At first I thought it was a great idea. Don’t get me wrong, Lyriumia has a great defensive system, but it lacks the offensive part. This is where my great - no, brilliant idea came in. In my free time between jobs, I came up with a massive metal dragon filled to the brim with technomagic features. We’re talking shields, blasters, guns, fire, acid, massive wings to create storms, the ability to absorb and redirect lightning, the works.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work as well as expected. And the others have NEVER let me forget it.

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“It’s . . . big,” Amneris said, frowning at my creation, lacking all forms of enthusiasm.

I felt my own deflate. “Seriously? That’s all you have to say?”

“Look, Zo, it’s a nice idea,” she continued, walking around the bronze-gold Dragon, “but Lyriumia already has a defense system.”

“Lyriumia has shields," I countered, crossing my arms.

Dan placed a hand on my shoulder. “Effective shields. You helped improve them, remember?”

“Yeah, but shields only do so much against Void Beasts. Don’t get me started on a possible Terpolite attack.”

Jay snorted from where he sat at my workbench. “Come on. Even they aren’t that stupid.”

“But they could be.” I stepped forward, clapping my hand on the Dragon. “And, this way, we have an early defensive system.”

Nikki looked up from painting her nails deep purple. “Girl, Iraliya is the early defensive system.”

“At least let me give it a go,” I pleaded.

Amneris, Leo and Carmin glanced at each other.

“It might not be a terrible idea,” Carmin offered, “to see what it can do. For future reference, of course.”

Amneris sighed. “Why do I feel like I’m gonna regret this?”

“You say that about everything,” Jay deadpanned.

“Only since you showed up,” she shot back.

He grinned. “Your idea, not mine.”

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Nikki, Carmin and Dan helped me set up the Dragon near Iraliya’s orbit. I stood on the platform the three carried up this high making some final adjustment to the Dragon’s standing orders. Defend Lyriumia. Simple as that. No need to make it complicated.

I leaped from the platform onto Nikki’s back. She was currently a massive deep purple wyvern dragon, the colour matching her recently-painted nails funnily enough.

“Let ’im go!”

Carmin and Dan dropped their chains. The platform slipped sideways. As I had designed it to do, the Dragon sensed unstable ground and took off into the morning twilight sky. I pumped my fist. It was working!

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“Should we test it?” Dan asked, hovering beside me and Nikki.

I shook my head. “All simulations show it’ll work fine.”

He frowned, unconvinced. “If you are sure . . .”

My power flickered at my fingertips. “I am sure.”

“Okay! Okay!” he said, backing away.

Carmin rolled her eyes, pushing her husband out from behind her. “I think it’s time we went home.” Nikki roared her approval. We turned to leave.

Naturally this was when things went wrong.

The Dragon saw us leaving and rushed to stop us. A flap of its wings threw Carmin and Dan off course. The Dragon flew after them, blowing out its fire breath. Thank the Light the two are Dragonoids and immortal or that would have been bad! Safe to say the pair were pretty pissed off.

Before they could counter attack, the Dragon turned on me and Nikki. Nikki tilted her head back, her emerald eyes giving me her ‘I knew this was a bad idea’ look.

“Well, how was I supposed to know it would deem everything a threat?”

She huffed, smoke curling from her mouth and nostrils.

Then it came to me. I’d said “defend Lyriumia” but I hadn’t said from what. I swore under my breath in my mother tongue. “Amneris is gonna kill me,” I muttered.

Carmin came in first, letting loose with a mass amount of fire from her lungs. Oh, she was pissed. Everyone knew Carmin only used that move in extreme situations. Dan was racing toward it with a dragon-like roar. He punched the Dragon square in the chest, the force enough to send it into the higher atmosphere.

“Oi!” I called at them. “Keep it in once piece so I can fix it!”

“Fuck no!” Dan yelled back, cracking his knuckles. “I’m destroying it!”

“Save some for me,” Carmin growled.

The Dragon shot down from the higher atmosphere, flying straight past the four of us and toward the northern section of the Continent! I gaped. What was it doing? There was no sort of threat down there! Unless . . .

“Follow it!”

I grasped Nikki’s back to keep on board as we fell through the clouds. There was only one reason it could be going toward Lapide. I’d built in sensors as one of its safety features. It can sense a build-up of strong power. And there’s only one person whose power it would pick up from so high.

I jumped from Nikki’s back, using my power to teleport to the ground. I stood in the centre of Starlight Plaza, the Dragon coming straight toward us. The people had noticed, staring at the sky with a mix of awe and horror. The Dragon showed no sign of slowing.

I charged my power in the light of the sun. “Run!” I yelled at bystanders. Thankfully, this is Lyriumia and we’re used to strange attacks out of nowhere. Everyone ran for cover, a few others coming to stand beside me, their power also charged to attack. Like I said, this is Lyriumia.

“Aim for the control crystal, the purple thing on its chest,” I said. “On my mark. Mark!”

We let loose with all we had, a explosion of light and fire appearing above the city. Windows shattered around us and we were blown off our feet by the shockwave.

Carmin and Dan landed beside us, Nikki close behind.

“I think you got it,” Nikki said, having shifted back into her Fae form.

The light cleared. The Dragon roared.

Nikki sighed. “Or not.”

I groaned, jumping to my feet. “I can’t do another full blast yet! It’s not bright enough for me--”

The Dragon exploded, all of us being thrown to the ground. Chunks of infused metal fell on the city, falling atop buildings and stores, creating craters in the ground. The large purple control crystal fell on a nearby store and promptly exploded. Thankfully it wasn’t open yet so no one was inside.

Amneris landed in front of us in her Goddess form. She looked between the explosion and the damage, and stormed toward me. I scrambled back. I won’t lie. She’s terrifying like this. I was backed up against a half-standing building with no escape.

Amneris stood face-to-face with me. If she had any, I would’ve been able to feet her breath. She smiled darkly. “You’re on cleanup duty.” With that, she vanished.

I slid to the floor, shaking slightly. “Shit.”

Nikki, Carmin and Dan stood over me looking as though they were trying to not laugh.

“I’m dead, aren’t I?”

“Yes,” they said.

“And there’s no way you’re ever letting me forget this?”

“Nope!” Nikki said cheerfully.

Carmin laughed, “No way. No how.”

Dan stood straight with his arms crossed. “Not a chance.”

I flopped on the concrete with a groan, my hands covering my face. I was never going to hear the end of this. Ever.