“I just...I don’t know what to do anymore. Our family and clan is everything to us. What do I do without it?” Burying his head in hands, Urk felt the weary weight of defeat. He barely registered the feeling of a hand on his shoulder.

“You find a new family, they’d want you to be happy right? So live for them.” Talking was a delicate art, and Jones had plenty of experience with humans. While the words held a cruelty to them, they also contained a clear and concise solution to one searching for something to hold onto.

“I don’t know,” the Kobold responded, an answer that spoke of his admittance to Jones’s words. Still raw, the pain would take time to fade. But now an answer would be open when Urk was ready to move on.

“I mean, you still have your dragon, right? I saw him flying around just last night.” The words had an unexpected reaction. Jones leaned back with a blink as the eyes of Urk brightened and looked up at him.

“Y-You’re right! Maybe he can bring them back! I have to find him! Thank you, Jones!” Moving forward, Urk brought him into a hug and made for the exit. It took a solid few seconds for Jones to catch up. But by then, it was too late.

“Oh jeez…” Moving to stand, Jones wondered if he should go after Dirk, staring at the door as time ticked slowly by, each second leading to more of a chance that he’d never catch up. Turning, he snatched his keys and sped out the door. It clicked closed behind him as he leapt onto his bike. A small blip appeared on the radar, and he sped on after it.

Leaping and dashing through the crowd, Urk followed the scent he’d known all his life, seeking out the one who held his hope. A fresher scent; he skidded to a stop and turned to follow. Swearing echoed from the air behind him but he cared not. The scent grew stronger and stronger, and he was soon able to see it. The magical radiance radiated out of a bakery before him.

“Mylord!” The door slammed open to not two, but three people. The first was a woman in her 20’s sitting on the counter, the second being the transformed dragon casually sitting beside her. Finally, in the kitchen was a crocodilian man quietly preparing some batter. They all turned toward the Kobold standing in the door, black as night.

Dragon eyes met Kobold, and the two stared at each other with wide-eyed shock, as if they had instead looked upon an alien. Slowly, a new figure moved to park, stepped in behind the Kobold, and glanced inside. Each one was frozen in the standoff as neither moved nor spoke.

“Oh, hello officers. Care for a cupcake?” Careful as an orchid, Enis moved to step over and offer them both a snack. Jones took it with a smile and managed to usher Urk inside. The door closed shut, the gentle jingle of the bell sounding out like a magic spell to break the silence.

“Mylord...the others…” Reaching out with a hesitant claw, Urk lowered it as he saw the expression on Mylo’s face. A soft frown formed as he looked away. Glancing between them, Enis moved to speak up but stopped when Jones grabbed her shoulder. With his quiet shake, she watched them.

“I know. I thought you were with them.” The silence hung heavy after Mylo’s words. Each one digested them as he continued to only frown at the nearby wall. A hopeful smile fell on Urk’s expression as he walked forward and placed a hand on Mylo’s lap.

“Then...Then you can bring them back, right? Like that time stopped breathing?” A silent plea, a cry for the desperate answer, grasping for his warm and calm smile, for the comforting embrace that told him things would be ok. Instead, all Urk got was the same soft frown as Mylo looked directly at him.

“I can’t.” The one phrase a dragon had never spoken before. A single law that even they could not break. Gifting life was easy, even a human could grow a plant from a seed. But to draw someone from the cycle was an art only the Darkseekers had mastered. And it had cost them everything.

As Urk’s head lowered, Mylo was reminded of the first time he’d tried to bring someone back. A creation by the name of >. It hadn’t been anything special. Just a small bipedal creature with 15 eyes and a mouth. The first creature to be given a soul, a >. The first one to lose it. It’d been his fault, his own inexperience. Everything and everyone had tried everything to keep it alive. But they’d all failed. Life could be given, not held. Not by dragons.

Sliding off the countertop, Mylo moved to bring Urk into a hug. Easily lifting him up into his arms as the small figure began to wail and whimper and clutch him tightly. While Urk felt fresh pain, Mylo was only numb. In his arms, rested the sole survivor of his Kobolds: a crybaby who had decided to come to the city.

Eyes closing, Mylo held the figure close and mumbled softly in the runic language—words of reassurance, words of apology, words of sadness. Word after word without meaning or reason. There were other things on Mylo’s mind. Dark thoughts clouded his expression, and the frown deepened as a dark mist began to curl off his body.

The humans all took a step back, and the crocodilian Munst glanced over toward the dragon as the entire bakery darkened for a moment. Each of them could feel the boiling power as he spoke one sentence. A single sentence that carried the weight of the world on its whims.

“” The oath was spoken with such conviction that the very shadows bent to his will. Then it all faded away, revealing that Urk had fallen asleep in Mylo’s arms, tears still staining his eyes. Pausing for a moment, the serious look on Mylo’s face faded into a sheepish smile.

“Aha-Sorry about that Enis, human. Didn’t mean to startle you. I was just...so relieved to see Urk.” Turning toward the door, Mylo introduced himself to a stunned Jones. Both were a little slow to respond as they shook off their own instinctive fear. Gator merely returned to his work quietly.