Miro’s full attention was devoted solely to the dwarf backing away from it, the flames enveloping its entire body sending furious waves of flickering light across the alleyway. It didn’t care about the fact it was on fire. It was too angry to care.

Sucking a massive breath of air into itself, Miro bellowed its wrath at Donnel. Covering his face with one arm, he turned around and started running away. He very quickly ran into the other end of the alley, ending in solid brick.

He spun around to face Miro, abject terror in his eyes. Miro pulled another gust of air inward, and the flames surrounding it briefly dulled.

Feathers patted its back, distracting it. Miro turned around to find Avynne staring up at it, one wing held to her side. She shouted something about Donnel, and Miro gave her a nod in confirmation.

Gently bumping her away and turning back to Donnel, Miro opened its mouth. It could taste the fire inside it, and instinct told it how to unleash that fire onto the treacherous dwarf. The fires sitting in its mouth began to grow in heat and size, rolling back into the emptiness in Miro’s stomach.

Donnel frantically began digging a hole downward, his claws scooping dirt and stones out with remarkable speed.

Miro refused to let him get away. Snapping its mouth shut, it began pushing the fire against its own inside, pressurizing it as the dwarf dug.

Miro opened its mouth ever so slightly, and a jet of concentrated flame erupted from its mouth. Donnel’s foot disappeared into his hole as he went down, the fire searing the spot he’d just occupied.

Furious, Miro began to roll forward, and Avynne practically tackled it. “Miro!” She screeched, her shrill voice at top volume as she tightly held onto it. “Stop!”

Miro smelled something burning, a rancid taste that punched straight through Miro’s thoughts.

The flames abruptly extinguished, and Miro’s color returned to normal. Panicking, Miro began checking the Madarai over, inspecting her for damage. Her feathers were… oddly undamaged. Shouldn’t her feathers have been singed?

She patted him, still holding her side. Miro worriedly burbled at her, trying to figure what it could do to help her.

Crouching, she stared straight at it. Her expression was serious, and a little scared. “Miro, how… how did you do that?”

She gazed over its top, and Miro turned to the alleyway. A massive scorch marked the place it’d sat when it’d ignited, and the walls were burned a harsh shade. Everything from the bricks to the gravelly floor was blackened from the flame.

Miro burbled quietly, stunned at the damage. It suddenly realized that it hadn’t even thought to light up the way it had, but now that’d it’d done it… it felt as though it knew exactly how to repeat it.

Avynne picked Miro up, startling it a bit. “Miro… I think we should go back to the paladin’s house and tell Olivai. This…” She stared back at the alley, concerned. “This is very dangerous. Is that all right?”

For once, Miro wasn’t sure. Lifting things had been a pleasant surprise, a good piece of information. It could pick things up all on its own, it could help Olivai, it could be more than the slime that kept causing trouble.

But this?

This was downright scary.

A terrifying picture sprang into Miro’s mind, an image of Olivai trying to purify it as it helplessly sat trapped in a golden cube. And… the chilling notion that Miro would no longer be immune to it, and that this time, it would explode just as Otto said it would.

After a moment, Miro shook, and Avynne’s eyes went round. “But - she would want to know, Miro. This is important.”

Miro shook even harder, bobbling in her arms, and she fell silent. “She wouldn’t be upset with you,” Avynne told it, certainty in her tone. Miro simply shook again in response. It couldn’t be sure that she would be angry, but the chance she would was easier to imagine than the thought she wouldn’t.

“You know her better than I do!” Avynne protested, setting it down so she could look at it better. “She - she’s a priestess of kindness! And besides, you almost killed him! Wouldn’t she be proud of you? You can defend yourself now!”

Miro stared up at her, more than a little stunned. Proud? She’d been upset when it attacked Daveen! Why would she be proud that it was even more dangerous!?

It shook once more, and her face fell. She stammered briefly, her tone suddenly intense. “But… you have power! You can fight! Why would you not want to use it?”

Miro shrank back, startled by her fervor, and she immediately calmed herself. Closing her eyes, she crouched and buried her head in her feathers. Miro stared at her for a long moment, trying to figure out what she was doing.

“I’m sorry,” She murmured through her arms, her voice muffled. Rolling a little closer, Miro leaned in to try and hear her better.

Raising her head, she folded her legs and sat. Her expression was... complex. Miro had no idea what it meant. “It is your power, not mine. If you do not want to tell Olivai…” She winced slightly, but finished, “...Then it is your decision.”

On instinct, Miro opened its mouth and searched for Avynne’s smell. It tasted a bit damp, mixed in with strange bitterness. It was… strange. It felt almost as if she were frustrated at herself and upset at Miro. Not mad, but…

Miro didn’t have a word for it.

Shaking her head, Avynne reached down and gave Miro a pat, still holding her side. “We really do need to get to Olivai. She will be able to heal me.”

Miro nodded seriously, placing itself right next to her. Subtlety could wait - if anyone else tried to hurt her, it was going to toast them. And possibly eat them.

No, Miro instantly reminded itself, it was not going to eat anybody. People were off-limits. Olivai would be angry, Otto would try to pop it, and Avynne would-

Well, Avynne might be happy for it. Miro wasn’t sure anymore.

It was once again reminded quite bluntly that it knew very little about the Madarai. She was nice - a lot nicer than almost anybody Miro had met. She didn’t call it stupid and she didn’t say it was useless. She hadn’t called it a failed summon either. Granted, she seemed to want it to be more violent, which was… a strange feeling, considering Olivai’s standpoint.

Miro had very little sense of time. It’d only been alive for a week and a half, but it’d already learned so much about itself and everything else!

Avynne began walking away, and Miro hastily followed it, going over the possibilities. Was it really such a bad thing if Olivai learned about its brand-new ability? Moreover, if Avynne had wanted Miro to kill Donnel - a concept Miro was still trying to reconcile with Olivai’s opinion - then why had she wanted it to let him leave?

Miro found itself confused once again. It was becoming a very familiar feeling.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Otto’s house hadn’t changed in the slightest from the outside, but Miro could taste a difference in the air. A faint sense of sour urgency coupled with some small anger. Avynne looked at the door with a slight amount of worry once again, and Miro comfortingly bumped her heel.

Shaking herself, Avynne pulled the door open and walked in, Miro close at her heels.

The first thing Miro noticed was once again, the smell. Something stank, and Miro reflexively snapped its mouth shut. It could still taste it even with its mouth closed, and it was briefly reminded of the mud it’d rolled through on the first day of its life.

Tentatively going into the next room, Miro was met with an unusual sight.

Otto was slumped in a chair, his head hanging low and his chest slowly rising and falling with his breath. He was wearing a tight white shirt and loose pants, completely asleep. Olivai was sprawled on a couch in her robes, snoring lightly with her staff resting off the side.

As for Daveen, the man was gagged, tied to a chair and struggling to free himself. His eyes were wide and bloodshot as he stared around the room, and he looked oddly unfocused. He didn’t look at all like the haughty man that they’d found in Olivai’s room.

The moment he saw Miro, his eyes bugged out and a muted scream ripped from his mouth. The gag covered it up too thoroughly for it to be loud, but it was enough to wake Olivai and Otto up.

Otto rubbed at his eyes, leaning up. Squinting at Avynne, he blinked and asked slowly, “Who are you?”

Avynne’s feathers fluffed up. “Erm. I am Avynne. Olivai’s friend?”

He nodded understandingly. “Okay, okay. What time is it?”

“...Early morning?” Folding her claws, she asked, “How long have you been asleep?”

“Well…” Sitting up a little straighter, Otto frowned at the floor. “It’s early morning… I don’t know, I’m tired. Couple hours?”

Olivai jerked into wakefulness, staring around the room in confusion. Her eyes lit up when she saw the visitors. “Hey, you’re here too!”

Avynne looked a bit startled. “Hello. What… what is going on with..?” She indicated Daveen with a claw, and he made another muffled yell.

Rubbing his eyes, Otto stood up and popped his back, sighing in weary pleasure. “Well, the interrogation went pretty well. Got all the information we needed, learned some rather… sensitive things. Had to tie him up, though. He kept trying to escape,” He added, almost as an afterthought.

Avynne nodded slowly, trying to follow his train of thought. “And you are telling me because…”

Olivai rolled off the couch, easing onto her feet with a slight wince of discomfort. “I don’t think you’d do anything with that, to be honest. You don’t seem like the kind of person to take advantage of information, you know?”

Miro silently disagreed. After the incident with Donnel, Miro was starting to seriously rethink its perspective on what Avynne would and wouldn’t do. Granted, it wasn’t sure how one could take advantage of information.

Avynne blinked, looking down at her side as though she’d almost forgotten. “Er - can you please heal me?”

Olivai started, fully awake. “Oh. Oh! Are you-” She rushed over, inspecting Avynne’s side worriedly. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“Donnel,” Avynne practically hissed, raising her arm to allow Olivai easier access. “He tried to end Miro. Do you think he knows about Miro’s… lifting ability?”

Olivai’s hands glowed yellow as she rested them on Olivai’s side, and she muttered a few words under her breath. Avynne intently watched everything she did as she cast the blessing, and a few moments later, the vivid red staining Avynne’s torn shirt dissipated. Standing back, Olivai folded her arms. “It was a shallow cut, thankfully. Good job fending him off.”

Miro released a breath it hadn’t been aware it was able to hold. It’d been more than a little worried for Avynne. It knew people weren’t as fragile as slimes - its summoner had been shot, after all - but it had no idea how bad injuries were, or if it depended on the person, or even how different Madarai were from humans. It was fascinating that Olivai could fix Avynne so easily, though. It seemed like a helpful skill to have.

Avynne looked over to Daveen once more. “What did he say?”

“Nothing you’d be too interested in,” Otto said, a little too casually. “We might be heading to the capital soon, check up on things there. Have you ever been?”

“Really? No, I haven’t!” Avynne seemed surprised and more than a little curious. “I’ve heard it’s the peak of human engineering.”

“It sure is!” Otto agreed, emboldened by the compliment. Miro wasn’t sure why he seemed so happy about it. It had a feeling he hadn’t worked on the capitol himself, whatever that was.

Olivai frowned at Daveen. “For now, though… what do we do with him?”

They all stared at the hapless man. Avynne broke the silence, her voice sounding small. “Should you kill him?” Daveen yelled through the gag again. Miro still couldn’t tell if he was trying to say something or just screaming. Why exactly he would be screaming, Miro wasn’t sure. It was hardly going to help.

Olivai shot a glance at Avynne, startled and suddenly uncertain. “That seems a bit extreme. I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Right, Otto?”

Otto was staring at Daveen with a conflicted expression. “I… don’t know. We could throw him in jail, but he might end up telling the other inmates, and that’d be… bad, to say the least.”

Avynne timidly glanced between them. Miro was stunned at how different Avynne was when she was fighting versus when she was around others. It was almost as if she were two people in one.

Otto put two fingers to the bridge of his nose. “Look, I know this is hardly appropriate, but I’m hungry enough to eat a dragon. Can we get some food and think it over?”

Daveen yelled in muffled indignance. Everyone ignored him.

Olivai mused it over. “I am feeling quite hungry myself. Besides, it’d be a good opportunity for Avynne to tell us more about Donnel’s attack in detail. I have a strange feeling that he and Daveen might be related somehow.”

Miro wasn’t listening. Otto’s words had awoken a fierce and powerful hunger within it, a hunger that could only be satisfied by some of Bordi’s food.