It turns out,they were going to get there,by a giant flying ship. Grog giggles while running around the deck. They managed to get themselves cleaned up and cure their hangovers before they got on. Isona leans on the railing,looking at the ground as they fly. Vex and Vax whisper to each other, even though Isona was standing right next to Vax,she decided not to intrude and not listen. Scanlan walks over and stands next to Vex.

"Can you guys believe this ship has two bathrooms! And why are you guys whispering like we can't hear you?"

"Mind your business gnome." Vex tells him. Scanlan mocks her words. Allura walks over and stands between Isona and Keyleth.

"As you can see,the creature has already razed three villages and miles of farmland." They fly over burned and destroyed land. "If this evil persists, the kingdom will starve to death."

"Damn." Isona whispers,looking out at the burned farmland.

"This mission sounds kind of deadly." Keyleth says,letting out a nervous chuckle. "Do we really wanna do this?"

"Yes,this task is dangerous. Which is why only the most noble, heroic, and true..." Vax cuts off Allura.

"Yeah,yeah nobility and heroism is fine and all,but we're in this for the money."

"I see. So its coin over character." Allura replies.  

"Are you really that surprised?" Isona said,smirking at her.

"No."

The ship soon lands and everyone climbs off. They turn to Allura,who addresses them from the steps.

"The Shale Steps are beyond that hill. Good luck. Please don't, fuck this up,as they say." With those parting words,she goes back onto the ship.

"Thanks for the sweet ride. You'll be back later to pick us up,right?" Scanlan asks. The ship takes off.

"She'll be back." Isona says,and follows everyone to the village. They arrive to Shale Steps,a small village,that was seemingly empty.

"What are we doing here again?" Grog asks.

"The last attack was just south of here. We're going to ask around here,see if anyone knows anything." Pike explains. They notice Keyleth speak to a tree,making them give her an odd look. They find a man outside his house with his wife and two children. Vex and Percy do most of the talking. Isona and Vax stand off to the side with trinket.

"All we saw was dark clouds,lightning. We thought it was a storm." The fisherman says. Scanlan starts taking jabs at him,making Vex pull him back. The wife walks up to Pike and asks her to bless the house. Pike walks up to the house uncertainly and tries to give a blessing,but she didn't sound confident. The little boy then walks over to Vax and Isona,though his gaze was fixed on Vax's hand that was twirling a coin through his fingers. Vax doesn't notice the boy at first until Isona nudges him.

"Are you a wizard?" He asks,making Vax and Isona chuckle. Vax crouches down to the child's level.

"No. The magic is all in the fingers kid." He twirls his hand and the coin disappears,then reached behind the kids ear and produces the coin. The child gasps. Isona remembers how Vax would to that trick on her a lot,and no matter how much she begged,he would never show her how he did it.

"And now it's in yours." Vax puts the coin in the child's hand. "That's real silver. Keep it safe. There's a monster roaming about." The boy's sister walks over.

"You mean flying."

"What do you mean." Isona spoke up,crouching down next to Vax.

"Something flew over us. It knocked down the big tree on the hill. We heard wings beating but we couldn't see it in the storm." The girl answers.

"But it was big. Really big." The boy says. The couple turn and look in the direction the girl at pointed at. They gather everyone and travel up the large hill.

"Get over here! Trinket's found something." Vex calls out. They follow behind the bear that's sniffing the ground. There are tracks in the mud.

"These tracks are too muddy to discern. But it looks like it took to the air and flew along the coast." Vex said and pointed further down the hill. They climb down a steep part,Isona's foot catches a loose rock and she starts to slide forward,until a very familiar pair of arms catches her.

"My hero." She says and pats Vax's cheek. He rolls his eyes and smiles anyway. They continue walking until Vex stops to look at more tracks. 

"Now they look...human?" Isona makes a confused face.

"But a human couldn't do all this damage. Could they?" She turns to the group,who just shrug at her. Vex suddenly grunts and holds her head.

"It's close. Everyone get ready." She says and stands. Everyone gets their weapons and aims towards a moving bush. Everyone tenses,then a lamb pops out. Grog lets out a loud laugh.

"Get the fuck out! What,a little lamb was behind all this mayhem. Oh don't let it bite you Vex." 

"It's so cute!" Isona sequels. Vex suddenly lets out a cry and falls to her knees. The lamb prances on,only to then be crushed by a large foot. Isona cries out.

"Not the baby lamb!" Her worries about the lamb dissipates when they look up and see the creature is in fact a giant dragon.

"Oh fuck. Oh fuck! Oh fuck!" Scanlan chants. The dragon opens its mouth and lets out blue lightning.

"Holy fuck!" Isona screams out. Vax grabs her arm and the group disperses to find cover from the lightning. Vax and Isona crouch behind a tree,the tree gets cut in half by the dragon. Isona puts her arms above her head to protect from falling debris. She notices Scanlan running past them and reaches out and grabs his shirt and pull him behind the tree. They look at the dragon as it shoots more lightning,destroying more trees and lighting them on fire.

"I suggest we run. Now." Percy says.

"I second that. I never agreed to fight a fucking dragon!" Isona stresses out.

"Fuck that. We fight." Grog says,the lets out a battle cry and runs to that dragon.

"Grog you dumb,brave asshole." Vax says and runs after him.

"Oh,fuck me,I'm going to regret this." Isona says and runs after everyone else. Grog gets close to the dragon,only to be thrown back and land next to Keyleth and Trinket.

"Grog's down already? Come on!" Scanlan yells. He and Vex get behind a fallen tree and attack the dragon. The dragon turns and blasts them. Pike puts up her shield and runs forward,Vax and Isona behind her,Percy shooting it from behind another fallen tree. As they get close the dragon easily swipes them away.  

"Keyleth,a little magic might help." Vex says. 

"We're in serious trouble here." Percy yells. Keyleth breaths heavily as the groups runs to her,seemingly not hearing anyone. Isona runs to her and puts her hand on Keyleth's shoulder.

"Keyleth? Come on Key,snap out of it. Keyleth!" Isona's yelling snaps her out of her daze.

"Right,right!" She holds her staff,a storm begins to brew above the dragon,Keyleth lets out a yell and makes lightning strike the dragon. The force creates a gust of wind and dust,Isona puts her hand up to protect her face. The dust clears to reveal the dragon unaffected.

"What the fuck!" Isona yells.

"Did I just make it worse?" The dragon roars and starts to blast them,but Pike runs in front and puts up her shield. The dragon notices and instead shoots the cliff above them. Rocks fall on to them. Vax grabs onto Isona and she squeezes her eyes shut,bracing for impact. When it doesn't come,she opens her eyes and sees large vines covering them. They hear the dragon fly away.

"Get me out,get me out! I'm trapped under Grog's ass!" Scanlan's muffled voice yells out. Keyleth removes the vines and Grog moves the boulders. The group was piled on each other,Isona under Vax and Percy at the very bottom.

"So this is what rock bottom feels like." Percy says and everyone clambers out.

"But we're alive,thank the Everlight." Pike says.

"And thanks to Keyleth for the giant shrub." Isona says and wipes dirt of her shirt.

"Did you have to make it so thorny?" Vax says and pulls out a thorn from his side. 

"That dragon. We almost...died." Keyleth says,pulling her knees to her chest. Isona walks over and crouches in front of her,grabbing her hands.

"But we didn't. Because of you,Key. You hear me? We're alive because of you." Keyleth looks down. Isona stands and helps the elf up and they walk back to the group.

"Grog,you're hurt." Keyleth says. Isona then notices Grog holding his side.

"Nah. Just a flesh wound,no big deal. Question,is this normal?" Grog asks then moves his hand,revealing the deep cut that reveals his ribs and gushes blood. Everyone makes noises of disgust and looks away.

"Hold still,old friend. I got you." Pike says and walks to Grog. She holds her hand out and heals Grog.

"Thanks,Pike. You're the best." Grog says. 

"That took a lot out of me." Pike says tiredly. She falls back,but Scanlan catches her before she hits the ground. Scanlan hold her for minute.

"Uh,you can put me down now." Scanlan quickly lets go,Isona can see his cheeks turn pink,making her snicker.

"Alright,fuck Uriel and all of this. We're done here." Vax says.

"When I signed up for this,I was expected like,a bear or something." Isona pauses. "No offence,Trinket." The bear grunts. "But I didn't expect a fucking dragon.This is a little too much." 

"We didn't sign up for certain death." Vax says,agreeing with his girlfriend.

"Must I remind you we gave our word to the council. That should probably mean something." Percy says.

"Who gives a soggy anus about the council? The only word I care about is Scanlan Shorthalt. And yes I know that's two words,but you know what I'm saying." Scanlan says,crossing his arms.

"Yeah,what have those fuckity fucks ever done for us. Except give us a job and a bunch of gold." Grog says.

"We've fought a lot of things. But a dragon? An actual dragon?" Keyleth says shakily. Pike steps forward.

"It's not about the council,or the contract,it's about these people. They need us. We can't just run away."

"This is why I hate traveling with holy people. They're too goddamned good." Percy says,rubbing his forehead.

"Pike,this creature is beyond us." Vex speaks up. "When Vax and I were young,one of those monsters killed our mother. I've studied dragons my entire life,hoping to find the one that did it. I can..feel when they're close. A horrid pain in my head." Isona glances at Vax,his gaze was on his sister. Vax has told her the story of their mother,she reaches and grabs his hand. He doesn't look away,but squeezes her hand.

"Then its settled. We'll go back to the palace and back out of the contract." Percy announces.

"You don't understand,Percy. I felt it there too,at the palace." Vax says.

"You're telling us this now?" Scanlan questions.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't certain until the dragon...It's been years since mother.." Vex puts her arms around herself as she trails off. Vax lets go of Isona's hand and walks over to his twin.

"Are you sure, Vex'ahlia?" Vex looks up at Vax.

"I know what I felt. Someone on the council must have been in contact with the dragon or...I don't know,but I'm sure it was real." Isona place her bet of the corpse looking guy.

"Then we walk away from all of this. It's not worth it. You heard her,one of them might be working with that monster. Let's just get the hell out of here and never step foot in Emon again. Can we all agree on that?" Vax says. Vex walks away,Vax turns to Isona and holds his hand out. Isona doesn't hesitate to grab it and they follow after Vex. Soon,the rest of the group follows. It beings to rain as they walk in silence back to the village. When they arrive they stop,Isona gasps. The village is destroyed,obviously by the dragon. Vax runs into the village,Isona hot on his tail. They stop in front of the fisherman's house. They walk in and see the father and the mother,she has her arms around the daughter. 

"Shit." Isona whispers. Vax sits and stares at them,the rest of the group walks in. A weak groan makes them all turn. Vax runs over and strains with trying to move a piece of wood,Grog goes over and helps him.

"Pike,get over here." Vax yells,holding the dying boy in his arms. Pike runs over,her magic was flickering. She begs the Everlight to help her. 

"Shit. I can't do it. I'm still too weak form before." The boy lets out a breath,then stills. Tears well in Isona's eyes as Vax puts the boy down and stands. Isona then notices the silver coin he gave the boy in his hand,covered in blood. He clutches it.

"We could have stopped this. Should have." He says. Isona put her hand on his shoulder in a attempt to comfort him. They look up as Scanlan tunes his instrument.

"What the hell are you doing Scanlan?" Isona asks.

"Thinking of a rhyme for dead dragon. Cause I...I guess we're killing one." 

"Hell yes,we are." Isona says,feeling determined.

"I'm in." Keyleth steps forward. "I mean,I'm not gonna lie,I'm terrified out of my mind. But I'm in."

"I don't like losin',but now I'm feeling things on the inside. They don't feel right. So yeah,I'm with ya." Grog says.

"That was...actually well stated Grog." Percy says,sounding surprised.

"What was?"

"Never mind. Count me in as well."

"You guys...we're doing this." Pike says and stands up. Vex steps forward. 

"You all realize we're going to die a truly horrible death?"

"Perhaps,sister. But we'll die gloriously and we'll kill a fucking dragon."