The heat August felt while he lay on his sleeping mat was completely and utterly unacceptable. He couldn't take it anymore and roared himself back to life.
"What the Hell is going on?" August roared as he sat up on his sleeping roll.
He woke up to find a slim, 50cm long lizard scurrying about the campsite.
"Hey, lizard thingy, stop running around so I can chop your head off!"
The unusually large, red lizard stared bluntly at August before returning to searching through one of the supply bags.
This had angered August, who had then drawn his longsword and dagger. With that, a frantic chase began with August in hot pursuit of the beast. August jumped over tree stumps and wooden logs, even running over his friends just to catch the beast.
The noise and pain she felt had caused Alice to wake up and join the chase, the only difference being that her pursuit was for August.
After minutes of tiresome running, August had finally managed to wrap his arms around the creature's neck, whilst his own neck was relentlessly strangled by Alice. August believed he had the beast and that the only thing left to do was stick a dagger in the beast's throat. He was confident.
Suddenly, the beast's legs grew longer and thicker as it's gut began to swell. It's neck extended further and it's enormous fangs showed from the sides of it's mouth. Enormous wings sprung from it's back and small spines began to protrude from it's neck all the way down to the tip of it's tail which was now alight.
The creature's enormous wings began to lift it into the sky, forcing August to let go and land on Alice, who had still been maintaining a firm choke hold on him.
The giant, reptilian creature casted a large shadow on the ground below, having become as tall as Tyron, the tallest member of the Recovery Team.
"Oh, how I wish I was a marksman right now," August grunted as he rolled off of Alice.
"Oh, how I wish I was a healing mage right now," sighed Alice in return.
"What in the name of the God of Ends is going on?" Ali yelled after being woken.
The red beast then swooped down, it's extremely sharp claws barely having missed Ali's precious, long, black hair.
"August, it's time to kill that dammed lizard," Ali snapped.
The large, red reptile once again descended and landed in a patch of long dry grass, making sure not to let it's tail meet the grass. He then slowly began to step onto the shorter grass and collapsed into a sleeping position.
"I doubt he'll just let us sneak up and kill him," Tyron said, who had just woken up and put the situation into place within his mind.
"No, no I won't," said the creature in a deep and bellowing voice.
"By the hair on my chinny chin chin, the thing can talk!" Exclaimed August.
"Haha," Alice laughed. "What hair?"
"Hey!" August snapped. "I have TWO prominent chin hairs! TWO!"
The giant creature laughed and then stood up before reverting to it's previous, much smaller form.
"Yep, you guys heard right, I'm a talking lizard," the creature said.
"Well, the Nobles control the trade of magical creatures and such, so how exactly are you in a Common forest?" Asked Tyron.
"I wanted to be here, so I came here," the creature responded bluntly.
"Okay, well then what's your name?" August asked.
"My name is Melius," came the creature's response. "Pleased to meet you. Now, before any more questions are asked, allow me to answer them for you," began the creature. "I am a shape-changing fire lizard who deals with the Destruction schools of Fire and Thunder. I also enchant weapons so, if ever you feel the need, I shall assist you in such matters."
"You speak as if you're gonna be travelling with us," Alice grunted.
"Because I will be," responded Melius.
"Wait, when exactly did we decide this?" A puzzled Ali asked.
"Right now. I choose to be the companion of the one with the longsword and dagger," said Melius as he began to search through more supplies.
"You know, deep down on the inside, I've always wanted an pet electrical fire lizard," laughed August. "Maybe, just maybe, I won't kill it."
"You're seriously thinking about taming that... that thing?" Asked Alice.
"It is possible. It's not as if it hasn't been done before," Tyron pointed out.
"So it's settled," said August. "I'm the proud owner of a small dragon."
August smiled triumphantly as he got up to get to know the giant lizard better.
Throughout the day of travelling, August had learnt many things about Melius, such as the fact that he only eats food that isn't warm and has a love for befriending small and furry mammals. Melius had even managed to enchant August's dagger and sword, one with electricity and the other with fire. August was astounded at the capabilities of the creature and had made a point to emphasise his usefulness throughout the entire day.
When night fell, Melius even assisted in hunting with Ali. Tyron liked the beast because he allowed Tyron to study himself.
There was only one remaining. The one who despised Melius... Alice. Ever since she had met him that morning, Alice had taken to disliking the creature passionately. She was sure to emphasise her distaste whenever Melius was around, further proving that she firmly disliked the lizard.
"You know," Melius began as he coiled up around Alice to mount her shoulders. "You'll grow to love me in time," he said smugly.
"No, not really. Right now, all I wanna do is put you in a giant jar without air holes," came Alice's response.
"That's a bit extreme," responded the creature.
"Alice, leave my dragon alone," sighed August.
"Firstly, he's a lizard and not a dragon," Alice snapped. "And, secondly, he started it!"
It was clearly going to be a long night.
