"That's not possible," Yuri said immediately, "Nobody's immune to magic. That's… that's not how it works."

"It's not how it should work, sure, but the other day I walked into an area with no magic whatsoever and I was fine. A boread tried to freeze me solid and only made me cold. The hydra's toxic spittle only itches and I just now looked the gorgon in the eyes without any ill effects. If that's not enough evidence to come to a conclusion, I'm not sure what is," Null replied, "Look, the damage is already done. If I'm going to turn to stone, it's already too late. You don't have to hide your face from me."

Yuri slowly turned around, worry in her face. She stared at him for a few moments, frozen. Then said a single word:

"Oh."

"Yeah. So, we're kind of in a rush to get to Warfang. Do you know any other ways to cross the river?"

"Um. One, uh… moment…" She stared into space, deep in thought for a few moments. "Just… processing. Right. The only other place to cross is down by the ocean. Upstream is too toxic, and the hydra's awake now."

"Then we'll go downstream," Null said, shrugging, "Take a detour across the ocean. It's the only option remaining."

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Apex asked.

"I got spat on by the hydra and then looked the gorgon in the eyes and am currently only suffering from an annoying itch," Null explained, turning towards Apex. The wind dragon had reached the ground now, and was slowly picking his way around roots. "The only rational explanation is that I am immune to magic."

"Oh, cool." Apex paused, his brow furrowing. "Wait but I've used magic on you before."

"You've used magic on the wind around me. Vacuum shoves and tailwinds. I don't think you've ever used magic directly on me, and definitely not for any extended period. The acid still burned, but once the poison magic was gone it stopped." Null looked down at the puddle of sludge on the ground. "Hmm. Maybe immunity's the wrong word. Something closer to a negation of magic. Not instant - or perhaps only things in contact with my body - or acting directly on me - are negated. That would explain the spirit gems. And since there's no physical component to Yuri's petrifying gaze then the entire effect does nothing to me."

"We should probably get going before the hydra tries again…" Yuri warned, eyeing the river.

"Right. Lead the way." Null strode over to Apex, bumping him with his shoulder and laying a wingtip on his side. "I'll guide Apex."

Yuri began slithering, shooting a backwards glance at the hydra as she started back through the trees and away from the river. While the two dragons followed, she began speaking.

"I, uh, haven't ever really met anyone who I could just… talk to, and be around, before," She began nervously. She trailed off for a bit, letting the air settle into uncomfortable silence.

"No family?" Apex asked, then winced. "Sorry, that's a weird question to ask."

Yuri stopped for a few moments, the serpents on her head stilling and becoming subdued. After a moment, she started moving again as she spoke.

"I… had my mother while I was young. She blindfolded herself while she was raising me. I didn't know why for a long time. Then…" She swallowed, drawing in a shuddering breath. "Then one day I caught her at a bad time. Our eyes met, and… I suppose the potion that made her the gorgon got stronger when she had me, because I'm the one who survived."

Null felt a painful pang in his chest. "I'm sorry. I know how that feels."

"It was… it was a long time ago," Yuri's voice cracked, and she brought the back of one hand to her mouth as her body shook. She cleared her throat, straightening. "I'm over it now."

Clearly she wasn't, but Null didn't want to press it.

Apex, on the other hand, could not see her and also had all the subtlety of a rampaging boar.

"What do you mean potion? A potion that makes people who look at you turn to stone?" He asked.

"Apex…" Null warned.

"No, it's fine." Yuri took a deep breath then let it out. "I'd rather talk about alchemy. I learned a lot of it before… Anyways, the potion was supposed to give the drinker stone skin. Something went wrong and there were some physical mutations in addition to the magical ones, and all the nagas that were there were turned to stone before she… that is, my mother, knew what had happened."

"She probably came to the grove to avoid people," Null murmured to Apex, predicting the next question.

"If your mother's the only person you've ever known, then do you know what happened to your father?" Apex pushed on stubbornly.

"Apex!" Null hissed.

"I never had a father. Mother had me alone," Yuri answered, though she was clearly uncomfortable with the question.

"But that's-," Apex started, confusion clear on his face.

"Parthenogenesis. Some species - nagas among them - can reproduce without a male in the relationship. The child is usually identical to the parent," Null explained quickly.

"Mother was already well along with my egg before she realized, and then it was too late to safely prevent the process. Then she decided she would take care of me despite the circumstances," Yuri said softly.

"Oh. Ok."

"Any more insensitive questions?" Yuri asked bitterly.

"No, sorry." Apex seemed properly mollified at this point, lowering his head as he walked and tucking his wings in.

"What was it you were saying before someone rudely interrupted?" He bumped Apex harder than usual. The much larger wind dragon barely noticed the impact.

"Right, um, I just wanted to say that, uh." She stopped again, glancing back at Null for a moment with a pleading expression. "Do you have to leave so soon?"

"We're heading to Warfang to warn them about the upsurge in elemental activity. If we spend too long traveling, we might be too late to stop a lot of people from dying," Null explained, "We already lost a lot of time recovering from an elemental attack that nearly killed both of us, and we can't afford to waste any time."

"...Elementals, like… like the earth getting up and attacking you?" Yuri asked quietly.

"And worse. Much, much worse," Null replied with a nod.

"...I see. You… you need to go quickly then. I'll… I'll stop wasting your time. This way."

Yuri accelerated, and Null had to nudge Apex to get him to keep up. Without her experience, there were all sorts of hazards that the two of them might have fallen prey to. Hives of aggressive insects that Yuri gave a wide berth, patches of soil that were secretly quicksand, and places where the ground was thin enough for the poison waters to seep up through it at the slightest pressure. All of which he only noticed just as they were passing.

He could understand Yuri's frustration, he really could. Years upon years of loneliness, and the first person who might even be able to hold a proper conversation has to leave immediately. He'd been there, in that wallowing fugue of people leaving his presence as soon as they possibly could. But even he had been able to rely on his mother, and later Apex to keep him company. Yuri had nobody. Not a single person who she could just be around without risking their death.

Until Null.

The more he thought about it, the less he wanted to leave the grove. He didn't want to just leave her here, alone for the rest of her life. But… he had a mission. He and Apex had to get to Warfang, or else everyone could be in danger. They couldn't afford to waste more time than they already had.

After a certain point, Yuri came to a stop.

He couldn't read her face. It was just constructed differently from what he was used to seeing, and that difference made it impossible to tell what she was thinking. Her glowing green eyes flicked over to him, and for a brief moment he could see a lot of hurt in her face, before it was gone once again.

"This is as far as I'll go. It's not too much further to the ocean, and I, uh, don't want to risk turning some guy with a spyglass into a statue," Yuri said. She pointed downstream. "You'll find the delta over there, the poison's diluted enough to pass over it."

"Thank you for taking us here, Yuri." Null bowed his head in thanks. "I… When this mess is over, would you be okay with a visit?"

Yuri's jaw hung loosely for a moment, an expression that he could easily read as surprise on her face. Then she swallowed and closed her mouth.

"I, uh, well, I…" Yuri stammered for a moment, "I was, uh, planning on going somewhere else, uh, for a while. And, uh, the grove isn't exactly a safe place to live or visit so it's probably not a good idea to…"

Null frowned. Maybe he had been wrong? Maybe she didn't want the company that much? "If you're sure."

Yuri turned away without another word, beginning to slither back the way they had come. She was muttering to herself as she did, and the last words Null heard before she left both eyesight and earshot were "Warfang, I know where that is…"

Null watched her go, still unsure if he had been wrong. After a moment and once he was sure she was out of eyesight, he turned towards Apex. The wind dragon was wearing a smug expression, though he was still blindfolded.

"What are you smiling about?" Null reached over and tugged at the knot holding Apex's blindfold on his head. The fabric fluttered to the ground, revealing Apex's twinkling blue eyes.

"Someone's looking for a date, huh?" Apex teased.

"What?" Null furrowed his brow. After a moment of thought, he realized what Apex was talking about. "Oh. No. She was lonely, and I know how that feels. A bit of company would at the very least make her life less awful."

"So you asked her on a date," Apex concluded with a grin.

Null sighed. "Sure. Whatever. You heard her, though. She doesn't want visitors. I just hope she'll be okay."

"She's survived her whole life in the grove, hasn't she? I doubt anything here could ever hurt her." Apex shrugged.

"...She could hurt herself," Null said quietly, sitting down.

Apex's expression froze, then turned to worry. "Oh. I hadn't thought about that…"

Null didn't say anything, letting the silence speak for him. He refused to meet Apex's gaze, looking down at his tail as it curled about his forepaws. The curved blade at the end which he was so familiar with. Interestingly, the claws on his left paw looked like they were already starting to grow back. Little white nubs were beginning to emerge from the surrounding scales.

"Have you…" Apex trailed off before he actually said what he was thinking. "Have you… done it again?"

"Not since before the attack on the village," Null answered immediately, guilt hitting him for a brief moment before he shook it off, "I thought about it… a few times. But I wouldn't. Not with everyone at home depending on us, not with the danger around us."

"Null…" Apex walked over and sat down next to him, one of his enormous wings wrapping around Null's back. "I'm sorry for teasing. It's good that you care about her wellbeing."

"It's… it's okay. I just didn't think about it in that way."

"I know," Apex said, a hint of melancholy in his voice. Now Null felt guilty for a completely different reason. "Let's get going, then."

The two of them stood, and together they made their way out to the sea.

The instant Null felt the salty air hit his nose, he realized that he had grown accustomed to the acrid stench of the swamp. He greedily drank in the far more pleasant sea breeze, running ahead and closing his eyes to take it in. When he opened his eyes, he saw nothing but endless blue out to the horizon. The rocky cliff below him had a massive channel carved out by the toxic river, where the purple waters met the ocean. Something about the salt in the ocean must have caused the poison to go inert, otherwise there would be enormous schools of dead fish floating at the cliff face. The dance of purple amidst the sea green was almost mesmerizing, and he could stand there and watch it for hours.

Apex plodded up behind him, letting out a huge breath. "We're so much closer now. We can just fly along the coast until we're past the grove and we'll be at Warfang in only a few days."

"I wish." Null sighed. "Can't stay on the coast, otherwise we might run into Skavengers."

"Darn." Apex stretched out, grunting as his joints popped. "Can we at least stay here for a moment? I miss the sky."

"Yeah."

The craggy cliff was quiet, but for the rushing of the waterfall and the distant chirping of insects. The gentle rolling of the ocean waves and the clear sky made for a beautiful vista as far as the eye could see. The salty air almost blanketed out the scents of the swamp and the hint of smoke.

Smoke?

Null looked around frantically. Why was there the smell of smoke? Was something burning? Was the grove on fire?

No, a cursory glance told him that it wasn't the grove burning. Then what?

Like a leviathan rising from the depths, a piece of information made its way to the forefront of his mind.

Skavengers burn gold to power their flying ships.

"Apex, we need to go," Null said.

"Already? We can spend a moment here and there and still get to Warfang in time," Apex protested.

"No, we need to go now," Null insisted, starting to panic. The smoke was getting more prominent, which meant that it was getting closer.

"What? Why?" Apex seemed to notice the worry in his voice now, looking away from the horizon to frown.

"Skavengers on the way we need to go now."

"Okay, okay!" Apex started moving. "Let's get-,"

It was too late. They had taken too long to start moving. He could hear the skyships from here, flying up the coast. There were at least two engines, the combustion systems rumbling as the sails flapped loudly in the wind. A moment later and the ships came into sight. They were a pair of compact vessels, completely enclosed and with a wickedly shaped shark's visage composing the front. A blue and black sail adorned the top of each ship, with a fluttering black banner at the top. A pair of pipes at the rear of each ship belched smoke, blackening their wake. But it was the cannon set into the mouth of the shark-shaped figurehead that worried Null, along with the smaller turrets on the side fins of the skyships. Turrets that began firing immediately.

They must have been equipped for capture rather than slaughter, because what fired from the turrets was not bullets, but tiny darts. One tagged Apex's wing, ripping clean through the membrane to embed itself in the ground. The next three hit him in the back, the last of which had a tiny crystal in the shaft of the dart that began to emit pulses of barely visible energy. Apex stumbled, then fell face-first into the rock.

"Apex!" Null skidded to a stop, swerving to avoid incoming darts. A single dart embedded in his shoulder, stinging like crazy, but it didn't have any effect beyond that. He dislodged it with a swipe of his tail, then whirled and dashed back to Apex's side.

Apex managed to get a single leg under him, his muscles spasming uncontrollably. His teeth were gritted, his jaw unable to move properly. He looked at Null with wide eyes, either panicked or pleading.

One of the ships must have turned around, because another dart hit Null in the neck. He gasped, feeling his joints stiffen. He collapsed in a heap next to Apex. How? He was immune to magic, he shouldn't have been affected by those crystals!

Unless the dart in his neck wasn't magic.

Of course they had mundane poisons. Why wouldn't they? A paralytic toxin was probably easier to get ahold of than crystals with incapacitating magic.

The engines of the skyships got closer, rumbling in inconsistent spurts. Something hit the ground nearby, heavy and big enough to cast a shadow over Null. Another thing hit the ground a moment later, similarly large.

"Whadda we god heya?" A heavy, deep voice asked. The speaker sounded like they had some kind of issue with breathing, based on the heavy panting between each word.

"Pair of dragons, looks like," Another voice answered. Gritty, like their vocal chords were damaged.

"Dis one'd be gud fer da arena," The first one said. Null could feel Apex being lifted up next to him. "Hevy, gud mussels, bigger'n da udder wun."

"Only good part've th' haul. Other 'un's got some wicked blades, but it's too scrawny t' be a good fighter." One of the two shapes stomped over to Null, he could feel the vibrations through the rock. The scent of wet fur and unwashed sweat became incredibly prominent. Had he any control over his body, Null would have gagged.

"D'we toss id do da fishes?" The heavy breather asked.

"Lookit the eyes on the white 'un. That's some panic right there." The gruff-voiced one laughed. "We'll take both. Scrawny'll be a decent swabbie if nothin' else, an' some good motivation fer Brawny on th' side."

"You god id."

A clawed hand grabbed Null by the scruff of his neck, lifting him into the air. His body hung limply for a moment, then he was turned around.

The sight before him would have made him recoil, if his body was capable of movement. A scraggly, black-furred face, matted with mange and dried blood. The canid's mouth was full of rotting teeth, and a vicious scar curved from its forehead, through a milky white eye, and down to its throat. The remaining eye, a sickening yellow, sparkled with cruel glee.

"Welcome t' the crew o' th' Lady Albatross, slave. It'll be yer home fer th' rest've yer short, miserable life," The Skavenger said with a horrific grin.

The other Skavenger, a burly specimen with a snout bent at an unnatural angle, let out a gurgling laugh as he hauled Apex back up a ladder to his skyship.

In only a few moments, hard-won triumph was drowned in absolute despair, and all their chances of reaching Warfang in a timely manner, much less at all, were killed with it.

A/N:

When you follow in the footsteps of a legend, you shouldn't be too surprised when you find the same landmarks. Though this one's got to sting.