SoJo

"My friend growing up died when we were young; their body was torn apart from the inside out. But they'll always be with me, right here..."
SoJo places their right claw over their chest. Their skin undulates subtly at the touch.
"...I have their right lung!"

had suddenly befallen the glade. The Viridian Labyrinth was never silent; the countless species who called the verdant landscape home produced a constant symphony which could be heard throughout every corner of the land. The feathers on the back of the warrior's neck stood prickling with unease when the comforting hum of chirping insects and singing birds had ceased so abruptly that for a brief moment, Harp had wondered if his hearing had failed entirely.

eyes rapidly scanning the horizon for any threat. She was just as disturbed as Harp was, talons gripping her bow tightly while her right arm slowly reached towards her quiver.

tightening as she wrapped her claws around the nock of an arrow. Pazu was right; the absence of noise in the forest made the irregular thump of advancing footfalls sound as loud as cannonfire.

Arcane wisps swirled around his breath as he spoke. "Bipedal; approaching on foot. Not Beastclan nor Dragon. We could be dealing with Shade."


sounding breathless. "One entity. The footfalls are too synchronized to be from two," she explained, growing more agitated as they became clearer. "But for its steps to be so disjointed...this is wrong!" she broke off in a gasp, shaken, as terror spread through her body like frostbite. Her claws trembled as she pulled an arrow from her quiver and fitted it to the bowstring.

watched in tense apprehension as the ferns and grasses rustled and crunched, disturbed by whatever unimaginable being was traveling through them. As the leaves parted, the Wildclaws were shocked when a pattern of dazzling colors whose brilliance would put even the most poisonous of dart frogs to shame assaulted their eyes.

blinding design came an even more appalling sight:


displayed frightful needle teeth that numbered in the hundreds.

making Harp's eyes water with pink-tinged tears. Pazu drew an arrow, pulling the bowstring taut with an urgency that Harp had never seen before. Her arm shook with a combination of effort and terror and she aimed at the creature's chest where she presumed its heart to be. But it did not approach any further; it stopped, lowering its left head so it could fix all five of its scarlet eyes on the two Wildclaws. For a moment, silence hung between them, until the ambient noise of the forest began once more.

keeping its third on Pazu and her bow.

its breath passed through them.

returned their unnatural gaze to Harp and Pazu.

circumstance, Harp might have felt foolish asking all these questions at once, but he felt that this particular entity was deserving of such interrogation.





and it became clear to Harp that the creature's disjointed footsteps must have been a result of each head having only partial control of their shared body.





reflecting his own incredulity with her expression. Seemingly reassured, if only slightly, Pazu found her voice.


ground.



started toward home. Harp and Pazu looked at each other, scarcely believing the experience they had just shared. But one thing was certain: this creature—this dragon—would be much better as an ally than an adversary.