Hibana had led them back to his camp.
The Kobolds were romping around as usual, digging and tilling the land to make way for crops. A few were clustered near Solryn, who sat beneath a crooked tree, nose buried in a book. He looked visibly annoyed, one brow twitching as a particularly loud Kobold bounced beside him, chattering about something irrelevant.
Solryn snapped the book shut with a sharp thwack.
"You tiresome pests! Go bother Tsu. Can't you see I'm busy?"
The Kobold flinched, then scampered off with a squeak, muttering something about "grumpy wizards and their sticks."
Tsu, meanwhile, had already gone rigid. Her hand flew to the handle of her nodachi the instant she caught sight of Hibana — and the towering figures following behind him.
Solryn glanced up from his book again, his expression darkening.
Hibana was leading a throng of Lizardfolk straight into their camp.
The Kobolds saw them next.
They froze.
And then — panic.
A shrill wave of alarm swept the camp as tools were dropped and crates overturned. Kobolds darted in every direction. Some dove behind huts, others clambered up trees or peered out from behind barrels, their squeaky voices overlapping.
"Lizardfolk!!"
"They followed him!"
"We're under attack!"
Hibana raised his voice above the chaos.
"Don't be afraid!"
He turned to the Lizardfolk chief walking beside him. The older warrior's gaze swept over the camp, his brow furrowed in visible confusion — not anger, just the cautious wariness of a predator entering unfamiliar territory.
Tsu was already storming toward him, her hand still tightly gripping her weapon. She planted herself in Hibana's path.
Her eyes blazed.
"What are these filthy creatures doing here?!"
Hibana shook his head. "Tsu, these are our new guests. I promised them I'd bring them here… if they chose not to fight me again."
He stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"Please. Take your hand off your sword. I promise you — they're not our enemies."
Tsu hesitated for a moment, her fingers still curled around the hilt of her nodachi. But then, with visible effort, she exhaled, lowered her arm, turned around, and walked away.
Hibana turned to the towering Lizardfolk chief.
"Don't mind her," he said calmly. "That other human over there is Solryn." He gestured toward the tree, where Solryn remained half-buried in a book, doing his best to ignore everyone.
Then Hibana's gaze shifted toward the Kobolds now huddled in their huts, peeking through cracks and doorways, their usual exuberance dampened by tension.
"I forgot to mention one thing," he said. "This place — my home — is their home too. So if you want to stay here… you'll have to share it. With the Kobolds."
The Lizardfolk chief's expression darkened. His snout curled with visible disdain.
"You expect uss to live with thossse disssgusting creaturesss?"
Hibana nodded once. "I've been doing it for a while now. And I've yet to regret it."
He tilted his head slightly.
"But tell me — what is it that you find so disgusting about them?"
The chief's jaw tightened. His thick tail swayed low behind him in a slow, deliberate rhythm.
"They're a nuisssance," he said, flat and cold. "Alwayss have been. Troublemakerss. Pestsss. That's not opinion — it's memory passssed down through claw and tongue."
He gestured toward the nearest huts with a flick of his claw.
"They sswarm. They dig. They sscatter like insectss at the firsst sssign of threat. We've known their kind for longer than memory — and never once have they brought anything but noisse and chaosss."
He turned his sharp gaze back to Hibana.
"And now you ssay we musst live bessside them?"
Hibana stood in place for a heartbeat, then called out:
"Dundru! Come over here!"
There was a pause.
The old yellow Kobold stepped forward, his leathery features wary, his posture low but proud. He eyed the Lizardfolk gathered around Hibana with a mixture of caution and sharp awareness.
Hibana lowered himself to his haunches, tail flicking behind him, and looked toward the Lizardfolk chief. Then, with quiet purpose, he bowed his head.
"I am Hibana, as you know. This," he said, lifting his gaze to the old Kobold beside him, "is Dundru — chief of this clan."
Then Hibana raised his head fully, his voice steady.
"What is your name, chief of the Lizardfolk?"
The Lizardfolk leader folded his arms across his chest.
"Thiss dragon… doessn't kill. He bowss his head. Dragonss do not do that."
He snorted once, amused and confused in equal measure.
"It iss because of thiss oddity that I am even willing to entertain thiss nonssensse."
A beat passed. Then, with pride:
"My name isss Ussaneth."
Hibana nodded again, the name settling into him like a stone in still water.
"Ussaneth. Dundru is not the leader of this camp — not anymore. He is here because I wish him here. And you… are here for the same reason."
He turned to Dundru, who tilted his head.
"Ussaneth has said your kind are troublemakers and pests," Hibana said softly. "What do you say about the Lizardfolk?"
Dundru stepped forward with a sharp sniff, folding his arms as he looked up at Ussaneth — unafraid, but definitely unimpressed.
"Oh, they're calling us pests now, are they?" he muttered, tail flicking.
He turned to Hibana, brow furrowed.
"Look, I don't know what kind of dragon games you're playing, but you want them to live here? With us? These grumpy, scale-polishing, mud-hugging doom-growlers?"
He gestured toward the Lizardfolk.
"They glare if we sneeze too loud. They hiss when we dig in the wrong spot. And stars forbid we wander somewhere they've claimed — suddenly we're thieves. Invaders."
Dundru shook his head, eyes narrowing.
"I don't know why they hate us. I don't even remember when it started. But I know it's always been that way. And I know we didn't ask for them to come marching into our home."
He crossed his arms.
"So… why are they here, Hibana?"
Hibana shook his head slowly, his gaze sweeping across both camps.
"This world really doesn't play nice with anyone, does it?"
He looked back at Dundru, his voice calm but unyielding.
"The reason they are here, Dundru, is because I invited them. To live here. With you."
Dundru recoiled, eyes wide. "You couldn't possibly—"
"I could," Hibana snapped, cutting him off. His voice rose, sharp enough to cut through the tension.
"Tell me, both of you—" he turned his head to Ussaneth, then back to Dundru, "—what is my kind known for?"
Hibana looked to Ussaneth first.
The Lizardfolk chief glanced at his warriors, then back at the dragon.
"You…" he began, voice low and hard. "You're the sscourge of the sskies. The killer of eggss. A weapon of pure desstruction and chaoss!"
His nostrils flared.
"You usse uss like pawnss in your ssick and twissted gamess. You kill for the fun of it. You are worse than the humanss and their ssoldierss!"
Hibana smiled, though there was no joy in it.
"Yes. That sounds like what I've heard before."
Then he turned to Dundru.
"And you?"
Dundru hesitated, looking up at him.
"Well... I've been around you for a while now, and I—"
Hibana cut him off gently, but firmly.
"No, Dundru. I want to hear exactly what you believe dragons to be."
There was silence for a moment.
Then Dundru swallowed and spoke, voice shaking with memory.
"Evil. Pure evil. Monstrous beasts who think only of themselves. They kill us just to watch us burn. Laugh at us as they smash our huts and slaughter our young."
His eyes dropped.
"And I've seen it. With my own eyes."
Hibana nodded slowly.
"I see."
He stood tall now, his eyes passing between them — between every set of wary eyes watching from the huts and the treeline.
"So you both agree."
He raised a claw, pointing to himself.
"This. Me. I am the monster. The evil. The destroyer. The thing that burned your homes and shattered your families."
His voice was quiet now — not soft, but still.
"I am what you fear. What you hate. What every one of your stories warned you about."
He let that hang.
Then:
"And yet, here I stand — not burning your homes. Not smashing your eggs. Not laughing at your pain. Instead, I offer you food. Shelter. Peace."
He took a slow breath.
"You don't have to like each other. You don't even have to like me."
He looked between Dundru and Ussaneth.
"But the truth is," Hibana said, his voice steady, "you already share something. You've both lost too much. You've both had everything taken by monsters that look like me."
His gaze swept across the clearing, catching every eye — Lizardfolk and Kobold alike.
"And somehow… you're still here. Still breathing. Still fighting."
Behind him, the Kobolds had quietly gathered. They didn't speak, but their presence was clear — a wall of small, defiant hearts standing with him.
Hibana turned, looking back toward both chiefs.
"And that means you're both stronger than you think."
He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice softened.
"And I want you here. All of you. Because I see something in you — more than I can explain. I see the beginning of something real. Something powerful."
He stepped forward.
"So I'm asking you—no… I'm begging you: stay. Stay here with me, in the Fae Wilds. Help me build something that has never existed before."
His voice grew stronger with each word, the fire behind it not rage… but conviction.
"Let's make a stand against the darkness of this world. Let's find the truth about what unites us. Not as Lizardfolk. Not as Kobolds. Not even as monsters."
He spread his claws.
"But as people."
Then he let his arms fall to his sides.
"But I will say this: if you choose to leave… I will not stop you. Any of you."
He looked to Dundru. Then Ussaneth.
"This is your choice."
hibana took a breath.
"Ussaneth. Dundru. Consider my offer carefully. What I'm asking for is the hardest path you can walk."
He met their eyes, unflinching.
"But I believe… it's the only path that will set us free."
Hibana stood still as the silence broke.
Low grumbles rippled through the crowd of Lizardfolk — murmured words, hard stares, the dull thump of feet turning away. One by one, then in clusters, they began to leave. Some without a word. Others with final glances full of doubt or disdain. Their heavy footsteps faded into the wilds beyond the trees.
But Ussaneth remained.
And so did Zerrusha.
The massive Lizardman approached Hibana, his shadow falling across the clearing. His scales, once gleaming with defiance, now dulled under the weight of emotion. He dropped to one knee before the dragon — not as a servant, but as a man laid bare.
There were tears in his eyes.
"You… ssspared me," he whispered. "You… sssaved me. My life… belongsss to you."
Hibana looked at him gently, pain and pride mingling in his expression.
"No, Zerrusha," he said. "You belong to nobody."
He placed a clawed hand on the warrior's shoulder.
"You are free. And if you wish to leave, I won't stop you."
Zerrusha said nothing — just bowed his head lower.
Ussaneth turned, watching the long line of his kin disappearing into the trees. A slow breath escaped his throat, and something shifted in his eyes — not grief, not defeat… but resolution.
He stepped forward, his voice firm.
"No, Zerrusha," he said, loud enough for all to hear. "We remain here. With Hibana."
There was a pause.
Then one of the Lizardfolk behind him let out a cry.
"Hibana!"
Another joined in.
"Hibana!"
Then another.
Soon the air echoed with it — rough voices raised not in defiance, but in unity.
"Hibana! Hibana! Hibana!"
The Kobolds, not to be outdone, picked up the chant. Their smaller voices rang out with high-pitched energy, bouncing between the trees like music.
"Hibana! Hibana!"
The chant filled the camp like a rising tide.
Solryn stepped up beside Hibana, eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the scene unfold. His book was tucked under one arm now, forgotten.
"What's going on here?" he asked dryly.
Hibana turned to him, the noise still ringing behind him.
"Hope," he said simply.
Solryn glanced at the gathered crowd — at the Lizardfolk who stood proud, at the Kobolds who beamed with something more than joy.
He sighed, brushing a strand of hair from his face.
"…We'll see about that."