The Spire.

[Frisk E. Coyote]

Nera had to use both her hands when wielding Searing Heart now, and it was difficult just to lift the thing. She looked at the fallen Nero, at the humanized dragons, at the stone statue that was Katt, and then her gaze fell on Ryoji, one part loathing, two parts curiosity. "The scum you refer to humans as is the scum we dragons were tasked with guiding and raising since the dawn of the very first wyrm. Their lives are short and their bodies are weak, but they possess an indomitable spirit, a desperation to live their short lives to the fullest-" She raised her rifle once more, "Why, Ryoji? Why do you hate them so?"

"Nero?" Atalacia coughed, waving a cloud of debris away. Her clothes were in tatters and her fur was dusty, but she was relatively unchanged by the void. She staggered over to the lethargic wolf, knelt down beside and shook him. "Hey- Boner- wake up-" She smiled at him worriedly. "Come on, don't scare me, you're still alive! Right? You're cuter like this- just like a dog! You hate being called a dog, or cute, don't you?" She shook him harder, crying now. "Neroooo... wake uuuup!" She wailed.