Pest's world imploded. And it would have kept imploding if not for the crack of thunder in the all-blue sky, and the lightning striking the distance. It landed in the direction of his home, but didn't stay there. The next strike of thunder shot towards the village.

"Dragon," Lowgli whispered.

Sure enough, something blocked out the sun and the black clouds rolled in overhead. A dragon flew past.

One ogre rushed to Lowgli and another.

"Dragons. What do we do?"

Lowgli opened his mouth to answer but it was Fanli's father who stood with his hands raised.

"It's nothing. And it's nothing to do with us. It's looking for the fairy boy. Once it finds it, it'll stop."

The same ogre to inquire with Lowgli turned to ask, "Should we help them look?"

Pest's heart stopped.

Fanli's father grunted. "Human problems not ogre problems. Let them burn."

A wave of elation washed over Pest, but dread still lingered once the initial relief wore off. Would the ogres really do nothing to help others? They sounded like fairies.

"We should help," Fanli's mother said as they eyed one another. "Showing the humans we're on their side might lessen their panic. They rush and fight blind. We can carry water if there's a fire or offer treasure to the dragon."

Fanli's father's face creased into a scowl. He wasn't the only one displeased.

"They love humans that much," someone grumbled.

But that wasn't it. There was wisdom in Fanli's mother's words. The hostility she faced meant, Pest hated to admit, there was wisdom in Fanli's father's words, too. And he didn't appreciate the challenge.

"We're here for Fanli." Fanli's father, though standing on the other side of the fire, told Lowgli, "We cannot abide this. You taking Nali as a second wife without consulting my daughter."

Lowgli's breath hitched.

He wasn't the only one; Pest was alarmed.

"I accept your challenge," Lowgli said. He was careful to stare across at the ogress in question. Nali wouldn't look at him.

Fanli's father puffed out his chest, satisfied.

It slowly dawned on Pest that this get-together was no mere party.

Pest leaned in and asked, "Is this your wedding?"

Lowgli rotated his head to face him. "My feast, yes."

A commotion started when Lowgli's ogress stood, readying to leave. Panicked, Lowgli shouted out, "Nali's no second wife."

He said the words to Fanli's father but eyed the slighted ogress. Upon seeing her pause in her retreat, Lowgli let out a sigh of relief.

Fanli's father's frown was total. "What does that mean? You chose Fanli first. She is first wife. Nali's second."

A bigger ogre stepped out of the crowd, his gut dragging. "My daughter's not second. She's first."

Without another word, Fanli's father marched away despite his wife hurrying beside him and begging him not to.

Lowgli, much like everyone there, watched them. "Did you make a wish on ogre treasure?"

Pest barely realized that he was the one addressed. "What?"

"You're a fairy," he said with a whisper, "who's now an ogre. A selfish fairy who has the dragons' wrath looming over us." Lowgli turned to face him finally. "A fairy who was buying a dress for an ogre and that's why I bought mine as well. Did you wish on ogre treasure?"

Eyes wide, Pest struggled to keep his composure.

"I followed you," Lowgli admitted. "I hunted you. But not to kill you, instead to see why Fanli didn't want me. And I saw you in the forest, and with the bee."

His head turned grey and transformed entirely until a troll's took its place.

"I even helped you."

Pest sucked in a deep breath.

When Lowgli shook his head, the troll features faded and he faced the fire yet again.

"And I saw you together in de open. And then at de tavern. But then I realized, she cares for you and there was no sense in pursuing her." His eyes settled on Nali who sat once more and allowed the women to fuss over her appearance. "But I liked the dresses and when you bought one, I tried to buy one. I know it's dangerous to do dis as it can tarnish, but you were doing it for an ogre, so would I." He let out a low sigh. "And she was happy at first...."

"Until it dulled." Pest closed his eyes. "I'm sorry." For a long minute, Lowgli said nothing. Pest thought to beg for his life; he was on a mission, an important one. One that would set Fanli free.

"I will not tell them who you are," Lowgli said, "if you help me get married." He held his fist out. The seed. "She gave this to you?"

Pest scoffed. With how well-informed Lowgli was, he half expected the ogre to admit to knowing that much as well.

"Then I hope she loves you. Because otherwise it won't work, and I'd have lost my chance."

A deafening shriek filled the skies and Pest looked out at the village as the dragon circled yet again. It flew dangerously low. The commotion among the ogres concerned him less. Partly, he wanted to turn himself in. They'd no doubt render him limb from limb. But that wouldn't be to Fanli's total benefit. No. He had to make it up that mountain.

The quiet grumbles came with a shout, meshing greatly against the lightning of the sky which darkened.

Pest's focus drew the attention of other ogres.

One said, "Reckon the tavern'll burn. Shame."

"Everything'll burn."

Their fear was well-founded as ogres were weak to fire—all the oils from their skin ignited fast.

Another cry came from the dragon, fire bellowing from its mouth as it flew over the town. Pest told himself it was for show—a way to brandish power, but the next pass was so low that he took a step toward leaving.

Someone held his shoulder. "No. You can't go alone."

"It's luck!" someone shouted. "Lowgli's pact comes in the face of power. It's luck!"

Pest was unfamiliar with such enthusiasm from anyone. When he turned to see what it all was, his spirits sank.

Lowgli's father.

There was no need to ask; Pest knew.

Nali's father didn't look comfortable. "Where's the hunt? Where's the feast? What disrespect is this? Two days of celebrating and this is all we have to show for it?"

The groom's father looked equally uncomfortable if not surprised.

Lowgli forced a smile. His eyes drifted to his fist then to Nali who stood before him, head bowed.

His grip on the seed tightened but he held out his hand.

A glint was all that came at first, then a glow so bright it made Lowgli's green hand amber.

It drew everyone's focus, even Nali whose lips parted when Lowgli opened his fist and revealed the golden pebble.

Even Pest was impressed.

Lowgli's lack of motion spoke of his own surprise. In an instant, he hurried to smash the golden nugget together, rub it between his palms, then pull it out. It formed into a thin wire and he rushed to Nali.

Her eyes shimmered as she held her head up, offering to allow him to pierce her nose like a bull.

"Wait." Her father stepped in. He shared a glance with a female, perhaps Nali's mother. After a long stare, she nodded and the ogre relaxed and took a step back.

"I will give you a prize hunt," Lowgli promised. "And you will be pleased."

He approached Nali and she let out a muffled sound when he inserted the ring without trouble. The blood didn't last long and when Lowgli stepped back, her new treasure shined bright despite the darkening sky.

Pest looked up, impressed yet fearful as the clouds ate all semblance of the day. Dragons controlled the skies, in all facets. Storms, rains, lightning, they could summon them all.

Nali's father turned to Lowgli's father and they gripped one another's forearms, shaking hands.

Something shot into the air and landed directly between them.

Fanli's father, huffing and puffing from the exertion, came to a stop.

On the ground rested a wolf's pelt. To Pest, it meant nothing, but the silence to ensue spoke of some sort of crime.

"A hunt," Fanli's father boasted. "A proper hunt. This is what Lowgli offered to marry my daughter—his first wife. And I dare anyone to challenge it with something bigger."

Lowgli, standing beside his new bride, stared down at the carcass, fear in his eyes.

The ogress beside him sighed. This was all a disaster. Lowgli's father could pretend it was some great occasion, that the dragon's presence was luck but slowly people were coming to realize it was all a failure—even this.

Fanli's father, despite the dirty looks he received, weathered them on his daughter's behalf.

"And until there's a bigger offering, this one stands. And look," he said, thrusting a hand to the heavens, "a dragon's presence silences all creatures. There is no better hunt possible in this. So Fanli's position is final." His breathing calmed when he caught sight of Nali, the ring in her nose, to be exact. He feared for it enough to tell Lowgli, "You'll make another ring to give to Nali. That one belongs to Fanli and I'll rip it out if I have to."

Nali's father lunged at him. Several ogres had to separate them.

"Disrespect," Fanli's father shouted, two ogres dragging him back. "I'll take your head!"

The two ogres charged each other again and Lowgli's father stepped before them. "Hold! Why this fighting? It's between the females. Let them fight and the winner takes the lead. And if she won't submit, kill her. That's fair."

Pest must have made a noise; everyone looked at him.

"What?" Lowgli's father asked. "Who is yours?"

They waited, but Pest waited, too. He'd spoken but he couldn't muster up the courage to open his mouth and make himself known again.

Lowgli's lips parted. After he stared Pest down for a long minute, he stepped forward. "I'll take the challenge," he said.

"What?" Pest's mind raced as Lowgli approached him.

Nali's father was less than pleased but considered it. "Of course Nali would have another admirer. But I do not know this ogre. Who are you?"

When Lowgli was close enough, he whispered, and Pest's eyes widened.

Though reluctant, Pest kept his eyes on Lowgli and this terrible plan as he told the ogres, "Lowgli has two wives, and I have none. I challenge to choose one."

After much murmurs and hushed shouting, Nali's father asked Lowgli, "Who is yours if you win?"

Before Lowgli could open his mouth, Fanli's father thrust himself from his captors. "No. There is no dispute." He pointed at the wolf pelt. "I have the offering and the first request. I do not know this ogre and you won't give my daughter to an ogre with no tusks. I don't care how big he is." To his wife, he called, "Give me the clubs. And find Fanli."

Fanli's mother looked from Pest to her husband with trepidation. "But the size of him...." She wanted to say more but the glint in her husband's eyes had her quieting. In seconds, two clubs rested in Fanli's father's hands, and his wife disappeared into the crowd.

Now on his own, Fanli's father hefted both clubs and told Pest and Lowgli, "There is no challenge or fight. Only agreement. You took her from her home, kept her for days, now move to another ogress? I'll bash this tusk-less one's head in, and then yours until you make good."

Pest and Lowgli traded a glance.

Though turned to face Fanli's father, Lowgli told Pest, "We cannot regift. If I lose, Fanli's first wife. But if I win, she's still with me as second."

Somehow, Pest already figured that out. So, what Lowgli said next should have come as no surprise.

"So you must challenge him. And you must win...without killing him."

Pest turned his head to face him. "What. Look at him; he's an ogre."

"So are you, moron," Lowgli muttered.

"This...." Nali's father seethed. "Is nonsense." He demanded, "Where's the respect! No offering and a dispute the same day you pierced her!"

Lowgli let out a haggard breath and promised, "I will show respect. I'll give a hunt, a good hunt. I'll—I'll give you a dragon."