Phaedra was awoken by a loud, shrill shriek. Drearily, her eyes opened and she let out a low, gentle yawn before stretching.

  A moment later the ship dropped a few feet and she let out a terrified bleat, flailing her arms around while her wool instinctively expanded. She quickly shrunk it back down so she could stand. At least she didn’t have to wait about waking up again. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to sleep for the next hour with all that adrenaline pumping through her veins.

  “Hmm? What was that?” Yroth asked, groggily raising her head and peering out from under the bed covers.

  “I don’t know!” Phaedra said before another loud shriek filled the air. “I’m going to go check on it. Stay here, I’ll be back in a moment.”

  Yroth gave a light shrug before covering her head with the covers again, and soon a little smoke came out from under the edge.

  Phaedra rolled her eyes. Dragons. She ran to the door, barely having her hand on the handle before the ship jumped again. She was going to be sick at this rate, she knew it. She yanked the door open and stepped outside, quickly closing it behind herself. “What’s going on out here?”

  “Lady Phaedra!” Xenaris’ voice came from above and she glanced up, to see him dangling upside down from one of the balloons. A small hole had been cut into it, which he was in the middle of trying to patch. “Please, you need to return to your quarters! There are rocs about!”

  Phaedra shook her head and walked to the edge of the ship, peering over the side to look down below. Fortunately, she could see rather well in the dark due to her demonic heritage. Unfortunately, she couldn’t see anyone down there. They were so high up she could only barely make out some trees. “Someone is launching rocks at us? Where are they?”

  “My lady! Look out!” Xenaris yelled.

  Phaedra looked up in time to see something made of feathers and anger descend on her. She was barely able to lift her arms and extend her wool in a makeshift barrier before whatever it was slammed into her. She let out a startled shriek, which turned to a pained one a moment later when a savage beak plunged through her wool and clamped down on her right arm. The scent of her blood filled the air and the beak pulled back, trying to rip her arm from its socket.

  She let out an agonized, vicious howl and her vision turned red. Her left arm shot out, gripping the massive bird’s neck. The roc seemed to be stunned, unmoving. She lunged her head forward and her teeth clamped down around the beak, digging in deep. She then rolled herself to the right, dragging the roc with her and slamming it down onto the deck with such force the ship shook. It let out a startled caw, flapping its wings and kicking out with its legs. She didn’t let go, feeling the beak crack under her jaws. She released its throat and lifted her left hand, the ends of her fingers shifting into vicious claws. She slashed down, gouging the claws deep into her prey’s head and blinding its right eye.

  Her right arm was released when the roc let out an agonized, terrified cry. Her right hand plunged forward, digging under the feathers of the bird’s chest. She could feel it, her prey’s heart. Pounding. She could smell the creature’s fear when claws formed on her hand, readying to pierce through flesh and bone to tear out its heart.

  A sudden flurry of feathers on her left was the only warning she had before something slammed into her. She was thrown off the bird, tumbling back before something long and sharp hit her in the face, sending her rolling back.

  Phaedra dug her claws into the deck, her hooves growing into claws as well before digging all four into the wood to slow her skid. She narrowly came to a stop, her back left claw against the deck railing and having left deep gouges in the deck. She stood there on all fours for a moment, looking around wildly to see what hit her.

  A second roc. The first scrambled to its talons and gracelessly flew off the side of the ship. The second was readying itself, head low, wings spread, eyeing her.

  Phaedra let out a low growl before licking her lips. Blood. Not just the bird’s, but her own. She shook her head and the blood red of the world seemed to fade. Slowly she retracted her claws and her hands turned back to their softer, delicate form. She stood up and took a slow, deep breath. “Go,” she told the roc. “Bother my voyage again and you will die.”

  She didn’t know if the roc understood her, but it at least seemed to understand she wasn’t intending to kill it. It flapped its wings and dove over the side of the ship.

  “M-my lady,” Xenaris said, his voice filled with awe. “You… you fended them off.”

  “Are there any more?” Phaedra asked.

  “No. The rest fled when you howled,” Xenaris said.

  “How long until repairs are finished?” Phaedra asked before running a hand along her face. She could feel a small cut, but it didn’t seem to be bleeding very badly. She could tend to it soon.

  “It… it shouldn’t take long,” Xenaris said.

  “Did we lose any crew?” Phaedra asked.

  “N-no,” Xenaris said. “A few wounded, but minor. Your face, it’s—”

  “I know,” Phaedra said before walking back towards her cabin. “I’ll tend to myself. Get us out of their territory.” She paused when she came to the door. “Captain Xenaris?”

  “Yes, Lady Phaedra?” Xenaris asked, a hint of fear to his voice.

  “Next time, tell me giant eagles or birds,” Phaedra said. “I know they are rocs, but that is very confusing.”

  Xenaris stared at her for a few moments in bewilderment. “As… you wish?”

  Phaedra just gave another sigh before walking into her room. Of course. She was willing to bet roc and rock didn’t sound anything alike in their language. She slammed the door behind herself before glancing towards the bed. “Yroth?”

  “Hmmm?” Yroth asked, not even coming out from under the covers.

  “Do roc and rock sound alike to you?” Phaedra asked.

  “Rocs?!” Yroth yelled before throwing off the cover and rising to her hooves. “Here, they--”

  “I dealt with them already,” Phaedra said before wiping some more blood off her face. “Do they sound alike to you?”

  “Not in the slightest,” Yroth said. “Do… they to you?”

  “They are pronounced exactly the same,” Phaedra said with a light groan. She walked to her wardrobe and started rummaging through her amulets. She knew she had a healing one in here somewhere.

  “Phaedra?” Yroth asked from behind her, making her jump.

  “What?” Phaedra asked, turning around to see the dragon standing only a few inches from her. She took a step back, nearly falling into the wardrobe when her legs hit the edge. “Y-you’re a little clo--” She was silenced by a finger pressed to her lips.

  “Shhhh…” Yroth said, moving in closer to her and looking down into her eyes. “You truly are Medon, aren’t you?” Her hands moved past her on either side.

  “W-what?” Phaedra asked a moment before an amulet was dropped over her head. “Huh?”

  “Do you remember when you got this amulet?” Yroth asked.

  “Huh?” Phaedra asked before looking down at it. “Gibs got it for me when I--”

  “No,” Yroth said. “When you were with us. You were covered in blood then, too.”

  “O-oh,” Phaedra said. “Yeah. It, uhhh, was in that cave. At the oasis. I was so happy because it meant I wouldn’t have to bother Atlas anymore.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Bother Atlas?” Yroth asked.

  “Yeah,” Phaedra said. “I was always getting hurt, after all. It was my job, I was the front line. I--”

  “You were merely a human,” Yroth said.

  “With more power than any human ever had,” Phaedra said. “Besides, I had a job to do. It was my duty to get hurt.”

  “Eve would have said that was her duty,” Yroth said. “Just as Atlas would have said it was her duty to ease your pains. She never felt you were a burden.” Her wings spread out over both of them, as if to give them shade. There was no light, though, so it wasn’t as if there was anything to shade her from.

  “She was too nice to ever say it,” Phaedra said. “But I could tell how annoyed she always was when I’d get cut up or--”

  “She was concerned because you were reckless,” Yroth said, her hand moving out to stroke along her cheek. “Judging by that mark on your face, you still are. You could have been blinded.”

  “It would have healed,” Phaedra said. “Demon, remember? And magic. Both, really.”

  Yroth just gave a soft sigh before shaking her head. “Did you truly believe you were a burden to us?”

  “Wasn’t I?” Phaedra asked. “I barely knew how anything worked, I wasn’t nearly as strong as you all said I was supposed to be, I couldn’t take names like you could. Even the other Ascended Dragons refused to aid me, how was I anything but a burden to all of you?”

  Yroth went entirely still for a few moments before pulling back. “That… isn’t why they didn’t aid you.”

  Phaedra blinked a few times staring at her. “Wasn’t it, though? I mean… I wasn’t the hero they wanted, so--”

  “No,” Yroth said, raising her hand for silence. “The Ascended Dragons believed that there was no threat to the world. That while the Wolf was dangerous, he was not the world-ending disaster many feared him to be. It was merely another war for territory, for power. And we rarely, if ever, interfere in such things. Our own rituals said there was no real threat.”

  “Wait,” Phaedra said softly. “Then why did you help me if there was no threat?”

  “I believed our rituals to be wrong,” Yroth said. “After all, a hero was summoned from another world. Surely such a thing could only have happened if our world was in peril. Alas, many of the other dragons refused to believe it. Despite my attempts to convince them otherwise. I believed that aiding you was the correct decision and I hoped that the others would see reason. Unfortunately, they never did.” She then gave a sigh. “Now, it appears, I may have been the fool after all. To imagine they would have tampered with such a holy spell, to use it in such a manner. To imagine I fell for such lies.”

  “I-I’m sorry,” Phaedra said gently. “I never meant to—”

  “Do not apologize,” Yroth said, her voice filled with such fury it made Phaedra let out a startled baaaah. “You are not the one to blame for this. You are just as much a victim of deceit as I.”

  “But maybe if I’d told you what--”

  “You only did as you were told,” Yroth said. “What reason did you have to believe things were different than they said?”

  “I still could have,” Phaedra said. “If I’d just opened up a bit more, told you all the details about who I was, who I was supposed to be, maybe none of this would have happened. Now, thanks to me, you nearly died, Atlas, Eve and Lilith are likely being tortured in who knows how many ways, I was torn apart, this world--”

  “What?” Yroth asked, staring at her. “Tortured? They’re being tortured?”

  “I-I don’t know,” Phaedra said. “You said they’re still alive and being held. Who knows what kind of torment they’re being put through? If--” She was silenced, once more, by the dragon raising her hand.

  “Right, you truly do know so little of our world,” Yroth said. “It is at moments like these I believe that more of the blame falls on me than on you. I should have questioned deeper. No, they are unlikely to be tortured. That would be far, far simpler. One can escape when tortured. When it comes to a name, there are three ways to deal with it. If the name is known and can be taken, killing and ripping the heart from them, stealing the power and the name. A vicious, if time-honored ritual.”

  “Still gross, by the way,” Phaedra said with a light shudder. “It’s always names and hearts with you people, I swear.”

  “If the name is not known,” Yroth said, giving a small glare at her comment. “Ripping out the heart and devouring it will grant some power, but the name will be free to be taken by another who is worthy. However, if the name cannot be taken? It’s simple. Trap and bind them in a timeless prison. Frozen and removed from the world, their name cannot be taken by another and their power is lost until they can be freed.”

  “Wait, that’s it?” Phaedra asked. “I thought it meant that… so they’re not only alive, but basically just trapped? That’s not nearly as bad as--”

  “You really know nothing of our world, Morgana,” Yroth said, her voice cold and harsh. “You speak so simply of such a horrific fate.”

  “S-sorry,” Phaedra said sheepishly, backing away a little. Her wool poofed up again, but she managed to avoid going into a full ball. “It just… doesn’t seem as bad as I’d imagined.”

  “What it means,” Yroth said. “Is that from the moment they were captured, they were likely sealed away. Locked from their homes, their families, their people. Trapped in a prison they cannot ever hope to escape, not knowing what the world will be like when they are finally freed. There have been names freed who were trapped for millennia, the world entirely different from the one they had left. Their homes nothing more than faded memories to all. Knowing that with their capture, their people were deprived of one of their great names, weakening them and possibly ending in their extinction. That when they are freed, it may be possible that their people are forever gone. Does that truly strike you as something so small?”

  Phaedra gulped and slowly shook her head. “N-no. Not really. I… I just thought… I thought they were being tortured or… who knew what? That they were suffering. That every day they were trapped was another day of… torment.”

  Yroth gave a soft sigh before shaking her head. “No. Again, I suppose I should have been more clear. I never imagined so much would have been hidden from you. The Wolf is cunning. He’d know better than to do such a thing, especially considering the number of names he has taken. Even weakened by torture, escape would be a possibility. Getting a message out as well. As far as I know, none have ever escaped him.”

  “Except me now, huh?” Phaedra said with a light chuckle. “Though I had to die to do it. So I guess it’s not something most can do.”

  “Likely not,” Yroth said before she turned and walked back to the bed, sitting down once more. “We will find them, however. As well as many other names. Once we have confirmed all that you have said.”

  Phaedra nodded before glancing towards her again. “Hey… Yroth?”

  “What now?” Yroth asked, her tone vicious.

  “Sorry! I didn’t mean to--”

  “Ask,” Yroth said again, her voice growing ever more annoyed. “It is too late now not to.”

  “Well, I mean. You helped me, right? Or Medon? Morgana? You… didn’t have to. But you did. Why? If the other Ascended Dragons didn’t want to? You even told me your name?”

  Yroth went entirely still then and, for a few moments, she thought she had gone too far. However, when the dragon spoke again her voice was soft and gentle. “Yroth is… the name of an Ascended Dragon unlike many others of my kind. It is special. Possibly why you had never heard of it, even in your home, as it follows a unique path.”

  “R-really?” Phaedra asked softly.

  “Indeed,” Yroth said. “Besides, the hatchlings of a dragon and a hero from another world would have made fine children.”

  “Wait, WHAT?” Phaedra asked, her cheeks going scarlet. “Y-y-y-y-you wanted to--”

  Yroth started laughing, covering her eyes and flapping her wings as her laughter shook her entire body. Phaedra just stood there and stared, her face burning. Finally, the dragon calmed enough to speak. “Y-y-you truly are a gullible creature, aren’t you? Such a mewling lamb. The form suits you, Morgana.”

  “W-what?” Phaedra asked. “What do you mean?”

  “I am an Ascended Dragon,” Yroth said. “I merely believed my fellow dragons were being stubborn and foolish. I decided to not take such risks and did as I believed to be correct. In this case, aiding you. I had, at the time, no reason to believe that the hero summoned was anything but Medon. Had I known? I likely would have been your enemy upon discovering such a deceit.”

  “My enemy?” Phaedra asked. “But you said you didn’t blame me, that--”

  “I do not blame you now,” Yroth said. “But then I likely would have, if I had not known the full story. What can I say? I’ve always been a little quick to anger. I sometimes fail to fully think things through,” she said dismissively. “I likely would have blamed you. But the circumstances are different. You know little, and it appears it falls on me to teach you. We have both been wronged and I will not hold you accountable for this deceit, so worry not. Little mewling lamb,” she said in a taunting tone.

  Phaedra glared at her. “You know, maybe I should have just kept you in chains.”

  “Perhaps,” Yroth said. “But it would have hardly endeared you to me, now would it?”

  “You think I’m endearing?” Phaedra asked before she could stop herself. Her cheeks went red and she quickly turned her back to the dragon to try and hide the blush… only to turn back around when she realized it exposed her slightly wagging tail.

  To her surprise, Yroth was blushing as well. Even through her scales and in the dark the redness in her cheeks was apparent. She gave a sigh before laying back down, pulling the blanket over herself. “Go to sleep, little lamb. By morning we will likely reach the edges of my territory. You’d best be prepared for what may come.”

  Phaedra hmphed before stomping back off to her corner. Her arm didn’t hurt anymore, at least. The amulet did its job well.

  She just wished she could get her stomach to not twist into knots whenever Yroth said things like that. It felt so pathetic knowing she could be made so happy by such tiny, simple comments.

  She still couldn’t stop herself from smiling, though. Yroth thought she was endearing and cute.

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