RPOV

We had been at this for four months, and I was beginning to lose hope. The only positive note was that nobody had come after Christian yet for treason. But I suppose everyone was very busy.

Despite the fact that the Snow Dragons took a huge hit after losing Isaiah, they seemed to have regrouped. The rumor goes that a new leader has taken over and is much better at keeping them in line. It was keeping our troops engaged in combat for the entire duration since we had been gone.

We had heard from them on occasion. Lee was sort of our go-between person, if we needed to exchange information. Rogue warriors couldn't really just go towards a squad and ask for intel on the Snow Dragon activity in the area.

So far the word had been that they were holding on, but just barely.

Sometimes I felt guilty for going after Dimitri instead of helping them. The first few days I was optimistic I could find him quickly and bring him home alive. Now the best I could hope for was that they would at least tell me where they burned his body.

Christian had been good through this whole thing. Talk of Lissa always cheered him up when he was feeling gloomy, and he, in turn, would talk about all the embarrassing things he knew about Dimitri. Even though Dimitri had lived for over two hundred years and Lissa barely eighteen, there was a lot more to tell about Lissa than Dimitri, although I had known Lissa most of her life and Christian didn't meet him until he went into the military, so Dimitri had been past his awkward phase. Christian had been able to recite a few interesting stories that Adrian had told him about Dimitri, so there was that.

Currently, we were camping south of the border.

When we had followed Dimitri into the caves in the mountains, we had found a few Snow Dragons and a pair of shackles with blood on it. We were able to get the Snow Dragons to talk and confirm Dimitri had been there. But the only word the dying Snow Dragon had uttered through the blood filling his longs from where I had stabbed him repeatedly, was 'south.'

Christian said it might have been a lie to throw us of their scent, but I had seen the truth in his eyes and something else. He didn't look ashamed he had rated his boss out, he looked proud, and I could see excitement in his dying eyes before they went black.

Whoever took Dimitri, whoever commanded these Dragons was powerful. And I had a feeling the rumors of a new boss was connected to Dimitri being missing.

So we went south and asked around if anyone has seen anything. We even politely questioned a few Snow Dragons as we found a few along the road, indicating indeed there was Snow Dragon activity south of the border. I was still washing the blood from my clothes from asking them.

Christian was making a nice roast from a cow he had taken from a nearby pasture. Christian preferred his Dragon form as did all Dragons, but when eating and sitting down with me, he often transformed. He did say he wanted it to feel natural when he returned to Lissa.

This had been our routine for the past few months. Torturing Snow Dragons for information, sitting by the campfire and moving on each morning with new hope that this would be the day we found him. Of course, it never was. I wasn't one for giving up, but I was seriously questioning my resolve right about now, but somehow I knew that if Dimitri had died, I would have known. I needed to believe he was alive, even if it was just to keep my sanity.

After we had our dinner, we set out to hunt our prey for the night. There had been reports of a Snow Dragon flying over this region. We were close to the desert here, and Christian had called the last informant crazy, but it was the only lead we had so we followed it.

Snow Dragons tended to stay here in human form. It was easier to hide and infiltrate than with their giant white scaled bodies. They still didn't look human in my opinion, but they looked human enough that when covered with a cape and hat they blended in.

But not to me. Somehow I had developed a six sense for them. The chill I felt every time one of them was near was a nice warning, and it helped to track them down.

Christian and I walked into the local tavern. If you wanted information, it was always prudent to start there. Certainly in remote areas such as this. One of the many lessons I had learned from Dimitri. But as luck would have it, we wouldn't need any information tonight. Because as I walked in, that bone-chilling feeling crept up my spine, and I immediately spotted the Snow Dragon in disguise.

I motioned towards Christian, and he nodded. He walked to the bar and got us a drink as I situated us near the Snow Dragon. The Snow Dragon might recognize Christian as a Dragon, but my encounter with Isaiah had made me realize that they couldn't detect the Dragon in me. So I sat closest to him, trying to keep Christian off of his radar. Perhaps if he wasn't actively looking for a Dragon, he didn't notice them.

Christian joined me, and both of us held our breaths for a moment as he sat down wondering if the Snow Dragon would turn around. But he just kept staring into space.

We chatted about nothing, in particular, trying to pass the time. Taverns tended to be open all night and the patrons didn't seem like they would slow down anytime soon. The Snow Dragon was eyeing some customers hungrily, and I knew it was a matter of time before he would follow one of them out to eat the poor soul. After about an hour, the Snow Dragon got up as a fat human left the tavern. We followed the Snow Dragon. In the back alley, we were just in time to stop the that monster from feasting on the fat human before we engaged.

It was different fighting a Snow Dragon in human form. He didn't have time or space to transform and neither did Christian. I was used to fighting in human form, and Christian said he had practiced as well, but it was still strange. Normally I could move between their legs, move quicker than they did, but in human form, the Snow Dragon was lighting fast. He struck out at me, and I landed a few feet away.

Christian unleashed his flame, or well as it turns out in human form, more vomited his flame and distracted the Snow Dragon long enough for me to strike its sides and legs. The Snow Dragon went down, and we were able to restrain him. Christian contained his legs, and I was sitting on his chest keeping his arm and fangs in check.

I took my blade and placed it against the pale skin of his neck.

"You are going to tell me where I can find General Dimitri the Honorable."

His eyes widened at the mention of Dimitri, and my heart skipped a beat. Most Snow Dragons we interrogated didn't show any sign of recognition when we mentioned Dimitri; they just told us rumors about where we would find Snow Dragons in the south. But this Snow Dragon was different. This one knew they held Dimitri, now all we had to figure out was if he also knew where.

"I am not telling you shit," he hissed at me, cutting his skin slightly on my blade, making him hiss again.

I smirked down at the Snow Dragon and pressed the blade further into his skin. I send a small wave of heat through the metal, and I could hear the sizzle of his skin as the heat transferred from my blade towards the now slightly blackened skin.

"That is what they all say, yet at the end of the night, they tell me everything, what I want to know, what they had for breakfast, how they were neglected as a child, how they wear ladies underwear when in human form, every God damn thing I ask of them. So what makes you think you are special?"

I could see actual fear in his eyes, but he tried to mask it with a snort, but I could tell I was already halfway there.

I took the blade from his neck, taking with it a few bits of his skin that had melted stuck to the blade. He winced in pain, but nonetheless tried to get free from my hold during the small moment of freedom.

But I was quicker and impaled his arm, the blade slicing through bone like it was butter. He screamed in agony and tried to wiggle free; making it hurt that much more.

"Oh darn, I seem to have hit a major blood vessel. I need to cauterize it."

His eyes widened a bit before I sent the jolt of heat into his arm, burning the hole shut and making him scream again. It always amazed me that no matter how big the Dragon was, they all squealed like little girls once I was working on them. The only one who had screamed with a bit of dignity was a female. Go figure.

"I could do this all night you know. I have had a bit of practice. I know how to do the most damage without actually killing you. I like that thrill too. Wondering if the next time I'll stab you, you'll bleed out or if I can cauterize the bleed in time. Either way, it hurts like hell, so I am cool with it."

He spat in the direction of my face.

"You won't go that far with me. You need me alive to tell you where your precious General is."

I grinned from ear to ear.

"We found you; we will find someone again." I definitely sounded more sure than I was. I knew that this was probably my only chance. This is the closest we had been in months. I didn't know how long Dimitri still had, but I knew he couldn't last forever.

But I knew that Snow Dragons only responded to strength and power, prey and predator. If they believed you were stronger they submit, like an animal.

For good measure I stabbed him again, repeating the process. I saw him break out in sweats. Weird for a Snow Dragon, but he had lasted longer than some. I lowered myself a bit. Christian realized my target, and I saw him flinch. He switched with me and held his arms down, while I used my weight to keep his legs in check.

I poised my blade just beside his junk, and I saw him wince.

"Oh we will get to that, don't you worry, but did you know that the flesh on the inside of your thigh is so sensitive? I didn't, until I could make a grown man yell for his mother that had abandoned him before he had even hatched. You see if I cut you right here… avoiding the femoral artery, it should hurt like a bitch."

While I was talking I slowly slid the blade into the flesh, and if his grunting and panting was any indication it hurt, but he was still trying to keep face.

"Now of course that the blade is in all I have to do is channel a bit of heat in there and…"

"Stop, please for God sakes stop."

I tried very hard not to let the triumph show on my face, or the relief. Instead, I kept my sly smile firmly in place.

"You do realize we will kill you afterwards, right?"

He nodded, seemingly he didn't care anymore if he lived or died, as long as he was able to keep his junk and his sanity when passing over to the other side.

"So where is he?"

Tension left his body as he inhaled deeply and took the pain-free moment to clear his head.

"Galina has him in a sand cave just on the edge of the desert, a few miles west of a small town. It is the only one in the vicinity; it is hidden, but shouldn't be hard to find if you know what you are looking for."

"What does this Galina want with him? Why did they take him alive?"

He seemed to find my question amusing.

"She wants to break him and parade his broken ass to all Snow Dragons and Fire Dragons alike. Once they see that their great General has fallen and is bowing down to her, they will all fall."

He was sputtering some things on how great this Galina was and how he would suck the marrow from my bones and they would all feast on our blood and dance on our ashes, but it was hard to hear through the blood filling his longs as I ran my blade through his chest. A few moments later his eyes were blank and his body limp.

Christian got up from his place at the head of the Dragon.

"So we are going towards that cave."

"Yep."

"And we are going to rescue Dimitri from a Snow Dragon infested place where their leader is located."

"Yep."

"And you have a plan?"

"Nope."

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That is what I thought."

He took his clothes off, put them in the bag and transformed into his Dragon form, and we took off toward the place where the Snow Dragon had pointed too.

We flew until Christian was whining he needed to rest and sleep. So we set up camp, but it was already morning.

"We sleep now, on the hottest time of day and then when the sun has set, we can start to explore under the cover of darkness and not be bothered by the heat," Christian said, quite rationally.

A sound plan and I could use some sleep, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't give Christian some shit.

"You are a Fire Dragon, you are fire itself. And you are complaining about the desert heat?"

He shrugged.

"You walk out there and see if you like it."

I sniggered. Christian was easy to rile up.

I settled in. I knew I needed to sleep. I needed the strength and wakefulness to be able to rescue Dimitri, but sleep did not come easy.

Hold on Comrade, I am coming for you, just hold on.

In the evening I was woken by a sniggering Christian.

"You know, for someone so beautiful, you really look like a slobbering dog when you sleep, even sound like one."

I got up and smiled at him and batted my eyes.

"Oh, you think I am beautiful."

Christian seemed to realize he had made me a compliment even if it was followed by an insult. I knew I looked good, even he couldn't deny that, but I never thought he would say it.

"I also called you a slobbering dog. Focus on that."

I laughed, and I could see a hint of a smile on his face too.

"Here, some breakfast, or dinner, or whatever. It is food."

"ah food, my favorite kind of meal," I said, and Christian tried very hard not to laugh. Instead he just shook his head.

"So has your mind been able to come up with a plan that won't get us killed while you slept?" he asked hopefully.

I contemplated what he said and hoped my mind indeed had come up with a brilliant plan.

"Nope, still nothing. We need to do some reconnaissance first."

He nodded. The best plans always start out with as much information as you could get. Another lesson learned from two very important men in my life.

We packed light and left most of our stuff hidden in our camp. We would come back later, hopefully. But for now, we only needed a few things, some water, a piece of paper and charcoal and my weapon. We had come across some human blacksmiths, and they did sell weapons, but Christian refused. He had his flame he said. I actually think he isn't very good with weapons; he seemed visibly scared when I held up a sword.

We hiked a few miles in the sand. I had to agree with Christian; it was still very hot even though the sun had already set. I knew the temperature would drop dramatically during the night, but right now it was still blazingly hot, I could only imagine what it had been at midday.

But if this was already affecting Fire Dragons I couldn't really fathom how Snow Dragons managed in this heat. Bad for them, good for us.

It took another hour, but we finally saw a cave-like structure hidden beneath layers of sand. The opening was peeking out of the sand, its only indication something was beneath. The entrance was large enough for a Snow Dragon to crawl through, but of course, they could also transform first. I wondered if the structure beneath the sand was large enough to house them in their Dragon form. If not, it would give us an advantage. I knew a couple of things, we might not have been trained to kill humanoids, but it was easier killing something six feet tall instead of sixty feet tall.

We stealthily crawled closer, but there was no sign of a guard. I looked over to Christian he put his fingers close together almost touching indicating he was okay with going in a bit further, but only a bit.

We snuck into the cave. I did notice it was bigger on the inside. We made it a few passages, being conscious of our turns so we could go back out when Christian grabbed me and pushed me against the stone in an alcove. He placed his hand over my mouth, and I could see a Snow Dragon passing by. He sniffed a few times, but other than that our presence here remained unnoticed. When he had cleared the corridor, we let out a breath of relief. He had disappeared into the darkness of the cave.

"If we go any further we would need a light which they will notice," Christian said. I could tell he wanted to head out as fast as he could and I couldn't blame him.

I was about to agree with him and head out. We would have to track the comings and goings for a few days to get an idea of the numbers we were dealing with. I had my hand raised to point towards the exit again when I heard a scream.

The pain radiating from that one sound broke my heart and soul. It was Dimitri. I saw Christian's eyes widen in realization I wasn't going to walk out the exit. He was alive, and I could save him.

So I ran, I ran towards the sound, towards the screams, towards my love.

I ran right past the first Snow Dragon that was simply too stunned and confused to react. Luckily Christian was running behind me, and he had killed the Snow Dragon before he could sound the alarm.

The second one was for me. I didn't hesitate as I pushed myself off of the wall to create momentum and jumped on his back. The bone gave way beneath my blade, and I felt his body lose function and go limp as it plummeted towards the ground.

The commotion meant more Snow Dragons came in to see what was going on. We were face to face with five of them. But I wasn't worried. I felt the flame engulf me and give me strength. I knew nothing would keep me from Dimitri. And if the fear in the eyes of my foe were any indication, I was right to be confident.

I hadn't felt this kind of power before. When I killed Viktor, I had an explosion of power, completely out of my control. With Isaiah, I simply let it take me over, I didn't even want to control it. But here it was different. I felt in control, I felt like me. I wasn't fueled by hate like with Viktor or with revenge like with Isaiah; I was filled with purpose. I was an unmoving mountain, and nobody would stand in the way of me taking Dimitri home.

The flame around me grew, and I noticed Christian backing up a bit. So did the Snow Dragons, but I wouldn't let them. I kept it close to myself. With Viktor I unleashed it, and I destroyed everything within a hundred-yard radius. I couldn't afford that again. Instead, I channeled it inwards and into my blade. I felt like I was made of fire, instead of it simply encasing me like armor. I moved forwards and slid underneath the first Dragon slicing him open, snout to tail. Emerging from the other end, I targeted the Dragon behind him. I sliced up. My blade wasn't long enough to reach him, but I projected a beam of fire, so focused it cut through his flesh and bones. His headless neck didn't even bleed that much because I scorched the wound as I had cut his head off.

The third was easy to take down; he was so engrossed in watching me kill the second and watching the first die slowly in agony as he was desperately trying to put his guts back inside, he never saw me coming. His spine was severed in an instant. The fourth and fifth were more work. The fourth was a female who actually shoved the fifth towards me in an attempt to distract me so she could grab my neck, but I used the walls of the cave to lift me off and jump over her. I had my blade extended and hit her across the face with the momentum of my jump. My blade cut through her skull, and she was looking a lot less pretty than she had done a moment ago. The fifth tried to run, and I couldn't even bother to go after him, but moments later I saw Christian in his Dragon form, dust his hands off. I noticed they had a little blood on them. I guess the fifth was gone too.

"Jesus, Rose, you still in there?"

I looked confused until I looked down at my hands, arms and rest of my body. I put my hand in front of my eyes. The flames weren't just red; there was orange and even blue mixed in. I knew from my lessons with Christian getting to blue, one of the hottest flames, was hard and Dragons rarely reached that point. Christian had, but couldn't sustain it for long. But somehow the tiny bits of blue ready at my command didn't cost me much energy. Right now I felt like I had all the power in the world, an endless resource at my expense. And I knew exactly how to use it.

"Cool. Now let's go get our General back."