Sarah groaned as another Doan made it through and planted a spear in her leg. She could not watch every direction at once and the wicked women in the rear were constantly throwing red bolts at her head. Hidden under her battered wings, Tavis concentrated on holding a weave that fed a wall of fire.

Tavis was beaded with sweat as he focused on his task, putting what Sarah had taught him to use. Instead of drawing the weave into himself, he acted more like a river bed, allowing the weave to flow over him and be shaped as it passed. Still, the strain was growing, and he desperately wanted to release the weave and recover his strength. The longer he held it up, the more he started to pull through himself to keep it flowing. Even now, he felt hot, and his eyes took on a soft glow. His mind drifted to the women who had admitted they wanted to settle down and raise his children. How he wished to be in their arms right now, sharing in the love they offered.

He shook his head at the moment of weakness as his weave nearly wavered. With a low chant and dance of his fingers, he fed the wall, determined to keep the huge gap in the center closed. The Doan had caught on to what he was doing as spears and spells were hurling their way from every side. Sarah had a dozen spears in each wing and several more in her legs. He could hear her groan as she thrashed in pain with every movement. She was on the Doan side of the wall of fire, making herself an easy target for their weavers. She didn’t want to risk being too close to the empire’s army for fear of his losing control, but the cost of that protection was her own suffering, and she was paying it dearly.

He saw arrows begin to fell the Doan around them as Ayawa tried desperately to buy them some space. He struggled to keep focus even as Sarah bucked and staggered under near constant onslaught. If he lost control, he would feel the pain, and a great many would die.

He saw the endless waves of men crowding in, ignoring the wall and encircling the wounded dragon. He began to push himself, holding the wall and then lashing out along its length. Ropes of fire began to reach out of the wall striking wildly at the men alongside it. He only caught a few of them before he lost concentration, nearly letting the whole wall fall. He tried again, focusing on striking out, and more ropes of fire lashed out. Men wailed as they were burned and flailed about as the flames consumed them, but again he could not maintain it. He knew the rules for fire weaves. To hold a weave of fire was to risk being consumed. One small weave was relatively easy. A large weave was an exercise in supreme discipline. To hold two large weaves was suicide.

Sarah cried out in pain as her body shuddered underneath him. She reared up, swatting the air with her arms as spear after spear sailed in. Her scales deflected many of them, but some were getting through, and her crimson hide was wet with blood. He felt a sudden pain in his shoulder as a spear nicked him, and for a brief second, he lost the weave. He quickly reestablished it, and the wall of fire only wavered for a moment, but such quick action forced him to pull from within.

He felt the pain in his shoulder, and he gritted his teeth. Arrows continued to rain around them, but it was clear there was no hope. From his vantage point, he could see it. Sarah was nearly surrounded and fighting a hundred Doan who were wearing her down. Behind them were thousands more who could not reach her because of the press of bodies. Behind even these were the women hurling spears and spells and battering the dragon. The situation was hopeless, even with Lilly's warning. The Doan army was simply too big, and all they were doing was buying time. The dream of home and family would die here, but maybe he could save his wives and unborn children.

“Sarah,” he said calmly as he focused on pulling the flames through his soul. He felt a storm suddenly come to life inside as the sweat on his skin began to steam. “Sarah, I am giving up.”

Sarah reared up and tried to speak as she understood what he meant. “Just hold the wall!” she ordered but Tavis knew there was no point.

There was a sound like a great bellows sucking in the air, and the fires all around suddenly came to life, streaming in great lines of light to Tavis. Ayawa saw the sudden change and looked up to see the glow of death in Tavis's eyes as he curled his hands up and directed the weave into himself.

“Tavis no!” she shouted as he let out a long wailing scream while the skin of his body ignited and the world turned to flames.

The flash of light was so intense that the whole battlefield was suddenly illuminated as if under a noon sun. Gersius and Thayle looked up as a wall of red and orange grew in the sky, and lightning flashed above.

“By the divines!” Thayle gasped as every head turned to see the world had just come to an end.

Around Sarah, a ball of fire erupted and raced out like a sun growing around her. It expanded so rapidly that none could escape, the those engulfed flailed and screamed as the flames consumed them. Above the chorus of men dying in terrible pain came a mad laughter as Tavis ran wild with power. Pillars of flame erupted from the sphere and ran in random directions like living serpents. Everything in their path was turned to ash as Doan and empire soldiers fled alike.

Gersius saw his lines break in two places as streams of fire ran across them, and his soldiers fled for their lives. The Doan were too busy running to exploit the gaps, but the whole battle descended into chaos as Tavis became a god of madness and fire.

Sarah stood inside the ball of death, untouched by the heat. She saw the man whose form had become like a living flame as the power poured through him unchecked. She had never seen anyone wield so much power so recklessly and knew the end result would be a pile of ash that was once a man. However, she saw an opportunity and ran as fast as she could, carrying Tavis down the front of the battle line, dragging the ball of fire that she was the center of with her. The Doan tried to run in terror as the ball of fire rolled over them. They were pressed too tightly to break away and avoid the doom that rushed at them. Hundreds died with every lumbering step as she used Tavis as a weapon of absolute destruction. His loss of control became catastrophic as droplets of fire rained from what looked like burning

clouds above.

Gersius saw the sphere of flame coming and stood by, awestruck, as Sarah ran past. She was riddled with burning wooden shafts, leaving behind smoke trails. On her back was a blazing torch in the vague shape of a man cackling with wild tormented screams. He was devastating the Doan army, killing a huge swath of the front line.

“Dear Ulustrah, is that Tavis?” Thale yelled as the horrifying image went by.

“I had no idea it was so terrible,” Gersius stammered, his heart frozen with fear for his friend.

“You must get to him. He must be in terrible pain!” Thayle cried as Gersius nodded.

The line of men before them was now terribly thin as the ball of fire had cut off the reinforcements behind them. Gersius stepped back into the ranks of his men, and they quickly filled the hole. He ran down the line chasing Sarah and quickly pleaded with her across the bind.

“Sarah, I am coming to heal him!” Gersius yelled over the link.

“How are you going to touch him?” she cried back.

“Your power will protect me,” he argued. “Now stop so I can catch up!”

` “Gersius, there is no man to touch, he has become a living fire, and only the weave is keeping him alive,” Sarah countered. “You may survive the flames, but can you touch the raw force of the weave itself?”

“Then we will wait for it to stop.”

“I do not know how to stop him!” Sarah yelled back.

“He should burn out in a moment. Ayawa once told me that men who lose control like this only last half a minute or so,” Gersius said as he realized his mistake. Tavis was already too far gone; the man that was once his friend was nothing more than the weave gone out of control. When that weave finally burned out, there would be nothing left to heal.

“Not for me, he isn't!” Sarah roared and came screeching to a halt. She whipped around and reached with both hands for the star of blazing fire on her back. He was still screaming and cackling as she wrapped him in her powerful hands, the fire shooting through her fingers.

Sarah began to make a tone as she lowered her head and channeled. Golden light formed inside her hands, and fire mixed with light shot out from between her fingers. Gersius stopped chasing when he realized what she was doing. She was literally healing him while he was on fire, her dragon body absorbing the terrible strain of containing the weave.

Suddenly the wailing stopped, and the bubble of fire winked out. The golden light in her hands continued to glow momentarily, and then she lifted her hand to reveal Tavis's naked body. His clothing was burned away, and his skin was blackened with soot. All of his ash marks burned with an angry light as if enraged they had been denied the final consumption. He lay motionless as she looked down to inspect him and then cried out in pain as three Doan ran at her, each burying a spear in her back.

She fell to her side and struggled to shield Tavis as she quickly tried to crawl to her own lines. She had pushed herself with the wild dash running on injured legs with spears buried in them. She had made the wounds worse and now found it hard to stand. She had foolishly run deeper into the Doan lines and now realized she would never make it back. All she could do was die protecting Tavis and hope they recovered him before the Doan did.

A shadow passed overhead, and a ray of white and blue raced down from the sky and cut through the Doan around her encasing them in ice as Shadros sailed overhead.

“Thank the gods,” Gersius muttered as the dragon wheeled around for another pass. Red streaks rose to meet him, and he turned to veer down on the women who were casting them. They shrieked and began to scatter as he bore down on them, breathing a ray of ice that raced along the ground and froze one after another.

“Push forward!” Gersius yelled as he took command. “We must save Sarah. Get her behind us!”

Men began to struggle against the barrier of Doan, and Gersius lost his patience. He raced to the front and began to cut men down like grain. He could see Sarah pulling herself along on two legs with Tavis held in one hand. One of her rear legs was useless, and he could feel the pain across the bind. Her wings were more of a hindrance now as they dragged on the ground making easy targets. In the sky directly above her, Shadros twisted and turned, doing his best to avoid the red bolts that filled the air. He dived again and again, using his ice to keep the Doan away from Sarah, but Gersius knew he could not keep that up forever.

Man after man went down in a violent dance of fury as Gersius recklessly tore through them. He felt his heart growing angry as he felt his wifes pan and panic. She was so close to him yet impossible to reach and the Doan were quickly moving in around her. A dark shape landed almost directly on top of her as Shadros put himself between her and the Doan at her back. He had overused his breath, so now he lashed out with teeth and claws, shredding any of them that came too close.

Gersius pushed on, cutting a path and getting closer. He felt her groan as another spear pierced her hide. He felt her desperately trying to heal as a red bolt hit her in the face cutting a gruesome line. He could feel her growing weak as the wounds began to overtake her.

He lost control and looked to the heavens as he called on Balisha to grant him one final blessing. A white light swirled around him, and a moment later, it was joined by a red light as Astikar answered the call as well. A great reptilian form of white grew about him as a spectral dragon engulfed Gersius. He charged into the Doan, the magical beast sweeping the enemy aside with ease as he spewed divine fire from his fanged maw. He was like a god walking among men, and even the Doan took pause as they saw his maddened approach.

He smashed through to Sarah and ran directly to her side, the dragon form putting hands to her as he called out in the chanting tones of Astikar. A golden light spread over the wounded dragon as his eyes glowed red with pain. He had failed to heal Lilly in her time of need, but he wasn't going to fail Sarah. He clutched the sword of Astikar, and drew on its power, magnifying the power of a god as he focused it all on Sarah.

The Doan quickly recovered and realized what he was doing. They rushed in like a black tide as his men struggled to fill the hole he had created. Shadros did his best to slow their advance, but it was Sarah who turned the tide, snapping out with massive jaws and chewing men as they screamed in terror.

A wall of vines and plants erupted around them as Thayle used her divine sword, creating a barrier to buy them time. She quickly led the empire charge to reach the group and Sarah was safely recovered. She struggled to her feet while clutching an unconscious Tavis in one hand. Then together, they fought a retreat until Sarah was safely behind a stable line, and the battle raged on.

“Where is Tavis?” Ayawa yelled as she ran to them.

Sarah uncurled her hand and lowered it so Ayawa could see the unconscious man. She threw herself on him as tears flowed, cradling his head to her chest as she promised he would never have to do this again.

“And now I understand her,” Sarah said as she looked at Gersius. “I understand why she fears for him to use the fire.”

“We will talk about this later,” Gersius replied and turned back to the battle. “If we survive.”

Sarah, Thayle, and Gersius looked out over the sea of Doan, still marching to join the fight. His army was exhausted and heavily committed on three sides. Tavis's sacrifice had bought them some time and inflicted terrible losses, but without fresh soldiers, Gersius didn't' see how they could win.

Shadros landed behind them and staggered forward, bleeding from several wounds. He lowered his head and quickly announced that the Doan reinforcements were almost here.

“Reinforcement?” Thayle cried.

“I saw them as I flew south,” Shadros said. “A vast group of perhaps ten thousand, sweeping over the countryside at great speed.”

“Did you get a good look at them?” Gersius demanded, but Shadros admitted he had seen the storm of fire and flew straight here. He felt it wiser to deliver the warning than to get closer and scrutinize the approaching army.

“Gersius,” Thayle cried as she turned with eyes full of pain. “We have lost.”

Gersius knew she was right, as the Doan hadn't even fully committed the forces they had on hand. With ten thousand more, they would sweep around his sides and cut his army to pieces.

“Then we die for the empire,” he said at last, hardening his heart to the pain he now felt. “We inflict as much damage as possible on this army to make it combat ineffective. If they are too weak to continue, they won't be able to trap the army at the border, and Gams can turn the war.”

“What a grim fate,” Sarah grumbled then her eyes went wide. “We have forgotten the wall of fire! With Tavis gone, there is a hole in our center!” She jumped to her feet, grabbing Gersius and Thayle before charging down the line with Shadros close behind. Sure enough, the wall was gone, and the Doan were now pouring through, dividing his army into two pockets. It was a titanic failure as the right pocket was slowly being surrounded and forced into a position of desperation.

Sarah raced into the Doan to shatter their lines and stem the flow through the gap. She placed Gersius and Thayle, then together with Shadros, tried to plug the gap, using fire to sweep huge swaths of men aside. Gersius waded over the bodies as he and Thayle fought back to back, cutting men down as the battle descended into chaos. Mingfe appeared at their side, bleeding from the leg and side as she turned her back and joined their desperate defense.

“I have no more women to send into battle,” she panted. “I have ordered the acolytes to flee and to take the egg with them. They will go to Eastgate and protect the secret with their lives..”

“Good,” Gersius cried, hoping somebody would survive this terrible day.

“Gersius, we have to rescue that pocket!” Thayle cried as she cut a man down.

“We need to stall them!” he yelled in reply. “We need to give the acolytes as much time as we can buy them.”

“You are giving up?” Mingfe growled.

“We are lost,” Gersius replied. “Shadros saw a second Doan army moving south. It will be here any minute, and we have no hope of defeating so many in the open like this. All we can do is take as many of them as we can with us.”

“Then we die with honor,” Mingfe growled and stabbed with her spear. “But you will die with the dishonor of never giving me a fair rematch.”

Gersius actually laughed at her reminder of the proper battle she had demanded. The situation was hopeless, but he would do all he could to bloody the enemy. He would die, but this army would be in no shape to continue, leaving the empire time to regroup and maybe counterattack.

“We have to get to the pocket and bring them back,” Mingfe shouted. “If we can recombine the army, we will last much longer.”

“I am trying,” Gersius shouted as they continued to advance on the cut-off right flank. “When we break through, they need to form a diamond formation. We will fight our way back to the rest of the lines,” he cried.

“We will be too narrow a front then,” Mingfe argued. “They will press us on all sides.”

“We have no choice!” Gersius argued back as he fought. “We may have to assume a formation that can fight in all directions.”

“You mean let them surround us?” Thayle said in a gasp.

“We are already surrounded,” Gersius argued. “But we will be much harder to kill in an organized formation.”

Sarah heard the argument and joined it, pointing out that a tight formation like that would be easy prey to spears from above. Gersius agreed, but they had no choice. They couldn't afford the luxury of a wider formation and had to risk it.”

“I have another idea!” Sarah said and lunged into the Doan, using her body as a ram. She took many hits, but she quickly blasted through them and into the pocked of what was now only a few thousand soldiers.

“Quickly form a wedge under my wings!” she bellowed, spreading her massive wings wide. “Grab the wounded and drag them with if you can!” She used her breath to create a wall of fire at her tail so the Doan couldn't sweep in from behind; then, she started to walk, using her wings to shield hundreds from the weaves and spears that fell all around them. Gersius reached Sarah as she sheltered the beleaguered soldiers with her own body. Still, there were too many men and women for her to shield, and they trailed in her wake.

“Shield walls!” Gersius yelled as he reached the men at the rear. They quickly organized into a wall of interlinked shields and walked backward with the dragon leading the way.

Sarah pressed on despite fresh wounds as pears began to punch holes in her hide. Tears came to her eyes as she tried to create a path through the carnage. She had used her fire so much that it now hurt her throat to call on it again. She knew that soon she would be unable to use it at all, her strength spent until she could spend a few months laying on her hoard. Shadros limped alongside, his thinner scales not resisting the wounds nearly as well. He did his best to protect her right as he could, but once again, the Doan focused all their wrath on Sarah.

Gersius fought at the rear, with Thayle and Mingfe trying to bolster the line of men as they retreated. Dozens of wounded were being dragged along with the group, but that was slowing their progress. Around them, the Doan roared and raged as they saw the pocked getting closer to the main body. Weapons clattered on shields and spears sometimes hooked the tops and struggled to pull them down. When a man faltered, Gersius raced to him, picked him back up, and returned him to the line. He struggled to keep as many of these men alive as possible while they made the deadly slow trek back. It was Sarah that alerted him to the problem.

“Gersius, the flank on the main body is collapsing!” she yelled.

He ran forward and out from under her chest. He saw his worst nightmare. The Doan had swept around the flank of the main force. The army had to pull the line back, withdrawing further from them on an ever-decreasing front. The gap between the men under Sarah and the main body was getting larger and larger by the second, which could only mean disaster.

“We are never going to make it,” Sarah cried, echoing his sentiment. He looked to the heavens as the early morning sun began to rise on the distant horizon. Many times he had faced defeat and disaster, wondering why the Divines had abandoned him. Now as it was all about to end, he closed his eyes and uttered a simple prayer.

“It has been my great honor to fight in your names,” he said to Balisha and Astikar. “I will forever be grateful for the time you gave me to know the love of my wives. Today, I will die with your songs on my lips.”

He dipped his head in supplication, then lifted his eyes full of red light to see something strange in the distance. The Doan reinforcements had arrived, but even from here, he could see something was wrong.

“Sarah,” he called and put a hand on her leg. “Look to the north!”

Sarah lifted her head high and looked across the battlefield using her sharp dragon sight. Gersius used the bind to look through her eyes and see with her clarity as his heart leaped for joy. Green banners of a white dear head over crossed swords fluttered in a breeze beside white banners featuring red stars with a white eye at the center. Gersius wanted to cry as the realization sank in. The army Shadros had seen wasn't Doan reinforcements; they were his!

“Alayse and Jessivel!” Sarah cried. “And they have their entire army with them.”

“Stand strong!” Gersius shouted to his beleaguered army. “Alayse is here with the rest of the army!”

Cheers went up as men and women gave the last ounces of strength to hold a collapsing line. Sarah turned into a fortress, hunkering over the army under her legs and fighting savagely. The ground began to shake as the thunder of charging horses could be heard even over the din of battle. The cavalry swept over the hills catching the Doan from behind and throwing their army into chaos.

Fresh battle priests waded into combat calling on divine power as they trampled Doan soldiers in a rampage of horse and man. The tide quickly turned, and before his eyes, the Doan began to fall away from his army. He heard horns blaring as the Doan tried to reform to meet the new threat, but the surprise had been near total.

“They are calling a retreat?” Thayle gasped as she was finally able to stop fighting.

“Not a retreat, a desperate attempt to make solid lines to meet the new threat, Gersius replied. “They are assuming we are too tired to pursue them, so they are leaving us to rot.”

“They are right,” Mingfe wheezed and fell to one knee.

“Let them go!” Gersius shouted. “Tend to the wounded and gather them to the camp!” His orders were echoed down the line by captains as the Doan desperately tried to turn and meet the new threat.

Exhausted soldiers waded into the sea of bodies and began to drag bleeding men and women clear of the carnage. Many lay in pools of blood, and many more were smoking charred husks. Some were still moving, desperately trying to call for help or drag themselves away. Those with any divine power left set about healing, as did Sarah and Thayle, who drew on dragon power to maintain their strength.

Gersius organized a group of several thousand and marched on the Doan from behind. He wanted to ensure this army was destroyed and shorten the fight so the cavalry wouldn't exhaust their healing power. They attacked from the rear, joining the cavalry and pressing hard into the lines. Twenty minutes later, it was over, and the greatest Doan army to ever set foot in the empire was destroyed. He estimated less than a thousand had escaped in a scattered rout, fleeing for the mountains. That meant tens of thousands were dead, as were the beasts they brought with them.

Gersius stood tall in the center of it all, breathing deeply as he tried to settle his heart. He had nearly been ambushed by the Doan and witnessed his annihilation. Thankfully he had been victorious, but that victory had been illuminating. He hadn’t won due to his skill as a commander or the training of his men. It wasn't numbers, preparation, or tactical advantage that saved the day.

This victory was solely because of Lilly and her overly loving heart. Despite how Ayawa felt about dragons mixing with humans, Lilly still tried to teach her the ancient ways. Despite all the warnings that the Doan could not be reasoned with, Lilly still tried to talk to them. This put Lilly in the right place at the right time with a means to relay critical information back that saved the day. She risked her life to save others, and deep down he was proud of her. When he first met Lilly, she was vain and arrogant, calling herself a queen of the sky and comparing her glory to the divines. Now, the creatures she once referred to as rodents mattered to her, and she showed great respect for their lives.

Lilly had done the impossible, and the first great battle was over. Still, he wondered why the enemy had used no dragons in the battle. Surely this was important enough to warrant several to keep Sarah busy. He would have to ponder that thought as the dead were collected and burials began. Despite his best efforts, twelve thousand of his soldiers were dead. The best estimates were the Doan had lost seventy thousand in a battle that would never be forgotten.

“My lord,” Jessivel said as she came to stand beside him. “The wounded have been tended to as best we can, but what do you want to do about the Doan casualties?”

“I assume we have very little healing power left,” Gersius said as he faced a grim decision.

“Not even enough to heal all of our own sufficiently,” Jessivel replied.

Gersius nodded as he closed his eyes. Thanks to Lilly, he knew something more about the Doan that might be important, and he wanted to get some answers.

“Have the men search the wounded and look for women of great years,” he said. “I have reason to believe that these women play a leadership role in the enemy campaign. See if you can find me four or five to question.”

“And the rest?” Jessivel asked.

“Help them pass,” Gersius replied coldly.

“It will be done,” Jessivel said with a bow of his head.

Gersius looked across the vast fields of bodies and wondered if there were any wise ones among the army. If there were, he intended to contain them and ask his questions to see what he could learn. If they refused to answer his questions, then he would see what the threat of being fed to a dragon did to loosen then tongues.