Seven

Chapter 3

   Under normal circumstances, it would've taken Seven nearly four days to reach the cave in the foothills where the firedrake lived. Since she'd been in a hurry, it'd taken her less than half the time. Seven despised her other form, an almost feline creature that was built for running the flatlands where she'd spent the majority of her bland existence. The change between humanoid and feline was incredibly disorienting, the dramatic change in size was aggravating, and the lack of fingers was distinctly frustrating. But it was very fast creature, fast enough to outrun the dust storms during the dry season, and very fast was what she needed.

   During the one night that'd passed as she traveled, she'd passed by the camp of a dozen or so knights. Seven had taken one look at the green and gold banners of Veridas and run onward. After she'd released their horses, of course. They'd been surprisingly calm despite being faced with a girl that smelled exactly like a large predator, but it made sense that they would be after being ridden by men who killed things similar to what Seven is on a daily basis. One of them even paused before trotting away, head butting her in a friendly manner and letting out a quiet sound.

   The firedrake's cave was a dark, unnaturally circular hole in the sheltered dip between two hills, a distinctive scent of spicy smoke blocking out everything else. She flattened herself down against the sharp peak of one of the hills, narrowing her eyes and searching for movement in the shadowed valley below. Seven could hear something large inside the den, its breathing deep and even. Asleep. Of course, firedrakes are usually nocturnal. Which makes the typical human plans of night raids to attack when their enemy is asleep a disastrously bad course of action.

   Her bare feet skidded on the loose gravel when she scooted down the steep slope. Small rocks clattered down to the bottom of the shallow valley, as loud as thunder to her sensitive ears. Seven allowed herself a few muttered curses as she flicked gravel off of the soles of her feet, straining to hear if the racket had woken the beast. Not even a hitch in its breath.

   The pulverized stone beneath Seven's feet was almost uncomfortably warm and blackened by scorch marks as she crept into the entrance, unbearably hot air whooshing out around her. The serpentine creature was curled in the center of a large cavern, its hoard carefully organized and shelves against the walls around it. She warily eyed the deep red coils, silently walking up to the nearest shelf and perusing the meticulously kept items on it.

   Seven walked on to the next shelf as soon as she realized that this one was entirely filled with ornamental daggers, able to cut her search in half thanks to the firedrake's rigorous organization. The shelves were of nearly every size and made of every material, objects of every type and value spotlessly arranged. Towards the back of the cave, she found a metal bookcase of pocket watches, compasses, and similar devices. It seemed like a good place to start.

   They were all brightly colored and polished to a bright shine, each riot of metallic color screaming for her attention. The picture thing Leopal had showed her was still fresh in my mind, and his complex device wasn't hard to find. It was proudly displayed at the front of the shelf, even set on a small velvety cushion. She closed my fingers around it just as she heard the first whispers of human conversation outside. Not good. Not good at all.

   Seven shoved the device - what had Leopal called it? An erialioscope? - deep into a pocket, pausing. Gravel crunched behind her, accompanied by the unpleasant sound of metal scraping on metal. She whipped around, letting out a quiet string of profanity at the fully armored man stood in the entrance.

   He stared at her for a bewildered moment, his gaze going from her yellow eyes to delicately pointed ears before settling on claw tipped fingers. He backed away, the low rumble of his voice just barely audible to her but still incoherent.

Seven found herself facing a dilemma. Would she rather get roasted and/or eaten by a large, extremely hostile reptile, or possibly killed and dismembered by a group of human knights? The decision was a hard one, honestly.

   She heard the clanking of metal on metal and the angry tone of at least a dozen human voices. Firedrake. Definitely going with the firedrake.

   Seven attempted to use the shadowy edges of the cavern and the many alcoves created by the shelves for cover as she edged back towards the entrance, fully intending to stay hidden if the knights charged in to try and drag her out. They definitely know she's here.

   A sudden whoosh of scalding hot air against Seven's back had her frozen in place. She turned slowly, two molten eyes boring into her, a massive maw full of jagged teeth hanging half open. Shit.

   The firedrake's head bobbed back in forth in front of her, the scaly coils slowly uncurling as it stared Seven down. As she stared her down, Seven realized as a spiky frill stood up on the firedrake's neck.

   "Hi," Seven's voice cracked as she shrunk back into her tattered coat, "um, you should be less worries about me and more worried about the guys outside?"

   It came out as more of a question than a statement, her voice getting higher and higher as the immense creature let out a low warning hiss, black smoke billowing out of her nostrils. Seven had dealt with a variety of unpleasant magical creatures in the past, but none quite as large or pyrokinetically inclined as the reptile in front of her.

   Seven barely saw the firedrake strike. A blur of red gave her barely enough time to throw her hands up, her jaws clamping down on Seven's arms. Instead of crunching right through her arms, there was the loud screech of teeth as hard as diamonds glancing off of the metal cuffs on Seven's forearms.

   The firedrake jolted back, a few drops of molten fire dribbling onto the stone floor. Seven felt a hint of satisfaction at her bewildered look as her tongue probed the new holes in her gums. At least three of her fangs had snapped on the impenetrable metal when the firedrake had tried to bite her. Seven grabbed the largest one as the reptile shook her head, dark blood splattering on the floor from the sharp movement.

   The temperature in the room dropped dramatically as infuriated reptile sucked in a great breath, the staticky tingle of magic causing the hair on the back of Seven's neck to stand on end. She realized what was happening a moment too late, scrabbling out of the way as the firedrake spat a stream of white hot fire.

   It struck the stone behind her, leaving a steaming hole three times the size of Seven's head. The back of her coat was blackened and smoking when she glanced over her shoulder.

   She kept her hands up in a futile attempt to placate the beast, slowly backing towards the entrance of the lair. Seven was rudely reminded of the dozen or so knights outside when one came charging in, simultaneously gaping at the firedrake and her. He barely avoided impaling Seven on his sword, jerking it away at the last second.

   He was young, maybe 15 or 16, his armor ill fitting and battle worn. Probably the son of a disgraced lord looking for some quick way to restore his battered honor. Seven bared her teeth at him, letting out a savage snarl and grinning wickedly at his flinch. Frightening people was what she'd been made for. Seven had gotten very good at it over the years.

   Before he could so much as blink, Seven bolted out of the den. She heard his shriek behind her as she leapt over a pile of equipment, barreling through the group of knights and scattering them like they were nothing more than an insignificant group of children instead of a band of people perfectly capable of killing her.

   Apparently they judged the firedrake to be a more immediate threat than Seven. She could see the spiked arch of the creature's long neck as she stomped out of her lair, spewing fire hot enough that it was a silvery shade of blue. The hair on the back of Seven's neck stood on end, the firedrake's frozen glare at odds with the flames spewing out of her mouth. Oh, she knew Seven had taken something. She was too preoccupied to do more than glare at her as she fled, flames and screams painting the hills behind Seven.

   As she ran, it occurred to Seven that if she'd had to deal with only one threat instead of both, the confrontation would've been far more dangerous. Instead of focusing on hunting her down, they were too busy trying to kill each other to worry about the red haired girl who was currently sprinting towards the nearby forest.