An Aly in an unexpected place

The sound came again.

Closer this time.

A deep, guttural growl rolled through the dragon graveyard, echoing between the enormous bones scattered across the landscape.

Joey froze.

Cassandra stopped beside him.

Neither spoke for several seconds.

Then Joey slowly tightened his grip around the cursed machete.

“Please tell me that was something small.”

Cassandra stared into the darkness.

“No.”

“Damn.”

Another growl answered from somewhere ahead.

This one was followed by the unmistakable sound of something large moving through the bones.

Joey swallowed.

“Okay. So what exactly qualifies as not small around here?”

Cassandra's eyes narrowed.

“Something that has survived here.”

“That wasn't the answer I was hoping for.”

A massive bone suddenly snapped somewhere in the darkness.

Joey raised the machete.

Cassandra stepped forward.

“Stay behind me.”

“You know I'm getting pretty tired of hearing that.”

“And yet you continue to require the instruction.”

Before Joey could respond, something enormous burst through the skeletal remains.

The creature was roughly the size of a horse, but there was nothing remotely familiar about it.

Four powerful legs slammed into the ground, each ending in enormous claws. Its hide was covered in thick, dark scales, scarred from countless battles. A long tail whipped behind it, smashing through smaller bones.

Its head was unmistakably draconic.

But it was smaller than the dragons whose remains surrounded them.

A drake.

Cassandra's expression hardened.

“Lesser dragon.”

Joey stared.

“That's a lesser dragon?”

The drake opened its jaws.

Joey took a step backward.

“I'm starting to understand why you called this place dangerous.”

The creature lunged.

Cassandra disappeared into shadow.

The drake's claws slammed into the ground where she had been standing.

Joey swung the machete.

The cursed blade struck the creature's shoulder.

A strange black-and-red glow crawled across the scales.

The drake screamed.

Joey grinned despite himself.

“Okay! The machete works!”

The drake spun violently.

Joey barely got the machete up before the creature slammed into him.

The impact lifted him completely off the ground.

He crashed into a pile of enormous ribs.

“JOEY!”

Cassandra appeared beside the drake and drove one of Greta's rune-covered blades into its side.

The creature roared and swung its tail.

Cassandra was thrown several yards across the graveyard.

Joey struggled to breathe.

“Cassandra!”

“I’m fine!”

She wasn't.

Blood ran down one side of her face.

The drake turned toward Joey.

Joey slowly pushed himself upright.

Every muscle in his body screamed.

The creature charged.

Joey raised the machete.

The impact sent him flying again.

This time something cracked.

He hit the ground hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs.

The machete landed several feet away.

Joey tried to move.

Nothing happened.

“Come on…”

His fingers twitched.

The drake approached.

Cassandra appeared between them.

Her eyes burned crimson.

“Enough.”

She attacked with everything she had.

For several seconds, the graveyard became a blur of claws, shadows, and silver.

Cassandra moved faster than Joey could follow.

She struck the drake repeatedly, tearing through scales and forcing it backward.

But the creature simply refused to stay down.

It caught Cassandra in its jaws.

Joey's heart stopped.

“CASSANDRA!”

The drake threw her aside.

She crashed through a pile of bones.

Joey desperately reached for his machete.

The creature turned back toward him.

Its enormous foot came down.

Joey rolled.

The claw slammed into the ground inches from his head.

He grabbed the machete and swung upward.

The blade cut across the creature's chest.

Black blood sprayed across Joey's face.

The drake screamed.

Then it struck him.

Joey felt himself leave the ground.

He hit something hard.

Then everything went strangely quiet.

His vision blurred.

He tried to breathe.

Pain exploded through his ribs.

“Joey!”

Cassandra's voice sounded distant.

He saw her running toward him.

The drake followed.

Cassandra stopped.

She looked at Joey.

Then at the approaching creature.

For the first time, Joey saw genuine fear in her expression.

Not fear for herself.

Fear for him.

“Run,” she whispered.

Joey tried to laugh.

“Not really… my thing anymore.”

The drake raised one massive claw.

Then—

a golden light appeared between them.

The creature stopped.

Joey blinked.

At first, he thought it was another hallucination.

Then he saw the eyes.

Two enormous golden eyes watching from the darkness.

The creature stepped fully into the moonlight.

Joey's eyes widened.

At first glance, he thought it was a horse.

Then he realized just how badly his first impression had underestimated the creature.

It was enormous.

At least one and a half times the size of a Clydesdale, its massive frame towering over both Joey and Cassandra. Every movement carried the effortless power of something that had never needed to fear a predator.

Its body was covered in brilliant golden scales that shimmered like polished metal beneath the moonlight. A thick mane flowed down its neck, pale and almost luminous, while its enormous hooves seemed to leave faint traces of golden light against the ground.

And from the center of its forehead extended a long, perfectly formed horn.

Joey stared.

“…Unicorn?”

Cassandra slowly rose to her feet.

Her eyes widened.

“No.”

The creature lowered its head.

Golden light gathered around its horn.

“Joey,” Cassandra whispered.

“What?”

“That is a kirin.”

The creature charged.

The drake roared and lunged to meet it.

The kirin lowered its horn.

For one breathtaking instant, the two creatures collided.

Then the kirin's horn punched straight through the drake's chest.

Golden light erupted from the impact.

The drake gave one final, terrible roar before collapsing onto the bones beneath it.

The kirin calmly pulled its horn free.

Joey stared.

“Well…”

He coughed.

“…that was convenient.”

The enormous creature turned toward him.

Those golden eyes met his.

Joey's expression changed.

He had seen those eyes before.

Watching from the darkness.

Following them through the graveyard.

“You,” Joey whispered.

The kirin walked toward him.

Cassandra immediately stepped between them.

The creature stopped.

It didn't attack.

Instead, it lowered its head.

Golden light surrounded its horn.

Cassandra's eyes narrowed.

“Wait.”

The kirin touched the tip of its horn gently against Joey's chest.

Warmth exploded through him.

Joey gasped.

The pain disappeared almost instantly.

The damage from the drake's attack began repairing itself beneath his skin. Broken bones knitted together. Deep bruises faded. Cuts closed as though they had never existed.

Joey stared down at himself in disbelief.

Then he looked up.

“…What the hell?”

The kirin withdrew its horn.

Before Joey could say anything else, the creature turned toward Cassandra.

She instinctively took a step backward.

“I don't need—”

The kirin touched its horn against her chest.

Golden light surrounded Cassandra.

Her expression changed immediately.

The cuts across her body vanished.

The blood staining her clothes disappeared as the wounds beneath them closed.

Even the damage from the drake's attack disappeared.

Cassandra stared down at herself.

Then slowly looked back at the creature.

She was silent for several seconds.

“That,” she said quietly, “should not be possible.”

The kirin stepped away.

Golden light began to surround its enormous body.

Joey watched as its form began to change.

The creature's massive frame seemed to fold inward as the golden light intensified. Scales shifted and disappeared beneath luminous skin. The mane dissolved into long golden hair. The enormous horn vanished into the light.

A moment later, a man stood where the kirin had been.

Joey forgot how to breathe.

The man was exceptionally beautiful.

Not merely handsome.

Beautiful in a way that seemed almost painful to look at.

His features were impossibly symmetrical, his golden eyes carrying the same ancient light as those of the kirin. His long golden hair framed a face that looked almost sculpted rather than born.

There was something fundamentally unnatural about him.

Something celestial.

Joey found himself looking away after only a few seconds.

“Okay,” he muttered.

Cassandra glanced at him.

“What?”

“I think my eyes are actually hurting.”

The stranger smiled faintly.

“I apologize.”

“You're apologizing for being pretty?”

The man's smile widened slightly.

“I have been told it can be distracting.”

Cassandra actually laughed.

“That's one way to describe it.”

Joey shook his head.

“I'm officially done being surprised by anything.”

The stranger's expression became more serious.

“My name is Behemoth.”

Joey slowly got to his feet.

“You were following us.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Behemoth's golden eyes shifted toward the dead drake.

“Because you were walking toward a place where you were very likely to die.”

Cassandra's expression hardened.

“And why do you care?”

Behemoth looked directly at her.

“Because you are Cassandra.”

His gaze shifted toward Joey.

“And you are Joey.”

Joey frowned.

“That doesn't answer my question.”

Behemoth smiled faintly.

“No.”

His eyes moved toward the distant darkness.

“It doesn't.”

Cassandra stepped forward.

“Who are you?”

The smile disappeared.

“My name is Behemoth.”

He paused.

Then added quietly:

“And Leviathan is my brother.”

Silence filled the graveyard.

Joey's stomach dropped.

Cassandra's expression hardened instantly.

“Your brother?”

Behemoth nodded.

“Yes.”

He looked toward the distant mountains where Leviathan's territory disappeared into the darkness.

“And if you are here searching for the Dragon's Grave Bloom…”

His golden eyes returned to Joey and Cassandra.

“…then we have much to discuss.”

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