“You really can’t do anything about these sheep?” Alora asked, looking down at her claw that was covered in blood. Dozens of reddish pools lay scattered around her, and thousands of sheepmen surrounded her, pointing crude weapons made of wood at her. There were a few scratches on Alora’s legs, but other than that, she was relatively unhurt.

“Unlike the giant from earlier, these sheep’s minds have already been developed,” Zyocuh said. “There’s no way to give them a command that’ll let you absorb them. As living creatures, they have their own will to live, and they won’t surrender.”

Alora looked around, and the sheepmen took steps back when her gaze landed on them, widening the encirclement. She took a step forward, and the sheepmen ahead of her moved back while the sheepmen behind her advanced. “This is uncomfortable,” Alora mumbled. “They don’t even scream when they die.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Zyocuh asked.

“No,” Alora said. “I like screams.” She lunged forwards, but the sheepmen retreated at an equal pace. A few of the sheepmen behind her threw spears and rocks, hitting her tail. Most of them bounced off, but one or two happened to hit in just the right manner to pierce her hide. “Ow!” Alora whirled around and glared at the offenders. She took in a deep breath, her chest expanding, and released a mouthful of icy mist.

The sheepmen bleated and scattered, but dozens of unlucky ones froze into red statues, their eyes still rolling underneath a layer of ice. Alora stomped forward and swung her paw, shattering the statues like glass. She placed her paw on top of the puddles they left behind, and her scales took on an even darker purple color, traveling up her leg as something was absorbed. She ignored the bleating that filled the air and sighed.

“What’s wrong? Isn’t frantic bleating the same thing as screaming?”

“No,” Alora said. “It’s not. You’re not the one doing this boring task, alright? You don’t get to comment.”

“If it’s so boring, why don’t you just freeze them all with your ice breath? It doesn’t seem like they have a good counter to that.” The light on Alora’s claw flashed twice. “They may have anti-magic, but there’s nothing magical about your breath.”

Alora sighed again. “I guess I’ll just do that.” She raised her head and swatted down a few spears flying towards her face. She rose up on her hind legs, and the sheepmen bleated while turning around their backs facing her. Alora chuckled. “Trying to run?” Her chest expanded as wind rushed in through her nostrils, and in unison, the sheepmen farted. Alora’s eyes widened as the pure air she was inhaling a moment ago turned rancid, and she gagged, her ice breath caught in her throat. She coughed and sneezed, shaking her head back and forth, trying to get the smell out of her nostrils. Why did she have to inhale so deeply!?

“Baattack!” the sheepmen shouted out a battle cry and rushed Alora, jabbing at her with their spears while she was disoriented. She thrashed and wiggled, crushing them with her mass, but that didn’t stop them from swarming her like ants. They poked and prodded, biting and scratching when their wooden weapons broke.

“Roll!” Zyocuh shouted.

“What?” Alora pawed at her face, keeping the sheepmen away from her eyes and mouth. She wriggled and slapped herself with her paws, crushing the clumsier sheepmen.

“Stop, drop, and roll!”

Alora furrowed her brow, but she stopped moving, dropped to her belly, and rolled over. The sheepmen bleated as they were thrown into the air, the unlucky ones crushed underneath her weight. Laughter boomed out of Alora’s claw, and Zyocuh’s voice rang through the air, “Fear the might of a fat, rolling dragon!”

Alora froze midroll, her belly exposed to the sun. “Hold up! Who’d you call fat just now!?”

“…You’re the only dragon here, who else?” Zyocuh asked. “It was an effective tactic wasn’t it? Isn’t this why you put on so much mass? Look at how afraid they are of climbing on top of you now.”

Alora snarled and bit down on her claw, causing Zyocuh to let out a shriek. “I’m at the appropriate weight for a growing dragon, got it? I’ll grow into it!”

“O mighty, baaa, dragon,” a sheepman with horns like a ram’s shouted. “We recognize, baaaa, your strength! Let us talk this, baaa, through like civilized, baa, creatures.”

“What?” Alora blinked. “You can speak?”

“Yes, baa.”

Alora blinked again. “Okay,” she said and sat on her haunches. Dozens of little nicks and scratches decorated her body. “Let’s talk. All of you should gather up and let me eat you, alright?”

“You are, baa, almost as unreasonable as the last, baaa, dragon we made a deal with,” the sheepman said. “Is eating us, baa, the only thing you wish, baaaaaa, for?”

“Pretty much.” Alora nodded.

“Can we, baa, offer you anything else, baaa, to eat instead?”

Alora lifted her front claw to her face. “Is there?”

“No,” Zyocuh said. “Only by using their cores can I improve your strength enough to deal with that evil dragon. It’s a shame that we have to eliminate a new culture before it had a chance to thrive.”

Alora nodded, lowering her paw. “You heard the man in the claw. There’s nothing else for you to offer me.”

The sheepman with the horns like a ram’s tilted his head. “Heard the, baa, what?”

Alora tilted her head in return. “You can’t hear him?” She pointed her claw at the sheepman. “Say something, Zyocuh.”

“I’m not a cheap gimmick like a talking frog,” Zyocuh said.

Alora nodded. “Did you hear that?”

The sheepman blinked at Alora in response. “I heard you say, baa, ‘Say something, baaa, Zyocuh.’”

“Huh,” Alora muttered. “That’s weird. Can other people not hear you?”

“I don’t see why that should be the case,” Zyocuh said. “But it seems like it is.”

“What about the lighting up part?” Alora asked the sheepman. “Can you see my claw light up?”

The sheepman shook his head.

Alora scratched her cheek. “Hmm. That’s weird. Alright, so how were we going to compromise? You were going to let me eat you all….” She stood on her hind legs and looked around, but her surroundings were empty save for the lone sheepman. “Where did they all go?”

“This is our, baa, compromise,” the sheepman with the horns said. “You can eat me, baa, but all my brethren, baa, shall be free.”

“You were tricked,” Zyocuh said. “You were tricked by sheep. How did I lose to you?”

“Hey. They’re some very sneaky sheep, alright?”