As Close as We Can Get Without Burning

Chapter Nine

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I guess I just got a little caught up with some stuff.

Anyways, have chapter Nine!

EDIT - If you need some music to listen to or you want to find some inspiration (or the inspiration I used), my "playlist" for this book is BrunuhVille's album Northwind (I find myself turning on "Dragon Empress" whenever I'm writing in Hippolyta...)

-

"How long has it been?"

Robin had nearly fallen asleep in his spot before Yoshii's voice interrupted him. He let out a soft groan, opening one eye to stare at the tiny creature.

"About two hours," he replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice, crossing his arms across his chest. A loud sigh came from the green-winged fairy as he buried himself deeper into Eriol's thick head of hair.

Said male let out a giggle at Yoshii's actions, petting the small Arctic dragon that had transferred onto his lap mere minutes ago. He spared a glance in the direction of Ronnie, who was mindlessly twiddling his thumbs in the corner with his eyes closed.

Everyone's actions continued for half an hour more before a loud crash was heard. Each of their heads quickly turned towards the sound, Ronnie grabbing his neck in the process.

"Ouch," he muttered, rubbing it softly, "What was that?"

"I dunno," Yoshii replied, fluttering up and off of Eriol's head. The fairy slowly inched his way over to where the noise came from, allowing Robin to follow close behind him. The small being's dark eyebrows knit together as he looked over towards the source of the noise. "Hello?"

A fiendish growl arose from the corner along with a small 'thunk.' As the creature before them came into sight, Robin's face twisted into that of wonder.

Sitting there before him was a creature that had the stature of a large dog. It's body resembled  a deer's with a lion's head, ram-like horns, eagle talons replacing its forelegs, and hooved hind legs. It's tongue was slit like that of a snake, which it kept flicking out at the two males. The creature itself was sprawled helplessly atop a pile of wooden crates with a large hole in the wall next to it.

As Robin began to head closer towards the creature, a painful tug on his hair was felt as well as a quiet jingling right next to his ear.

"Don't get near that, Robin!" Yoshii cried, attempting to push the male back, though his feeble attempt was cut short as a loud cry was heard outside the large dragon pens. A few of said dragons were rustling within the cages, letting out growls here and there.

The familiar pounding of booted footsteps sounded outside the door before a flash of deep green was seen before them. In a mere second, the horned creature had been pinned down by a tan woman with long, sea green dreads pulled back into a ponytail. Half of her face, which showed that of disgust, was covered in dark maroon scales that reached from her forehead down her collarbone. Her armor was the same as Kima's with the same colored dragon insignia over the heart.

Her head turned towards the four boys, her eyes widening.

"Why are you here?" she asked, her voice surprisingly deep.

"I-uh, we-we were told by Kima to-to uh, wait here u-until she found Fyrian again," Yoshii answered, his wings moving back and forth anxiously, "I'm sorry if we disturbed yo-your hunt, Lamia."

Said woman let out a huff of distress, tying up the creature as it struggled in her arms. "This is not a hunt, you imbecilic fairy. I am attempting to remove this animal from the territory." She began to drag the writhing animal out of the building along with her, her face showing clear determination. "Make sure you tell Kima to keep her pets out of my way."

Yoshii didn't even flinch at her comments as he ran a small hand through his thick brown hair, letting out a tiny sigh.

"Well she's," Ronnie paused, thinking of the right word.

"Chipper," Eriol finished, placing Rumi back in her pen as he got up.

"Sure."

"Don't mind her," Yoshii told them, waving a hand, "she's always like that. You could say she's kind of Kima's rival. They're both in the same position and both aiming for something higher."

"Uh-huh," Ronnie muttered, rubbing his neck again as he got up as well, "when do you suppose Kima 'll be back? It's getting kind of cramped in here."

"I'm sure it'll be-"

Yoshii was abruptly interrupted by a voice, letting a sigh of relief flow from him as it happened.

"No need to ask that question," Kima's voice sounded, "I'm right here."

Yoshii happily flew towards the source, a large smile on his face. The three boys followed after, happy to finally exit the cramped and hot stables. Though, there hopes were suddenly drained as they came face to face with what they saw as death himself.

"I'm back," the red-faced male in front of them spoke, mimicking Kima perfectly. He stepped out from the darkness he was in, giving the humans and fairy in front of him a full view of his distorted body. Two large canines were protruding out of his smirking mouth, his thick eyebrows raised in amusement. Two large, curled horns jutted out of his head and his wings were large and bat-like with holes here and there. He was taller than all of the boys in front of him, which made them even more fearful.

Yoshii was visibly shaking at the sight of the muscled male, raising his hands in front of his devastated face.

"F-fyrian."

-

Oooohhhhh intense fairy-impness.

I hope y'all enjoyed, and I'm super sorry for the wait! I had a tiny bit of writer's block, but I've been trying to break through it!

Anyways, I wanted to let you know that Lamia will in fact have a pretty important part, just not as important as Kima (or Sinda but shhhhhh.)

Happy reading!~

Ava!