There was a blinding white light causing Soren to close his eyes and then he felt the rush of wind on his face and coursing through his black hair. Soren opened his eyes and realised he was astride the back of a dragon high in the sky, clouds all around them.

Soren recognised the blue-black scales of Azura underneath him where he was perched in the nape of her neck. She was smaller than the Azura he had just met, her long sinuous wings gliding either side of him, each about the length of his upper body.

Together they soared through the sky, Soren exulting in the rush of it. Then, they burst out of the clouds into open air some 500 paces above the ground. Down below Soren could see what could only be described as a warzone.

All around people clashed swords, the sound of people screaming, dying and metal clashing ringing out. Soren couldn’t recognise anyone from this height, nor could he make out what sort of people it was that were fighting.

What was clear however was that one side was losing badly. Soren couldn’t explain how, but he knew that his side was the losing side. Without a thought from Soren, Azura tucked in her wings and speared into a nosedive, heading straight for the ground.

Soren grabbed her neck as hard as he could, surprised that he wasn’t falling off. He realised with a start that his legs were firmly locked in place and when he looked, he discovered that his legs were encased in scales all the way up to his inner thigh.

Relaxing a little, now more assured that he wasn’t about to fall off Azura’s back from this height, Soren kept his eyes on the fast approaching people below. He could make out some of their faces now, their skin tanned, most of them, including the women were bare chested. They all brandished curved swords, some also had a shield, others carried another sword in their off hand.

Most were screaming like feral animals or shouting incomprehensible words at their enemy or each other. Soren didn’t recognise the language at all, and it was still quite hard to hear or make out individual words with the wind gushing past him and the ground fast approaching.

When they were about 50 paces from the ground, Azura spread her wings wide and they levelled out hard, the re-emergence of gravity pushing Soren down onto her scales. They cruised across the battlefield below which appeared to go on for miles.

Before Soren knew what was happening, Azura had opened her mouth and unleashed a fiery death on the people directly below. Wherever the fire met people, the fighting halted and the screams intensified, the sound and smell of people burning engulfing the battlefield.

Soren could feel the heat from where he sat but it didn’t harm him.

What is happening?, thought Soren as he tried to process the carnage and death unfolding below.

Azura unleashed another stream of flame burning yet more people. Soren looked over his shoulder at the line of fire and realised that the flames were not discriminating between his people and their opposition.

“No…”, he mumbled. “No!”, he shouted.

“You're burning my people!”, he screamed.

Azura let out another steam of fire, killing yet more people.

“Stop!” he screamed. STOP, STOP, STOP, he thought, over and over.

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Suddenly, Azure angled upwards and beat her wings hard, gaining speed and she climbed higher and higher, the sounds of the battlefield and of the burning fading behind them.

They burst through the clouds again and Azura stopped beating her wings so hard, their speed declining until they came to a halt, Azura’s wings beating lightly to keep them fixed in place.

“You were killing our people!”, Soren shouted.

Azura didn’t move and Soren received no response.

“What was that?”, he asked. “Who were we fighting?”

No response.

Soren took a deep breath, trying to process what he had seen. He still had no idea who his people were fighting, but he knew with the utmost certainty that his people were losing and he had to do what he could to help.

Gently, Azura started moving again, angling them on a glide downwards until they were once again below the cloud cover and Soren could make out the battle below.

The dragon fire had burnt out now, but the charred lines of the dead and burned remained. The fighters from both sides had scattered leaving these areas a now barren wasteland.

Soren looked to the areas where the fighting was still fierce and tried to think of a way he could help.

We can’t just go on burning where the fighting is happening again, we kill too many people from our own side.

Looking back in the direction from which the enemy were coming, Soren saw hundreds, if not thousands, of people camped or marching forward to join the frontline fighting.

What if we burn those that aren’t fighting yet, we could burn their camps and their approaching fighters. It seemed so simple yet Soren knew they would kill thousands of people, some of which would not be warriors. There would likely be cooks, cleaners, women and children in those camps.

But they are our enemy, he thought, and we have to do something to help.

Soren tried to think of an alternative option but he could see none. This is the only way, he thought, glancing over the fighting where more and more of his people were dying and being pushed back.

At that thought, Azura veered to the right and beat her wings again gaining speed. She dived and Soren tucked himself close to her scales. Squeezing his eyes shut, Soren heard and felt the heat of the flames she unleashed on the people below.

I have to look, he thought. I chose this.

He sat up taller and looked over Azura’s side to see utter chaos. People screamed and burned. Tents, supplies and all manner of people were on fire. Soren could see some of the fighters who were advancing on his people hesitate, unsure how they could help when their people were being burned by a fiery demon from the sky.

For what felt like hours, they flew through the skies, unleashing a fiery death on the enemy below. Soren had seen when the tide of the battle had changed, the enemy realising that their people and their supplies were being destroyed had turned from the battle to try to help stop the slaughter.

Some had thrown spears, others had thrown their swords in a futile attempt to halt Azura. Nothing worked. She could not be stopped.

Eventually, when Soren had become numb to the site of the dead and dying, Soren looked around to realise that the fighting had stopped and people were laying down their weapons. His people, now no longer being pushed back, had approached the camps of their enemy but dared not come too close for risk of being caught in the flames.

They’re surrendering, he thought. “We did it…” he mumbled.

Even as he was realising the battle was over, Azura unleashed another bout of flame that engulfed yet more people. She was focusing on their fighters now, looking to well and truly end them as a fighting force.

“We’ve won”, said Soren. “They’re surrendering!”

Again Azura, breathed fire down on the people below.

“STOP!”, he shouted.

Please, stop, he thought. We’ve won…

And then, his vision flared a bright white light and Soren’s sound and sight was once again lost.