A repugnant, putrid feeling forms in the pit of my stomach and grows to encompass my entire body. Relmoon was in control of himself the whole time. He consciously tried to kill me. He stalked us from the Grandfather tree, waited until I was alone, and went for the kill. All the soothing pleasantries he sang after saving my life were a trick. And I feel for it! Everything he said was a lie!

Nakino snorts and reasserts his talon against Relmoon’s neck. “You dung-eating…!”

“Nakino,” Frida interrupts.

Nakino relents and swivels his head toward Frida, calm and collected. She lowers her eyes and murmurs over Relmoon’s gasps, “He deserves judgment, not vengeance.”

Nakino stares at Frida, silently refusing to shift his talon.

“Featherbrain!” Frida chides. “Do you want to be punished, too?”

With a sharp growl, Nakino removes the talon from Relmoon’s neck and returns it to his stomach with a forceful pound. Relmoon heaves like a dying Grepo and wretches under our combined weight. After a few difficult moments, his breathing returns to normal.

With Relmoon finally subdued, Nakino’s feathers begin to relax. “We need to alert the Grandfather Tree to Relmoon’s treachery. Frida, can you fly?”

Unease grows across Frida’s face. “Relmoon got claws on me.” She draws her left wing open to reveal her flank. Dragon’s blood flows freely from several talon-length lacerations. “I’m not sure if I can takeoff.”

Nakino’s brow furrows, and he shakes his head. With Frida disqualified, Nakino slides his face to me. As our eyes meet, an air of relief blows through him. “Asha, are you alright? What in Felra happened?”

“After you left the grove, Relmoon ambushed me,” I say, wincing in pain. I lift my wing and present my injured leg to Nakino. “I tried to flee, but Relmoon was too fast. If Frida hadn’t intervened, I don’t know what would’ve happened.” My gaze shifts to the pale gray fledge. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“Well,” Frida mumbles, averting her eyes. “I was just… really curious! About you and Nakino, and how your night was going.”

“You were spying on us,” Nakino observes coyishly.

“Maybe!” Frida shrugs her wings. “But Asha, it’s a good thing I was around to hear your cry for help, right?”

“It was,” I say. “Relmoon took a few bites from my tail. I was having trouble fighting back.”

“I should have taken a few more,” he quips.

RRRRGH….

Nakino rumbles in fury, curling his talons deeper into Relmoon’s chest. Relmoon grits his fangs to stifle the pain, but the larger drakon’s claws are too much. He flails his head and wails in pain.

RAARGH!!

“Silence!” Nakino snarls a few feet above Relmoon’s face.

If I were still a Lemur, I’m sure I’d be mortified by Nakino’s brazen cruelty. But here in Felra, after lying to my face and attempting to take my life, I find myself numb to Relmoon’s suffering. In a way, his cries remind me of the screams of dying prey. Hearing them brings me a serene sense of pleasure.

But Frida doesn’t share my enthusiasm. She growls scornfully, reminding Nakino of the consequences that await. He grunts and releases his talon, allowing Relmoon to breathe more freely.

Frida’s gaze swivels from Nakino to Relmoon, and she shakes her head in dismay. “You monster… how could you attack Asha?”

After taking a moment to gather his strength, Relmoon grumbles, “Isn’t it obvious?”

We exchange glances, hoping somebody knows what he’s babbling about. None of us respond.

“I should have known,” he scoffs. Relmoon lowers his head backward and rests it leisurely against the side of a mallowshrub. “Well then, off you go to fetch Sefri and some of our esteemed elders. I’m sure they’ll be just as clueless, and I do not wish to explain myself twice.”

I exhale a frustrated sigh. This is insane. Relmoon had the feathers beaten out of him, but he’s still acting like an arrogant fledge. How much abuse can one Dragon take?

Nakino exhales and turns to address Frida and me. “I don’t trust you two alone, even if he’s injured.”

Frida asks, “If none of us can return to the Grandfather Tree, then what should we do?”

The answer stays elusive as Nakino frowns and averts his eyes.

“I wish it wasn’t Couple’s Night,” Frida sighs. “Everyone is flying around the tree. There’s nobody out here but us.”

Frida’s right. Most of the flock was at the Grandfather Tree to watch the ceremony. If none of us can leave, then what should we do? Damn it! Isn’t there anyone out here who can help us?

…

Maybe there is.

I crane my head away from the group and turn skyward.

“Asha?” Frida asks inquisitively.

SKREAAAK!

My earsplitting cry echoes through the forest and into the chilled night sky. It fades on the wind, replaced by the thunderous drone of innumerable flocks of birds stirred to flight by the power of my voice. As their wingbeats fade, the deep cry of a familiar drakaina returns to us.

ROOAARRH?

Frida’s face illuminates like a full Maki. “It’s Kuro!”

I can’t help but smirk. “I thought she might be flying around.”

Nakino sighs and lets his wings droop to the ground. “She must have deserted her mate. Again.”

As much as I wanted Kuro’s date to be successful, I had a feeling she was setting herself up for failure. Why else would she brag about how rude she acts on Couple’s Night? And when I saw who she was paired with — that poor, terrified drakon — I knew her night was already over. I told myself I’d be upset if this happened, but in light of recent events, I’ve had a change of heart.

With the three of us feeling a second wind of relief, I glance to Relmoon, still restrained beneath our talons, and find an astonishing sight. For perhaps the first time in his life, Relmoon looks oddly disquieted. His face is distressed, and his half-folded wings are raised slightly off the ground in apprehension. Most surprisingly, I can smell traces of fear-scent — he’s scared!

Oh, what a shame!

As far as I’m concerned, Kuro can do with Relmoon as she pleases. I might even join her.

A few minutes later, we spot the faint outline of a Dragon against the hazy glow of Maki. It descends through the trees and lands in the clearing next to us.

“Asha?” Kuro calls into the night. As she follows our scents, the thickets begin dancing with motion. “Asha, why do I smell—“

Kuro’s voice is extinguished as her body emerges through the underbrush. Her eyes shift through the three of us restraining Relmoon, then fall onto the crimson Dragon himself. Her eyes bulge like balloons before narrowing to slits.

“…You.”

Kuro tries to fight the rage exploding inside her, but powerful emotions prove too much. “You…!” she seethes, emerging from the thickets. “You tried to hurt her, didn’t you?!”

Relmoon’s hindquarters squirm beneath my talons. Idiot boy. I sink my claws into flesh, and the squirming stops.

“Relmoon ambushed Asha while we were separated,” Nakino says plainly. “He tried to kill her.”

GROAAWL!!!

Kuro roars, exploding forward with a fury I’ve never witnessed before. She tears open her wings and lunges for Relmoon!

“Kuro, wait!”

Kuro halts her charge mere feet from Relmoon neck. She flicks cold eyes to Frida, fangs bared and hungry for flesh.

“Please, don’t,” Frida says softly. “You know what happens if you hurt him.”

A low and brooding growl thunders from Kuro’s throat. She holds her gaze on her sister and lowers her wings slightly. Is she yielding?

“Kuro,” Frida continues. “We need you to fly to the Grandfather Tree and tell Sefri what happened. Asha and I are too injured and can’t restrain Relmoon alone. Us three must remain here and ensure he doesn’t escape.”

“Or kill Asha,” Relmoon quips again, a tinge of amusement in his voice.

“I should kill you, Relmoon!!” Kuro bellows.

“But you won’t,” Relmoon frowns, exaggerating disappointment. “Isn’t that right, Kuro?”

She stares at Relmoon, unchanging in posture. Kuro could end Relmoon’s life in a heartbeat if she pleased, but something is holding her back. What was Frida talking about? What happens if Kuro hurts Relmoon?

“Ah, yes,” Relmoon says with a contented growl. “Calm your bitter heart, Daughter-Of-Mecali. You can’t so much as lay a feather on me. Or have you already forgotten your Grandmother’s warning? As Princess Asha Eloise Lordanou wasn’t there, allow me to repeat it. She said—”

ROARR!!

Kuro’s furious snarl puts a swift end to Relmoon’s speech. She drops her head and lunges, clamping fangs around Relmoon’s neck!

“KURO!!” I shriek.

Relmoon gasps, slams his eyes shut, and writhes under my talons. But just as quick as she lunged, Kuro pulls back, clamping a muzzlefull of crimson feathers. She didn’t bite his flesh!

Kuro grunts, “Sefri will never believe me unless I bring these as proof. Nakino!”

The black drakon flinches, startled by the power of Kuro’s voice.

“Keep them safe until I return,” she says, dipping her head and turning to leave.

“R-right.” Nakino stammers, unease clouding his voice. “I’ll do anything to protect my mate.”

Kuro stops with one talon held in the air. She holds her gaze on Nakino for a heartbeat but says nothing. Then she flicks her eyes to me, and her expression softens.

My heart skips a beat as our eyes meet. Oh, for all the moon, I wish I could talk to her alone! To share with her everything that’s happened tonight and tell her just how much I loathe Relmoon. But he needs to be dealt with first. He deserves the elders’ judgment and everything terrible that comes his way.

Kuro’s face tightens with resolve. Apparently, my expression said enough. She puts her talon down and dives through a thicket. A few moments later, she’s gone.

With the immediate crisis over, the three of us exhale — we can focus on keeping Relmoon restrained until the flock arrives. On the subject, I gaze down to assess Relmoon’s condition. His eyes are closed, and his head is rolled back against a mallowshrub. He moans quietly to himself, exhausted and in pain. It seems his arrogance finally caught up to him.

“He'll be off his talons for a while,” Nakino declares, relaxing his feathers. “Asha, Frida. Keep him restrained while I locate some moss. I must tend to your wounds.”

“Right,” Frida nods.

Nakino looks at me, and I nod in kind. Leaving us alone with Relmoon is risky, but I would like to stop bleeding everywhere. If the flock arrives and discovers my purple blood, then an already terrible night could become truly catastrophic.

Nakino steps off Relmoon and studies him carefully, watching to see if he’ll spring to life. After a few moments, he’s convinced of his pacification and turns to search the area. As Nakino shoves his head into a nearby thicket, Relmoon stirs beneath my talons. My heart quickens, but the movement soon stops. I look up to find that Relmoon has merely shifted his wings into a more comfortable position.

Well, that’s fine. I guess.

I curl my talons anyways, and Relmoon shrieks in pain.