Pain. She was never used to it.

  Henrietta's consciousness started to drift as pain overwhelmed her senses. Her body was no longer able to function due to the pain. No, it was not just the pain. There was something else in there.

  Poison? Probably.

  She laid on her own pool of blood, legs and wings pulled apart. She felt like a strung-up game. Such an unbecoming thing for a dragon to be. But what she could do? Her body refused to listen to her, and her consciousness was drifting away. When she finally went to sleep, it might as well be the last sleep she ever had.

  She cheated death once. Perhaps that's one too many for it.

  But before she could give up to fate and let death take her, something happened. Something that reinvigorate her.

  Thomas stood in front of her, fighting against the Sybarians that were trying to take her away. He fought valiantly, but he had his limits. If he died, her sacrifice would be all for naught.

  She needed power. She regained her fire back, but she was immediately defeated by the same enemies that ruined her life. She did not care about that. All she cared about was to ensure that Thomas survived. She must prevail.

  And to do that she must draw her anger. Draw every ounce of rage and vengeance inside her against these Sybarians. They ruined her life, and she would ruin theirs in return.

  Unbeknownst to her, or perhaps she wasn't even aware of it, there was a spark within her soul. A spark that would preclude the fire that would burn as bright and be as malleable as water. She would not know about it, for her consciousness was already drifting away before she realized what she was doing.

  All those bottled feelings soon burst out of her all over her body, and the fire that she spewed before came to life to deal with most of the Sybarians around her, while sparing those who she cared about. She did this, barely conscious of what she was doing.

  Not realizing it before she was gone.

  "Is that...is that all of them?"

  Bartlett asked amidst his shortness of breath. He, Eliani, Rodvar, and Shana had just killed the Sybarians ambushing them. It was a grueling fight, one that they survived only because of Shana's disorentation-focused spells. It did not work as well as it was towards the known races, but there was a very good reason why.

  "Damn lizards used Vyrnian magick to counter my charms," said Shana. "Good thing you two are such great fighters yourselves."

  "Even without that magick, they were still relentless warriors," said Eliani."Our victory is hard-fought. If this isn't the last of them, I doubt we'd survive."

  "I'd really appreciate a vote of confidence," said Bartlett, sarcastically. "But you have a point."

  "We are wasting too much time here," said Shana. Bartlett looked at her and wanted to thank her for being the one that gave them the advantage. Her magick may not be the most combat-oriented, but it was enough to cause confusion amongst the dangerous reptilian opponents they faced. Granted, it didn't work as effectively as they had hoped, but it was good enough.

  But they had no time to dawdle. A roar got their attention. For the rest of them, the roar was just like any beast's, but Eliani thought differently. The cat people of the desert made similar roars, as did the beasts that roamed the region. She could easily tell that something was wrong from it.

  "That beast is in pain," said Eliani. Without saying anything else, she dashed away from her allies, quickly leaving them behind owing to her feline agility. Only Shana was able to keep up. Bartlett and Rodvar followed behind, with Bartlett intentionally slowing down so his dwarven friend could keep up.

  It was only after he heard the roar one more time did Bartlett recognized who it belonged to.

  "Henrietta," he declared. "That's Henrietta! How did they find out?"

  "We spoke in the open, lad," said Rodvar. "Someone with better ears must've listened in."

  "Damn it."

  "Ya can't blame y'self for somethin' ya can't control, lad," assured the dwarf. "C'mon. The lassies are beatin' us already. We need to get to her soon. I doubt she made those roars because she wants to."

  The two of them ran as fast as they could, chasing Eliani and Shana whose digitigrade legs carried them much faster than the human and the dwarf. The cheetah woman, in particular, was much faster than Shana, and was very agile, managing to keep herself moving despite the obstacles. She leaped, rolled, and even crawled like an animal, but she never stopped. It blurred the line between the beast and the person.

  Shana managed to keep up only because she was in her feral form. She doubted she could catch up in her beast person form. She was never an agile runner when standing on two legs. Maybe if she trained herself, she could, but she trained herself in magick, not acrobatics.

  Shana's musing was cut short by the same feeling that alerted her of Henrietta's predicament. This time, something dangerous was coming. She immediately shouted, "Stop!" towards Eliani, who fortunately heard her and stopped her run with all her strength.

  Soon enough, a burst of fire, big enough to engulf the whole alleyway, started rushing towards the two. Eliani and Shana quickly found cover just as the fire rushed past them. The heat and the intensity of the fire was enough to leave a mark on the sandstone walls, while also burning off the unprotected plants.

  The fire, however, was not just any fire. With the fire so close to her, she could sense the magick that produced the fire. It overwhelmed her, not because of its sheer magnitude, but for the emotion accompanying it. She was baffled by this. Dragon fire shouldn't carry emotions. It wasn't an emotional-based spell. Yet, the fire felt alive. It was as if such primal element was imbued with life. It was the same thing she felt before, one that prompted her to run towards Henrietta.

  It was not just any draconic elements out there. This magick was as ancient and as otherworldly as the faeries. The only one matching it was the magick of the gods. It was the rawest form of fire magick, one that could be molded as easily as one mold clay, but only if they were blessed by the god of fire.

  To think something like this existed baffled Shana enough. It baffled her even more when she realized that it came from a human cursed into a dragon of all things.

  Shana was not the only one who sensed this unusual magick. Bartlett and Rodvar, trailing behind, sensed both the heat and the unusual nature of the fire. Bartlett did not hear anything, but Rodvar did.

  "Lad, wait!" said Rodvar. "Can you hear it?"

  "Hear what?"

  "A whisper. Like the Stones of the Deep."

  "Stone of the Deep?"

  "Dwarven Instinct, lad. Everything has magick, it just depends on which you are more attuned for. For us, it's the stones."

  "Is that why dwarves make good miners?"

  "Mining efficiency is a different matter, though. This whisper sounds like a mithril stone, but several times denser. This feels like a Deep Stone. It's ancient, and it caught my instincts."

  Bartlett couldn't really say anything. Being a human, his senses in anything supernatural was minimal at best. All he had was Rodvar's words, and he had no reason to not believing in his friends. Yet, he agreed there was something unusual with the fire.

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  "Whatever that is, one thing is certain," said Bartlett. "Someone's playing with fire. A big fire."

  They continued running, while Shana and Eliani, who managed to stay out of the fire before it stopped, began to move. Along the way, they noticed several people burned by the fire. They undoubtedly did not have time to move when the fire started, but Shana wondered if they were there not because they were innocent bystanders, but in fact Wyrithian invaders who were waiting to strike. Whoever they were, their secrets died with them.

  They soon found themselves in an open area. Almost immediately, both got into cover once they noticed a dozen or so archers on the roof, all of which were reptilian people. They also noticed that they were wrangling something big with ballistae, though the rope was burned off. It was the aftermath of a big battle, one ended by the fire that burned the square and all the grass, turning the area black like soot.

  They both quickly assessed the situation, starting with a pink-scaled dragon that was heavily injured by anchored bolts and was barely conscious. The dragon's blood soaked the cobblestone path like a puddle, some of it already seeped through the path. She was on her side, her breathing ragged.

  "Ashe's mercy," said a bewildered Shana. "Henrietta!"

  Eliani couldn't stop the fox, but what she could do was shot down the remaining reptilian people. She immediately climbed up a nearby stairs, surprising them with several well-placed shot through their chest. They all turned towards her, letting out a hiss, taunting her. She replied by pulling out her daggers. They shimmered unnaturally, as if they had a light source of its own.

  She danced around them, dodging and weaving around her adversaries gracefully, while also plunging one of her dagger through their soft scales. She knew they were tough, but as an experienced hunter, she knew where to cut. It was also helped by the sharpness of her weapons. Her daggers and the arrowhead were sharper than most blades, courtesy of Jubari blacksmiths and alchemists.

  The way she danced around the lizard people, while effortlessly killing them with her silver-colored daggers, along with a snarl that revealed sharp, predatory fangs, were enough to demoralize the archers. In just a short moment, the survivors were strewn all over the roof, all killed by her. She, the predator, was caked in the blood of her preys, turning her golden-colored, spotted fur red.

  "Yield, reptiles!" commanded Eliani, her dagger pointed at them menacingly. The archers, knowing they had no chance, retreated before one of them threw a smoke bomb. Whatever was inside the smoke bomb overwhelmed Eliani's senses. She couldn't rely on anything, be it her vision, her ears, or even her nose. Yet, she astutely concluded that this would interfere with the lizard people's senses, if they also hunted the way a desert cat did.

  Knowing that she was wide open, she immediately retreated and tried to find a cover. She hoped it wasn't a trap when she got clear of the smoke to find a half-wall for cover, dagger close to her in the defensive. She waited and waited, keeping her breathing steady to calm herself, like a prowler.

  No one came to ambush her. She slowly peeked out of the cover. The smoke had long dissipated, but the lizard people were already gone, leaving behind corpses of their comrades. Some of the charred bodies were clearly victims of the earlier fire, albeit intense enough to burn them to barely recognizable charred remains.

  She wondered where the lizard people came from, or what their intentions were, before it was interrupted by Bartlett's and Rodvar's sounds, both of whom had just arrived when the situation was already under control. She couldn't blame their limitations; being a cheetah woman with digitigrade legs, she was clearly going to outpace them.

  She stayed on the roof, keeping watch, while Bartlett and Rodvar, upon noticing the dragon lying injured, immediately ran towards her, calling her name. Bartlett walked around to find the dragon's head, only to find Shana there already. He looked around to search for Eliani, finding her on the roof. He silently nodded at her.

  "How's she?" asked Bartlett, noticing the dragon wincing and growling in pain.

  "Not good," said Shana. "I sensed poison in her. I don't know what kind, but I know it's lethal to dragons."

  "A poison, lethal to dragons?" asked Bartlett. "Is that even possible?"

  Rodvar turned his head towards the bolts that missed her, and one big anchor-like bolt that penetrated her wing. The dwarf pulled one out of the path.

  "Anti-draconic enchantment," said Rodvar with a grave voice. "The same ones that injured the dragons earlier. It's on the harpoon and the anchor, too. We need to get them out of her. Cut off the tips, Bart."

  "It's metal, Rodvar. I need some enchantment." Bartlett was quick to remember that they had a mage that could just that. He looked around, trying to find Thomas. He was glad to have found the young man close by, but at the same time, he quickly raised his sword once he noticed who was with him. He rushed towards the Sybarian, yelling and drawing their attentions.

  "Bartlett?!" exclaimed Thomas. He quickly realized that he was going to kill his companion, prompting him to stretch out his arms and shouted, "Stop! Stop, Bartlett!"

  Bartlett stopped in his track, stumped. He couldn't understand why Thomas was protecting the lizard person beside him.

  "Stand aside, Thomas!" he cried. "That lizard's--"

  "That lizard is not going to harm anyone!" Thomas cried back. "He gave himself up!"

  "He...what?"

  "He's willing to talk about everything." Thomas was reluctant to say anything more, still unable to comprehend what happened.

  "I may not look like it, but I'm Rory Tellian," said the lizard person, to the surprise of Bartlett and an understanding nod from Thomas. "And I'm not a lizard, but let's not get there for now. Right now, you must listen to him. Trust Thomas, Bartlett. Please."

  "Does that mean...does that mean you have been spying on us?!" said a bewildered Bartlett.

  "Not necessarily," said Rory, shrugging his shoulder. "I know what you're thinking right now, but this isn't the time. You have to save the princess. I'm expendable compared to her."

  "Expendable how?! Your brethren attacked her! From where I'm standing--"

  "From where you're standing, you're like a blind man who don't understand anything!" yelled Rory, causing Bartlett to shut up. "There's more to this than what meets the eye, Bartlett, but there's time for that. Take Thomas and save his sister. Do this for him. Please."

  Bartlett, surprised that the secret was already out, turned to Thomas.

  "He told me. It's still hard to believe that Princess is Henrietta," said Thomas. "I know you have something to do with it, but we'll talk about it later. What do you want me to do?"

  Bartlett then told him what he was planning. Thomas did not need to agree; it was the only way it should be done. He used his own magick to enchant Bartlett's sword to be sharp enough to cut through the steel. He walked to the harpoon lodged in Henrietta's leg and said, "Go to her, Thomas."

  "To whom?"

  "Henrietta. Comfort her with your word. No more secrets this time. Let her know that her brother is going to be fine. Keep her hopes up."

  It was something that Thomas was still trying to process: secrets. Earlier, he just found out that his friend and savior, Rory, belonged to the same race (or similar race, considering he called himself a Dromedian, not a Sybarian) that once gave him nightmares and were responsible for the massacre of his family. Then, he just found out that the grayish pink scaled dragon he had been traveling with, and who also happened to be able to talk to him, was his sister, the one who he witnessed dying in front of him. She did everything she could to stop him from knowing who she was, for whatever reason.

  He had a lot of questions that needed answering, especially towards his now-draconic sister. But he knew asking her those while her life was in danger would only distress her. The best he could do was to let her know that she was going to be fine, that this would not be the last time he would see her. That she, even if she was no longer human, was still the same Henrietta that Thomas loved.

  "Henrietta?" said Thomas. "Henri?"

  Henrietta was unresponsive at first. But then, she slowly opened her eyes. Her yellow, reptilian eyes met with Thomas. She let out a toothy smile.

  "You called my name," said Henrietta. Her voice was weak. "Only you'd call me 'Henri', Tommy."

  Thomas chuckled. The nicknames were something they came up, considering how close they were with one another. Henrietta's nickname was something that came from her personality, one that was not befitting a princess like their older sisters.

  "Henri, I wish I can speak with you more, but..."

  "I know. I have ears, you know," said Henrietta, referring to Bartlett and Rodvar's plan. "Whatever they are trying to do, I doubt it will save me."

  "No, don't say that," said Thomas, his smile fading. "You survived against all odds. Don't let the odds win this time. So, please. Trust them. Trust me."

  "I...I will try," said Henrietta. She then turn her attention to Bartlett. "Do it, Bartlett."

  Bartlett nodded. He immediately cut the tip of the harpoon and was preparing to pull it out before Shana cast a soothing spell. She nodded to Bartlett, silently signaling him that she had it covered.

  It was not a pleasant sight as Bartlett struggled to pull out the harpoon out of Henrietta's leg. She let out a weak growl, obviously feeling pain, though mostly numbed by Shana's spell. Bartlett went to her wing and repeated what he did. Henrietta's wing membrane was ripped from the extraction, but at the very least, the metal's gone.

  Yet, it was just the easy part. Henrietta was still feeling weak and numb. The anti-draconic metal may have been removed from her body, but the enchantment already did some damage to her. Even now, her consciousness was slipping. She could barely see Thomas with her unfocused eyes. Her strength was spent on her last gambit, which she was glad to have worked.

  Before this, she was content to know that Thomas would be fine, and that there were people that would care for him. Now that he knew who she was, she wanted to stay alive, to protect him, knowing that he needed a dragon by his side. As his sister, she would do whatever it takes to protect him. As a dragon, she would be able to do just that.

  But she couldn't do it. Not with her injuries, and not with her consciousness fading. She soon accepted the fact that she could not protect him, not when she couldn't win against the pain. She conceded, knowing that this time, it was Thomas's role to protect her. He had grown into a fine young man, brave and capable of protecting himself and others.

  And right now, she needed him, and everyone else she befriended. This time, she needed them.

  "I put my life in your hands now...Thomas," declared Henrietta.

  The dragon then closed her eyes, and let her consciousness drift away....