By the time I had made it to the rendezvous point at the front entrance where Tirack had already assembled a few men, the cold air had managed to cool my burning cheeks.

I felt sick.

The very fact that someone had seen that side of me made me so embarrassed after all the work I had done to evoke a strong image. Hopefully, I wouldn't meet that person again.

"Sir Tirack." I strode forward and he looked up.

"How close?" His question caught me off guard, the very fact that he trusted my opinion replaced the sick feeling in my stomach with butterflies.

"Not as close as they sound. Their presence is faint."

He nodded and turned to everyone. "From this point forward, we commence Operation Alpha, you all know your assigned roles."

The men nodded and immediately dispersed. There was a scouting team that was sent to towards the rabid's predicted location. The team consisted of the most experienced men. Yet I had been stationed by Tirack's side.

"Disappointed?" Tirack was looking at me out of the corner of his eye as he wrote some notes down in a book.

I kicked the dirt. "A little."

He chuckled, which he didn't do too often. "Your time will come."

I stared at the palms of my hands and clenched them into fists. The idea that I would one day be longing to fight beasts instead of dancing at a party never would have occurred to me. It was a completely fantastical situation that I never dreamed to be possible. Although, I guessed that having Nyx on my side provided more comfort than I cared to think.

"Not soon enough."

He looked over at me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You're still young. You have much to live for."

I was silent. You have no idea.

My expression must have changed, because Tirack's voice became more serious. "Your fa–"

His words were cut off as a low rumble reverberated throughout the sky. It was low—like thunder—but caused all the leaves in the trees to shake. It's tone signified something other than that caused by nature.

It was more menacing.

We both stood still as the sound silenced everything around us. Leaves began to fall off the trees and animals scurried away for shelter.

Yet, after a few moments, it disappeared.

Tirack looked into the sky, his face somber. "The rabids won't be coming tonight."

I tried following his line of sight, but all I could see was grey skies and nothing to indicate his sudden change in tone.

A few more deep reverberating sounds rang out around us and throughout the skies, I was almost convinced that there should have been flashes of lightning.

Then I felt it.

He was right. I could feel their presence disappearing like startled mice.

I had never seen—or felt—that before.

How did he know?

"How? Why?"

His expression showed that his thoughts were elsewhere. After a few moments, he began to walk in the direction the scouts had gone.

"Come with me, Miss. Do not leave my side. Although the rabids are gone, that does not apply to the other predators out there."

I swallowed, trying to keep my footsteps aligned with his.

We walked, following the scouts trail. Tirack was purposeful and quickly made a beeline towards the group.

In no less than half an hour, we met Palo. He looked at us in surprise. "Don't tell me we missed the action."

Tirack quirked a smile. "Lucky for you, that's not the case."

Palo sighed before he became more serious. "Anything to report?"

His face looked strangely expectant, as if he were dreading the news he was about to hear next.

Tirack nodded, looking grim. "It was the Quietus Call."

Another soldier dropped silently from a nearby tree. He was barefoot and had claws where his toes should be. "Truly? I thought they were a myth."

I was confused. What were they talking about?

Palo looked disbelieving.

Considering the flow of the conversation, it felt inappropriate for me to interrupt. As they talked, it became evident that they no longer needed to scout, and I watched in fascination as the tree guy grabbed his boots from a nearby bush and the claws retracted. They continued to retract as his foot also changed shape to become more human-like. Once they were completely normal, he slipped the boots on and jumped to his feet.

When I turned back to others, the topic of conversation had already changed. After we left, I was trailing behind Tirack with Palo behind me as we made our way back with the rest of the members of their group.

Palo had done a beautiful call that sounded like a bird, but in no time at all, their silhouettes could be seen in the distance as they made their way back.

I was so envious. How long before I could be out there as well?

As we walked back, I could sense the weird atmosphere around us. Clearly, something was about to happen. Why else would we be abandoning our posts? For a royal's party no less.

It made no sense.

But no one else questioned it. Whatever this Quietus Call was, it was significant enough for us to abandon our mission and send the rabids running.

Any ideas? I addressed the dark space of my mind.

Nyx seemed content not to materialise around me. Her lack of interest didn't surprise me.

I mentally heaved an exasperated sigh. Why should I have ever thought otherwise?

How generous.

Ha.

The more we walked, the more claustrophobic I began to feel. It was as if the sky was closing in on me. And I felt warm.

Warm.

It was more than just the warmth provided by light exercise. There was a humidity in the air around us. It hung around me and clung to my skin, as if I were standing near a fire.

But there was nothing.

This feeling continued to worsen until I felt it.

I was about to move forward when I felt something caress my cheek. Out of instinct, I slapped a hand to my cheek and pulled it away, only to find a grey smudge. I brought it to my nose and sniffed it.

It smelt of sulphur and smoke.

Had I been right? Was there a fire?

I was about to look for signs of a fire nearby, when I paused as a few more grey flakes fell through the air. They danced as they floated through the air, slowing making their way to the ground, staining the pristine snow like spilled ink.

I was stunned.

Before I could ask what was happening, the grey sky was upon us as more flakes continued to fall. I hadn't been imagining it.

The grey sky had been getting closer. It was the flakes.

One of the guys rubbed a flake between his fingers. "It's ash."

The way he said it sounded as if he didn't want to be right.

I looked at the faces around me, trying to see if anyone was as shocked as I was. I was stunned to see that no one seemed surprised by this, but their faces portrayed another emotion—fear.

My gut twisted. Even Tirack looked serious. Just what could make them so silent?

"What is it?" I asked, finally breaking the silence as ash rained down around us.

It was strange—unlike normal rain, where you could hear it pouring (or sprinkling), this was different.

You couldn't hear anything. The ash made no noise as it landed on the ground. It was too light.

It felt as if we were in some movie, where they muted all the noises to create a dramatic effect.

Except this was reality, and somehow this silence deafened my ears.

"It's the remains." The same guy who spoke before was looking into the sky.

There was no escaping the ashen flakes now, they were cascading down like a light afternoon shower. They stuck to my hair, my eyelashes and my armour. And unlike rain—there was nothing refreshing about this.

"The remains of what?" I prompted. Just what could cause this?

I could feel my body beginning to sweat. It really was warm. Yet for some reason, the ice around us wasn't melting.

His next words made the blood drain from my face.

"A dragon."