The forest where the cockatrice hid in was guarded by a rotating posting of guards that were already informed by Kouri that 'a party of three and a dragon’ would arrive. He gave them the names and the pictures of each, including the general description of the dragon that came with them, through spatial means. The letter that described them reached one of the guards via the ever-handy Clydethian mail service earlier that day, which appeared out of nowhere. The guards, being Clydethians, were unfazed by it. They knew who sent the letter from the Adventurer's Guild seal.

  Thus, when the party arrived, the guards were already informed. One glance was enough to identify them.

  “So, it’s Bartlett Evans, Thomas Alonquin, and Rory Tellian, I presume?” asked the guard. “Along with, uh…Princess?”

  “That’s her,” said Bartlett, glancing at Henrietta. “We’re coming through.”

  "I hope you know what you're doing," said the guard.

  "Yes, we do."

  As the guards opened the barrier, Bartlett turned to Thomas and said, “Stay out of danger and keep your spells ready. Stick to the plan.”

  Thomas nodded, understanding his role. The last thing a party needed was having their mage taken out first, as Rory had taught him. He also should learn to trust his party members if he wanted to ensure that the whole mission was a success.

  The quartet soon found an opening to the cave where Bartlett promptly kneeled and checked the print on the ground. He silently examined the area and found several clues as to what he was dealing with.

  “Corroded rocks and talon marks,” he said, both to himself and to those who listened. He sniffed the air, his face visibly scrunched upon the smell entering his nose.

  “Ugh. That's strong," commented Bartlett.

  “What’s that smell?” asked Thomas, sniffing the air. “Vinegar?”

  “Strong acid,” corrected Bartlett. “Don’t breathe it in if you want to keep your lungs healthy."

  Thomas did not question that fact. He immediately covered his nose.

  "This is its nest, alright. Rory?"

  Rory reached into his bag and rummaged through it. He produced a set of differently-shaped bombs.

  “Everything’s set,” said Rory. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “Wait,” stopped Bartlett. “There is something that I need to ask you about."

  "What?" said Rory.

  "I know you fight with punches and kicks," inquired Bartlett. "But how are you going to protect your limbs? That smell alone should tell you that unarmed combat is disadvantageous."

  Rory glanced at his fists, showing Bartlett the gauntlet he was wearing.

  "I know what I'm doing," remarked Rory.

  "Those gauntlets won't protect you for long."

  "And I am not planning to lose my fists any time soon. Don't argue and get this over with, Evans. We'll lose the chicken if we spend time arguing. I know what I'm doing, so just leave it at that."

  While Bartlett was reluctant to agree, he had no choice but to stick to the plan, hoping that Rory did know what he was doing. He signaled the others to prepare themselves before taking position. Thomas, as planned, stayed close to Henrietta with spellbook ready and open to the page containing the barrier spell. He casted a spell on Rory, protecting him further with magick armor.

  With the flash grenade in hand, Rory slowly walked into the cave. The sharp smell of vinegar filled Rory’s nostrils, causing him to reel and covered his nose. It felt like he entered a vinegar production plant, but much, much worse.

  “Damn,” commented Rory. “That chicken packs some nasty punch.”

  Soon, he heard a noise that sounded like a chicken clucking but mixed with something akin to a growl or a hiss. The cockatrice was close. He needed to find the monster and threw the flash grenade right in front of its eyes, or at least close enough to cause it to panic. It was risky, knowing that there was a chance that the cockatrice already had his scent and was prepared to anticipate him.

  He hated himself for being right at that moment.

  Before Rory could react, the cockatrice was already onto him. The cave’s darkness and the acidic smell messed with Rory’s perception. The chicken-lizard chimera let out a shriek as Rory yelped in surprise, though he recomposed himself immediately and turned towards where the sound came from. He immediately lighted the fuse on the flash grenade and threw it towards the voice’s source. He promptly looked away.

  The bomb let out a disorienting flash of light. As expected, the cockatrice panicked, letting out a rather disturbing mix of chicken noises and a roar. The discordant nature of it made Rory and, by extension, the others waiting outside, to be momentarily disturbed by the shrill roar.

  It ran past Rory, missing him by inches. He managed to sense the cockatrice’s talons and dodged it just before it could reach him. Thomas's armor was strong, but it would inevitably fail with such a force. Thomas was not an experienced enough mage to cast something strong enough to repel a cockatrice's talons.

  “Hey, pinky!” exclaimed Rory. “I know you can understand me! The chicken is loose!”

  Henrietta who, as planned, stood near the nest’s opening, did not appreciate Rory calling her ‘pinky’, being self-conscious of it. Nevertheless, she understood the situation when she heard the noise of the cockatrice, moments before its monstrous chicken-like head appeared from within the shadows and running right at her. She immediately opened her foreleg claws and grabbed the rushing cockatrice. Her claws dug deep into the cockatrice, causing it to hiss in pain.

  It did not stop. Immediately, the cockatrice opened its wings, which were a pair of leathery membranes much like Henrietta’s, only it was covered with sparse feathers. It tried to fly away by vigorously beating its wings, but Henrietta kept her grip strong. In the heat of the moment, she even tried to pin the cockatrice down by biting into its nape like a lion subduing its prey.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  She soon realized her mistake. As soon as her fangs dug deep into the cockatrice’s nape, she immediately pulled out and roared in pain as the inside of her maws burned by the cockatrice's acidic blood. It felt like she downed a boiling water. Her claws dug through the cockatrice's weak scales, which soaked her claws with acidic blood. It was potent enough to penetrate her scales, causing immense pain. The pain caused her to lose her grip onto the cockatrice, where it immediately turned its attention towards the rest of the group.

  Thomas reacted quickly. He immediately teared out a page from his spellbook, immediately casting a barrier right in front of him just as the cockatrice spat out some of its acidic venoms. The barrier stop the venoms before it could reach Thomas. Bartlett, his sword and shield ready, rushed towards the cockatrice and proceeded to slash it. Bartlett became aware with his sword losing its durability rapidly upon contact with the acidic blood. He silently cursed himself for not buying a new sword specifically enchanted to counter acids. But there was no point regretting what already happened.

  Bartlett rushed towards the other side. The cockatrice turned its attention to him after recovering from his attack. It attacked him with a peck, forcing Bartlett to raise his round shield and protect himself. If it wasn't for Thomas's earlier enchantment, the shield would break.

  Henrietta recovered from her pain and immediately resumed her grapple with the cockatrice. It fought back, its talons almost plucking out Henrietta's eye as it clawed the air right in front of the pink-scaled dragon. She could not look away, knowing that when she did, she would lose concentration.

  Henrietta kept her grip but couldn’t hold out for much longer with the searing pain in her maws and her claws. Rory came to her rescue by dashing out of the cave, fists glowing bright orange. To Bartlett's astonishment, he punched the cockatrice square in its side, causing it to caw in pain. The force of the attack threw the cockatrice off its footing and towards a nearby tree. This gave Henrietta the change to wrestle it to the ground.

  "H-how did you...?" asked an astonished Bartlett.

  "I told you I know what I'm doing," replied Rory with a smirk. It was soon wiped off his face when he became alarmed by Thomas.

  "Thomas, reposition!" cried Rory. "What are you doing, man?!"

  Thomas was confused by Rory’s command until he noticed how uncomfortably close he was to the cockatrice, who could easily recover and attack him. He hastily increased his distance.

  Rory prepared another strike, but the cockatrice recovered first and started attacking Rory with its beak. Bartlett acted quickly. He bashed the cockatrice's head with his shield, with Rory initiating a follow-up attack with a roundhouse kick. Both attacks stunned the cockatrice, once again being grappled by Henrietta.

  Bartlett turned to Henrietta, who was grunting as she tried to dull the pain from the corrosive blood. The inside of her maws burned so badly. Her body was bruised from the cockatrice’s thrashing. Yet, instead of being discouraged, she was angry. The cockatrice was going to pay for hurting her so badly.

  She would taunt the cockatrice if it wasn’t for Bartlett, sensing that she was going to blow her cover, to act quickly. He immediately remembered the bombs Rory brought and said, “Rory, use your flash. Come on, we haven’t got much time!”

  Rory immediately rummaged through his bag, but the cockatrice recovered first. It let out peculiar noises. Moments later, it spit out a corrosive ball of venom, one that Bartlett managed to intercept before it hit Rory. His shield started to corrode due to Thomas's enchantment already spent, and parts of the venom reached his arms, threatening to corrode through his leather bracers until he quickly removed it. Defenseless, he couldn’t do anything when the cockatrice shot more venom balls.

  The venom hit both Rory and Bartlett, but the effect were minimized by a transparent barrier forming around them like a dome. Thomas came in with a clutch, and both Rory and Bartlett appreciated it.

  From a safe distance, Thomas used up two stocked barrier spell to strengthen one by layering it. He noticed how one layer was not enough to stop the venom from corroding the barrier. The cockatrice realized its attacks were failing, so it let out a frustrated caw-shriek and started pecking at the barrier. The force of the attack surprised Thomas, but he kept his concentration, knowing that if he supplied the barrier with his own magick, it would last long enough for Bartlett and Rory to escape and retaliate.

  "You go left, I go right!" commanded Bartlett. "I'll lob its head off!"

  But before they could start acting on the command, Henrietta was already rushing towards the cockatrice and threw her whole weight onto the monster. Considering her lithe physique that was built more for agility than strength, her pouncing the similarly built cockatrice took everything she had. She kept the chimera pinned down, this time not minding the injuries inflicted by its desperate attempt to break free.

  The cockatrice slashed her several times, but Henrietta did not falter. Her claws crept up, towards the cockatrice's throat. She began throttling the cockatrice, slamming its head several times, stunning it while slowly killing it as its skull was bashed onto the rocky ground.

  The others were stunned by the violence, especially Thomas. Thomas was expecting the dragon to burn the cockatrice's head with its flame. Instead, she kept bashing its head to a nearby rock. It wasn't enough to kill the cockatrice, which kept clawing at Henrietta's soft scales.

  "Thomas, protect her head!" exclaimed Bartlett. "That cockatrice's going to spit out its venom!"

  He snapped back to reality and immediately snap-casted a barrier that prevented the cockatrice's venom from harming the dragon. Rory egged the dragon on.

  "Kill it now, dragon! Twist its neck!"

  Henrietta let out a wrathful roar as she did what Rory commanded her to do. Bracing herself, Henrietta bit the now stunned cockatrice and proceeded to twist her head.

  Crack.

  The horrible sound was so audible it caused everyone to wince in pain as the cockatrice stopped struggling and went limp. Henrietta also heard the loud snap, followed by a feeling of softness around her maws, which snapped her out of her rage. She saw the cockatrice’s eyes dilated and its beak opened. She immediately removed her maws and checked the cockatrice.

  The cockatrice was dead, maimed by the dragon bashing the chimera's skull and her neck-snapping bite. It looked as if it was mauled by a beast.

  Though in this case, the beast was Henrietta herself.

  She would feel glad to have finally killed the monster until she saw Thomas’s expression. It was the face of a man who couldn’t believe what he saw. The horrified expression, and him trying his best not to throw up, caused Henrietta to realize that she went too far. Nobody expected a dragon to bash a cockatrice's head so violently like she did.

  “Thomas…,” she whispered out of reflex. She realized her mistake, as did Bartlett.

  He immediately took control of the situation by loudly saying, "Good job, Princess! You slayed the cockatrice!"

  “Remind me not to piss off your dragon,” said Rory. “I wouldn't want to suffer that chicken's fate.”

  "She can do worse than that."

  This sent chills down both Rory's and Thomas's spines. Thomas was ready to throw up after witnessing the intense, bestial fight between dragon and cockatrice. Rory, noticing this, approached his friend.

  “It's already over, Tom. She's not going to bash your skull in,” said Rory, before he turn his gaze to the dragon, staring at her cautiously. “Hopefully.”

  “But I...that was...."

  “I know. While I doubt that's how dragons dispatch their prey, I'm sorry you have to see such a thing. Should've just burn that poor creature and be done with it, but I suppose the dragon's enjoying it."

  Rory was loud enough for Henrietta to hear his remark on what she just did. It disgusted her even more. She looked away when Rory's gaze caught her own gaze.

  Thomas gulped, then recomposed himself.

  “I’ll be fine,” said Thomas. “Let’s finish what we need to do.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I am sure.” Thomas forced a smile. “Carry on.”

  Rory looked at him worryingly but decided that he needed to learn the reality of his obsession.

  “Then would you care to give Bartlett’s sword some protection against the corrosion?”

  Thomas did not hesitate to do so. As the two men proceeded to cut the cockatrice’s head, Thomas stared at the dragon, who unknowingly was his sister. Henrietta noticed him staring and, with a sad expression, looked away, avoiding his eyes. She felt shame upon realizing how far she had fallen. Perhaps her two years in the wild had slowly made her forgotten what it was to be human.

  Perhaps she was turning into a beast.