The night was falling, the sunset had just ended, and on the horizon, Azara could see the silhouette of the city of Ursus. The city of the Great Bear. The city of Aericia, the conqueror and queen. The queen who had sat on the throne atop the whole world, and founded a country in its center under the guidance of the stars.  

She held the Dragon's Eye in her hand and looked toward the city. She could sense the other dragon there, hiding somewhere. Clearly, he had changed his appearance and gone into the city as a human or something else. At least, that is what she theorized. Far in the distance, perhaps only a few days travel away, she could also feel her sister. Over the past few days, she had noted that her sister was steadily moving north, probably with the contingent of advisors and engineers that her mother had sent north. She had briefly considered sending a message to her sister, warning of the dragon's presence, but had decided against it. Astra would not have been interested anyway, Azara thought. her sister dragon had long ago made her choice about what she considered herself in the world, and an oath of pacifism relegated her to being unable to aid with force anyway.

The journey here had been smooth and easy. Raven had aided them to begin with, and the rest of the journey had been on foot. No one had accosted them, and any towns they had stopped in along the way were not guarded and in many cases only half populated. The men were gone, gone to war. Luckily, their travels had placed them on a good path of intersect for the forces of Issawast. They had already met a couple of advanced scouts of this army, who had assured them that the army had proceeded without incident and had not been confronted by any of the king's forces. This had worried Valerius, who was then sure that the king had sent his army's to meet the forces from Souster.

Now that the city was in sight, however, far off upon the horizon, some of Valerius' worries were assuaged. A large army had gathered outside the city, and earthworks had been set up. It could not be ascertained from a distance how large a force was present, but it was clear that the men gathered were both part of Valerius force from Souster as well as Gunvar's forces from Issawast. The king's forces had begun constructing earthworks around the city.

There was still some trepidation though, and as they were making camp Azara noted that Irinia was praying for longer than usual on the outskirts of their camp. Thus, she walked out to check on her apprentice, and make sure the girl was alright. When Azara reached her, Irinia was in her usual prayer position - sitting on her knees and looking skyward at the slowly appearing stars, arms lay flat on the ground at her sides with her palms facing upward.

"Is everything alright?" Azara asked.

"Not really," Irinia replied. "Earlier today, when we stopped in that village for a bit, Valerius gave me a response."

Azara shook her head.

"Response? Response to what?"

"A proposal," Irinia replied.

"Wait, what?" Azara asked with surprise.

"I asked him to marry me back in Notting," Irinia said matter of factly.

For a moment Azara was taken aback. Irinia had taken that advice? Literally? And she had acted on it while they were still in Notting?

"Irinia - I just wanted you to talk to him. To tell him your intentions and-"

"And? What would the result be anyways? Valerius and I have been close for a long time. Not exactly like lovers through that entire time, yes, but it still is a very meaningful bond. Besides, you said it yourself. The point wouldn't just be he and I - it would be the Veyorn too. We can kiss and make love and be silly with one another later, after all this is over." she said.

"I suppose you are right," Azara replied, realizing the sort of mindset Irinia was in. She was still serving others first, and not herself, which upset Azara a little. "You still aren’t following my advice completely though. I wanted you to stand up for yourself."

"I didn't say it was just for the Veyorn though Azara. It isn't just about this country. I won't deny it’s about me too," she stated quickly in response. “I - I do want this. I don’t want to leave his side. I want to be able to be happy with him. I've wanted that for a long time.”

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“And he said yes?”

Tears welled up in Irinia's eyes a little. "Of course."

There was a part of Azara that felt just a little dismayed. If Irinia was to be a queen, that would be difficult for their friendship and her study of magic. She was also jealous. Love was not something that she’d found easily in life, and it was not something that she had been allowed to keep, despite wanting it. Even for all of her beauty as a human, it hadn't been enough to attract someone who could accept her as that.

Past all this though, she felt happy for her apprentice, and Azara decided to express this with a smile rather than dwell on her own sadness and jealousy.

"Good for you then. A queen of Ursulam you will be."

Irinia shrugged. "Perhaps, if all this goes as planned. We may still not win this fight Azara."

Azara blinked and her expression went blank. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I believe the stars are with us, but what if it is in their wisdom that the battle does not go our way? That is why Valerius has been in such a strange mood all this time. Always brooding as you say. If we fail, Valerius and I, all of us, will be captured and killed and-"

She stopped mid-sentence as she saw a grin appearing on Azara's face.

"What is it Azara? Why are you - oh."

“It would not take much for me to decimate an army Irinia. They don't have any powerful sorcerers, and I doubt there are any siege engines among them that I cannot match. The only thing I am worried about in this coming conflict is this dragon that is making a claim to being family. I want to deal with him before all of this begins." Azara explained. "I would prefer not having to fight him either."

"Do you think that you cannot beat him?"

"I may be able to. I have some advantages," she said, pointing to the device containing her tear stone.

"So you think this fight is already won?"

"As much as you need to worry about it Irinia," Azara replied, before standing up to walk off. What she hadn’t said was that she was not so sure. Indeed, for her, there may have been less worry, but there was no safe assurance for everyone else. If she and this other dragon did fight, any human beings roaming around on a battlefield for dragons would be in danger. Besides, she had spent most of her life in the human body. Her dragon body felt natural to her, but she was still clumsy in that form compared to a dragon that had lived their entire life in their natural state.

"Azara, I have a question."

"What?" Azara asked, confused.

"Where do dragons go when they die? You seem so flippant about religion, so I have to ask." Irinia said, a little worry in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I know you do not worship the stars, but I am still worried I won't ever see you in the heavens, at the end of all things."

Azara gave a confused expression, but she knew exactly why Irinia was asking. Azara could also see that Irinia was earnest. This wasn't some religious proselytizing for the sake of it, Irinia was genuinely worried.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it was said that when elves walked the earth they returned to earth, becoming a part of it when they died. The animals return their life to plants and trees. We, of the race of men, have our bodies return to the earth, but our souls go to the heavens - our divine spark becoming pure. So, what is there for dragons? Where does your soul reside?"

For a moment Azara simply thought in silence, finding the proper words for her answer. In the end, however, she could not find one. She wanted to say something nice, she wanted to suppose there was something nice, but she could not bring herself to it. Instead, she spoke honestly.

"Irinia, we are not like the rest of this world. We were never meant to be. We have been a curse to all things, and even our mother turned from us. I do not know if there is a place that is meant for our kind, at the end of all things, when the heavens fall." she said. "We were called Armageddon, and even I am not different. I am a direct descendant of Apotheos himself, as would this other dragon be if he were my brother. Even if there was such a place as heaven, I do not think it would be the same that you wish to be. We were created out of love, from the first star of love, the sun, but there is no love for us in this world."

Irinia looked dismayed at the terrible reply, before whispering a quiet prayer to herself. She then spoke again as Azara was beginning to walk away.

"You aren't evil though Azara, and I think it would be right for you to be among the stars, with even the best of Lumira's followers," Irinia said.

Azara looked back and smiled. "Thank you, I'm glad you think so."

Then she began to continue walking away, but Irinia once more stopped her.

"And where are you going now? What is your plan to take down this other dragon?"

Azara was thoughtful for a moment. "Well, I told Valerius that he had flown beyond the city, into the mountains. So now I'm going to go and ask Valerius if I can enter the city as an ambassador, to try and sue for peace with the king. At the very least it will make us look merciful. You should always give a besieged city a chance to surrender anyway, correct?"

Irinia nodded.

"Well, while I'm there I am going to find whatever form this dragon is hiding in, and talk to him. I want to learn his side of the story, figure out what he wants with me and this kingdom. After that, who knows," she said, and gave a slight shrug.