The morning mist hung heavy over the training grounds as Lia parried Kieran's strike, her movements finally showing fluidity after weeks of practice. His emerald eyes held approval rather than disdain – a change that still surprised her.

  "Better," he grunted, lowering his sword. "Your stance is solid. We might make a fighter of you yet."

  "High praise from the Dragon Commander," she teased, wiping sweat from her brow.

  Their banter was interrupted by a messenger bearing the royal seal. Kieran's expression darkened as he read the missive.

  "A wild dragon threatens the northern vilges. We're ordered to subjugate it." He gnced at her. "You're not ready for this."

  "The order includes me by name," Lia countered, having glimpsed her designation on the scroll. Another ALICE mission, no doubt.

  "Dragons aren't practice dummies," he snapped, old protectiveness surfacing as concern. "One mistake and you're dead."

  "Then I'd better not make mistakes."

  Three days ter, they faced the beast in a scorched valley. The dragon was massive – scales like obsidian mirrors, eyes burning with ancient intelligence. Lia's training seemed woefully inadequate against such primal power.

  "Stay behind me," Kieran ordered, drawing his enchanted bde. "When I engage it, look for openings to—"

  The dragon struck mid-sentence, its tail whipping toward them with lethal speed. Lia reacted on instinct, tackling Kieran aside as the appendage pulverized the ground where he'd stood.

  "Behind you!" she screamed, spotting the creature's head snaking around for a killing blow.

  Kieran rolled, sshing upward. His bde scored the dragon's snout, buying precious seconds. They fought as one – him with trained precision, her with desperate determination. When fme threatened to engulf her, he shielded her with his fireproof cloak. When the dragon pinned him beneath its cw, she drove her sword into its foot, forcing release.

  The battle sted an eternity compressed into minutes. Finally, Kieran found his opening, leaping onto the dragon's back to drive his bde into the vulnerable spot behind its skull. The beast colpsed with an earth-shaking crash.

  In the sudden silence, they stared at each other – bloodied, burned, but alive.

  "Your arm," Kieran said roughly, noticing the gash where dragon cws had caught her.

  "It's nothing." But she swayed, adrenaline fading to reveal pain's true extent.

  He caught her before she fell. "Nothing, she says, while bleeding enough to fill a goblet." His hands were surprisingly gentle as he cleaned and bound the wound. "You saved my life. Twice."

  "You saved mine more."

  "That's not how it works." He finished the bandage, but didn't release her arm. "I've fought alongside seasoned knights who showed less courage. Less... instinct for battle."

  "I had a good teacher."

  Something flickered in his eyes – respect, certainly, but also warmth that hadn't been there before. "I trained you expecting failure. Hoping for it, perhaps, to prove my prejudices right." His scarred fingers brushed her cheek, wiping away grime. "I've never been happier to be wrong."

  The moment stretched, charged with unspoken possibilities. Then professionalism reasserted itself, and he stepped back.

  "We should secure the dragon's hoard for the crown," he said gruffly.

  But as they worked, Lia caught him watching her with an expression that spoke of shifting feelings. The warrior who'd seen her as an enemy now regarded her as an equal – and perhaps something more.

  "Mission complete," ALICE chimed that night. "Combat proficiency increased. Kieran's trust level: significantly elevated. New dialogue options avaible."

  Yet it wasn't the system's metrics that warmed Lia's heart, but the memory of calloused hands tenderly binding her wounds, and emerald eyes finally seeing her strength rather than Allura's reputation.