Firebrand breathed in a deep, sweet breath of victory. His hands stung, his lungs ached, his muscles still twitched from the exertion, and the last vestiges of the cold still lingered in his core. He was shaking just from the exertion of standing up. His mind was filled with dark secrets that would probably invade his sleep for weeks.

He was alive. He knew because you never felt quite as alive as just after a really good fight.

He dropped to one knee right there at the edge of the roof, clapping his hands together with a wince of pain and bowing his head in respect. "You were a worthy opponent." He choked out. "In place of your name I will commit all that you told me to memory. Your people will never be forgotten for as long as I live."

"Commander!" He heard the beating of wings, then the pounding of feet against the rubble, then felt hot hands on his arm that pulled urgently. The little guy must have thought he'd fallen down from exhaustion, which wasn't entirely untrue. Shoving the vile snake off the roof hadn't been any conscious plan on his part, and had taken a lot more out of him than he entirely realized. Truth be told he'd gone a little mad from the whispers and the chill and the oxygen deprivation. He'd even pushed the swords off too. Which was a pity, those things were fine booty. With any luck they hadn't broken, or been snatched up by someone else. He'd like to see Arthur try to throw a dragon at him when he had those.

"COMMANDER!" An panicky voice tore him away from his thoughts. Firebrand finally opened his eyes, looked up, and found himself face to face with the largest face he'd ever seen. He listened as the enemy leader made his ultimatum. Part of him, the part that was still hot with battle, wanted to tell Viral to come on if he thought he was hard enough. Another part, one that old, weary, and exhausted, thought that dying bravely was a pretty good deal. There was one last part, however. One with a long memory, that knew what it felt like when the world tilted. Besides, he'd already assumed the position.

"You," he said to the giant face hovering over him like some angry god, "You are the very least of this worlds problems." With that he pulled his arm out of the demons grasp and put a clawed hand on his shoulders, hastily shoving him to his knees. "The demon Firebrand, at your service. My lord."
[@thewizardguy][@supertinyking]