A forty-foot-long white and silver dragon landed right behind the drogs. Azareth stared at the beast, eyes wide and jaw hanging open. Its huge wings stretched out and blocked out the sun behind it. The drogs stopped attacking the men and turned to face the fearsome dragon. The dragon lowered its head and let out an ear-splitting roar. The drogs ran as fast as they could away from the dragon. Azareth saw the frill on its head start silver and fade into white, she was mesmerized by the creature in front of her. The dragon turned and blew bright orange fire at the giants. The group of giants scattered away from the pen, leaving the three of them tied to the logs.

“Flee! Flee to the woods,” Bordor yelled to his subjects. The dragon blew fire around using its long neck to circle the entire pen in a ring of fire.

“Stop,” Azareth said. The dragon whipped its head around in her direction, the fire extinguishing from its mouth. The dragon moved closer to Azareth, locking eyes with. Azareth could see the dragon’s bright piercing blue eyes.

“Azareth, what are you doing?” Jurah asked. He came to his senses, as the dragon had landed in front of them.

“She won’t hurt us,” Azareth spoke softly. The fire was growing around them, they could hear the horses beginning to panic in the distance.

“She? You can’t possibly know what that beast is?” Artibain asked, horrified. The dragon turned and growled at Artibain, she stepped closer to him as smoke seeped out of her mouth.

“Free me,” Azareth said. The dragon turned back to Azareth, a confused look in her eyes. “Please, we can’t stay here.” The dragon stepped away from Artibain and towards Azareth. Her mouth was open slightly, releasing a small ball of fire in Azareth’s direction. The fire reached Azareth and began to burn the ropes around her torso. Azareth lifted her arms to her sides, breaking the ropes apart.

“Thank you,” Azareth said to the dragon. The dragon sat up and rested on her legs, watching Azareth as she freed Jurah and then running over to free Artibain.

“Great, but how the hell are we supposed to get past the thirty-foot planes around us?” Artibain asked. He threw his arms up in the air gesturing around them. Jurah and Azareth looked around the pen for any signs of opening, but there wasn’t one.

“Az, could the dragon help us?” Jurah asked. Azareth turned to face him, her eyes wide.

“What?” she asked.

“It listened to you, for some reason,” Jurah said. “Can you ask if to help us out of the fire?” Azareth turned to face the Dragon and swallowed what little salvia was in her mouth.

“Excuse me, could you help us get through the fire?” Azareth asked. The dragon blinked at Azareht’s request.

“Forget manners, we’re about to bloody burn alive here,” Artibain spat. Azareth turned to narrow her eyes at him. That’s when Artibain noticed the dragon also had her eyes narrowed at him. He suddenly realized what Jurah had been talking about. The dragon stood up and turned her side to them. She slowly lowered her wing over the flames clearing a way for them.

“This way, hurry,” Azareth said. She began running towards the dragon’s wing, the guys followed right on her heels. They climbed onto its wing and began to run across it through the wide hole she created in the scorching fire. Once on the other side, Azareth leaped off of the dragon’s wing and turned to see Jurah and Artibain do the same. The dragon pulled her wing back of the fire, the flames rose again. Azareth could just barely see the dragon’s head as she stood up to take off.

“Thank you!” Azareth yelled over the sound of burning wood. The dragon looked down at her, locking eyes with her again.

“You’re welcome.” Azareth heard the dragon say. Azareth stared frozen as she watched the dragon spread her wings and push off the ground. As the dragon disappeared just as fast as it had appeared, her wings blew hot air over Azareth.

“Azareth, we need to go,” Artibain said. He grabbed her arm and began to pull her away from the growing flames. Jurah was just ahead of them, he grabbed his sword and swung it down on the rope tying Foxtail to the tree. He did the same for Dewdrop and Stormlight, as Artibain and Azareth reached their horses. The three of them barely made it on the horses before they took off, galloping away from the fire that was encroaching on them.

“What the hell just happened?” Artibain asked as the three of them managed to stop their horses. They stood still panting underneath the riders.

“Where did that dragon come from?” Jurah asked. They both turned to face Azareth for answers. She looked back at them and put her hands up in defence.

“Did you hear it speak?” Azareth asked. “She said ‘you’re welcome to me.” Jurah and Artibain shared a raised eyebrow and shook their heads.

“It didn’t speak at all, Az,” Jurah said. She felt her eyebrows knit together. She shook her head and looked at the ground.

“But I heard her.”

“Maybe you did, but we didn’t,” Artibain said. “We shouldn’t stay here, the giants could be anywhere. We are still in their territory.”

“How much further until we’re in the clear?” Jurah asked. Artibain shrugged his shoulders. Azareth was looking at the ground still, she couldn’t understand how she was the only one who heard the dragon. Was she losing her senses?

“A few hours? If we follow the river we should come to a large rock formation signalling the edge of their territory. Once on the other side of that, we’re in the clear,” Artibain said. Jurah and Artibain moved to their horses and got ready to leave.

“Alright, let’s get a move on,” Jurah said. He looked at Azareth, who was still racking her brain over what happened. He touched her shoulder and she looked up at him. He gave her a small smile hoping to comfort her, she pulled away and walked over to Stormlight. Then the three of them began to ride in the direction the river was flowing. Azareth was looking around them, the trees were becoming bigger and closer together. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking about the dragon. Where did she come from? How did she know that they needed her help?

It had been only a few hours since the fire. The three of them hadn’t spoken to each other, all still reeling from the events. Jurah had talked the most, but he was only giving them warning about obstacles in their path. The sun was high in the sky now, but it was beginning to lower in the west. Azareth was dazed, just letting Stormlight follow her friends’ path without direction from her.

“Azareth?” Jurah asked, stopping at a large rock formation. She looked up at him seeing the large rocks behind him. “We made it, where does the map say to go now?” Azareth shook her head, she didn’t know. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the map her father gave her.

“Uh, okay,” Azareth said. She scanned the map, running her finger over the paper. She looked around them and then back at the map. “If we keep going down this path it looks like it’s just two more nights to Berlar.”

“Really?” Artibain asked. “That fast huh?”

“Yes,” Azareth said. She folded up the map and put it back in her saddlebag. “We should find somewhere to rest for the night, the horses are exhausted. I need to check both of your wounds.”

“Of course, let’s keep riding until we find something. I don’t want to risk being this close to the giant's territory,” Jurah said. They all agreed and continued down the road. Azareth went back to being silent, as she looked ahead of her. They couldn’t hear the dragon speak, was it just her that could or was it all dragon lords? She had so many burning questions now. Unfortunately, they were still days away from Berlar.

“Are you alright?” Artibain asked, slowing down to ride next to Azareth. She bit her lip, shaking her head.

“I don’t know,” she said. Then she rode ahead to catch up with Jurah, who she knew wouldn’t talk to her right now. As they rode on, the sky started to grow a more pinkish colour and the shadows grew more in the trees. Azareth rubbed Stormlight’s neck as they rode further away from the giants. She sensed her horse’s nerves were beginning to settle as well as her own.

“What about there?” Artibain asked. Jurah and Azareth turned to see what he was pointing at. They looked forward again, they saw that there was a large clearing just up ahead of them. They all agreed to stop there for the night, as they reached the clearing. Once through the treeline, Jurah and Azareth were the first to drop to the ground from their horses.

“This is great, the trees make for good coverage. There’s water for us and the horses,” Jurah said, letting go of the reins and letting Foxtail follow Stormlight to the edge of the water. Artibain dropped down from Dewdrop and released his reins to do the same.

“I agree, let’s find something to eat,” Artibain said. Azareth cleared her throat, stopping the men from heading off into the woods.

“What?” Jurah asked, raising his eyebrow at Azareth.

“I haven’t checked your wounds yet, both of you sit down,” Azareth demanded. She pointed to a log on the treeline. The two men sat down, agreeing it was best not to argue with her. Azareth pulled out the small medicine bag from her saddle and walked over to the men. She started with Artibain, moving his hair out of his face and looking at the cut on his hairline.

“How does it look?” Artibain asked. Azreth pulled out the salve and dabbed some gently onto Artibain’s cut.

“Not worrisome, it should be fully healed in a day or two,” she said. She turned and looked at Jurah. Jurah sighed, he lifted his shirt up to show Azareth the wound on his ribcage. It seemed like years since the two of them had faced the orcs of Warsak together. Azareth knelt on one knee and looked closely at it. The wound had scabbed over, there was no infection anymore. There was still some redness around the edges, Azareth smiled relieved.

“It’s healing well, Jurah. There’s no infection,” she said. She dabbed some salve onto the wound. “How does it feel?”

“Better, doesn’t hurt when I get on and off Foxtail anymore,” Jurah explained. They shared a smile, Jurah dropped his shirt when Azareth took her hand away from his ribs.

“I’m glad,” she said.

“One of us should look at your eye,” Artibain said. Azareth stood up and nodded her head.

“Fair is fair,” Azareth said. “Just so you know my vision in that eye is clear.” Jurah stood up with her and took her chin in his hand. He stared into her bruised eye, he smiled lightly. She looked into his eyes, feeling her palms grow sweaty.

“The swelling is gone, it is still a little bruised,” Jurah said. “But that should be gone by the time we reach Berlar.” Artibain grabbed his bow and arrows, Jurah smiled, releasing Azareth’s chin. He followed Artibain’s example and grabbed his sword.

“Stay here, we’ll be back,” Artibain said.

Azareth didn’t argue, she was too tired to fight them. She took Stormlight’s saddle off and then dropped down to the ground. She played on her back staring up at the sky, looking at the pinkish clouds floating past her. That’s when she noticed a large black shadow fly through one of the clouds. She sat up quickly staring at the sky, her eyes wide.

“Was that-” she was cut off when a fish jumped up out of the water. She looked at the ripples in the river and saw where the fish had dove back down. When she looked back up at the sky there was nothing there but strawberry-coloured clouds. The horses moved around Azareth nibbling on small patches of grass around the camp. Azareth laid back down, releasing a huge breath as she scanned the skies.

“Thank you, for catching dinner,” Azareth said, as they finished eating the small rabbits the men had caught. They were small, all three had very little meat on them. Though it was better than no food at all.

“Of course, it’s not much, but it’s something to keep us going,” Artibain said. He was poking at the small fire they made to cook the rabbits on.

“Do you think we can make it to Berlar without running into any more near-death experiences?” Azareth asked them. Both Jurah and Artibain looked at her unsure how to answer.

“I would like to say yes, but knowing our record, I’m just going to say I hope so,” Jurah said. He laid down resting his head against his saddle. Azareth saw his eyes shut, he must have been exhausted. Jurah drifted off to sleep in a matter of seconds, leaving Artibain and Azareth both awake in silence.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess,” Azareth spoke after a few minutes. Artibain looked at her confused.

“Why are you apologizing?” He asked. “I’m the one who should be sorry, if it wasn’t for me none of this would have happened.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If my father hadn’t captured you in the first place, you would have reached Berlar days ago. You wouldn’t have almost been eaten by drogs at the demand of the giant king.”

“True, I guess,” Azareth said. She poked the fire with her stick and stared at the flames.

“I’m sorry about the river,” Artibain said. Azareth looked at him, her cheeks flushed.

“It’s okay, I could have waited for you two to wake up.”

“I could have been more aware of my surroundings,” Artibain said. Azareth shook her head and waved her hand at him.

“It’s forgiven,” she said. She felt awkward about his apology, she wanted to change the subject and fast. “You didn’t hear the dragon speak?”

“I swear I didn’t,” Artibain said. Azareth looked into his eyes and nodded her head. She could feel his honesty and see it in his eyes. “What did it sound like?”

“I don’t know,” Azareth said. “Familiar, like I had heard it before.”

“Maybe you have.”

“Maybe, my parents did say they found me on the beach of Lake Criwar.”

“Really?” Artibain asked. Azareth nodded her head, she looked up over the flames at him. “So, you were adopted?”

“Yes, I guess that’s how you put it.”

“Do you want to meet your birth parents?” Artibain asked her. Azareth stared at her hands and started to pick at her fingernails.

“I don’t know, I haven’t given it much thought. They probably died in the war,” Azareth said. Artibain nodded, tossing his stick into the fire.

“It is possible, I heard a lot of dragon lords perished in the final battle in Berlar.”

“Do you think there is a chance that they survived?”

“Anything is possible, loot at us,” Artibain said, a little chuckle in his voice. “An elf, a dragon lord and a human travelling together? I don’t think it’s ever been done before. Yet, here we are, working together. Trying to get you safely to Berlar.”

“You’re right, I don’t think it’s ever happened,” Azareth said. They went silent and stared at the fire. The tension in the air grew thicker as the silence went on.

“Do you want to know?”

“Want to know what?” Azareth asked. Artibain let out a sigh and raised his eyebrow at Azareth.

“What my kind did to the world all those years ago?” Artibain said.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, you told me Jurah didn’t tell you,” Artibain said. Azareth looked over the flames and was taken aback by the expression on Artibain’s face. He looked sombre, full of darkness she hadn’t seen on him before.

“You don’t have to,” Azareth said. She pulled on her fingers, praying for the subject to change. “There’s probably a reason why they don’t teach it to the younglings.”

“Centuries ago-”

“Artibain, you don’t-”

“Azareth, please, let me tell you,” Artibain said. She locked eyes with him, he looked like he needed to say the words more than she needed to hear them. Azareth nodded and Artibain took in a deep breath. “Centuries ago my kind were everywhere, our population was greater than all of the other species. The rulers of the kingdoms had imprisoned the elves, giants and dragon lords. They used a kind of dark magic, I don’t know what it was called. It has long been forgotten, for the best, I’d say.

“To show that they were truly in power, they would torture each species. For giants, my mother told me that they would cage the children and cause them to grow deformed. Because of this, they had to breed themselves shorter. They used to be stories taller than they are now. For the elves, I was told, they would round their ears to make them more human. They would also bound their hands to keep them from using their gifts. I never knew how it stopped them, but maybe they used more magic.”

“What would they do to dragon lords?” Azareth asked. Her stomach was nauseous, she didn’t realize how dark the history was. It was horrifying to learn that her teachers were keeping things from all of the young elves back home.

“Azareth, I’m sorry,” Artibain started. He was afraid to keep going. “They would cut out the tongues of lords and make it so they couldn’t speak to the dragons.” Azareth covered her mouth and stared into the fire in disbelief.

“Azareth?” Artibain asked. She looked up at him slowly meeting his gaze. His eyes were tearing up and she heard a small crack in his voice.

“I’m sorry, I just,” she paused. “It’s so dark.”

“I know, it haunts me every day.”

“Why? It wasn’t you, you weren’t there all those years ago.”

“Because it was my people, ancestors of my clan who did it.”

“What?”

“My bloodline dates back to those times. To kings and queens responsible for those monstrous things.”

“Artibain,” Azareth said. She took a moment before continuing, hoping not to upset him. “Even if your ancestors did those things, I can see that you would never do anything like that.”

“How do you know? You barely know me.”

“I can see it in your eyes, talking about those things hurt you greatly.” Azareth stared at Artibain. He was trying to make sense of her, his thoughts were all fuzzy from her words. He blinked a couple of times and looked at the flames before taking in a large breath.

“We should get some rest, it’s only a few hours before dawn,” he said. As he laid back against his pack. Azareth looked confused, she wanted to protest. But she closed her mouth and laid down against her pack. She didn’t say another word, but she could have sworn as she drifted off Artibain’s voice echoed in the air.

“Thank you, Azareth.”