Felix covered his head with his hands and forearms, desperately hoping that the flames that the hollow dragon was shooting above him would not hit him. Of course the moment he thought that he cursed at his own cowardice because if the flames hit him they might hit his family. While Camilo, Dolores, and Antonio had gotten to safety the rest of his family was currently in the line of, pun not intended, fire. Luisa was moving about the lawn, trying to find something to chuck at the dragon while Pepa was letting lose curses that would have gotten their kids' bottoms tanned if they'd spoken them. Lightning cracked overhead and the rain continued to pound down upon them as she called upon her wrath to try and strike the hollow dragon down; it didn't matter if it was her mama the beast was threatening her family and she would not-

The ground under Felix's feet suddenly exploded and he found himself flying, a high pitch wail filling his ears only for him to dimly realize it was his own screams. The earth rushed suddenly towards him and he closed his eyes only to let out an 'OMMPF!' when his shirt caught on something and he was jerked back.

"You are not built for such a fall," Nocci told him simply as the warforged landed hard, boots buried in the soft earth.

"Thank you."

The warforged nodded and turned to begin attacking again only for Bruno to suddenly appear beside him, shaking his head. "We aren't doing anything other than wearing ourselves out," he said firmly. "We have to think."

"It is a bit hard to think when we have that creature trying to kill us."

Bruno shook his head. "Mama has been cursed… we have to break it. For that we need the book."

"But we don't even know where it is!" Felix exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Alma had it last and now she's that thing! It could have been smashed or still trapped in her-"

"Casita could call it forth for us."

Nocci though merely looked at Bruno. "She has fled to the Bureau. She has no control anymore of that form. If she tried it might kill her or cause her to become a part of the hollow dragon."

"I know, I know," Bruno complained. "We just-"

From his shirt a light began to glow and Bruno hastily pulled at his clothing to explose the tattoo he had. Felix glanced at Nocci only to see he had an etching in his form in the same design, which began to pulse with light.

"What is it?"

"Casita is talking to us," Bruno said as he shushed him. "No… no sweatheart you… please-" He suddenly snapped his head up and Felix followed his gaze, seeing that on the hollow dragon's side Bruno's door began to glow… and suddenly opened, causing several items including a small book to fall out of it. The moment the tome fell the dragon roared and the door slammed shut, the carving on it fading away. "Casita used her last link to her body to do that… if it weren't for Bureau she'd be gone."

"Then we don't let her act be in vain," Nocci said firmly, the lights that made up his eyes glowing sharply. "Everyone! Get the book!"

The Party, as one, raced forward.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Whoa there!" Mirabel cried out, her jaguar leaping up to catch Isabella as she fell off the massive rose she'd summoned. "Deep breaths, Isa, deep breaths."

"I… I can keep going," her sister panted. "I have to-"

"You've done enough," Mirabel assured her. "Get your second wind." Mirabel slid off Valenica, patting the jaguar gently. "Get her to Dryft, okay?" The metal beast nodded even as Isabella weakly reached for her sister, only to be carried away. "I've got this," Mirabel said sternly, taking out her hammer once more.

"WE have this, baby sister," Lusia declared, moving to stand beside her. "We do this together."

"Lusia…" Mirabel began, "I want you to know… you've always been more than your gift to me."

"I know."

"Even before I came back… you were my sister. Not the strong Madrigal… my sister."

Luisa smiled. "Thank you."

"So… this isn't me saying anything else on that, okay?" Now Luisa was getting confused. "I still respect you, alright?"

"Mira, what-"

Mirabel raised her hand to her lips, sticking two fingers into her mouth and letting loose a MASSIVE whistle that had Luisa's ears ringing. Over the thunder that boomed around them she heard the answering bellow to turned to see a truly MASSIVE bull racing towards her, made of metal just like all of Mirabel's other babies. The great silver beast let out a rumbling call before leaping right at Luisa, who shielded herself…

…only for the bull to slip apart, different parts of it locking onto her body.

"I made it… for you," Mirabel admitted. "After I made Antonio's shield. If you hate it-"

Luisa looked over the armor she was wearing, a massive war axe gripped in her hands. She reached up and felt the helm that was in the shape of the bull's head before looking down at her sister, a vicious grin forming on her lips.

"Let's show abuela what we can do."

Mirabel flashed her own smile before the two turned and charged.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Got it!" Saharah shouted, having been the first of the party to manage to sneak under the hollow dragon and snag the book. "Okay, we need to find the spell!" she began to dash along as quickly as she could, flipping through the spellbook and hoping that whoever had written it had had enough sense to waterproof the damn thing. It would just be their luck if Alma Madrigal had used a spellbook written by a lazy mage who didn't even know how to-

She frowned as she stared at the table of context.

"What is it!" Anton shouted as he fired a bolt of magic at the hollow dragon as it turned to try and snag Luisa; that gave the large woman the time to leap into the air and bring her war axe down on the dragon's side, shattering a chunk of casita and sending it raining down.

"I don't know what language this is!"

"What?!" Anton shouted.

"I don't know what language this is!" Saharah complained in frustration.

"It has to be Spanish!" Ernesto replied.

"It ISN'T!"

"But Alma read from it-"

"I KNOW THAT!" Saharah snarled in frustration. "But I can't-"

The hollow dragon finally caught sight of her and let loose a glut of flames at her.

Saharah tossed the book to Felix, who began to run as fast as he could in the opposite direction, while Saharah turned and glared at the hollow dragon. "You know… my great great grandfather believed he was a demon king." Behind her chinese writing appeared, each one representing one of the zodiac. Saharah let out a tendril of her own flames as she stared down Alma, feeling her birthright flow through her. "Let's find out if he was on to something." With that she let out her own roar and unleashed a blast of white hot flames, the hollow dragon challenging her with orange flames of her own.

"She won't be able to hold on for long," Nocci said, accepting the book from Felix. "Let's see… it appears to be a form of orcish? Ulika!" He threw the book to the orc woman, who had just finished being patched up by Dryft.

Ulika frowned as she began to thumb through the tome. "This isn't orcish!"

"It has the same harsh writing!"

"Orcish though has a far more noble quality! If this were orcish, which it isn't, it wouldn't be fit to appear on a tavern's menu. MAYBE a list for a sex dungeon…"

"How… do you know about those?" Isabella soft with a soft moan as Dryft worked to repair the damage her assault had done on her own body.

"I'll tell you when you're healed up."

"I can fight…"

Dryft placed a hand on her tummy, forcing her to lie down. "You do and you die. Now shhh, let me work."

"NO deep scans!" Ulika warned.

"Save those… for later," Isabella teased.

"I'll give you deep scans later," Ulika replied.

"Am I old enough to hear this?" Dryft asked innocently before shrugging and getting back to work on healing Isabella.

Gahoole chimed in. "My dear, its nice that you have a healthy relationship with your new girlrfriend but a bit of focus?"

"Right… right… maybe mermish?" She looked to Bruno.

"Send it over!" he called out, breaking off from an aura punch assault on the hollow dragon to get close enough for Ulika to toss over the book. "It's similar but… not quite… we are getting into the right family, that's for sure."

"Well we need to figure it out!" Ernesto called out as the hollow dragon roared, slashing at the ground and sending a wall of mud and dirt at him which he barely avoided. "If we want to defeat this thing we have to know why Alma became it!"

~MC~MC~MC~

Agustin always put a happy face on his life. Whenever someone in the village asked him how it felt to be one of only two normal peple in the Madrigal family ('Four… its four… but everyone always forgot Mirabel existed and Alma… she made us all forget she was just as giftless as the rest of us') he would put on a smile and list off all the 'gifts' he had. A loving wife. His daughters. His hobbies.

But the truth of it was… it did bug him at times that he couldn't do more. Julieta was the healer. Isabella could feed nations. Luisa could break mountains. When Mirabel had left he had been worried sick about her but also known she was safe with Bruno… and at the same time had hated that because he knew if it was him watching out for her she'd be in danger. Because he was just Agustin, the man that couldn't even tend to the bees without getting a thousand stings. The ONE thing he could point to as his role in the family… and he couldn't even do THAT right.

And at that moment on the lawn, watching as his daughters fought against the Hollow Dragon… he felt utterly helpless.

He'd promised Julieta he'd watch out for them but… how could he watch out for them when he couldn't even do anything to save them? In fact he knew if he even tried to get close he'd only make things worse.

He was the burden… and he hated that so very much.

And the worst part about it was… there was no one he could be angry with about it but himself. He would NEVER begrudge Julieta her gift. Yes, he hated that she was made a slave because of it but he would never hate her FOR it. Isabella… he could admit that he'd made the same mistake so many others had and only seen her beauty and nothing else but he didn't hate her for her natural leadership. Lusia was proving to not just be strong but creative too and he was so proud she was coming out of her shell. And Mirabel… he hoped that some of what she had become was thanks to him.

Case in point: the hollow dragon had leapt into the air, trying to snag Gahoole, and come down so hard that it caused everyone to fall. The others leapt back instantly. Agustin… laid there in the mud, trying to catch his breath.

He was OLD. He was SLOW. What could he possibly do to help?

Agustin watched as his two youngest continued to battle, Luisa launching herself like an avenging angel at the hollow dragon, war axe blinding in the lighting, while Mirabel hit at its elbows and knees, making it roar as she caused it to stumble. He fumbled about, trying to get up, knowing that if Isabella hadn't drained herself with her grand attack she'd be there too and-

His hands wrapped around something long and hard and from the mud he pulled out a hand carved staff.

Agustin struggled to describe the feeling that holding the strange staff brought up in him. The best way he could put it was suddenly becoming aware of a limb that had been tied up and numb as it suddenly gained feeling. A strange almost tingling sensation as some sense he'd always had but never been aware of shook it's self awake. The Shockwave of the hollow dragon roaring had him stumbling back and crashing back against one of the hives; he suppressed a wince hearing the enraged buzzing of the bees inside.

But to his surprise...No stings came, instead he could feel...Something, a strange awareness that seemed to be looking at him just as surprised as he was.

One of the bees separated from the swarm and landed on his nose seeming to stare.

Friend?/Awake?/Aware? It was less words more images and feelings but he could understand it. And while his first instinct was to try and talk...taking a chance he tried his best to send back the same feeling of 'Friend'.

The tone of the buzzing changed somehow he just knew it was the sound of joy as the bees swarmed him rubbing their fluff and chitin against him a constant chorus of 'Friend/awake/aware/finally/finally/finally'

And somehow...he knew them, he knew the bees as well as he knew his self or Julieta, he could pick out an individual and tell you when they were born, what flower pollen's they'd gathered.

The small moment of joy was broken by a scream and gouts of fire that drew his and the swarms attention.

'Help me/help family'

The bees buzzing became a war cry surrounding him and Agustin could feel hundreds of little tugs on his soul as the bees suddenly multiplied and grew far larger. The hollow dragon suddenly turned towards him but he merely smiled as his swarm rose up around him.

"The Madrigals aren't the only ones with magic in this family," he declared as he thrust out the staff, the bees attacking as one.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Well," Gahoole said with a slight chuckle as she watched Agustin march into battle, "that isn't something you see every day."

Mirabel was about to say something when Pepe's panicked screams filled the air and the two whipped around to see what had hurt her. But Pepa was fine… instead she was racing away from the battle…

…and towards Antonio, who was clinging to the back of a frightened jaguar, calling out for her to turn around and get away. But the forest had been lit ablaze by the hollow dragon's flames and the jaguar was far too scared to listen, needing to get away from the fire…

…even if it took her towards the hollow dragon.

"Antonio," Mirabel whispered, tensing to leap forward only for Gahoole to beat her to the punch. The owlkin launched herself forward, tackling Antonio off the jaguar, the two of them rolling on the ground. But while the jaguar kept running, roaring in fright, the great drake was focused only on the two of them.

"Get away from them!" Pepa screamed, thrusting out her hands and sending lightning bolts at the creature that had been her mother. But the hollow dragon savagely swung its tail out, connecting with the rage-filled mother and sending her flying. Luisa finally caught her but the blow had allowed the hollow dragon to put space between her and the party… while also bringing her within range of Gahoole and the trembling boy.

"Gahoole?" Antonio whispered, trembling from the cold and fear. "I tried to get her to stop. I did. She-"

"Shhhh," Gahoole said, giving him a hug even as the dragon prowled towards them. "Its okay, little one. Its okay, I know. Now… close your eyes for me, okay?" She turned, putting herself between the dragon and the boy. "Close your eyes."

The hollow dragon recognized her. She could tell from the way its face twisted into malicious fury. It recognized her and it was ready to kill its own grandchild to destroy her.

Gahoole took a deep breath and prepared to throw Antonio to the side, hoping that would get him out of danger, that the hollow dragon would focus on her.

The dragon reared back, having decided not to bathe her in flames but instead swallow her whole.

It had been... a good life. And this... would be a good death. A worthy one. Saving a little one… yes, she was ready.

The dragon charged.

Yes. A good d-

"You. "

Gahoole eyes snapped open and she stared in shock as Dryft, her sweet boy, held the dragon back with just his bare hands. His hooves were digging into the earth, every muscle straining as he was pushed back... but he was slowing her down. His meaty fingers dug into the wood and stone that made up the hollow dragon's body and the beast snarled as it tried to press forward… but Dryft did not let go. No, the capricorn fought against her, jaw clenched even as the rains beat down on him and the fires from the beast tried to burn his flesh. She could already see his hands blistering from just grabbing onto the creature.

But he held on despite the pain.

"You..." he panted, his words tinged with utter malice, "dare. "

He braced his legs, muscles tensing… and the dragon STOPPED.

She had seen many things in her life. Wonders and tragedies so rare that they were thought myths and legend. Blessings and terrors. She honestly had begun to think she could never be surprised. But as the capricorn prince gripped onto the jaws of the hollow dragon she realized she was wrong. There was one last miracle to see.

Around Dryft's body an aura of power began to radiate from his flesh as he slowly pushed the dragon back.

"You... dare…"

He pulled back one arm, curling his fingers into a fist, holding back the hollow dragon with a single arm.

"...mortal?"

Where a being ascended was an important thing. The land they chose would always be blessed and, in turn, grant them the greatest of their power. They would never be stronger than the place of their rising. That was why so many that gained the power to ascend chose places where temples to their might were already made or castles where they might call home.

But for Prince Dryft Coldwater... the party was home.

With a bellow that shook the heavens he punched the hollow dragon, sending it rocketing across the field.

Everyone could only stare in shock as Dryft began to march towards the beast, the hollow dragon shaking its head before getting back up, roaring out a challenge. Dryft, for his part, merely rolled his neck before cracking his knuckles, the water that gathered on the ground heeding his call and rushing towards him and at once healing his wounds, swirling about him as his aura grew in intensity, a candle against the darkness. And in that moment Gahoole knew that somewhere far away the seas roared in delight that the youngest of their patrons claimed his birthright.

"What… what is that?" she heard Felix ask.

"That," Anton answered, shaken, "is the power of a god."

Dryft threw back his head and let loose a battle cry, lightning strike all around him.

Prince Dryft Coldwater.

God of the Sea.

God of Healing.

God of War.

"Go get her, sweetheart," Gahoole whispered with pride as her boy suddenly rushed forward, leaping into the air and meeting the hollow dragon head on as it tried once more to launch itself at Gahoole. Their collision formed a shockwave made them all nearly topple again, Gahoole just managing to stay on her feet as she watched her adopted grandson lift up his hands, twin pillars of water rising on his command before slamming down upon the hollow dragon, driving it into the earth. "Stay here, Antonio," she informed him before turning to Anton. The hollow dragon wasn't about to submit to Dryft, unleashing a glut of flames that forced him to leap back before he charged again.

"CHARGE!" Agustin suddenly shouted and his giant bees moved to attack the hollow dragon's unprotected side while Nocci spun his staff before slamming it down hard, sending a wave of magic at the beast's opposite flank.

Pepa held out her hands, CATCHING her lightning bolts and hurling them at the hollow dragon as she too stormed forward, rage written on her features at the fact that the creature before her had nearly killed her baby. The winds whipped around her and suddenly she was airborne, controlling the gusts to fly her over the hollow dragon, lashing out with lightning she plucked from the stormclouds. Ulika, for her part, rolled her shoulders before rushing forward, the ghostly forms of her ancestors appearing beside her as she moved to back the others up. A sudden ghostly horde of orc women appeared, swarming the hollow dragon, attacking its ankles and knees, causing it to stumble before it began to attack once again.

"Don't just stand there! Translate the book!" Gahoole roared at Anton as she looked back towards Dryft, her sweet boy having landed on the Hollow Dragon's back, fingers digging into its wing joint as he cried out, muscles straining as he sought to rip one of its wings off. Gahoole, for her part, cut herself, allowing her blood to run along her sword, charging it with all her love and power before she too moved to enter the fray once more. "We'll buy you time!"

Because even with a god on their side now… the battle was far from done.