Saving Soul

"No. That's another reason I hate heroes." Anja replied. "And when I talk bad about heroes he gets upset"

"Well of course he'd get upset. Wouldn't you get pissed off if someone dissed summoners?" Voltaire asked. "I know it pisses me off when those uppity types talk down on us Hunters."

"No. I know summoners are practically useless. We're more useless than Mages. And Mages are pretty useless to begin with." Anja stated evenly.

"Why'd you become one if you hate it so much?" Voltaire asked. "No choice?"

(do have a plan in a little bit. More something to keep Voltaire busy than anything else)

"Not really. The old man took me in after no one else would." Anja sighed. "I had to learn to make a living somehow. It was either that, or straight to the brothel."

Suddenly a large creature crashed nearby, causing Ava to squawk in surprise and Adair to suddenly spring out of sleep. After a few moments voices could be heard.

"Why did they attack us? We weren't doing anything to them!" said a young boyish voice, almost whining.

"They're monsters. They do whatever they want," growled a older female voice.

"They will not do whatever they want with me!" bellowed a deeper monster voice. "I will eradicate them!"

"Thanks for considering us too," the female grumbled back.

"Silence!"

"The Dragons?" Adair said, confused. Voltaire groaned.

Anja looked startled. "More changelings?" She asked with a groan.

"Yes," Adair answered with a sigh.

The dust cleared to reveal an huge four-eyed eel-like creature with colorful feathers all over its body. On its massive back were a young boy and an older teenage girl, both dark-hair and bronze-skinned and in foreign attire.

"Why should you, oh mighty Quetzalcoatl, have any trouble with some puny wyverns anyway?" the girl growled.

"Silence! You were in my way!"

"How was I in your way? I was trying to drive them off!"

While the female changeling and the eel-eqsue demon argued the boy noticed the others nearby. "Hey, the Phoenixes!"

"Joy." Anja remarked dryly.

The other two Dragons stopped fighting long enough to notice the Phoenixes nearby. Neither looked happy.

"Hi Prince. Hi Mikaela," Voltaire greeted dryly. "Just passing though."

"I'm surprised you guys are still way back here, considering you guys got a head start," commented Mikaela. "We just left yesterday."

"In other words you lost," asked Voltaire with a smirk, earning a glare from Mikaela "So who beat you?"

"Wolves," she muttered.

Ava scratched at the ground nervously. She did not like Quetzalcoatl.

Anja rolled her eyes. "Ava. Pink squirrel" she stated, pointing out the monstrosities moving closer to the dragons.

Ava gave a peep of alarm and roasted the rosy rodents on sight, her flames just short of the Dragons. Quetzalcoatl, surprised, reared up and levitated slightly, electricity and water swirling around him. Mikaela and the prince levitated to the sides of their familiar.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mikaela snapped.

Crap, this is not what we need right now thought Adair. All fights with the Dragons ended badly for the Phoenixes. He pointed to the little charred bodies. "Squirrels. You don't want to be bit by them."

"Trust us on that from experience." Anja stated moodily. "Vile little creatures."

"Why should we be afraid of squirrels?" asked the prince, more curious than suspicious of the claim. "I mean, they're squirrels."

"Squirrels who made you want to fuck," replied Voltaire casually. Adair face-palmed at his bluntness.

The prince was just confused. "Make you want to what?"

Mikaela, however, understood the full message. She pushed the prince back to where he wouldn't hear such foul language. "...How the hell does that even work?"

"Aphrodisiac poison," Voltaire explained. "They bite, they poison, you fall in love with the nearest person, you fuck. So if you got bit and the nearest person was me-"

Voltaire was abruptly shut up by steam of cold water to the face.

"Good shot" Anja smirked. "But he is right. If you were to be bitten, the nearest person becomes your antidote. You have to bed them, but I think most would rather bleed themselves than bed him" she snickered.

"I second that," answered Mikaela flatly.

Adair snickered too despite himself. Voltaire glared at him, still steaming.

"They are cute things, but they are bad things," said Ava, frying another squirrel that had come too close. "I do not want to be bit and then bedded with Quetzalcoatl."

The water dragon let out a snort of disgust as well at the thought.

Both phoenix changelings burst into laughter, partially at what Ava said, partially at Ava's lack of understanding, at partially at Quetzalcoatl's very real understanding.

"Men." Anja sighed.

Quetzalcoatl snorted. "I understand. All squirrels will die." He zapped a few that had wandered too close.

"...I think I'd rather take the wyverns than these things," Mikaela grumbled, also zapping a squirrel. "Ending up with Blondie is worse than death."

"How flattering," said Voltaire with a sneer.

"We got attacked by those wyverns earlier too," said Ava. "That's why we started traveling by foot."

"Do you think it would go better if we worked together?" suggested Adair.

Anja sighed. "You're too friendly." She grumbled to the hero.

"This isn't about being heroic. I just don't want to get bit again," Adair grumbled, spitting fire at the pink rodents.

One Little Death landed right on Mikaela's shoulder. She shrieked and promptly electrocuted it. "That's it. I'm out of here." She flew upward.

"Wait!" called the prince, following her. Their familiar gave a snort and also flew upward, though not before he electrocuted all squirrels in range. The shock also hit the Phoenixes, disorienting them.

"...Goddamn Dragons," Voltaire growled.

Anja groaned. "That hurt!" She whimpered.

"...Agreed," Adair grumbled, his hair standing on end from the leftover static. "They're always like that. It makes them hard to work with. And even harder to fight."

"That's an understatement," Voltaire replied, wincing. The shock had done no favors to his injured leg. "I hope the wyverns eat them."

"Quetzalcoatl is a meanie," Ava grumbled. "He's even mean to his changelings. I don't like him."

"Can we just go?" Anja pouted.

"Going," said Ava, walking on. She fried a couple more Little Deaths while she was at it.

"We need to get a bunch of Hunters here to exterminate these guys," said Adair.

"Good luck with that. They'll all be making out before long."

"People have been trying to drive these to extinction before the three of us were ever born." Anja stated. "And they're still thriving as well as ever."