The summoned serpent flared its jet-black wings as it roared with a defiant tweeeep. 

It glared at its surroundings with slitted, golden eyes. 

Another moment of silence passed as Marie and Theo blinked with stupefied expressions. 

The summoned serpent was a dragon. 

A very tiny dragon. 

It was approximately the size of a kitten and looked small enough to fit in Theo's pocket. 

It flapped its bat-like wings at Marie, who was still staring in shock, the fight between her and Theo temporarily forgotten. 

'You're a baby,' Theo said.

'I am a Scourge of the Night,' It snapped its needle-like teeth.

Marie shook herself out of her stupor and began drawing magic to her pistol again.

This time Theo could tell she was gathering enough magic to do powerful damage. 

Theo almost left without the summoned creature; he had never tried to keep one around before, but there was something so innocent about this tiny dragon that made him hesitate. 

He scooped up his "Scourge of the Night" and twisted a shadow into a staff-like object.

'Don't manhandle me,' The dragon snarled and squirmed in the crook of Theo's arm. Its tiny claws pricked his skin through the fabric of his clothes as the dragon struggled. 

Theo ducked as Marie shot at him, knocking her gun to the ground with the rough staff. Then, he kicked the weapon, sending it sliding down the slope they were standing at the top of.

Marie had no choice but to scramble after the pistol. 

She knew that her swordsmanship alone wouldn't be enough to apprehend Theo. It wasn't a huge delay, but it would have to be enough. 

Theo dashed for the tree line of the surrounding forest. The thick trunks of the old growth would provide cover, making it more difficult for Marie to aim accurately.

He made it to the trees at about the same time Marie recovered her pistol if the splintering tree trunk beside him told him anything. 

He just had to get a little further, and he would reach his companion.

Some shouts filled the air, calling to Marie. It seemed her companions had arrived, and Theo's footsteps left a clear trail in the snow. 

Theo sprinted even faster, causing the little dragon to nip him in anger.

'This jostling displeases me, mortal.' The dragon complained. 

Theo ignored it. 

There, behind the copse of junipers. Theo breathed a sigh of relief.

"Carrot Sticks," Theo called to the unicorn who was waiting for him.

A whicker greeted him as he rounded the trees to see Carrot Sticks. 

Carrot was a dun-colored unicorn with a black horn. He was a beautiful creature but annoying. 

Yet, despite the unicorn's annoying personality, Carrot was an invaluable partner. Unicorns were much faster than horses and notoriously challenging to get to accept riders. 

As long as Theo was with Carrot, it was difficult, though not impossible, to catch up with him.

"Why didn't you come for me?" Theo complained. "You had to have heard the fighting."

"With that explosion?" Carrot said with a lash of his tail. "I'd get my coat singed."

"Naturally," Theo grunted as he clambered onto Carrot's back. 

The unicorn stomped one of his front hooves in displeasure; Theo's exhausted movements were clumsy and involved too much tugging at the unicorn's mane.

"And what's this tiny, little hellion you brought back with you," Carrot asked, beginning to gallop through the snow. 

"I am Tempest of the Underworld, Rage of the Abyss-"

Magic singed the air again, interrupting the dragon's soliloquy. 

It vaguely registered on Theo that the dragon could use his voice to speak, but he didn't pay the development much attention due to the situation. 

"Pick up the pace, Carrot!" Theo yelled. 

He swore the enchantress had grown even more powerful every time he ran into her. 

He was going to have to get more cautious.

"I deserve at least a bucket of carrots after this," The unicorn grumbled but managed to gallop a little faster.

Carrot continued to gallop at full speed for an hour before hopping into a river and swimming downstream to help throw any pursuers off their trail. 

Theo shivered as the icy water numbed his legs and burrowed his hands into Carrot's thick mane to keep them warm. The dragon burrowed into Theo's suit jacket and clung to his chest. Theo was grateful for the dragon's heat radiating next to his heart.

Their icy swim continued for about fifteen minutes before Carrot returned to shore.

 It would have been better if they had stayed in the river longer to prevent tracks, but to do so would have been suicide in this weather. 

Theo was slumped against Carrot's neck, trying to cling to any warmth he could. Carrot's mane had become wet, so Theo moved his hands around the dragon in search of warmth. 

 "Hold on a little longer," Carrot said before galloping again. 

After another 30 or so minutes of galloping, Carrot stopped. "Here's as good a place as any," the unicorn said.

"Yu-yu-yep," Theo said past his shivering teeth. 

His teeth were chattering so hard that he was worried one might crack. 

While his suit had a temperature charm embroidered in the lining, it didn't do much good when the clothes were soaking wet.

He struggled to get off Carrot, falling more than dismounting. 

Theo must have looked pitiful because the unicorn sighed in displeasure instead of complaining. 

"Does the human realm not have beds?" The dragon asked as Theo placed him on Carrot's back. Its eyes were sparkling with curiosity as it took in the snow-covered forest.

"We-we aren't stop-stopping," Theo managed to bite out.

"Is it not night? Humans sleep at night." The little dragon beat his wings in surprise.

"Not to-tonight," Theo said. 

While Carrot was fast, there wasn't enough distance between him and the castle to warrant an extended break. This was just a stop to keep him from freezing to death. 

Theo pulled his regular trousers and shirt from Carrot's saddlebags as well as a heavy wool coat. 

He stripped and changed quicker than he thought was humanely possible. 

The new clothes were slightly damp but less soaked than the ones he had been wearing. The saddle bags were charmed to resist rain, so they did a decent job of keeping water out.

Next, Theo rubbed Carrot down with a spare shirt to dry the unicorn off. 

It didn't work well, but Carrot preened at the attention. 

Then, Theo scooped the dragon, climbed back on Carrot, and tucked the dragon inside his shirt. The dragon squirmed at first but settled down and began to happily rumble at their shared warmth.

Without another word, Carrot began a neck-breaking speed through the snow-covered forest.

***

It was midmorning when Carrot finally stopped. 

They were no longer in the forest and had reached the plains. The grass was dried, dead and waist-high but blessedly free of snow.

"Get off, you oaf," Carrot grumbled as soon as he came to a halt by a small stream.

Theo tumbled off the unicorn, barely landing on his feet. He swayed a little before sinking down. 

The dragon tucked its head outside Theo's collar to survey the grassy plains around them. Its eyes twinkled with wonder. 

Theo had to wonder what type of scenery the little dragon was used to and where it came from, but he was too exhausted to ask. 

Carrot drank heavily from the stream before he lay beside Theo, using the tall grass as coverage from anyone who might see them. 

Theo scooted closer to Carrot for warmth.

"You're crushing me," The dragon said, his voice muffled by the thick wool fabric. 

He wriggled himself free before tucking in between Carrot and Theo. "You are lucky that I, Majesty of Darkness, am so forgiving."

Theo snorted and raised an eyebrow at the dragon. 

Then, he addressed the unicorn, "You sleep first, Carrot."

As exhausted as Theo was, Carrot had sustained breakneck speeds for hours. 

The unicorn needed to sleep more. Carrot gave a soft whicker in agreement and fell asleep almost immediately. The dragon followed suit, softly snoring.

That left Theo alone with his thoughts while he desperately tried to stay awake. 

Watching the others sleep made Theo feel a little jealous. Sleeping was one of his favorite hobbies.

Instead, he was left alone with his thoughts. 

What a treat. 

Last night had been a horrendous mission from start to finish. His strategy had been flawed, his judgment impaired, and his escape was clumsy at best.

It had also been nice to see Marie.

Theo snorted, disgusted with himself. 

He shoved the thought out of his mind and rummaged in one of their packs until he found a bit of cheese. It wasn't the best, but he had felt woozy since their escape.

In this world, there were two types of magic users.

Some ambient magic users like Marie harness mana that naturally existed in the world around them. They could draw on that naturally occurring mana and convert it to refined magic to use in spells.

 Most ambient magic users had to use a piece of equipment to harness their magic, like Marie's pistol or the sorcerer's staff. 

On the other hand, there were innate magic users like Theo. Innate magic users create their own mana and use that to work spells. Most innate magic users didn't have to have any special equipment to help them harness magic.

Using ambient magic could be tiring because ambient magic users use their bodies as a conduit for magic. However, innate magic requires much more energy because innate mages burn through a force their body generates.

Then Theo had to deal with blood loss on top of that. 

In a way, though, the blood loss was a blessing. It limited how much Dullahan could use him. 

If nothing was limiting Theo's powers, Dullahan could use Theo as a nonstop portal to summon all sorts of evil.

Theo sighed when he finished his ration of cheese. His stomach still roared with hunger. 

He placed a hand on his cramping stomach and put the remaining cheese back in the pack. 

If he was lucky, they would pass somewhere he could buy-

Theo dismissed the thought. 

There would surely be a lot of fresh bounties posted for him after the mess he just made.

Moving to the stream, Theo submerged his wounded hand under the water and gently rubbed away the dried blood. 

Thankfully, there were two restrictions for summoning creatures with his blood. 

The blood couldn't be dry and had to touch the ground.

Still, Theo had to be careful not to reopen the fresh wound. When he was finished washing it, he took a roll of bandages from his pack and dressed his hand and arm. 

With all immediate needs taken care of to the best of his ability, Theo sat beside Carrot. 

He strained his ears for suspicious sounds, but all he heard were the sounds of grass rustling in the wind.