In all of Ato's twenty years of life, he had never been beyond view of the village: even on that fateful night when he had heard The Song, the village had been there, always present, a reminder of where he was. Of course, it was not that he had not been able to leave. Ato turned his head, looking over the path he and his group—a collection of ten mages and warriors, a few dogs pulling carts, and Kito—had walked. Yellow grass was all he saw, stretching for days and days in every direction over wide, rolling hills. Ato thought of his father—far away, likely sitting alone. He thought of his bag, where the potion sat, wrapped in many layers of cloth in case of a fall. Ato sighed, his tired eyelids closing a tad, as his hand grasped onto his spear a bit more tightly.

  "Feeling homesick, Ato?"

  Ato turned back around to look at Hava, who was walking ahead, one hand fingering his sword, his other entwined with that of a female mage: Shasi, his lover. Ato smiled.

  "No…I am merely worried about my cat. She is giving birth, soon."

  Hava chuckled.

  "Ever the worrier! You cannot sense her from here?"

  "You should know by now that I cannot sense anywhere near that far."

  Hava and Shasi giggled, and Ato found himself smiling through heavy eyelids as he yawned.

  "We may not all be as perceptive as Ato, but even I in my old age can sense your hands where they are not meant to be, Hava."

  Laughter erupted from everyone, and the ends of Hava's eyebrows bent downwards. He turned towards Kito, who was still walking—if slowly—his head turned towards the horizon ahead.

  "W-well, there's nothing around, honored mage..." The old mage, without slowing his gait, simply pointed a finger upwards.

  Ato looked to the sky, where he saw a fuzzy black spot drifting lazily towards them. Ato could not see it clearly—but he could sense The Song, which, even from here, seemed to be almost as strong as that of a student mage. A dragon.

  Ato shivered. He longed for the days when he was still a child, when those faint blobs far off in the distance had been just shapes that his father had said where dangerous—when he could not sense the large masses of mana that drifted by the village from time to time. When he was small, he had taken the danger to be something akin to an angry dog. Now, he understood the inherent danger lurking within any mage or warrior, and he found the idea of facing some wild animal with the same abilities to be akin to a nightmare.

  "There is the drake we came for, and just as The Crown told us, it is hunting humans—us. If you had not been distracting Ato and Shasi, they would have noticed."

  "A-apologies...Honored Mage."

  "Do not worry, there is no need for apologies..."

  Hava let out an audible sigh of relief.

  "...Because you will be helping to kill it."

  Everyone giggled, and Hava laughed along worriedly.

  It was a little while longer before they found an area that satisfied the old mage: a large open field, almost completely flat, overlooked by a hill they all stood on. In the distance were a large herd of alcis grazing, their hundreds of giant hulking forms packed so tightly, that it was almost like looking at one large throng of fur, with the only sign of individuals being the pairs of spiraled antlers glinting in the sun. The old mage turned to the whole group, his eyes focusing on Hava.

  "Child: soon, your task begins."

  Hava looked up at the dragon, his hand above his eyes to shield them from the sun. It was circling above them in the sky now, high enough that Ato could barely make out its features—but even so, Ato could feel it's Song, like a heavy weight hanging precariously above them, ready to fall.

  Hava sighed loudly.

  "Yes... What must I do?"

  Kito cackled, then coughed.

  "First, we need bait. The dragon can sense mana, so it will be less likely to go for a mage. That is why a warrior is needed..."

  Hava's face fell in horror.

  "A warrior will go out into that field below us alone, back turned to the dragon, waiting for it to attack them."

  Ato heard a soft curse escape Hava's lips.

  "...We will be watching from this hill, and as soon as the dragon reaches the warrior, I will cast a spell to strike it down. If it survives, I and a few warriors and mages will go to finish it."

  Hava trembled, unable to stop his voice from stuttering.

  "A-and what about t-the warrior down below..?"

  The old mage smiled.

  "Well of course, they will have to keep the drake occupied, should my spell not work, or in case of some other delay."

  Hava looked down at the ground. Ato could see in his shoulders that he was trembling.

  "H-honored mage...maybe it is a bit too early for me to be doing such things... I-in the first place...a dragon's wings are almost silent... What if I cannot hear it..?"

  The old mage simply smiled.

  "When did I say you would be the bait?"

  He turned to Ato.

  Ato's eyes widened. He felt a pit form in his stomach.

  "...me?"

  Kito nodded.

  "You are a rare person Ato. One with the mana of an ordinary person, but with the senses of a mage. Better than most, in fact. No one is better suited for this task."

  Better suited to be bait..?

  Ato felt his hand start to shake as it gripped his spear. He looked up at the dragon as it continued to circle them, felt it's Song prickle at his skin even from so high up. As if he already knew what Ato was thinking, the old mage reassured him.

  "Do not worry Ato. Of all the peoples in the world, only we—the Grassfolk—are known as dragon slayers. Every day of your training has prepared you for moments such as these. You are trained to kill full grown drakes if necessary, and that—"

  He pointed towards the dark shape above.

  "Is only a juvenile."

  Ato could only stare at the blob in the sky in response. He thought back to the description The Crown had given them before they had set out.

  Juvenile. The size of two houses. Two warriors and a mage among the dead...

  Ato realized he had never even seen a live drake before; he only knew what they could do.

  What this one had already done.

  Ato took a moment, a long, shaky breath, as he looked down at the grass below him, swaying in the breeze. He placed his hands on his spear to steady himself, as both began shaking. Finally, he sighed. He decided then, to pretend: that it was just a task, like any other expected of him. If he could do that, it became smaller.

  Ato’s hands grew still. He looked up at the old mage, a smile on his face.

  "Understood, Honored Mage. When do we begin?"

  Ato stared down at the grass in front of him, trembling, trying his best to look unbothered. His hands grasped onto his spear as he walked forward, as close to ready as he would allow: Kito had asked him to act as naturally as possible. In his mind, he grabbed at every sign of mana he could, from behind him, from the sky. All he could sense was the large herd of alcis to his left, a herd so dense, that its Song almost seemed to blot out everything in its direction. Finally, after walking for a little while longer—so far that he felt that everyone may as well have been back at the village—he sat down in the grass.

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  The grass reached to just below his shoulders, and Ato felt like he may sink into it and never be seen again. He almost preferred that, to what would soon ensue.

  In his mind, as he trembled, he repeated the same prayer, that he had begun to pray every night he had woken up screaming, and before he did anything he feared.

  Great Mother… dear Bel… protect me, keep me alive, hold me in your arms, and keep me there safe… Give me strength, free me from suffering.

  Three times, Ato prayed, as always, though he did not kneel, did not bow his head, this time; he was too afraid. He hoped it was enough.

  Please be enough.

  Ato opened his eyes as he took a shaking breath, and looked at his spear in front of him, the symbol of his status as a warrior.

  As a dragon slayer.

  He stared at his spear for a long moment, before he sighed, and reached into his cloak, retrieving a long piece of string.

  "Let us see..." he said, wrapping the string around the shaft of his spear, then looping it between the fingers of his right hand.

  "If I am really worthy of the title."

  He held the spear tight, then sat still, eyes closed.

  Ato waited, listening to every bit of mana around him, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Wind whistled gently through the grass, pulling at the chimes on his clothes as it went. At a certain point, Ato could not help but feel his mind wander. He thought of his mother. How many times had she done such a thing as this? Had she ever been scared, like him? He remembered the few things his father had had to say about her.

  ‘She was the best mage I'd ever seen.’

  He had said this once, on one of those rare occasions when he seemed to shrug off the weariness that plagued him.

  ‘No one could stand next to her... Not even the Honored Mage. Really, she was meant to be his replacement.’

  And then Ato was born.

  Ato's hands began to tremble. He thought of his brother. Of when he fought Kenri, and Ato had found himself in awe of him. Ato's father had rarely spoken of his mother, and Ato never resented it—and yet, he had secretly hoped to at least know his brother, that maybe he would speak of himself, of her. And instead…that had happened. It was as if he had died too.

  Behind and above him, Ato felt the slight prick of something in the distance. He grit his teeth. He waited, eyes closed, as he felt the dragon fly closer. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. The drake was silent, undetectable, save for the mana which Ato felt grow larger at a worrying pace.

  Dragons were far too perceptive, and far too intelligent, to not sense when a mage was near, when a spell was coming their way. It would sense any spell strong enough to kill from afar, long before it was finished being cast, and it would sense any mage flying close enough to attack, long before they reached it.

  Ato remembered the old mage's blackened hands, his feet. The only mage that was capable of being an exception would be him. Ato felt his body begin to tremble as he sensed the dragon come so close, that it felt as if he could walk to it in a moment.

  What is taking Kito?

  Finally, Ato could not stand it any longer. He opened his eyes, spinning on his feet as fast as his body would allow. He saw the dragon, some giant mass of scales and spines, so large that Ato knew at once that he was likely to die, and it would not even be sad, it would simply make sense. It was posed in the air like some raptor, its hind feet poised to stomp or grab at him.

  Ato grit his teeth, channeling The Song into his right arm, his muscles burning dully as he flung his spear, its shaft coming undone from the string as it flew, causing it to spin in air, landing deep into the drake's belly. The dragon let out a great shriek, and Ato channeled mana into his whole body, springing himself onto its stomach as it tumbled in air. He grasped his spear, twisting and jerking it into the screaming beast, before the dragon plummeted, roaring, to the grass. Suddenly, Ato, his spear, were under blood and scales, with only the mana in his body to keep them from being crushed.

  Fuck… FUCK.

  Ato groaned, screamed, his arms desperately pushing against warm wet scales that roared with pain, as he struggled under the monster’s weight.

  Gods… Gods, please… HELP.

  The dragon barely moved beyond that of its own twitches, and Ato, body burning, lungs begging for air that was fast leaving, finally took a breath. He channeled, and screamed, his arms pushing up, each muscle feeling like it was about to burst. The weight moved. Ato pulled himself, his spear, out from under the beast.

  The dragon shrieked and thrashed as it struggled through pain and confusion, while Ato scrambled across dirt away from the beast, and labored to simply stand. Finally, he rose, leaning on his spear for support, and saw the dragon, hunched over its wound, staring down Ato and roaring.

  Ato sized up the creature, taller than the village tree even as it was curled inwards, clad in scarlet red scales and black spines that were each larger than his head. Its yellow eyes stared into Ato's with an unmistakable quality of intelligence, bloodlust, and hunger. Ato shivered. He glanced towards the hill, searching for the old mage's spell, or the group of mages and warriors that were supposed to come to his aid.

  Where are they?

  The dragon roared, then slowly walked towards Ato, its stomach dripping large buckets of blood as it paced forward. Ato cursed, and struggled to stand up straight. He grabbed his spear in both hands, readying it to stab the dragon.

  "Come on!"

  He screamed, as he channeled small bits of mana into his dying arms, hoping the drake would sense it and choose to leave. Ato thrust his spear towards the drake as a threat, his legs not moving backwards nor forwards, simply keeping the same wide stance. The dragon paused, and Ato almost felt a bit of relief. Then, it bent low to the ground, growling. Steam exited from its nostrils, and suddenly the air around Ato became as the inside of an oven. Ato froze, his blood running cold.

  The dragon roared, and every single spine on the great beast burst into flame at the same moment, clothing the drake in violent fire that shot outwards like chaotic, deadly plumage. Ato yelped, and tried with dying legs to stumble away, before the dragon roared one final time, and a flame erupted from its mouth with such speed and volume that Ato had nowhere to go. Short of options, Ato did something shameful. He closed his eyes, visualizing the barrier, gripping his spear as he had when it had still been a mage's staff, channeling what little mana he could tolerate. He shouted the word.

  "Away!"

  The flames crashed into some invisible wall, parting into a large mountain of red fury before they could reach Ato. Ato opened his eyes, then opened them wider, his mouth open in wonder and joy, before he felt a hand on his shoulder from behind. He jumped away, surprised, his eyes focusing on the old mage, staff pointed forwards, towards the barrier he'd obviously cast.

  "Wh-wha..?"

  The old mage looked at him with a slight smile, brow furrowed in slight concentration as he labored to keep the barrier up amidst the flames.

  "Surprised you, did I? I apologize, it appears I was a tad late." Ato looked at the mage, then the barrier. He felt his face grow hot, and not from the heat.

  "Did...did you hear anything...?" The old mage raised a brow at him, still focused on the spell.

  "Sadly I do not hear much these days, child. One of age's bounties." Ato looked away and rubbed his neck, trying to hide his relief.

  "Where...are the others?"

  "Hiding with the alcis, awaiting my word. Now," Kito thrust his staff forward a tad, and the barrier moved, causing the fire to retreat.

  "Let us begin, shall we?"

  He waved his staff in a circle, and the barrier fell, and quickly, the old mage shouted. "For my people…a wall!" Tall walls of stone rose from the ground, blocking the flames and surrounding the drake. Ato heard a muffled roar from behind the wall, and the first of many thumps, as the drake began trying to topple the rock. The old mage pointed his staff to the sky, and without him needing to even say the words, a thin beam of light shot into the air. Kito turned to Ato, his face now relaxed, as if he had never even cast a spell.

  "I would end this now, but I do not want to rob your friend of learning an important lesson. Still, I would like to make sure such lessons are safe..." He looked at the wall of stone, cracking already from the dragon's attacks. The old mage walked backwards a few paces, then gestured for Ato to follow.

  "Stay a moment, child? I would like you to see something."

  The cracks in the stone grew larger, the rock splintering and shedding small chunks as it began to fall apart. Ato readied his spear, but Kito placed his hand on its end, pushing it down gently. The old mage paused a moment, his eyes closing. Ato sensed something shift in his Song: as if it was going away, replaced with something entirely different. Something older…grand. He felt himself almost unable to stand next to him—it was like being greeted with the sun after a year of night. Ato looked at the old mage, and nearly jumped back at seeing Pritii standing next to him, hand on his shoulder, as tall as Ato, and clad in a familiar white dress and golden jewelry.

  In the next moment, the dragon broke through the wall, still clothed in horrible flames, readying to breathe another inferno. The old mage raised his staff into the air above him, closing his eyes once again. Quietly, at a volume barely above a whisper, he chanted a spell.

  "Forgive me, Great Mother…for your gift of life, which I greedily steal…" The dragon roared, its body seeming to stagger as if tiring. Its flames began to flow upwards—as if being sucked away by something—and curl into a single line, moving towards the tip of Kito's staff, where it gathered into a ball. The mage pointed his staff at the drake then, and the ball expanded into a giant plume of fire, ejecting towards the beast as it screamed in pain.

  "Many thanks, honored mage!" Ato looked towards the direction of the shout—off to the side, in the direction of the Alcis. Hava was running towards the dragon, nearly here now, flanked by Shasi and another mage, both flying in an effort to keep up with him. Suddenly, he grunted and leaped forward, making up the distance between him and the drake in a single moment. The drake, tired and short of blood, hissed, and swung one of its claws to tear Hava apart, and Hava fell to his knees and ducked, sliding across grass and under the foot.

  His hand moved to unsheathe his sword from his hip as he did so, slicing the bottom of the dragon's foot as he slid out of its reach. The drake shrieked in pain, and Hava stood up, looking towards Shasi and the other mage.

  "Now!" Both mages pointed their staffs at the beast, chanting. Volleys of light shot from their staffs, hitting the dragon's side, causing little damage, but making it turn to them. Hava jumped across grass, towards the dragon, swinging his sword in an arc as he slid under the dragon's neck, slitting its throat.

  The dragon fell then, a new stream of blood leaking from its muscled neck as it crumpled into the grass for the second and last time. Hava swung his sword to his side, flinging blood from his blade and onto the grass. He began wiping his sword in his cloak methodically, before he paused mid wipe, freezing in place.

  "Great Mother bless me—that was terrifying!" Ato could only stare. Then, he could only laugh. Shasi and the other mage began to laugh as well, as Hava simply stood mid wipe, embarrassed. Ato turned towards the old mage beside him then, and at Pritii, who looked at Ato, her gaze sweeping across him, as if pondering something.

  Suddenly, Ato's laughter died, and he found himself unable to look away, unable to move, frozen in her stare, her strangely bright eyes. He tried to think of what he was supposed to do; he considered bowing his head, or kneeling. Then, he blinked, and she was gone. Ato looked at Kito, who simply met his gaze with a smile, and winked.

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