The Frost Wyrm is big. No, it's massive, it must be three stories tall. Scales that glisten like ice cover every inch of its body, with icicles hanging underneath it, and bigger, more dangerous looking ice spikes poke out of its tail. It sits patiently at the edge of the village, looking out over the buildings.

Despite his age, Set is the first to arrive, throwing himself at the feet of the dragon, bowing deep into the snow. Jet and Fia soon follow suit, leaving me, Enna, and Sarah standing nearby.

The air is heavy with the presence of the Wyrm, it doesn't open its maw, but its voice permeates the air nevertheless, a strange, distorted noise. I have no idea what it's saying, the language is incomprehensible and yet, the orcs seem to understand it, and answer in their own tongue.

As the dragon continues to converse with its subjects, the air seems to get colder and colder. Snow starts to fall heavily, and icicles start to push up out of the snow, their ends pointing into the sky. Surfaces begin to frost over and just when I feel like giving in and going inside, Hollis appears next to me, a warming spell already being cast. The frost is pushed back, and my teeth stop chattering.

The dragon's massive head swings in my direction and catches me with frozen blue eyes. A flap of the Wyrm's wings blows snow in all directions, making me stumble back into Enna. A distorted, almost artificial sounding voice echoes in my ears, "Long have I guided the orcs. What right have you to snatch them away?"

Enna steadies me with a claw and brushes snow off my cloak. I take a deep breath and respond, "I was there when you weren't."

"Insolence." The distortion makes my teeth buzz, "And now you plan to use them in your conquest?"

The pressure increases and increases, I desperately want my ears to pop, but I'm afraid that might rupture something. Suddenly, the pressure lessons significantly as Sarah steps in front of me, her sword halfway out of its sheath.

The Wyrm lowers its head close to the Hero, observing her with a giant sapphire eye, "The Golden One spreads her taint even here?"

A brief flash of light from Sarah's exposed blade sends the dragon recoiling away, "I see." Its hiss sounds like static. "All of the old ones are awake. And a few who are young. Yes, yes, I see."

The great sapphire eye returns close to the Hero, "Will you protect them? Or will the Golden One simply throw them away when she is done, as she has for many others?"

Before Sarah can respond, the eye shifts to me, "What of you, little one? Will the vess consume the orcs in their desperation to spread their darkness? As they have always done?"

The big lizard doesn't even let me answer, "No, no you are different. I see"

Leaning into Hollis and hugging their arm, I pout up at the icy lizard, "What do you know about me? We've never even met!"

The lizard's eyes are really the only emotive part of its body, they widen for a fraction of a second, "The vess have always been a plague on the world, spreading their hives as far as they can, consuming all in their path. The Queen, always starving for more power, reaping the lives of all before her. I am sure the dwarves have yet to forget who bears the responsibility for the near extinction of their race." The lizard's pupils dilate for a second, focusing intensely on me, "Your hunger has been managed. You live amongst the other races. Only once has this been done before, and a god died as a result. No, I can tell you are different not through any magic, but by the relationships around you."

"If you can tell Ren is different, why don't you help us? Protect your orcs!" Sarah yells up at the dragon, her hearing might be damaged.

"No, no, hero. My strength is nothing before the gods." The Wyrm's wings droop and its whole posture seems to sag, "In truth, I am a coward. My clutch of eggs will not survive without me, I have already lost too many, my heart is broken, overflowing with sorrow. The Storm God rages across the north; I can no longer guide these orcs. I must look to my own."

"Why don't you move your eggs south? We can help you!" Shouts the Hero.

Something that could be called a laugh rattles out of the Great Wyrm, "No matter the age, heroes are always the same. No, hero. My kind cannot leave the north, not for long."

What does this dragon even want? Did it just come here to give us hearing damage and be sad? It clearly cares about the orcs and seems genuinely upset it can't be there for them. At least, I think. I'm not good at reading people at the best of times and this oversized reptile doesn't even have eyebrows to express with. Maybe just because you're big and powerful doesn't mean you don't do stupid stuff out of emotion. Does it want reassurance?

"Come visit the orcs next winter." I speak in a normal voice, trusting the dragon can hear me, "We will stay near the Spinesnap. I'm going to level the orcs up while keeping them safe, I won't carelessly throw their lives away."

The Great Wyrm eyes me for a moment before speaking, "Child, do you know who was the victor of the last god war?" The distortion lets up a little, "The Buried God, Eros. God of dragons and fortune. As a vess, you are one of the few who understand how that ended. No matter your strength, the end comes for you all the same."

It's incredibly hard to read the dragon's expression, but the tone of its voice seems sad. It raises its head to look out over the village, the last of the pressure easing off. The Frost Wyrm shakes itself, dislodging a sheet of ice that had settled over its body. It says something in that unknown language and suddenly launches into the sky, sending everyone tumbling with the powerful flapping of its wings. It circles the village once, then flies north.

Sarah is holding her nose shut and puffing out her cheeks, it looks like she is trying to get her ears to pop. "Well, that sucked. At least it's gone now. Are you okay, Ren?"

I nod, "Mmm, yeah."

"Think the dragon is going to come back to cause us trouble?" The Hero turns to the orcs for answers.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

All of the orcs are still face down, bowing into the snow.

Walking over to the orcs, they seem uninjured, just stunned? I guess that was their god they just met. I answer for them, "I don't think we have to worry about the Great Wyrm coming back, it just seemed upset, like it needed to complain to someone."

"If you say so…" Sarah doesn't sound convinced as she goes around to help all of the orcs back to their feet.

"Easy there, Jet." Sarah has to support the larger orc as he sways unsteadily on his feet.

The orc's voice is so quiet in the snow, I almost miss it, "We've been abandoned…"

I plod through the snow and grab the orcs hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze, "I'm sorry." Looking up at Jet, I've never seen anyone look so crestfallen, "I won't leave you; you have my support."

The orc nods mutely before turning to help the Matron escort the elder back towards their dwelling. Their heads hang low, and they murmur quietly amongst themselves. I'll give them time and space, hopefully they'll recover after a bit.

Sending out a silent command, the squad of ballistae disperse and head back into the local hive. Enna must have ordered them to aim at the dragon in case things went wrong. Actually, I am feeling some disappointment across our bond. Did she actually want me to kill the thing? Would that even be possible? It seemed powerful but if Enna thought we could do it, it must have been possible, she hasn't made a mistake yet. My caretaker must have the vess mentality that the dragon mentioned. I would be lying if I said I never felt it, many times I've wanted to just send a wave of vess over my problems.

A golden light shines briefly over Sarah's ears, she sticks a finger into one and wiggles it around, "Ugh, that's itchy."

"Sarah, thanks for always stepping up to protect me. I don't know what I'd do without you." I look up at the hero and give her my brightest smile.

"Ahhh, well you're going to have to figure that out." Sarah slaps a hand over her mouth, "Shit, that was insensitive, sorry. I mean, uh. You don't have to thank me, I'd do it again, no matter what."

My head lowers and I frown down at my snow covered boots.

"Sorry, Ren. C'mere." Sarah leans down and hugs me, wraps her arms around my lower body, and lifts me up into a princess carry. The Hero has been cuddling me even more than usual. Partly as a way to relax and de-stress after her week-long fight in the Void, partly as a way to say, 'sorry for leaving'. I know it won't be forever, but I don't want her to go. We fought a little about it. I wanted to go with her, but she convinced me that the humans would be more willing to listen to her if she went without me, and I think she is probably right.

Lotheris and I have a rocky alliance, at best. They pretty much smiled and thanked me for my help before shooing me away so they wouldn't have to deal with me. I wonder how they feel about me now that they have had time to recover from the war. There is a certain magister who doesn't approve of me that I still need to deal with.

Hollis follows half a step behind Sarah, keeping me in their warmth spell, "Um, Sarah." The vess hesitantly tugs on the Hero's cloak.

Sarah looks back over her shoulder, "What's up, fluffy?"

The Magi blushes and looks down at their feet, "Uh, well. Some things the Frost Wyrm said got me thinking. About how it doesn't matter how strong you are, it's a very fatalistic perspective, but not one without merit." The vess peeks up at Sarah, "I was wondering, to what lengths are you willing to go to defend our fair lady?"

"What are you getting at, Hollis?" Sarah continues to hold me warmly but stops walking and turns to look down at the small vess.

"It's just," Hollis gathers their courage, "In the past, the vess have had few allies, if any. I would never question the wisdom of our fair lady, it's just, I'm nervous. About you, Sarah."

Sarah frowns and glances down at me. I keep my face innocent, I really don't know where this is coming from either. She speaks in a reassuring, gentle tone, "Just say what you mean, I'm not going to be mad."

Hollis fidgets for a few moments, their hands clenching and unclenching their dress, "Sarah, you might not know this, but in the past, the Golden Goddess killed a Vess Queen, right after working together with her to kill another god. It was a terrible betrayal, when the vess were weakened from the fight, the Golden Order turned on us, stormed our hives and burned us from the world. You're our friend, Sarah." The fluffy vess looks up and beams at her, "A good friend, but gods don't care about friends. I know there is a saying from your world, that history often repeats itself. So…" Their face falls and their words trail off as the vess goes back to staring at the ground.

I squirm in Sarah's arms; she looks really upset. Wrapping my arms around her neck, I cuddle closer to silently offer my support. The human hugs me back, taking a deep breath before slowly letting it out.

The silence hangs over our group for a while, until Sarah breaks it, "Enna. You're smart, smarter than anyone I know. What do you think?"

My caretaker is standing patiently with her claws folded in front of her, "The Golden Goddess has only ever attacked those who threaten her power, mostly the other gods. Her majesty has yet to reach her third class evolution, I believe that she is safe, for the time being."

"But it might become a problem if she gets too strong, and she will get strong." Hollis solemnly finishes what was left unsaid.

"I…" Sarah looks down at me, her lips drawn into a thin line, "I could never hurt you, Ren." She hesitates, and looks back to Enna, "Could the Golden Goddess control me? Make me do something I don't want to do?"

Enna inclines her head slightly, "Perhaps, even I do not know what the gods are truly capable of."

"Now isn't the time for you to be cryptic." Sarah spits, her words laced with venom.

If Enna is offended, she doesn't show it, radiating her usual serenity, "It is the truth. To the best of my memory, the Golden Order willingly followed under the Golden Goddess to destroy the vess. That situation certainly wasn't the same as ours. The Vess Queen has never shown so much interest in the other races, nor has she ever gotten close to them. The peace between the vess and humans was unstable from the beginning. Perhaps the bond you two share will prevent such a disaster from happening, perhaps it will not matter."

"Sarah, you're hugging me a little too tight."

The pressure eases up instantly and the hug goes back to being cozy, "Sorry." She grits out.

I tuck my chin down and give her my cutest smile, "It's okay. We don't know what'll happen, maybe it'll be fine."

"That's not a good plan." Sarah almost snaps, catching herself at the last second. She sighs, "The only way the Golden Goddess could get me to hurt you would be mind control. Other than that, she can go fuck herself."

"Okay." I carefully keep my tone light, "There's nothing we can do about it now. Let's just be careful, I'll tell you before I do something that could threaten your goddess."

"I'm so sorry, Sarah." Hollis sounds like they are about to cry.

The tension drains out of the Hero with a mighty sigh, she reaches over and ruffles the vess' fluffy hair, "It's okay, thanks for telling me, it was important." She places a kiss on my forehead, "And I promise to tell you if I get any weird signals from my goddess."

The rest of our trip back is quiet and solemn, as the sun dips out of sight and a cold moon begins to shine over Cal'drada.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.