Wren’s purple darted forward, Tam’s red not far behind her. They’d moved from the hut’s position.

  I had to expect the worst.

  My greatest fear was that, just like the lizardfolk, Tam had been eaten. Slurped down in one bite, stomach acid slowly chipping at her health. Her feline form was literally just a cat, after all.

  And if it was actually a dragon, I had no idea how strong its inner organs were. Would Tam be able to claw her way out? Could she detransform inside it or would that crush her?

  A child’s scream tore through the forest as I closed in on both the tags.

  Wren. That was Wren. I’d never even heard her raise her voice before like this. My stomach dropped.

  Fuck, I needed to go faster! I needed more speed!

  Is everyone okay?! I asked, panicked.

  Silence.

  As the anxiety ate at me, cursing myself for not being more swift, that my feet wouldn’t pump underneath me any quicker, even as my lungs burned and sweat poured down my body, the heavy, moist air sticking to me, suddenly the world blurred into a smudge of green and brown, streaks of shapes a haze that I passed at dazzling speed.

  What… What was happening?

  The smell of burnt rubber filled my nose, a bolt of energy coursing through my thighs into my calves, springing out from beneath my feet, propelling me ahead.

  It was almost like I was using an ability. But none of the party had one like this, unless Tam had been lying to us more than I’d realised. Or could this be Jye’s other starter ability?

  No.

  It wasn’t an ability. I hadn’t intentionally activated anything.

  It could only mean one thing.

  I had unlocked [Swift Footed], Axel’s other trait.

  How? I’d tried to use it many times during training, ever since being able to proc Gigi’s [Stubborn], but it’d never worked. Since Tam wouldn’t tell me her if she had a trait, and Wren didn’t appear to have one other than her [Mercurial] trait (which would do me no good since I had no other class available to switch into), I hadn’t been able to figure out what had allowed me to use [Stubborn] in the first place.

  But now here I was, literally churning through the forest, as if borrowing the trait had involved nothing more than thinking about it.

  What let me [Channel] other’s traits?

  It didn’t make sense!

  There was no time to think about it, though. The two track dots had since collided as I closed in on the battle in half time. I wasn’t there and then I was, the shock of my own speed leaving me reeling. This was nothing like applying [Haste] or sprinting with a lightening Load. And Axel had been able to fight like this all along? I had barely been able to see what had been whipping past me.

  Axel really was quite something. There was so much about him that I'd never known. From his ability to immediately accept the world and how it'd changed, to his fighting skill. It was almost like he’d been training for this. But that was a ridiculous thought. Other than doomsdayers, who’d prepare for the apocalypse? Certainly not the party fiend I’d known.

  My eyes widened at the battle unfolding in front of me, the world finally stilling as I planted a foot down to brake my motion. Somehow the party had managed to find a relatively open expanse in the forest.

  Gigi had pulled out xir huge aegis and was standing stalwart in the front line, popping [Shield Walls] intermittently as they were destroyed by assaults, Jye assumedly had taken another branch perch on up high, their arrows raining down in between their [Shockshots], and Axel had drawn his edgelord sword and was darting in and out, blade swinging, a [Sentinel Shield] following him about, taking safe harbour behind Gigi's shields when he needed to.

  There was no mistaking the opponent they were facing.

  A dragon.

  Though it was more similar to a Chinese dragon; coiling, long body segmented into sectional carapaces with many pairs of taloned arms, almost centipede-like, its whiskers hanging over fangs the size of a human head.

  Its body, the length and size of a city train, was weaved in between trees, twisted about their trunks, almost knotting about on itself, the ancient vegetation groaning under its movements. Opulent and a shimmering verdigris, the dragon appeared to be merely playing with Just Friends, its sleek form rippling out of the way of most of Axel’s strikes, Jye’s arrows simply glancing off its scaled hide and their [Shockshot] having no effect. There was an almost amused look in its yellow eyes.

  As Axel peeled out from another attack, having sliced at one of its legs, it swung a razored claw at him, fast enough to catch him midretreat, leaving four great gushing gashes across his back. He bit back a hiss and fell behind a [Shield Wall], brow furrowed, chest heaving. Concern for him curled in my stomach, but there was no warning yet from the system. Those wounds probably looked worse than they were. (I hoped.)

  Besides, there was something else that required my focus.

  Wren’s and Tam’s trackers marked them as directly in the same spot as the dragon.

  I was too late.

  The tightness of a panic attack began to flare up in my lungs.

  Axel noticed me as he dodged another swing from the dragon, and he said plainly, Wren got ate.

  The flatness and stupidity of the comment shut down my panic, like dousing a fire with ice water, replaced by an irate and incredulous confusion.

  How did that even happen? I was a minute late!

  She tried to save some of the catboys, Jye informed me, a bitterness there. It sounded as though maybe even the giant had tried to convince her otherwise.

  I was unable to draw her back in time before the dragon attacked. She ran, but we were not fast enough, Gigi replied sadly.

  There was no spare part of me that had room for anger. I’d left Wren under their supervision, under both Gigi’s and Jye’s eyes, even with Makris to keep watch, and none of them had been able to keep her safe. What could you do against a damn dragon? My only consolation was that the monster was so large that it had probably swallowed her whole, rather than injuring her with its massive teeth. The same had presumably happened to Tam, probably way back at the lizardfolk village.

  What could we do?

  Though he was now injured, Axel was doing damage, as he always had, but it was the type that built, not critical and not targeting the dragon's weaknesses, of which I don't think anyone currently knew. Jye's bow assault, despite their Load increase on climax, wasn't doing anything at all, the sharp of their arrowheads not able to penetrate through its chitinous scales. Wren and Tam wouldn't survive being digested for long, though if the dragon were anything like a snake, maybe we’d have some wiggle room.

  One of the hobbies my dad had run through after Chrissie had been herpetology. He'd bought several reptiles, including snakes, to keep as pets, and they'd taken days to properly process their food, the lumps of fresh prey growing smaller as they travelled down the serpents’ bodies. Add to that, snakes were basically one third neck, and perhaps we’d have some leeway in the digestion of my party members. That was assuming the mythical dragon was anything like real life.

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  My biggest concern wasn’t about acid peeling away skin and flesh but the issue of critically low amounts of oxygen. They wouldn’t be able to breathe properly inside. In fact, that might very well have been why they weren't replying. The two of them were likely blacked out. Well. I kind of hoped they were, considering the experience otherwise would be simply horrific. Given our health and regen, even if they were suffocating right now, I had to pray they’d live long enough for us to get to them.

  If we evaded the dragon’s whiplashing body and rapid claw strikes, maybe we’d eventually whittle it down, especially if I joined Axel and imitated his assaults as I now could use [Swift Footed]. However, our attacks were barely cutting through the creature’s scales, Jye’s entirely ineffective and Axel’s only making small headway; definitely not enough to slice through hide to sinew and bone then to inner organs and free our party members.

  We wouldn’t do enough damage to kill the dragon in time to save Wren and Tam.

  Request received

  Rescue Wren Makris. Reward: Ability of choice. Failure: Death. Accept | Reject

  Wow, Nabu finally playing a hand. I wondered how much belief he had to drop for that. The ability of choice as a reward was perfect. We still needed something to discern skills from others. It didn’t escape my notice that the system had referred to the girl by two names. Was her shared status not considered a glitch then? Or was that just how Nabu was still referring to Wren? It was something I couldn’t linger on for long. I accepted the request without hesitation. Of course I’d been rescuing Wren and Tam. There was no question about that.

  However, if we couldn’t carve them out…

  Fuck, why did I always have the worst ideas?

  I explained it to the others, and even Axel missed a step in his run.

  No way in hell.

  You got a better plan to get them out?

  He swapped to our private link. You don’t always need to save everyone.

  I didn’t grace him with a response. Gigi, on my signal.

  On your signal, the Linnikian nodded back.

  Axel, please, I implored.

  His face was scrunched into stubborn anger as he wheeled about one of Gigi’s shields, dodging a swipe from the dragon’s claws.

  It’s a stupid ass plan!

  Time’s running out, I said. I knew why he was being so pigheaded. I’ll be fine. I have [Stubborn] still.

  The blond let out a groan of exasperation, flicking in to slice at the dragon but he had to bail out as it whipped its corded body in his direction. It would’ve squashed him if he hadn’t, thundering against the forest floor, sticks and leaves sent scattering from the impact. I was glad it was so long and coiled throughout the trees behind it. Had it been free to roam as it pleased, I had no doubt it would’ve constricted about us already, crushing us. But given this biome didn’t really suit it, it gave us an advantage.

  You always… Fine! Keep your eyes open.

  Affection for him soared inside me, and I locked every piece of my attention onto the battle, readying myself. His attacks changed, moving to focus entirely on the dragon’s head, his blade glancing against the thick scales of its brow, jaw, and neck. I layered in several [Shield Wall] platforms, to provide footholds for movement. Admittedly, now I knew I wasn’t viewing him as just my friend, I had to embarrassingly recognise my previous observations of him in battle were me just in awe of how cool he looked fighting.

  When Axel was in combat, it looked like he belonged in it.

  Still, what we were about to do was much more dangerous, the dragon’s teeth sharper than its talons, its head and neck muscles built for snapping closed around prey. Prior to this, the dragon had been retaliating mostly with its body and claws; dodging and striking when we failed to hit. It hadn’t gone on the offense yet, probably just enjoying the pathetic attempts we were making at hurting it.

  It was toying with us. Our party must’ve been something new and fun to play with.

  Jye’s tactic shifted too, friendly fire too much of a concern, and I heard them thump to the ground beside me, Gigi instantly applying a [Sentinel Shield] to them.

  I think I got a shit tonne of health from my last high, they said. I can go in too.

  I frowned. You have a weapon?

  This’ll do me. A large splitting axe formed their hand. Jye and their Bunnings loot.

  The more the merrier.

  Just stay out of my way, Axel hissed.

  With a deep breath, I summoned my newest glaive and went to join Axel alongside Jye, all of us targeting the dragon’s head. Getting used to [Swift Footed] was difficult. It applied to my running, but none of my other movements, and so putting them into sync felt rhythmically incorrect. My feet went forward, but my hands were late, like some sort of limb lag.

  Gigi also darted in to provide a main defense, xir large aegis a wall against the dragon’s attacks, and xe dotted in [Shield Walls] when xe noticed us requiring retreat, creating a staggered fence which we could fall behind if we needed. A single swipe usually destroyed a shield, proving how strong the monster truly was.

  As we worked, I borrowed Wren’s upgraded [Healing Hand], [Saintly Intent], a subtle relief loosening Axel’s face. The ability honestly felt more like an adjacent move than real improvement, since the healing was no different, but at least it didn’t require contact, though the mana cost increased.

  With the three of us now aiming solely for the dragon’s head, I could feel its entertainment beginning to dwindle. We hadn’t done any real damage, but its yellow eyes were narrowed, split scales along its jaw beading a black blood.

  Good.

  Jye went in, axe high about their head, and as the dragon reared up to dodge, I followed through too, spearing my glaive forward, aiming for an eye. I missed, of course, the dragon reacting quick enough to slip by it and Jye’s attack, pushing out of both our ranges, a retaliatory heavy claw sweeping down at us.

  Swearing, I dropped back to Gigi’s walls. Jye tried too but without [Swift Footed] realised they wouldn’t make it. Instead, the redhead dived behind their stationary [Sentinel Shield]. It took the brunt of the dragon’s assault, burst into a flicker of light, and still the attack swung on, swiping Jye off their feet and pelting them across into the wood of a tree with a thunk. They didn’t move as gravity thudded them to the ground.

  There was no system alert, so I tried not to worry, though I knew it had to have hurt, and I shifted [Saintly Intent] to Jye instead.

  In the dragon’s counter, it hadn’t noticed Axel’s simultaneous attack. Alighting onto a [Shield Wall] nearby, Axel had sprang toward the beast as we’d retreated, sword by his hip, and then he’d been beside the dragon’s head, a blink of metallic glimmer, the blade pointed outward, slick with the dragon’s blood, its eye seeping the same black substance, his body now falling.

  A slash I hadn’t even seen.

  The monster roared. Anger and pain split its amusement, and its jaw opened wide to sink razor-like fangs into Axel midair and tear him to pieces. It had finally snapped.

  Now, Gigi!

  A burst of hisses brought [Shield Walls] to life, a tower of them forming inside the dragon’s mouth, barring the creature’s jaw from closing. It let out a violent bellow, partly muffled by the translucent blue shields, and Axel laughed at it as he landed. In wrath, the dragon lashed out at him with its claws, bringing its serpentine body about to slither around him, the shields still locking its mouth open. The blond kicked down and shot up, barely slipping its constricting attack, and sprinted for Gigi’s safe harbour of shields.

  Time to fucking go.

  As a side note, turning into a cat was weird.

  With every other ability or trait I’d used, nothing about my experiences changed. With [Mirror Aid], my senses doubled, and with [Wiretap], a chamber of sound was added in the background of my mind, but Tam’s skill went beyond that. My very understanding of myself shifted as the black smoke filled my sight. Smells I didn’t know existed stung at my nose and somehow my mouth too, tickling at the underside of the roof of it, my vision completely skewered, colors dancing into the unexplainable, everything both harder to see but more lit up. And the sounds! It was like everything had a distinct and identifiable sound attached to it, the rustle of leaves as the dragon’s body shook a tree, one of Axel’s feet striking ground as unique as his other.

  I’d cancelled Tam’s ability back at base almost as soon as I’d activated it during practice, the sensation overload shocking me. Yesterday, it’d seemed like an arbitrary skill I didn’t think I’d ever need to use again. The cutthroat got a lot of use out of it because it worked with her class, but with the access I had to everyone else’s, it seemed silly to ever put myself through the transformation when there were better options.

  There weren’t any for this plan, though.

  I summoned several [Shield Walls] as a staircase, some of the same ability in the dragon’s mouth exploding into motes of blue light as it crunched down, its body writhing in rage, and then I sprinted up the platforms. Running and jumping on four legs was discombobulating, but I let the animal instinct guide me, trying not to give the movement too much focus.

  Meeting Axel’s worried gaze midrun, I attempted a smile, but I had no idea what it looked like in cat form. I hoped it was somewhat reassuring. A claw came up behind him, and he stepped out of the way in the knick of time, spinning to slice his sword across the dragon’s withdrawing limb.

  I said, Stay safe, and realised he’d said the same words too as he applied [Legerdemain] to make himself invisible.

  Our echoing each other almost made me laugh.

  With that, I dived into the dragon’s mouth, using my smaller form to avoid its teeth, and plunged down its throat.