I coughed and wheezed from the pressure the two deities in front of me were emitting. Mars had been choking the life out of me, before Styrmir had shown up. Truth be told, I wasn't expecting him to come save me after the argument we had. I don't know why I snapped at him, but he reminded me of the gap in power between our respective races.

"I'd like to see you try, weakling." Styrmir spat at him. 

I screamed internally. Just seconds ago, he was trying to de-escalate the situation, so why was he taunting Mars all of a sudden? I was reminded of our argument just a few hours ago. He had been surprisingly compassionate before the topic of strength came up. The same thing was happening here; he was willing to avoid a fight until Mars had began flaunting his strength, and then he became agitated.

It was all I could do to stay conscious as Mars released his Aura, red energy surrounding him. I had seen this form before, when he wounded me while I was attempting to escape, before the storm helped me shake him off. The energy coalesced into a massive serpent twice his height. 

Mars proudly wore a vile smirk on his face. "Are you scared, hatchling? No matter how strong you may be, you can't compete with the peak of the Aesir." With a swing of his hand, the serpent lunged towards Styrmir, slamming into the ground. Tendrils of Aura shot everywhere, destroying the land around us, the wind from the impacts uprooting nearby trees. The heat resonating from the residual energy was enough to vaporize the snow instantly.

My eyes darted over to where Styrmir should have been standing. There was no trace of him left. My heart sank. If Mars was able to take him out that easily, that meant he really hadn't been trying at all when I fought him.

"I've been called too many slurs today." Styrmir sighed. 

I searched for Styrmir among the rubble, but I couldn't find any trace of him. If it weren't for Mars frantically looking around, I would have assumed I was hallucinating.

"Behind you." Styrmir whispered.

Mars whipped around, punching the air where Styrmir had been just moments ago. The blonde haired dragon swiftly dodged it, dashing faster than the eye could see right next to me. He picked me up like a sack of potatoes, slinging me over his shoulder. I winced slightly as my skin tingled from all the tendrils of lightning-type mana emanating from him.

"I'd love to stay, but I think it's about time we got going. I'll forgive you for your behavior just this once." 

I stared at Styrmir's face. His expression was nothing like when he fed and clothed me. It was terrifying. There was no hint of kindness, and it was as if he was freezing everything around him. He glowered at Mars for a few more moments before turning his back and trudging off with me still slung over his shoulder.

"Intent of Valor. Open." Mars muttered.

Styrmir whipped around, dropping me in a ditch, quickly apologizing before turning his attention back to Mars. Even if my senses weren't as keen as Styrmir's, I could detect the change in the air. All of the remaining snow vaporized instantly, revealing the beautiful jade evergreens of the cruel wilderness of Orrostuma. 

Red energy swirled around Mars. Even though his regular Aura was red, there was another mysterious red energy of the same shade swirling around him. Despite being the same color, I could clearly tell that there were two different types of energy around him. Not only that, but he nearly doubled in size. 

"I told you I would take your head!" Mars roared, charging at Styrmir.

This time, he couldn't dodge. All he could do was to bring his arms up to block the punch aimed at his heart. I heard an earsplitting crack as Styrmir cried out in pain. Mars didn't relent though. He brought his left arm around in a wide arc, slamming it into Styrmir's skull, sending him flying.

He grabbed him out of the air, slamming him against his knee, as if he were attempting to break a large stick. Styrmir cried out in pain again, and I involuntarily averted my eyes. 

Hanging him upside down from his ankles, Mars brought Styrmirs face to eye level, taunting him. I could see the blood rushing to his pale face as he was turned upside down. I clearly understood why Mars was the Aspect of War and Violence now. 

"Not so tough now, are we?" he sneered. "If you beg for mercy, I can spare you, but the human dies no matter what."

Styrmir said nothing, but seemed to be considering something.

"Come on," Mars prompted. "I'm sorry Mars. You are stronger than I could ever hope to be, and you're the greatest warrior in existance."

Styrmir whispered something so quiet that none of us heard it. 

"What?" Mars asked, dangling him closer to his ear to hear better.

"Eat sh*t." Styrmir said, gauging his lightning-covered fingers into Mars' left eye. Tendrils of lightning scattered around them, burning a brilliant blue. Mars dropped Styrmir, kneeling and clutching his eye in pain. 

Styrmir kicked his head, sending him flying into a nearby tree. The massive tree cracked and fell on top of Mars. A mysterious orange energy spiralled around him. He let go of his arms, moving them around experiementally. He seemed to notice the orange light later than I did, because when he did, he smiled. 

"You aren't the only one with an Intent. Get up. I know you're alive."

"Tenacity. Disgusting. You remind me of my sons." The war deity wiped the blood off of his mouth. "I was going to use this against your father, but it doesn't matter. I'll bring your head to him, and then I'll wipe that little cavern you call home off the face of Aethergard."

"Careful what you say. I may just destroy Yggdrasil after I'm done with you." Styrmir retorted.

Mars snarled, and a golden energy replaced the red energy circling around him. He flexed his powerful muscles, preparing to lunge towards Styrmir. Styrmir covered himself in lightning, illuminating the area around us.

Before the two of them could go any further, a woman with beautiful auburn hair appeared. She kneeled in front of Styrmir, and Mars stopped.

"Athena? What are you doing here?"

"Lord Styrmir, please forgive my brother's transgressions. Lord Odin has commanded for me to bring Mars back to Yggdrasil immediately. We will see to it that he is reprimanded as soon as we return." Athena said, still kneeling.

Mars shouted in protest, and Athena put a finger to her lips, causing him to quiet instantly. She dipped her head further in apology, silently pleading for Styrmir to allow them to leave. I thought about the little information I knew about Styrmir; he didn't seem to care about being disrespected in the regular sense, as long as the people he considered beneath him knew their place. I hoped that he would let them go without any meaningless bloodshed, remembering that he was surprisingly compassionate for a dragon.

"Alright," he said. "you may leave. Send Odin my regards." 

Athena turned to leave, Mars trailing behind her. I could hear her berating him for "using Ichor," whatever that meant. Styrmir helped me out of the ditch I was left in, the snow having melted away. Through the corner of my eye, I saw Mars break free from Athena's grip, charging towards Styrmir in a flash of golden light.

"St-!" I was cut off before I could finish calling his name. I noticed that he wasn't standing next to me anymore, and I assumed the worst. 

"Apologies, Athena. It was an act of self-defense. I will allow you to take his remains back to Odin." Styrmir said, standing over the bisected body of Mars. 

I had forgotten. No matter how compassionate Styrmir may have been, he was still a dragon. One of the most powerful on the planet, as well as the most prideful. He wouldn't let someone attack him with no repercussions.

Mars' bisected corpse lay on the ground, still smoking from where he was cut. I was reminded of the bears Styrmir had cut in the same fashion, and then I realized: Aesir were nothing but bugs compared to him, he wasn't boasting when he said that.

"Interesting," the woman said. "You may be stronger than Iadra. Mars was able to withstand most of his attacks, including the Cavernsplitter."

My mind flashed back to the religion classes I was forced to take as a member of the royal family. Cavernsplitter was the name of the spell that Iadra used to shape Dralossle. Supposedly, he carved it using all four of the basic elements. For Mars to withstand that, and lose to Styrmir so easily, was nothing short of incredible.

I stared at Styrmir, who was looking directly at Athena with his jaw clenched, not even blinking. He nodded once and turned around and walked away.

Athena bowed her head once more, collecting Mars' remains in a bag that seemed much too small to fit all of him inside. I couldn't help but think that she had predicted this would happen. 

Styrmir's face had no trace of the kindness I had felt when I first met him. He stared at me blankly before transforming into his true form. He was as white as a cloud, but had sharp fangs and piercing eyes.

"Hop on. I'll fly you back to Heiguang."

As we soared through the sky, I couldn't help but ponder about the outburst Styrmir had during our argument.

"Why did you come back?" I asked.

He stayed silent for a while, before replying, "I felt guilty."

"The other dragons don't like you very much?"

"What makes you think that?" he asked.

"I don't know. You seemed lonely. Power breeds isolation." I said, speaking from experience.

He chuckled a bit before speaking. "Nobody dared approach me because I was the first to use other forms of mana."

"And so you began to dislike those you considered weaker," I finished. "even though what you really needed was a friend."

"I suppose so..." his voice trailed off.

As we passed through the clouds, I could see Heiguang below us. The sight of my kingdom from above the sunset was beautiful, enough to bring me to tears.

"What will you do now?" I asked Styrmir.

"I suppose I'll go back to Dralossle." he sighed. "Even if they hate me."

"The doors to Heiguang are always open, you know?" I suggested with a grin.

"Thanks, but I wouldn't be any more accepted here than I would there." he said before taking off again.