Warning: Protect The Empathy Written Inside

Drone cameras zoomed on the confrontation. The yellow dragon watched their footage with a growing smirk. The consciousnesses of the dead contained in items conducted an argument while their wielders remained helpless. Humans were fantastic specimens. Precision microphones captured audio without missing a single word.

He’d already taken measure of the mop wielder, time to learn what the spellbook was capable of. The wielder was Avelina’s boy, of all dragons. This reunion lingered longer than he preferred. They were trying to talk Zenobia back to her senses. He couldn’t risk them succeeding.

The tip of his claw tapped the screen. The staff rose from his belt. The tip glowed. A little reinforcement of his powers would harden her heart. Sometimes these humans had a way of harboring pesky pacifist resistances. No such thing could be allowed to surface. She could relish her regrets later.

A swoop of gliding wings alerted him to the imp’s approach. Grabby slowed his decent and flapped wings excitedly while the yellow dragon continued observing. The bucker, satchel, and a stuffed duffel bag dangled from his claws.

“I can’t believe you ransacked my library,” Grabby pouted.

“What are you complaining about? We left it in better shape than we found it. That’s quite the compliment. It says you’re still a useful member of society.”

“Well, yay me I suppose. Why exactly have you summoned me with all these useless artifacts?”

“Because I’m famished. Can you give me half a muffin?”

“Yes sir.”

Grabby rummaged through the duffel bag until he found the eternally fresh baked good. He sliced the moist red bread in half with his claw’s swipe. One of the halves bulged at the cut line, he put that one back and offered the dormant half to his boss, who gobbled it in one gulp.

The gold boss felt his mana recharge from eating it, “Red velvet is my favorite flavor; you should have told me about this item sooner.”

“Eat too much and you’ll be baked, literally.”

“I know how to analyze an artifact. Appraisals are one of my many specialties. Speaking of which, I understand you imps have quite the low standing in this country.”

“We’re not exactly liked, to be sure. But Avelina trusted me to watch her boy for ten years so there’s that,” Grabby tapped his claws, “About that, what are you planning for Jorseph?”

“What are we planning? Don’t be troubled over it. We only have good things in store for useful dragons, so long as they remain useful.”

“Jorseph is a good kid. Yeah, he gave me all sorts of trouble, but I’m sure he can be useful. And if anything happened to him, his mother would be devastated.”

The gold boss nodded, “I can’t promise the foolish child won’t get himself killed. But I’d much rather he’d live. Let’s make a fresh deal. When the time comes, you’re going to be the hero of this story. They’re going to build statues of you. You’ll be worth millions. In exchange, no more of these side hustles. You work exclusively for me.”

Grabby’s eye glittered as it opened wide. Lashes curled, “Yes, yes, of course, I’ll only work exclusively for you and no more secrets. I won’t break any of the cameras or listening devices you place in my library either. You’ll know about every item at every stage of construction!”

“That’s my imp, exactly what I wanted to hear,” he pointed to the damaged buildings around the collapsed warehouse, “You might be needed to collect the items and save the boy. Wait down there until I give the signal. You’ll know it when you see it, just keep an eye on me. And no, I’d never risk putting you in harm’s way.”

“Yes sir, you can count on me sir!”

Grabby flew to a perch atop the construction site and waited for his signal.

-----

A ball of swirling blades shot at Jorseph. Lilly’s hand disintegrated attempting to bat it back. Gravitational orbs glowed in the upper right corner of the scroll cage. Zenobia’s projectiles tilted towards the anchors while Jorseph pushed against the opposite border. A rainbow aura revealed the shape of the scrolls before they shredded into scraps.

As the scraps vanished, Jorseph blew past them. Bladed cannon balls chased. His back arched. The tip of his dorsal fin lost a chunk. The wound coagulated with a syrupy liquid. He dove downward. Tail swished to the side to avoid being shredded. Another ball threatened Jorseph’s head. 

Lilly clutched a gravity orb and dove into it. Her form vanished into a plume of inky smoke. Dirty water rained to the surface.

A new silhouette formed closer to Jorseph. He panted. Sharp eye scanned dance of liquid bullets. It curved between projectiles. His lower leg burst to a bloody stump while his form shrunk. 

Lilly allowed his form to shrink out of the wound. The lower legs absorbed back into his body, “Zen, please, you’re going to kill him!”

“That’s the point, Lilly!”

“I have to bite her!” Jorseph roared flames through his nostrils, “I have to bite her! I can’t keep doing this! The attacks are from everywhere! What do I do!?”

Lilly concentrated, raised her arm, and sent Jorseph flying above the clouds. 

Water gave chase, though the force and speed diminished. 

He rolled in the thinner air above. The moon descending into the great calm ocean distracted him. Its ray glistened over the surface. It reflected the bubbling tidal wall building higher.

Lilly’s secondary body reformed next to him, “We bought time. I think her powers anchor her to a water source. But I doubt she can’t fight up here if she wants.”

“I should bite her. It’s the only way!”

Lilly’s body tensed as her arms flailed, “Are you stupid? She’ll slice you in half from the inside!”

“You’re a spell book, cast protection on me!”

“We don’t have time to learn new spells. We can barely cast the ones we have. You should start reading. You might be able-”

Heavy fog in the form of a young woman wielded a wet mop. A bright blue eye gleamed behind Lilly as the mop pulled back with its fronds swinging, “Best friends forever!”

Jorseph gasped, reached out, then pulled back.

A blade sliced Lilly’s form across the waist. Then another sliced from head to toe. Two more sliced her diagonally. The swings came repeatedly, even after Lilly’s form vanished.

Instinct told Jorseph to fly away. The first two orbs didn’t reach him before they burst into rain. The next three were stronger. He dove over and under them, but they wouldn’t quit. Jorseph felt himself shrinking, but each reduction left him a bit faster. So long as he could fly, he could evade.

Zenobia's form destabilized into a loose puff of fog.

The spell book glowed. Three more gravitational anchors flew inside Zenobia's violent orbs. They pulled away from Jorseph and burst into stinging rain.

His form twirled as the very last sliver of moon beam vanished beneath the ocean. He shoutted at the cloud, “Lilly never stopped looking for you. She doesn’t want to fight you. Just stop this! It doesn’t make any sense!”

The cool moist air dried. The water spout thinned as it struggled hold Zenobia's dissipating form. The bright neon blue eye glared through the cloud, “Nothing makes sense anymore.”

“I think you’re out of water!” Jorseph panted to catch his breath.

“Have you ever heard of a bluff!?”

A sphere of spheres manifested around Zenobia. Her form consolidated perfectly. Her back tensed as her head tilted; it touched the bottom of her feet as she folded into a beating heart.

The heart exploded. Spheres flew from the blast in every direction.

The last of the gravitational anchors expanded to counter the onslaught. Jorseph angled to avoid getting punctured. A whisker disintegrated. The edge of his tail eroded away. But he survived. They flew past him and weren’t returning.

Lilly took a form over his shoulder, like a fairy made of penned words. She clutched at his dense violet mane. Soft crying reached his ear.

A scream vibrated from a floating puddle, “Why aren’t my attacks landing!?”

He sniffed, face reddening as he circled at a distance. The book remained clutched against his chest, “Maybe you don’t want them to land. Maybe dragons are just really good at dodgeball?”

“I didn’t want-” a violet glow stormed within the fog, “Shut up! Shut up! I said shut up! Just shut and die!”

Lilly reached out. The gem in her cover glowed warmly, “Zen! What’s happening to you!? Please tell me!”

The tidal wall could no longer hold. Its waves burst forward with gathering height while approaching the burning wreckage of the tanker.

“Shut up and die you- all you- dragons!”