How is it that a simple word can hurt far, far more than the eruption of agony in his side?

How is it that he would rather break every bone in his body than ever hear that word again?

The goliath cannot possibly know the truth of why his child is no more. There's something innocent about his utter faith in this woman, despite everything they've been through - it does not cross his mind that there's anything nefarious about the loss of their foal. Instead, when she speaks, his face clouds with sorrow and he hangs his proud head, the embodiment of misery. "Kis hollo, I'm so sorry." He thinks of the child he will never meet; the beautiful product of their union, fallen into ashes.

But Vadir is still attacking with unrelenting force, and the stallion is forced to gather his plethora of feelings into a small box which he stashes firmly at the back of his mind. The queen's fire is stymied by Hubris' ice, but her claws sink into their target, and they sink deep. Volterra's mind pulses with the gold's blissful pleasure whilst his own brain feels only horror. "Vadir, for fuck's sake, stop it! Leave her alone!" He hobbles forwards a step, his side a wall of agony, not quite knowing what use he is going to be against his own companion.

Out of the corner of his eye, the beast sees Hubris' jaws opening inexorably. His heart skips a beat as the bronze summons a blast of ice and electricity towards Vadir's back; there's no way she can see the attack, intent as she is upon ravaging Isopia's face into a Glasgow smile. As much as he wants her to stop, Volterra's heart spasms with a foreign emotion at the thought of Vadir being grievously hurt - fear.

But suddenly the sky blurs with red as Vérzés launches himself forwards. He has taken Hubris' attack as a personal affront - to strike from behind? To strike his golden sister, when he thought they were friends? Between bronze and gold he flies, a thorn between two roses, a mere peasant against the royalty that surrounds him; Hubris' attacks hit him with full force and he gives an agonised yowl that cuts Volterra to the quick. A broken leaf, he flutters unconscious to the ground at Isopia's hooves, completely at her mercy. The stallion's mind explodes with pain and panic strikes him at the sudden absence of Vérzés' consciousness; it feels like a void in his head. Is this what it would be like if one of his dragons died? He cannot bear it - he wants to run to his companion but his rib won't allow it, so he's forced to simply stand like a blackened statue of cold terror and pray Isopia will not harm the prone dragon.

Vadir launches backwards, casting a cold glance down at her crimson brother. Volterra's mental pleas for her to stand down fall on deaf ears, because she is doing the right thing. She is asserting their authority, as it should be asserted.

Nothing else matters but her and her mammoth bonded. Not Vérzés, her much-maligned red brother, the common, the inferior, although his bravery in taking the attack meant for her is noted and causes him to inch up a few knots in her estimations. Not Nymeria, twin of her stallion's soul, light to his darkness. Not the legions of women who warm Volterra's bed, nor the children that spew from his loins. And certainly not this Mountain, this colossal woman, her bonded's kryptonite, his conscience, his heart.

Nothing matters but herself, Volterra, and the empire they will build together. So the queen slams shut her ears, steels the devil in her soul, and continues her attacks.

She rises, then plummets with arms extended. She attempts to wrap these around Hubris in a vice grip, and tries to use her superior weight to slam the bronze down and into the ground. Jaws gaping, she aims a blast of fire directly at him to try and incinerate those pretty bronze scales, her mind still blind to Volterra's attempts to stop her.

Instead, the behemoth looks to Isopia with true panic in his eyes. He doesn't know what she is capable of in her grief (as he assumes it is grief that has driven her to this), and it would be so easy for her to crush the life from Vérzés with one mammoth hoof. Coward, she tries to say, and ordinarily this insult would rile him into action regardless of how false it is, but his concern for his dragon far outweighs his prickled pride. "I'm not going to fight you, kis hollo! Please, allow me to collect Vérzés. He is not part of this."

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@Isopia !

For this post, our dose of Taylor is: 'Did you have to ruin what was shiny? Now it's all rusted.' Because Vérzés has got real rage about his scales.

2/4 - 799 words