Loyalty

Shadow knew he thoroughly screwed up this time. As the humans circled him the same way they did the wolf, he noticed an assassin with two daggers in hand, crouching on the tree he just leaped from.

{To think they had an assassin watching me the whole time, I should've known; I was an assassin}

[No point in dwelling on past mistakes, we must fight our way out of here, you'll most likely have to kill them all; humans are a tenacious species.]

{That much, I'm aware of}

[On your right]

Shadow swiftly dodged a thrust at his side, which was followed up by 3 consecutive and broad strokes from what looked to be a katana

{Did this guy forget I'm a dragon?}

Releasing a fury of deep red flames directly into his attacker's face, it was highly effective!

"It can breathe fire!" the man who attacked him hoarsely screamed as he fell to the ground to douse the fire.

"Did you find that out before, or after, it scorched your face off" chuckled the burly axe wielder.

"Quiet, you fool! Since when could hatchlings spew flames, especially at this temperature?" hissed the boss, he was of shorter stature than most of his subordinates, hair slicked back, and a pale bony figure. But he radiated much more strength than any of the men standing out here.

"Uh, I'm not sure boss, should we leave the lizard alone?" said a fat and pudgy man carrying a wooden staff with a golden tip.

Something about being called a lizard really irked Shadow.

"Of course, not, even geniuses are born amongst beasts, especially noble dragons. Just more effort for a much higher payout. Chop, chop, men, don't keep me waiting much longer, these woods give me the creeps." mumbled their boss while looking around with a displeased expression.

"Cmere little lizard, Daddy Feso will take you somewhere nice"

{Now why would I go anywhere with a man the size of a car, grinning like that?}

[Free food?]

{Very funny}

Shadow may have been quipping around with Aariv, but he was by no means in a good position at the moment. Although his dragon frame was smaller than his human one, it was wider, and longer appendages sticking out in places he wasn't used to, rather than being upright.

"The fire isn't going out!" the burning poacher shouted.

"Huh, just roll on the ground you idiot" The Feso screamed in irritation.

"What do you think I'm doing dimwit, it's not going out" the human lighter shouted back.

Shadow immediately felt a piercing gaze at his back, only to turn around and find their boss glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

"Mana infused flames" he muttered. "Kill the dragon, we'll sell the corpse"

"But boss" one of the subordinates interjected.

"Just do as I say, or your head rolls with the beast" their boss growled.

That immediately shut them up and caused them to rush Shadow head-on, sparing him no room to breathe.

Consistently the swordsman achieved cuts and slashes on places like his tail, side, and horns. One man almost successfully jabbed him in his face but he dodged that in place of getting punched in his ribs; however, his scales are extremely hard, and they had trouble inflicting anything past superficial.

A loud hiss-like whisper came from the tree the assassin was perched on "A tenacious little lizard, isn't it? Get serious you idiots, boss said wrap this up quickly."

Immediately the entire battle dynamic shifted. Swordsmen started taking up new positions and rather than attacking one at a time, they ruthlessly struck all at once. Telekinetics started bombarding Shadow the same way they barraged the wolf with attacks while the same man from before was chanting again.

{Things have never looked so bright}

[Let's focus on seeing tomorrow before we get sarcastic]

Shadow was furiously dodging at this point, he had no room left in his mind for anything left but battling. Evading the spells headed his way was relatively easy, he just spared a bit of mental capacity to notice when spells displaced the surrounding energy while incoming, the swords however, that as different.

{They're pretty skilled when it comes to teamwork, several of them attack to force me to dodge one direction, and another is already there with an attack, forcing me to block. Which would mean, they plan to wear me down until I make a fatal mistake or finish me with that spell, whichever comes first}

[So, what's your counter to this]

{Humans go boom}

[What? I don't think now, is the time for jokes]

{You'll see}

It was at that same moment, Shadow took a bash to the maw from the handle of a sword, throwing him off balance. Sparing no time, a lean and quick swordsman, that was playing passive up until now, showed up right next to him and kicked Shadow 20 feet into the air for him to be struck into the ground by the mountain man.

[What are yo- oh, I see now]

"Seems the lizard is out of steam, let's wrap this up boys, we got money to make!"

Loud cheering resounded from all of the present men, and they continued their assault with grins on their faces; throwing Shadow around like a new toy ball, they beat and battered his body, chipping scales and horns.

"Why doesn't the little thing want to play anymore?" said a random swordsman in a disheartened manner.

"It realizes it can't win, now kill it!" Feso was obviously not in the mood to be shortened at the neck.

An instant after he gave the order, Shadow felt his senses flare once again.

"Die" whispered the assassin.

[NOW]

But unfortunately for him, Shadow didn't dodge this time, because the spell in the back was about to be fired.

He lunged behind him and grabbed the assassin's outstretched arm and flipped the man over his head, placing him in harm's way. He didn't stay to find out how strong the spell was because the moment it fired, he kicked off of the assassin's back to witness his chest be pierced the same way they killed the wolf.

"The cunning reptile killed our only ambush agent!" someone exclaimed. Shadow wasn't too concerned with whoever was shouting.

"We'll be able to hire a new and stronger one, just kill the dragon!," Feso roared.

That would be the last thing he uttered, for the next moment, Shadow opened his mouth to reveal an orange and reddish ball of energy, which he detonated over the entire entourage.

The location, timing, and area of effect were all planned, what wasn't planned, was the destruction. The blast eviscerated everyone, including the boss, and carried on hundreds of feet past their carriages, scorching everything in its path, leaving nothing but burn marks as evidence there wasn't something there to begin with.

{Woah}

[Woah, indeed]

{That would've been problematic to let loose in the cave}

[Oh really, why do you say that?]

{Don't be smart with me, thank you, for saving my life}

[All in a day's work of Super Aariv of course]

Shadow tried to stick his landing, but he was too tired and just ended up flopping back to the ground.

{Being loved is tiring}

[Yes, because those guys were attempting to get your autograph, something that can only be fixed with a well-placed bomb]

{I do what I can}

That was when he noticed the supposed wolf's corpse, was still breathing.

{That thing is still alive?}

[If it is, it's barely clinging to life, it won't survive for much longer]

{Might as well put it out of its misery instead of letting it wait for death. Let's see what our guest wants}

Once he was close enough to look the wolf in the face, he scanned its body.

It was jet black, with red streaks starting at its eyes and flowing towards its back, tying into the fact it was larger than he was, the wolf was pretty frightening. If by comparison, this was a normal wolf's size, he was about the size of a German Shepherd. That made that rabbit abnormally large, and a bit scary.

Shadow surveyed the wound on its chest, it was massive, to say the least. It covered most of the wolf's breast and gushed blood like no tomorrow. There was no way to save the animal.

Searching its eyes for some type of plea to end its life so he could bring it peace, he only found a strong determination and will to live that raged on; it was admirable, but he knew there was no window of opportunity the poor creature could take.

{Is there a way to communicate with it?}

[Imagine your thoughts in word form like it's the energy in the air and project that energy towards the wolf. It's injured, so flow the energy directly into its head since it can't take in the energy itself]

Shadow closed his eyes and pictured the surrounding energy like an eternal ocean, then, gently placed his thoughts onto some currents flowing toward the wolf and guided everything into its brain.

'You won't survive this. Your wound is much too severe and there is nothing I can do to save you. The fire in your heart is admirable, but rest, the battle is over.'

The wolf stared at him for a few seconds before he received its response.

'Thank you, benefactor, you have avenged my spirit and brought me peace. Please do me the honor of ending my life, so I may not die at the hands of wicked humans.'

'Yo- you're a female.'

'Yes'

'Ahem, uhm, I will fulfill your wish, however, let me send you away with a blessing from where I come from.'

Shadow planned on drawing his infamous symbol on the wolf before putting it to rest. He felt like it was a good way to send it off, for its bravery.

He heated his claw with a bit of flame and then began drawing. He knew it was painful, but the chest wound definitely caused more suffering than his drawing ever could, he knew the wolf could take it.

When he was done, he overlooked his handy work to make sure it was good and then positioned his claw in the center to pierce the wolf's abdomen and end it all.

'Rest warrior, your bravery is commendable and worthy of a beautiful afterlife.'

Shadow then pressed his claw down, however, before he could complete his task, the entire circle began glowing.

[Uh, what did you do?]

{Not sure, but this wasn't supposed to happen. We need to leave, now}

He turned to dart back towards his cave, not wanting to be here any longer.

That was the idea at least. Fate had other plans, as she always does.

A wave of fatigue hit Shadow like a 50-pound bag of bricks, causing him to collapse as he felt every bit of energy in his body leave through the pores of his skin.

Where did it go? Straight towards the wolf as it began to glow and levitate off of the ground, healing, changing, growing stronger.

Shadow missed all of this since after his energy left him, all he saw was-