Hana began to scrub her hands through her skin.

She used a handful of fine sand from the pool’s floor to scrub the dirt from her arms and legs.

She needed soap. Maybe she would make one with the fat of that boar. And use some crushed berries to make it a little scented.

But for now, she would make do with the sand.

She focused on her neck, rubbing at the spot where Caspian had bitten her and marked her, and then reached behind to the mark on her back.

The black wings felt smooth, but the new fox mark in the center felt strangely soft, almost like silk under her fingertips.

She wished she could at least see it, but where would she get a mirror from?

> [RECOVERY IN PROGRESS]

> [Stamina: 45% -> 60%]

> [Notice: The Primal Bonds are accelerating physical healing.]

"Great," she muttered, dunking her body under the surface until it was just her head left. "So, I’m basically a battery for these two."

Her hair splayed over the water, and she let out a little huff before lifting her body a bit more.

Maybe she can use those salt leaves on the shore as natural soap. She wondered, but then something approached from a distance, making a thud-thud-thud sound as it approached.

She froze. It wasn’t Caspian’s tail. It was lighter. Faster and definitely heading towards her.

"Caspian," she whispered.

"I hear it," the dragon answered, his voice dropping into a deadly, vibrating register. He didn’t turn around, but his scales began to pulse. "A scavenger. Bold."

From the side shadows across the pool, near the end of the water connected to the cliff, a pair of glowing green mischievous eyes flickered, and then, Raiden stepped out from behind a tree, holding a bundle of the black-berried Peppercorn vines she had sent him for. That was before Caspain asked him to stay behind and watch the fire.

He looked perfectly innocent, his nine tails swaying gently behind him, but his gaze was fixed directly on the water where Hana sat submerged to her shoulders.

"I found the spices, Great Female," Raiden purred, his voice carrying over the water like a sweet caress. "I thought you might need them... immediately." His eyes swept to Caspian, narrowing mockingly. "The big lizard seemed so lonely standing there with his back turned. I thought I’d help."

Caspian immediately turned, his face contorted in rage as he glared at Raiden.

"You," Caspian hissed, the ground beneath his feet beginning to char with the heat coming off him. "I told you to stay by the fire."

"I don’t take orders from you." Raiden dared to say, and this time, Caspian’s patience had already burned to bits.

He was even more enraged by the sight of the fox’s lingering gaze on Hana in the water.

"You rat fox!"

He tilted his head back, his throat glowing with an orange shimmer, and a sudden, violent plume of orange flame erupted from his throat, scorching the air where Raiden had been standing a second before.

The heat was so intense that it turned the nearby dew into a thick, white mist and burned the grass.

Raiden didn’t even yelp. He dropped to a low crouch, his nine pink tails snapping upward like a defensive fan. The fire roared over his head, catching only the very tips of his fur.

As the flames dissipated into smoke, Raiden stood up slowly, a lazy, mocking grace in his movements.

He didn’t look scared. Instead, he raised one of his tails, squinting at a tiny, glowing fire trapped in the soft pink fluff. With a casual movement, he licked his fingers and reached out to pinch the spark between his fingers, extinguishing it with a soft hiss.

"That’s not very nice, Fire King," Raiden purred, his green eyes glinting with a sharp, dangerous amusement. "You’ll burn my best features. And we both know how much the Great Female appreciates... quality."

Caspian’s back muscles bunched, his obsidian scales rattling against each other. "I will burn more than your fur, scavenger. I will turn your core into a charcoal briquette if you take one more step toward her."

"I am merely an obedient scout," Raiden countered, his voice dropping into that smooth, honeyed register. He nudged the bundle of berries closer to the pool’s edge with his foot. "I brought the spices. Since you were too busy playing ’statue’ to actually be useful."

Hana, still submerged to her shoulders, watched the display with a look of pure exhaustion. "Both of you. Shut. Up."

She picked up a smooth stone from the bottom of the pool and threw it at them. It skipped across the surface of the water and landed on the rock right next to Raiden’s foot.

"I missed on purpose." She said, "But if I have to throw another, it will definitely hit somewhere on your body, so don’t test me."

They both stiffened up at my threat.

"Raiden, get back to the fire before I decide I like the silence better than your voice," Hana commanded, her voice like a cracking whip. "And Caspian, if you breathe fire near me while I’m wet, I will use your scales as a washboard."

Raiden bowed, his nine tails swaying in a mock-regal salute. "As you wish. I shall go prepare the ’seating’ for our feast."

He vanished into the bush, his soft laughter echoing through the trees.

Caspian let out a long, steaming breath through his nose, his shoulders finally dropping an inch.

"He is a disease, Hana. A pink, fuzzy disease. You shouldn’t have let him stay."