Jakon barely managed not to gasp. That roar shook everything. Even the whole mountain. To the very core. Just the wind, it carried the stink of serpent now. Enough to sour his appetite. Even for mom’s coming corned beef sandwiches. Fresh or reheated. No doubt the delicious reward for defending Dirlop Mountain. Because curled on the top spire of a peak … a scarlet dragon. Several times bigger than a war stallion. Wings out wide and endless times more fierce than any other beast he ever saw. A dragon that glared their way. No. At Frostine a few paces away...

That cloud of cherry musk swirling toward Jakon. Only paces away. From on top of a low boulder. Where Scarlet had been. Scarlet went back to her card form. And into his deck? By herself? His breathe was ragged but still steady. His strength still there. Like dwarven steel. It wouldn’t give in. He wouldn’t shatter like less human steel. Not until the job was done and his home safe again. But now for the final enemy. The snow vixen in snake-bone armor loomed over him. On top of a ring of tall boulders. She glared down at him. Her...

The moment Scarlet screamed Jakon turned right. Just in time. Toward a scarlet and black blur. One lunging from behind another craggy boulder. His heart jumped even faster. His neck and chest so bare. Despite his jerkin. It wasn’t armor. Not by far. Too much like another ambush by his mom. One he’d learned to survive. Almost. Jakon didn’t stumble back. That wouldn’t give him time. Not without throwing off his balance. Time slowed down. Drastically. The small-chested scarlet fox was crumbled and dying by one boulder beside Jakon. Her gasps and moans only roiled his blood more. No dodging...

Ramsel cursed his luck thrice, and once again. The expected booms had rumbled the whole mountain, as they should, since both Frostine and Pearl were skilled vixen witches. Their lightning potent—when used right. Even the smell of shattered rock fumed through the cavern. Biting his breathe harsh, but not as harsh had he been in his beast form rather than his wood elf form. It tinged the air everywhere a dark gray. Clouding the light from the precious gemstones lining the ceiling. Blocking his sight of the other craters. But not the one in front of him. Giving Ramsel more...

Jakon bellowed again. Roaring louder than any boom from a lightning bolt. Roaring louder than any smithy hammer. Than any fire raging above. Charged faster than any arrow. Faster than any lesser blade. The boulders were there to be hopped across. The wide winding trails around them thick with orcs. Orcs dying by his blade. But with more and more replaced them. Their piggish sty stink curling his gut. His rage too great to make any comment. Or quip. Only bellow some more. But the orcs scattered? Charging past him? Under him. Trying to avoid him?! He cut down as...