The metal mage barreled through the trees, coming for Fia in all haste. His sprint was slowed by the weight of his armor, but he would come into range for a second shot of metal razors at any moment. Harsh words curled from his helmet, yelling back at his companion.

An unintelligible groan sounded from the other man, still disabled and rolling about on the ground.

Through her teary eyes, Fia took notice of the men's horses tied up. The swift steeds could carry her to safety when she had nowhere else to run on her own, injured legs. There was no reason why a baby dragon could not fit on the saddle. I might not be grown up enough to take out these humans, but at least I'm still small enough to ride a horse!

She released the branch which her claws had been clutching desperately. The wood finally gave under the pressure of her leap, cracking behind her. Fia's wings snapped out to glide past the tree line. The wind whistled by the small, tightly woven scales around her eardrums just as her pulse pounded against her head. Don't hit me. Please, don't hit me!

The metal mage could strike her down from the sky much like the bolt of a ballista. Luckily, the last trees must have provided enough cover to shield her from attack.

The shadow of her wingspan neared the horses. While the animals seemed perturbed, the warhorses were trained to not spook at anything—at least not until Fia's claws sunk into one of their backs. The dragoness extended her hind legs like a hawk and stabbed through the thick, leather saddle.

A painful whinny split the horse's lips as it reared up. The front hooves flailed in the air while its terrified eyes flashed back to catch a glimpse of the dragon on its back.

To hang on, Fia dug her left front claw into its shoulder. She kept her claws steady, biting into bone so that she did not need to exert any effort through her broken arm to stay on. When its forelegs landed back down, she used this opportunity to slash through the rope.

Like that, she had freed her steed. The horse was lucky Fia was not any bigger, or else its natural predator would have flown off with it. Instead, she intended to ride it like a human. Giddyup!

The horse took off. Fia wrenched her neck to the side and spat a quick, dirty fireball at the adjacent animal. She made sure to take aim close enough to the halter that the lead could catch alight. With fire suddenly flashing in its face and burning its eyes, the other horse took off in another direction. The fiery braid of the rope was weakened sufficiently for the horse to snap through.

The hooves of her own horse beat steadily beneath her. Dragon claws encouraged a horse to run faster than a spur or whip ever could. Fia sighed as her mount carried her away. I'm gonna be alright….

She turned around to see the metal mage stumbling into the grass. Those big, steel-clad hands lowered as he realized the other horse had run away too. All the man could do was look hopelessly back at her.

In contrast, Fia puffed out her chest while she rode horseback. I wonder if I'm the only baby dragon to ever come up with this. Her ingenuity was unique, or so she liked to think. Since she was expecting an attack, she kept looking backwards to watch for the nigh-invisible metal razors slicing through the air.

The black cross section of the knight's helm glowered straight at Fia. The stare seemed too intense given his previous dejected state, making her squirm in the saddle as she watched one of his hands rise up. The metal mage gestured in her general direction while his fingers were curled towards the sky.

Nothing came. Instead, a dying grunt and cry came from the horse's chest. Blood splattered up through the saddle and wet Fia's belly. When she peered underneath her own body, she saw a metal spike had impaled through the underside of the horse.

The metal rod was forcibly ripped through the horse's belly by the momentum of its own gallop. The intestines spilled across the grassy field as the horse gored itself. The front legs folded first. The horse was already dead by the time its head hit the ground, snapping its neck for good measure.

Fia jumped off as the fleshy beast collapsed. Her claws landed a short ways in front of it, but she failed to stick the landing. The dragoness stumbled forward and fell on her chest, sending a searing pain up her shoulder. Her whine rivaled the final neigh from the horse, screaming to the sky in pain. I'm going to die, just like that!

Despite the pain, instinct bid her to jump up and slink to the side.

A second metal spear jutted from the earth. The rocky pieces—not the metal mage's element—crumbled and fell from the unnatural protrusion which he did control.

There must be metal underground here…. Fia thought. Unbeknownst to her, she was surrounded by the enemy's element when she had none of her own. Yet. The long, dry grasses swayed in the subtle breeze. They were brushing against Fia's ribs, tickling her, practically begging to be turned into a raging wildfire. Out of desperation, the dragoness sputtered out the last of her flames and spun round and round.

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A ring of fire flickered around her. The dry grass provided kindling for her flames which danced outward. All the while, Fia performed a dance of her own. She ran frantically inside the space which she had created. Metallic spikes shot out of the ground repeatedly. Each time the earth was upset, thereby upsetting Fia as well.

Viliant! she screamed in her head. Surely, he would see the smoke and find her. Viliant! Her friend would save her, she just needed to last long enough for him to get here.

Even as the flames spread inward, she could continue to dodge and weave at the center. The curtain of fire partially shielded her body from view which caused the metal mage's attacks to become more inaccurate. The pillars of metal glowed from the heat, providing easily visible stakes to dodge—if only she had four healthy legs.

Every abrupt change in direction was arduous, especially as the knight repurposed his old spikes and stabbed them outward into new, horizontal projectiles. More always seemed to appear faster than they receded and reformed. Fia's evasive patterns needed to grow more complex as the metal mage unleashed chaos.

Viliant…. Her panting lungs filled with the smoke from her own fire. Though her nostrils were better suited for this activity than most creatures, she could only take so much. Fia was getting dizzy from the exertion, thinking that she would collapse at any moment.

Viliant…. She called his name out of habit, not expecting a reply anymore.

Fia! His presence lighted up in her head, aligning on a singular point: fury. His roar bellowed over the constant, crackling fire as he rushed to her aid.

Finally, the weary dragoness thought out of sheer relief. Fia had no idea if she said that in Viliant's head or not.

The black dragon's spiny form was an elongated shadow on the other side of her flames. His physical body tore away like streaks of smoke. Thus began a new dance wherein the shadow dragon weaved between the darkness of the remaining grass, cast by her flames.

The towering suit of armor fell. Viliant rematerialized on the other side of the knight with his outstretched claw reappearing last. That claw had slung through the plate armor and the torso of the man in turn.

However, Viliant's shadow magic failed to stop the heart completely, only chilling and stunning the target. From the way that he had fallen, the knight would not be able to get back up under the weight of his armor. The metal mage glared at the intervening dragon and blasted off his armor in an explosion of metal spikes, straight for Viliant.

The spears shot through him, but only shadow trailed off him like mist in place of blood. Viliant had disappeared from the physical realm in a split second and let that attack sail through him harmlessly. This time, the black dragon could use his unenhanced claws to end the mage's life.

A ferocious swing of Viliant's claw split open the knight's throat. Fia watched with profound relief as the body slumped onto the ground for the final time. Viliant stood over their slain hunter with great hostility. His wings were partially folded, low and rigid on either side of his body. The growl had yet to die down from his chest.

I'm safe, was all she could think. Then, Viliant! Fia limped out of the flames, slowly approaching him. The air was still smoky but fresher out here. Almost as if her body was beyond her control, Fia found the strength to run again. She was rushing to her friend as she called out to him again, Viliant. Viliant!

Her frontmost left claw stumbled. Normally she would have fallen face first onto the ground, sparking pain into her shoulder all over again, but Viliant was there to catch her. Fia landed against the rigid plate of his chest, and broke down into high-pitched cries.

Fia, are you all right? The amount of emotion present in his mental voice shocked Fia, almost as stunned as he did feel.

How was she supposed to answer that? Fia kept crying and thought that was answer enough. After a few sniffles, she managed to come up with the response that he was probably looking for. I-I'm not much worse than before, she thought wryly. Even so, Fia was not fine inside. She was so scared, she could not stop crying now that it was over.

Stoically, Viliant sat down and looked to the sky. His chest rose and fell with his laborious sigh. Other than that, he did not move as he let Fia cry on him for a long while. Though he distanced himself from their telepathic link, hiding his own response to the unfortunate night, he stayed present in her mind for her sake.

Since she would not calm down, Viliant shifted his weight next to her. The anger was only just beginning to subside since the human lay dead beneath them.

Sorry, Fia managed to think. Her throat was constricted, choking her up so that she kept gasping even when she tried to stop crying. Bad thoughts started to encircle her head, how she needed to save her people from the humans.

That is your burden, Viliant had said to her on their first night of freedom.

Becoming the savior of her people seemed like an impossible task, especially when every human that she encountered could nearly kill her. She made sure to keep her thoughts to herself, not wanting for Viliant to snap at her and confirm her fears. I'm just a burden to Viliant. That's the real burden: me. Just me.

Against her expectations, however, Viliant did not try to pull away. He lifted one shaky wing and draped it over her back.

Fia leaned into him and cried a little longer till he gently prodded her.

We have to move. Before more soldiers come for the smoke.

She knew that he was right. Without the energy to say anything, she nodded against his chest and stood on her own three legs. Fia hobbled away, leaning on Viliant for support as they searched for safer grounds. They kept walking through dawn.