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Chapter 1.

My eyes shot open, and I looked around me. Nothing had changed inside my tent. Yet, my heart pounded. Call it intuition or divine intervention, but I knew in my bones that something was off.

As slow as I could, I moved my eyes toward the flap I had left open on a creak so the cool evening air could caress my face. Our campfire had died during the night, so it was entirely dark outside. My pupils darted around until I finally spotted something tangible: slip marks on the floor near the entrance.

What?

Had the guards found us already? No, Azni and Ofina would have noticed. Though they remained as mysterious as ever, I trusted their capabilities. The first place I'd looked was the entrance over to my right, which was deserted. Common sense dictated the threat would come from my left, and reasoning would suggest I turn and look discreetly.

However, a tingle ran through my neck — like my body refused to obey my commands. If I looked, I would know. If I knew, I'd have to face it. If I faced it, I could die.

So, cower and cry, Rollo beamed at me in a thought so vivid the low baritone of his voice trembled in my ears, his Dragonoid teeth gleaming as his tongue rolled over them. Wait for your Angels to come save you.

My brows shook. An extreme amount of heat built in my chest, and my heartbeat slowed. I turned. The silhouette hidden in the dark hissed, rising up when its cover was blown, but my claws snapped out, clamping around its face.

A hiss turned into a screech. A screech turned into a wail. Flames licked the ends of my hair as I stood up from my bedroll, lifting Rollo from the floor, and I squeezed. The uninterrupted wave of his howl broke on the cliffside, crumbling into a cackle.

Rollo's talon brushed my cheek. "I was right: even a little bird has some bite."

“More than you can handle.”

His scales resisted until the blaze travelling through my arms overpowered his natural defences. My nails punctured through. He laughed as steam and white pus rolled down the side of his melting eye socket.

Hovering in the air, the tip of his tail shot toward my stomach, but my own scales protected me. I stared him down, the fire in my soul a raging inferno so hot it quelled and cooled everything else by existing.

"Send your God a message:" Like a mother entering the afterlife, finally embracing her lost child, I pulled Rollo so close his cold breath slid down my neck. "between death and rebirth, there is a hell. I'll meet him there."

I rested my other hand on his shoulder for leverage. Then, reversing my grip, tore Rollo's head from his body. The sick amusement in his one good eye never transformed into unwillingness — didn't reveal a shade of fear for what must’ve awaited him. And in the end, when I burned it all to a crisp, it only revealed a void.

Rollo's headless body dropped to the ground, and I towered over him, flames pouring out of my nostrils. Something pink clung to my hand. I licked my fingers and rolled it around in my mouth. Chewy. The signs weren't looking up if this was the precursor to Dragon brain matter.

Slow clapping broke me out of my trance as the heat in my chest receded.

"I liked the quote."

Rollo's — no, the snake's corpse convulsed as if to drily laugh at the comment.

Ofina sat in a corner of my tent. Her hands glided over the scabbard of the sword that never left her side. Peering at it, I tried to gain a glimpse of its form, but I failed, as always.

I sighed. "This was some sort of test, and I failed, didn't I?"

"Spectacularly so, if I may add." Azni stepped through the entrance, giving me a grin. "Though you did cook our lovely reptilian specimen to a near-perfect temperature, Asha."

What had previously been licks of flame were now dancing streams of green fire flowing through my hair. My bedroll — well, calling it that was a disservice against all bedrolls at this point. Moreover, the ground in a five-meter radius around me showed signs of melting.

Yeah. I'd lost my temper. A little. Only a little.

"Sorry."

"It's about what we expected," Azni said. "Your instincts are top-notch. Very few beings could match them."

"However, you're a raw diamond," he added before any praise could even make it up my leg. Not that I would ever let it.

"You're basically a drunkard throwing power around without any semblance of control. You'll die an ugly death exploding like this against every single threat."

I bit my lips. Everything he had said was true.

"That said," Ofina said. "It's better to have an excess of power and lack control than an excess of control without any strength to back it up."

"Control can be trained; raw, overwhelming power cannot. That's talent."

Azni rasped his knuckle on his forehead. "How am I supposed to discipline the child when you keep stroking her ego?"

Ofina shrugged, turning her full attention to her 'baby' instead.

"We'll give you some basic training in qi control and swordsmanship starting tomorrow...morning. Tomorrow morning."

"Afternoon," Ofina corrected, letting out a yawn.

Azni sighed. "Afternoon."

"Thank you," I said. If I wanted a chance at revenge, I'd need all the help I could get.

"Where are we going, anyway?" I asked. They hadn't mentioned it even though a few days had passed since our escape. Well, my escape, really.

"It'll be a surprise," Azni said.

I narrowed my eyes. What was that supposed to mean?

"Will that be a problem?" He asked, smiling. He knew damn well that I had no other choice since I could not escape the wrath of the Dragonoid capital myself. Not that I minded following the two powerful cultivators.

I shook my head.

"Great, then catch some more sleep, and we'll speak again when the sun is up."

"Uhm," I said, looking down. "Could I get a new bedroll?"

Ofina reached for her spatial ring—

"No," Azni said, his tone brokering no discussion. He shot Ofina a dangerous look. "Learn to deal with the consequences of your actions. Perhaps that will teach you restraint."

My lips pressed together, preventing me from making any excuses. I lay down on the hard forest floor. Azni and Ofina vanished in thin air the next moment like they'd never been there in the first place.

Burnt snake meat smells horrible, I thought, closing my eyes.