It took us only a minute to drag a dozen wagoneers and guards into a pile in front of one of the wagons, but it felt like forever. When we were finally hiding on top of the wagon, I had a flask of blood in one hand and my new ax in another and was trying to listen for the Riocin. It was still quiet, but as they could fly, that meant little. I took a quick reassuring look behind. Casiron stood there, ready for me to jump on and get us the hell out of dodge. Libidi and Dibidi lay on his neck, both barely conscious.

"Here they come," Linery whispered.

I looked around but saw nothing, then noticed she was looking up. I followed her gaze and cursed as the balls of gas came screaming down across the wall.

If they could fly, what use was that bloody wall? I thought as I clenched my two free hands.

Now came the gambling part. Linery said the Riocin young would locate the densest group and go there, and we just created that right below us. The thing was, I didn't trust her. For all I knew, she was fine with everyone getting slaughtered before those things finally made their way to our pile of bait. The problem was, there weren't any other options besides fleeing, which was the last resort.

I kept my gaze on the Riocin. They were heading towards a group of guards that lay further away when one of them curved away and towards us. A moment later, others followed him. Then the whole group rushed towards the stack of unmoving bodies.

Thank Rathica, I thought.

"Get ready," Linery said as she unstoppered her bottle.

I copied her move, noting the sickly sweet scent that came out. I felt bad about what I was about to do because I knew the chances of us hitting the guards were high. Then again, if we didn't do this, all of the others would likely perish.

Forty feet, twenty, ten.

Right before the Riocin reached the bodies, I steeled myself and hurled my flask toward them. It spun around, spraying the blood everywhere, before shattering onto the ground. Drops of blood splashed around. Two drops hit a Riocin, and a short buzz came before it turned red and dropped to the ground, immediately scattering like a bag of rice grains.

Yes!

My joy was short-lived, though. Although many of the Riocin were hit, almost as many got through my attack unscathed. They reached the guards, barreling into them, then disappeared, leaving behind ragged holes.

"Shit," I hissed, turning to Linery. Why hadn't she thrown her bottle yet? I had barely finished my thought when I saw her arm move forward. She threw the bottle at the pile of bodies like a child tossing a toy away, clumsy.

"No, dammit," I shouted.

But it was too late. The bottle struck a guard in the chest and harmlessly bounced away. Barely any blood sprayed out. Before I knew what I was doing, I jumped forward, hitting the ground beside the bottle and snatching it up. Only a small amount lay on the ground where it had dropped.

What am I doing, I shouted at myself as I raised the bottle.

Almost two-thirds of the blood remained. Gas balls were exiting the guards. Without waiting, I poured blood into my hands. A series of pings came from my status, and my hands seemed to freeze and burn at the same time. I ignored the sensation, and I threw the blood at the Riocin, striking those in the lead. Like giant red hail, they struck the ground before me, and I jumped back, pouring more blood in my hands. Besides the hand holding the bottle, I could barely feel the others, but they still responded to my wishes, and I threw more hands of blood forward. A fuzzy haze was slowly covering everything. I stopped, breathing raggedly and looking around for more of the Riocin. It was quiet, but the bodies on the ground had started wiggling and moving.

"Kill them before they finish," Linery screamed. "They are turning into demons!"

I cursed, looking at the holes in the bodies. What if there were more of those stupid gas-balls there? I had a flash of enlightenment and flipped my ax around to smear the blood still on my hands across the blade. Then I grabbed it in the only hand that had any feeling left and jumped towards the pile.

The nearest guard twitched upright, his upper body in a ninety-degree angle like a jack in a box. His eyes were spread wide open and glowing red, while his face turned pale. Any hesitation, I might still have vanished. Small spikes grew from the guard's deforming head as my gleaming black ax blade struck straight between his eyes, splitting his entire head open. Blood mixed with black ooze splattered across my chest. I kicked the body back against the pile, of which a few more had started twitching, arms stretched out, some with nails as long as blades. In wild abandon, I began hacking into the bodies, aiming for necks and heads.

Blood sprayed everywhere, and halfway through, the bodies not yet chopped apart had become unrecognizable. Not that I noticed. A thick red haze covered my entire vision, and my lips were drawn back in a wicked grin. Somewhere deep inside, I realized I was screaming and laughing, but there wasn't a conscious part of me remaining that seemed able to stop it. Images played through my head of frenzies of demonic entities slaughtering masses of humanoid beings.

Est, stop it!

Casiron's voice, accompanied by a thick worry that tried to push through the fog, snapped me out of the ravenous fury that had taken hold of me. I stood before a display of utter carnage. Not even the individual body parts could be made out from the pile of chopped mincemeat before me. Blood dripped and oozed from everything, and I suddenly realized I tasted something salty in my mouth. My stomach roiled, and whatever was in my stomach spilled out in big waves.

When it finally stopped, I turned, not able to look at what I had done. Linery stood on the top of the roof, staring down at me with a frozen look of shock. A quick look around showed that none of the others were moving. Only Casiron had moved around the wagon and was looking at me from between them.

We need to leave now, he said.

I was confused as to the necessity for haste and looked around. None of the others were awake. None had seen-

Galir and some others woke up a few moments ago. They are hiding between the bodies, pretending to be unconscious.

I took a deep breath, then looked at Linery as my hands clenched tight around my ax handle. She was gazing at my hands in barely contained fear while licking her lips.

"I…" I wanted to ask her what had happened, but I knew what. The demon blood had made me go crazy. But would the others believe? This was the second time I had gone insane, almost harming others.

"Tell them about the demon blood," I said as I pointed across my shoulder at the mincemeat. "They were going to turn into demons."

"Like you?" Linery asked. Her voice shook, and when I looked at her, she averted her eyes.

"Fuck," I grunted, turning around to take a look at the unmoving shape of Galir. "Galir, I know you are awake. To kill those gas things, I had to touch the demon blood. That's why this happened."

Galir didn't respond, but I saw his body shiver for a moment.

Est, they might understand later, but not right now. You didn't see yourself… your eyes… they were glowing!

I took a deep, shuddering breath, then turned and moved towards Casiron. As I did, it struck me how I didn't really think of him as a Vengeful Mount anymore. Why that occurred to me now was beyond me, and it was totally unimportant. Casiron lowered himself for me to climb on, and I noticed that Dibidi and Libidi were staring at me. Their eyes were slightly unfocused, but that was all.

"You two wanna stay?" I snapped, angered by the look in their eyes.

"No," they said in unison and without a second’s hesitation.

"Good," I said, somehow happy that they weren't too afraid to come along.

"Get us out of here," I muttered to Casiron as I climbed up and sat behind the two Isirow.

"You reek," one of them said.

That was Dibidi, Casiron said.

I smiled as I shook my head at the absurdity of the situation.

"I know, Dibidi," I said. "Let's go and find a place where I can wash up."

"Where are we going?" Libidi asked as Casiron quickly moved away from the caravan. I took a quick look at the wagon that I had slept in for the last half score nights and realized I was going to miss it. Perhaps I should create a wagon for myself, one that Casiron could pull around.

I am not a beast of burden!

I laughed. I know, but it would be easier to lug stuff around, like wood, food, and clothes.

Casiron didn't respond as he sped up through what remained of the quickly dissipating ring of fog that Linery had made. I shoved my ax handle between the bags in front of me, noting that it was already starting to rip in certain places. Sharp pieces of wood were poking through.

I wonder if she is still going to go to Ulderion, I thought to myself as I focused on the road ahead.

Where do we go? Casiron asked, mirroring Libidi.

Just keep following the road, and warn me if you see any people ahead, I said back, looking ahead. But go around Lertian.

A single look at the town made me shudder as I tried to imagine what the Riocin had done to the corpses. I'd seen enough carnage for one day.

The rest of the morning went by in a blur of movement. Casiron didn't need any rest or resummoning, and none of us felt like stopping. Besides, I wanted to talk to Rathica. So many things had happened, and I felt like I needed to talk with someone who might be able to answer the myriad of questions. That was without taking into account the message I had to give her from Wyerg.

Just after noon, Casiron slowed from his quick trot to a walk. I smell water, he said.

The word made me itch and get thirsty at the same time as I pictured a stream of cold water glistening in the light. I looked up and around, scratching my dirty neck and feeling the dried blood flake off.

The sun was high in the sky, and the last bit of summer heat was causing me to sweat. Mixed with the blood, I stank so much I couldn't understand how Casiron could even smell anything else.

I wiggled around a bit, trying to forget the soreness in my legs and behind.

Where is it?

Casiron turned to the forest's edge, and I groaned.

It is inside the forest.

Looking around the area, I wished there was a spot with water not in the forest. But all I saw was the rolling hills to the right and the long muddy road that wound forward towards what I hoped wasn't the direction of a full-out war between two nations.

A quick look at Dibidi and Libidi showed they were looking around with sharp, bright eyes. The after-effects of the Riocin screams had completely vanished.

"There is water in the forest, close by," I said. "I want to-"

"Yes, wash. Please!" Libidi said in an uncharacteristic moment of emotion.

I grinned when I saw Dibidi was bobbing his head up and down.

"Good. You two will have to make sure nothing dangerous jumps us!"

They just looked at me coldly, and I shrugged as I patted the muscled and scaled flank below me. "Show us where that water is."

Casiron turned from the path, moving towards the dark and dank tree line to our left. As he moved closer, I grabbed my ax, holding it in my two left hands while looking at the thorncasters on my arms. All four were ragged and worn but should have a few good attacks left in them.

It was dark below the trees, and it took a moment for my eyes to make out more than just vague shapes. Casiron didn't seem to have this problem, as he continued forward at the same pace without a hitch. A few feet in, I saw a bright patch between the trees, and I heard the sound of water. Casiron was moving straight towards it.

As suddenly as the shadow had covered us, the sun was back. We moved out into an open area, the soft rustling of leaves and gentle trickling of water momentarily making me forget we were in the Howling Forest. A fifty foot wide, irregularly shaped pond sat before us, fed by a small stream. The water was almost crystal clear, and I could see the bottom, partially covered in dark rocks and boulders. The trees around us were a type I'd not seen before, with large and dark green leaves that glistened slightly.

Nobody spoke as we all silently gazed at it for a moment before I shook myself.

"So… anybody else thinks this is a bit too beautiful to be true?" I whispered.

Libidi and Dibidi didn't respond, but their eyes didn't stay still for a moment as they kept looking around.

Casiron? I asked the Dracoserp.

There is something hiding in the water, the Dracoserp said.

"Of course there is," I thought with a sigh. Can you see what?

No, but I get the feeling it is afraid of me, Casiron said.

I grinned at how smug he sounded. Do you want to go in and chase it out then? I said, more as a joke than a serious idea.

Yes, Casiron replied, sounding very sure of himself.

It took me a moment to decide if that was a good idea, but Casiron said he felt that the thing was afraid of him, and I really wanted to take a swim and clean myself.

"Guys, get off," I said as I turned to the Isirow.

Casiron lowered himself, and the two nodded and slid off. I removed the knots from the pack in front of me and handed the cumbersome thing to one of them. The Isirow strained under the weight of the bag that was almost as big as his chest but managed to put it on the ground. A few moments later, the second, bigger bag lay on the ground beside the first, and I was beside them, ax in hand.

Are you sure about this? I asked Casiron. Now I was standing on the ground before the pond, looking around the brooding forest around us. I was getting a bad feeling about this plan.

The dragon didn't respond but stretched itself before moving towards the water's edge and stepping into the pond. As it did, I suddenly wondered if the wooden carving would float. Two steps in, a long dark shape stretched up from the center of the pond.

"Get ready," I said, gripping my ax tighter and cursing myself for my moment of hubris.

Dibidi and Libidi spread out slightly, one on each side of me with their daggers drawn.

"Nameless beast, get out of the water!" A deep, rumbling voice said in a dangerous tone. The shadow stopped halfway up.

It took me two seconds to realize it wasn't the monster in the depths, but Casiron!

The Dracoserp Vengeful Mount growled, a multilayered sound as if a dozen heavy, rough boulders were sliding across each other. It caused my hair to stand on end while I involuntarily took a step back. The threat emanating from Casiron was massive, and I wasn't the only one to sense it.

Something shot from the pond's bottom to the back, with multiple long shadows dragging behind it. A moment later, a fountain of water erupted as it shot out of the water. Before it could disappear along the small stream and into the dark woods beyond, I recognized what it was. It was another toad, green, black with long tentacles on its back but much larger than the first.

Casiron rushed forward and around the pond, and I could feel his intent. Hunt and kill.

Stop, I commanded, and the Dracoserp froze in his tracks. For a moment, I felt anger and confusion and the desire to ignore my orders, then they faded, and Casiron lowered himself to the ground.

It's been a while since something ran from me, he said. I still felt some lingering annoyance at my command, but he didn't say anything about it.

Is the pond clear now? I asked as I stared at the crystal clear, perfectly still water.

Casiron didn't answer but got up and walked into the pond until he was floating in the middle.

I took one more look around the dark forest, but it seemed quiet enough, and the longer I saw Casiron swim around, the more my skin began to itch. I turned to the Isirow and saw them looking around the forest with sharp eyes. They seemed relaxed, but they still had their daggers in hand.

"Alright. I'm going to clean myself. You two make sure nothing sneaks up on us."

As I turned to the pack, both looked at me with glittering eyes that made me wholly uncomfortable.

Perhaps I should have made shorts.