We walked southeast towards a trading hub. No, I walked southeast; Doran rode, that lucky shit. Whitebite – the drake’s name courtesy Doran – took quite a liking to him. The beast was okay with me, but it really liked Doran. Let’s just say I tried to climb up on Whitebite and it didn’t go so well.

We stared at the last town we’d encounter before going to Death Mountain Pass. It laid beside a large lazuline lake sparkling with beauty from the radiance above. The hills and plains surrounding the town was a gorgeous scene that was nothing less than a fantasy movie. It dazzled me instantly.

Doran tugged on his faded carmine bandana and pulled the bag of materials, loot, resources and other goods off of Whitebite. “You two behave yourselves, okay?” He threw the bag over his shoulder. “Especially you, Andre. Don’t fucking eat anyone.”

I grunted and rolled my eyes. “Yes, Mother, I understand.”

So, Whitebite and I waited, and waited. After a whopping ten minutes or so, a black tower of smoke spiralled into the clean air and beautiful azure skies. Then I heard a soft explosion. Hmm? I chalked it up to some failed experiment. But as time went by, the cries of battle somehow made it through the serene atmosphere and upset my relaxation. Hmm… It can’t be, right? I laughed nervously. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

The moment I said that, a blaring horn sounded through the environs. Ah, boy, that’s not good. I stood up and dusted my pants off. “Stay. Stay.” I told Whitebite and slowly backed away. I turned around and began sprinting towards the town from the mound where I admired the scenery.

Once I got close, it was a simple matter of jumping over the walls; a feat easy for a post-chimera Deidre. The area I landed in was a tad crowded. I pushed past people to get to the scene and a shadow protected me from the soothing sunlight for but a split second. My eyes shot upwards and I’d find Doran literally jumping from one roof to the next. I fucking knew it!

Three people were hot on his tail, one of which was an armoured knight. Shadowbind formed the amethystine tendrils around the knight and he fell onto the crowds below. Lightning lit the entire place up like there was a second sun then disappeared as fast as it came; Doran wasn’t very easy to kill now that he knew Electrostike. Although, a marked healer who made it past a certain age was never easy to kill. Before Consuming the chimera, Doran would’ve been an impossible target for me, especially if I didn’t have Consume.

I cast Conceal on myself then swerved through the people spectating the event. A weather-beaten scaffolding was used as a vault for me to angle myself and leap onto the orange and scarlet rooftops of the ecru houses. That colour theme repeated itself throughout the town as I gave chase to Doran’s pursuers.

Shadowbind caught another one and I was about to cast it again but out of nowhere Whitebite leaped, grabbed Doran with his jaws, then hopped from roof to roof to go out of the town. Fucking hell! I’ve seen it all now.

I followed along carefully and collided with a warrior in the air. The angered man clumsily landed after I messed up his jump. “Watch it, pops!” He warned me, enhanced himself with another skill and tried to follow Whitebite which was totally impossible. He flung his head around at me after he realised that he could not keep up with the snow-scaled reptile, lividity rupturing through the vein in his forehead. If he put any more force behind that, he might’ve broken his own neck.

“S-sorry! Honest mistake,” I said, and tried to get the hell out of there as well. I was about to walk away when a woman’s voice barrelled into me.

“You!” she yelled out like she ate a megaphone for breakfast. “Halt, on behalf of the Knight Order of Skaljorn! Drop your weapon and face me!”

Oh shit, oh shit! Fuck! Alright Deidre, I slowly set my staff down, just play it cool. “Is something the matter, My Lady?”

She stopped near me, and about seven other knights who were following her came up onto the roof as well. Her muscular stature and face as scarred as an alpha lion in his last years showed her experience was no joke. She looked to be in her late thirties or early forties, but the fire and determination in her eyes was like a newbie who saw his career through rose-tinted glasses. Motivation and experience always made a deadly combination.

The knight inspected me, giving particular attention to my face. She searched my person for weapons, and constantly glanced at Shadowsiphon on the ground. She circled me slowly and rubbed me the wrong way without even touching me. Her voice’s thrum lowered as her lips parted close to my ears. “You defended an abomination?” She was so close to my ears that I could hear the saliva slosh a little when she licked her lips and inhaled deeply.

Is she, sniffing me? I need an adult. I felt like she was more dangerous sexually than she was with a sword.

She stood directly in front of me and laid combative eyes on me without so much as a flinch of reluctance. Her frisk was deliberate, personal; her calloused hands spent years trailing down my chest and spent an eternity grabbing my boy. “You wouldn’t have any, hidden weapons down here, would you?”

Did she or did she not recognise I was the fugitive? I knew my hair and beard grew out, but it wouldn’t stop someone with a keen eye from identifying me. Perhaps it was just a bit of sexual harassment. It was a small price to pay in order to keep my hands clean of unnecessary blood; all I had to do was endure her abuse of power for a couple minutes. Easy, right?

Her abhorrent tongue licked my neck like ice-cream and she let out a soft, sensual moan for my ears only. She turned to her subordinates suddenly. “Detain him!”