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He closed the door behind them with his tail.

“I second that. She is rather off-putting,” Rurik commented, now that they were standing in front of him.

The growl that came from Geryon alerted Valerie that something terrible was about to happen.

“You bastard!”

Geryon reared back onto his hind legs and shoved Rurik in the chest. Taken by surprise, it knocked Rurik to his side, and he landed against the ground with a loudthwack.

Valerie practically had to dive out of the way when Rurik got to his paws and tackled Geryon around his scaly shoulders. He sat on top of him when he hit the ground and slapped him with his claws.

“Do not attack me, brother. I did you a favour.” He snapped his jaws towards him in rage.

Rurik has a really short temper.

“She could have been killed before I arrived. Why would you bring her here? You hate the Elders.”

Geryon managed to roll them over so he could get to his paws, his face bleeding from Rurik’s claws. He didn’t care as he bared his fangs, his growl so vicious it almost sounded like a hiss.

“Because you needed to face the Elders if you wanted her.” He stamped his paw down before he lashed his tail forward. Geryon caught it with his own, but the lack of tip caused their tails to slip apart. “If I had to face them, then so did you. You cannot escape them and hide behind human armies. If they discovered what you had done, what you planned, they would have wiped out that puny human king and her along with him.”

“You could have spoken to me first!”

With Valerie’s back pressed firmly up against the wall to stay out of this foolish sibling fight, she watched intently as they circled each other. Moving so fast that even Valerie hadn’t registered the action until it was completed, Geryon punched Rurik in the face with his ruined tail tip.

“As if you would listen to me! I flew here slowly for a reason.” Rurik stepped back and wiped his scaled snout with the back of his forearm to check his mouth wasn’t bleeding. “I knew you would catch up to us in time, but this needed to happen.”

“You planned this?” Valerie piped up, causing both to turn their heads to her.

“Yes. The moment I smelled his scent all over you and learned he was not alone in his stupidity, I knew you two must face the Elders if you wished for a future.” Then he sighed, running his paw down his face. “I did not foresee it going so poorly, but you were saved by Faerydae, which...” He paused to bring his gaze down and then back up her body. “I am rather amazed by.”

“That still did not give you the right to interfere,” Geryon snapped, pulling his wing up to cover her from his view.

“No? She gained my approval when she asked for me to burn her with my flames. Would you much rather I had than this alternative?” Rurik raised his brow while tapping a claw against the ground impatiently. “Now you can do what you want with her, and the Elders will not care. Claim her, kill her; to them, it no longer matters.”

Geryon brought his wing down with a sigh. “I have never needed your help.”

“And I have never given it to you. Perhaps, occasionally, I should help my idiot younger siblings.” Rurik harshly slapped him across the face with the flat part of his sharp, spaded tail tip. “Now, I am leaving. I loathe this place, and I wish to return to Amalia and my spawn.”

He turned to walk up the mountain pathway, leaving Valerie and Geryon alone together.

“I did not know you are brother to the famous WitchSlayer. Even Witches know of him and his exploits.”

He scowled, licking the inside of his mouth in agitation.

“Please, do fawn over my brother. It does not bother me whatsoever.” The sarcasm dripping from his tone was lethal.

He does not like being compared to him.

She turned her head up and gave him a bored look. “Then perhaps you should do something noteworthy.”

“I think I got a much better reaction from you last night,” he chuckled darkly, but she could tell he was still annoyed.

Valerie pursed her lips and began to walk up the mountain pathway. Even though she wanted nothing more than to remain and explore this wondrous place of ancient history and culture few of her kind would ever get the chance to see... She no longer wanted to remain in such a sacred place where a Witch like her didn’t belong.

Geryon came up beside her with his large paws crunching against the stone. She could tell adjusting to her much slower strides was difficult, but he paced himself for her.

In her peripheral, she noted he kept his eyes on her, rather than their path.