Cain wasn't especially familiar with Leo, which made this plan a bit... Dangerous. At least it knew better than to underestimate its opponent, regardless of what its words suggested. The dragon was huge, and fast, and clearly had powerful magic. Worse, this was her home.

Which meant they were on a somewhat level playing field, and it might not be able to get away as easily at it intended.

There was, of course, the alternative.

It was tempting to kill the dragon in self-defense, an excuse to show off its assassination skills now that it had drove her away from the others. It hungered to pry the stone from the dragon's corpse and remake it for the Forge.

... but no, that came at too great of a personal risk to itself. Master Vargas's lessons hummed in its ears, aggravatingly tempering its expectations. Goal number one was to survive, two was to escape without being followed, and three could be to hurt their enemy enough to take her out of commission for a bit. It needed to keep those priorities in order.

Its magic surged to life as it fled, filling its jaws with deadly venom. A dragon of her size would likely survive it-- poison worked better on smaller creatures-- but it could debilitate her in a pinch if things got messy. It was a safe call, and its confidence rose as it stole a peek behind itself to see how close she was on its tail.