A huge, earsplitting crack jerked Alice’s head up. The thick timber that ran from one end of the building to the other split as if forked by lightning. It opened so wide she saw flashes of the rolling gray sky through the crack. That must have been the main support which held up the rest of the roof because the building above her began to crumble and collapse.

The fact that the entire roof didn’t cave in at once was all that ended up saving her. It gave her a few extra seconds in which to act.

Falling to her knees, Alice scrambled under one of the long trestle tables, pulling Prim and Numi under with her.

She felt their protest — Numi cried, “We’re supposed to help you!” — but Alice only pulled her dragons under her and crouched over them.

Debris, some of it burning, fell all around them and struck the top of the table loud enough to rattle her bones. Alice shut her eyes, ducked her head, and waited it out.

It was a minute that seemed to last an entire lifetime. She kept her eyes squeezed until the thumps ended, and she could only hear the rain striking the top of the table, and the screaming wind still above.

The sturdy table had held up.

Cautiously, Alice opened her eyes and saw she was surrounded by snapped bits of wood, shingles, branches that for some reason must have fallen on the roof, and other broken things that had been beautiful and for sale a few moments before.

Numi poked her head out from under Alice, looked around, and declared, “I assess that the value of most of these items has gone significantly down. The building, too,” she added.

“This place isn’t safe any longer,” Prim said, “we must get out of here. And where is Iggy?”

“I sent him and Spark,” Alice reminded her, though she knew that Prim knew that, and suspected the dragon was simply grouching.

And Alice wasn’t sorry for sending him out. Iggy had Ultimate Armor, but she didn’t know if that was enough to stand against an entire building coming down on his head.

Spark… well, she wasn’t sure what her newest dragon had to protect him.

Alice pushed at the debris and found planks light enough for her to easily move. Creating a hole, she wiggled out. Between the still driving wind and wild splatters of rain, she could barely hear herself think, much less her dragons.

The moment she stood, she braced herself against the wind, which had not abated for a moment. The walls had fallen outward, not in, and now that they were gone, she had a view clear down to of the harbor. By the water, trees flailed around like horsewhips. A large one had already splintered and fallen a few blocks down.

But most of her attention was up above where she saw Iggy and Spark fighting with another lightning monster that had taken the shape of a lamprey with arms. Iggy was in front of it, taking most of its attention, his armor able to withstand the sharp white claws.

Meanwhile, Spark came in on the other side and seemed to be able to use his natural lightning affinity to disrupt the monster. She saw the little blue dragon take apart a chunk of the monster's back.

When the monster turned to rip at Spark, Iggy was there to capture its attention back with a burst of flame that must have been irritating. The lightning monster turned back to the red dragon.

It seemed that they had the monster in hand, but a second one had spawned from the lightning beast up above and was currently flying their way.

Prim shrieked a warning that sounded much like an eagle's cry.

Between the wind and the chaos of the general fight, the other dragons didn't hear.

Alice could only stare in horror as the second lightning spawn came on fast, swimming through the air as if it were water. It was headed right for Iggy, and she was certain, down in a deep dark way that spoke of her class, that if the two lightning monsters attacked at once, they could very well overrun his Ultimate Armor.

She had never felt so useless in her life.

But then, at the last second, a bubble of what looked like solidified rain encased the oncoming lightning beast. It stopped in place, shrieking crackled cries and thrashing lightning claws against the sides of the bubble. Electricity flowed easily through water, but the white arcs went no further than the boundaries of the bubble. There was nowhere for it to claw through.

What had just happened?

A motion in the corner of Alice's eye drew her attention. She turned.

The Earl's son, the same one who had caught her out of the General Laborer barracks, stood right behind her.

He was clad in a plate mail cuirass and black armored pants that looked like they were made of dark dragon scale. It was hideously expensive… and overall very hideous from her point of view.

His blonde hair tousled in the wind as he boomed out, "Steady there, Miss. My name is Oliver. I'm with the hero's guild, and I’m here to save you!”

Then, before Alice could object, he grabbed her up in a bridal carry.

But only for a second, as Numi slithered up Alice's arm and shoved her green head right into Oliver's face, showing every one of her teeth that were capable of biting through metal.

Oliver yelped and dropped Alice. "What the — A dragon?" He backed up a few more steps, and a shield made of wind appeared between Alice and himself.

But there was no point to it, as Numi hadn't attacked further.

Alice got to her feet, brushing off her skirts and feeling annoyed. The wind had slackened, though it was a very localized effect. She suspected Oliver had something to do with that too.

She was fearful, shocked… But mostly, she was annoyed. Oliver was the very worst person to find out about her. And yet… How dare he just up and grab her like that?

"These are my dragons," she said. "What do you think you’re doing?"

"Your dragons?" he said, looking from Numi up to Iggy and Spark, who had just taken down the last of their lightning spawn. That second one was still safely encased in Oliver’s bubble. "But… you've gotten them to fight against the lightning beasts?"

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"I'm trying to help," she said. Prim, who had clung onto her shoulder this entire time, hidden in her hair, peeked out and hissed at him. "If you want to help me, help them." Alice pointed upward toward Iggy and Spark.

He squinted. “I saw they were fighting the lightning beast, but I thought it was a familiar —"

Ignoring his stammering, she turned her attention back up to Iggy.

To her horror, three more lightning creatures had spawned off of the main beast and were heading downward. Not towards Iggy and Spark, but to a secondary building nearby – one of the few that was left unscathed.

The building, with its stone roofing, seemed to be built thickly and securely with thick stone walls, though the roof was unfortunately still wood shingle and was smoking, either from an errant lightning blast or one of the other embers from the burning buildings. But it was one of the few left standing.

"What is that?" Alice demanded.

Oliver followed her gaze and squinted again. Did he have trouble seeing?

"Looks like a storm shelter — one most of the locals, low and mid-classers, will be there… Oh no," he added, clearly seeing the three lightning beasts. "I can shield them, but not forever. My mana will run out soon. How's yours?"

She had no mana. She had no powers at all, only dragons.

"Fine," she said, clipped. "Do what you can, and my dragons will help.”

He nodded, one hand extended out to the building. "Hopefully, we won't have to for not long. The main thrust of the fight is happening there." He nodded toward the east, and Alice saw figures flying in, using various class skills and powers she had no idea even existed, much less how they worked.

But all were headed towards the main lightning beast. Even more powers were starting to be fired up from the midst of the city up toward the creature, too. It seemed that the noble and high-class fighters had finally begun the return attack.

Well, she had no business fighting alongside high classers, and certainly had no chance of defeating the main lightning beast, but she could at least help here with the common folk.

Besides, helping low and mid-classers who couldn't help themselves was deeply appealing.

"Iggy, Spark," she yelled, and pointed, "protect that building!”

Though there was no way that the dragon should have been able to hear her over the screaming wind, rain, and Oliver's various shields, Alice was the She of Many Dragons, and they were her aspects.

Both immediately turned from harassing the lightning beast in the bubble and swam through the air towards the direction of the building.

She turned to Oliver. "Do what you can, and shield my dragons."

"First time out in a real fight, and I'm partnering up with a dark classer," he muttered to himself.

"I am not a dark classer," she said, firmly, and to her surprise, her voice was subtly deeper than she meant it to be. More authoritative. She glanced down at her hands and saw that they were slimmer, too. More refined, like a real noble lady.

Prim stood rock steady on her shoulder, and she knew that her dragon was doing her best to subtly hide Alice's look. A hank of hair flew in front of her face from the wind, and she saw that it had taken on more of a strawberry blonde color.

Meanwhile, Numi coiled around her ankles, looking fearsome… though the worst she could do was to spit coins at Oliver.

Perhaps I can pay him to go away, she thought, half-hysterically.

But to her surprise, Oliver didn't continue with accusations of dark classery. Instead, he turned, his hand held out to the building, and bowed his head.

It looked like it took him a lot of effort, but it was worth it. A dome made of water appeared around the building. What was more, a secondary shield, the thinness and pure flexibility of which told Alice that this was made of air, popped around Iggy and Spark, much like a second skin.

Alice didn't bother telling him about Iggy's Ultimate Armor. She would take whatever protection she could give to her brave dragons. For right now, they faced down three lightning beasts.

Alice could only watch, her heart in her throat, as Iggy and Spark took on one each.

However, Oliver's shielding seemed to do the trick. And because it was made of air and not water, it disrupted the worst of the lightning claws, just enough for her dragons to sink their teeth into their prey.

Spark had more luck with his fight, seeing that he was facing a beast of the same element. But Iggy had made use of his fiery breath and sprayed fire at two dragons at once, effectively capturing their attention before they could rake over the roof.

But her dragons were still outnumbered, and though they were maneuverable, Alice saw the lightning claws strike both of them more than once. Neither fell from the sky, or even cried out, but Alice felt the hits in her bones.

But there was still one free lightning creature. It turned toward Spark, right when the little dragon had its back to it.

“Iggy!” Alice yelled, trying to get his attention, but the red dragon had his claws full with his own creature and—

Suddenly, a bright light lit the sky, so bright that it was like a second sun. When it started to fade, the large mega-lightning creature in the sky was thrashing and shrieking a sound that was like dozens of rolls of thunder all at once.

Alice felt it in her breastbone, in the middle of her ears, in her bones.

When she looked back, blinking away afterimages, a second bright light was lit within it, like a rising sun. She winced and looked away. When she looked back, blinking away afterimages, the creature was dissolving into glittery bits.

And so was the lightning spawn that Iggy and Spark were fighting.

It was… over?

"Yes!" Oliver yelled, pumping a fist into the air. He grinned at her, and Alice could only look back, feeling shaky.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Why, we won of course. Good always triumphs over evil!”

“But…” She looked first to the lightning spawn which had dissolved to nothing, leaving her dragons looking confused, to the rapidly disintegrating creature in the sky. It had happened so fast.

"That's it?"

"For now. We'll see if they caught the villain responsible for this," he said, sounding like he had just come from a Bard's tale. She didn't actually think that people spoke like that…

Then, Oliver bowed. To her. "I do apologize for earlier, Miss," he said, rising. "This is my first true battle, and I saw a young woman standing practically in the eye of the storm. I thought… Well, clearly I was mistaken."

"This is my first battle as well," Alice said. "I just came into my class."

"Yes, me as well," he grinned, and she had to admit that despite everything, he did have a smile that lit up his face. "My parents bought me this Shield-bearer class. But… Forgive me, I need to ask. Dragons?" He looked at her. "That is quite unusual."

Unusual was one way to put it. "It is a Taming class," she said, making things up wildly. Even though a part of her recoiled at having to impugn on her friends who were sweet and loyal. They weren’t animals she’d tamed. But she knew the stories of dragons, and knew, as well, that someone like Oliver would never understand. "I obtain them and turn them to the good."

There, that should appeal to his melodramatic heart.

Sure enough, Oliver's face cleared immediately of doubt. It shocked Alice that he was so ready to believe her. There was none of that concern and disdain that he had shown her back when she had been a General Laborer. In fact, he acted like he didn't recognize her at all.

He was a rather… open creature.

Just as she thought that, he said, "Have we met before? The spring ball, perhaps?"

But she was saved from answering by Iggy who had flown back.

Grabbing him in her arms, she was able to lavish her attention on him, as well as get a good look at his scales. To her concern, a couple of them were darkened as if they’d been burned. But Iggy didn't wince or act like he was in pain.

"You did so well, dear," she said. "I'm so proud of you. And what about Spark?"

"Spark performed excellently, and he fed much of his experience to me," he rumbled.

Spark, however, had not come down for cuddles. He swam in the air over Alice's head, keeping a little distant. He still had yet to speak.

Alice still felt a sense of disconnection from this sub-aspect, and a feeling that she would never be as close to him as she was to her regular aspects.

Oliver looked on, openly intrigued.

Iggy cast an eye at Oliver and said, "Your shield failed on the other side of the building.”

“Oh! It talks to others than it’s tamer!” Oliver exclaimed, delighted.

“Yes, I do. The roof is on fire. It's not bad now, but if the moss on the roof catches aflame…"

"I can handle that," Oliver said easily. "My elements are air and water," he added, as if sharing aspects of his class was the most normal thing in the world.

He turned and jogged off.

Alice said, "Quickly, quickly now." And, gathering up her dragons, she quickly led them away.

Turning the corner, she heard a jingling by her feet. Alice looked down to see Numi hopping along on three legs, her right forepaw holding a rather expensive-looking coin bag, and her muzzle half-stuffed in.

Alice had a bad feeling she knew where her dragon had gotten that coin bag.

"Who was that man?" Numi asked, looking up at Alice. "He must be someone of importance. He had many gold coins on him."