Trigger warning: There is nothing worse than the show here, but expect blood and the sound of death

Chapter 3: Head Shot! Head Shot! Head Shot!

"Marci!"

Two small cold hands squeezed the sides of my lips.

My eyes flew open and I inhaled sharply.

I was safe.

I could breathe.

I was not a little girl.

I was inside a Dark Moon tent because I had the protection and love of Selemene.

My friend, Mirana, was hovering above me, her wings beating extra fast to ensure she was not sucked into my mouth by my large gasping breaths. As I struggled to stop acting like a fish out of water, she hissed, "By the stars, finally! The knight is being an idiot. You need to come outside right now."

She zipped towards the tent flap, but I was slow to move my aching body. I was just sitting up when she turned back to me and hissed, "Come on, Marci. Your nightmare will be there tomorrow."

I glowered at her as she left the tent. Then I reluctantly followed.

Once outside, I immediately saw the reason for Mirana's impatience. She was a foot in front of me unwilling to get any closer to the firepit because our campfire had been reduced to a few burning embers and a massive tower of black smoke. Beside the smokestack was Davion. Covered in soot and swearing profusely, the Dragon Knight stamped out the very last of the flames.

"Are you trying to kill us!" Mirana shouted.

Davion glanced back at us. He looked incredibly sheepish which was an amusing sight when applied to someone of his size. "I was trying to cook," he said.

I grinned at him. Now I understood why he had been so impressed by my cooking last night.

The Dragon Knight rubbed the back of his neck. "Bram does it all the time," he explained, "so I thought…"

"You thought?" Mirana said at last, "You call that," she gestured at the smoke column, "thinking?"

I sent Mirana a glare, but she ignored me. I knew her. She was enjoying this. She demanded, "What in the name of the Mad Moon were you trying to cook? Coal!"

"Just eggs," he said, almost as incredulous as Mirana. "I don't know what happened, but I still have a few if you want to…"

I nodded.

"Yes," Mirana agreed. "Leave the cooking to the experts."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, stepping away from the firepit and blackened utensils like they were some fearsome monster. "After you."

Once we cleaned up the Dragon Knight's mess and I cooked breakfast, Davion and I packed up everything and we headed out. At first, Davion tried to engage Mirana in conversation, but she was still miffed about the breakfast incident. Thus, silence reigned as we traveled on Sagan.

I wasn't sure what I had been expecting. Davion had been fairly talkative during our meals, but he'd mostly discussed his encounter with the dragons and then the business of getting to Hauptstadt. With those things settled and Mirana blocking any chance at small talk, the knight seemed content with being silent.

It was too bad. Davion was more than just a big man with a broad back, impressively large muscles, sexy scars, a charming smile, twinkling eyes, and a cute butt. He was kind, had a ready sense of humor, and was surprisingly thoughtful. Sitting between his large thighs as we rode Sagan was stimulating, but I had hoped to hear more from him and get to know him better. How else could I convert him into being a true believer?

I thought that we'd continue in silence like this the entire night, but then Davion said, "Stop."

I tapped Sagan's sides to make the Lunar Tigri halt and turned to Davion just as Mirana snapped, "I don't take—"

The man put a finger to my mouth which did nothing, but the threatening look I shot Mirana got the message across.

"What's wrong," she whispered.

Davion looked down at me in confusion, before he said, "There might be a dragon nearby."

What!

"A dragon!" Mirana squeaked before adding in a quieter and more composed voice, "But Sagan hasn't noticed anything."

I glanced down at the Lunar Tigri. He looked relaxed, bored even. However, Sagan, just like me and Mirana, had little to no experience with dragons. Selemene's protection kept the beasts out of the Nightsilver Woods.

"These tracks aren't super fresh," Davion informed us as he pointed at the clawed footprints and the broken branches in front of us. "Most likely this dragon isn't in the immediate area anymore, but this is definitely dragon territory. We need to be careful."

At this point, Davion removed his finger and I tried not to be disappointed.

In line with the Dragon Knight's warning, I had Sagan move stealthily through the woods and remained ready to redirect the Lunar Tigri if need be. As we inched our way forward, Davion occasionally pointed out more signs of dragon activity: prints, broken branches, claw marks, and way too much dung. There were even a few times where the Dragon Knight led us around an active earth dragon burrow.

By the time, Sagan recognized the danger, we already had a visual on Davion's dragon, or rather a visual on multiple dragons. There were four bright orange dragons and one larger dark magenta dragon in the center of a clearing below us. From the claw marks in the dirt around us, Davion surmised that one of the orange dragons had rolled off this very ledge.

Even so, I couldn't blame Sagan for not being concerned. Only one of the dragons was larger than our big cat and more importantly than that, all of them were dead.

"More dead hatchlings," Davion muttered in confirmation.

"Relatives of your eldwurms?" Mirana asked.

"The earth dragons might be," Davion said. "My best guess is that the void dragon chased these hatchlings out of their burrow and they made their last stand here." The Dragon Knight frowned like he wasn't satisfied with his own explanation. "I need to take a closer look, but I don't have a wea—"

I held out my sacred blade. I used it as a hunting knife in a pinch. Mirana did not approve of that practice or me handing the Dragon Knight my knife. I could feel her glaring daggers at me.

Davion, however, smiled at me. "You read my mind," he said, taking the knife. "I'll be right back. Cover me."

"Just don't lose the knife. It's valuable," Mirana said as the knight confidently slid down into the clearing with only a knife and a singed loincloth. He was still careful though. When he made it down to the clearing, he crept quietly around and inspected the dragons, confirming that they were dead. Then he went up to one of the orange dragons and started cutting into it.

When Mirana saw this, she could not resist saying, "Only you would lend out your sacred knife for the purpose of skinning a dragon."

I shrugged.

"If he tries to serve us earth dragon meat for dinner because of this, I am kicking him out of the party. You might be besotted enough to try to eat that garbage, but I draw the line at being subjected to food that tastes like soil and burnt leather."

I snorted before giving her a knowing look.

However, Mirana refused to admit she'd made a joke. Instead, she committed to her bit.

I listened to her half-serious complaints while I watched Davion in the clearing. The Dragon Knight had begun slicing into the cottage-sized void dragon when Sagan's fur stood up and the Lunar Tigri let out a low growl. His whole being was focused on something in the trees east of Davion.

I shot Mirana a look.

Mirana understood. "I'll check it out," she said, before zooming away.

Perhaps I should have had her wait because moments later my enhanced senses caught a glint of moonlight reflecting off of something metallic in the distance.

I put my fingers to my mouth and let out a whistle.

Down below, Davion looked up at me. I pointed towards where I'd seen the metal. He held up a hand telling me to hold my position.

I debated with myself as a group of leather-armored slimy green lizardmen approached from the east side of the clearing.

Kobolds.

There were four of them. The two small ones only had shovels, but the other two had real weapons. The tallest one wore a horned helmet and had a metal club and the overweight leader bore a heavy-looking goblet and a silver sickle.

They couldn't see Davion yet. The dragons lay between them and the Dragon Knight who was still behind the magenta one. However, they could sense he was close.

The leader stuck out its tongue to taste the air. Then he splashed his men with a red potion and gestured to the spot where Davion was hidden.

That's when Mirana reappeared. The moment I saw her, I pointed at the night sky.

Mirana didn't argue. The Moon Fae held up her hands to the crescent moon and her wings flared with light as she screamed, "Stars, rain down upon mine enemy!"

Everyone in the clearing looked up to see arrows of light falling from the sky. This gave me time to ride Sagan down towards Davion.

Normally, Mirana's Starstorm spell would be enough to kill some frail tribeless kobolds. The lizardmen certainly dove for cover like it was a life-or-death situation. However, with Mirana's sisters separated from Selemene, her attack was more of a light show than anything else.

Sagan reached Davion as the storm stopped. I waved for him to get on.

"You know magic?" he asked as he climbed onto the Lunar Tigri.

I was saved the trouble of answering by one of the kobolds showing up. The grunt angrily threw his shovel at us. Sagan dodged, but then Davion threw my knife in retaliation.

It hit the kobold between the eyes, knocking him over and dead.

Well, shoot.

I kicked Sagan's sides. The Lunar Tigri roared and I jumped off just before Sagan bolted into the forest taking Davion with him.

"Rosemary!" the Dragon Knight shouted, but he was already a league away.

Good.

I didn't want him to see this. I was undercover after all.

Another kobold grunt came around from the other side of the dragon with his shovel raised.

I wasted no time. Before the kobold could do more than hiss, I ran forward and punched him in the snout. The force of my blow sent the creature flying into a nearby tree. The familiar squnch sound from his head being speared by a sharp tree branch signaled his death.

Even better, his comrades cried out in their lizard language, giving away their new positions.

I sprinted up onto the corpse of the magenta dragon and lunged for one of them before they could reorganize. I ended up crashing into the taller one. The two of us tumbled through the grass away from the dragons. When we stopped moving, I slammed my fists into the sides of his head and cracked his brittle skull like a nut.

I ignored the Kobold blood gushing onto my hands and turned to locate the last kobold, the fat leader. He was already out of the clearing and fleeing north.

I tore the horned helmet off the tall one's head and threw it at the massive target. He got two more steps before he was impaled in the back.

He fell over letting out a raspy gurgle.

I had probably punctured his lungs, but he wasn't dead yet. Kobolds stored air in their very bones. If left unattended, he'd live for several more minutes. I took the metal club off of the tall kobold and made my way through the shadows to where the leader was wheezing and wiggling helplessly. His left hand flailed about trying to reach for his spilt-over goblet. Even now, he really believed that he could still be saved.

A small whisper of unwanted pity entered my heart, but I knew what would happen if our roles were reversed. Despite their weak constitution, Kobolds were a vicious species. They murdered sentient beings on sight and earned their names through the death of the first person they killed. It was simply the way of their twisted pagan existence. Thus, I silenced my doubts and lifted up my metal club to give this kobold the blessed mercy of the Dark Moon.

Blood splattered everywhere and the club bent in half, but that was the price of a swift death. I wiped my hands and boots on the kobold's leather armor. Then I went over to the grunt that Davion had attacked earlier and retrieved my knife from the kobold's head.

After I carefully wiped the blood off of the blade, I pulled back my sleeve and cut another three crescents into my arm. As I did so, I said a prayer in my head.

Another life. Another phase.

Let my darkness fuel your light.

Take my blood. Take their soul.

Let your blessing cleanse my heart.

My love is yours. My love is you.

"So," Mirana said. She must have flown down once she saw the fighting was over. "Where's Sagan?"

I whistled.

The Lunar Tigri appeared, but Davion wasn't on him.

I frowned as I approached Sagan. I had ordered my mount to get some distance and then circle the area. Davion shouldn't be far, but what if…

"I'm here," Davion said, coming out of another patch of trees.

Thank Selemene.

I waved at him.

He lifted his hand in greeting.

"Got lost again?" Mirana asked.

"Your Moon Tiger is fast," he said in way of an answer. "I swear he tried to run me all the way to the Frozen Waste before I managed to get off him."

I began to give Sagan a well-deserved scratch behind the ears. He was a fast Tigri. Yes, he was!

Mirana responded, "Sagan was trying to keep your clueless butt safe."

"I might be clueless about some things," Davion allowed, "but fighting is something I'm rather good at. You didn't need to fight alone Rosemary."

I paused in my petting of Sagan and felt my cheeks grow hot. I wasn't sure why. Davion had no idea how strong I was, so his offer of help wasn't that exceptional. He just thought I was a normal girl. But maybe that was it. I was the current High Priestess of the Goddess Selemene and I was mute. Few people ever saw more than that. Not that Davion did.

Mirana and I were lying to him.

The Moon Fae suffered none of my conflicted feelings. She just snapped, "I wouldn't have needed to fight at all if you hadn't tossed away the sacred knife!" Then she launched into an explanation about the importance of my sacred prayer knife and how Davion was a complete idiot. For once, I just let her rant. Davion needed the education and if Mirana calmed down, she might remember that some of the information she was spilling ought to be kept secret.

While she continued with her reprimands, Davion and I collected loot. We found some usable gear, a bit of much-appreciated money, and to my chagrin, more clothing for Davion.

He held up a ratty brown robe that had been in the kobold leader's pack. "If you don't mind," he said, interrupting Mirana's latest insult.

By this time, she had moved on from specific gripes to general complaints.

"I'll take this and the satchel for now," he said, "I can put the robe on after I wash the dragon guts off myself."

"Good!" Mirana declared as I did my best not to pout.

Between the battle, looting, and Davion collecting his dragon samples, we ended up spending a whole hour in this clearing which wasn't ideal. Mirana definitely had a point. The battle encounter had mostly been Davion's fault, but we bore some blame too. I had enabled him by letting him borrow my knife and neither Mirana nor I had really explained why it was special.

Regardless of any of that, I was glad we had Davion with us today. The way I saw it. Without Davion, we would probably have run into some live and very angry dragons in this territory. With him, we only had to deal with a rogue kobold camp which provided us with new supplies and some soul sacrifices for Selemene.

All in all, not a bad trade, especially since once we left the clearing and earth dragon territory, Mirana's scolding commentary and Davion's half-apologetic half-jesting responses created the lively conversation I had been hoping for.

I glanced up at the night sky and gave the crescent moon a smile. Selemene may be weakened, but it seemed that my generous goddess was still providing us with her blessing.

A/N: In the name of the Dark Moon, Marci will punish you!

Sorry, I couldn't resist. (Just like I couldn't resist publishing one more chapter before flying off to focus on my other fics.)

So yeah...fight scenes...not my favorite type of conflict to write if I'm being honest. I did my best to follow the tone of the show which was a bit bloody. For now, I'm keeping this fic in the teen section (13-year-olds like blood and death sounds right?), but if this keeps up, I might have to move us over to the Mature section. High Priestess Marci does not play games with the enemy, especially not some squishy hollow-boned kobolds. Beyond the additions of lore for Selemene's Dark Moon Order and this little side quest, you may also notice some other changes.

Mirana is still the magic user of the group, though her Starstorm summon is a bit different (no bow and arrow). I also did a soft recolor on the dragons. Earth dragons and light dragons are both yellowish in DOTA. This really bothered me, so new dragon colors (for now):

Water – Cyan

Fire – Red

Earth – Orange

Air – White

Electromagnetism/Quintessence – Green

Void/Spacetime – Dark Magenta

Light/Order – Yellow

Darkness/Chaos - Black

That's it. Next time, we head to the river. Y'all know what I mean.

;)