Fia's heart pounded as she crept back onto the edges of the scene.

The human boy was still playing with the bear cub despite his mother's calls.

"Citrio!" The other words spoken by the human woman, Fia could not understand, but she would soon—assuming that Viliant would follow her.

The boy's laughter and the cub's squeals informed the adult human where to find her child, so Fia crouched safely out of the way.

Viliant stumbled into range somewhere behind her, yet before he could even see for himself, he cast his judgment. Fia! It's not a bear! It's a dog.

A part of her felt instant relief now that she knew Viliant had followed her though she had to ask innocently, What's a dog?

Humans have tamed wolves.

No, it's most definitely not a 'tame wolf'! When the rustle of leaves joined at her side, Fia said, Look. Now, he could see for himself.

Several blinks fell over Viliant's eyes when he saw the stout, furry form of the animal wrapped in metal. The round face, shielded like a helmet, had circular tufts of fur poking out from the sheets of metal at the top. Guess I stand corrected, Viliant admitted. That looks like a baby bear, alright. Still don't see what we should do about it….

At that moment, the adult human dashed through the trees. "Citrio!" she gasped as she fell to her knees and clasped the boy into her arms. Her frantic words rushed out, and with Viliant here, there was no reason for her to not comprehend the tense, emotive reunion.

Translate! Fia whined.

Though Viliant rolled his eyes, the meaning of the humans' words passed directly from his mind to hers. The mother had the boy's cheeks pressed between two hands. "Why didn't you answer me?"

"I was having fun." The boy had relinquished his stick when his mother hugged him, leaving his hand free to point at the bear cub.

The mother twisted to the side, hefted up the kid against her chest, and staggered a few steps backwards. "Citrio, that's dangerous! We have to go now." The whites of her frantic eyes flashed to check for danger—the mother bear, likely nearby. She started to hurry back the way that she had come.

Loud rustles and snaps approached from the opposite, including a slight vibration that was sent through the ground. The dragons huddled closer together. Even as Viliant crouched in an aggressive stance, he stood above Fia protectively. On three legs, she curled her clawed toes into the dirt cravenly. Viliant, she murmured in his mind with great trepidation. Can you fight for me?

Of course, if it comes to that, but it won't. We have my shadows to sneak away—plus a diversion. Those cold, green, calculating eyes observed the fleeing human with the child in her arms. The black dragon had his lower jaw set in determination. If any emotion flitted over him, Fia swore she saw a glimmer of ravening anticipation.

Her stomach twisted up and lurched when a thunderous roar broke through the trees which announced the arrival of the mother bear. A boulder of fur and metal rushed to put herself between the humans and the cub. On either shoulder, sharpened spikes of iron adorned her like pauldrons, scoring the tree trunks which grew too close for her to pass. The lumbering iron-clad bear doubled the size of her unarmored cousins and must have quadrupled them in weight. The guttural roar from her throat sounded like grating gears. Her paws were extended in claws of knives, raking the air as she reared to display her ferocity.

The human mother was not so fearsome, but the bear still saw the figure dashing away as a threat. The bear left her cub's side to eliminate the humans.

Viliant, save them!

Save them…! he repeated in an astonished, exaggerated tone. Viliant sneered off her plea.

A scream curled from the human woman's throat long before the bear reached her. She dropped her child, cried out, "Run Citrio!" and turned to face their hunter—angry mother against angry mother. The canopy of leaves seemed to twitch overhead, as if the forest around her were revolting.

Perhaps it was just Fia who could not stomach another mother and child ripped apart. Momma, she tried to remember the last time that she had seen her own.

"Ma!" the human boy cried as he looked over his shoulder. Although he had already started running, he hesitated to leave his mother behind, so he tripped. The forest floor scuffed his hands and knees, but that mattered little compared to what the mother bear would do to him—and more immediately—his mother. So, the little Citrio got back up and ran again.

Fire burned through Fia's muscles. There was no time for her to explain things to Viliant who had no proper memory of his own mother. None other than Fia was willing to take action, so her chest swelled up with a big breath in preparation to breathe her element.

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Fia! What're you doing? Viliant snapped.

If she could put a wall of fire between the mother bear and the humans, then she hoped that the bear would not allow such a division between itself and the cub. This idea was communicated to Viliant's mind instantaneously. I wanna keep the bears and humans apart with fire!

Are you crazy? Fire will give away our location to even more humans—the soldiers!

With a sigh, Fia realized that he was right. They could not leave wildfires in their wake everywhere that they went. However, Fia needed to do something this instant, and so she decided that now looked like the perfect time to play with the iron bear cub.

No! What are you up to now? Viliant roared in her mind as she leaped out into the open. His jaws tried to snap at her tail, but the arrow-shaped tip slipped between his fangs.

Playing! She was both trying to play with the cub and play Viliant into her plan. A loud whistle lifted from her jaws as she knocked the fluffy and metallic creature over. Though she tried to sound cheerful, the note trembled with fear. Fia reared her head over the cub and pretended to bite at it, just like it had done to her.

Its squeals were delightful, interspersed by grunts as it tried to free itself. The mother bear halted in her tracks; she was not so amused by the baby bear's fun. A larger thump vibrated through the ground which marked the halt of her charge.

The human woman stood her ground with her shoulders hunched and hands clenched into determined fists despite her helplessness. As the iron bear turned, a snaggly root had risen from the ground like a thrashing snake. The jerky movements managed to coil around a single paw of the iron bear and draw taut.

She's a nature mage—! Fia gasped to Viliant.

However, she was not a strong enough mage to halt the magically-reinforced creature.

The root snapped away like a rotten twig. The iron bear hardly noticed anything had slithered against her ankle. The creature powered through, coming straight for Fia with all rage in her blackened eyes.

A frightened howl came from the dragoness as she jumped off the bear cub and ran back towards Viliant. Save me! Save me! Save me! she thought. Some or all of her frantic thoughts must have made it through to him.

As livid as he seemed in her head, all that fury was directed at the mother bear. The black dragon leaped from cover, merging into the shadows all at once. The smoky vapor passed through the bear, and Viliant rematerialized on the other side. Though he could have leapt through her chest and out her back, he decided to twist around and stick the landing. His claws sunk underneath a metal plate where he held fast.

Fia looked on in awe, reminding her of the time that he had fought the leo medusa. That was Viliant's strategy to take down large foes. Take the high ground by scaling the creature itself, but this time, his methods were more refined with the usage of shadow magic.

The mother bear yowled atrociously. The mother bear must have known that she had already lost as soon as Viliant could pierce through her armor. Her forelegs twisted around the thick of her shoulder, trying to rake him off. When that failed, she reared up to smash him against a tree.

Viliant drew in a quick breath, and in the heat of the moment, he merged into the shadows beneath the bough. As the mother bear's body crashed into the sturdy oak, the dragon's misty body passed through the wood and out the other side. In that form, he could not hold onto the mother bear's back any longer. His talons scraped along the bark as he shimmed up the tree, higher than the mother bear could get in a single swipe.

The bear's mood shifted from agitated to spooked at the living shadow. She ran to collect the cub and scurry off together. However, the mother had drawn the ire of a creature as zealous and vindictive as herself when it came to protecting those in her care. Viliant would settle for nothing less than the bear's death, so he leaped from the tree with his rear claws aimed at the nape of her neck. He came down like a hawk, puncturing through the chink in the armor. The shadowy remains of his strike curled away from the bloody fur, exposed. The mother bear fell.

The cub yelped and darted to the side of her mother's falling body. After being frozen for a second in fear, it sprinted away and did not come back.

Huffing, Viliant rebalanced his weight onto his forelegs on the mother bear's armored skull. He pulled out his hind legs with a squelch and asked, You alright, Fia?

Why would you do that? she asked.

The note of ire was quickly restored to his thoughts as he asked back, Why would I save you? And get us some much-needed food while I was at it?

But she was trying to run away with the cub….

You really care about animals more than your own life! First the humans, now the bears. Eat grass and starve for all I care, Viliant raved.

Fia shrunk back, thinking maybe she was too nice for a dragon. No, she thought to herself, shaking her head. I'm just being civilized. Her big, hopeful eyes looked in the direction where the human mother had previously stood. If Fia could just see the looks on their faces—that thing with the lips curled up that the healer always used to do—then maybe she would feel a bit more vindicated in her position.

Much to her astonishment, the humans were still there, mother and child. Citrio hid behind his mother's skirt who kept one hand on his shoulder. However, neither had a smile on their faces. The deep frowns seemed to have been engraved on the petrified figures in the presence of dragons. Then, the adult opened her lips to say two words.

Viliant took a half-step back with one foot.

What did she say? Fia asked.

For a long while, he hesitated sharing it with her. But then, he admitted what the human had said. Thank you.

Those syllables in the Syene language were still ringing in her ears. "Thank you," the woman had said. Fia squirmed out of sheer joy because, in the end, she had saved the humans. Hopefully, Viliant could see that he had saved them as well.

Best of all, the dragons had just found their nature mage and, through their kindness, they had given her a compelling reason to heal Fia's shoulder.