Erwan awoke just before nightfall, the subtle change in forest sounds breaking his sleep. Thankfully, he had not dreamed, no doubt those would have been filled with terrors or memories to speed grief upon waking. He did, however, rouse with a renewed desire for vengeance.

“Dominus Titus must die,” he whispered aloud before standing and stretching. His body ached from overuse, but at least his mind had regained clarity.

Finding food was no problem, there was much to forage though he wished for meat instead. He also gathered firewood, building a sizable campfire for warmth. Soon his stomach ached less than it had. He stared into the flame, tightly gripping his scythe and thinking how he would use it to strike down the Roman.

That man was no voltur. He was a centurion, a skilled fighter with a host of soldiers protecting him. How could a simple farmer emerge victorious, armed only with the tools of the field?

A rustling of branches lightly announced the arrival of a living thing. Erwan stood, brandishing his scythe at the forest.

“Put that away,” Argant’s voice rumbled, muffled by something between his teeth. As he emerged, he spat out a doe, its neck broken clean without a trace of blood anywhere on its dun-colored fur. “It is only me, back with a meal for us to share.”

The human went to work quickly, eager for the meat his companion had provided, skinning and quartering the animal.

“Do not waste the innards nor the flesh,” Argant admonished. “Take what you will need and leave me the rest of it as provided.”

“You will eat it raw?” Erwan asked.

“I will eat it as it tastes the best,” the dragon replied, settling down beside the fire, its warmth radiating against his snout.

Preparing the meal took no time at all. The man selected the tenderloin, placing it on a makeshift spit over the fire. The dragon consumed the rest. Argant proved a noisy eater with his crunching of bones and slurping of flesh, but thankfully was not a messy one.

Once both their bellies were full, Erwan broke the silence. “What did you find? Did Titus make it to Aventicum?”

“His carriage arrived when the sun was highest.”

“Curses,” Erwan cast the last few bites of his meat into the fire. He’s too protected in the city, especially in the palace! How will we get to him now? I might get through the gates, but won’t make it near the palace. Their archers and ballistae will attack you the moment you appear in the sky.”

“Are you finished voicing your human negativity?” Argant asked with more than a bit of arrogance.

Erwan began to protest but was cut off in an instant.

“Silence!” the Ancient One commanded. “We dragons have powers of which your kind cannot even fathom. Since you are finished eating, we will move on. Ready your arm for swinging iron, because that will be your only task in the reaping to come.” The beast stood and shook dirt and leaves from his scales, then led the human toward the lake. Frowning up at the sky, he spoke again. “Tonight will prove difficult but not impossible. Your revenge will come swiftly, but then you will aid me in my own mission. There is a temple near the palace, connected by tunnels by which the Roman will soon travel. I sensed a darkness in those catacombs, an evil that must be of Goro!”

“How do you know?” Erwan pressed, irritated by the shroud of mystery. Either Argant did not trust him with the knowledge or felt it beneath his understanding. Abruptly the dragon whirled, streams of fire pouring forth from his nostrils. The human backed up, teetering backward as he crashed onto the ground full of fright.

The world around him shimmered and changed. He suddenly found himself flying in the sky instead of laying in the dirt, his eyes scanning the countryside below. An object moved below, a speck at first, moving along an ant path. As his eyes dialed in, Erwan realized the path was a road, and the speck was a gilded red carriage pulled by a pair of white horses. He recognized it at once as belonging to Dominus Titus.

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He repositioned in the air, moving higher so as not to be seen.

Below, the vehicle made its way to the human city of Aventicum. There was no wall around the Roman stronghold, but a wooden fortress stood nearby. These would hold both archers and ballistae. There was also a small palace, more of a domus than what would be found in Rome, and its gates opened up immediately for the carriage.

Erwan made two more high circles, his keen eyesight seeing the ground as closely as if he stood upon it. He took notice of a temple and amphitheater not far from the palace. His eyesight shifted once more, blinking new vision that seemed to sense heat instead of taking in light. What he saw with this new perspective could only be tunnels beneath the ground, as Dominus Titus and his soldiers entered the palace then somehow crossed underground beneath the streets to the temple.

The dragon abruptly took back his vision, ripping it away from the human and leaving Erwan to writhe on the ground. Seeing again with his own eyes, the farmer vomited his dinner. It took several minutes for the vertigo to subside. Argant waited patiently without a word.

“How did you do that?” Erwan finally asked. “How did you show that to me?”

“Dragonkind have different abilities than humans. Foremost, we can bend the senses of other species. Thus, I was able to show you the evidence you needed.”

“All of that, what I just witnessed as if I were there, it was what you saw earlier today?”

“Yes, as I saw it.”

“The city saw him return to the palace, but Dominus went straight into the temple using the underground tunnels?”

“Yes, but he has fed well during his outing and will need sleep. Vampure do not rest the same way as humans and will be vulnerable while his body metabolizes the sanguis he consumed.” Argant knelt low to the ground, spreading his wings flat against his body. “Now, climb atop my back and be welcomed as a one-time rider of dragons.”

Erwan could not believe his eyes and ears. That this mighty and ancient beast offered itself freely, humbling its body so a human could climb atop and ride it like a beast of burden, was something of which he felt undeserving. Who was he, but a farmer, a broken man without loved ones, uneducated and poorly born, to ride in such a prominent position? He bowed reverently and grabbed ahold of Argant’s scales, pulling himself upward.

“You will find two spines protruding from my shoulder blades,” the dragon advised. “Hold on tightly to those.” With a mighty push off the ground, he beat his wings and shot upward, much faster than Erwan believed possible for such a lumbering beast.

The human felt the rush of wind as they flew upward into the night sky. Like before, when he stepped off the edge to end his life, he found himself at ease soaring towering heights. He no longer felt fear. Looking down he saw the fires of Aventicum. Each would be manned by a sentry.

I am going to die tonight, Erwan said in his mind.

“You will die,” agreed the Dragon, “but so too shall Dominus Titus.”

Briefly, a flicker of mourning rushed forward, grief so powerful it leaked out as a tiny sob. He choked it down quickly, hoping to hide his weakness from Argant. He held his breath as two tiny faces, pale from death stared up at him with bloodshot eyes and thirsty grins. The image changed and he saw Adelia, ravaged and drained before his eyes.

Erwan swallowed down what almost flowed as tears and asked, “How will we get past the city defenses? They will be watching the gates.”

“They will also be watching the sky,” Argant corrected. “The driver saw me from his carriage and Titus will be expecting me.”

“You, but not me…” the dragon rider noted.

“Turn your eyes skyward and behold the power of my magic, human. See what the Romans will be watching instead of us.”

All at once the stars began falling from the sky, zipping from east to west above the city, exploding upon the western horizon.

Erwan gasped to see such splendor, equally terrified as awed. “But it isn’t real?” he asked. It seemed so horribly so.

"It is not real, and neither are they.”

The human’s eyes searched the sky, mesmerized by the streaks of light. “They, who?” he asked, blinking and refocusing. Far off to the west, illuminated by the brilliant flashes of distant explosions, flew a formation of dragons. Between strobes he counted forty in all, a mixture of Elderkin and aerouants.

Down below, in the city, more fires lit up the ground. Bells tolled and horns sounded as soldiers sprinted with torches toward the western wall. All eyes were locked on that horizon, staring down the incoming horde.

“Hold on tight,” Argant warned, dipping fast and low in a dive toward the surface.

Erwan gripped as tightly as he could, digging his face into hard scales. They felt oddly warm against the biting wind, as if flame raged within the dragon’s heart.

At the last moment, just before Erwan thought they would crash to their deaths, a mighty beating of wings sent dirt and rock flying into the night. Argant sailed low, beneath the sight of the sentries and cloaked by the darkness of shadow. While they watched the west, the dragon and his rider approached swiftly from the east.