But the ash-drake did not strike him. Nor did fire erupt from its gullet. Instead, what came forth was words. The drake told Razei-Ree, "YOU PLAY WITH ME TRAVELER! THAT IS THE ANSWER!" it laughed, "FOOTSTEPS! I am footsteps! Most PLEASING!" Wazei-Ree whispered to himself and gratitude for his life, "Thank you Lisssa, the All-Forgiving..." And the ash-drake produced a dark flask, covered in scratches from claws and filled with some sort of dark black liquid substance. "AHAHAHA! TAKE THIS, TRAVELER, AND SOAR AMONG THE ASH CLOUDS!"

Wazei-Ree eyed the flask wearily, but he accepted it, for who can deny an ash-drake's request. As Wazei-Ree quaffed the foul liquid, it burned his throat, and stung his sinuses. He hissed in disgust, but swallowed as much as he could, and a strange feeling began to beset him. But he did not sprout wings, and he did not fly. The ash-drake watched him closely with the slightest hint of a smirk across it's toothed maw.Special thanks to Odarbil Flecha for helping me publish this.