The bulblin's trip ended up being a long and rough one. Normally the two got along just fine, an unusual trait for bulblins. Yet it was not one another that caused strife for them. No, it was their human prize. They decided on their usual prize-transporting travel via bulbo; During the evening they would drag their prisoner along, their catch chained to their bulbo steed and dragged along behind. They would stop to camp in a shadowy space away from do-gooders when dawn began to rise. It all went very smoothly at first.

Then their prize woke.

Shackled, dirty, and dazed, Volga slid into the consciousness. His head spun and sang with a rhythmic, throbbing pain. When he could finally make sense of his surroundings, he slowly picked out details to puzzle the world together. The ground beneath him was hard and rocky. It was dark, save for a small distant light. Sound echoed. A cave, he was in a small cave of sorts.

But how did I-

He couldn't move his hands. With a grunt Volga tried to pull his hands up to rub his face. Chink, chink, chink. His heart began to pound with rage. He hated chains, as any dragon should. Out of instinct he began to transform his arms to dragon form, but as he did he felt the two crossed wounds on his forearm split open. He bit back a yelp of pain and quickly transformed them back.

You're a prisoner. Again.

His head spun at the revelation, or maybe that was the blood loss. It wasn't hard to tell that the sticky sensation on the back of his scalp was half-dried blood. Transforming even a single appendage would be far too risky. He cursed the gods for his temper and shut his eyes. Perhaps he could at least feign sleep as he formulated an escape plan.

"Hyeh, check prize for breath."

So much for that idea. A grubby hand reached from behind Volga and grabbed his short hair, forcing his head back with a pull. He roared in pain, but that only earned him a harsh shake before he was released.

"Hush!" The female bulblin slinked over to in front of Volga. She held a flask in her grimy hands. "Don't want prize dead. Going to let prize drink. No escaping, heh?"

"Let me go." Volga snarled and sat up to the best of his ability.

"Heh heh! Cornered rat bites. Now open mouth." She held out the flask.

"I wouldn't drink that spit if I was dying of thirst!"

She was obviously loosing her patience and uttered something in the gurgling bulblin language to her partner. In an instant his hands reached from behind Volga and clamped one over his nose while the other tried to pry his bottom jaw open. But he didn't hold onto his struggling prey for long. A scream ripped from the bulblin's throat and he yanked his hands away.

"Hot! Hot!" He yanked his hands away and began flapping them desperately. In the same instant Volga yanked away and let loose the flame built in his throat.

Another screech echoed in the cavern as the female toppled over. The rank stench of burnt flesh filled the air.

Volga couldn't help but laugh. They could chain his hands, but the fire that burned within him was not so easily contained. It was far too satisfying to watch the female writhe in pain as she clutched the right side of her face.

"Dragonkin!" The male hissed. "Filthy dragonkin!" He skittered over to the female's side and pulled her thrashing body out of Volga's line of fire. "Stop!" He growled at his partner as he wrenched the flask from her hand.

Volga's laughter descended into coughs, his throat dry. Normally his own flame didn't irritate him, but he truly was thirsty and wherever they camped had little moisture in the air. Luckily the bulblins paid him no mind for a while. They were too busy emptying the flask on their burn wounds and cursing Volga in their gurgling tongue.

Wherever they were was arid, pleasantly hot almost. The cave provided a cool shade and a breeze drifted in just so. The walls of the cave itself were red beneath a layer of dust. Over head a few roots cracked through the jagged walls.

Finally the two bulblins emptied their flask on their wounds. "Stupid human." The male growled as he hobbled out of the cave.

Parched as he was, Volga was relieved that they emptied the flask. Bulblins were filthy creatures. More than once had they attacked the dragonkin and always they were defeated. Normally the dragonkin would feast upon fallen enemies, given they had enough flesh. But fleshy as they were, bulblins were grisly creatures that had yet to discover the concept of bathing. Even now their rank scent of filthy clothes, sweat, and rotted meat from meals past tainted the cave air.

Their small stature and lack of strength made bulblins easy individual opponents, so they found power in sheer numbers. Normally two bulblins would've proved no challenge for Volga and he couldn't help but feel shame. Ever since coming back to life, he'd been weak. It was only now that he'd come to realize how truly weak he'd become. Breaking out with sheer force wasn't an option now.

The male wobbled back into the cave with a foggy jar in hand. He gurgled at the female that sat away from Volga, hand over the right side of her face. Her partner handed her the jar. Greedily she pried it open and smeared the thick liquid on her face.

"Dog needs muzzled." She hissed.

The male grunted in agreement. He began to undo one of his tattered arm wraps as he slowly stepped toward Volga.

To his best ability, Volga sat upright and snarled back. "Get that rag anywhere near me and I'll burn you to cinders." He opened his mouth and let loose a small, momentary flame to prove his point. The heat stung his mouth, but he hid the fact with ease. Hopefully they'd buy the false threat.

The two stared one another down for but a few moments before the bulblin put the wrap back on. "Stupid dog..." He turned to make sure his partner had covered the whole of her burns with the cream.

"Where are you taking me?" Volga demanded.

"Chief." He garbled.

"What does he want?"

"Food? Toy? Koldun never know. Don't care." Koldun helped his partner stand and cackled. "Big prize for you. Walk Ilok."

Before Volga could ask anymore questions, Koldun helped Ilok gimp out of the cave. For a moment he considered braving the possibly life threatening wounds in order to transform and escape. Before he could decide Koldun returned with a the reigns of a bulbo in one hand and a throwing knife in the other. The hulking bulbo barely fit into the cave. Sitting atop it, Ilok had to duck slightly to avoid scraping her scalp on the cave ceiling. "Make fire and bulbo gore you good." She warned as Koldun tentatively moved toward Volga.

The creature didn't need to tell him twice. A trained bulbo was certainly a force to be reckoned with, and Volga was in no fighting state. With his mouth already threatening to blister, he couldn't risk using fire for a while. "Fine."

"Good dog." Koldun pulled a key from the filthy folds of his clothes. The chain that held Volga was wrapped around a tangle of roots that protruded from the cave walls. He unlocked the rusty lock and gave the long chain a yank, pulling Volga back.

Volga toppled with the yank and grunted as his head hit the uneven ground. The half-healed wound on the back of his head quickly reopened, wracking his head with pain. By the time he managed to sit up, the long chain was wrapped around the hulking bulbo's neck.

"Stand."

He refused, staying firmly put. No bulblin would command him.

"Stand!"

Volga didn't move.

Koldun had no patience left. He clambered onto the bulbo and grabbed the reigns. Once situated, he gurgled something to the brutish creature. It backed slowly out of the cave, simultaneously trying to pull Volga with by his chained wrists.

With a shout of anger and frustration, Volga used the forward pull to stand on his feet. In the next instant he gathered all of his strength and pulled back against the brute. The bulbo snorted in surprise and pulled back with a toss of its head. Soon the two were in a tug of war, the bulbo trying to back out of the cave as Volga yanked back. Every muscle in his body screamed as he gripped the rusty chain that held him, pulling with what little might he had left. He would not become a prisoner of these putrid beasts, nor a meal or toy for their chief to enjoy before getting bored and slaughtering him.

Then a familiar, tinkling voice cried out to him.

"Stop, you'll kill yourself!"

"What?"

That moment of distraction was all it took. The bulbo gave one fierce toss of his head and forced Volga to the ground. Rocks scraped at his face for a few painful moments while he was dragged out of the cave.

Koldun and Ilok found the whole ordeal rather funny by the time they entered the open air. They gurgled and chortled with laugher as Volga clamored onto his feet and furiously wiped his scraped face. Luckily he hadn't been cut, but the terrain had been enough to leave painful pink scratches on his face.

"No more games! Walk!" Ilok snapped once their laughter died down.

"Just go with them, please. You'll die if you fight them now."

Volga nearly protested, but he knew that the voice that only he heard was right. If he waited just a bit more he may be able to formulate a way to escape by means other than brute strength. He only gave a curt nod to the two creatures and began to walk behind the lumbering bulbo. As they went along he finally realized where they were. Lanayru Desert, the very heart of the bulblin territories. Like a beaten dog he followed along. The sand began to seep into his boots, the setting sun beat down on his grit covered under armor and he welcomed it. Soon the desert would be covered by a bitter cold.

The bulblin duo kept a close eye on Volga at first, but over time they noticed him fighting his weariness and came to ignore him. He wasn't going to be defiant any time soon. The exhausted knight was too lost in his thoughts. Who had spoken? Would he even make it to their camp in his wounded state? Normally he wouldn't question his strength, but since he'd come back it was one ordeal after another. He'd already a hard time keeping his eyes open.

"I'm glad you listened."

Volga's head shot up. The bulblins hadn't heard the voice, they were still looking forward. That's it, he was going mad.

"Down here."

"Wh-" Volga glanced down. Something squirmed out of his shirt and fluttered in front of his face. "You? From the fountain?"

"Mia." The red fairy reminded him calmly. "My mistress sent me after you. She knew you'd need help."

"The Great Fairy?" He kept his voice low.

"Yes. I insisted. You're still hurt." She fluttered to the wound on his forehead.

"How'd you not get crushed back there?"

"I'm very careful." She gently kissed the dirty wound.

Volga felt instant relief and sighed softly. "Thank you, Mia."

"You should've stayed."

"I know."

"Then why did you leave?"

Volga shook his head slowly. "I don't know."

"You're quite confusing." Mia fluttered to the bludgeon wound on the back of his head, much to his relief. His forehead wound was far from healed, but she provided immense relief to it.

For the longest time they walked along in silence. Everyone kept quiet as the sun fell beneath the horizon and the aching cold of the desert night set in. The bulblins lit a lantern for themselves and wrapped their bodies in a crude hide blanket to keep warm. Volga was left to walk along in the cold. Mia even retreated into the front of his shirt when it became too cold for her to bear. He didn't mind.

Volga's steps became sluggish with time. The cold seeped into his very bones and each step was painful. He just wanted to shut his eyes and bury in the sand in a desperate attempt to find warmth. The ends of his fingers began to go numb but with his wrists chained together, he'd no way to warm them. To use his fire would be too risky. Maybe he would just freeze to death in the gods forsaken desert.

Then firelight flickered in the distance. A camp.

"Home." Koldun laughed and egged the Bulbo on.

Volga stumbled numbly behind.

((author's note: Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews that you guys have left, I'm just so humbled by your guys' kind words! Here's chapter 4, it's a little longer than the others, but I hope that you guys enjoy it!)