Zephyria had been testing herself for the past several hours. She was stalking a herd of deer and seeing how close she could get to them without alerting them, so far she was so successful she was getting bored. Stalking some regular deer for so long had shifted from an interesting experiment to an act of tedium. Zephyria waited until one of the smaller ones on the edge of the herd paused to eat before finally pouncing and securing her meal.

  As the herd scattered Zephyria murmured aloud, "Be honored, worthy prey, you lived and died well with a bright heart. May your soul join the gods of old as your heart-flame burns through me." Having not eaten for some time now she was starving and ate most of the deer in that one sitting, savoring the deer's heart as is honorable. Once she had mostly had her fill she had a thought, The little one should have traded with other mortals right? Then he must have more of those little leaves he put on that meat he had before. I've never eaten a plant before but Asher made it smell so good I want to try it. She ate a few more choice bites of the deer's organs and then grabbed her spare leg and took off. She finally saw the sun and realized she was late, not that she was really concerned with with that sort of thing.

  Landing at their agreed upon landing site she found Asher sitting and cooking a cut of meat that looked small to her. Noticing his odd body language she thought to herself, I'm still learning these mortals and their feelings but he seems upset. Perhaps the trade did not go well, or something happened to him in the city? I'll have to ask. She gently placed the bloody deer leg next to him and said, "Would you be willing to cook this for me, little one? I'd like to try the little plants you put on your food." Asher let out a laugh that sounded strained even to her. She got close to his side and watched him as he skinned the leg and prepared it for cooking. Once the hardest part was done and he started to cook the meat she spoke up, "I am not very good with mortal's body language, but even I can tell you are upset little one. Did the trade not go well?"

  Asher sighed and kept cooking, the silence dragged on for a long moment. Did I upset him by asking? Mortal social conventions are so difficult sometimes. Before she could say something to apologize Asher responded. "Sorry, Zephyria. Its been an emotionally stressful day for me. A lot happened, including the trade not going well. I don't really want to talk about it much." He rotated the deer leg and shifted the flames with his mana. "The trade went poorly, I only got a single gold for the book." Zephyria gave him a confused look by tilting her head so he elaborated, "I had hoped to get at least 50 gold for something as rare as that. A single gold is still quite a bit of money, but its not riches. I could buy a decent piece of gear for a gold, or rent a nice room at an inn for a month. The most highly paid mercenaries usually receive at least a few gold for each of their jobs. Worse, I spent most of it on making sure we had supplies for our trip south."

  Zephyria nudged him with her muzzle, even more confused now. "South, little one?" Asher looked embarrassed and spoke, "Right. Sorry. My brain is muddled. The Heroes are still in or around Ironwood and while their support has supposedly not been replaced they are still too dangerous for us to hunt. The city also knows you're around and rumor is you've kidnapped me. They're likely starting to put out contracts for your death. We need to leave." Zephyria growled at this, Asher flinched so she stopped immediately "I am not upset with you. I am upset with my own weakness and I am angry that I agree with you. We must leave." Asher gave a little sigh of relief as Zephyria spoke on. "But why south? I am not opposed to traveling there but you seem to have a plan." Asher hunched in on himself in nervousness and took another long moment to respond. Zephyria was confused by his obvious nervousness. She gave him another little nudge with her muzzle for him to continue. Asher reached up and pet her nose clearly without thinking about it. Zephyria was surprised and felt demeaned at first, but she couldn't be too upset as it did feel rather quite nice. She murmured, "I do not dislike the.. touching. Just don't do it in public, I have an image to maintain. I am not your pet to be pet, I am a fierce dragoness." Asher let out a small laugh, "Right, right. Big scary dragon. I'm sorry for not asking first, I know you dislike being treated like that." She nudged him again and he finally continued with their discussion. "I have personal reasons to go south, certain issues the southern warlocks may be able to help me with. They might be able to help me with my flames too. I hope so. We don't have to go south if you don't want to."

  Zephyria pulled back and gave him a studying look as she responded, "I am frustrated to travel so far from my prey but you have sworn to aid my quest. Therefore your strength is my strength. I will assist with this journey, little one." Asher sighed in relief. He pulled the seasoned and fire roasted deer leg back and took a bite out of it first. He nodded in satisfaction and held it up for Zephyria to eat. "Your meal, my lady." Zephyria snapped her maw out and ate the entire thing in a few snapping bites. Asher cringed slightly as the bone was ripped out of his hand, and then winced again and the loud snaps of bone cracking between the dragon's teeth. "Was it good?" Asher asked.

  Zephyria rumbled in pleasure, "Excellent little one. I've had nothing like it before. Without flames like my mother I've never even had roasted meat before, much less meat coated in those little plants you enjoy." Asher laughed again while standing up. "Good! Good! I'll try to cook for you more often if you can bring me some of your kills. I'm sure I'll find a way to roast an entire deer at once at some point." He cleaned up best he could, put out the fire, and put a hand on Zephyria's side. "The Beast-kin cities are far south, a month by caravan but we should get there in a day or two. Are you ready for such a flight?"

  Zephyria held her horns out for Asher to grab onto, as she pulled him up she responded, "Of course!" Zephyria took a small run before leaping into the air. Orienting herself south she started their long flight. "Do you know the meaning behind Dragon names, Asher?" "I do not! Does Zephyria mean something then?" Zephyria reached a suitable height and stoked her heart-flame into her wings to grant her more speed without tiring her body too fast. She continued, "When the old gods still roamed this realm they appointed dragons as protectors and granted us the strength to shield the world from the corruption of the void. It was they who granted the dragon's their names. Zephyr refers to wind and flight. My mother gave it to me when I was an unusually fast and enduring flier as a hatchling."

  Asher listened with rapt attention, with one off-hand statement his entire world view had shifted slightly. "Wait, Zephyria. Did you say the old gods favored the dragons specifically?" Zephyria rumbled in amusement. "Do the mortals not teach the old histories? Yes dragons were favored by the gods. Before the gods arrived dragons were mere wryms, long lived and oversized lizards. Unlike dragons, the wyrms of old were not ageless nor did they have heart-flames. The gods granted us immortality and hearts that burned hot enough to destroy the corruption where the gods couldn't. We were their guardians and warriors."

  Asher was slightly dizzy, the ancient histories he was taught were entirely different than this. "Wait! Wait. Zephyria!? Does this mean you know what happened to the old gods? Why they left us behind?" Zephyria spoke with a little less amusement and a little more confusion. "Do the mortals not know these things? You invoke their names and pray to them, but know not why?" Asher responded slightly strained, "Zeph, please! Do you know?" Zephyria continued cautiously now. "Of course I know. The old gods were what was attracting the corruption that was plaguing the world. In their love and care for the boundless creatures of our realm they left to fight the endless war against the corruption somewhere else. When I consume the heart-flames of the dead and send their souls off to the old gods I am praying that their strength is lent to me in life so that when I eventually die I may cross the endless realms and join the old gods in their war against the corruption. As all dragons do? It is why it is a grave dishonor to a dragon to not consume their hear-flame. To do so is not only to disrespect the dragon but to dishonor the old god's war against the corruption. These are stories that even the smallest hatchlings are taught. It is our purpose to stand guard against any corruption that may appear, and join the old gods when we die."

  Asher was stunned. Several minutes passed before Asher spoke again, "Zephyria. I do not know of all the cities out there, but I was well traveled in the northern human territories. None of them had any histories regarding the old gods. Millennia have passed since then, any records of that time have all rotten and faded." Zephyria huffed at that, "It is sad the mortals have forgotten the world's history. But I suppose it does not truly matter. The old gods promised they would never return so long as the corruption remains a threat. They would not subject us to that again." Asher contemplated this for a while. "If that's true then I suppose you are right. But what I wouldn't give to speak to the oldest dragons, someone that was there when the old gods left us. A first hand, er claw, account of the histories is invaluable." Zephyria responded softly with a hint of shame, "I do not know many dragons, but perhaps we can arrange that eventually. We will have to see."

  Hours passed as the pair discussed the old histories, scenery flying by. As the first night fell Asher grew tired. A day of nothing but revelation after revelation and filled with stress had him exhausted. Asher yawned an spoke, "Zeph, may I tie a rope to your neck and around my waist? Your clearly not going to stop flying for the night but I'm growing weary. I would like to secure myself so that I do not fall off in my sleep." Zephyria purred in amusement, "Go ahead, little one. Get your rest. I shall wake you if anything happens." Asher carefully dug out a rope and secured himself against her neck best he could. Yawning Asher spoke one more time, "Thank you, Zeph." It wasn't long before the rhythmic flapping of Zephyria's wings, and the warmth of her body lulled the man to sleep.

  Zephyria felt Asher wake sometime in the mid morning. She spoke with weariness in her voice "You're awake. Good. I've been flying in a straight line since you fell asleep, I have no idea where we are in relation to your goal. I trust you brought a map?" Asher loosened the tie around Zephyria's neck and yawned out "mmhyea I have a map. Can you tell me any landmarks you saw, rivers, mountains, any sort of land mark?" Asher scratched at the little bit of stubble he had grown as Zephyria rattled off a few landmarks. Asher checked his map and said, "I don't have anywhere specific in mind, but if we turn a little left and keep going that way we should hit a decently large neutral city within another day or two. Just land if you need to Zephyria, I wouldn't mind a chance to relieve myself properly at some point." Zephyria stoked her heart-flame and rumbled back, "I am a dragon! I will not falter or weaken. I said I would fly you to your goal without stopping and thus I will not stop unless you need me to." Asher quietly rolled his eyes at her grumpy stubbornness and responded, "Then land us the next time you see a river so I can shake the tension out of my legs and refresh myself before the rest of our flight." Zephyria just nodded. Asher mumbled to himself too quietly for Zephyria to hear, "Someone's getting grumpy. Might need to make her land for her own good." Zephyria just focused on flying towards where Asher directed her.

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

  Darkness fell over the pair as they flew towards the city Asher had marked. Asher was convinced they would get there by noon the next day and was starting to tie himself to Zephyria to sleep again when he saw a bright flash ahead of and below the pair. He stopped what he was doing and watched the spot when he saw two more flashes. "Zephyria, slow down for a minute. Do you see that?" Zephyria looked around confused until she too saw a flash of magic. "It looks like someone is casting magic, it is none of our concern." Asher spoke tensely, "Magic, in the middle of nowhere, in the dead of night? Whoever it is is getting attacked! At this hour its probably an ambush." Zephyria had been awake for three days now, and flying nearly nonstop so she spoke with ill-tempered fatigue. "So? Who cares. It's just a bunch of mortals doing mortal things. It doesn't concern us." Asher slapped at the back of her head in frustration, "So? So we help them! Its the right thing to do! I thought you said dragons were guardians of the world, are you just going to stand by as mortals get ambushed in the night?" Zephyria growled at him, low and deep. For a moment Asher thought he had truly misread the dragon and feared for his safety. Then she spoke in a throaty and annoyed growl, "I despise that you are right. Fine! Let us go play hero."

  Zephyria swooped down harshly towards the magic light show down below. Asher held on tight to her neck as they entered what Asher could only generously refer to as a controlled free fall. Zephyria flared hear heart flame and broke their momentum with a gust of wind magic preventing a sudden shock from the rapid direction change. She flew forward at a high speed above the sparse trees and dove towards the fight. She swelled her heart flame once more and landed hard at the edge of the fight. I despise playing hero. Fine, lets get this over with I have more flying to do.

  The battlefield the pair had approached stopped suddenly. On one side four wolf-kin fought against a dozen metallic metal looking giant beetles, a few of which were seemingly dead. Both sides paused and looked at the new arrival to the fight assessing if they needed to run for their lives at the sudden arrival of a very angry looking dragon.

  Zephyria was too tired and annoyed to bother with posturing or elegance so the moment she felt Asher drop off her back she let out a mighty roar and rushed the beetles with lightning crackling across her fangs and claws. She heard Asher calling out and saying something she assumed was directed towards the wolf men and thus didn't listen to a word of it. Before she reached the nearest giant beetle she fired a bolt of lightning towards one of the ones further away from her maw, then a moment later snapped her fangs into what appeared to be the head of another. As the bug went limp she swiped a claw out at one, then two approaching beetles. Each went down as easily as the first, her lightning coursing through their metal exoskeletons and frying them. That is assuming the blade like claws going through their heads didn't do the job. She felt magic being flung at the other beetles but simply continued her senseless rampage. It was only when the last beetle had fallen did the wild blood lust get replaced by the severe fatigue she had been feeling for a day already. She panted softly from sheer exhaustion, but tried as hard as she could to mask it. Dragon's are strong. Dragon's are resilient. I will not show weakness before mortals.

  Zephyria turned back towards Asher and saw the random mortals he wanted cowering slightly a short distance behind Asher. The moment she locked eyes with Asher, he started walking angrily towards her. The wolf-kin shuffled nervously, continuously taking small steps back and were clearly prepared to run for their lives. Zephyria found it pathetic. She lowered her head to Asher and started to speak, "There. The mortals are saved. Can we go n-"

  Asher slugged a closed fist into her in the nose. Hard. Zephyria blinked more in surprise then pain. The wolf men a ways away behind Asher got even further away.

  Asher had just punched her. A dragon. In the nose! She was so dumbstruck that she didn't even respond with anger. Asher however spoke angrily, "What in the void was that Zephyria! I spent half that battle convincing these fine warriors to not attack you, and then the other half helping them not hit you as you fought like a wild beast!" Asher gesticulated wildly as he ranted on, "You stupid fucking lizard! I don't know what possessed you to fight like such a fool, but you could have seriously gotten yourself hurt or into deep shit with the locals!"

  Zephyria blinked at him again. Still dumbstruck. He had punched her. And now he was shouting at her. He called her a stupid lizard. She blinked again. "Well, Zephyria?" Asher snapped.

  Zephyria snapped out of her surprised state with a wave of raw fury. She growled at him furiously with fang heavy snarl. "How dare a mortal speak to me like that! I am a dragon! You have no right to-" Asher shivered slightly in fear of the furious dragon in front of him but found a well of courage to stand his ground. He snapped back with a yell, "How dare I? How dare I? The entire point of this trip was for me to help you. I, am here to help you. But if you act like a fool and refuse to listen to anything I say, what is the point of me coming along! You called me clever, so listen to me you stubborn fucking lizard!"

  Zephyria was so tired. Three days awake, two days flying, and then a fight left her with so little inside of her. She knew the dragon thing to do was to stand her ground and refuse to admit fault. To stand firm in her greatness and refuse to acknowledged the words of mere short lived mortals. That was the proper thing to do. The dragon thing to do. The dragon way. But she was so tired, and worse she knew he was completely right. Zephyria hesitantly lowered her head further before murmuring softly and with great shame, "I'm… sorry little one." Zephyria very very gently placed her muzzle against a very surprised Asher's chest before speaking even more softly. "I have refused to rest appropriately in order to protect my pride. The fatigue has addled my mind." Zephyria hesitated for a moment. "I… struggle. I cannot control my temper as someone should be able to. It gets me into more trouble than I wish to admit. It is a personal issue I did not keep to myself properly. I risked your journey here."

  An incredulous Asher gently placed a hand upon her muzzle and rubbed her nose softly. He wasn't expecting Zephyria to just capitulate and then open up like that. He knew he was right, but this was a dragon he had just punched and then called stupid. "I- I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have hit you, and I'm not really being fair either. We're both tired from a long journey. We'll get some sleep and discuss all of this when we are both better rested, alright? We'll find a better way to handle this later, as a team." Zephyria nodded to him, ashamed at her behavior.

  It was then that the four wolf-kin approached, the tallest one approached and spoke cautiously. "All is well, then?" Zephyria pulled back sharply, she stood tall and tried to look as proud as she could manage. Asher gave her a tired look and then nodded to to the approaching man and responded, "Yes. Yes, all is well. I apologize for both of our behaviors, we've been flying for days now and neither of us have gotten appropriate rest. We are both deeply tired." The tallest wolf man stepped closer and clapped Asher on the back of his shoulder saying, "Stay with us! We've plenty of spare supplies to feed and care for you both. I'd be honored to share camp with the kind of man with the guts to punch and shout down a dragon!" The excitable big man turned to Zephyria and continued, "And you! Dragon! I'd be honored if we could pay you back for saving us, we would have died without your intervention."

  Zephyria looked at Asher for confirmation, when he gave her a small nod she responded. "We would be honored to share your camp for the night. Asher is right, I have not slept for days and need to sleep more than I thought." The tall man who was quickly showing himself to be excitable spoke on, "A dragon with humility and kindness in her heart! Come! Come!" The other three wolf people looked distinctly far more uncomfortable with a blood thirsty dragon joining them for the night. Zephyria cut him off before he could get too far, "Wait, warrior. I must honor the dead before I can join you." Asher nodded along, expecting this. The big man responded, "I am Arbutus and the leader of this group, dragon. How will you honor these Shimmer Beetles? We hold honor tightly and will assist you if we can."

  Zephyria gestured at the man to follow and spoke "I am Zephyria, Arbutus. We must consume their heart-flames and send them off to the old gods." He looked confused so Asher stepped in to explain, "We need to help her carve out their hearts, or at least identify them for her, and then she'll say a prayer before eating them." The big man looked a little queasy. "I will be unable to help then. Beetles are odd, I do not know what their hearts look like. Shimmer beetles also taste like rotting dung, do not ask me how I know. Our warlock is better studied in the shapes of things, he will have a better idea on how to find their hearts." He turned and shouted back towards the group that were keeping their distance from the dragon. "Conall! Quit hiding from the dragoness and get over here and help her, she needs Shimmer Beetle hearts!" He marched back towards the rest of the group giving them directions to remake their partially ruined camp.

  Zephyria studied the wolf man, Conall, as he approached. So this is a warlock? He's not much to look at, but if he is the reason Asher wished to travel out here then he will be useful. The wolf man spoke up, a surprisingly deep voice echoing from his chest. "You need Shimmer Beetle hearts? Their hearts are long and tubular traveling across the center and top of their body. They run nearly the entire length of the beetle. Is that all?" Zephyria lowered her head towards the man and spoke more softly, "We have traveled to these lands so that Asher may speak with warlocks for his own reasons. Please talk to him when you get the chance." The man looked surprised at the request, and nodded. "I will, ma'am. Do you need to to help gather the hearts or may I go back and help with the camp." Zephyria gave him a toothy grin that caused him to take a step back. "If their hearts are that large and easy to find then it will be easy to simply bite them out. You can go." The nervous wolf man interjected, "I do not mean to be presumptuous, but Shimmer Beetles have notoriously awful innards. I really do not recommend eating them." Zephyria padded off towards the beetles without another word, leaving Asher to follow the warlock back to the camp. Having been warned twice now at their flavor she was growing nervous, but when she cracked the shell of one and bit into what she identified as its heart she found it, unpleasant but not unbearable. Its not too unlike eating deer intestines, with some of Asher's little leaves it may even be tolerable. She set to work on the remaining beetles and with each one she grew to like them a little more, she even ate more of them simply because she was was hungry and enjoying it. With each one she said a prayer to send them off to the old gods.

  Once she was done she rubbed her face on some plants and grass to remove any excess beetle blood and padded back over to the camp where Asher and the the four wolf-kin waited for her. They had a bonfire going and were circled around it getting ready to go back to sleep. Arbutus, the leader, spoke up at her approach. "We spoke with Asher, we have set a watch that doesn't include either of you so that you may rest after your hard flight." Arbutus guested to the late night sky, "It is already late, so let us sleep for now and tomorrow we will have much to discuss. I wish to extend our sincerest gratitude for your intervention."

  Zephyria nodded at the man silently then let out a large incredibly toothy yawn, stretched, laid down on her side, and rested her weary eyes. Before she entirely fell asleep she felt Asher lay against her belly. As he got close he tugged on her wing so she gently extended it for him. As she let sleep take her she took comfort in a full belly, a warm fire, the safety of newfound allies, and her mortal against her chest.