kidding. I didn't burn myself to death. But someone else sure did.

The now-blackened sand covered me entirely. I coughed as I stood up, dusting the sand away. My ears twitched to the sound of ambulances, police sirens, and most importantly news reporters. This is definitely going to be on CNN for a while. Then I remembered,

"Lucas!" Martha screamed, trying to untangle herself from the sign. I responded immediately; running as fast as I can and slashed my claws at the metal. It tore through like it was nothing but it didn't lay a scratch on Martha's legs. With that, she ran to her little brother, who looked a little more shaken up than she is.

"No thanks for the girl who did all the work, huh?" I said to myself. I felt my ears and tails disappearing. The fox sat beside me, tail wagging excitedly.

"Time's up. You're on your own now."

And with that, she disappeared into smoke.

And then I realized I was on my own with two strangers and the police on my tail. With a sigh, I ran to the twins, who stopped to look at me.

"So uh... My fox friend just ditched me and a lot of police and reporters are here. And I just realized we partially destroyed Ghirardelli Square."

"Y-You should come with us! We know a place for people like you!" Lucas stuttered. It didn't take an idiot to know that he wanted to say that strongly. Martha seemed to catch on as well, giving her brother a disapproving look.

"I hate to do this but... He's right. We need to bring you someplace safe. Follow us." She ran, Lucas in hand while I tried to catch up. We ran outside the square as we avoided the crowd forming at the entrance. Once we were clear, we ran as fast as we could, dodging people as we go.

"While... we're on the... the subject of... someplace safe..." I huffed as I sidestepped an old lady. "Where is it exactly?"

"At the Caldecott Tunnel. We can't use taxis or else police might find us." Martha explained.

I did the math in my head. "Caldecott? That's like-kilometers away from here!"

"I know. You models have fitness instructors, right? I'm sure you'll survive."

I screamed in frustration. There was no way I am going to murder my legs in running.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Martha yelled when I picked her up bridal style as I threw Lucas on my back, instantly clinging onto me. "We're both a lot more capable of running than you are, so-"

"Can it, sister." I said. "I don't care how safe is this 'someplace', but there is no way I am running all the way there. I'm taking my own route." I ran as fast as my legs could take me, the environment around me becoming a blur. Then the strangest thing happened. Much stranger than the last anyway.

My breathing became steady and more deeper. My feet feel as if their bouncing on air and my body getting lither and more stronger...

"What the absolute he-" Martha was cut-short when a bird flew in her face. "What the-how are you a DRAGON?!"

I didn't notice it before. No wonder I felt so airy. The air blew past my serpentine, four-legged body as it weaved around tall buildings. Martha was clinging to my left foreleg like a vice as Lucas on my back, mesmerized by my transformation.

"Well, sorry ma'am. I didn't expect to turn into a dragon." I said, but what came out were growls and snarls. I lifted Martha onto my back as we maneuvered in the sky. Below us, the streets looked like gray snakes as the cars looked like colored specks.

"Uh... just a little farther and we're there." I heard Lucas say.

"Is she... just like Zhang?"

"I'm... not sure. Maybe she's a Greek?"

"I highly doubt there is even a Greek god that can transform into a dragon."

I bucked my back. "I can hear you two."

"Okay okay! We'll stop." Martha said.

"So is there anything else we should know about you? Besides the turning into a dragon thing?" Lucas asked me. I shook my head.

"Do you know anyone named Frank Zhang?"

Once again, I shook my head.

"What demigod are you?" Martha asked this time.

I recollected my thoughts from earlier. That fox said I was a demigod. She didn't elaborate much on the information. But that horrible feeling when those images popped up in my brain out of nowhere... I wondered that if it may be connected to why I'm an amnesiac.

"You can't really talk while in dragon form, huh. Well, we're almost there so you can explain yourself when we land."

The traffic below us had gotten worse as we neared the tunnel. "Over there. Go into that service tunnel. The Mist will prevent us from getting spotted." I didn't know what the mist was but I followed nonetheless.

Then all too soon, we were tumbling down onto the ground near the tunnel as searing pain shot through my side.

I grunted. I didn't know how that sounded in dragon but I didn't bother the details. Standing up on all fours, I spotted the twins looking upwards. Not wanting to waste time, I nudged them to go inside. Fortunately they understood. They ran inside as spears rained down from above. I nudged them to go faster as we made it through the tunnel.

When we got through I first saw hills, then aqueducts, then buildings. Everything I saw was related to Rome. A big, open field was on my left, looking a bit scorched and barren. There was a river, which put me at ease, that curved around the place like a 'G'. We ran across the nearest bridge, pushing past surprised teens. I got curious who were our pursuers so I looked up.

They were humanoid birds carrying spears. There were four at best, each wearing different colored robes with white, fluffy balls attached to the abdominal area up to the back. Their wings were large, almost twice the size as them. They wore metal shoulder pads, gauntlets, and shin guards, and getas that were being held by their sharp talons. Their beaks were unusually long for birds as their respective avian eyes glinted like jewels.

"Potsmans! What did you do!?" A male voice rang. A guy wearing the same purple shirt with some armor ran towards us, a sword in hand. With him, more armed teens like him surrounded us.

"We can explain! You see-" I cut Lucas short when I shoved him aside just when a spear landed to where he was before. One of the bird-hybrids landed near the guy who yelled and clawed his torso. On instinct, I clawed the monster as golden sand spewed out of its torso. Using my body as a shield to defend the guy, I clawed, bitten, and shot powerful torrents of water at every avian monster daring to go near. The two birds fluttered their wings uneasily as the other two flew off. The last two of them gave a ear-splitting screech and flew off.

Somehow that made my ears split as well. With that horrid ringing in my head, all I could see was black and falling onto grass.