Kuozo

Something spilled out of the Wyrmwound.

It was a tangle of limbs and sinewy flesh, a thing made up of too many hands. The thing clambered to be free of the clinging sludge that made up the interior of the Plaguebringer’s cauldron, the hissing liquid sizzling against scales and leathery wing membrane.

A head pushed out of the muck, sharp teeth gnashing together. Three deep red eyes hovered above the water like an alligator, and a second matching head (this one with two eyes) burst forth alongside it. The green heads—the deep wet green of a misty forest—stuck out against the vibrant pulsing orange of the cauldron.

More limbs splintered away, and from the boiling liquid a second winged creature sprung out. Black wings caught air and the viscous liquid of the cauldron bubbled apart to release a two-headed dragon of near monochromatic scales. In the eerie glow of the Wyrmwound, the rough scruff of their neck seemed almost green.

This second creature flew to the lip of the Wyrmwound, and the first swam after it. When it pulled free from the Wyrmwound, it took some of the orange goop with it, mucousy membranes clinging to their wings and face.

“You reek,” the black and white dragon said, heads speaking in unison. “Shake the tendrils off of you before it burns.”

“It is the scent of growth,” the three-eyed head of the green dragon said. “Even Nak tolerates the burn.”

The second head, Nak, butted against his brothers. “The burn is mine,” he hissed. “You were the one complaining of the heat.” To the other dragon, he bit out, “Khan does not enjoy staying in Mother’s bath for long.”

“Untrue!” Khan snapped at Nak with sharp teeth, and the two began to tussle. Khan swatted at Nak’s face with one of their knotted tails, and Nak pushed Khan’s head away with sheathed claws.

“Boys,” the monochrome dragon drawled. “We waste time. Did you not see? Our kin have been leaving the Rim.”

Nak paused from where he’d been biting the scruff of Khan’s neck. Saliva trailed as he drew back, tilting his head. “We have seen,” he replied, defensive. “We are not blind.” Their tails flicked past them, where the crusted edge of the Rim rose around the cauldron almost protectively, scabbed over and rough. A few of their kin could be seen flying past the edge, where none of the trio had gone before.

“Are you rushing us, Kuozo?” Khan asked. “We have no destination.”

“Yet,” Kuozo corrected. They stood and turned to face the Rim, heads tilted up to take it all in. “But just beyond is a world that knows us now, and in it we will test our strength.” They turned to face Khannak, eyes intense. “Does that not interest you?”

Nak grinned wolfishly. “Yes!” he barked, tail lashing. “We will show these young dragons true strength. We will make Mother proud, it is certain.”

“Mother will not care,” Khan chided, stepping on Nak’s side of their twisting tail. Nak yelped in displeasure, looking at Khan with annoyance. His brother only gave a great shake of his head. “We will make ourselves proud, that is more certain than anything.”

Kuozo resisted the urge to roll their eyes. Instead they tugged at Khannak’s foreleg with one of their tails. “Come, let us fly. We will decide where to go together.” They tensed and then pushed off the earth, taking to the air.

Khan and Nak exchanged wide grins before following after, Nak’s head stretching farther as he flew them up and towards Kuozo.