Boom.

Jean's leg ached as he slammed it down into Captain Drake's arm, the reverberation shaking through his bones. He grimaced, flipping off the arm and into the air. He reached out one hand, and Eliza caught him, ferrying him safely to the ground.

"Demon's Thrust!"

Ting.

Sayed charged in the opening, but Drake caught Sayed's sword in his claws. Jean grasped at his chest as he watched Sayed's thrust falter. Pain still cracked in webs up his ribcage with each breath, though he had no lungs at all.

"Spirit Pirouette!"

Jean held out his arm, allowing Eliza to spin into a blur at the end of his arm. With a grunt, he sent her careening off toward Drake. He didn't think the technique would work, but he and Sayed had to keep up their pressure.

If they let up for even a moment, it would give Drake a chance to fight back. Jean didn't want to see the fate that befell a man at the end of those claws. Already, he was adapting to their tactics, and his claw came up to catch Eliza.

"Partner Switch!"

A string went out to Eliza, connecting them together with the thin strand. As Drake tried to block the blow, Jean appeared where Eliza had been, kicking up from the opposite direction. Bone slammed against scale as he caught Drake's arm with his leg.

Drake didn't even flinch under the strike.

"Grah!"

Scrrch.

With a bulge in his muscles, Drake threw off Jean and Sayed's blow, knocking them away and across the ground in opposite directions. Dust flew up around Jean as he caught himself on the ground, drawing lines with his bony fingers down the dirt until Eliza came to support him from behind. She wrapped around his shoulders as he came to a halt, and across from him, Sayed did the same with his blade in the ground.

"You're both far too weak to actually harm me." Drake let out a plume of smoke as he raised one clenched fist. "Even with the drop, you can't even land a solid hit."

"That is a problem," Jean whispered as he caught Sayed's eye.

Sayed nodded at him, holding up his blade as he took on a wide-legged stance. Jean grimaced. What he was about to do would hurt, but it might let Sayed land a blow. He just needed to accept that his fate would be pain.

"Spirit Strings."

Jean held out his hands as Drake focused his attention on him. Purple lines of aether extended out from his hand, stretching out into the rubble around him as long strings out toward Drake. Drake leaned forward in response, and Jean could see the charge coming for him. However, that was precisely what he needed Drake to do.

Boom.

The air around Drake exploded with flame as he molded into a blur. Jean jumped back out of instinct, drawing up his strings with his arms as he ducked. While Drake hadn't covered the entire distance between them, five slashes cut through the air.

Swip.

Through the air above his head, Jean saw disturbances in the air shaped like the claws of a dragon rending reality itself. He didn't have time to ponder the problem, though. Instead, he sprung his trap, raising his arms and the strings with them.

"Spirit Net!"

Thud. Twang.

The strings connected together, forming a criss-cross pattern as he pulled on the lines. He landed on his back as he carried the strings with him, pulling up hard to close the net around Drake's legs. The strings drew taunt, and Jean smiled as he looked up from where he lay.

Drake stopped in his rush, looking down at his legs and the mess of strings wrapped around him. It was not enough, and Jean knew that, but it slowed the man down, and that was all that mattered.

"These tricks won't work on me," Drake said, raising one clawed hand whose black talons glowed orange. "I'll cut these strings to pieces."

"Ah, but you can't forget my part in this tale," Sayed's voice carried across the ruined square. "Demon's Wind!"

Shing. Swit.

He charged at Drake from behind, catching the man in a series of six slashes from his glowing sword. All six of the slashes connected, cutting across the captain's scales. Jean couldn't see the results from where he lay, but he saw the captain wince as the slashes made contact. While he hadn't been reduced to pieces, the sword had clearly done its damage.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

For a moment, Jean was certain they could take on the captain. However, that changed when the captain smiled a toothy smile. To Jean's surprise, the captain laughed.

"When was the last time that someone nicked my scales?" Captain Drake turned on Sayed, his claws extending as smoke billowed from his mouth. "Perhaps I can go a little more with you two. Perhaps I won't break you."

Clang.

In one motion, Drake wrapped a clawed hand around Sayed's body, his arm growing to bizarre proportions like an inflating balloon. Jean jumped to his feet, ready to take on the man long enough to distract him, but a second clawed hand engulfed the moon above as another grabbed Jean.

Jean only had a moment, and he made his choice.

"Partner Switch!"

A single string shot out into the night, connecting with Eliza and shifting their positions.

Crack.

Claws pierced Eliza's form above, breaking her body and sending her scattering out in a flash of purple light as nothing remained for the claw to grasp. Power fled from Jean's gate, and he nearly fell onto his face because of the sudden loss of aether. This would be the third time he had reformed Eliza that night, and the cost of bringing her back into the world of the living was wearing on him.

That left him with only one option. He would need to rely on the first level of his curse for the fight. There was not going to be another chance to attack from three directions.

"Maybe I spoke too soon," Drake said as his body grew. "I have recovered enough to assume my dragon form. At this point, both of you should give up. There will be less damage to the town that way."

Sayed grunted in his hand as the man struggled against the dragon's claws. The claws grew around him all the same as Drake's neck stretched long, and a massive tail shot out from his back. Two giant wings erupted out of his back as he grew larger and larger in the town square. In seconds, he was back to the dragon that had chased down the Nighthawk.

And again, the captain made no technique and called upon no curse. For minor things, people didn't need to use names for their techniques or powers. Names were used to focus the aether and make calling upon powers easier and more consistent. The fact that Captain Drake hadn't said one since the start of the fight didn't bode well for Jean or Sayed.

Either he was stronger than they assumed, or he had a power unlike anything they had seen before. Jean liked neither option.

Flap. Flap.

"Stay still and stop fighting back," Drake's voice boomed through the streets. "We'll take you in with your ship, and then we'll finally take down Ortega."

"That is where you're wrong." Sayed gasped, his voice carrying through the silence after the dragon's voice. "You will be doing none of those things this night!"

Clack.

"What are you yelling about?" Captain Drake closed his claws around Sayed, forcing more air out of his lungs.

Jean drew in a breath of his own. Sayed was right. They couldn't allow themselves to be beaten here. They needed to rally. He needed to free Sayed so that they could put down Captain Drake. They might not be able to beat him, but they needed to drop him long enough that they could get to the ship. That was the plan.

"He's saying that we won't follow that fate," Jean raised his voice as he stretched out his arms. We'll get past you and reunite with our crew. There's nothing you can do to stop us! Spirit Shroud."

Purple light fell from his shoulders like a cascade of water, running down his chest and arms and wrapping around him. His power wrapped around him like a suit, glowing a bright, sparkling purple as it hugged him tight. A wide collar shot out from his neck, and sleeves tightly clasped around his wrist. Long pants wrapped around his legs, and pointed purple boots wrapped around his toes. Jean reached up to his bald hand with one finger as an orb of purple light formed in his hand, and he stretched the orb out over his head, forming a long, rounded hat with a long feather plume on top.

It was a condensation of the first level of his technique. The spirit strings that his curse specialized in formed a shield for his body, allowing him to hit harder and faster than he normally could. Whereas the second level of his curse split his power between him and his partner, his first level focused all on him. It was perfect for a solo number or, in the case of this fight, a duet with Sayed.

"I think I agree with you, brother." Sayed pushed out against the dragon's claws, his arms flexing as he forced the large hand open with his strength alone. "We don't have time to be wasting in this fight."

"Grr." Drake tried to force his hand closed, but Sayed pushed against it, his muscles flexing as he forced the claws further open.

Jean couldn't just let Sayed fight it all alone. He smiled as he leaned forward, taking back one leg and pulling his hat over his eyes. He didn't need to see to find his target. After all, in his dragon form, Drake was too big to miss.

"Spirit Trot!"

He shot forward off his one leg, throwing himself at the dragon with an extended foot as the world blurred around him. This wasn't a simple step to cover the distance. This kick carried the force of his momentum, and he crashed into Captain Drake's chest while the dragon struggled to hold Sayed.

Crack. Boom.

Jean's kick knocked the dragon back, and he flipped off the chest to force some distance while Sayed escaped. Sayed jumped away from the dragon toward Jean. They landed together as Drake recovered, flapping his wings to regain his balance.

Flap. Flap.

"What do you think, brother?" Sayed asked him as Captain Drake rose onto all fours, both wings extended.

Jean watched the dragon bend his neck around and shook his head. They didn't have many options. While the larger form was less mobile and easier to hit, Jean could honestly not see a single point of damage in the scales. While Sayed's attacks earlier had clearly done something, they hadn't been enough to harm Drake for long. They needed a way out, a path out of the fight and away from the dragon. Jean looked up and saw the Nighthawk silhouetted against the sky, waiting for them at a safe distance.

"We need to get back to the ship," Jean said. "And to do that, we'll need our own wings."

"I see two perfectly good wings before us." Sayed smiled, resting his blade upon his shoulder. "Perhaps we could ask him for a ride into the sky."

"That is one option." Jean laughed before nodding lower to the ground. "But I see a second one low down."

The slipship that had dropped off the soldiers floated not far from the nearby buildings. Sayed pursed his lips but nodded. Jean thought about the approach. Either way, they would need a way to get to the ship and take it higher up into the air, and that would require Drake to be down, at least temporarily.

"I may not be Alex, but I might have a plan." Sayed nodded. "Follow my lead."

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