131 - Reason

Vittoria was about to catch the hybrid.

She could feel it in her bones. She had tracked it during her entire fight with the horde, most of whom were dead already.

The hybrid would have needed a high vantage point to see the battle, which meant that he would be in one of the high trees with uninterrupted vision. She took note of any proof of life, a random diversion in the breeze, a chortle, as well as the shifting sphere of influence that followed her.

She'd used all that to triangulate his position, and once she was done with the last of the immediate attacks, she charged towards him.

She perked up her ears to every rustle of the grass, every breath, every hurried footstep. He couldn’t be too far now.

Then something grabbed her, causing her to stumble, and she looked down. A disembodied hand, probably one from a creature she’d already torn apart, still moving by some reflex.

She smashed it with her boot and heard a keening cry before it went limp. Then she kept racing.

At one juncture, she leaped off the bark onto the branch of an adjacent tree, hopping ahead, trailing the invisible being pushing through the thick foliage now.

On her third hop, something in the trees darted at her. She caught it and smashed its head against the bark without taking her eyes off her mark. He was using an invisibility device, moving so quickly that she knew that his anatomy was far from human.

It didn't matter. She was faster than him.

She was closing the gap between them rapidly. This was almost exciting, almost like old times, when she used to go hunting with her friends. Friends that were long dead, but this wasn't the time to think about it.

This was the time to savor the exhilaration of catching her prey.

She jumped from branch to branch, weaving around him to cut off his escape route. The wind blew her hair back, and she advanced like a storm with no end. There was some thought in her head that she was possibly being led into a trap. He was not doing enough to ensure that his movement was concealed, and if she were a hybrid, a trap would be her end goal too.

After all, she could no longer see around the forest to know if more help had arrived, or if they were creating another ritual to capture her within it.

The easiest way to know for sure, though, would be to cut him off now.

With one giant leap, she dropped in front of him, and he fell back before scrambling to his feet.

Vittoria grabbed him by what turned out to be his shoulder, searched for the invisibility device at his waist, and tore it off.

Then she lifted him in the air and yanked his hood down.

He had a mask on. A gold and black Joker mask, with an exaggerated smile, a curled moustache, and eyes wide in a crazed, wrinkled frenzy.

“Ha,” Vittoria said. “Very funny.”

“I’m glad you think so." He sounded breathless but still calm enough that she was sure her suspicion was correct. He had only been bait. There were more creatures on this Island, who were likely casting another ritual, and while she interrogated this clown, they would be finishing it up.

The slight glint of a blade hit the corner of her eye, and Vittoria caught his wrist before he could stab her in the neck. She broke it, without preamble, and he cursed through gritted teeth.

She also diverted his follow-up kick, and he laughed.

"Wow," he said. "Even without magic, you were able to do all that...that quickly. The rumors about you have certainly not been exaggerated."

“You know what I think?” she said. “I think you’re a distraction. Nio, I’m assuming?”

He didn't answer to the name, but he didn't deny it either.

“You’re going to tell me everything you know about the ones who set this plan up," she said. "And I'll make your death as painless as possible. If not, things can get very complicated."

"Ah, but you know a true businessman like myself deals in confidentiality."

So he was a middleman.

"Who are you working with?"

“I’m not going to tell you any such thing.”

“Of course, you're not. Doesn't mean I won't find out anyway.” Vittoria thought about how exactly she would interrogate a hybrid. It was too dangerous to take him to her home. Most of her traps were magical in nature, and not only could he disable all the magic there, setting her prisoners free, he could also lead enemies to her, endangering Inara and Arielle as well.

Not to mention, using soul magic on him would be complicated at the very least, and virtually impossible at the worst.

That was the thing with hybrids. It was always easier to kill them than it was to leave them alive.

But his eyes gleamed with intelligence, his mouth grim with secrets. She would be able to get far more out of him than she could get from the demons. This entire investigation could be over in a night.

She was still contemplating what to do when suddenly a large shadow was cast over them, shielding the light of the moon.

Vittoria and the hybrid both looked up. Jaws dropped in tandem.

A great, red dragon had risen into the air. The system could not read its level, which meant that it had to be at least 60,000.

Her heart began to race even faster.

In the adrenaline rush of the chase, with her complete focus on catching the hybrid, she hadn’t caught the dragon’s escape until she saw the shifting shadow on the horizon, the heavy flap of the wings, sending strong currents through the air.

It wasn’t just seeing the dragon alive that stunned her. It was just how alive it seemed.

It hadn’t been that long since it was half dead on the ground. Only about fifteen to thirty minutes had passed, and even if the creature had been healed right after Vittoria broke the ritual, it should not have recovered that much strength that quickly.

Truthfully, Vittoria hadn’t anticipated Arielle’s potion working. She had thought it would fail, and the hard part would be convincing Arielle to abandon the dragon once the time was up so Vittoria could kill it. She had even hoped that the dragon would simply die a natural and uncomplicated death so she didn't have to have that conversation. She had never been good at talking to people about the necessity of death, and she knew it would be an even harder conversation with a girl who was opposed to killing mosquitoes.

But now, the dragon had recovered its strength in a shorter time than she had anticipated.

And now they might have an agitated dragon on the loose.

“Shit,” Vittoria cursed. Her only consolation was that Nio’s entire body had gone stiff, and he was staring up at the dragon with abject fear. She was guessing whatever this was just ruined his plans.

“H..how?” he sounded stunned. "How did it...?"

Vittoria almost smirked. Arielle Blacksoil, that's how, she wanted to reply, but this wasn't the time to take pride in her young protege.

This was a crisis of epic proportions.

She had wanted to face the dragon when it was still weak, and decide what they had to do then. But there was almost no hope of defeating it now, at least not without her magic.

Especially since it seemed to be sweeping down toward her.

“Give me back my magic,” she told Nio, shaking him to get his eyes back on her. “Now.”

Good thing he wasn't an idiot.

She felt her cores expand again, and she readied herself as the beast stopped and hovered in the air.

It did not attack as she expected it to.

Instead, it spoke directly into her mind, an ability she knew dragons had but rarely utilized when it came to humans. “Step aside.”

It didn’t sound angry or agitated. If anything, it sounded perfectly calm and rational.

"I am going to kill that other human and do not wish for you to get caught in the crosshairs.”

Vittoria’s brain was still slow to make sense of the situation, although she was adjusting quickly. She had feared that when the dragon recovered its strength, it would still be driven mad by the agitation and would then wage war on everything around it.

However, this dragon did not look mad. It barely sounded angry. It seemed perfectly analytical in its decision to kill the hybrid.

That was good. That meant she could probably reason with it.

Vittoria wanted the hybrid dead too, but more than that, she wanted to catch the ones behind this.

She wanted to follow the trail that led to the top, so she could purge the head and end this situation once and for all.

“Wait,” Vittoria told the dragon, speaking in dragon tongue. "First let me–”

“Step aside," the dragon said for the second time. “You bear the scent of someone I owe a favor to. I promised not to hurt her or hers. However, I will not let anyone or anything stand in the way of my revenge. So if you remain there, you forfeit your life.”

"Yes, I understand. I'm not stopping you from killing him, but first we must find out who sent him."

“I can do that myself. I will scry its mind as I burn it with flame.”

“We can do it together.”

“No. I do not trust your kind. Step. Aside.”

Vittoria glanced behind her at the hybrid who clearly had no idea what was going on or what they were talking about.

And then a storm of flames hit them. Vittoria immediately blocked it with her shield, but it wrapped around them, burning through her protection, the intensity overwhelming.

Vittoria shot away with the hybrid, racing towards the sea.

The dragon was in pursuit, breathing flames at them both that Vittoria avoided by teleporting them to the other side of the island. She could teleport them further away, but she refused to leave Ari behind even for a second.

Instead, she thought about creating a portal for the dragon to go back to its world. Except creating portals to other realms wasn't her forte.

However, maybe she could...

The dragon was suddenly right in front of her, curling around her, moving through two large circles created in the air.

The intensity of the next flame attack shattered her shield, and she dropped to the ground and erected another one. She built this one stronger, feeding it with her life force so that it wouldn't break unless she did. She laced it with light and void that swallowed the flame.

However, no flame was as foul as that of an angry dragon.

It occurred to her then, the irony, and perhaps stupidity, of what she was doing. Protecting the villain from its victim. Truthfully, she might allow the dragon to kill the hybrid if the dragon agreed to share the information it received from scrying its brain. She assumed that it would use that to track down the others involved and give them the same fate, but convincing the dragon to trust her enough with the information, after everything humans had done to it, seemed like a herculean task. If she refused to share and simply took her revenge, so much would be lost in the process, allowing those the dragon didn’t see but who were nevertheless indirectly involved in her harm to slip through the cracks.

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Not to mention, it wouldn’t be alright to allow a dragon to roam around conducting human executions, as justified as that would be. Innocent people might get hurt just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She needed to stop the creature before her strength and concentration began to flag. Mostly, she needed to talk to her to earn her trust. The dragon wasn’t agitated, but it was angry and rightfully so. It had every right to seek its revenge, but Vittoria selfishly did not want to lose her quarry after a long, tedious investigation.

Dragons were not rabid animals. They could be reasoned with, once they found her worthy of being acknowledged.

"Stay here," she said to the hybrid as she shot up, leaving him and her shield behind.

She created another one to protect herself, holding her hands out, and began to cast the spell. [Living Vine] was an archmage-tier spell. It would turn this entire forest into an endless trap, with vines and branches that one could not escape from. The only problem was that doing it so quickly, and without her typical anchor spells, required her utmost concentration. It also used up some of her life force and caused any reciprocal damage to be felt by her.

Nevertheless, it was necessary right now. It was the only spell that the dragon could not break easily.

Hundreds of vines burst from the ground and whipped toward the dragon. It caught its legs, its wings, wrapping around its snout. The dragon struggled and tugged, but the vines did not break. Ari filled them with more life too, to strengthen them, though not to the point of pain.

She didn’t plan on hurting or making the dragon even angrier, just keeping it still enough for her to talk with it.

The dragon roared and snorted fire through the vines, causing agony to spike through Vittoria's head.

Vittoria swore and erected another shield to protect herself from the storm of fire, stitching it with the same protection she had given the hybrid.

"Vittoria!"

Ari's voice didn't break her concentration, but the dragon did choose that moment to fully surround her, blocking out the sky until she was the center of a ball of fire.

Then it increased in intensity once more.

The mythical blue flame not only scorched the shield, but it also transported the pain to Vittoria, burning her hands raw.

Rather than retreat, Vittoria bore it and pushed more of her life force into the flame, her concentration wilting faster than her body as the agony overcame her.

She saw the dragon's eyes through the fire, and then she saw it turn to Arielle.

"No!"

Vittoria reacted instinctively, creating another shield to protect the girl, but dividing her life force so many ways was her limit.

Something had to give, and protecting the hybrid was her lowest priority here.

She diverted more of her energy to Arielle, and his shield broke.

The hybrid screamed as he was burned alive, his shouts regrettably short as the blue flame incinerated him in under a second.

Then the fire stopped.

It was over before she could do much more than react, and Vittoria caught her breath with her hand up.

When her vision cleared, the dragon was flying away.

Vittoria released a curse and immediately swept up to meet Ari. "Arielle, are you okay?"

"Yes," Arielle said, not even a burn mark on her. The shield Vittoria placed on her had been untouched too, as though the flame had stopped right before it touched it.

It occurred to her then that the dragon hadn’t been trying to hurt Arielle, only to exhaust Vittoria’s concentration such that her spells broke and it could kill the one it really wanted.

Clever.

“What happened?"

“I healed the dragon,” Ari said. “Well, the universe healed the dragon through me, but now she’s angry and out to seek revenge on everyone who hurt her.”

"I see that."

The dragon had been flying back toward the volcano, but stopped briefly to send fire down toward what she would assume was the rest of Nio's crew. Their screams echoed shortly after.

The dragon surveyed the rest of the forest. Then she continued her advance.

Vittoria sighed in disappointment. There went her lead and her evidence.

She healed herself quickly and watched as the dragon didn’t stop at the volcano. Her heavy flaps swept over it, towards the seas.

Towards the village.

Shit.

Someone in that village had to have something to do with it.

“We need to go.”

“Why?”

She encased Arielle in a ball. "Because it might be angry enough to kill anyone who gets in the way. People who may be innocent." Dragons weren’t typically vengeful or aggressive animals, aside from the mad bloodlust derived from agitation. They were usually calm and collected, especially towards humans, whom they viewed as so far below them that they were embarrassing to engage in battle with.

But this dragon was peculiar in the sense that it was both sane and set on its goal of destruction. It would have killed Vittoria if she had continued battling to protect the hybrid, viewing her as necessary collateral damage.

It was like the creature had a bug infestation and was getting rid of pests, searching for the nest. There was no telling what kind of havoc it would wreak in the village.

"That's not good," Arielle said.

"Exactly."

Vittoria didn't waste time. She teleported them to the other side, above the smooth waves of the sea, facing the incoming angry-looking dragon.

Vittoria almost expected another hail of blue fire their way, but the dragon merely shot warning puffs of orange flame, telling them to get out of the way.

Vittoria blocked it and readied herself for the fight of her life.

"Arielle, you and the bird evacuate the village," she said. "I’ll try to reason with her and call for backup.”

Ari hesitated. "The dragon. She's offended...I think."

"You don’t say?”

Arielle clearly didn’t catch the sarcasm in Vittoria’s tone. "Yes. I don’t think she wants to be doing this, but she feels like she has to. To make it fair.”

“I know that, Arielle.”

“Dean Octavius says to look for cues when talking to people to see what they want. If one is offended, they might seek validation for their hurt feelings, so they won't be so hurt anymore. That's what How to Charm Kings says anyway."

Vittoria gave her a sour look. “Did you think I just discovered the concept of empathy and communication yesterday?”

“No,” Arielle said, blushing. “I was just putting into practice the things I’ve learned.”

Vittoria sighed. “I get it, Arielle. That’s very good. But I would rather you let me handle this part.”

“Okay. But also maybe I should stay with you. She likes me and said she wouldn't hurt me. She put a talon on my head.”

That was a gesture of affection or endearing respect amongst dragon kind. Vittoria sighed. "Fine." She too didn’t think the dragon would hurt Arielle. However, she was already preparing for backup in her mind, filing out a system alert for an emergency evacuation of the village. She just had to delay the dragon for long enough for them to get here. She also sent out birds to set anchors for another trap.

The dragon did not release flame when it came to a stop in front of them. It merely regarded them with an annoyed, disgruntled expression that gave Vittoria renewed hope that this would be settled with words.

"Dragon," Arielle spoke in plain human tongue. "You are completely valid for how you feel."

Her words were stilted and rehearsed, and would have come off as disingenuous to a human.

It likely came off as disingenuous to the dragon too, because it responded by saying, "You have no idea how I feel, human.”

“That is true,” Arielle said. “But your feelings remain valid.”

After that, she said nothing else, seemingly believing that should have resolved matters.

Vittoria shook her head and said, “Let me do the talking, Arielle.”

Ari nodded and retreated.

“Your eminence,” Vittoria started in clear dragon tongue. “You feel betrayed and vengeful. You are…valid for feeling that way. Your need for vengeance is completely understandable and warranted. However, if you go to the village right now, seeking the ones who did this to you, it will create more harm. More victims like you."

"I am no victim!" It spoke to both of them at the same time. "Especially not of foolish humans who took advantage of me in my time of weakness."

Vittoria understood better. The dragon wasn’t just hurt. It was also embarrassed that it had been caught by a human-made trap.

Perhaps that was the crux of the issue. Its pride was bruised.

"It wasn't just humans," Vittoria said, in dragon tongue. "It was demons. That was the only reason they could capture you. Humans on their own are not that powerful."

"I know that. I plan to settle here first and then head to the demon realm.”

"It would be best, instead, for you to capture the demons now before they escape. They are the masterminds behind staying hidden. They are behind all this, and your vengeance will be better spent there, rather than here with mere pawns.”

The dragon paused, contemplating that.

"I will have my revenge on the humans too."

"You are far above that," Vittoria said. "Let us handle the vengeance amongst the humans. Rather than a full-scale attack that may harm innocents, we will move with surgical precision and excise the humans that did this to you."

"Those humans are a scourge on this world, on me, on my child."

"Your child is alive and healthy,” Arielle called out. “Or he will be after I return to him. We have cared for him this whole time, and given him a name.”

The dragon paused. “What name?”

“Sir Spendulon.”

Vittoria expected the dragon to scoff at such an unconventional title, but it seemed to huff. “That is a good name. Although I would have gone with Volraxian. That is a much better human name.”

“You still can. Do you not want us to get him?"

To their surprise, the dragon shook its great head. "No. I will come for him when I'm healed. When I'm no longer enraged. I need to properly align with the universe once more. After I kill all who did this to me, I will go on a sabbatical and recover my center. Then I will return for my little one."

"If you need to expend your rage, you should do that in the demonic realm," Vittoria said. "We have associates there right now, and we can give you information on the demon's whereabouts, as you can share the information you received from the humans you burned too. Or you can simply focus on your sabbatical and let us take care of your vengeance against the humans and demons."

"And why should I trust you, human?"

"Because," Ari said. "Vittoria is very good at vengeance and killing. It's one of the things she does best."

Vittoria gave Arielle another look to be quiet, and she pressed her lips together in a firm, apologetic line.

“Because,” Vittoria said. “I am on your side here. I’m the one who found you in the cave in the first place.”

“Ah. Yes, I sensed you first in the cave.” The dragon shifted closer to Vittoria, but not in a threatening way. “I could have killed you then.”

“But you didn’t, because even in pain you were reluctant to kill an innocent, as dragons are wont to be. And because you didn’t kill me, I was able to help you.”

“I sensed you again today. Did you help the little one heal me?”

“Yes,” Ari said. “She searched for a potion maker. And she kept your child safe in her home. And she took care of him every day, and fed him lots of lizards.”

Vittoria waited as the dragon regarded her again.

“Why is his scent not as strong on you as it is on the little one?”

“I did not get close enough for him to imprint on me,” Vittoria said. “I’m not big on attachment.”

“I see.” The dragon lifted its chin in the air, then shifted forward, extending one talon and placing it on Vittoria’s forehead. “I suppose I owe you my gratitude as well. I am sorry for my earlier attack on you, despite sensing you were not my enemy. It was childish of me.”

“Don’t worry about it. I understand, and I’m all healed now.”

“You speak dragon tongue excellently.”

“Thank you,” Vittoria said. “You can always come back and enact your vengeance if we don't succeed in catching everyone. Or if you find the punishment we give unsuitable. Just give us time."

The dragon snorted with smoke tendrils blowing out of its nose, then it turned to Arielle. It regarded her silently for a few seconds. There was something there in its gaze Vittoria didn’t quite understand, but she thought perhaps some bond had formed between them while in the volcano. Had Arielle received any special gifts?

She would ask later.

Meanwhile, the village might be in chaos.

If people saw the dragon on the horizon, they would run for the docks, praying for their lives. They were probably petitioning the council for urgent help. Vittoria had made it so that no one could see who was in the bubble, so Arielle’s presence was concealed.

“Time?" The dragon finally spoke again. "I suppose I owe you that much, and I can sense the honesty in your words.” She grunted, then opened her mouth, unfurling her tongue toward them. At the very tip sat a pearl. A memory pearl.

Vittoria picked it up, and the dragon withdrew its tongue to say, "That contains the memories of the ones I just killed. I will give you until the end of my sabbatical to take care of the humans. If not, I will do it myself."

"Understood."

"What is your name?"

"Vittoria Di Santinael."

"I…appreciate your help, Vittoria Di Santinael, in capturing my captives and healing my illness. I will remember you as a symbol that not all humans are scum."

The dragon created a large portal behind her, one that generated enough force to nearly suck them in as well. As she moved backwards towards it, she said, "And I will remember you too, Arielle Blacksoil. You will be in charge of my little one in my absence."

Ari winced and held up her finger, "Actually, I have schoo–"

But it was too late. The dragon was gone.

The two hovered there in contemplative silence as the portal vanished, Arielle's finger still in the air.

Vittoria finally released her held breath. "Well. That was exciting."

"Yes." Arielle put her hand down and had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"So I assume the potion worked?"

"It did, but it didn't do everything. The potion healed the buildup of excess charges along the spirit path, but healing was more complicated than that."

"So there is a spirit path after all?" Vittoria asked, not truly processing that. She would be very shocked about it later. Right now, her mind was still on what had just happened, and all the clean-up entailed.

"Yes, but it's not entirely as it was described. The universe doesn't care about our strengths or our weaknesses. Also, did you know that dragons make essences? A lot of them? And they feed it back into the world. A bunch of creatures do, but not humans, sadly. It's too much effort to meditate for that long. Although it did feel good being connected to the universe."

Vittoria blinked at Arielle, who looked far too chipper for someone who just went through what she went through.

"How could she just leave her child behind like that?" Arielle asked. "She hates humans."

"I’m sure she doesn’t hate humans. She was just mad. Besides, she trusts us more than she trusts herself right now. Or rather, you." It wasn’t unheard of for dragons to leave their child in other realms while they went for sabbaticals, although not usually when they were this young. This dragon was an infant, but toddler dragons were incredibly resilient. Though mostly, that happened in Elfheim, where, if a dragon was dead, the elves would raise the dragon themselves.

Vittoria hoped that wasn't the case here. Feeding a dragon got very expensive very quickly. She hoped this sabbatical wasn’t long.

Vittoria stared at Arielle, who seemed to yawn at the space the dragon vanished through.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

"We go home," she said.