"Kee-eeeee-arr!"

Both girls flinched, their hearts pounding in their chests, their fear palpable as they looked around in panic at the sudden screeching.

Something large swooped down and clutched at Lily's head, lifting her a few feet off the ground before she abruptly fell, tumbling to the ground. The winged creature had grasped her hat with its talons, causing Lily to slip out to relative safety.

"Lily!" Rose screamed in rage as she dropped the basket and ran, her protective instinct overriding her fear as she put herself directly between Lily and the flying monster.

While ascending, the giant bird monster realized it had lost its prey and flicked its talons, releasing the hat.

"Kee-eeeee-arr!"

It would make another attempt, but Rose refused to allow that. Rose saw red; unbeknownst to her, her eyes had become cold and reptilian. She growled in rage, a deep and guttural rumbling from deep within.

Driven by a deep and instinctual feeling, she tried to shout, to expel all the boiling fury that had built inside her. She gave in to those emotions, and a torrent of flame erupted when she opened her mouth.

"Kee-eeeee-arr!"

"Kee-eeeee-arr!"

The conflagration erupted into the sky, exploding outwards like a blossoming flower and utterly engulfing the monster. Rose was panting, utterly unsure of what had happened. She felt drained and on the verge of collapsing. Instead of seeing red, now the world around her was becoming dark. She had been so focused on that monster she hadn't even noticed the second screech.

Lily had recovered from her tumble while all of this was happening. She frantically looked around and saw Rose protectively standing over her, like a gallant and stalwart knight standing guard over their charge. No, like a wrathful dragon defending her clutch.

Whether it was due to her more sensitive ears or by chance, Lily did notice the second screech. She could tell it wasn't coming from the direction Rose protected her from and turned just in time to see a second one about to begin its stoop.

Lily's breath and heart felt like they had stopped. Dread gripped her, and she wanted to cry out for help. As if it called to her, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a folded piece of paper, and tore it.

"Kee-eeeee-arr!"

The second bird focused on the small, helpless bunny girl in its dive. It hadn't even noticed its mate's untimely demise happening at the same time.

Despite being folded and torn, the piece of paper released a soft glow and accompanying thrum. If you had blinked, you would have missed it, but the magical inscription had briefly apparated in full from the hastily disintegrating remains of the torn page.

An invisible membrane instantly formed around Lily, like an all-encompassing protection. Neither the bird monster nor Lily could see its instantaneous construction or current existence, but Lily suddenly felt unassailable.

Crunch.

A horrified noise of the bird monster hitting the unseen barrier rang out. Lily briefly saw a flash of what looked like a glowing sphere of honeycombs before the bird monster's body was flung backward and collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

Besides Rose's heavy panting and light snarls from behind Lily, the only noise within the vicinity was the soft sound of something cracking, like the surface of a frozen lake thawing. A few breaths later, Lily momentarily saw the honeycomb sphere fall apart like shattering glass.

As if the rest of the world suddenly reappeared, Lily heard shouting voices approaching.

"Hey!"

"Are you two okay!?"

"Bloody dire hawks!"

"Gods, did you see that flame!?"

Lily turned to the source of the clamor and saw all of the guards running towards them, looking extremely frantic and worried. Osmin was with them.

"Wh-wha?" Rose stammered, sounding almost like she was asphyxiating.

Then she started violently coughing. Lily rushed to her side and frantically rubbed Rose's back, hoping it would help. Her coughing eventually eased up, and she glanced at Lily. Relief flooded Rose's eyes when she saw the girl was seemingly unharmed.

Osmin was the first to arrive and urgently looked over the two girls. "Oh, thank the gods, I'm so glad you are both alright."

"More than alright, I'd say." One of the other guards said with a chuckle. "Killed two damn dire hawks by herself!"

"Two?" Rose asked, looking woozy and unsteady. Lily was holding onto her tightly.

"Dire hawks always hunt in pairs. You roasted one, and the other somehow looks even worse." The guard answered, pointing to the second corpse while shaking his head and chuckling at how unbelievable this was.

Rose looked at the second bird and flinched. It looked beyond mangled, its head completely caved in and multiple protruding bones. Lily clutched tightly at her side. Rose blinked rapidly as if not believing her eyes, then gave Lily a reassuring pat on the head.

"I-I'm not sure..." Rose muttered.

"Adrenaline and instincts. You'd make a fantastic adventurer." The guard continued.

"Ease off the girl, Quin," Osmin scolded.

"What? I'd like to see you kill two dire hawks so easily," Quin responded. "Man... I wish I was born a Dragia."

The monster's corpse stirred. Its body was beginning to blacken. When the black portions darkened enough, parts began to break into masses of small flakes that softly floated into the air before dissolving.

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Lily gasped at the sight of it slowly disappearing before her very eyes.

"First time seeing a monster die?" Osmin asked.

Lily nodded meekly.

"They all do that. No need to worry." Osmin answered. "I'll escort you two home."

"Thanks..." Rose mumbled.

Lily silently nodded.

"Quin, help me quickly get all these plants back in the basket for them," Osmin said as he briskly walked over to the toppled-over basket.

"Oh, man... Plant gathering for Auntie Camilla," Quin responded. "That certainly brings me back."

The basket was full again in no time. Osmin held it for them while escorting them back to the city. The rest of the guards stayed back, occasionally poking the corpse with curiosity or boredom.

"Still... I thought dire hawks didn't attack people?" Lily overheard one of them muttering.

"That bunny is so small, I bet the hawks thought she was a critter," Quin responded.

Lily's ears drooped, unable to hide her conflicted feelings from overhearing that. It was all her fault.

Rose and Lily held hands the entire way to the city and back to the orphanage. Osmin tried to reassure them, but Lily remained silent while Rose occasionally muttered to herself. Two kids being escorted by the city guard was a sight for nosey city folk, and there were some whispers about naughty kids until Osmin glared them away.

Moments after arriving at the orphanage, one of the staff members arrived.

"Ah. Miss Margit, it's good to see you again." Osmin said cheerfully.

Margit blinked a few times until her apparent recollection. "Oz?"

"In the flesh," Osmin grinned happily. "Glad to see you're still working with the orphanage."

"It's good to see you again," Margit said with a soft smile until her gaze turned to the two girls. "Please don't tell me these two have caused trouble."

"No, ma'am," Osmin denied the accusation. "They were on their best behavior in the safe area and always stuck close to the city. Two dire hawks attacked them while they were on the way home."

"Dire hawks!?" Margit gasped.

"Afraid so. Luckily, Rose here defeated both of them," Osmin explained. "She's a real hero."

Margit sighed with relief. "Good. Thank you for bringing them home, Oz."

"Anytime, they're good kids, and it really wasn't their fault," Osmin replied. He leaned down and gave Lily back her basket.

Lily opened her mouth to say thanks, but no words came out. Instead, she just nodded. Osmin smiled in response and waved goodbye.

Margit sighed again and shook her head. "Come, let's get you two inside. You both need a relaxing bath and some food. We can discuss what happened tomorrow."

"I just want to collapse into bed..." Rose eventually mumbled.

Rose looked absolutely drained, like she hadn't slept for days and then ran a marathon. By comparison, aside from the dirt and some negligible scrapes, Lily looked healthy.

"Not filthy and not on an empty stomach," Margit insisted. "Trust me, you'll thank me in the morning."

Rose grumbled a nonverbal complaint but nodded.

When Lily returned to her room, the first thing she did was place the basket in her closet. Then she checked on the book, still undisturbed from where she had left it. Arakil did not respond.

Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out the remaining page, gently running her fingers along it. Magic, she had cast magic! When she thought that if that hadn't happened, she might have been injured or far worse, she shuddered.

She carefully placed the page under her pillow and proceeded to the washroom. After cleaning up, she only managed to force down a light meal as her stomach was in knots. When she finally returned to her room, she promptly collapsed into bed.

***

"Kee-eeeee-arr!"

Crunch.

Lily bolted up from her bed, panting and sweating. A nightmare.

She clutched at her legs in a fetal position as she tried to forget the haunting sounds. Eventually, she fell back asleep, although it was full of fits and moments of briefly waking up.

Lily struggled to eat at breakfast, and her lack of sleep was extremely apparent. Rose hadn't come, and Lily wanted to ask but struggled to find the words. She frantically looked around and kept opening her mouth to speak, but the words seemed caught at the back of her throat.

Thankfully, Margit seemed to understand the girl’s worries and explained that Rose was fast asleep after spending far too much energy. Lily nodded, but it didn't do much to settle her fears.

Margit offered for her to take the day off, but Lily shook her head and resumed her classes as normally as she could. Truthfully, she wanted the distraction to stop her thoughts from wandering.

After a bath and dinner, Lily returned to her room. Arakil still hadn't awoken, and she was beginning to worry again. To stifle those thoughts, she began practicing the magical drawing that had saved her life.

Endlessly throughout the night, she drew and drew the same inscription, the same glyphs, over and over again. She only stopped once her hand was beginning to cramp enough to affect her results.

With extreme reluctance, she went to bed. Tossing and turning restlessly until finally passing out.

***

"Kee-eeeee-arr!"

Rose bolted up, a rumbling growl rising in her throat. Her bedroom was sweltering, and she threw the covers off as she looked around frantically. This wasn't her room.

Before she could question it, her stomach bellowed with pain and hunger. She was absolutely ravenous. That's when she noticed a small metal table, away from the bed, with a large pitcher and a plate of what looked like meat on the table.

Rose stumbled to the table as quickly as she could and tore into the meat with her hands and teeth, forgoing the cutlery on the table. She ate and ate, barely taking the time to breathe between bites as she ravaged the food.

With the meal devoured, Rose let out a smokey belch. Her mind had since cleared up somewhat, and she looked at the strange sight with curiosity and concern.

She reached for the jug, made of a strange material she didn't recognize, and chugged the contents—water. Glorious water. Rose hadn't realized how parched she had felt, so she greedily glugged down the contents, which seemed to be sizzling as they went down her throat.

At this point, the door to the room opened, revealing a woman Rose didn't recognize. After all, she had never seen another Dragia in the city. The unknown woman also had a few scales on her, although instead of red, they almost seemed pink and fleshy.

Inferior. The word had sprung up from nowhere in Rose's mind, and she shook her head in confusion.

"I'm glad to see you've woken up and eaten. You must have been famished," The woman spoke.

"What happened?" Rose asked. "Where's Lily?"

The flurry of words had come out like a flood. Rose only noticed after they were spoken that her voice had changed. While her voice was always quite distinct compared to the other girls, now it almost sounded like it caused the air to faintly rumble.

"Your friend is alive and well. Thanks to you," The woman responded.

Rose frowned. Had she saved Lily? She vaguely recalled burning one of the bird monsters.

But there were two! Rose remembered.

"As for what happened," The woman continued. "I could probably sum it up as puberty."

"Puberty?" Rose scoffed sarcastically; her new voice made it sound almost threatening.

"Well. Dragon puberty," The woman quickly added. "Either your parents were extremely powerful to be so close to your bloodline, or they had a deeply dormant heritage that suddenly flared up in you."

"I want to see Lily," Rose demanded.

"Not until you learn to control yourself, or you'll turn her into a grilled rabbit," The woman responded.

Rose started to growl. She clenched her hands into fists. How dare this woman belittle her sister like that. The temperature in the room seemed to steadily be rising.

"See!" The woman said. "At the moment, you're a danger to everyone around you. You need to come to terms with the changes in your body."

Rose flinched. Then she looked around and saw the effects of the room's elevated temperature. Then she noticed blood dripping from the palms of her hands; her scaled fingers now had elongated black claws instead of nails, and she had dug straight into her own flesh.

"What's happening to me?" Rose asked, a tinge of fear.

"Like I said... Dragon puberty," The woman said with a sigh.

"I think I hate it," Rose answered bluntly.

Surprisingly, the woman actually laughed. "I loathed mine, and I'm nowhere near as close to the blood as you are. I grew a few extra scales. I can only imagine what you'll go through."

"I can handle a few extra scales. How much worse can it be?" Rose asked.

"I've heard some grow horns," The woman began answering. "But in the worst cases, some even get a tail, or-"

"Gods, no!" Rose interrupted. "Anything but a tail! I'll never be able to wear anything that's not custom-made again!"

"-Vestigial wings." The woman finished.

Rose wished she hadn't.