Leaning over a tall rocky crevice, the dragon’s breath touches the wind. How many years had it been since Lunaria stretched her bck wings? Her senses returned to her slowly. The ages of lying dormant beneath the mountain made everything stiff.

  Cold winds touched Lunaria’s nostrils. She sniffed the calming winter snow. Her eyes narrowed to everything on the horizon. An open sea. Vivid colors in all directions. Crystalline rock formations jutting out of floating isnds. It was all exactly as remembered.

  The moon dragon moved her legs, quaking the ground with each step. The chill on the air brought unbidden memories to her mind. The memories of ancient wars were still pronounced.

  For a moment, she was filled with a solemn feeling. The world outside had aged without her, and she became a recluse of her own volition. What practitioner of hoarding wouldn’t want to hole up in floating isnd mountains? The boundless space above seemed almost within her grasp, and the stars twinkled for her.

  If she wanted it, this world was her marble. If she cast the die, she could end the oncoming camity. Someone so in tune with the moon understood it better than most.

  Lunaria eventually found her raspy voice. “This peace is not so eversting, and so again, the mortals will throw themselves into battle. As it is ordained.”

  She wanted to scoff at the idea. Dragons were so much more reasonable than humans. Dragons would simply burn it all down and start over anew. If the world were to end, then why shouldn’t a dragon burn it down and hurry up the process?

  Yet, there were all too many of her kind with those proclivities. The ancient scourge of the va mountain. The titans of the deep. The wyrms whose limits were boundless.

  Then in this tide of dragon kind, who was Lunaria?

  She finally fpped her wings and took to the skies. The floating isnds seemed to weep at her growing further away from them. Crystals fell from their bottoms into the sea, sprinkling pieces of twilight in their wake.

  “Should some fortunate sea creature find them, they will have it made.”

  Her expansive wings fpped, and she floated higher still. She kept going until the atmosphere was spread thin. Her dragon lungs took in each small bit of oxygen. She grew a little light headed in response, but this was a normal acclimation.

  “In the end, I will act this time. Your presence brings something new to this world. It is something most fascinating.”

  Lunaria’s lips curled in her excitement. This was the first time in centuries she’d been excited about anything. Even the peaceful shores in the distance would not move her heart like the feeling bubbling in her chest now. It was something foreign, yet something not unwanted. It was something always longed for, but she couldn’t pce it.

  “I must act with haste. The future is too obscure…”

  And so, she flew away from the floating isnds. She left her previous world of solitude, and she headed North.

  ///

  Emma looked between wooden railing on the stairwell. The bar was more lively than she expected it to be. People were buzzing around like bees in a hive. The fire was stoked, and it sent warmth into the pce.

  Several people clobbered about, smacking their drinks on tables. One of them was a bold and old dwarf with graying hair.

  He snapped at the waitress near him. “Say, wench, get me another drink. My damn cup is empty. Look at it.”

  The woman gred at him. “I think you’ve had enough, old man. You better be moving or falling into a bed soon, or I will put you out myself.”

  “Ah, yeah? Is that right?” The dwarf grinned at her. “I wanna see ye try it then. There’s no way, you’ll move this…”

  The woman didn’t let him finish. She pced a tray of drinks on a nearby table, and in a show of incredible martial skill, she nded a roundhouse kick to his head. The bastard nded hard on the wooden floor, knocked out instantly from the swift kick.

  She picked up the tray and smiled at the nearby gawkers. “Anyone else want to try my patience tonight?” As they shook their heads, the waitress looked towards the bartender. “Yorm, do me a favor and throw this piece of shit outside on his head for me.”

  The beefy bartender chuckled. He walked over and grabbed the dwarf by the back of his leather colr. “You know the guards won’t like this one bit. If you’ve given them another mess to clean up, we’ll be shut down for good this time.”

  “Yeah, yeah, less talking and more throwing.”

  Yorm opened the wooden door and threw the dwarf outside into the snow. He wiped his hands off on his apron. “That takes care of that.”

  Emma watched this whole cartoon show in both horror and fascination. The other guests quickly minded their own business. They dared not to look the waitress in the eyes after that dispy.

  Possibly even more horrifying than that was when Emma noticed her eyes dart right at her spot. Emma hid her head behind the wall, wondering if she’d been seen. However, if she did, she didn’t get the chance to express it. Soon, there was yet another ruckus.

  Several guardsmen pushed the wooden door open and entered the inn. Their leader at the front wore ribbons denoting a special status. Though, there was no need to guess, one of the other men yelled out his title, grating Emma's eardrums with some type of megaphone.

  “Presenting the Captain of the Guard, Gerald Gortesh!”

  The people below stiffened at his mention. The only one who seemed cool with this arrangement was the woman with a gnarly roundhouse kick.

  Captain Gortesh scoffed at the woman from beneath his helmet. He walked over towards her, intentionally raising his voice so all guests could hear. “Is this the type of establishment you run here? To throw innocent men outside like a used wash cloth?”

  “…”

  The captain narrowed his eyes. “Well, is it?”

  “Huh? What were you just waiting out there for something like this to happen? Don’t you got better things to do? Like arresting criminals or hunting actual monsters?”

  “Don’t get uppity with me, girl. You’re already on thin ice as it is. The way I see it, this is a criminal investigation. So, I hope you don’t mind if we inspect the pce?”

  The captain formed a knife hand for his men and waved it forward. “And you have your orders. Tie up this woman’s arms, and start inspecting the pce.”

  Surprisingly, the woman let the nearby guard tie up her arms.

  But, Emma realized that the pce they’d be searching was the entire building. Fuck, I guess it’s time to go!