Gersius stood tall on the back of mighty Sarah as the army marched over a hill and looked down into the vast plains below. These lands had once belonged to the empire all the way west to the river known as the Serpentine. They had been lost in the years that followed because they were difficult to protect from the Doan. Sometimes, years would go by without a single Doan crossing the river, leaving the people to believe the raids had stopped. Daring settlers would sneak out, establishing farms and flocks on the fertile soil and growing rich. Then they would vanish in a week of violence, leaving nothing behind but ashes. The Doan kept coming, burning, and enslaving everything in their wake for over a thousand years. They thought it was their right to do so, but soon that right and tradition would end. Five major battles had been fought over the last seven days, each growing more desperate as the Doan did their best to slow him down. They were two days to the moon's eclipse, and the target of their long bloody march was almost within reach.

From here, Gersius watched distant banners cresting a hill signaling the arrival of the second army led by Gams. He now had two armies to take the final objective and end this terrible war once and for all. Then he would go on a six-month campaign, crossing the Serpentine and driving deep into Doan territory. It would be Gersius who looted and burned, tearing their civilization apart. When he left, the Doan would no longer be a threat to anyone for another thousand years, if they recovered at all.

It should be a moment of triumph, but his heart was heavy. Lilly desired him to show mercy and spare the Doan by not crossing the river. Ever since her time with them, she felt nothing but pity, claiming they were raised on lies and the dragons were to blame. Her view was correct, but that didn't change the circumstances. The Doan would regroup and, in a generation, return to wage another war and then another. It would go on until somebody finally bled them so completely that they feared to raise a sword against him again. His only hope for a lasting peace was to ensure he was that man they feared. Lilly was hopeful that this Hurrock would rise to power and lead the Doan off this path. Gersius sympathized with her, knowing his beautiful and loving wife only wanted to find another solution. However, he couldn't stake the empire's future on this one man who, for all they knew, had been killed in one of the previous battles.

“More than likely, he has,” Sarah's voice echoed in his mind. She turned her long neck to look down at the man who stood on her back and narrowed her eyes. “And you are right; sparing them now only encourages bloodshed later. Better to put an end to his once and for all.”

Gersius was grateful that Lilly and Thayle had gone out to fly over the other army and were not close enough to hear their thoughts. Silently they held a conversation as the two armies grew closer together, converging on the final destination.

“You need to stay focused,” Sarah urged. “The great battle is almost upon us.”

“This is only the tipping point,” Gersius replied as he considered all the fighting that would come after this. “This ends the goal of the Gorromogoth and potentially the dragon's interference with the Doan, but it does not end the threat they pose. Nor can we be sure that they won’t launch a campaign of revenge if we stop the event.”

“We can’t speculate on what will happen,” Sarah argued. “Let us hope this Gorromogoth falls in the battle and puts an end to his mad scheme once and for all.”

“Is his scheme mad?” Gersius asked. “He believes he is saving the dragons, and we are the mad fools trying to destroy them.”

“He is misguided,” Sarah replied, but Gersius could feel her conflict. She knew he was paying attention, so she admitted that she didn't consider the man evil. Lilly had been the first to point out that, from his point of view, he was trying to save the dragons. Now they faced the reality that this entire conflict was a continuation of the battle between Solesta and Balisha. Their titanic disagreement had shattered a world and wiped away a golden age. The dazed survivors came out of it superstitious and angry, their histories, technologies, and culture lost to the age of flames.

“This battle is to decide how the dragons will be saved,” Gersius said after a long moment. “If any of them are still alive to be saved.”

“Do not say such things,” Sarah said, lowering her head. “You sound like Lilly. She has been going on and on about how precious our time is. She dreads this impending battle with every ounce of her heart.”

Gersius nodded as he considered his beautiful wife, who had come to be his very heart. She had started as a dragon fully under the curse but came out of that fire, the most loving being he had ever known. Lilly was love incarnate and refused to give up on the dream of freeing the dragons from the curse. He hoped that was possible, but his prayers and meditations had gone unanswered. No matter how he pleaded with Balisha and Astikar for guidance, they revealed nothing but a sight he didn’t understand. It was a statue of a dragon whose wings were wrapped around another statue of a woman holding a flower in her hands.

“I have had the same dream,” Sarah replied. “Always after prayer as I, too, search for an answer. It will break Lilly's heart if the eclipse passes and the curse remains. Not to mention the danger the curse will pose to our children. We cannot overlook the fact that they will be half-dragon.”

“We will find a way,” Gersius asserted as he stared into the distance. “We did not come this far to fail.”

“I know,” Sarah replied. “Through all the painful lessons that have been taught, I know the divines have guided us this far. But still, I pause, wondering who has been aiding us and if they are truly a friend or another deception.”

Gersius nodded as he considered the unseen hand that had intervened on their behalf. They were not sure what this being was, but it was clear they were watching carefully.

“It has to be a divine,” Sarah pressed. “One of the lesser ones who isn’t afraid to break the rules. He or she risks waking the sleeping mother and triggering her wrath again.”

“And what of our enemy?” Gersius asked. “Does he not risk waking her?”

“He is not a divine,” Sarah stated. “He is not bound by the law that forbids their interference. We can only assume that she will not notice his actions, but considering his power, perhaps she will.”

“And what if this wayward divine intervenes?” Gersius asked. “What do we do then?”

“Pray the mother of creation does not punish us with them,” Sarah replied.

Her words echoed the sentiment in his heart as the army continued its relentless march. Soon they would fave the culmination of a thousand years of planning, and the winner would be decided. But here, at the final precipice of what would be his legend, all Gersius wanted to do was climb onto Lilly's back and tell her to fly for the valley. He promised to bring her home one day, and right now, that was all he wanted to do.

“We should keep up,” Sarah urged and began to walk, the ground shaking with every step. They changed the topic to Lilly and how she had been surprisingly calm of late, maybe even excited. She showed a confidence that this battle could be won and that they would not be stopped. She mentioned the curse ending and the dragons being freed a dozen times as if it had already come to pass.

Sarah agreed Lilly seemed to have an unusual optimism for the future but was still sad about what would come next. She hated the idea of pursuing the broken Doan armies into their homelands to ensure they could not recover. She also didn't like that they would return to Calathen afterward to rule the empire for years to come. All she wanted to do was go back to the valley and have a family with children in her arms. Still, she knew this battle had to be fought, and her only worry was they were running out of time. She often asked if they were going to reach it in time and could the Doan stop them from their goal.

Gersius supposed they could be delayed long enough if the enemy made a major push to cut them off. However, Alayse had maintained a terrible pace, preventing the Doan from having any time to regroup and consolidate. It was taking a toll on his army as well, but they pressed on to keep the advantage. Still, he knew that Doan from every corner of their land would be swarming to the crater where there would be one last violent stand.

“We have two armies now,” Sarah reminded him as she thumped along. “Our enemies cannot hope to stand.”

A gentle rain began to fall as the skies darkened to match the mood that darkened his heart. Lilly and Thayle returned to report that Gams had nearly all the veteran troops with him. His army was larger than theirs, and he brought extra troops to bolster Alayse, along with hundreds of Sarah's supply wagons. He even had nearly fifty thousand militia drawn from every corner of the empire. They were the conscripts Gersius had demanded, the last tax on his people for the war. Many were volunteers, eager to help win the war that was so crippling their homelands. It was all good news as it meant they had no reason to stop. Now they could march on, pressing hard for the crater and the heart that would soon be revealed.

They camped on a large hill under a rumbling sky as Sarah and Shadros circled overhead to watch the skies. Gersius held a meeting with Alayse, Gams, and every commander from every unit and division of his armies. It was a tense discussion of what to expect that was full of unknowns. All they could be sure of was the enemy would have everything they could throw at them waiting at the crater.

“We can expect thousands of Banderstooks,” Alayse stated as she studied the vague map in frustration. “Do we have no better map of the region?”

“I searched the archives and every garrison for a better map,” Gams replied. “Nobody has charted this region in five hundred years, and the earlier maps were burned in Doan raids.”

“Then not only do we not know the enemy composition, but we have no idea what the ground looks like,” Thayle stated.

“We will adapt,” Gersius said. “Whatever challenge awaits us, we must break through and capture the crater.”

“You really think the heart of a fallen goddess is hidden inside?” Gams asked.

“That is the resting place of Solesta's heart,” Rose stated firmly, drawing a few weary glances. “You can deny the validity at your own peril.”

“And can you trust her?” Gams said with a lowered voice. “She was working with your enemy just a few weeks ago.”

“I understand why you are concerned,” Gersius replied. “But I will stake my life on her.”

“Suit yourself,” Gams rumbled, his aged eyes looking tired. “I know better than to argue with you.”

Gersius smiled and met the man's gaze with his own tired eyes. Gams was perhaps a second father to him and one of the bravest men he had ever met. If ever there had been a man Gersius respected more, it had to be his real father, but then only barely. “Many of the people I should have been able to trust have betrayed me,” Gersius said before clasping the man's shoulder. “But my truest friends have stayed loyal.”

“I have too much of my time and blood invested in you to let you get yourself killed on this fool invasion,” Gams countered.

“It's going to be a blind invasion,” Alayse interjected and tapped the roughly drawn map. “We have no idea how long the Doan have been fortifying this area. It may be walled and bristling with towers meant for defense. We might need siege engines to get through.”

“We do not have time to construct siege engines or to bring them from the border,” Gersius countered. “We deal with whatever we encounter with the forces we have; then we hold that location at all costs until we can destroy the heart.”

“How?” Gams asked. “If this really is part of a goddess, how are you going to destroy it?”

“I do not know,” Gersius admitted. “I trust the divines to reveal the method when the time is right.”

“Gersius,” Gams said in a voice that sounded dire. “I encountered very little resistance as I marched south, meaning those armies have moved elsewhere. A hundred thousand Doan warriors are unaccounted for and very likely waiting for us. If what you're saying is right, then only during the eclipse can you hope to touch this heart. That gives you minutes to figure out what you are going to do and then deal with it. I don't mean to paint a dire picture, son, but are you sure we can do this?”

“We have no choice,” Gersius replied. “This is where the path I started on all those weeks ago has led. Lilly’s suffering, Thayle’s torment, and Sarah’s imprisonment will not be in vain. This ends here, one way or another.”

“Then we have to plan several methods of attack,” Alayse stated. “Try to be prepared for every potentiality. Jessivel has already gone ahead with a small army of scouts. Hopefully, he will provide us with a better understanding before we walk into this blind.”

“Gersius nodded in approval, and they spent the next five hours pouring over papers as Alayse, Gams, and Gersius planned the battle. When he finally retreated to his private area, Lilly was on him in a moment, her soft lips pressed against his.

“Make love to me,” she begged, her hands running down his chest. She had been like this for days, her need for affection growing as they drew closer to the end. Thayle joined them, and together, they reaffirmed their love for one another. Then Lilly lay in his arms with Thayle at her back, talking about how she wished Sarah could be with them. Gersius wished that too, but Sarah was needed to keep watch and prevent an ambush from the air. A camp sat motionless for the night was too tempting a target for a dragon, and she would be the early warning that such an attack was coming. He stroked Lilly’s head, admiring the color of her beautiful hair.

“I always loved the color of her hair, too,” Thayle agreed as she read his thoughts. “It makes her look exotic.”

“I like your eyes,” Lilly said. “And how soft your lips are.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Thayle replied and snuggled tighter. “But you feel troubled still. Are you worried about the battle?”

“No,” Lilly replied as her aura showed it as the truth. “I am worried about what comes after it.”

“Lilly,” Gersius said in a soothing voice. “I promised I would take you home one day. I intend to keep that promise no matter what. You will see the valley again, and I will build our home so we can be a family free from the burdens of leadership.”

“Going back to the valley feels like a dream,” Lilly sighed. “You want to pursue the Doan, then go back to Calathen for years to come. We won’t even see the forest Thayle planted.”

“Lilly,” Gersius said softly. “We will return to collect our daughter, so you will see it again soon. And I told you, we have to stay in Calathen to rule the empire until it is stable and running as it should. But during that period we will visit the valley and spend a few weeks, maybe a month or two, summering there. Then when the time comes, and we can hand the empire down to one of our children, we will return to the valley as our home to stay.”

“I just want to be alone with you and our wives,” Lilly said. “Not surrounded by thousands of people all the time. Dragons are solitary creatures. We don’t like all this confusion.”

“I understand,” Gersius replied and kissed her forehead. “Our time will come, but we cannot make the mistake so many others make in moments like this.”

“What mistake?” Lilly asked, her blue eyes looking deep into his soul.

“Many people begin a long struggle committed to seeing it through,” Gersius began. “They achieve their goals but grow weary of the struggle, so when the end is close, they stumble because their heart longs for what comes after. Because they stumble, they fail to finish what they started and ultimately fail to achieve what they set out to do in the first place.”

“Oh,” Lilly replied and ran her hand up his chest. “You are worried that my heart has gone out of the fight. My heart does desire to go home and be at peace away from human conflicts, but I promise to stay strong to the end.”

“Good,” Gersius said before lifting her chin to kiss her. “I love you, my beautiful dragon.”

“I love you too, rodent,” Lilly replied with a smile. Thayle burst into a giggle, and the three snuggled tightly, trying not to think about where or the danger that loomed in the future. Lilly was once again reassuring them that they would win, no matter what the enemy threw at them. Gersius was proud of her faith, considering she once mocked the divines as useless and beneath her. Now she was a full battle priestess and head of one of the great orders.

Well above the camp, mighty Sarah circled the sky high above the clouds with Rose and Shadros to keep her company, watching warily as the two moons passed nearly on top of each other. It was an ominous sign of what was coming and how the final moment would soon be upon them. Thunder rumbled below them as she looked down to see the swirling dark mass.

“Soon, this will be over,” Sarah rumbled as the two smaller dragons flew beside her.

“How can you be so sure?” Rose asked. “You have not seen the power my master wields.”

“He is no longer your master,” Sarah corrected. “When you woke from the curse, you shed any right he had to call you his. You are aware of the truth, and I worry about you.”

“You should not worry,” Rose replied and then went silent. “But, there is one thing I wish to understand.”

“What is that?” Sarah asked.

“Why did the human Gersius say he would stake his life on me?” Rose asked.

“When did he say that?” Sarah asked, turning her head to look into her daughter’s eyes.

“In the meeting before I flew up to join you,” Rose explained. “The one you call Gams asked if I could be trusted. Your mate said that he would stake his life on it.”

“That is because he knows you are trustworthy,” Sarah replied. “And he has grown fond of you.”

“Fond of me?” Rose choked. “I will not be his mate.”

“No,” Sarah laughed at her daughter's mistake. “He doesn't think of you like that. He sees you as his daughter.”

“What?” Rose balked. “He is not my father. Numidel is.”

“Child,” Sarah interjected. “Human relationships work differently. When a man and woman marry, any children they possess become children of the other. Since you are my daughter, he becomes your father through marriage. Lilly has mentioned this at least a dozen times now.”

“Lilly is more like a human than a dragon,” Rose argued.

“Lilly has had the most time to explore the concept of love,” Sarah replied. “And she had the great blessing of having Thayle to guide her in her early days. I do not understand it clearly myself, but Thayle tells me that most humans make many mistakes that often hamper their growth. She cites Lilly’s open heart and freedom from those chains as one of the reasons why she is so powerful. I wish I had known her back then, but I look forward to the years we will have in the future. In truth, I have known but a very short time, but it has been long enough for me to admire her.”

Shadros flew closer; his black scales were almost invisible in the night sky. He looked unsettled by the conversation and asked why they were so focused on such things. He was more worried about the pressing matter of battle and cited that they could be attacked at any moment.

“You have grown fond of Mingfe,” Sarah said as she looked over the smaller dragon. “Do you not feel that she and you are bound by more than the ancient magic? Do you not feel a need to be with her?” The look in his eyes was answer enough, but he admitted that he had strange feelings for the woman. He tried to compare it to his desire to hoard gold but said it was different.

“That is why we are talking about it,” Sarah said. “Because we pure dragons are facing a challenge that only Lilly has truly overcome. We have discovered what it means to love, but the feeling is so strange to us that we cannot understand what to do with it.” She sighed and looked across the dark sky, wishing they were already on their way home.

“What if we face more dragons?” Shadros asked.

“We can be certain we will,” Sarah replied. “And they will fall as all the others did.”

“I am not so sure you will face more,” Rose replied as she turned her long neck. “You have slain many of the dragons he had in support of his plan. There are more, but they were not directly involved, and I would not expect them to be at the battle.”

“That would be a blessing,” Sarah exclaimed with great relief. “Lilly mourns over every dragon lost in this terrible war. It is her sincerest desire to avoid killing any more of them.”

“You will have to face the Gorromogoth,” Rose said. “He will not allow you to stop him.”

“And how old is this dragon?” Sarah asked, wondering just how much Rose knew about him.

“He is older than you,” Rose replied. “But I have never spoken to him directly nor seen him in his full power. He uses the weave to speak to us or sends messengers to deliver his commands. I am told he is very large but that he can appear at nearly any size he wishes.”

“He can alter his size,” Sarah repeated as she pondered a thought. “So it was him who came to Calathen and danced with Lilly.”

“That was him,” Rose said with conflict in her voice. “He said he wanted to see Lilly himself and find out what kind of dragon she was. I think he hoped to win her to his side and cause your Gersius emotional harm.”

“That would have been a death blow,” Sarah stated. “But why did he kidnap them later?”

“He believed she was bound to Gersius, and he had commanded her to be so docile,” Rose said. “He wanted to save her from the man Gersius by breaking her chains and allowing her the chance to get her revenge. But Lilly refused to strike him down and turned on the Gorromogoth instead.”

“A pity Lilly didn’t kill him,” Sarah growled. “I have no idea how he escaped me. I never saw him.”

“That was perhaps the closest anyone has come to killing him,” Rose replied. “I do not understand it, but the power needed to sever the bind was great. He was weakened and vulnerable right after and could not believe Lilly truly did desire the human Gersius.”

“Just call him Gersius,” Sarah stated. “There is no reason to say, human.”

“He vowed she would pay for her treachery,” Rose continued. “When word arrived that Lilly was among the Doan and being contained, I and another were sent immediately to deal with her. We were to bring her back to him so he could punish her for loving Gersius.”

“When did you change your mind?” Sarah asked.

“They never told me who she was,” Rose said. “Just that a dragon spy was among the Doan pretending to be an ally. We were to go and collect her so she could be punished. When I saw who it was, I….” Rose trailed off, unable to finish her statement.

“You couldn't do what you had been sent to do,” Sarah finished. “Because Lilly's boundless love had touched your heart, and you were not about to see her die.” Rose dipped her head in recognition, and Sarah let out a sigh. Lilly's love was like the light of a star, shining down on a world that didn't deserve her. She had brought Sarah's daughter back from the hands of their enemy and changed her heart so that she was ready to learn about love. When this war was over, Sarah was going to spend some proper time with Lilly. She wanted to love the woman and teach all she could about her history. When they finally had time, Sarah would show Lilly how grateful she was.

Sarah banked and beat her mighty wings, looking to the south where the enemy waited. One way or another, this conflict was about to end. Tomorrow they would march into striking distance of the enemy, and more than likely, the dying would begin. Lightning flashed below them, illuminating the clouds that concealed the camp. Tomorrow they would march to the final battle. Tomorrow the prophecy would end.