In her most crisp and clear voice, Fia declared to all the dragons that had gathered to listen to her message. "The humans... The Kingdom of Syene has declared war on our clan. They're coming to Carlinoa with an army as we speak!"

A series of gasps whooshed past the dragons 'open maws, louder than the wind which whistled on the mountainside. The whispers of the audience did not compare to the roiling thoughts in their minds. Most of the dragons expressed their disbelief over telepathy, leaving Fia to focus on the elders' reactions.

"The Syenic humans are waging war..." Elder Nura echoed, "on Carlinoa?"

"That's not possible," Elder Kivo denied. "I can't believe it. What grounds does your claim stand on?" The black-ringed eyes of the red, mottled dragon bore down on Fia.

The pink dragonette stomped her anxious claws. What do you mean, you don't believe me? I came all this way, all by myself with Viliant. Anyone who did not believe her, Fia begged them to listen over telepathy. "I saw their prince announce it himself! He's a scary mage that can rip dragons out of the sky."

Although the adult dragons could feel Fia's terror, they assumed that Syene's prince only posed that much of a threat to a baby dragonette. The skeptical eyes of the dragons darted amongst each other until they settled back on the elders.

"Our island is closer to Aethara than Voidura," a third elder voiced his doubts. "What reason does Syene have to come here?"

"I don't know," Fia squeaked. "It's in the humans' nature." The dragonette repeated the best explanation that Rokirith had provided. You should know better, Fia thought of her clans' elders who knew their island best.

"It doesn't matter," Viliant spoke up. "The humans are coming. They intended to kill us together when they declared war: Fia the first to die of the Carlino a Clan, and I the last of the Dagonir Clan. My people went extinct!" Viliant roared, ignoring the sparse diaspora of those like himself and Rokirith. "Yours will too if you don't heed this warning. The humans are coming whether you believe us or not."

The bleak vision portended by black dragonet caused every dragon to reel in silence.

"I knew we shouldn't have let those pirates take one of our dragonets! Now they think we're weak!" an elder roared.

Another said, "That isn't the problem. It's this black dragon that she's brought back with her. If we send him off the island, we can still avert the worst of our fate. To restore order, we must cast him into the volcano!"

This suggestion earned a whistle of approval from many of the fire dragons.

What? Viliant took a step back, balking at the lack of logic in the elder dragon's mind. How do I have anything to do with the humans' warpath? The mere notion of throwing him into the volcano mortified him even more. Why did I come here again? he wondered, mystified. His sidelong glare flitted to Fia who had promised him a home. Apparently, the dragonette was oblivious to her clan's superstitions around dragons with black-colored scales. Before Viliant needed to snarl in objection, the elders did that amongst themselves.

"No!" Elder Kiro growled, half of his scales covered in an ashy color where they did not shine crimson. "The color of his scales has nothing to do with it."

"So says you!" the first elder snapped back. " Our clan has been in decline ever since you joined the council."

The feud between the two elders riled the dragons from their respective factions. Elder Nura stepped between them with raised wings. "As Viliant said, his clan is no more. The dragonet has nowhere else to go. A bad omen he might be, but he has already arrived. Should we harm our omen, then a worse fate should befall us."

"Bah! He can stay here as well as the waters of the Azuazu Clan, or we can drop him off on the mainland. There's even the Wraith Isle where his ilk might belong." Another elder suggested a kinder way to remove Viliant from their land.

This made two elders strongly support Viliant's continued presence on Carlinoa Island, but two other elders staunchly oppose him. The fifth elder's opinion would decide Viliant's fate. With a lot of possible options proposed, the elders ducked their heads to negotiate over telepathy with just themselves.

"Wait!" Fia leaped forward to say her piece for the elder's consideration. "If you're sending Viliant off the island—or throwing him into the fire mountain—then I'm going too!" Fia peeled out of bravado.

This earned some chuckles out of all the dragons, including the undecided elder. The Elder Council resumed their contemplation. When the elders next opened their eyes, a decision had been reached.

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The bright voice of Elder Nura delivered the resolution. "Viliant, you are permitted to remain on Carlinoa Island for the time being. If your insight helps us deter the Syenic invasion, then we will acknowledge you as a full member of our clan."

Viliant hefted out a sigh. Good. At least they're not tossing me into a volcano. It went without saying that Viliant intended to do all within his power to protect Carlinoa. The dragonet did not want to end up as one of the few survivors of yet another genocide by human hands. Already, the fire dragons inability to assess a proper threat alarmed Viliant, given how they discussed throwing him out rather than preparing against the humans.

Finally, the elders of the Carlinoa Clan focused and asked the important questions. "How long until this army arrives?"

Fia stammered, "I-I don't know. I was really worried we wouldn't make it before them. Any day now?"

"What are their numbers? How many mages? What elements?"

"Uh. A thousand!" Fia shouted, remembering an estimate which Rokirith had given.

"That's just the drakans," Viliant clarified. "The human forces also have mages: metal, electricity, and ice are the primary offensive. They have nature mages for healers."

"Which are stronger than water dragons!" Fia said.

"But weaker than a light healer, apparently," Viliant grumbled. He dwelled on how Diwa had failed to heal his wings.

"No," Fia corrected, blinking at Viliant who made what she considered an incorrect assessment. "That healer in the coliseum was the strongest we've seen." During their time in Malakow, Fia recalled how the local humans considered Syene the prime magical education.

The dragonets' bickering did not amuse the elders. "Let's get back on track," Elder Nura prompted Fia gently. "We need to know exactly what we're dealing with."

"Worst of all," Fia said, "they have a gravity mage called the Dragon Slayer! He can make this dark orb thing that pulls you straight out of the sky and breaks all your bones." The gruesome memory replayed in Fia's mind, vivid enough that all the dragons gathered around her winced.

In a moment of silence, none of the elders pressed her with any further questions.

Fia's mother took a step closer from behind her. Did that... really happen to you, Fia?

Yeah. The horrible memory had yet to process fully in her mind. Some tears dotted Fia's eyes. The dragonette realized how seldom she cried, ever since she had nearly died in the badlands. Fia had toughened up out of necessity, but here, she lowered her hackled spines. "Mama," Fia whispered, barely audible. Her heart thrummed fast as she realized she was about to cry in front of the Elder Council and the entirety of her clan.

Fia's mother swooped her wings around her. The dragoness cooed a soft, soothing sound. "You're safe now." Over telepathy, she bore the sadness with her daughter and introduced a new depth of feeling: guilt and grief mixed into the strongest regret.

After a moment, Fia pulled back from her mother's wings. The majority of negative emotions actually came from the adult dragoness, the little one realized. Fia looked up to her mother who had tears wobble down her scaly cheeks. Mama.... Fia pressed her smaller claw over top her mother's larger one. Don't feel bad. I'm bigger and stronger now.

A wordless sob came from Fia's mother who could not keep her composure. It was one thing to hear how Fia had brushed so close to death, fully awakening her magic. It was another thing for her mother to feel such a poignant memory from her daughter, every bone in her body crushed.

Fia did not know what to do about her mother who receded from telepathy. Since her last thoughts had involved feeling bad for Fia, that meant the dragonette needed to prove how she was fine. Fia returned to her central spot in front of the Elder Council alongside Viliant. She straightened her back and wings, tuning into their discussion over the void elements.

"All those elements are real?" a warrior clarified.

"Magic gets more chaotic the further you go north," Elder Nura explained.

"Our warriors don't have experience against those mages. Will the same tactics we have to counter water work against ice?"

Many considerations passed through the dragons' minds. They needed to have a more detailed conversation about tactics later. Right now, the elders still sought a high-level understanding from Fia and Viliant.

"Do the Syenic humans have any alliances we need to worry about? Or an enemy we can coordinate efforts with? Do you know of weaknesses we can exploit?"

"The humans made a deal with the Novenis Clan," Fia said. When she wracked her brain for how those dragons played into the conflict, Fia failed to recall much about them. She deviated to a vaguely related topic. "There's another human warrior they call the Dragon Rider. A brown dragoness flies around with a mage on her back! You can't forget about her," Fia said, even though she seemed to forget why she was important.

Viliant filled in the gaps, better retaining Rokirith's recommendations. "It's advised to take out the Dragon Rider first," Viliant said." She has a peculiar element: thunder. It disorientates the enemy and coordinates the human and drakan forces."

"How does that work? Is thunder a separate element from lightning? How can the roll of thunder do anything without the bolt?"

At a loss, Fia deferred to Viliant from the outset. Even Viliant had difficulty in answering these, questions. "It works like... a drum and... a horn. Those tools simulated the humans' desire for a dragon's whistle or roar. Beyond that, Viliant did not understand how the thunder element worked well enough to explain it.

The frustrated elders argued amongst themselves. "Is there time to send a scout northward? We need more accurate information about the enemy."

"We need our scouts on the water to alert us about the ship. The army could arrive at any time!"

Viliant's wings drooped as he wracked his brain, wishing to make himself more useful.

Fia untucked her tail from between her legs and hefted out a sigh. I think we told them everything we know. The adults will handle it from here. Fia looked back to her red-eyed mother, the flying ace, and the rest of her clan.. These dragons inspired confidence in Fia. As her gaze drifted upward, over their horns, the dragonette gasped when a straggler from the clan flew to join the clan gathering. She recognized the sapphire glint of the red dragon's eyes. "Papa!" she squealed out of delight.