I'm back. Miss me? About the 3 month delay… I got held up several times, then I got stuck at Verse 4, got held up again, got stuck at Verse 5, and after that, the days just seemed to be too short. Shortly put; I haven't been able to be creative lately…

Okay, anyway, I was asked the following: "Could you try to give Lina more weak points?" Well, I would… But I've already given her one. Lina herself is just not aware of it.

Ah, one more thing; I'm adding ONE more OC. Just ONE more… okay, two if you count his pact partner, but alright. Next chapter, alright? Maybe that'll get the juice in my head flowing again…

Chapter 20: Devilish

Verse 1

They were running out of time. Not to mention places to hide. There were only so many places you could hide an entire army, and even less when that army included a dragon, even if its coloration allowed it to blend in to its surroundings up north. So to say that things were going badly for the Union was an understatement.

Still, they continued onward, this time heading eastward. At that time, it was the only thing they could do. They couldn't go further north, because it would only get colder the further north they went. And it was cold enough for them all as it was.

While Lina and the dragon took to the skies again, Seul was allowed to ride on Irei's back with Isaac. The boy had barely spoken the entire time that they'd been underway, though he had hardly stopped shivering. He often looked up to where Lina and the dragon flew high above them, clearing the skies and scouting ahead at the same time.

"They'll be alright," Isaac said simply, making Seul look up curiously. Isaac only smiled and said: "You'll see. They'll be fine."

The younger boy didn't say a word about it, turning back to the road ahead.

Verse 2

Normally, Lina would've been shivering at the cold high in the skies, but now, she barely seemed to notice it. Perhaps she'd grown used to the cold, but whatever the reason was, it helped her to focus, at least. Last thing she needed was the cold to distract her.

But that didn't change the fact that they were running out of time.

How long do you intend to run?

Lina sighed. Being on the move is better than staying put, dragon. At least when you're moving, chances of getting caught are smaller.

You know I'm getting quite sick of you calling me "dragon". I have a name you know?

Well you don't call me by my name, either. So we're even. Besides, I don't even know your name.

Hmph. And you probably never will.

Then what are you complaining about? Now let's focus, shall we? I could be wrong, but it looks like we've got company.

The dragon looked up and snorted when he saw the Gargoyle cubes that had appeared in their path. These things seem to appear wherever we go…

Quit whining! Just move!

Fine fine…

They were so used to fighting cubes by now, that it barely took them all that long to dispose of them all. The funny thing was that that was all that was waiting for them. And that was reason enough for suspicion.

This can't be right… Something's wrong…

Lina frowned, conceding the point on that, but not understanding why. But it didn't take her long to figure it out.

Dammit! Get back to the others! This was a diversion!

What? GAWDFRICKIN'!

Spinning on a dime, the silver dragon shot off, back to where the others were. And Lina hoped they'd make it in time, before…

Verse 3

Seul whimpered as he ducked his head against Irei's fur, shaking in fear even as Isaac swung out with his sword at any Nation soldier that came at them. No sooner had they lost sight of the silver dragon did the Nation suddenly spring upon them. And though the Union consisted of many trained soldiers, they were vastly outnumbered.

Plus, there was still Eris to protect, though he couldn't understand why.

Before he could try and figure it out, Isaac jumped off of Irei. "Irei! Get Seul away from here so he can be somewhere safe! Hurry!"

Irei gave a sharp nod and rushed off, leaving Isaac to help defend Eris. Seul watched Isaac from over his shoulder with a worried glint in his eyes. He couldn't understand why Isaac would even bother with attempting to protect Eris. Wasn't he afraid to die?

Seul was so focused on Isaac, that he almost tumbled off of Irei when she suddenly stopped and leapt in the exact opposite direction they had been going. And just in time to avoid a ball of fire that would have crushed them to bits.

"Catapults…" Irei growled. Dragon! Be wary! The Nation is here with catapults!

)They are getting more and more annoying by the day!( the silver dragon snarled, and she could almost hear him roar in rage from afar.

I'll handle the catapults… Focus on protecting the Goddess.

)Whatever… just make sure we don't get killed here!(

"Hold on child! This will be a rough ride!" Irei warned, before she lunged forward, barely giving Seul the chance to hold on. Though his cold grip sent shivers down her spine, she ignored it as best as she could, the white hairs on her back lighting up as the black markings turned blood red, and then expanded.

Then she let out a howl of rage, causing streams of blue energy to erupt from her fur. The tendrils tore through the snow around her, before wrapping themselves around one of the catapults. And in an instant, the tendrils turned into ice, completely immobilizing the catapult.

Seul choked on air. "I-ice?" he got out, before he yelped as Irei jumped up and away from a small group of soldiers. Letting out a bark of rage, Irei rushed for the nearest soldier and snapped her jaw shut around his neck, causing blood to stain her pristine coat red.

Ignoring Seul's whimpers, she continued tearing through the soldiers while at the same time attempting to escape so she could get the child away from this carnage.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind, or she was suddenly struck by something from the side with such force it sent her flying with a surprised/pained yowl. Shaking her head from the landing, she looked up and snarled. "Ogres… Of all things…"

These giant monstrosities were almost 5 times bigger than an average human male, with hands the size of massive wooden beams that were used to bash anyone they ran across into mush. Still, their size also made them relatively slow, making them easy enough to deal with, even for her.

Had Seul not been one of her problems, that is.

When the child screamed, she whipped around to face him, growling when she saw that one of the soldiers had managed to get a hold him, twisting his arms behind his back so he couldn't get away.

Diving aside from the ogre's swing, Irei thought quickly. She couldn't handle that ogre and get to Seul at the same time. Hell, she knew if she'd try the latter, she'd be a sitting duck. The Nation now had a hostage, and they wouldn't be shy about using that chance, she knew.

But then Irei smirked and focused her attention on the ogre, realizing there was really no need to worry about the child.

Verse 4

Seul was just about ready to cry at the force applied to his arms. Any more and the bones would snap, he knew that much, and he couldn't do a thing about it. As much as he struggled against the hands holding him, he couldn't get out without risking his bones.

And then the soldier screamed and the grip on his arms vanished at the same time as a suspiciously warm liquid hit his back. But he wasn't given the time to think about it when he was suddenly picked up by an arm around his waist. And as he looked over his shoulder, he was surprised at whom he saw. "M-miss Lina?"

Lina's only reaction was a short glance at him, before she jumped back and out of range from the soldiers still coming after them. Snarling like a feral beast, Lina lunged forward, effortlessly managing to keep a steady grip on Seul while she was tearing through the soldiers.

But anyone having seen her fight before could see that she was unable to fight with all she had, since she clearly wouldn't risk the boy's life in any way. Lina, if subconsciously, kept shielding Seul from any attack aimed for him, which only resulted into pissing the demon inside of her off all the more. But she simply wasn't able to use that rage's full power.

Even Seul got the feeling that Lina wasn't going all-out, and he hardly knew her that well. Spinning out of the way of another attack, Lina only barely managed to block the next lash before she countered in an instant, leaving the soldier to bleed to death in the cold without a second glance.

And then she let out a roar of pain when an arrow was suddenly lodged in her shoulder. Snarling in fury, Lina whipped around and launched a single orb of fire at the archer, only grinning as he screamed when it hit his face. Of course, that caused him to inhale a big part of the fire, thus burning up his lungs and killing him in less than two seconds.

Since her hands were full, the arrow would have to wait, and Lina refocused on taking out anyone daring to get in her way. Which was going fine until another arrow lodged itself right into a nerve cluster in her left shoulder, rendering her entire arm useless. This caused her to drop Seul and yowl in sheer agony at the shot.

Reaching over and ripping the arrow out, she barely seemed to care as the blood began to flow before the cold caused it to freeze over the wound, effectively preventing it from infecting. But that was the last of her problems. Right now, all her blood-crazed mind was after was killing every last one of those bastards!

And Seul could do nothing but watch as she almost easily tore through the soldiers.

Even he could tell that she'd never last long like this. There was simply no way she could, especially with only one arm at her disposal.

Seul whimpered as he shut his eyes, trying not to cry…

But then he silenced and his panicked expression disappeared. And when his eyes slowly slid open, they were no longer dark blue, but a piercing golden yellow.

Verse 5

Jumping back from another soldier that tried to get to her, Lina snarled angrily. Fighting with one arm was proving to be a bit of a problem. And that was exactly why she hated archers; they never had to get close and made sure to stay the hell away from the close-ranged fighters. They had enough archers as well, but the amount the Nation had was downright annoying.

With a roar, Lina lashed out, the shockwave sending a number of the Nation soldiers flying. And right now, it wasn't just the archers that were getting annoying.

No sooner had that thought crossed her mind, did a shadow pass over her, before a boulder nearly twice her height crushed several soldiers in a heartbeat. Of course, Lina blinked in surprise, before she turned her head to look at the source.

And who could really blame her for staring in utter surprise at Seul, who was still standing slightly crouched, in a way that indicated that he had just thrown that piece of rock. But before she could begin to doubt it, Seul whipped around and slammed his fist into the face of a soldier that had sneaked up behind him.

His fist smashed the metal of the helmet, and by the resounding crack from underneath, Seul had clearly broken the man's nose as well. Allowing a tiny smirk at that, Lina watched as Seul coiled backwards until his head was almost touching the ground without his feet leaving it, before one leg came up and knocked the soldier's head out of the neck joint with a sickening crack. Before that was even done, Seul's hands were on the ground, and the propulsion from his single kick made him flip over and land in a crouch with ease.

'Don't know where he got those moves, but the kid's got style.'

Sure that the kid could handle himself, at least for now, Lina turned and finally released the last reins on the demon inside of her, allowing it its so desired freedom at last. And then it didn't matter that she only had one arm at her disposal, because now, it was more than enough.

Not even the pain that blossomed from her shoulder as her arm was jostled around almost lifelessly could make her assault lessen even one bit.

Verse 6

When the last Nation soldier finally bit the dust, the once pristine snow had been dyed crimson because of the blood that had been spilt. Isaac looked around once more, even as Lina and Seul came over, flanked by Irei.

"We have to get out of here before more arrive," Isaac said, though he knew that Lina had already sent the message to her partner, whom had told everyone else as soon as the fight was over. Her sword was already replaced in its sheath, while she reached up to wipe a few smudges of blood away from her face.

However, it didn't take long for Isaac to notice her arm. "Lina! Your arm-"

But Lina roughly shoved him out of her way as she kept walking, not stopping until she was next to her dragon. Though he gave her a strange look, the glare she gave him was obvious enough. No one dared to object as Lina somehow managed to pull herself up onto the dragon's neck with only one arm. And then the dragon was up in the air with one solid clap of his wings, once more taking the lead of the army.

And all the time, Eris watched from a distance. She could tell that something was wrong, and she didn't mean just with Lina's injuries. Something about the battle just then didn't fit with Lina's regular pattern.

'It was almost like she was holding back…'

Verse 7

Things were silent for a long time. Lina stubbornly clung to consciousness, even as her head was beginning to spin and her stomach revolting to the dragon's movements beneath her.

You're not up for flying.

Shut UP! I don't want to hear it!

You're going to fall off.

I am NOT! Now just shut up and fly, dammit!

The dragon snorted simply, but did as he was told. He could threaten that he'd not catch her, but both knew damn well that even if she fell, he'd damn well rush after and catch her before she'd be able to hit the ground, if only because he himself wasn't about to die just yet.

It had nothing to do with the fact that he worried about her. Don't be absurd.

Lina's shoulder throbbed painfully, but she wasn't about to reach over to try and lessen the pain. She was not so weak that she couldn't handle a little pain. And damn if she wasn't determined not to let it show on her face.

She was just glad that they'd already cleared the skies prior to the last battle. At least for now.

You can't keep this up.

I didn't ask for an opinion!

I'm still giving it. Get used to it.

Lina snarled angrily, before she slammed her fist on his hide, despite knowing it wouldn't do anything. The dragon merely chuckled.

Damn you! she snarled angrily, before a slight shiver ran through her, starting from her gut.

As much as she hated to admit it, that didn't feel too good. But even as the bile began to rise up her throat, she forcibly swallowed it again, despite the horrible taste it left behind. It was sheer willpower alone that she didn't puke her guts out.

That's it… listen; I'm giving you 10 seconds to make up your mind before I take us down myself! You're clearly not capable of staying up here for long!

Would you shut UP already? I'm not a damn child already! I don't need to be babied!

That so? Because you sure can whine like one.

And I don't WHINE!

Could've fooled me…

The sudden lack of response caused him to turn his head so he could look back at his partner. The girl was now rubbing her temples with a low growl, as if this was giving her a headache… but why was she sweating in this cold?

Then he saw it…

"Confound it! When did your wound open?" he demanded, noticing there was a lot more blood on her shoulder than when they'd taken the air. "Right that's it! I'm taking us down!"

"I… don't…"

It was all that managed to get out before she fell forward against his neck, and only barely missed sliding over it and down to the earth below.

Verse 8

Eris sighed as she placed another cloth on the girl's forehead. The fourth in less than an hour. She definitely had a fever, but that wasn't from the cold, she knew now. When Seul had come in suddenly, and assessed the wound, his face had taken on a definitely worried look.

He was then shouting something about infection and about someone getting him two thin pieces of metal and some strong alcoholic drink. Though they'd questioned if he was old enough to drink, Eris had decided to humor the boy.

But as it turned out, he hadn't drunk one sip.

After he had cleaned the wound with Eris' help, he'd carefully assessed the wound, and had reached inside with the bits of metal… revealing a bit of cloth trapped inside the wound. And then things had gotten nasty.

He had requested Lina's dragon to keep her down while he disinfected the wound, as he called it.

Eris called it sheer torture. Pouring alcohol over a wound and expect it to help? Preposterous. But the dragon hadn't objected, and hadn't questioned him, holding Lina down when she began to thrash and roar in a combination of pain and fury.

Eris hadn't even wanted to know what she had been yelling about.

Now, however, it actually seemed to be helping. The wound was looking better, and though the fever hadn't subsided, Seul had claimed that it would pass. She'd just need to recover the blood she'd lost in that last battle.

It made Eris wonder…

Suddenly, Lina let out a raspy growl, tossing her head to the side, causing the cloth to land on the floor.

"Oh dangit… Lina…" she grumbled, picking up the cloth. She'd be glad once this was all over.

Verse 9

By the time everyone was asleep but the guards on duty, Lina had been snatched from the tent she'd been placed in, and now rested securely against her pact beast's body, coiled up like she had on the first night he'd pulled her away from the camp. It was warm under his wings, but she was warm enough on her own now, he could feel it.

And he knew it wasn't right.

Dragons weren't meant to be cold, and humans weren't meant to be burning like that. He knew that much.

Snorting, he prodded her with his snout, just to see if it would wake her.

It didn't. Instead, she let out a moan and reached for something that, apparently, wasn't there. Some sort of security, he guessed. So, he prodded her again, and this time, her hands came faster, even in her subdued state of mind. When they came across him, they seemed to hesitate, but then she moved slowly and, strangely enough, curled around his head, one hand smoothing over the scales on his snout.

And… he had to admit… it felt… well… good.

No one had ever done that before. Well, no one had ever dared, he figured. Not that he blamed them.

Shaking the thought away, he made to go to sleep, but a soft, rasping growl made him pause.

"…ther… o… ther…"

'Other…? What does… …ah. Must be calling her mother, I guess… Pff.'

But… now that he thought about it… wasn't one part of the word more growling than the rest? That would mean there was another 'r' in the word she was mumbling.

And then it clicked.

Looking at her, he said his thoughts out loud, despite knowing neither she nor anyone out there would hear, or understand, him.