Anger boiled hot in my veins as I paced the bloody field in front of my cave. Liy, my mother of all people, had just put me on the fast track to conflict and I was worried I’d have to kill her to save James. A subtle resentment hung in my thoughts towards the humans that had made themselves at home and gave my mother a hostage, but that was no more than the hatred for my mother boiling over onto every annoyance. Of course, I didn’t mind the humans, it was actually great that they were keeping me company, but I knew that this would be something I had to do alone. 

Goliyoung grabbed my hand and stopped me dead in my tracks as I looked down at the grassy giant. Almost alone. 

“Goliyoung is…” she stopped for breath, “getting tired.” 

Alone.

I knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder, “I told you. No giant forms unless you need to. It’s too hard on your body.”
“But… Goliyoung can… help,” she insisted.
“I’m sure you could,” I replied, “If there was something to help with.” 

A few seconds of silence and my scolding stare convinced the stubborn girl to back down. The emotionless mask of shredded plant life fell to nothing more that a heap of sod as the fiery figure of a resting Goliyoung gently floated to the ground. I caught her and placed her away from the grass just to ensure that no fires started while she slept. I looked back to the sky. Where ever Liy was, I would find her and I would save James just like he was willing to do for me. 

Though I tried to keep my eyes off them, I couldn’t help but glance back to Oxle who was still unconscious and Kiri who was still attending to him. Guilt stuck deep in my heart as the selfish anger started to bubble down and evaporate into a fog of regret. I needed to find Liy soon. 

As if my wish was granted, a large, fiery explosion broke the horizon where the human’s castle used to stand and I could vaguely make out the shape of my horrid mother causing the destruction. I didn’t have time to wait for Goliyoung to rest up, I had to go now. 

“Kiri,” I said as I started towards the castle, “Watch Goliyoung. I’ll be right back.” 

I broke into a run as my lack of a wing prevented flight. I ran through the dips and hills of the meadow until I made it to the burning remnants of the castle and Liy standing and seemingly in awe of her destruction. James was gripped in her right hand and it looked like he was bleeding. 

“Let him go!” I demanded as I carefully stepped over the wall of the castle and approached my mother.
Liy smiled, “Or what? Is little Lull gonna stop me?” 

I grit my teeth and raised my claws to the menacing dragon that was at least twenty five feet taller than me. Liy just laughed.

“Ooh,” Liy cooed, “Feisty. I’ll deal with you later.” 

With that, she took off into the sky where I couldn’t follow her. I kneeled in the debris of the castle and stared down at the broken houses and crushed bodies in the rubble. It was too much for me to take in. Slowly, I started to sift through the rubble of the castle with my fingers, listening closely for any signs of life, but there was nothing to be found. Defeat boiled like rage in my body as I fell forward onto my hands and knees. I hid my face as I rested my head against my now folded forearms as tears dripped from my face and onto the ruins of the old castle. I should’ve been able to stop it; stop the death, the needless killing, stop… Stop her. 

It was suddenly becoming more and more clear that the only way to stop Liy and her horrifying assault was to kill her. I couldn’t be a pacifist any longer. I had to be a dragon, but to do that, I had to swallow this hopelessness caught in my throat and stop being afraid of the beast inside me. I shut my eyes and let my mind wander back to the second raid party. I felt the power course through my body and explode through my veins like firecrackers as the mere idea of knowing the amount of power I had over the people trying to kill me made my heart beat faster as excitement worked its way into my head. 

My fists closed around handfuls of rubble that I squeezed into stone dust with the force of my up and coming arousal. My mind drifted back to Oxle and how the warmth of his body felt and his struggles felt inside me. My breathing got faster as my hands slowly drifted below my beltline and I rolled onto my back in the still burning ruins. With careful precision, my fingers danced around my sex, slowly circling as I teased myself and arched my back up with a hushed moan, but as I did, I felt the bony stump of my amputated wing and the powerful feeling that had been turning me on so much faded. 

I sat up and sighed a heavy sigh of defeat. I’d never be able to fly ever again. It was depressing. With knees hugged to my chest, I slowly let myself work through all the emotion I had been put through, but it didn’t last long before I was interrupted by a gentle presence sitting next to me.