Cornal was exhausted as he watched the dragon take out the enemy fleet. He felt numb as the dragon's first flame put down a quarter mile circle of pure destruction. He had never seen Michael in action before and the results? He could only think it was far better to be where he was standing. It was over almost as fast as it started and all that could be seen was fog and smoke. Flames flickered inside to fog as what was left burnt. It looked… ghostly. Suddenly, Michael reappeared from the fog bank and made his way to land on his pad.

“Ho, Michael. Grim day it is.” He could hear the relief in his own voice. Looking up at the towering dragon, he had never felt safer in his life. Shaking his head tiredly, it combed back his hair with his fingers.

“Greetings Cornal. What happened here?”

“The first merchant came in almost completely aflame about half an hour past. The survivors jumped ship in the harbor and swam to shore. Two others followed. Tween the three, there were less than a handful of survivors. They told the tale of coming upon that fleet and being chased. Only one was making it’s way here, but they knew of this port and tried to reach it. I suppose the rest you know. Thankee for coming as fast as you did, we didn’t know what we were facing till they told us of the fleet and we called as soon as we knew.”

“Mayhaps I should have saved more than the one ship and brought one back with me. I am curious if this was an attack on this port or just a chance meeting, though those weapons they used seem to speak otherwise.”

“You let one go?”

“Yes, I thought to send a message that it wasn’t in their best interest to return.”

“How many were there? The sailors said more than a dozen.”

“More than thirty by my count. Having just one return may make them a little more cautious about attacking innocents next time.”

“We can hope. But thirty ships? Sounds to me like it were an invasion fleet.”

He watched as Michael changed into an elf. It made his eyes hurt. Still it was a lot easier on his neck this way.

“Lets go grab a drink. I need to think on this.” He said grimly.

We were in the pub before I realized it and I stifled a yawn. Michael was talking with the locals as he always did and it wasn’t long until Haladoria and a peacock showed up. I sat down with an ale and tried to listen to them talk. Next thing I knew, they were all getting to their feet and following Michael… through a hole in the air. He stared at it a minute, wondering if he was so tired he was seeing things, but followed them anyway.

He floundered a minute as what his eyes told him refused to make it through to his brain. They were in the council chamber in Dragonhaven. He looked back to where the hole was, but it was gone. Then Michael called up the map and he felt a chill as it came to life. Suddenly, he felt wide awake. Dragon magic. Watching as he tracked the ship and got the lay of the land, it occurred to him that Michael wasn’t going to reply to the threat… he was going to end it.