As the final step of preparing for their hunt, Rolo, Onyx and Ulva visited an armorer in the wolf district. They didn’t have a lot of coins, but they could afford armor for Ulva, as Rolo already had armor and Onyx didn’t need one. They didn’t have time to tailor one for her, so she had to settle for the most fitting she could find: a brown leather armor with a metal shoulder guard.

  “How does it look?” Ulva inquired, doing a slow spin while down and back at herself.

  Onyx raised his thumb and smiled. “Looks great!”

  Ulva beamed, brushing a strand of her out of her sight.

  With that done, they made their way out of the district and into the fields again.

  “She could be lying, you know,” Rolo said as they walked.

  Onyx paused as he fixed the hat on his head. “You mean Autumn? Of course I thought about that. That’s why I didn’t like the idea of us splitting up.” He walked up to Rolo. “But I trust my mother to be careful. Besides, Autumn seemed genuine.”

  Rolo scoffed, starting to walk in the direction of the field. “You’re too trusting.”

  Onyx groaned. “And you’re too distrustful.” He walked after Rolo, Ulva following right behind.

  “Good. Being distrustful saves your life.”

  Onyx snorted. Arms crossed, he gnced at Ulva.

  Ulva scratched her cheek, her ears twitching. “He has a point. But I’m not one to talk. I’m the one who decided to help Autumn in the first pce.”

  Onyx groaned, his ears folding back.

  “I’m not saying you should refuse a contract simply because you feel something is off,” Rolo added. “It’s impossible to always tell if the client is lying or not. It’s a Yeager’s job to jump into danger and uncertainty. You simply have to keep the possibility that you’re being deceived in the back of your mind and be ready to act accordingly.”

  Onyx’s expression softened, before nodding. The advice sounded good, but thinking deeper about it, he realized it was difficult to enact. He couldn’t be distrustful of everyone he met, and even if he was, how could he prepare to react to every possible trick or ambush? He started to realize why Yeagers were paid so much.

  Onyx’s ears twitched. He gnced behind him, then back at Rolo. “Funny you should say that. Maybe we’re being deceived right now.”

  Rolo raised a finger to his own lips, then whispered. “I know. Don’t do anything yet.”

  Onyx’s eyes widened. “But if they stay with us, I can’t…”

  Rolo nodded. “Just bear with me for now.”

  “Am going to just stand by and watch you hunt?!”

  “Maybe. That would still be a good learning experience.”

  Onyx gritted his teeth.

  Ulva pced a paw on Onyx’s shoulder. “It’s not that bad. We can watch his back and react in case this proves to be an ambush.”

  Onyx nodded begrudgingly.

  When they arrived at the field, Onyx stared in awe at the size of the charred nd. Rolo led them to a spot inside, and soon he recognized the weird scents.

  “You smell them now, don’t you?” Rolo said, crouching and facing the ground. “Memorize the scents.”

  Onyx scanned his surroundings for a moment. “We aren’t followed anymore.”

  “Don’t let your guard down.” Rolo stood up. “We will take out the thunderbird first. The camazotz might be dangerous, but the thunderbird can cause more widespread destruction, as you can already see.”

  The three of them marched in the direction of the scent of thunderbird’s blood, which led them deep into the forest.

  “Rolo, you’ve told me that there are sentient monsters other than dragons,” Onyx said. “Are we…”

  Rolo shook his head. “Thunderbirds are not sentient. And while some vampires are, camazotz are not regur vampires. They aren’t sentient. And besides–” He rubbed his nose. “–sentient vampires are always evil, so we hunt them without question.”

  “Was that the same reasoning you used to hunt dragons?” Ulva asked.

  Onyx gnced at her in surprise, taking note of her intense expression.

  Rolo looked at her, his face unchanging. “Who do you mean? I certainly wasn’t born yet when that happened.” He shook his head, facing forward again. “It was a different time and a desperate one. Desperate times call for desperate measures. No Yeager who lived back then still lives today.”

  “And things are different now? You said a different Yeager could’ve attacked Onyx without thinking.”

  Rolo hummed and closed his eyes. “True. Many Yeagers still think of dragons as beasts to be hunted. However, many others don’t. Most people grow up hearing stories about the great dragon war, how the dragons tore each other apart and tore other races along with them. So it's no wonder that when said people become Yeagers, they’ll hunt a dragon when they can. Or even dream of the day they do it.”

  Onyx clenched his fists, ears folded back and eyes facing the ground. He knew of his kind’s reputation, of what they had done. Yet, he felt fueious as he listened to Rolo. He said it himself; that was a long time ago. Why were dragons still thought of as such? Was it because they were long lived and some dragons from that era could still be alive? Still, it wasn’t fair to view all dragons in that light. At the same time, Onyx felt…ashamed. Guilty, even. Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Ulva until she was so close to him that their furs were brushing against each other.

  “Can you believe this guy?” Ulva whispered. “He could at least say sorry.”

  Onyx let out a shaky sigh. “It’s fine. I’m not upset.”

  “Well, you should be.”

  “Well, I’m not!” Onyx snapped back, paws curled into fists.

  Ulva flinched, taking a quick step back, her ears down.

  Rolo stopped walking and gnced back at them.

  Onyx’s eyes softened, his paws opening up. He shook his head, one paw rubbing his face. “Just…forget about it.”

  They continued their walk in retive silence. Onyx slowly regretted snapping at Ulva, and he wished to apologize. However, the she-wolf was noticeably upset, and he feared she may explode in his face if he brought up the subject.

  Shortly ter, Rolo stopped them. “We’re close,” he whispered. “Prepare the wax. And Onyx, you know what to do.”

  Onyx nodded. He looked down at his arm, then hesitated, wondering what he should do. It was harder to do it when not in the heat of the moment. Eventually, he shrugged, then braced himself and bit his paw. But it wasn’t even strong enough to draw blood, let alone transform him.

  “Need a hand?” Ulva offered, unsheathing her bde.

  Onyx pondered her offer for a moment, but the still visible agitation on Ulva’s features made him decide against it. “No, no. I got this.” He bared his longsword and pced the edge in his palm. Damn it, this looks even scarier. Oh well. “Just a moment.” He quickly hid behind a tree, then slipped out of his pants and took his hat off to avoid tearing them. Finally, he clutched the edge of his sword and pulled, slicing into his paw. The pain only stung for a moment before he was back to his original form in a fsh. He wobbled around for a second before regaining his bance, then sighed in relief. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.” He stepped out of hiding, not that the tree was hiding much of his draconian form, and back to the two waiting for him. He folded his pants until they were small enough to fit in one of Rolo’s pouches and handed the mto him along with the hat..

  Ulva took one look at him and then averted her gaze, muttering an unenthusiastic “Welcome back.”

  A faint smile pyed at Onyx’s lips. “Oh? Do you think I looked better as a wolf?”

  Ulva faced him again, this time with a gre. “I never said that!”

  Onyx flenched, scowling in return. “I was joking.”

  “When you two are done fighting, we have a monster to hunt,” Rolo said, a tinge of scolding in his otherwise indifferent tone.

  Onyx scoffed.

  “You can do mana coating now, can’t you?” Rolo asked.

  Onyx gazed at his hands, then clenched them. Recalling his training, he breathed deeply but slowly, and soon felt the mana flow through him. Then, focusing his mind on it and adjusting his breathing, managed to expel the mana and let it coat his body. It wasn’t much, but it was something most people who used magic did, and any extra protection was welcome. He could sense that Rolo and Ulva had done the same already. Facing Rolo again, he nodded. “I can.”

  Onyx was about to apply wax to his sword when a fsh of lightning illuminated the dark forest and thunder shook the leaves. He quickly turned to where the sound came from, then a movement in the distance caught his attention. In the sky, something was rapidly moving towards them, and as it got closer, it began to sparkle blue. “Look out!”

  All three of them dashed in different directions, right before a blue lightning bolt struck the ground. Except it wasn’t a mere lightning bolt; it was the thunderbird itself. It was massive; it stood taller than Onyx, and its wingspan was easily twice the bck dragon’s height. The bird’s yellow eyes locked at Onyx, tendrils of electricity sparkling around its white and blue feathers. Onyx could feel a light sting on his scales, as if the very air around them was electrified.

  He looked near the thunderbird; he had dropped the wax in the rush before he could use it on his sword or on himself. He cursed under his breath. He didn’t know how strong the bird’s lightning was, if he could get away with striking it quickly, but he didn’t like the idea of finding out the hard way. Unless…

  An arc of ice magic struck the bird on its back. The bird shrieked and spun around, facing Rolo. The blue sparks around the bird intensified.

  Quickly, Onyx tossed his sword at the bird with his all might, pnting it in its back. The beast shrieked again, filing, before levitating in an attempt to take off. Onyx took the opportunity to sprint towards it, grab the wax and then dash away from it.

  The bird had its eyes locked on Onyx. The dragon kept running and, with no sword, he had to apply the wax to his body instead. It wasn’t enough to cover his entire body, but it had to do.

  Another attack from Rolo drew the bird’s attention to him, and it flew back towards him and Ulva.

  “No you won’t!” Onyx excimed, before taking into the air and flying towards the thunderbird.

  Upon seeing him, the bird gained altitude, flying out of Onyx’s way while its sparks intensified. Onyx widened his eyes in realization. He flew lower and among the trees in order to dodge the lightning. The bird’s attacks struck the trees, burning and blowing up the wood. Onyx flew through a thicker part of the forest to try and break the bird’s line of sight. Then, with mighty fps of his wings, he dashed out of the treeline and collided with the thunderbird’s, pushing it into the side of a hill and dragging it along the rocks. The bird’s feathers sparked again, and Onyx was thrown off it with a powerful pulse of electricity, crashing into a tree and then into the ground.

  Damn! Onyx cursed silently. I knew the attacks would still hurt even with the wax, but not that much!

  “Onyx!” Ulva’s voice sounded in the distance.

  Onyx gnced up to see the she-wolf in question running towards him alongside Rolo. He heard the thunderbird’s shriek again and turned his attention back to it. It was flying towards him, albeit less stable than before, and looked ready to attack again. Then, a wall of ice blocked his view, before multiple bolts of lightning struck the ice, causing it to explode, but the wall stood still, albeit highly damaged.

  Rolo rushed to Onyx’s side, his eyes never leaving the flying menace. “Can you move?”

  Onyx groaned, rising to his feet. “Thankfully.”

  Rolo nodded. “That thing is bigger and stronger than I anticipated.”

  “You don’t have to tell me. It’s injured and has a sword embedded in its back and it’s still putting up a fight.”

  “I can’t keep using ice magic that connects back to me, or I’ll risk getting electrocuted. I will resort to ranged attacks.”

  “I can trade blows with it, but I don’t know how much. I will force it into a lower altitude. You prepare to take it down.”

  Another explosion, and with it the wall of ice came crumbling down.

  “Wait!” Ulva excimed, running towards Onyx and handing him one of Lily’s bombs.

  Onyx accepted it, quickly realizing what kind of bomb it was, before taking to the air again. He instantly had the bird’s attention, then flew in different directions as he dodged the lightning. The flying beast was still at a high altitude, and he doubted it would come down without force. Onyx flew higher and faster, looking back to make sure the thunderbird was following him. Surely enough, it was, and Onyx had to dodge a couple of lightning bolts, but the third one struck him in the back. Onyx yelled in pain, but he endured. If he fell back, it would be difficult to gain that altitude again. He pushed further, increasing the distance between him and the bird. When he deemed the distance enough, he let the bomb slip from his hand. Once it hit the thunderbird, it exploded into a smoke cloud, and the monster’s ascent was hindered.

  Onyx turned around and dove straight towards the bird. He knew from the previous impact that the creature’s feathers were durable, but it wasn’t anything he could handle. The monster tried to dodge him, but Onyx foresaw that maneuver and adjusted his trajectory. He reached out with his fist and, with a deep breath, tried to focus mana around it. Then, he struck the bird with his momentum, the tter shielding itself with its wings. The power of the punch was enough to hurl the monster back to the ground like a projectile, nding in a crater with a thundering impact.

  Through the dust in the air, Onyx could see the bird rising to its feet, feathers sparkling again. Rolo rushed towards it and struck it with his magic, covering most of it with ice. The monster struggled and tried to produce more lightning, only to shock itself. Then it stopped struggling.

  As Onyx flew towards them, he noticed someone else approaching. In the distance, a wolf was running towards the bird. Was it the same wolf who had stalked them earlier? Why was he running straight to danger? And did he see Onyx transform? Onyx wasn’t going to reach the wolf in time.

  Ulva, however,intercepted the wolf, blocking his way. “Where do you think you’re going?!” She yelled.

  Onyx nded among the nearby trees, hoping the stranger hadn’t seen him yet.

  “Out of my way!” The wolf snapped, struggling to break free from Ulva’s grip. When he saw Rolo approach the thunderbird, his eyes grew desperate and he struggled more fiercely. “Stop! Don’t hurt him! Please!”

  Rolo raised an eyebrow at him. ”Who the hell are you and why did you follow us? This is no game; it’s Yeager business.”

  “You don’t understand!” The wolf stretched his paw towards Rolo. “He’s my friend!”

  What?!

  “Your ‘friend’ burned two wolves to death,” Rolo responded.

  “It was an accident!” The wolf cried out, tears streaming from his eyes. “Bolt would never attack for no reason! It was fighting another monster and accidentally burned the field! I saw it all happen! It wasn’t his fault.”

  “Enough!” Rolo shot back, his brows furrowing ever so slightly. “Thunderbirds are not pets. You knew all of that and didn’t help us with the investigation.” He raised his axes, ready to strike down the bird’s neck.

  Onyx swallowed, his heart beating faster. What if the wolf was right? Did the bird really deserve to die because of an accident? But ‘Bolt’ did attack him first. However, it didn’t attack Rolo nor Ulva. Was it because he was a dragon and Bolt considered him a threat?

  “Rolo stop!” Ulva shouted, then the wolf slipped from her grasp.

  The wolf stood between Rolo and the bird. “Leave it alone!”

  Rolo gred at him. “For the st time, stay out–” ”Suddenly, his gaze snapped back to the bird and he jumped back, right before the thunderbird broke free from the ice. The wolf quickly clung to its talon before it took to the air, flying away clumsily.

  “Damn it,” Rolo cursed under his breath, eyeing Ulva fiercely. “Look what you’ve done! Are you ready to take responsibility if more people die because of that thing?!”

  Ulva opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She averted her gaze to the ground. “I’m…sorry.” She lifted her gaze back to meet Rolo, frowning. “But you hesitated, too!”

  Rolo scoffed and turned away from her. “Because of you.” He rubbed his face slowly and sighed. “We’re going after it. Now.”

  Seeing as the strange wolf was nowhere to be seen now, Onyx stepped out of his hiding.

  “And you,” Rolo immediately addressed him; Onyx froze. “Why didn’t you cut off the thunderbird’s escape.”

  Onyx averted his gaze, scratching his neck. “I…was afraid the wolf would see me.”

  “Is that so?” Rolo eyed him fiercely for a moment, then shook his head. “Doesn’t matter now. He was injured and bleeding, so we can easily track him. Onyx, you scout ahead and from above. Me and Ulva will track the scent of his blood.”

  “How could it stay alive?” Onyx questioned. “After everything we threw at him on top of his previous injuries.”

  “He’s probably dying,” Rolo stated pinly. “We should put him out of his misery before he causes more harm.”

  Onyx sighed. He stretched his wings in preparation to scout from above, but the spot where lightning had hit him still stung.

  “Here,” Ulva said, reaching to her back. “Do you need a feather?”

  A tiny smile pyed on Onyx’s face. “Thank you, but I’m afraid we should save the feathers for ter. Hand me the burn cream.” Ulva obeyed, handing it to him. Reaching behind him, he applied the cream on the injured spot with a wince and a sigh of relief. With that, he was able to take off more easily. He flew slightly ahead and stayed just above the treeline while Rolo and Ulva followed. Surely enough, the scent of the thunderbird’s blood was hard not to notice, and tracking him seemed straightforward.

  But it wasn’t. The scent would cut off every now and then, and they had to find it again. It took them longer than they had desired. And if that wasn’t enough…

  “Something is wrong,” Onyx said while sniffing the air.

  “I know,” Rolo called back from below. “The other one is nearby. Stay alert and make haste, unless you like the idea of fighting two monsters at once.”

  The trail of blood eventually led them to a massive hill with a clearing visible on its top. Rolo and Ulva stopped in their tracks and Onyx nded near them.

  “The wolf…I can smell him,” Onyx commented. “He’s still with the bird.”

  The group approached carefully. Surely enough, the bird was lying down at the top of the hill, and huddled right beside it was the wolf from earlier.

  Rolo was about to sprint towards them, but Ulva stopped him. She stepped forward instead, clearing her throat.

  The wolf stirred and turned his attention to them, his teary eyes quickly hardening. “Leave us alone. Haven’t you done enough?!” The thunderbird beside him stirred weakly.

  Ulva took a deep breath before speaking. “I know how you feel, but you must get away from here. I will not try to convince you that Bolt is not your friend, but he’s an animal, and he’s injured and scared. He killed other wolves by accident and can do it again, especially in his current state. Please, you must step aside.”

  “And let you butcher him?” The wolf spat out.

  “We won’t. We just want you to get to safety.”

  “Really? Is that why you brought a dragon with you?!” The wolf chuckled darkly.

  Ulva sighed, rubbing her temple. “He won’t hurt him.”

  “You better watch out,” the wolf sniffled. “That dragon may kill you by accident when he’s scared and injured.”

  Onyx’s eyes widened, then narrowed at the wolf, growling. “I’m not…” He muttered, fists clenched. “Just get out of our way already!”

  The next thing that happened was almost too fast to register. Onyx spotted movement out of the corner of his eye and heard a rustling sound in the distance, but by the time his face was barely tilted to the right, that thing was already too close. Long yellow eyes, huge gaping mouth lined with sharp teeth, and it bit down on Onyx’s right shoulder.

  Onyx screamed at the top of his lungs, prompting everyone to quickly turn their attention to him. He could barely see the creature from that angle, but it was bigger than he had expected, although much smaller than the thunderbird. The jaws were cmped down hard on him, and worst of all, he could feel that thing sucking his blood, which made his skin crawl. He grabbed the creature’s face with his right hand, which prompted even more pain, while his left hand held the lower jaw. On top of everything, the angle was troublesome. Onyx pushed through the pain and discomfort, prying the vampire’s jaws open, then quickly turned around and struck it with both hands, sending it flying away and then rolling on the dirt.

  Onyx could hear Rolo and Ulva shouting his name, accompanied by a faint ringing in his ears, but he was focused on the monster and his injury. He touched the bite with his left hand, and brought it up to his face covered in blood. The injury wasn’t exclusive to his shoulder; the teeth had sunk to parts of his back and neck. He knew that would hinder his movement, especially flight and his right arm. Breathing heavily, he gulped, eyes narrowing at his assaint. His state of unfocus and irregur breathing was going to affect his mana coating. He grimaced and growled.

  The beast was over half of Onyx’s size. Its body was pitch bck, with red coloring on the sides, its eyes a glowing yellow, its wings were connected to its arms like a feral bat, and its ears were massive and pointed.

  “Blood…dragon…blood.”

  Onyx stared in shock as he heard the beast mutter in a low, guttural voice.

  “R-Rolo!” Onyx called he took a step back, his eyes never leaving the vampire. “I thought you said these things weren’t sentient!”

  “They’re not!” Rolo answered, him and Ulva sprinting to Onyx’s side. “That thing isn’t normal!” He unsheathed both of his axes. “But sentience is the least of your worries now. If it has qualities of other vampiric creatures, it may…mutate, based on the blood it consumes.”

  Onyx gritted his teeth at the shocking realization.

  “Focus!” Rolo commanded. “We must take it out before that happens, and don’t let it near the thunderbird!”

  Rolo dashed towards the vampire, standing in his face in an instant, his axes ready to strike, but the monster moved out of his way quickly, then sshed at him with his cws. Rolo hopped out of the attack’s range and swung a glowing axe, causing several icicles to burst out of the ground. As the camazotz narrowly dodged each one, Rolo hopped from one icicle to the other until he was behind him. He swung his axes and missed, but he used the momentum from the swing to spin his body and kick the camazotz in the chest, throwing him through an icicle and to the ground, but the monster quickly hopped back to his feet, hissing.

  Meanwhile, Ulva was inspecting Onyx’s wound. “It’s…bleeding so much,” she muttered, before reaching back to her wings.

  “Wait!” Onyx said, clutching the bite. “Don’t…don’t use too many. Rolo, you, and the wolf may get injured, and I may get injured again. Just stop the bleeding for now.”

  Ulva hesitated, then nodded, pcing a small bundle of feathers on Onyx’s wound.

  Onyx hissed, then sighed, before rising to his feet. “If the camazotz gets past us and targets the thunderbird, intercept it. I hope it doesn’t get to that.” He sprinted to Rolo’s aid, who had a scratch on his arm now, and swung his left hand at the monster, but he missed. He’s too fast! He thought, narrowly dodging the beast’s cws.

  “Focus!” Rolo commanded again.

  “Yeah, I heard you the first time you said that!” Onyx shot back, hissing as a sudden move from his right hand caused a sting in his wound.

  Onyx groaned. ”I have an idea: wall.” He met Rolo’s gaze, and the snow leopard nodded.

  Onyx charged at the camazotz with a couple more swings. He missed, and the monster managed to scratch his left arm. The camazotz charged again, but was intercepted by a wall of ice. Not wasting a single moment, Onyx dashed at the wall and kicked it with all his might, breaking through it and striking the monster behind it, sending him crashing into another wall of ice.

  Rolo charged at the creature and struck with his axes, but all he did was break the empty ice. “Damn it!” His gaze shifted upwards. “Look out!”

  Onyx followed Rolo’s line of sight, and found the vampire in the air, heading towards the thunderbird.

  Ulva dashed towards the monster, then tossed the second bomb at him. The explosion was loud, bright, and firey. The monster was knocked back, parts of him catching fire. He faced Ulva, hissing, then charged at her, his cws bared. Ulva dodged a ssh then delivered one of her own with her sword, which the vampire dodged and struck again. Suddenly, Ulva’s wings grew rger than usual, then bent forward, shielding her, but the monster’s attack sent her crashing into a tree.

  “Ulva!” Onyx yelled. He growled and took to the air towards the filing vampire, grabbed him by the leg and threw him back to the ground. Onyx didn’t relent, nding and grabbing the monster again, then smming it on the ground, stirring dust and blood in the air.

  Before Onyx could strike again, the odd camazotz let out a beastly, ear-piercing shriek, clutching his head with his cws and colpsing to his knees. Onyx’s instincts screamed at him to back off, and so he did, creating distance between them with a single jump.

  The vampire’s body began to shift with a sickening sound; his whole body began to grow, his wings and cws grew rger, his jaws longer and teeth bigger and sharper, and tentacles sprouted from his back.

  “More…blood!” The monster growled, before unleashing a mighty roar.

  “It looks…like a dragon!” Onyx muttered, taking a step back.

  Rolo growled, raising his axes in front of him. “This is what I feared.”

  The monster moved forward with speed unproportionate to his size, but Onyx reacted quickly, stepping aside and punching him in the face. He winced as the use of his right arm made his wound hurt again.

  The monster shook his head and roared, lunging at Onyx, but Rolo intercepted, sshing with his axes. The bdes struck the monster’s side, opening two gashes and spraying blood in the air.

  “His speed is reduced,” Rolo said, standing beside Onyx. “But now he’s more durable and aggressive.” He breathed deeply, readying himself. “He seems to be targeting you. Use that to our advantage. But don’t go too far or he’ll target the thunderbird again.”

  Onyx grimaced and nodded. He stole a quick gnce at Ulva; she seemed alright, but slightly injured. He quickly returned his attention to the vampire, sprinting forward and drawing his attention away from Rolo and the thunderbird. As the monster attacked, Onyx dodged and jumped forward, bringing both of his hands down on the creature’s head with all the weight and momentum of his body, which stung his injuries again. Onyx endured and wrapped his arms around the monster’s head while stepping on one of its cws, holding it in pce momentarily.

  There was no need to call out to Rolo, as the Yeager immediately seized the opportunity to hop forward and ssh with his axes, sending multiple arcs of ice magic at the monster. However, the camazotz broke free from Onyx’s grip and dodged several of the attacks, but a couple of them connected. As fast as the wind, Rolo followed up by dashing forward and sshing at the monster’s head, but he only managed to dig into its side.

  The vampire roared, quickly turning around and striking Rolo in the chest, throwing him against a tree.

  Onyx snarled. “Damn, you–” His ears twitched as he heard a noise behind him. Taking a look, he watched as the thunderbird rose to its feet, its whole body crackling with electricity. “Oh no…” Realizing what was about to happen, Onyx braced himself.

  The bird shrieked, and countless bolts of lightning struck the area all around him. As soon as he flew towards him, Onyx jumped out of the way. However, the bird flew past him, going straight towards the camazotz. The two monsters tangled for a moment, in which a bolt of lightning struck the vampire in the back, and it was so powerful that the electricity reached the ground beneath him, as if it passed right through him. However, the camazotz sshed the bird’s throat with his cws, and the lightning monster fell to the ground, his glow fading and his body motionless, his blood soaking the soil.

  Onyx watched in awe and disbelief. He hoped that the lightning would be enough to take out the vampire, but it wasn’t. The monster still moved, although his movement had a twitch to it at first, and some electricity still crackled around him. Onyx sprinted towards it, realizing he should stop it before it could drink the thunderbird’s blood.

  “Now, Rolo!” Onyx shouted.

  Rolo wasted no time, sshing at the monster more fiercely and with more ice magic. The vampire hopped out of the way, and consequently away from the thunderbird’s corpse. Rolo pressed on, sprouting icicles from the ground and towards his opponent.

  The camazotz used his tentacles, sshing some of the icicles and dodging others, but he still got hit, the ice piercing his arm, side, and leg. The tentacles extended further until they reached Rolo, forcing him to dodge.

  Suddenly, Onyx noticed a peculiar sight above the vampire. It was Ulva…flying with her wings that were still bigger than usual, her sword unsheathed and pointed downwards. She dove at the monster and pnted her sword in its back. The camazotz roared, one of its tentacles wrapping around Ulva and tossing her away. Her wings shielded her from the impact with the ground, then disappeared.

  Onyx charged at the monster and punched him in the face. The monster retaliated by lunging forward with his jaws open. Onyx tried to dodge, but his left arm was caught in the monster’s jaws. He screamed, before rage overtook his senses. He growled and swung the vampire around by his head, then ran and smashed its head into a tree. Then another, and another. Each one caused Onyx more pain, but fueled his rage even further. Eventually, the vampire’s bite wavered and Onyx freed his arm, then smmed his body into his, sending it flying away and crashing into more trees. He heard Rolo and Ulva shouting something, but he couldn’t make it out; he was completely focused on his opponent. He took a step forward and readied his fists, and his wounds screamed at him. But he didn’t care. He had to keep going. He wanted to keep going in spite of the pain.

  More ice formations jutted out of the ground, and some of them struck the monster. Then a massive, pointed pilr of ice struck him in the chest, parallel to the spot the lightning had struck him in the back. The force of the impact sent him into the air. Onyx seized the opportunity and flew higher, then brought both of his fists down with all his might on the monster’s back, right where the lightning had left a rge burnt spot, producing a sickening crunching sound, which Onyx found satisfying. The impact of the strike was enough to shatter the ice without even touching it, and the vampire crashed into the ground like a meteor. But Onyx didn’t stop there; he dove down and stomped on him, over and over again.

  “...I said enough!”

  Onyx finally heard Rolo shouting at him. He stopped and turned around to face the snow leopard, still gring and his vision still in a haze.

  “He’s dead! It’s over!” Rolo continued, scowling and panting.

  Beside the Yeager, Onyx saw Ulva, who was clutching her bloodied right arm. What? How? When did that happen to her?

  “What happened to that wolf?” Rolo asked, his gaze scanning the surroundings.

  “Th-There!” Ulva said, pointing in a direction and jogging towards it. She crouched next to the wolf, then screamed.

  Onyx and Rolo rushed to her side. The wolf’s body was burnt in several pces and blood was everywhere. Ulva was frozen, staring in shock at her paws covered in the wolf’s blood. Onyx had to peel his eyes away from the sight.

  “He…he’s…” Ulva stuttered through ragged breath.

  “Dead,” Rolo said. “He must’ve gotten hit by lightning when the thunderbird rose up.” He scoffed angrily. “We told him this would happen.” He turned his attention back to Onyx, gring. “But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t your fault as well!”

  Onyx gritted his teeth. “Are you serio–”

  “Damn right I’m serious!” Rolo jabbed a finger at Onyx’s chest. “You hesitated. She hesitated. The thunderbird would’ve been dead and the wolf alive, and we would’ve been better prepared for the camazotz if you didn’t hesitate.” Rolo turned around and let out a long sigh.

  Onyx was furious. He wanted to argue, but…he couldn’t deny Rolo’s cims. He was right; he could’ve intercepted the thunderbird. Sure, the wolf would’ve seen him, but he would’ve stayed alive. The reality was slowly weighing down on him; his actions had cost an innocent person his life.

  Onyx tried to stay in the moment, to shift his and the others’ attention to something else. He looked at Ulva, who was standing up now. “U-Ulva…what happened to your arm?”

  Ulva didn’t answer, only clutching her injury and facing the other way.

  “You happened,” Rolo answered instead.

  Onyx tore his eyes off Ulva and faced Rolo again, confused. “What?”

  Rolo gnced back at him. “You got her caught in the fight between you and the camazotz. I tried to warn you but you didn’t…didn’t hear me.”

  Onyx eyes widened. “No…it can’t…” He looked at Ulva, swallowing hard before speaking again. “Ulva…I didn’t…I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see…” He trailed off when there was no response.

  “We’ll discuss this ter.” Rolo turned to face them again. “Ulva, can you spare some feathers?”

  “I…I don’t know,” Ulva spoke after a pause, her voice faint. “My…wings stopped working after I used them to fly.”

  Rolo scoffed. “Great.” He walked up to the wolf’s corpse, pausing for a moment before carrying him.

  “A-Are you sure you can…?” Onyx asked.

  “It’s painfully clear that neither of you will carry him,” Rolo replied, although his harsh tone was starting to soften. “My injuries…aren’t serious. I just used too much magic, that’s all.” He started walking in the direction of the city. “Retrieve your sword from the thunderbird and behead him, then behead the vampire and bring both of their heads with you. We’ll need those to collect the reward.”

  Onyx blinked as he took a moment to register the command, then nodded. He limped his way to the thunderbird’s corpse, whispering “I’m sorry” before pulling his sword out of his back. He looked away as he brought the sword down, separating the head from the body with a revolting sound. His arms protested the extra bor he was putting them through. Then, he headed back to the camazotz’ corpse. He grimaced, then beheaded it, which wasn’t too hard; he had already done substantial damage to the creature. He didn’t like the idea of dragging those two heads with him, but that was the least of his worries at that moment.

  With that done, Onyx, Ulva and Rolo started their trip back to the city. So many things raced through Onyx’s mind; what would happen next? Would the shapeshifting potion work while he was injured? How could he possibly not see Ulva during his fight? Had he been truly so blinded by his rage? Or just too focused? And that wolf…he was stubborn and stupid, but he didn’t deserve to die for it. And it was Onyx’s fault.

  I’m sorry, was all Onyx could think of. To the wolf, to Ulva, to Rolo, to the thunderbird. He didn’t know what else to think, what else to say. It was too much.