Smolder pushed the door open. The wood creaked loudly and offered resistance, but it moved to let him through.

  She really needs to take better care of her belongings one day this place will collapse and she'll kill me for not saving her prizes. The Sandwing sighed, Burn would never change.

  He heard the crates in the corner of the room shake a little and turned his head toward the noise. Flower's head peered above the dusty objects and stared at him briefly.

  "Hello, you," he said. The scavenger stood on its feet and approached lightly. "I hope our guest didn't bother you too much."

  The scavenger responded with its usual high-pitched blabbering, making annoyed sounds and crossing its arms.

  "I see. I take it she hasn't been the most accommodating." Smolder sighed and turned to the other side of the room.

  "Smoooooldeeeerr," a snarky voice echoed through the tower, full of bitterness. "Are you bringing me my meal yet? This little show of ignoring me for your pet is growing tiring with your comings and goings. Is that how you treat your allies in your kingdom?"

  "Far from me the idea of disrespecting you, Queen Scarlet," Smolder replied, bowing down. He couldn't prevent the slight sarcastic smirk from appearing on his face.

  He walked between the diverse dried creatures of Burn's collection: a colourless dragon with no wings, a Sandwing tail with two poisonous barbs, a deformed dragon skull, a collection of strangely shaped small weapons, a pale-looking scavenger which he had pushed inside the piles to hide from Flower...

  Smolder stopped and took a few steps back, glancing toward the former with frowning eyes.

  A scavenger with pale skin...

  He didn't pause long, Scarlet quickly reminded him of her hot temperament with a ripped chunk of wood flying past his head.

  He stopped before a curved line drawn on the floor, delimiting where Scarlet could reach with her claws. Her being chained didn't completely prevent him from being nervous around her either, but he wouldn't show it, of course.

  He dropped a bleeding piece of meat on the floor and let it roll floppily toward Scarlet. She didn't act aggressively this time, at least not right away.

  After a long moment of staring and squinting, she jumped on the flesh and snapped it out of place. She tore it apart between her claws and teeth, gushing blood on the floor.

  As ruthless with food than with her victims, I don't see why sister insists so much on keeping her alive in here. Smolder huffed and started to turn around.

  "Your little palace is very quiet lately," Scarlet observed. "Tell me, Burn wouldn't happen to have left with her army and mine to wage war did she?"

  Smolder halted and glanced back.

  "She is paying a visit to six little ex-prisoners of yours," he replied.

  "Oh, so she found them." Scarlet suddenly sounded a lot more awake. "She isn't going to bring back some of them to me I suppose. I would have loved to toy with them a little longer."

  Scarlet's hissing voice was unbearable, Smolder could never stop feeling his spine shiver with disgust every time she spoke. Unlike Burn, she could have killed him at any moment if she felt like it. Being around Burn wasn't the easiest thing, he did fear for his well-being sometimes. But Scarlet was crazy, unlike her. Well... Not the same way, at least.

  Smolder sighed to himself. "I hope she doesn't come back too irritated this time."

  "I hope she doesn't come back at all," Scarlet said.

  --------------------------------------------------

  "NO!"

  Ashley shouted, but that didn't stop Tsunami from lunging forward and rushing to Burn in a fury.

  "Tsunami!" Sunny yelled.

  Burn frowned with a laughing smile. She raised an arm and swung at Tsunami. With one beat of her wing, she dodged the attack to the side and threw her talons forward, to no avail.

  Ashley looked back, the Seawings were holding against the invaders, but their ranks were becoming more panicked and their fighting more erratic. Looking back at the fight, Ashley saw Burn holding one of Tsunami's arms tightly.

  Ashley raised his weapon, but Glory outpaced him. She dove to Burn with her mouth open. The heir let go of Tsunami and beat her wings back to avoid the spray of venom.

  The two dragonets stared at Burn defiantly, Glory hissed, ready to use her venom again.

  Burn looked down where the venom had hit a plant now melting into black goo. She raised her back to glare at the Rainwing, frowning with disgust.

  Silence filled the palpable tension between them, Burn was clenching her fist, preparing to strike at any time. Starflight and Sunny looked with worry from behind.

  Ashley strengthened the grip on his weapon and carefully stood up on top of Clay's back.

  "You," Burn said with a hissing voice filled with hatred.

  "I recommend you to leave," he said, raising his arm. He aimed the muzzle of his pistol at the dragon's head, similar to an eye of void staring into one's soul.

  "Do you really believe I should be scared of you?" Burn responded bitterly. "I would crush all the six of you at once."

  "I believe you should be scared of the thing that took away your arm," Ashley said. He moved his finger onto the trigger.

  Burn narrowed her eyes. Slowly, she passed her hand on her side and grabbed a metallic object held by leather straps. She slid it onto the stomp of her arm under her elbow.

  Slowly, she lifted her arm, showing off the shining object.

  "I am so pleased to meet you again," she said. "I will finally be able to try my new toy."

  She passed her talon over the prosthesis. It was strangely shaped, taking a curved form, long at least as a longsword. At midpoint, the prosthesis stopped being one chunk of metal and separated into three strong claw-like blades. At the tip, the blades were angled backwards to make a stable fulcrum but eventually thinned into a sharp tip that looked perfectly able to tear flesh apart. Each blade was sharpened on both of its sides.

  The prosthesis, or weapon, as it seemed more accurate to describe the object, emanated with harm. Its twisted shape looked eager to tear skin and flesh, it was made, for all intents and purposes, to kill, and to hurt in the process.

  If anything, this weapon made Ashley remember old torture devices. Things that could make your spine shiver just by looking at them.

  Ashley raised his eyes, and his glance met Burn's. A droplet of sweat fell from his face. The hatred in the heir's eyes reflected perfectly the one that had been put in the forging of her nez claws.

  If I let her close to me, her strikes are going to hurt badly.

  He wavered a smile, not wanting to lose face. "I'm glad you thought about me," he said. "That's very touching."

  Burn's eyes twitched, and she spread her wings wide, projecting her shadow on all of them. Sunny squeaked with fear on the side and held onto Starflight who was no less terrified.

  Ashley gritted his teeth. Is it right to do this? He squinted at Burn, feeling the sun striking his back. Who cares anyway? It's already too late. He straightened up, slowly turning his aim at the dragon's head. And she deserves it anyway.

  When Burn saw him raise his arm, she roared and beat her wings, sending a wave of wind their way. She ducked as he fired his weapon three times. Two times it struck her wing membrane, the third shot was met by a resonating CLANG.

  Ashley widened his eyes. Armour?

  Burn brought a hand at her side, wincing for an instant, before hissing at Ashley and throwing herself in his direction. Tsunami tried to intervene but was instantly shoved aside by Burn with one talon on her face. Ashley fired two more times straight at Burn, but couldn't see where his shot landed. Clay beat his wings vigorously to move out of the way, but he received Burn's impact like a train and was sent back into a spin.

  Ashley slipped and grabbed onto one of Clay's spine spikes, but the Mudwing's scales were slippery and he struggled to recover in the air. Clay abruptly slowed down by spreading his wings flat and Ashley felt his guts climb up for a moment.

  He took a second to get his senses back. Tsunami was slashing Burn's back but the Sandwing was hardly responsive to it. She smacked Tsunami with the side of her tile and sent her right into Glory who was approaching.

  In a second, she was above Clay, she dove down and sent her prosthesis right onto his back, barely avoiding Ashley.

  The Dragonet let out a scream of pain and tried to wriggle away, but having Ashley on his back prevented him from manoeuvring correctly and he couldn't free himself.

  Ashley tried to aim his pistol at Burn's head, but his arm was intercepted by her talons and she struck his hand at full force. He twitched with pain as the gun was sent flying overboard.

  FUCK

  Burn removed her artificial claws from Clay's back, spreading blood in the air, then swung at Ashley who ducked under the attack. He stood up on his feet, wavering as Clay struggled to keep his position still. Burn was slowly dragging him downward with her weight.

  When Tsunami arrived from the side, she dodged a blow from Burn's tail barb and collided her shoulder against the Sandwing's side, throwing her unbalanced. It wasn't enough to hurt, but it allowed Clay to escape Burn's grip.

  Ashley used the distraction to quickly grab his knife so as not to stay empty-handed. Burn threw a direct blow at Tsunami but missed when Glory smashed her tail on the heir's head.

  Ashley looked down, Clay's back was bleeding, and the wound looked painful.

  "You okay there buddy?" he asked.

  "I'll... survive," Clay responded, panting.

  In front of them, the dragonets were fighting tail and claws against Burn, she was given a few scars, but none of them were serious, and her opponents weren't in perfect shape either, growing tired.

  "We need to help them," Clay said.

  Tsunami slashed in Burn's direction, who just showed her her belly instead. Instead of slashing her scales, Tsunami claws bounced on a metallic surface painted the same colour as her scales.

  Ashley lowered himself, one hand grabbing Clay's scales, the other holding his knife tightly. "Your call," he said. "Do what you must."

  Clay stiffened. Behind Burn, Glory opened her mouth wide and sprayed venom in her direction. The black liquid flew slowly through the air in an arc. Burn turned over and struck the venom mid-air with her prosthesis, spreading it in hundreds of droplets. She pushed herself through the splatter, and steam arose from her hissing scales.

  She didn't budge. Glory tried to fly away but couldn't be fast enough. Burn smashed her on the nose and grabbed her, forcing her to plunge toward the island. On the way down, she tried to stab Glory with her tail barb, but the Rainwing was flexible enough to dodge it despite the situation.

  Glory thrashed her head forward, aiming for Burn's neck. But the Sandwing halted at once. It destabilized Glory, who was sent down away from Burn and disappeared behind the trees.

  "Glory!" Clay cried, and he dived down. Ashley tightened his grip, feeling the wind fighting against him like a rain of blades. He extended his arm forward, pointing his blade at Burn, beside them, Tsunami was going down in a fury, all claws out.

  Burn avoided Clay's impact, but the Mudwing, expecting it, redressed his trajectory. Ashley felt crushed by the force of multiple times the gravity, but still reached a heavy hand up and his knife met Burn's side.

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  It didn't cut deep, but it distracted her long enough for Tsunami to reach her and strike her head with all her force.

  Burn's head was sent back and her body followed, but she stayed up in the air. The impact would have been strong enough to knock anyone out, or even crush their head, but Burn seemed to suffer nothing except a momentary dizziness. She recovered before any further action could be taken, shaking her head with frustration.

  Look at you Burn, Ashley thought. The most fearsome dragon in Pyrrhia, undefeated in battle. Yet, you can't win against a few dragonets.

  "Look," Ashley said, pointing at Burn. Clay, who was looking down for Glory, raised his sight. "That's what rage does. If you succumb to it, it weakens you and hurts your thoughts. Then, even as the most dangerous dragon in the world, you can't fight anymore."

  Burn wrinkled her snout, snarling at them.

  "Enough with your petty talks, scavenger," she said. "This fight won't last forever, I will crush you and use your heads as decoration for my throne room. Once I am queen, you will have the eternity to contemplate your names being forgotten."

  Tsunami clenched her fist, ready to throw herself into the fight again.

  "Now don't be too impatient, Seawing," Burn signalled behind them. "Or I order my guard to kill your friend."

  The three of them turned around, behind them, a guard was holding Sunny in his grasp, stopping her from fleeing or saying anything. Her frightened eyes were staring at the dragonets, scared to the bones. The guard was holding Sunny's snout with one talon, keeping it shut.

  "Sunny!" Clay cried.

  "Ain't that unfortunate," Burn said sarcastically. "You were so worried about me that you forgot your friend."

  Where is Starflight? Ashley looked around, there was no sign of the Nightwing anywhere.

  He heard wingbeats coming closer. Turning his head toward the battle, he saw three more dragons flying in their direction.

  The new Sandwings were all at least twice the size of the dragonets, and probably three times the mass. Two of them were wearing plates of armour and holding spears with an intricate head. The third one, a female, was the biggest of the three. She wore no armour and her body was covered with scars, like Burn. She seemed by far the most dangerous of the three, and her eyes were glowing with murderous intent.

  This must be Burn's close guard, or her own personal regiment. Ashley thought as they were quickly surrounded by the three.

  The last guard looked from Burn to the Dragonets, noticing the few wounds on her commandant. On the other hand, Tsunami looked bruised and had several bleeding scars. She was still flying but panting.

  There are only three of us. Ashley looked down into the trees. Is Glory ok?

  "What should I do with you?" Burn wondered. "I would have gladly played with your frightened faces, but we know how that resulted with Scarlet."

  "I don't think it is wise to keep them alive my queen," the unarmoured guard said. "I say we execute them on the spot."

  Ashley strengthened his grip and raised his weapon when one of the guards approached.

  "Oh? The scavenger wishes to stop us from doing so?" Burn asks with amusement in her voice. A sick grin drew on her face. "Maybe we should break you first then."

  Ashley was taken by a repulsing feeling. Break? What does she mean by that exactly?

  "Oh, you are probably wondering what I mean. Of course." Burn beat her wings to approach, looming over Ashley and Clay. "I'm going to crack all bones in your body, tear your limbs apart, and then you will watch your friends die."

  Ashley gritted his teeth, that was a gruesome image, and he could see in his mind the dozens of different ways she could find to kill the dragonets. She leaned forward, her dark murderous eyes plunged into Ashley's.

  "Then, you'll pass the rest of your days chained in my tower of wonders."

  She didn't give him more time to think. She raised her arm and dove towards Clay. Her prosthetic was aimed toward Ashley, but he managed to barely avoid it by jumping back.

  Dancing on Clay's back to avoid getting hit was far from a sustainable strategy. Clay wasn't going to stay still, and there was little room to defend, each step he took was one closer to plummeting toward the island. And this time there would likely be no one to catch him except an insane and violent dragon heir, who, best case scenario, would kill him on the spot.

  But it never came to it. When Ashley was an inch away from falling, hanging from Clay's spine spikes, they were interrupted by a loud detonation right behind.

  Ashley twisted his neck to look in the direction of the noise and was stunned to see Starflight hovering behind the Sandwing guards.

  "Leave Sunny alone!" he shouted.

  But Starflight's stance was strange. He seemed to be holding something too small for both his hands, yet still using both to use the object as if he was just discovering how to use it.

  Between two wing beats, the object caught the light of the Sun and reflected it on its metallic surface. When Ashley recognised it, he couldn't believe his eyes.

  Is that my gun? Did Starflight just fire my gun?

  "Let her go!" he said, repeating his inquiry. He tightened his grip, wincing.

  The Sandwing guard bent his neck to stare at Starflight and hissed at him and brought her claws closer to Sunny's face. Ashley saw the panic in Starflight's eyes and tried to warn him, but he fell short in time. Two more detonations happened, one followed by a loud metallic noise.

  The Sandwing lifted her hand to her head. Her eyes seemed to gaze off into dizziness, and her grip loosened. Sunny used this occasion to wriggle out and push the guard away. She immediately flew toward Starflight.

  "Get with him!" Ashley shouted to Clay and Tsunami. Both quickly escaped Burn's reach to regroup with their friend. Each group now had their side.

  The Sandwing guard previously hit was struggling to hover and slowly making her way down, but none of her comrades tried to help her, instead, they kept facing the dragonets with disdain.

  When Clay joined Starflight, Ashley immediately stood up and ripped the weapon off his hands.

  "ARE YOU CRAZY!? DO YOU WANT TO HIT YOUR FRIEND!?"

  Starflight twitched, taken aback by the sudden outburst while everyone took a surprised face.

  Starflight tried to explain himself, rubbing his talons with pain and struggling to find words. "I- I thought-"

  "YOU THOUGHT WHAT!? THIS IS A RANGED WEAPON, NOT MAGIC!" Ashley sternly grabbed Starflight by the chin to stare at him in the eyes, the dragon offered no resistance. "Listen here. You never, ever, touch that thing again. And if I see it drawn in the direction of your friends again, I'm going to make sure that Hell looks like a vacation in your eyes."

  Starflight gulped. He couldn't find any way to fight the frowning face facing him. Ashley could have sworn he saw the dragon's face go pale despite his black scales. Eventually, the human let go of his grasp and turned around.

  "Are we done parenting now? Can I finally kill all of you?" Burn asked, annoyed.

  "You can dream of it," Ashley said. He dropped the magazine overboard and replaced it with a full one, then raised his aim to align it with Burn's body.

  But when he laid his eyes on her, she disappeared.

  She didn't suddenly bolt toward them or find a way to gain insane speed. No.

  A sizeable blurry shape of green slammed right into her and propelled her toward the ground at high speed. Following that, blue and green came striking into the Sandwing guards, sending them flying away from the dragonets. For a second, Ashley managed to see the attackers: Seawings, very angry Seawings.

  As soon as they'd land a hit, they would beat their wing to dash around the Sandwings and strike them somewhere else. Their curved claws would tear large holes in the wing membrane of the enemy, and their strong palmed hand bent their foes' bones.

  "Ow. They aren't fooling around..." Ashley mumbled, stunned.

  "Where did they come from?" Sunny questioned, cowering as shadows of Seawings flew past them.

  "They don't come from the battle, are they from the Deep Palace?" Starflight wondered, he turned his head to Tsunami.

  "No," she said, pointing a claw toward the opposite side of the battle. "The palace is that way."

  Ashley dropped himself to sit on Clay's back again. He leaned his body to the side and peered down where Burn had disappeared.

  Trees were moving violently, the struggle happening under their wing was noticeable from miles away just thanks to the noise. After the fall of a tree, Burn suddenly burst out of the canopy and raced toward the group of friends, but the green Seawing caught her in a few beats and sank his claws in the back of the enraged heir.

  "Did we see that Seawing before?" Clay wondered, quickly taking.

  "We don't have time for questions! This is our-" Ashley was halted in his tracks by the sight. On his side, Tsunami was looking down, her face completely tense. Her eyes were following the face with a sickening focus.

  "We need to go, does anyone know where Glory is-"

  "I'm here."

  "AAAH" Ashley felt his soul leave his body the moment Glory materialised inches away behind his head and almost fell from his position. It took him a second to feel his heartbeat go back to normal.

  "Someone get Tsunami back on foot, we must leave now!" He called hurriedly.

  "On it." Glory didn't wait. She moved quickly to the Seawing's side and slapped her friend as hard as she could.

  "Ow!" Tsunami shot up and showed Glory her teeth.

  "Everyone is here, we're moving!" Ashley shouted.

  "But- it's-"

  "Yes, but he's here so you can escape!" Glory cut her.

  Starflight caught Sunny and hurried her away, Tsunami chose not to argue further and follow along. Seeing everyone was now going, Clay took the rear of the group and followed.

  Multiple Seawings flew past them in the opposing direction, paying only enough attention not to collide with them. Their focus was clearly on what was happening behind them.

  Each one was fully grown up, varying from fades of green to blue, much larger than the dragonets, and all had battle scars.

  This is a scary peloton. Ashley thought while looking back at the raging spiral of wings. A thick smoke was now elevating from the palace, and a glowing orange light was flickering inside.

  Dragons were falling into the flames and the water. The battle had turned into a giant dogfighting area.

  Ashley looked down and winced.

  She's never going to drop from chasing us or what?

  Burn was following them again, slowly catching them from behind. Ashley fully turned around. She dismissed the few Seawings who tried to get in her way, her eyes focused on the Dragonets' formation.

  Did she escape him? His face became livid at the thought. Did she kill him?

  He stared at her beating her wings with frenzy, she was still far enough down that she couldn't breathe her fire on them yet. Both their gaze crossed for an instant.

  I still have time.

  Ashley leaned to the side and aimed down. Six times he fired, and six times his shots bounced off Burn's back.

  He dumped another magazine into the air and replaced it then repeated the operation. He gritted his teeth, the angle of attack prevented him from causing significant damage. Burn twitched multiple times when some bullets found their way into her flesh, but she only beat her wings harder.

  Behind her, Ashley saw the previous Seawing free himself from a dead Sandwing and shoot up toward her. He called two others, who quickly followed him.

  But Burn would catch them first.

  Ashley watched their group. The dragonets were exhausted but flying as fast as they could. Starflight and Tsunami were regularly staring behind with visible anxiety.

  Burn shot with her fire breath at them, but Clay was fast enough to shield his friends with his wings. It surrounded him and Ashley with a blazing wall of fire.

  Ashley frowned. His gun seemed useless now, Burn was too big, and her armour somehow too strong.

  No, there must be something else.

  The armour was deflecting his shots, but she still got hurt when hit. It was the armour that was too strong, not her.

  Enchanted, maybe? He peered toward her, but quickly got back to dodge another ball of fire. Probably not, it's just a nine millimetres after all.

  "Clay!"

  The dragon turned his head when called.

  "I need you to manoeuvre your way under Burn when she gets close, can you do it?"

  Clay gave him a bewildered face, worried about whatever plan he had, but nodded.

  Her back is the most protected part, but if I can hit her in the right place. Ashley remembered the fights in the Skywing Kingdom just a few weeks ago. He clenched his fist and gripped his weapon tightly. A direct hit to the artery in the throat is a guaranteed kill.

  A swirl of wind threw his hair in all directions. Burn rose behind Clay and towered over them. She raised her prosthesis, ready to tear off his tail.

  Clay suddenly broke his flight and wriggled to the side. He smacked the air with his tail and wings and dashed down. And Burn's arm skimmed past his scale.

  They found themselves right under the Sandwing, Ashley immediately aimed up and fired almost all his remaining shots toward Burn's head.

  Burn pulled her head back fast and covered it with her talons in a loud roar. A spurt of blood sprayed onto Ashley's face, which he quickly rubbed away to see.

  When he opened his eyes, Burn's face was inches away from his, fuming as a yellow glow formed in her mouth. With no time to react, he threw his arm forward with his knife in hand, but his weapon only sliced the air as Tsunami slammed her weight onto Burn's head.

  Ashley felt the heat skim past him and fry a few hairs, nearly scorching his arm. Tsunami struck Burn on her head multiple times on her skull. Each talon sent a splash of blood in the opposite direction.

  "Don't stay near!" Clay cried at Tsunami.

  After wriggling in all directions for a moment, Burn managed to grab one of Tsunami's arms and pulled her under with a violent assault. She moved her aggressive gaze onto the Seawing and turned her head to show Tsunami all her teeth. Ashley could finally see the damage he had done.

  Burn was bleeding profusely on the side of her head, and her eye was now deep red. She was all about frenzy now, her attack had no longer thoughts behind them. Like an animal that decided to no longer care about its survival and only give the most damage it could.

  Tsunami tried to free herself of the massive Sandwing's grasp, growling, but Burn had too much strength. She tried to claw her face, but the Sandwing remained impassible.

  Burn pulled Tsunami closer to her.

  "If I cannot have all your heads mounted on spikes, I will make sure to break your group apart." She lifted her other talon above Tsunami's head.

  "TSUNAMI!" Clay sent himself forward, nearly throwing Ashley off, but Sunny reached Burn first.

  She clenched her arm and held it barely above her friend's head. She fought Burn with all her might, beating her wings strongly against the Sandwing's pull. Burn's claws were itching toward Tsunami's face, only a few inches away from her eyes.

  Before Clay and Glory could reach Burn, she smacked Sunny with her head and launched her back, then swirled and threw her tail at Tsunami. Clay spread his front claws, preparing to dig his talons into Burn's scales. Ashley braced for impact with his weapon tightly clenched in his hand, and Glory exposed her two fangs while Tsunami clawed Burn's abdomen with her back talons while twisting to escape her.

  Clay collided with her first. Ashley was thrown above his head and flew straight into Burn's face. The Sandwing shook her head violently, but he wrapped an arm around one of her horns and held it. With his other arm, he dug his knife between Burn's neck scale and held to it like a climbing hold.

  He felt her tail pass right beside his head and strike something, making his whole body shiver. A second later, he noticed Tsunami's blue form flying away, dazed.

  A second later, he heard a hiss coming from Burn's back. Glancing toward it, he saw her scales sizzle with steam as black venom was digging into her flesh through the cracks in her armour.

  Burn opened her mouth, pouring smoke out as she readied to release her fire breath. Her head was suddenly sent to the side as Clay collided with all his weight and her flames missed Glory's scales by only the distance of an arm. Ashley's hand slipped from Burn's horn and he felt his mass pull him down as all that was holding him in the air was his knife slowly ripping out of her scales.

  A shadow loomed over them and covered Ashley's sight. Burn threw her tail back but the chasing Seawing intercepted it in his claws. A cracking noise quickly occurred when the dragon snapped it at a ninety-degree angle. Ashley pressed the muzzle of his firearm against Burn's throat and pressed the trigger, the deflagration released ripples of vibrations upon her flesh.

  The green dragon towered over Burn as she roared with pain. His face was dark, and his eyes were glowing with an intense glare aimed at the Sandwing heir.

  "This is the last time you will dare land your claws on my daughter."

  The next moment, one of his talons was ripping Burn's back armour and digging into her flesh, right where Glory's venom had struck.

  "Ashley!"

  Below him, Clay called his name, inviting him to let go. Ashley pulled his knife out of Burn's neck and dropped toward the ground. His back connected with Clay's and the dragon gave a few wingbeats to fly away.

  "You have no wings but seem so at ease in an air fight, how do you do that?" The Mudwing asked out of breath.

  "I have no idea," Ashley replied.

  Clay quickly flew toward his four other friends, three of which were surrounding Tsunami.

  "Is everyone ok?" he asked.

  "No," Starflight responded, looking anxious.

  "Tsunami got hit!" Sunny cried.

  Ashley's eyes slowly widened as his eyes drifted toward Tsunami. There, at the basis of her tail, some of her scales were ripped off, and her flesh was swelling and blackening. A drop of sweat fell from Ashley's face, Tsunami was puffing heavily and showing difficulty flying, her arms and shoulder were bruised where Burn had seized her with her talons. But her tail wound was the most alarming, it was already turning gross.

  Glory winced at the sight, her face turned green with disgust.

  "How does it- look?" Tsunami asked between two breaths.

  "Tsunami..." Ashley began. "Did you get hit by Burn's tail barb?"

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