I was hoping the kids would limit their irritation to mildly seditious comments, but I wasn’t expecting Gavin to be my problem child, racing out in front to wrap his tail around the neck of one of the new monsters as it charged me. My heart leapt into my mouth at the unexpected sight of my six-year-old throwing himself between me and an oncoming maw of glistening fangs.

I pushed him aside and used an Assisted Strike to finish the monster quickly.

“Gavin Andreas Moretti, what do you think you’re doing?!”

“Getting my Points.” He grinned at me, unrepentant.

I frowned at him. “Just use your squirt gun.”

“Why? Only the leafenrats really stop for it. You said my tail was for fighting, and I’m fighting with it!”

Gavin glared at me. I could see he was confused and upset by my suggestion. It was true that the leafenrats were the only monsters so far to be truly incapacitated by capsaicin to the face, but at least these new ones had some reaction to it. Not a big reaction, to be perfectly fair. More of a flinch, really.

“We don’t have a good feel for how fast these things can move. I don’t want it biting off your tail or something because you misjudged. Use your squirt gun. Keep your tail away from its face.”

“Fine…” His response was irritated, surly, and I was more resigned than shocked when his tail whipped past me to assault the next new foe.

“Gavin!” I yelled at him as soon as it was dead.

“I grabbed its leg! My tail didn’t go near the face and I stayed behind you.” He sounded as exasperated as I felt.

I took a deep breath. “I also told you to use your squirt gun. Do you want to go back home?”

“No. I just want to fight monsters with my Super Tail!”

“Squirt gun for these guys. Use your tail on the other monsters. Last chance to listen, or I really will turn around and take you back home.”

“I was listening!” he muttered, but he didn’t try to grapple the new monsters after that, limiting himself to squirt gun blasts and rebellious comments.

I let the verbal insubordination slide.

Priya stepped up next to me. “I think he’d be fine to attack the legs, if you wanted to let him. He’s gotten quite good with that tail.”

I appreciated that she’d kept her words quiet. I didn’t think any of the kids had overheard. “Not… not today. Not when they’re so new. Alright?”

Priya shrugged, not pushing further.

Even during the midday heat, roads were far clearer of monsters than they’d been a few days ago. The Combat Groups were clustered around the Shop, but they only represented about half the people in our neighborhood. The rest were still staying at home, either confident in their ability to defend themselves, or teaming up with neighbors. We saw plenty of people sitting in shaded areas outside. Priya’s draconic appearance led to a certain amount of alarm, but people generally relaxed after the kids vouched for her.

That didn’t mean a few people didn’t fire on her in a panicked reaction, but I was out in front and able to Parry, except for one person who came out after we passed and fired a Fire Bolt at the back of Priya’s head. With her scales and heat resistance, the damage it dealt to her physically was minor, although we all had to endure the lingering smell of burnt hair from her scorched mohawk.

Anju was furious, screaming as she ran up to the man, and forcing him to the ground with repeated casts of Burden. “That’s my mom, you idiot! She’s wearing our uniform! You just attacked my MOM!”

The guy was hugely apologetic, although terror at Anju’s fury was likely a factor there. He even offered Priya Money in apology, though she declined.

“I can’t believe they’re shooting at me even with the kids nearby,” Priya murmured to me.

“They’re clearly morons,” I growled. The truth was, I was rattled too. I thought, in the light of day and in our company, that both Priya and the kids would be safe. “You’re wearing the black-and-white stripes very clearly, and it’s not like you’re threatening anyone…”

“I guess not enough people know about the uniform yet. Or they didn’t notice. Maybe we should head back,” she said. “I thought it would be okay, to meet up with George and the rescue group, but if this is how people from our neighborhood are reacting…”

“It’ll be fine,” I said. “The colonel checked in with them before we headed out. They could have told us not to come, or asked us not to bring you. You’re not the only person they’ll see with Armored Skin. It won’t help them to just assume everyone with scales is evil. It’s better that they meet you soon. Besides, the kids do need more Points.”

I’m not sure if I was trying to persuade Priya or myself. It was true that more Points would make all of us safer, and that Priya couldn’t hide in my house forever.

I'd also realized, however, why Tamara and Colonel Dane had encouraged us to head out. It surprised me, since it had stuck them with all the work, but I'd just put together that they were probably grateful not to have Priya around complicating matters as they tried to get a bunch of angry and frightened people organized. There was no guarantee she’d be safer there.

I said as much.

“That really doesn’t make me feel better, Meghan.”

I shrugged, feeling bad but not knowing what to say. “I couldn’t have managed the kids on my own, anyhow. At least, unlike the monsters, the stupid people aren’t targeting the kids. Having people fire at you probably doesn’t make things much more dangerous for them.”

Priya sighed. “Until Anju goes and wrestles someone three times her size for attacking me.”

“Yeah. True, I guess.” I shook my head. “Things will get better as people get used to seeing you.”

“I hope so.” She scanned the street and settled on a house with broken windows. “I’m going to go steal some clothes. Make my scales less obvious.”

“Sure.”

Our wait wasn’t too unpleasant, with thick cloud cover giving a welcome break from the usually-oppressive Alabama summer sun. I pointed out a badblanket to the kids and they killed it from a distance while we waited, entertained by the blind creature’s useless efforts to find its attackers. Priya emerged a few minutes later, wrestling her black-striped white tank top over the top of a thin jacket. A loose flowered skirt billowed out from her waist, hiding her legs, and she had found a ski mask to cover most of her face.

I examined her new accouterments uncertainly.

“Well?”

I shrugged. “You don’t look like a Dragon unless someone looks closely, but you do look incredibly suspicious. Aren’t you hot with that on?”

She shook her head. “Not really. The heat resistance on my armored skin is handy. The hat is uncomfortable, but mostly because it’s covering my mouth and doesn’t fit too well over my hair. Similar story for the jacket. At least I don’t have spines or claws.”

Somewhat surprisingly, the coverup did help. People were still distrustful, but they shifted from unannounced attacks to accusations. Priya seemed to withdraw a little every time we had to allay the suspicions of someone who thought she was an enemy, but at least they weren’t physically assaulting us anymore.

People of all sorts grew less and less frequent as we traveled south. A ton of Royal Woods residents had already left their homes to live closer to the Shop, which made for fewer suspicious lookouts and more monsters for the kids to fight. There were enough that both Priya and I ended up helping some, partly because we didn’t want the kids to have to face multiple enemies at once, and partly because killing purely through abilities was slow and inefficient. While the kids did have knives and spears, I wasn’t very comfortable with them getting close enough to the monsters to use them.

Gavin did manage to kill a few leafenrats by dint of picking up the monsters with his tail and throwing them into the ground hard enough that they literally died. The deaths weren’t truly instant, with the rodents bouncing off the ground like ragdolls before fading into smoke mid-air.

The kids found this hilarious. It was pretty funny-looking to watch, and as far as I could tell the leafenrats weren’t even really alive, let alone sentient, but I still had very mixed feelings watching my six-year-old murder small animals with his bare tail to the uproarious laughter of his friends and siblings. It had a dark, sort of Lord of the Flies-vibe.

“Whoo!” yelled Samar. “Look at me, I’m a leafenrat!” He stumbled to the ground, waving his arms around as if they were out of his control.

This drew out another round of snorts and giggles.

Priya and I shared a look. Was this inappropriate? Was this a healthy response to needing to kill monsters to survive? I didn’t know, and from the look on my friend’s face, neither did she.

I nodded, sharply. Derailment, then, not opposition.

“Hey! I'm glad you're having fun, but I need you to focus on the monsters. If you're going to fight without our help, you have to pay attention to your surroundings. Okay?”

Micah stopped laughing and gave me a guilty look.

Gavin gave me a heart-melting smile. “Sorry, Mommy!”

He didn’t waver in the face of my skeptical expression. Was he sincere or just that good at getting out of trouble?

Even I didn’t know.

We were about halfway through Royal Woods when we finally saw them. Even with the two truckloads of people the Colonel had carted away, there were still more than twenty former hostages accompanied by thirty-five rescuers, a huge group that was impossible to miss. All the kids broke out into excited yells, and Priya preemptively caught Samar’s shirt to keep him from pelting down the road.

The rescue group seemed equally excited to see us. While the possibility of stealthy badblankets prevented them from running toward us, their cheering was clearly audible.

I carefully directed the kids around badblankets as we hurried toward them, avoiding any monsters we could, slowing only to fight the foes that attacked us. The rescue group didn’t seem to have the option of avoiding fights, but I saw Joseph and a few others from the Living Legion out in front of the group, drawing monsters to them and taking them down efficiently. When we got close, the older man surprised me by jogging forward and dragging me into a big hug.

“Meghan! So glad y’all are alright! We heard about the attack from the colonel. I can’t believe we spent all night convinced those yokels were after us when we shoulda been worrying ‘bout you.”

Bemused, I returned his hug. “He must have told you I was alright.”

“Well, sure, but it’s another thing to see you. Poor Georgie! Young feller turned dead white when he heard. Good to see him back with his kids. That’s… his wife, I take it?” He gestured to the side, where Priya, Arvan, Anju, and Samar were packed in a tight huddle around George.

I frowned at the change in tone as he referenced Priya. “Yes. The colonel told you about her appearance.”

“Yeah… Still, I’m glad to see she’s covered up. Maybe we can get her some gloves, too. Then people can't even see her scales when her back is turned.”

“You know she had nothing to do with the Dragons.”

“I know. I know. She’s still scaring a bunch of real frightened people.” He nodded his head toward a young boy, whose eyes were locked on Priya’s reptilian hand as he backed away. Actually, there was a strange halo of space around her family where the crowd was flowing around them, not wanting to get close.

“They’re going to have to get used to her eventually. She’s not the only person with scales in our neighborhood.”

I raised my voice as I spoke. A few of the adults nearby looked away in shame at my words, but no one moved closer to the Turner family reunion.

“That may be, but let’s get them back to their families first, eh? These people have been scared to bits for days on end now.”

It was my turn to look down, ashamed. Some of these people’s loved ones had died attacking us, after all. I nodded to Joseph, and he moved up to greet Priya, guiding her to walk at the front of the group where all the Dragons’ victims could keep their eyes on her.

A lot of the victims approached me - safe, human-looking me - with questions. They wanted to know if their spouses or parents or children who’d been forced to fight for the Dragons were safe. Sadly, I wasn’t able to give them any information. Those few people who’d stayed behind with us - the injured fighters, the tired healers - had already passed their names along via Colonel Zwerinski, but the Dragons’ forces largely hadn’t known each other well. They’d been able to verify that a few of the dead had been fellow fighters, but they hadn’t been able to put names to what remained of faces, meaning I couldn’t be sure if a given individual was still living or among the dead.

Secretly, I was grateful I couldn’t answer. It meant those with us could still hope that their loved ones were okay. I didn’t want to be the one who told them otherwise.

As I shook my head in answer to another question, I felt a sudden coolness as a raindrop hit my arm.

Then, another.

Alarmed, I looked around. To our west, I could see a blurry gray haze in the sky.

Growing up in Indiana, I’d gotten used to rain starting gently. If you got hit by a few scattered raindrops, you’d likely keep getting hit by a few scattered raindrops each minute for some time as the storm gradually built in intensity or petered out again.

I’d learned my lesson soon after moving to Alabama: that was not how it worked down here.

Two more drops hit me in quick succession, and I settled on a nearby covered porch and started jogging.

“Kids! Hurry! It’s starting to rain. Your armor will be ruined.”

I saw other people look up at the sky at my words. The Turners began moving immediately, and others shortly thereafter, quickly dispatching the badblanket and leafenrats that lay between us and shelter. The monsters didn’t cause a big delay, but a few more drops hit me every second. By the time I reached the porch, the wall of oncoming rain was close enough that I could hear it approach, a rattling static that swiftly increased in volume. I picked up the Tagon and carried it up the steps as a deluge of rain soaked my shoulders.

I set the Tagon down, trying to use my hand to sweep the water droplets off the book armor, then giving up and lifting the roof off to shake it clean. Cassie climbed out, going to the edge of the porch and peering out.

“I wanna play in the rain, Mommy!”

Not everyone had followed us to the porch. None of the Living Legion had paper-based armor, and only a few of the former hostages had any kind of armor at all. Many of my neighbors were armored in books, but everyone else was standing out in the rain, smiling and even laughing in delight.

Cassie tugged at my hand. “Mommy! Let’s go out!”

“Pointy will get wet, sweetie.”

My objection was half-hearted. The siren call of the waters was tempting to me, too. It had been ages since I’d had a proper shower. The rain looked so refreshing.

“I can spare a Cleanse for Pointy later,” George offered.

“Alright everybody!” Priya said. “Armor off. We’ll come back to pick it up later.”

I looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged. “There are so many of us here… the monsters won’t be able to threaten you on the way home. They can keep their helmets, anyway.”

I didn't want to argue, and I let myself be persuaded. Swiftly, I helped the kids struggle free of their protective gear, piling vests and vambraces in the Tagon, and wrestling bundles of paper out of boots.

Mere moments later, we stepped out into the sheeting rain. I told the kids to stay close, but didn’t stop them from splashing in the rapidly-pooling puddles. I held up an arm, startled to see my tan wasn’t as dark as I thought: a rivulet of water carried a line of grime down to my elbow. I was filthy.

I took off my helmet, the sole piece of armor I had that wouldn’t be ruined by the rain, and turned my face to the sky. A feeling of tightness I hadn’t noticed receded from my cheeks as the lingering salt of two weeks worth of sweat and tears was washed away.