A dragon roars. And it’s not Nova. Nova is still in the mountains, doing something. She was careful to keep it from mind when I asked her… and a part of me is concerned. But it was not my place to push her. Besides, she’s a large dragon. I hope she can take care of herself.

But it doesn’t stop my worrying, much to Cynic’s amusement.

A screech sounds, and I can barely make out the crackle of flame above the roars and screams of both dragons and humans far in the distance.

I exchange a look with Flash. He nods, reading the urgency in my eyes.

He traverses to the back of Henry, where a large device lay. It reminds me of a well, but with a large wooden object that can tap against the back of the Berserk.

Flash said it’s a means of communication, a bit like horse spurs. At least according to Flash. I’ve no experience with the colossal beasts, so I’m succeeding to his knowledge of this.

The Berserk picks up the pace, his breath coming in heaving gasps that are louder than bellows.

We travel along the River, just as we did going up the mountain. This time, there are buds on the trees and the air holds the freshness of spring.

But there’s something beneath it that strikes my core. Smoke.

“Can we go faster?” I yell at Flash.

Henry must’ve heard me, because I’m almost thrown from his back when he puts on a burst of speed that would make a dragon jealous.

When we reach an overlook a few miles from Videlia, my heart leaps in my chest.

Three dragons circle her, with a fourth high above circling as the three dart into the city and wreak havoc. They throw flame along the wall, the screams of those who I once trained beside reaching my ears even from miles out. The large beasts throw themselves into the city, knocking over two and three-story building in moments.

And we don’t have Nova to help us.

We will just have to do what we can and hope Nova arrives quicker than I expect.

At least the army hasn’t arrived yet.

The dragons circle and then dive, throwing streams of flame at the walls and the army before darting back into the sky before arrows or ballistea can be loosed.

A growl is ripped from my throat as I see a dragon bite at the soldiers along the wall, ripping men from their feet and tossing them over the edge as if they were nothing more than fodder.

I clench my hands into fists, willing Henry to go faster.

My heart beats a painful staccato inside my chest as I see men and women fighting bravely against beasts they could never have prepared for. Never had a chance against.

Beast eases past his cage, pooling so he can watch the unfolding attack even as he thrums with excitement.

Henry gives a bugling cry when he races past the edges of the forest and into the recently made plains with stumps where the forest was.

The dragon clinging to the edge of the wall like an oversized monkey jerks its head around, snarling when it sees us. Its eyes narrow into slits and it jumps from the parapet to fly low over the plain and straight for Henry.

I stand on Henry’s back, knowing I’ll get one shot at this.

“What are you doing?” Zephora yells from somewhere behind me.

Yeah, what are you doing, idiot? I’m too young to die.

I snort, waiting until I see the emerald dragon’s chest light with fire. Fifty feet. Thirty. Ten.

I leap. Henry peels off behind me as if we’d choreographed it.

I’m totally winging this, so I’m just glad it worked.

The dragon watches Henry instead of me, seeing the bigger creature as the biggest threat.

Its mistake.

I drive my sword into its eye, and it screeches out a cry that drives through my ears and into my skull, making it give an angry throb.

I shove my blade deeper, pricking its brain. It abruptly stops thrashing beneath me, and that’s when I realize I'm a lot higher than I’d like. Between life and death, the creature took us about a hundred feet into the air. The two riders on its back try to pincushion me with arrows, but they go wide in what has become a wild ride.

I scramble up the skull and cling to its neck as I ride the corpse into the ground.

It hits on its left side first, leaving a deep furrow behind us that throws up dirt and rock.

Then the chest and the rest of the creature hits the ground, throwing me from its neck. I leap, spreading my arms to reduce my speed by as much as possible, then duck my head into a controlled roll.

At least… it began as a controlled roll.

It ended with me hitting a tree with back-breaking force.

I wince, wiggling all my extremities to ensure I didn’t lose anything important.

Only your sanity. Oh, wait… that’s been gone for a while now.

Shut it.

I get up to my knees, then stumble to my feet.

My head spins a bit, but I feel relatively normal. Other things could be said of the two humans who were thrown from the dragon's back. One lay at a very odd angle. The other is smashed to a pulp beneath the dragon’s wing.

The dragon itself is still, its emerald scales losing their color the longer I stare at it.

I close its other unseeing eye, saying an apology to the magnificent beast.

Why? It was going to kill you. It had already killed many.

It still deserves respect.

Sure. The respect one gives a rattlesnake.

I pull my sword with a squelch from the dragon’s other eye and trudge in the direction I believe Henry was going. The dragon's flight took us a little to the west.

The other dragons have pulled away and are winging in the direction I saw the main army, some flapping with less coordinated movements and one with a large bolt sticking from its side. Good on Videlia. They won't go without a fight.

I breathe out in relief, slumping for a moment as the adrenaline fades. Videlia survived... for now.

Henry paces into the clearing, trumpeting a call. He comes directly over to me, skidding to a stop inches from my face. He wraps his trunk around my torso and pulls me up so he can look me in the eye.

Is that a hint of reproval in his dark, wise gaze? Surely not.

Cynic snorts.

Henry puts me on his back, then turns and lumbers towards the city in a much easier pace than a few moments ago.

Flash and Zephora corner me the moment my feet hit the wooden platform. I flinch, my hands wrapping around knives despite the way I try to relax.

“What were you thinking?” Zephora asks, crossing her arms. Her voice ends in a hiss as she leans forward, her eyes slitting and her teeth razor-sharp needles poking between her lips.

“What she said,” Flash says, crossing his arms to mirror her stance. Zephora glares at her brother, then turns back to me.

I wince. “Taking care of a problem?” I say, gesturing to the dead dragon.

Zephora pins me with an unamused glare.

Flash chuckles, and Zephora jabs his ribs with an elbow without looking. He puts his hands up, giving an innocent smile through a wince. “You’ve gotta admit, that was impressive. It's his trademark move to take down dragons.”

“Impressively idiotic. Do you want to get killed? I can send you to the afterlife now, if you'd like.” She pokes me on the shoulder, crowding my space. I open my mouth, but she cuts me off before I can speak. “I promised two little boys who just lost their father that I would bring you back. They need you. You can’t go throwing yourself into reckless danger with people waiting for you at home.”

I grind my teeth, my heart thundering in my chest.

I turn and walk away before I do or say something I’d regret.

"That was harsh, shason," Flash whispers as I walk away.

But... she’s right. That’s what makes this so hard to swallow. When I was in that moment of live or die, all else fell away. The grief, the anger, the guilt and sorrow. Nothing mattered except me and that dragon and protecting those at my back and in the city.

I don’t know how to fight carefully. Striking hard first has won me more fights than it has lost, and it has become habitual to fight first and ask questions later.

Should I fight safer to ensure I make it back to Barry and Jed and all those counting on me? Yes.

Do I think I’ll actually be able to retrain years of habits? No.

You give yourself too much credit, idiot. The only reason you throw yourself into danger is because you can’t stand the thought of anyone else getting hurt on your watch. You had no trouble on jobs waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Quit being a masochist and start working with your pack instead of against them.

That… is a good point I have no wish to further delve into. So I ignore him.

I sit on Henry’s head, watching the smoke drift into the sky from the little town I’ve grown to love.

A part of me is glad to be going back into the town to return to those who became friends. I just hope I find those friends still in the land of the living.