The land north of Sirene and into Sunan was bleak and open with nothing but grain fields in sight. It was already well into spring and the heat of summer seemed to be hiding just beyond the next sunset. Green sprouts and brown fields were everywhere in this part of the world, and Zoe despised the sight. It reminded her too much of the bleakness of the desert where she had grown up, where there was nothing but bright orange sand as far as the eye could see. The world looked so much better with lots of color instead of the curtain of muted hues of the desert or like these farm fields now. At least the heat was no longer a bother, that hadn’t been a problem since she last laid eyes on her homeland.

She took a deep breath and took in her surroundings again. The farmhouse to the east was over a mile away and there seemed very little activity there right now, perfect time to sneak past. To the south lay the edge of the sirene forests from which they had come. Katsumi was making her way toward her, scowling as she usually did. The woman wasn’t good company, but she was resourceful and a fast traveler. They probably would have been caught by their pursuers days ago if she had not been.

Katsumi had not really shared much about who she was and why she was running, but Zoe needed somewhere to go and she seemed like a woman on a mission. It pained her not to know what had happened to Bridget, just thinking about it made her stomach twist into knots, but she had asked her to flee north with this woman, and she would stay true to her orders. Still, for as fast as she was, it was clear that Katsumi was growing weak. Exhaustion rode her like a horse, limbs hanging loosely with a slouch in her back, and the deep set of her eyes showed that she was refusing to sleep as well. She could hardly blame her; it was a hard thing to be hunted, harder still to get away with her head still on your shoulders.

Zoe turned her attention back to the direction they were running, up north to the river Flora. If they could make it to this river, Katsumi had assured her that they could get across safely and leave their pursuers days behind. How she planned to do that, she had not bothered to say. Zoe was not even sure that she had a plan beyond a fool’s hope of finding an unguarded ferry.

“It looks like the river is only about a half mile away. We’re so close!” Zoe said. Katsumi panted heavily, hands on her knees, trying to say something in response, but all Zoe caught were half baked curses. She really was such a delightfully cheerful woman, wasn’t she?

They continued their run all the way up to the banks of the river where they stopped for a quick drink and rest which Zoe insisted they take. To her credit, Katsumi didn’t argue, even if she did scowl and grumble the entire time. When she could finally get back to Bridget, Zoe vowed to never take her company for granted again.

“We have a very serious problem.” Katsumi said, startling Zoe from the half doze she was in.

“What’s wrong?”

“The river is too shallow here. I was hoping that they would need a ferry or swim to come after us. Look.” She pointed out at the river and Zoe saw what she meant. The flow here was gentle and smooth, so slow that she could easily make out the bed that wasn’t even three feet deep.

“What do we do?”

“Ha! The hell if I know. All my plans have failed, one right after the other. If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them.” Her laugh was humorless and underpinned by some other emotion. Fury, perhaps?

“I’d say we could turn and fight.” Zoe began. “But, we don’t know their numbers or who they are, what weapons they have.” She trailed off and shook her head. “Even if we did, I don’t think I could take more than a few myself.

Katsumi looked up at her critically. No, not critically, more skeptically. “And how did you plan to ‘take them?’” She asked.

Zoe realized too late that she had said way more than she should have. But, then again, what good were secrets if you were about to die? She flashed a wicked grin and said, “with fire, and a lot of it.”

Katsumi’s stare shifted again, this time it was critical, as if she were deciding on whether she truly meant what she said or was bluffing, or perhaps something more. Her stare was broken as clicks and whistles from the south arrested their attention. Riders appeared in the shade of the forest line and were picking up speed. Now that they were all in the open fields, there was no hiding and nothing stopping the horses from chasing them down at full speed.

Both women stared the riders down and then looked at each other. Zoe could feel her body shaking, but managed a weak smile. Katsumi simply asked “Are you sure you can kill at least three of them?” Zoe’s jaw dropped, for just a moment, and she turned back to the riders. She counted sixteen traveling in a circular group. Zoe nodded and turned back to Katsumi.

“If I aim right in the center, I can get at least three. Probably more.” She said.

Katsumi nodded, her face hard and determined. “Do it.” She replied.

Zoe stepped forward guessing how far away they were; Thirty seconds, she thought, and began filling herself with the power. Every scrap of heat she could find she pulled toward herself, storing it in her own body. She continued to pull from everywhere until she was afraid of burning herself out. The sun, the earth, the plants around them, everything was fuel. She stretched her arm out in front of her, hand raised and pointed her palm straight at the center of the formation.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Release.

Fire erupted from her outstretched arm and hurled itself toward the formation. The horses all began to wheel and whine as they saw what was coming, but too late. The ball of fire landed true and four riders were launched into the air as their mounts collapsed under them, everything burning. Their cries pierced Zoe’s ears, and she was forced to turn her gaze away in disgust. She hated killing; hated how easy it was; hated that she didn’t regret doing it. She didn’t have long to think about it; darkness clouded her vision and she was unconscious before her body hit the ground.

*****

Katsumi watched in startlement as the fireball landed amongst the riders. She had never seen or heard of anyone outside of her family with power like that. It only took moments for her to regain her composure only to realize that Zoe had collapsed after the blast. Katsumi rushed to her side and was relieved to find her still breathing. Not dead yet, good. I have questions for you.

She rose to her feet and faced toward the now scattered soldiers; four dead, three more burning, almost half of their number. Thank you, Zoe. Katsumi opened her body to the power she held and reached out with her mind. Gaia, I need your help.

A voice echoed in her mind, rumbling and powerful, full of authority and confidence. “I hear you. Alas, your body doesn’t have much strength left. I will only be able to manifest for a few minutes at most.”

Katsumi planted her feet firmly and readied herself. “More than enough time.” She told Gaia.

“As you wish.” Gaia responded.

Green light shone within Katsumi’s body that grew ever brighter. Pain flooded through her body as the power surged out and took form. As the power continued to flow, Katsumi’s body began to change. Her limbs became hard and rough; muscles bulged, and fingers and toes were replaced by talons. Green and gold scales shimmered as they emerged to cover her skin, all while Katsumi squirmed under the pain of the transformation. She buckled under the strain and fell to hands and knees. She screamed, but it was no human scream. Instead, a great and powerful roar came from her that echoed across the plains. Her gritted teeth became sharp and her body stretched like silk being spun.

The power continued to grow and Katsumi’s mind slipped away. She would lose herself soon as Gaia took over, and she had done so many times in the past, but it still felt disconcerting to not be the one directly in control of her own body, even if it had been altered to more resemble Gaia. For now, she tried to focus on her surroundings. The soldiers had stopped approaching as horses whined and tried to flee. The ground beneath her feet cracked and groaned and birds flew off in every direction, away from her. She was no longer Katsumi; she had become Gaia, a dragon queen, the Stone Fist of Magnada. With a final roar, Gaia lunged after the soldiers who had all turned to flee, and Katsumi faded away.

When Katsumi regained consciousness, her body had returned to normal, if at least in appearance. Her muscles struggled to respond and when she tried to raise her hand, her leg twitched instead. It would be a while yet before she regained full control, longer still before she would be strong enough to do more than sit up.

“Gaia, can you hear me?” Katsumi said in her mind.

“Yes, I can hear you.” Gaia responded.

“Are we safe?”

“Yes. Mother Earth has embraced their souls once more.” She sounded far more content about that than made Katsumi comfortable. Gaia had often tried to help Katsumi understand dragon culture, but too many things simply didn’t make sense or outright contradicted themselves; like how they abhorred murder, or really any law being broken, but saw no issue with tearing said murderers to pieces. In fact, they seemed to relish killing. Flashes of Gaia’s memory seeped into Katsumi’s mind of what had been done to the pursuing soldiers, and she almost started retching in spite of the fact she could hardly control any part of her body. Who were those people?

Time and again, Katsumi had to remind herself that Gaia was a dragon soul, a beast with great power, not a human. Still, she experienced human emotions and even expressed many desires that would be considered… well maybe not normal, but at least acceptable.

“How long have I been laying here?” Katsumi asked.

“About three hours longer than I have.” The voice wasn’t from Gaia, but from someone else nearby. Katsumi managed to roll her and see the form of a woman in plain whites and browns tending to something roasting over an open fire. What was her name again? “I wish I could have seen what you did! The entire field looks like the ground just exploded!” She’s so excited, but why? “I thought I was the only one with cool powers. You have to tell me how yours works!”

“She certainly has spirit, this one.” Gaia said. Kataraina imagined her having a wide-toothy smile, which would have been quite predatory if Katsumi didn’t know better.

Zoe kept talking, as chatty as a court maid with fresh gossip, but Katsumi paid her no mind. Her memories were starting to come in, but in no real order. That was her name: Zoe. They were traveling together. Were they friends?

“Gaia, help me remember. Where are we?” Katsumi thought.

“Somewhere just south of the river Aranin.” Gaia said.

“The what?”

“Oh! Apologies. I believe you humans call it the Flora now.”

The Flora. So, they had almost made it to Sunan. Running away from something, or rather someone. Where did she plan to go, anyways? And why would Zoe not shut up?

“So anyway, I was thinking that since we aren’t being followed anymore that we go find a real city with actual beds. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of sleeping on dirt.” Zoe said, finally looking down to meet Katsumi’s flat stare. “Are you ok? If I were to have used as much power as you did, I would be dead.”

“Zoe,” Katsumi said hoarsely.

“Yes?”

“Please, just stop talking and let me lay here in peace.”

Zoe furrowed her eyebrows and scowled slightly, but otherwise said nothing. Gaia’s voice came in to ruin that sweet silence. “Come now. That’s no way to treat a friend.”

“I’ll apologize later.” Katsumi said, and gave up on moving for now. She simply closed her eyes and let her exhaustion take her back into sleep.