dome. “You shall be cursed! Trapped in this tiny form of yours and bound to cuddle with everycreature that wishes to cuddle you!”

“Perfect!,” I yelled hastily and rushed over to pick Rythil up, holding him with one claw. “We should make haste now, Charon is waiting! Thank you, Godmother!” I rubbed my head against her chest once more before turning around and making my way over to board Charon’s boat. “You owe me one,” I whispered to Rythil on the way.

***

Passing over the pond in Charon’s boat had been a strange, but quick experience. I confess, I had imagined that it would feel more special, still, I was not eager to take another ride on that boat anytime soon. As Rythil and I rode across the pond with Charon, the rest of the gods took their leave. Fortuna had disappeared after she was satisfied with the punishment she had decided for Rythil, and Hades had levitated back to whatever it was that the god of the underworld did in his freetime. So, that left me, Rythil, who was now acting as a scarf around my neck, and Caustic Mercy as our guide back. Ryhtil would have preferred to sit on my back, but I wasn’t willing to allow him that.

“Meeting Charon was a pleasurable experience,” Caustic Mercy stated. He then turned around and pointed towards, what I assume, was the east exit of the dome. “Come now, I will show you the village.”

“Given his tone, I think he is starting to warm up to our presence,” I whispered to my scarf. “Seems I impressed him after all, despite being an azure-kirin.”

I waited for a reply, but my scarf remained silent.

“Hey,” I shook him a bit, “we are not done with our mission yet. I may need your help!”

He still showed no interest in responding, so I grabbed him by his tail, pulled him off my neck, and shook him like a wet towel that was supposed to be hung up. “Get your stuff together!” I growled. “We still need to rescue Bliz and Heat Wave! You can grieve and mourn all you want once we’re back at my merriment!”

“She hates me,” he mumbled, “she hates me, Fiery, my goddess hates me.” If possible, I’m guessing he would have shrunk even further.

“Nonsense, she is just angry at you, that's all. Give her a few days and help Mom and me bake the cookies for her and you will be fine. Besides, she’ll definitely be even angrier with you if you leave me hanging here!”

“I… I suppose,” he meekly said.

“I wouldn’t dare to be found wanting in my duties as a priest if I was you,” Caustic Mercy threw in casually, like him eavesdropping on us was nothing at all. “If I had been unsuccessful in protecting my god's godchild, I would do everything I could to eradicate that stigma and redeem myself.”

I was going to address my issue with him both eavesdropping and giving his two bits when it wasn’t being asked for when I noticed the effect his words had on Rythil. His ears became erect again and his look became kind of determined.

“Not to mention what my family would think of me if they heard about it,” Caustic Mercy added.

That seemed to do the trick completely. I don’t know that much about luck dragons, but mentioning the family honour brought some sense back into my scarf. 

“Be it as it may,” Hades priest went on, “we are here.” He stopped in front of a wooden double door. “This is the entrance to our village.”

My gaze wandered over the door, but there were no engravings or other forms of ornamentation. It was a simple wooden door, nothing more.

“When we enter, stay by my side. Your kind is not welcome down here, and my congregation may take issue with your presence. My authority will protect you,” he raised one hoof, “as long as you stay by my side.”

“I figured, given the engravings along the hallway.”

Caustic Mercy smiled. “You have no idea.” He turned around and laid his hooves on the door. With a loud squeaking noise, the door swung back under his pressure. As the door opened, a faintly moist and earthly scent wafted out from the area behind. When the door had fully opened, the three of us were greeted to the view of a ramp leading down into a bigger cavelike, well, cave. A huge cave, overgrown with the same blue moss that had been in the previous cavern.

Without further delay, Caustic Mercy stepped forward and began his descent. A moment later, after I let go of Rythil and he resumed his duty as my scarf, I followed, remembering to stay close. As soon as we were on the ramp, I was able to see much more of the cave's interior. Down there, near the centre of the cave, were several large mushroom-like structures, accompanied by several buildings made out of what seems to be roots or thin branches. It was a small settlement underground. I also saw a few kirins down there, though they were too far away to see what they were doing.

“Look, there are indeed more kirins down here! Though far less than you predicted.” I pointed at them.

“We see far less than I predicted,” Rythil retorted. “There could be a good deal more down here that we can’t see.

“Naysayer.”

We walked down for several minutes until we reached them, and when we did, their reaction was quite strong. At first they focused on Caustic Mercy, but as soon as their gaze landed on me, they started to hiss and their hackles raised as much as possible. The mares even picked up their children and brought them to safety, as far away from me as they could. 

Now I know how Dad must have felt a few times!

“This one stands under the protection of our Lord, Hades,” Caustic Mercy proclaimed loudly, his staff now back in his hoof. “No one is allowed to harm her!”

A lot of growling and hissing was the reply. More and more Kirins gathered, attracted by the noise, and the reaction they had was all the same, hostility.

“ENOUGH!” Caustic Mercy’s voice rushed through the cave like a tsunami, I swear that I could hear his words spelled in capitalised letters! IF THE LORD HADES DECIDES THAT SHE IS NOT TO BE HARMED, SHE IS NOT TO BE HARMED!” Even the moss dimmed under his commandment. Instantly, the kirins cowered down in obedience.

“Looks like I am not the only one with the ability to enforce my will on others,” I whispered to Rythil.

“You should be happy about it,” he replied, “these kirins seem to be very upset with you being here.”

“Indeed, though, I have a biting scarf, that should scare them off.”

Rythil twisted around so he could look me in the eyes. His expression was priceless.

Unaware of our little banter, Caustic Mercy went on. “She has passed the test of our Lord, and she is also the godchild of Lord Hades’s peer, the goddess Fortuna! Whoever dares to harm her will have to answer to two of the gods!”

This seemed to do the trick, while there was still a bit of growling and they remained on alert, they restrained themselves from showing open hostility towards me for the moment. This also allowed me to take a closer look at them. They were runehorns, and like our new guest upstairs, they had painted their faces with greenish or brownish paint, they also wore feathers in their manes, the younger ones only a few, the older ones a great deal more. Actually, for a moment, the question arose in my head of why Caustic Mercy wasn’t wearing any in his mane, but I pushed that one aside for later. Also, most of them had attached some of the glowing moss to their backscales, causing them to emit a good portion of light around them.

“Fiery Leadership, you may proceed now and enter our village.” It took me a second to realise that Caustic Mercy was talking to me again. “You will talk to Calamitous Blossom, Defeater of Azures, leader of this village.”

“Defeater of Azures? Sounds very welcoming to me.”

“It is a title. It has been attached to every leader of this village, all descendants of Flaming Division, slayer of the first azure-kirin that came after our ancestors.”

I could feel Rythil curl around my neck, more tightly. “So they did kill that azure in the engraving,” he sharply whispered.

Placing two talons between him and my throat, I managed to loosen his grip a little. “No reason to try and choke me!” Instantly, he softened his constricting around my neck.

“This way,” Caustic Mercy said and trotted forward. The present kirins made room for him, though, they kept a very close eye on every movement I made, and behind us, the ring of kirins quickly closed again. 

That didn’t mean I wouldn’t slow down to have a closer look at my surroundings. 

Like the treehouses my people normally build aboveground, these mushrooms were covered in stairs and had little ropes or even small suspension bridges between them, though these ropes were made of that strange hairlike moss that grows on trees, only tightly braided. And just as I was wondering about this, I saw a few of the townsfolk climbing up the mushroom’s bark like they were secretly goats, watching down on us from up there. 

No, not us, me. 

Ignoring them, but keeping my gaze pointed up there, I spotted what I thought were their actual houses. Below the mushroom’s gills on the underside of the caps, there were several wooden structures. They kind of looked a little bit like one of Grünchens nests. “I wonder how they reach them,” I asked to myself.

“Maybe the caps and stalks are hollow? If there are stairs in the stalks, that would allow them to reach the upper levels. With how big these mushrooms are, there could even be hubs or marketplaces in them. And with all these bridges and ropes between them, a whole town could be up there.

“Could be.” I directed my gaze back at the kirins following us up there. “I doubt that they’d be up for showing us around though.”

“Probably not.”

“You are not here for sightseeing, Fiery Leadership,” Caustic Mercy reminded me. “You better focus on what you want to achieve rather than lingering around, pestering my people with your curiosity. Hades may be a patient god, but once he decides you are no longer welcome here, you will find out what awaits an azure without his protection.”

“I am just wondering about your place, I’m not pestering anyone. Well, unless just being here counts. It’s not like I am a threat to your people.”

“Thanks to Lord Hades that is, without him, you would have already tried to claim them.”

“You sound like that’s a bad thing. I am not some kind of tyrant, or somekirin that throws their merriment into danger carelessly.”

Now he took a moment to look back at me. “Intention and result may lay far away from each other, regardless of your efforts. You are young,” he turned back to facing forward, “you may believe in what you say. Still, you are a threat to my people and their freedom of will and choice.”

“Since you are under the protection of Hades, neither I nor Bliz are a threat to you. Where is she by the way?”

“Who?”

“Blizzard Silence, another azure-kirin of my merriment. You should know, since it was your people who…”

“May have had a misunderstanding with them,” Rythil interrupted me. “She is one of the friends we were looking for of course.” He gave me a pleading look.

“If you don’t stop that, I…” I had already started to growl when a far better idea came to my mind to put him back in his place. Softly I stroked over his head and began scratching him between his ears, right behind his horns.

“Calamitous Blossom will answer any questions regarding the other azure, once the imminent danger they presented was over, the matter of how she would be dealt with fell to her,” Caustic Mercy dismissed while Rythil squirmed under my affection.

“Could you please not do this?” he asked with this hopeless expression on his little face.

“You are a plushy now, remember?” I asked sarcastically while grinning ever so slightly as I intensified my petting. Looking back towards Caustic Mercy, I said, “Heat Wave isn’t an azure-kirin, he shouldn’t have posed a threat to you in the first place.”

“A kirin enslaved by an azure has not much of a choice about his action, as long as your fellow azure was in charge, he was a threat.”

“And now? When he is no longer under my or her command…? I let the words linger in the air.

At least I earned a raised eyebrow and a second of hesitation from Caustic Mercy. “You will see,” was all he was willing to reply.

*

“I will not stand idle with her kind in these halls!” Calamitous Blossom yelled in outrage as she stepped down from her throne, but not without grabbing an axe from the wooden wall behind her with her magic. “I am the protector of this village, no azure is allowed to roam these halls while I draw breath!” She came to a halt at the bottom of the marble stairs leading up to her throne. 

While I was still recoving from astonishment at how warm this welcome was, Caustic Mercy slammed the end of his staff onto the ground three times, gaining everyone's attention. “She has passed the test of our Lord Hades, she is allowed to come here by our tradition. Despite being an azure,” he added with audible displeasure.

“Don’t lecture me about our laws! It was my ancestor who wrote them!” She swung the axe widely in front of her, intimidatingly. “She may be spared from the erasing blessing Lord Hades granted us, but I can challenge her to a duel, leader to leader, at any time!” She reared up and roared loudly, causing the kirins around us to clear the hall and climb up the bleachers embedded into the walls. “And I do so now!” With these words, she lowered her stance and gave me a challenging hiss.

“Hades will not approve of this,” Caustic Mercy stated but did nothing more. He then turned around to face me, his expression still as inscrutable as ever. “I told you of the reputation your kind has among my people. Seems Calamitous Blossom is not in the mood today to let your presence go unchallenged. You either have to face her, or, you can return to the surface having wasted your time and effort, only accomplishing earning a, as far as I can tell, severe punishment for one of your followers.” His gaze demonstratively wandered to my new scarf.

“Can’t we just talk about this?” Without the call influencing me, I was far less willing to fight other kirins for dominance. “I didn’t even bring a weapon with me!”

A spear landed right next to my claw, crashing into the marble floor tip first and somehow even managing to stay upright.

“The respect for your god is kind of lacking among your people,” Rythil commented. “They could have hurt Fiery on accident, and they knew that.”

“The gods work in mysterious ways.” Caustic Mercy just smiled at Rythil.

“They do indeed,” he retorted, his voice was filled with sarcasm, “their ways are unfathomable.” He then turned to me. “I know you will ignore my advice anyway, but you don’t have to do this. You can retreat, safe and sound to the surface, and, Fortuna wouldn’t feel the desire to throw me in the styx because you died down here.”

“Your trust in me winning is not very high,” I snorted. He, in return, gave me his best innocent smile. “I’ve been able to stand my ground so far, you know? I may not want to fight, but I am not a lost cause!”

“You don’t even know the rules!” he yelled. “I told you, you could die! This could very well be a fight of life and death given the weapons! Just look at that axe! Tell me that it’s just meant to give you a bruise!

“What are the rules?” I shouted over to Calamitous Blossom, ignoring Rythils worry.

“First one to die, loses!”

Now concern did start to grow in my mind.

For a moment, Calamitous Blossom’s voice turned a tiny bit ceremonial as she recited the rules. “No magic, except levitation of your weapon of choice.” Her tone got a bit more disapproving for a second, “not that you could use magic anyway! No items, potions, or any other shenanigans! Only the clothes you are wearing are allowed in the ring!”

I threw a look at the feathers in her mane as well as the mask Caustic Mercy was carrying. “Makes sense. What about flying?”

“Fly around this hall as much as you want, it will not save you!” She spat on the ground between us. “Now accept my challenge or be gone, daring never to return!”

“What about…” I started, but she just roared at me.

“Accept or flee!”

“Fiery, please, don’t do this!” Rythil grabbed my cheeks with his tiny claws, “let’s just retreat to the surface and let your Dad, Fortuna, or your merriment handle this, please!”

I hesitated. I was just so eager to rescue Bliz. It was only a matter of time till Dad found a way down here, and I had no doubt about how a confrontation between him and Calamitous Blossom would end. I scratched the ground indecisively, fighting my pride. My whole azure-kirin heritage told me to stay and accept that challenge, influenced by the call or not. And that wasn’t even mentioning my advisors, who were piping up in the back of my mind. Slowly, so very slowly, I placed one claw to the side to turn around and leave this place.

It took me too long, taking my hesitation as a direct challenge to her, Calamitous Blossom stormed forward, her axe held tightly in her magic grip as she swung it around and towards me. I tore the spear out of the ground, grabbed Rythil, and was going to throw him into the crowd when it clicked in my head. Just the clothes you wear! That was it! “You are part of my clothes! You are my scarf!” I swung Rythil back around my neck and stormed forward.

“Wait! What?!” The little luck dragon didn’t know what hit him. “You can’t be serious!”

I had to spare him a reply since the sound of clashing metal filled the air when I deflected my opponent's axe, letting it harmlessly glide past me. I was going to use my momentum to hit her with the other end of my spear, but before I could begin, she was already bounding forward, using her shoulder to ram me.

I hadn’t expected her to do something like that, so it hit me quite hard, forcing me to roll back. By a feathers breadth, her following swing missed me as I flared my wings and began hovering up into the air.

“I told you your flying wouldn’t save you!” She then threw her axe directly at me. Not that it was of any danger to me though. I simply evaded with a flap to the side. Unfortunately, I had underestimated Calamitous Blossom’s skill. Midair, she changed the direction of her axe so that it was now coming right back at me like a boomerang!

No wonder magic was forbidden in a ritual azure-kirin fight! This placed cheating on a whole new level!

Unable to dodge it completely this time, I did my best to let it hit me at my most protected spot, my back scales! Luckily for me, the axe hadn’t had the time or space to really build up enough momentum, still it left a scar on my back and even cracked some of my scales. Not to mention the pain!

“Just throw the spear at her like Mom taught us!” Calmly threw in. “Aim for her chest while she is distracted with redirecting the axe!”

“That would kill her!” I mentally yelled back. “Are you crazy?!”

“That’s kind of is the point,”  Roary added. “It is either her or us! And we don’t want our legacy to be that we were killed by a runehorn! A runehorn that isn’t even a fellow azure!”

“Specifically the being killed part!” Calmy clarified.

“Evade!” The crystal clear command of Rythil broke through my inner dialog and barely allowed me to do as he told, letting the axe fly past me one more time. “Thanks,” I hastily yelled and bursted into full flying speed as fast as I could. Maybe I could outfly Calamitous Blossom’s magic!

“You can fly, but you cannot escape!” She yelled, doing her best to match her axes speed with me. Well, I could at least try! The space in the hall may be rather limited, still, I did my best to lose that axe on my tail!

“Shake it off!” Rythil yelled. “It’s gaining on us!”

“I’m trying!” But that cursed axe was following every one of my evasive manoeuvres, it was a bit slower in changing direction than me, but it alway gained on me when I flew straight!

“Just a question of time, azure!”

“A question of time till I beat you!” I retorted. Easier said than done though! It was at this moment that Fortuna came to my aid! No, not literally again, but my luck played its cards! When I took a sharp turn next to one of the walls, the axe sliced into the wood, unable to follow my path as good as I flew it! Whatever skills Calamitous Blossom may have on the ground, she lacked maneuverability with her magic!

The next time I reached one of the walls, I flew upwards as fast and as hard as I could in order to make as tight of a loop as possible. As my back hooves scraped against the wall as I began to fly back in the direction I had come from, I felt the blade of the axe pass through the hair of my tail just before the heavy slam of it embedding itself into the wall resonated from the wood behind me.

“Now! She is defenceless! Fly straight at her and impale her!” Calmly’s voice suggested forcefully in my head. “You will not get a better chance than now!”

“How about I just hit her unconscious? Am I the only one lacking a sense of bloodlust here?!”

“Even your pony side is supporting it,” Roary roared. “What are you waiting for! Spear fighting is something you got from your mothers pegasi heritage! Use it!”

It was not like I wasn’t aware of the seriousness of the situation, still…

“Alright!” I flew straight at Calamitous Blossom, but not to impale her, to threaten her with my spear. “It’s over, Calamitous Blossom!” I pointed the speartip right at her face. “Give up!”

“In your dreams!” I could see her horn begin glowing even more and heard the sound of cracking wood behind me. She was freeing her axe! She didn’t wait for it to arrive though, instead, she stormed forward, right at me! With wide eyes I watched her suicide attack, but I was wrong, before she even came close to my spear, she did a somersault and used her momentum to fling her tail at my spear, slapping it to the side. Still, I had been trained by mom, so instead of losing my weapon, I turned the swing against her, hitting her in the leg she was trying to kick me with with the blunt side of my spear.

“Watch out!” Again, Rythil made me aware of the danger I was in. I deflected the incoming axe and instantly returned to a defensive position.

“Not bad for a child!” Calamitous Blossom mocked, catching her axe with a hoof and starting to circle me. She couldn’t know, but this was a situation that Mom and Dad had unintentionally prepared me for. Watching an attacking animal, with my spear in claw, waiting for the subtle clue of an imminent charge. And it wasn’t any different with an intelligent opponent. Well, the difference was that it wasn’t subtle. Calamitous Blossom just shifted her weight onto her back hooves, reared up, and let her magic flare up as she swung her weapon backwards to gain more momentum for the blow.

Not a good idea if your opponent has a spear!

With a roar, I stormed a few steps forward, my spear aimed right at her belly. However, I still wasn’t willing to kill her. I was sure she would back down and either evade or try to deflect my spear. My real goal was to injure her front legs, or at least give her a good scratch over one of her sides. “There!” I yelled as I thrust my spear forward.

“Fool!” Too late, I saw her smile. She didn’t even back down, instead, she rushed forward on only two hooves, evaded to the side, and grabbed the speartip! I wrestled with her for a second for control of the spear, until her axe flew straight at me and I had to let go in order to not get beheaded! With a triumphant smile, Calamitous Blossom now stood before me with my spear in her hooves and her axe circling her!

“You are as good as dead, azure!”

Without any further delay, she stormed at me, the spear raised and pointed at my chest!

“No!” Rythil screamed in horror, shifting from his position around my neck so that he was now in front of my chest, doing his best to catch the blow for me. Not that it would help all that much if he did ‘block’ the hit, I thought. Not seeing a better option, I just grabbed the speartip in desperation! I wasn’t nearly as skilled as Calamitous Blossom though, and cried out in pain when the iron sides scratched over my claws. Only the knowlage that she would impale me the second I let go gave me the strength to hold on!

“Just give up!” Calamitous Blossom roared, putting all of her weight into the push. “You only make it harder for yourself!” Looking at her and seeing her glowing horn, I was reminded that there was another problem that would be coming at me any second now!

“Rythil! Watch out for that axe!” He didn’t need to be told twice. Like a squirrel, he climbed over me and onto my back.

“It’s coming!” He shouted a second later.

“Any last words?” Calamitous Blossom pressed out, groaning from her effort.

I didn’t have the breath to reply. Slowly, the speartip began inching closer to me.

“Fiery! The…”

I didn’t wait for Rythil to finish his sentence. I just gave up my resistance and allowed Calamitous Blossom to push forward. Not into my chest though! Instead of pushing back, I pulled the spear while rolling backwards. Calamitous Blossom reacted too slowly and was pulled with it. I guided the speartip aside and gave her a heavy kick in her belly, throwing her over me and into her own weapons path. Or so I had planned. Midair, she did a barrel roll and caught her weapon! It was unbelievable! She should have been unable to change the course of her axe that fast! And she hadn’t! She had just turned it so the handle was pointed at her as she flew by, and all she had to do was grab it! The rest had been physics!

Seeing my shocked face, she smiled. “That was a lot more fun than I had expected,” she laughed. “No wonder my ancestors fought the azures, it is a real pleasure!” Unfortunately this little bit of banter came at the same time as her storming back at me again! Sharp pain shot through my claws when I grabbed the spear tighter to block her attacks. I didn’t dare look at them, it was already enough to see the fine red lines on the wood wherever I touched it. The near deafening sound of clashing metal echoed through the hall when our weapons hit each other over and over again.

“We can still end this! We don’t need to fight this till the end!” I yelled. My claws were beginning to feel like they were in lava due to all the vibrations the clashing weapons sent through my spear. Each of Calamitous Blossom’s blows were like hammer strikes against an anvil, sending waves of pain throughout my claws and forelegs.

“You’re dreaming! I already have the advantage!” she retorted.

Sadly, she was very much right about that! I had to come up with something, and fast!

My mind raced ten miles a second during this point, all the while Rythil was scurrying around on my back and neck to avoid being hit or falling off.

Rythil! That was it!

“Get on my back!” I commanded, trying to sound like he was in the way. I had to deflect two more hits before he was in position. I could feel his claws on my spine, his tail restlessly sweeping over my scales. It was at the moment when his tail was on my left side and Calamitous Blossom’s axe was on my right that I grabbed him by the tail and tossed him at her.

“Bite her! Scratch her eyes out!” I yelled.

Both of them were confused for the split second it took for them to collide. Immediately, Rythil got to work biting into her cheek and scratched her with his claws. Despite being small and a priest, he was still a dragon! He knew how to get into a frenzy! Roaring out in anger and pain, Calamitous Blossom dropped her axe, reared up, and did her best to get rid of the little pest on her face. That second of inattention was all I needed!

“Now impale her!” Roary demanded eagerly! “Show her who is the dominant!”

“Kill her to save us and Rythil!” Calmly supported.

I did neither of this! I threw my spear forward, right into her left hindleg, and sprung forward with my claws and fangs ready! She didn’t stand a chance! Her leg gave out under the force of my impact and we both rolled over the floor. It was no longer only my blood on my claws! She screamed in agony, but still tried to punch back, bite me, and get rid of Rythil. Without claws though, it was in vain. Finally, I had her throat between my fangs and forced her on her back, growling menacingly. She tried to force my snout open with her hooves, but that only left her vulnerable to my claws, as well as my scarf!

“Give up!” I mumbled as I placed my talons on her chest and throat, slightly piercing her with them. “It is over!”

“Never!” Her attempts to open my snout became more desperate. “I would sooner die than submit to an azure!”

“I don’t want to kill you!”

“Then give up and perish!”

Ponyfeathers! What should I do? I had her there, between my fangs, but I couldn’t do it! And she wasn’t willing to submit! Ponyfeathers, ponyfeathers, Ponyfeathers!

“You must kill her!” Roary piped up. “Kill her, or she will kill us, there is no other way!”

“I don’t want to!”

“You have too!” His tone became darker. “And you want to! You want to show this runehorn who is the dominant! Her and all the kirins!”

“I…”

“Surrender! Surrender you stupid fool!” Rythil yelled. He was still on Calamitous Blossom’s head, and from what I could see, his fangs and claws also were no longer clean. 

“Don’t mind him! Kill her! Sink your fangs in her and claim her territory and all her subjects! Do it! All that is hers will be yours!”

Slowly, I started to close my jaw…

“Mom! No!” A younger mare emerged from the crowd, jumped down from the bleacher, and stormed right at us. I don’t know who was more surprised, me or Calamitous Blossom. I did realise though how Calamitous Blossoms eyes widened in shock, right before the younger mare shot something at me. Despite my attempts to kill her, Calamitous Blossom tried all she could to roll around, my fangs in her throat be damned, to get me out of the line of the shot.

I, on the other claw, was too stupid to even react, and so the bolt of magic hit me anyway. Surprisingly it didn’t hurt at all, not like it was displayed in the engraving, still, the world faded into darkness quite quickly.
> Guilt And Punishment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Fiery! Fiery wake up!” I was being roughly shaken by someone I couldn’t quite make out in my semi-conscious state. Despite how persistant they were being, the shadows before my eyes were reluctant to fade. “Hurry!”

Slowly, it seeped into my mind that that voice sounded kind of familiar. I tried to at least sit up, but a sharp sting through my claw halted my attempt, as well as cleared my mind most effectively. The fight! I had been fighting! At once I jumped up, only to collide with Bliz who had been the someone trying to wake me up.

“Bliz!” I instantantly enveloped her in a hug, ignoring the pain in my claws. “Bliz! I was so worried about you!”

“I’m fine,” she replied, reciprocating the hug, but just as quickly ended. “Just, our connection seems to be broken.” She stepped back. “But we don’t have time for a long reunion party right now! Can you get up?”

“I think so…” I pushed the blanket aside and swung my hooves out of the bed. Only now I registered the bandages around my claws and the one around my back. “What…” I plucked at them a bit. “What happened?”

“You got hit by that anti-azure magic these kirins are able to use,” Rythil, standing on Bliz’s back, answered. “Calamitous Blossom was furious at first, but now she’s extremely worried.”

“Rythil!” I hopped out of the bed and gave him a closer look. His claws were clean again and his fur seemed to have seen a brush not so long ago. “Good to see you are alright!”

“Thanks, I am also glad we both survived that encounter. What is with your merriment though, can you still feel them?”

For a second fear crept up my spine, but as quick as it had arisen, it vanished, as I could still sense my merriment out there. “Yes,” I said, “they are still there.”

“Then Sierra Bonsai hasn’t done any permanent harm to you.” He sounded quite relieved.

“Who is Sierra Bonsai?”

“The kirin who shot at you, Calamitous Blossom’s daughter. She hasn’t mastered the spell yet, so it was unclear how much trouble she had caused with her attempt.”

“I’m sure Calamitous Blossom will be happy to hear that,” Bliz said. “She wanted to speak with you as soon as you woke up. The fact that her daughter broke the rules of your fight caused a lot of problems down here!”

“Hades has cursed them with one of his plagues,” Rythil clarified for me. “From what I can tell, breaking the rules would have been bad enough given the hierarchy of these kirins, but Hades himself took great issue with somekirin attacking you while you had his permission to be here.” He jumped down from Bliz’s back when she excused herself with a nod to trot over to the door to talk to someone outside.

“What do you mean he cursed them with a plague?”

“They are sick now. Most, if not all of them. As soon as you were hit, the air darkened and began to reak like rotten fruits or a contaminated pond that’s been allowed to fester. Soon after, these kirins started to cough and some even vomited. It wasn’t a pleasant sight. Only Caustic Mercy seemed unaffected, along with Blizzard Silence and Heat Wave when I eventually saw them. Hades is very prudently when it comes to his punishments it seems. Some of the gods would have simply punished each and everyone down here, including you,  Blizzard and Heat Wave.”

“Wait, Heat Wave, where is he? Is he alright too?”

“Yes, he is trying to help. These kirins didn’t do him any harm besides hitting him with the anti-azure connection magic. He is in their village, tending to the sick.”

“Is he crazy?” My eyes widened in shock. “What if he catches the plague too!”

“I told you, Hades is being very careful with his plague, it will not affect anyone besides the kirins he wants it to.”

“That is correct,” Caustic Mercy stated from the doorframe before fully entering. “Lord Hades punishes those who stood against his will and betrayed the pact that he and the ancestors of our congregation forged.”

I flinched back my ears. “Isn’t that a little drastic? Most of them didn’t have anything to do with what happened in the fight.”

I mean of course it was a bad move, and a huge one, but if Sierra Bonsai is Calamitous Blossom’s daughter, I can kind of see why she did that.

“And most of their ancestors had nothing to do with the pact forged with Lord Hades either, they simply benefited from it. It is naive to complain about them sharing the punishment of those who lead when they were more than willing to share the benefits.”

I opened my mouth to reply to that, but I couldn’t come up with anything. Fortunately for me, right behind him, Bliz and Calamitous Blossom entered, so I was spared having to answer. I did tense up a little bit though. Last time I had seen Calamitous Blossom, I had tried to kill her thanks to Roary, and she likely would have taken the opportunity if she’d have been the one at my throat.

“Fiery Leadership!” Calmatious Blossom intoned as she approach me. I shifted on my hooves and claws, preparing for our fight to resume, only to be taken by surprise when she dropping to the ground, laying there only a pace or two in front of me on her stomach. Her tail was also pressed to the ground and curled back around so that it was up against her side while her nose nearly touched the ground. “I admit my defeat in our duel. I take full responsibility for the actions of my daughter and offer you my life in penance.” She pulled a dagger out of her mane with her magic and held it up with the hilt pointed at me. The blade remained motionless in the air before me, until Hades’ curse forced her to begin coughing, causing the blade to waver.

My mouth hung agape. The last time we were in a room together, she’d tried to kill me, eradicate me from this world all because her ancestors had some sort of dispute with my kind. And now, she way laying down in front of me asking for me to take her life, in cold blood I want to add.

“We should…” Roary started before a burst of rage flew over me.

“You shut your darn mouth! You nearly got me to kill her! To rip open her throat! How DARE YOU!”

“I just…”

“Shut up! Don’t you dare speak to me till I allow you to again!”

“Fiery.” Rythil quickly stepped back as my back caught fire, with the rest of my body beginning to smoulder as I was very close to turning nirik. “Fiery stop! I know you two just fought, but…”

“It’s not about her!” I hissed, restlessly shuffling in place in an attempt to calm down. “It’s my advisor! He nearly convinced me to rip out her throat!”

“You are supposed to guide me, not to turn me into a killer, Roary! Don’t you dare to do that again!”

With effort, I suppressed my anger and stayed kirin for the time being. “I will not kill you, Calamitous Blossom, I didn’t even want to fight you! All I’d come here to do was rescue Bliz and Heat Wave. Put your dagger back.” I then made the appropriate gesture with my claw. As I did this, I caught sight of the bandages on my claw, and a pinch of annoyance crawled over my mind, but not for long. The bandages fortunately seemed to be fire resistant, otherwise the one on my back would have been turned to ashes.

“I.. can’t do that.” It was clear just how much effort it took her to say that. The aura surrounding her blade seemed to get brighter after she said this, and I watched her doing her best to suppress another cough. “You would have killed me in combat, if not for my daughter's failure. My life is forfeit. I lost to an azure. I failed. I brought shame to myself and my ancestors. Lord Hades is punishing my people for my and my daughter’s failures. I have to get redemption for our sins, by seeking your,” she nearly choked on that word, “forgiveness.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You can have my forgiveness by making up for it, or more accurately, your daughter is the one who needs to ask for my forgiveness, not you.”

“You seem very calm given the fact that she tried to split you in two with her axe based on what Rythil told me,” Bliz whispered to me. “I probably would have taken that more personally.”

“Roary nearly convinced me to sink my fangs into her throat and rip her apart. I think I’ve had enough rage and anger for one day,” I whispered back.

“No, not my daughter!” For a split second, Calamitous Blossom even dared to look up at me before lowering her gaze again. “Demand what you want from me, azure,” I could see the muscle on her forelegs tighten under her fur as she said this, “but not the life of my daughter.”

“I’m not demanding her life! What are you thinking?” I shook my head in bewilderment as I refolded my wings which had poofed open from the slight. “An apology, maybe a gift in the form of a bag of gems would be fine!” I raised a claw, waving her crazy idea off. “You are her mother, I couldn’t expect her to stand aside while I, well, while I, you know. An apology to calm down Hades so he spares your people and all should be fine.” My gaze wandered to Bliz for a moment. “And an apology from you to Bliz and Heat Wave along with some little presents should make everything alright again.”

“Lord Hades will not be satisfied with a simple apology,” Caustic Mercy said. “The millennia old pact between him and the people of this village has been violated.”

Calamitous Blossom raised the hilt of her dagger higher.

“And I will not be pleased with her or her daughter’s blood on my claws,” I said pointing at Calamitous Blossom

“Please!” Calamitous Blossom spat out before falling back into a coughing fit. “My people are dying! You must accept my life so that they can be spared!” She crawled nearer, her belly scratching over the ground before grabbing one of my forelegs and forcing the dagger into my claw. “I beg you, I offer my life to save my daughter and my people!”

Seeking help, I looked at Rythil. “There must be another way, something to appease the god of the underworld with. I am not, not, going to murder her!” I then threw the dagger away from me.

“Then my people are doomed!” Now she did dare to look me in the eyes. “Hades will eradicate us all if you deny killing me! Don’t you get that, child?”

“And he may not even spare you if she does,” Bliz threw in, dragging everyone’s attention to her. “Your daughter cheating in your duel with Fiery is the source of his anger as that broke your part of the, what, contract, deal, agreement you had? You may have angered him by challenging Fiery, but it was your daughter who caused the bigger issue. If you sacrifice your life that might, or might not, wash away that problem. Your people may remain dying and your sacrifice would have been for nothing.”

For a moment there was silence, before Rythil spoke up.

“I think she is right. The gods are very particular when it comes to this sort of thing. Your daughter seems to be the main issue. You challenging Fiery probably isn’t something your god approves of based what your own priest said, but based on the fact he didn’t respond as quickly as he did when your daughter attacked Fiery, that more than likely would have caused a ‘you’ problem instead of one for all of your people.”

“Lord Hades is not like Fortuna, Rythil,” Caustic Mercy slowly said. “Calamitous Blossom represents the kirins of this village for both good and ill. Her failure can count as their failure in the eyes of Lord Hades.”

“So instead of having one problem, there are two, but we don’t know which one is the bigger issue or if they are both fatal by themselves, great!” Bliz groaned as she lifted her hooves towards the ceiling. “Means even if you were to kill her, that either solves one problem, both, or none at all!”

“No one is going to kill anyone! Is that clear?” I shouted in anger. “Not her,” I pointed at Calamitous Blossom, “not her daughter, nor anyone else! What is wrong with you guys?” I grabbed Calamitous Blossom by her ear and pulled her up. “The only way for you to die today is if you run into my dad and tell him that you tried to kill one of his bornlings, and that is not going to happen!”

Dad! For a while, I had forgotten about the little detail that I had escaped his parental purring and he may be in full papa mode, still, we had bigger problems at claw to deal with.

“With her not being mad about what you or your daughter did,” Rythil started, referring to me, “we should speak with Hades about all this. If we’re lucky, that’ll be the main issue, and therefore, seeing that you forgave them, he may be in a forgiving mood.

“You make it sound like getting an audience with Lord Hades is no major thing,” Caustic Mercy commented, sounding rather displeased.

“I mean no disrespect of course, though, my goddesses godchild has proven to be very lucky when it comes to dealing with these kinds of challenges. In the twenty-four years I’ve been alive, Fortuna has only spoken to me twice, and I’m a priest, but in less than a day, I’ve witnessed the presence of three gods, Fortuna, Hades and Charon.” He jumped onto my back. “I am very confident that Fortuna’s Godchild is more than capable of getting an audience with Hades if she needs to.”

A quick flick of my tail, along with a little growl, reminded him that I was no simple mount, sending him flying off my back. The fact he’d been on my back during the fight seemed to have gotten to his head.

“Speaking with Hades does seem like a good idea,” I agreed, grabbing Rythil out of the air and swinging him around my neck. Looking back at Calamitous Blossom, I said, “I don’t want your people to suffer, I will do what I can on my end to set things right. But I will not kill you!” I turned my gaze to the others. “Alright, let’s get back to the temple. Should be the easiest way to get Hades' attention.”

“It may be wise to visit the confinement cave first,” Caustic Mercy advised in an atypically soft manner. “If you are going to speak with Lord Hades, having forgiven Sierra Bonsai beforehoof could be beneficial,” he then changed his tone back to his usual passive and uninterested one, “if he’s even interested of course.”

“The confinement cave?”

“Their version of a prison cell,” Bliz clarified. “They do not seem to have a real prison down here, so that was where I was staying before you came down here.”

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense. The question though is if we both should trot around here more than absolutely necessary. I’m pretty sure my welcome here wasn’t much warmer than yours.”

“I think they have other problems at the moment,” Rythil threw in, uncurling slightly from around my neck and shifting up so he was at eye level.

“Let’s hope that’s the case,” I said while making my way over to the door. The bandages around my claws seemed to be done by an expert, while I could feel that I was wounded, it didn't bother me that much that I couldn’t propably use them. “I don’t need all that hostility again.”

*

“Wow, this place is far larger than I imagined!” It had turned out that the room I was in had actually been in one of those mushroom houses above the ground. After only a few steps, we were already on the suspension bridge leading to, what I was guessing, was the community house. And it wasn’t one of the mushrooms I’d seen before either, nor did it look like the throne room. No, we were in a part of the town I hadn’t seen yet!



“Where are we? I haven’t seen this before.”

“We are in the actual village,” Calamitous Blossom said. “The houses you saw upstairs are just a suburb, for the hunters and gatherers who work on the surface.”

“Upstairs?” Involuntarily, my gaze shot up to the ceiling. “How deep are we?”

“Several levels below it. Normally we would have patched you up there, but we,” she paused a moment to clear her lungs, “we weren't sure how much damage, my… how much damage my daughter had caused, so we decided to bring you down to the infirmary instead.”

“Hmm,” I threw an usure look back at the house we’d emerged from. What she said made sense, though, the house looked more like a home than an infirmary.

“That wasn’t the infirmary,” Calamitous Blossom explained, guessing my thoughts from my expression. “With all my people sick from the plague, we needed the space. So after we cared for your wounds, we brought you here.”

“They also freed me,” Bliz threw in.

“You should show her the infirmary,” Caustic Mercy suggested, earning him a look from Calamitous Blossom, but he, like his usual behaviour as far as I could tell, refused to provide any explanation.

“This way,” she simply said after a few seconds and trotted over the bridge, leaving it on us to follow her.

I gave her a bit of a head start before slowly following her. “Have either of you had the time to explore this village already?” I whispered to Bliz and Rythil, but both just shook their heads.

“I saw a few places on my way down and back up from the caves, but didn’t get a tour through the actual village.”

“I’ve seen the infirmary, it’s that darker building up there.” Rythil pointed towards the three connected houses hanging from the main mushroom in the centre of the village. “I was with you when they bandaged your claws. But like Blizzard said, I don’t know much about the rest of the village either.”

“You should feel honoured, you two are the first azures to ever see this village,” Caustic Mercy interrupted our conversation, walking behind us on the bridge. “From the very first day this village was created, no azure has ever set a hoof in here.”

“Doesn’t surprise me, this place is not only hard to find, but you guys make a real fuss about us being azures,” Bliz retorted. “What”s up with you anyway?”

“They fled from Shakirin-La, back when it was still an inhabited city,” I explained. “We saw their story on some engravings in the temple.”

“It was not Shakirin-La we ran from, it was the azure’s,” Calamitous Blossom clarified. “Slavery, oppression, war, all the things your kind is…” She gritted her teeth and forced her gaze to the ground. “My apologies,” she pressed out, “I mean our ancestors fled from the azures, not Shakirin-La.”

“You better get your emotions under control, Calamitous Blossom. If you want to receive a pardon from Lord Hades, this attitude will get in the way.” Caustic Mercy pointed with his staff over the railing of the bridge to the kirins down below. “It is your duty to protect them, not to drag them down with you.”

Calamitous Blossom just turned back to trotting forward. “I do what I can to protect my people, priest.”

“Hold on, I actually saw Shakirin-La back in the day. While it wasn’t the nicest place for other species, the kirins living there seemed to be happy and satisfied with their leaders.”

Both of them seemed to be surprised by that news. While Caustic Mercy raised his eyebrows in surprise, Calamitous Blossom’s look was more one of disbelief.

“Shakirin-La fell, hundreds of years ago. You couldn’t have seen it. It was consumed by its sins, and most of the kirins with it.” Calmatious Blossom spat out. “It also took most azures with it.” Her voice had a hint of satisfaction in it as she said this last sentence. “It was the azures who forced our ancestors into the war, and it is only right for them to have paid the price.”

“My godmother took me with her to see it, she showed me Shakirin-La before it was destroyed.”

“Fortuna…,” Calamitous Blossom seemed to be unsure what she should think of my godmother. She threw a short look at Caustic Mercy, then back to me. “If your godmother took you with her, she didn’t show you what the city was really like.”

“And what would that have been?”

Before Calamitous Blossom could respond, Caustic Mercy raised his staff warningly. “This is not be the time to start an argument with our,” he paused for a second, seeming to be rethinking the word he wanted to use, “guests.”

“No, I want to hear what she has to say,” I intervened. “You and your people have an immense problem with my kind, and I would like to know why that is. All I’ve seen so far is that you left Shakirin-La and that you’re still holding onto the grudge you brought with you from over a thousand years ago. Neither Bliz nor I had any clue about your people living here, nor have we ever even heard rumours about your existence. So why do you guys hate us so much?”

“Because you enslave all the kirins that you meet! Forcing them to worship you, and worst of all, even make them love it! You guys are even worse than slavers, a slave at least knows that they are a slave! Kirins that fell under your spell will admire you and see nothing wrong with you brainwashing them! That's why we hate you!” She stomped a hoof and growled, causing the bridge to swing. “It took a very long time, years of war, till my ancestors were able to see through it! Dozens of my family had to perish in the wars your ancestors caused! Parents, children, friends, all of them gone, till the influence of your slavery magic faded enough for them to see through and break free. They were the first kirins to flee from Shakirin-La before the tides of war even turned. They’d had enough of your tyranny, all they wanted was to live a peaceful, free life! And even then,” she stepped closer to me so we were eye to eye, “after all the deprivations they had to endure to get to this place, the azures followed them here, not willing to let a single kirin escape their domination!” She took a deep breath and coughed heavily. “It took the help of a god to set us free! And you dare ask why we hate your kind this much!”

For a moment I just stood there baffled. That had been a bit more than I had expected if I was being honest.

“What, what do you have to say to this?” Calamitous Blossom requested angrily.

“Well, first of all, they were not my ancestors. I am not responsible for their actions. I am a first generation kirin, my dad is a dragon and my mom a pony. I am not directly related to the azure-kirins of old. Seems like you don’t know, but an azure-kirin doesn’t need azure-kirin parents. It’s more than likely that most azure-kirin you meet will have no clue about Shakirin-La or have any connection to the wars they fought. All it takes is to have an azure dragon in your ancestral line. Second, we do not enslave or brainwash kirins! Yes, we do form a mental bond, and yes, we do guide our merriments, but we do not force anykirin to worship us!”

“Lies! If it wasn’t for Hades’ protection, you and your friend would currently be running around and capturing my people to worship you! It doesn’t matter if you are not directly related to the older azure kirins! You would do the exact same thing as them!”

“I would not! I didn’t even know I could collect kirins in my merriment till the call of Shakirin-La hit me! All I do is collect followers to support my right to claim the throne, not worshippers, I am not a goddess!”

“Your behaviour wouldn’t be any different if you were! We all,” she gestured towards her village, “know how the azure kirins of old liked to rule their land, that is the reason we are here! No matter which of your rotten kind rules, for the normal kirins it will all be the same! And it gets even worse, now you are telling me you are trying to reclaim Shakirin-La! The source of power for your kind! It was a blessing it vanished back in the days, breaking most of your influence over us!”

“It was no source of power to my kind! It was our species capital! A place for all the kirins! Of course the leaders would gather there, but that was not the reason it was so important! You should have seen it, kirins from all the lands, gathered in harmony!” Yeah,” I made a throwaway gesture with my claw, “the place had its issues, but I can correct that! No more slavery, no more war, just a place for all the kirins!”

“All the kirins under your rule is what you mean! You would be the new leader of the kirins, all the kirins!”

“And what would be wrong with that? You’re assuming I would be evil, that I would dominate and suppress everykirin else, but that is not what I am gonna do!”

“That is what you say now, the more power you get, the more dominant you will become! Just you wait till you gather enough kirins under your hoof,” she took a quick look at my claws and corrected, “claw! Under your claw! Just you wait, then you will see how the lust for power will take over!”

“I…” I started, but was interrupted by Caustic Mercy.

“You will not settle this in a few words on a swaying bridge. The hate for your kind,” he looked at me and Bliz, “is rooted deeply in our peoples hearts. And we have no time to waste, kirins are suffering as we speak.”

I still felt compelled to continue this argument, but what Caustic Mercy said was true, kirins were suffering, and it was on us to end this. “Fine,” I growled, and after a second, Calamitous Blossom also turned around to continue on our way.

As we ascended the mushroom up to the infirmary, Bliz came closer to me and whispered, “You know, she does have a point.”

“Not you too!”

“All I’m saying is that we do kind of brainwash the kirins under our spell. I got a first hoof experience when you claimed me. It doesn’t bother me that much, though, after their magic hit me, I came to wonder if I really want to be that clingy and cuddly towards you.”

“Hey, that is not a part of the connection! It was me who pushed you away, remember? You would whimper the whole night if I didn't let you rest your head on my belly.”

“Yeah, I know, still… “

“Look, as long as I don't take advantage of your clinginess, and you don't mind being part of my merriment, we should be fine.”

“It still supports her point,” she pointed at Calamitous Blossom. “We are friends, you and I, but for strangers, it may feel very uncomfortable. Furthermore, not all the azure kirins out there may be as good hearted as we are. Some may very well follow the old Shakirin-La practices and establish a tyranny as they see fit.”

“Only one more reason to claim the throne for myself, isn’t it?”

Bliz only threw a look at me but remained silent. Soon after she returned to her position in our little track.

“What?” I asked my silent scarf after I noticed the look he gave me.

“Nothing,” he changed his position so he could watch the path before us more closely, “nothing at all.”

*

When we arrived at the infirmary, the view of dozens of sick kirins awaited us. Every bed was occupied, and besides a scant few paths that had been made, the entire floor was covered in sick kirins.  Every available space was being used. A few kirins rushed back and forth between them, doing their best to ease their suffering, but it was clear from a glance it was a hopeless battle. The whole place was covered in an aura of sickness, not to mention the smell…

“Heat Wave!” As soon as I spotted him I trotted over. He was holding a wet washcloth and dabbing the forehead of a sick kirin, though when he heard me call his name, he looked over to us. “Are you alright?”

“Oh, it’s you…” he then noticed Bliz and his gaze became displeased. He finished dabbing the kirin’s forehead and then dipped the washcloth back in the cold water to repeat what he was doing. “Yeah, I am doing fine, no thanks to you.”

Irritated by this cool greeting, I came to a halt next to him. “I was worried about you! As soon as we lost contact we came to rescue Bliz and you!”

“Yeah, we only lost connection because you sent us on such a dangerous mission in the first place, so if you’re expecting a thank you, no chance.” He pushed me aside and moved over to the next kirin, starting to care for them.

“Hey!” I protested. “I said we came to your rescue!”

“And I said that you were worried as it was your own fault. All these kirins did, by the way, is set me free from your azure magic, which is kind of nice.”

“You see,” Calamitous Blossom threw in with a gloating tone, “even your own followers prefer to be set free. No one wants to have someone brainwash them.”

“I did not brainwash them!” I yelled. “I welcomed them into my merriment!”

“Evil azure!” the kirin on the bed spat. I didn’t even know who he was, nor had someone introduced us, yet he still felt the urge to voice the contempt he felt for azure kirins.

“Without the ability you gained from that call, I doubt hardly any of your merriment would be willing to follow you,” Heat Wave said while attending to the kirin who had just interjected. “We were all living our happy lives in the village, and boom, your friend got hit by the call and all of us need to follow her, and then you, on an adventure to Shakirin-La. Compelled to be your loyal subjects for no other reason than your Oma happens to be an azure dragon. Doesn’t really feel like a choice to me.”

“It’s not like you really complained, you know,” Bliz countered. “You all seemed really happy with us leading you.”

“Is that so?” Heat Wave quickly grabbed Bliz's ear and pulled it. “And you think I liked laing in the mud before your hooves while you scolded me young lady? Huh?”

“Hey!” Both Bliz and I yelled as she struggled to get free. I pushed forward to bite his hoof, but luckily for him, he let go before I reached him.

“You two are barely adults and are already behaving as though you rule the world! And we are supposed to follow you?” He pointed at me. “Your mom was right when she said whoever decided some teenagers should rule over everyone was a featherbrain!”

Even without the influence of the call, this couldn’t stand unchallenged. The audacity! I’d already started to growl and present my fangs, with Bliz doing the same, when Rythil suddenly spoke up.

“Don’t you think we have more urgent matters to attend to? Fiery, these kirins are sick and need help,” he curled up and was staring me in the eyes again. “We want to help them, right?” He gestured to everyone around us. “We should end their suffering as quickly as we can. This should also prove that you are worthy of being in a position of leadership! Not that you have to,” he quickly added. “But it would show them nonetheless!”

“How are you supposed to help them?” Heat Wave snorted.

“They are sick because her daughter,” now it was my turn to point at somekirin for a change, “broke the rules down here.” It was nice to see that for once, Calamitous Blossom was the one who didn’t know how to respond to being blamed for something she wasn’t directly responsible for. Still, it was clear that she felt responsible for her daughter's actions. “Therefore, I will speak with Hades and try to convince him to not punish these kirins any longer.”

“Fiery and Calamitous Blossom had a fight, and her,” Bliz nodded towards Calmatious Blossom, “daughter blasted Fiery away with her magic when she was about to win.” 

Those words brought about several murmurs among the inhabitants of the infirmary.

“Yes,” I said, “and that is why I will visit her in the caves, forgive her since no real harm was done, and, with a little luck, Hades may calm down again.” I shrugged. “At least that is the plan.”

“Wait, you want to speak with Hades, the Hades, lord of the underworld, the same god these kirins worship?” Heat Wave seemed confused. “I know you are the godchild of Fortuna, but Hades is something else entirely!”

“I already met him,” I replied while nonchalantly shrugging, “talked with him at the entrance and once more inside his temple. He is a bit of an emotional god I would say, but he can still be reasoned with.”

That statement silenced Heat Wave for a moment, just like I had hoped it would.

“So,” I went on, “I am a leader by my azure heritage as well as by my actions. You should be happy to have me!”

Heat Wave blinked a few times, then snorted. “Yeah, sure, because you stumble from one adventure into another, raising havoc every other time, I should be grateful, sure…”

Arg, his stubbornness infuriated me! Though, without my azure abilities down here, I wasn’t really sure if I could handle him in a hoof to claw fight. I mean, Bliz did take him with her since he was one of the steadier luftirins after all. So, instead of teaching him a lesson here and now, I simply growled at him. As expected, he hesitated to growl back. If there was one thing I had learned, no one wants to growl at the daughter of a dragon if they didn’t really need to. Dad may still be on the surface, but Heat Wave didn’t know that.

“I am leading my merriment, including you, and I will become empress of the new kirin empire eventually, so you better get used to taking my orders, Heat Wave!”

Bliz also rushed next to me and presented her fangs, supporting my argument.

It didn’t work though, instead of backing down and admitting my superiority, Heat Wave now had the courage to growl back.

That was the moment my new scarf piped up. “Uhm, even if you beat him, I don’t thing that will accomplish anything. If I’m not mistaken, you won’t be able to reclaim him so long as Hades is suppressing The Call, as well as your azure powers. So all this growling and hostility is just for your own egos. Could we maybe focus back on helping these kirins?”

“The priest of Fortuna is right,” Caustic Mercy nodded slowly. “There is nothing to gain by dragging this argument out for any longer. You are here to see how bad the situation really is.” He swung his staff slowly around, pointing at all the sick kirins. “See, Fiery Leadership, what your actions have brought.”

“Hey! This wasn’t my fault!” I protested.

“I never said it was, nor did I say it wasn’t. What I say is, this,” he looked at the sick, “was caused by your actions. If you are to blame for it is a seperate matter. Now, you have seen what you came here to see, let us continue to the caves.” And without another word, he turned around and left the infirmary.

“As much I am enjoying the sight of you being confronted with the downsides of your accursed azure abilities, he is right,” Clamatious Blossom said. “Heat Wave, you have our gratitude for helping my people, now I must request though that you do not interfere further as I take these azures with me.”

“The sooner you take these kids with you, the sooner I can go back to caring for the sick,” he replied.

“Kids?” Bliz and I growled in unison.

Quickly, Calmatious Blossom stepped between us. “The caves would be that way,” she pointed at the exit.

“Calamitous Blossom! Calamitous Blossom!” The hectic and exhausted voice of a stallion got through to us from outside. A moment later, said stallion burst into the infirmary. “Calamitous Blossom! The village is under attack!” He slid to a halt just in front of her. “We have intruders on the upper level, a black dragon, accompanied by a bunch of kirins. They broke through the ceiling and are now attacking the village! Several houses are on fire and we were unable to stop him!” As soon as he delivered the bad news, he broke down, dropping to his stomach and beginning to breath heavily between phlegm filled coughs.

“A black dragon?” She replied in shock. “It's been ages since we had a dragon in our swamps!” She needed a second to decide what to do, so I was able to spring in.

“That’s my dad!”

“Your Dad?!”

“First generation kirin, remember? I need to get up there as quickly as possible so I can stop him! He will not calm down until he finds me!”

“What the heck is wrong with you? Why is your Dad attacking our village? He can’t have known that we fought!”

“You foalnapped Bliz and Heat Wave! Not to mention we were attacked by one of your people on our way here! My dad worries about me!”

“But…”

“No, there is no time to explain! He will not stop nor be reasoned with till he has me back on his back, safe and sound! That’s how dragons work! Quick,” I pushed her in the direction of the exit, “show me the quickest way upstairs!”

“And what about my daughter and Hades?” She threw in, still galloping forward. “We need to lift this curse!”

“If I don’t stop my dad, there won’t be a village left to save!”

As it just so happens, this statement helped to her increase her speed by a good amount.

***
> First Step To Power
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Quick, up these stairs!” Calmatious Blossom burst into a tunnel and up a staircase,  leaving it on me to follow her as best I could. That being said, her guidance wasn’t really necessary at this point. Currently, there was a sizable stream of kirins fleeing from the upper levels, quite thoroughly blocking the path up. To my relief, most of them seemed unharmed, and there was a good number of children among them.

“Make way!” Calamitous Blossom’s voice resounded through the staircase. It took me by surprise that not even Hades’ plague seemed capable of preventing her from being able to shout. Without delay, a very small corridor between the fleeing kirins opened in the middle of the stairs.

“Come on! Hurry!” She once more yelled when I got stuck between the mass of kirins. “We don’t have time for your dawdling!”

“I am trying!” This darn staircase was way too narrow for my liking. It was obvious that it wasn’t built for luftirins at all! If it had been, the open space in the center would allow me to fly up in the blink of an eye. Also, the constant growls and open displays of hostility the second one of the crowd recognized that I was an azure-kirin didn’t help.

“We don’t have time for this!” Calmatious Blossom turned around, and a moment later she was by my side. “You are a hundred percent sure you can calm down your dad without my assistance?”

“Yeah, why?”

Instead of an answer, she just grabbed me with her magic. All I was able to say was a short ‘hey!’ before she  dragged me to the railing and pushed me up through the center of the staircase. It may have been too small to spread my wings, but ascending several dozen levels like this silenced those complaints..

“I will be right on your hooves! Go!” Calmatious Blossom yelled when she dropped me on the highest level.

At that moment, a loud, blood curdling roar arose in the distance. Yep, there was no doubt it was Dad looking for one of his bornlings. I really had to hurry!

“That’s your Dad?” Rythils voice suddenly sounded a lot more murky and hesitant. His grip around my neck got a little tighter. “Are you sure you can handle him? I mean like right now, without him killing everyone in sight?”

“He will not harm me, that much is clear,” I gasped while galloping forward. “And I’ll do my best to stop him from causing havoc!”

Now my scarf started to shiver a bit.

“It’s better if you stay away from me as soon as we spot him!” I said this not only to calm Rythil down, but because it was true. The more distance there was between me and anycreature else, the less likely Dad was to attack them!

There were several seconds of silence before Rythil’s response finally came. “I… I should stay with you. Fortuna made it pretty clear that she wants me to protect you!”

“You don’t need to from my own Dad!”

Based on the way he shifted and moved on my neck after I said this, I could tell he was fighting with himself about what to do. Finally he made a decision. “Okay, I’ll just fall to the ground and pretend to be dead as soon as we see your Dad.”

“That’ll probably be for the best!”

He gulped. “Shouldn’t you be able to roar out for him now?”

“Maybe, but then he would head straight for me, and through all the fleeing kirin in his way!”

“When you phrase it like that, yeah, that’s pretty smart.”

As soon as we reached the exit to the tunnel system, I was able to spread my wings and fly above the crowd. A series of growls and hisses were directed at me the second I did this as exposing myself like this made it quite obvious that I was the azure-kirin. However, I ignored them and flew higher. It didn’t take long for me to catch sight of the flames and smoke Dad’s rampage had caused thus far.

It was even worse than what the scout had told Calamitous Blossom! There was fire everywhere! The smoke, unable to really dissipate, had started to gather below the ceiling, and it was rather hard to miss the several walls with dragon shaped holes in them.  Additionally, a fair few suspension bridges were dangling down with only one side still connected to a house, if not completely missing!

And, lying in the rubble, I could see dozens of injured kirins!

As fast as I could, I flew towards them. “Hey! Are you alright?” I shouted, and before I’d even finished landing, I placed my claw on one of their throats. They still had a pulse, they weren’t dead! I exhaled deeply. “Rythil, you stay here, see what you can do for them! I’ll put some distance between us and then neigh out for my dad. Whatever happens,” I said as Rythil uncurled, “do not get near me till I allow you to. You hear me? My dad will tear you to shreds if he isn’t one hundred percent calmed down, okay?”

“Will do,” he agreed and tended to the nearest kirin.

Alright, here goes nothing… I flew up and landed far enough away from Rythil that Dad wouldn’t instantly see him as a threat, at least I hoped so. I took a deep breath and then neighed as loud as I could, followed by cowering on the ground and looking as much in need of parental cuddling as I could.

I didn’t need to wait for long, I hadn’t even finished laying down when Dad’s reply came. A powerful roar that was already approaching before it had even ended. No matter the turmoil going on, no matter his rage, if my brothers or I called out for him, he would notice, even in the middle of an erupting volcano, I suppose.

In a matter of seconds I could hear his wingbeats, and in a few more, he was already in sight. Another roar followed as he made his way towards me, and right through one of the few remaining suspension bridges, but that didn’t seem to affect him overmuch.

Time to put on an act! I spread my wings and purred loudly, signaling that I was alright and that I dearly needed to be cuddled. It was most important that I showed no signs of fear, discomfort, or anything else that his dragon mind would see as the fault of these kirins.

Dad’s landing was a little bit different than I’d expected however. Instead of landing and checking on my well being before proceeding to cuddle me, he roared me down! He forcefully landed right next to me, spread his wings, and roared straight into my face!

He then began to check on my well being by rubbing his nose against me, sniffing for any signs of problems. Unfortunately, he found the cracked scales on my back along with the wounds on my claws. They weren’t bleeding anymore, and whoever had attended to them had done a great job, still, some creature had dared to harm Dad’s bornling! 

I can tell you, the blood curling roar he’d released a minute before was nothing compared to the rage that now imbued his roar! Where the first one said ‘Fear me, run for your lives,’ this one now said, ‘I will find you! I will burn you! I will slaughter each and every one of you!’

Panic started to slip into my mind! In Dad's current state, my own merriment would be considered a possible threat! And I knew they were around here somewhere!

“Dad! I am fine,” I yelled while springing up and quickly rubbing my side against his chest. “I am fine! Really!”

The next second I was in the air, grabbed by my mane and placed on Dad’s back. I tried to grab onto Dad’s face, but he’d already directed his attention back to his surroundings, surroundings full of possible threats to his bornling. Threats he would attend to in the most dragonic of ways…

“Dad! Listen to me! I…”

A sharp hiss followed by that accursed parental purring silenced me most effectively.

Ponyfeathers! Parental purring is far worse than even the azure magic Oma can use on dragons! I needed to stop Dad, I had to prevent him from killing everyone he laid eyes on! Unfortunately, all I could do now was lay on his back like a well behaved bornling!

“Dad, please,” I quietly said, whimpering a little bit, but without any real force behind it. And when another dose of parental purring hit me, I laid still on his back.

That didn’t mean I didn’t notice the group of kirins that were coming our way, possibly drawn in by my neigh as well as Dad’s approach. Flittering Echo, Calm Tempest and Grounded Star. They all flew towards us, and there was nothing I could do to stop them!

As soon as Dad noticed them approaching, he did what any good dragon would, he charged forward for an attack!

I could tell the instant my kirins realized what was happening based on their faces. Looks of uncertainty, doubt, shock, and fear, more or less in that order, washed across their muzzles. It would have been fascinating if it wasn’t for the fact that they were in danger of being torn to be shreds by Dad.

“Watch out!” Flittering Echo screamed, and the three of them aborted their approach, scattering in different directions. The benefit to this was that Dad couldn’t attack all of them at once, the down side was that her screaming had gained her Dad’s attention.

“I am on your side! I am on your side!” she yelled over and over again while flying around the burning mushrooms and evading the lances of fire Dad spit at her.

“Fiery, do something! Stop him!” Grounded Star demanded. She had taken shelter under one of the broken stands next to the path through the village. “We are on your side!”

“I know,” I whispered. Not that she could hear me, but still.

Problem was, Dad could hear her just as well as I could. Without warning, he made a sharp turn, changing direction so he was aimed right at the broken stand. With a scream, Grounded Star just jumped out from under it the moment Dad slammed into it, flattening it completely. Unfortunately, she was still within his reach. With a swing of his tail, Dad hit her in the side and sent her flying several meters through the air before she hit the ground and rolled a good distance further.

I whimpered as loud as I was able to. “Dad, please! Stop!”

It had no effect.

Unimpressed, Dad charged forward, intending to finish Grounded Star. Still reeling and disoriented from being hit by Dad’s tail and thrown like a ragdoll, she did her best to get to her hooves, frightfully aware of the danger she was in. Unfortunately, Dad’s attack had some lingering effects to it. As she tried to put her hooves under herself, it looked like she was trying to stand up on a rickety cart going down a gravel trail. Her legs kept giving out on her, and to compensate, she would throw herself in the opposite direction, only serving to make her more unsteady.

In a desperate attempt to help, Calm Tempest tried to swoop Dad and distract him. A quick strike of Dad’s claw however stopped her most effectively. She screamed out in pain and crashed into the ground. I couldn’t see in what condition she was in since Dad continued to rush forward. Grounded Star, desperate to get away, spread her wings and made an attempt to fly up. Unfortunately, Dad was faster.

In his rage, however, he fortunately wasn’t thinking straight. Instead of impaling her on his wingspikes or just ramming his claws through her head, he bit onto her back and shook her violently before throwing her away. 

Her screams of pain and the sight of her mangled body would haunt my dreams for a good while. 

Worst of all though, the spot Dad had thrown her in couldn’t have been worse, directly between Rythil and the injured kirins he was attending too. In the turmoil, I hadn’t noticed that the distance I had put between us previously hadn’t been enough.

Unable to really intervene, I would now have to watch Dad slaughter every one of the kirins over there, perhaps even Rythil if he caught sight of him. I fought the parental purring with all my might. I tried to stand up, growl, bite, anything to somehow distract Dad and make him stop, but it was like my mind was covered in glue the second I tried the slightest thing that wasn’t simply laying still like a good bornling.

“I can act quite fine!” Suddenly, the voice of Calmy broke through my thoughts. “I am not affected by Dad’s purring! And you are half pony too! Get your flank up and roar up to Dad!”

Easier said than done! Even being only half pony, my dragon side knew that I had to obey Dad, that he is responsible for protecting me at all costs!

“Let Roary help you! He is an azure! He might be able to help you break through!”

I waited for Roary to pipe up, but he stayed silent. In the meantime, Dad moved forward.

“You need to allow him to speak, remember? You ordered him to stay silent!”

“Oh right! Roary! Roary, I need your help!”

Silence.

“I allow you to speak to me again, quick! We need to stop Dad!”

“There is nothing I can do,” he finally grumbled. “Even an azure has to listen to their parents.”

“There must be a way to stop him!”

“He will stop as soon as there is no longer a threat.”

“That would mean everycreature would be dead!”

I wanted to consult my advisors further, maybe stumble across an answer, but it was too late now, Dad had reached Grounded Star and was going to finish what he had started. Suddenly though, Rythil bursted out from behind one of the injured kirins and hopped on top of her, hissing at Dad as loud as his small form could manage.

‘No, not Rythil too’, I thought, but miraculously, Dad stopped. He growled and stayed in a threatening stance, but he did not attack. Instead, he lowered his head to sniff and inspect Rythil further.

“Don’t you dare go near them,” Rythil roared, and even swung his claws in Dad’s direction. Not that he would be able to stop him for even a second in his current form, but still, the bravery he was showing was impressive.

And it was rewarded. Dad refused to eliminate him. At first I thought it was Fortunas doing, but then it clicked in my head. Rythil appeared to Dad like a child! Dragons do not attack little bornlings! Rythil’s curse had saved his life! For Dad, not being able to think this through logically, this tiny luck dragon in front of him counted as a little hatchling!

If I could, I would have cheered at that moment. His curse had not only saved him, but everykirin else as well! Dragons do not attack a protective parent either! I do not know if Rythil was aware of that fact, but as soon as I had the chance, I would praise him for his bravery in front of my Dad!

With there no longer being a target for his rage, Dad also began calming down. Since these kirins were no longer on the list of things to kill, and with Flittering Echo probably well hidden by now, his mind switched to returning me to Mom and my siblings. He thus turned around, spread his wings, and flew up towards the ceiling. Even if I couldn’t see it due to the smoke, it was clear that he was aiming for the hole he had dug into the ceiling. It was too small for the smoke to escape with any real speed, but for Dad and I, it was wide enough. When Dad reached it, he sunk his claws into the corner of it and began pulling us upwards, crawling through the tunnel towards the surface.

When we were halfway through though, I felt something change. With every meter we ascended, the more and more the effect of his parental purring diminished. I couldn’t explain it, I didn’t even know how this was possible, but it happened! At first I was able to leave my cowering stance, no longer bound to lay motionless on Dad’s back, then, my emotions began to come through more clearly. It was like waking up from a deep slumber. Sadly, I couldn’t revel in this sensation as I had no time to lose! The moment we reached the surface was the instant I was no longer under Dad’s control. I jumped off his back and landed on the wet grass, right in front of Fertile Dessert and Rapt Glance.

“Fiery!” Both of them yelled in unison, trying to approach me, but I raised a wing warningly.

“Get back!” I ordered. And not a second too soon. They hadn’t even retreated two steps before Dad had already landed, roaring loudly. He was halfway to his senses now that I wasn’t in imminent danger, but still, better to play it safe!

“Dad! You need to stop and let me get back down there! These kirins need my help!”

He just growled and tried to bite onto my mane.

“Dad! Stop!” I evaded his mouth by dashing to the side. “Listen to me! I found Bliz and Heat Wave, they are alright! But the kirins down there need my help!”

As if convincing him would be so easy. 

Unimpressed, Dad started to purr again. After all, he had to gather his bornling and fly back to Mom to make sure I was safe.

Fear slipped into my heart for a second. Dad’s purring was quite dangerous to my free will. But it was for naught. This time, it didn’t have any effect on me.

“Dad!” I slapped his cheek with my claw and growled warningly, adding a threatening hiss at the end.

It bought me a few seconds where Dad shook his head in confusion. His mind wasn’t really able to process what had just happened. Again, he intensified his purring and tried to lift me up by biting onto my mane.

I hit him again. I made sure to only hit him with the flat of my claw though and not the talons.

“I will not come with you, Dad! I will stay and help these kirins!”

When I raised my claw to stop his third attempt, he seemed to have gotten the message. For several seconds after, he acted almost like he was preying on me, looking for a different angle or other way to pick me up, but each time my stance made it clear I would attack him if he tried. Finally, he roared at me challengingly.

“Be a good bornling and listen to me!” he commanded before wipping the ground with his tail.

“If I do, all the kirins down there will die, Dad! They will die! I need to appease Hades so that they can live before I can come back with you!”

“They are not important, you are!” He roared back. “I am your father! I must protect you, not them!”

“And I must protect them!” At this point I started to notice the light blue light I was emitting. “They are part of my folk, Dad! It is my duty to protect them as much as it is yours to protect me!”

“Nonsense!” And without warning he charged forward, trying to grab me with his mouth or claws. 

Instinctively, I hissed and jumped to the side. And when Dad’s claw grabbed me, I curled around it as best as I could and began biting and scratching it like a frenzied cat! I’m pretty sure I sounded like one as well.

This seemed to have had its intended effect as he let go of me rather quickly, only to try regrabing me with both claws almost immediately after.

I, on the other claw, charged forward as soon as my hooves touched the ground and jumped right at his chest and throat. If I was a real enemy, Dad would have impaled me with his wing spikes or talons long before I’d ever gotten close enough to attempt this, but with me being his bornling, he had to deal with me in a non lethal way. This gave me the tiny advantage I needed to connect.

I wasn’t able to do much damage, Dad is a full grown dragon after all, his scales were even thicker than my brothers, and even they I was only able to crack them due to sheer  force, not via my fangs. However, it was enough to get my point across. So much so that Dad grabbed me by my back and slammed me onto the ground in one fluid motion.

Fortunately it was the soft swampy kind of ground and not the rocky kind like at home. In all likelyhood, that was probably the reason Dad did this.

“Fiery!” Fertile Dessert swiftly rushed over to check on me, but I shooed her away with a growl before Dad could. Even a single gesture of hers could trigger his Dad mode and then she and Rapt Glance would both be in grave danger. And given the fact I wasn’t sure how much sanity had returned to Dad’s mind at this point, it was best to assume the worst.

Fortunately, Dad didn’t seem interested in her or her actions, instead, he decided to rush forward and grab me by the neck with his fangs. Once again he started to use his parental purring to calm me down, but whatever had protected me from it before still seemed to be in effect. So instead of calming down, I roared and squirmed around, trying to scratch or hit Dad with my wings. The light I was emitting at this point was so bright that we were both awash in a blue aura. Eventually, I was able to hurt myself on Dad’s fangs, leaving a slight scratch over the side of my neck. Instantly, Dad dropped me.

It was irrelevant how rebellious I was being, hurting me completely went against his current goal.

So now we stood there eye to eye, him growling and restlessly swinging his tail around and me hissing and standing in position to attack once more. Neither of us really wanted to hurt the other, but we both had every intention of getting our way. In the end, Dad roared one last time, trying to dominate me. I replied in kind, first roaring, then rising to my hind hooves and neighing a challenge while striking the air with my claws like Mom would with her hooves.

And then, a wonder happened. Dad gave me a long look, snorted angrily and turned around to fly off towards my merriment, or more accurately Mom and my brothers. I watched him disappear into the fog. I may have won this round, but as soon as he returned with Mom I would be finished for good! Like I said before, fighting Dad is one thing, fighting Mom was a whole different story!

Aware that I needed to be quick, I turned around to Fertile Dessert. “We must hurry, onc… “ I stopped midsentence and looked down at her in confusion. She was laying flat on the ground, shivering in fear with her hooves covering her eyes. A quick glance also revealed that the same was true for Rapt Glance. Both of them were cowering on the ground with their tails curled up next to them, neither daring to look up at me.

“Whats up with you two?” I moved over and grabbed Fertile Dessert by the elbow, lifting her up. Once I touched her though she whimpered in submission. “Stop it! We need to be quick now. Once Dad comes back with my Mom, I won’t be able to resist her like with Dad!” For a split second Fertile Dessert dared to look up at me, but quickly lowered her gaze again, only whimpering louder.

“You’re scaring her with your aura, Fiery.” Calmly explained. “A hearthwarming tree barely comes close to you at the moment. You appear to her like Oma would to non-azure dragons.”

Once Calmy brought my attention to it, I noticed indeed that the whole area was covered in a blue light coming from my forehead and back. I rubbed over my scales here and there, but that didn’t seem to accomplish anything.

“You are far too emotional right now. After all, you just fought Dad over your right to be an adult. That had to trigger your azure heritage.”

“Makes sense,” I replied. “How do I turn it off though?”

“Once you’ve calmed down and don’t need to display your dominance any longer, it should stop on its own,” Roary piped in. “You should be able to control it as soon as you figured out the mindtalking.”

“I’ll put it on the list, right behind claiming the throne of Shakirin-La…”

“Fertile Dessert!” I ignored her submissive behavior for the moment. “You and Rapt Glance,” he flinched at the mentioning of his name, “will try to reason with my Mom as soon as she shows up. Tell her that the kirins down there will die from Hades curse if I don’t make it right again. Therefore she has to prevent Dad from interfering or they’re all gonna die! Do you understand?”

She nodded hastily.

“Good. Don’t try to argue with my dad directly though, he’s probably not going to even listen.”

This time they both nodded.

I added ‘find a way to stop scaring your merriment’ to my to-do list as there were more important tasks that needed to be done at the moment. With one last look in the direction Dad had flown in, I approached the smoking hole we’d come from to make my way back down when I remembered what had happened to Grounded Star and Calm Tempest!

Ponyfeathers!

“Rapt Glance! Quick, Grounded Star and Calm Tempest are injured and need your help! You need to come with me! Bring your medical supplies! Hurry! Dad bit Grounded Star and hit Calm Tempest with his claw. Rythil is doing his best, but we need some kind of first-aid attendant down there!”

Luckily, he was already equipped since the two of them had been waiting for my kirins to come back up and potentially be wounded. The fact Dad had been the one to wound them had probably taken them by surprise.

Anyway, as soon as I was sure he had everything we may need, I grabbed him and began flying down.
> Things Are Getting Worse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Praise be to Fortuna!” Rythil exclaimed as he quickly made his way over to me. “I thought you wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon!”

I dropped Rapt Glance, landed, and picked up Rythil. “You brave and crazy little noodle!” I took a moment to cuddle him, much to his discomfort. “And I thought you would be little pieces of luck dragon all over the place when you got in my dad’s way!”

“That was very unlikely,” he retorted, a little bit flustered. “Fortuna protects her priests, I don’t think I was really in any danger.”

“Of course you were! Though it was Fortuna who saved you indeed, just not the way you may think.”

He gave me a raised eyebrow.

“It was the curse that saved you! You looked like a little hatchling to my dad! If not for that, you and everykirin else down here would be dead!” I lifted him up higher for all to see. “You saved everykirin!”

For a moment several pairs of eyes were focused on him, and given the fact he wasn’t speaking and seemed to have gone stiff, I had a feeling he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to react. Finally, he just waved it off with his tail. “I just did what had to be done. Fortuna needs to be praised for making it work.”

“Uhm, shouldn’t we care for the wounded?” Rapt Glace interrupted, before making his way past us and towards the kirins laying around.

“Oh, yes!” I placed Rythil back down. Worried, my gaze swept over Grounded Star and the other injured kirins. “How are they?”

“They will survive. Some are in quite bad shape, but I didn’t see any fatal wounds. I did what I could to help them, but they, Grounded Star most of all, desperately need a real doctor.

“I already gave the order for our healers to send kirins to collect the wounded.” Jumping over some rubble, Calmatious Blossom emerged from the chaos around us. “Your friend should also be patched up soon.”

I first gave her, then the more distant surroundings, a glance. “Any… any casualties?”

“Luckily, none so far,” she took a moment to cough, “your dad did a great job at destroying our houses, but he wasn’t interested in killing anykirin in particular it seems. Also, he spared everyone who was accompanying a bornling, which was of great help in reducing the number of wounded. Still, if you don’t help us lift this curse soon, there will be casualties.” After she finished, Calmatious Blossom was struck by a fairly severe coughing fit.

I felt a weight be lifted from my heart. Thanks Aunty. I didn’t know how I would have felt if Dad really had slaughtered the villagers while searching for me. Mom told us, especially Kindling, to not get into situations where Dad would feel the need to follow and rescue us for obvious reasons. It was pure luck that no one had gotten killed thus far!

“What about Calm Tempest? Did anykirin see her?”

“I am over here!” Half covered by the fabric from the broken sales stand, she sat on one of the planks that had fallen down. Somecreature had also used pieces of the fabric to help render aid, wrapping it around her foreleg. As a result, the improvised bandage was now red instead of blue.

“I am afraid it looks as bad as it is,” she continued. “Your dad has a strong slash. I won’t be of much use for the time being.”

“Don’t worry about that, I am just glad you are fi… okay. I am glad you are okay.”

“I would like to point out that we still have a growing fire to worry about,” Rythil interjected, addressing Calmatious Blossom. “You should send your kirins out to extinguish it sooner rather than later.”

“We will take care of that eventually. Ultimately, it is not too high in our list of priorities. Right now there are more pressing matters to attend to, such as raging dragons, Hades’ Curse and azure-kirins. It is not like the fire or smoke will harm anykirin. Besides,” she sighed while looking at one of the burning mushrooms, “there isn’t much we can do anyway, other than supervise it as it burns down.”

Seeing Rythil shift back and forth on his claws reminded me that he in particular was the only one of us that wasn’t fireproof. So it was only logical he was more concerned about the fire than anycreature else.

“You can stay with me,” I whispered as I picked him up and swung him around my neck. “I will protect you from the fire. Is the smoke a problem too?”

“Not right now, but if you are asking if I am resistant to it like the dragons you know, the answer is probably no.”

“I will keep that in mind.” With Rythil around my neck, I made my way over to Grounded Star, who was in the process of being cared for by Rapt Glance. She was laying on the ground and whimpering. The bite marks on her back were already covered in fabric, but it didn’t look like it was doing much more than covering up the wounds. The sheer size of Dad’s fangs and the amount of damage they were able to inflict could quite easily be seen through the blood stained cloth.

“You will be okay,” I said as I sat down next to her and softly stroked over her head. “You will be fine.”

Her gaze moved over to me, and despite her pain, she managed to make a little purr, pressing her head against my claw.

“Everything will be okay,” I once more said as I continued to caress her. It seemed to help.

“We don’t have the time to hold hooves here,” Calmatious Blossom yelled. “More kirins are suffering! We need to hurry!”

I fixed her with an angry stare before turning back to Grounded Star. “I will check on you again later,” I said and carefully ruffled her mane. She purred agreeingly.

That only left one kirin to check on before we could go. “Flittering Echo!” I shouted. “Flittering Echo, where are you?”

For a while nothing happened, and I started to worry. Though, a moment after I shouted again, Rythil spotted her peeking out through one of the holes Dad had broken into the houses, looking down on us.

“Are you alright?”

“I guess so,” she replied while keeping a close eye on our surroundings.

“No need to worry! My dad is back at our carriages! You can come down now!”

Hesitant, she followed my suggestion. Her gaze wandered over Calm Tempest and to  Grounded Star on her way down. “Is she alright?”

“She will be.” I skipped further explanations and quickly inspected Flittering Echo. She had no signs of any injury. “Are you okay?”

She needed a second to draw her gaze away from Calm Tempest before replying. “Yes, yes I am fine.”

“Good, while I go and lift the curse that’s befallen these kirins, I want you to stay here and help care for the wounded.”

“Uhm, okay.”

“My mom should also be showing up soon. Tell her I am fine and that she doesn't need to worry. I already told Fertile Dessert to tell her that too, but the more the better. Understood?”

She nodded.

“Alright, and don’t worry about my Dad. I spoke with him, or to put it more accurately, negotiated with him. He won’t be in panic mode or ready to hurt you guys anymore.”

This time she was looking to the side, not willing to agree. “Your dad is scary,” she said.

“I know, I know he is, but that was because he was worried about me. Believe me, he’s calmed down now, also, Mom wouldn’t allow him to hurt anykirin.”

Again she looked away, but eventually nodded.

“If you are done with pampering everyone, we should go,” Calmatious Blossom advised.

I growled at her. For a second it looked as if she was going to return the favour, but then she thought better about it and just stood taller.

“I am making sure, my kirins are well before I move on.” I gave her a challenging look, but she didn’t react, neither looking away nor presenting her fangs. Satisfied, I drew my attention back to my merriment. “These kirins are not our enemies, even if for the time being they are not our friends either. I don’t want you to do anything hostile while I am gone, understood?”

My kirins nodded.

***

“I see you have returned,” Caustic Mercy, who had waited at the entrance to the containment cave, said. “Is everything handled above?”

“No, it is not,” Calmatious Blossom replied harshly as she trotted right past him, only to stop at the threshold of the actual cave, hesitating for a moment. She exhaled deeply, seemingly to prepare herself for going in, and then vanished inside.

“My dad has calmed down,” I explained when I saw his questioning look. “But the mushrooms up there are still burning and several kirins are injured.”

“That is unfortunate.” Without any further words, he also turned around and followed Calamitous Blossom into the cave, and, used to their behavior, so did I.

The interior was as sparse as one might expect given its purpose. There was simply a part of the wall that had been carved out and a wooden fence placed there to prevent kirins from leaving the small area behind it. When Bliz had said that they didn’t have an actual prison down here she hadn’t been exaggerating. The whole thing gave the impression that it had only just been built, utilizing far more good will and magic than actual skill, sacrificing quality for speed. If the young mare behind the wall made even a half-way serious attempt to break out, the ‘cell’ wouldn’t last more than a few minutes.

“Mom!” Sierra Bonsai quickly got to her hooves as soon as she spotted Calmatious Blossom. “Mom, you need to let me out! I heard there is a dragon on the upper levels! We need to scare them away!”

“It has already been taken care of.” Quickly, she sent an annoyed look towards the two guards, it being rather obvious who had told Sierra about what had been going on, before she focused back on her daughter, her face taking on a subtle look of sorrow upon doing so. “We are here,” she coughed and sighed, “for a different reason.”

By the time her mother finished speaking, Sierra Bonsai’s gaze had landed on me and she started to growl.

“Don’t you dare!” Her mother wouldn’t have any of that and grabbed her head with her magic before thrusting it onto the ground.

“But Mom! She…”

She wasn’t permitted to get any further. With a loud roar, her mother silenced her most effectively. Seems I am not the only one with problems speaking up to their parents.

“You have already caused enough harm today! She is our guest now!” It was kind of surprising how many emotions Calamitous Blossom could put in the word she. All her rejection for my kind as well as her anger were clearly audible. “You will not challenge her anymore!”

Sierra Bonsai kept her head low, but I saw her eyes sparkle with hatred as she looked in my direction.

As quick as the anger had overcome Calamitous Blossom, it vanished. She turned to the side and covered her face with a hoof, exhaling deeply. For that brief moment, the burden she had to carry became painfully obvious. And, for the first time, the question of who Sierra’s father was came to my mind. Shouldn’t he be here, helping Calmatious with the situation? Or, is she a single mom?

“You will apologize to her now,” Calmatious Blossom said, her tone one of frustration as she lowered her hoof and turned to her daughter again. “You will apologize and help us lift this curse if possible.”

“Mom I will no…!”

In that fraction of a second, Calmatious Blossom rammed her burning hoof against the fence. The whole construct wavered under the impact. “You will do as I say!” She roared, her whole body burning brightly now. Sierra Bonsai pressed herself to the ground, her eyes darting to the floor as she released a submissive whimper. “You will apologize for attacking her, for breaking the rules of our duel, betraying our pact with Lord Hades! And if you need to kiss her claws while doing so, then you will do it, my hoof upon the altar! I will not have our kirins suffer because of your lack of honour!”

“Just an apology would do nicely,” I whispered, half to myself, as I placed Rythil next to me on the ground and took one step forward. I knew from the few occasions Mom got this angry how Sierra must feel. After all, all she did was protect her mother, it didn’t make sense to have any hard feelings towards her for that.

“Open the door!” Calmatious Blossom yelled at the guards, and when they did so, she gestured to her daughter to come out. Slowly she did, and when she got to the threshold, Calmatious Blossom grabbed her by the neck, forced her forward and pushed her down before me.

For a moment there was silence. It was a very tense silence though, and the flickering of Calamitous Blossom’s flames didn’t help, but still…

“You can’t demand that from her!” One of the guards piped up, prompting a growl to start forming in Calmatious Blossom’s throat. “She,” he pointed at me, “is an azure! She is the enemy!”

“I know what she is!” Calmatious spat back. “She is one of those abhorrent azures our ancestors fled from! She is the worst thing kirins have ever brought forth! An evil I would rather see eradicated from this world!” She then looked in my direction for a second before turning back to the guard, and when she continued, her words were filled with venom, a tone of disgust having been added. “Still, here and now, she stands under the protection of Lord Hades and has the right as winner of the duel of leaders to be here! Don’t you dare question that!”

Hastily, the guard backed down.

“Mocking her heritage will not benefit your case,” Caustic Mercy commented.

For a moment the flames on Calmatious’ back burned even brighter, and I could see her just barely restraining herself from releasing a roar. “Of course,” she pressed out between gritted teeth, “you are right.” She took a few deeper breaths. “My apology for that.” Her gaze wandered to her daughter again and I could see that this new humiliation only fuelled the rage she felt towards her daughter.

“Mom…”

Calmatious Blossom only hissed and slammed her daughter's head back on the ground.

“Mom, she tried to kill you!”

“And I will squeeze the apology out of you if I have to!”

“She only tried to protect you, I can’t really blame her for that,” I tried to intervene.

“Spare us your pity!”

“But I am not even mad!”

“It doesn’t matter! We are not doing this for you! We’re doing this for our people! You as an azure represent everything we reject, everything we oppose! Any other day I would gladly fight you! But not this day! This day you stand as the winner of our duel, a title you would have rightfully earned if it wouldn’t have been dishonorably taken from you! We did you wrong. So while I would like nothing more than to jump at you and rip the scales from your back here and now, I can’t do that!” A hiss of anger escaped from her lips. “Instead, I would drop to your claws and even offer you my life in return for your forgiveness, anything if it would help my people!”

This statement silenced even me.

Calamitous then turned back to her daughter with a scowl. “Now, do as I say and apologize!”

“I… I am sorry,” Sierra Bonsai whispered.

“I accept.” And after a second I added. “You shall be forgiven.”

“Not really a proper apology,” Caustic Mercy judged.

“It will do,” I said. “She said she is sorry, I said I forgive her. Things are cleared.”

“If you say so. I can only hope Lord Hades shares your opinion.”

All of us waited for something to happen, letting our gazes wander over each other and the surroundings, all except Calamitous Blossom, who was keeping her eyes fixed upon her daughter. But nothing changed. 

“Well, it was worth a try,” I said. “Still, it may help in the negotiations with Hades.” Not seeing a reason to stay, I attempted to turn around and leave the cave, but Calamitous Blossom held me back. I hadn’t noticed it before, but after my apology, Calamitous’ face had begun to harden. For some reason, the way she looked got me to ask myself if that is what I looked like when I was being forced to give Autumn Blaze back to my brother.

“One moment, there is something else that… that needs to be done.” Atypical for her, her words were quite emotionless, withdrawn even.

With a sense of forboding in my guts, I asked, “And what would that be?” I already had enough trouble on my plate as it was.

Calmatious Blossom let out another deep sigh, her eyes pressed shut and her hooves pressed onto the ground. Along with a, what I would call, sad growl, she reopened her eyes and turned to her daughter.

“Sierra Bonsai.” Calmatious Blossom spoke loud and clear, conveying without question her position as a leader. She waited for her daughter to look up to her and, after a moment of hesitation, even rose to her hooves, facing her mother nose to nose. “Sierra Bonsai,” she paused for a moment, closing her eyes and swallowing, her mind seemingly so opposed to voicing the words she was intending to say that it had attempted to simply swallow them. “Sierra Bonsai, for breaking one of our most sacred rules, for bringing shame on yourself and your family, I am hereby,” her voice cracked for a moment, “ I hereby expel you from our village.”

“Mom! Mom you can’t do that!” Sierry Bonsai hysterically screamed. She attempted to grab her mother by the shoulders, but was immediately pushed back.

“You will leave our village within the hour.” Now tears began forming in her eyes, evaporating with a sizzling sound soon after as they came in contact with her flames. “We have azures roaming around the swamp, so you better make sure to put some distance between you and them before things are settled down here so as to not get claimed.”

“No!” The scream of Sierra Bonsai became desperate. “Mom! Mom no! You can’t do that to me! Please, Mom!” Again she tried to cling to her, only to be stopped this time by her mothers magic.

“Guards!” Calmatious Blossom yelled. “Escort her to our home, see to it that she takes with her what she needs and leaves the village.”

Shocked by the turn of events, I merely stood there with my mouth agape, disbelieving what I had just witnessed. “Calmatous Blo…” I started, but she silenced me with a raised hoof and a growl. 

“This is none of your business, azure!” Her voice was a mixture of rage and sadness. “Don’t you dare interfere!” Now the stream of tears ran freely from her eyes, making her sound like a campfire in the rain.

Again, her daughter tried to plead, to reason with her, but it was all in vain. Calmatious Blossom turned her back on her as the guards grabbed her daughter and pulled her from the cave.

We all stood there in silence, only the cries for mercy reaching our ears from the tunnel leading up.

I wasn’t able to say anything. All she had done was protect her mom… Even worse, protect her from me. I didn’t know what to say, what to do. This couldn’t really be happening!

Without a word, Caustic Mercy stepped forward and next to Calmatious Blossom before pulling her in for a hug, allowing her to bury her face in his mane where nokirin would be able to see her tears. Despite the two not seeing eye to eye as far as I could tell, he knew what he had to do.

“Isn’t there a way to…” Rythil started, looking first at the exit then at Caustic Mercy, but the other priest slightly shook his head and Rythil felt silent again.

“This has nothing to do with to whom she did what she did, but that she did it.” He held the crying Calamitous Blossom in his hug while addressing us. “Nothing you can say will change her fate.”

“But all she did was protect her mother,” I bursted out, unable to stay silent. “There has to be something we can do! There has to be!”

“No there isn’t,” he replied, keeping Calamitous Blossom in his hug. “And you only make it worse by asking. You should leave, head for the temple. We will follow you in a…” He looked at his crying leader and then back to us, “we will follow when we are ready.”

This couldn’t be the end of this! My whole body was filled with the need to do something, to save Sierry Bonsai from such a cruel fate, only the will to not increase Calamitous Blossom’s suffering held me back. Before my emotions could get the better of me, Rythil approached and signaled that he would like to be picked up.

“I know you feel like you need to do something about this,” he said, “but we need to speak to someone above those rules.” He waited until I had lifted him and swung him around my neck before he continued. “She,” he nodded at Calmatious Blossom, “is part of the hierarchy, she can not change it on her own. But I am pretty sure Hades can. If you want there to be an exception for Sierry Bonsai, you have to negotiate with him about it.”

“What a splendid idea!” I ruffled through his mane between the ears before pressing him against me with a claw. “You are a little lucky charm!” On the spot I turned around and headed for the temple. There was no need to let Calamitous Blossom suffer longer than necessary!

***

“No.” It was just a single little word, but it was the most disastrous one I could currently imagine. Hades, sitting on his stone throne, looking down on us, shook his head slowly. “I will not remove the curse from the kirins who betrayed our pact.”

That single word struck all three of us, Rythil, Calmatious Blossom and I, like a hammer. We were currently bowing down before him, with Caustic Mercy standing next to the throne and Bliz, as well as a few kirins from the village, had joined us and were sitting at the entrance to the dome.

“I once offered your people sanctum and protection from their enemies, and in return, they swore fellowship to me and to abide by my decrees. Today, you used my own rules to undermine my will in regards to the Godchild of Fortuna, and then, your own daughter broke my rules by attacking her.” His voice lingered in the air even after he had finished. It was like a whispering in the air that reminded me of what we’d heard earlier in the temple.

“My Lord,” Calamitous Blossom dared to speak up, but kept her gaze low. “I only followed your rules by challenging Fiery Leadership to a duel. Her presence down here is an affront to all that your pact with my people represents. I did my duty as leader, as you decided me to be, when I challenged her.”

“In the twisted view of a mortal, that may or may not be true,” Hades answered.

“That… my daughter violated the pact which you and my people formed in ancient times is also not in question, my Lord. We only beg for redemption. My daughter has…” she paused, her breathing quickened and she unsuccessfully tried to hold back her tears, “my daughter has been…”

“Sierra Bonsai has been expelled from the village, my Lord,” Caustic Mercy said. “Her wrongdoing has not been ignored nor forgiven.” He made a calculated pause. “She apologized to Fiery Leadership before this punishment was enacted though, and Fiery leadership has forgiven her.”

“I am aware of this,” Hades replied. There was a slight tone of judgment in his voice, causing Caustic Mercy to step back and bow his head deeply.

“Of course my Lord.”

“That means no permanent harm has been done,” Rythil quietly and respectfully mentioned. “These villagers’ loyalty to you has not been found wanting.”

Silence followed his words. Hades neither reacted to his words, nor dared Rythil to continue. If it hadn’t been such a serious situation, I would guess that it would have felt awkward.

“My Lord,” Calamitous Blossom finally chimed back in. It seemed she had gathered herself enough to continue. “We will do… nearly everything you demand to make amends. What is it you desire from us in return to restore our pact?”

Suddenly, the air in the dome felt a lot cooler and the shadows felt more intense. “Your death shall be enough.” Hades rose from his throne and walked over to us. Blue Flames burned wherever he set his hooves. “It seems time has watered down what you mortals think of me. It was a lack of fear and respect that caused your daughter to even dare to break my rules in the first place. It is time that you mortals learn once more what it means to deal with the Lord of the Underworld.” He came to a halt in front of Calamitous Blossom. “Your death and the death of your people will remind them.”

“That is unfair!” I bursted out, spurred to react due to my sense of guilt. “You can’t just kill them all for the mistake of one kirin!” I stood up and looked Hades in the eyes. “This is just cruel!”

Hades simply picked me up with one hoof, now being thrice his previous size. “If you weren't Fortunas godchild, you would be sharing their fate now, mortal. It would be in your interest to give me the respect I am due, else not even Fortuna will be capable of stopping me from sending you to the realm of the dead.”

An ice cold shiver ran down my spine, and the spot where he was holding me went numb at his touch.

“Furthermore, what do you expect from the Lord of the Underworld as punishment? That I take their luck away? That is for lesser god’s.” And with these words he threw me away like a piece of trash.

“That is not app…” Rythil spoke up, but flinched back immediately once the gaze of Hades was upon him.

“You have even less protection than she has,” Hades spoke down to Rythil, who was now pale and shivering in the face of death. “I grant you only this one warning, priest of Fortuna. Overstep the line again, and your faith will be absolute.”

“If you kill them all, there will be no one to tell how formidable and intimidating you are, Hades.” A new but very familiar voice rose from the crowd. The only creature scarier than Hades had finally shown up, my mom.

“To fear and respect you, mortals must know about you,” Mom said as she approached us, bowing before Hades and spreading wings when she arrived. “Your fame can only spread through the mortal realm if creatures talk about you. I haven’t heard much of you before, but only one look at you and your temple conveyed to me your greatness.”

At first it was not clear how Hades would react, though, after a moment of inspecting Mom, he responded. “You, who once visited my realm, should know more about the god of the underworld. Though, what you say about mortals is true. I will allow you to go on. But be advised, my patience with your kind is thin.”

Mom bowed once more, and threw a sideways glance at me, checking on my well being. “Hades, if you kill all these kirins here and now, you will gain nothing from it, but if you let my daughter claim them, everykirin will soon know the price of defying you…”

“No!” Calmatious Blossom screamed, springing up. “No! We would rather die than serve your daughter! None of us would like to be claimed!” She stepped forward, daring to face Hades directly. “We gladly accept the fate you decided for us if the alternative is being claimed by her.” She pointed at me.

Murmurs and shouts emitted from the crowd, threatening to turn into chaos and turmoil real quick.

“Silence!” Caustic Mercy yelled with the help of his staff, loud enough to overpower any other noise. “You are in the temple of Lord Hades! Show him the respect he deserves!”

Instantly the crowd fell silent and onto their bellies. Everyone except for Mom, Bliz, Rythil, Caustic Mercy and me.

“Forgiveness my Lord,” Caustic Mercy kneeled and touched the ground with his snout. “The old enemy returning has caused my people to lose their minds.”

“Only further proof that you have lost your ways and forgotten who I am,” he replied. “Danger Do, daughter of Cloud Planter Do and Gold Digger Do, your words are true. I am no longer feared and respected in this part of the world as I should be. I accept your suggestion.”

Wild panic was written on the faces of everykirin from down here when Hades raised his hoof.

“The protection I offered you shall be no longer. Go, and be prey for the beings you fear and hate the most!”

Without further warning or time to prepare, whatever had prevented my azure heritage from taking effect suddenly vanished. A flood of emotions as well as the desire to dominate everykirin who had dared to behave as though they were my equal swept into my mind. I bared my fangs and released a roar at the top of my lungs, letting everykirin know that here stands an azure-kirin, leader of our race! Don’t you dare oppose me any longer!

Of course, Bliz followed suit and answered my call with her own. Seems Hades had also restored her presence in my merriment. In a matter of seconds, I could feel new kirins in my merriment. Everyone who had the misfortune of standing next to her in the crowd.

My own eyes however were fixed on Calamitous Blossom. I ignored the restored sensation of feeling the presence of hundreds of kirins and instead focused entirely on her. She had not only dared to attack me and defy my will, but had also told me how much she hated my kind! Now she would have to answer for that! I charged forward, the blue light from my forehead falling upon her in a matter of seconds.

“Fiery!” Mom sprung between me and her at the last possible second. “Fiery, behave yourself!”

I barely came to a halt in front of her, my claws leaving marks on the grass. It took everything in me to not show her my fangs, to not growl at her, but the fact this was Mom guaranteed I wouldn’t.

“Stop acting like a wild animal!” she demanded. “You didn’t do this when you claimed Autumn and our friends from the village.

“They didn’t try to kill me with a great axe!” I tried to dart around Mom and towards Calamitous Blossom, but Mom was a tiny bit quicker. With a yelled “What?!” she rushed into my path again but turned to face Calamitous Blossom while keeping me in her peripheral vision. “You did what?!”

“She challenged me to a duel of life and death and cracked my backscales with her axe! As well as injured my claws!” Reminding myself of this affront, this challenge to my birthright as an azure, my blood started to boil! How dare she!

Mom seemed to think the same. A quick look at my scales and claws and she was on fire! Now I had to be even quicker, or there would be nothing left of Calamitous Blossom for me to claim! I rushed forward once more, ready to claim my prey, when Mom tried to push me back with a hoof. I roared at her and tried to sneak past her, but she held me back again. 

And suddenly, something in my head clicked.

Instead of Calamitous Blossom, I aimed at Danger-Kirin!

“Fiery, NO!” Calmly yelled in my head. “Do not attack Mom!”

“Bad idea!” Roary supported her but it was in vain, before they had even finished, I was already crashing into Danger-Kirin.

Together, we rolled over the grass, me growling and hissing, and Danger-Kirin, shocked and surprised, simply deflecting the strikes I was aiming at her. Despite being taken unaware, she was successfully fending me off. She is a Do after all! She had been caught completely off guard by my attack but recovered quickly. As we were rolling, when she ended up on her back with me on top of her, she used her rear legs to kick me off!

“That is Mom! Fiery, stop! Dad will kill us!” Calmy shouted the same moment Roary yelled, “This is not the time to fight her for dominance! Don’t you remember last time?”

I used my wings to land on all fours and immediately roared a challenge at Danger-Kirin! She on the other claw rose to her hind legs, spread her wings and prepared for my next attack.


She knew from the last time that reasoning with me was pointless. And I didn’t let her wait. I rushed forward, spread my now burning wings and jumped half into the air to send a series of kicks in Danger-Kirin’s direction, followed by some slashes with my claws. But she wouldn’t be the adventurer she is if she let that happen. Instead of just taking my kicks, she grabbed onto my left leg and tried to use my own momentum to get me to crash into the ground. That may have worked for creatures without wings, but I countered by flapping my wings faster and flying higher. We struggled for a moment till I kicked her hoof with my free leg and she let go.

“Fiery…” Danger-Kirin said loud and slow, with an aggressive undertone.

I only hissed and spit a lance of fire at her. She jumped aside out of instinct, causing the lance to only ignite some grass.

“Submit!” I roared while already flying in for another attack.

“I will not,” she stated firmly, flying up herself so we would both collided in the air. One would think that with my claws and fangs and us being at such close range I would gain the upper claw quite easily, however, Danger-Kirin had more than a little experience being in a close-quarters fight and had a fair degree of strength in her own right. I snapped at her with my fangs and tried to scratch her with my claws, she countered by grabbing onto my legs while at the same time evading my fangs.

We struggled like this for a while, with neither of us getting the upper claw. 

I hissed in frustration at being denied my rightful claim to a new subject, so when we next locked eyes, I spit fire right into her face. Taken off-guard, she let go of my legs to protect her face, giving me just the opportunity I needed. With a heavy kick, I overpowered her and sent her down to collide with the ground. Certain of my victory, I rushed after her and tried to jump onto her back, to bite onto her neck, but she was just that little bit quicker. She rolled to the side so my claws pierced only the ground, and in a swift move, rose into the air and retaliated with a heavy kick of her own that swept me off my claws. 

“We need to stop fighting Mom as quickly as possible, if we hurt her, Dad will kill us,” Roary piped up.

I caught myself midair with my wings and started to kick at Danger-Kirin again.

“We must surrender!” Calmly demanded, her voice becoming panicked. “We can not win this!”

“We can not hurt her with blunt strikes,” Roary corrected. “We need to subdue her without biting or scratching her too much!”

He had a point, but I was too engaged in the fight with Danger-Kirin to really pay attention. We exchanged a series of kicks and hits, or more like, I tried to harm her while she just blocked what I threw at her while sneaking her own attacks in the form of surprise punches or a wingbeat here and there. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she dropped her resistance, took one of my hits, and pushed forward. I rose to my hind legs to fend her off with a series of slashes, but that had been just what she wanted. She dodged my strikes and threw herself against me, sidestepping and getting in directly behind me. Before I could respond by turning to face her again, a foreleg suddenly wrapped around my throat and tensed up.

“Fiery, stop it!” Danger-Kirin demanded as she put her weight into the headlock. Instead of listening, I of course tried to break free, shaking wildly and even trying to buck so she would fly over me. Well, like many things, it works best on non-flyers, so it went without saying that I wasn’t able to shake her off that easily. I tried to fly up, but the instant I tried, she swung her wings around us both, preventing that from happening. Like I said, she is strong! I roared and hissed, kicked and bucked, but I couldn’t shake her off. That was until she suddenly roared out in pain and let go of me. 

Instinctively, I turned around to hit her, but what I saw caused me to hesitate. Bliz had come to my aid and had bitten Danger-Kirin in the shoulder! Now the two of them were struggling with each other, and it was being made quite obvious just now how much Danger-Kirn had been holding herself back when fighting me. In a matter of seconds, she got rid of Bliz and punched her so hard that one of her fangs flew out only to land next to me.

“That's one of the reasons Mom is so scary and a good fit for Dad,” Roary judged approvingly.

“Though she is soft minded about it,” Calmly added, “look!”

Realizing what she had done, Danger-Kirin got wide eyes and brought a hoof to her mouth in shock. A moment later, she turned back to her normal self and rushed over to Bliz to care for her.

It was at that moment I felt a shiver of ice run down my spine! I had attacked Mom! I dropped to my belly, turned completely kirin and lowered my gaze, whimpering loudly for mercy.

When I heard Bliz growl, I yelled, “Bliz no!” quickly before returning to making submissive bornlings sounds.

I felt both their eyes on me, then, Mom requested to see Bliz’s teeth which she showed no resistance to. The moment I wasn’t willing to fight Mom any longer, Bliz lost all hostility she had for her.

As soon as she was finished inspecting Bliz, likely satisfied that she hadn’t done any permanent harm, Mom walked in front of me. I only dared to look at her hoof tips and increased my apologetic and submissive bornling sounds as best I could.

“Shhh.” Mom lowered herself to pull me in for a hug. “Shhh, all is good,” she repeated. Despite me attacking her a moment ago, she did her best to comfort me.

“Mom,” I barely choked out. "Mom, I am so sorry!”

“I know,” she replied, “I know, don’t worry about it.”

“But I… I… Dad will be…”

“I will handle your father,” Mom said, petting my head and stroking my mane. “I will tell him and he will be understanding and forgiving.”

“But I,” I dared to look up into her eyes, “I attacked you, Mom. I challenged you, again!”

She placed both hooves on my cheeks and held my gaze. “No you didn’t. You attacked an unclaimed kirin that defied your will, you didn’t attack me.”

I was going to disagree when she sealed my lips with a hoof.

“And that is exactly what your father will hear from me. And he will also will hear that I will rip every scale from his body if he dares punish you for it.”

“Thanks, Mom!” I cried out and grabbed her for another hug, but she hissed in pain when I laid my head where Bliz had bitten her.

“It’s nothing,” she waved off before I could say anything.

“But Dad… He will be furious!” My gaze wandered to Bliz, who was approaching us with a lowered head. She came to a halt next to us and, like me before, started to apologetically whimper. She even tried to lick the wounds she had caused, but Mom pushed her away.

“Thanks, but no,” she said, then sighed. “I get it, you wanted to defend my daughter, but this will be much harder to explain to Big Softy.”

Bliz got onto her belly and whimpered.

“Yeah I know,” Mom said. “I know. We will find a solution.”

For a while, we just sat there. Mom stroked through my mane, Bliz and me whimpered. We had screwed up really bad, but that didn’t mean we wouldn’t notice Calamitous Blossom's attempt to use the distraction to sneak away! There was still the turmoil of fleeing kirins and general panic caused by Hades’ judgment, and the little incident with Mom had really drawn my attention, but still, with my azure abilities back in order, I could feel her sneaking away.

Seemingly aware that she was now being watched, she came to a halt and slowly oriented her eyes over to us, realizing that all three of us were now focusing on her. I could also feel Mom’s back heating up, likely remembering what had angered her in the first place, but a quick whimper from me was able to calm her down. We don’t need a second dominance fight between her and me right now, or ever if things go my way!

Still, we had to deal with Calamitous Blossom now. I disengaged from the hug and walked over to her. I ignored the whispers in my ear that I should claim her right now and came to a halt in front of her. She on the other claw lowered herself to the ground, struggling with her desire to flee and the force behind my azureness keeping her in place.

Without intending to, a growl exited my mouth as I spoke. “Calmatious Blossom!” She shrunk even smaller under my growl. “You are no longer under the protection of Hades, that means you shall join my merriment!”

She whimpered, but also growled back. She shook her head left and right as she dug furrows into the grass, struggling to escape my command. “Never!” She spat out. “I will never,” she shook herself, hissing and scratching her head scales, “serve an azure!”

This insolence was oil to the fire that was my heated emotions, I pushed forward with my head and rammed her, causing her to fall onto her back. I was already halfway to biting her throat when the image of the last time I did that and the fight I’d just had with Mom rushed through my mind. I hesitated, my mouth open, my fangs visible, only a few centimeters from her throat.

“We did what we needed,” Roary piped up. “Claim her now. All the struggles we had down here are finally over.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Rythil ran over to us. “These kirins did everything they could to avoid being claimed!” He stopped next to us, not daring to get between her and my fangs.

“Ignore him, what does he know about it? Fortuna supports us claiming the throne and all the kirins, her priest should not go against her will.”

I struggled. On the one claw, yes, they really don’t want to be claimed. They broke off from Shakirin-La to be free from my kind, though… My fangs moved closer to her, on the other claw, she did attack me, she did insult me, and, I am pretty sure Fortuna supports my actions since it helps me grow the numbers to conquer Shakirin-La.

Seeing my mood turning against his advice, Rythil dared to jump onto Calamitous Blossom and form a ring around her neck. “Fiery, please! You should seriously reconsider what you are about to do!”

“Out of the way, Rythil!” I growled, casting a blue light over him.

“No! What you are doing is wrong! There has to be a better way!”

“There is no better way! These kirins will join my merriment! I need them to claim the throne!”

“There must be…” Rythil started, but was cut short when Calamitous Blossom jumped up, her hoof rushed into her mane and came back with the dagger she’d previously offered to me!

“I will never submit to you!” She screamed and tried to hit me! But something in me responded quicker than my mind was able to follow.

“STOP!” My voice echoed through the dome, leaving everykirin stunned. Even I was surprised by this. I did not know where the power to do that had come from or that I was even able to do this in the first place. It wasn’t like with my normal commands that my kirins did their best to follow, this had been a word of power! Right in front of me stood Calamitous Blossom, frozen in her tracks, the dagger still in hoof, her gaze fixed on me and a burning hatred glowing in her eyes. But, she couldn’t move an inch!

I let my gaze wander from her to everykirin around us. The turmoil had stopped, the kirins who had tried to flee a second ago were now staying still, or laid on the ground where they had fallen when my word had reached them mid-run. The only kirin still moving was Bliz, but even she tried to keep it to a minimum. At least that was what it looked like at first, upon a second glance, I saw that Caustic Mercy, who had taken a seat next to his god and was now watching the events unfold, had also been spared.

It seems being a priest makes one immune to my abilities, either that or Hades had excluded him from the punishment.

“Fiery,” Rythils voice brought my attention back to him. “Fiery,” his gaze wandered around just like mine had, “what did you do?” He hopped off of Calamitous Blossom and now stood next to her.

“I am not quite sure actually.” I took another look around but finally focused back on Calmatious Blossom. “But I know what I have to do now.” I stepped forward, pushed Rythil, who tried to get between us, aside and looked Calamitous Blossom right in the eyes.

“She tried to attack us, again!” Roary judged.

“As hard as it is for me, I have to agree with him,” Calmly said. “She can’t be trusted. Better we claim her right now before whatever we caused wears off.”

I took the dagger out of her hoof and threw it aside. A moment later my headscales shone brighter and enveloped her in azure-blue light.

“N…o…,” she growled between gritted teeth, fighting against my command.

This repeated resistance caused me to growl to myself. “I will no longer tolerate your defiance of my will!” And in a quick move, I rushed forward to claim her…

“Mylady! Mylady, the egg cracked!” Nimble’s voice cut through my concentration like a shard of glass. “It is time, my child is ready to hatch! Oh I'm so excited!”

For a second I lost my focus, and that was all that was needed for Calamitous Blossom to break free! Her hoof was shooting forward and her horn was beginning to glow, preparing a spell that would cause who knows what kind of evil effect. Fortunately, I was able to yell, “Don’t” at the last possible moment, causing her hoof to come to a stop only centimeters away from me and the aura enveloping her horn to vanish like a candle being blown out.

“...I can see the hooves! It is… a little kirin, a… colt! I have a little son!” The rest of his message turned into screams of joy and bubbling about how happy he is.

I shook my head, trying to block him out. This was surely not the right moment for his hatchcelebration! But I couldn’t, my mental connection still refused to bend to my will. It was absurd! Here I stood, facing a dangerous enemy, ready to claim a few hundred new kirins, and what did Nimble do? Flood me with happy emotions and babbling! Hadn’t he noticed the new kirins in the merriment Bliz claimed? Or was he too far away for that? Or did he not care since the egg was going to hatch? Either way, his sudden arrival in my head along with the flood of joy he was sending out had broken through the influence my azure heritage had on me, and even if it was just for a moment, it was allowing me to think more clearly. If I wanted to act, I had to do so now!

The moment the light of my forehead dimmered down a tiny bit, I grabbed Calamitous Blossoms head. “Calmatious Blossom, quick! We don’t have much time! You don’t want to be claimed, I get that, but the moment my azure heritage comes back to me with full force, that’s going to be what happens!”

I only saw confusion in her gaze, confusion and mistrust alongside other hostile emotions.

“When that happens I will claim you on the spot! Therefore, we have to make a deal, quick! I think I can offer for you to serve me, without being claimed. Same rules but without the brainwashing part as you call it.”

She just looked at me.

“Oh, right. BE FREE!” I shouted at her,” catching her hoof when she struck out. Though, it was more a reaction than an intended attack at this point. “Stop that and listen, we don’t have much time!”

She scowled at me with suspicion, but held back on attacking me again. “What could you offer, azure! You’ll claim us all the second you get the chance anyway!”

“I am trying to prevent that! If you would just listen! Look, another azure-kirin just connected himself to my mind, keeping the influence of the Call, of my heritage, at bay. But I do not know how long that that will be the case! If my heritage takes over again, there will be no room for negotiations!”

She stared at me, the mistrust of centuries weighing down on her shoulders.

“Decide, now! Do you want to bargain or be claimed?”

With a final growl and a quick look at her people, she nodded. “Speak, what do you propose?”

“That you and your people accept me as your leader…”

“Never!” She bared her fangs and flames started to ignite along her back.

“You do not have a choice on that! I will lead you one way or the other! The question now is if you keep your free will as you call it or not!”

“We would rather die than be claimed by you, and you know that!”

“Yes, I heard you the first time you said that! The only way to archive that though is if you serve me freely! No claiming, but still following my commands!”

I could only imagine the inner struggle she was fighting. Everything she ever learned was about how evil I and my kind were, that we must be fought whenever found. But now she needs to trust me enough to find a solution for their current situation!

“Even if we would accept, you would claim us anyway! Lord Hades' protection is no more! You said it yourself, as soon as your heritage takes over again, you will claim us!”

“Not if Lord Hades protects you again!”

“He will not, he is not a forgiving god!”

“He may, trust me, I have learned something very important about the gods lately!”

“What would that…”

“No time to explain! If I convince him to put you under the protection spell again, will you serve me as if you were claimed? My word will be your command!”

“You can’t just ask us to submit to any orders you may come up with! There needs to be limits!”

“There are limits!” I spat out, “The same that exists for my merriment! They are claimed, and still there are things I can not order them to do! You will have the same degree of freedom as them, no more, no less.” I shook my head vigorously. “No! We can’t bargain about every little detail, this is the only hope your people have to retain their free will! Even if I didn’t claim you, any other azure-kirin would! So yes or no? Will you serve me freely or not?”

“You are not giving me a choice! All you are doing is having me decide how we are to be enslaved!”

Why did she have to be so stubborn? A growl formed in my throat and the light of my forehead became brighter again. I even took a step forward…

“Yes, may the azures be damned by the gods! Yes,” Calmatious Blossom said loudly while taking a step back. “If I only have those two choices, I choose free will!”

Ignoring her words, I followed her, my mouth slightly open, my fangs visible…

“Fiery, stop!” Rythil punched me in the side. “You do not want to do this!”

With another shake of my head, I stopped my approach towards Calmatious Blossom. “Thanks, Rythil, that was just what I needed!”

“You're welcome!” he replied and hopped on my back. For a split second I considered whipping him off with my tail, but realized that he did this to distract me further.

“Alright, Calmatious Blossom, listen. I will speak with Hades, let me do the talking and just play along, understand?”

“What is your plan?” she demanded to know.

“You will see. Trust me.” She opened her mouth to protest but I interrupted her. “Consider this to be my first command, trust me and follow my lead.”

She fought a bit with herself, but eventually closed her mouth.

“Good,” I turned towards the place Hades and Caustic Mercy were standing, or sitting in the former’s case. “Hades, God of the Underworld!” I requested his attention while I approached them. “Hades, these kirins have indeed failed you! Punishing them by sentencing them to be claimed may be a fitting punishment!”

“What are you doing?” Rythil whispered.

“Dealing with a god,” I whispered back. Turning back to Hades, I continued, “But there may be an even better punishment, even more terrible for them!”

Hades only seemed slightly interested in what I said. “I doubt you could propose a worse punishment for them than being claimed, mortal. Do not try to give advice to a god. You may regret it.”

“Of course, oh mighty Hades. You do know best what is a fitting punishment, however, mortals work a lot different then gods! What you consider the worst punishment may be disastrous for gods but only an inconvenience to the mortals! We mortals do have very strange views and habits sometimes!”

Now I could see a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

“If you allow, I would suggest an even worse punishment for those kirins who have failed you!”

Hades looked at me, and I took that as his permission.

“Having these kirins serve me in my merriment is surely something they would hate to do, that is, as they are now. As soon as I or Bliz claim them, they would be compelled to enjoy it. That is how it works. Whoever we claim serves us willingly.”

Hades kept looking at me silently.

“Knowing this, what punishment could be worse than being forced to serve me, an azure-kirin, a being they hate more than anything, but without the benefits being claimed would afford them! To be fully aware of their situation but never allowed any of the usual perks!”

“An interesting proposal, mortal,” Hades finally said. “Go on.”

“I suggest that you place your protection over them again, but force them to promise to follow my command as if they were claimed. None of them would like that!”

“They may not like it, this is true. However,” Hades waved my suggestion off with a hoof,” a promise isn’t as binding to mortals as it is to the gods. This idea needs improvement."

“Whoever breaks this promise shall fall to the ground dead, their life extinguished before their body finished its descent,” Caustic Mercy suggested. “They shall be an example for everyone that the might of Lord Hades is without end and absolute. It will be a reminder for everykirin to never question the authority of our Lord again.”

A smile spread over Hades face. “Well spoken my priest. That sounds far more like it.”

“Wait, what?!” I exchanged a look with Calmatious Blossom. Both of us were shocked! “That is not what I had in mind!”

“Excellent, it shall be so,” Hades proclaimed. “Your suggestion finds my approval, mortal.”

“One moment!” I hastily yelled, but it was in vain.

Hades rose from his throne. “From now on, everykirin of this village who intentionally disobeys your orders when said orders are in their power to complete shall instantly die.” He spread his hooves and an aura washed over everykirin. “This is my bidding, and so it shall be.” He then turned around and walked a few steps before disappearing. The only thing that lingered in the air was the beginning echos of his laughter.

With an open mouth I stood there, unable to even react. My eyebrow twitched and an impending sense of panic crept up my spine.

“This is what Lord Hades has decided based on your suggestion, Fiery Leadership,” Caustic Mercy said as he stepped over to me. “An even worse punishment than before. Well done.”
> You Reap What You Sow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well, it probably isn’t that bad,” Rythil weakly stated. “At least you saved everykirin from dying of the plague. That’s… something.”

“Yeah, totally,” Bliz agreed, nodding forcefully. She then tried to push me up by rubbing her head against my side.

I remained laying on the ground though, not really able to do anything. The horror of what I had just caused was still too fresh in my mind.

“You just have to be careful with what you say and command them to do and everything should be fine,” Rythil went on. “None of them are in danger as long as you’re careful.”

“That’s easy for you two to say!” Calamitous Blossom practically shouted as she joined the conversation. “It’s not as though either of you are going to die if you fail to listen to her!” She then pointed at me, her eyes filled with an almost murderous intent as the air around her back and mane began to warp with heat. ”My whole village could perish if she screws this up!” She started to growl and came closer, her back finally catching fire. “What were you thinking? I agreed that we would follow you, not pointlessly die!”

The meaty report of a hoof striking flesh was then heard. “Don’t you dare!” Mom hissed. “Don’t believe for a second that I forgot you tried to kill my daughter with an axe!” The entire time she was saying this, little flames were dancing across Mom’s back.

“Mom, please!” I quickly jumped up and got between them. “Mom, we have bigger problems right now!”

She pulled me in for a hug, but kept her gaze on Calamitous Blossom. “I know, Fiery, I know.”

“If I may,” Caustic Mercy knocked his staff on the ground two times. “Since we are all now your new followers, it would be prudent to give us your first orders.”

“You seem very calm given your situation.” Rythil tilted his head as he looked at the other priest, waiting for an explanation.

“Agitation is not an attribute found in priests of Hades very often. Besides, my god has made his decision, who am I to argue with that. If this is what had to happen to restore the faith and respect in Lord Hades, then I am glad to be part of it.”

“That is one way to look at it,” Bliz commented.

“Two questions,” Calamitous Blossom threw in, growling at the ground, doing her best to not direct it at me while Mom was watching. “Since Caustic Mercy is as much a part of your merriment as I am, given what he just said, that means we will both be held to the same rules as everyone else?”

I threw a glance from one to the other. It was hard to focus on them but I managed. “I think so,” I said slowly. “You are part of my fellowship since you are an inhabitant of this village, aren’t you?” My gaze locked on Caustic Mercy.

“That is correct. The wave that flew over everykirin also included me. Lord Hades has decided that I shall follow your orders too it seems. An acceptable punishment for my inability to keep the village in compliance with his will.”

“And there is no difference between us in your merriment at the moment, right?” Calamatious Blossom asked.

“I haven’t even started to wrap my mind around that.” Despair was already lingering in my voice at the thought of the responsibility that had been placed on my shoulders. “For the moment no, but I…”

Before I could even finish my sentence, as soon as the ‘no’ had left my lips, Calmatious Blossom crashed into Caustic Mercy and began biting and scratching him to the very best of her abilities!

Hades' priest had been caught completely off guard. Somekirin attacking him was so foreign to his reality that he didn’t even try to defend himself.

“Traitor!” Calmatious Blossom yelled while Caustic Mercy screamed in pain. “This is what you get for your darn suggestion!” Furiously, she went at him, thrashing him with everything she had.

“Stop it!” I yelled after I had overcome the shock of witnessing Calmatious' sudden and vicious attack. I pushed away from Mom, rushed over, and pulled Calamitous Blossom back. She kicked Caustic Mercy in the face one last time but showed no resistance.

“As you command,” she said, her voice filled with anger and sarcasm “I do not want to die due to disobeying your commands.”

‘Oh, right!’ The thought shot through my head as I covered my mouth with a claw. If she hadn’t stopped acting in anger just now, she would have been the first victim to my stupidity! I moved my claw over the top of my head and took a deep breath. I had to be way more careful!

Leaving her where she stood, I bent down to check on Caustic Mercy. He groaned in pain, his fur and scales were covered in scratches and some deeper wounds where Calamitous fangs had pierced his skin. In addition, his lip had been split open and was now bleeding over his chin.

I threw a look at his attacker, but she just stood there. Signs of remorse? None.

“Isn’t attacking a priest a bad thing?” Bliz wondered, her gaze wandering from Caustic Mercy to Rythil. “I mean, don't the gods take offense at that?”

“Normally they would,” Calamitous answered before Rythil could. “All kinds of disease could have struck me, if it wasn’t for the fact that Fiery, our great and wonderful leader, deciding we would be equal for the time being.” She looked at me. “Thanks for that. There have been more than a few situations where I wished I’d been able to do this.”

“Still it was risky,” Rythil said. “Blizzard Silence is right that attacking a priest has, depending on the god or goddess, consequences.”

“We can debate over religion later,” Mom said. “We need to patch him up first. Blizzard Silence,” she waited till Bliz looked at her, “go and fetch some bandages. And order one of the doctors to come here.”

After a quick look at me and my nod, she went off to do as Mom had said.

“I,” I started, but Mom placed a hoof on my snout.

“You shouldn’t order anycreature around for the time being, at least till you have the time to think this all through and work on your phrasing. Remember what Dad said? Small changes can make a huge difference when ordering your merriment around. Same goes for these kirins.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Good, now let’s focus on getting these kirins merged with your merriment so we can leave this place. Blizzard’s parents are sick from worry, which I could relate to, so don’t let them wait longer than necessary.”

At the word ‘parents’, the thought of Sierra Bonsai came back to my mind. “We have to find Sierra Bonsai!” I yelled, to everyone's surprise. “Quick, Calamitous Blossom! Send some kirins ou… I mean, I would like it if you brought your daughter back to the village.”

A cacophony of emotions passed over her after my request. There were so many that I could hardly make out what exactly she was feeling.

“What… benefit would there be in that?” She then turned around to face away from me. “She has been expelled from the village. By our laws, there is no place for her here anymore.”

“New management, new rules. I decide what the rules are now.” I stepped over to her and laid a claw on her shoulder. “Sierra Bonsai is officially rehabilitated. Defending your own mother is no longer on the list of things you get expelled for. You can bring your daughter back home.”

“What are you talking about?” Mom wanted to know.

“During our… well, when we had our little fight, her daughter intervened and broke some ancient law. Therefore, Calamitous Blossom expelled her from the village.”

“That is horrible!” Mom proclaimed. “How could you do that?”

“She didn’t want to,” I explained. “Good thing I am now in charge. I can fix that, right now.” I let go of her shoulder and gave Calamitous Blossom a little push. “Go, bring back…” I cleared my throat, “Go and see if you can find your daughter and bring her back.”

For a moment she hesitated, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly. Finally, she nodded and galloped away, the flames on her mane, back, and tail evaporating as she ran.

***

While Calmatious Blossom went about finding her daughter, things had to be done. It took us a lot of time until we were able to leave the underground village. A lot of things had to be organized first. We had to extinguish the fires Dad had caused, get the wounded ready for transport, and also sort out who we were taking with us and who would stay here. You didn’t think I would take the children or elderly with us, right? So I sent Bliz ahead, making sure her parents would be calmed down and to prepare my merriment for the news. And I totally did not stay any longer than necessary to avoid the confrontation with Dad!

By the time we were finally ready, the sun was already dipping below the horizon and the swamp was quickly getting darker.

“It’s no use, we’re not going to make much progress in the dark with all this fog around,” Flittering Echo judged. For some reason, she’d also hesitated to fly back to our carriages, instead asking me if she could stay and help. “Maybe it would be best if we just bring everything over the river and use this underground village as a place to stay for the night.”

“Perhaps,” I replied, my gaze wandering over the swamp. We were standing next to one of the village's many hidden exits, one not so far away from the river as I could see the broken pillars on this end. “They’ll need some more time to bring everything over anyway. Even with the help of these volandilums.”

For those of you who are not familiar with swamp creatures, it is kind of a crocodile but it can glide through the air like some of those squirrels and jump quite high for a reptile. Surprisingly, they get along well with dragons. I was told that they and Dad, as well as Nightflame, approached each other as soon as they showed up with some of the villagers to help my merriment cross the river, and it was apparently a friendly meeting. Anyway, they are a great help at carrying stuff over. I also assume they’re of assistance when it comes to hunting and traveling in these swamps given the villagers had tamed them in the first place.

“Good thing they are on our side,” Flittering Echo said. “It would have been nearly impossible to cross if they’d attacked us. After finishing her sentence, she came a little bit closer and lowered her head. Knowing this behavior by now, I simply stretched out my claw, and when she made contact, began fondling her mane. With a little purr, she laid down next to me. We stayed in this position till one of the carriages showed up through the fog. Carried by four volandilums and steadied by two luftirins, it slowly approached the shore. When it had all four wheels on solid ground again, the luftirins and volandiums headed back, while two runehorns emerged from inside and took up positions to tow it further.

“Effective,” Flittering Echo commented. “Effective but still slow. It will take well into the night before everything is brought over.”

Sadly I shared her opinion. I was ready to stand up and give the order when another carriage emerged from the fog. This time it was my family's one. Night, Dad and Kindling hovered beside it while my aunt had decided it was only appropriate if she stayed inside, being carried. Six volandiums were necessary to carry the carriage with her across.

A pit opened up in my stomach when I saw Dad. Yes, Mom had told me she would handle him regarding me attacking her, but there was still the tiny detail that I had fended him and his parental purring off. Speaking of her, Mom was nowhere to be seen. And it seemed I was not the only one who was uncomfortable. Under my claw, Flittering Echo was tensing up, her purring stopped and she pulled back her tail, ready to retreat at any moment.

“Shhh,” I said, patting her head. “I told you he will not harm anyone anymore. He was just worried about me.” My words may have had more of an effect though if I’d spoken them with more confidence. Before my insecurity could grow though, Mom emerged from the fog, and along with her emerged Illu and, I had to look twice to be sure, Allerian, Angoriks son. “What is he doing here?” I wondered aloud as I stood up and began making my way over to them. I still wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation with Dad, but with Mom by his side, Illu around, who definitely needed some kisses and hugs if you ask me, and also now the curiosity of why Allerian was here, I found the courage to make my way over.

Hesitantly, Flittering Echo followed, but kept her distance from Dad.

“Fiery!” Kindling was the first to spot me and flew over, shortly followed by Nightflame. While Kindling had just intended to give me a hug, Night had turned it into a cuddle as soon as he crashed into us, wrapping his wings around us as he did so. I couldn’t help but giggle. It’s hard to be worried when you have your brothers in your wings.

“Fiery! Mom said you found a new city of kirins below our hooves! This is soo awesome!”

“And they have to fulfill all of your biddings!” Night pointed out. “Very well done!” He licked over my cheek in approval. “Your way to the throne is making great progress, sis!” He once more licked over my cheek before his head found its way into my bushy mane.

“Sadly it’s not that simple,” I retorted, my mood slightly soured by my brother's words.

“And have you seen those flying crocodiles?” Kindling went on. “At first I thought Dad would turn them into his next meal, but instead they became friends! They are some kind of dragondogs! Nightflame likes them too!”

“Yeah, they are great,” Nightflame confirmed, doing his best to put my mane into disorder.

“But Mom said I can’t go near them,” Kindling added, obviously not agreeing with that order. “I just wanted to pet them! Nothing dangerous with that!”

Now it was on me to ruffle through his mane. “You still think you can behave like a dragon? If Mom says they are too dangerous for a little pony, they are too dangerous for you.”

“I am not a little pony anymore!” His cheeks turned red and he fluffed up like Mom, making him look even more little and cute. “How many times have I told you I am a stallion now!”

“Like always, one more time,” I replied, letting go of my brother with a giggle and pushing Night back. Cuddling with them was always a pleasure, however, there was still one batpony that also needed to be cuddled!

“Illu!” I yelled as soon as I was close enough before jumping at him with open wings, knocking him over. With a long kiss and no small amount of purring, I made myself comfortable on top of him, ignoring the loud splash his impact on the swampy ground made.

“I am so glad you are alright!” he managed to say between my kisses and other attempts at cuddling him.

“Alright might not be the best description, but I already feel a lot better,” I said while rubbing my nose along his throat, breathing in his scent. Mine, all mine! I thought.

He grabbed onto my snout with a hoof and gently forced me to look into his eyes. “What do you mean that you aren’t alright? Your mom told us you have a new herd of kirins under your command but that you were alright.” He pushed me up a bit and took a closer look at my body, eventually noticing the shape my claws were in. “Fiery! What happened?” He stood up, forcing me to get off his belly as well and let him continue his examination of me.

“Nothing serious,” I tried to play it down. “Just another duel of leaders, you know, azure kirin stuff.” I tried to push him over again with my snout as well as calm him with some extra purring, but it didn’t work. I really have to take another class from Mom for that!

“And your backscales are cracked!” His tone darkened. “Who did that?!” 

I grabbed his hooves. “It is all settled and done. There were some fights, some misunderstandings and some…tryingtokillsomeintruderstopreventthemfromkillingyourmom moments, but it’s all good now. I am the new leader. I am in charge. Kirins follow my lead.”

“What do you mean by preventing them from killing their mom? Who? Who’s mom? What are you talking about?” Illu’s gaze became concerned as well as angry. “Fiery, what happened down there?”

I took a deep breath. “Their leader challenged me to a duel. Yes, it was serious,” I went on before he could ask. “She tried to kill me, that's where I got these scratches.” I laid a claw on his lips when he tried to make a fuss about it. “But in the end I won. Before my azure heritage could take control though and force me to do something I would regret, her daughter blasted me off with her magic.”

“Somekirin tried to kill you?! Fiery that is…”

“Yes! It is,” my claw found its way onto his mouth again. “But it is all settled down now. Due to said daughter breaking the rules, I ended up winning without any serious harm done. Though, Hades, the god of the underworld, got involved and tried to kill everyone with a curse for said breaking of the rules. So to save all these kirins from his wrath, I had to bind them to my will.” I was unable to hold his gaze any longer and glanced to the side. “It backfired though, and now, any of them who disobey my orders will die.” A shiver ran down my spine and my clawtips started to feel cold as the pressure of the events bore down on me again.

Illu laid his wings around me, pulling me in for an embrace. “That, that’s a lot…” His hug became tighter. “Are you sure you are alright?”

I nestled into his embrace. “Yeah, I think so. It is just… I didn’t want it to be this way, you know? I would have just had them promise to serve me like my merriment does, but Hades didn’t trust mortals enough. He decided it would be best if they are not bound by their word, but by their life. He didn’t even ask me if it was alright with me, he just did it and left.”

“Not all the gods are going to go easy on you like your godmother is,” Schimmernde Morgenröte piped up as she approached. “You should get used to it. You more than doubled your followers numbers though, so this is most assuredly a victory.”

“If I had no heart, it sure would be,” I retorted. “One wrong command by me and kirins will die, aunt! They're gonna die!” I hissed in anger, but quickly calmed down when Illu distracted me with some affection and turned me around so I was no longer facing my aunt.

“If you want to become a real ruler, you also have to get used to that. Servants may die during their service. It can’t be helped.” She stepped closer as Mom landed next to us. “It is our duty to prevent it, if possible, but still, it can always happen.”

Now it was on Illu to protectively growl. No matter how often I told him, he didn’t get it that most of the creatures I dealt with, like my aunt, Dad, Oma, and many others, were simply way above his league when it came to combat. It was still sweet though…

“Thank you for your advice, Schimmernde Morgenröte,” I quickly said while pushing Illu a step back and laying a wing on his snout. “But it is not needed right now.”

My aunt looked like she was going to growl back, but Mom rushed towards her and spread her wings warningly. Atypically for an azure, my Aunt backed off. She knew better than to get into trouble with Mom.

When she was sure my aunt wouldn’t dare cause any more trouble, Mom turned to us. “I just spoke with your father,” she nodded in the direction of Dad, “he is not happy about what you did, but he will not make a fuss about it. Better give him some time to cool off though. The little incident with Blizzard Silence also didn’t help.”

I threw a short glance at her shoulder. Bliz fangmarks were still clearly visable, despite Mom’s efforts to make them look as small and harmless as possible. A bit of paste here, a bit of mud there, you know. She had refused to wear a bandage since it would only draw more of Dad’s attention to it.

“Thanks, Mom.” I didn’t know what else to say, knowing Dad wouldn’t roar me down and break my wings or something for attacking Mom was a huge relief!

“You better keep Bliz and her parents out of Big Softy’s sight for a while too. At least till the bitemarks she gave me have healed. You know your father, he will try to cuddle me and then get angry again when he remembers what happened.”

“I still can’t believe Bliz bit your mom,” Illu whispered. “Even if I didn’t know first hoof how dangerous she can get, I would have assumed your dad wouldn’t take attacks on his family too well.”

“Bliz was forced by the whole azure hierarchy thing,” I whispered back, “she didn’t really have a choice. Otherwise Mom would have taught her straight away not to mess with her. You should have seen the punch she gave her out of reflex. If it wasn’t for Bliz being Bliz, I doubt she would be able to walk right now.” I turned back to Mom.  “Will do,” I finally replied to her.

“Would be for the best,” Mom pointed out once more. “Well, with that taken care of, as you saw, Allerian arrived while we were down there.” She then began tapping the ground with her hoof. “You’ll never guess what he’s up to this time.”

I threw a look over to him, he’d landed a few steps behind Mom and was waiting for us to approach him when we were ready. 

“While I am kinda curious,  I don’t know if I’m ready for one of his crazy ideas right now. It's been an eventful day…”

“It seems to me like this new idea of his is actually good this time, and given how unsettled Big Softy is, it may be a good idea to show him that you approve of his presence. You know, before your father decides it would be best to make Chicken Fricassee out of him just to be sure.”

“You know he wouldn’t do that, Allerian is barely fifteen. Dad wouldn’t harm him. Besides, if anything, he would make Angorik responsible for any misbehavior Allerian shows. Speaking of him, where is he?”

“Back at our lair it seems. But Allerian can explain it better himself.” And with these words, she waved him over. He was quick to follow her request and waved hello to us as he trotted over.

“Hi, what's up? Heard you were busy conquering Shakirin-La, Fiery.” He gave me a nod. “Your Oma said you’re going to be the next empress of the kirin empire. Sounds like one of those really big stories, like the modern day version of the theft of my race's golden idol by Arimaspi and the like if you ask me. Stories worthy of a bard telling them.” His light brown head feathers lifted up as he spoke. The feathers there grew rather long, at least when compared to his father, and tended to cover his right eye when he didn’t make an effort to keep them from doing so. 

“At least that is the plan for now,” I replied. “It could use some improvement though. So far it’s more of a mess than a real plan.” I sighed. “Look, I had a really stressful day. I’d rather not talk about Shakirin-La right now.”

He shrugged. “A shame, since that’s the reason I’m here.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, when I heard what you’re going to do, I thought that this would be the opportunity for me to follow in my dad's pawsteps. Being a famous bard and all.”

I exchanged a look with Illu, then with Mom. “What is he talking about?”

“I am going to write a book about you, silly!” Allerian said before Mom could. “You know like my dad did about your dad. It made him famous! The Dragon And The Pony was the book in Alofted Harbour and beyond! Sure he had to change some details like your lairs location and some names, but nonetheless, it was the bestseller of bestsellers for years!” He clapped his chest with a claw happily. “And I will write an even greater and more famous book about your journey to the throne! And since you will be empress of the kirin empire, it’s almost a guarantee that everykirin will read it eventually!”

“You want to write a book… about me?” I stared at him uncertainly.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. Your path to the throne of Shakirin-La. Only a few creatures will have had the opportunity to be there when it all started, which means no competition for me to act as your biographer or simple bard in your entourage, or merriment as you call it, right? And best of all for you, I’ll be doing it all for free. I expect your fame to be the driving force behind my book’s, or books’ if the journey takes longer, sales. Meaning I don’t need to charge you anything for such an invaluable service!”

While I was baffled, Mom nodded in approval. “Having someone write down what you do would definitely be a benefit, helping prevent history from getting the wrong idea of you. Also it will be a good collection of memories,” she hesitated a moment, “for the most part though.”

“We can cut out some parts for the public version, like with your parents book,” Allerian said while Mom started to blush a little. “Still, nice work miss D…”

Mom’s growl silenced Allerian quite quickly. I had read the official version of Angoriks book years ago, but the one in Dad’s treasure room seems to have an extra chapter or two given it was slightly thicker. Given what Mom and Dad were like, it wasn’t hard to guess what the extra material was about, especially since Mom always insisted she would scold us for a whole day if we even dare touch said book.

“Not many great leaders get the opportunity to have their history written down from the start,” Illu threw in. “Most of the time their life is written down way later, often long after their death.”

“Yes! Accept his offer!” Roary shouted in my head. “This is your chance to be known far and wide. If anything, he should be paying you for the privilege of accompanying you. He should feel honored to be allowed to experience your journey to the throne.”

Calmy decided to add her thoughts a moment later. “While I don’t agree with Roary, I also think you should invite him along. I don’t think he will cause any problems just traveling with us, and he did come all this way to get to us. It would be a little rude to turn him away so soon after getting here.”

I scrunched up my face in thought. The idea seemed interesting, on the other claw though, not everything I’ve done so far went according to plan. Don’t need to have that be written down.

“Sooo, you're cool with that?” Allerian asked after a moment.

“I am still thinking, my advisors support your idea,” I tapped against my head. “Still, I am not a hundred percent convinced.”

“Advisors?”

“Yeah, my pony and dragon side. They both pipe up from time to time to give me advice.”

He raised an eyebrow and fetched a little notebook from under his wing, starting to scribble something down. “Hears voices in her head,” he mumbled.

“No! Not like that! Well yes, like that, but it is supposed to be that way!” I quickly shouted. “I am an azure-kirin, I am supposed to have these, every azure-kirin has them now!”

“If you say so…” He closed his notebook and stuffed it back under his wing. “Then it wouldn’t trouble you if I wrote it down, would it?” He gave me his winning grin. “A good biography has to be accurate, as well as entertaining. That’s what dad always said to me.”

“It is part of my heritage! Of course kirins would understand, but other species likely won’t! If you want to write a book about me, you have to put things into context!”

“So hearing voices is part of all this kirin heritage magic thingy?” He tilted his head. “You hear voices, can enslave oth…”

“I do not enslave them!” I bursted out, grabbing the attention of the kirins who were already on our side of the river. “I make them part of my merriment!” I finished with an annoyed growl.

“Yeah, sure thing,” Allerian wanted to wave it off, but was suddenly faced with quite a few angry kirins staring at him and joining my growl.

“She kind of had a bad day, Allerian,” Illu said, stepping forward and rubbing his cheek against mine. “Better not annoy her till things settled down,” he paused to turn my face to him and give me a short kiss, followed by a boop on my nose. “Otherwise her merriment may take offense. Also,” now his words were directed at me, “it’s Allerian, you know how he is, being a kid and all.”

“Sweet Batpony tricks,” I mumbled while still wagging my tail a bit.

“I heard that’s just what one needs to deal with azure-kirins.”

Our little moment was interrupted by my Mom’s giggling.

“What?” I wondered.

“Oh nothing, Fiery, nothing.” She still kept this mischievous smile on her lips though. Whatever was on her mind, at least she didn’t take any issue with Illu flirting with me anymore. I gave her a raised eyebrow but quickly focused back on Illu, exchanging some more affection and a little purr.

“Alright,” I finally said, “I will decide on that book later, for now,” my gaze wandered over the part of my merriment on this side of the river, “we should focus on getting everycreature over and prepare to camp inside the caves.”

“Sleeping inside a cave again sounds great, been a while hasn't it?” Mom retorted. “Still, you should ask us first, Fiery. I haven’t had the chance to speak with Big Softy about that yet.”

“Mooooom,” I groaned,” this is my merriment, not yours. I get to decide where we camp, not you or Dad!”

“We are not going over this again, Fiery. Your dad and I are responsible for you as well as your brothers’ well being. We have to decide if it is safe or not.”

“There are over two hundred kirins following my orders, Mom!” I stepped closer to her. “It will be safe! No one's gonna argue with my orders.”

“Then it will be good for you to be reminded that you are not the center of the world, Fiery. Now listen to me and wait till I’ve spoken with your father. Sleeping in the caves wouldn’t work either if he doesn’t think you and your brothers are safe there.”

“Mooom!”

“I said no,” she replied before turning around and trotting over to Dad.

“Has authority issues with her mother,” Allerian mumbled while writing in his book again.

***

“We will to our lady be true and faithful, we will serve our lady faithfully. Let her enemies be our enemies too!” The voice of hundreds of kirins echoed through the underground caves. 

I nodded in satisfaction. “Then rise my loyal subjects!” I gestured to them to stand up. “From now on, you will behave like you are part of my merriment! And my merriment will treat you like equals!”

Well, if I had expected applaus, I would have been disappointed. Sure, the inhabitants of these underground caves did as I told them, taking the oath, but it was not like they liked it. Sure, my merriment celebrated since my power grew with the increase to our numbers, but, it will take a lot to convince these kirins to really accept and like me.

“I know,” I raised one claw, “the circumstances of all of this have not been the best! But I did what I could to prevent you all from dying!” Murmurs started to spread through the crowd. “I never wanted to bind you all with such a terrible threat! All I was trying to do was prevent Hades plague from killing you all! Keep that in mind!” 

I took a deep breath and looked down from the balcony on the main mushroom-tree-thingy above the crowd. “But it was the will of your Lord, Lord Hades himself, that the punishment for breaking the contract you had with him was to serve me or perish! It can’t be helped! But!” I made a short pause. “You are in luck! Since I am not the kind of tyrannical ruler your ancestors portrayed all azure-kirins as! And furthermore! I don’t want anykirin to perish! So my next command will be this, all of you are to act with the best interests of the merriment in mind! Well, generally, not all the time! You have to treat everyone within the merriment as if they are family or friends and do what you can to improve or maintain the quality of their and your lives in general! 

“What I am saying is that I want us all to work together! We are on the same side now! I don’t want any of you to die simply because you have your moments of anger or disagreement or anything else that normally happens when such a huge group is gathered and traveling together! So just put in the effort to get along and be good members of our group, and, in return, my following command is, that from now on, only when I specifically say ‘this is a command’ is it really a command! Anything else I say, you can consider as suggestion! No one shall die simply because I screw up my wording!” I took my time to look over the crowd, letting what I was trying to tell them sink in. “Your well-being is important to me, I care! And I know this change isn’t going to be easy for you, but if we work on it together, we will be able to overcome our differences and unite all kirins under my banner! Yes! You heard right! As an azure-kirin it is my duty to travel to Shakirin-La and to restore the kirin-empire!”

Shouts of astonishment, shock, or sounds of wondering and disbelief raised from the crowd quickly. Seems most of them weren't aware of that little detail yet.

“I know you have heard only bad things about it, your ancestors fled from it and hid here under the swamp for generations! But they fled from war and tyranny, not from a united race of kirins! Under my leadership, Shakirin-La will be a place for all kirins again! And it will be a place without slavery or tyranny, it will be a home for anykirin! For everykirin!” I let my words linger in the air and turned around, leaving the balcony. Trust must be earned, from both sides, but I had the good feeling that I laid a suitable bedrock for it today…

*

“An impressive speech,” Bliz purred as she entered the room and rubbed her head against my side.

“I sure hope so. If it all goes according to plan, they will stick with me till I am empress. So it’d be better for them to accept and like me sooner rather than later.” I stretched myself and yawned. “Though, now is the time for me to hit the hay.”

“You sure are tired,” Allerian threw in, pushed himself off the wall and stepping closer, “but could you first answer a few questions for my notes?” He raised his quill. “You see…”

He didn’t get any further when Bliz growled, spread her wings, and rushed towards him. “Bliz,” I hastily yelled and raised a claw calmly. To Allerians luck, she stopped right in front of him, though she showed him her fangs and had her tail tip raised warningly.

“I know this is new for you, but I am their leader now. Kind of their empress, queen, princess, whatever.” I swung my claw around in a circle. “None of them will take it lightly if you don’t show me some more respect, Allerian. Just think of how your dad treats mine and you get the idea I think.”

“Perhaps another time,” he replied and poked Bliz on the nose with a talon. “For now I’m going to go with telling your mother how rude you are being to a guest. I am sure she would like to hear that.”

Unintentionally, a little smile crept onto my face. “Bards, of all creatures it had to be bards!” I noticed the winning smile on Allerians face. “You are right, Mom would be mad if I were rude.” His smile increased and he made an attempt to step past Bliz. “Bliz, you can handle this, I will go and snuggle Illu, I do not want to be disturbed.”

A short ‘Hey’ escaped Allerians beak the moment before Bliz jumped onto him, sweeping him off his paws.

*

Finally, after a very long and eventful day, I arrived at what would be my home for the night in the underground village. Calmatious Blossom’s house. Technically, it was my house now since it was meant to be the leader’s house, and with me being the new leader, it only made sense for me to be here. Though, I had no intention to throw her out, nor stay in the village for longer than I needed to and had no desire to claim it. So it seemed like a fair deal that since I wouldn’t be oppressing the village, she could at least be a good host.

“Hello!” I shouted when I entered. “Where are you guys?” I gestured to my guards that they could stay outside, only Winter Moon remained by my side. She followed me like a shadow, her spear gripped tight and her position upright while her ears darted around, making sure no one was sneaking up on me. Due to the incident with her sister, as soon as she’d had the chance, she had doubled her efforts to prove her worth as my guard. Sure, when the anti-azure magic had faded on her sister, I reclaimed her and welcomed her into my merriment once more, though, Winter Sun saw what happened as a blow to her reputation.

“We’re in the main hall, Fiery!” Mom’s reply came from a door to my left.

When I entered the main hall, I was greeted by the sight of Mom, Rythil, Illu, Calmatious Blossom, her daughter, along with a few of my guards watching over my family. I rolled my eyes at that, but since Dad wouldn’t tolerate a single stranger around where my family slept unsupervised, it was the only solution. Thinking of him…

“Where’s Dad?” I trotted over to Illu to exchange some affection while Winter Sun took up a position next to the door.

“He’s with your brothers in one of the bedrooms,” Mom said. “It’s way past their bedtime.” She yawned. “Well, it’s probably past all of our bedtimes.”

“Yes,” I agreed, “yes it is.” I threw a look at Sierra Bonsai and her Mom. I was glad that Calmatious had found her, and that she was back in the village, though due how little time we had spent around each other, we’d not yet spoken about how we were going to deal with each other going forward. Well, that was a problem for future me. Since neither of them were showing any signs of hostility or any overt indications that they were going to challenge my authority, it didn’t feel like an issue that needed to be immediately addressed. 

I hesitated. Where had this thought come from? I mean sure, there have been, and possible are, problems between us, but still… Well, I was possibly just exhausted. With a little shake of my head I got over it. “Alright, I think we can call that a day then.” I stroked over Illu’s back with my tail. “Mind joining me?” I underlined my cuddly behavior with a little bit of purring.

As I had hoped, he blushed and threw an embarrassed look around.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I purred. I had already made a step in the direction of our bedchamber when my gaze landed on Rythil laying on Mom’s back. “What’s the matter with you?”

“This is the only safe place for the time being,” he replied.

“I had to retrieve him from your brother's grip to save him,” Mom added. “With this duty to not deny anyone who wishes to cuddle with him, every creature, especially your brother, wants to use him as a plushy.”

“It is terrible,” Rythil complained. “Fortunately, no one’s been willing to challenge your mother so far. So I think I’ll be safe as long as I’m on her back.”

“Mhh, true,” I nodded and then giggled. “Don’t get between her and Dad when he wants to cuddle her though.”

“Fiery,” Mom said strictly.

“I am just joking around.”

“Don’t worry,” Rythil said. “As soon as your brother is asleep, it should be safe to leave her back.”

I threw a look around at my kirins, doubting his assessment of the situation. “Well, good luck with that. You will surely need it. Anyway,” I yawned and then left in the direction of my family's bedroom. “Night Mom, Night everycreature.”

I was well aware that some of my kirins looked like they were hoping for head pats or ruffles through their mane, but none of them dared try their luck at getting one while Illu was next to me. At least they had learned that much.

“Hey Dad,” I said when I opened the door to the bedroom. Since it had been several hours since I had challenged him, I assumed he’d had enough time to cool down. I found him curled around my brothers, with both of them already sleeping, when I finally laid eyes on the inside of the bedroom. My thoughts turned to the question of where I should plant my bedsheets when Dad hastily rose up.

“Careful!” Roary suddenly piped up. I had just raised my head to receive the head rubs that would surely follow my arrival when Dad roared a challenge at me. I barely came to a halt when he stormed at me.

“Dad!” I yelled in shock, quickly trying to evade. Night and Kindling were also taken by surprise, pulled forcefully out of their sleep by the sudden movement and growling from Dad. Shortly before me, Dad came to a halt and hissed threateningly.

I was confused. Surely Dad hadn’t been fond of what I had done recently, but this was not his usual ‘bad bornling behavior’ kind of hiss, it was a territorially one! What was happening?! I didn’t challenge him for territory at all, nor had it been my intention!

“Dad, what is going on?” I took a few hastily steps back, making sure to push Illu back as well.

He didn’t answer my question, instead only adding another threatening hiss. Even if I didn’t know exactly what was going on, I knew this was a last warning kind of hiss. Either I back down, or he would attack me! I threw an unsure look at my brothers and stepped further back. They seemed none the wiser about Dad’s behavior.

“I told you, you fought him over your right to be an adult. Now you are an adult half dragon trying to sneak back into your parents nest.”

“I did what?!”

“You are a grown up now. You repelled his parental purring. To him, that means you are fully grown now. And you know how dragons deal with other dragons who try to get near their nest full of their offspring. You’re only getting some forbearance because you are his daughter.”

The echo of Mom’s hoofsteps tore me out of my inner dialog.

“What’s going on here?” she demanded to know when she burst into the room. “Big Softy! What are you doing?”

Dad acknowledged her with a snort and even made room for her so she could get past him and to my brothers, but kept his gaze on me and growled warningly.

“Roary says repelling his parental purring means he won’t see me as only his daughter anymore,” I spat out, seeking shelter behind Mom.

Mom froze. “Ohh…” she said after a few seconds. She then flared her wings and hissed at Dad, demanding his attention. As soon as she had it, she growled quietly and approached him, rubbing her head against his chest. It took some time and an exchange of growls and hisses between them, but finally Dad turned around and curled around my brothers once more.

I stepped forward to join them now that Dad was calmed down, but Mom raised a hoof stopping me.

“No Fiery, you can’t sleep in the nest any longer.”

“But Mom, you calmed Dad down, I …”

“It is not that simple.” She sighed. “I talked with your Dad about this a long time ago. I knew this day would come, but I hadn’t expected it to be so soon. Big Softy told me that dragons kick out their offspring one day if they didn’t leave themselves earlier. It is to prevent violence and territorial conflict between them.” She laid her hoof on my chest and pushed me in the direction of the door. “Normally you would have claimed your own lair by the time this would have happened, but this whole Call-To-Shakirin-La-Thing makes that a tiny bit complicated.”

“Mom, I am half Pony, I am not supposed to get kicked out! What do you expect me to do?”

“You’re not being kicked out per-say, you’re just not allowed to sleep in or near the nest any longer. Look, your father will protect your siblings from you, as well as our territory.” She quickly raised her hooves to calm down my imminent protest. “I know you aren’t challenging us for it, I am aware of that. But the truth is that your father will see you as a threat and will not be able to allow you to sleep in the nest for the time being.”

“But I’m not threat! I am your daughter!” 

“Yes, and therefore Big Softy had no problems with you cuddling with your siblings earlier. And there is no problem with us traveling together and hanging out like a family, like it would be if you were somehalfdragon else, but, sleeping in the same nest, bed, or tent is no longer possible.”

“You can’t be serious!” I pulled out some strands of my mane in frustration. “After everything that’s happened today, all this Shakirin-La stuff, now I get kicked out just because I’m starting to take on some more responsibilities and don’t want to be dominated by parental purring?”

Mom pulled me in for a hug. “You complained about me and Big Softy interfering too much with your merriment all the way here. Now you have what you wanted. Being an adult and your father no longer treating you like a bornling. You need to see the positive side of this.”

“Does that mean you’re also not going to interfere anymore?”

“What?” Mom placed her hooves on my shoulders, pushing me a bit back so she could look into my eyes. “Of course not. I am your mother, Fiery. I will watch out for you regardless.”

I let my head hang in despear. “Great…”   
> The Naughty Chapter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Why, why does this happen to me?” I collapsed onto my bedsheets and buried my head under the pillow. Without saying a word, Illu laid down next to me and began comfortingly stroking my backscales. In response, I groaned and tossed the pillow aside. “There, I get kicked out of the nest, with the only benefit being that Dad’s no longer going to interfere with me leading my, my merriment, and what does Mom do? Ruin it by saying she will still watch over me!”

“Your mom is just trying to help… I suppose,” Illu mentioned. “But you wanted your dad to get out of your way, so that’s a plus.”

“At the price of getting kicked out of my family's lair!” I groaned and rose from the bed, trotting around restlessly. I would have liked to throw some things around, but this wasn’t my room, this was Sierra Bonsai’s. Small handmade stick figures and other personal belongings hardly deserved my wrath.

Illu nodded as he started rearranging our bedsheets. “Yeah, that’s the undeniable downside.” 

“Downside? This is horrible!”

“Well, I doubt you would have wanted to sleep in your parents’ home after you claimed the throne, right?”

“What? Yeah, I guess.” I threw my claws up in the air. “But that was a problem for future me, not current me! Right now, I should be laying in bed, you in my foreleg, Bliz’s head on my belly, and sleeping cuddled up safe and sound in my family’s, my family’s… Urg, whatever you want to call all this,” I grumbled as I swept the air with my foreleg, gesturing to the house around us.

Illu tapped the free spot beside him with his hoof. “Come on, it could be far worse. You claimed a whole tribe of kirins, got your dad to acknowledge you as an adult, and at the end of the day,” he paused for a moment as I layed down next to him, “no one was killed. I’d call that a good day,” he ended while using his wing to pull me closer.

“Ouch.” I flinched back from him slightly when his wingtip hit the exact spot where my back scales had gotten cracked.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” He rearranged his wing and nuzzled me. “I should probably take a look at this before we sleep.”

“It’s fine,” I replied, already cuddling against him more intimately. “The doctors down here already gave it a look. It should be fine.”

“Better to be safe than sorry.” He fetched one of the moss lamps from the nearest table. “Let me have a look.”

“I told you it’s fine,” I objected, but rolled flat on my belly again nevertheless. “See, nothin…” I stopped when I saw he had also fetched some massage cream from his bags. “I mean,” with a soft purr I rested my head on a pillow, “it’s probably best that you take a look.”

“I wonder if that is the dragon or pony in you,” he giggled. “The purring is surely the dragon, but the sudden obedience… sounds like the pony to me.” He placed the can on the ground next to me and used the moss lamp to inspect my back. I just barely noticed the growl that formed in his throat due to how well he tried to hide it, but the fact someone had hurt his marefriend kept him from being entirely successful.

I purred louder.

A sharp hiss escaped my mouth when Illu began adding some of the fat-based cream onto my cracked scales.

“I know, but it will be good for you,” he said. Carefully, he proceeded until the entire area had been well taken care of. Luckily, the doctors had already removed any splinters, or the cream would have done more harm than good. Someday I’ll have to enlighten Illu on that fact, but not now.

As soon as he was done, I returned to my relaxed posture on the bed sheets and waited for the pleasure to follow. Thankfully, Illu was so generous as to not make me wait. He rubbed his hooves together to warm up the cream before then beginning to spread it over my back with long, soft strokes from my neck to the base of my tail, carefully avoiding any sensitive areas. 

As I laid there and purred though, the thought that there were sensitive areas I did want him to care for crossed my mind…

Of course, Illu’s fine batpony ears picked up on the change in the tone of my purring.

“Hmm?” He wondered, luckily without slowing down in his massage.

“Oh, nothing,” I innocently mumbled, but let my tail slowly wander closer to him while stroking over his side with my wing. “I just thought that…” My tail found its way to his left hind leg and began working its way towards his sensitive areas. 

Unfortunately, I had to quickly pull it back when he slapped it with his hoof.

“Lecheress!” He scolded me, but with a smirk and a little shake of his head.

“That’s the dragon side,” I whispered while doing my best to lull him into a false sense of security by pulling my tail back and sinking deeper into the pillow.

“Sounds more like the Fiery side if you ask me,” he replied and gave me a smack on my flank.

I retorted with a lustful ‘hiss’ while showing my fangs.

“Can I give you a massage just this once without you turning it into something more naughty?” Him raising his eyebrow ever so cutely, which did nothing to help his argument.

“I am more than capable of holding myself back… so long as I’m being massaged, that is.” Now his smirk matched mine. “After that…” I shrugged lightly, stretching out to occupy even more of the bedsheets.

“Maybe I should sleep in another room then,” his tone was both playful and lacking in seriousness. Still, his hooves wandered up my spine until they reached my neck and shoulders, at which point he wasted no time in beginning to care for, which forced me to delay my reply and just purr with delight.

“You wouldn’t even make it halfway to the door,” I hissed while my tail rhythmically hit the ground.

“Is that so,” he teased, swinging one leg over my back and taking a seat there, careful to not put any pressure on my cracked scales or between my wing joints. With the new position, Illu increased his care for my shoulders.

Yes! This journey definitely had a positive influence on his level of naughtiness! Most of the time, Illu was still rather shy, though, if it was just the two of us…

I lightly scratched the floor next to the blankets with one of my claws while glancing over my shoulder at him, hissing. “That’s not how to ride a kirin,” I suggestively complained while attempting to roll over.

“Uh uh uh! You stay where you are!” He complained, pressing his hooves into the ground and my shoulders, trying to hold me in place with his legs and weight. “You said you could control yourself until I was done with the massage!”

“Oh, did I?” I wondered aloud. “I must have been out of my mind!”

“You must have been actually behaving for once,” he replied jokingly. “I know it is unlikely, but it does happen.”

“I’ll show you behaving!” I hissed, aroused as well as tempted. Flaring my left wing, I began wiggling in order to get onto my side. Illu, however, also not inexperienced with our little version of foreplay, did his best to stay on my back while firmly holding me down. As a result, we wrestled for a bit until I could nearly buck him off, only for him to rely on his unfair batpony secret weapons! He bit onto my neck! Instantly, I let out a lustful moan and stopped my attempts at bucking him off of me. Instead, I calmed down and wiggled till I was able to spread my rear legs further apart and even raised my hip slightly.

Instead of slowing things down and enjoying some enticing foreplay, Illu had carelessly hastened things significantly! Sure, it had been his only option given he wanted to stay on my back, but if he thought he could continue the massage or do anything other than naughty fun now, he was mistaken!

It was apparent he came to the same conclusion as immediately after biting onto my neck, he seemed a bit clueless about what to do. Obviously, he hadn’t been ready to engage in closer combat just yet since I’d only just felt his big fella begin to exit its hiding and onto my back.

For a second, his grip on my neck loosened. Sensing the opportunity, I hissed and attempted to roll around to pounce on my batfriend. Unfortunately, at the last possible moment, he realized the danger he was in and reasserted his hold on the back of my neck.

“Oh no you don’t!” He mumbled, fighting with my mane as it did its best to protect my neck from inattentive stallions who might accidentally awaken the dragon in me, an azure dragon at that! Though, the kirin had already caught fire in this case!

I may have stopped my attempts at overthrowing him, but nothing stopped me from rubbing my hip scales against his underside, if you know what I mean. An action his body responded quite positively to.

Illu attempted to stand up fully, while still biting down on my neck, but I effortlessly followed his movement. He may be a bit taller than me, but he wasn’t tall enough to escape the reach of a horny kirin, which putting him in the exact position I wanted him to be in.

“Fiery… I am not…” Illu half whispered half gasped through my mane, “ready yet! Slow down, please!”

Ignoring his words, I just eagerly and impatiently hissed, increasing my teasing while also using my tail to get him into the right position to progress things. Finally, after a few seconds of waiting, I swung my tail around his fella and began stroking it up and down.

“Seems ready enough to me!”

He released a half-evasive giggle as he tried, in vain, to escape my tail. “Just turn it down a step!” He grabbed my tail with a hoof and tried to pull it off of his member. Something I was not so fond of, which I made clear with a growl! It is a great treasure after all!

Finally, he mistakenly let go of my neck when his attention was diverted elsewhere. I wasted no time and rolled to the right, pushing Illu’s legs apart when I finished rolling onto my back. It paralyzed poor Illu when our gazes met. There I was, a grin plastered onto both cheeks and eyes fixed upon my sexy batfriend, while he stood there, motionless and in shock as the ramifications of the situation he had created manifested before him.

For a heartbeat we just looked at each other, and then, he made the slightest of movements and we both knew the hunt had started.



He jumped up, spread his wings, and pushed himself backward. Generously, I let my prey escape for now, didn’t want to hurt that important part of him, and pushed myself off of the ground with my wings. I did give him a little bite on his tail though.

Seems there will be some good foreplay after all!

“Come here!” I hissed as I pursued him with a happy, naughty smile. Don’t get me wrong, I was horny! However, the thrill of the hunt was enough to satisfy me at that moment.

“Catch me, if you can!” He retorted as he burst through the room. It wasn't that he lacked enthusiasm, he just needed a little extra time to get prepared, and the hunt supplied exactly that.. A little longer. You should have seen him the first time I hunted him though, batponies and Kirins are quite different after all…

He sprinted over the little table, dangerously close to knocking over the second mosslamp, before taking flight towards the small bed. I was on his hooves instantly. The room was too small for him to escape my reach anyway, but such a detail didn't impede me from going all out. 

When Illu reached the bed, he hopped onto it and grabbed a pillow, which he wasted no time in throwing at me. With an eager growl, I ducked under it and pushed myself off the ground and into a long jump straight at him. I was well aware of the blanket he had grabbed with his wingtip, but this hunt was meant to be fun for both of us, so I let him succeed in throwing it over me. When I crashed into the mattress, struggling to get free, he bounced off the bed and headed for the door. I needed a moment longer than I expected to get free without tearing the blanket to shreds, so he slowed down ever so slightly. He was a gentlecolt after all. As a result, the instant he reached the door and was stretching his hoof towards the handle, I crashed into him and we both collided softly with the door, only to bounce off of it and roll over the ground.

“I told you, you’d never reach that door!” I purred.

“I did reach it!” He groaned as he pressed his hooves against my claws, trying to come out on top as soon as our rolling around ended. I could easily overpower, hooves are no match for claws after all, though, I wouldn’t mind him winding up on top of me. After all, it is far easier to lie seductively on my back than to be the one on top.

With a “Ha!” he claimed his triumph when we finally came to a stop by colliding with the table, knocking the mosslamp off of it. “Gotcha!” His happy smile was nearly as bright as mine.

“Oh, did you?" I coyly purred as I spread my legs apart, placing them at the sides of his belly and invitingly flared my wings. “Whatcha gonna do with your catch?” I fluttered my eyelids and rubbed my lower barrel against his stallionhood.

He snorted insecurely and his smile quickly took on a hint of desperation. As opposed to halfdragons, batponies were not inclined to be the hunters.

“I…” he released an apprehensive chuckle, shifting uncomfortably in my seductive trap. “I think I…” he lifted his barrel a bit higher.

Not on my watch!

With a naughty, dominant growl, I closed my legs and wings around his back and pushed forward while biting his mane near the side of his neck to cling onto him. No way he was going to escape me!

“Fiery,” he started as he tried to rise to his hind-legs. “I think we should…”

I spread my wings and swiftly flapped them before he could finish his sentence. The sudden burst of force threw Illu off balance and caused him to fall backwards, making it so that now I was the one on top.

“Should do what, exactly?” I growled lustfully, making myself comfortable atop him and booping his nose with mine. “I am all ears,” I whispered before kissing him. I could smell his excitement, feel the warmth of his body below mine, and to my delight, his speartip was now rubbing against my belly. Without waiting, I grabbed it and began softly stroking it with my claw.

“You are a lecheress!” Illu gasped, trying to grab my claw with a hoof. 

Contrary to both his words and actions, Illu’s body seemed quite receptive to my touch. With each gentle caress, my batfriend’s greatest asset only lengthened and hardened. His body was so enticed that I even felt his legs reflexively twitch beneath me a couple times as Illu’s body fought with him to get him to do what was only right in the current situation.

“It takes one to know one!” I retorted triumphantly, the proof I was right clutched securely in my claw. “The sooner you submit to your desires, the sooner I can help you with them!”

“You're impossible,” Illu replied, this time releasing a laugh of his own. He still tried, unsuccessfully, to once more free his stallionhood, but I wouldn’t let go of my treasure!

“No chance!” I moved the softer inside of my claw over his acorn, ignoring the slight pain that came from the cuts on my claw, and made my way down towards his medial ring. The way he twitched under my touch was quite apparent, eliciting a pur from me. Slowly, I made my way back up, and then down again. I had to do so a few times before he fully relaxed and stopped his weak attempts at trying to hinder me.

“Much better,” I cooed as I laid down on my side and began to curl my lower body around his as I placed my left claw onto his belly while my right claw stayed busy. A smile once more crawled onto my face as my eyes followed my claw’s activities. 

Up and down. 

My thoughts wandered to some other activities we could engage in while I played with my batfriend’s tool. 

Up and down. 

I listened to the steady increase in Illu’s pace of breathing and the little noises of pleasure he was making. 

Up and down.

With a sharp, lustful hiss, I snapped out of it when Illu’s foreleg brushed against my sensitive areas! For a moment, I enjoyed the little smirk that passed over his lips before I showed him my approval by taking the initiative, pressing myself against his leg, and even closing my legs around his.

“Hey! You are not helping!” he complained in jest. “I can barely move my leg when you’re clinging onto it!”

I instantly let go after hearing this, only to lustfully moan once more as he returned to his previous activities, this time though with a good deal more passion.

“Naughty batpony! Two can play that game!” And with that, I quickly increased the speed of my stroking.

“Hey!” He laid a hoof on my busy claw. “If you’re too greedy, you’ll spoil all the fun!”

I hesitated, snorting unhappy before slowing down. It was so unfair that stallions couldn’t last as long as mares! He could tease me for hours on end, but if I tried that with him, the fun would quickly end! Frustrating, but not his fault. Still… I shook off this way of thinking and returned my mind to more important matters.

“Time to change position then!” I decided and playfully nibbled on his chest while crawling onto him. As soon as I uncurled from his lower body, I could feel his hooves on my hip as he shifted into a better position to continue in. I purred in approval and delight at the thought, but I had other plans in mind. I wiggled free and crawled higher up.

He gave me a knowing smile, as well as a raised eyebrow.

“What?” I raised my snout and got into a more noble position. Well as noble as you can get when you are basically sitting on your batfriends face. “A lady needs longer after all, it is only fair to give her a head start.” I blinked and stuck my tongue out. “Head start, get it?”

Illu managed to swing his foreleg around my leg and facehooved while suppressing a giggle. “Fiery…”

“Yes?” I replied, leaning back a bit and wrapping my tail around his spear to start slowly rubbing it. “You were saying?” 

Instead of an answer he grabbed my hip and pulled me forward, which I responded to with a warm happy giggle. While pulling me forward did release his shaft from my tail, I hardly had the opportunity to voice a complaint, as a pur even warmer than my giggle escaped my lips when he got to work. I couldn’t help but clench my legs when he started with a long lick from bottom to top before finishing with a circle around my sweet spot.

Naughty Batpony tricks!

I wasn’t complaining, though! Instead, I leaned further back and enjoyed the moment. I couldn’t suppress the warm shivers that ran up my spine, nor my little gasps and other sounds of joy, though I was told stallions love to hear those anyway. At some point, Illu wrapped his hooves around my thighs and spread them further apart, eliciting a squeak of excitement from me.

Such a considerate deed could scarcely go unrewarded. 

To reciprocate the favor, I turned slightly and reached out for his cock with my claw once again, only for him to growl and forcefully push me back forward with his wings. I whimpered unhappily and tried once more, just to be met with the same result. So I growled, only for him to push me forward completely with both his wings and hooves and enter me with his tongue.

My resistance forgotten, I moaned and leaned forward, resting my claws on his head. 

“Ev…il…batp…ony…tricks!” I stammered, shifting on his snout.

“Hmm-hmm,” he agreed, keeping his tongue busy though.

I couldn’t help but start matching his rhythm with my body, floofing up my wings as I moaned under my breath. I didn’t even need to see Illu’s face to know there was a smile plastered across both cheeks!

We proceeded this way for some time, I didn’t care to count the minutes. Though, at one point, while I was breathing heavily and lustfully moaning, I snapped out of my trance when he brought his hoof around to help in his efforts! I didn’t notice, or more accurately, hadn't been paying attention when his hoof found its way to my belly before slowly moving down from there. I purred approvingly when he reached my right teat, softly stroking over it without paying it any attention. Though, I hissed loudly and struggled to get free the instant he snuck his hoof past it and started playing with my sweet spot with his hooftip!

It was a mix of lustful shaking, naughty licks and me twitching and struggling above Illu’s face!

“You stay here!” He proclaimed enthusiastically as he tried to hold me in place. Only for me to quietly roar, caught between the desire to stay on him no matter what, and, being torn apart by the lust and sensations his actions were bringing about! I seized his hoof with my claw and exerted as much strength as I could muster, but it proved futile. If anything, he only increased the speed he was rubbing me with! 

How dare he! 

I flapped my wings! I tried to push myself off the ground with my hooves! I even tried to throw myself to the side, but Illu stayed rooted in place as though his life depended on it. And to be fair, it kind of did in a metaphorical sense!

“Stop it!” I growled, though my tone made it clear that I wanted him to do anything but.

He spared me a verbal answer, instead pressing his snout more firmly against my sensible areas and increasing his efforts! Crazy batpony tricks! Now his fangs were massaging my lower lips with each lick! My body was already convulsing uncontrollably as my thoughts became a blur. In a desperate attempt, I threw myself to the side and rollied over. Unfortunately, Illu wouldn’t let me escape. He rolled with me, resulting in me ending up on my back and him laying on his belly. The entire time, his head remained precisely where he wanted it to be! All I had accomplished was getting him to stop rubbing my sweet spot for only a few seconds. I could already feel his hoof crawling around my thighs once again!

I couldn’t help myself, I tried to grab his hoof, I even bucked my hind legs, but Illu was too low and too close to get hit. Not that I actually wanted to hit him, but, you know…

When his hoof finally found its way to my sweet spot again, however, my resistance crumbled, and I surrendered to the waves of pleasure that shot through my body. With my moans, increasing in volume with each one, I let him know how well he was doing, despite knowing my reactions thus far had already made that abundantly clear! He didn't need to wait long to be rewarded. Soon, I twitched uncontrollably, bucking, beating my wings and curling up around his head, only to let out a loud, satisfied roar when I finally reached my climax!

.

.

.

Panting, I laid back and stretched myself out on the ground. With closed eyes, I let my body go slack. I breathed in deeply, a happy smile on my face. The smell of the last few minutes fresh in the air only caused my lips to crawl even further up my cheeks. Slowly, I let my legs sink to the ground, allowing Illu to pull his head out from between them and move to the side. As soon as I found enough air to do so, I lured him over with my special batpony purr.

He wiped over his snout and had this victorious smirk plastered on his face like only stallions could! Not that he didn’t have a reason to wear it…

“You seem to be very proud of yourself,” I cooed while embracing him with my wing. Tenderly, my claw caressed his cheek.

“I just conquered and-” he poked my belly “-tamed a wild kirin.”

“Satisfied, not tamed.” I flickered my tail, “for the moment at least.”

“Weren't you already tired before we started?” He inquired cheekily while laying his hoof on my chest.

I threw a very meaningful look at his rod, which was still proudly on display. “No halfdragon would ever get tired with such a great treasure within reach.” As I said this, my tail just so happened to find its way over to said treasure after I gave it a flick to express my contentment. And, since such an enticing prize was now lying so very close to my tail, it seemed like such a waste to not give it a gentle stroke with the soft, bushy hair near my tail tip to express my approval. “Very great treasure!”

“Lecheress!” Illu couldn’t help but giggle.

“Treasure hunter,” I retorted as I  rolled over so that I would be resting on his belly. My grip around his stallionhood tightened as I was now able to curl my tail around it several times. It was a bit tricky to keep my tail’s movements smooth and in sync, but I managed. I’d had some experience at this point…

“Hey, why don’t we…” Illu tried to lay his hooves on my shoulder and slow things down again.

I shot forward, thrusting my muzzle between Illu’s jaw and chest to close my fangs around his throat. “My turn!” I growled.

“Easy there,” he giggled, booping my nose. “Cuddling and seeing where this goes sounds rather nice at the moment.”

I growled more intensely and even pressed my fangs into his skin a bit more firmly. He should know this was only ninety-nine percent fun. There was still a halfdragon laying on top of him, or more precisely, a thirsty, most naughty halfdragon.

“My turn!” I once more insisted. Laying my claws on his hooves and pressing them to the ground while keeping his wings in check with my own. “My treasure!”

With my batfriend fully subdued, I focused my efforts on thoroughly playing with my treasure. Well, not exactly thoroughly, but that would come later. That being said, the way Illu squirmed and made his own little lust-filled noises as I rubbed, softly squeezed, and used my tailtip to play around his acorn filled me with a great deal of satisfaction. “You don’t get to tease a halfdragon and get away with it so easily!”

“I am pretty sure I did more than just teasing!” Illu laughed while playfully struggling to get free.

“You!” I playfully nibbled on his throat as I repositioned myself to prepare for one of my favorite way to enjoy my batfriend’s company. “I am going to show you just what you awoke by biting my neck!” Without wasting any time, I let my actions emphasize this point, positioning his rod perfectly with my tail as I pushed my hips back. I savored the warm, burning feeling of my lower lips being parting as I gradually lowered myself onto him. As I reached the halfway point on his shaft, releasing my tail’s hold on it with one last gentle caress, I wiggled my hips so that he would be at a more pleasurable angle before riding him properly! 

I took the forceful exhalation that came from his nostrils after doing this as an invitation to skip the foreplay and plunge right into the heart of the action, an invitation I was more than happy to accept.

It was at this point that he began to make a more serious attempt at breaking free, but I wouldn’t let him! It was my turn after all! Keeping him under me, I put as much effort as I felt I could spare into fighting our little rodeo! I knew that at the current speed, our funtime was going to be limited, but it didn’t matter. Every minute I was able to ride him felt not only euphoric, but like a victory as well! Now it was his turn to pant heavily, and, unlike me, begin to sweat.

I smiled at these developments.

Pleased that things were going my way, I leaned back and straightened my body slightly to improve my position even further. Unfortunately for Illu, he made the mistake of taking that as permission to make an attempt at getting into a more upright position as well. I wasted no time in shooting forward once again and forcing him back with my fangs against his throat. Like I said, there was still the slightest hint of seriousness to this little banter!

“If you… don’t slow down a little bit… I am going to come… too soon!”

Pretending as though I didn’t hear him, I increased my speed.

“Fiery!”

“Yes?” I growled innocently, maintaining my speed. For a minute or two he was too distracted to continue. 

Then I felt it, more forceful twitching coming from his member. He even tried to push me up slightly with his hind legs.

“Fiery, I… “

I gave it all I had, even attempting to speed up one final time. At this point, I was taking nearly his entire shaft into myself with each downward thrust, until finally… I proclaimed my victory with a happy, lustful roar once his body contracted, his hooves and wings pushed hard against my own, and his hind legs kicked aimlessly. Together with the warm feeling in my belly, I knew I had been successful in claiming my treasure!

“Seems two can play that game,” I teasingly purred through my panting, while I wiped some sweat from his face. I rested my cheek on his chest and listened to his racing heart. “Mine!” I whispered as I let my claw slide down his cheek and over his throat before finally coming to a rest on his chest. Meanwhile, my tail proclaimed victory by slowly swinging back and forth in the air like a flag. “Mine,” I licked over his chest, “my treasure.”

“I… would call it even,” Illu replied. Now that I was no longer fighting him, he closed his wings around me and laid his hooves on my back, holding me. His breathing was still fast and more accurately described as a pant, but still, he snuggled me. “My avaricious housecat!”

I narrowed my eyes and sought his gaze. “I do not have whiskers.” I couldn’t argue with the purring though.

“You still hunt bats though.” Illu raised an eyebrow.

I held his gaze for a whole two seconds before I burst into laughter and let my head sink back onto his chest, enjoying the warmth he offered. “I am very good at it after all,” I added.

*

Tired yet satisfied, I made my way over to the door. Illu shifted softly under the blanket and snuggled up to the pillow for the time being. He deserved some rest, and I could hardly think of anything more enticing than joining him. Well, besides a glass of water at the moment. With one thirst satisfied, another one had arisen. The plan was to only be gone for a minute or two before returning with two glasses, one for me, and one for my diligent and amazing batfriend.

I turned the handle, opened the door, and nearly fell over Bliz as my gaze still hadn’t left Illu.

“What in tarnation…”

“Amazing work!” Blitz cheerfully bubbled. “I didn’t hear all of it, but what I did hear sounded like a ten out of ten for sure!”

“Were… were you eavesdropping on us?!”

“I didn’t need to! You were plenty loud enough!” She made it sound like that was a good thing! “When you told me you weren't to be disturbed, I didn’t expect that you were going to have such an outrageous amount of fun, but here we are!” She turned towards the door. “Great job, Illu! Wonderfully done! The part when you were…”

I grabbed her by the snout and forcefully closed it for her. “Don’t!” The damage had already been done though as I was able to see Illu shamefully crawl under the blankets and pillows and practically entomb himself under them. One part of me wanted to purr and loudly voice an ‘awwww’, while the other wanted to rip Bliz’s ears from her skull. I slammed the door shut to spare Illu further embarrassment.

“You can’t eavesdrop on us when we… when we… when we’re having our alone time, Bliz!” I quietly shouted while letting go of her snout.

“I would have offered to join if you hadn’t made it clear earlier that you weren't interested,” she tried to defend herself.

I furiously ruffled through my mane. I knew it wasn’t her fault. I knew I had told her I wasn’t to be disturbed. She couldn’t make herself known by disturbing us, but she couldn’t not lay there and listen, not after I’d explicitly instructed her to make sure Illu and I got our alone time. With that being said though, did she really need to sound so excited about hearing all that, especially when addressing Illu directly about his… performance!

“I need to be way more careful with my wording!” I angrily grumbled at the floor. “In every aspect!”

Driven by my emotions, Bliz whimpered compassionately and rubbed her head against my side.

“No,” I pushed her away, “simply no, not now. No, you didn’t do something wrong,” I added when she started to whimper more intensely. “It was my fault.” I forced myself to ruffle her mane. “All is well, go to sleep, and let Illu and I rest in peace tonight.”

I was kind of proud of myself for not ripping off her ears, yelling at her, or violently rearranging my surroundings. I had been close too, very close, but I was able to keep hold of that one last shred of self-control. I’d had a wonderful night with Illu, I wouldn’t ruin that by having a tantrum so soon after such a lovely evening. Instead, I turned around and made my way over to the kitchen, or better put, in the direction where I thought the kitchen was in.

Once there, I filled two glasses with water, inhaled deeply, drank one, then the other, refilled them, and just as I was about to return to Illu, my cutie mark started to glow.

For a moment, I just stood there staring at it. My mind was still a bit foggy from a mix of tiredness, exasperation because of Bliz, and pleasure from my time with Illu, so it took me a moment to get a sense of why it might be doing that. It finally clicked when my gaze left my cutie mark and wandered over to the pots, ladles, and other kitchen equipment surrounding me. Equipment I was quite familiar with because of seeing Mom use them when baking…

I let my head fall onto the kitchen counter, tempted to just drop to the floor and lay there in despair. Unfortunately, when it came to things you had a choice in doing and those that you didn’t, this fell into the latter category. As a result, I rapidly left the kitchen and made my way to my family's room.

“Mom!” I loudly slammed a balled claw against the door several times. “Mom! Mom, wake up!” The guards just threw unsure glances at me, but didn’t dare to interfere. “Moooooom! I need you right now!”

It didn’t take long for Mom’s sleepy muzzle to peek out from behind the door. “Fiery,” she blinked a few times. “Fiery, I told you you can’t sleep in…”

“It’s not about that, Mom. I need your help to bake some cookies.”

She stared at me unblinking for several seconds, I could practically see an hourglass manifest over her head as I waited. “Cookies?” She wondered slowly.

“Yes, cookies. The ones I promised Fortuna to bake as soon as the opportunity presented itself.” I pointed toward the kitchen. “They have a well-equipped kitchen down here and we have all the ingredients that aren’t in the kitchen in our carriage.”

“You can’t be serious.”

I pointed at my glowing cutie mark. “My godmother is. And without her help, well, you know.”

“I’m going to have to have a serious word with her next time she shows up.” Mom yawned, rubbed her eyes, and stepped out of the door to follow me to the kitchen.
> To Lead A Merriment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That one must be from Skyhop,” Calmatious Blossom said as she followed my gaze and spotted the airship flying through the mountain range in the distance. “We’re getting closer.”

“Was that the Kangaroo town or the Parrot town?”

“The Kangaroo one, it’s more of a marketplace though. We should start seeing more airships soon.”

In my defense, I was still new to this part of the world. In an effort to remedy this, my merriment and I were trying to learn what we could from my newest followers. We just hadn’t accounted for how much there was to learn. Due to their isolation, the information they could provide was limited, mostly regarding details, but the broad strokes they did know were much appreciated.

Calmatious Blossom grabbed the reins tighter and stopped her volandilum next to my carriage, causing the feathers on her head to wave back and forth as she watched the sky above. “You know, most of my ki…”  She stopped mid sentence when our gazes met before starting again. “Half of your kirins aren't used to trotting around in the open, especially outside the swamp. Things like airships and other flying objects or creatures could scare them.”

“I will keep that in mind,” I replied after stopping my carriage as well with an order to the kirins pulling it. It was important that she quickly adjusted to being a part of my merriment, thereby thinking of her former villagers as my kirins. Still, I wasn’t sure how much I could expect to be fair.

“The upper world is nothing to be afraid of,” Illu sharply threw in, sounding almost cold. “They will get used to it.”

Illu’s sudden joining of the conversation momentarily jostled my train of thought, and when I regained my thoughts and turned to look in his direction, I couldn't help myself from allowing the corners of my lips to raise. His posture was tight, like a spring that had just started to be compressed, and while his gaze was pointed ahead, I could make out twitches at the corners of his mouth threatening to become a frown or snarl.

While it might not be a desirable behavior in the long term, the fact that the last few days in the swamp hadn’t dulled his feelings about what he thought about my and Calamitous’ first meeting warmed my heart. 

I rubbed my cheek against Illu’s throat, pushing him back a bit before adding a kiss when he looked at me.

“My great and strong protector,” I teased approvingly.

The mildly sour expression still plastered over his face was too cute to handle so I kissed him again.

“It is true,” he insisted. “It’s only a matter of time before all of them acclimate.”

“Grumpy, loveable, best batfriend in the world.” I snuggled him. “She is part of my merriment now, so no need to hold a grudge. Alright?”

“As if you would be any different,” he replied, but far less grumpily than before. “What if someone had tried to slay me with an axe?”

“I would have used that very axe to chop them into tiny little bits, set those bits on fire, then stomped the resulting ash until the wind had blown it all away.” Just the thought got me to lay my cheek against his shoulder and start purring loudly. “But you already knew that. After all, I am my mother’s daughter. Bloodlust, a thirst for vengeance, and need to claim and protect what is mine runs in my blood.” I flitted my eyelids. “I’m also half-dragon‌.” I finished with a kiss on his neck.

As I had hoped, I could feel a smile crawling all the way up from his belly to his lips.

“Okay, one point for you,” he confessed. “Still, that doesn’t mean I have to like her.”

“Once I am empress, you will be emperor, you better start liking your new subordinates.” I emphasized my point by stroking his back with my wing.

“Once you’re empress, she will be the one who tried to kill the empress,” he retorted.

“Till the end of my days, I’ll be paying the price for failing in that,” Calmatious grumbled. “Me and all my… all of your newest subjects.”

“Don’t you…” Illu rose from his spot, seemingly wanting nothing more than to start a heated argument, but I held him back.

“Don’t burst out in flames!” I requested in feigned fear, quickly patting his back to put out the ‘flames’ there. “What did we talk about, count to ten!”

“Fiery, that is not funny!” He tried to stop me by grabbing my claws. “She,” he turned his head towards Calmatious, but I didn’t let him finish.

“And I have no reason when I am angry, hmm?”

“That isn’t the same!”

I raised an eyebrow and he mumbled something under his breath.

“Ok, fine!” He closed his eyes and counted to ten. At least that's what I thought he was doing. When he reopened his eyes , I gave him a kiss.

“Better?”

“A tiny bit,” he mumbled.

“Good, let me handle my merriment and you just stay as awesome as you are.” Another kiss landed on his cute mouth. My gaze wandered to his fluffy ears. “And as cute.”

He gave me a flat look. Pony Feathers! I definitely need to take another class from Mom  about calming the other sex.

“Anyhow,” I laid a claw on Illu’s hoof and returned my attention to Calmatious. “How long till we get there? Skyhop, I mean.

“At this speed,” her gaze wandered over the trail of carriages, the small unit of volandilum-riders from the underground village, and the throng of kirins on hoof that made up the gold of a dragon’s hoard. “I would say four days. Maybe five if the river has high water again. Sometimes that happens this time of the year.”

“Four to five days,” I repeated. There had been no sign of Autumn’s people since we left the swamp, and as soon as we reached Skyhop, the plan was to get onto an airship, or two given the new size of my merriment. Finding them would become a lot harder once we were airborne. “Say, how fast are these volandilums outside the swamp?”

“As fast as a kirin for a few miles, just don’t expect for them to maintain that speed for too long. Short distances are no problem for them, but they’re not exactly built for endurance. Their real advantages are in rivers or swamps, obviously. They’re several times faster in the water and aren’t too bothered with diving particularly deep or long.”

“Before we entered your swamps, we were looking for some kirins. Kirins that hopefully haven’t been claimed yet but would be on their way to Shakirin-La too. I want you to send out your… my riders to look out for them. I need kirins who won’t be sensed from miles away if there is another azure-kirin nearby, and your former villagers are the only ones that fit that description.”

“Luftrins would be far more efficient,” she retorted. “They can see much farther than a few miles.”

“I will send out a few of them too, it’s just a bit risky. Other azures may be able to detect kirins from further away than I can. The best way for them to stay safe while looking for them is to soar fairly high up, but that wouldn’t work out too well. By flying that high, they probably wouldn’t be able to see them too clearly, and even if they did find them, they wouldn’t be able to tell if they were the kirins they were looking for without flying low enough to be spotted themselves, or worse, get detected and revealed as being from my merriment. Your former kirins are protected by Hades and therefore can’t be sensed by azures. They can get closer without being detected. And if they ride on these strange volandilums, another azure-kirin may not be sure how to react to them. At the very least, they wouldn’t think that they were a part of my merriment.”

“I disagree. But I will do as you suggested.” She kicked her volandilum lightly in the side, prompting it to start moving again.

“I thought you could detect other kirins from miles away,” Illu wondered after Calmatious was far enough away that she wouldn’t be able to hear.

“I can. I’m able to feel the presence of most of my merriment around us, except for Calamitous’ former kirins, I can’t feel them at all. Unfortunately, I don’t know how far I can sense non-claimed kirins from, or any kirins not in my merriment now that I think about it. When Bliz’s merriment approached us, they were already quite close. I doubt my senses extend farther than a few miles. But, maybe someone out there can sense kirins for miles upon miles. Take Nimble for example. He’s able to talk to other kirins via his mind despite being halfway across the continent. There’s no way to tell what special talents my competitors have been gifted with, or if they have a special talent at all. Maybe everyone except for me and Bliz can already do it.”

“If there’s anykirin who’s going to discover more unusual talents, it will definitely be you.” Illu poked my cutiemark as he said this. “Your godmother will make sure of that.”

“She already gave me the best stallion in the world with her meddling, anything else would be a… mhh… bonus? Stretch? I don*t know, but from what I’ve heard, there are limits to what a goddess is allowed to do.”

“Sweettalker,” he accused me with a smile.

“Is it working?”

“A little bit.”

We both smiled.

“And there is my little housecat again,” Illu teased.

“Still no whiskers!”

***

“Their size is equal to or greater than ours, Chieftain. I wasn’t able to count them all without being spotted. Even if they are new to living in the wilds, their sheer number made the likelihood of somekirin taking a closer look at the riverbed I was hiding in too great to risk staying.” Reed Strider put his feathers back on his head and tried unsuccessfully to clear his face of the mud while not further smearing his face paint. 

I tried to reach out with my senses in the direction my scout had pointed in, but there was nothing I could feel. According to my scout, they were six hours ahead of us, give or take a few minutes.

“Their leader is a male azure-kirin, but he had several other azure-kirins by his side,” Reed Strider went on. He was wise enough to keep the contempt he felt for my kind out of his voice, if he had any, which I was sure of.

“Did you see a huge kirin?” Autumn Blaze asked nervously. “A mare, huge, tan coat and lighter tan scales with a blue mane with some brighter streaks in it. Maybe she was even wearing a little golden crown on her head.

“No, if there is such a kirin among them, I did not see them.”

“That could mean my former village is not among them.” A slight sense of hope crept into Autumn's voice.

“Or that he simply did not see her in all those kirins,” Calmatious Blossom clarified. “You tend to have a limited view when you're hiding in a riverbed. More so if you’re also trying to avoid being seen by several hundred kirins.”

“Maybe,” Autumn didn’t seem to be convinced. Hope had gotten the better of her.

“Be that it as it may, what is your battleplan?” Now Calamitous Blossom turned to me. “Chieftain.”

“Battleplan?” I hadn’t even thought that far yet.

“Yes, your battleplan, Chieftain. I don't believe that you azures simply approach each other to settle things over a cup of tea, or, as Hades encourages, fight each other to the death. If I had to guess, we normal kirins have to fight your battles for you. And since you azures seem to feel each other's presences based on what I’ve heard and seen, the only way to be less stealthy than for you to approach them is to just send someone over to announce our presence.”

“Bliz,” I remarked sharply while laying my claw on Illu’s hoof. She had her fangs presented and was growling warningly. Meanwhile, Illu had his muzzle clenched tightly, with his lips slightly parted in a scowl, as he stared daggers at Calamitous from a posture not too dissimilar from the one I had seen Calamitous in before our fight. “Calmatious Blossom, show me more respect.”

“I am just pointing out matters of importance, Chieftain,” she replied.

“If I have to get one of my followers to fully shave you, tail to mane, to get a matter of importance across to you, I won’t hesitate to do so.”

I watched as Calmatious just barely choked back a quick, hateful hiss before it left her throat. Calmatious tried to hide this by turning her head to the side and licking over her lips. However, to all the kirin’s who saw this, it was clear that her first instinct had been to challenge me. Now she was looking to the side, her front hooves pressed into the earth.

“Do I have to give that order?” I spitefully asked, determined to have the absolute last word.

“No,” she grumbled.

“Are you sure you understand the importance of my point?”

She dug a furrow in the earth. “Yes,” she pressed out. “You are my leader, I have to show you the respect you des… the respect I owe you.”

I was going to reply to that when Allerian mumbled,”Has a tyrannical way of ruling her merriment,” along with writing that note down in his book.

“Good,” I said, instead of the answer I’d been intending, and turned to Allerian. “I am not a tyrant! I am a leader! Huge difference!”

“I am sure most of them said that about themselves too,” he retorted without looking up from his book.

I mumbled something under my breath about bards and returned my attention to my scouts report. “Alright, Calmatious is right about one thing at least, as soon as I am close enough to them, they will know I am there. The same goes for Bliz. And with several azure-kirins around, it’s very unlikely that they’ll all be asleep at the same time, so a nightly ambush is not an option.” I sighed. “Simply talking probably won’t work as well, given how hostile even Bliz and I became to each other and my reaction to Nimble.”

“We may be able to get close enough to ambush them,” one of my new followers, Highest Cave said. “You aren’t able to feel our presence, right? And the same goes for your right hoof?”

“Yes.”

“Then we can lay an ambush. A few dozen of us should be able to sneak close enough to hit them.”

“I don’t want them dead!” I shouted. “Your hate for my kind is…”

“With our magic, Chieftain,” Highest Cave interrupted me. “One good hit and their merriment connection should be gone.”

“Oh… isn’t that dangerous to azure-kirins too? I saw the engravings in Hades temple, and the depictions they had looked a little more painful than a mild shock!”

“As far as I know, it doesn’t disintegrate you.” He replied. “Sierra Bonsai wasn’t even able to break your connection completely with it.”

“They will not die,” Caustic Mercy piped up. He stood slightly aside, as far from Calmatious as was possible.

“Mhh, okay then, it may work,” I agreed.

“Spear-throwing is just the backup plan…”

“No spear-throwing! I don’t want anykirin, azure or not, to die!”

“And how do you think your subordinates and theirs should settle this conflict in your name then?” Schimmernde Morgenröte asked. “Are you planning for your merriment to crash into them, have them hit each other barehooved, and whoever’s subordinates are the last kirins standing is the winner meant to rule all kirin-kind?”

“No, I…”

“Breaking up their merriment seems to be the best option,” Mom threw in. “That way no one gets hurt, and you,” she looked at me directly, “should be able to claim all their former subjects before they’re able to recover and reclaim them. When you surround them with all your merriment after stealing most of theirs, I doubt they will be eager to fight, given the newfound advantage you would have over them.”

“I would also very much prefer that,” Autumn threw in quietly. “I do not know any other azure, but if my former village is on its way, it's possible that they are in that merriment.”

“I could ask Fortuna for her blessing,” Rythil piped up as he scurried along the ground and through the legs of several kirins on his way over to me from his place behind the front of the crowd. “You know, for the ambush party. That way they are more likely to hit the azures with their magic without any kirin needing to be hurt.”

“Or for the spear-throwing if we miss, or they have protection of some kind,” Highest Cave added.

“I said no spear-throwing!” I  insisted, with a growl this time to get the message across, only causing Highest Cave to step back in confusion and a bit of uncertainty when several other kirins growled at him as well.

“Fiery!” Mom yelled.

My growling, and that of my merriment a second later, stopped.

“While I oppose the idea of ambushing living creatures to kill them, you need to let your advisors speak freely or there’s no point in having them,” Mom went on. “You won’t make all the right decision every time by yourself. Listen to them without punishing them for their opinions or suggestions, otherwise you will not get the best advice.”

“Yes, Mom.” I exhaled. “I know.”

“I don’t think Fortuna would look favorably on blessing creatures with the luck to kill others in the first place,” Rythil said after a bit of a delay. “And even if that was the case, I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that.”

“Yeah, me neither,” I agreed, ruffling through his mane when he came to a halt next to me and stood on his hind claws in order to not look so small. “I think we should use our luck more for staying alive and healthy than for killing other creatures.” The look he was throwing at me now was priceless. “Hey, I’m doing you a favor here,” I whispered. “When I’m petting you, nokirin will make an attempt to cuddle you.”

He sighed.

“What about just shooting them as they come?” Wind Root asked. “From what we know, everykirin hit will be confused or drop unconscious for a moment, not only azures.” He made a wide gesture over my merriment, but mostly towards the kirins from the swamp village. “With around two hundred of you, we should be able to avoid any hoof to hoof fights. More so with a little extra luck.”

That was actually a great point!

“That would require that all of us be able to perform that spell, and also be able to shoot it again and again and again without much delay.” Calmatious Blossom shook her head. “Only a few dozen have been taught how to use that spell, and even then, several of them still have a way to go before they can use it properly.” Her eyes switched to her daughter for a second. “I think I would only be able to shoot three, maybe four times before I need a rest, and I’m one of the more proficient users of the spell. That’s enough to fend off any azure.” She coughed. “Any azure who isn’t protected by Lord Hades that is. However, we never planned for the possibility of a horde of azures attacking us all at once.”

“So you have to choose, Chieftain. We can ambush those azures for you, or, we join your ranks in a direct assault and randomly free kirins from the other azures influence from there. They wouldn’t be free for long given your kind, but at least they would serve you and not someazure else,” Highest Cave concluded.

“Mhh. Let's say thirty Kirins are able to cast this spell, two times on average.” I shook my head side to side in thought. “Given a few misses, that would mean around fifty of their kirins would be taken out of the fight, or…”

“Only if they weren’t loyal to them before the claiming,” Schimmernde Morgenröte threw in. “If they were already on the azure’s side before the call, all that will happen is them getting knocked out for a moment before rejoining the fight.”

“Or,” I went on, “the chance to ambush their leaders directly.”

“If we shoot at their leader and kirins throw themselves in the way to protect him, we’re still freeing them from his influence,” Highest Cave pointed out.

“It also reduces the chance of you being hit by friendly fire if you are not on the frontlines,” Mom added.

“I wonder if the chance of them not being friendly with each other is higher than between normal kirins,” Autumn Blaze wondered. “I mean,” she looked at me, “you are forced to fight each other for dominance, so if they weren’t family or friends to begin with, like you and Bliz, things get complicated real quickly. And even if they are friends, it may still get out of hoof.” She flicked her tail and thought for a second. “However, non-azure kirins may not be willing to fight each other randomly, more so if they are from different villages and don’t even know each other. And…” her thoughts drifted away for another moment before she slammed her hoof on the ground. “Wait! If my former village is among them, freeing them most likely enables me to convince them to fight on your side once they are free of the influence.”

“That only works if we go with the plan to do a head on assault, and,” Calmatious Blossom pointed at herself and her former villagers, “we happen to shoot your villagers. You would also need to be in the frontlines too for that to work.”

“No!” Nightflame roared as he rushed to his godmother. “You are not going to risk your well-being in my sister's battle!” He turned to me and hissed challengingly. “Mine!”

I rolled my eyes, but before I could tell him my thoughts about it, Autumn Blaze grabbed his ear herself.

“I am not going to let my friends put themselves in harm's way if I can prevent it, young dragon! If they are in this other azure-kirins merriment, I will try whatever I can to free them!”

“But you can’t go into the middle of a battlefield!” Night freed his ear and rubbed his head against her shoulder. “What if something happens to you? No way!”

“As much as I prefer not to, I agree with Nightflame here,” Mom told Autumn. “You can’t risk getting hurt in Fiery’s fights. With you not being claimed by Fiery,  nor protected by Hades magic, you would be a prime target for any azure out there.” Autumn opened her mouth to rebuke her, but mom continued. “You see it already with Bliz, if it wasn't for Fiery, she would have already claimed you.”

Autumn closed her mouth, unable to refute mom’s point.

“I wouldn’t have allowed it anyway, Autumn,” I added. “You do belong to my brother after all. I may not like it, but I am not going to steal one of my brother's core belongings.”

Don't get me wrong, it still stung! My brother stealing one of my followers was still urking me to no end! But, as I said, neither of us would steal a core item from each other. That it had to be Autumn though…

Happy with the outcome, Night snorted in satisfaction and curled around his godmother.

“Alright, it seems that it makes more sense to go for the ambush. We will go with that plan!” I then pointed at Highest Cave. “No spear throwing though!”

***

“I think Highest Cave underestimated their numbers!” I took a deep breath and shook slightly to get the sparkling feeling off of my tongue and the tingling itch under control. “They definitely have more kirins than us, maybe one or two hundred more!”

“And here I thought there were only a few kirins here and there,” Bliz replied. “But looking around, there are nearly a thousand of us just here.” She clapped her hooves together in excitement. “By the time we reach Shakirin-La, you may be ruling over thousands, if not tens of thousands, Fiery!”

“It would be more comforting if we were the ones who had most of the thousand kirins around here,” I retorted.

“You will lead them all at the end of the day!”

“I sure hope so.” I frowned. “And I hope they are not as skilled in mind talking as Nimble is.” I could feel at least four or five other azures out there, but there could still be one or two more. If they were all as skilled and chatty as Nimble…

“Feels like seven or eight azures out there, wouldn’t you say?” Bliz tasted the feeling more carefully. “Yep, I would say seven. Which is good!” She gave me a reassuring smile. “Your luck is on our side again. With so many new kirins in your merriment, it would have been hard to reasonably manage all of them yourself. But with more azures, you’ll have more leader figures at your disposal.”

“I only sense four or five out there. Still, they will be hard to claim if Calamitous and her ambush party fail to hit them.”

“They have your godmother's blessing on them, they will surely succeed. And if not,” she stomped a hoof, “they will at least spread chaos and confusion in their ranks. You should have an easy time claiming their leader.”

“Fiery!” A loud shout interrupted our conversation and my gaze turned around to Raising Ebb atop our guard tower . “Fiery! One of our scouts is heading back from the east! Seems they found something important!”

“The east?” I turned back to Bliz. “The other merriment is to the north, what could be that important to the east right now?”

“You better go and check. I will prepare our merriment in the meantime.”

“Stick to the plan Bliz!” I said as I spread my wings, “Remember, we need the azures to be near that half sunken, sparsely grown forest Calmatious is hiding in.”

“Don’t worry! I know the plan!” She replied as I flew off.

*

It wasn’t far. At least for me, just a minute or two. But for Summer Moon, carried by Windswept Granite I was positive it felt way longer. Despite that I told her she was not at fault for what had happened in the swamp, she was, like her sister, eager to prove herself in my eyes. Even if that meant hanging dozens of meters in the air, and going at a speed no runehorn would normally achieve. I had gotten used to having personal guards by now, especially with how my new followers saw me at the moment, but that didn’t mean they had gotten used to guarding me all the time.

Anyhow, the moment I arrived at the little hill to the right of my merriment, my scout landed. It was Agitated Harmony. She bowed. “Fiery! There is another group of creatures, heading our way!”

“What?”

“A mix of several species! Mostly deer, but also some Ornithian parrots and abyssinias! Along with some species I’ve never seen before! They’re all heading our way, and they’re armed! Hundreds of them!”

“Are you sure they are heading straight for us, and not just in our general direction?”

“I think that’s unlikely. They’re going to cross our path if we continue, and they don’t look like they’re outfitted for a longer trip. No carriages, no heavy saddlebags. When you also consider the light armor and weapons they’ve got on them, I think they’re looking for a fight. Means they’re either after us, or the other kirin merriment!”

“Ponyfeathers! Where did this strange army come from?” I turned to my guards and pointed at one of them. “You, go and warn Bliz, we need to fall back, no way we’ll be able to prevail fighting two armies! Tell her she needs to send a message to Calmatious and her group to leave their hide and come back here! And you,” I turned and pointed to the second guard, “go and warn my family that there’s another army on its way over here that isn’t a kirin one!” Both of them nodded and flew or ran off to do as I ordered.

“Maybe we can arrange for them to run into our enemy first and then overwhelm whoever’s victorious? Maybe even rush into their back at the peak of the battle. You know, like eating two ventalases with one bite.”

“We do not eat ventalases, Roary. Ventalases are our friends. Just look at Grünchen, he overcame his heritage and is an enrichment to our life,” Calmly corrected. “Asides from that though, I must advise against Roary’s suggestion. If we do that, we’re risking the lives of our kirins without a good reason! We don’t know the intentions of these other creatures. And besides, It seems like these other creatures are better equipped for combat than our merriment. If their merriment is like ours, it's kirins from everyday life traveling to Shakirin-La, not some army. They might need our help!”

“Help them?! You must have lost your mind! We want to subdue them, make them part of our merriment! They outnumber us by one or two hundred, we can use any advantage we can get!”

“Every dead kirin is a tragedy! And a new follower lost! We should stand side by side in the face of a common enemy!”

Roary snorted. “The choice is yours,” his tone changed to a more noble one, “chieftain. Either we use our knowledge to our advantage and increase our chance of success, or, we do the crazy thing and try to ally with an enemy against a force we know nothing about only for our ‘ally’ to fall into our backs the first chance they get. That is if they don’t both attack us out the gate.”

“Naysayser! We are supposed to lead every kirin one day! That means each and every one of them is our beloved subject! We need to protect them, even if they are not following us right now!” Calmly paused for a moment. “But in one thing I agree, the choice is Fiery’s.”

 I just closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. I was pushed out of my thoughts though when Summer Moon poked me with her nose and rubbed her cheek against my shoulder to check on my well being.

“I am fine,” I said as I pushed her back, only for her to whimper unhappily. Darn mental connection forcing them to act this way all the time! “Come here,” I pressed out and took a second or two to ruffle through her mane and get the message across that she hadn’t done anything wrong. After what happened to her and Heat Wave in the swamp, you’d think I’d be a fair bit more careful with my subjects, wouldn’t you? That went double for her and Heat Wave nowadays! They would jump between me and an incoming spear without a second thought, but how dare I not show them my approval for once! Well, to be fair, Heat Wave had to prove himself… but I digress.

“Alright, first of all, we need to find out if they’re coming for us or the other merriment. Then we can decide what to do. If they’re coming for us, well, maybe we can fall back to the swamp, if not, we might be able come to an agreement with the other merriment.”

Summer Moon looked at me in confusion.

“Oh, yeah, right, my advisors provided me with a plan, actually two plans, but there’s no time to waste. Agitated Harmony, grab two other scouts and stay close to this new army, keep me informed about any change in direction they take.” She nodded and flew off. “I have to redeploy my merriment,” I mumbled to myself and flew off myself.

*

“There’s no way to reach them without revealing their position, Fiery!” The courier Bliz had sent had come back, out of breath and with bad news. “The other merriment has already passed their position without us attacking and distracting them, there’s no way for them to successfully retreat without getting spotted!”

“We can’t even send them a message to not attack. If a fight breaks out, they’ll rush into their backs and try to neutralize the azures,” Sierra Bonsai said. “I have no doubt my mother will be successful in ambushing their leaders, so if what your scouts said is true, and this other army attacks, a complete loss of their hierarchy would throw them into complete disorder.”

“And if we just tell them?” Wind Root asked. “I mean if they accept your suggestion of working together for the time being. We could send a courier through and stop Calmatious and the others from springing their ambush.”

Schimmernde Morgenröte snorted loudly. “Giving away such a useful advantage sounds like a disastrous idea. Being so careless with your assets is an invitation to ruin and failure.”

“I think she is right,” Mom agreed. “If anything goes south, Calmatious Blossom and her Kirins are the best card under our wing. We just need to prevent them from ambushing the other azure-kirins if it doesn’t become necessary.”

“The problem is,” I started, “if a fight breaks out, they will ambush them. And if that fight isn’t with us, but the other army, or worse, if we’re both fighting against this other army together, it’s a recipe for disaster!”

“This is very exciting,” Allerian mumbled scribbling in his little notebook. “Your decisions and how they affect history, the tension, the uncertainty. Very thrilling!”

“I’m glad our problems are boosting the quality of your book,” I grumbled sarcastically.

“They sure are,” he replied without pulling his beak out of his book. From what I could recall, his father never dared to speak this way with Dad, or Mom for that matter.

I shook my head. “Okay, we need to prevent a fight from happening before we can sneak a message out to Calmatious Blossom. Either she needs to wait for it to actually be us fighting them,” I pointed in the direction of the other merriment, “or, she doesn’t attack them at all. Or, as a third option, attack them,” again, my claw wandered in the direction of the other merriment, “at the peak of the battle if they refuse to collaborate with us and seem to be winning against the other army without much issue.”

“I can go and try to reach them as soon as they’re behind the other merriment,” Flittering Echo offered. “I can fly around them and stop the ambush if needed.”

“No, they’d sense you for sure,” I denied. “Any kirin except for our swamp…” I paused. “Any kirin who isn’t protected by Hades would be detected by them immediately. They have between five and eight azure-kirins over there. One of them would surely notice your approach. More so with how quick they changed direction after Bliz and I came close enough. These kirins are looking for us. I don’t know if they’re aware of the other army, but one thing is sure, if it was only us and them, we would either bargain or straight up fight. It’s too late for our Merriments to avoid each other.”

“And if we send them a message, the other azures I mean?” Wind Root made a gesture towards the east. “If we warn them about the other army, and offer to work together under the terms of a leader duel afterwards, they may accept.”

“That still doesn’t solve the problem of our ambush,” Bliz berated Wind Root,” pay better attention!” This caused him to sink to his belly and lower his gaze.

“And if you challenge them before the other army arrives?” Winter Sun asked. “Under a common leader, with a united front, nearly two thousand kirins should be enough to make them hesitant to fight.”

“Don’t forget some dragons as well,” Bliz added. “Having your Dad and Aunt be visible and at the front should intimidate them for sure.”

“Depending on what they want,” Mom threw in. “What is it that they want exactly?” She looked at me.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? Haven't you send anycreature to ask them?”

“Uhm, no. I didn’t.”

Mom facehoofed. “Maybe they’re just passing through or just want us to leave their land. They’re probably just afraid of our presence, well, ours and the other merriments, and sent out creatures to make sure we won’t cause any trouble.”

“If I send them someone, and they’re not aware of us, then they will be. If they’re heading for us, I can still negotiate with them, and if they’re not, no need to let them know we’re here.”

“Fiery, that is just stupid! Either they can be reasoned with, and we all go our separate ways, or they can not be reasoned with and then we’ll need the support of the other merriment!” Mom raised a hoof for a lecture. “If they are after the other merriment, they will not come for us even if you make them aware of our presence. If they are here because of us in the first place it is better to reason with them before you’re standing face to face with them and an army on both sides watching. And if they want to attack us anyway, it will at least be good to know beforehoof!”

“No, Mom.” She raised an eyebrow at my rejection of her idea. “If they are not aware of us, and if they are looking for a fight with the other merriment, we would be able to ambush them instead. Falling into their back at the peak of the fight and catching them completely off guard. If I sent them a messenger, they would not be so careless as to turn their back on us.” I pointed at my head. “Roary told me that much. I may not like the idea, but if I have to attack them, I would prefer to have the upper claw right from the start. The other merriment takes the brunt of the damage, leaving them and the other army weakened so my kirins are at the lowest risk.”

“Uhm, Fiery…” Autumn Blaze timidly raised her voice, and when my gaze landed on her she continued. “If my friends from the Peaks of Peril are among them, they’ll be facing the brunt of the fighting too.”

Ponyfeathers! I hadn’t even thought of that! If I let the other merriment crash into that army, and some of Autumn's friends get hurt, or worse, killed, I wouldn’t be able to look her in the eyes anymore. My azure heritage be damned.

“Personal issues shall not interfere with the plan of your leader,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said disapprovingly. “The stakes are far higher than your personal interests.”

“No they are not!” I rejected my Aunt's opinion. “We took the swamp pass with the idea in mind to waylay her former village. I will not sacrifice her friends for the hope of an easier battle.”

“If you do not, you increase the risk everykirin in your merriment will need to face,” my Aunt retorted. “Doing that would reflect poorly on you as a leader.”

I let my gaze wander over my merriment. What my Aunt had said was true. I was responsible for their safety. But, I also had a responsibility towards everykirin in the future.

“Bliz,” I said sharply, “prepare a message for the other merriment, let them know about that other army and offer to work with them to fend them off, or, if they’re not convinced, to at least leave us alone for the time being. “Wind Root, you know who we are looking for. You deliver the message and see if you can confirm either the presence of your former village or their absence. Everykirin else, arm yourself, and help fortify our position as best as we can. Either we defend our position or we rush into a fight, depending on what the circumstances force us to do.”

“You forgot about my mom’s unit, Chieftain,” Sierra Bonsai said while Bliz and Wind Root galloped away. “If they are not aware of the situation, they will attack.”

“I know. But I can’t do anything about it. If Wind Root tells us Autumn's former village is among this merriment, I will send somekirin to stop the ambush, even if it means losing my trump card. If they are not among them, well, I’ll risk it and maybe have to take over a whole new merriment mid battle.”

While Mom and a few others looked at me in shock and bewilderment, my Aunt, as well as Roary, let me know they agreed with my plan.

“Fiery,” Mom shouted angrily, “You’re planning to betray them!” You can’t do that!”

“It is not betrayal, Mom! If her,” I pointed at Autumn, “friends are not among the other merriment, and this new army is looking for a fight with the other merriment, I’m letting them know that we will not be fighting alongside them! Therefore, I can rush into the other armies back, saving these kirins from the other army, and still ambush the other azures without breaking my word! The same goes for if they attack us and the other merriment refuses to work with us. In that case, it is possible that the only way for us to win is if I can claim them from the other leader and order them to help us! I’m not betraying anycreature, but I will keep all options in my claw!” I snorted forcefully. “And if this new army leaves us both in peace, and we can figure something out between their merriment and mine, maybe a duel, maybe a bargain, there will be no fighting at all and Calmatious Blossom will not have to attack!” I looked straight at my mother. I wanted to shout ‘thanks for having my back, Mom’, but given what I’d just done a few days ago, I went with, “You should have more trust in me, Mom, I’m no traitor!”

That silenced every doubter.
> Luck Favores The Bold
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You either surrender, or we will attack!  There will be no further negotiation!” Ascending Fall shouted. He was the azure-kirin that had come back with Wind Root and was now standing before me. Two normal runehorns accompanied him, each holding a flagpole with some gemstones hoof-painted on them. Now I was glad Wind Root had taken the time to fetch my new banner before leaving, otherwise I wouldn’t have any insignia of my right to rule to display! Speaking of, he had taken a position a little to my right and was holding my banner straight and proud.

“I will not surrender! If you attempt to attack me, we will defeat you!” I shouted back, being supported by the growls of Bliz and a good number of my merriments. “You may have the bigger army, but I have dragons!”

Ascending Fall’s gaze flickered to Dad and my aunt for a second before focusing back on me.

“Two and a half dragons are no match for a thousand kirins and our army of reinforcements!” His gaze wandered over my merriment once more. “I can feel,” he paused for a moment and a spark of confusion rushed over his face, “a few hundred at best! You stand no chance!”

That was the major downside to having more than half of my merriment cloaked from their senses. It kind of looked like I was heavily outnumbered out the gate. More so when I had to make sure only Bliz and my former Villagers were present around the others merriment’s envoys.

“You underestimate the strength of my merriment, Ascending Fall! I have an azure-dragon in my ranks, you know what that means!”

Now he hesitated for a moment, his eyes focused on Schimmernde Morgenröte. “An azure-dragon hatchling. A strong asset to be sure,” he nodded, “but nothing two dozen kirins with spears can’t handle. Without a flock of dragons nearby to command, the strength of a single azure dragon has its limits.”

“Don’t you dare to speak foolishly about my race!” My aunt roared at him, causing him to take a step back, with his guards positioning themselves between him and my aunt. Not that they looked like they felt up for the task of handling her at all. “The power of my race shall not be questioned by such lesser creatures as yourself!” She stepped closer. “If it wasn’t for your status as lackey of your superior, you would learn this right here and now! You are lucky that I do not harm a mere messenger!”

“I am an ambassador!” He replied a little bit fearfully. “I am untouchable!”

“Even those rules have limits!” She hissed back. “Act accordingly, or your status as messenger will not save you a second time, lower being!”

“As you can see, my aunt is supporting my merriment with her company, but not bound to my will,” I tried to say as calmly as I could muster while my aunt made her way back. “Anger her, and she will act accordingly for an azure-dragon. I have nothing to do with that in that case!”

It was a good thing that Wind Root hadn’t spotted any of Autumn's former villagers in the other merriment or this whole bargain would be far more complicated than it already was!

“Be it as it may, you have my answer. My offer for a leader-duel still stands. Your leader against me, or we fight merriment against merriment. The choice is yours!”

Instead of an answer, he shook himself one time and then closed his eyes, lifting his snout higher up. For a moment he remained in this position, and when he reopened his eyes, he spoke. “We reject your offer of a leader duel. Your merriment is far too small to be a threat to our army of kirins! We will solve this on the battlefield!” And with those words, he turned around and headed back to where he’d come from, followed by his guards at a quick gallop.

“Seems like you scared him away,” I told my aunt.

“Not enough to make him acknowledge his inferiority,” she snorted. “If he had a spark of intelligence, he would have bowed in fear and accepted your terms, if not surrender instantly.”

“But what are we going to do now?” Bliz asked. She and the others of my, let’s call it inner circle, gathered around me. “We will not be able to hold both armies back, more so at the same time.”

“We could fall back towards the swamp,” Caustic Mercy suggested. “If we abandon the carriages, we could make a run for it and face the enemy in our home territory. In the swamp their numbers would mean little, and we are used to fighting in the swamp while they are not.”

“I saw the remnants of the caravan rotting near the road,” Bliz nodded. “But we wouldn’t have Caustic Mercy and her party by our side if we fall back now.”

“I am sure we would be able to ambush the azures in the swamp even without my mother,” Sierra Bonzai said. “Without the proper magic though, it would end in their death.”

“I don’t want them dead! How many times do I have to repeat that!” I bursted out. “The plan is to overtake their merriment, not to kill them!”

“As you wish, Chieftain,” she bowed her head.

“It would definitely be easier to overpower them in the swamps, but I do not believe that is what our main goal is.” Rythil piped up. “And even if it was, half your merriment isn’t used to fighting in the swamps either. Leading your merriment into battle while in the swamp would be pure chaos.”

Mom then supported his statement “Chaos and a lot of injured or dead kirins. Even if they try to avoid wounding each other, the swamp itself is a threat. If you don't look where you trott, you can fall into a sinkhole, get attacked by some of those volandiums, or even get scattered over miles. Leading your merriment onto such a battlefield would be madness!”

“It was merely a suggestion,” Caustic Mercy said in his slower, calm voice. “In the swamp we would have the advantage.”

“We would also have to face the two armies together,” Bliz pointed out. “Wouldn’t it be better to attack them right away? Before they can join forces? If we fall back into the swamp, the two armies will join forces and come after us. However, if we strike now, we will only need to fight till Calamitous Blossom gets at their leaders.”

“Rushing into them will only work if we win just as fast. Nothing would be more harmful than for our frontlines to still be engaged with each other and a second army rushing into our back,” Summer Moon remarked. “We will protect you as best as we can, but between two armies, this will be difficult,” she added, directed at me.

“Additionally, your family and our unskilled fighters would be in the back, meaning they would be facing the brunt of the second army,” Winter Sun pointed out. “It would be an all or nothing approach. We need our best fighters in the front to overwhelm the other merriment, while we need somekirin to protect our back as well if we take too long.”

“If we are lucky,” Bliz threw a meaningful look at me and Rythil, “the fight will only last a mere few seconds or minutes. The moment Calamitous Blossom’s group strikes could decide the battle.”

“It could,” Mom said, “but what if it doesn’t? What if they didn’t get to the lead azure? If they fail, we’ll be trapped between two armies!”

“Not if we move around them,” I mumbled in thought. “If we move around them,” I said far louder, “and attack them from the west, they will both need to come from the same direction and won’t be able to effectively surround us.”

“That would put my Mothers group at higher risk,” Sierra Bonsai complained. “Instead of us, she would be trapped between two armies if the ambush fails.”

“You said you have faith in your mother’s ability to ambush their leaders,” Bliz retorted. “Well, they would have a window of time for their ambush, right after the battle started and before the reinforcements arrive. Hit and run, or hit and victory if everything goes according to plan. Seems like a manageable task to me.”

“You wouldn’t be so optimistic if it was your mother out there!”

“My mother is serving in Fiery’s merriment like I am. We all have our tasks. And your mother has to ambush their leaders. You better come to terms with it.” Bliz threw a look at me. “What do you think Fiery? Isn’t it better to try your luck with a direct attack after all?”

“I don’t want to put Calamitous Blossom and her party at more risk than necessary, but it seems to be the best option,” I agreed. “Maybe we overpower them in time, but if not, we still have an escape route towards the swamp if necessary.”

“My mother agreed to lay an ambush for you, not to lead a suicide mission between two enemy armies!” Sierra Bonsai bursted out. “You have no right to put her into such a situation!”

“I…” I started, but was interrupted by my aunt as well as Bliz.

“She has every right to do so!” Schimmernde Morgenröte yelled. “Your mother is one of her subjects and has to do as she pleases!”

“Your mother agreed to obey Fiery’s orders!” Bliz growled at the same moment, but just as quickly stopped.

“Fiery is of noble heritage!” Schimmernde Morgenröte went on. “She is a descendant of my Mother, Perle Des Hohen Berges!” Now she towered over Sierra Bonsai. “Your Mother, however, is just a simple kirin of a swampy town! She should be glad to serve my niece!”

In response, Sierra Bonsai growled, her tail tip went up and her ears pushed back some of her head feathers when they flinched back.

“How dare you!” My Aunt roared and slapped her, leaving bloody claw marks across her cheek. Of course, this didn’t go unopposed. In an instant, Sierra Bonsai struck back! The audacity of this action was too much for my aunt to process, allowing Sierra Bonsai to actually hit her nose. The fact she had dared to hit my aunt was already a shock to everyone who had experience with azure-dragons, but that she used the momentum to turn around and follow this up with a buck at my aunt, her hooves crashing forcefully against my aunt’s skull and causing her to stumble backwards, left nearly everyone stunned!

And that was the moment I knew this was going bad! I rushed forward to prevent the worst, but my chances were beyond slim!

My aunt roared, spread her wings, and struck at Sierra Bonsai in one swift move. Luckily for Sierra Bonsai, she managed to evade. Growing up in a swamp does have its perks after all. So instead of her shoulder, my Aunt’s wingspikes were driven into the ground. The moment she began to retract them, Sierra Bonsai used the opening to grab a stone with her magic and attack my aunt with it. However, she had underestimated the toughness of a dragon. Who could blame her though? My Aunt simply ignored the hit and slapped Sierra with the back of her wing, causing her to fly into the crowd and crash head first into one of the carriages. Before Schimmerne Morgenröte could chase after her though, I jumped into her path and raised both claws to hold her back.

“Stop it!" I yelled. “Have you gone mad?!”

I only got a roar as an answer, with my Aunt simply moving forward and pushing me back.

“Stop!” I yelled once more, digging my hooves into the ground. “There is a whole army out there we must take care of! This is no time to start some intra-merriment fight!”

“She dared to punch me!” Schimmernde Morgenröte yelled in rage. “This lesser being,” she shouted while picking me up by my mane, “dared to punch me! Step aside!” She didn’t even wait for me to react, but instead tossed me aside.

Good thing I had some backup by my side. After having stood in place for several seconds out of sheer disbelief, my guards now rushed to my aid, blocking my Aunts path. Spears were raised and fangs shown. Azure or not, attacking me in my own merriment was stepping over the line!

“Get back you inferior creatures!”

“No, you step back!” I shouted while grabbing the hoof Bliz was offering to help me up. “Sierra Bonsai is part of my merriment! You shall not attack her, Aunt!”

“She insulted me!” My Aunt swiped her claws through the air in anger and frustration now that she couldn’t get at her target.

“And you insulted her heritage! What did you think she would do?” I rushed over and made my way into the line of my guards. “You can’t behave like that in my merriment!”

“I am an azure dragon, I stand above your merriment!”

Now it was my time to growl. “You are here to aid me in getting the throne! Not to cause chaos in my own ranks! I demand you to stop!”

“You demand?!”

“Yes I demand it!”

I received a challenging roar straight into my face for saying that. I replied in kind, my head starting to glow. With bared fangs and raised tail, I stepped forward. “This is my merriment! I am the leader!” I shouted.

“You lead a merriment while I lead dragons!”

“And I will lead an empire!”

Now we both pressed our fangs against each other, growling deeply. She was stronger than me though, and quickly started to push me back. However, my merriment guards were quick to act, getting behind me and pushing back. Together we were able to hold our ground. Though, barely.

“Enough of that, children!” Mom trotted over and laid a hoof on both of our snouts, pushing us apart. For a second, I considered growling at her, but quickly thought better of it. My aunt, however, didn’t, but quickly stopped when her gaze met Mom’s. Whatever she saw in her eyes reminded her to not mess with her.

“Schimmernde Morgenröte, you go and stay with your brother, while you,” now Moom’s hoof pointed at me, “get your merriment ready. We have more important matters at hoof right now than a family dispute!”

“We will talk later about this, Niece!” My Aunt growled, but did as Mom instructed.

“You betcha we will!” I growled back before turning to my kirins. “Can’t wait for it,” I added but trotted over to the carriage Sierra Bonsai had crashed into. “Are you alright?” I asked as soon as I arrived.

It was obvious she was not. Sierry Bonsai had managed to stand up again, but was wavering on her hooves. She blinked a few times, having trouble focusing on me, but eventually managed to collect enough composure to give me her attention, which resulted in her growling at me.

“Stop that!” I ordered and tried to grab her chin to have a look at the claw marks on her cheek, but she slapped my claw away.

“I don’t need your help!”

I had to quickly raise a claw to stop my guards from trying to intimidate her. The incident with my aunt had made them quite hissy and protective it seemed. Still, Summer Moon remained in her ‘ready to pounce’ state right next to me and was showing her fangs to Sierra Bonsai.

“You will not perish without it, yeah, but let me have a look anyway.”

“You should be more concerned about your attack plan! It’s my mother you should be trying to help, not me! Oh wait! It's you who put her in danger in the first place!”

Ignoring her anger, I tried to lay a claw on her chin once more, but again, she slapped my claw and dared to push me aside, making her way past me.

“No, it is okay,” I said to my guards while gesturing for them to let her pass.

It wasn’t like I couldn’t understand her anger. If it was my mom out there, I think I would be even more rebellious than her. I still thought it was the best plan to have Calmatious attack, still… I let my gaze hang on Sierra Bonsai as she vanished between the carriages. I wished I could lead my merriment without putting some of them at risk, but that was the price of leading them I guess.

“Alright everykirin,” I returned my attention to my guards. “Time to prepare a charge attack!” I ruffled through Summer Moon’s mane. “Let’s hurry! We have no time to waste!”

***

“I just hope this works!” Bliz panted as we ran through the wooded valley. Surrounding us were most of my merriment’s kirins who weren’t under Hades protection.

“We will find out soon enough,” I gasped back. “Either way, we can only profit from this!”

“I can’t sense them moving yet! I don’t think they’re going to rush in to face us!”

“It doesn’t matter! All we have to do is cause them to try to surround us! The rest will solve itself!”

We were rushing right towards the center of their merriment, like a speartip. Bliz and I were acting as bait, while most of my, as far as another azure could sense, kirins formed a ring around us like a shield. We had to run like tartarus though, above us, the fighting had already started. My luftirins against theirs. I wasn’t sure who had the upper claw for the time being, though if theirs managed to break through and clearly see the army I was positioning to attack their flank, this whole assault could collapse like a house of cards! I had some of my unprotected Kirins mixed in with the Kirins from the swamp village, so if they got spotted, the other azures would discard the scout reports as groups of isolated kirins who didn‘t pose any threat. However, if their scouts caught a good sight of them, they wouldn’t be fooled any longer!

I threw a quick look into the sky. For the moment, it was mostly my kirins up there, but the line was quickly wavering back and forth. Ponyfeathers, if only I was able to mindtalk! I needed to know what was going on up there! I couldn’t even see Dad, though I knew he was up there somewhere. I stretched out my senses, at least the knowledge that our flanking kirins could keep up and hold their relative position to us was reassuring.

“Fiery!” The voice of Flittering Echo reached out to me from above. “Fiery!” She flew down and hoovered beside me. “We are getting the upper hoof up there, we’ll be able to push them back!”

“Awesome! That’s great! ” I replied without slowing down.

“We could use the opportunity to start bombing their frontline! Create chaos and disorder in their ranks before you crash into them!”

“That would surely weaken the cover for our flanking troups!” Bliz yelled, the effort to get through the trees and underbrush at this speed clear in her voice.

“We are pushing them back!” Flittering Echo repeated. “There is no threat to our flanks,” she kind of shrugged for a split second, “at least not now!”

“Anything that weakens their frontline would be great,” Winter Sun mentioned. “The first impact will be the toughest. The moment we crash into the other merriment is when we’ll most likely suffer wounded or,” she licked over her lip,” or casualties!”

“If we pull off our air support, our whole diversionary strike could be at risk!” Bliz countered.

“You have to make a decision Fiery!” Flitter requested. “If we want to hit their front before you crash into them, we have to move now!”

For a heartbeat I was indecisive about what to do. Keeping out flank attacks was key, though, at the word casualties… My gaze wandered to Rythil and my thoughts to my godmother. Luck favors the…

*

“...Bold,” Aphrodite said approvingly. “Your godchild is really taking after you.”

Fortuna acknowledged the compliment with a nod, but it was clear to see her mind was elsewhere.

“All this fighting and maneuvering,” Dyonisos spoke as he rose to refill his wine cup. “Seems more like a play Ares’ champion would utilize.” He let his gaze wander over the gathered gods and goddesses. Several of them gathered around their vision pond, following the current status of the great game. A little smile crept on his face, not unjustified, with his chosen one currently in second place, closest to Shakirin-La, though, not with the biggest of all merriments. “Your godchild should be more careful, Fortuna. There is a fine line between bold and stupid. She should be mindful not to cross that border, lest she find herself perishing long before she even reaches the outskirts of the former Kirin empire.”

“Would be a pity,” Ares said with a smug grin. “I am really looking forward to seeing how she fares against my chosen one. Perhaps, she may even manage to get a spot in his bedchamber. That is after he beats her in battle and enslaves her of course.” He raised his cup and toasted over to Fortuna. “Like I said, I don’t mean her any real harm.” His smug grin intensified.

“It’s more likely that he’ll end up as a eunuch singing high pitched chorals than having my godchild in his bed,” Fortuna retorted. She waved her hoof and the image on the pond changed, now hovering above the soon to be battlefield. The desire to interfere, to guide her godchild, itched in her hooves, but, like all the other gods, she wasn’t allowed to.

“Oh stop it you two!” Herakles said with a dismissive hoofgesture. “Reserve your rivalry for the great game!” He pointed at the pond, or more specifically, to the throng of kirins waiting for Fiery to crash into them. “Besides, with your godchild being so stupid and naive, she won’t even come close to fighting Tactical Frenzy, so I hardly see the point of you two being at each other's throats. Either she gets herself killed or ends up being the subordinate of a more skilled and clever kirin!”

“Don’t discard her so quickly, Herakles,” Hades piped up. “Not many mortals enter my domain and live to tell about it. This one has some fate on her side.”

“Fate? Ha! Luck is what is on her side! Fortuna bathed her in it when she was born! Luck and the cookies she used to bribe you and Chairon!” Herakles took a big sip of his drink before tossing the now empty cup over his shoulder. “I’ll tell you this. If luck didn’t pour out of this incapable kirin with every step she took,  she wouldn’t have even made it through her first challenge!”

“She definitely isn’t skilled in the art of war, that’s for sure,” Ares chuckled.

“I doubt anymortal in their right mind would be so stupid as to kill her though,” Athena said. “Killing a rival in the great game is acceptable. Killing the godchild of the goddess of luck is a different story.” She shifted her gaze to Ares. “You should keep that in mind. Fiery Leadership is not just a chosen one. You better make sure your chosen one knows about this difference.”

Ares spread his wings in an innocent gesture. “I already said I have no intention of permanently harming her. The same is true for my chosen one. However, accidents happen…” The moment he finished his sentence though, one of the legs of his divan broke, causing the whole thing to fall to the side, throwing him off in the process. 

“And like I already said,” Athena spoke aloud over the amusement of the crowd, “killing her would be a very bad idea in the long run.”

“Ares, stop your provocations!” Zeus ordered from his stone throne. “Fortuna, leave him be!” He smashed his hoof on his armrest. “Things are about to get interesting! Better place your bets now!”

“The odds are one to five for Fiery Leadership to win, and,” Hermes used his slide rule, “ and… this means the reward rates are one-hundred-twenty percent if she is defeated and six-hundred percent if she is victorious.”

“Fifteen points, for Fiery Leadership losing this encounter,” Dyonisos shouted.

“Double that for me,” Ares yelled, gathering himself up and taking his seat on the now crooked divan. “Or, no, triple that for me!”

“Ten points from me,” Aphrodite threw a look at Fortuna, “for Fiery Leadership coming out on top in the end.”

“All my points on my godchild,” Fortuna said firmly.

“Are you sure that is a good idea?” Aphrodite whispered to her. “If Fiery loses, you’ll immediately be out of the game.”

“Luck favors the bold,” Fortuna replied quietly.”

One after another, most of the gods placed their bets. A few refrained from betting at all though, be it the odds were not to their liking, or, due to them not wanting to get involved in the conflict between Fortuna and Ares. Then, it was time. Any moment now the mortals would clash into each other…

*

“Let go!” Flittering Echo shouted the same moment I screamed ‘Charge!’. Several dozen stones, little rocks, and anything else my luftirins could find then began to rain down on the other merriments' frontline, mere seconds before we crushed into it. Or better said, that’s what should have happened. Right before they got hit, an event that would have caused their front to waver, their horns ignited and a wall of magic shields were brought into existence!

They were able to raise shields! Ponyfeathers!

“Hold!” I desperately tried to stop our charge, but it was too late. Helplessly, I had to watch as the first two lines of my assault ran face first into their shielding and bloody their noses. We still pushed them back a step or two from the force of our rush, but they were quickly able to steady themselves.

“Hold!” I watched as one of their leaders yelled the order. It was an azure-kirin, right behind the frontline. Like a centurion of old, he stood behind his kirin, commanding them in battle.

I could see one or two of their shields breaking under the pressure of my combined ground and air attack. One or two among a hundred.

“Fiery! What shall we do?” Bliz yelled.

“I don’t know!” Panic crept into my voice. The fact that they had been able to raise shields… that thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. A sharp sting in my forehead ripped me out of my thoughts and causing me to place a claw there and wince.

“What is it? Did you get hit?” Summer Moon rushed to my side. She pushed Rythil aside and inspected my head while her sister stood guard.

“No, it's the battle, I can feel so many of my merriment getting injured!” The pain in my head rose and fell like a wave. So far no one had been seriously harmed, but the sheer amount of bloody snouts, punched out fangs and the like was overwhelming. It was like being part of a tavern brawl, just, being everyone involved at the same time!

“We should fall back! There is nothing to gain here!” Winter Sun suggested.

I lifted my head and let my gaze wander over the frontline. A few more shields had collapsed, and a new wave of stones and rocks rained down on the other merriment, incapacitating several of their kirins, but the toll on my side was far greater. Half the front was on fire now too due to so many kirins turning Nirik.

“Advance!” their officer shouted, and like one, they dropped their shields once the rain had subsided and were now counter-charging my kirins.

“Fiery! We must fall back!” Bliz grabbed my shoulder and forced me to look at her. “If they get to you, we lose!”

“She is right,” Roary piped up. “We can’t wait for Calamitous Blossom to reach their leader, if they get at you first, we lose!”

They were right, and there was nothing I could do about it. “Retreat!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, and instantly my merriment turned around to flee back the way we’d come, leaving most of our wounded behind. Not that our pursuers planned on letting us, or better, me, escape so easily! Shortly after I gave the order to retreat, a loud ‘Now!’  was heard from the azure leading this group before a few dozen runehorns teleported themselves right into my guards, using the chaos to attack my merriments leader, me!

“Watch out!” Summer Moon shouted and smacked one of the attackers unconscious with the blunt end of her spear before they’d even gotten a chance to focus on their new location. Several of their comrades shared the same fate, with my guards being quick to act and render them no longer a threat. Though, after a couple of seconds, the fights became less one-sided. When the attackers had more than the blink of an eye to defend themselves from being smacked with a stick, hoof, or whatever seemed fit, they actually put up a fight. My guard stood their ground, but more and more runehorns were teleporting in.

“Fiery!” Rythil screamed.

I turned around, and quickly ducked under a strike aimed at my head. One of the enemy runehorns had managed to get past my guards! I retaliated with a strike of my own, but my opponent was too quick and evaded the strike. He rose to his hindlegs and swung his staff above his head, planning to strike me down with an overhoof swing… only to get hit in the side by the pole of Winter Sun’s spear. He fell to the ground and whimpered in pain, holding his side. Another swift hit from Winter Sun rendered him unconscious.

“We must move, now!” she yelled, pointing in the direction of our carriages. She grabbed me by the shoulder and pushed me forward. “Go!”

I started to gallop, being flanked by Winter, Summer and Bliz. Around us, kirins and niriks were fighting fiercely. So far, my guards were holding their ground, but it was only a matter of time until we were overwhelmed. We made our way towards a little hill that was maybe a few hundred meters away from our carriages. Winter and Summer had their hooves full with clearing a path for us. More than a few of our opponents were felled by their spears. Fortunately, it looked as though both my and the opposing merriment were aiming to simply knock out the opposition rather than kill them. At least we had that in common. So while the pain in my head had increased, no one had died so far.

Another wave of stones rained down from above, slowing down our pursuers. My luftirins had changed tactics though. Instead of larger stones and rocks, they had gathered smaller ones and were trying to constantly bombard our opponents. It was doing less damage, but at the same time, was more effective at slowing them down.

“Way to go, Flittering Echo!” I shouted, glad that appointing her to lead my luftirins had been a good idea.

Quickly, a ring of my guards formed closely around me while whoever was still standing from my ‘bait’ troop formed a second, outer layer.

“Where is Calmatious Blossom?” Bliz wondered. “She should have striked by now!”

“I don’t know, I can’t see their leader either!” I replied. My senses were telling me where the other azures where, but not who was who among them.

“Over there!” Bliz pointed in the direction where two azures seemed to be. On another hilltop, far behind the enemy lines, one of their azures appeared, surrounded by several armed kirins in armor. My senses told me there were at least two additional azures among the guards, even if I couldn't determine which one they were from here.

“That must be him!” Bliz shouted confidently.

We didn’t have the time to watch them for long though. Even under the constant bombardment of my luftirins, our enemy was approaching steadily.

“It seems so,” I agreed. “We can’t get to him from here though!” I quickly checked our surroundings. Our enemy was already making a move to surround us.

“At least this part of the plan is working,” Rythil said, crawling back onto my neck.

“Yeah, but the plan was horseapples to begin with!” Winter Sun judged, holding her spear in preparation for any teleporting enemies.

“I kinda have to agree,” I admitted. Then something behind the enemy leader caught my attention. There, right behind him, dozens of kirins rose to the sky from the valleys between the hills! For a second or two I just stood there, my mind too slow to progress everything that was going on. Then my eyes went wide. “They have reinforcements!” I yelled. My head shot to the sky. “Flittering Echo! Watch out, there are luftirins coming our way!”

Several heads, on ground and in the air, turned in the direction I was now pointing in.

“That darn gelding!” Winter Sun cursed. “He not only let us run into one trap, but two!”

“No wonder our Luftirins were able to break through so easily!” Bliz said. “Half of their forces were in hiding!”

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, followed by a subtle shiver running down my backscales. “Watch out!” I barely managed to scream when another wave of runehorns teleported in. This time was different though. The azure-kirin that had been leading their frontline was among them!

They had used the distraction to launch another surprise attack. It may have worked too if their azure hadn’t been so eager to join the ambush. For whatever reason, be it the call, or just my luck, I had been able to sense his approach!

The surprise on his face felt like a little triumph when I welcomed him with a kick to the face instead of having my back turned to him. The hit sent him flying back a few steps, but I didn’t have the time to revel in the victory as all around us, the turmoil of a fierce fight instantly brought me back to the present. Only half of my guard was still standing, but from what I could see, I was assuming their runehorns who’d been able to teleport in hadn’t fared much better.

I charged after him, but his own guard, or whatever these guys were called, blocked my path. I raised my claws to attack them, but was pulled back by my tail.

“Let us handle them!” Winter Sun demanded and rushed past me. Her sister rushed past my other side, and together, they fought bravely against the other guard. The sound of wood hitting wood echoed through the air. I waited for my opportunity, and when a small corridor opened between them, I rushed through and engaged the other azure in claw to hoof combat.

A tiny voice in the back of my head told me this was borderline stupidity, but a louder one told me to engage the other azure and make it clear who was dominant!

When our gazes met, we didn’t take the time to exchange pleasantries. We both growled and instantly charged at each other, or more accurately, he charged at me and I got slammed by his shield! The moment I was hit, he dropped the shield and tried to jump on me. A quick strike from my claw stopped that attempt, leaving a bloody scratch over his cheek. He may or may not have had good training, but Dad showed me how to use my claws!

“Surrender!” I demanded. “Bow down and accept my superiority!”

He hissed at me, which was answer enough.

We exchanged a series of strikes and kicks. Though his darn shield prevented me from scratching him further. Whenever I aimed at his forelegs or face, he raised a tiny shield to block my attacks. In return, I was consistently lucky enough to move at the right speed to evade his strikes completely.

“Watch out!” Rythil suddenly yelled. He jumped up and off of me, catching something out of the air, which ended with him releasing a tiny wince of pain as he landed with his hind claws in my upper mane.

“Huh?” Was all I was able to express before a series of little objects began to rain down around me.

“Everykirin watch out, we are getting bombarded!” Somekirin yelled.

I looked up and watched as my current situation turned grim. My luftirins had been driven back! Now it was my merriment who was getting targeted from above!

A sharp pain shot through my head. No, it wasn’t my kirins getting injured, but my lack of attention that had given my opponent the opportunity to strike me. My head collided with the ground, driving dirt into my eyes. Rythil got catapulted over my head before rolling off into the frenzy. I barely turned over in time to see my opponent trying to jump on me once more.

I braced for the impact… but it wasn’t necessary. Like an arrow, Dad crashed into my attacker, swiping him off his hooves and using him like a surfboard. I heard the horrible sound of bones cracking and screams of pain.

“Are you alright?" Bliz appeared by my side out of nowhere and lifted me up. Just in time to see Dad grabbing the other azure by one of his legs, roar, and then swinging him around like a stuffed doll. Mercilessly, he threshed at our enemies, hitting several and sending them flying several meters through the air or stomping them into the ground.

“That’s his way of avoiding killing kirins?” Rythil asked in shock as he floated over to us as fast as his little form could.

“Dragon!” I just spat out and stuffed him into my mane. “Be glad he is on our side!”

Dad joining the ground battle was a blessing! Not only did he counter their attack on us, but also drove fear and hesitation into their ranks! Many of our attackers stood there, paralyzed from seeing their comrades get beaten up by a dragon, a loud, angry, roaring dragon! 

And his timing couldn’t have been any better. While everyone was still focused on him, my reinforcements arrived. A few hundred kirins, undetectable by azures, covered in greenish face paint and with bushy feathers around their heads, stormed at the frightened ring of kirins around us.

If it wasn’t for that darn leader of theirs, they surely would have fled in an instant!

With an invisible command, they quickly formed ranks and raised their shields to stop my kirins from overruning them.

A loud ‘thud’ was heard next to me, followed by an “Arg!” growled by Bliz before she placed a hoof on her side. “We need to do something about their luftirins!”

Quickly, Summer Moon rushed to our side, throwing one look at Bliz and then trying her best to cover me and her with her body.

“Where is your sister?” I asked.

“She got hit! I will fetch her after the battle!” was Summer Moon’s short reply. A few stones crashed into her back scales but she shrugged it off.

I looked at the spot Winter Sun had been fighting but she was nowhere to be seen. Then, out of nowhere, the bombardment stopped and the enemy luftirins pulled back as fast as they could.

“Why did they just stop?” Rythil wondered as we followed their retreat with our gazes. “I’m no expert when it comes to fighting battles, but shouldn’t they protect their frontline, or drive your luftirins back?”

“They kind…” I stopped when my gaze landed on the direction they were heading to. “They’re trying to protect their leader!” I exclaimed. “Look over there!” I pointed at said kirin and his ring of guards. Finally, Calmatious Blossom had shown up, she and her volandilum-riders were heading straight for the enemy leader.

It was going to be a close call! The luftirins were faster, but Calamitous was closer!

I could see magical shields being raised.

There was maybe two hundred meters between Calamitous and the enemy leader.

Around us, runehorns disappeared, only to reappear in front of Calamitous Blossom.

Bruised and shaken as they were, they were no match for my volandilum-riders. They barely even slowed them down.

A hundred meters.

The other azure guards braced for the impact. Spears were now raised too.

They were in for a surprise! Just as I hadn’t anticipated them being able to teleport or raise magical shields, they didn’t know my swamp-kirins could shoot!

Right before the luftirins dove down to slam into my riders, they fired a volley of anti-azure-rays or whatever you want to call it. 

More than one shield broke, several kirins got hit and fell to the ground. Sadly, none of their leaders had gotten hit!

“Flittering Echo!” I shouted. “Flittering Echo!”

“I am here!” she replied, swiftly flying to my side. I could see some of her scales had been cracked and some of her feathers were missing. Still, she was ready to follow my orders.

I pointed at Calmatious and my riders. “They need help, quick!”

Flitter nodded and rose higher again. Together with maybe two dozen of my own luftirins, she rushed to Calmatious aid.

The short moment I had needed to give that order had been enough for the battle between Calamitous and the enemy azure to change drastically. 

The close combat was brutal, with both sides crashing into each other at high speed! 

Kirins on both sides laid on the ground, stunned by the impact. Additionally, those Volandiums whose riders had been kicked off went into an uncontrolled frenzy!  They bit, rammed, or trampled everykirin without a feather bush around their heads.

It was pure chaos!

Still, so far, anti-azure-rays were flying through the air, finding their targets among our enemies.

And then, in the heat of the fight, it happened. 

Three of my riders managed to jump over the enemy guards, right next to their leader. The azure next to him tried to shield him with his body, only to get hit by two of the rays and fall to the ground unconscious. Their leader tried to fight back, throwing a spear at one of my riders, sending them off their volandium. But it was in vain. The two remaining riders attacked him with their spears, broke his shield, and one of them blasted him with an a-a-r.

The battle was over! I was victorious!

Or so I thought…

I saw their leader fall. I saw it! I saw him going down!

Still, the fighting around me didn’t diminish. 

“What in tarnation…?” I mumbled.

“We hit him!” Bliz exclaimed. “We hit him! How can this be?!”

There was only one explanation. The azure we’d shot down hadn’t been their leader, it had been a decoy!
> Unwelcome Guests
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ha! She even fell for one of the classic deceptions!” Dyonisos exclaimed while laughing, hitting his divan with a hoof. “One-hundred-twenty percent win rate! These will be the easiest points in the whole game!”

“Looks like you are soon to be out of the game entirely, Fortuna,” Ares commented, his smug grin having just returned. It wasn’t as though he wasn’t angry about his broken divan, but the unfolding events were helping to improve his mood.

“The losses will be counted at the end of the day, not during,” Helios stated. He was one of the few gods who had actually bid in favour of Fiery. Even though it had only been a small amount of points… “The whole situation can still change upon that second army’s arrival.”

“Maybe both of them will get killed,” Hades chuckled, while small blue flames escaped his snout.

“That your Godchild fell for that,” Herakles shook his head disapprovingly. “I was once also quick to act and eager to take on any challenge hoof first, but this, this is even by my former standards poorly thought out.”

“The art of deception is not one of Fiery Leadership's strongest skills,” Athena agreed. “Still not as bad as some of your doings, like joining those argonauts, Herakles.”

“Don’t remind me of that!” Herakles frowned. “Okay, perhaps I did equally stupid things back in the day.”

“Be it as it may, I foresee Fortuna running out of points and any chance of regaining them,” Dyonisus said. “That would mean basic cunning beats the best of luck.”

“Not so fast,” Aphrodite threw in. “Maybe she survives and Candid Diversion does not. In that case, luck beats cunning in the end.

“Luck can only do so much,” Poseidon judged. “Though, given the circumstances, it has its use. Even the most cunning can perish to a single instance of bad luck.”

“Good thing Fortuna is forbidden from touching Candid Diversion!” Ares leaned back in his crooked divan histrionically. “So no extra bad luck for him!”

“If he is to kill my godchild, or be responsible for her death, he will drown in it,” was all Fortuna had to say to this.

Some of the gods or goddesses nodded in agreement. ‘Fair enough’ was the best way to describe the general opinion regarding Fortunas statement.

“That’s what makes these kinds of games so funny though,” Dyonisos said. “We all see which gift is the best among those we bestow. Wisdom, luck, fate and all the others,” he raised his cup to the respective gods or goddesses while he spoke. “Not forgetting joy and hedonic pleasure of course.”

“You forgot about a little whiff of happenstance.” A new voice arose from the doorway. Happenstance himself, brother of Fortuna, had entered the mirror-hall. “Just mix in a little bit of happenstance and all your cunning, wisdom and,” he looked at his sister with a mischievous raised eyebrow, “even luck can be in vain.”

“One needs to be lucky to avoid unfortunate happenstances,” Fortuna replied, and when Happenstance arrived at her divan, moved aside to make room for her brother.

“A good plan takes happenstance into account,” Dyonisos replied, slightly delayed. “Mere happenstance is simply an inconvenience to those who plan ahead. Anyway, are you going to bet some points yourself? It is not too late yet.”

Happenstance threw a short look at the pond. “Are ya winning, sis?” He whispered to Fortuna.

She shrugged.

“Oh well, five points on my sister’s favourite winning then,” Happenstance proclaimed.

“Only five? Even your brother lacks faith in your champion,” Ares mocked.

“Ares!” Zeus said sharply.

“Just teasing,” Ares said, lifting his hooves in an innocent gesture.

Ignoring him, Fortuna addressed her brother while her eyes stayed on the battlefield. “So what brings you here?”

“Can’t I spend time in my sister’s company while her godchild fights in the great game?”

“You could, but you wouldn’t,” she replied.

“Ahh well,” he gave her a mischievous grin. “I told you your godchild fascinates me. There are only so many mortals who are going on a quest like this with no certain fate upon them, you know?”

“You know that Moirai doesn’t enlighten us on the mortal’s fate for a reason.”

“Oh, it is nothing like that, at least not this time,” Happenstance's voice rose an octave and took on a smug undertone. Just from the tone, Fortuna knew her brother thought he had an extra special secret to share. Oftentimes though, these secrets turned out to be about mundane topics.

“Is that so?” Fortuna asked, not pulling her gaze away from the pond.

Happenstance pouted. “Well, if you are not interested, there is no point in telling you.”

“I only have this one Godchild, brother. You will forgive me if I am not so curious about some little secret you think you can bestow.”

Fortunas brother huffed, so she felt so generous as to give him a quick look.

“If you have something to say, say it,” she demanded.

“No, I do not want to anymore.”

Fortuna focused back on the pond. “Fine with me.”

“Fine with me too,” Happenstance replied while crossing his forelegs.

It took a whole six seconds before he broke the silence again. “Okay, if you insist. I’ll tell you.”

“I didn’t…”

“The rumour goes that your godchild lacks a precise destiny beyond a point in the near future.”

Now Fortuna did perk up her ears. “Nonsense,” she dismissed.

“It is not. The rumour says that Moirai isn’t just unwilling to tell us, but she doesn’t know!”

Fortuna snorted. “Where did you get this drivel from?”

“I told you it isn’t nonsense.”

“Mortals all have a destiny to fulfill. There is no exception. My godchild is supposed to travel to Shakirin-La. If she makes it or not, Moirai will know.”

“If you say so…” Happenstance spread his hooves like a shrug. “Then you have no use for advice on how to benefit from that I suppose.”

“I…” Fortuna started but was cut short when murmuring began passing through the ranks of the gods.

“What by the styx is she doing now?” Dionysus wondered aloud.

*

“How do you know it is him?!” Bliz yelled over the din of battle.

“Because he feels the same pain I do!” I pointed at the last azure standing from the group of three that had been behind the first azure we had assaulted, a kirin who was now behind a ring of guards. He was currently holding one forehoof to his temple, despite showing no signs of having been hit or otherwise injured. “He also didn’t come to the aid of the decoy!”

“He could also be feeling the loss of the other two azures from his merriment! You can’t be sure!”

“And I can’t let this brawl go on forever either!” I waved my hoof over the battlefield. “We need to win this before the other army arrives! There have to be kirins still standing if we want any hope of defending ourselves or not immediately surrendering!” I jumped up and spread my wings to hoover in the air. “Guards! On me!”

“Fiery, I don’t think this is a good idea!” Rythil piped up, but I ignored him.

I pointed directly towards the other ring of guards, at least the part of them that was not currently engaged with fighting my luftirins, the raging volandiums, or had already been struck down. “Attack!” I yelled while bursting forward. Whoever could, followed my lead. Summer Moon even jumped up and clung to Bliz's legs.

“Dad!” I shouted as we flew by. “Dad, I need you over there!” He quickly threw a glance at me, unceremoniously throwing the kirin he had been holding to his side before rising into the air. The other merriment quickly blocked my ground troops, only allowing the kirins who had already flocked around me to continue the attack with me. One or two kirins tried to throw stones at us, and a few even jumped up with the goal of snatching a leg or wing, but failed in the end.

“What is your goal here?” Dad roared as he came closer.

“I believe this,” I pointed at the azure, “to be their leader! We will attack him and end this battle!”

“You want me to kill him?” Dad asked.

“No! I don’t want him dead!” However, upon giving the battlefield a closer look and seeing all the injured or unconscious kirins laying around, I reconsidered what I wanted him to do. “Maybe give him a good beating and let me deal with what’s left?”

He growled in agreement.

“Maybe your dad should help Calmatious Blossom,” Rythil piped up once again. He had sunk his claws firmly into my mane to not get bucked off. “Your riders need help!”

“Not to mention Flittering Echo!” Summer Moon agreed, dangling from Bliz legs, swinging dangerously from side to side, desperately clenching her spear between her rear hooves.

“If we get their leader, all the fighting will be over!” Bliz shouted. “That should be our main goal!”

I agreed with her. “Dad, you try and beat down that azure. I’ll follow you and try to subdue him afterwards. Bliz, you and my guards join our riders and see what you can do.”

“I am staying with you!” Summer insisted. “Can’t let you down a second time!”

Instinctively, I wanted to put her in her place for speaking out against my will, but she had a point. I grumbled but nodded my agreement. “Alright, Summer, you and,” I looked around, checking which luftirins from my guard had made it this far, “you and Rising Fall come with us. The rest of you help Calamitous Blossom and her team!”

I watched as Dad took the lead, preparing to dive down on that azure, while most of my guards followed Bliz and veered off with her towards my riders. If it wasn’t such a serious situation, the way Bliz swung Summer over to Rising Fall before she departed would have been hilarious! Summer was more than willing to protect me and get tossed over, but the fear of falling from such a height was clearly visible on her face as she clung to Rising Fall a little bit too strongly.

Our approach didn’t go unnoticed though, and what was left of the other azure’s guard tried to brace for our attack. Little did he know that I’d seen through his disguise! With shame though, I realised too late that it didn’t matter anymore. With him being the last azure standing and them not knowing that the anti-azure-rays were harmless, they formed a ring around the last azure from the group, dropping the pretence of disguise they had put up before.

“Watch out for their spears!” I shouted to Dad. He snorted at my concern before simply attacking them with his firebreath. While it was harmless to them, it did block their sight. Using this, Dad changed course and crashed into their formation below and to the side of their now burning spears. They tried their best to recover once they noticed what he had done, but it was in vain. Mercilessly, Dad broke their spears and swiped at them with his claws, tail and wing spikes. It was at this moment that I once more realised what kind of slaughter I would have sent my kirins into if I’d have ordered them to attack him back in the days.

“Try not to kill them!” I shouted, rushing after him with Summer Moon and Rising Fall by my side and Rythil on my back. Dad had created a path of destruction through their formation which I could easily follow. 

“Focus on her!” The other azure suddenly commanded. “Ignore the dragon as best as you can and attack her!”

Ignoring Dad? As if anycreature could do that so easily! Though they tried! Several of them redirected their burning spears and attacks at me, but Dad wanted to have a word with them as soon as he noticed. He wasn’t in rage mode since I was a grown up now, but that only made him more dangerous!

“Take that!” One of the enemy kirins yelled, trying to strike me with their spear, only to have their flank pierced by one of Dad’s wing spikes before getting forcefully tossed into the crowd.

I focused on the other azure. “Call back your guards or my dad will kill them eventually!” I tried to sound like I wasn’t making a threat, but I was pretty sure that’s how it came across.

It took him a moment to overcome the shock of seeing dad fighting before he made a decision. Dad fighting was, while less scary, no less intimidating than him being in rage, blindly attacking everything that moved. As a result, two more kirins were subjected to a portion of Dad’s fury in the short moment the other azure needed to make a decision. His gaze swept over dad, our luftirins fighting in the air, and the rampaging volandiums spreading havoc, luckily more in his ranks than mine.

Though his reaction was quite different from what I had expected!

With a flicker of his horn, he was gone! This coward! He’d teleported himself away!

Shortly after, what was left of his troops turned tail and retreated in a hastily gallop. No, on second glance, they weren’t retreating, they were heading towards me!

“Coward!” I roared. “Come back and fight me!” If it would have been of any use, I would have screamed at his kirins what an unworthy azure they were following. Though, it wasn’t like they could choose not to.

“Fiery! We need to move!” Summer Moon hecticly shouted over the clashing of spears. She and Rising Fall were fighting with some of the other guards.

That stupid azure’s orders were still in effect, right! These guys were trying to get at me while ignoring Dad as best as they could, only causing them to get injured en masse! They were able to focus on Summer and Rising Fall too, but just barely.

“Dad! Grab Summer Moon!” I shouted and flew up into the air. “We need to get back to our side!”

Luckily, Dad did as I instructed, though only after he struck some kirins who were going to throw their spears at me. Quickly, I rose higher to get out of their range.

It was at that moment that I realised that I had screwed up! Dozens of enemy luftirins were heading straight towards me! I saw how even more tried their best to get loose of my luftirins, who they had been fighting with, and turn around to chase after me too! It was an all or nothing move though! Several got struck down in their hastily change of target, resulting in my kirins gaining the upper claw! I was actually winning this battle… if I could prevent them from getting at me!

“It would be wise to move!” Rythil pointed out.

“Right!” I soared higher into the sky, being tailed by two different flocks of luftirins.

“Maybe you can shake them off in the clouds?” Rythil suggested, gripping my mane tightly with one claw while looking back at our pursuers.

I looked at the few good weather clouds. “I doubt it! But I can try! I only need to stay out of their reach till my own luftirins get here!”

I flapped my wings harder, but the distance between me and them kept diminishing. I couldn’t hope to outfly all of them, that much was clear. I aimed for the biggest cloud there was and rushed towards it, moments before my first pursuer followed my example.

“Try to keep your bottom directed at them,” Roary advised.

“My bottom? But my scales are on my back!”

“Your scales are blue, your belly is white. If you are intending to camouflage yourself, keep your white body parts angled towards them. Use your wings or legs to cover your mane.”

“Are we sure we want to stay in the cloud?” Calmly interrupted hastily. “If our luftirins collide with theirs in the air, some may die or get seriously injured if they fall from this high!”

I spun my head around, indecisiveness clouding my thoughts. Both of my advisors were right! More so if Dad eventually joined the inevitable fray! No way somekirin survives being pierced by his wingspikes or claws before being sent to crash into the ground afterwards!

“Rythil!” I yelled as I rushed into the cloud and rolled to the side as soon as my tail had vanished from my pursuers sight. I lowered my voice to half a whisper. “Rythil, can you distract them? Float to the other side of the cloud and get their attention so I can make a run for the ground again? I fear some kirins may perish from the fall if they get hurt up here.”

His face became a bit pale. He quickly looked downward. Despite the fact that he could only see the cloud around us, it didn’t take much imagination to picture just how dangerous it would be to fall from this height. “I can try my best!”

I shhed him and nodded. “Go,” I whispered and threw him through the cloud.

In the few seconds he needed to float to the other side, I could hear several kirins rushing into the cloud. I couldn’t see what they were doing, but my imagination told me they instantly went about racing through the cloud to find me.

“Hurry Rythil!” I thought.

Luckily, a moment later, I heard him roar. It was, given his size, not that loud or threatening, but enough to draw some attention. I heard several kirins rush through the cloud towards his rough location. I waited another moment for his second roar, hoping all the while that they wouldn’t get him, and when I heard it, rushed out of the cloud the other way.

With a little extra luck on his side, he would be a needle in a haystack in this cloud.

Speaking of luck, it took the pursuers outside the cloud almost a whole three seconds to spot me and my flight to the ground.

Three seconds, better than nothing. I flew straight at my ground forces, hoping to find cover in the crowd. Though, the long run here, along with the fighting and flying, had taken its toll. I was far slower than I wanted to be! Gravity was helping me reach the speed I wanted, but it was doing the same for my enemies!

On my descent, I noticed two things, first, it was really hard to determine where it would be safe to land and where it wouldn’t. Hundreds of kirins were rushing here and there, with half of them wanting to attack me, and the other half to protect me. The lines between them wavered heavily. And secondly, the third army was about to show up near the border of the battlefield at any moment!

I was so shocked that I forgot to beat my wings for a moment. I was heading for disaster!

“Snap out of it!” Roary yelled.

“Huh,” was all I was able to think before one of my faster pursuers crashed into me. The instant we made contact she clung to me, trying to prevent me from using my wings while attempting to bite down into my neck. Caught off guard or not, I was the daughter of a dragon, so I instinctively bucked at her and smacked her face with my claw. A red mark appeared on her yellow cheek and a cry of pain escaped her lips, but she didn’t loosen her grip. We both hissed and now it was me biting her. In our struggles, I was able to get my head into position to sink my fangs into one of her forelegs that she was using to restrain me. She screamed in pain before releasing her other foreleg’s hold on me to slam that hoof onto my head repeatedly. The moment she did this, I let go, spread my wings, and tried to recover from the fall and get away from her, but we were already too close to the ground. Both of us crashed into the kirins below.

*

As I came to, I reached out to grab ahold of the table next to me to rise up from the ground. I shook my head, and on instinct, touched my itchy nose.  I was confused for a moment when I saw a little bit of blood stuck to my claw when I pulled it away from my nose, the bright red strain contrasting the white skin around my talons. I grabbed a hanky from the table, swiped it off, and placed it on my nose.

“Wait, shouldn’t I be on a battlefield?!”

The thought hammered into my mind, washing away the confusion. I looked around. This was my home! My family's lair! I was standing in our living room! For a second, the unreasonable fear that I had not survived the fall seeped into my mind… but that was nonsense. The very evidence that I was still alive had left stains on my claw.

“Hello there!” A stranger's voice rose from the hall. “Anykirin home?”

I turned around and made my way over, looking for who it may be, only to find out it was the leader of the other merriment! A growl started to build up in my throat as I flared my wings while approaching him.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded to know.

He let his gaze drift over the interior of my family’s lair for a moment and caught a glimpse into the nearby visible rooms before answering.

“Well, I am here to claim you, obviously. Since I had underestimated the ferocity of the dragon you brought, it may be the safest way after all.”

“Claim me?!” Now I growled and presented my fangs. If this idiot thought he could come here and claim me, he was in for a surprise!

“Well, yes,” he replied. “Look, you are currently laying on the battlefield, more or less injured I would say.” He pointed at my still bleeding nose. “And I used the opportunity. So if you would just guide me to the centre of your azureness, that would be great.”

“I will shove your sorry flank out of the lair! That’s what I am going to do!” I stepped forward to follow through on that when he spoke again.

“I was afraid you would say that. Well,” he stepped aside and an azure dragoness along with a green unicorn stallion entered the hall behind him, “I brought some company with me should that be the case. You don’t mind that we let ourselves in, do you?” A light smile was now plastered across his face.

I took one step back. Yeah, while my azure instinct was trying to convince me to storm forward and beat the feathers out of my opponents for invading my territory, I still had enough common sense to hold me back.

“Looks like we have some unwelcome guests,” Roary piped up, entering the hall from the hallways leading towards my room. “How rude to come in without invitation.”

“We should show them the way out,” Calmly added, emerging from the living room behind me with a spear in hoof and Mom’s old fabric armour she used to endure Night's attempts to hop on her back before he’d gotten his mind around not using his claws.

When both of them stopped next to me, I noticed that both of them also had bleeding noses.

“Look,” The other azure started and raised his hooves in a calming gesture.. “I know we both want to claim the right to be the dominant here. But as the call has it, only one of us can be that. The fighting outside is getting out of hoof, kirins are getting seriously injured. You can feel it just as I can.” He tapped his forehead scales with his hoof tip before a grim expression overtook his face. “Some have also died. Your ambush was reckless!”

“They are not dead!” I interrupted him harshly. “They are just out of your merriment, as well as undetectable by an azure.”

At this revelation, a hint of relief washed over his face. Yeah, he was definitely on my naughty-kirin list for entering my mind, but at least he cared for his merriment.

“I take it that that’s the same effect that’s shielding half of your merriment from my senses as well?”

“Comes in very clawy, doesn’t it?” I smiled.

“It is some ability. I will certainly put it to use as soon as your merriment becomes part of mine,” he replied.

My first instinct was to growl, but then a thought sprung into my mind, completely extinguishing that intention. Baffled, I realised that even if I were to be claimed, it wouldn’t affect my villagers from the swamp at all. They would still be bound to my command, which would be influenced by the one who claimed me, but still… I could simply order them to shoot whoever dared to claim me with anti-azure-rays!

My bright smile ignited a spark of uncertainty on his face. Much to my delight.

“Good luck with that!” I laughed.

“What do you mean?” His eyebrows furrowed.

“I will explain it to you after I claim you. So,” I pointed at the hallway leading towards the outer lair, “whoever you may be, be gone!”

“Ah, where are my manners?” He nodded slightly. “Candid Diversion, future emperor of the kirins. Always a pleasure to meet a new member of my merriment.”

“Fiery Leadership,” I replied as I waved my claw like he was already my subordinate. “Your soon to be leader.”.

After this exchange we stood there, simply looking at each other. Both of us with a spark in the eyes. I wouldn’t deny that my anticipation of claiming him grew with every second we remained this close to each other. Must be an effect of the call. Or at least I would like to see it that way.

“Well, this is anticlimactic,” the stallion to the left of my opponent said.

“You always miss out on the wonderful tension before the actual fight takes place,” the dragoness said, her eyes locked on Roary. “This is going to be fun.”

“Indeed,” Roary agreed, his claws carving little furrows in the floor.

“Since we can’t settle this diplomatically, we should get this over with I guess!” Candid Diversion said before gesturing for his advisors to attack. Instantly, Roary and the dragoness stormed forward, crashing into each other, roaring, biting and slashing at each other furiously. Not that Calmly had to hide herself in that regard, like an arrow, she had sprung forward. Her advance was like a dance, rushing left and right, leaving the stallion none the wiser regarding her next move. She even bounced off the walls and ceiling on her approach, though, the expected shots of the unicorn which she made this for never came. Instead, he waited motionless. Only when she reached him, taking a strike at him, did he raise his shield. With a shower of blue sparks, Calmly’s spear glanced off of it, only leaving a spider web of cracks across its surface. When she retracted her weapon, he dropped his shield and grabbed her spear, first with his magic, then his hooves. Fiercely, they struggled for control of the weapon.

With both our advisors engaged in close combat, that only left myself and Candid Diversion. A fair portion of the muscles in my legs and barrel had unconsciously gone tense, having been instinctually called into action in preparation to storm forward and rip him apart for daring to enter my territory, my lair, my mind! However, I knew better than to give in to my gut feelings and recklessly dash away from my allies and into the midst of three hostile fighters! Instead, I headed for the treasure room. He would be making a grave mistake if he dared to follow me, but, it would also be to his detriment if he didn’t prevent me from getting my claws on the additional spear Dad stored there for emergencies when he wasn’t home but Mom needed a weapon.

“Catch me if you can!” I even tried to provoke him, but he just stood there watching the fight rage on. Well, he’d already proven he wasn’t a fool when it came to combat. I slightly expected him to teleport, or to use some other magic trick to increase his chances, but he didn’t use any of them.

Arriving at the treasure room, I pulled the secret stone and the chamber opened. I ignored the piles of gold and gems strewn across the ground and the pedestals holding the artefacts and family pictures as I rushed in. Instead, I flew up and grabbed the spear, ripping it from its anchoring above the door.

With the reassuring confidence of it in claw, I turned back to the hall. “Let me show you how we respond to having our lair invaded!” I was going to anchor myself in the centre of the hallway, waiting for an opportunity to attack him when another thought sprung to my mind. I redirected my attention and launched forward, not at Candid Diversion, but at the azure-dragoness! I aimed for the weak spot in her scales, right between her thigh and torso.

She, however, sensed the danger. Her eyebrows furrowed as she focused on me. She slapped at me with a wing, her wingspike burrowing in the ground next to me. Normally, I knew better than to attack an azure-dragoness, but I didn’t need to hit her. Unfortunately for her, she was in a fight with an azure-dragon herself. Roary had no reservations in using this distraction to his advantage, instantly piercing her exposed wing with his own wingspike.

I felt a moment of triumph, that was, until she just tore her wing from his wingspike, rending her wing’s membrane in the process. Sure, she wouldn’t be able to fly anytime soon, but I guess that wasn’t an issue when she was in my mind! Her roar of pain also wasn’t as uplifting as it should have been given the circumstances. In fact her pain only seemed to make her more dangerous. With a freshly kindled rage, she slashed out at Roary, who now had his claws full blocking all her attacks.

Before I could aid him with my spear though, I noticed that my opponent had finally decided to join the fight! While I had wasted my attack on his azure advisor, he had joined the hoof to hoof fight with Calmly!

Both stallions had pushed her back, and with coordinated attacks, were making an attempt at getting hold of her spear! “A little help over here!” She yelled when our gazes met!

“On it!” I rushed forward and aimed my spear at the other azure-kirin. As expected, he evaded, leaving an opening for me to strike at his advisor. His desperately raised shield sparked blue for the second time as my speartip glanced off of it, pushing him to the side from the sheer force of my attack. I couldn’t follow this up though as the azure now countered my offensive with a strike of his own!

I blocked it with my spear, resulting in us now struggling for control of it! His pull was more powerful than mine due to his strength and his cheating use of magic! Time to show him what pegasi heritage can do! I jumped up, steadied myself in the air with my wings, and sent a heavy kick right at his snout. Or, that was what I had planned. When I was already in the air, he grabbed my left wing and twisted it around with his magic. With a pain filled grunt, I had to let go of the spear, instead letting my body follow my wing movement, allowing me to crash right into the surprised unicorn.

“Time to surrender kid!” I heard Candid Diversion mock me as he swung the spear around a few times before settling it in his hoof. I was too busy to pay him notice though as I hecticly jumped up and readied myself for a claw to hoof fight with the other stallion.

Surprisingly, Candid’s unicorn advisor didn’t attack me right away. He wasn’t even looking in my direction.

His eyes were fixed in horror at the speartip buried in his chest. And so were Calmlies! Both of them were totally shocked by this occurrence.

“You… you pushed him… “ Calmly stuttered, unable to pull her gaze away.

For a second I stood there, my mouth agape, struggling to find the right words to say. My eyes pulled to the growing patch of crimson staining the stallion’s coat.

“Watch out!” Calmly screamed suddenly and retracted her spear, only to instantly push it forward again, right in the way of the spear Candid Diversion had aimed at my head.

With a loud ‘cling’ both speartips scratched against each other. Calmly was even able to redirect the path of Candid Diversion’s spear. So instead of my forehead, it missed my throat by a hair’s breadth and scratched harmlessly over my back scales.

That’s what I call luck!

“You disgusting son of a witch!” Calmly yelled, rage now replacing her hesitation. While I hastily grabbed the spear shaft, she stabbed furiously at Candid Diversion, forcing him to let go of it. I turned my own spear around and helped her as best as I could.

“I need some help, Apt tactician!” He yelled. His shield was already breaking into little blue shimmering shards which disappeared on their way to the floor.

She tried her best to get loose from Roary, but he wouldn’t let her.

“Finish him off!” he roared and tackled the dragoness. Both of them fell to the ground, slashing, biting and roaring loudly while going at it.

“Right on it!” I replied. “Time to clean up the lair!” I coordinated my attacks with Calmly. Candid Diversion stood no chance against the two of us. When his shield faltered, he tried to evade or block our attacks with his hooves, leaving several burn marks on his forelegs.

“This is not the end of it!” He pressed out after me and Calmy had him pushed back to the brink of the doorframe. Behind him, only the blur of colours remained. “I will beat you next time!”

And with that, when we made our next attack, he jumped backwards into the void. And the lair around us shattered as I woke up…