Lilly came awake as rough hands shook her. She had managed to warn Ayawa but couldn't be sure the warning had come in time. She felt a sense of panic as she opened her eyes to see the expression on Hurrock’s face.

“You must get up,” he said in a loud whisper. “Your time has run out.”

“What's happened?” Lilly asked as she sat up to see it was dark and the lamp in the tent was out. Hurrock pulled her to her feet and dragged her to the flap that acted as the tent's door.

“Two dragons landed outside the camp just minutes ago,” he said as he peeked into the night. “The wise ones have gone out to meet them, but I am sure it is you they are here for. I will help you escape and flee into the night. Maybe we can get close enough to your lands that you can cross to safety.”

“We can’t outrun dragons,” Lilly countered. “And the night will offer us no protection. We can see in the dark as if it was daytime.”

“There is no time to get the collar off,” he said as he stared into her eyes. “We have to try to escape.”

Lilly felt the urgency as her heart began to race. She wondered if this was the moment when she left the side of her family and was not there to mother her child. She fought back the tears that wanted to come forward as Hurrock took up his axe and readied to take her into the night.

“Why are you helping me?” Lilly asked as he checked the door again. She saw his shoulders slump, but he didn't turn, only let out a long sigh of pain.

“Because the dragons are not worthy of our devotion until I met you,” he replied. “I don't know why I feel as I do, but I know that something of great value will be lost if you die here.”

“Because, unlike many others, I have seen the dragons before. The one who rules over the lands my clan calls home is wicked and cruel, making demands of us and offering nothing. We obey because we have always obeyed, doing as our fathers did for generations. The Doan hold to tradition as if it alone can make us strong, and to deviate from that path is abhorrent. But I have seen firsthand how our ways make us weak and that dragons are not worthy of our devotion.” He paused and turned so Lilly could see the pain in his eyes. “That is until I met you. You are the only dragon I have ever known that cared about human life. That you came here to try and prevent the bloodshed was a testament to your honor. Yet our traditions blind us to your pleas, and the wise ones deal with you deceptively, hoping to curry favor with the dragons that are nothing compared to you. The wise ones may not see it, but I do. A great treasure will be lost if you die here, and the hope of a better future

will go with it.”

The power of his words struck Lilly as he reached for her hand and pulled her close, taking her to his chest. She froze when he leaned in and planted his lips against her, only briefly sharing a kiss.

“That is all I will ever ask of you as my wife,” he said, turning her loose. “Now, we have to flee before they come for you.”

Lilly nodded, but the tent flap suddenly burst open, and Sophia ran in.

“Why is she still here?” Sophia cried. “Two red dragons have come for her. They have demanded she is brought out and tied to the burned tree on the hill. They want to torment her before finally crushing her like a bug. The wise ones are on the way and have sent guards to ensure she can't flee.”

“Then I will cut a path out for her,” Hurrock said as his hand tightened on his weapon.

“There are ten men outside the tent already,” Sophia said, pointing to the door. “You can't fight them all.”

“I will not let them take her,” he argued. “On my honor as her husband, I will die to protect her.”

Lilly could see he meant to fight and die in a vain effort to save her life. She knew he was a good fighter, but once the battle started, hundreds of Doan warriors would be called to bring him down. He didn't stand a chance of getting her out even if they had run earlier. All he could do was die uselessly, and all her work would be in vain. She reached out and grabbed his arm, preventing him from leaving the tent, as she looked at him with sad eyes.

“Please don't do this,” Lilly begged. “You said the worst crime one could commit was to betray their people. So please don't betray yours for me.”

“You do not deserve this fate,” he insisted.

“I chose this path,” Lilly replied. “And what you just said about me is how I feel about you. You are the only Doan who understood what I was trying to do. You are my only hope for a better future where the empire and the Doan can have a proper dialog. If you die here, something great will die with you, and everything I tried to accomplish will be for nothing.”

“I am to stand by while they take you to your death?” he asked.

“You are to survive so you can teach your clan about me and begin the process of changing their hearts,” Lilly insisted. “Tell your clan about me and what I tried to do. Then, maybe in a few generations, your people will be ready to talk to us, and the next dragon that comes from the empire will be welcomed properly.” She could see the conflict in his aura as he struggled to accept her words. He really would have died to protect her, but she had reached him, and he understood he had a much more important part to play. Finally, he stepped aside as shadows moved outside the tent, and the flap was thrown open. Valindra looked into the tent glaringly as she nodded to four guards.

“Take her,” she commanded, and the men stormed into the tent. Lilly was grabbed by the arms and dragged into the night to face her certain death. She looked back to see the shattered look on Hurrock's face as Sophia leaned into him, crying. She whispered one last goodbye and then lost sight of him as thirty guards and dozens of wise ones crowded around her.

“I thought better of you,” Lilly said as they headed out of the camp.

“We are the Doan,” Valindra replied. “We honored our pledge to you and allowed you to speak.”

“And now you will kill me,” Lilly said.

“We will do no such thing,” Valindra said. “We are simply turning you over to a higher authority. They will decide what is to be done with you.”

Lilly saw how easily the woman claimed she had done as she promised while avoiding responsibility for what was about to happen. Had they meant to honor their agreement, they would not have sent for the dragons the moment she returned. There was no point in arguing with the women as hours of that had proven pointless. They believed they were right and justified to commit acts of cruelty in service to those beliefs.

Lilly saw the smug look on Cindri's face as the woman walked along, waiting to see her execution. Even Jhandi and Lacindra looked proud to be marching Lilly to her death. They saw this moment as a great triumph and an act of obedience to their dragons. Gersius had been right all along; the Doan could not be reasoned with except by the point of a sword.

She hung her head as they walked out of the camp and made their way up a hill to a charred tree trunk. Here Lilly's hands were tied with a rope whose length went around the tree. She was left helpless as the women retreated, returning a safe distance as the dragons circled overhead.

She looked up to see the dark forms blotting out the stars as they circled above. She realized they had probably ordered the wise ones to tie her up and leave so they could deal with Lilly privately. They didn't want the Doan to see what was about to happen or to hear their cruel words before they tore Lilly apart.

Slowly they began to descend, coming closer and closer as Lilly's heart beat fast. She lost her nerve and prayed to Balisha, begging the goddess to care for her family and egg.

“Please, tell Gersius I am sorry,” Lilly cried. “Tell him I am sorry I am not there to love our child.”

The ground shook as a dark form landed on the side of the hill, and red eyes stared at her in delight.

“So it is true,” the dragon said as she stalked in. “The betrayer has been captured!”

Another dragon the same size landed beside her and raised her head high as she blinked in disbelief. Lilly felt the last moments of her life fading away as the first dragon stalked in and cackled with delight. “The dragon who soils herself with a rodent has been brought low. Now she will die for her crimes against our kind, and her false goddess will soon follow.”

Lilly saw the second dragon come into view, and her heart nearly skipped a beat to see Rose looking on in shock.

“Now, traitor, you will die!” the first roared as it raised a massive clawed hand to crush Lilly. Lilly could hear her heart beating as everything seemed to slow down. She saw the hand rushing down, and the rapid movement as Rose turned on her companion and charged into her. The dragons tumbled to the side as the ground shook under their combined weight.

“What are you doing?” the first roared as it rolled to its feet with wings tucked tight and long neck coiled for a bite.

“You stay away from her!” Rose snarled with bared fangs as she took an aggressive stance.

Lilly could hardly believe what she was seeing as the two dragons began to circle one another, hurling insults and accusations as they readied to attack. The first dragon accused Rose of being a betrayer and promised she would bring back her head. Rose stood her ground, looking like a lion about to pounce as her claws dug deep into the earth.

All at once, the two lunged at one another, and there was a tremendous crash of claws and fangs as the surrounding countryside echoed with bloodthirsty roars. Blood began to fly as the two tore each other apart while Lilly could do nothing but watch. Then suddenly, there was a tug on her rope, and she looked back to see Hurrock and Sophia trying to cut the binds with a knife.

“Why are they fighting?” Sophia asked as the ground shook so violently she nearly toppled.

“One of them is my stepdaughter,” Lilly explained. “She is refusing to let the other dragon kill me.”

They all cried out in alarm as a tail swept the hilltop. Hurrock pulled both women down as it smashed the top of the tree trunk and nearly tore it from the ground.

“We must flee,” Hurrock cried as she tried again to cut Lilly's binds.

“No, you have to free my hands,” Lilly begged. “I have to help Rose.”

“How can you help?” Hurrock asked as he worked as fast as he could. “You still wear the collar. You can't take your dragon form.”

Lilly's hands started to loosen, and she quickly wiggled them free. The ground shook as she struggled to her feet and took in the battle of dragons as they parted to face off once again.

“I don’t need my dragon form,” Lilly said as her eyes began to glow with blue fire. “I am a priestess of Balisha, and I can call on the divine.”

She raised her voice in a musical call and reached out with a single hand. Rose lunged at the other dragon, who lashed out for a vicious bite only to be suddenly raked by a glowing white dragon's claw. The interruption gave Rose the advantage as she dug her claws deep into the other's hide. The two dragons went down in a cloud of dust as Lilly changed her song. Now a pair of glowing white dragon wings formed over her back and flapped to create a strong gust of wind. The cloud of dust was blown away to reveal the two dragons savagely tearing at one another as dozens of wounds bled.

Lilly reached a hand back as if she were about to throw a spear, and a lance of ice formed in her hands.

“By the divines,” Sophia said as she and Hurrock watched the display of power.

Lilly threw her arm forward, and the ice lance raced through the air; it plunged into the side of the rival dragon, causing it to howl in pain and lose focus on the battle. It was just long enough for Rose to clamp her jaws down on its throat just below the head. The dragon did its best to pull away, clawing at Rose, but its neck was broken with a loud crack.

Rose spat the dead creature from her mouth and stumbled Lilly's way before nearly toppling over. Lilly ran to her side as Hurrock and Sophia followed to see Rose finally collapse into the dirt.

“Rose!” Lilly cried as she reached the wounded beast.

“What are you doing here?” Rose wheezed as her head collapsed to the ground.

Lilly was shocked to see the severity of her wounds and how three ribs were exposed to the air. She quickly put her hands to her daughter's body and called out a new song, lifting her voice high to the goddess of the moon.

“What is she doing?” Hurrock asked as he watched golden light begin to spread over Rose’s body.

“She is calling on Balisha to heal her,” Sophia said with a tear in her eye.

“But why is Balisha healing a dragon who hates her?” he asked, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Lilly didn't hear their conversation as she poured every ounce of power she could call on into Rose. She was reminded of how Gerisus had tried to heal her in the valley and how the drain had become so severe he felt pain. Lilly felt that burning as wounds began to close and a broken wing straightened. She had one advantage over Gersius in that she was a dragon and could call on her own solus. The golden light grew to a blinding intensity until, at last, Lilly stumbled back, her strength so depleted she could barely stand. Hurrock was at her side to catch her as she nearly collapsed. Lilly realized she hadn't even begun to recover from resurrecting Gersius in the courtyard and that she had spent nearly all she had on him. The little bit she had recovered since had been enough to heal Rose, but she was now too weak to stand.

Rose stirred, climbing to her feet and looking down to see Lilly nearly depleted. She turned slowly to regard the scene of the three humans, then slowly lowered her head.

“I can sense how weak you are,” Rose said. “Why would you trade the power of your solus for me?”

“Because my eyes are open,” Lilly panted. “I have come to understand the value of family and how much it means to the humans. By their understanding, you are my daughter, and like Sarah, I love you.”

“I am not a human,” Rose argued but turned her head away.

“No, you are a dragon,” Lilly replied as Hurrock helped her sit on the ground. “But this was what we dragons were meant to learn. This is why we have the human form to go among the humans and learn how to love so we can strengthen our society, not weaken it. It was Solesta who started this terrible conflict when she grew afraid. She saw the old traditions of dragons at risk of dying and was afraid of what would be born from their ashes.”

“Just as we do,” Hurrock agreed and looked away in shame. “The Doan are no better.”

“The Doan are trapped by Solesta just as the other dragons are,” Lilly argued as she reached up a hand to him. He took it, and she rubbed a thumb over him as she met his gaze with a smile. “But you can begin the change by teaching your clan, and then they will carry it wider. Soon the Doan will question why they believe what they believe, and then maybe we will be ready to talk.”

“You must go,” Hurrock said and pulled his hand away. “The wise ones will return to investigate soon. They must not find you here.”

“Yes, go, take your dragon form and fly away,” Rose insisted.

“I can't,” Lilly said, lifting her hair to reveal the metal ring around her neck. “They have trapped me in this form.”

“They dared to collar you?” Rose growled and glared at Hurrock.

“It wasn't him,” Sophia said, grabbing his arm. “He protected Lilly and did his best to try and prevent this from happening.”

“Then take that thing off!” Rose ordered.

“I do not have the tools to do so,” Hurrock said as he trembled under that terrible visage.

Rose snarled and tried to hook the collar with a claw. Unfortunately, it was too tight around her neck to get behind it, and all she managed to do was push Lilly over. She growled in frustration and turned in a circle as her light radiated frustration and anger. She finally turned back and reached out a hand, snatching Lilly from the ground.

“What are you doing?” Lilly asked as Rose carefully lifted her.

“Taking you home,” she replied and spread her wings.

Lilly was stunned to see the light of compassion twinge the dragon's aura as she fought against her nature. She could see strands of black breaking away as Solesta's curse unraveled, freeing the dragon's heart. Rose was about to flap her wings when a voice called, and Hurrock implored her to wait.

“Wait!” he cried, waving a hand before grabbing Sophia by the wrist to pull her forward. “Take her with you.”

“What?” Sophia gasped and turned on him. “I am your wife.”

“No, you were taken as a prize against your will,” Hurrock said as she grabbed her by the shoulders. “I have always valued your love, and you have been a blessing in my life. But this is not your home or your people, and staying here puts you at risk. If this war goes badly for us they may seek those like you to take out their anger. I would rather you were safely away with those who care about you. Do this for me so I will not have to carry the burden of worrying for your safety.”

“Hurrock,” Sophia said as tears filled her eyes. “I will always consider you my husband.” She reached up a hand to stroke his cheek before sharing a kiss.

“We have to go,” Rose bellowed and held out her hand with Lilly in it. “To linger here is to risk death.”

Sophia burst into tears and ran for the dragon, where Lilly helped pull her into Rose's grasp. The two women huddled together as those massive fingers tightened around them, and with a mighty flap, they took to the sky.

Hurrock watched his wives fly into the night, fading into the distance where he would never see them again. The war had finally begun, but he now knew the Doan would lose. If love like that existed in the empire, then surely the Doan would find fanatic determination as men and women fought to protect what they held dear. They were fools to challenge the empire, and before this war was over, the Doan would learn what humility was.

He turned to walk back to the camp, where he would tell the wise ones that one of the dragons had turned on the other. The traitor had been slain in the effort before the dragon claimed both Lilly and Sophia. If they asked why he had gone to the hill when it was forbidden, he would admit that he wanted to see Lilly one last time. All of this was the truth, of course, because in his heart, Rose was the one who was justified, and the dragon she slew the traitor to her kind. He didn't need to tell them Rose had slain the two women, only that she claimed them. The wise ones could fill in the blanks and believe whatever they wanted to believe, but one thing was for certain. He was going to honor Lilly's wish and begin the process of teaching his people. Perhaps one day, many generations from now, the Doan and the empire would meet with words of honor and not a clash of steel.

Sarah groaned as her body was pummeled by spears and weaves. She struggled to hold her wings up to shield Tavis from the deadly fire, determined to hold the center at all costs. Weavers and priests from the empire did their best to support her, returning fire on the enemy to keep them suppressed. Still, there was only such much she could take, and this was the second time in less than an hour that she had been so heavily battered.

She stood like a fortress, using weaves of her own to drive waves of fire through the Doan, but it wasn't good enough. With her dragon sight, she could see they still numbered in the tens of thousands and had reserves in the rear that hadn't even been committed yet. The offensive on the border keeps had been nothing but a ruse meant to force Gersius to funnel men and material to their defense. The real attack was here, and this army would spread south, cutting those keeps off from the rest of the empire. With the bulk of his army trapped, the keeps would become tombs, as the armies inside were starved out and bled dry. That was why they were waiting so long. They wanted to ensure the enemy had taken the bait and committed a large portion of their forces so they could be easily destroyed.

Now the battle that would decide the fate of the war was on, and her blood flowed from dozens of wounds. She could feel Tavis pulling on the weave as he grew dangerously close to the limits of his control. If only she had more time to train him, he could have maintained this easily, but there was nothing to do about it now. All she could do was stand defiantly against the enemy and pray her scales would deflect enough of the arrows to keep her alive.

Gersius saw the fire, and his orders were quickly followed. The poor dove shields on the right were collapsing, their formations not trained for brutal direct combat. The priestesses of Ulustrah had sent several thousand to plug the hole, but he needed heavy infantry there as fast as possible. Knights in full armor broke off and hurried in practiced lines to take over the fighting as his army was forced into a battle on three sides.

He had no men to send to the left, so he turned to Mingfe and commanded her to stop the encirclement. Now formations made up entirely of women were meeting the Doan head-on in bloody combat. Mingfe was sending every priestess whose magic was depleted to reinforce the left. They had no blessing to offer the battle but could still swing a sword.

Thayle brought down another Ettin with vines, and the men around her quickly finished it off. Red bolts began to flash all around her as the women of the Doan moved up and tried to strike her from behind their men. She was forced to use her warding blessing and was bolstered by other women trying to protect her.

Gersius was about to run to her side when a black arrow raced across the gap and felled one of the Doan weavers. Ayawa moved behind Thayle, focusing her fire on any weaver who attacked her. Gersius wished her kinsmen had remained to lend their great skill to the battle, but he understood their need to leave.

Weavers of his own moved forward, and a terrible exchange of magical fire took place, decimating lives as Thayle was hurried out of the way.

He struggled to keep appraised of the battle that stretched beyond his sight on either side. His lines were thin, and the Doans were not. If he broke anywhere, they would spill through, forcing him to commit the remaining Priestesses of Ulustrah to full combat. Even as he searched the lines, he noticed that more and more priestesses were already joining them. Many had been forced to aid the priests of Vellous with the task of healing and wasted much of their power. Now they had nothing left to offer but a shield and sword arm. Still, men were being healed, but now it was by the young acolytes who had been pressed forward into harm's way to lend what little healing they had to the fallen.

“Lilly will kill me if any of them get hurt,” he said to himself and turned back into the fight. He rejoined Thayles side and fought beside her shoulder to shoulder as the wall of men pressed in.

“How many of these fools are there?” Thayle panted.

“This is probably a fourth of their number,” he replied as he cut another down.

“Then we are outnumbered four to one,” she groaned as her sword split a man from shoulder to side.

“Six to one, but we have killed all their Ettins,” Gersius replied.

“How do you remain so calm in situations like this?” she asked.

“There is nothing to do but remain calm. I can not change that we are in battle; I can only win it,” Gersisus replied as he raised his shield to deflect a red twisting bolt that had come through a man in front of him. It exploded on the dragon knight's shield, creating a bright flash as the chaos and carnage of war waged around them. He was about to issue more orders when Ayawa ran up to them, her eyes full of rage as her aura twisted with the pain of worry.

“Did you order that fool Tavis to hold a wall of fire?” she barked in a voice full of accusation.

“I needed to move men to our flank,” Gersius replied as he used his shield to deflect another weave.

.

“You know he hates to use his power!” Ayawa yelled and sent an arrow flying over Gersius's shoulder to kill the axe-wielding man.

“I did not order him into order him into battle,” Gersius retorted before ordering three men to fill a hole. “He chose that himself. I suspect he went to Sarah while she was in the rear healing.”

“It is a brilliant idea!” Thayle wheezed as she struggled to push back a Doan with a face half-painted blue. He roared at her and drew a dagger, but Thayle kicked him and sliced off the hand with the blade. Then, when he fell, clutching his stump, she finished him off. “His power will not harm her. They are the perfect team.” she finally finished.

“And what if he loses control?” Ayawa cursed.

Gesius silently prayed that wouldn't happen, but he understood her point. Tavis had no means of stopping the flow of power once it reached a tipping point. If he lost control, a storm of fire and death would erupt around him as he was slowly turned to ash. The flames would only end when he crumbled to dust, along with everything around him for a terrible distance.

“I pray that does not happen,” Gersius replied and plunged his sword into the ground. He used his free hand to call on a hammer of Astikar and hurled it into what appeared to be a Doan sub-commander. The man went down in a cloud of blood, and Gersius turned back to Ayawa. “But if he does lose control, he will take many of the Doan with him.”

“And what about Tavis?” Ayawa asked as her face went pale.

“I am blessed by the power of Sarah. I will risk my own life to wade into his flames and heal him,” Gersius said with all the brutal seriousness he could muster. He would do anything to save Tavis, even risk being incinerated. However, he seriously doubted he had the strength to overcome a man being consumed by a weave of fire running out of control.

Ayawa looked heartbroken as she turned away and melted into the masses of soldiers dying to hold this worthless ground. He saw Thayle had gone to the front of the line and stood with the men directly engaging the enemy. She took a spear to the shoulder, her army turning the weapon as she staggered to the side. Like the others, she was growing tired, and Gersius charged forward, joining her side in time to cut down the man threatening her. Now they stood together at the center of the storm as the dark army of the Doan closed in around them. The last of his forces had been committed, and nothing more could be done but to fight with all he had.

Thayle leaned against him as they struggled to hold the line. The Doan seemed endless, stretching over the landscape while his formations were barely ten men deep. She groaned as the battle took its toll and bodies piled up all around them.

“How much longer can we keep this up?” she asked between her pants.

“In my professional opinion, about ten more minutes,” he replied with a cold, calculating voice.

“And then what?” Thayle asked.

Gersius glanced over his shoulder, and she saw the deadly look in his eyes. “We will have exhausted our reserves and divine power and begin to fall in great numbers. I estimate that the battle will be over ten minutes later, and we will have died.”

His words were cold, but he knew the harsh reality of battles. Strength was waning, and men were getting tired. Battle drained a man quickly, and even the strongest battle brother channeling divine strength could not go on for much longer. The regular men were already near exhaustion, and the priests bolstered by magic would go on for five to ten minutes more. Then with faith exhausted, they would be overwhelmed by Doan forces not yet committed to the battle. It was the oldest rule of battle that numbers were the greatest advantage. An enemy who could rotate men out of battle and replace them with fresh soldiers would eventually grind an enemy down. The only way to defeat numbers was to engage them in a battle where they could not bring those numbers to bear. However, this battle was in an open field, and the Doan held all the advantages. If he couldn't find a way to turn the tide soon, he would have to seriously consider defeat, which would mean disaster for the empire.