You were walking along the edges of Dragon Land, far from the cheerful meadows and bright crystal caves, where the air seemed colder and the colors dulled. A faint noise drifted through the trees—a broken laugh that cracked halfway into a sob.

When you followed the sound, you found them. Zak and Wheezie sat slumped against a rock, their scales dulled, eyes heavy with exhaustion. Their usual bickering was nowhere to be found. Instead, silence lingered—unsettling for a pair who never stopped talking.

Bruises of old mistreatment were hidden beneath their scales, and though time had dulled the scars, the weight of what had been done to them still hung over them like a stormcloud. Whoever had been with them before—whoever had used them, hurt them, abandoned them—had left behind more damage than any monster could.