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Chapter Sixteen

I left Ravek behind to care for Kylah as I ran down the street. At least most of the fires seemed to be out now, and not as many people were screaming as I ran past them. Most of the crowd that had chased after the group of soldiers had dispersed into smaller groups to hunt down the rest of their former oppressors, and it seemed they had spread the word about me.

I had already chosen my next target, as I could see several of the remaining soldiers had all taken shelter behind the walls of the tall watchtower near the center of town, where the two main roads intersected. Now and then they were popping up and taking shots at the crowd, then immediately dropping back behind the walls. The walls around the top of the watch tower were made of thick planks of wood, but reinforced with bands of rough iron to help deflect arrows. The watchtower also had a triangle roof that arched to a point in the center made of the same stiff wood and iron to keep out the elements, and to keep anyone from lobbing arrows up inside it.

A network of support beams were lashed together like a patchwork spider web crawling straight up into the sky until it reached the base of the sniper's nest. A ladder ran up one side of it, and someone had already managed yank down the ladder, stranding the soldiers up there. And a few men had tried to gather around the base of the watch tower to see if they could get enough force to try and shake it loose from it's moorings, but so far the archers had prevented any serious attempt at bringing it down.

Which was where I came in. Much like the gate, the beams supporting the tower were plenty sturdy by human standards, but did not look near strong enough to resist a dragon's strength. Though the four corners of the square platform that formed the basis of the watchtower were all supported by thicker, sturdier pillars, even those did not look prepared to deflect the might of a dragon's wrath.

As I neared the tower I saw men below fling several arrows up at the archers above, but all of them thanked harmlessly into the wall around the platform. One of the archers above even brazenly reached over the edge of the wall and yanked an arrow from the wood to add to his own stockpile. Though sooner or later they'd run out of arrows, and the townsfolk might start scaling the scaffolding that ran around the tower's base, that could be a long time, and no doubt more men would loose their lives in the process. Luckily for them, I had a much better idea.

I had to assume by the way people were scrambling to get out of my way, but not calling for my immediate getting, and the fact that I could see smoke coming from at least one other guard tower that the insurrection Kylah and I had started was spreading. That was good. It would make my job a lot easier, and it would make bringing this tower down a lot easier if the people surrounding it actually listened to what I had to say. Granted, if they didn't they'd probably get themselves killed, and as a dragon, I'd get the blame. So they'd better just listen and get their asses out of the way.

I took a deep breath, pain flaring intensely where the arrow had scraped my ribs, and then doubled my pace, running as fast and hard as I could, straight towards the tower. My arrow speckled side was one big wall of hot, throbbing pain now, and my shoulder, though not gravely wounded, was starting to hurt more and more with every step I took. The blue and red paint on that paw had long since been overrun with little streams of blood, some dried and some still wet.

"Get out of the way!" I bellowed as loudly as I could, my brassy dragon voice echoing down the street. I hoped that all the people gathered around the tower knew that the dragon in their midst was actually on their side, and would do as I asked. And if they didn't know, they'd better do what I said, anyway. Any imbecilic half-wit should know well enough that if a dragon yells for you to move, you'd damn well better move! I screamed at them once more as I neared the crowd swirling around the base of the tower, built near where the two main roads intersected. "Get out of the way!"

Heads in the crowd all twisted towards me, eyes filled with fear, jaws dropped open. All at once the people began to scramble to avoid the dragon who was steadily barreling down on them! At least the humans seemed to have some sense, if only they could avoid trampling each other in their bid to get out of my path. The same went for me, I suppose, as I wasn't going to slow down now even if it meant accidentally squishing one of the humans I was here to protect.

Luckily the last of them scrambled and stumbled out of my way just as I reached the towers. One of the three archers took a quick, panicky shot at me as I neared, but in his haste his arrow went wide. For once. And before he could even duck back down behind his wall I hammered myself directly into the support columns of his tower. Just as the crossbars that secured the gate had not been strong enough to keep a dragon from breaching them, the columns that held this tower aloft to say nothing of the smaller beams lashed between them were no match for my strength. Perhaps no match wasn't entirely accurate. They were a small match, at least, as pain erupted along my shoulder and neck when I collided with them, I think I may have cracked my collar bone that time. I didn't want to risk injuring my neck, I smashed my helmet clad head through the smaller beams stretched between the main column, twisting my body just a little to ram my uninjured shoulder into one of the primary supports.

But as my collarbone cracked slightly, the support column cracked completely with a thunderous splintering sound augmented by all the boards shattering against my head and the cloud of ragged splinters flung in all directions. The impact didn't quick snap the support column completely, but as I battered my way through the other side of the tower's network of wooden scaffolding, I lashed out behind me with a hind paw, aiming it right for the damaged seam I'd created in the wood. I kicked with all the impressive strength my hind legs possessed, and it was enough to turn a dangerous crack into a catastrophic failure.

The weight bearing down on the towering slab of fractured wood was too much for it to withstand, and all at once it blew apart at the jagged fissure I'd made. The sudden pop hurt my ears, and I felt bits of wood splatter themselves against my scaled haunches and tail. A broken crossbeam had come to rest against my back, and I shook myself and flung it off one of my wings, turning around to see what was left of the tower.

The column I'd broken now extended halfway up from the ground and then there was an empty space where the fissure had exploded completely before the shattered column resumed near the top of the tower. It looked as though the tower now had a mere stump of a leg, as though a foot and thigh remained by the knee was long since removed. The whole tower was starting to lean in that direction, the weight support was no longer evenly balanced, and I doubted the architects had bothered to make sure the tower could support itself on only three pillars if it had too.

The humans inside screamed, then shifted their weight to the far corner to try and balance it a little more. I think I'd done enough damage that it was coming down one way or another now, but I didn't have the patience or the energy to let them waste my time delaying the inevitable. I thought for a moment about whirling about on my paws, and lashing my tail into the support beam, but decided against it. Throwing my weight against them at full run was one thing, and even that had injured me a little. Even if I did manage to shatter the beam with my tail, I was sure I'd break my tail in the process. And broken tails were no fun for anyone, especially not the dragon the tail belonged too.

Instead, I simply reared back up onto my hind legs. I rested the paw below my injured shoulder against one of the primary columns and with my other paw, tore the towers' support base apart, beam by beam. I ripped off a few of the crisscrossing boards, I smashed others, I sliced through the lashings with my claws, tossing the broken wood down to the ground. An archer popped up above me with an arrow nocked, and I turned my head away to protect my eyes. There was an eardrum perforating CLANG and a painfully sharp rap against my head as the archer's arrow impacted and deflected off my helmet, adding another dent to it's increasingly impressive façade. Ah, thank you helmet, I thought, now I was especially glad I'd worn you.

"Cover the dragon!" Someone below me screamed. Now that was as you humans say, music to my ears.

The next time an archer popped his head up he had no time to fire because an arrow shot right past his face, nicking his ear. He yelped and dropped immediately back down behind his precious wall. A shame it hadn't nicked his brain. No matter, I'd take care of that soon enough. With arrows aimed from all sides at the opening between the tower's wall and roof, I was free to finish tearing it apart.

Once the majority of the extra support beams and lashings were spread about the flagstone streets, the tower really began to creak and lean. With my hind paws braced against the road, I pushed my front paws against the support column I'd been leaning against it, and pushed. Hard. I put my back into it, and pushed until my front legs ached and I didn't think my wounded shoulder could possibly throb any more intensely. The tower leaned a little more, a little more, and when I heard the first serious crack from the pillar I was pushing against, I dropped back down to all fours and got the hell out of there.

No sooner had I hit my paws and trotted away then the remaining three pillars all snapped, starting with the one I'd been pushing against hardest. I pinned my frilled ears back against my head to drown out the increasingly loud CRACK of shattering wooden columns, and as the tower finally tipped over and collapsed, chunks of sharp splintered wood flew in every direction as the pillar I'd been pressing cracked, then blew apart beneath the unbearable strain. Humans covered their faces, and I turned my head away. Several sharp chunks of wood still slammed into my body, deflecting off the broader scales of my sides though a few of them tore ragged, stinging holes in my wings to add to those caused by the broken glass. Spirits, I was an injured mess. At least I'd moved in time to avoid getting a belly full of plump splinters. Imagine my embarrassment if I survived this only to have to ask Kylah to pick the splinters out of my privates!

When they tower finally collapsed, the little building atop it smashed into the ground and exploded, wooden debris flying in all directions. The archers inside screamed all the way down, though their screams ended abruptly when the structure they were standing in shattered against the stone paved road. I don't know if they were killed immediately by the impact, but if they were not, I was sure the crowd of men descending upon them would take care of that soon enough.

Watching the men swarm over the fallen tower and it's former occupants was strangely fascinating to watch. As a hatchling, I remember catching plump little wriggly caterpillars in my paws, careful not to squish or injure them. Only to drop them atop mounds of rich brown earth occupied by vicious little red and black ants. It was a oddly enthralling thing to see, the swarm of ants coating, attacking, and eventually killing the caterpillar who could do little more then squirm, and squirm some more. These men now reminded me of those ants, and though I could not see the three archers they were swarming across, I imagined there was naught they could do but squirm and wriggle and hope for some measure of unlikely mercy.

Which made me wonder. Sooner or later some of the occupying force was likely to realize they had lost the town. At that point, would they try and escape, would they surrender? And if so, would the town let them go? For some reason, I found myself hoping that they would. It was a poor tactical decision. Sooner or later the force that sent these men in the first place would likely try to retake the town. If no one left the town alive to report what had happened, it would be longer until another group was sent to attack. The town could better prepare for the next invasion, and be ready to repel it. And if no one was there to tell the commander that a dragon had by some miracle deigned to help the town, they would have no reason to expect a dragon to be defending that same town. They wouldn't know to prepare for me, and I would be safer for it. And yet, I found myself hoping the town would show the soldiers the mercy that they themselves had never found the townsfolk deserving of.

Kylah was right. I was a softie at heart.

As the crowd around the fallen tower grew, I took a few steps back. I hardly trusted these people yet, and I wouldn't put it past some of them to seek to plunge a blade into my guts as soon as I'd taken care of their enemies. And yet as the mass of people swelled throughout the intersection, something I was very unused too began to happen. As people ran past me, some of them touched me. They patted my sides, my haunches, they yelled at me. And though it was getting increasingly hard to pick out individual voices amongst the growing throng of shouts and jubilant cheers, I was fairly sure they were actually cheering me as they touched their fingers to my scales.

I wasn't sure what to make of it. It was making me a little uncomfortable, I was very unused to being touched by humans who where not Kylah, let alone by many of them all at once. I tried to back away from the group, I didn't want to accidentally injure anyone as I was trying to get away from them. A few more of them ran up to me, their faces and clothes smeared with soot, dirt and blood, and they too touched me. They patted my scales firmly, one smacked me on the nose perhaps meaning it affectionately, though it stung like hell. At least they were careful enough not to touch the arrows that still speckled my hide. I pulled my head back, and slowly turned around, making sure they all had a chance to move out of the way of my swinging tail.

Those now standing in front of me all hoisted their weapons into the air, be it a sword, a pitchfork, or a makeshift club fashioned from the tower I'd just torn apart and pushed down. The humans swung their implements wildly about in the air, cheering their victory. Cheering...me? Where they honestly...cheering me? It certainly seemed that way, and though their touch and the cacophony of their gathered voices still made me uncomfortable and ensured I kept my ears pinned back, part of me enjoyed their attentions. Enjoyed their jubilation, savored the fact that for at least a moment, they seemed to be celebrating a dragon.

"Thank...you," I said hesitantly, unsure how to reply to their attention. I wasn't sure if they heard me. I looked around at them, saw hope shining in their little human eyes. I repeated myself with a bit more confidence, lifting my voice loudly enough for them to hear. "Thank you!"

That only made them cheer louder. I realized I probably made myself sound like a simpleton. I was the one being cheered, I was the one here to help them! I shouldn't be thanking them just for their appreciation. And yet I was. After all, being appreciated by your species' enemies was a very new thing for a dragon. I shifted back and forth on my paws, flicked my tail tip, and licked my muzzle, wondering if I'd ever get used to the sheer volume of noise a gathered crowd of humans could make. Alone their voice was no match for mine, but together they were roaring louder then any single dragon ever could. Such a shame there were no longer enough dragons in the world to produce a truly overpowering roar together.

I took a few steps forward, and the mob didn't move much. There were enough of them now that I could smell the scent of too much humanity and the sweat of their exertion mingling with the acrid, burning smoke that still hung above the streets as though it took wanted to witness this town free itself. I took a few more steps until I was starting to brush past some of the humans, and I had to grit my teeth. My heart had just started to ease it's hammering after the fear and excitement of toppling the guard tower, and now it was picking up it's thunderous pace once more. The pulse of my blood reverted down through my minor hearts regulating it's flow through my tail and wings, throbbed in my brain. There were just so many of them, and they were all around me! I was already wounded, I could never defend myself against this many humans!

But...I didn't have too, did I. I forced myself to walk forward as slowly, yet steadily as I could. I did not want to show them that I was afraid, only that I was here as their ally. That I was not going to hurt them if they were not going to hurt me. I pressed forward and like diving muzzle first into a deep lake, the waters of humanity parted around me. They kept cheering as I pressed my way through them, reaching out to let their myriad fingers brush my scales and my wings as I passed. They touched me in reverence, in curiosity, in appreciation. In the back of my mind, it occurred to me that I might truly be accomplishing something here today.

For now, I pushed that thought aside. I had to finish what I'd come here to do while I still had a little energy left. By now, I imagined the job was nearly done, sped towards it's conclusion by those we'd come here to free. Kylah and I had lit the spark of freedom, fanned the flames, and now they were burning through this town like wildfire through a long dead and dry forest. Such power these men had when they truly put themselves too something. No wonder they had so much success destroying my people. It was ironic then to see them doing the same thing to themselves.

And yet the men of this village were not doing so out of cruelty, or evil. They were doing so out of necessity to free themselves from such. I knew full well what the type of men who had conquered their village did to its inhabitants, and only now where they learning the consequences of such action. Like Kylah, the people here did not deserve the fate others had decided for them, and were finally taking matters into their own hands.

Once I was clear of the majority of the crowd, I tensed up my hind legs and sprang into the air, my tail streaming out behind me like a massive black snake slithering just above their heads. I tucked my hind legs early to make sure I didn't accidentally kick anyone in the head, and beat my wings. The tremendous gust of air they sent rushing downward swirled around the people below, sent their hair flying in all directions, their clouds billowing around their bodies, and even sent several of them stumbling away in a desperate attempt to keep from being blown off their feet.

I ascended swiftly through the curtain of black and gray smoke, holding my breath for just a moment until I broke through it. The air coming off my wings blew the smoke away from me in swirling vortexes and spiraling clouds, and the people below cheered louder as though they thought I was simply fanning the smoke away from them. Feeling just a tiny bit vain, I dipped a wing and circled the large plaza where the tower had crashed, showing off my black and gray scaled body to the men and woman below even as I cleared the smoke from around them. They all stared up, waving their weapons and their hands, some of them jumping in the air, and their voices filled the skies as loudly as I imagined my own kind had once done. They gazed skyward, cheering on a dragon who was wounded and bloodied all for them.

It was amazing, and I found their reverie slowly filling me, swelling my heart and filling me with a strange sort of warmth. For a little while that warmth was enough to crowd out the pain that throbbed especially intensely along my back now that my wings were beating again. I took a breath, filled my lungs as deeply as I could, and then I roared. With every bit of strength I had, with every ounce of air in my lungs, I _roared._For the first time in my long life, I roared not at humans, but for the humans. They matched it with a resounding cheer of their own, but it was my roar that reverberated across every corner of the town. My roar that would inspire those still fighting their oppressors to finish this battle. My roar that would give them courage to face down their better armed and armored enemies. My roar that would strike terror in the hearts of those same foes. And my roar that would tell Kylah the people had joined us, that we had nearly won.

I circled the town for a little while, watching the progress Kylah's people were making. They had very nearly retaken the entire town. In many places they were already celebrating in the streets. Though they'd finally put out the fires that had started where Kylah and I had first ignited this rebellion, I could see other fires that had sprung up elsewhere. Good. With any luck by the time this was over the townsfolk would have forgotten that the first fire was actually started by the dragon who came here to help them. Two of the remaining watchtowers were completely engulfed in fire, immense columns of roiling black smoke pouring forth from the flaming wreckage, growing by the moment. If there were still sentries in those towers, they were long dead. In another corner of town, men had attached some kind of metal hooks to ropes, and were pulling down the third tower. It toppled to the ground as like an elder tree resisting a fierce some windstorm, resisting at first and slowly bending over until it could no longer take the pressure. The supports finally snapped and the whole thing came crashing down, a tremendous splintering boom echoing across the town along with a small cloud of dust and splinters mushrooming up into the sky.

Everywhere I flew, there were cheers. It was a very strange experience for me, flying above a human town in broad daylight without being attacked. There were no screams of panic, there were no arrows hurled at me, no massive ballistas loaded and aimed at the monster in the sky. There were cheers and whistles, there was celebration at the sight of me, not fear nor anger. Even in the midst of the chaos below it was as though everywhere I flew, I was being welcomed. News that the dragon was actually on their side seemed to have spread through the town as swift as the rebellion itself, and in fact it had probably preceded it. If there was ever a time to try and pull the foot from your throat it was the moment you heard there was a dragon here to help you. Any doubts and mistrust they may have had about my motives and myself were temporary washed away by the side of their enemies towers collapsing as swiftly as their once sure hold on the small town.

While I flew, I saw a few small skirmishes still going on the streets. A line of soldiers briefly stood up against a group of men. Blood was spilled and for a moment the soldiers, if they could be called that, held their ground. But as the crowd swelled and grew, as men and woman who'd procured better weapons for themselves joined in the fray, the line of armor was quickly overwhelmed. Some of them fled, and some of them escaped into the alleys. At least for a little while. From above, I shouted out their locations to the crowd below, and soon the townspeople were pouring through the alleyways like a roaring flood that would finally wash away the grime that coated everything for so long. I left those soldiers to whatever fate awaited them, and flew on.

I was beginning to hesitate to call them soldiers. From what I'd heard from Kylah and what I'd seen for myself, I doubted they were truly soldiers. It seemed more likely to me that the many groups of bandits and outlaws that once plagued these lands, outside the law of the larger kingdoms, had simply banded together and organized themselves. There were likely soldiers involved, someone was training and arming these men after all. But soldiers had honor. Soldiers fought for a cause, be it a country, their freedom, or even a king. And mercenaries at least fought for money. These men simply fought to occupy the weak and to oppress and rule over those who did not have the strength or will to fight back. That did not make them soldiers, that made them thugs, and bandits. It made them pitiful, and calling them soldiers was an insult to real soldiers anywhere. Yet many of them seemed like soldiers in appearance, and much as I didn't like the idea, I knew I'd continue to call them that in my mind.

I rose a little higher, beating my wings and spiraling up towards the crystal blue sky until I had a better view of the town. As I rose higher into the sky, my back felt cold, and wet. I twisted my head around to look back at myself, and grimaced. All the motion and movement of my flight had worsened the wound where the first arrow hit me in the back. The arrow was not as deeply buried now, and was now hanging like an injured limp, shifting back and forth with every beat of my wings. Now wonder it hurt so intensely, the arrow had must have been shredding my flesh a little more with every pump. My entire back looked red and wet, fresh blood gleaming on my scales and along the bottom of my wings in the sunlight. There was barely any black left between my wings, and now I could feel fresh streams of wet blood running down my hind legs just beyond where my wings ended. It dripped off my hind paws, and somewhere down in the city, it was starting to rain dragon's blood.

I needed to stop flying, and get these arrows out of me, or I was going to get myself killed despite the fact we'd nearly succeeded. I looked along the left side of my body, fresh blood was running from some of the arrow wounds there, as well, and at least one of the arrows had fallen away at some point. I'd been in so much pain for so long that with all the adrenaline pumping through my blood, I'd barely noticed it getting any worse. I took a few deep, slow breaths, and folded my wings a little, descending swiftly.

As I spiraled back towards the ground, at the far end of town I saw what appeared to be the last major battle still raging. There was a long building at the end of a road. Quite a few carts were overturned in the middle of that road, and people were ducking behind them, popping up now and then to shoot a few arrows towards the building. The building itself looked like quite a few of the other buildings in that part of town, the walls were white with dark brown beams marking X's across them. Windows with gentle arches were spaced evenly apart on either side of the big oak double doors at the front of the building. Archers were firing crossbows from inside those windows at anyone they could, then ducking back behind them. Quite a few armored soldiers, there was that word again, had grouped together to make their stand outside the building that must have served as the home or headquarters of their local commander.

So far, unlike in other parts of town, Kylah's enemies seemed to be holding off the rebellion. The crossbows inside the building were keeping anyone from getting a good shot at the soldiers standing outside, and I saw a few archers up on the buildings roof as well keeping watch on all the other roofs. The building had a large garden in the back of it, but a high wooden fence around the garden made it hard to get into. And the archers on the roof made sure no one had yet been able to scale that fence to get into the large home through the back door. Any townsfolk who tried to get close enough to engage the armored soldiers not only had a whole group of warriors armed with sword, ax and shield to contend with, but they also had that same group of crossbow wielding men ready to take pot shots at them the moment their backs were exposed. Several men already lay wounded and dying, and several other bodies already littered the cobblestone road in front of the building.

The town would eventually take it, I was sure, but not without suffering heavy casualties. I knew I needed to rest, needed to stop the bleeding before I had no more blood to give. Even a dragon would bleed to death eventually. And yet, if I could help take this building over, if I could help win this fight, then I knew the town would once more belong to Kylah and her people. I still had a little more strength in me, and I knew in my heart I wasn't going to back down from this fight until it was finished.

The only question left then, was would I live through it's conclusion?

There was only one way to find out. Sick as I was of archers sticking me with arrows, the bowmen on the roof were first. They had not yet noticed me watching them from my high vantage occupied as they were with protecting their men from threats on the ground. I dipped my right wing, folded them both slightly, and began to spiral down towards the home. As I descended I slowly pulled my wings closer and closer to my body, tightening my spiral and increasing the speed of my drop. By the time one of them finally spotted me and screamed out a warning to his friends, it was too late.

One of the archers got off a panicked shot that veered far to the right of me, and then I landed right on top of him. I came in fast, planting my hind foot against his chest as I bore him to the ground. The metal studded leather armor he wore did little to protect him. I heard a sickening _crack_as his sternum split and his chest simply collapsed beneath my weight. I never stopped moving from the moment I landed; usually I'd trot to a stop and this time I ran, using my momentum to propel my straight to the next archer. I lowered my horned and helmet clad head and rammed it right into his stomach as though I was going to run right through him. I very nearly did, he took the full force and momentum of the blow and it launched him into the air in an arching trajectory as easily as a child might kick a ball. He flew for quite a distance, though he didn't scream at all. Perhaps he didn't have lungs anymore. He finally hit the ground hard, and like a flat stone thrown across a pond on a calm day he skipped several times across the cobblestone road, finally skidding to a stop against white-lichen strewn stone wall of an old building. He did not get up.

There was still one archer left atop the building, but by the time I'd turned back towards him, I saw him vanishing over the side of the building. He'd jumped into the back garden rather then face me. After what I'd just done to his two comrades, I couldn't say I blamed him. I wasn't sure if he'd injured himself in the fall or not, but as long as he was no longer a threat to me, I didn't really care.

It occurred to me when I felt the roof of the building shuddering beneath me that I had probably damaged it beyond repair when landing upon it. It might have even creaked and cracked but I'd have never heard it over the din of the pitched battle in the small courtyard below. The roof had seemed sturdy enough from above, it was relatively smooth and flat, though in truth I had no idea what it was made of! Some sort of stone or clay tile laid amidst sturdy mortar and thick wooden boards, I would imagine. Strong enough to support three men without a problem, and I could see a round, wooden table upturned near the side of the roof along with a trellis covered in vines planted in pots nearby for shade, and some chairs. Clearly the roof was meant as a quiet place to enjoy the weather for whoever lived here. And yet, it was never meant to support the weight of a dragon.

I discovered that when all at once the boards I couldn't hear creaking and the mortar I couldn't hear cracking decided they'd had enough. They finally yielded to me with a catastrophic suddenness that sent me crashing through the roof as the whole thing caved in around me. An immense cloud of dust blossomed all around me, filling my lungs with the choking stuff and rising up into the sky through the giant hole I'd just dropped through. I gave a startled yelp as I fell, and though the building was only a single story, the impact with the floor jarred all four of my paws in such a way that it sent four sharp lances of pain stabbing into me, one through each leg. All four limbs gave out and I flopped upon my belly, knocking the wind from my lungs, battering my ribs and landing on my balls, waves of pain from everywhere washing over me in all directions. With stars spinning in my vision, dust coating my tongue and the sticky blood that covered me, I tried to get back to my feet. I hurt everywhere now, and my body didn't want to obey.

For a moment, I could barely even lift my paws, and all I could do was gasp and gag, unable to get even a single breath's worth of air back into my lungs. I flicked my flight membranes across my eyes to protect them the dust, but they were still so watery and bleary I would not have been able to see well even if the building wasn't filled with the murky gloom caused my ignominious entrance. After a few seconds, the worst of the initial pain began to fade, and the lingering agony of each arrow that had penetrated my natural armor shone through the blanket of lesser discomfort like terrible stars. I just hoped I hadn't broken anything, internal or external!

Just as I was finally able to pull some dirt-chocked air into my lungs, a man rushed at me, emerging from the gloom like some wailing banshee of human lore. A wailing banshee screaming obscenities and wielding a very large, very sharp looking ax. An ax that that he swung downward with such force that he might have cleaved my muzzle in two were it not for my quick reflexes and my helmet. I jerked my head back just in time, the blade buried itself in the floor where my snout had been a moment before. The human snarled like a beast, yanking the ax back up out of the wooden floor, and swung it at me once more before I'd even gotten up onto my feet again. I dropped my head down so that the blade would slice merely air, but I wasn't quite fast enough. It caught the very end of my left horn, jerking my head to the side and roughly cutting the very tip of my horn.

Alright. Now he'd pissed me off. I liked my horns! The near miss and sudden, halt and go impact of the blade catching just the tip of my horn threw him off balance, and I surged forward, butting my head against him. I didn't have the force from before though, and my ears rang at the loud CLANG of steel against steel. Damn, he had armor on, too! There was still so much dust coating everything including my flight membranes that I hadn't even gotten a good luck at him. H stumbled back, clutching his belly with a friend had were I'd battered and dented the thick steel plates strapped there. This human looked to have just about as much leather and metal coating his form as I had scales. Or at least covering his body, he looked to have little more then leather breeches covering his legs. Probably put on what he could in a hurry when the rebellion started, and wanted to stay mobile. I figured this man was either the commander of the local force, or the commander's bodyguard, and either way I was going to kill him.

I was finally back on my feet by the time he'd finished staggering, but before I could press my attack, he disappeared back through the door way he'd come in from. Damn it, I wasn't going to fit through there. Or was I? I glanced around, the room I was in was now covered in splintered wooden beams, chunks of shattered mortar and broken roofing clay roofing tiles. What looked to have once been very nice chairs of rare, dark wood and rich brown leather were now coated in gray dust, a small desk had been broken in half and I was pretty sure I ended up with splinters in my belly from where I probably landed on it. Hopefully it was just the floor I'd banged my testicles on, or I really would have to ask Kylah to de-splinter them for me!

Just as I realized there was another door to the side of me, the human emerged from it, and buried his axe in my side, just behind my ribs. I screamed in pain and surprise as his blade bit far deeper then any arrow had, and for the moment I could only hope that my scales protected me as much as they usually did. Without a very well placed strike that would sever an artery, or thrust a sword's blade deep into a dragon's entrails, it was hard to kill him with a single strike. And the human seemed to know what he was doing, I had the sickening impression he'd killed dragons before, or at least knew how to do it. Had he simply brought his axe straight down, the thick, tough scales along my sides would have taken most of the blow if not outright turned it away. Instead he'd come in at angle from behind to get his blade up under and against the lay of my scales, negating enough of their protection to dig the ax in beneath them and into my flesh. At least that kept him from going deep enough to truly inflict grievous harm on any of my major organs.

Or so I hoped. A dragon's vital organs were fairly well buried inside him for the most part, guarded by scale and bone and muscle. But we were far from invulnerable as our gradual decline at the hands of man proved. Just behind my ribs he might well have gotten his ax into one of my kidneys, at which point I was probably going to bleed to death before long. I hadn't felt a blade buried that deep inside me in many years, but at least it didn't feel as though he'd damaged anything vital. For whatever that was worth. Of course it didn't matter if I ended up bleeding to death from all my many wounds anyway.

Enough was enough. If I let him slip back away and ambush me again, sooner or later he was going to bring me down. I was already beaten to hell, what would a few more bruises do to me in the long run? If the roof couldn't hold me, I rather doubted the walls could, either. So as soon as he was yanking his ax out of me and retreating back through that door again, I threw myself sideways as hard as I could. I crashed through the wall like a...well, like a dragon through a roof, wood snapped and mortar exploded once more, and I brought the entire wall down atop my attacker. I heard him scream for one satisfying moment and then he was crushed by a crumbling wall backed by the weight of a very angry dragon. I felt something give beneath the remnants of the wall I ended up on top of, and I hoped it was his head.

My vision began to swim, and it occurred to me that I was probably passing out. Once before in my life I'd passed out because I'd lost a lot of blood, and this was starting to remind me of it. I still wasn't entire sure how I'd survived last time, call it luck, divine intervention or whatever you like, but somehow I'd lived through it. I needed to get out of this damn building, but I wasn't sure I had the strength left in me to collapse another wall and break my way outside.

I staggered to my feet, the whole building looked as though I was viewing it through a murky ocean, everything was dark, and wavering in the strangest way as though I just couldn't focus on it. Why was it so dark? Where had all this dust come from? I could barely remember why I was here. I wondered where I heard human voices, some of them seemed to know my name. That was strange. I heard men and woman shouting at each other. Some of them screamed, some of them cheered.

Then I heard cracks and pops all around me, and all of them screamed. The whole world seemed to shake and shudder the same way my legs were shaking and shuddering beneath me. I felt myself walking, each step seemed a lingering eternity and I only wondered why I wasn't already sleeping. I liked sleeping.

I felt fingers. Human fingers. Touching. Pulling. Guiding. I followed.

Somehow, light pierced through the gloom, and the fingers lead me towards it. I saw the strangest things. Pieces of the sky were caving in! The sky was made of wood, it seemed, and when you knocked out the piece of sky that held up the rest of the sky? The rest of it fell down. That made some strange kind of sense to me in my blood-loss delirium. Silly dragon, you broke the sky!

There was a terrible rush around me, and just as I met the light that the fingers were guiding me too, felt the fresh air reach my muzzle, fill my lungs, the whole building came crashing down behind me. Something landed on my tail, more pain ignited but almost all the pain was behind me now. And all that wonderful light and fresh air was once again consumed by a rush of dark gray shadow and chocking dust rushing out in a billowing cloud away from the collapsing home.

And that was it for me. Just like the home, I couldn't take any more, and as it collapsed, so did I. If I'd still been conscious, the humans genuine concern for me would have actually touched me. It might have even warmed my old, icy dragon heart. But I wasn't. I had given all I had to give right now, and after the lingering half-conscious state I'd been lead out of the collapsing house in, darkness was sudden and complete, like death from flying full speed into a towering cliff.

Chapter Seventeen

I should have known at the time it was Kylah who'd led me from that building. Kylah who disregarded my instructions to say where she was. Kylah who'd risked her own life to rejoin her people's fight, injured or not. And Kylah, who'd somehow followed me across town, tracked me in the sky, threw herself across a horse, and chased me to the building where our little war had ended. Kylah, who ran heedless into a building that was collapsing bit by bit. Kylah who injured or not, somehow knew I wasn't going to make it out of there alive if someone hadn't come in to find me, and save my life.

The rest of the town wasn't going in after me. For all they knew, I was already dead. Though they'd rushed in at first to attack the last of crossbow men as soon as I'd broken through the roof, and the last of the soldiers broke ranks and fled, as soon as the place began to come down around them they all ran. I could not blame them for that, I rather doubt I'd have gone into a crumbling deathtrap to save any of them, either.

I would have died in there. If the collapsing building itself didn't smother me, I would have bled to death long before anyone could reach me. They might have missed me. They would have mourned me in a way, at least. They probably would have even buried me. Perhaps carved a monument to the strange dragon who showed up out of no where to help free their village from oppression, and gave his only life to a cause and a people who would have turned their backs on him otherwise.

Kylah did not let that happen. Where the rest were unwilling to risk themselves for me, or perhaps convinced I was already dead, and even Kylah had no way of knowing I wasn't, Kylah threw herself into danger on my behalf. She might have told me she owed me one. She told the town that she owed me her life, after all, and now I owed her mine. But I never felt as though she owed me anything. At least, not since I'd gotten to like her. I had long since come to admit to myself she was my friend, and it was nice to know that after all that had happened between us, after she admitted that at first she only wanted to trick me into helping her...It was nice to know she'd reached a point where she was risking her life for mine.

It would have made me feel embarrassingly warm and wonderful and happy if only I wasn't so unconscious for so long.

I suppose I should also give Ravek credit as well, as I later learned he was there with her the whole time. It may have just been because I'd told him to watch over her. He probably knew that if I did survive and I found out he'd let her rush into a crumbling home injured and on her own, I would have bitten his head off. Or perhaps he was just trying to repay a debt he thought he owed me for coming here in the first place. Whatever the case may be, between the two of them they'd saved my life.

Though when I did finally awake, I hurt so much I almost wished they hadn't. The first thing I noticed when I began to rouse was the pounding in my head. My throat burned and my head throbbed, and my tongue felt fat and swollen. I was half surprised it wasn't so plump it was holding my muzzle open. While I was still out of it, I couldn't remember where I was, or what had happened. I shifted a little, trying to rise, and immediately regretted it. My head pounded worse then ever, it felt like another dragon had sunk every claw and tooth he possessed into my brain and was rhythmically digging them in deeper and deeper. Sharp spots of pain ignited like tiny little focused fires all along my left side, and another along my back as soon as I tried to move. My legs ached, my ribs hurt, and even my testicles were dishearteningly sore. I sometimes thought I must be the dragon with the worst luck involving his testicles. And what the hell happened, anyway?

At first I honestly thought I was both hung over and on the losing end of a serious drunken beating. Some other dragon must have finally shown up, and gotten drunk with me. And then beaten the hell out of me. I probably deserved it for something, I'm sure must have mouthed off as usual.

It took a while for the thick clouds that hung above my brain to begin to part. But finally the first rays of the sunshine of recollection began to pierce the fog that clung so tightly to my mind, and things began to come back to me. It was the human voices that first triggered the return of my memories. They put me on edge at first, it sounded as though I was surrounded. Had I been ambushed? Had I been captured alive? I had heard horror stories in my youth about the things that humans did to dragons they captured alive. Everything from being put on display so that the townsfolk could pelt them with rotten food, to being butchered alive in the name of some God or King, to even worse. I had even heard that some poor dragons had been forced into serving as mounts for some spoiled royal, and made to prance about beneath his leash and saddle like a pony in a traveling circus! I think I would have preferred being butchered alive to that particular humiliation.

Of course no such thing had happened to me, and I gradually came to remember that. I opened my eyes to tiny blue slits, and the sunlight pierced them like crimson lances. I hissed in pain and squeezed my eyes shut once more. I lifted a paw despite the pain and covered my face with it to try and make things even darker. Why did I feel so hung over? I tried to piece together exactly what had happened. It was like putting together some hatchling's piece-puzzle, my brain just didn't cooperate. But finally memories began to solidify, and one by one I went back through the events of the attack. I remembered all the way up until I fell through that damn roof, remind me not to do that again, and then...

Then I knocked down a load bearing wall, and brought an entire mansion down around myself while I nearly bled to death and forgot why I was there in the first place. But how had I gotten out? I twisted my mind into knots that made my brain ache even worse, but forced myself to recall what had happened. I remembered thinking something about fingers. Somehow had led me out of there, they must have.

It could only be one person! Gods I was thirsty.

I tried to call out for Kylah, and I tried to ask for water. I meant them to be two separate requests, but my brain had not yet recovered well enough to comply, so they came out as a single word.

"Kylater!" I moaned. I hadn't mean to moan, but something both nonsensical and pitiful sounding was all I could manage. I tried again and got the same result. "Kylater!"

"He's waking up!" I heard an unfamiliar voice, and then I heard a bunch of murmuring I could barely follow, and another proclamation of the obvious. "The dragon's waking up!"

I heard rattling chain, rustling fabric and canvas, hissing steel and other assorted sounds that gave me a terrible mental picture of myself chained up in some big canvas tent while soldiers menacing drew their swords, sheathed them, and then drew them again in even more menacing fashion. For some reason...probably because I was getting over very nearly bleeding to death, that idea seemed all too possible and all too frightening. I whimpered, and as if in reply, I heard a voice from the heavens.

"Vraal!" Kylah, her voice like sweet nectar and soothing wine, cut through my pain and cloudy minded delirium. "Oh, Vraal! Thank God you're awake. I was so worried, I thought we might have been too late, I didn't know if you'd...if you'd ever wake again. We did everything we could, but....God's Blessing, Vraal, I'd never seen so much blood from one creature before."

Her voice filled my heart with warmth and my mind with peace in such a way that I didn't even worry about the fact I'd lost so much blood she actually feared I might never wake again. She surrounded me with physical warmth, too. Her arms wrapped around my neck, lifting my head just enough to put my muzzle on her lap, so I could rest my jaw there. I felt her warm, soft fingers running gently across my muzzle, over my ears, and against my crests. And despite myself, despite the fact there were probably dozens of humans watching me warily, I began to purr.

"Kylah," I croaked, this time getting her name out though it was about as clear and understandable as the noise a bullfrog makes. "Water...please. Water."

"Yes, of course!" I heard shuffling, I heard the sound of water being poured, but I couldn't be bothered to open my eyes just yet. I heard more rustling cloth, smelled the scent of another human, slightly familiar. Ravek, I thought. And I smelled the sweet scent of water in front of me, and instinctively I lapped at it. It was cold, and fresh, and it eased the pain in my tongue and throat.

"Not too much, Vraal. I don't want you to make yourself sick."

"Yes, mother," I managed to mutter, though my sarcasm probably sounded more pathetic then anything else right now.

As I lapped at the bowl Ravek held in front of my snout, Kylah continued to stroke my head. "We tried to give you water when we could, but you were so unconscious we were afraid you might choke on it. You should have seen the people staring at us while we tried to give it too you. I had to talk Ravek into holding your jaws open so I could squeeze a wet cloth into your throat."

That made me laugh, but it came out more as a cough. "How...long?"

Kylah knew me well enough by now to understand I meant how long had I been out for. "Three days, Vraal."

"Balls," I muttered in surprise.

"They're fine, Vraal, they're still there, I promise."

I flicked my ears. That wasn't what I meant. I just didn't have the energy to say "Balls of the Earth Dragon." Three days? Spirits and Gods, no wonder I felt so hung over. It wasn't the alcohol, it was just the lack of water, I must have been totally dehydrated. That explained why I didn't feel as though I had slip off somewhere to take a piss. Though I supposed if I was unconscious that long, I might have already. Ugh. I hope Kylah didn't have to clean that up if I had.

I finished the last of the water, and then just nuzzled my head into Kylah's lap. My thirst eased a little, I took a deep breath. My ribs ached, and I let it back out in a long sigh. I could already feel myself drifting away again.

"Gonna sleep now," I muttered.

"Alright, Vraal," Kylah said softly, rubbing my muzzle. "Go to sleep. I'll be right here."

I was glad to know that as I slipped back into a slightly more pleasant sort of unconsciousness.

I slept periodically for the rest of the day, and all through the night. Now and then I woke, and no matter the time, Kylah was always there with me. When I woke I drank a little water, and on one occasion, ate a little roasted meat, then inevitably drifted back to sleep again. Only late the following morning did I finally wake for good and without the overpowering need to go back to sleep and keep resting. Kylah as she had been the entire time was right there with me. I hoped that she'd gotten some sleep too, her green eyes looked unusual dull and tired, the skin beneath them dark and puff. It was a strange look I'd never seen on a human before, but it was fairly obvious what it meant.

When I woke, I lifted my head from a pillow I didn't remember being placed there. It was cream colored and edged in gold, and it looked as expensive as it was soft. And now I'd gone and stained it with dragon drool. Well, that wasn't my problem. Starting to feel truly conscious for the first time since I'd passed out, I began to rise to my feet. Everything ached and was incredibly stiff, my bones all felt as though they'd been fused together. At least my head wasn't pounding so much anymore.

Kylah, wearing a sky blue tunic with black buttons and silver etching, along with simple black breeches and soft leather boots, rose up from the padded chair she'd been watching over me from. "Good morning, lovely dragon," she said, wrapping her arms around my neck again. I happily pressed my horned head against her body, letting her warmth welcome me back to the waking world. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I had the shit beat out of me every day for a week." I pulled my head back and managed to give her a smirk, flaring my crests just a little. "So significantly better then yesterday."

I felt something strange and soft against my back, warming my wings. Twisting my head, I realized that a large blanket had been draped across me sometime in the night. I hadn't noticed at first, perhaps I wasn't quite as awake as I thought I was. Then again my body had gotten used to it even if my mind hadn't. It was actually one of the same blankets Kylah and I brought with us, and huddled together under the night in the snow, beneath the towering tree. For some reason, that made me smile.

"I went and got our things...your things...while you were out the first few days." Kylah crinkled her eyes, and wrung her hands together a few times. Her hair looked a mess, worse even then whenever I took her flying. After a moment she unfolded her hands to dig the heel of her palms into her eyes, then she rubbed her face back and forth, reddening up her fair skin. "Ravek thought I was worrying myself silly here, watching over you. He said they did all they could, and...well, pacing around wasn't going to help anyone. He said I should sleep but I wanted to keep myself busy so I went and got our things...your things...while you were out."

A small smile twisted at the corners of my muzzle. I swiveled my ears to the sides of my head, then pushed my snout in to nuzzle her cheek. "You haven't slept in days, have you."

"Of course I have." She smiled and pushed my muzzle away as I teased her. "At least a good couple of hours."

"You look it, too."

"Shut up, you silly dragon," Kylah murmured, just watching me.

I glanced back at the warm blanket again, it was a very pale blue color, matching both the sky and her tunic. It even had little clouds sewn into it in fluffy white wool. Strange, I didn't remember the clouds. Though I was not one to admit a pale blue blanket might be "pretty", I'd brought it because it because it was filled with down, and very warm. The clouds though...I could have sworn they weren't there before.

"It was cold last night," Kylah said when she noticed my attention on the blanket. "I didn't want you to be cold while you slept, so I made sure to put the blanket across you."

I turned my attention back to Kylah. Back to my friend. "Thank you," I said, still smiling. Then I laughed a little bit. "I must be getting even older then I thought, cause I don't remember that blanket having those cloud designs on it."

"It didn't," Kylah admitted. She pressed her hands together again, turning her body away from me. In a rare shy of shyness from the usually open and confident woman she fiddled with her tunic, tugging back and forth at the silver etching and then repeatedly undoing a glossy black button and doing it up again. "I sewed those in while you were unconscious. I...I had to keep myself busy, somehow. I didn't know what to do with myself, I couldn't taking the waiting, I couldn't just sit there. I prayed and I hoped and then I just...had to do something. I hope you're not mad and I hope I didn't ruin your blanket..."

"Of course not," I said, looking back at it again, my tail swishing back and forth. I shifted and rustled my wings beneath the blanket, it admittedly felt quite good against them. Soft and warm against my sensitive membranes. "It's rather pretty actually, you did a good job! But, why clouds?"

Kylah slowly turned back towards me. She had an awkward smile on her face, and some new light gleaming and whirling in her emerald eyes. Something I'd seen glinting hints of lately, but never a brilliant fire like this. My near death had changed something in her, or ignited something new. I think we both knew what it was, and neither of us would dare put it to words. Yet, in it's own strange way, seeing that barely hidden feeling growing inside of her was oddly comforting. It was like the sunset in winter, the colors were so brilliant and warm and beautiful, you knew the night would be long and dark and cold and yet you savored that sunset anyway. For the moment, I savored that look in Kylah's eyes even as I feared what it might some day mean for us. Different as our people were, we were simply not meant to be. But for now, I would enjoy her comfort.

"It's the sky, Vraal," she said, her voice barely more then a hushed whisper. She stared into my eyes, and I wondered if she saw the same fire growing there that I saw in hers. After a moment, she looked down at her boots, scuffing one against the cobblestone I'd spent days upon. "I know how much the sky means to you, how much you love to fly. Vraal I..." She paused, and swallowed hard, then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Vraal they didn't think you were going to make it. I waited and I prayed and I hoped, but...It was like I was just waiting for you to finally breathe your last, and slip away from me. At least I knew you weren't in pain while you were unconscious, but I felt like I was sitting there, watching you and wondering when you'd finally go to join the rest of your people."

That sent shivers all along my body, and scales rustled and clicked together like wind through wheat fields and dry leaves. For a few moments I felt as though I'd swallowed an entire pawful of snow, and as it melted the icy lump in my belly slowly spread cold water through the rest of my body. Had I really been that close to death? Had it really affected Kylah as much as it seemed? She knew me so well, to join my people sounded like something I'd have said about my eventual death, but I'd never have expected it from a human. Nor was I sure I believed that was what happened when dragons died, but the fact that Kylah believed it was somehow calming.

I didn't really know what to say to that, and even after my shivers ended, I was silent for a few awkward moments. I looked at Kylah, I folded my ears back and licked my muzzle, shifting my weight from paw to paw. Kylah didn't say anything either, and finally, just to break the silence, I said, "So...the clouds..."

A wistful, serene smile graced Kylah's plump red lips, and she walked alongside me. She ran her hand along the scales of my neck as she passed, and patted me. When she got to the blanket, she ran her fingers against the soft, silky blue fabric, and then toyed with the raised patch of fluffy white wool she'd sewn in herself. "It's the sky, Vraal," she said, repeating herself. "I know how much you love the sky, and I know what flying means to you. I thought if this was it for you, if you never got to spread your wings again. Well...while you were still with us, I wanted you to reach the sky one more time. I wanted to wrap you in the sky forever."

That simple sentiment was so touching, so beautiful it made my heart swell so deeply for a moment I was afraid Kylah herself had just killed me. Not since before Niara left me had anyone touched me so deeply with such a small, heartfelt gesture. In our short time together, Kylah had come to understand me better then I'd ever have imagined, and she had come to care for me even more. I wanted to wrap you in the sky forever. I would never get those words out of my head, and I would never want too. If my life ended as I often imagined it, old and curled alone somewhere in the cold, I felt like those words would keep me warm and maybe even happy in my last moments.

I came to this town because I told myself I had to do something great. Though, in the back of my mind I'd always questioned if that was the only reason. I knew now it was not, I came here as much for Kylah as I came here for myself, and for my people. And now Kylah had done something great for me, and she didn't even know it.

"Thank you, Kylah," I managed to whisper. My long throat clenched and tightened, my eyes burned, and I felt tears welling up. Before I could stop them I could already feel them sliding in hot streaks down the fine scales of cheeks. "Thank you."

I don't know if Kylah knew how deeply she'd touched me then, but I think she did. She was kind enough not to mention it or say anything else. She knew I didn't like it when the softness of my heart was exposed beneath all my spines and armor. She knew I didn't like it when she saw my tears, even though this time they were tears of joy. Kylah was right, beneath my ferocity, beneath my stubborn pride, beneath the brambles that time and solitude and loneliness had wrapped around my heart...

"You're welcome, You old softie," she whispered into my ear, completing my thoughts perfectly as she wiped a tear from my cheek. "You deserve a better life then you ended up with."

I sniffled a little, rather embarrassed to be crying in front of her again, let alone in the middle of some human town. I lifted a paw to wipe my pale blue eyes, and noticed a bit of gray tipping the ends of my fingers, near where my claw slits were. Just the first few scales at the very end of my fingers, but nonetheless, it was gray that was not there before. Damn time and it's ceaseless progression. I set my paw back down and gave a little sigh.

"Perhaps I do, but this is the life I have. And...I'm glad you're in it." Kylah smiled and hugged me again, and after I hugged her back, I butted her playfully with my head, nudging her back. "Alright, alright. Enough sentimentality."

"Wouldn't want anyone else to see there's a real heart beneath all those spines and scales, hmm?"

Again, I was impressed by just how well Kylah knew me, and knew the way I thought. Perhaps I hadn't given humans quite enough credit for their intelligence and the swiftness of their minds. Then again, they were humans. How smart could they be? Kylah was the exception, not the rule, I was sure. I waved my paw at her, claws slightly unsheathed as if warding off the entire subject.

"Yes, yes. I'm big and ferocious and they need to know it."

"Oh, I think they know it, Vraal. Practically the whole town saw you bringing down towers and tearing apart soldiers and throwing people into other people..."

"And bringing houses down upon myself," I added with a bitter chuckle.

"That too."

"Didn't quite mean for that to happen. Then again, I didn't mean to fall through the roof either, but I'm not exactly used to fighting humans inside their dwellings. Dirty bastard came at me from the side with an ax."

Kylah made a face that told she was well aware of that, that was probably the wound that had very nearly pushed me over the precipice that if her beliefs were true would have reunited me with my parents and elders. I tried to explain what had happened. "He came at me through one door, and I didn't really have room to manuever well. He ducked back through that door, and then came at me through another, and after he tried to split me in half with his ax, I decided rather then give him another chance I'd bring the whole wall down on him. Didn't quite work out like I hoped. I did kill him though, didn't I?"

Kylah couldn't help laughing at that. "Yes, Vraal, you did. That man was the commander, he was holed up in that building at the time, and he usually carried an ax. They found what was left of him crushed beneath the remnants of the wall when they went to dig out the bodies. Typical dragon, more worried about who you killed then your own life."

I licked my muzzle, smirking. "We're heartless violent beasts, after all."

Kylah laughed and shook her head, her usually pretty pale brown hair flinging in all directions at once like some dirty woodland creature with long unkempt fur had taken residence upon her head, and was now having a violent seizure. I found myself laughing at that mental image, and when Kylah questioned what I was laughing at, I lifted my paw. I licked my paw pad till it was good and wet and then tried to smooth down her hair the way I might have cleaned dirt or dried blood from a hatchling's snout. Kylah made a face and squirmed away.

"Cut it out, Vraal," she laughed.

"Your hair looks frightful, Kylah."

"So? I'm hardly out to find myself a suitor. I've had more important things to worry about the past few days then my hair."

"I suppose that's true." I flexed my wings beneath the blankets, they twitched a little, they were getting itchy. All the spots of pain along my side, the slowly growing throbbing between my ribs and my left hind leg were getting itchy, too. Healing at least, but they still hurt like hell. I wondered just what they'd done for me, and curiosity was starting to win out over comfort. "Would you mind taking the blanket off for now? I'd like to see just how bad I really am."

Kylah moved to oblige me, and as she began to pull the blanket from my back, I felt the urge to stretch. I stretched my front legs out in front of me, splaying both paws and unsheathing my claws too their fully extend. I pushed my hind legs up as far as they'd go stretching them as well, and dropped my chest back to the ground. I heard and felt my back pop as I took the position Kylah was so convinced made me look like an oversized cat. Once the blanket was clear and Kylah was folding it up, I pushed my wings out to stretch them as well, and even lifted and stretched my tail out. About the time a powerful yawn over took me and I parted my jaws to their full extent, curled my tongue, I heard a loud, startled female gasp behind me, and then laughter.

Only then did it really occur to me that Kylah and I were not back in my cave, but in the midst of a human town. And only then did it occur to me that though they were all standing at what they probably considered a safe distance, we were relatively surrounded by humans that had come to see the strange dragon who had helped save their town. And that some of those humans were standing behind me when I'd stretched myself out in such a luxurious way. And some of those behind me were women, who probably had different ideals of modesty then dragons did.

I finished my stretch, and shook myself, my scales rattling together. "What just happened?"

Kylah was kneeling down, folding the sky blanket up neatly to put it away. "Nothing you haven't done to me without realizing it. Basically just put your balls in some unsuspecting woman's face."

I gave a little hiss, tucking my tail a bit, suddenly feeling more self conscious then usual. "You could have told me there were people behind me."

"Since when does something like that bother you?"

I supposed she had a point. I lifted a hind paw, flexing it, then did the same with the other one. "True. That's what she gets for standing behind a stretching male dragon, anyway."

Now that I was finally completely awake, I began to take in my surroundings for the first time. Not far behind me was the crumbed ruins of the house I'd brought down. There was little left of it now, anything salvageable had already been removed, and it was little more then a pile of broken mortar, shattered boards and cracked roofing tiles. Which I now knew would not sustain the weight of a dragon. Dust caked the cobblestone road all around us, though crisscrossing trails of footprints had reduced the density of the dust greatly. They hadn't moved me from where I'd fallen, and that shouldn't have surprised me. I rather doubted I was in any condition to be moved even if they'd had the ability to do so.

What did surprise me was the fact that they'd erected a shelter for me. The other day when I first awoke, I'd heard taut canvas crackling and snapping in the wind, and chains rattling. I now saw that was because they'd erected a sort of tall, wide tent to cover me while I lay unconscious, to protect me from the sun and other elements. It was stretched out above me in a beige canopy that was chained at each of the four corners. The chains were short, and hooked by metal clasps into iron rings attached to each corner of the canvas at once end. The other end of the chain was hooked into a pole stacked into the ground in order to give the canvas a little room to move in the wind without putting too much pressure on the poles. They'd removed sections of cobblestone from the road to stake the poles in, and had really gone to a lot of effort to keep me sheltered.

There were a few barrels of water nearby that they'd used to keep me hydrated, best they could, a padded chair where Kylah had rested during the day, and a small cot with a pillow and blanket where she'd slept alongside me. There were blood stains on the cobblestone all around me, especially at my left side from their harried yet successful attempts to save my life, and later from where they'd washed the blood from my scales as I slept. The sounds of unsheathing steel I'd heard were from nervous guards who still stood nearby. Though they'd relaxed greatly watching Kylah and I interact, I didn't blame them for their earlier wariness. Even Kylah had to know there was a chance I'd wake in some fever dream and lash out at anyone and everything near me without meaning too.

Beyond the guards, rows of humans in all shapes and sizes surrounded me in a rough circle. Even though I was now ostensibly their ally, seeing myself nearly wrapped in a throng of humanity made me nervous. My heart picked up the pace of it's beating and I slowly surveyed them. I wasn't quite ready to deal with them, or their hushed whispers, let alone their boisterous shouts, and so I finally turned my eyes to my injuries, instead.

Or at least what I could see of them. All along my left side my black scales were pockmarked with gauzy white bandages, some of which were stained with a little rusty red or dirty yellow. The padded gauze was roughly circular, and seemed to be affixed to my scales somehow, a section of bandage over every arrow wound along my side, as well as my shoulder, and my back. Further back just past my ribs a much larger section of bandage was affixed to me where the ax had cut into my abdomen. It was stained with enough unpleasant colors to tell me that would was still seeping a little now and then. How had they gotten the bandages to stick to me?

As if anticipating my question, Kylah placed her fingers on the scales of my front leg, near where the arrow had entombed itself in my shoulder days earlier. She rubbed my scales a little, and then very carefully peeled back the bandage. I winced, the area was still very tender. I twisted my head a little to gaze down at my shoulder and see what she was revealing. The edges of the bandage were all coated in some kind of sticky, sap-like resin, I could see little strands of it stretching between the bandage and my scales as Kylah pulled it away like strings of thick honey bridging pieces of a broken beehive. Whatever it was, it had a strange bittersweet scent, like pungent sap mixed with that same honey.

Beneath the bandage I saw they had stitched up the hole made by the arrow. Several thick sinew threads now held my flesh closed as it knit back together. They'd pulled away a few scales around that area as well to make it easier to stitch the wound shut. It was odd to see myself without scales there, my skin was not as black as I'd have expected based on the flesh tone of my wing joints nor quite as gray as my paw pads. Sort of a strange gray-pink tone. Though that might well have been from the healing wound just like the pink scar that now adorned my other shoulder. It looked as though they'd done a decent enough job stitching everything together, though I wasn't looking forward to having the stitches taken back out once the wound had closed itself back up. When I'd seen their work, Kylah just pushed the bandage back down, affixing the gooey substances around it's edges to my scales once more.

"What is that stuff?" I asked, suddenly feeling itchy and wanting to scratch all my many wounds at once. I settled for shaking my body a few times, my scales rustling and rubbing together. Now that I knew the stitches were there, I could suddenly feel all of them pinching my flesh, tugging skin and muscle back together. It was an unsettling sensation, I was not used to needing help to heal. I had been a long time since I'd been anywhere near that badly wounded. I touched a paw to the old gray scar across my chest, and hoped that all these new scars would have time to thin out and slowly fade from pink to gray as well.

"It's sort of a special sap concoction." Kylah pressed down the edges of the bandage to make sure it was sealed. I shifted on my paws a little, I was going to be irritatingly tender in a lot of areas for a while. "I'm not honestly sure what's in it. I just know we needed something to keep bandages affixed to you for a while, and that's what we came up with. We couldn't exactly lift you up to wrap them around your body after all."

"No, I suppose not." I grunted, flicking my ears as I peered back along my side again, lifting my left wing to get a better look at my bandage peppered body. "How long must they stay on for?"

"Actually some of them look ready to be changed again. Other then that, we should keep them on until you heal, or at least until they're done seeping. You don't want them to get infected, do you?"

"They itch," I snorted, lashing my tail tip lightly against one of the poles holding up the tent. The chain rattled and the whole structure shook, several people in the crowd gasped. I laughed. "I do not like stitches. Or bandages."

"Do you like infected wounds?"

"...No," I muttered, sullen.

Kylah playfully swatted me on the muzzle. "Then don't act like such a hatchling."

I found it both amusing and satisfying that she'd used the word hatchling instead of child. And though I knew she was right and I was acting like a petulant hatchling that didn't mean I was going to admit it. Still, I didn't want her to think I was ungrateful for their efforts. They'd probably gone to a lot of work to save my life when they certainly didn't have too.

"Thank you, though," I said, still a little unused to expressing gratitude to anyone who wasn't Kylah. "Tell the others, for me? That...I really appreciate..." I shifted on my paws a little. "Not letting me die?"

"You can tell them yourself, Vraal." She smiled and rubbed me between my nostrils.

"I was rather afraid you'd say that. The ax would it..."

"It wasn't easy, no," Kylah said, finishing my question so I wouldn't really have to ask it. "They almost couldn't get it to stop bleeding, it was pretty deep, much deeper and it probably would have..."

"Killed me," I said, returning the favor when she didn't seem able to get the words out.

"Right. They had to sew you up on the inside to get the worst of the bleeding to stop. They did it, eventually, but they worked on you most of the day and into the night."

"Is it still open, then?"

"No, they closed it up eventually, kept washing it out with whiskey so it wouldn't infect."

That alone made me shiver, my scales clicking together like a thousand agitated insects. "I am very glad I was not awake for that."

Kylah chuckled a little. "So am I. That wound's gonna take a bit longer to heal, but they were able to get the inner stitches out once the bleeding had had slowed down enough, they all seemed pretty amazed at how fast you were already healing."

"Dragons have strong bodies," I said, lifting a hind paw to scratch at my side. I stopped myself as soon as my claws neared the bandage, and I lowered my foot again in frustration. "This is not going to be easy."

"Vraal, from what they told me, it's practically a miracle you're alive now. I think the hardest part is behind you, and you can take a bit of itching here and there." Kylah walked alongside me and very gently rubbed the area around the largest of the bandages. "Maybe I can help, a little. Is that better?"

"A little, yes," I said, right before I yelped when she accidentally jarred one of the stitches. "Let me see that one."

Kylah looked as though she wasn't sure she wanted too, but as I kept staring intently, she slowly peeled back the bandage. The wound there was much longer and deeper then I'd initial realize, it looked as though that bastard had buried his entire damn axe beneath my scales. And since he'd come at my from the side and swung from behind, he was able to get his blade beneath the lay of my scales and cut more deeply then he'd normally be able too. As a result the wound left a large section of my flesh half loose, attached at only one side like a bloodied flag. The surgeons had pulled away plenty of scales there, leaving a large bruised and discolored pink-grey area of my body exposed to the outside air. Sinew stitches cross-crossed the entire wound, closing it up as tightly as they could and holding that half loose flap of dragon flesh together with the rest of my body to give it a chance to heal. The man must have cut a small artery or something, I could just imagine a group of humans struggling to sew it shut or clamp it off. An interesting thought, I hoped they hadn't deprived anything important of blood for too long. It would be a shame if I died a week from now because some minor but important organ had withered away. Then again, that would still be a week more life I'd not have head without their efforts.

I could hear groans and murmurs from the crowd while my wound was exposed. If seeing me laying nearly lifeless on the ground for several days, and covered with bandages hadn't already torn away the shroud of mythical dragon invulnerability, I imagine seeing a large section of my body missing it's scales and sewn back together certainly had. I wasn't sure if I was glad these humans would see I was just as mortal as they were, or if I would have preferred they thought I was some kind of magical beast spawned through powers they couldn't comprehend and kept alive just the same.

"Thank you Kylah," I said with a little sigh.

She affixed the large bandage once more, and I walked over to one of the barrels of water. I drank long and deep, till my belly was full and my throat was quenched, and then I gave a rather loud belch. Which got an odd mix of reactions from the crowd I was doing my best to ignore. I turned back to Kylah, water dribbling from my muzzle as I couldn't be bothered to lick it clean, and I cocked my head. I had a new issue now, and while I wasn't exactly sure where to go to resolve it, at least I knew my kidneys were still working.

"Kylah, I have too...erm..."

"Yes?" Kylah was only half paying attention. She crouched down and opened a crate, then pulled out fresh gauze and thick bandages. With some shears she began to cut some down to size, and stack them neatly on top of each other. "What is it Vraal?"

"I have to get rid of some of that water I've been drinking since yesterday morning."

"Oh!" Recognition and amusement dawned in her beautiful green eyes, a smile playfully creased her face. But a smile didn't answer my question. "That means you're getting over being dehydrated!"

"Yes, Kylah," I said, shifting my hind legs a little. I really had to go all of a sudden! "I'm delighted a dragon's bodily functions are so interesting to you, but where do I go?"

"Hmm?" Confusion creased Kylah's brow, and I could tell she clearly hadn't thought about that. She slowly looked around, coming to the same conclusion that I had. Namely that dragon or not, I'd feel damn awkward relieving myself in front of a crowd like some parading animal, and I rather doubted the people would appreciate a large puddle of dragon urine on their streets! "Well, how about over there, in that grove of trees?"

I looked in the direction she was pointing. Past the edge of the wide cobblestone plaza in front of the crumbled house was a section of undeveloped land, with quite a few large trees and some relatively sheltering underbrush. It certainly looked suitable, at least as suitable as I was going to find in the middle of a human town. When I was up to flying again things would be different, but for now, at this moment, it was going to make do.

Without another word to Kylah I started off towards the grove of trees. I would have moved up into a trot but there was still that line of people watching me. A line of people who apparently had no idea what I needed to do or why I was heading towards them. They backed up a little bit, they spread out a little, but they didn't really get out of my way. I had to come to a stop just in front of them. I still couldn't bring myself to get to close, I was hoping they'd just move. Instead, though they still seemed a little wary of me, they also seemed awed by me, and would not stop staring! I remembered the people touching me during the battle, the reverence some of them seemed to have. I saw that now in their eyes, and in the back of my mind, I realized I may have started something incredible. Yet in the front of my mind, I cursed my body for picking a time like this to finally remember it had a job to do! I really had to go.

"I...ah..." I started, not sure exactly how to tell them. I waved a paw a little, trying to shoo them out of my way, but they damn things just stood there. Some of them even whispered to each other as though they thought I was about to explain why I'd come to save their town, or to reveal some grand pearl of dragon wisdom from ages past.

Age old dragon wisdom? Hardly. Just simple dragon bluntness. "I have to piss," I muttered, and pointed towards the grove of trees.

I could almost see it on their faces. Nice to meet you too, Mr. Dragon. Here we were thinking you were some ancient, wise creature, and you're just a dirty mouthed beast! They were right, of course. I was a foul mouthed beast, and I was pretty damn old. But at least they understood, and better, some of them laughed and nodded as though they agreed. What, did they have to piss too? Not that it mattered to me.

The most important thing was that they got out of my way! I finally trotted the last bit of distance and as soon as I felt real dirt and dried beneath my paws instead of time-smoothed cobblestone, I let loose. I tried to keep from groaning in satisfaction as I emptied my bladder, but I don't think I managed it. I probably sounded more like the dragon equivalent of the village drunk returning all his ale to the alley outside the tavern.

Come to think of it, hadn't I seen that man and scared him back inside for more drink? I hope I hadn't ruined his trousers. What was I saying. I hope I did ruin his trousers. Poor fellow probably thought he'd hallucinated me at first.

When I was finished, I returned to where I started, walking a little more slowly this time. The humans nearest me didn't seem quite as awed now. Probably because now I'd proven myself to be nothing more then a rather large yet flesh and blood creature, just like them. Perhaps that even made me more "human" in their eyes. Ugh. What a terrible thought. Leave it to humans to be unable to empathize or sympathize with anything unless it somehow reminded them of themselves.

I passed through the crowd of people still watching me, and returned to Kylah. I could feel my myriad stitches tugging at my skin as I moved, and it was already starting to annoy me. Though I wasn't going to enjoy having them removed, the sooner they were out the better. I grunted in discomfort as I settled down against my belly beneath the makeshift canvas tent once more, near where Kylah had laid out all the bandages she was going to need to replace those already on my body. She also had a pot of that strange sap, and I gave it a sniff after I'd gotten as comfortable as I could. Odd stuff, I couldn't decide if I enjoyed the scent or hated it. Either way I had better get used to it, it was going to follow me around for while.

I waited as patiently as I could as Kylah slowly worked her way from bandage to bandage. I tried not to squirm, but it was difficult. Each wound seemed to progress through a cycle of itching, stinging, burning, aching, and then itching again as Kylah worked on them. She pulled the bandages away, and then washed the wound and stitches best she could with a soft cloth soaked in stringent spirits. Because the wounds had been sewn shut the spirits didn't burn too badly, but they still stung like hell. At least they also numbed up the wound a bit for a little while leaving them just itchy when she applied the fresh bandage. She smeared the adhesive sap all around the edges of each bandage so that it would stick all around the wound, but wouldn't actually get any sap on the wound itself. Hopefully whatever it was wasn't actually poisonous to a dragon. It hadn't killed me yet, so it was probably safe, though this would be the first time I'd really moved around much since the bandages were first applied.

The most unpleasant wound for Kylah to clean and bandage again was the largest wound, as expected. That one actually hurt like hell as she was cleaning it despite her attempts to be as gentle as possible. It seemed to be seeping a bit but not appear to be infected, so I would count that as a blessing. A serious infection in a wound like that could eventually kill even a dragon. I squeezed my front paws into fists, and coiled in tail in discomfort as Kylah cleaned, gritting my teeth to keep from crying out in front of the crowd that seemed to encompass the entire town.

When she got a fresh bandage on my wound, I was able to breath more easily again. The last wound for her to deal with was the one on my back, on the inside of my wing. She had to climb up atop me to get to it, but other then that the process was the same. When she was done there, she hopped back down and sent someone to dispose of the dirtied bandages. I started to push myself up, but she pressed her hand against my nose to keep me where I was.

"Give the sap a few minutes to set before you move around, Vraal."

I grumbled something along the lines of "I'll set your sap" and crossed my front paws in impatience. "It is time for me to feed."

Kylah put her hands on her hips and gave me a little smirk. "Not with that attitude, bossy dragon."

I gave a little hiss, and licked my muzzle. Perhaps that was a particularly "dragon" thing to say, but I was hungry! I hadn't eaten a thing in days, and this was the first time since the battle I'd even had the ability or desire to feed. What did she expect me to say? It was time for me to feed. "But I'm starving! Can't you have someone bring me something?"

"I could, but wouldn't you rather stretch your legs a bit, and see the town? I think they're eager to see you."

She had a point. The exercise would do me good, and I didn't really want to spend my entire time sitting about under this tent being stared at like some captive animal on display. If they were all going to gawk at me, it might as well be on my terms. Or at least as close to my terms as I could manage.

"I wouldn't mind seeing your town. But I don't want to see all the people."

Kylah laughed at my anti-social ways. "Oh, come along, Vraal. I think you'll be surprised how they react to you."

"So far all they've done is stare."

Kylah shrugged, and rubbed her arm, ruffling the sleeve of her pale blue tunic a bit. "They're unsure. Can you blame them? Most of them have never seen a dragon in person. And those that have either saw one that was dead, or saw it when it was fighting with humans, or well, stealing sheep."

I was going to make a bitterly sarcastic comment in reply, but I realized she'd beaten me to the punch. A few of these people _had_seen a dragon before, in the middle of the night. Me. Stealing their sheep. "Do they still remember that?"

"Some of them do. Though I doubt they realize it was you. And right now?" Kylah smiled, and waved her hand, turning a circle to gesture at the entire crowd surrounding me at the edge of the circular plaza. "They wouldn't care anyway. Vraal, has it sunk in it? Vraal, we..." She faltered, and ran her hands back through her messy hair, blowing back and forth in the wind. Then for reasons I didn't yet understand, she simply burst out laughing. She laughed for quite a while too, until I was caught up in her laughter, joining in without even knowing what she was laughing about. When she finally caught her breath, she came up to me and took my muzzle in her hands, one hand on either side of my jaw, under my chin. "We did it, Vraal, we actually did it! We took my town back. You took my town back! And everyone here knows it. You're a hero, Vraal." Kylah knew what that would mean to me, and she knew just how I'd view it. "You, Vraal, a dragon, are a hero to humans. A dragon, hero among men. Let that sink in, and then let me show you the people you saved."

I was a hero among men? I knew it, in a way, that I had changed something in this town. I knew it from the first moment they touched me as I toppled the tower, I knew it from the way an entire curious crowd gathered not to try and slay me, but simply to look at me. I knew it because I was still alive, and Kylah was still alive, and we both came to this town knowing in our hearts we would free it, or die. But only when Kylah put it into the same sort of words I'd used in my own mind did it really, truly, sink in.

These people saw me as a hero. Not as a monster, not even as a dragon, but as someone who had risked his own life to save them. In all likelihood, this would be the only town that ever saw dragons this way, that saw as something beyond evil, beyond beasts. But for whatever it was worth, here was a place where humanity would remember us as something different, something better. Here was a place where humanity would mourn us when their kind had finally pushed the last of us from the world and into the shadowy obscurity of history written by the wealthy and the powerful. When the tomes spoke of us as a long extinct race of malevolence rightfully wiped away, here was a town, here was a population who would remember the truth. They would remember us as something more then monsters.

They would remember us as heroes.

I stepped out from beneath the canvas, and for the first time in ages I truly felt the sun on my back. I spread my wings as far as they would go, and I let the sunlight warm them, I let it warm every inch of my body, I let it warm my heart. I turned a slow circle in the sun-baked plaza, I felt the wind rippling across every scale, and every inch of my wingspan. I flared my ventral sails, I unsheathed my claws, and for the first time I saw the people watching me not in fear, but in awe, in curiosity, in wonder. In gratitude. Who was I, they must have thought. Who was this strange dragon who appeared out of nowhere one day, alongside one of their own, and shed his blood to protect their town?

"I am Vraalasothinox!" I bellowed, answering a question that might only have been asked in my head. "I am now your ally! I am now your friend! And from this day, I shall protect you, and your town!"

Wait. What had I just said? I was starting to get carried away, why the hell had I said that? It wasn't as if I was planning on staying here forever, I'd come here to save their town, and then I was...then...Then what was I going to do? Go home and leave Kylah behind? Return to my empty solitude and count down the last of my days? Long for Niara to return to my with out children? I knew I'd stay in this town for a little while if I survived, but Kylah and I had never actually spoken about what would happen beyond that. As our friendship had grown, I think we both knew we would have to part eventually. No matter how much we may come to enjoy each other's company, no matter how we may grow to care for one another, we could not stay together as friends for the rest of our days. We were simply too different.

And yet, did that truly matter?

I turned my head on my long neck to look back behind myself at Kylah. She lifted her hands with her palms up in a questioning look as if she too was wondering just what I was committing myself too, and what lay ahead for us. I shrugged my wings in reply to her, I didn't have a clue what I was doing, or what I was getting myself into this time. I'd been running full tilt into the treacherous swamp of uncertainty since I'd first met Kylah, and now I'd just gone and closed my eyes. I wouldn't know what lay ahead until I ran smack into it, or plunged into a sinking mire of quicksand.

And yet, I wasn't going to take back what I said. If I left as soon as I was healed, there was the chance the bandits would return and retake this town, or worse. They might come seeking revenge and just burn the whole place down as a message to the other towns in the area. There...that was it. I couldn't leave this town, I couldn't leave Kylah until I knew they'd be safe. Maybe it was all just an excuse to stay close to Kylah a little while longer, a desire to be near her for as long as possible that subconsciously caused me to shout out proclamations of protection to a people I once hated.

Whatever it was, I could not deny that something bordering on magical was happening here. Something I'd never have imagined possible before, these people, these humans. They were cheering me. Not long after I foolishly yelled out how I was going to protect them, they'd all begun to cheer like mad idiots watching a parade of their fellow fools strutting and stumbling back. And for some reason, that made me want to roar.

So I did. A took a breath so deep I almost popped some of my stitches, my ribs stretched and expanded, and when I was as full of air as I could possibly be, I threw my horned head back and roared. The sound I gave to the sky was like ruinous thunder of defiance hurled in the face of the fate that had torn my people from this world with cold, cruel claws. Let the world hate us, then, let the world kill us. Where the rest of my kind had turned their backs, or fought a futile war with an overwhelming species, I would do something different. I would show these humans what we could truly be. As if in agreement, the crowd all around me roared right back. One human voice joined by another joined by hundreds until their cheers and roars matched me own. Until the humans roared for the dragon that had come to save them. That they accepted as their friend.

Do something great.

I had.

---

That's it for these two chapters.

Our story draws nearly to a close, with only one extended chapter remaining. I had originally planned to end it here, in fact, as this marks a great moment of closure for what remains an unfinished story. But I've decided I'll post chapter 18 soon, as well. So stay tuned!

In the meantime, if you've enjoyed, please FAVE, and comment with your thoughts on the story so far, and these near-climatic chapters!

"I wanted to wrap you in the sky forever." All these years after I wrote it, and that line still hits me.