Cetus was not a place he has ever visited. For a dragon that has a whole fire magic thing going on, Cetus simply didn't offer any warmth nor did it match his vibe. But Callum wasn't exactly here for that. After the whole getting stuck in a pit thing, he had lost strength. It wasn't the same thing as not exercising for a while and then losing muscle mass. It was more like a tiredness that sunk into every part of his being and prevented him from going back to the energetic self he was. Sure, it was mainly a magical and physical drain, but he found himself not as powerful as he would've liked. He was going to be something! And now this annoying thing was holding him back. But there was a solution- there had to be.

And that's why he was in Cetus. The humid air condensed into drops on his scales, slightly muting the fiery shades. Even his gemstone didn't shine as brightly as it usually did. Perhaps because he did not feel the inclination to cast his usual spell and feel cool about it. There was no one here to impress as his eyes could see. Maybe.

Callum walked among the trees, in a manner almost like he was looking for something.

@Erasmus

While vaguely teenager in proportion and height, a growing humanoid that would one day be tall, Erasmus had not changed overly much from their hatching personality-wise. They remained a feral being. Speech was not important to them.

Sounds could matter, but words? Words were rarely processed, even if Erasmus knew they could understand if they tried. They simply didn't understand why they should try. They were perfect as they currently were, after all, they had known as they knew other things instinctively.

What mattered to Erasmus greatly, though, was their territory in Cetus. While this large being was not yet in it, he was at the boundaries of it. And this displeased Erasmus.

They emerged from the mist, green viper eyes focused on the large being. Their claws were outstretched, and they were hissing loudly, but...

Well. They were a child still. They were not intimidating in the least. Like usual, they sounded like an angry kitten. More adorable than frightening.

@Callum

He hadn't wandered very far before hearing the sound of some hissing. Snake? But as he turned, bright blue eyes narrowing as he tried to spot the source of the noise, he spotted Erasmus, some sort of humanoid. Looked young as well. Callum had no idea why Erasmus was hissing- an attempt to show off? Hey, just like him! He should show the kid what he could do as well! And the spell failed. Again. This didn't come as a surprise- a large majority of his spells had a very high chance of failure. Even the easy ones for some reason. Surely it wasn't because he didn't practice enough, right?

But he wasn't here on some random hunting spree like he would usually be doing. The dragon, for a moment, just stared at Erasmus. And then a sort of realization came over him. They were too young to do too much damage- right? Perhaps this was what he needed. And so Callum stepped forward. Into the humanoid's territory. A challenge. "Heyyyyyy there."

@Erasmus

While Erasmus did not understand the words, they understood the intent. They were being challenged, in their own territory. Their warning hiss turned into a rumbling growl. The vampire did not hesitate. Not even knowing this being was so much larger than them.

And so, while they were unused to charging at being quite this large, that did not stop Erasmus from leaping and just barely managing to scratch the intruder. A scratch that allowed their venom to get into the blood.

Their venom was an insidious thing. Potent too, though less than it could be on such a large being as this. While one would feel a flicker of pain at the initial scratch or bite, it was quickly followed by a sensation of euphoria.

It truly could be addictive.

Not that Erasmus knew much about this effect, more used to tearing lesser prey apart for blood than anything more careful and drawn out.

@Callum

Callum had not expected the small thing to be so aggressive. He thought there would be more buildup. More... of a warning? But in an instant, the gembound had leapt forward and scratched him. A flicker of pain then- happiness? Why was he feeling happy? He was being attacked right now! Callum was confused, more than he had ever been. It was like his own emotions were playing tricks on him. He did not consider that perhaps the feeling of euphoria could have been caused by venom.

For what he planned to gain from this, there was no point playing offense. Yet, he knew to minimize the damage to ensure chrysalis. But his withered state had exhausted him. The spell refused to cast, and a jolt of panic cut through his otherwise positive emotions. A realization that this had a chance of going wrong. Very wrong. But also a chance that it could go right, make him healthy again. It was worth the risk. Callum made no forward movement to attack, but didn't back down either. "Ha, come at me again." his words were a dare, yet also had some sort of encouraging tone to it.

@Erasmus

The dare in the tone infuriated Erasmus. The rumbling growl, a constant sound, grew louder still. Even a strike had not frightened away this intruder.

But Erasmus would find some solution to be rid of this challenger. They eyed the large being's neck, considering. Perhaps if they dug their claws in on the scratch they could drag themself up?

And that was exactly what they did, sharply digging claws into the being and hauling themself up onto the being's sizable form.

More euphoric venom entered the being's bloodstream, a slightly more significant amount than previously considering the more successful scratch. Still, the being was very large. What the extent of the insidious venom was was yet to be seen.

@Callum

Callum did not consider small gembounds could be tricky little things. They could do things like climb on top of him. He felt a pressure from the sharp claws digging into him, a feeling like sharp pins stabbing at his scales. Although dragon scales were very tough, often forming a strong defense against physical attacks, there was nothing special about his blood that made him immune to venom. He felt the feeling of euphoria- a feeling that felt so wrong and simply out of place begin to overtake his thoughts even further. It clouded his mind in a way that made him nearly lose grip of logic. But he held on.

Another attempt at the spell found success, making his scales harder to cut through. However it was at this moment that he felt his limbs start to freeze up. Something was happening. Callum barely got another thought through before the blood sap curse hit- activating within his veins to cause him to lose control.

The dragon tipped over, falling onto the ground in a seizure-like state. If Erasmus wasn't careful, the gembound may get crushed under Callum's weight. He felt the pain coursing through him, and even the venom inflicted by the vampire wasn't enough to break through the agony. He was incapacitated. Vulnerable.

@Erasmus

While Erasmus had done damage, they were not quite arrogant enough to think that they had managed to topple this being from simply climbing atop him. There was something wrong. And Erasmus, if they weren't careful here, might get crushed.

An alarmed cry leaves the young vampire, as they try to jump off in time. Not only do they succeed, they manage to land in such a way that they avoid taking much damage from the sudden jump. They quickly regain their balance, and spin around to face the fallen foe.

He is still in their territory, and Erasmus feels like leaving this here would be a worse taunt to them than any noise the other being had made. They had fought for their territory, and this being had gone and collapsed without them doing anything to cause it really!

It wasn't fair. Erasmus wanted to take from this being as this being had taken away their victory. Their gaze as settled on the shiny on top of the being's head. That was something important, they knew. Just like their own shiny attached to them was important.

That was what they would take in its entirety, the feral child decided, not knowing what that truly meant.

Death happened to lessers. The vampire was a child still in so many ways.

@Callum

Callum was not paying much attention to the vampire's actions, still too focused on the pain he faced internally. It had been more than a couple cycles since he had first emerged from his chrysalis with the curse running through his blood, but he had never gotten used to the seizures that resulted from it. Every time seemed to be more agonizing than he could ever imagine. It was unfortunate that this happened at least once a day, and it was happening now.

Luckily for him (and perhaps unluckily for Erasmus) this particular bout would be over within a few minutes. One thing he did know was that the child had not been crushed under him. He would've felt it. The dragon continued to lay motionless on the ground except for the occasional twitching of a limb.

@Erasmus

Erasmus prowled closer slowly at first, eyeing the twitches with wariness. But when nothing else happened, they concluded this was not a trap. The vampire child climbed up onto the large being's neck, maneuvering to get to goal.

Steal the important shiny. And so when Erasmus reached their goal, they did not scratch. A scratch would not be enough to steal the shiny from atop this being's head. No, Erasmus reached out claws and fangs and attempted to rip it out.

@Callum