Onyx and the others continued their harsh training while they made their way towards Riverveil. Two weeks on, while he still couldn’t use magic, and although the training was painful at times, Onyx felt satisfaction in it to some degree. Not only did he feel that he was indeed getting stronger, but the training provided him some quality time with his mother, Lily and Ulva. They didn’t learn much about Rolo because he didn’t talk a lot.

  There was one thing bothering Onyx, however: he felt he wasn’t improving at swordpy at all. One night, he approached Rolo with that question.

  “Rolo, I really don’t think sword combat is my strongest point,” Onyx said, holding his sword in one hand and rubbing his neck with the other. “Why do I keep trying to use it?”

  Rolo crossed his arms and closed his eyes. “Tell me: do you know how to cook?”

  Onyx titled his head. “Uh, I do. But what does that have to do–”

  “Are you good at cooking?”

  “Not exactly, but I can prepare something quick. I usually just let others cook.” Onyx smiled sheepishly.

  “Then why did you learn to cook? Don’t you think it’s a useless skill?”

  Onyx sat down and contempted the question, struggling to gauge the purpose of it. “Because sometimes I need to–” finally, it came to him.

  Rolo nodded. “Exactly. You may not be good at swordpy, but it’s still a useful skill to learn. You can’t be great at everything, but you can be great at one thing while knowing a number of other things to a certain degree. Besides, you wouldn’t have known that you’re not good at swordpy had you not tried to practice it first.”

  Onyx nodded with a smile. “You really know a lot about training. I bet you’ve trained countless Yeagers before.”

  “No, this is my first time training others. I’m making things up as I go.”

  Onyx widened his eyes. “You what?!”

  “Also, I’m only twenty-seven. I couldn’t have trained ‘countless people’.”

  Lily stepped between them, panting. “Are you telling me all of this training hasn’t been tested before?! It could’ve been wrong?!”

  Rolo eyed her with his usual indifferent face. “Has it been wrong yet?”

  Onyx could swear he heard Lily growl like a wolf.

  “How should I know?! My arms hurt! My legs hurt! Maybe I’m damaging them!”

  Raksha giggled faintly. “It’s fine, Lily. I underwent Yeager training and I can assure you he hasn’t done anything wrong…yet.”

  Lily sighed, turning to face Raksha with a pout. “I trust you, not him.”

  Rolo’s gaze turned to the ground and his ears dropped, yet his expression was still unchanged. “That hurts my feelings.”

  Your face says otherwise! Onyx thought.

  The next day, they arrived at abandoned ruins in the forest, taken over by vegetation. The construct was massive, but part of its entrance was lost. Rubble littered the ground, while most of the pilrs stood still. The missing part, along with windows and holes in the ceiling, allowed sunlight to filter into the building and light it up, although there wasn’t much to see there.

  “What did this pce use to be?” asked Onyx, stepping towards a pilr and inspecting it.

  “I don’t know,” Rolo answered.

  “Can we rest here a little?” Ulva asked while catching her breath. “I quite like the scenery.”

  “Sure,” Rolo replied. “As long as–” he paused, then smashed his elbow into the bush behind him.

  A man in rugged leather armor dropped out of the bush, holding his face.

  Rolo unsheathed his axes, his expression unchanged, and calmly said, “We have company.”

  Raksha tensed up, dropping her baggage and pulling out her sword. “I knew something smelled off!”

  “Hey!” The man on the ground called, still clutching his nose. “I bathed yesterday!”

  Rolo kicked the man in the neck, knocking him out.

  More men, human and kemono, emerged from the trees and bushes. Lily and Ulva also dropped their bags and stood back to back, their weapons ready.

  Onyx set his bag aside and snarled, ready to aid the others, before hearing the sound of rubble and feeling a presence behind him. He turned around to find a hulking crocodile hachuru lunging at him. He stepped away just in time to avoid being grabbed. He took a better look at the crocodile; his body was oil-green, although his abdomen was of a lighter shade, and his eyes were yellow; he wore a metal pte armor on his chest with no sleeves; he was massive, but as tall as Onyx, and incredibly muscur, especially his arms. Onyx could see the tip of a massive battleaxe with a long handle hanging from his back.

  “Well I’ll be!” The crocodile spoke with a gruff voice, almost like a low growl, smiling and baring his fangs. “A dragon indeed, in the flesh, right before my eyes!” He snorted. “I never thought I’d see the day!”

  Onyx gritted his teeth, his heartbeat quickening. “Rolo, I can’t help! I’ll be busy for a while.”

  “What?!” Raksha called, her voice mixed with the cshing of swords.

  “Don’t worry about us! Focus on your fight!” Rolo replied.

  Alright, Onyx thought, giving the crocodile his full attention. “Who are you? And what do you want? How did you know we were here?”

  The crocodile chuckled. “My name is Dyle, and I–”

  Onyx covered his mouth, trying to hold in his ughter.

  The crocodile growled, seeming irritated. “What’s so funny?!”

  Onyx swallowed his ughter long enough to speak. “I’m sorry, you’re a crocodile and your name is ‘Dyle’?” Onyx covered his mouth again, but not before a few snickers escaped him.

  Dyle gred and growled louder. “What’s wrong with my name?! And most importantly, I’m an alligator, not a crocodile!”

  “Are you sure about that?” Onyx said, before failing to hold his ughter any longer.

  Dyle looked like he was ready to explode, his green face starting to tint red. “Enough! I’m here to defeat you, so be prepared!” With that, he charged at Onyx.

  Onyx stopped ughing and prepared to fight, stepping aside to avoid a ssh from Dyle’s cws, but Dyle quickly followed up with a swing from his tail. Unable to dodge, Onyx crossed his forearms in front of him to block the blow, which was powerful enough to push him several feet back.

  Alright, I must focus, Onyx thought. He may look intimidating, but he’s just a croc–I mean alligator. I can handle this. But why is he using his bare hands instead of the axe?

  Dyle faced Onyx again, taking in a deep breath before unleashing a fireball at him.

  Onyx’ eyes widened, but he didn’t allow himself to freeze. He dodged quickly, and the fire ball exploded on the ground.

  He can use magic!

  “You liked that trick, eh?” Dyle said, smirking and wiping his mouth. “Or are you feeling…threatened? Feeling like your status as a dragon is no longer that special? Show it to me, then! Your dragon breath!”

  Onyx growled. Damn it, this will be harder than I thought. I don’t know if he has other fire attacks, and I still don’t know the extent of his physical strength, although that tail gave me a good idea… He rubbed the arm that had bore the brunt of the attack. And this is all without using his weapon! It feels like…like I’m fighting another dragon!

  “Come on!” Dyle excimed. “What are you waiting for? Show me the might of your dragon magic!”

  Onyx narrowed his eyes, weighing his options. He dashed at Dyle as fast as he could, swinging his fist at him. When he missed, he followed up with a kick, which Dyle managed to block with the blunt of his axe at the st moment.

  “Oh, I get it,” Dyle said, pushing Onyx away with the axe. “You think you’re so strong that you can beat me without having to resort to magic, don’t you? Fine, then! I’m not holding back anymore!” He charged at Onyx and swung his axe.

  Onyx dodged the first swing, then grabbed his sword with his tail and smmed it into the axe on its second swing, blocking the blow but sending the sword flying out of his grip. Damn it!

  Dyle chuckled. “Nice trick. But it won’t work again!” He swung the axe down at Onyx.

  Onyx did a quick sidestep, grabbed the axe and broke the handle by biting it, then elbowed Dyle’s face, pushing him back.

  Dyle paused for a moment, rubbed his right cheek, then smiled again. “Not bad, but I expected more from a dragon!” He lunged at Onyx with his bare hands again, his fists ready to strike.

  Onyx dodged a few punches and blocked others, then managed to catch Dyle’s arm after a dodge. He punched him in the face then in the chest, with enough force throw him at a stone pilr and break it.

  Dyle stood up quickly, coughing. “Yes…that’s it!” He took off his chest pte, which had been bent out of shape by the punch, and tossed it aside. “Give it your all!” He engaged Onyx once more, and when he dodged, he caught his right arm with his jaws.

  Onyx screamed before receiving a punch in the face, knocking him back and out of the clutch of Dyle’s jaws, which caused the teeth to open gashes in his arm. Then Dyle quickly spun and struck Onyx with his tail sending him rolling on the dirt. Onyx instantly returned to his feet, just in time to avoid anothing attack, then punched Dyle between his eyes, stunning him momentarily. Onyx took the opportunity to fly, then dive towards Dyle as fast as he could, colliding with him and dragging him through the dirt until they both hit and passed through one of the ruins’ dipidated walls, separating them from each other.

  Just when Onyx was back on his feet again, he was hit with a fireball. He managed to protect his face and chest, but the fire and explosion were still strong. In the wake of the attack, Dyle grabbed him by the neck.

  “You–” Dyle snorted, gringfiercely. “–can’t use magic, can you?” He chuckled. “How embarrassing. I’m more of a dragon than you are!” He then headbutted Onyx, knocking him into the ground. “After I’m done with you, I will have a word with that fox for setting me up with such disappointment.”

  Onyx’s eyes snapped open, his chest heaving with rage upon the mention of the fox. Using all four of his limbs and both wings, he pushed himself off the ground and into Dyle, knocking him back into a pilr, causing it to crack.

  Dyle chuckled between his coughs as he pulled himself out of the pilr. “So you still have some fight in you? Good!” His forearms glowed, then caught on fire.

  Calm down! Think! Onyx thought as he tried to control his impulses. There has to be something I can use here! He took a gnce around the ruins, a rough pn forming in his mind. He lunged at Dyle and swung his fist, hitting the pilr behind him instead and breaking it. Dyle tried to hit him, but Onyx fell back in the direction of the ruins that still had a ceiling. He backed into another pilr and dodged an attack, making Dyle punch the pilr.

  “What’s wrong, boy? Are you scared?” Dyle taunted.

  Onyx didn’t answer, and kept dodging attacks, backing off, and attacking, but his swings always missed Dyle. He also received more attacks, including ones that bore fire magic. Despite his natural resistance, the fire still hurt him.

  “Did that st headbutt damage your brain?” Dyle ughed.

  Onyx scoffed, smirking. “On the contrary; it made me see things clearer.”

  The ceiling above them began to crumble, pieces of it falling down around them and stirring dust in the air. They both avoided most of them, and while the dust surrounded them, Onyx unched himself at Dyle as fast as he could, swinging his fist at his torso with all his might. Despite Dyle trying to block with his crossed arms, the punch was still too powerful and sent him flying into the wall. Onyx then grabbed a remnant of one of the pilrs and tossed it at Dyle, shattering on impact while pushing Dyle through the wall and into the dirt outside. Onyx didn’t stop there, as he jumped towards Dyle and punched him in the face, then grabbed him by the tail and spun him around before hurling him at a tree, breaking it in half from the force of the impact. Dyle dropped to the ground, motionless save for a few twitches, coughs and gasps.

  “How’s this for a dragon?” Onyx said, breathing heavily. Suddenly, he sensed something approaching him from behind, and before he could fully react, a sharp pain sank into his right thigh.

  “Die, foul beast!” The man who stabbed him excimed.

  Damn it, how did I let him sneak up on me?! Onyx quickly spun around and smmed his arm into the man’s chest. The impact produced a sickening crunch sound, followed by another one as the man hit the stone wall of the ruins.

  Onyx froze for a moment, realizing what he had just done. He approached the man, who y there completely motionless. He was dead, no doubt about it. Onyx stepped back, trying to breathe normally. It took a couple of minutes for his senses to remember that there was a sword in his leg. Trying to take his mind off the man he had just killed and to focus on the matters at hand, he quickly pulled the sword out of his leg, which hurt more and caused further bleeding. He clutched his wound and turned around, limping in the direction of the others.

  As the bandits descended upon them, Raksha prepared her sword and a green, circur magic shield on her left arm. When she saw Onyx get ambushed by the alligator, she wanted to rush to his side, but they were overwhelmed by the bandits.

  “Get out of my way!” Raksha parried an attack from one bandit then smmed the shield into him, knocking him back and into the ground.

  “Raksha, focus,” Rolo said calmly as he casually countered and knocked out two of his assaints. “Onyx can handle his own.”

  Raksha snarled. She wanted to believe those words, and did her best to prevent herself from just running towards Onyx. She channeled her frustration into battle, attacking viciously. When three bandits tried to rush her, she changed her shield into a golden one that fshed a blinding light, stunning them, then smmed the shield into the ground, releasing a shockwave that knocked them all back.

  “Careful with the light!” Ulva excimed, pcing a paw on her right eye.

  “Wait, you can see from your right eye?” Lily asked, only getting a groan from Ulva. “Sorry, not the time!”

  “You don’t want to do this,” Rolo warned his opponents. “If I fight you seriously, you will die.”

  One of the bandits, a fox, ughed. “Bold words, cat boy!”

  Another bandit, a tiger, growled and shot his companion a nasty look.

  The fox yelped. “No offense!”

  Rolo sighed. “You give me no choice.” He breathed calmly, and on cue, his axes glowed icey blue. He swung them outward horizontally, unching a wave of ice magic. The bandits tried to avoid it but failed, and the attack froze them from the hips down. Another bandit, a cheetah, charged him, wielding a green curved sword. Rolo blocked it before it could make contact with his face.

  “You can smell it, can’t you?” The cheetah ughed. “Just one small cut and the poison will kill you in mere minutes!”

  Rolo’s expression remained the same. “Thank you for the information. Now I know I should hit you with all I’ve got.” He pushed the assaint back and unched another wave of ice magic, creating sharp icicles that jut out from the ground and towards the cheetah, who managed to dodge them, the attack penetrating a tree instead.

  Rolo quickly followed up with multiple ice attacks, but the cheetah was too agile, dodging them all. Eventually the cheetah attacked again, and just when Rolo thought he avoided all of the swings, the sword nicked his right thigh.

  The cheetah ughed hysterically. “It’s done! You’re finished! Now all I have to do is avoid your pathetic attacks while you die!”

  Rolo remained calm. With his axe still glowing with ice magic, he quickly sunk part of its bde into the cut in his thigh, freezing the spot. He only winced.

  The cheetah’s smile faded. “Well aren’t you a resourceful one? You’re only deying the inevitable!” He dashed at Rolo again.

  Rolo groaned, the faintest of frowns forming on his face. He took a deep breath and whispered something, his axes glowing brighter before he leaped into the air, spinning and unching countless arcs of ice magic at the cheetah, overwhelming him. In the wake of the attack, Rolo touched the ground, dashed towards the cheetah and struck with his axes. When the flurry of attacks ended, Rolo was standing several feet behind the cheetah, the curved sword in his paw, then the cheetah colpsed into the ground in three pieces.

  Rolo gnced behind him, calm as ever, and said, “I warned you.”

  The fox and the tiger, who had just freed themselves of the ice, fled upon seeing the cheetah’s sliced corpse.

  Meanwhile, Raksha had to deal with more bandits. She was beginning to lose her temper and control. She conjured up two massive shields in the air between the bandits and struck with extreme force that sent them flying away, then one bandit charged her, which she parried and then stabbed in the chest before he could strike again. She pulled her sword out, letting his corpse fall to the ground. The bandits that were knocked away didn’t dare approach her.

  Before running to Onyx’ side, she took a gnce at Lily and Ulva. They were standing their ground well, with Lily mostly taking a defensive stance while Ulva was on the offensive, injuring several bandits and killing a couple. Lily reached into one of her pouches, fetched a small bomb and tossed it at the bandits. It exploded brightly, and the affected bandits’ clothes caught fire while others were stunned by the fsh.

  However, one wolf bandit managed to grab Lily and try to stab her, aiming for her chest. She tried to avoid it, but the dagger sank into her shoulder. She screamed and, before Ulva or Raksha could help her, held her own dagger and quickly stabbed the bandit in the neck. The bandit stepped back, holding his fatal wound, then colpsed, and soon he was motionless.

  “Lily!” Raksha excimed, running up to her. “Are you alright?!” She scanned the area around them, and there were only three bandits left, who fled once they saw Rolo approaching.

  “You will be fine!” Ulva said, guiding Lily to sit down and examining the dagger embedded in her shoulder. “Just sit down and breathe, I will take care of it.”

  Despite the reassuring words, Ulva was visibly shaking. But that was nothing compared to Lily’s state, who was trembling and her breathing was ragged, shock evident on her face.

  “Damn it!” Ulva muttered. She tore a rge piece from the back of her clothing, revealing the pair of pink, glowing wings on her back. They looked incorporeal, transparent, as if made of light, and they were small retive to her body. She wrapped the piece of cloth tightly around Lily’s shoulder, then carefully held the hilt of the dagger. “I’m sorry, but this will hurt.” She counted to three before pulling the dagger out, to which Lily yelled. Then Ulva quickly passed her right wing over the wound. The wing was just big enough to reach over her shoulder. Then she covered the wound, plucked a handful of her feathers and handed them to Lily. “Take these and keep them pressed on the wound.”

  Lily nodded without looking at Ulva. The wings then faded.

  “Wait…Onyx!” Raksha gasped. She quickly turned around and sprinted towards where Onyx was fighting.

  As Onyx tried to make his way towards the others, he saw his mother running to him.

  “Onyx!” Raksha yelled as she closed in on him. She held him and inspected him thoroughly. “Are you alright? What happened to your leg?!”

  Onyx chuckled, then winced in pain. “It’s fine. It’s not too bad.”

  “Where is that…beast?!” She growled, her gaze darting left and right.

  “He’s alive, just taking a nap.” Onyx saw the others walking towards them, and quickly noticed something was wrong with Lily. “What happened? Did you get rid of the bandits?”

  Raksha nodded. “We did, but Lily was injured.”

  “Where is the crocodile?” Rolo asked when he reached them.

  “Alligator,” Onyx corrected; Rolo raised an eyebrow. “He’s back there.” He pointed at where Dyle id motionless. “What’s that?” Onyx gestured at the curved sword in Rolo’s grip.

  “It’s poisoned and I was cut by it. Lily will need it to make an antidote. I’m just giving her time to recover. The cut is frozen so it won’t kill me…yet.”

  “I’m…fine,” Lily said shakily, her gaze locked to the ground. “Give…give it to me, I will make it as soon as I can.”

  Dyle coughed loudly, catching their attention. Onyx and Rolo nodded to each other.

  “Mom, stay here,” Onyx instructed.

  Rolo handed the sword to Ulva before he accompanied Onyx to check on Dyle. The alligator id on his back, staring at the sky, blood trickling from his mouth. He looked…sad.

  “I would not move if I were you,” Rolo warned. “Your goons fled. Well, the ones who lived, at least.”

  Dyle chuckled and coughed. “I don’t care anymore.”

  “Why did you attack us?” Onyx asked. “You mentioned a fox. Did he use blood magic?”

  “I don’t know. He just said there was a dragon after him. I ughed him off at first, but he offered us gold and promised the same amount if we brought you to him, dead or alive. Even if I didn’t find a dragon, gold was gold. Well, I found a dragon but lost the gold and all of my followers.”

  Onyx scowled. “Where did you meet the fox? Where did he go?!”

  “We met north of Riverveil. I don’t know if he’s still waiting for us, and I don’t care.”

  Riverveil! “When we fought, you…looked happy.”

  Dyle ughed. “Of course I was! Defeating a dragon was my ultimate dream. I trained for years. I became so strong that people feared me as if I was a dragon. But in the end, I failed to even defeat a dragon that can’t use magic. It all meant nothing.” He closed his eyes.

  “Are you for real?”

  Dyle’s eyes snapped open. “What is that supposed to mean?!”

  “I mean, you only fought me once. It feels foolish to give up immediately. Maybe you could defeat me on a second try.”

  Rolo looked at Onyx quizzically. “Onyx, what the hell are you talking about?”

  “And to be honest,” Onyx continued. “That was a tough fight. I didn’t know if I could win. You’re really strong. It would’ve been…entertaining, if you weren’t trying to kill me.”

  Dyle was silent, his arm covering his eyes.

  “Are you…crying?”

  “I’M NOT!” Dyle snapped, still covering his eyes.

  Onyx stepped back. “Well, suit yourself. And, uh, don’t you dare try to hurt us again!”

  Rolo just stared at him.

  “What is this look supposed to mean?!”

  “You didn’t sound threatening…at all.”

  That hurts!

  Onyx and Rolo joined the others. Ulva took Lily’s bag and ran up to Onyx.

  “Onyx, you look beaten up really bad!” Ulva said, opening the bag and fetching bandages and a vial from it. “Let me help.” Her wings manifested.

  Onyx stared at them in awe. “They’re beautiful!”

  Ulva froze, averting her gaze for a moment. “Th-Thank you.” She cleaned the wounds on his arm and leg with the liquid from the vial, which stung, then wrapped the bandages around them, and finally used her feathers. Onyx noticed her tail swishing behind her.

  “Lily, sweetheart,” Raksha said, sitting beside Lily and caressing her back. “I know this was hard on you, but you have to make the antidote. Rolo may die if you don’t hurry.”

  Lily nodded. She held the poisoned sword and inspected it. “Yes, I…recognize the poison. I can cook up an antidote in no time.”

  “Ulva, can I have some more of your feathers?” Onyx asked.

  “Sure.” Ulva reached for her back and plucked a few.

  “Thank you!” Onyx took the feathers and limped towards Dyle, then pced them on top of him. “Take these, they will help.” He didn’t wait to see his reaction, walking back to the others.

  “You’re too soft,” Rolo commented.

  Onyx frowned at him, but did not respond.

  After Lily provided Rolo with the antidote, they kept moving, albeit at a much slower pace, until night, then set up camp. Raksha and Ulva, the only two uninjured, prepared some food. Onyx tried to offer his help but was rejected. He sat down beside Lily, who was sitting there silently, seemingly pondering the campfire.

  Onyx inched closer to her and leaned down slightly in her direction. “Does it still hurt?”

  Lily flinched, then looked up at Onyx. “Oh. Only a little.”

  Onyx let out a long breath. “Luckily that dagger wasn’t poisoned.”

  Lily nodded. “What about you?”

  “Well, I guess I will have to sit tilted to the left until it heals.”

  Lily barely let out the faintest hint of a giggle.

  Onyx scratched his neck, unsure what to say next. Hesitantly, he reached out to pat her back. “Look, if…you want to talk about something, I’m all ears.”

  “You have to let go,” Rolo said, polishing his axe with his usual stoic face. “You didn’t do anything wrong, killing that bandit.”

  “Rolo!” Onyx called through gritted teeth.

  Rolo paid Onyx no mind. “This was bound to happen sooner or ter. Don’t feel bad for him; he wouldn’t have felt bad for you.”

  “I know,” Lily responded, letting out a long sigh. “I just…need some time.”

  “I feel the same way,” Ulva said, walking towards them with a dle in her paw. “I…killed two of them, not just one. I know I trained for this, but I always hoped it would never happen. I wanted to become a healer one day, and, well, healers are not supposed to kill.” Her grip tightened around the dle.

  “Who says that?” Rolo inquired.

  Ulva’s gaze met him, but she did not respond.

  Rolo pressed further. “Will some judge sentence you to death or strip you from your healing magic if you heal and kill at the same time? I think not.”

  Onyx clenched his fists. “Rolo!”

  Rolo raised his paw in Onyx’ face, seemingly telling him to keep quiet, which enraged him further. He continued. “You were gifted with healing magic and you trained to fight. That’s who you are.” His gaze returned to the campfire. “I just think it’s a waste to not utilize all you have just because of some arbitrary rule.”

  Raksha stood beside Ulva, pcing a paw on her shoulder. “Sometimes, in order to save lives, you have to take others.”

  Ulva nodded. “I understand, but still, I can’t help but feel like I did something wrong.”

  Onyx wanted to comfort them, not add to their conflicted feelings, but he wanted to share his feelings so bad. “I killed a man, too. But what disturbs me further is how it happened. I…I killed him by accident.”

  All eyes were on Onyx now. He felt the sudden pressure, but there was no going back now. He continued. “He was the one that stabbed me. I hit him without calcuting how much force there was behind my attack and he…died.”

  “He brought it upon himself,” Rolo responded. “He stabbed a dragon, you reacted as a dragon.”

  “But I didn’t mean to–”

  “Onyx, there’s no point thinking about it now. Like I already told Lily, that bandit wouldn’t have felt bad had he killed you. However, I will say that it’s important to learn the extent of your own strength. How much is too little, how much is too much. This time you were lucky that you gave it too much in a situation where it didn’t harm you. If your life or others’ lives depended on you and you gave too little, or if you are supposed to hold back but instead you give too much, well, you know what happens.”

  Onyx remained silent for a moment, then nodded. “I understand.”

  “Also, you need to sharpen your senses.”

  Onyx blinked, then tilted his head. “Huh?”

  Rolo pointed at the woods behind him. “You have a not-so-secret admirer, and you haven’t noticed yet.”

  Onyx quickly gnced behind him and saw an alligator’s snout sticking out of a bush. He jumped to his feet. “Is…Is that who I think it is?!”

  “Who else would it be?”

  Silence loomed for a moment, and the snout didn’t move.

  “We can see you!” Onyx excimed.

  Dyle stumbled out of the bush, nding face down on the dirt. He coughed. “How did you see me?!”

  “Take a wild guess,” Raksha growled, her arms crossed, her eyes shooting daggers at Dyle. “You led the assault on us and hurt my son. Give me one reason not to beat you senseless right now!”

  Goodness! Mom can be really scary sometimes!

  Still on the ground, Dyle raised his hands. “I come in peace!”

  Raksha growled more. “I’m not convinced.”

  Onyx stepped in front of his mother. “Wait, let us hear him first.”

  “I just…” Dyle spoke. “...want to fight him again.”

  Onyx had to hold his mother still.

  “You call that coming in peace?!” Raksha excimed, reaching for her sword. “I will kill you right now!”

  Dyle stood up and took a step back, his hands up in defense. “I-I didn’t mean that I wanted to hurt him! I just want…an honorable fight, you know?”

  “Well, I refuse!” Onyx replied, still holding his mother. “Can’t you see we’re recovering?!”

  “Then I’ll wait until you recover!” Dyle sat down and crossed his arms.

  Onyx looked at Dyle, then at his mother, who still looked ready to off the alligator. “I suggest you keep your distance if you don’t want to get your throat slit in your sleep.”

  Dyle stood up, growling. “Fine!” With that, he disappeared into the forest while grumbling.

  With Dyle out of sight, Onyx released his mother.

  Raksha turned around, gring at Onyx. “Why did you let him go?! I should’ve kicked his ass! Or worse! That bastard!”

  “Mom…mom! Calm down! You scare me when you swear!”

  Rolo facepalmed and sighed, prodding the campfire with a stick. “What have I gotten myself into?”