2: Blood

The Iron Bull managed in time to get behind a formation of black rocks before the elf got up. Now he spotted some empty flasks of glass scattered around the dragon. Some were broken.

Samil stretched and combed back his hair with his free hand. The strands were slick from the dragon's blood. Sticky red liquid was dripping down his body and slowly formed a pool around his naked feet. The heavy rain was still pouring down on the coast and had started to wash the crimson off his ivory white skin.

The elf took a deep breath and crouched down, presenting Bull with a quite memorable view. He let a long blade slip from his fingers. It fell into the sand, right next to the big bloody lump that was the dragon's heart he had cut out of the beast's chest.

Through the thick fog Bull could see a bundle of wet clothes, right next to the death beast's hind legs. He hadn't noticed them before amidst the many pieces of scattered dark boulders. The elf pulled a big piece of fabric off the stack and close – maybe a coat. Then he bowed down and scooped the bloody heap up with both arms to place the heart in the center of the fabric and wrapped it up. When he had made a knot to tie the ends of the fabric together he grabbed a piece of wood and the blade he had dropped before. He quickly whipped the blood off the silver blade on the side of the bundle. Bull watched the mage put back the sharp weapon on the end of his staff and heard a short clicking noise as the metal locked in place.

Now the deep cuts on the dragon's throat made sense to him. With the staff's blade the elf must have had sufficient range to slash the animal's carotid artery. Trice.

The Staff was placed down and the Qunari ducked with unexpected as the slender figure shifted and got up, turning to face his direction.

Bull peaked again over the stone as the elf stepped into the surge of waves, until the cool water reached up to his navel. Samil could feel the water's force, trying to pull him into the sea, but it was not strong enough to sweep him off his feet yet. He inhaled sharply and disappeared for a few seconds beneath the turbulent surface. When he reemerged the crimson had washed off. The wet skin had the same color of the sheashells that had washed up on the shore.

Bull finally felt his own blood rush downwards when he realized, that the elf's hair had kept their red color. A hue of dark, rich gules.

"Most mages I know of would keep some distance to their target", Bull commented, unable to hold back his amazement anymore. His quick reflexes saved him from a fireball that collided with the rock in his back, right on the level were his chest had been a moment before. "Hey! Careful with that."

"Most mages won't have a choice if they run out of mana during a fight", the elf retorted. When Bull carefully glanced back again over the rock, the elf had already rushed out of the water and was holding his staff, presenting him a full frontal view of his naked body. Amber eyes scanned the area and skipped over to the cliff, when Samil spotted the movement of the Qunari's horns. Sparks of magic flared warningly around slender fingertips.

"Most mages won't succeed in incinerating innocent bystanders without mana." Bull rose a bit, holding both hands at the high of his shoulders so the other could see them.

"You seem pretty much fine to me." The elf relaxed a bit and lowered his staff – but not his vigilance. "Maybe a little charred around the horns. Perhaps I should aim a bit lower next time", he joked and bent sideways to snatch his breeches from the ground, without taking his eyes off the Qunari, who followed the elf's example and kept watching him as he pulled up the fabric to his waist, fastening it with on hand. Bull noticed the elf's lack of hurry to cover up with a lopsided sneer.

"I think you already have", muttered Bull under his breath whilst the elf put on more clothes.

"The Iron Bull, I presume?", he called over, pulling down the hem of his gambeson with one hand, still holding his staff in the other.

"Yeah. The horns usually give it away."

Bull caught a most intriguing spark of mischief in the elf's honey colored eyes. The next thing he noticed was the emblem on his clothes. It showed an eye and a sword, surrounded by rays of light. The heraldic device of the Inquisition.

"So you're with the Inquisition, huh?" Bull figured it was safe to pick up his axe, without risking to have another fireball aimed at him again. The elf nodded and picked up his staff, too and hoisted the bloody bundle of soaked cloth up. He swayed a little under the weight of the big organ on his shoulder.

"One could say so. I'm here to see what you and your Chargers have to offer. Got held up a little..." The elf was interrupted by a shout from the wall of fog in the Qunari's back.

"Hey, Chief!" Two blurry figure came closer, until a soldier reached them, accompanied by a second man. The younger man wore full armour and shoot an almost annoyed look at the Qunari as he slowed down a little, walking round a few boulders. "Why'd you run off like that. We won't set up your big ass tent for y-", he stopped short when his gaze fell upon the death dragon, whistling through his teeth. "Forget I asked."

Bull laughed and gestured at the new arrival. "I assume you remember Cremisius Aclassi, my Lieutenant."

"Good to see you again", the handsome soldier greeted the elf politely, before looking back at his commander. "Can we get out of the rain already? I can almost feel my armour starting to rust."

"You could help me strip the carcass for all the good parts before we head to your camp? I can't carry all of it alone. Teeth, claws, hide... you know. I just don't want to let it lay here out in the open. Chances are there will be nothing valuable left when I get back."

"Would be a shame to waste resources", Bull agreed and signaled the two chargers to come closer.

Some time later the beast was almost completely taken apart, the four of them soaked and packed with parts of the dragon as they made their way back to the rest of the Chargers.