That serpent!

Out of the flames emerged a shimmering blue neck, long as a bus and curved like a swan. The head at the end of the neck was shaped like a scaly hawk or eagle and bore a crown of long, straight horns. Its eyes glowed like a pair of lighthouses and when it opened its mouth to roar, its throat glowed orange like the mouth of a volcano full of deep magma. The creature's roar shook the ground as it reared back and unfurled a pair of vast leathery wings much bigger than a jumbo jet. Then it shook the ground again as it dropped on all fours and stalked out of the burning facility like a huge cat.

John replayed the last three days with Emura in his head and everything fell into place. He remembered her hypnotic gold eyes, her forked tongue like a reptile, her feverish body temperature, and most of all the name of the entire company.

"Dragonguard," he said through a broken rib, "Oh that is rich."

"COYOTE! LEAVE MY PEOPLE ALONE!" the dragon roared.

"Like you didn't leave mine?" Coyote asked and nodded toward the burning building, "You came here to steal from me and assaulted my servants, now I will kill one of yours for fifteen of mine!"

While the two of them were talking, John noticed the axe lying just a few yards away. Every movement made his legs and chest feel like they were on fire as he crawled towards it. Kristen and the other knights were nowhere in sight, and Emura the dragon was too far away. If Coyote decided to kill him, nobody would be able to stop him, but John wouldn't go down helplessly.

"He isn't one of mine," Emura said as he snatched the axe and threw it Coyote's exposed skull. It was the size of a small car, so it was easy to hit, and John was still running on adrenaline. So despite the sheer pain in his limbs and chest, the weapon arced like missile and struck the huge canine right between the eyes.

He didn't know what to expect, but he definitely didn't expect what happened next. A shimmering crack split the front of Coyote's skull front to back and he screamed in anguish.

"Skinwalkers! Kill him!" Coyote snarled and dozens of the monsters started running towards him. He couldn't run now and they would tear him to shreds for sure. He was ready to go down with good ol' fisticuffs when Clancy and Aaron appeared from behind him, longswords held high with battlecries like vikings. Emura the dragon sounded like a jet engine as she sailed through the air and crashed down on top of Coyote talons first like a bird of prey. The impact dislodged the axe which tumbled back to John's level.

He limped after it, but he was a bit too slow and a skinwalker tackled him to the ground with blinding speed. It tried to bite his throat, but Jean Paul's bullet killed it before it could finish him off. John pushed the corpse off of his chest and then picked up the axe again.

After that he heard Kristen screaming in terror somewhere off to his right and saw a whole pack of skinwalkers surrounding her. He hurried after them as fast as he could while Jean did his best to thin their numbers. One of them spotted him and ran after him. Jean shot at it, missed, and it nearly grabbed John before he swung the axe and hit it right in the chest. The blade sank deep but he yanked it free with almost no resistance then chopped its head off.

The last skinwalker was on top of Kristen, who was covered in blood and bruises, but he saw a glint of bright metal as she stabbed it with a long dagger three times in the neck in rapid succession. The skinwalker screamed in pain and she rolled on top of it then stabbed it twice more in the chest so it stopped thrashing.

"Kristen!" John called out to her.

"John! You're alive!" she beamed and tried to stand up, but then she doubled over and clutched at her side.

"It's... bleeding... fast..." she said as he draped one of her arms over his shoulders.

"There's one of the jeeps," John pointed out, "Is there a first aid kit in there?"

"Yeah..." she groaned.

They limped toward the vehicle together and finally John ripped open the door and rummaged around inside for the first aid kit. However, no sooner did he find it then Coyote and Emura came down on top of the vehicle while locked in a grapple. John pulled Kristen out of the jeep and she landed on top of him just before the two titans crushed it. John hadn't had the opportunity to watch their battle, but Coyote looked much worse for the wear, and even Emura had a few bleeding wounds especially around her neck.

"You can't beat me in a fair fight, mongrel," Emura said then inhaled a deep breath.

"Who said anything about fighting fair?" Coyote said and spit a stream of water down her throat. Emura yelped with surprise and steam billowed out of her mouth which concealed everything nearby. John coughed at the stinking vapor and was almost hit by a much smaller, though still very big coyote as it ran off into the night. When the steam cleared, Coyote was gone and Emura was back in her human form coughing up water like she nearly drowned. She was also completely naked.

"Boss... help... me..." Kristen said, now barely conscious. Emura took the first aid kit from John and he sat down on top of the crushed jeep panting from exhaustion. Aaron and Clancy appeared and sheathed their swords which glistened with skinwalker blood.

"She's lost a lot of blood," Emura was almost panicking now, "She needs a transfusion. Get her blood from the van!"

"Right away, ma'am!" Clancy started running before she even finished.

"Aaron, get your wife on the phone right now," Emura continued, "John, follow me, please."

When they were out of earshot she asked, "How badly are you hurt?"

"Forget about me," John said, "What the fuck was that?!"

"Alright," Emura said, "Ask all of your questions."

"What was that thing?" he asked.

"That was Coyote," Emura said, "A god by all rights, though just a minor one."

"Why did it... he... they attack us?"

Emura cocked an eyebrow and spread her hands toward the burning facility of Latran corporation, "Canis latrans is the scientific name of the American coyote. Latran Corporation is his holding in the mortal realm."

"So this raid was just an act of war against another immortal?" he asked, "You expected him... it to be here?"

"Possibly," Emura admitted, "I knew he might come, but I thought he was preoccupied with... other matters tonight."

"So you sent us into a warzone against a god?" he asked, "And for what? What's in there that nearly got Kristen and me killed?"

Emura glared at him and approached the roaring flames then levitated ten feet in the air. The fire suddenly swirled around and above her like a whirlpool or a drain as she absorbed it into her body. A minute later, the building was just a charred heap of steel and concrete, and Emura glowed like the fire continued to burn just beneath her skin.

She dropped to the ground and exhaled a puff of smoke then returned to John just as Clancy drove up in the van. Aaron meanwhile was having a panicked conversation with Sama and was asking questions like if she could cast a healing spell over the phone.

"Well then get here as fast as you can!" Aaron said, "I said as fast as you can, please don't make me use the "w" word!"

Next Clancy squatted beside Kristen and inserted a needle into her wrist. It was attached to a long tube which he hooked up to a small pump, then hooked that up to a bag full of blood that had Kristen's name printed on it.

"Walk with me, John," Emura said, "I'll show you what we're here for."

She led him into smoldering wreckage to a door that had survived the inferno. Originally it must have had an electronic lock, but now all that remained was a handle like on an old bank vault. Emura wrenched it off its hinges and dropped it off to the side.

"Through here," she said, "After you."

John walked into the tunnel which went into the mountain. There was a faint light at the end, but he couldn't make out the source until he emerged from the tunnel into a massive room with control monitors on every wall. The electronics and machinery were all dead with the only light emanating from inside the device in the middle of the chamber. There was tiny viewport built into the contraption, and he had to bend over slightly to peer inside. Deep within there was a small flame, bigger than a candle but smaller than a campfire which hovered in midair with no obvious fuel source.

"What is that?" he asked.

"That is the First Flame, the source of all fire in the mortal realm," Emura explained, "It was first stolen from heaven by Coyote and Prometheus while your kind still huddled in caves to hide from ice age megafauna. Without, humans would have no knowledge of fire."

Next Emura's hand lit up with a blue flame like a welding torch and she began cutting her way inside the compartment. Soon, John saw sparks on the inside through the view port, and a moment later, Emura reached inside and grabbed the flame itself like it was solid. After removing it, she cupped it in her hands like a precious gemstone and blew on it gently. It danced under her breath and she smiled.

"Coyote betrayed Prometheus after that and the titan was punished by the gods for his treachery. Loki stole it from Coyote, Anansi stole it from him, and finally Coyote stole it back. Now it's mine."

"Ok, but, why?" John asked.

"None of those thieves who possessed previously could use it to its full potential," she said, "They were not dragons, but in my hands, it will allow me to draw upon the combined power of every flame on the planet."

This was all way above his head now, and he didn't know what to do or say. As she walked out of the tunnel back to the van he pondered if this was really what he was interested in signing up for. He had gotten to kill some monsters, but that was only because they were obstacles in Emura's way. She had also withheld a lot of information from him and he almost died tonight. Kristen was dying right now. John hadn't known her for very long, but he didn't want her to die.

Clancy was still tending to her bite wound while Aaron paced and watched the night sky. When he saw the flame Emura held in her hands he gasped with shock and took a step backward to get away from the heat.

"Where's Sama?" Emura asked.

"She's on the way," he explained, "There's some kind of disturbance in the spirit realm tonight that's hampering her path."

"Kristen doesn't have that much time," Emura said and knelt beside the young pilot. Clancy was trying his hardest to keep her awake, but he stepped aside for her.

"This will hurt," Emura said.

"What's going to-AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!" Kristen screamed as Emura touched the flame to her side to cauterize the wound.

"You won't lose anymore blood until Sama arrives and can cast a healing spell," Emura said laying a gentle hand on the other woman. The flame became blindingly bright and John had to squint and look away like it was a miniature sun.

Eventually he glanced up at the night sky and spotted a meteor streak across the stars. Except it didn't burn up, and then it doubled back and got closer. He was about to start running for his life but before he could move it crashed a short distance away and Aaron immediately ran over to where it landed. He reached into the crater and Sama reached out and took his hand. She almost fainted when she stood up but he caught her before she hurt herself and led her to where Kristen lay next to the van.

"Where's the wound?" Sama asked and Clancy pointed it out.

"Stand back," she said and closed her eyes as a shimmering, golden mist formed around her hands. As soon as she touched Kristen's tummy, the burn melted away leaving fresh, tender skin behind. Kristen inhaled deeply and gasped out loud then tried to stand up, but Sama kept her down.

"Wait until this is empty," Clancy pointed to the blood bag. Kristen nodded and sat back down.

Emura's attention was just absorbed by the flame she held in her hands until Aaron dragged the mystery crate from before to her.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sama gasped.

"Yes," Emura said, "Behold your new goddess of fire."