“They’re retreating!” someone called out, and Erin managed to push herself to her feet. Her muscles felt like wet laundry hung out to dry, her eyelids were led weights, but she stumbled to the nearest barricade and looked around. The qek were retreating, and more than that. They had begun to attack each other over the provocation of existing in the same space. She held out a hand and leaned heavily against a building as all around her, the battle suddenly seemed to be over. The crowd of defenders held their breaths collectively as another explosion sounded in the distance.

Erin didn’t dare believe it. She had resigned herself to dying, and the sudden reprieve had the flavor of a trick. Next to her, a man's spear slipped from his hand, where it fell sideways to clatter against the makeshift barricade, and he sat on the ground and buried his face in his hands, weeping. All around the scene was repeating. Some were laying down and closing their eyes, and others even found the energy to hug their loved ones. Erin stared out at the village beyond their barricade, not a single qek remaining in her line of sight.

“What happened?” Liam asked as he moved to stand beside her.

“Maybe Academy City Mages finally showed up?” Erin guessed, and a groan came from behind her. She turned to see Arthur with the borrowed sword resting on his shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she said, forcing every word past her exhaustion. “We’ll still have that talk.”

“If it’s Academy City, they can’t know I’m here. If they found out what my father was trying to do, it would mean war.”

“What?” she asked, confused. “Why would there be a war?”

“Because the Mage Capital doesn’t share magic.” Arthur said. “I’m going to find my men. We need to be out of sight, but I will remain here in the village. Come find me if you mean what you said. There’s a lot you should know before you make a decision.” Without waiting, he turned away, and Erin saw some of his bodyguards come into view, already looking for their prince.

“So a prince huh.” Liam said, his eyes on the man's back.

“Seems so.” Erin turned to press her shoulders flat against the wooden wall of the building and then sank slowly back to the ground.

“Don’t you want to find somewhere more… comfortable?” He asked, kneeling down to meet her eye, but Erin just shrugged. As far as she was concerned, the muddy ground was the softest thing she’d ever felt. The rough wood of the house, more comfortable than any pillow.

Her eyes closed, reducing the world to a mess of noises beyond a dark curtain, and even when she heard Sigrid’s voice cut across the din, addressing her, she couldn’t muster the will to open them again.

“Are you alright?” She felt a set of hands prodding her as Sigrid checked her over for injuries.

“I’m fine,” she slurred. Exhaustion stretching the words long in her mouth.

“She’s alright. Just tired. She said something about overusing her magic.”

“Had to.” Erin tried to defend herself, but it was more mumble than anything else. Sigrid spoke again, her words reduced to garbled muffling as a glow of warmth began in her chest. Dangole would not be destroyed. The villagers would not be killed and eaten by monsters. Against all odds, they had survived the day, and perhaps most importantly, her friends were alive. With that comforting revelation, Erin let go of the last dregs of consciousness and fell asleep.

When she woke, it was in a bed and she wanted to complain that there was nothing wrong with the spot she’d chosen. Then the pain swarmed over her like a horde of fire ants. Her muscles were bathed in acid, and lightning arced through her brain as she forced one eye open. She closed it again immediately, and let the pain fade while she took stock of what she’d seen in her glimpse of the world. She was in a tent, she guessed, a long one based on the row of occupied beds she’d seen across from her.

Then she noticed something else. A not inconsiderable weight on her stomach. Mildly concerned, she forced both her eyes open, once more inviting the pain into her skull. She looked down to find a winged-lizard sleeping atop her blankets. She knew she should be panicked. The sinuous creature was the length of her arm easily, and even asleep she could see its teeth poking from its upper jaw, serrated and wickedly curved. It had pale blue scales that seemed to shimmer in the candlelight that suffused the space.

[He arrived a little while ago.]

Lisa said, her voice quiet. Almost as if she was whispering. Confused, Erin continued to gaze at the small creature. The gears in her head were sandy, rusted over and without power.

What?

[Your dragon companion. I guess you didn’t notice him approaching with everything going on.]

Erin’s head slowly dipped back on to her pillow, her eyes closing again. Not only had she not noticed him approaching, she'd completely forgotten about him. She hadn’t had any concerns beyond the present moment for what felt like an eternity.

[You should know, Sigrid sat with you for quite a long time after she brought you here.]

The warm glow Erin had felt before passing out returned. That’s right, her friends were alive. She knew on some level that she didn’t really have time to be lying around in bed, and that was work to be done, but she couldn’t quite remember what any of those things were.

“I got it right here.” A voice she knew she recognized but couldn’t quite place rolled over her. “No, she lent it to me during the battle. Probably saved Cheddar’s life. That idiot landed on his head when a qek pushed him back off the wall. The healer said he was bleeding inside. He’s lucky he didn’t break his fool neck.”

Kiran’s voice was coming closer, and Erin momentarily debated opening her eyes before deciding against it.

“Well, I’m glad he made it.” Sigrid answered him. The pair of them arrived together at Erin’s bed.

“What the hell is that?!” The Monster Hunter practically shouted, and Erin opened her eyes in time to see Sigrid grab him by the shoulder, trying to shush him. At the same time, the small bundle of serpentine coils on her stomach came awake with a hiss, mantling its tiny wings at Kiran.

“It’s a dragon.” Erin croaked, reaching out with one hand to soothe the creature. The baby dragon glanced between her hand and Kiran, letting its wings settle down against its back before it sniffed at her finger. After only a few sniffs, it began rubbing the side of its face against it, like a cat might use a person to scratch itself.

“You’re awake.” Sigrid said with a smile, and Erin shrugged with one shoulder.

“Hard to sleep when someone stands next to your bed and yells.” She grinned at Kiran, which caused the muscles in her face to burn.

“I’m sorry. I was just surprised. I didn’t know you had a… dragon.”

“Mage things.” Erin said and shrugged again.

“Here,” Sigrid said, leaning forward and pulling the vial from Kiran's hand, and offering it to her. Erin ignored the persistent screaming of her muscles as she lifted her arm and took the bottle of healing potion. The vial had refilled completely.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Seven hours or so.” Sigrid answered as Erin uncorked the vial and drank the flavorless liquid. Almost instantly, she felt a cool wave of relief roll through her body. Like someone had flipped a switch in her head, the mildly uncomfortable lethargy was gone. She was alert and aware.

“What happened?” She looked between the pair of them and knew that neither needed to ask what she meant.

“It was… Mages.” Kiran said.

“Academy City?” Erin asked

“No.” Sigrid said, shaking her head.

“Then who?”

“I guess you could call them a rogue element. Based on what they’ve told me.” Sigrid said.

“A rogue element?”

“They seem quite nice, actually,” Kiran said. “They said they came north once they heard about you lot popping up in the wrong places.” As Kiran spoke, he pulled a chair up to Erin’s bedside and plopped himself down into it.” Once they were here, they started having run-ins with monsters acting strangely, like the qek. So they’ve been roaming about protecting villages and the like.”

“We’re lucky they showed up when they did.” Sigrid said, the corner of her mouth pulled up in a grimace. “They’ve been helping get things cleaned up and looking after the injured.”

“What about Arthur?” Erin asked.

“The Prince?” Kiran asked, and Erin thought she caught something like mockery in Kiran's tone. “He warmed up to them alright, once he found out they weren’t with Academy City.” Erin set aside Kiran's attitude toward Arthur for the moment, and turned her attention to the question she’d avoided thinking about since she’d woken up. As she met Sigrid’s eyes, she could tell the woman saw it there and Sigrid's expression turned somber, her head tipped down.

“We lost Tooms and the Mayor. His name was Archibald, I’m told. They were guarding the gate when the qek broke through. They held the line while we retreated.”

Erin’s stomach sank through the bed at the news. She would’ve never imagined it. She hadn’t known Tooms long, but he had given the impression of resilience. He had been both competent in his duties and skillful as a fighter. The Mayor, Archibald, hadn’t had a warrior's bearing, but Erin had known him to be a cheerful man who had his people's best interests at heart. Both would be devastating losses to the town.

“On the wall we lost Jimmy, Darla, Doyle, Sigmund and damn near Cheddar, out of the Hunters and over two dozen villagers besides.” Kiran said, his voice catching with every word, and Erin could only imagine what that felt like. Sure, she’d been ripped away from her entire family, never to see them again, but at least she knew they were still alive somewhere.

[So are they.]

Lisa said, her tone somber.

[May they find happiness in the next life.]

May they find happiness in the next life. Erin agreed.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Erin told him and Kiran reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. She brought her own hand up to grip his for a brief moment before the Monster Hunter gently pulled back.

“I’m glad you’re on the mend, and I wish I could spend some time with ya, but I got work to do.” Erin nodded, and Kiran stood and headed out of the tent.

The baby dragon had sensed the mood, it seemed, because his scales shifted from a pale blue to the deep black of mourning as Erin watched him. With a sigh, she swung her legs out of bed, and the creature slithered up her arm to take up residence on her shoulder, as if he’d done it a thousand times. Erin ignored the pokes of his claws on her skin as she made a mental note to have some heavier fabric sewn into her clothing.

“I told Arthur I’d speak with him.” Erin said to Sigrid as pulled clothing from her inventory and changed. “Assuming he still wants to talk with us. I imagine we’re small fry next to our saviors.”

“I think he tried talking with them already and was rebuffed. This group values their independence.” Sigrid said, then she added. “Be warned, though, they can be a bit… odd.”

“Oddly odd, would you say?” Erin asked with a grin she didn't really feel, and Sigrid shook her head.

“You’ll see when you meet them.”

“I’m looking forward to it. Arthur first, though, do you know where he is?”

“Last I saw him, he and his men were transporting wounded to the medical tents the Mages had set up.”

“He really doesn’t act like I’d expect royalty to act.”

“I don’t know,” Sigrid said with a shrug. “I’ve never met a prince.”

“Me either, but we have stories.”

The pair of them left the tent together, Erin explaining the many evils of Earth royalty, fictional and otherwise, as they made their way across the makeshift camp that had sprung up in the ruins of what had once been people’s homes and businesses. Erin found the Mages easy enough to pick out, not just because of their unusual height, but also that they all wore brown robes, and everyone she’d seen so far was bald. They moved with purpose, freely offering aid, and pitching in where work needed doing.

“I didn’t think this world would have spray-on-tans.” Erin said as they passed by a pair. Their skin was the telltale amber-orange of someone who only pretended to spend time in the sun. A figure broke away from a group of the robed Mages and moved to intercept them.

She was a bald woman, with the same curious complexion as her fellows and sharp blue eyes. She smiled at Erin as they approached, and Erin felt the dragon on her shoulder tense, its clawed grip tightening. .

“You must be Erin. Your friend has told me a lot about you.” The woman said, gesturing to Sigrid, then she held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Serra.”