Cold, thin air filled his wings as Felix soared. He had never flown as high as he was flying in that moment. The power of Astrid's blessing surged through him, empowering his wings with the vigor required to stay aloft at that altitude. The forest was a pale violet carpet far below, drowning in the shadow of the mountains to the east. The rivers, vast when viewed at a more reasonable altitude, were nothing but tiny vanes of darkness cutting through the forest. Felix could clearly see the peaks of the mountains far below.

Directly ahead, Felix was beginning to make out the familiar sight of blood-red crystal spines jutting up from the forest. He stretched his main wings out for gliding, and angled his tail wings slightly down to prevent a nosedive. As he crept closer, Felix began to make out the lights of a waking city, as well as the pale oval-shaped airships arriving from the north. The enhanced vision of his drake form allowed him to pick out the lanterns in the streets, the forges near the blacksmiths, the chandeliers in the palaces, and the sorcerous crimson bonfires of the landing yard.

It was these latter lights that marked his target. Felix approached the city of Needlewood from the east, with the rising sun at his back, to make his profile easier to see against the dawn sky. The shutters in the tower flashed, revealing a white light within, the signal for an approved landing. The city walls rushed by in a blur, followed by the twisting streets and alleys, and finally the threshold wall to the raised landing yard. A blast of sorcerous wind struck him, countering his airspeed with the precision of vast experience, allowing him to settle gently into the mud in the center of the yard.

"The ground is filthy!" Astrid announced from atop the saddle between his shoulders. "Servant! Take me somewhere else. Quickly!"

Mud is soft but will not catch fire, Felix thought. Drakes may need to land sometimes while their scales are still hot from battle.

Lightning cracked across the yard, and Astrid floated out over the mud in front of Felix. Lightning rippled from her fingertips, up her arms and across her torso. "Flying with my own power," she said, "how embarrassing!"

Thankfully the only souls in the yard were wind mages, who had no fear of such sorcery.

Felix sembled into his human form and dropped into the mud with a squish. Astrid still drifted nearby, defying gravity, clad in a hooded black robe that hid her hair. The sorcerous saddle that had been created about his shoulders began disintegrating into nothingness. Felix looked around, searching for Brigid. He found her when he looked up at the roof of the landing yard tower. She was up there, sucking down the contents of an invisibility potion, at least until she faded and was gone.

"Oh hey Felix!" a guard cried from the doorway at the top of the stairs. He was middle-aged but clad in the blood-red uniform of a recruit. Felix began to trudge through the mud toward the man. Astrid glided down beside the guard, and this seemed to make the man uncomfortable. "Um, Felix, who is this?"

"An important military asset," Felix lied. "Secret mission from the Lord Paladin. You didn't see me land."

"What? Land? Nobody landed here today. Sun's not up yet. Off with you lot then." The guard waved his hand dismissively.

"Wait," Felix said as he pulled the man close to whisper in his ear. "Something bad happened, something very bad. I may need help from the Red Dragon, and soon. Is the Lord Paladin awake yet?"

"Awake?" the guard whispered. "Felix, he has not gone to bed yet. He has taken to the bottle again."

Felix sneered, then ascended the steps toward the open garrison door, following slightly behind the Purple Dragon. Astrid needed to duck considerably to fit through the archway. The guards inside, no doubt still groggy from an early rise, gasped as she slunk through the hallways, nearly scraping the ceiling.

"Make way!" Felix cried.

"Am I going the right way?" Astrid asked.

"Yes, the door to the street is just ahead, to the left."

Astrid rushed forward toward the sealed, barred door to the street outside. Felix realized in horror that she wasn't going to stop.

The Purple Dragon, in all her magnanimity, glory, and shocking tallness, slammed face first into the closed door with a shriek. Felix caught her as she lurched back. This drew the attention of the nearby guards.

"My friend is blind," Felix explained, waving toward the door. "Can we open this? Please?"

"This door is closed!" Astrid exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me the door was closed!"

Dumbfounded, Felix did not reply.

"Yeah, I get it. The architecture of these whelps is insulting. Servant, open the door at once!"

Before she had finished speaking the guards arrived and began to remove the crossbar. Astrid recovered some semblance of grace and authority in her posture in the time it took for the door to slowly swing open. Felix hurried out into the street as soon as there was room. Pedestrians hurried about their daily lives, carrying sacks of grain or leading sheep through the mud.

"What was that about?" Felix asked.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"What you think you have witnessed," Astrid said, "you shall instantly put out of your mind, just as that whelp in the landing yard did. Do you understand?"

"Fair enough."

"Now tell me, servant, where might we break fast in this place?"

"There is a coffee house in the city center," he said. The people in the streets began to part to make room for Felix and Astrid as they walked by. One man screamed at the sight of the eight-foot-tall woman, and vanished into the alleyways. "Make way! Make way!" Felix commanded. The sight of a Draconic Paladin issuing commands seemed to have a calming effect.

Flashes appeared in the puddles in the mud, and Felix looked up between the buildings at the azure sky. A figure floated in the center of the space between the rooftops, crackling with sorcerous energy. The broad shoulders, slim chest, and narrow hips betrayed the figure's gender, in spite of his long, silky blue hair. His blue eyes gleamed against a pale face as he looked straight at Astrid.

"Storm sorcery!" the man proclaimed. "The likes of which have not been seen on this continent in recorded history." The crackling energy around him began to wane as he settled onto the road just ahead.

"Shane the Doomsayer," Felix hissed. "Is it too early for you to announce the end of the world from atop your soap box? Charlatan?"

"Felix the Paladin," Shane replied. "You keep strange company. Is that? A metal mask? Are you a Fate Binder?"

With a gasp, Shane suddenly fell prostrate onto the street.

"Almighty Dragon! Stupendous, magnanimous, brilliant, radiant Purple Dragon! Forgive my insolence! I beg of you!"

"You are forgiven," Astrid said in a voice filled with satisfaction.

"Almighty dragon! You are so beautiful! Songs will be written of your beauty for a thousand years!"

"I'm aware."

"I must ask, Almighty Dragon, why are you here with this villain?" Shane asked, pointing to Felix. "Surely a Dragon of such refined taste can afford the company of a less treacherous disposition?"

"That's enough of that," Felix said, stepping forward to confront the man.

"Peace Felix," Astrid said. Felix froze, and turned to watch her approach the doomsayer. "You may rise, one called Shane who is born of this land yet alien to it. I hear the truth in your words. Dear Felix has taken no thoughts into his mind that are not rebellious in nature. But I am merciful. Would you doubt my wisdom?"

"I would not! Almighty Dragon!"

Too much time on that soap box talking to crowds, Felix thought. I should cut out that tongue of his.

"You shall do no such thing," Astrid said. "Shane, you fly well. You are a true master of flight through storm sorcery."

"Your words are like honey, Almighty Dragon! I am unworthy of them."

"I have a need for servants, and you shall be my second. I bless you."

"What!? No!" Felix recoiled, but it was already done. The doomsayer named Shane began to slowly rise. The mud on his arms and knees dissolved, leaving his clothes immaculate. Shane looked at his arms in astonishment. Felix knew exactly what the man was feeling, that vast surge of power.

"To be your servant is the greatest honor that I could ever hope for. I am blessed!"

"You would do well, dear Felix, to reflect upon your status as my first servant. Now, Shane, use your sorcery to fly us to this 'coffee house' in the city center. I would like to hear more truths from you."

"I shall, Almighty Dragon!" Shane raised both hands, and his body began to crackle with energy. Wind and lightning sized Felix, lifting him off the ground, and the three of them floated away from the streets together.

"How refreshing," Astrid said, "to have servants to take care of such efforts."

"Foul sorcery," Felix snapped. "You escape into the small places where we cannot go."

"And each day I look in envy upon the form taken by the Paladins, to soar so high that the wings have no air to beat against."

Envy? Felix wondered. He let the matter drop.

They passed above the rooftops then, and the great red crystal spires appeared all about them, puncturing the city skyline. They passed parallel to the approach path for landing at the yard, and Felix saw many things from a new angle. His usual flight path across the city would always yield the same sights. Carried by the storm sorcery, he saw a small park with trees and flowers planted between crystal formations, a secluded fountain where the commoners would bathe, and the neglected monument to a nameless hero in a shaded alley. All around in the sky, above the city walls, white fish-like bags of air drifted by, pushed by whirring propellers, trader's airships carrying cargo from Flood's End.

The upscale, teal and orange, copper-laden paths of the city center came into view beyond the stone aqueduct bisecting the city. Shane gently lowered the party down beside the roped-off tables outside the coffee house. Many of the tables were already occupied. The hostess approached uneasily.

"A table for three, please," Felix said.

The hostess glanced at Shane, then back to Felix. "As you wish, Paladin."

She seated them by a mural of Needlewood, painted as though the artist was flying at a great height. None of the chairs were quite large enough for an eight-foot-tall woman, so Astrid summoned an ornate armchair for herself, causing even more alarm to the poor hostess.

"You are invited to speak," Astrid said. The hostess scampered off.

"There is a flaw in me," Shane said. "A hole in my soul, if that makes sense. I discovered the same flaw in every factory worker with the blood of Riln. I believe that it could be used to destroy my soul, instantly, and from very far away. Then, simultaneously, it could be used to reanimate my body using necromancy."

Astrid scowled. She reached forward and placed her palm directly in front of Shane's face. "Yes, very subtle, but you are correct. I can fix this hole presently."

Magenta light flashed between her palm and Shane's face. Then his eyes went wide.

"It is gone!"

"Yes, however, the being that placed this spell upon you now knows that it has been undone. This cannot be helped."

"I have spent the last seven years in terror, afraid that at any moment my life could instantly end. I tried to warn everyone! Nobody would believe me." Shane pointed his finger at Felix. "Especially not the Lord Paladin and his thugs."

"Is it really true?" Felix asked. "Was there really such a hole in his soul?"

"I'm afraid so," Astrid replied solemnly. "No doubt for the purpose of raising an army of undead to surprise the city guard once the invasion begins."

"Can you fix the hole in the other factory workers?" Shane asked.

"Of course not," Astrid said.

"Why not, Almighty Dragon? Certainly it is within your power."

"They are quite dead already."

A server arrived with steaming cups of coffee and plates of biscuits smeared with winterberry jam. Shane's face was turning pale.

"What do you mean?" Shane stammered.

Astrid reached out and began to sniff one of the steaming mugs.

"The being in question is without a doubt the Blue Dragon of the land you call Riln. When I removed the spell on you, dear servant, he could only have assumed that the clever whelps of this land discovered a method of removing his spell in the general case. Thus, he instantly activated his spell, destroying the souls of all the factory workers in this city. Actually, more likely, the entire nation."

Felix and Shane stared at her, mouths drooping open. Felix felt his hands go numb.

Then the alarms began to ring.