Icefang had caught up to the fairy first, and lost.

As Vainqueur reached a destroyed village, he found Magnifique and Suffisante motionless on the ground amidst the corpses of a dozen nagas. Houses had been pounded into dust, while ice shuriken and laceration marks scarred the landscape.

A good mile away, he noticed a swirling tornado of icy winds and miasma devastating all in its path, uprooting the entire forest. Icefang and whichever fairy had trounced his party were still fighting bitterly.

“Magnifique, Suffisante!” Vainqueur called, as he landed next to his fellow dragons with Gorynych in tow. “Wake up!”

No response, even though none of them looked wounded. They must have been beaten into unconsciousness or fallen asleep due to a spell.

“All these people…” Knight Kia said while riding Gorynych’s back, the zmey too intimidated to speak. “An [Instadeath] area of effect?”

“You, minion!” Vainqueur pointed a claw at his fellow dragons. “Heal them!”

Knight Kia remained silent for a moment, before shaking her head. “I can’t.”

“What do you mean, you cannot? I knew you were useless!”

“I can’t cure death.”

Vainqueur paused.

Cure death? But they didn’t have any wounds!

Vainqueur glanced at the two dragons in disbelief and gave them a closer look; he noticed the white blank in their eyes, the pallidness of their scales, the complete lack of warmth. The truth hit him like his own magical hammer.

Vitality check successful. Shock negated.