Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You will meet the Luminary in the dungeons of Heliodor.
Put your faith in the Luminary, through him you will find forgiveness.

And so, Erik let the guards catch up to him. He didn’t fight back as they took him away, and he waited so very, very long in the dark.
And waited.
And waited.

Days turned into weeks and weeks became months. Erik felt himself lose track of time.

Time that Mia remained in the Snærfelt. Time that she remained a statue.

And finally, Erik decided to make his escape. If the Luminary didn’t come to him, he would just have to find the Luminary himself.

~~

Erik had been working on the tunnel much longer than he’d been able to record. Days went by unnoticed in that cell. There was no way to see the outside world, to see even a hint of sunlight that would’ve given away each day as it passed, and he couldn’t rely on the meals the guards brought him to tell the time either. Maybe it was just him, but sometimes food came when he was just barely hungry, and sometimes it came when he was so nauseously hungry that he could swear he hadn’t eaten in days.
But at last, one very hungry day, the digging came to an end.
The dirt and stone before him gave way into an open cave. It was too dark to see what lay ahead, but Erik had faced worse things than just the dark. Carefully, silently, he pulled himself through the last of his tunnel and stood.

The cave was still pitch-black, and the air was no less stale than that in his cell, but he was one step closer to freedom.

The cave he had come out into was small. He couldn’t stretch his arms out all the way, and if he was even a few centimeters taller his head would be touching the ceiling.
The floor of the cave was uneven, and Erik stumbled more than once as he made his way further in.
It felt like he walked through that tunnel for ages, with the dripping of water and his own breathing all there was to be heard, but at last, he could see some light.
Not enough to actually be outside, but enough that he could make out the end of the tunnel.
The light came from the other side of a small opening close to the ground.
It was the warm light of a torch, just barely lit.

Erik got low to the ground as quietly as he could and peered through.

There was no sign of any guards or soldiers, not a sound to be heard.
But he could see the torch that lit up the area.
It had nearly burned out now. It was possible that someone would soon be by to replace it, so Erik had two choices.
He could risk the progress he’d made and keep forging ahead or wait for who knows how long for the chance that this torch would be replaced.

His empty stomach made the decision for him.

Erik pulled himself through the gap and took note of his surroundings.

On one side of the cavern, he could see the same kind of iron bars that had kept him captive.
And all around him were stone walls so high he couldn’t see the top.

But the most important thing to take note of lay in the center of the cave.

A dragon.

Golden scales that reflected the glow from the torch covered the creature. Black horns sprouted from its head and spines grew over its back and down its tail.
One wing lay spread out, the white membrane torn, stained red with blood.
A steel ring around its neck, a long chain dangling to the ground and keeping the dragon in place.

Erik took in a sudden breath before he could think to stay silent.

The dragon startled awake, and before Erik, two startling blue eyes were staring straight at him.

The dragon drew up on all four of its legs, it’s mouth opened wide as its head rose high above Erik, white fangs glistening in the low light. A growl started low in the dragon's throat, and embers lit in its throat as it prepared to attack.

The growl cut short with the clanging of steel on stone.

Guards were coming.

Erik flinched, cold fear sinking through his bones.

Stuck between a dragon and the soldiers of Heliodor.

Though, he wasn’t the only one that flinched at the sound.
Erik didn’t notice, but the dragon did.
They were the same, it thought, both prisoners here.

As the sound of the guards got closer, the dragon turned.

Erik fell back, unsure of what to do, seeing no way out of this situation.
The time it would take to squeeze back through the tunnel would get him caught.
The dragon would burn him to a crisp in a second.
And the guards would take him back to the dungeon if he was lucky.
If he wasn’t…

But none of those things happened.
As the dragon moved, it obscured Erik from sight.

The guard arrived right behind the bars.
The dragon began to growl again, the noise building up to a roar that Erik could feel in his bones.

The crackle of the embers began again, but no real flames were produced.

“There ain’t anythin’ in there with ‘em!” Erik could hear the guard call out.

Another responded, but Erik couldn’t make out the words over the dragon’s roar.

The roar fell down to a growl again, and Erik heard the guards retreating back to where they came from, and then the growl went away as well.

The dragon began to move again, but this time, Erik was significantly less afraid.

The dragon swung its head around to look at him, and - was Erik crazy, or was it much smaller?

The dragon shoved its head into Erik’s face, and he brought up his hands on instinct to protect himself.

The dragon’s nose touched his hand, and Erik heard a voice.

The voice of a young man, very soft-spoken, come from inside his own head.

Do Not Speak.

It said, and Erik moved his hands. He held either side of the dragon’s muzzle and looked very carefully into its eyes.

The Guards Will Hear You.

Erik swallowed the fear rising in his chest, and nodded. He understood.

The dragon blinked and he heard the voice again. It seemed to drown out everything around him. He heard the voice, the whisper of wind through leaves, and bells.

My Name Is El. I Cannot Escape Alone.

The question of whether or not Erik would help the dragon, El, was unspoken.
Like it or not, neither one of them would be leaving on their own.

Need You To Pick Locks. Free Me, I Will Take Care Of Soldiers.

Pick the locks? Erik could do it with his hands tied, but, that was all keeping this creature, this dragon captive?

El removed his head from Erik’s grasp, and lay his head down on the ground, turning his head so that he had easy access to the lock to the collar around his neck.

Erik took a moment to control himself.
His hands were shaking, he was breathing much too quickly.

Just this morning he’d been prepared to escape the dungeon, and here he was, no idea how close he was to the outside, with a dragon. The only one he’d ever seen, about to help it escape.
For a moment Erik wondered if he could really do this. He knew all the stories about dragons.
How they burned cities to the ground. Stole children from their parents' sides, took the riches of the people to hoard far away where no one could find it…
He wondered what this dragon had done. Who it had killed. Who it had taken, what it had stolen.
Erik wondered if his freedom was worth helping a monster.
But even if it wasn’t, he knew finding the Luminary and freeing Mia was.
So he took one more deep breath to steady himself and got to work on the lock.

~~

El always knew he was different. There was no way he couldn’t know. Even if he looked mostly human, there was no hiding the parts of him that were not. The two wings that sprouted from his back, the two horns that grew from his temples, the long tail the dragged on the ground behind him, it was all just who he was.

And it was okay.

The people of Cobblestone didn’t care about what made that El kid weird. He was Chalky’s boy. Amber’s son. He was part of everyone’s family and he was a part of their town.
He played with Gemma and helped tend to the crops.
When he grew older he became an invaluable asset with hunting. Soon as the boy learned how to change his shape, not one person in Cobblestone went hungry. Rabbits were easy prey to an experienced hunter, but deer were easier prey to a creature that had four sets of talons and two wings with which to fly.

El was a part of Cobblestone, and no one ever even thought to say otherwise.

It wasn’t until the day El climbed the Tor that he really began to think about what made him different. What kept him from being human.

The climb up the Tor.
The fight with the monsters.
Saving Gemma.
The Mark on his hand.

It all went by in a blur, playing on repeat in El’s mind.
He went home.
And everything just got worse from there.

All that was hours ago, now.

El lay in his bed, sleepless.

So many thoughts, and so little that made sense.
He was to leave for Heliodor in the morning.
To seek an audience with the king.

El hadn’t planned on ever leaving Cobblestone.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see what lay beyond his village, what was past the mountains he hunted, he did. Even more when he was up on the Tor, where he could see the endless forests and hills beyond.
He wanted to go, but he was no fool.
El knew he was too different.
He was safe in Cobblestone where everyone knew him. In a village so small, so unknown that it wasn’t marked on any map. They had no exports. They had to trade. No one to see El and cry out demon!
But other villages, other towns, and cities did.

Maybe being a dragon was part of being the Luminary.
Maybe other towns knew about this.
El knew that Cobblestone was cut off.
Maybe people like him were more common than he thought.

But still, past all those theories, he still couldn’t wrap his head around the truth.
The reincarnation of the Luminary.
Something his mum and grandad hid from him as long as they had known him.

Until now, El hadn’t thought much about his origins. He trusted his family and trusted the story they told him.
Chalky found him in a basket in the river the day after a storm so terrible it fell trees and leveled weaker buildings.
It was simple. El never thought about who he was beyond Cobblestone. Never cared to learn about where he came from.
But everything had turned on its head now.

El left for Heliodor in the morning, and nothing made sense.

~~
Amber remembered the day Chalky brought El into the village.
Her Papa was soaked to the thigh, river water dripping from his trousers and tunic, and a very small child in his arms.
Nearly the whole village came to see.
It wasn’t every day that someone came by holding an orphaned child.
And it certainly wasn’t every day that that child bore features of a monster.

But this was Cobblestone. And a child was a child.

Amber never married. She never wanted to. She had no children to care for, and no husband to give her any.
She was a simple farmer, so when her Papa asked her to take the child, she said yes.
She took the child, let Chalky call the boy El. It seemed too simple of a name, more of a nickname than a real one, but he insisted.
And well enough, a name wasn’t too important.

Amber took in the child, became a mother, and watched the boy grow. Taught him to be a farmer like herself, and he was gifted.
It did help quite a bit when he was able to become a full dragon. Making wood ash for the plants was much easier then.
He continued to grow.
Taller and taller, stronger and faster, and now, her boy was gone.

It had been days since El left his village.

Cobblestone carried on. It wasn’t unusual for their young villagers to go off on their own adventure after they became adults. Cobblestone wasn’t a village for young folk. It was for people who’d seen enough of the world. People ready to come back to their roots, settle down in a home, and have their own children.

But even if it was something that they were all used to, it didn’t stop Amber from missing her boy.

Kneeling down in the dirt of her garden, Amber pruned the plants alone. For the first time in years.
It felt wrong.
Cooking for one felt wrong.

She hadn’t eaten alone her entire life. Even before she had El to take care of, she had her Papa. Amber was content living a simple, quiet life in Cobblestone, and even as she watched her friends leave the village, she stayed.
And now, so many years later, she wondered what she missed.

She didn’t regret staying home in Cobblestone. Who knows where she’d be now if she had left, and who knows what would’ve become of El if she hadn’t been around to take him in?
But she did wonder. It was just the beginning of summer, and Cobblestone was plentiful.
Even if she let her garden rest this season the village would have plenty to eat.
Maybe it was time for her to go on her own adventure, too.

The dishes from dinner were clean, sitting on the rack to dry.
Her garden was tended to, and her home was clean.
Amber’s work for the day was done, but the sun had not yet begun to set.
What to do.
The quiet of her home was too loud in her ears.

But still, that silence was broken.

The sound of a trumpet shattered the quiet evening. Amber rushed for her door, and looked to the village gates.

A whole platoon of Heliodorian soldiers sat on horseback at the top of the hill.

Amber immediately began to make her way to them.
She couldn’t see him among the group, but El could very well be with them!

She had only turned the corner when something felt wrong.

A flaming arrow flew through the sky.

A cry from the soldier heading the group.

More arrows flew, and they charged.

Chapter Text

The lock to the shackle around El’s neck was bigger than anything Erik was used to picking.

He’d managed to get most of his belongings back before he had begun his escape, but his lock kit wasn’t equipped for anything quite like this.

Getting it to work was more trial and error than any real skill, and as the firelight continued to dim Erik knew he was running out of time.

Frustrated, Erik pulled the pick out of the keyhole, leaving the wrench jammed in. 

Instead, Erik pulled his old knife from its sheath. As the blade moved in close, El made an odd noise, like an instrument Erik couldn’t place. It sounded oddly mournful. It echoed strangely off the cavern walls, and Erik froze in place.

He could still hear the guards, off down the corridor, but none came this time around.

There’s no way they couldn’t have heard it. 

And it’s not like they didn’t care, not if a single growl had them come running not even half an hour ago...

Unless this was a sound they were used to hearing from the dragon.

Erik let go of his tools, just for a moment, to lay his hand on El’s neck. He didn’t know how the dragon had managed to speak to him earlier, but he tried anyway.

I’m sorry. Erik thought, hoping the dragon understood. I’ll try to make this fast.

In the dark, El’s eyes reflected the light, much like those of a cat. Erik took his hand away, and as he picked up his knife and lock wrench again, the dragon stayed quiet.

The knife was nearly too big to use. But the pick itself was much too small, and it wasn’t as if Erik could just find another, or stick his head through the bars of the cell to ask the guard for the key. It was this or nothing.

It was this one and only chance for escape.

Then, it worked.

The lock fell open with a click. Erik moved as fast as he could to catch it before it hit the ground, but even as he caught the shackle, the chain itself made enough noise to wake the dead.

The guards began to yell, the sound of their armor clanking as they ran matched the frantic rhythm of Erik’s heart. His mind raced, though as he panicked, the dragon knew what to do. 

El knocked his head against Erik’s legs, and for a moment Erik heard his voice again.

Get on my neck. Hold on to horns.

With the guards now at the locked gate, and nowhere to run, Erik didn’t need to be told twice. He swung one leg over the serpentine creature and held on as tight as he could to El’s horns.

The guard unlocked the gate, and three of them blocked the way, swords drawn and ready to strike.

Erik’s stomach lurched as El drew back onto his hind legs, wings spread open, and jaw opened wide.

The roar thundered through the room, and Erik realized he could smell smoke.

He moved his hands further up on El’s horns to protect his fingers from the embers that began to fly.

Two of the guards stumbled back in fear.

El dropped back down to four legs and let out a second roar, and Erik realized it was a bluff. Though smoke still filled the cavern, and embers still sparked in the air, no fire burst forth from the dragon’s lungs. 

 Though his roar was no less fierce than the first, and even with this dragon on his side, fear and adrenaline still pumped through Erik at the sound. 

But it worked well enough, even if they hadn’t turned tail and run, the guards were still off-balance. And that’s all El needed.

He tucked his wings tight to his sides and took off running with a leap.

Two of the guards fell back, but the third pressed on.

El slid through the doorway of the cell and took the turn hard. 

They both slammed into the side of the narrow corridor, but neither took the time to register the pain of impact before they were both off again. 

The soldiers were yelling, but El didn’t slow and Erik didn’t look back.

There was a fast-approaching light at the end of the tunnel.

They took through it fast, and El did stop this time. Before them was sewer water, and to their right were more soldiers.

El spat more smoke and embers, enough to give them the time to turn again, and just hope that none of their new pursuers were equipped with crossbows.

They continued on this way for only a few moments, El easily outrunning but not quite outmaneuvering the soldiers.

Then, Erik saw sunlight ahead of them.

They burst through, out onto the edge of a cliff.

El came to a halt at the edge, looking down at the waters below.

His head jerked from side to side, looking for another way out.

There was none.

Stuck between a cliff, and a platoon of Heliodors soldiers, who were quickly closing in.

Can’t fly. Came the dragon's voice in his head.

“Can’t go back either.” Erik gave back. “We’ve got a better chance with this height than back there.”

The dragon took two steps back. We could die.

The guards were here now.

“We might not,” Erik said.

“Come on, let’s not do anything stupid now.” One of the guards said, and really, which was the stupid choice? Certain death at the hands of Heliodor’s finest, or uncertain death with the waters below?

The dragon snorted, a puff of smoke rising into the air, and then they were falling.

Down the side of the cliff, faster than the water itself.

They hit the water hard.

Erik had never been a very strong swimmer. Coming from a place like Sniflheim, swimming was never an option. 

But even if he swam like someone from Lonalulu, he didn’t have the energy. Between his adrenaline bottoming out, going days on end without proper food, and rotting in his cell for Goddess knows how long, he simply had nothing left to give.

Erik felt himself sink deeper and deeper into the water, and his vision grew darker. He saw air bubbles float up, and then he felt hands under his arms before darkness overtook his vision entirely.

~~

It happened in a heartbeat.

Erik was laying down in a field of wildflowers, staring up for the first time in months, at a bright and cloudless sky.

As he sat up, Erik realized where he was.

The flowers stretched endlessly in every direction, interspersed here and there with streams that ran clear, and just a little bit away, sat a quaint little house.

He could see her from here. She sat up on the roof of the building, her fishing line cast into one of the empty streams.

She turned to him, and Erik was no longer on the ground, but sitting beside her, a fishing pole in his hands.

“So it seems you’ve found what you’re looking for.” She said to him, ever vague.

“Hardly.” Erik huffed. “I don’t know how many months I’ve spent in Heliodor, without even a sign of the Luminary.”

She hummed. “So sure of yourself. But you shouldn’t be. I think you’re well on your way.”

Erik turned from where he’d been watching the water. “What do you-“

He stopped.

The seer was gone. Where she’d sat was only empty air, and as Erik turned his head to look for her, he woke up.

The sound of the waterfall was incredibly loud in his ears as Erik dazedly stared out at where it fell.

He closed his eyes, absolutely exhausted. He was so tired. He was comfortable and warm, and it’d been so long since he’d slept well, and-

He was comfortable. He was warm. There was an odd weight in his lap and-

The dragon. El was curled around him. His head rested on Erik’s lap, while his body was keeping Erik upright. One wing covered Erik like a blanket. 

Everything was still. Safe.

Erik took this single moment to actually look at the dragon he’d allied himself with today.

Just as he’d seen in that cavern, El’s scales were golden, but they held an undertone of grey that didn’t seem to belong.

The horns that grew from his head were a light brown color, and the spines that sprouted along the ridge of his back were a deep purple.

The dragon was beautiful.

But, more importantly, he was injured. 

He’d seen it momentarily earlier, but now that he had a good look at it, Erik was horrified. The membrane between two of the spines on his wing was ripped. Cut from the bottom nearly to the top.

Their little dip in the water had helped wash away the dried blood, but the edges of the tip were still red with inflammation.

His neck was like that, too. Not where Erik had saddled himself, but where the shackle had rested. The scales were raised and red, puffed up and even a little green.

What Erik felt as he looked at the wound was not pity. He felt sympathy for this creature.

For just a moment, he was on equal footing with it.

And Erik wasn’t sure where to go from here.

They had helped each other when they’d needed it, but he hardly expected that to continue from here, and frankly, Erik felt blessed that he had received even more help from El, being warmed and fished from the waterfall basin, rather than being left to drown or becoming his next meal.

But surely, this is where that ended. 

Erik tried to move out of the dragon’s hold, but the moment he tried to move, the dragon startled awake.

It drew back away from Erik, who the dragon had left startled, still sitting on his ass on the stone floor.

The dragon had turned, shying it’s injured wing away from Erik, but exposing a long cut to him. It worked it’s way from the shoulder of its foreleg, to the hip of its hind leg. Fresh droplets of blood began to ooze from the wound. It had begun to scab, but the sudden movement caused it to reopen.

The third guard, Erik realized the one that didn’t stand down when the dragon roared. 

Erik stood shakily, hands raised where the dragon could see them.

They looked at each other, neither daring to make a move.

But as Erik stared, he noticed what made this dragon different.

It had the eyes of a human.

They were not reptilian or monstrous.

A baby blue color, round, and alight with fear.

Erik swallowed hard, remembered what the seer said, and dared to speak.

“Are..” his heartbeat in his throat. He couldn’t breathe. “Are you the Luminary?” All the myths, all the stories about the Age of Heroes painted a picture of the Luminary and his companions as men, as humans, but… the seer had never said anything so certain. Stranger things had happened to Erik, anyhow.

The dragon ever so slightly dropped its defensive posture. Those eyes looked him up and down, and after a moment, he gave a single nod.

Erik lowered his hands, just a little, still keeping them in full view. “That’s a yes?”

El took a tentative step forward, stretching out his neck,

Each time Erik has heard the dragon’s voice, he’d been in physical contact with him. Erik reaches out his hand and closed the distance between them.

Erik’s hand rested on El’s muzzle, and again Erik heard his voice.

I am the Luminary. He said That is why they kept me captive.

Because he was the Luminary? That didn’t make sense. The Luminary is meant to bring peace to the world, isn’t he?

El saw his confusion and began to explain.

~~

Erik listened closely, not stopping El for question or comment, taking every word as truth without a second thought. Normally Erik found that it paid to be skeptical, but this specific case was so unique, so incomparable to anything else he’d ever done.. his usual rules couldn’t apply. 

Besides, dragon or not, this was the Luminary. He had to trust what the seer said. This was his best shot, and perhaps his only shot, at getting Mia back to normal. 

As El tapered off, all that could be heard in the cave was the rush of water and the ringing in their ears.

“Well.” Erik started, standing up with a wince, “If we’re going to figure any of this out we’re going to need a few things. Food, for one. I don’t know about you but I’m just about hungry enough to eat anything.”

The dragon looked at him silently. Erik felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

He didn’t like this. It all felt wrong.

“Medicine and bandages for another.” Erik turned away and looked out past the water. The cave they were in was mostly obscured, the entrance narrow and overgrown with moss. Hidden or not, the longer they stayed here the riskier it was, the more likely they’d be discovered, and they’d been here far longer than they should’ve already. “I’m pretty handy with first aid, but you’ll have to tell me if I’m doing anything wrong. I don’t know how to treat scales.”

The sound of talons against stone was the only warning Erik had that the dragon was moving closer.

“And one last thing for me.” Erik continued speaking, past the tight curl of fear in his chest. “I’ve got something stashed away, something I need to get back.” The Red Orb. If nothing else, he could pawn it off for enough gold to keep them going for a while. “We’ll need to make a detour, but afterward I’ll show you the back roads to your village.”

The dragon was next to him now. Sitting close enough to touch, on his haunches like a dog. Even with Erik standing straight, the dragon's head was far above his own. 

Why are you helping me? 

If there was one thing about this dragon that didn’t put Erik on edge, it was his voice. As strange as it was to hear the voice of another inside his own mind, Erik had never heard anyone this kind. They hadn’t spoken enough, hell, they’d only known each other for less than a day, for Erik to pin down any kind of personality, but the sound of his voice was kind. 

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re the Luminary, and even so, we’re both wanted men now. Might as well stick together.” 

El shifted, his head drooping down ever so slightly.

The sudden change in posture gave Erik pause.

There was something that he couldn’t put his finger on, something about this dragon that threw everything Erik knew on its axis.

“Hey,” Erik places his hand upon the dragon’s shoulder, carefully staying clear of the cut, in what he hoped was a comforting gesture, “I believe in you. I believe in the Luminary.”

The dragon looked at him then, confused, calculating. 

Where’s this detour?

Well, at least he’s on board. “Down Town Heliodor. I know exactly where.”

Is it wise to return there so soon?

“Trust me. It won’t be five minutes.”

The dragon let out a huff, that may have been a sigh, and a cloud of smoke came with it. Fine. Climb on, I’ll get us down the cliff.

~~

“Okay,” Erik motioned for El to follow him, for now, the coast was clear, but it would hardly stay that way for a dragon that was nearly as tall as a horse, and significantly more noticeable. They didn’t have much cover to rely on, besides the scaffolding that led up to the Down Town.

“You’re going to have to wait out here,” Erik said, looking into the Down Town. “There’s no way to sneak you inside. We’ll need to find somewhere for you to hide-“ He turned to the dragon, but he was nowhere to be found.

“El?!” Erik called as loudly as he dared, still well below regular speaking volume. How had he managed to lose an entire dragon in less than a minute? “El!”

Erik took a step forward, and the sound of the dry grass moving caught his attention and brought it down to the ground. 

Sitting nicely, tail wrapped around his talons like a cat was a much smaller dragon. 

“You..” Erik took a deep breath. No time for questions. No time for confusion. He could break down later.

“That’ll work much better.” He said instead.

Kneeling down, he reached out a hand.

El climbed onto his hand and up to his arm without any hesitation. Erik winced as his needle-sharp claws pierced right through his sleeve to prick at his skin. 

Sorry. Erik heard as the little dragon settled around his shoulders. El’s head and forelegs sat in the crook of Erik’s neck, and his body wrapped around to his other shoulder while he let his tail draped down Erik’s back. He could still feel the claws digging into his skin, and Erik knew he’d have four sets of pin marks by the time this was over.

“S’alright.” Erik pulled his hood up over his head, hiding his face and the little reptile in shadow.

No one looks too closely at anyone in downtown Heliodor, and Erik hasn’t ever relied on that fact more than he is now. 

The walk up the cliffside and through the tunnel was quick and easy. No one ever really comes through late at night, not unless they were wanted men, like himself.

But in the town itself, the night was when it came to life.

Dancers and fortune-tellers were out on the streets, calling to those walking by, offering their services while vendors called out prices and products.

Erik kept his head down, but he could feel the little dragon move his head around, peering around as discreetly as he could.

Not for the first time, Erik wondered how El managed to get through the city on his own, let alone the Castle itself.

“Here we are,” Erik whispered, though this part of town was deserted. No one set up home nor shop by the rubbish dumps. “It’s in here, the Red Orb. My old partner-in-crime and I hid it here a ways back.”

Erik trudged through the grime, but, it wasn’t where he’d left it.

A little nugget of anxiety wormed its way through him, but Erik tried to push it away. More and more was added to this dump daily, there’s no way it stayed completely immobile for the entire time he was locked away. Right?

But he kept digging, and still, it was missing.

Eventually, El jumped down from his shoulders, looking around for anything that stuck out, but after long enough, Erik sat back on one of the many crates scattered around. It wasn’t here.

El came back over to him, and Erik sat still as the dragon climbed back up to his perch on Erik’s shoulders.

Nothing. What happened to five minutes? 

“I.. I don’t know.” Erik answered, “I don’t understand, Derk and I stashed it here,” a cold feeling wrapped itself around Erik as it occurred to him that, “He sold me out!” Erik stood up abruptly, and El tightened his hold on Erik’s hood as he nearly fell off. “He sold me off and kept the Orb for himself! Sorry, El,” Erik added, “but we’ve got a couple more stops to make.”

The dragon stayed silent as Erik pulled his hood back up, and turned back the way they came.

Ruby was just as helpful as she’d ever been, and now Erik was starting to think that traveling with a dragon was less of a nuisance than he’d thought. The guard keeping the poor out of the nicer parts of Heliodor was hardly an obstacle. Terrified of animals, all El had to do was stand hidden in the shadows and growl.

One was all it took, and the guard was off.

But now, standing before Derk’s new home in the uppermost part of the city, that confidence, the anger, it was all gone. The lights were turned on inside, and a sign was out front. Derk had made it big. He had a home, he had a career.

Erik felt empty.

All he had were the clothes on his back and a statue of a sister half the world away.

Are we going in? El’s voice in his head reminded Erik that he wasn’t completely alone, but it did little to help.

“Yeah,” Erik made for the door, “and I might need you to do a little scaring again.”

Derk stood by a counter, carefully setting down a very intricately painted vase on the floor.

“Welcome, welcome!” He said without turning around, “Feel free to browse, we only have the finest in stock here.”

“That’s good.” Erik spoke before he even thought about what he should say, “I’m looking for something very special. You wouldn’t perchance have a royal heirloom in stock, a red orb, specifically?”

Derk turned around and nearly stumbled back. “Erik!” 

Derk lunged forward, taking hold of Erik around the waist. “Oh, it’s really you! My brother, my old partner-in-crime!”

Erik grabbed the hands holding him in place and shoved Derk away. “Have you no shame?” He shouted, “You sold me out! You took the Orb and bought this place with the money.” Erik felt all the anger return, layered with all the time he spent rotting in the dungeon. Layered with the fear and pain he felt during his escape. He didn’t notice that his hood had fallen back down around his shoulders. He didn’t feel the talons that had dug into his skin for purchase or the tail that wrapped around his throat just to stay on balance.

Erik! Erik! 

Derk stood in shock, looking in disbelief between the man he’d known better than anyone else throwing accusations at him, and the living, breathing, actually in-his-house dragon. Where to begin?

Derk’s jaw moved silently, trying to find the words to defend himself. 

“N-no! Erik, I built this shop to help you!”

“Help me by lining your own pockets?”

“I gave up the orb to the king. I opened this shop, and near all the money I make has been going to keepin’ the guards quiet. I couldn’t just sit by while you were stuck up in jail, now could I?” 

Erik stood down, “I.. that does make sense.” He conceded, “it would explain why my cell was never tossed when I was digging that hole, and why that wing was hardly ever patrolled.”

“See! I was payin’ them to turn a blind eye.” 

Erik sighed, and let the tension fall from his shoulders. “Alright. I’m sorry. I should’ve known you wouldn’t have done anything to hurt me.”

Derk smiled wide, “it's good to have you back, Erik. But, I think there’s something you have to tell me.”

“What-“ Erik realized his hood was down, El frozen shock still around his neck. 

“Come on, you can tell me over dinner. My wife always makes more food than the three of us can eat. There’s plenty left over.” 

And what else could Erik do but follow? 

~~ 

Surreal was one word to describe it.

Sitting at a dinner table, next to a dragon that had to duck its head and squish its wings to its body to fit at the table setting.

Erik looked down at his empty plate. Home-cooked food. Something he’s never really been used to having. His meals were nearly always something he’d make himself on the road, or something from a pub when he could afford it, or more recently, prison gruel. 

El had been served after Erik. It was almost a funny image, the dragon holding a fork between his talons, and eating as politely as he could from a much larger serving of food.

But now their plates were empty, and the room was silent. Erik had explained as well as he could, without mentioning the Luminary, or Mia. It wasn’t much, but it was all he was currently willing to give away.

Derk didn’t seem to be offended by the half baked story Erik told, though. He only smiled and asked if there was anything he could do for them before they left.

Erik didn’t want to ask for much more. Not now that he knew that Derk had spent the last year throwing away his money to keep Erik safe. Not after he’d taken them, two fugitives, into his home, risking his entire livelihood, his family… but still.

“I wouldn’t suppose you have any decent knives in stock? I didn’t manage to get any of my things when I busted out.” Oh, wait a moment. “El, did you have anything taken from you when you were thrown in?”

The dragon slowly nodded.

In the blink of an eye, the large dragon was small again and moving back to his spot on Erik’s shoulder.

  Took my bag. I didn’t have a lot, but some of it was precious to me.

“What was it? Gold, gems?”

I didn’t have much gold. Not enough to buy much. It was a necklace. My mother gave it to me.

“Well then, what’s he saying?” Derk asked, standing, “I can get you a knife, easy.”

“He says that he had a necklace.” Erik didn’t look away from his companion. He looked miserable. So much Erik was learning about dragons in such a short amount of time. A treasure he lost, but it wasn’t a treasure to El because if it’s value, but because of who gave it to him.

“A necklace, eh? Come take a look at this, it’s been passing through many hands as of late. Rumor has it that it was confiscated from someone who was arrested.”

Derk led them through his shop over to a glass case. Pendants and earrings filled it, each studded with gemstones or carved from precious stones. 

But one hung alone on a display, on a golden chain a green pendant hung. The crest of Dundrasil was painted onto the surface in gold leaf.

That’s it! Erik heard the dragon cry, That’s my necklace!

“That’s the one.” Erik passed on.

“I’d thought it was an amazing find,” Derk said, opening the case. “Some soldier pawned it off at another shop, and it’s been going from place to place. No one seems quite sure what to make of it. It’s valuable, just going by the material, but the crest.. who knows how old it is?” 

He handed the pendant over to the little dragon, who took it carefully in both his front paws.

Thank you. El said absently as he looked down at the stone. 

“Want me to hold onto it for you?” Erik offered, “you don’t have anything to keep it in, and it’s a bit big for you right now.”

El looked up from his single possession and regarded Erik carefully. 

Maybe Erik was too forward with the offer. El knew he was a thief, but he’d hoped the dragon knew he didn’t have any intentions to keep it.

But El handed it over, watching carefully as Erik tucked it away.

Derk returned with two bags for them. Both for Erik to carry, but both full of supplies and provisions. Dried meat and fruit for the road in one and the second packed full of medicinal herbs and first aid supplies.

“I don’t pretend to know exactly why you’re so stuck on getting this orb, or why you’ve partnered yourself with a dragon, but I know you have your reasons, Erik.” 

Erik took the two bags gratefully. He didn’t know what to say. 

“And, and take this, too.” Derk held out another bag, a coin pouch. 

With the two other bags secured, Erik carefully took this last one. It was heavy.

“I can’t accept this,” Erik said, looking into the bag. There had to be at least a few hundred gold coins in it. That much generosity... Accepting the knife was one thing. It wasn’t too valuable, it was something he needed. And the supplies were much the same, but this.. this was too much.

“Please do.” Derk said, “you can’t have much to your name right now. I can afford it.” Derk added, “now that I’m not paying off every soldier in Heliodor!”

It was meant to be a joke. But even as Erik tucked away the small fortune, he only felt guilty. 

“You’ll be needed more than what I’ve given you out there. Let me do this at least. And you know that you’ll always be welcome here, now.”

“Thank you.” Erik heard his voice crack but tried to ignore it. All of this... 

“Don’t mention it,” Derk said, and that was it. Nothing else was left to be said, even though Erik felt like there couldn’t be more left unsaid.

Chapter Text

Rain fell steadily down nearly the moment El crossed the threshold into the Manglegrove.

But at the very least, the heat made the atmosphere more humid than cold.

Throughout his life, El had learned the many ways that dragons differed from other reptiles. They had their similarities, but they were vastly different in many ways.

Temperature was one that sprung to mind. El was as cold blooded as the little green lizards he’d see soaking up sun rays on Cobblestone’s stone houses, but he wasn’t as dependent on the sun's warmth as they were. He had… something… inside him that kept him constantly warm. His skin constantly radiated heat, except in the winter months. Cobblestone’s winters weren’t as brutal as most other places. They got snow, the river would ice over, but they didn’t worry about sickness, or blizzards, or famine. But he dreaded them anyway. The cold pierced through his skin in a way that it didn’t seem to do to anyone else. He became lethargic and sleepy, and lost his appetite more often than not.

Or maybe this wasn’t true of dragons, and it was just unique to him.

After his first foray into the word outside Cobblestone, El had learned a lot of things were unique to him.

Next to El, Erik made a frustrated sound, pulling his hood up over his head. 

El extended his uninjured wing up and out, creating an umbrella for his companion, who stopped and looked up at the dragon.

“You don’t need to do that.” Erik said. “I’ve got my hood.”

I’ll get wet either way. El said, though he was not touching Erik, and your hood won’t be protective for long. 

“But won’t your wing get tired?” 

Erik had heard him. Or, at least, it seemed like he had. So El tried again.

I’ll be fine. You’ll get sick if you get chilled, though.

“I’m really fine,” Erik said as they continued along the path, reaching up one arm, tapping the end of the wing twice. “Put that away, you’re making us an easy target for anything flying.”

That didn’t give a concrete answer.

El didn’t know the exact timespan needed for the people around him to be able to hear him in dragon form without contact. He grew up with the same group of people, with the only additions being babies born, so he wasn’t given much opportunity to test it, or any real incentive to. His family understood him, his friends, and most of the villagers did too.

Maybe the deciding variable wasn’t time at all.

Okay . El said anyway, just in case. He tucked his wing back against his side, and they marched forward.

El felt rather underwhelmed by the monsters here. So many times he’d been told to steer clear of the Manglegrove and it’s array of deadly creatures, but for Erik and himself, it wasn’t difficult.

The bubbleslimes proved to be the most difficult, and that was only since they had a limited number of antidotal herbs on them.

But otherwise, dancing devils were no threat, and lips were more annoying than challenging, and the sabrecubs were easy to intimidate. All El had to do was gently roll them away with one paw and they scampered off.

But even so, even if the attacks only chipped away at them, soon enough they needed to stop for the night.

When they found the campsite, Erik settled down immediately, but something prevented El from being able to relax in the same way. 

Something in the air.. it felt wrong. It felt like they were being watched.

That, and the empty cabin. It was hard to believe that someone would go to the trouble to build their home out here, just to abandon it. 

Not to mention the dog that stood just outside the circle of firelight.

When El lay down, he struggled to relax. Ripples of unease twisted through his gut, but eventually the chirping of the night-birds and Erik’s soft snoring lulled him into sleep.

El opened his eyes to the stone walls of his home. Early morning light shone through the windows as he sat up in bed, blinking slowly.

Amber stood over by the fire, stirring breakfast in a pot.

El felt cold.

It must be early.

Too early for him to be awake, at least.

But the sun was so bright, he was so cold, and his bed was oddly uncomfortable.

He should try to sleep more.

Amber wouldn’t expect him up until breakfast was on the table at the least.

He closed his eyes.

“...up.”

Only to jolt back awake a second later. Was that Amber? It couldn’t have been.

Was someone at the door?

“Wake up, lazybones!”

This time, El woke to reality.

He was very cold. Much colder than he’d been in his dream. His limbs felt stiff, and his eyes felt blurry.

It was much, much too early to be up.

A hand grabbed hold of his horn and shook.

El jerked his head out of Erik’s grasp, and glared daggers at the thief with a smoke-producing snort.

Erik was grinning. “Are all dragons this lazy?”

How should I know? El said as he got to his paws, stretching his wings out.

“What, do you not know any other dragons?” 

El stopped, and looked at his companion. Can you hear me?

“‘Course. I’ve been hearing you since I found you.” Erik wasn’t even looking at El anymore. He was digging through his bags, and pulled out the pouch that contained the dried food. “You hungry?” He asked, “I doubt we’ve got enough here to fill your belly, but-“

I can hunt for us. El offered, trying not to dwell on their new form of communication. After all, he didn’t know the trigger for the jump between hearing through contact, and hearing without it. Or just for me. I won’t take your rations.

Erik returned the pouch to his bag, keeping out a few chunks of dried apple. 

“If you can do that, wait until we make camp next. We don’t want to spend too much time in one spot. And I’d like to leave before it starts pouring again.”

El couldn’t fault him for that. So, he resigned himself to an early start. At least since he would be keeping pace with Erik, he could be slow.

At least Cobblestone wasn’t far. Surely they could take long enough for El to stretch out in the sun for just a few hours?

“Bridge is out over here,” Erik called over. “We’ll need to find another route.”

Or maybe not.

They’d explored nearly the entire grove to the point of the campsite, leaving only the bridge and the path behind the cabin left. 

There was that dog, still.

As they took the path, the dog followed. 

El watched the dog from the corner of his eye. There was something he recognized about it. Not something familiar, but something he knew. 

But he didn’t have to dwell on it long.

The path was short, leading to a small circular clearing. Stone walls surrounded them, blocking out the morning light. Instead, the grove was lit by small glowing lights, floating by on a nonexistent breeze. They almost looked like fireflies, but there was no insect to be seen.

And in the center of the clearing, a root grew tall. A strange pattern followed the growth to a bud, curled in on itself.

El felt drawn to the plant, and without a second thought, he reached out a foreleg to touch it.

“Hey, now. El-“ Erik began to warn him to be careful, but before he could finish, a blinding golden light overtook the strange flora, and overtook their vision entirely.

When El came back to himself, he understood.

The dog was like him. A human being in another form. Only, the dog was not free to go to and from as he was. The woodcutter was trapped in a way that El could not comprehend. 

 “That-“ Erik shook his head, eyes wide open. “That couldn’t have been real. There’s no way-“ the dog, the woodcutter, nudged his nose against Erik’s legs, and he looked down at it. “I-“ he looked at El. “It’s too crazy.”

Crazier than escaping prison with a telepathic dragon? El asked. 

Erik pressed his hand over his eyes, and tilted his head back to the sky. “Yeah, yeah. But it’s not like you go around changing from dragon to human.”

Well. El hadn’t been completely open about himself. Yes. He said. I do.

“You-“ Not for the first time, El watched Erik take what El would call an anger management sigh. “I’ll ask questions later. More important right now is tracking down that monster. Think we can find him?”

The woodcutter-turned-dog barked loudly, and turned to race down the path they’d taken.

Certainly seems like he knows the way. El said, and turned to follow.

The tricky devil was annoying to fight, but with El having just learned the spell heal, he posed no real danger. The fight was over quickly, and the Woodcutter rushed up to meet his two saviors.

He thanked them, again and again, repaired the bridge, fed them a hearty meal to send them on their way, and as they left, he had one last thing to say.

“I’d thought it strange seeing the two of you traveling together, but you’re like me, aren’t you?” The woodcutter asked El. “Cursed by some dastardly monster.”

He didn’t hear El’s voice, and even if he could, there’d be nothing to hear. 

“I hope you can break your curse just as you broke mine. Off you go!” The woodcutter waved them off as they walked down the bridge, and both were silent.

“There’s no time to explore.” Erik said as they reached the other side, “we’ve lost a lot of time.”

~~

How odd. El didn’t remember changing back. He’d thought it better to remain a dragon on the road. He had no weapon to defend himself, and escape was much easier if he was as fast as a horse.

Maybe it was just being home that made him change.

As much as Cole and the other children in the village loved to ride around on his back, he knew the adults preferred him in his more human form.

It wasn’t of any matter. Now that he was home, he needed to go speak with his mother. She’d need to know what had happened at the castle. 

Turning to his side, El spoke. “Erik-“ but his companion was nowhere to be seen. 

El turned round, looking to spot a splash of blue in the greens and grays of Cobblestone, but without any luck. 

Maybe he was waiting outside the village. He had been making a point of making it fast anyway.

Well, that wasn’t up to him. El doubted his mum would allow him to gloss over his stay in the dungeon.

The man at the village gate greeted him like a stranger. 

Really, I’ve only been gone a few days! There was no need to joke like that.

El was nearly to the front door, when the sound of a child crying reached his ears.

It sounded familiar.

It sounded.. it sounded like Gemma.

He and Amber really had the best view of Cobblestone from their little cliff. 

They could see the whole village, from the village gate, to the path to the Tor.

And between those two points, El could swear he saw Gemma. Gemma as he remembered her looking over a decade ago.

And just as she always managed to, she’d lost her headscarf to the branches of a tree.

The walk from his home to that old oak felt longer than it was, and yet, it felt over too soon.

There was no way. There was no way, El heard repeat in his head as he plucked the red scarf from the branch. As he handed it to the girl he’d known all his life.

“Who are you?” She asked him. “You’ve got wings and horns, just like my friend!”

El didn’t hear his own words.

“That’s his name, too.” She tilted her head, “or, do you mean you're looking for him? He’s down by the pier, with Chalky! I’ll take you to him!”

Gemma didn’t wait for his answer, before she turned off, skipping down the road with a puppy following beside her.

He didn’t need her guidance, he could find his way to that river with his eyes closed.

But he followed anyway, numb to his surroundings.

At last, in view of the river, the graveyard was a grave emptier than it should have been, and, oh Goddess, his grandpa was there again.

Standing with his back to him, a line cast into the water, Chalky stood alive and well.

“Hey grandad, can I borrow your ladder?” His own voice said, higher than it is now, but his all the same. 

It was odd, seeing himself like this. 

Wings still too small to properly carry his weight, horns still short and blunt. “The wind blew Gemma’s scarf up a tree!”

And Chalky turned, and El felt his heart break in two.

“Oh, no. Now we can’t have that, now can we? Let me go and find it for you.”

He looked up, and his eyes met El’s.

“We don’t need the ladder anymore!” Gemma announced, tying the cloth in place. “That nice man there got it for me. He says he’s looking for you, El.”

“I’ve never seen him before.” El said, looking up at him, eyes on his horns. “He.. he’s like me.”

Oh, how could El not remember this? Did this truly happen? Was any of this real?

“I think it might be me he’s looking for.” Chalky smiled, “now, why don’t you kids go and play, and let us grown-ups talk?”

The two children didn’t need any convincing, rushing off to do whatever they pleased, and Chalky walked up to meet El.

“Well, well, well. There’s only one person I know with wings like that. And even without, I’d recognize you anywhere.”

El could feel tears welling up in the corner of his eye, and Chalky noticed right away.

“There’s no need for that now, lad. What’s wrong? Care to tell your old grandad?”

Oh, where to begin? Where should he begin? Would it even be fair to burden Chalky like this?

But the words came unbidden, of his departure from Cobblestone, his escape from imprisonment.

El had never seen Chalky so serious, or so sad.

“Well, well.. to think I’d trusted King Carnelian to do right by you.” Chalky shook his head, and looked up to meet El’s eyes. “I should’ve told you the truth. I shouldn’t have hidden it from you your whole life. But what’s done is done. This is what we’re going to do. In your own time, go to Cobblestone falls. Dig at the three-sided rock. I’ll bury something that’ll help you on your way.”

El nodded, but then, the world around him shook and shifted. 

Chalky was as tangible as a ghost now, but he still offered his grandson a smile.

“What a fine figure of a man you’ve become. I’m glad I’m able to see you all grown up.” His voice echoed through the air. “You be good now, lad. Don’t waste your time bearing grudges. Live life with love in your heart, it always did me right. And you, you’ve got the heart of a dragon! I’m sure you’ve got enough love to give to anyone you meet. Bye, now…”

The world flickered once more, and Chalky was gone. The pier was empty.

El swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. 

He turned back towards the village, because what else could he do?

He wanted to grieve. By the Goddess he wanted to grieve for his grandpa all over again, but he couldn’t. He didn’t have the time.

He saw himself again, playing with Gemma by the oak tree.

They saw him, and waved, but the world changed. The bright day faded, and with it, Cobblestone.

Erik was beside him again.

“You okay? I lost you for a minute there.” He paused. “Not surprising, I suppose.”

Not surprising? El turned, and finally, saw the carnage.

His village, his home. Burned to the ground. Taken apart stone by stone, pillars of smoke rising to the air.

El’s head turned, side to side, searching for any intact building, any sign of life.

No! He cried out, no, no, no! El felt the fire in his chest blossom from an ember to an inferno. 

“I can’t believe they’d do this. Just because you lived here. What kind of monsters are they?” 

El barely heard Erik. His breathing became ragged, he couldn’t think straight. His vision tunneled, and he could feel smoke pour from his jaw.

NO!

“Hey, hey now.” Gloves hands touched El’s neck, and El whipped his head around to stare down at the human next to him.

Erik put his hands up between them. “It’s alright, listen, there’s no blood, there's no bones. They’re safe, they got out.”

El didn’t want to listen, he didn’t know what to think. His house on the hill was gone.

His village.

His family.

Everything was gone, what was there to do?

“They’re fine! I promise you, they’re okay.” Erik kept pushing, moving just a step closer to El. “I’ve looked through the whole place, there’s no sign that anyone was attacked. They’re probably in Heliodor, like we were.”

El felt his pounding heart begin to slow, and the fire in his chest begin to be smothered. 

“That’s right, come on, it’s okay.”

Erik moved in closer, and El felt himself change. Four legs became two, his snout shortened to a nose, talons became nails, and El fell to his knees. It was too much. It was all just too much.

“Hey, hey.” El’s hands were covering his eyes as he began to cry, so he didn’t see Erik bend down, but he felt the arms that hugged him.

It was awkward, wings and horns in the way, but the intent was clear. “It’s alright. We’ll find them, okay? We’ll find them.”

El didn’t know how long it took, but eventually his shoulders stopped shaking, and his sobs quieted down to hiccups.

Erik had moved. He’d stayed in close, one arm wrapped around El’s shoulders, but he’d stayed quiet. He’d given El time to grieve, and kept watch.

But now that El had regained his composure, he spoke again.

“That root was glowing, just then. Were you having another vision?” 

El nodded. “I spoke with my grandfather.” His voice was rough, and his throat was sore. “I was… I was in the past, before he died. He told me to dig in front of a certain rock near the falls, east of here. That he buried something that would help me.”

“The past?” Erik repeated, “I wouldn’t have believed it…” he let out a soft laugh, hardly audible. “But the last three days I’ve met a dragon that can be a man and a man that was a dog.”

El smiled, just a little.

Erik stood and offered his hand. “We’re doing no one any good just hanging about here. Let’s go find what your grandad left for you.”

Erik was trustworthy. El had decided that already, but now, as he walked just a few steps ahead of him, El was sure of it. 

The road to the falls was short, and even now in his human form again, El felt ready for just about anything. 

They’d taken the time for El to take a new bronze sword from what remained of the old woman’s shop. He’d pay her for it when he met her again.

The sun had completely set by the time they’d climbed down the rocks and made their way around the falls.

This is where El was born. Or, well, not born. But this is where Chalky found him. Where he became a part of someone’s family.

And here he was again, but this time, about to leave it.

The grass was thick where he began to dig. No sign of it ever being disturbed. El wondered when Chalky buried it. If he did it immediately after he met El in the past, or if he’d waited.

Then, El hit wood.

The box was simple. Deceptively so, for what it contained.

“Letters, huh?” Erik said from where he was looking over El’s shoulder. “The top one has seen better days, that’s for sure.”

And he was right. The paper was water damaged, and yet he could still make out the ornate design on the envelope. And written out on top, read the letters E L before the rest was obscured by stains.

The letter was from his mother. His biological mother.

The script was elegant. Almost illegible, and not from age, but the intricate calligraphy it was written in.

El never paid much thought to his biological parents. They were never of any matter to him. But now, knowing this.. knowing that he was not just abandoned, that he was not just left to fate to decide if he lived or if he died… and that, on top of everything else, he was the prince of a kingdom he had never even heard of?

“It’s from someone important to you, right?” Erik asked, “don’t worry about it, you can tell me later. What’s the other one?”

Of course. He didn’t have the luxury of time to process this all right now. Setting the first letter down safely, El took the second in hand. The paper was fresher, and the script much less elegant.

It was Chalky’s handwriting.

It was simple. It was straightforward and without any of the embellishments that his mother's letter had, but in each word of this letter, El knew how much Chalky loved him. How much he wanted to help.

Don’t waste your time bearing grudges, and live life with love in your heart.

All the best, now and forever, Grandad.

Erik clapped his hand onto his shoulder.

Had El been reading aloud?

“Come on,” Erik said, “just the King’s Barrow now, and then we’ll be on our way.”

~~

Just the Kings’ Barrow, he said.

They’d climbed the stairs as quietly as they could after seeing the guard post at the bottom, lanterns lit but empty. They’d expected to have to sneak around, and possibly fight to get the orb.

They hadn’t expected to walk into a bloodbath.

Corpses littered the entrance to the tomb, blood pooling beneath them, dark and drying.

They hadn’t been dead for very long.

Whatever had killed them could very well still be inside.

Come on, Erik said to him, let’s get moving. That Orb is important, we can’t let just any old thief make off with it.

He was trying to make light of this. But El could see the green tinge to his skin, and knew he was more disturbed by the sight than he let on.

The maze was simple enough, and the monsters inside were hiding in corners and under rubble.

Cold unease pricked at El’s skin.

These monsters weren’t hiding from them . There’s no way. With frizz being the hardest hitting attack between them, they were hardly dangerous.

Whatever killed those soldiers was definitely still inside. 

But, that meant that the orb was, too.

They stopped at two stone doors. The last room left unexplored. 

He could hear voices inside.

“This is it,” Erik said, ready to throw the doors open. “You ready for a fight?”

“Ready.” El said, drawing his sword, ready to strike first.

The doors flew open, and El lunged, sword making contact with the first of two grim gryphons.

His attack gave them no time to prepare, and no warning with which to retaliate.

Erik leapt in behind him, knife hitting the monster in a vital spot, vaporizing the creature on impact.

One down, and one to go.

The second gryphon screeched in fury, but his claws only bounced off El’s raised shield. In the moment it was off-balance, El cast frizz, and Erik slipped in the moment the flames disappeared to land his own attack.

Together they made short work of the two would-be thieves, and Erik made his way to the pedestal to pick up the Red Orb.

“Never thought I’d get this back.” Erik said, looking over the smooth surface for any chips or cracks, “escaping Heliodor, getting the orb, I think I’ll stick with you awhile longer. You’re turning out to be quite the lucky charm.” Erik put the treasure away safely, and turned to El. “The Door of Departure is just east of here. Let’s get going.”

-

The old ruin came into sight as the sun began to lift above the cliff side. They were nearly there, to what Chalky had promised.

And then, the click of hooves on stone, Erik and El whipped around to look, and there, high above them, Helidoran soldiers on horseback.

Hendrick leading the charge.

“Did you really think you could escape me, Darkspawn?” His voice reverberated off the stone, and the horses charged, running down the slope, quickly closing the distance.

“Damnit!” Erik swore, turning around to run.

If only his wing wasn’t torn, El wished, but he still wasn’t outdone. 

The change took mere seconds before El took his dragon form again, cutting Erik off.

Get on! 

By now, they were used to this. Using El’s horns as leverage, Erik swung his legs over El’s neck as he would a horse. 

El took off at a sprint, pushing himself more than he had even in the dungeons, when he heard Hendrick call “ Fire! ” From far behind them.

The arrow missed its mark, sailing past El’s side to bury itself deep into the earth.

A blue glow shone somewhere in the corner of his vison, and only grew brighter as Erik pulled the keystone from his bag. 

“Hurry!” Erik called over the wind in their ears, “they’re not going to stop at one shot!”

“You shall not escape me, Darkspawn!” 

Somewhere between the rush of adrenaline, and the pumping of fear in his veins, El wanted to roll his eyes. Had the man ever anything else to say?

But the moment didn’t last long, as El heard another arrow fly, and this time meet its mark.

Pain blossomed across his haunches, impeding his run and sending him rolling across the earth.

The pain didn’t last long, numbed by the panic. Erik was only a few feet away, and getting to his feet, staring in dismay at the wood of the arrow sticking out from El’s body, and at the rapidly approaching enemy.

“We need to run.” Erik said, doing what he could to help the dragon to his feet. “Now!”

El stood shakily, holding his injured hind leg up off the ground. 

The door was open, they were so close.

El had one shot. 

He halted, turned his head, and called up his fire as quickly as he could.

No time to make it as hot or as fierce as he could, but the heat and smoke was enough to halt even the most well trained horses.

“Come on !” Erik yelled, shoving the dragon in front of him.

They made it through the threshold just as the smoke cleared. 

The door was closing, and through the gap, El met Hendrick’s eyes. He was on the ground, thrown off his horse, but he did not look defeated.

“Do you think you have won?” 

Blue light began to envelope El.

“The game has not even begun!” 

Hendricks' words echoed even as the doors slammed shut, and El was transported elsewhere.

There was nothing for a moment, and then the blue light returned.

El and Erik found themselves in a structure much like the one on the emerald coast, only this time, they were safe. 

Energy bottoming out, El felt his legs begin to tremble before they gave way completely.

He hit the stone floor hard, but the thud as his jaw hit the floor was only a raindrop in comparison to the storm of pain where the arrow had hit him.

“Oh, good lord.” El heard Erik’s voice, but it sounded far away.

He opened his eyes, and turned his head. 

Erik’s hands were just above the fletching. 

He met El’s eyes. “I can’t pull this out.” Erik said. “I don’t know how deep it is.”

El let his head meet the stone floor again. 

“You need help. Professional help.” Erik dropped his hands back to his sides. “How the hell am I supposed to get you that?”

Chapter Text

Erik leaned against the wooden stakes surrounding the outside of the village. 

He had his hood pulled up, and he was halfway into the shadow. 

He was silent, near invisible.

No one looked twice. No one really noticed.

He watched the villagers mill about their daily lives, shopping, eating, talking. He saw visitors to the village, those who have travelled long from their own homes to visit Hotto, to take a break in the hot springs they were known for.

They were the ones he was looking for. 

He noted how they carried themselves, what they had to defend themselves with. 

For the most part, those that carried weapons carried swords.

It wasn’t unreasonable to think that someone who fancied themselves a warrior or a minstrel would know a healing spell or two, but the trouble there would be getting past the blade.

Erik was looking for a mage. A healer. He needed someone who had magical energy, but no real attack power.

A priest, a mage if nothing else.

And that’s when he saw her.

Walking down the stairs that climbed to the forge, there was a girl. Tall and slender, long blonde hair and wearing a long green dress.

But none of that was what Erik’s eyes landed on.

At her hip, was a wand. 

A white magic user, and judging from her clothing, not from around here. Perfect.

He watched her move around the town, speaking to nearly everyone in her path. 

She looked upset, and a part of Erik, the part of him that would give everything for Mia, told him not to do this. 

But that same part knew he had to.

He waited until she walked outside of the village. And waited a few moments more.

And followed.

She was just past the village gate when he caught up to her.

She was sitting on a rock, her face in her hands.

It was secluded, the volcanic rock would obstruct the view of anyone, as long as they didn’t look too closely.

His steps were silent as he approached. She didn’t notice him until a gleam of sunlight reflected off his knife.

She was not crying. 

She was calm as she lifted her hands, and stood slowly. 

“I have no money.” She told him. “I have nothing valuable.”

He kept the point of his knife trained on her.

“You’re a healer?” He demanded. 

She nodded, glancing between the point of his blade and his obscured face.

“Then you’ve got what I need.” He said, “Your name?” 

“Serena.” She answered, voice flat. “I’m Serena.”

“Alright, Serena.” Erik stood back, giving back the smallest amount of space he could. “This is what’s going to happen. My friend, he’s at the door of departure. He’s injured. Badly. You’re going to come with me, and you’re going to heal him.”

Serena’s expression changed. She looked confused. “He’s injured?” She repeated, “you want me to heal him?”

“Yes.” Erik said, his hands were not shaking. He was not about to lose this.

Serena’s hands went back down to her sides. She didn’t reach for a weapon, she didn’t call up any offensive spells. “I’ll help. Of course I’ll help. Why didn’t you just ask?” 

Why didn’t he just ask? Why didn’t he just ask ? There were so many reasons. So many questions they could ask in turn. Why so far from town? Why didn’t you bring him here? What are you willing to pay? And then, even past all that, there was the fact he was asking them to heal a dragon .

Erik had an entire plan. 

And now… he’d stumbled upon who had to be the stupidest, or just the kindest, girl on the planet.

“You’ll just help him?” Erik pressed, “no questions asked?”

“Of course.” Serena said, now that Erik moved the knife away. “It’s clearly important. Where did you say he is?” She pushed past him, not a worry in her mind as she moved down towards the path. She looked at him over her shoulder. “It’s bad, right? We’ll need to get a move on.”

“It… he’s to the east.” Erik said, hurrying to catch up. “Just about as far as the road goes.”

Her guard was completely down. Erik nearly let himself relax, too, but if this was an act..

He couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t risk her running off and warning the town. 

So, the whole walk. He kept his knife drawn. He kept close.

Serena kept silent. She walked with purpose, only stopping at forks in the road, not a glance towards Hotto or the campsite.

And at last, as the sun was beginning to set, Erik saw the temple.

This was going to be the hard part.

As the doors closed behind them, Erik stood between Serena and the exit. 

The room was dark, but a blue glow began to emit from a rune on the floor, illuminating the dragon laying stone still in the corner.

Serena wouldn’t notice, but Erik did. His scales were not the golden color they should be. Instead, they were overtaken by a gray tinge, dulling their shine. The horns on his head had also changed, going from their regular tan to a pitch black. 

At the noise of the doors closing, El opened his eyes, and even those baby blues had dulled.

Serena gasped at the sight, but to Erik’s surprise, she did not turn to run. 

Instead, she came closer to the dragon, got down to the floor before him, and reached out a hand. 

“Oh, who did this to you?” She asked, and not to Erik.

“You can help him?” Erik asked her, feeling safe enough to move away from the door, and closer to his friend. 

Serena looked over her shoulder at him. “I’m from Arboria. This won’t be the first time I’ve treated a dragon. What’s all happened to him? He isn’t talking.”

Arboria. Not far from Sniflheim, and from what Erik had heard, crawling with dragons. And she’d healed them before?

Erik knelt down. “Around his neck, there was a chain.” He pointed to the cut that ran along his side, “here, a soldier got him with a broadsword, his wing is ripped right there, and a crossbow shot the arrow that’s lodged in his leg.”

Serena’s hands began to glow with a soft light. The puffiness around El’s throat had already begun to heal, but as the healing spells were cast, it faded entirely. 

Serena’s brow creased as she moved to the long cut. “This wound isn’t new… it should’ve been treated before now. I’m sorry, this is going to scar.” The wound changed with the light, but unlike the other, this one didn’t fade entirely. Cutting through the scales was now one long raised pink line. 

Erik didn’t know how El would feel about that. How large the scar was, and so visible in contrast to his scales. But Erik felt only relief. 

The wound was a source of stress for him as they travelled. The sheer size of it, and the unfortunate placement meant that it was constantly being moved, and constantly being reopened. The risk of it being infected had only grown and grown.

But then, as Serena moved her hands away, she left the arrow alone.

“This one is going to require more work.” She explained to Erik. “It’s a good thing you didn’t try to take it out on your own.” She took the shaft of the arrow in hand, and moved it gently. Fresh blood began to drip from the wound, and El let out a pained sound, low and long. “I don’t have any of the right equipment to take this out properly.”

Serena removed her hands from the arrow and looked to Erik.

“I never got your name.” She said to him.

“Erik.”

“Alright, Erik,” Serena’s hands began to glow anew as she prepared the spell again. “This needs to happen as fast as possible. I need you to pull the arrow out, and pull it out at the angle it’s gone in at.” 

Erik took the arrow in both hands, and braced himself against the floor.

“I’m afraid this is going to hurt.” Serena said to El, and then gave Erik a nod. On the count of three.”

“One.” Erik felt sick.

“Two.” The glow of magic made it hard to see the puncture of the arrow. 

“ Three! ” Erik pulled back as hard as he could, and the arrow came free. The healing spell Serena casted turned the entire room a bright white, and then, for a moment, everything was silent. 

The wound was gone when the light faded. The only evidence the skin was ever broken was the blood that had dripped onto the floor, and the arrow in Erik’s hand.

El himself was rigid, smoke pouring out from between his clenched jaws. 

One last spell from Serena had him relax, and fall into a deep, painless sleep.

Serena stood, and motioned Erik towards the door.

Outside, the sun has fully set, and the moon is all they have to see by. 

Serena sits on the stairs, and pats the ground next to her.

Erik takes the invitation, and awkwardly, “I’m sorry I tried to mug you.”

“I understand.” Serena said, “the people here don’t care very much for dragons.” 

They were quiet for a spell, the only sounds to be heard was an owl, calling somewhere off in the distance, and the even quieter music playing from the village of Hotto. 

Serena was turning the arrow over in her hands, wiping off the blood on a handkerchief. “This arrowhead is likely made from iron.” She lifted it up, looking at the way the light reflected from it. “Iron is like poison to dragons. Saps their energy, makes them sick.”

“Is that so.” Erik watched as she set the arrow to the side. That would explain why El couldn’t escape the dungeon on his own, if the shackle was made from iron. 

“You didn’t know?”

Erik shook his head. “Can’t say I know much of anything about dragons, besides what’s said about them in stories.”

“And yet you’re taking care of one? Have you not asked him anything?”

Erik thought of all the bottled up questions he had. All the time he wanted to stop and grill El about what exactly he was, why exactly these things kept happening. “Haven’t had the time.”

“Well, you have time now.” Serena said, “he’s going to need some rest, and some medicine.” She paused for a moment. “It may be too much to ask, but I need to ask you a favor. In return for healing your dragon.”

Your dragon felt weird to hear, but Erik left it alone for now. They’d just escaped Hendrick’s pursuit, and they certainly didn’t need anyone else coming after the Luminary just yet. 

“I lost my sister, in Hotto. I... I can’t get her back on my own. These horrid monsters ambushed us, and before I knew it, they had her.” Serena bunched the skirt of her dress in her hands. “No one in Hotto would help me.”

Erik looked back at the closed doors to the temple. He didn’t want to make any decision without El, but he really did owe this girl. After everything she’s done to help, everything she’s promised to do to help, he couldn’t just leave her and her sister without any sort of thanks. 

And besides, it’s not as if they have any real destination just yet.

Serena was right. They have time right now.

~~

They’d returned inside the temple to sleep for the night. It was hardly comfortable, somehow even less so than sleeping in the open at a campsite, but for now it was the safest option. Even if it had been suggested, Erik wouldn’t have left El here alone to go back to Hotto to find an inn.

And so, he’d ended up much in the way he had when he woke up after their leap of faith from the cliff in Heliodor.

Erik sat with his back supported by El’s side, and he’d taken the dragon’s head and pillowed it in his lap.

Serena had fallen asleep near instantly. She was snoring lightly from where she unpacked her bedroll near the door.

Erik felt his own exhaustion creeping up on him, but he found himself sleepless. The corners of his eyes burned and he could feel his limbs ache. They’d hardly had time for rest or sleep until now, and even now, it was more because they had to stop than that they wanted to. 

Erik stared off into space, his hands moving idly over El’s scales, drawing meaningless patterns. 

He continued even as his eyes felt heavy, and when his head came to rest against a now healed wing.

It felt as if no time had passed at all when he felt something scaly bump his cheek. Erik’s eyes shot open, and he realized he was looking directly into El’s.

His eyes were their proper blue color, even brighter than Erik had seen them. It was hard to tell in the shadowy temple, but he could guess that his scales would have regained their illustrious golden glow as well.

Then those eyes looked away, and Erik followed them to where Serena was already awake, sitting up and plucking idly at strings of her harp.

“She’s safe.” Erik said, understanding what El was not saying. “Serena’s been healing you.”

Serena smiled at them both. “It’s no trouble.”

El changed, and Erik did his best not to groan. He should’ve said something right away. They didn’t need rumors about a shape changing man following them, and healer or not, Erik was not quite ready to entrust their safety to a stranger.

But the change was made, and Erik was no longer lounging against a dragon, but sitting shoulder to shoulder with a much more human person.

“Thank you.” El said to her, making no move to make any space between himself and Erik. He stretched out his wing and turned his head to look it over.

The membrane was no longer split in two. The shimmery greenish-silver broken only by an off-colored line where the cut once was. He should be able to fly again.

Serena’s eyes were wide as she saw the transformation. “A-again, it’s no trouble, um…” 

“El.” 

Serena smiled again, “it’s no trouble at all, El!” 

Erik was the first to stand. “Now, listen. In exchange for helping you, we’re going to help Serena find her sister.” 

El stood, wobbly for just a moment, before he managed to steady himself. 

“I managed to track the monsters to an old ruin, west of here, the locals call it the Cryptic Crypt. I can’t go in on my own. My offensive spells aren’t the most powerful, but I can promise to keep you both going with my heals and hymns.” Serena joined them, her wand in her hands. “Veronica is no slouch with magic. She’s the one who got all the talent with black magic.”

I hope it’s okay I told her we’d help? Erik asked El silently. 

“Of course we'll help.” El said aloud, answering Erik’s question, and accepting Serena’s offer of aid. 

“We’ll take it slow.” Serena said, “it’s quite the trek to the crypt, not to mention what could be inside. Iron sickness is nothing to sneeze at.” Her tone took on a more serious note. “That arrowhead did quite a number on you.”

El looked taken back. “Iron sickness?”

“When you’re near iron, or when it touches you, you get weak, and sick.” Serena explained, “don’t you? I saw it last night, and I’m used to having to treat some dragons for it, but…” she trailed off. As many dragons as she’d seen, as many tamed ones that lived alongside their keepers in her home, not one had the ability to change from dragon form to human form. 

In fact, El’s dragon form looked like none she’d seen before. Perhaps…

But El’s eyes lit up in understanding. “I didn’t know it had a name. I’d only had trouble with it once before, someone traveling through my village traded us some new tools in exchange for food and a place to sleep, but I’ve never been able to use them comfortably.”

Erik stood silent as the two spoke. He had nothing to add, and felt a little disconcerted. He hadn’t heard El speak this much in the handful of days he’d known him, and yet here he was, spilling to a stranger.

But then again, there really wasn’t time for any conversation, they’d been running constantly from the moment they saw each other.

“The crypt, how far is it exactly?” Erik asked, not interrupting, but feeling like he was all the same. 

“As west as the mountain pass goes.” Serena answered, “there’s a campsite just past Hotto, but if we skip past it we should be there by noon.”

“What about monsters? How strong are they?”

“I’m not sure.” 

Erik sighed, but gestures at the door. “We’d better get going. Every moment we waste is another moment your sister is trapped.”

“I could fly us.” El cut in. 

Both Erik and Serena turned to look at him, and he flushed. “If my wing is healed, it shouldn’t be too hard to carry you both.”

Skeptical, Erik asked, “How many people have you flown around before?” He’d ridden on his neck twice now, and while it wasn’t much unlike a horse, flying sounded like an entirely different story. The thought of being so far off the ground, and the only thing between him and the ground was his own grip… no, thank you.

“You shouldn’t push yourself too hard.” Serena said, “and besides, I couldn’t recommend it. The people around Hotto and Gallopolis do not take well to dragons. The wolf dragons here are vicious, they take people and livestock, and I can’t guarantee you wouldn’t be shot at again if they spotted you.”

“Then I’ll run, it’ll be faster than walking, and it isn’t exertion. I’ve been a packhorse before, for my village when new houses were built.” Not waiting for any further arguments, he changed back. You’re lighter than a load of lumber, I’m sure.

Erik grinned, and let the dragon walk past him and through the door. He didn’t really know El yet, but Erik knew he’d scored high with him as his new partner.

~~

The entrance to the cryptic crypt was unassuming, and the monsters weaker than what Erik had expected. Though, to be fair, it would’ve been much harder to navigate if they didn’t have a dragon that could test out the pitfalls and just fly back up if necessary.

But even with that advantage, the crypt would’ve had a more accurate name in labyrinth. 

The twists and turns were few, but each wall and tunnel were nearly identical. Old, faded stone, dust in corners, crumbling brick… it doesn’t take much to get turned around on yourself when everything around you was identical.

But at the very least it wasn’t up to Erik to decide their path. El had taken it upon himself to lead the way, now that his wounds were healed, he’d come out of the shell that Erik had known him in. 

A call of “frizz!” and a small burst of light down another corridor caught Erik’s attention. Warm firelight lit again and again, at a rapid fire pace, 

Unless the monsters had managed to capture not one, but two fire-wielding mages, that should be Veronica.

Serena took off at a run, recognizing the voice and the feel of the spell in the air instantly, El and Erik at her heels. The small corridor opened into a larger room, pillars holding up the ceiling, tiles fallen and broken in the corners.

And in the center of the room, a small child dressed in red stood, her dress dirtied, and surrounded by walking corpses. 

A monster that on its own didn’t stand as too much of a threat, though in any greater number could prove to be a nuisance, and to a child, they could surely be deadly.

Erik rushed in, knife drawn. 

A light blue aura surrounded the little mage, and she stood just a little straighter, casting a relieved glance over her shoulder to her new allies.

Now with a group, the monsters fell easily. 

El and Erik attacked in sync, one after another in a way that was new, but natural for them both.

The last corpse fled, and Erik stood down, sheathing his knife, and standing back to back with El. 

Veronica shouted out insults at the retreating monster, words that Erik cringed at coming from the mouth of a child that couldn’t be older than ten, but said nothing. Surely Serena wouldn’t take too kindly to him scolding her little sister, and really, he couldn’t fault her too much considering the situation.

Though he did wonder where she learned that kind of language with a sibling like Serena.

Veronica spun on her heel, tiny hands on her tiny hips, and a huge grin plastered over her face. “Took you long enough!” She pointed up at her sister, “I was about to head off to look for you when you finally showed up!”

“Veronica?” Serena kneeled down to be on eye-level with her sister. “I hardly recognized you!”

That hardly sounded right. “This is her, right?” Erik asked, “your sister?” 

Serena looked back at where he and El stood, “yes,” she said, “this is Veronica.”

“And I’m her twin.” Veronica butted in, holding up a finger. “Her older twin.” 

Erik shared a glance with El. “I’m sure.” 

Veronica scowled at him, the way her face scrunched up doing nothing to alter Erik’s opinion. She began to argue, but Erik cut her off.

“Later, we’re not going to be left alone here long, we need to get back outside, and get you back to town.”

“Hardly!” Veronica snapped at him, “there’s a bigger monster further in, and he’s got my magic. I’m not leaving here both looking like a child, and with the same amount of magical power I had when I was actually this small!

“Besides,” she continued on, “I’m not the only person they’ve taken! You don’t expect me to go while there are still prisoners, do you?”

El spoke up. “Of course not.” 

Veronica finally noticed him. 

She blinked twice, dumbfounded for a moment, and Erik nearly groaned.

Could anyone look at El without turning into a fool?

But her open-mouthed shock turned to a smug smirk easily. “Good.” She said, “I can show you the way, it isn’t too much farther.” She turned and began walking, leaving the rest of the group to stumble behind her.

Peering around the doorway, the monsters in question were easily seen, not a care to the open door or any notice taken to those standing just out of sight.

“Ooh, this is jars!” The big one complained, scolding the two paper-thin shadows that flanked it. “All my plans, shattered!” 

“Lord of Shadows?” Erik muttered, just loud enough for his companions to hear. 

“Nevermind that for now,” Veronica hissed, “see that jar? That’s what they’ve sucked all my magic into.”

“Oh, dear!” Serena’s meek exclamation alerted everyone, and Veronica screamed when she turned, her face only inches away from another shadow creature.

Erik stumbled back, through the opened doors.

“Ooh, how I do love guests!” The monster said, eyeing the group. “Especially when they bring me presents! If it isn’t the one who got away.” His attention was easily diverted when he caught sight of El. “And this one… this one has plenty of magic, too.”

The two shadows went down easy, with only a few attacks. With Veronica weakened the way she was, her spells didn’t do much but chip away at their defenses, but it was better than nothing. 

Serena stayed in the back lines, but was more help than Erik had thought.

The shadows were easy, but Jarvis’s breath attack hit hard, and he wasn’t exactly conservative with it.

El brought his sword down hard on the beast, the blade enveloped in flame. 

The creature stumbled, and Erik took the opening to make a slash at its belly with the edge of his poisoned knife.

A purple glow surrounded Jarvis for a moment, purple froth around its mouth. Erik had managed to poison him.

The venom slowed Jarvis’s movements, addled his mind, so his next attack hit much lighter than the previous ones had.

It hadn’t taken long to get the upper hand.

“Frizz!” Veronica cast another spell, and although she was weakened, a hit was a hit.

Jarvis tried to shield himself, but in forgoing an attack, El was able to land a finishing blow.

Jarvis fell back, eyes rolling in his skull. He moaned something about the Lord of Shadows again. “All my dreams.. shattered.”

“Who is this Lord of Shadows?” Erik demanded, but the beast only laughed.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Jarvis said, his body dissolving into a cloud of purple smoke. “When everything… goes to pot.”

Foreboding sat like a rock in Erik’s stomach. “Soon enough, huh?”

Veronica moved past him, heading straight for the jar. “Took long enough!” Standing on the tips of her toes, she slid the lid from the top, and let it clatter to the floor below. “Hope this works…”

Purple smoke, not unlike what Jarvis had come, burst forth from the jar and swirled to the top of the room before it came right back down, enveloping Veronica in its glow.

The magic swirled and pulsed, and finally dissipated, leaving Veronica standing where she was, looking exactly the same.

Serena’s shoulders dropped. “I don’t understand.” She said, “nothing’s changed!”

“Nothing’s changed, she says!” Veronica tutted, summoning a small wisp of flame in the palm of her hand. She let it grow for a moment, before snapping her fingers and smothering it. “I can feel all my magic back now!”

“But… you’re still a child!” 

Veronica stopped, and looked at her hands, as if she honestly hadn’t noticed. 

“Oh,” her hands dropped back down to her sides, but she only looked upset for a moment. “Oh, well. I guess it’ll take a bit more than that to restore my age.” A smile grew on her face, “I guess it’s like they say, you’re only young twice!”

Serena managed a small laugh. “I suppose you would find a funny side to all this.” She took a sideways glance at El, and leaned down to her sister, covering her mouth with a hand but doing nothing to lower her voice. “You’ve noticed who we're with, haven’t you?”

“But of course.”

“Bold Luminary,

Yggdrasil’s chosen.

We of Arboria swear to protect you.

While we live none shall defeat you.”

Erik crossed his arms. “So you know who he is?”

“Of course we do, you dunce!” Veronica scoffed, “the evidence is stamped onto the back of his hand, after all!”

El shifted, “Just my hand?” He asked.

Veronicas brows furrowed, but she seemed to understand what he was saying. “Just your hand.” She repeated, waving a hand at him to indicate his dragon features, “I don’t know anything about the Luminary being part monster. None of the illustrations of Erdwin looked like you.”

“I see.” El said, his voice quiet.

“There are those who would accuse you of bringing disaster on our world. Please, you must rest assured that they are wrong.” Serena added on to her pledge, “You are a hero. The light in your eyes… the light told of in the legends of Arboria… it proves that without a doubt.”

“We knew who you were the moment we saw you.” Veronica claimed.

Erik smiled as El looked uncomfortable with all the attention on him. “Not that I ever doubted you, but I guess you really are the Luminary.”

“We have a legend in Arboria,” Serena pressed on, “that one day the Dark One will descend to extinguish the light from the world, but the Luminary, Yggdrasil’s chosen, will rise up to meet him.

“I know it’s hard to believe, I mean, just look at you!” Veronica said.

If it was meant to be a joke, it was in bad taste. Erik saw El cringe back ever so slightly. You’d think as someone else stuck in an unusual form, she’d have more sympathy.

“But it’s true!” She continued on, either not noticing or not caring about El’s discomfort. “You’re the reincarnation of the Luminary. The man who defeated the dark one long, long ago.”

Erik frowned, “if he was defeated, then why bring the Luminary back?” He asked.

Veronica merely shrugged. “It’s not our place to wonder why, or who, or how. It’s merely to guide the Luminary to Yggdrasil. I’m sure it’ll all become clear eventually.”

“Yggdrasil, huh? Well, let’s get going on over there. I’d like to know what’s going on about this ‘Lord of Shadows.’”

“Honestly!” Veronica rolls her eyes, “as if it’s that easy. But if you’ve got a way to get up to the giant floating tree in the sky, do please share.”

As if he’d meant it would be easy. Child or not, Erik was just about ready to give her a smack over the head.

“They say the Luminary visited Yggdrasil before he confronted the Dark One, but the legends do not say how.” Serena added on.

“What?” Erik asked, trying to force as much sarcasm as he could muster into his voice, “not even you special protectors of the magical ancient wonder truths know? Bummer .”

Erik felt a hand on his shoulder, and met El’s eyes. 

Don’t be rude.

Erik wanted to reply with she started it! But knew it would gain him no points.

Sorry. He settled with instead.

“Well, we can figure out the ifs and hows later.” Veronica said, “we’re forgetting ourselves, there are more people being held here, like I said.” She glanced around, before pointing at the door on the far side of the room. “Through there.” 

The room branched off into multiple cells, but only one was still occupied. A man with dark blue hair stood, startled by the sudden noise.

“You’re safe, the monsters are gone now.” Veronica approached the cell door with both hands raised, trying to appear non-threatening.

As if she would be threatening either way.

A short exhale next to him told Erik that El had heard him.

The cell door opened, and Erik got a good look at the man. He recognized him, surely… he just couldn’t quite place him.

“Thank you, thank you so much.” He said, “please, if you ever need anything, I’m Noah.”

Noah! “Noah the know-it-all?” Erik asked, standing just a little taller.

Noah startled, but as he tried to make a break for it, Erik caught him around the arm. “Take it easy!” Erik said, “I know you from my old line of work, not a wanted poster.”

Noah didn’t relax.

“You were always giving out information… for the right price. I’d say your freedom is a pretty hefty payment. Think you could spare a little gossip?”

“That's really all you want?” Noah asked, taking his arm back. 

“We need to know about Yggdrasil.” Erik said, gesturing to the rest of his group. 

“Blimey, you got a score in mind?” Noah asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. 

Probably for the best, they didn’t need too much information about their journey or the purpose of it going to someone who made a living off gossip and rumor. 

“I do know something.” Noah said, “I came to Hotto through Gallopolis not too long ago. Ran outta food and water, thought it was the end for me. But then, I woke up, in the Sultan’s palace of all places! There was this treasure, something they had on display like it was nothing! It was beautiful, this branch, shimmering with every color. I may not know for sure, but if it didn’t come from Yggdrasil herself… well, I wouldn’t be much in this profession if I couldn’t tell top-end loot when I saw it, would I?”

“A branch…” Serena echoed, “from the World Tree. ‘Lighting the path ahead for the Luminary.. just like in the story, Veronica, do you think?”

Veronica nodded slowly, thinking. “Yes… I think we should pay a visit to the sultan.”

“The border of Gallopolis isn’t far from here at all,” Serena explained to El, just south-west. I hope you don’t mind us tagging along.” She said, her words directed at both El and Erik. 

“Not all all.” Erik answered when El only nodded, “a healer like you? You’ll be invaluable.”

“That’s all you need, then?” Noah said, “I won’t forgot what you’ve done here.” He glanced at El, looking him up and down, “and as just a little extra present… I won’t go blathering about your friend here.”

Erik didn’t trust him. He trusted the information he gave… but he didn’t trust he’d keep his word. Any information for the right price, he’d used to say. And Erik would be willing to bet there were more than a few people willing to shell out gold coins by the thousand for sightings of their dear Luminary here,

“Right, then” Erik said, ready to make distance between himself and the Hotto Steppe, “to Gallopolis?” 

“To Gallopolis.” El said.

~~

Noah split from their group at the campsite, heading through the dark of night back to Hotto, while Erik and the party settled down around the glow of their campfire.

“We’ll leave for Gallopolis at first light.” Veronica took the liberty of deciding right after she and her sister laid out their bedrolls.

Erik tried to find the most tactful way to ask these ladies if they were actually ready to take on this kind of journey. Bedrolls and plush pillows aside, Erik could almost excuse them, he was used to sleeping on the ground or up against crates and logs, but perhaps that was more his upbringing than any real advantage, they wanted to trek through a desert in the sun. All Erik knew of Arboria was that it was known for being stuck up and posh.

“Maybe we should leave now?” He suggested, “it won’t do any of us any good if we get heatstroke.”

The group remained silent, the only noise being the pop and crackle of the fire.

“You’re serious?” Veronica asked, “you want to take the dragon through the desert, at night?”

“I-“ Erik turned to El., who only shrugged, just as confused as he was. “-yes?” 

Veronica groaned, over-exaggerating her frustration by holding her hands up in defeat. “Don’t you at least know that no matter how hot the desert is during the day, it gets unbearably cold at night?”

“Of course,” Erik said as El shook his head.

“Then surely you’d know why it would be a bad idea to travel there overnight?” Serena asked, much kinder than her sister.

Again, El only shrugged.

“I can’t believe I’m lecturing you about your own biology !” Veronica shouted, and began counting off on her fingers. “The cold is bad, Iron is bad, how have you lived your life not learning this?”

“Not much in my village was made from iron.” El explained, “and winters are hard on everyone. The rocks would frost over, so no one went outside until the sun was out. I just thought everyone slowed down in the cold months.”

Before Veronica could pop a vein, “Serena reached out to push her back down gently into her bedroll. “Perhaps he isn’t as weak to these things as a regular dragon would be,” she suggested, “what about your family?”

Erik watched El closely. 

He didn’t move, didn’t speak, but there was tension in the air that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

His mouth was a straight line, and his eyes were on the stone ground in front of him as he answered.

“I don’t know.” He settled on, “my family found me as a baby. I never knew my blood relatives. I’ve never met anyone else like me.”

He was silent again, and Erik picked up what was left unsaid. They couldn’t even ask his family, or his village. Not anymore.

“King Carnelian ordered his village to be destroyed.” Erik explained for his partner, keeping his voice low but steady, “when we left it last… all that was left was rubble. We don’t know what’s become of his family.” 

Serena had brought her hands up to cover her mouth, while Veronica went quiet. 

“I’m so sorry.” Serena said, moving her hands down, holding them tight above her chest, Boeing her head slightly to offer a prayer. 

Veronica didn’t join, but instead pressed on again about El’s dragon half. “Then we should err on the safe side, and go in the day. The heat from the sun should do wonders for your health, and Serena can cast some spells that should keep the rest of us safe from the sun. Since you don’t know much,” she continued, “if you have any questions about dragons, just ask! Serena and I have helped raise dragon whelps for years, we’re practically experts.”

“Now that’s hardly true,” Serena chided her sister, “we helped the priest take care of one brood last year, and you hardly did anything but hold them!”

Erik tried to keep up with the argument that started, but gave up quickly in favor of just speaking to El. 

“You know what?” He got up, and motioned for El to follow, “I’ve got something for you.” 

It was a quick thing to set up, and when he was finished, he stood back for El to look. “The fun-sized forge! Derk and I.. acquired it a while back. I don’t know what kind of magic it uses, but sweating over a hot forge was never really my style anyway. Think you’d get any use out of it?”

Instead of replying, El bent to pick up the hammer. He tested its weight, and brought the metal head down lightly in his other palm. 

Never forged anything more than horseshoes before. 

Erik heard El’s voice in his head, and responded in kind.

I’ve got a manual around somewhere, he offered, but it’s pretty simple to learn. Erik liked being able to speak to El like this, his words easily heard, even over the drone of the twins continued bickering. I bet you’d be good at it, especially with your fire breathing. 

“I can’t breathe fire in human form.” El said aloud. “Sometimes I can make smoke if I’m upset enough, but never fire.” He said it off-handedly, and that meant something.

To Erik. It meant that he was trusted, enough that El had no qualms about sharing things about himself.

“Oy!” 

The duo turned to see Veronica, still seated where she was.

“Get back over here! We’ve got a plan to make!”

~~

El was not a fan of the plan.

He felt like a fool, walking into the desert city of Gallopolis, cloaked in a floor-length cape, the hood pulled up over his head.

It hardly hid anything. His tail-tip poking out from under the grayish-brown fabric when his mind wandered away from keeping it pulled up tight, his wings felt trapped inside it, and the hood tented oddly over his horns, the fabric pulled taut.

The shimmer of an illusion spell glinted in front of his eyes, and the world was colored purple around him. 

It wasn’t a particularly strong spell. It didn’t obscur him completely from sight, but as long as no one looked too closely, they shouldn’t notice anything amiss.

“We only need the rainbough, and then we can be on our way.” 

“We’ve got a dragon,” Erik pointed out, “I don’t see why we can’t just take it from the palace-“

“You say you have a dragon?” El startled, turning to see a man enshrouded not unlike he was himself, standing far too close, hands balled into fists, and staring pleadingly at the group. “A tamed one?”

“Well, in a sense-“ Serena began, but was quickly cut off. 

“It wouldn’t happen to be one of those horrible spitzfire monsters, would it?” 

“No, he’s-“ Erik was quickly cut off as well.

“Oh, it’s of no matter! I heard you speak of the rainbough, I can offer you the treasure, but in exchange, I need to ask you a favor.” The man glanced around, as if he was checking to be sure no one was watching, but did it in such an obvious way, that even if no one was looking before, there surely was now. “The city has ears! It’s not safe to talk here, meet me at the circus, there’s a show tonight. We can talk there, yes?”

“Alright.” El said, “we’ll join you there.” 

The man threw back his head and laughed joyously, “perfect! I’ll find you when the show starts, and don’t worry about money, I’ll pay for your tickets.”

“Wait-“ Erik tried again, but the man was off, walking away at a march, leaving four very, very confused people behind. 

“Now hold on,” Erik said, turning to face El, “why did you say yes? We’ve got no idea who that man is, or what he wants with a dragon ! And how exactly are we going to provide him with one?”

“We can at least see what he wants. All we agreed to do was meet him.” Serena offered. “We do need the rainbough.”

“And how does he have access to it?” Veronica asked, “Noah said it's in the palace. I doubt they wouldn’t notice it missing.”

~~

They found themselves sitting around a table as the circus began to fill with the night's crowd. 

El took the seat closest to the tent wall, and Erik settled down next to him, turning the chair around and resting his arms on the back. Serena and Veronica took the seats next to him, leaving one seat left, across from El.

They’d been able to go right through the ticket gate, not one person stopping them to check if they’d paid, so at the very least the stranger had held up his end of their deal.

It wasn’t until the ringmaster walked on stage to welcome the guests did he show again, still dressed in his cloak. This time, however, two guards accompanied him, taking up post just out of earshot on either side of the table.

The man dropped easily into his chair, and introduced himself.

“I am Prince Faris,” he said, “and I need your help. Soon I am to come of age, and as such, I will have to compete in the Sand Nationals, and before I am knighted, I will be expected to face off against a great beast. The trouble is… I am no knight. I have never fought in so much as a training bout! I do not know what manner of creature I am meant to kill, but if I was able to take down a dragon, to bring it to my father, I would surely be free from that expectation.”

“You must be crazy if you think we’d just let you kill -“

“I do not intend to harm your dragon!” Faris clarified, “I do not intend to fight it at all! But you say it is tame, that it is trained, all I ask is that it acts defeated!” He hung his head in his hands, “I am a coward, I am under no delusions of grandeur, but this is for my father, for my kingdom. I do not wish to disappoint them.”

“I’ll do it.” El said, ever the pushover.

“Well I’ve seen your dragon form, you’re not exactly a huge threat, you know.” Erik told him, “so if you’re not actually going to be spitting fire and fury, you aren’t going to be much of a trophy.” 

El had the good grace to look somewhat embarrassed. “I can be bigger.” 

“Excuse me?” Faris piped up, confused.

“It’s not real,” El said, “I can’t hold the illusion for very long, but I can look like a much bigger dragon.”

“ You’re the dragon?” Faris asked, and when he was given confirmation, cried out, “oh, this won’t do! All for nothing!”

“Now, don’t get so worked up.” Veronica chided, “we didn’t say no, and you don’t even know what he’s talking about, do you?”

“You’re both crazy.” Erik hissed over the gasps of awe coming from the crowd, “you really want to risk El like this?”

Veronica sighed, “you can really get us the rainbough for this?”

“I give you my word! If you help me, it is all yours.”

“Then we don’t have much choice.” She said, “El?”

“I’ve already agreed.” El said. 

~~

El was standing before a mirror in their shared room at the inn. Faris has once again taken care of the bill. El had been getting undressed when his reflection caught his eye, and he stopped to look. 

His appearance has never been something he’d been self conscious about. He’d never stopped to compare himself to the other children, and they’d never stopped to compare back. 

He’d been different, but there was never anything said about it.

But now.

Just look at you! Veronica had said. And now, he was. 

“Erik?”

The thief turned from where he’d been sitting, sharpening his new knife. “Yeah?” 

Erik saw El, fingers just centimeters from touching one of his horns, looking at himself in the mirror. Meeting his own eyes, but only seeing what wasn’t human.

“Am I scary?”

“You? About as scary as a gecko.” Erik was smiling, but El was not. 

Erik put down his knife, and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, so that he was facing El. “Look.” Erik started, “I don’t think you’re scary. I don’t think Veronica or Serena think you’re dangerous.” He paused. “But.. but those people out there, they might be afraid at first.”

The hand came back down to rest by El’s side, and Erik looked at his claws. Truth be told, El was dangerous.

But so was he, carrying knives and poisons. So was Veronica, with her seemingly endless ability to call forth fireballs. 

And so were the people out in the city. You never know. 

“But I also think that they wouldn’t be afraid of you for long. I sure wasn’t.”

El’s face didn’t change. He didn’t move. 

“People are afraid of what’s different. Even if they shouldn’t be. If we had time, they wouldn’t be scared.”

El gave one slight nod. Just enough to show he was listening.

“You’re thinking too hard about all this.” Erik said, “get some sleep. We’ll all need to be rested for tomorrow.” Erik still didn’t like the situation. He didn’t trust Faris, and he was afraid of what would happen in the morning.

El agreed, and changed into his little dragon form. 

There was only one bed in the room, but that was hardly an issue when he could just take this form and sleep on a pillow.

As he settled down, he felt Erik begin to scratch around the base of his horns, much like he’d do to a cat's ears. 

El was under no illusions about how Erik felt towards his plan, but the rainbough was more important. They didn’t know exactly what they were up against, if anything. And if all he had to do to get it was play possum for a bit, then he’d do it. 

No questions asked.

Morning came, and El woke slowly. He was warm, which was a welcome change from the frost he’d been getting used to waking up with. He was being held down to his pillow, though, which was something he was not exactly wanting to get used to.

Erik’s hand was on his back, just above where his wings grew, and completely limp over him, a dead weight.

He’d wanted to get up and leave immediately, without waking Erik, but wiggling out from under his arm with nothing more solid that a pillow underneath him wasn’t exactly something he could stealth through. 

Erik was slapped awake by one errant wing, and the morning’s peace was broken.

A few minutes later, Erik’s cheek still red, they were just about ready to leave, when El stopped by the door.

“I made this yesterday.” He said, holding out a knife, sheathed in a hand-stitched leather cover. “With the forge. You were right,” He said as Erik carefully took the blade, looking it over, “it is pretty easy to use.”

It was a divine dagger. Nothing too fancy, and it’s quality was barely above what he would’ve gotten from a weapons shop, but it was still an upgrade. 

“Thank you.” El said, “for the forge.”

“I should be thanking you.” Erik said as he swapped his old, chipped knife out for his new gift. He offered a grin, “come on, I’m sure they’re waiting for us.”

They met with Faris not far outside the city.

He stood proud, without his cloak, with a platoon of soldiers, and a large wooden carriage.

Faris was speaking to his men, seemingly trying his best to explain the situation, only to be met with reluctant agreement to the plan.

“Last chance to jump ship.” Erik said as the prince stride towards them.

I keep my word .

El took one deep, steadying breath, and removed his cloak, taking off the mirage with it.

Faris and his men only had a moment to marvel at El before he changed, standing tall and imposing before the sands. A low, rumbling growls started in his chest, a warning to the soldiers that reached for their weapons.

“Alright!” Erik called over the noise, “here’s the deal! You can take El here to the Sultan. You tell him you defeated him, you take glory in whatever the hell you get for it. Then, you let him go. We get the rainbough, and no one needs to know about this.” Erik took a moment to pause, and look at the panicked soldiers, and went off script. “If El gets hurt, if something goes wrong and you get so much as a scratch on him,” he grins, “well, let’s just hope everything goes to plan.”

Chapter Text

If you need help, just holler. We’ll be there.

That was the last thing Erik had to say before El climbed onto the wagon, and let the terrified soldiers tie him down.

The ropes were thick, but nothing he couldn’t break free from if he needed to.

The order was given, and the procession began.

The city gates were thrown open, fanfare trumpeting as the beloved prince stepped through, his trophy being wheeled in behind him.

Erik slips through the crowd, staying out of sight, but staying close.

He didn’t trust Faris, he didn’t trust this plan to go smoothly, and he wasn’t alone in his sentiment.

Veronica and Serena weren’t with him, but further into town, hiding amongst the crowd in the same way.

“Father!” Faris called out to the squat man standing above the crowds. He had one hand on the hilt of a sword he’d never drawn, and the other spread out, drawing attention to the creature behind him. “I’ve brought you a gift! A creature from the Celestial Sands brought low by my own blade!”

Erik rolled his eyes at the spectacle. 

He’d bet money that Faris was never told ‘no’ to anything growing up.

“What a feat, Faris my boy!”

And, really, was the entire royal family like this?

The sultan made to speak again but stopped as one person walked forward from the crowd.

The performer from the circus, Sylvando, walked up to the prince as if they knew him personally.

Erik couldn’t make out what they said and tried to move closer, just a few more feet closer-

A soldier broke rank, running through the crowd to come to a sudden halt before the sultan.

Kneeling down, he said loud enough for the whole city to hear-

“Sire! The Slayer of the Sands has returned!”

The people didn’t move.

No one spoke.

“My comrades are holding it off, but it is forcing its way past us- it could be here any moment!”

The soldier waited- and for a moment, the Sultan did nothing- no orders, no plan, not a word was spoken.

Until he got a glint in his eye, a bad idea-

El was still there, caught in the middle. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t said a word- and Erik didn’t know what to do- what even is the Slayer of the Sands?

“Faris!” The Sultan said, raising his staff high, “you must defend your home! You are a true knight- a true hero! To bring down a dragon like this, the Slayer of the Sands will be no match for you!”

Faris stood in shock- mouth agape and knees trembling.

“Father, no! I cannot-“

Now, what happened to the prince they made this deal with? The one that couldn’t possibly be seen as a coward before his people?

“Now, now, Prince Faris,” Sylvando said, walking around the wagon, inspecting its cargo, “if you managed to take down such a beast as this, I don’t doubt your ability to fight some measly scorpion!” 

Sylvando stopped next to the dragon’s neck and laid a hand on its scales.

The smile on their face vanished the moment Sylvando’s hand came in contact with El.

Then, the Slayer arrived.

The people who’d gathered in the square screamed as they heard the horrible noises the slayer made, as it pounded against the city gates.

El lay frozen in place.

He saw the guards usher away the Sultan, but not before he could call out to his son. “You are a man, Faris! Defend your kingdom!”

Faris said nothing, frozen in place as he watched the gates shake.

The people of Gallopolis fled, pushing through into buildings, hiding in the alleyways, searching for high ground to escape the monster.

El, come on! He heard Erik’s voice in his head, we need to get you out of here !

El could see him from here, standing on the edge of a building, hood pulled over his face, his new knife held tight in his grip. 

A woman screamed, and the gates burst open, letting the slayer into the city.

Faris stood directly in its path.

And what else was El supposed to do? He broke cover and broke his bonds. His wings flared open and snapped the rope that tied him to the wagon.

His mirage was gone, his energy was sapped, but he turned to fight. 

He leaped from the wagon and stood in front of Faris. He flared out his wings, bared his fangs and roared.

Embers flew from his open jaw, a wordless warning to the slayer, but it hardly slowed.

It was big.

Nearly twice El’s size.

Sharp blades for arms, pinchers, and multiple legs that let it scurry faster than El could run.

It was nearly upon him when he summoned his flames.

Deep from his chest, they burst. An inferno that hit home.

Faris ran.

The slayer screeched, more from fury than from pain, but it was enough. As it stumbled, trying to free itself from the blast of fire-

“ Swoosh!”

“Frizzle!”

The two spells hit it from either side, and it roared. Twisting and turning, trying to pick a target.

Flames dissipating, El took off at a gallop. 

Lounging forward, talons ready to rip, El wasn’t prepared for its counter.

One of its blade-like forearms slammed down on his head, and El stumbled. There was ringing in his ears, the world spun sickeningly around him, and he fell to the ground.

He was only down a moment. Green healing magic enveloped him, and the dizziness faded.

Left!

Erik. 

El didn’t take the time to right himself and instead rolled to his left, just in time to see one of its forelegs bury itself in the stone pathing.

El didn’t waste a moment. 

He leaped, finding purchase on the beast’s back, and tore at its shell with his claws. 

Repeated motion, over and over, dark green blood pouring from the wounds as the monster screeched at him, it’s stinger striking randomly, twisting this way and that as it tried to toss him off, as it tried to free its leg.

“ EL!” He heard the scream, heard the warning both out loud, and in his mind.

The slayer had freed its arm, and its stinger struck home on El’s back.

A headache, throbbing and dizzy, came out of nowhere as he was envenomated.

He lost his grip, and the slayer flung him from its back.

He hit the side of a building hard and crumpled to the ground.

His head spun, there was a purple tint to his vision, and he ached all over.

He heard voices, screams, but they were muffled as if he was hearing them from underwater.

He heard a voice in his head. 

He wanted it to be quiet.

He couldn’t understand what it was saying, couldn’t make out the words.

He pulled himself up on his forelegs, the world tilted on its axis as he saw the slayer prepare to charge.

Between the fog in his mind, and the buzz of noise all around him, one sound managed to cut past both.

His head swung around.

Just past where his tail-tip lay, 

Two children, no older than ten, trapped between him and safety.

Two children would be caught in the crossfire.

The slayer screeched, and El moved. He stood between the monster and the children. Head raised, wings flared out.

He couldn’t scare away the slayer, but at the very least he could slow it down. 

Smoke poured from his jaws with his roar, his energy sapped, no fire left to give.

It charged.

El!

El screwed his eyes shut at the last moment, and braced for the hit. This couldn’t be how the Luminary dies, could it?

El!

But instead of pain, instead of losing his grip on the world, nothing happened.

The voice stopped calling. El opened his eyes.

The slayer stood before him, not ten feet away, but it was still.

Sylvando, El recognized from the circus, stood on its back, sword buried to the hilt in an opening between the plates of its exoskeleton.

The slayer stumbled, but before it could fall, its body began to disintegrate. 

Sylvando landed neatly on the ground, sword sheathed before they even touched down.

The threat gone, he folded his wings, lowered his head. El felt his legs wobble.

He saw the children run to Sylvando, holding tight to their legs. Peering fearfully at El.

Sylvando said something and reached a hand out to El, but he was already gone.

~~

“El!”

The moment the slayer vanished, Erik moved. Across a rooftop, and down the side of a building, landing hard on one leg, but paying it no attention as he sprinted forward. 

He made it to his dragon in time to see him falter.

He caught El’s head in his arms, the weight nearly taking him down to the floor as well, but just barely, he managed to make their descent slow.

El’s head pillowed in Erik’s lap, he checked his dragon over for injuries.

There wasn’t much blood, thank the goddess, but… the bruising . His back was dappled in blue and grey, and his left horn was chipped at the top, the curved point marred by a shallow slice.

Veronica stood at his side, saying nothing, looking over the creature she’d sworn to protect.

Serena reached them, slamming down to the ground without a thought about herself, hands glowing. 

The wounds began to vanish, but El did not wake.

Erik didn’t let go, his heart thudding to a type of fear he wasn’t familiar with.

People were talking.

The citizens were coming back out, surveying the damage to their city, and starring openly at the spectacle in the middle of town.

“He’ll be okay,” Serena said, her magic fading away. “He just needs rest.”

“It’s not safe,” Erik said, numb to his own words. “Everyone has seen him, we can’t go back to Hotto, we can’t-“

A hand on his shoulder.

“Honey, he’ll be fine, you need to calm down,” Sylvando said, just as startled as the rest of town, but still somehow perfectly calm. 

The crowd gathered close, their murmuring background noise to Erik’s panic.

Footfalls.

There was a new voice in the cacophony. 

But one Erik recognized.

“Is he dead?”

Erik saw red. 

Slowly, gently, he lowered El’s head to the ground.

He stood.

Sylvando was already scolding Faris but stopped when they caught sight of Erik. 

They stepped out of the way.

“This is your fault.”

Erik hardly recognized his own voice. Flat, cold.

“El could’ve-“ he couldn’t bring himself to say it. “All because of your ego .”

“Erik-“ Serena grabbed his arm, but he didn’t stop.

“Because you had to be a hero- had to show off for your people, but couldn’t even best a slime-“

“T-the deal-“ Faris tried to stutter out, “keep it down!”

“The deal ,” Erik raised his voice, not a care for the people watching, “was simple. The deal ended when El got hurt.” Erik wrenched his arm from Serena’s grasp and used it to gesture to El. Lying prone and unconscious on the stone, “he just fought off a monster twice his size , was ready to die for your people, and all you have to say is about the deal ?”

Faris said nothing.

Erik stopped only to catch his breath.

The crowd was silent.

“What deal?”

The voice came from above them. Faris was looking up, mouth agape, searching for a reason, an excuse.

Erik turned.

The Sultan stood above them, hands resting on the banister, his wife beside him, and a guard on either side. How long had they been there?

He was looking at El. 

“This is the same dragon you bested, my son.” He said calmly. Noting the drastic change in size. 

Erik.

The world disappeared as Erik heard his voice.

El was awake. Bright blue eyes half-lidded, head only raised slightly off the ground.

Erik. Erik.

“Hey, hey,” Erik returned back to the ground, and took El’s head in his hands again, holding him by the ridges along his jaw. “It’s okay, everything’s okay.”

Hurts. There was that sound again, something Erik couldn’t describe, that rang through the air. 

“I know,” Erik said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you do this.” 

Not your fault.

“We need to move you. Can you change?” 

Awareness of his surroundings came rushing back as Serena placed her hand on his shoulder. “I can only do so much at a time,” she said, “don’t make him walk yet if it’s too much.”

“He-“ Erik stopped as El changed anyway, but instead of the human form Erik had in mind, he was small again. 

He felt fragile in Erik’s arms, and while he knew that the little dragon, his friend and partner, was anything but, he still got up as carefully as possible, afraid he’d break like porcelain if he moved too quickly.

The Sultan watched on in silence, while his wife spoke up.

“Faris, love,” she said, “I think you should go to the palace and wait.” Her sharp eyes came to rest on the dragon in Erik’s arms. “And I believe your friends should come along too, you’ve got quite a lot to explain today.”

Erik knew he’d moved, knew that something must’ve happened between standing up and standing in the palace- but he was numb to the time that passed.

Erik stood before the throne, El in his smaller form cradled in his arms, exhausted and limp.

Veronica and Serena stood on either side of him as they waited.

The Sultan shook his head. “So much in one day. My city is attacked, and my son a fraud.” He looked at Faris, who had his face pressed to the floor, and sighed. “No, no. That is too harsh. I shoulder the blame for this as well.” 

“It seems we owe you a debt of gratitude.” His wife spoke up, looking directly at Erik, “you’ve rid our land of that horrid beast. It has been since the Age of Heroes that a true monster master has passed through Gallopolis. Even longer since one boasted such a fine creature as an ally.”

“El isn’t-“ Erik started, and trailed off on his own. He could hardly think like this. Maybe it wasn’t a bad misunderstanding. 

“Actually-“ Veronica spoke up, stepping closer to the throne, “we were promised the Rainbough.”

“That was your reward for assisting my son?” 

“Yes,” Serena nodded, and really, thank the goddess that she was taking over here. “We need the treasure for our journey- and Prince Faris was ever so kind to offer it to us.”

The Sultan held his first up over his mouth. “I would like to offer it to you, as compensation for today’s disaster, but I’m afraid I cannot.”

Erik looked up, and Faris stood.

“But father-“ Faris began, but before he could protest, the sultan was speaking again.

“We no longer have it in our possession,” he said, “it was sold to a traveling merchant. We were going to use the money to pay for this year’s Sand National- the one you were meant to compete in, Faris.”

“Meant to?”

“You expect me to believe that even as you neglected your combat training that you learned to race? No, and even so- winning the race and earning that glory is just not for everyone.” The sultan huffed a sigh, “other kingdoms send their princes and princesses to learn from each other. I allowed you to become lazy by forgoing that tradition, but perhaps it isn’t too late.” His attention returned to Serena and her companions. “I cannot offer you the Rainbough, but I can tell you that the merchant was headed for Gondolia. Perhaps you can track it down from there. It isn’t much- but I can offer you a letter to grant you access through the checkpoint.”

It isn’t what they came for. 

“Thank you, your majesty,” Serena said, accepting the letter with a bow.

It wasn’t worth El’s injuries.

“Stay the night in our inn,” the Sultan offered, “the beast is dead, and we have much to celebrate.”

~~

They left in the night, but not under the cover of darkness. Lanterns were strung up between buildings, fires lit on torches.

The circus performers out in the streets, showing off their skills, balancing acts, juggling, fire breathing. 

The citizens of Gallopolis too eager to celebrate, too caught up in the act, hardly noticed them pass.

El was wrapped around Erik’s neck, hidden in his hood.

It wouldn’t be the best place for El to rest, out in the sands, but it would be safer.

The desert truly came alive at night.

Creatures Erik didn’t know scurried over the sand, emerging from their burrows to hunt and scavenge.

Erik didn’t take the time to really look at his surroundings.

He kept his head down. Kept his eyes on the path, and let Veronica lead the way, keeping carefully clear of the many monsters roaming the night.

Even with El down, the three of them could probably take on whatever decided they looked like easy prey, but Erik wasn’t the only one who felt as if he’d been put through a meat grinder.

Veronica spoke softly to her sister, but Erik didn’t care enough to listen in.

He didn’t speak at all until they reached a campsite.

It will get cold tonight.

But this felt better than the inn in Gallopolis.

He’d forever prefer the open air to the small rooms or public dorms of town inns.

“You should take your human form tonight, El.” Serena advised as Veronica got to making their campfire, “you might have an easier time dealing with the cold if you’re more human.”

El unwound himself from Erik’s shoulders, but before he could get down on his own, Erik lifted him up like a cat, setting him down gently on the ground, right by his side.

The little dragon gave a small frustrated huff, but in the blink of an eye, El was human again, partially leaning against a crate, and partially against Erik, one wing placed awkwardly behind him.

“We’ll get you another healing session before we set off tomorrow.” Serena said, “just rest tonight, and you should be fine by morning.”

El nodded, and froze for just a millisecond, before he shot upright, and stared out past the fire.

“What-“ Veronica started to ask, but a quick shhh! from El cut her off.

Erik strained to hear, but moments passed with the only sounds he could pick up over the blood rushing in his ears being the wind and the animals- he heard it, but no sooner than when they came into view.

“You weren’t planning on leaving without saying goodbye, were you?” Sylvando asked, stepping into the ring of firelight.

“That was exactly what we were going for,” Veronica muttered at them, reaching for her staff.

Sylvando paid her no mind, settling down with the group without waiting for an invitation. 

They looked straight on at El, staring openly, but somehow, in a way that wasn’t quite as rude as it should’ve been.

“I do hope you don’t mind,” Sylvando said, “but I’ve got a few questions for you all.”

“Of course we mind,” Veronica said at the same time Erik responded with, “Not happening.”

But Serena was quiet, looking over their guest, noticing the same things that El did.

They were armed but much too relaxed to be able to attack suddenly. 

“I never thanked you for saving me.” El said carefully, returning to where he’d been resting, “so, thank you, truly.” His head tilted as he thought, and the firelight caught on the chip on the tip of his left horn. “I don’t know what would’ve happened to me if you didn’t step in.”

“Oh, honey, there’s no need to thank me!” Sylvando waved a dismissing hand at him, “I just jumped in when there was an opening, you're the one who did all the heavy lifting!” Sylvando was smiling, but their eyes were serious. “What I want to know is what you needed so badly that you’d put your friend here in so much danger. And- what exactly you are.” Sylvando explained, “I’ve seen you three different ways now. When Prince Faris brought you to his father, when you fought the slayer, and now. You’re no monster, I can tell, far too sweet of a boy to even consider, and yet…”

They paused, and El spoke.

“We needed the Rainbough.” El said, “supposedly the Sultan had it, but it’s long gone now.”

“You see,” Serena picked up, “El here is the Luminary, and we’re trying to get to Yggdrasil, you see. We need to understand more about what he’s meant to do to stop someone called the Lord of Shadows. A terrible being that wants to bring death and destruction to our world, and we want to stop him-“

“Now hold on a moment,” Veronica interrupted, a small hand on her sister’s knee, “you don’t need to go blabbing our whole lives' story to the jolly jester!”

“Well, well,” Sylvando said, not taking any note of Veronica’s sour look. “So there’s some big bad guy out there looking to take all the smiles and sunshine from the world? That’s no good.” Their smile came rushing back, “well, I make my living off of all that, so you wouldn’t mind an extra set of hands to help out, now would you?”

El blinked. “You want to join us? Even after hearing all that?”

“But of course!” They said, “where would a jolly jester like me end up in a world ruled by your Lord of Shadows? Darlings, we want the same thing, no?”

“Of course you can come.” El said, “we can use any help we can get.”

“Now wait a moment-“ Both Erik and Veronica piped up at the same time.

“You’re too quick to trust,” Erik complained, right as Veronica voiced her own complaints.

“We hardly know them!” She said, “we had a plan, too! Gondolia, ferry, and rainbough! Can we afford to make ourselves more noticeable, or another ticket for that matter?”

“I’ll have you know that I can pay my own way, sweetie,” Sylvando said before El could begin to defend his choice. “And there’s no need for the ferry anyhow, you all can hitch a ride with me. I picked up the nicest little number last season. I’ve got my own ship.”

Veronica’s tone changed immediately. “You have your own boat?” At Sylvando’s smile, she said, “Well then I suppose you would be able to pull your own weight…”

But Erik wasn’t so easily sold.

Do you plan on just letting anyone come aboard? Erik asked, glaring in El’s direction. We don’t know them! We don’t know why they’d just want to up and join us! 

El met his glare unflinchingly. We need all the help we can get. He didn’t sound angry, keeping his tone steady, but his words were firm. I didn’t know you when I let you come with me. You didn’t know Serena when you had her heal me. 

Erik wanted to argue further, wanted to say that those times were different. But had trouble with coming up with reasons why. 

They saved my life, too. Do you really think they would’ve saved me then if they wanted to kill me now? The voice in his head took on a lighter tone. That’s something all of you have in common.

Flashes of their escape from Heliodor appeared in Erik’s mind.

“Fine!” Erik conceded, throwing up his arms in defeat. “Whatever you say.”

Thank you, Erik. He sounded smug. 

“I’m sorry,” Sylvando’s voice cut through, “but I feel just a teeny little bit lost right now. What just happened?”

It hadn’t yet occurred to Erik how their silent conversations must’ve looked from outside. 

Veronica saved him from fumbling over any explanations.

“You were talking to each other,” she guessed, “in your heads?”

El nodded.  “I know that’s not something most people have, I could talk to my mum, and a handful of people in my village this way, but they couldn’t do it with anyone else but me.”

“Some keepers develop that ability.” Serena explained, “but it takes a very, very, long time. You typically only see it in someone who’s been caring for a dragon for decades.”

“And Keepers are what, again?” Erik asked, but was ignored in favor of-

“And you’ve been traveling together for what, a few weeks?” Veronica asked, skeptical.

“More like a few days,” Erik said. “We broke out of Heliodor, what, six days ago?”

El thought for a moment and shrugged. “About that.”

“ Six days ?” Veronica yelled, “sixty years would be more believable!”

“Keepers?” Erik asked again, thinking of how he’d been assumed to be a monster master, or how Serena had called El his dragon before she’d known he was the Luminary.

“I’ve mentioned that people in Arboria care for dragons when they need it.” Serena began, “but some used to care for them for the human’s entire life, and the care of the dragon would be passed down from parent to child. These people were called Dragon Keepers. They have special connections with their dragons. They can hear each other’s thoughts, sense their presence, feel their emotions. They aren’t as common as they used to be, unfortunately. The dragons are more feral, more beast now than they have ever been before.”

Parent to child. How long did dragons live?

“Oh, how romantic!” Sylvando grinned for just a moment, and Erik cringed, “but I still don’t quite understand,” Sylvando said, looking El up and down. “I’ve seen you human and I’ve seen you dragon, but, which are you?”

“I’d like to know that myself,” El said, his tone somber. He missed his simple old life of farming, of hunting. 

The atmosphere of the campsite changed in an instant, everyone suddenly much more interested in the ground than El and Erik’s new ability.

“Well,” Sylvando said, stretching their arms above their head, “if we’re heading for Gondolia, we ought to get a good night's sleep before we hit the road.” With that, they fell back on the sand, head pillowed on their arms.

The twins shared a look but followed suit.

~~

Erik dreamed of the sky.

Clouds surrounded him on all sides.

It was perfectly silent up here, no distractions, no disturbances.

No stress, no sadness.

Two wings, golden-scaled with a single long scar through the membrane, cut through the clouds.

He moved a hand, letting it drag through the cloud, and felt it turn to water around his fingers.

Then, the clouds parted.

The sky was clear ahead. Erik looked down and saw the sea.

And he’d thought he got a good view from a crow’s nest.

The morning sun shimmered over the waves and lit up the land.

Erik took hold of El’s horns again and dared to break the silence.

“Can we really do this?” He’d thought he’d be afraid of flying.

Maybe he still would be. But right now, everything just felt right.

The sound of bells chiming. 

It was soft, it was friendly.

It was an answer, but in a language, Erik didn’t yet understand.

But then-

The sound was gone, and the sunrise was hidden by darkening storm clouds.

“El!” 

A strike of bright white light-

A crash of thunder-

The remains of the campfire popped.

It was still dark out. 

Erik woke shoulder-to-shoulder with El.

The spines of the wing beneath him were unyielding, but not uncomfortable.

~~

Stepping through the checkpoint was almost like going through the door of departure. The arid desert was gone - replaced instantly by sandy shores and lush greenery that grew upwards across a stretching cliff face.

The path was clear. 

No one just came and went between the two regions, and they were unlikely to meet anyone on the road.

El walked next to Erik, his exhaustion seemingly faded, and his wounds healed.

Erik felt like he should be feeling awkward after the previous night's revelations. 

A dragon keeper’s connection, forged over what could only have been a few days and nights?

But instead, it just felt right. Like this is how it should be, as if he’d known El his whole life.

El caught him looking.

Erik should look away, he’d only been spacing out, sorry-

El only smiled at him. Just for a moment before his eyes were back on the road.

“ Oof!” 

Erik’s attention was drawn away. He turned back to see where Veronica had fallen in the sand.

She wasn’t hurt. She was already getting back to her feet when El went to give her a hand up.

“I’m fine!” She snapped, mortified. 

“The road will only get rockier from here,” Serena warned as her help was refused as well. “Perhaps one of us should carry-“

“ Absolutely not! ” Veronica nearly screeched at her sister. “I’ve got two legs, I’ll use them!”

Serena backed off with a sigh. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.” 

“I’ll carry you.” El said, and before Veronica could get mad, “I’ll change, you can ride on my neck. I’m more used to hiking like that anyway, you won’t be any burden.”

Veronica almost said something, then stopped.

El looked to the rest of the party, “I can’t carry everyone. Though I could fly a little ahead, Veronica and I could keep an eye out for anything dangerous.”

Oh, he knew what he was doing.

Maybe Erik had been wrong about Veronica. She knew full well what it must be like for El, to be different for a reason completely out of her control.

Accepting now, it would keep her from tripping over her own little legs, but it would also sound more like she was doing a favor for El.

“You used to carrying people around?” Veronica asked, sounding much less put-off than she had been only moments before.

El smiled. “More or less,” he said, “I’d been carrying Erik around before we ran into you two.”

Oh, that little-

Sylvando was laughing.

Both Serena and Veronica were smiling wide.

But El-

He was a dragon again. Not blocking Veronica’s path forward, but standing beside her.

His head was down, so if she decided to accept she could climb on, but if not, she could keep moving without him.

She hesitated, hands holding tight to her staff. “If you drop me I’ll kill you.” With that, she strapped her weapon to her back and clambered on.

I won’t drop you. Erik heard El say even though the words weren’t meant for him. 

He waited for her to get settled. Her small hands held tight around the thinner part of his horns, and he raised his head back up. 

“You ever done this before?” Erik asked Veronica, grinning.

Her face was a mix of fear and pure child-like excitement. Though, that could just be her appearance.

“No.” She said, and then El was off.

Not too fast, down the slope.

About halfway down, he spread his wings, and his feet left the sandy ground.

Veronica let out a short half-scream, that quickly changed to a delighted laugh.

He was gliding low, but he still cleared the sandbar without flapping his wings.

Don’t get too far ahead! Erik said, and he knew El heard him.

He’d stopped on the incline and turned to look at Erik, just long enough to show he’d heard.

And then they were both headed up the side of the mountain and heading out of sight.

Erik’s dream came back to him in a flash, and a bad feeling settled into his gut.

He picked up his pace.

Suddenly he didn’t want El out of his sight.

El? He asked he couldn’t be too far to hear, could he?

El!

“Slow down, Erik!” Sylvando called as Erik began to climb the slope, “they’ll be fine, dearie!”

Erik didn’t want to stop, he didn’t know if they were safe- he didn’t-

Is something wrong? 

El. A wave of relief like Erik hadn’t known before swept through him as he heard his voice. 

No, suddenly, Erik didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know how to explain himself. I don’t know how far our range is. He settled on, I don’t want to lose contact.

He heard wind chimes somewhere in the distance. I won’t go too far. El promised, and Erik almost felt better.

But his feeling of uneasiness only intensified as they grew closer and closer to Gondolia.

Even when he managed to catch a glimpse of gold through the tree line, even when he heard a voice, just checking in, just making sure everyone was okay, it didn’t lessen.

But at last, they met again, El landing next to them not too far from the gate to Gondolia. By the time his feet met with the ground, he was human, Veronica sitting on his shoulders, and looking far too giddy as he set her back on her feet.

Erik wanted to joke, wanted to ask if she’d enjoyed herself, but was just too relieved that they were safe to ruin the moment.

“Okay,” he said instead, “I don’t think we should risk you running around like that this time around. Think you could deal with sticking with me? We shouldn’t be here too long, right Sylvando?”

Erik didn’t like the smug look he was getting from them as they replied, “no, no, we won’t be a minute, just to the docks, and we’ll be on our way!”

“Of course I don’t mind,” El said, though Erik could tell he wasn’t entirely happy with the situation. 

But still, when Erik offered his hand, El took it and in a heartbeat, he was around Erik’s shoulders again.

Now, that felt better. 

Gondolia was unlike the cities Erik’s visited so far- but then, he’s been thinking that a lot lately, hasn’t he?

~~

Erik should’ve known something would’ve gone wrong.

“Are you insane?” Erik tried not to raise his voice too high, “we need to get going, it’s too dangerous to stay in one place for too long!”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic!” Sylvando said, “it won’t be too long, just try to relax a bit!”

Relax? “Are you serious?” 

But they rest of his group was already moving away, heading off to watch the show, to find something to eat that was probably way too expensive, and they have food! They could just make something on the ship-

“I’m sorry,” the man blocking the docks said, “you could try talking to Doge Rotondo if it’s an emergency, but I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

It was tempting, but, “no.” Erik sighed, “we’ll just wait.”

The sun was high in the sky by now.

Erik managed to find a shady spot near the docks to wait.

It was emptier down here, with the docks closed no one had any real reason to come.

El was still in his smaller form, but he’s left Erik’s hood to sit out in the sun.

When was this contest meant to start, again?

“Oh, there you are! Thank goodness.” Serena’s voice carried down as she hurried towards them.

“I need your help, Veronica’s managed to get herself into a bit of a scrape.”

“What’s she managed to do?” Erik asked, plucking El from the ground and letting him return to his hiding place in his hood.

They found her right as Serena left her, arguing with two other children over her staff.

“What do you even want with it? It’s not like you could use it!”

Of course . Erik stepped between the bickering children and plucked the weapon from the thief, dropping it back into Veronica’s hands. “Don’t let it get swiped so easy next time.”

“Wait, please!” The child begged, “I only wanted to borrow it, promise!”

“Whatever for?” Veronica asked, holding tightly to her staff, but looking more concerned than angry.

The second child squeezed past his friend, and tried to speak.

When it was clear he wasn’t going to, Erik pressed the heel of his palm to his head. This town was turning into a real headache.

“Come on, kid. Just spit it out.”

The child only hung his head, and his friend stepped forward again. “It’s okay, Placido. I’ll explain.

“My name is Benigno, Placido is my friend. We play together every day, and we were fine- but today, he lost his voice. I don’t know how, and he cannot tell me! I thought that if I had magic, I could fix him…”

Veronica set her staff to the ground and leaned on it. “Fine, you’re forgiven. But don’t go around trying magic on people- if you don’t know what you’re doing you could really hurt them.”

“I understand.” Benigno said, “do you think you could help?”

Serena kneeled down before Placido and held her fingers just over the muted child’s throat. “Oh, how horrible. The poor thing has been cursed.” She looked up to Erik, “I could help him, I think, but I’ll need a few things. Would you mind coming with me to help, Erik? Veronica, stay with these boys in case something changes.”

~~

They didn’t speak until they were well out of the town.

Standing around, hearing only the frogs singing, Serena hesitated, taking a moment to gather the right words to get what she needed across - but to keep El safe as well.

“Dragon’s blood has many healing or generally beneficial properties. It can cure illness, and lift some curses.” She had her hands held tightly together and didn’t quite meet El’s eyes. “I’m fairly certain that it would be able to cure this child- if you would allow us to try?”

El nodded, giving permission without a second thought, but Erik felt a drop of apprehension.

There was something Serena wasn’t saying.

And he had a good idea of what it was.

But it wasn’t his choice to make, even as El cut his own hand open with a talon, even as Serena held an empty vial to the fresh cut, even as Erik’s own instincts were screaming at him to stop this.

Serena closed the small glass bottle, and then the wound.

She held it close for a moment, an odd look passing over her face before she looked back up, all smiles.

“I should be able to cure him with just this,” she said, “why don’t you both go and wait for Sylvando? I’ll meet back up with you when I’m done.”

They left her to find the two children, and Erik made his way to the center of town.

It shouldn’t be too hard to find Sylvando-

There was a hand on his wrist, a bruising grip that Erik couldn’t immediately shake off.

“I know you,” the guard said, his other hand coming to rest on his sword. “You’re the one that broke outta Heliodor with the dragon!”

Shit! Erik wrenched his hand away and backed off a step, but it was too late.

The guards knew him, and they’d managed to grab Jasper’s attention.

“So, you’re our little thief?” Jasper asked as the guards surrounded them. 

Iron swords point at him, and Erik can feel the discomfort their proximity is giving El. 

“What have you done with it?” Jasper asks, “it was the King’s property, you know. You were already jailed for thieving from the royal family, so I’m sure you understand the consequences of stealing from him yet again.”

Erik could lie. He could tell him that El left him. But what would the point of that be? He couldn’t fight all these people on his own, and surely they’d be able to take El away from him-

“Where’s the dragon?” One of the guards thrust his sword forward, the sharpened tip mere inches from Erik’s throat, from El.

He felt El’s talons dig into his skin- 

And then he was gone, the small dragon was bridging the gap between Erik and the arm of the soldier.

Shocked, the man stumbled back, and fell as the five or so pound dragon became a full-grown man pinning the man down as his sword skidded out of view.

Now this was a better shot at winning, even if they hadn’t wanted to make themselves known.

Erik drew his own blade as El managed to block the attack of the second guard.

And really- who was in charge of training these men?

Dragon or no they shouldn’t be falling in two hits.

Jasper was still left when his men had fallen, not moving a hand to their aid, but standing still above the fighting, watching half-interested as he waited.

“So you’ve found yourself an ally, Luminary.” Jasper said as he drew his own sword, “I’d be shocked if it was anyone besides a common criminal.”

Erik didn’t have the mind to be offended, but El snarled, lunging forward with his blade.

Jasper blocked him, but he couldn’t attack and protect himself at the same time.

Erik cast boulderbringer, and when the spell activated, it gave El the room he needed to swing again.

His attack hit Jasper's shoulder, and the knight stumbled back.

He wasn’t prepared for them to be this capable, and underestimating was about to be a deadly mistake.

Back and forth, attack and defend, and Jasper fell to his knees.

But more guards appeared from the town- coming to aid their commander.

“ Dammit !” Erik cursed, stepping back to meet El as they were surrounded yet again, “where are they all coming from?”

Jasper forced himself back up.

His face was bloodied, but the grimace on his face was not from pain, but rather anger from having to suffer through the humiliation of defeat.

“Stand down,” he said, “it’ll be easier for the both of us, rather than having to whittle you down.”

“Stand down?” Sylvando’s voice carried over, and Erik nearly sagged in relief, finally! Some help.

“You leave those boys alone, or so help me I’ll have to teach you all a lesson!”

Jasper took a moment to stare at the odd sight of the two people threatening him, but shook it off, “Who are these imbeciles? How did they get past the guards?”

A fireball grew between Veronica’s hands, bigger than Erik had seen her conjure before.

“‘Imbeciles,’ you say? We’ll see about that!” She threw the attack and began to throw them over and over, crashing them into the stage without a pattern, preventing the guards from being able to make a safe move.

In the confusion, Erik caught sight of a green dress, and Serena waved them over, “this way!” She whispered, “Quickly, now!”

Come on! Erik got El’s attention, and slowly, they tried to make their escape.

They nearly had it- they were nearly to the docks when Erik felt something dark. He’d only turned to look for a moment when he saw the spell burst forth.

“Look out!”

He shoved El, and even as he stumbled, even as the spell hit him square in the chest, and pain grew like roots through his skin, he was just relieved that El was unharmed.

Erik! El made to help him up, but Erik slapped his hand away, “I’ve bought you some time!” He hissed, “use it, get out of here!”

“No, I-“ El started to protest, but Serena took his hand- “please, El, we need to go!”

Erik didn’t feel any happiness as he watched them escape, and fought off the urge to call after them as he was plucked from the ground.

El was safe.

That’s what mattered.

~~

El stood with Sylvando and the twins behind a pile of crates. 

Even if he couldn’t call forth his fire in this form, he could still feel it burning in his chest.

“We were lucky to get out of there, you know,” Sylvando told him, a comforting hand on his arm.

“Not all of us,” El said, hardly recognizing his own voice.

“Oh, poor Erik.” Serena fretted, “I can hardly imagine what they’ll do to him.”

“Oh, sweetie, don’t worry! Erik’s tougher than he looks!” Sylvando turned their attention to El, “But that Jasper was talking such nonsense, the King’s dragon? I would think not!”

“I went to the castle to speak to the king,” El began, “I explained that I was the Luminary, that I came from Cobblestone to find out what I was meant to do, and-” The memory of the King, the knights, and soldiers, calling him darkspawn, a monster… He knew to expect confusion, fear, mistrust, but… “The King called me a monster, he said the Luminary couldn’t be something like me. He had me thrown in the dungeons… I only escaped because Erik showed up. I’m sorry, I should’ve explained this all earlier.”

“Oh, darling, there’s no need to apologize! It’s hardly your fault that happened! Darkspawn indeed. Now!” Sylvando stood tall, “are we going to stick around here all night or are we going to go and get our Erik back?”

El looked away and took note of the guards patrolling around the town, searching for him.

“Could you three take care of them,” El asked, “I’ll take care of Jasper.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, and instead took on his dragon form and climbed up the crates.

“El, wait just a moment!” Veronica said, but El wasn’t about to stop. From the top of their hiding space, he spread his wings and took off. 

This town knew he was here. There was no reason to keep himself hidden now.

“Show yourself, Darkspawn!” El heard jasper yell, “I know you’re there, hiding in the darkness like the monster you are! Or,” he added on, and El saw Erik, tied to a pole, ropes wrapping around his chest and arms, his head hung low. “You can stay hidden and watch what happens to your friend.”

El made no effort to hide, he let the light of his embers reveal his position and landed hard on the platform across from Jasper. He growled low in his throat, and let the flames lick through the air on either side of his snout.

He knew that Jasper’s weapon was iron. 

He knew now that it would be dangerous to attack directly, and even at this distance, he could feel it’s presence.

But that wasn’t what was important now.

Jasper smirked at the dragon, “So you finally scurry into the light. You think becoming a beast like this will grant you an advantage?” His sword glinted in the moonlight. 

No . El said, even though he knew Jasper couldn’t hear him. 

He took a moment to check on Erik, whose face was caught between frustration and elation. 

I’ll get you out of here. El promised, before turning his attention back to Jasper.

Iron or not, he was well now. His wounds were healed, his sickness gone.

The flames in his chest were plenty, and his fury only fueled them more.

This wouldn’t take long.

Jasper moves carefully, beginning to circle, looking for an opening.

El flared out his wings and copied him. 

Come on, come on! Make your move.

Jasper began to cast a spell, the same he’d hit Erik with earlier in the day- but this time, El saw it happen, he knew what to expect.

Before the spell was finished, El blew his flames in close, singing the knight and setting a rafter on fire.

Somewhere, some part of him felt bad.

He’d feel guilty later, without a doubt, but right now , he couldn’t care if he tried.

He let his flames grow and grow, and he didn’t let up until Jasper had run out of places to retreat to.

El charged and reared back.

His talons sliced through the air, and above the acrid smell of smoke, he could now smell blood.

Jasper coughed, unable to get a clean breath if air, unable to see through the blood that now dripped into his eyes.

“Brought… to my knees by you … again...” his voice rasped, “how could this happen?”

El, stop!

Erik’s voice cut through the red haze of anger in El’s mind.

Jasper was defeated.

He was by Erik’s side, slicing through the ropes that kept his human immobile.

~~

Erik fell forward, leaning heavily on El as the ropes no longer supported him.

More guards joined Jasper, and El snarled. Get on!

Erik couldn’t fight- and surely El couldn’t continue to fight with Erik as a passenger-

“ Yoo-hoo! Over here !” 

Sylvando’s voice carried, and Erik saw a ship sail past the fog. A real , honest-to-goodness ship. Not one part of Erik had even begun to think that the boat the jester had promised would be anything quite like this.

“Hurry up!” Sylvando called, and El was no longer waiting for Erik. 

He barely had the time to grab tight to El’s horns before they were airborne, and was this flying?

They were only in the air for a few moments, perhaps it wasn’t enough to judge. The weightlessness carried none of the peacefulness from his dream, he was hurting and dizzy, and it only fueled the nausea in his gut.

El hit the wood deck of the ship, and carefully set Erik down.

“We owe you one, Sylv.” Erik managed, “Made it by the skin of our teeth.”

“Oh, don’t thank me!” Sylvando said, gesturing to the pink-clad man at the helm, “Dave is the one to thank for getting us out of there!”

Dave laughed, and held one hand to the back of his neck. “Oh, it was nothin’, don’t you worry about-”

He cut off as the boat began to shake. 

A monster rose from the waters, and reached out to their ship.

But before it could land a hit on the boat- a shot echoed through the air around them, followed by another, and another.

Cannonfire ?

A fleet of smaller ships closed in around them and the creature- firing gunpowder but no cannonballs, aiming not to kill it, but to frighten it away.

The creature shrieked and sunk back down into the depths, and one of the smaller ships sailed up close to theirs.

ERik recognized Placido, but not the man with him.

“You are safe now, yes?” He asked, “That monster always attacks the ships in this area, so very irritating.”

Placido was waving happily at them, “Thank you, miss! Your cure worked!”

The man placed a hand on the child’s shoulders. “I am Doge Rotondo, Placido’s father. He told me everything. That it was Jasper who cursed him, that it was you who saved him.” Rotondo bowed to them as his ship began to sail away again, “Thank you, thank you so very much. I know you are no Darkspawn, but rather the man who told us to fear you!”

“Things won’t be easy for you now.” Erik said as he stood, leaning heavy on El. “You’ve defied Jasper and Heliodor, don’t let them grind you down.”

~~

It was quiet, on the ship. 

The smell of salt, the sound of the ocean, it was familiar, in a way that wasn’t exactly comforting. 

The rock of the ship had sent most of their party into the cabins for the night.

But Erik stayed out, to rest, to breathe.

The air always felt too thin in Heliodor. Too far from the coast. 

El was with him. 

They both sat on the deck of the ship, backs pressed against the outer wall of the cabin.

Erik didn’t mind the company, really, but the Luminary hadn’t left his side since they got on the ship. They’d been sailing for just over a full day, and he hadn’t had but a scrap of a moment to himself.

“Are you not seasick?” He asked, not turning his eyes from the stars. “Everybody else seems to be.”

“No.” El answered simply, “it’s kind of like being in the air. It’s fine.”

He said nothing else. 

Erik saw storm clouds behind his eyes.

It was silent again.

Erik just wanted to enjoy being outside. He just wanted to be able to enjoy a moment where he knew he wasn’t being chased, where he knew that he was safe, that El was safe. He just-

Please don’t do anything like that again. 

“What?” Erik asked aloud, what did-

In Gondolia. You were hurt- you made us leave you behind.

So that’s it. “Like you didn’t pull that stunt in Gallopolis,” Erik tried to counter, “when you were going to let the slayer kill you. I’d say we’re pretty even.” 

“That’s- that’s not the same,” El said. “I…” he struggled to find the right words. “You can’t... you aren’t disposable. When I got hurt- you helped me. You came right away, and when you got hurt you made me leave you behind.”

“It’s not like I had a choice,” Erik said defensively. “There were too many of them, and their swords were iron . It’s not like you could’ve just brute-forced your way through them all.”

“I’ve done it before,” El said, petulantly. 

He had. Through the dungeon, through the Door of Departure. 

But he didn’t go through either unscathed.

“Yeah, and your luck is gonna run out eventually. What if next time there isn’t a Serena to pull an arrow out of your ass, or a nobleman that owes you a favor?” He looked at El now.

He was still in the same spot, but he’d pulled his knees close to his chest, hiding his face. 

Erik sighed. He wasn’t any good at this. Never has been, never will.

“Look,” he said, “I’ll make you a deal. No more heroic sacrifices if you stop trying to be some big invincible dragon, okay?”

El peeked out from behind his stupid perfect hair. 

Okay. Erik heard. Then, “I can do that. But- but you have to let me help you. I can’t do this without you.”

A clawed hand moved from El’s knee to the wooden floor between them.

Erik hesitated for only a moment. “Okay,” he said, “we’ll have each other’s backs, yeah? Partners?”

He laid his hand over El’s. His skin was cooler than what Erik would consider normal, but that was just El. 

Partners . Came the silent reply.

~~

The dungeons were dark, and they were anything but comfortable, but, Amber supposed, there were worse places to be.

Most of the guards were kind.

Most of them treated the people of Cobblestone kindly.

Even if she missed the sunlight something awful, she found a way to survive.

Distant echos of steel on stone reached her ears, and she looked away from her embroidery to wait for the guard.

He was a kind man, this one.

She stood, and walked to the bars as he approached. 

“Any news?” She asked him hopefully, “Any news about my boy?”

The man’s face was as gruff and pinched as it always was.

“He was found in Gondolia.” His voice echoed through the halls. “He briefly did battle with my comrades, but escaped by boat. Unharmed, as far as I can tell. He has been joined by more than a few companions. All but one escaped unharmed with him.”

Oh, he’s alive, he’s well. “Is there anything else?”

The man shook his head. “That is all. I’ve been assigned to a team to apprehend him. We’ll be searching the land around the Dundrasil ruins. I leave soon.”

Amber took a steadying breath. Good. She trusted this man. She trusted him to do the right thing. “Promise me,” she said, “Promise me that you won’t kill him. Please.”

The man hesitated. 

Amber kept her eyes locked on his, daring him to deny her.

“I cannot make that promise.” He said, turning away. “I have no intention of killing him without trial. But I cannot foresee what will happen.”

He was gone.

And Amber was alone again.

Fear for her dear son once again at the forefront of her mind.

Chapter Text

Even with their newfound freedom thanks to Sylvando, Dave, and the Salty Stallion, the party kept sailing nearly without a destination for four days, and for four nights.

For safety, Sylvando had said.

They couldn’t wait indefinitely, but the time they spent in the middle of the sea was time Heliodor could not find them.

It was time to rest, time to train and better themselves against the monsters that attacked from the waves, time to heal, and time to know each other.

Their journey was one that started abruptly for each one of them.

And each one of them were people that Erik couldn’t see coming together in any other circumstance.

Their personalities didn’t clash, save for Erik and Veronica, but even they didn’t fight or bicker in any serious kind of way.

Which was a blessing, Erik knew. Sharing such tight quarters was nerve wracking enough without hating the people he was sharing with.

Instead, they all came to know each other, just a little better.

Erik could appreciate all that Sylv had left behind to come with them, and even if he thought he may be projecting a little… Sylv never spoke of their home. Not of family nor friends, aside from small anecdotes from his troupe. 

He thought that he could understand them, just a little.

And… Erik didn’t know why, but he loved all the names Sylvando called him. Called all of them. Darling, honey, sweetie… It made him feel warm. Feel welcome.

And the twins were much easier to get along with now, as well.

Turns out that Veronica has a natural aptitude for astronomy. Once Erik began to attach legends and stories to the stars and constellations he pointed out, she latched onto the concept, memorizing the tales and locations faster than even Erik remembered doing himself.

It brought back fond memories, teaching her about the stars. Erik found himself smiling more, these days.

Serena had only a passing interest in what her sister was learning. She listened to the tales he spun, but only for the entertainment. And, somehow, that was fine too.

Instead, she taught him about dragons.

Serena taught Erik and El both all she knew about the bond Dragon and Keeper shared, and what they were experiencing.

It felt larger than life, sharing his mind with El.

He almost felt odd, about how quickly the two of them came to share these traits that took so long for others, but at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Their silent conversations aside, they’d begun to develop more.

It started small, but Erik began to feel what he could only describe as echoes to his emotions.

He felt them, so much less intense than his own, in the background of his mind, but he sensed what El felt.

He felt the exhilaration when El took to the skies to stretch his wings.

He felt the grief El felt last night, after he’d woken from a dream in which he was home with his family.

He felt the disgust the first time he’d tried the strange fish dish that Serena prepared for them, that turned out to be something that wasn’t meant to be made with fish at all. But to be fair, he didn’t need a special dragon keeper bond to know that was what everyone had felt right then,

He knew that El was experiencing the same, and if Serena was to be believed, there was only more to come the longer they stayed together.

They’d come to be joined at the hip, and Erik had no trouble with it.

The small, casual touches, a brush of a wing, or a hand on his shoulder.

All things that Erik had come to accept, to expect, to take solace in.

They were spending their last day on board when El decided to go for a swim.

He’d claimed he’d been swimming in the deepest parts of the river back in Cobblestone before.

He said the current wasn’t anything he needed to worry about, and since they were in an area without any terribly strong monsters… 

“You know the currents in the ocean are stronger than a river flow, right?” Erik had asked, but the dragon didn’t listen.

“If I can fly against storm fronts then I can handle a few waves.”

He was going to argue further, but Erik knew it wasn’t a fight he was going to win. 

They’d find out soon enough if El knew what he was talking about, and they did have that huge fishing net just laying around. “Don’t expect me to fish you out of a riptide.”

As long as he didn’t stray too far, and he came back up with enough fish for dinner, then Erik wasn’t going to complain.

He still felt an odd twinge of nervousness as El went out of view, deep beneath the waves, but he could reason well enough to say that it was a perfectly normal, non-bonded feeling to have as you watched a friend go overboard.

But as he saw him begin to swim like a fish, it faded easy.

“Hey, Serena?” Erik asked as he turned away from the waters, and headed back towards the cabin, “Are there any aquatic dragon species?”

Serena stuck a slip of paper between the pages of the book Sylv had given her, but only shrugged. “There’s no ocean in Arboria, so I’ve never seen one. But with all the different types we have seen, from the spitfires to the liege lizards, and the serpents in the highlands, I’m sure there exists such a dragon, somewhere.”

“Maybe El is one.” Veronica suggested from where she was sitting by the banister. “We’ve never seen one like him before, and he hasn’t come back up for air yet.”

There’s that twinge. “It’s been less than a minute. He’ll be back up soon.”

Erik settled down with his back against the railing to wait.

The wind held a chill in it. Erik had first noticed it in Gondolia, and he knew that the hot summer days would be drawing to a close soon.

They still probably had another month or so before the temperatures took a plunge, but even so, they’d need to start preparing soon.

They had plenty of gold squirreled away now, and aside from buying materials for upgrades, they hadn’t found much use for it yet.

Maybe it was time to start stockpiling.

They’d be able to get plenty of dried food and grains in pretty much any town, but furs and winter gear were another story.

Erik didn’t know much about the next few towns on their little itinerary, but maybe… maybe he could suggest a detour to Sniflheim? 

They could stock up on everything they needed, there.

That city was always under a blanket of snow.

Slyv and the twins would go off to explore the city, and maybe, he could convince El to go on a walk with him.

He could tell him the truth, then.

He could see how El could help.

Find out what the fates had in store… Only that would be a much bigger detour than he could expect to take.

All the way on the other side of the world… by the time they’d arrive winter would have already set in.

He’d get back there, back home eventually, Erik knew, but each day that passed was still time he was losing.

Even if they were days lost in a journey Erik was coming to enjoy.

Erik heard Sylv join the rest of them, their footsteps anything but light coming down the steps.

“We’ll be anchoring in the Zwardsrust region by morning.” They said, and Erik turned to listen. “There’s a place we can stop for the night just a little further inshore, called the Warrior’s Rest. I think we should be able to drum up a little rumor or two about our Rainbough if we’re lucky. And it'll be good to spend a night in a proper inn, too.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Erik asked, “It might be smarter to stay on the ship. Two towns in a row now we’ve been caught by one trouble or another.”

“Oh, don’t be such a stick in the mud!” Sylv said, “Gallopolis was hardly anyone’s fault, and the odds of running into ol’ Jasper again so soon are slim to none! Isn’t that right, Ellie dear?” Sylv looked around, as if only just noticing that El wasn’t among them.

“He’s gone swimming.” Erik said, and turned to Veronica. “Has he surfaced yet?”

“Nope.” She answered quickly, still looking over the railing at the waters below. 

Erik frowned. He didn’t know how long El could hold his breath, but… El ?

I’m not far! Came El’s voice. Give me just a minute!

“He says he’ll be back soon.” Erik passed on, and took the opportunity to continue his argument. “Whether or not we’ll run into Jasper or Hendrick again isn’t our only problem. El’s on the run from all of Heliodor , not to mention we need to keep him on the down low anyway, on account of who and what he is. A rest stop for travelers isn’t exactly going to be a quiet place.”

“Exactly why we need to stop there.” Veronica butted in, “if there’s one place we could find out anything about the Rainbough, it’s there.” 

Well. She wasn’t wrong . “Then you and Serena go and have a look around. A smaller group will attract less attention, anyway. The rest of us can wait here.”

Sylv shared a look with the twins.

What, was he being difficult by trying to keep them safe?

“Erik, honey, don’t you think we’ll all be safer if we stick together?” Sylv asked, “El can just stay all little and cute and hide in your hood again, right?”

“Not necessarily. Less attention means less chance we’ll be remembered. And if we don’t get remembered, then there won’t be any reports of us being here to make it back to Hendrick or Jasper.” Erik paused before he continued. “And it isn’t exactly fair to El to stay like that constantly, either.” 

El hadn’t yet said as much, but Erik could hardly imagine being constantly carried around like some little lap dog was anything but embarrassing.

“It’s a fair point.” Serena offered him, ever the angel. “But, we will all have to continue on land at some point. We can’t just leave the Luminary waiting on board while we go off to find his destiny without him.”

Now he never suggested that much. “I know that. I don’t mean to leave him here indefinitely, I’m no mother hen-“

“Could’ve fooled me.” Erik did his best to ignore Veronica’s jab.

“But for now, so soon after running into Jasper, don’t you think it’d be better to hide him for a while? Isn’t that why we’ve been taking our time getting to Zwardsrust?”

Erik waited for someone to respond.

It took a few heartbeats, but Sylv broke first. 

“You’re right.” They started, but with a splash of water, and a loud smack of a tuna hitting the deck, El was back, and shaking water droplets from his scales. “But you’re the one who’s going to tell him.”

Tell me what?

Oh please, like that would be a problem. El’d understand.

Serena and Veronica are going to snoop around about the Rainbough at an inn nearby after we dock. We’ll be waiting here. Erik answered the dragon as he sat down next to him, water droplets still falling from his horns and spines.

Why aren’t we going? Are you feeling okay? El’s head tipped to the side, and focused for a moment. You seem okay. Is that scar you got still hurting? 

Erik took a half-second to yet again be touched by El’s concern for him. It was still so new, having someone that genuinely cared for him like this, with no ulterior motive, no reason they had to care- “I’m fine.” Erik said aloud, even though the mark on his chest still stung, “But after running into Jasper in Gondolia, we need to keep you safe.”

El’s eyes narrowed and the voice Erik heard in his mind took on a distinctly different tone. Me safe? I wasn’t the one that got caught.

His tone wasn’t mocking, merely confused, but Erik felt as if he was being talked down to nonetheless.

Something must’ve shown on his face, or El’s for that matter, in the following silence, as Sylvando cut through the tense quiet with an over-the-top appreciative sound at the large fish El had brought back with him.

“Now, this is going to make for just a spectacular supper! I’ll just go ahead and take this down to the kitchens, okay?”

“Oh, Sylvando, do you need some help?” Serena got up, not bothering to mark her place in her book this time around, and made to help them without waiting for an answer.

Veronica wasn’t far behind, shutting the door behind them, but still loud enough to hear. “Do not let Serena cook again!”

In the blink of an eye, El was back to his human self, and wringing seawater from his hair.

Yet somehow his clothes weren’t wet.

Erik would need to ask how that worked someday.

“I was betting on staying in an Inn tonight, with a proper bath.” El said, flicking the water from his hands. “So I could get all the saltwater off.”

His tone wasn’t accusing or angry, but Erik still felt waves of disappointment coming from him.

“We all smell like the ocean right now.” Erik waved a hand at El, “it’s not that bad.”

El’s nose wrinkled. “Right.”

Erik, ever so wise, decided that it would be best not to respond.

~~

The day went by painfully slow.

Even on a ship this size, with a crew so tiny there wasn’t much that needed to be done.

There wasn’t any cleaning that needed to be done. Sylv and Dave stayed on top of the cleanliness in a way Erik wasn’t accustomed to. They didn’t have any routes to map out, or plans to make, since those all relied on the information the twins were meant to bring back. 

And so, Erik waited.

And waited.

With El holed up below deck, and still somewhat upset that he had to stay, Erik ended up pacing.

From the cabin to the bow, back and forth, trying to keep an eye out at the other ships, trying to keep an eye on the people milling about on the docks, searching for Heliodorians, for people that looked suspicious. 

Since the docks were mostly empty, and the shoreline clear of beach-goers, it wasn’t exactly a challenging task. 

It wasn’t until Erik was watching a fishing ship unload what had to be their hundredth crate of catch, did he see a splash of red coming over the crest of a hill.

He tried very hard not to feel like an overexcited house pet as he stood and waited for the twins to board.

And finally, after all day on deck, going down to the stuffy below deck to make a plan was much more pleasant than it sounded.

The room was lit by only a single lantern, but it was enough to see the two maps spread across the table, and the plates of food they’d all set out.

Maybe Erik should’ve gone with the twins.

As much as he did appreciate having fresh fruit and vegetables for dinner, he was terrified of hearing what they’d spent on them.

At the very least Erik could’ve swiped a few things from the produce stands to lighten their bill.

Sylv stabbed a very well-manicured finger at the shore they were currently anchored at, and traced a path behind the inn, and away from the main bridge that headed to the Octogonian region. 

“Now, since it sounds like our Rainbough has made it to Octogonia, we’ll need to make it there as fast as we can, but still avoid the main roads. It’ll be a more strenuous hike, but if we go around this area, we’ll find a smaller, less travelled route. After that we won’t have much choice in the matter, I’m afraid. The mountain pass is narrow, and there are only one or two clear paths to take. So unless you’re all prepared to forge our own way through the mountain it’s going to be our only option.”

“You make it sound like you’ve taken this road before.” Erik observed, not bothering to properly eat his food before speaking, blatantly ignoring Veronica’s insulted look.

It wasn’t like he was spewing half-chewed food anywhere, so what was her problem?

“Oh, just once.” Sylv said, letting their hands rest over the map. “It was a very long time ago now.” 

Sylv was staring at the corner of the map, and yet not quite seeing it, lost in a memory.

Erik didn’t want to interrupt, but thankfully, he wasn’t the one that had to.

“Perhaps you could tell us a bit about it?” Serena asked quietly, just firmly enough to break through. “I’m sure you have some information that could come in usefully.”

Sylv bounced back in an instant. “Oh, honey you know I do! Now, at this time of year, it’s likely our Rainbough is being offered up as a prize for the winner of their Masked Martial Arts tournament. I watched it last time I was in town, all kinds of strong men and women come from all over Erdrea to compete! They build personas for themselves, and some even make amazing costumes. I’d love to compete myself some day…” As they trailed off, Sylv’s eyes came to rest on El. “Speaking of costumes…” Their eyes dragged slowly up El’s body, and they tilted their head ever so slightly, a hand coming up to rest on their chin. “Hiding you in Octogonia might not be any trouble after all. A few ties around your horns… maybe some make-up over your scales, gloves… Yes! Oh, we’ll have you ready for the show in no time, darling!”

“For the show?” El asked, sounding meek.

“You mean you want him to compete?” Veronica asked before Erik could even begin to voice his concerns.

“Well, if I’m right and the Rainbough is the prize, then that’s what we’ll have to do. A little touch-up here and there, and if you can keep your wings still, Ellie , you shouldn’t be at risk for being found out at all.”

Erik saw El’s shoulders hunch in close and his wings raise in the corner of his eye. He didn’t need to see his face to know he was already feeling stage fright.

“You do realize you’re traveling with Erdrea’s best thief, right?” Erik said, “I could have the Rainbough in just a few minutes if you’d let me try.”

“And miss out on all the grandeur ? Surely not!” Sylv held up and waved both hands, as if it was truly unthinkable.  “Ellie would look amazing on stage! Why, between his looks and his skills with a sword I’m positive he could make a name for himself there!”

“And that would be a good thing, how?” Erik asked, “We’re supposed to be keeping him undercover , remember?”

“Even if you did steal it,” Veronica said, keeping a neutral tone, “then we’d have even more soldiers after us for that, as well as the Luminary.”

“You say that as if I’d get caught.”

“Well you didn’t stay in the Dungeons by your own choice, did you?” Veronica snickered, and as much as Erik wanted to tell her he actually did, thank you very much, he didn’t. It would bring up too many questions.

“We could all sign up for the tourney.” Serena said, calmly interjecting with an easy solution. “That way we’d have a better chance at winning, and if we all lose, then we’ll still have Erik’s plan as backup. We have to get the Rainbough, and if we’ll be attracting attention either way then there’s no point in only sticking to one plan.”

Erik had to concede. She was right. They needed that treasure, and if they were going to get attention anyway…

Erik scratched at the back of his neck, and turned to El.

“Well? What do you say?”

El still looked somewhat startled, but he pushed past his nerves and looked to Sylv. “How does the contest work?”

~~

“What's all that?” El stopped in his tracks as he saw ponds of purple ooze and piles of mossy stone just through the trees.

Even from so far away the area gave off terrible feelings of unease.

“That’s all that’s left of Zwardsrust.” Sylv answered, slowing their own pace to look. “So much heartbreak in so little time. The Kingdom was destroyed in a night, just over thirty years ago. So few made it out alive.”

“Just like Dundrasil.” Erik said, as if he could read El’s mind. Or- maybe he could. Who knows, at this point.

In the corner of his eye, El saw Sylv nod. “Just the same, except… I’ve never heard of anyone that survived the massacre there. But I used to know someone who’d survived Zwardsrust’s fall.”

“You did?” 

“Oh, listen to me prattle on. I haven’t spoken to them in years. Enough moping about, we’ve got Octogonia waiting for us, darlings!”

They’d stopped to rest just a little outside of Octogonia.

Erik could see the towering building from the cliff they’ve started their campfire at, and he was speechless.

That was Octogonia? 

That was a city? Hundreds of people, all living cramped together in a great, dark building?

He shuddered to think of what it might be like inside.

Surely it couldn’t be as bad as he was thinking.

Right?

Erik, help! El’s voice cut through the dread in Erik’s stomach, and he turned around back towards the campfire to see Sylv spreading foundation over El’s cheeks.

El, who was sitting with his claws digging into the fallen tree he was sitting on, his tail tapping on the ground behind him, and his eyes screwed shut and his nose wrinkled.

“Oh, come now, Ellie. Just sit still and this won’t take long at all!” Sylv was truly doing their best, trying to smooth over some of El’s more visible scales, that spotted over his nose and cheeks like freckles. 

Erik came to stand just behind Sylvando, careful not to block what little daylight remained. What exactly do you expect me to do about this?  

El didn’t reply in so many words, but rather just gave one harsher lash of his tail.

Sylvando noticed. “Oh, what are you saying to the poor dear?” But they waited for no answer, capping the small bottle and wiping their fingers off on a handkerchief. “There. It’s a bit light for your skin tone, but Octogonia is dark. There shouldn’t be any issues.”

El opened his eyes, but kept his grimace. “Feels weird.” He tried to bring a hand up to touch his face, but Sylv smacked his hand away. “Ah ah ah, no touching. Not until that’s all dry.”

Erik tried to get a better look in the growing dim. The color was off, but whatever Sylvando had used did it’s job well enough. And aside from that, there was also something glittering on El’s cheekbones, and something dark lining around his eyes. 

Probably less than necessary, but it didn’t look half bad.

“All done,” Sylv said, releasing El’s chin after trying to see if they'd missed anything. “I’ll touch it up for you if you need it later, but that should be good for now, granted that you leave it be.”

~~

So far, Sylvando had been right about El.

He’d garnered more than his fair share of glances and double-takes, but that was it.

Just looks.

No screaming or crying, no guards or soldiers.

And believe it or not, he wasn’t the strangest person standing and waiting for the opening ceremony to begin. Not by a long shot. 

Just from where El was standing, he could see a man whose tongue fell all the way down to his stomach.

That just couldn’t be normal.

Maybe he was part monster.

Maybe that’s what El was.

He was suddenly very grateful that he was a dragon, and not whatever that poor man was.

A lips?

Maybe a toady?

Yeah. Being a dragon is much better.

The man on stage called a greeting to the crowd in the bleachers, and began to call numbers from the draw.

El stood quietly, listening to the murmur of his fellow contestants as each walked on stage, one by one.

Erik went up, and then Sylvando. Both being paired off separately. Good. More teams, more of a chance to win, even if he was inclined to believe that he and Erik would’ve made an unstoppable team.

It was unfortunate that Veronica was too young to participate.

She’d been spitting fire at the poor man keeping her from signing up, but she’d eventually been calmed and given the oh-so important duty of lookout.

Then- finally “Eleven! Fighter number eleven, please strip right up!”

El moved slowly, trying to keep his wings immobile, his tail stiff. 

Fighting wasn’t going to be the challenge, here.

“Alright!” The announcer called out, far too loud in El’s ear. “Time to find out who’ll be fighting beside you!” He extracted a yellow ball. “Number seven! Fighter number seven, come on down!”

“Looks like I’m up.”

The crowd parted for seven, allowing him plenty of room to walk up the stairs. 

“Well how about that! Newcomer Eleven’s partner is none other than last year's champion, Vince Vanquish!”

Vince offered a hand to El, “Good to meet you! Let’s break some heads.” His voice was friendly enough, but there was something in the pit of El’s stomach that told him to run.

El followed Vince back down to wait for the draw to finish, and as the ceremony closed, El looked around for Erik.

“So, kid.” Vince said, and El turned.

Vince, looked him up and down as the crowd dispersed, something almost like contempt on his face. “I know a lot of us like to dress up a bit, make a persona for the crowd, but all that is a bit much, don’t you think? A lot for your opponents to target.”

El didn’t know what to say to that. He couldn’t exactly offer to tone it back.

“The horns are a nice touch, but maybe get rid of the wings, yeah?” Vince turned his head as the rest of the crowd filed outside. “I’ll see you for the first round in the morning. Don’t be late, I’m not about to forfeit the belt.”

Champion or not, El felt like he could’ve gotten a better partner. 

Speaking of… 

“Hey!” Erik’s hand clapped down on El’s shoulder, and it was lucky that the stadium had cleared, and no one was around to see him jolt. El ignored his snicker. “You’ve gotta calm down if you want to have any chance out there.”

“I don’t think anyone will be sneaking up on me in the middle of a fight.” El said, letting Erik sling his arm around his neck, and lead him out of the stadium. 

“That’s what you think. But, hey! You got the champion! Looks like Sylv and I didn’t need to sign up after all.”

El grimaced. “I guess. He didn’t like my costume . Told me to tone it back, lose the wings.” 

Erik laughed, “He’ll just have to deal with them.” AS they made it to the bottom of the stairs, Erik took his arm away. “Come on, we’re all going to the tavern.”

The tavern? “We aren’t just going back to the inn?”

“Why? You want to?” Erik grinned, “Sylv was right. I haven’t seen a single soldier since we got here, and you actually aren’t the most unusual looking. I mean, did you see the guy with the huge tongue? We’re going to have to be here for a few days to wait out the competition, so we might as well relax a bit.”

Being able to take the time to do nothing, El decided, was very good.

It took some time to get used to the loud clamor of the tavern, but eventually he relaxed enough to smile and laugh and enjoy his free time.

Until, at least, he spotted Vince staring from the other side of the Tavern.

~~

Erik saw the moment it changed.

He could pinpoint the exact second El was no longer enjoying Octogonia. The moment his face closed off, and the smile that had been so bright and genuine only a second before turned forced and fake.

What he didn’t understand, was why. 

El wasn’t talking. Not out loud, and not to Erik.

El must know that he couldn’t lie to him. 

So why was he trying to?

Erik didn’t want to go around accusing anyone of anything, but…

He suspected it had something to do with Vince.

He’d been seeing the man nearly everywhere they went - and it shouldn’t be too unusual, it was his hometown, after all.

But to see him everywhere ?

He didn’t trust Vince, and he knew El didn’t either.

So when Erik heard that El had actually followed Vince back to the orphanage after a single throw-away comment from another fighter, what was he supposed to do but go and check it out himself?

The children said that Vince was in his room, that his friend had gone with him.

How nice those children were, showing him exactly which door it was.

He had been planning on being polite. 

But as Vince’s voice drifted to him, fire burned inside of Erik.

“You should stay here tonight.” Vince said, “you down with that?”

Erik felt El’s uncertainty. “No, actually.” El said, “I should get back to my friends-“

“Come on, man,” Vince said, “there’s no need to be polite or nothin’.”

“R-really, I don’t think-“

Erik slammed the door open. 

The room was a mess, as if there’d been a struggle. Glass lay broken and a table was overturned.

And smack right in the middle of the room, Vince had El by the wrist.

“Erik,” El brightened, and jerked his hand away, moving quickly to the door. Thank you . 

Erik slammed the door behind him, not sparing a thought for Vince as he followed El down the hall, and out into town.

“What did he want?” Erik asked as El’s pace slowed to normal. “Did he-“

“Nothing.” El cut him off, guilt churning in his stomach. “He didn’t want anything.”

Erik slowed to a stop as El kept walking. What-

“Thanks for coming to check on me.”

El didn’t slow, he didn’t turn to look at Erik, and somehow, Erik was even more confused than before.

~~

The first three days of the tournament went by easy enough, even if Erik lost in the first round to that martial artist girl and the old man.

El and Vince made a pretty good team in the ring. They were able to coordinate their attacks fairly well, and for the last few bouts they’d hardly taken a scratch.

It was a good thing, El had to tell himself. 

He was the last of their group left in the fight, with Sylvan- Sterling Sylva , having lost to El and Vince just yesterday.

But there was just something about Vince that made El feel uncomfortable.

Ever since he’d seen him watching in the tavern, a feeling of foreboding had settled inside of him, and it refused to leave.

It was just one more day after today.

Today he had the finals. All El had to do was fight one last fight, and then after the closing ceremony tomorrow, he could take the Rainbough and leave Octogonia behind.

It was really a shame.

If Vince hadn’t been a black stain on his staying here, El wouldn’t actually want to leave. 

For the first time since he left Cobblestone, El had the freedom to come and go as he pleased. 

And for the first time period, El had been witness to things that Cobblestone simply didn’t have.

The lights, the shows, and stores. Even the restaurant they’d been eating at every night was new and different to El.

But with the hairs on the back of his neck constantly raised… 

he couldn’t enjoy it.

And he knew that everyone else knew, or at least had their suspicions.

Erik wasn’t as easy to smile as he had been that first day. He was constantly checking in on El, making sure he was okay.

And of course he wasn’t, and of course Erik knew that. He felt all the same things that El did. 

But El didn’t know how to say no.

He didn’t know how to look someone in the eye and say he wasn’t okay.

El had been short with him, these past few days. 

He should apologize.

The cheering started around the stage as Jade and Rab, the Princess and the Pudding, stood before himself and Vince.

The announcer made his speech, and El searched the crowd for a speck of bright blue.

Maybe he should wave.

But the bell rang out, and he started to fight.

These two were odd… he’d seen them power through opponents like nothing, for the goddess’s sake Jade had single handedly taken down Erik.

But their blows were soft.

El didn’t think he’d walk away from this fight with so much as a bruise- and when they went down, it felt unearned.

El waited, and waited. For a fake-out, for something to happen.

But Vince had put away his weapons.

The crowd was cheering.

“We have a winner! Vince Vanquish has done it again!”

Jade and Rab walked off stage, but Jade spared a calculating look over her shoulder.

“The In-Vince-ables have taken the final, and what a final it was!”

“We did it, man, we won!” Vine was grinning wide. “And so easy! You know, the prize is supposed to be worth a buncha dough. How about we sell it and split-“

Vince stopped, hand going to his chest, and collapsed- somehow still holding tight around the trophy, groaning in agony.

Had he been hit? 

El stood back as two blacksmiths rushed in to help him up.

“You’re his partner, ain’t you?” One of them asked, “Come and give us a hand.”

El didn’t want to.

All his instincts were screaming at him to run.

But he did what he was told.

He could leave in the morning.

The walk to the orphanage was suffocating.

Every step took all of El’s focus.

When he had Vince settled on the bench in the garden, he turned to leave.

“I’ll see you at the awards ceremony.” El said, forcing the words out,

He didn’t really  have anything to say.

He was no medic, there was nothing he could do.

He didn’t see Vince pick up the glass bottle.

The world spun, and went black.

He swam in and out of consciousness, hardly aware of what was happening. 

El’s ears rang from the hit, and he could feel a sticky wet heat where his blood plastered his shirt to his skin.

He could barely think… barely piece together the energy to fight against his bonds.

“Dragon parts are worth quite a lot, you know.” The chain burned where it touched El’s flesh. “Horns are ground to powder for medicine, the blood can lift curses, and the meat is priceless - somethin’ only the truly wealthy ever get a taste of… it’s a waste just givin’ you up. I oughta just auction you off myself. Wouldn’t need to work another day in my life.”

The ground was cold beneath El’s cheek.

This was his own fault.

He didn’t listen - Erik was only trying to keep him safe. To keep them all safe.

Erik. Sorry, sorry.  

Could Erik even hear him anymore?

A hand closed around his horn, and his head left the stone. 

He hoped he could.

It wasn’t much.

But at the least, he hoped that Erik was still okay. 

~~

Erik felt restless. A nervous kind of energy that made him pace the small room. Bed to window, window to door. Back to the bed.

El wasn’t coming back. 

It was getting dark.

Erik tried to reach out, to feel his presence, but he found nothing. He couldn’t still be in the arena, it was so close to the Inn for Erik to not be able to detect him.

He must be with Vince again.

Fucking Vince .

Erik hated him the moment he’d laid eyes on him. He couldn’t even offer a concrete reason. He just did. There was something sinister about him. Something that set off alarm bells in Erik’s mind.

He didn’t make any secret of it, either.

Maybe that’s what’s been driving El closer to him. Erik’s been acting like a jealous girlfriend. 

Or maybe, like a Dragon Keeper.

But El is more than just a dragon. He doesn’t need Erik in his space all day every day.

El never asked for Erik to be in his mind. 

Erik was an intruder here.

Maybe Vince was a fine man.

Maybe Erik really was just jealous.

He shouldn’t have reacted that way last night. He had no right to take him away like that. He probably misunderstood what he saw.

Thank you . El had said. Perhaps-

A knock on the door.

It wasn’t El.

And Sylv or the twins would’ve announced themselves, or just barged right on in.

It couldn’t be too important, not if it wasn’t any of them. Erik stilled, hoping whoever it was hadn’t heard him moving around, or didn’t care enough to try again.

A moment passed. Two, three, then-

The knock came again, and with it, a voice.

“It’s me, Rab.” The old man from the competition? “I need to have a word with ye.”

“May we come in?” A woman’s voice. The girl? What could they possibly-

“It’s about the missing fighters.” 

Erik opened the door just a crack. “What about them?” 

“Where’re your friends?” Jade asked, trying to peer around him, “we wanted to speak with all of you.”

“Sylvando and the twins are three rooms that way,” Erik nodded in the other direction, “and El is with Vince.”

“He’s with Vince ?” Jade’s voice took on a tone of disbelief. “Are you mad ?”

Erik unlatched the lock and opened the door wider, “What’s going on?” His poor mood is completely forgotten in favor of El’s safety. “Is he in danger?”

Jade was already off down the hall, banging her fists on the door Erik had pointed out, and Rab was already making for the stairs,

“Come with us, we’ll fill you in on the way.”

Erik follows the old man without a spare thought, taking the many stairs around town two at a time. Just in earshot if Rab, but still ahead.

He knew where he was going. 

The orphanage was empty, the chapel devoid of any of the resident children, any movement.

Erik was about to find Vince’s room again.

It’s where El had gone the previous night, surely he’d be there again-

“Where do ye think ye’re going, laddie?” Rab’s voice shook Erik out of his thoughts. He was heading through the doorway opposite the bedrooms. “Just stay behind me!”

Well, Rab had been right.

In the far wall of the garden, there was a gaping stairwell that hadn’t been there before.

And right in the center of the room, a splattering of blood.

Erik heard Serena gasp, he saw her grip her wand harder, ready to cast her healing spells, ready to protect them all from whatever had done this.

Erik didn’t have healing spells. He couldn’t string together the right arcane words to stitch together broken flesh or bind bones.

But he did have his blade.

The carefully crafted hilt fit perfectly in his palm.

Erik couldn’t heal El when they found him.

But he was ready to send Vince, or whoever had hurt El, straight to hell.

Not one person in their group hesitated at the mouth. Not when the lanterns were no longer lit.

Not when the webs began to appear in the corners of the tunnel.

Erik. Sorry, sorry . 

El’s voice.

Fear burst through Erik’s body, leaving him feeling cold.

El! Erik tried to answer, tried asking where he was, if he’s okay. 

He received no response.

It was everything Erik could do not to take off at a run and leave everyone else in his dust.

He’d need their help.

El needed all of them.

The webs only got thicker the further they got through the tunnels.

The monsters that made the caverns their home cowered in the corners, trembling in fear, but not of the group of humans that had paraded into the tunnels they called home, no.

There was something else here that they feared.

At least the cave system made sense.

There were many forks to take, but thankfully they all seemed to come out at about the same place, and it wasn’t long until they came into a large, open section.

But even if it was dug out like a maze, it wouldn’t have mattered.

Not when there was a trail of blood to follow.

In the center of the cavern, Vince stood, Eleven hanging just above the ground, suspended by Vince’s grip on his horn. His wrists and ankles bound, deathly still, a small pool of blood gathering beneath him.

“ El! ” Erik called to him, but he didn’t move. He couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. 

Vince startles at their sudden appearance, dropping the simple kitchen knife that was in his other hand. 

He let go of El’s horn, letting the dragon crumple to the floor, without a thought.

Vince tried to run.

Erik charged forward, knives forgotten, and landed a punch to the bridge of Vince’s nose, the reverberating crack of breaking cartilage doing nothing to settle Erik’s fury. Instead, it only made it stronger.

Everything was in a red haze, Erik could hear his pulse pounding in his ears, and he felt himself lose any remaining grasp he had on his temper.

Another hit to his face, another splintering sound of bone on bone, and Vince went down.

Dragons may have a weakness to iron, but everyone has a weakness to blunt force trauma.

Erik did not slow, and Vince hardly tried to defend himself, his hands pushing at Erik, trying to shove him off as he was assaulted, but for all the muscle, all the show, there was no power behind him, no force behind his hands.

The stark white of a tooth ripped from its root, the red blood blending into the background as it streamed from Vince’s shattered nose, as it dripped between his clenched teeth.

Someone was speaking.

Erik couldn’t hear them.

He kept going, hitting again and again, until there were hands on his arms, pulling him away.

“ Goddamn it , stop!” Erik snarled as he fought back, he wasn’t finished yet! Vince was going to pay for laying a hand on El. He was going to -

“You’ll kill him!”

Like a shock of ice water in his system, Erik stopped.

The hands on his arms let go, and he sank to the ground, and stared at what he’d done.

His knuckles were drenched red. 

Vince was trying to sit up, his face a mess of blood and darkening skin. His right eye was swollen shut, a line of red dripping down over it and down his chin.

He was going to kill him. With his bare hands.

“I-“ Erik croaked, but stopped. What was he going to say? What could he say?

The air was too thick around him. Too heavy to breathe.

Vince stood shakily, remaining eye on his pursuers. The tunnel behind him was nearly halfway obscured by the thick webbing, but the moment Jade took a step closer, he turned tail and ran.

Leaving red marks on the web.

Another trail of blood to follow, albeit his own this time.

Everyone took chase, leaving Erik in the dust. 

“Stay with him!” Jade called back to him as she followed the rest of their companions down the tunnel, “you keep him safe or so help me-“

“ Jade !” Rab called from further down, and with a curse she turned and ran, not sparing a second to finish her threat.

Not that she even needed to.

El. Erik had nearly forgotten in his shock. 

Serena had healed during Erik’s frenzy, but even as the wounds were closed, the blood remained.

It was smeared over his forehead, dried in streams down his face.

It was wet on his clothes, ripped fabric marking where the blade had cut through him.

It had begun to well from welts around his wrists, where the iron still touched him.

He set to work on the chains. They weren’t held in place by any locks, only secured by simple hooks.  As soon as he’d unwrapped them, he’d tossed them as far as he could across the open cavern.

Just far enough away to keep El from any further harm.

He still wasn’t moving, not so much as a twitch of his fingers or a sound to indicate life.

Erik pulled him into his lap, an arm holding him tight around his shoulders, and his other under his wings.

He pressed his ear to El’s chest, and nearly sobbed out in relief as he heard El’s heartbeat.

He was alive.

That’s all that mattered.

He was alive, he was safe now.

Erik had him, and he wasn’t going to let go again.

He held him close, even as he could hear their companions begin to fight, the clash of weapons, yelling, all echoing back up to him.

They could all handle themselves. 

They would be fine.

It did occur to him about how he panicked if El was even out of his field of vision, in an area that would be completely safe, and yet knowing , hearing the proof of their other friends fighting just out of his sight, didn’t even begin to match the anxiety he felt for El.

Dependent, much?

Erik felt every second that slipped by, every drop of water that fell from the stalactites above to splash in the pools below.

He felt every thrum of El’s heart against his own chest.

And finally, he felt El stir. It wasn’t much, just his tail curling ever so closer to his body, the wing bent awkwardly against the ground folding in, and lastly, El’s hand closing in Erik’s tunic.

“Hey, there,” Erik tried to adjust his hold on El, to hold him farther from the cold stone floor. His voice was cracked with worry.

“Vince…” El croaked, “you’re not safe here. He’s the one who’s been-“

“We know.” Erik said as he held El’s head close to his chest. “Don’t worry, everyone’s taking care of it. You’re safe now.”

“I’m sorry, Erik.” His voice shook at the end, pitching up as if he was going to cry, but nothing came. “I’m sorry-“

“Don’t worry about it.”

The sounds stopped coming, an awful screech echoing past them.

Then came a quiet murmuring of several voices, and the distinct feel of magic in the air.

They’d done it, taken down Vince and whatever it was he’d had hiding.

Footsteps echoed back up to them.

“Can you stand?” Erik asked, “or change? We need to get you out of here.” He was prepared to have to carry a small dragon out, fully expecting that to be the option he chose, but it felt better giving him the option. 

“Not on my own, but I think I can stand.” El let go of his tunic. “Can… can you help me up?”

“‘Course I can.”

Ever so gently, Erik unwound himself from El’s body,  and slowly got them both to their feet, supporting El the whole way, and letting himself be El’s crutch.

Jade dragged Vince by his hair mercilessly, not slowing her pace for the injured and bloodied man, not pausing when he stumbled or tripped.

The scarf that had been tied around his waist was gone, now keeping his hands tied around his back instead.

When she reached them, she let go of his hair, throwing him down to his knees.

Without missing a beat, she used the heel of her boot to press his face into the stone and muck, “Oh, thank goodness you’re awake.” She was looking directly at El, with a frighteningly clear level of familiarity. She’d only met him twice before, both times in the past two days as well, so why-

Her expression changed as she took in his state, even though his wounds were closed, his clothing was still stained with blood, and he was leaning far too heavily on Erik.

“We were right,” Rab told him, “Vince was behind the disappearances. He’s been in league with a nasty creature Sir Hendrick must’ve missed. He’s been draining them dry of life force, and trickling some to our auld pal here.”

Erik felt cold. Was that what he’d been leading El into? “Are they alive?”

“Aye.” Rab nodded, “all still alive, though quite a bit worse for wear. We only left them to take this one to the mayor. He won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, I’ll tell ye what.”

Erik eyed the man on the ground carefully. “And he’ll believe you? Octogonia will believe you?”

“They won’t have much of a choice.” Rab shook his head, “with the testimonies of the contestants, the bottles in his room… Like it or not the people here will know the truth when they see it.”

Vince cursed at the ground. His voice cut off as Jade pressed down harder, but Rab waved his hand at her. “Ah, give it a rest. Let’s hear what he’s got to say for himself.”

Jade released him just enough for him to raise his head. His eyes flicked between his four captors before settling on El.

Erik held him tighter.

He wanted to turn him away, take El away from here, to the opposite end of the world from Vince.

“I did it for the orphanage. Those kids… they’re my family. I had to put food on the table for them somehow, and a third-rate fighter like me… I couldn’t do it on my own. When that creature started whispering to me… Offering so much power, and all I had to do was feed it… How could I say no?”

Rab wasn’t convinced. “As if fighting is the only way to make money around here.” He shook his head sadly, contempt clear in his voice. “There’s a point where you could’ve found another way to make money, and it’s long past. I think that maybe you just enjoyed the Limelight too much. I’ll make sure to have a word with the mayor. I’m sure we’ll find a suitable replacement for ye.”

“Wait!” Vince turned to El again, his voice taking on a note of desperation, “Wouldn’t you do the same for your own family? If it kept them safe and well?”

“You slimy little -“ Jade hauled him back to his feet, and began pushing him towards the far tunnel. 

“I wouldn’t.” El said as they passed. “I think… I think if they were still around, they’d rather be dead than to know their comfort came at the cost of other people’s lives and freedom.”

Erik waited as the two walked out of sight. Waited for El to become steadier on his feet, and began to make his way after them.

It was slow going, with El so unsteady. 

But Erik wasn’t about to question why he so suddenly needed to remain in his human form. 

There was a group of people gathered around the entrance to the tunnels, but one glance from the mayor was all it took before he was waved on his way. “Don’t worry about paying the innkeep. I’ve taken care of it for you. The rewards ceremony has been cancelled as well. You both go and rest. We’ll all take this from here.”

The roads were mostly empty from that point forward. 

It would’ve been an easy walk if it were not for all the stairs.

Who thought it was a good idea to build a city this way?

When finally, Erik got them in their room with the door closed behind them, he let out a great shuddering breath. 

Too close. Too close .

Erik settled El down on his bed, but he could feel his lightheadedness.

His eyes were unfocused as he looked up at Erik, and the moment he let go, El swayed slightly.

He’d lost a lot of blood.

Erik worked silently, removing the fake ties and knots from around his horns, and carefully peeling off the bloody duster and undershirt.

Moving as quickly as he could, Erik filled the room's water basin, and wet a cloth.

He should try to warm the water, but he wasn’t sure how long El would be able to stay conscious.

Gently, he pressed it to El’s temple to wipe away the dried blood, but El still hissed as it came in contact.

Erik murmured an apology, and tried to clean the blood that was trying to mat in his hair.

It wasn’t long until the water was tinted pink, and El’s face and shoulders were clean.

His scales were visible again, his disguise wiped away.

It wasn’t any substitute for a proper bath, but at the very least El wouldn’t wake covered in his own blood, and the poor innkeeper wouldn’t have to toss a set of ruined sheets.

There are two beds in their room, but when Erik helps El settle into his for the night, a clawed hand catches his sash before Erik can go to his own.

“Please…” El’s grip is white-knuckled, “please don’t leave me alone.”

He could say that he’s just on the other side of the room. He could simply ask El to let go.

But neither option would even have occurred to him.

Instead, Erik lifts the blanket again, and lays against his dragon.

“Don’t worry,” Erik said as El came close, “I’m not going anywhere.”

El’s hands closed around the small of his back, and his nose buried in his chest. He can hear wind chimes in his mind. Clanging and ringing as if caught in a windstorm.

“I’ve got you. It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay.”

He isn’t crying, but his shoulders shake as if he was.

It came too close this time.

Before… before they had managed to escape each time before things got too rough. Erik found Serena before El could get too sick. Sylv saved El before the Slayer could do irreparable damage. El saved him before the dark magic could kill him. 

But this time -

Erik didn’t know exactly what Vince had planned on doing to El.

Erik laid one arm under El’s head, pillowing his neck, just out range of his horn. The other sat over his shoulder to run comfortingly through his hair. 

Evidence said that Vince had planned on giving El to the Archtagon like the other missing fighters, but… 

The fighters that were saved were mostly intact. They had no open wounds, no signs that Vince had - Erik held El closer as images of his dragon, bound and bleeding, showed in his mind again. Vince hadn’t bled the others, so why El?

Erik thought back to Serena using his blood to cure the child in Gondolia. 

He thought of the legends and tales of dragons. The magical secrets they held, the wealth they hoarded.

It was no real mystery why Vince took El.

Slowly, El’s shakes faded. 

His grip in Erik’s tunic loosened, and the sound faded as he fell asleep.

And again, Erik waited.

Waited for him to sleep deeply, waited for the moonlight to shift. Waited for complete silence. 

And cried.

He had no right to be the one breaking down.

He wasn’t the one who’d been trussed up like a pig for slaughter.

He wasn’t the one who still had to continue on right after.

And yet Erik couldn’t help himself.

He didn’t know what to do with all these feelings he’d come to find himself with.

Things he’d never expected to feel again.

Things that felt so raw and frayed, so close to the surface, so clear in comparison to the dull and faded things he’d been feeling ever since he’d left that hovel in the Snærfelt.

He didn’t know why he’d begun to feel these things. Or, well, he knew why, El… His El, his amazing, bright, wonderful El… He loved him for so many things -

Love.

Erik paused, his hand stilling in El’s hair even as his tears still fell.

He loved him.

Like a burst of sunlight in his chest, a comforting warmth that spread past his ribs.

But it didn’t quite make it all the way.

Like trying to keep a fire lit with wet wood, it didn’t last long. 

El didn’t share these feelings, surely.

Erik didn’t feel that warmth from El. He didn’t… he couldn’t be in the same boat. El was so much less reserved than Erik was, in this way. Even with his fewer words, his subtler expressions - El was a much easier read than most other people.

And besides, El was nothing like Erik.

He wasn’t a desperate and lonely wanderer, he wasn’t some street thug or criminal.

He was the Luminary. He… he was El.

Erik pressed his face to the top of El’s head as fresh tears began to fall, and tried to remain still, to remain quiet, to enjoy this one stolen moment in time.

Erik loved his dragon. Even if it wasn’t returned.

He’d stay by his side as long as he would be allowed to, he’d be El’s partner and companion. He’d be his keeper and friend for as long as he could. And when El was finally done with him… 

Well. If all goes to plan, Erik would have forgiveness.

His heart was broken already.

He could suffer it again if that would be the outcome, this time around.

~~

El was the first to wake in the morning.

Awareness came back to him slowly, but for once, that was in no part due to any chill in the air.

There was a weariness in his bones, a sort of exhaustion El did not know, but what kept him asleep for so long was the warmth.

Even with most of his back exposed to the air, El was secure.

Erik’s arms wrapped around him, holding him tight even in sleep. 

And he wasn’t the only one. El was holding him as well, arms wrapped snug around his middle, and his tail wrapped halfway around the leg that lay between his own.

Body heat, then.

But still… there was something else.

Something that came from deep inside - something El was familiar with, and at the same time, not.

El closed his eyes again. Tried to focus, to draw it in closer, to place the feeling.

But a knock pounded on the door, and Sylv’s voice called through the wood. “Yooohoooo!” They called through, “I’m so sorry to disturb your rest -“

Erik startled awake with a yelp the moment Sylvando’s voice rose, and he sat up far too quickly.

El’s head was knocked back slightly as Erik’s face collided with his horns.

Erik’s hands went up to press to his eye, and lost his balance, sliding off the edge of the narrow bed and onto his ass.

“Erik!” El leaned over the edge, hands a few inches away from Erik’s face, unsure of how to help.

There wasn’t any blood-

“Oh, honey you need to be careful!” Sylvando said from the doorway, “Those things could poke your eye out!”

Erik pulled his hands away, and blinked rapidly a few times. No damage. “ Thank you , Slyv. Very helpful.” Erik’s voice dripped with sarcasm, and he pressed the heel of his hand against his eye again.

It looked puffy.

Oh no, had he given himself a black eye? El needed to get some ice. He started to get up, throwing the blanket off when Sylv piped up again.

“Darlings, darlings, you should have said something! If you only needed one bed, you should’ve said! Don’t you worry, just let me know in the next town and I’ll be sure you get a proper room.”

El felt his face color red, and his wings lift slightly. That - they hadn’t! 

Erik was stumbling over his words. “That- no- we just- argh!” Erik dropped his face back into his hands and gave up. It just wasn’t worth the trouble.

Sylvando was openly grinning. It was far too easy to rile up their boys. 

But the smile fell from their face. They’d come for a reason, after all.

Sylvando held out an opened letter for El to take. 

“The old man and lovely young lady from yesterday made off with your prizes. They want us to meet them in the ruins of Dundrasil. I know you should still be resting, Ellie. Take your time getting ready, we’re in no hurry. And just let me know if you need to sit this one out. I’m sure the rest of us can figure something out.”

El skimmed over the letter and sighed.

He didn’t want to go to Dundrasil.

He was scared of what he may find there.

But at the same time, he didn’t want to stay here in Octogonia, either.

“Okay.” El settled on saying. “We’ll be ready to go soon. Thank you.”

Sylv caught on to what he wasn’t saying. “Of course, Darling. Don’t mention it.”

El didn’t move until the door had closed behind them.

Then, he dropped his head and let the paper flutter to the ground.

“El-“

“We’ve spent too long here anyway.” El said, slowly starting to get up. “I don’t want to spend any more time here -“ he felt a little unsteady on his legs as he reached down to pick up his shirt. 

It was still bloody.

He needed a different one. Where are their bags?

Erik pulled himself up from the floor, and pressed down on El’s shoulders, making him sit back down.

“You don’t have to tell me what happened.” Erik said, keeping his hands on El. “I understand. But you do need to tell me if you’re okay.”

“Erik-“ El had tensed up, tried to move, but Erik held fast.

“You can’t lie to me. I can tell, you know? But that wasn’t something you can just pick up from.”

“ Erik .”

“It’s my job to keep you safe. And I can only do that if you’re honest with me, right? So-“

“Erik, I’m sitting on my tail.” He couldn’t help but smile a bit as Erik scrambled to give him room. It was small, but it was enough to make him feel just that little bit better. 

Tail now no longer being crushed under his own weight, El stopped to think.

He wasn’t okay.

He knew that Erik knew this, and yet he was still being given the option to stay quiet.

Erik sat down next to him, their shoulders just touching, and waited.

“I’m okay.” El said, “I’m just a little tired. Serena got me fixed up, and-“

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

El didn’t turn to meet his eyes.

Instead, he kept his eyes down. 

He saw the scar that ran down his chest. He saw the scales that ran in stripes down his arms, across his collar. 

He saw the mark of light on the back of his clawed hand.

El swallowed, fighting back the rush of emotions he didn’t know how to decipher.

“I… don’t think I am.” El tried, and waited a moment. For the right words to come. “All of this… all the way from Heliodor… none of it would’ve happened if I was just normal . The King would’ve believed I was the Luminary. I wouldn’t have to hide in every town. You wouldn’t have been hurt in Gondolia, Vince wouldn’t-“ El cut off, somethin’ only the truly wealthy ever get a taste of… He’d been too far gone when it all happened. His brain and body slipped away from him, but now that he was safe, now that Vince was gone and Erik was here, he began to actually think about everything that happened. His breath shuddered out of his lungs, and he felt a few small points of pain as his claws dug into his leg.

Before he’d even noticed him move, Erik was before El on the floor, gently pulling his claws away.

He held on to El’s hands as he spoke. “If it means anything, I like you this way.” His thumbs ran over the backs of his hands, over his scales, over the mark of light. “I like traveling with you, with everyone. I like the bond we share now. And,” he added on, “If you were normal, whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean in any group that has me, Veronica, and Sylvando in it, I would still be in the dungeons, or dead in a ditch somewhere. I’m glad I found you, El.”

El’s vision blurred with the tears that finally began to fall. One, two tears fell down to his hands.

Erik let one of his hands go, in favor of reaching up to wipe away his tears. 

And really, what had El ever done to deserve this? 

“You tell me what happened when you’re ready, alright? I’ll wait.”

To deserve someone like Erik?

Erik took his hands away, and stood by the door.

“You take your time.” He said, “We’ll leave when you’re ready.”

~~

Walking up the long, twisting staircase to the ruined city was like walking into another world.

A world where time stood still.

There were no sounds to break the silence, save for their own footsteps, that echoed loudly through the hollowed out buildings.

There was no breeze to disturb the plant life, to whistle through the tree branches.

The sun shone its evening light, and bathed the world in gold.

Everything it touched may as well have been a statue.

“So this is Dundrasil…” Sylv’s voice was uncharacteristically sober as they all looked around. “I’d heard the rumors… but I could never have expected this.” Voice quiet, as if speaking any louder would shatter what remained. “What a beautiful place it once was. All just gone. The King and Queen, and the poor Princess of Heliodor… Oh, but I don’t need to be saying all this. They were your family, after all.”

El didn’t know what to say, or do, or even feel, for that matter.

His heart ached in a way he couldn’t quite describe.

The poor people of Dundrasil, not one of them deserving of such a horrible fate.

He knew what was coming before it happened.

But it didn’t stop El from startling when Erik’s hand came to rest on the back of his neck.

“You alright?” Erik asked, and El felt his concern.

El tried to offer a small, but reassuring smile, but he knew it wasn’t enough. He knew that Erik still felt everything.

Erik moved his hand to take El’s in his instead.

“Now,” Erik says, as if nothing happened. As if he didn’t feel the nearly painful squeeze of El’s heart. “Why here? Where’s Rab?”

“Over there!” Veronica pointed, and turned to look at the party, “those torches are lit. Someone must be inside.”

Nearly the moment she spoke, a flash of orange caught El’s eye. 

Just below the overhanging arch, Rab turned the corner, and waited, just in sight.

He smiled warmly as El approached, Erik still in tow, “Oh, so ye made it at last.” His voice was as warm as his smile, and again, something almost like familiarity sparked in El’s mind.

“Where’s your friend,” Erik asked, glancing around in the growing evening shadows, as if he expected to find her hiding just out of sight. “The girl, Jade?”

“She has… duties to attend to.” Rab explained, “She’ll be ever so happy you came, though. As am I.”

“It’s not like we had any choice. We need the Rainbough. What’ve you done with it?”

“Oh, you need it, do ye?” Rab’s hand came up to twirl in his moustache, “that wouldn’t be because your pal here is the Luminary, would it?”

El felt both his own, and Erik’s shock as the title was spoken. 

“How could you know…” Erik’s shock bled into something like suspicion, but El only began to feel numb.

“Och, I knew it was you the moment I saw ye.” The old man’s face had gone soft. He had one hand half-extended towards El, as if he wanted to reach out and touch him, but was too afraid.

But afraid of what?

Of rejection? El himself? Or perhaps, that his hand would pass through him, that all this really was all too good to be true, that he was only dreaming what he wanted to see.

“I thought ye’d died years back, laddie. When I saw ye at the tournament my heart skipped more than a few beats, let me tell ye!”

El didn’t move closer, but he didn’t move away, either.

“You know me?” He asked instead, eyes locked on the old man’s face, trying to remember, trying to match a name, a memory to him.

“Aye, I do.” The old man’s voice cracked, “but don’t worry, you were nae old enough to remember me. Now, come along. There’s something I want to show you, if ye’ll indulge an auld man for a wee while.”

Well, that’s trustworthy . Erik said, trying to be lighthearted, trying to lift the dark feeling that had settled into his chest ever since they arrived. 

El gave no sign that he heard, following the old man as if he was in a trance, as if there wasn’t anyone else around, as if Erik wasn’t desperately trying to stay close.

The crumbled buildings, the ivy creeping along the remaining pillars of stone, the moss blanketing the stone walkways… 

what could possibly be left here?

Erik was sure that no one still lived here, and there was no way there’d be anything valuable left among the rubble.

After so many years it was all surely gone.

But maybe that’s why he was here. 

A safe haven where no one else wanted to tread.

“Ach, this place brings back memories.” The old man said, looking around just as the rest of them were, but with a much sadder expression. Happy memories, all snuffed out by time and tragedy.

“Look,” El heard Erik from somewhere behind him, “are you going to tell us who you are, or what?”

Rab took a deep breath and looked up at the castle, what remained of it slowly crumbling with the passing of time. “I’d already given up most of my duties by then… spent most of my days in the city, enjoying my retirement. Och, what nice days those were…” His voice changed, going from fond to heartbroken in an instant. Hardly more than a rough whisper, he said, “Then the monsters came, and I lost everything. When I was your age, laddie, this was the finest city you could ever hope to see, and look at it now. One night. Just one single night, and it was all gone.”

El almost spoke. He almost had something to say. Something to comfort the old man, an apology, anything , but before he could, Rab was speaking again. His voice much more normal, but strained,

“Ach, just listen to me blathering on. I wanted to show you something, didn’t I, it’s just right here, come on.”

Just around a corner, sitting in the last shade of the day, a tombstone stood against a wall.

It was rough, cut from what looked like the same stone as the buildings around.

The engraving was somewhat messy - but El couldn’t read it all around Rab, anyway.

“This is… somebody’s grave?” Veronica said, peering around Rab to try to read the inscription.

“Aye.” Rab said softly, “this is where King Irwin and Queen Elenor of Dundrasil are buried.”

“ Oh ,” Sylv gasped, a hand over their mouth, looking quickly between El and Rab, “you… you mean-“

Rab looked back at them all, and pressed a hand against the cold stone. “Yes. This is your parent’s grave, laddie. The grave of my daughter, and my son-in-law.”

Something from Erik. Something torn between hope and surprise. But hope, all for El. “Wait, that would mean… you’re his grandfather!”

“These two fine young souls died, and yet this worn old man managed to survive. I came to believe there must have been a reason for that. That someone up there had a purpose in mind for me.” Rab turned from the grave, and took a step towards El.

It was everything he could do not to move backwards.

Grandfather?

“But…” El began, “you’re…” not like me. El stopped, and tried again. “My parents- they, were they-“ mumbling like an idiot .

Rab seemed to understand nonetheless. “Nay,” he shook his head sadly, still looking on at the gravestone. “Elenor and Irwin were as human as they came.” A wry chuckle, “ye gave us all quite the fright, popping out like that.”

A rotten feeling settled in El’s stomach. 

This wasn’t right.

None of this was right.

How could he be this way? His parents, his family-

Rab gestured for El to join him in front of the grave. 

El didn’t want to. He didn’t know what to do-

But a less-than-gentle shove from Veronica had him moving forward, and just as everyone around him, he clasped his hands together in prayer.

A prayer he didn’t know how to make.

“But they loved you all the same. Never thought twice about it. I’m sorry, so, so sorry ye had to grow up without them.”

El saw the tears begin to fall.

He didn’t know this man. Blood relation or not, Chalky was his grandfather. Amber was his mother. Gemma was his sister- but, just now, seeing the old man, just as lost and alone as he was, they were the same.

Perhaps, just perhaps, he could have family again.

El listened with half an ear as Rab explained what he’d discovered, what he’d done in all the years he’d been on the road.

“Ye’re alive, Elwood. Against all the odds, and now ye’re back home.“

“What?” El asked before the name even truly registered in his mind.

Rab stopped, his brows creasing. “I never did ask, did I? Ye parents named ye Elwood, but I suppose whoever brought you up wouldn’t had known that.”

Elwood . El didn’t say it aloud, but even so it felt wrong to hear, to think. His name was just El. Simple. Easy. What his mum had given him, what Chalky had named him.

Though… if El came from what the old and faded letter had meant to say, then he was still carrying the name his Dundrasilian parents had given him, just in a shorter form.

“No.” El said simply, “My name is El. It’s just El.”

“El, then.” Rab said simply. As if it was that simple. As if his name didn’t matter- “I’ve got one last favor to ask you.”

~~

Royal family.

Rituals.

Souls of the departed.

Taken by monsters.

Everything felt like a blur.

The edges of different moments that should’ve been clear felt blurred as if a painter had taken a brush to them.

El didn’t know what to do for his grandfather.

He didn’t know what he could do.

Even as his friends departed, leaving El and his family to grieve, he didn’t feel like he belonged here.

He should be with Erik and everyone, leaving Rab and Jade to grieve in peace.

Speaking of Jade-

Why was she on the sidelines? 

Shouldn’t she be here with them?

He saw her leave, and with a glance at his grandfather, still staring up at Yggdrasil, El’s letter still held gently in his hands, El turned to follow.

El followed just slightly behind as he noticed Jade leave.

He didn’t know what compelled him to follow.

Maybe it was how she looked on as Rab cried.

Like she wanted to as well, but wouldn’t let herself.

Jade stopped in the middle of the path, and looked up to the night sky.

“Lady Elenor…” Just above a whisper.

A twig snapped beneath El’s boot, and Jade whipped around to see him, wiping tears from her eyes as quickly as she could.

“You weren’t supposed to see that.” She looked stern, but her voice was soft. “I was just thinking about Lady Elenor… I mean, your mother.” Jade looked at the ground for a moment, before smiling back up at El. “Why don’t we go for a walk? We’ll meet back up with your friends back down at the bottom of the mountain.”

She waited for El to meet her, and then continued her pace.

She wanted to say something, didn’t bother trying to hide it, so El only waited. Quietly, patiently, as she chose her words.

“My mother was a sickly soul, by all accounts. She died not long after I was born.” Jade held her hands together, and looked at El. “Lady Elenor was the only real mother I ever knew… I spent a lot of time in Dundrasil, you see. She read me stories, played with me, took me for walks… I loved her so much.” She smiled softly. “I was one of the first people she told when she found out she was pregnant. She was so happy… and I was, too. I couldn’t wait to meet my baby brother. I had plans, you know. I was going to be the best big sister ever. And then…”

Slowly, rain began to fall. Picking up steadily.

But Jade only held a hand out to the sky. “I was raining like this the last time I saw her. I can’t believe it’s been so long…”

Light caught El’s eye the same moment it did hers.

Torches, and the glint of metal.

“Up there… Heliodor!” Jade grabbed El by the wrist, and dragged him into the cover of the stone cliff face. “Something tells me they’re looking for you. Come on, we need to get back to the others.”

The two of them tried to stick to the shadows, to the cover of the overgrown plant life, but the way they’d come from was already crawling with guards.

“Where are the ones from the altar?” One of them asked.

“No sign of them.” The second answered, and El breathed a sigh of relief. Erik was safe.

“I-it’s him!” El spun around in time to look into the helmet of another. “H-he’s ‘ere! The darkspawn is over ‘ere!”

In moments, they were surrounded. “What do we do with the girl?”

“Hendrick only said to take the darkspawn alive… didn’t say anything about someone foolish enough to join him.”

“Oh, don’t you dare.”

In a span of only a few moments, Jade had knocked three of the four soldiers down, leaving only one left, who immediately showed his true colors, running for Hendrick like a child running for its mother.

Jade swore under her breath. “Come on, we’ll head around the mountain. If we’re fast we should be able to meet with the others before he gets back.”

“I can-“ El started to offer to change, he could fly them away, easy, but before he could offer, Jade had his wrist in her hand again, dragging him at a full pelt down the pathway.

El fell to the ground, and glanced over his shoulder at the drop below.

It was long enough.

He could make it.

He just needed a clear shot to get Jade as well-

“You will evade me no longer, darkspawn. The chase ends here.” Hendrick raised his sword high above his head.

“Hendrick!” Jade screamed, “Don't you dare!”

Hendrick nearly dropped his sword when he spotted Jade.

“Surely not… Princess Jade?”

This was El’s chance. He pushed up against the rock, ready to change, when he felt the stone shift beneath him, before the edge of the cliff fell away entirely.

“ No! ” He heard Jade scream.

Halfway down between the cliff and the rushing river, El took his dragon form, and snatched Jade from the air.

He felt Hendrick’s eyes on him as he flew upstream.

~~

El landed them on a small ledge higher up the mountain, setting Jade down gently before testing his own weight on the rock.

There was an overhang that could provide them with some shelter from the misty rain, even if it wasn’t as good as a cave or cabin would be.

“Thank you,” Jade said as she sat down. “I had no idea you could-“ she stared for a moment. “We’ll I suppose there’s more I don’t know about you than I do. I’m sorry for jumping. I panicked.”

El nodded his head, and laid down around her. Less so because he wants to be in contact- and more so that he can speak. 

You and Rab, El begins, and even as Jade startles, he continues on without a hitch, you both act as if I’ve suffered the same losses you both have. And, I suppose that is true. But… I never knew the King and Queen. Maybe I’m wrong for not feeling grief, but I do not mourn them. I don’t mourn for the life I could’ve lived.

“Elw-“ Jade begins, not even a word finished and her tone already condescending.

My name is El. Just El.

She laughed, short and humorlessly. “It’s a simple name, for someone of your standing.”

I’m a farm boy from Cobblestone, on the run from the King. I have no social standing. El hoped she could hear that he wasn’t upset. I grew up fine. I had a family. I had a mother, a sister, and a grandfather. I had my whole village. I was happy .

El took a moment to think his words over, to try and phrase the rest of it, and Jade remained quiet this time. She waited for him.

Even now I’m not miserable. El said, and was surprised to find it to be true. I’ve lost my home- but I have hope that my family is alive, and I’ve found you and Rab. I’m not alone. His mind flashed images, of bright blues, the adrenaline of the chase, the smell of saltwater and the night air, of a promise forged. No, he was certainly not alone. El had his team. El had Erik. His Keeper. He rested his head down over his forelegs, and looked out across the river channel, watching the rain beat down on the rock. He sighed, a dark puff of smoke rising in the air around them. I’m getting to see the world, I’ve got something to strive towards. That’s not something I thought I would ever have.

Jade didn’t respond right away, and El didn’t have any more to say just yet.

The rain continued to beat down around them, dripping over their meager shelter, and running in streams down to the river below.

Jade shivered in the cold.

Maybe he should’ve let her light a fire. Maybe it wasn’t too late- but… no. It was still too risky. They may as well be lighting a signal fire for Hendrick to follow.

Instead…

El stretched out a wing, and let it settle over Jade.

It was a very… familiar gesture.

By now lending a wing to Erik was normal. Their closeness wasn’t something he even stopped to consider. 

But this woman… They weren’t strangers, but she’d built an image of him in her head, and it was an image he was not fulfilling.

Even if before she felt as if she knew him, by now she had probably realized that she didn’t, actually.

She traced the long scar on his wing with one finger.

“Someone’s hurt you.” 

She hadn’t yet seen the scar that wound it’s way over his side.

She’d never seen the arrow wound, or the welt around his throat.

Jasper . El explained, decidedly not looking at the scar. They did it to keep me from escaping .

“I see.” Jade took her hand away. “I… I’m not sure what to say. All this trouble… The truth is, why I jumped after you, I… I couldn’t have forgiven myself for losing you again.”

Again?

“I know Rab must’ve told you about your mother. That she… that she died to save you and the princess of Heliodor. I know you’ve likely figured it out yourself by now, but I was that princess.” Jade leaned back against him, and drew her legs in close to her chest. “She died to save me, so that I could save you.

“That night, we both ran from the castle, but the monsters were too fast. She handed you to me, and left to distract them. She died to save us, and she trusted me to keep you safe, and yet I managed to lose you to the river. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished it was you that Rab fished out of there, and not me.”

El listened silently, letting the girl that would’ve been his sister another live speak. To air her grief.

To think this is how she finally meets her little brother.

When she quieted, and the rain began to let up, they made their way back to Dundrasil.

~~

The sky was dark, and the fire had burned down to nothing but embers and soot.

What a day… El and Jade vanished right as Helidor attacked again, and gone for so long that Erik had been sure he’d have a heart attack from worry… 

But they also had a plan, now. A goal at long last.

The orbs, Yggdrasil, and Mordegon. 

Two new allies as well.

El’s family .

Erik was happy for him, truly. He hadn’t lost everything.

But now, sitting up alone at night, Erik missed his own more than ever.

Everyone had gone to sleep by now.

Except…

Can we talk? El asked silently, not breaking the quiet peace of the night.

Of course. Erik said immediately, here?

Don’t want to wake anyone. El said, getting to his feet as quietly as he could, and extended a hand to help Erik up. By the river? It isn’t far, we'd be able to hear if someone wakes up and misses us. 

Erik accepted his hand, but El didn’t let go when he was up, and he didn’t let go as he led Erik away from camp.

The tree line isn’t far from where they’d set up their makeshift camp, but as they crossed it’s threshold, looking around carefully for any late-night travelers or soldiers left over from the day’s attack, everything changed, in more than one way.

The light of the full moon lit up the world around them in shades of silver and blue. 

Erik could now make out the tension holding El together.

He could feel it, barely restrained, in the hand that held his own.

The strip of bare grass gave way to a pebble covered river shore. 

The only sounds to be heard was that of wind in the grass, and the water trickling through its bed.

El didn’t immediately speak.

Erik felt something from him, some whirlwind he tried to decipher.

Nervousness. Apprehension. Terror .

It all screamed in the back of his mind. Muted, but still there.

Erik wasn’t sure how El could detect his own overflowing concern over all that.

El still didn’t let go of Erik’s hand.

“You said I could tell you what happened. In Octogonia, I mean. When I’m ready.”

Oh . “Yeah,” Erik said on a breath, “whenever you’re ready to talk about it.”

El gave a short nod. “I- I think I’m ready, now.”

That’s why he wanted to leave camp.

“It- the night before Vince attacked me- when I took him home after he collapsed, he saw my wings. He realized it wasn’t a costume.” El didn’t look up to see Erik’s eyes, and kept his own trained on the swirl of the river current. “I didn’t mean to show him. It was an accident. You know how they move when I’m startled, or if I’m just not thinking about them? I don’t always control them. You know that, I just- I wasn’t expecting him to turn around-“

“Hey, it’s okay.” Erik said, trying to keep his voice soft, but still loud enough to cut through El’s spiraling thoughts. “I get it, it’s okay.”

Erik almost reminded El that he only had to tell him when he was really ready, or, maybe just say he doesn’t have to tell him at all. But then again, he doesn’t want to discourage him from speaking up if he really is ready, either.

“H-he saw my wings.” El said again. “And he knew that they were a part of me. I didn’t tell him much. Not about the Luminary, or who I am, but… just that that’s- that this , is how I am.”

Erik wraps his arm around El’s shoulders. It’s a little difficult to do, to a person with great big wings, and especially when said person with great big wings is upset, but Erik knows now that touch brings a great deal of comfort for El, and it is easier this time than it was in Cobblestone.

“When I went with him the second time… The night you all fought him… I’d only wanted to help him. But the next thing I knew he’d smashed a bottle over my head.”

“I’m sorry, Erik. I should’ve told you. I broke our promise.”

Erik hears pebbles being moved around, and a glance over his shoulder tells him that it’s El’s tail moving them around as it moves back and forth behind them in an agitated manner.

Erik held him close like he had only two nights before, and listened. “Don’t worry. I forgive you.”

Such an easy thing to give.

And such a hard thing to earn.

Chapter Text

Just how much time had passed since El had left the village?

How many days had Amber spent trapped below the castle?

It all seemed to blur together.

She knew that only days had passed since that knight had come to give her news about her son, but it had stretched out to fill what felt like an eternity.

Those short visits had been keeping her sane, keeping her focused. Her son was out there, and he was safe, and he would be coming back, Amber knew.

El wouldn’t abandon them.

Not if he had any choice.

But Amber also knew what he was up against. 

With the entire kingdom of Heliodor at his heels, how was he supposed to fight back?

How long before he had no choice but to hide, how long before the knight came back, just to tell Amber that El was no more?

“Amber?” Gemma caught her attention from the cell across from hers, “I can hear ya worryin’ all the way over here. He’ll be alright, ya hear? Didn’t last time he tell us that El’s not alone? He’s got help.”

Amber appreciated what the girl was trying to do, she really did. But it all felt so empty .

How could he be alright? Why had she even let him go?

No one ever spoke about it, but El had been safe in Cobblestone. Hidden away from the outside world, from people afraid of what was different, from people who wouldn’t think twice about using her son as a spectacle for crowds to gawk at.

She’d let her dear son leave, and it was as if every fear she’d ever had came true.

Darkspawn . As if El could ever be anything so horrible. He was the Luminary, for the goddess’s sake!

Was that so unbelievable, just because of a pair of wings? 

“I know, Gemma.” Amber said, “You know as well as I that boy doesn’t let anything slow him down.”

Gemma brightened. “Sure do! Say, do ya remember the time he went off followin’ that deer track on his own? Vanished for just long enough for us to put together a search party before he turned back up, filthy and spittin’ mad, without anythin’ to show for it?”

Amber put on a smile and listened, letting Gemma’s rambling stories ease the fear in her heart.

This was El they were talking about. He’d make it through this just fine, just as he had everything else until now.

She remembered that day, he’d been so young then. He still was, but back then…

His wings were just barely big enough to carry him, and he’d only just learned to change his shape. What had possessed him to go on a hunt alone, Amber had no idea.

She’d been so very worried, hardly sleeping the night he had gone, just waiting by the door with a lantern, just in case.

When he came back slicked with mud, a goose egg on his forehead so big it could’ve been a third horn, red-faced and empty handed… She’d been too relieved to be angry with him.

Amber had no lantern to light his way home with, now. 

No home for him to come back to, either.

But she had to have faith he’d still find his way back to her.

He was the Luminary, after all. He had the grace of the goddess on his side.

~~

The pain pattered down steadily over the ship deck, and over his shoulders.

It was cold.

The rain was icy from the late autumn skies.

They’d been sailing for so long, now.

Nearly a month was taken from them for the trip from Dundrasil, to Puerto Valor, and then to and from Lonalulu and the Strand.

And what did they have to show for it?

El’s hair was plastered to his neck, his bangs sticking to the sides of his face as the rain continued.

He was freezing.

He didn’t shiver.

He wasn’t built to maintain his own body temperature. Now that winter had begun to smother the flame inside of him, if he wanted warmth, he’d have to go find it himself.

But he didn’t want to.

El just remained where he was, holding to the banister, and looking out into the dark waves.

There was no foam on the surface waters.

Not any longer.

Nothing remained of her, aside from the veil they’d left in the cabin, aside from the harp El had still yet to use.

He was still in shock, still reeling from what had happened. From what he did.

And, from what it meant.

For the world, and himself, personally.

For the world, it told El that he wasn’t enough.

He couldn’t save the world.

He couldn’t save his own village.

He couldn’t even save one mermaid.

He was no Luminary.

He was just some cursed crossbreed with an unfortunate birthmark.

Why Yggdrasil would ever choose someone like him, El didn’t know.

He heard the creak of the cabin door, but heard no footsteps.

Even if Erik didn’t walk silently, he doubted he would be able to hear them over the torrent of rain, anyway.

Come inside, El.

El could feel his concern as clearly as if it was his own.

What it meant to El personally, was much more selfish.

The warmth of the sun spread inside him.

Inside them both.

There was no distinction between the two feelings, no defined edges that told El that this was his own feeling, or that this was Erik’s.

It was seamless between them both.

It was enough to replace El’s dimmed flames. Whether he intended to or not, it warmed him from inside, like basking in the sun.

But Erik had not acted on it, and El didn’t know how.

And even if he did… 

Michelle and Kainoa had shown El what would be in store for them both if he tried to pursue this path, as two people separated by a gap in species.

I’m fine here. El answered, knowing that Erik was feeling the crushing guilt, feeling the thick fog that had settled in his ribs, threatening to choke out the warmth. He couldn’t very well pretend he was okay when Erik knew very well that he wasn’t, that he hadn’t been for a while.

Maybe El should apologize.

When their bond first appeared, it was… Remarkable.

It was an instant trust, an instant companionship.

A relationship on equal footing, that sprung up in the night for them both.

They had each other.

How could you look into someone’s mind, feel exactly what they felt, spend all your time with them, and not come to know each other more than anyone else?

You couldn’t.

Which is perhaps exactly why they’d come to love each other.

But neither ever asked for it.

They never made a deal to become this way.

Erik never asked to have El in his head.

He never asked to have a dragon. To become a Keeper.

El couldn’t help but wonder if Erik resented him.

If he was looking forward to when their journey was done, so they could part ways, and their bond could diminish. 

Erik came closer.

Moved to the railing next to El, and wrapped a hand around El’s arm.

Laid his head on El’s shoulder.

El wanted to cry.

But the goddess knows he’s done enough of that, lately.

Always so careful of his horns, El let his own head rest gently on Erik’s.

He could have this much, couldn’t he?

Just a moment.

El stretched out a wing to shelter Erik. Not that it did much to prevent the already drenched man from the pelting rain and winds, but it was the thought that counted, right?

Erik laughed. Bright and beautiful. “You dumbass. Come on, before we catch our deaths out here.”

El let Erik detangle himself, and let Erik lead him back inside.

It didn’t end up taking very long at all for Erik to come to the realization that his feelings were not, in fact, unrequited. 

Everything he felt from El was still separate from what he felt, even if they were experiencing the same emotion, divided by an intangible yet sturdy barrier.

As if El’s emotions were on the other side of a window, and Erik could look through and see how he felt.

But somehow, this was different.

The window was open, for this one feeling.

There was no seam where Erik’s love ended and El’s began. It existed in them both, identically, simultaneously.

And yet, even knowing all that, knowing that any advances that Erik tried to make would most likely be accepted, he found himself stranded between what he wanted to do, and what he thought he should do.

Erik wanted to talk to El.

They both knew how the other felt, but they still would be better off talking than making any assumptions.

But Erik hadn’t gotten the chance.

He wasn’t going to try and broach such a subject right after everything that had happened to El while he was underground.

Not when he’d just found his birth family, against all the odds.

And then, not after finding Michelle.

The back and forth between the Strand and Lonalulu had been tedious.

Erik had spent most of the journey snappy and frustrated, feeling like El’s good heart had put their true goal on hold, a magic harp and magic orb at the end or not.

Then, she died.

A whole half-century after her love, looking no older than his grandson did.

Parent to child . Serena had said before that the dragon in the care of a keeper would be passed down through the generations.

Dragons must live for hundreds of years, perhaps as long as the merpeople did.

El seemed to be the age he appeared, young and fairly naïve, but that didn’t mean very much. He had so many other dragon attributes, even beyond his appearance.

Who was to say that El wouldn’t live long past Erik’s death?

Was he even prepared to amount to what would only be but a splash in the bucket of El’s long life?

Would it be fair to El, to let him love Erik, only to leave him behind and alone, with still decades upon decades left to live, without Erik, with a broken bond?

Michelle hadn’t looked much older than Erik did.

And she’d been there, waiting at the strand for over fifty years just sitting and waiting for a man that never came back.

As if the years felt only like days.

Would El end up like that? Sat on Erik’s grave until he withered away? Or until he couldn’t stand the loss anymore?

El had been right there, when she’d thrown herself into the sea.

Powerless to stop her from fading away.

He’d broken down, after that.

Erik should’ve been there with him. He’d been distracted by the luau, by all the festivities.

He’d hardly noticed El had gone until the bright white-hot spark of shock had sent itself back down to Erik.

Erik held him through that night.

How many times would he have to be El’s rock, before he couldn’t take it anymore?

Each time, each break wore cracks in Erik’s own facade.

He was grieving, too.

And Erik couldn’t show it. Couldn’t begin to explain, or confess anything about it. It hurt so very, very much, and El must feel it, and yet…

The small room they both shared was small.

One bed, a small table, a water basin, and a lantern hanging from a hook.

It was cramped and stuffy. The air was stale and the room too hot for comfort.

Even so, after El toweled off the last of the rain, and Erik had laid out his tunic to dry, they climbed into bed together.They’d begun sleeping this way every night, after Octogonia.

It was still awkward and a little cumbersome, trying to find a way to hold his dragon while keeping his eyes out of horn range (that black eye had driven him crazy for days) and to find a good way to wrap his arm around him without hitting a wing-

El was holding him, this time.

Erik was the one being bundled close this time, his nose in the crook of El’s neck, two strong arms wrapped around his back, and El’s nose buried in his hair.

I know something is wrong . El said, and Erik felt his tail come to rest around his ankle. You don’t have to tell me now. But I’ll be here when you’re ready, just as you are for me.

The sunlight was blinding, casting out everything else just to make room for the way it grew.

Erik laid a hand onto El’s chest, and he could swear he could feel it’s heat against his palm. 

They never slept with any blankets. El’s warmth was enough.

Maybe Erik should come clean.

He had no reason to hide. Not from El.

All his barriers, every single wall he’d put up since he’d left Sniflheim was coming down, brick by brick.

What was he doing?

Laying in the arms of the man he loved, the feelings tangible and concrete, but doing nothing about it?

No.

Not yet.

They had places to be, Orbs to find, and they were an ocean away from where Erik’s own secrets lay. If Erik told him now, explained why exactly he decided to stick by the dragon’s side those few months ago, he had no doubts that El would turn this boat around and sail straight for Sniflheim.

Erik wanted to free Mia, to save her, do whatever it took to remove the curse - but things were different now.

As much as he loved his sister, as much as she deserved her freedom, as much as he hated himself for every additional second she spent in hell, she wasn’t their only priority. 

They had the entire world to save, now.

Not yet . Erik said, someday .

And that was enough for El. He asked for nothing more, nothing more specific, asked for no promise.

He simply accepted his answer, and continued to hold Erik close.

El was like a furnace. His skin was feverish even though he was healthy, the fire that burned inside him heating him through.

But oddly enough, it didn’t bother Erik.

The heat of the desert scorched him, the summer months even in Heliodor kept him dizzy from their heat, but El’s Fire was comforting.

It made him feel safe.

It made him feel loved.

Held tight by his dragon, Erik drifted off into the easiest sleep he’d ever known.

So many nights recently, Erik had dreamed of being in the sky, seated atop a golden dragon, pink dawn clouds floating around them.

He always felt safe, even at the high altitudes, suspended above endless sea waters.

But dark storm clouds always appeared on the horizon line, lightning striking down around them before darkness overtook, and Erik woke to their cabin.

This time, the storm clouds came sooner.

He couldn’t have been flying more than a few minutes before Erik heard the rumble of thunder, and lightning began to strike down.

Black consumed Erik’s vision, but he did not wake.

The wind ceased, the thunder grew quiet, and Erik no could no longer feel El below him.

He was alone.

El?  

Dread pooled in Erik’s gut.

So many nights, so many times the dream remained the same.

“El?” Erik called again, aloud. Just in case anyone could hear him.

Poor child. Left all alone. Nothing to your name.

The voice rang inside Erik’s head, like El’s would, but Erik knew his voice. He would always recognize it, and this was not El. 

El would never sound so cruel.

A cold shiver ran down his spine.

His pulse rang loud in his ears as he waited for the voice to speak again.

Something cold brushed his cheek.

Erik jerked back, hand rushing to his hip to grasp the hilt of his knife, but he found only empty air.

This was just a dream.

Fingers around his arm.

Only a dream.

Cold like a corpse.

It couldn’t hurt him.

Another hand slapped over his mouth and he was pulled back into the darkness before he could so much as scream.

Erik woke with a start in a cold sweat, only narrowly avoiding voicing the fear from his nightmare.

The room was pitch black, the fire from the lantern having burned out hours ago.

A hand on his shoulder.

Erik almost tried to move away, but the hand was warm. Another wrapped around his middle, and El’s chin came to rest on Erik’s other shoulder, tilted oddly to keep his horn away.

“Erik?” His voice was muted by sleep. “You alright?”

Erik tried to calm his fluttering heart. To steady his breathing. “Yeah,” he answered, “yeah. Just- just a nightmare.”

El hummed his response, already half-asleep again. “D’you need to talk about it?”

Erik closed his eyes, as if he would see anything different. “No.” Erik said, “It wasn’t that bad.” 

El murmured something Erik couldn’t make out, and pressed a short kiss to his cheek before laying back down.

Erik’s poor heart couldn’t take the whiplash, doing a funny sort of fluttering that in any other situation would’ve made him seriously consider seeing a healer.

Had El realized what he’d done?

Had any conscious thought gone into the action, or had he just done what had felt right?

Would there have even been a difference?

Erik sighed, and held his face in his hands.

He wasn’t going to be able to sleep after that.

Carefully, Erik removed the tail that had wrapped around his ankle.

El slept like the dead. It was a wonder Erik’s nightmare had woken him at all.

He pulled his trousers on, grabbed his shoes and pulled on his thankfully dry tunic, and did his best to find the door in the pitch black.

He couldn’t breathe in here.

The hall below deck was thankfully still lit, so Erik was able to make his way above in complete silence. 

The rain had stopped at some point in the night, and the skies ahead were empty of clouds, and awash with pink and orange pre-dawn light.

The sway of the ship, the sudden ice of the air, and the sounds of the waves and calling seabirds did more than Erik expected to calm his quaking nerves.

If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend that he was still in Sniflheim.

That nothing had ever happened.

He could hear sea shanties and the sound of a busy ship, full of people all with jobs to do.

But as his eyes opened he knew it wasn’t real, that it wouldn’t ever be real again.

Nothing was the same. The songs he remembered were faded, there was someone missing.

The differences kept him above water.

He was putting things right, with every mile they sailed, with every day he stayed with the Luminary.

Things were better, in some ways.

Erik wasn’t hungry anymore.

He wasn’t hurting.

He was free.

All things he couldn’t say the same for her, but someday.

Someday soon, maybe he could share it all.

“A coin for your thoughts?” Sylvando’s voice shook Erik from his train of thought, and he turned to see them bundled up warm in a fluffy robe.

“You’d be overpaying.” Erik said, looking back out at sea. “Wasn’t thinking about much.”

Sylv leaned over the banister, a mug of something hot in their hands. “I’m not used to seeing anyone else up so early. Trouble sleeping?”

“No,” Erik lies, “I just managed to get away from El this morning. I’m not normally one to sleep in.”

Sylv laughed loudly, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “I thought I’d pegged the boy right as an octopus. Always all over you, that one.”

“An… octopus?”

“Oh, you know! A big hugger.” Sylv explains, “a cuddler.”

Erik could say that he was normally the one that would be described as such, but it wasn’t really any of Sylv’s business. So, he only nods and says nothing.

A few moments pass in silence.

The crash of the water against the boat and the smell of sea salt in the air.

Erik doesn’t know how something can be both so very familiar, so very comforting, and yet so depressing at the same time.

It’ll be hours yet before everyone is awake and active.

Erik can see a glow of golden light just over the horizon.

That would be where they’re supposed to play the harp, wouldn’t it?

Erik wondered if El would play it today.

They’d find out soon enough.

Erik caught Slyv looking at him, like he was trying to figure out a puzzle.

“I just can’t seem to figure the two of you out.” They said, “You’re both painfully obvious, you know. Pining away as if you two don’t already act like a couple on honeymoon.”

Erik grimaced. The last thing he needed was other people’s input and theories headed his way- let alone-

“I’m not going to pry.” Sylv said, and Erik got the distinct impression that the exact opposite was true. “You don’t have to answer, but what is the problem, darling?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Erik said, looking away.

“Oh, pish!” Sylv pushed off the banister to turn to Erik, “I’m a jester, not a fool. You don’t have to tell me, but you do not lie to me.” They poked one very well-manicured finger to Erik’s chest. 

He could refuse. Erik certainly didn’t need to add any more fire to whatever rumor was clearly going around but…

He didn’t think Sylvando wanted to know just to know. They were concerned for him. Erik knew he was a disappointment, but he didn’t want to upset anyone.

So Erik groaned and turned back to the sea to get away from that look .

“It’s a lot of things, I guess.” Erik said, “The whole…” He gestured vaguely, unsure of how to explain the issue with the bond. “Dragon thing, for one.”

“Now there’s no need for that.” Sylv interrupted, “El is a fine young man, dragon bits or not. You should-“

“That’s not what I mean.” Erik said, “I don’t care about the tail or the horns or whatever he’s got, it’s… You were there, when Veronica explained what Keepers are. The whole bond thing, it’s a lot. I can feel everything he feels, he can all but read my mind. He...” Erik paused. He didn’t know if he was ready to say it out loud or not. “He loves me. I know he does, because I can feel it, and I know he knows I love him.”

“So you’re overwhelmed.” They said it like a statement, and not a question. Brought no attention to his sudden confession.

They weren’t wrong.

“Yeah.” Erik said shortly. Overwhelmed just about covered it. “Then… Then there’s what happened in Lonalulu.” Erik picked at the chipping paint on the rail. “With Michelle.” Erik didn’t specify what. Everything about the events between meeting her and losing her…

“You and El are in a very different position than she was.” Sylv said, staring off into the waves, thinking carefully, “There is no bad blood between you and he, you aren’t separated by the land and sea.”

There wasn’t anything separating them except for each other, and even then… “Sure feels like it.”

“I know it feels like I can’t possibly understand what all you boys are going through,” Sylvando said, “And I’m sure I don’t. But I don’t want to see you two making yourselves miserable over something when you don’t have to be. What’s really stopping you?”

Fear, plain and simple.

He was afraid of being left alone.

He was afraid of being known.

Erik was afraid of letting El in. Even though there was hardly anything left that he didn’t know, that he didn’t already understand, Erik was scared there would be something buried so deep that he’d forgotten about it, something that El would hate him for.

It was unreasonable, yes. He was perfectly aware, but it didn’t stop him from being scared.

And… He was afraid for El.

“Don’t let this go on so long that you’ve missed the sail.” Sylvando said to him, lowering their voice as the door to the cabin opened, and their team began to mill about. “No matter what it is that’s scaring you, don’t let it stop you from being happy. Would you rather try and fail, or never try, and wonder forever if you’ve missed out on something lovely?”

Sylv was speaking from experience, Erik could hear it in their voice… and they were right.

He just needed to suck it up and talk to El.

“Sylv-“

Before Erik could thank his companion, Sylvando had turned to their group, clapping their hands together, “Good morning, everyone! Jade, dear, could you go and wake our fearless leader? We’ve got a harp to play and a ship to sink!”

“I wish you wouldn’t say that,” Jade complained, but still got up to go and wake El, “Go ahead and get ready, I don’t know how long it’ll take to drag him up.”

“Just pull his tail,” Erik suggested, “Always works for me.” Jade sent him an unimpressed look, but didn’t make any point about what he said.

Hopefully she’d take his advice. It really did work, and she did have the reflexes to dodge the wings that always flared out.

About a half-hour later, El up and only slightly grumpy from his rude awakening, El played the harp.

He’d claimed to have never touched an instrument before, but the notes came through clear and precise, wrapping their ship in a bubble of air, and bringing them down smoothly to the depths of the ocean.

Erik stood at El’s side as the surface went out of reach, and the bright and clear water surrounded them on all sides.

Schools of shimmering scales fish swam around them, guiding their pearl of air to the seabed.

When the bottom of their ship made contact, Erik walked to the edge, reaching out to touch the shimmering bubble. 

Through the membrane he could feel the cold ocean water, and yet his hand came back dry.

“Be careful, laddie!” Rab warned him, “You don’t know how this works.”

“We’ll have to figure it out if we want to see the Queen. El, give me a hand?”

What do you need?  

“Think you could fly me down there? You and I could have a look around-“

“You think we’re going to let you two go off on your own?” Veronica butted in, “We’re all here, might as well all go, safety in numbers and all that.”

Jade stepped forward, “She’s right. We go as a team or not at all.”

It didn’t take long to get everyone down, or to even work up the courage to leave their little safety bubble, but it did take more than a few moments to realize that they were still safe, and still underwater. 

There was no pressure on Erik’s chest as if he were really swimming, and he didn’t find saltwater stinging his eyes or nose.

They were breathing, and their feet remained on the ground, their gravity intact as if they were still on land.

Of all the nightmares Erik had suffered through from the Chief’s threats of cinderblock shoes and being weighed down through the water, Erik never actually expected to experience the seafloor. 

“Over there, there’s a tunnel.” Jade pointed out, “Only way out of here. Shall we move on?”

The moment the tunnel ended, everything changed.

The land of Nautica, a city built into a coral reef and on the seabed. Buildings shaped like giant shells, conches and cowries all stood tall, winding around stone, mermaids, sea turtles, sharks, and sea creatures Erik couldn’t put a name to all swam through their daily lives, unknown to all that lived above.

“Crivvens!” Rab grinned widely at the otherworldly scene before them, “A veritable paradise under the sea.”

“Don’t get distracted.” Jade said, catching him staring at a mermaid swimming overhead. “We’re here for a reason. We need to see the Queen, find the pearl, and tell her about Michelle.” She caught El’s eye, who nodded.

“Up there,” Serena pointed to the tallest seashell building highest up the slope. “I bet that’s the castle.” It was hard to see from this distance, but there were two mermaids, tritons in hand. Guards, perhaps?

“Let’s get moving,” Erik said, starting up the path. “The sooner we find out if this pearl is the real deal or not, the better. Something about this place gives me the creeps.”

Veronica snorted at him, “You’ve said that about nearly every town we’ve come across. Hardly means anything anymore.”

Erik ignored her, letting their group pass on ahead as he waited for El to catch up. 

Magical bubble of safety or not, wings just weren’t very hydrodynamic.

“You good?” Erik asked as they both started up the slope, much further behind their companions. He was looking around, just as distracted as the rest of them, but the feeling Erik was getting from him was different. 

“There’s something… Familiar about this place.” El said, “I don’t recognize any of it, but it just… Feels odd.”

Erik wasn’t picking up on any of that. But there was an uneasy feeling in his gut that he had attributed to his own personal fears, but if El was feeling it too… 

They were all receiving stares from the mermaids, except for El. 

Maybe the feeling wasn’t misplaced.

Their team had already been ushered inside when they made it to the top, but the guards took only one look at them before taking their hands and guiding them to the throne room.

A mermaid, blonde hair and an iridescent white fin sat in a large oyster shell throne.

“I welcome you to Nautica, the land beneath the waves.” She greeted them, “What brings you, dragon Prince of Dundrasil, down to these coral caves?”

“Wait, how do you know who he is?” Erik asked, standing close. He didn’t feel any sense of foreboding about the Queen, or anyone in the city for that matter, but you couldn’t ever be too careful, right?

“I have a second sight, just as you, that touches every quarter, by which I keep abreast of the news above the water. Of doomed love between man and magic, let us later speak. First, allow me to present the item that you seek.” With a raise of her hand, another mermaid came forth, carefully cradling a glowing green sphere.

Queen Marina took it carefully, and raised it to the light.

“Behold, the shining sphere of green, the Orb you humans need. The treasures of the world above are marvelous indeed.” She held it out to El, who took it gratefully. 

“Consider this my thanks for what you did for dear Michelle. Pray take it, kindly travelers, and may it serve you well.”

“Thank you.” El breathed, taking in the shine, so very grateful this Orb was given so easily, “But, Michelle. She’s…” He trailed off, unsure of what to say.

“I witnessed the whole sorry tale, it always breaks my heart. The tragedy of man and mermaid doomed to live apart. But while the mermaid’s burden holds, such romances are blighted, and love between human and sea maiden fizzles, unrequited. The humans cannot help but seem such a fragile kind to we, who live for five hundred years and more beneath the sea.

“But though the flame of human life burns short, it burns so bright! You never cease to struggle, no - you push, you strive, you fight!” 

“And so, their kind admire our kind, but we admire in turn. It is the World Tree’s will that from each other, we learn. It was the World Tree’s will that brought Michelle and Kai together. I pray that in their next lives, they may stay that way forever.” The Queen smiled kindly at El. “But your kind once knew this as well, before the Dragonspawn fell. Just as my people live our lives under the waves, yours once ruled the sky, in days long gone by.”

“There were others like me?” El was listening closely, and Erik felt his heart skip a beat. Were there others out there somewhere for El to find?

“Yes, though it has been such a long while since your kind did visit our humble lifestyle. I know not how you came to be a dragon, as their days have come and gone.”

Damn these mermaids and their rhymes, turning every word into a riddle. Erik had hoped that Michelle had been an outlier, but it would seem that every mermaid shared her pattern of speech.

“So too was it the World Tree’s will that brought you here today, but now, dear Luminary, you must be on your way. So set sail on the tide of time, that flows ceaselessly on, and if Yggdrasil wills it, we shall meet again, anon. Remember, though the paths we walk are filled with twists and turns, all roads lead from the Tree of Life, and to the Tree they return.”

The Queen hit the end of her staff against the floor, and light shone down from high above.

“Wait-“ El forced out, “You know about people like me, please, I have so many questions.”

She smiled, “Questions that I could answer, but that I shall not. Let them spur you on your quest, to find your own plot.”

Erik watched El deflate, so close to having the truth, and denied it. Erik stepped forward, to argue for his case, but El’s voice stopped him.

It’s okay.

“But, El-“

It’s okay. His voice was firm, and he turned his back to the Queen, ready to leave. They had what they came for. The Orb is what mattered, not the answers he hadn’t even come looking for.

“Let’s get back to the ship.” El said, once they reached the rest, “We don’t know how long we have down here.” He sounded low, his disappointment still evident, but aside from a supportive hand on his arm from his grandfather, no one said anything,

No one knew what to say.

How do you comfort someone so confused? 

Erik did what he knew how, sticking close until they were back on the waves instead of below them, the sky turning dark, stars beginning to light up in the sky.

Time seemed so much shorter, under the water.

“We’ll chart a course for our next destination,” Sylvando was speaking to them all, but Erik wasn’t really listening. “Rab, you and Jade were talking about a town not far from here, weren’t you? Do you think that we’d find anything useful there?”

“Sylv-“ Erik interrupted, not meeting anyone else’s eyes, that were all suddenly on him. “Do, um... do you need El and I for this? Or do you mind if we duck out?”

Sylv was smiling bright at him, seeing through Erik immediately. “Oh, you two must be positively exhausted! Go, go on now and get some rest. We’ll sort out our next stop just fine on our own, don't you worry!”

Subtlety wasn’t something Sylvando excelled at, or even seems to have any passing interest in.

But Erik was still grateful, even as the tips of his ears turned red, and took El, poor confused El, by the hand and led him back to their room.

~~

“Hey, El?” Erik spoke low, his heart in his throat. 

He was going to say it.

Sylvando was right. It was better to at least try-

“Hm?” El hummed, lost in thought where he’d pillowed his head on Erik’s chest.

One last burst of anxiousness from Erik brought El back into full awareness. Concerned, he began to get up.

“It’s okay.” Erik said hurriedly, his hand in El’s hair staying firm. He couldn’t do this while looking El in the eye. “Just… give me a moment, okay?”

“...Okay.” Erik didn’t miss the hesitation. He just needed to spit it out-

“I know that you already know all this. I don’t know if it means anything to say now, but Sylv got in my head this morning. All this stuff about bonds and keepers and lifespans… I don’t want it to change anything.” El took Erik’s hand in his, a silent way to show he was listening. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when we get to Yggdrasil. I don’t even know what’s going to happen when we dock next, but I’m not going anywhere, okay? I’m with you for the long haul.”

Erik paused. This was it, he was going to say it, he needed to say it before his throat closed up -

“I’m your partner. And-“

I love you.

Chapter Text

I love you. El’s words, words that came so easily to him, rang in Erik’s mind.

Erik’s jaw was hanging open, cut off mid-sentence. 

He didn’t know where to go from here.

Even if this was all he had intended to say, he hadn’t been prepared. Somehow he hadn’t expected El to say it back.

His silence stretched out to fill the room.

El was pushing himself up off Erik, his face was beet-red from his cheekbones to the roots of his hair, and his wings were folded in tight to his back. “I’m sorry! I just thought- I thought that was what you were going to say! I shouldn’t have-“ El cut himself off, sitting back on the end of the bed, his face buried in his hands.

Was Erik still breathing? He couldn’t tell anymore.

Erik moved on impulse, moving El’s hands away, and pulled him back in close, holding his dragon flush against himself. “I love you.”

There, now he was breathing. Took him long enough to say.