When Irinia and Valerius crested the top of the stairs, they were greeted by a staredown between Azara and the dragon. It shocked them both and they stood for a moment in awe of the sight. Kasper was sitting in the snow close to the dragon, on his rear, dumbfounded.

Speechless, Irinia could only helplessly watch as Azara faced the dragon down, determined. It growled at the woman with a deep rumbling sound. Irinia assumed it was some form of a dragon language, but she could not understand it. To her surprise, Azara looked as shocked as everyone else.

As she observed the events, Kasper suddenly jumped up and tried to make a break for it. He held out the stone in his hand. "Valerius, catch!" he began, reeling back his hand to throw the stone.

Like lightning, the dragon's tail whipped round. Kasper ducked, but the tail struck the ground beside him with incredible force. The impact threw Kasper off his feet and rolled him over the edge of a nearby cliff. The stone flew into the air, and he reached to grab it rather than try to catch himself as he fell over the cliff.

"Kasper!" Valerius shouted, and ran forward towards his companion, but both he and Irinia were blocked from the edge by the dragon's tail, which was as big around as an old oak tree.

Valerius, caught up in the moment, raised his sword, and struck the tail without thinking. It bounced off the hard scales without leaving so much as a scratch. Irinia had thought that a dragon's sales would be like plates of armor, but being this close to them, she realized they more like very smooth rocks or gems. The dragon make a laugh-like sound when the sword rang off its tail, and then she heard the dragon speak. It was very deep, and almost impossible to understand. The words were slurred together too. However, its volume helped make up for some of this, and the fact that Irinia’s full attention was fixed upon it allowed her to comprehend what the dragon was saying.

"Careful, little prince, I may get angry. Let me attend to my business with this 'friend of yours', before I deal with you, and avenge my ancestors for your bloodline's evils."

"You will not hurt them!" Azara shouted.

"Oh, really?!" the dragon said, and raised his tail. Irinia closed her eyes out of both fear and a need to concentrate. She heard the dragon’s tail whip upwards through the air and then come back down toward her and Valerius. Before it struck her she raised a magical ward. It was an exhausting process, as she had to extend her presence out into the world around her and use it to block the strike that was coming. Nevertheless, she succeeded in time, and the dragon’s tail smashed against the translucent barrier, bouncing away. Just after it did so, Irinia dropped the ward and fell backward from the shock of using so much energy. Valerius caught her, and she fought away the urge to pass out.

“Ha! So this one is a mage!” the dragon said. Azara had unshielded her tearstone, and pointed it at the dragon. He made the laugh-like sound again. “Really? You would attack me? With our mother’s jewelry?”

“Leave them alone!” Azara shouted. "I don't care who you say you are."

“No,” he growled, and once more raised his tail to strike them.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

A distance away, Irinia saw Kasper climbing back over the cliff edge. She felt her heart leap with joy, as she realized that he must have grabbed something before falling down the cliff. That happiness was short-lived though, because she saw the dragon’s tail rising once more to crush them, and she put up her hands to put up another barrier - one that would spend all that she had left in her, even her soul. She closed her eyes and prepared.

The call of a raven screeched in her ears, and the moment she heard its call she felt a warm breeze come with it. She could longer feel the cold of the mountain top. Instead, she felt like there was a warm sun above her, and that she was laying in Valerius lap, wrapped in his arms, in a field of Ursulan winter wheat.

When she opened her eyes, she was doing just that, and Valerius was looking around in awe.

“Did we die?” Irinia asked.

Valerius shook his head. “I’m not sure. I saw Azara prepared to blast that monster, and I think you were going to try and shield us again. Then these ravens swooped in around us, and the world changed. It happened very fast. We've been here a little while now, and I've been waiting for you to wake up.”

"What do you think it was?" she asked.

"You're the mage," he said, smiling down at her. "You tell me."

"I have no idea," she replied. She sat up. Her head spun, and she put her hands out on the ground in front of her to keep steady. Valerius wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close, embracing her in a half hug.

"Careful," he cautioned ", you did something pretty amazing back there."

"It was dumb. I could have killed myself. I was about to." she answered. Then she realized what was going on, and went quiet. He wanted to talk to her. He was hugging her. That was good. He'd been standoffish since what had happened, and what she'd said to him. So now was a time to listen more than anything else.

"No, I was dumb to bring you and the others on this journey. To even start this journey," he said. "If it hadn't been for running into Azara, and her coming with us, none of us would have survived. If it hadn't been for your insistence to let her come, your desire to learn from her, and just you being with us, we wouldn't have even gotten this far. And you're always doing that for me. Even when you negotiated with the Starchild, and spoke with him on our behalf. All I could do was yell at him."

Irinia smiled. "I didn't do th-"

"-and if we are dead, I want you to know that I'm sorry. I also want you to know that I thought about what you told me in Notting, after you said Azara spoke with you. I wanted to tell you that I think it's possible. No, what I mean to say is that in the long term, my answer is-"

“Valerius! Irinia!” a voice called out, and Valerius gently let Irinia out of his embrace, so that he could stand up and look around. It was definitely Azara’s voice.

“Azara!” Valerius called out, cupping his hands to his mouth as he did so

Irinia summoned as much strength as she could, and sat up. She could barely see over the wheat field, but in the distance, she could make out Azara’s golden hair blowing freely in the light breeze. Alongside her were three other people. Two of them Irinia recognized as Joakim and Kasper. The third person was a mystery. They were all walking toward Irinia and Valerius.

The mystery person was a woman who was shorter than Azara, Joakim, and Kasper. Still, Irinia could tell that this newcomer was not going to take her spot as the shortest in the group since her head at least came to Joakim and Azara's shoulders. Her features became more distinct as they got closer and closer. She had dark black hair and pale skin, with a pretty enough face that she did not look ugly while walking beside Azara.

When they had closed enough distance that Irinia could make out more details, what attracted Irinia’s attention was the newcomer's eyes.

Her eyes were blue, and they had a gemlike quality to them like Irinia's own. The color was clear and distinct, and almost unnatural for a human eye. Irinia pondered it a moment, and then when they were within speaking distance, she stood up feebly and directed her words to the girl.

“Hello. I am Irinia, known also by Moss,” she said, as Valerius helped to steady Irinia on her feet.

“Hello. I am Eir, and I am also called Raven.” the girl replied, smiling.