Yedril grimaced as he and Solanna stepped out of the forest and into the clearing. His right arm was in a makeshift sling made from vines that his sister had gathered. He cursed his bad luck…

They were taking it slow, they had to. Zarrina was exhausted and barely awake. She had burned through a considerable amount of her mana. That was something that sent a pang of guilt through Yedril.

On the contrary, Falzan was mostly fine if a little shaken up from the whole ordeal. He stuck nervously close to Solanna, offering encouraging yips to the other dragon.

How are you doing? Yedril asked, attempting to hide the concern in his voice. In reality, he knew very well that her condition was potentially dangerous. If not now, then in the future, he worriedly thought.

He and Zarrina had decided to help early on during the fight, to rescue those caught unaware. It was an obvious mistake in hindsight, his condition meant that Zarrina bore the brunt of the magical onslaught by using her own mana.

Another pang of guilt.

With a slow, strained attempt at peering up to him, she gave him a toothy grin. Tired…but I fine.

He returned her smile with a pained one of his own. Okay… We're almost–

Yedril came to a dead stop. In front of them was pure destruction. "Gods, it's worse than I remember it."

His sister nodded, taking in the sea of flattened and destroyed tents herself. Debris was scattered everywhere and nothing had been left untouched.

"Look." She pointed to an area where people were gathering. It was near the Hatchery.

Turning his gaze towards the crowd, Yedril frowned. They could hear the sounds of distraught voices coming from the gathering. "Looks like not everyone was lucky."

"We don't know that yet. Now come on, we need to get your arm looked at and Zarrina checked out." She led the charge forward, leaving the others to do their best to catch up…

They crossed the clearing and made it to the edge of the crowd when another commotion caught their attention. In a brilliant flash, they found themselves being surrounded by more elves.

The new arrivals had…arrived.

Stunned by the bright flash and confusion, Yedril shook his head. It took him several moments to register what happened. His sister, on the other hand, simply scoffed.

"Well, I guess they already know… At least we have some help to clean up this mess," she joked darkly as this new group of elves immediately went to task.

But there was something she was forgetting, something he remembered…

"Yeah… I guess… But, um… Isn't our–"

"Solanna? Yedril?"

The two siblings froze. Uh-oh, that was what I was afraid of. Slowly, he turned to face the familiar voice and gulped. "H-hi mom…"

He only had a moment to breathe before he was immediately engulfed into a hug.

"Yedril! Oh, Yedril! You're okay!"

"Y-yeah… I-I'm fine!" He did everything he could to not scream out in agony from his broken arm.

Another voice entered the conversation, this one of his father. "We were so worried about you," he said, joining in on the crushing embrace.

This time Yedril was going to scream. Thankfully, his parents broke away at the last moment, only to target Solanna.

"And my daughter… Don't think we forgot about you!" their father shouted.

Gasping, Yedril nearly collapsed to the ground. It was only due to the amusing scene playing out that he didn't. I…cannot…miss…this!

Before him, his poor sister was experiencing an even more crushing hug. The look on her face as she struggled to breath was priceless. Definitely…going…to tease…her…later!

As he calmed down, his parents separated from Solanna and he finally got a good look at them.

The two siblings took most of their looks from their mother. She had the same ghostly-blond hair and amber eyes they shared. Though, she was a good head shorter than either. Their father, however, had similar eyes only a bit lighter. He stood a foot higher than them with ashen-gray hair hanging above broad shoulders.

His mother suddenly let out a gasp and rushed to his side. "Yedril! Your arm!"

He attempted to pull away from her as she tried to inspect it. "I-it's fine… Just broken–"

"Broken?! Yedril, that's not fine! We have to–"

"Go see a Healer! I know!" he snapped back, sounding far harsher than he meant to. This is what I was worried about…

She looked stunned, but it was their father who stepped up and spoke next. "Honey? Remember what we talked about?"

There was silence for a moment until she relaxed. "Yes, dear– And you're right." She looked ashamed as she brought her attention squarely upon Yedril. "Sorry. I did not mean to be so pushy."

Seeing her expression and hearing her apology, it broke his heart. He instantly tried to apologize himself. "N-no… I'm sorry mom. It's just… It's just that it's been a trying day."

Her face softened and she looked him up and down. "I must say though, you have really come into yourself. You've put on some muscle and look…healthy."

Yedril had to stop from rolling his eyes. "Thanks. But–"

"And you Solanna! My beautiful daughter! You too have changed!" their mother shouted, turning back to Solanna. "You've somehow managed to fill out even more! You are making me jealous!"

"M-mother!" Solanna gasped out in shock. Her face became beet red.

"Tell me!" Their mother leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered. "Have you found yourself a young man?"

Yedril couldn't help himself, he burst out laughing as his sister looked ready to faint. Leave it to our mom to get under Solanna's skin! He gave them all a grin as all eyes fell upon him. "Hey sis, why don't you tell them about Julous?"

"Oh? Who is this…Julous?" his dad asked, his brows narrowing.

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Solanna shot him a death glare. I'm going to murder you, she mouthed before speaking up. "A fellow hunter… I would be happy to tell you more– After we get Yedril's arm looked at."

She quickly gestured for them to move into the group of wounded elves…

***

Yedril found himself sitting with his back against the Hatchery wall. Ashtia and the Sages were busy and they were made to wait. That was fine, though, there were others in far more serious conditions. And, as he waited, he found himself slowly stroking Zarrina as she rested her head in his lap.

Above him stood his sister and parents. They were conversing over Solanna's new boyfriend. All the while that was happening, Falzan stood guard. The poor dragon clearly thought it was his duty to protect Zarrina…

Harder… Get between scales, Zarrina purred.

Her reaction caused him to chuckle and he redoubled his efforts as best he could with only one good arm. That better? he asked

Yes… she began to snore.

Sleep well, he whispered before looking up. His mother and sister had vanished, leaving only his father there and staring back down at him.

"Mind if I sit?" he asked, gesturing to an open spot on the other side of Yedril.

He gave a half-shrug, not really sure what to say. He knew his father would have some words for him and he was partially dreading what they might be.

"Son," his father started after sitting down. "I want to apologize. I know that we were over-protective and perhaps over-bearing. I'm sorry for that– Both your mother and I. I'm sure Chief Oslen told you that we were coming, but we aren't here to drag you back. Nor are we here to continue being protective.

"I won't lie. When you ran–left with your sister, we were devastated. We were fearful we would never hear from either of you again. I went out for days searching, hoping to catch you… But you were long gone."

He paused, letting out a sigh. "We didn't know what to do, and the tribe wasn't going to be close enough for a while. We all but lost hope…"

Yedril winced at the thought of his parents mourning his and Solanna's death– At what could have been.

"…And then we received your letter. We were beside ourselves with joy. You two made it to Bernel, and you found someone who could treat your illness! And then you hatched a dragon!"

Yedril felt his cheeks begin to flush. "I-it wasn't easy… I–" he cut himself off, not daring to mention he nearly died trying to hatch the egg. "Zarrina has been the best thing to happen to me since…ever. I owe Felix a lot for even having the chance to hatch her. And that doesn't take into account he was the one who was able to help me with my illness."

His father nodded. "I hope I can meet him. He sounds like a good man… Anyway, we can talk about that later. I'm curious though, what's it like?"

"Hmm? You mean Zarrina?"

"Yes. You only touched on it in your letter, but you mentioned something about bonding? What did you mean by that?"

He paused stroking his partner for a moment and considered his father's question. Meanwhile, she let out an unconscious whimper…

"When I wrote that letter, I hadn't actually hatched her egg. So that's why I was light on the details. I now fully understand." He returned to petting his partner. "Being bonded means we share everything. Our memories, emotions, thoughts… It's a strange concept, I know, but it isn't as bad as it sounds. The bond is built on trust. A deep trust."

His father leaned back and pondered his words. "And I take it if you break that trust, you break that bond?"

"Pretty much– At least, you will weaken it as I understand it. I have done everything in my power to not test that, however."

"Honestly, son? You are far stronger and braver than I. I don't think I could have attempted something like that."

"Really?" That surprised him, especially knowing how much his father sacrificed for him.

"Really. You risked death just to get to Bernel. You made it clear that you only wanted to experience the world before you died. Yet, here you are. Everything you've done to this point is impressive."

His father looked down at him. "Yedril, I have no words to describe how proud I am of you."

Feeling bashful, Yedril shrank into himself. "T-thanks…dad."

His father laughed. "Tell me, what else has happened? Have you found yourself a girl?"

"N-no! But… Oh! I've been taking cooking lessons from Chef," he answered, hoping to steer the topic in another direction.

"Chef?"

"Y-yeah! He's a kobold–"

"You're taking cooking lessons from…a kobold?"

Yedril suddenly realized he had a lot of explaining to do…

Felix took an unsteady breath as they arrived back at the manor. Him and Eri were holding hands tightly, walking in between their respective partners. Eri's guards were spread out and on alert, taking their job quite seriously.

The trek back was made in silence. None spoke and instead let their emotions do it for them. Felix let his grief through as Eri comforted him with her own relief. Meanwhile, Kyrith's subdued optimism clung to the edges. Finally, there was Zira.

Out of the four of them, it was her that was having the worst of it. She had started out fine, especially when she had Felix riding on her back. But now something was going on deep inside, something that brought forth a terrible feeling. The closer they got to the clearing, the more her heart began to race.

She blinked and the scene in front of her was gone, replaced by the moment she looked out and saw Felix fall. She saw the dagger bury into his chest. She felt his agony…his torment. And all she could do was watch. To watch as her bonded partner died…

Her breathing became erratic and she dug her talons into the ground, coming to a stop. The memory kept playing, the moment stuck on a loop. She tried to fight, tried to end it. She could not.

A whimper escaped her throat as her entire body trembled. Zira was powerless and scared, frightened and stunned.

She had to save him… Protect him. Without Felix she would be lost. Without Felix she'd lose half of herself. They were partners, they shared everything! She had only known a world with him. What would that world look like without?

No… No. NO! She would not live in such a world. She couldn't. She had to do something. She had to save him.

She had to rescue him.

A roar, defiant and thundering, shook the very air…

Everyone came to a stop and Felix peered into her mind. What he found disturbed him. Zira?! What–

Before he could finish his sentence, he was scooped up and tossed unceremoniously onto her back. Startled and confused, he had only a moment to brace himself as she took off at a dead run.

Felix! Zira! What's going on?! Eri shouted through the bond. She was already scrambling up onto Kyrith.

He grunted, struggling to get into his normal perch. I don't know! She isn't… He trailed off as an old, faint memory came back to him. He peered into Zira's mind again, braving the storm of madness inside.

I've seen this before! he thought to himself before focusing on Eri. Don't follow! She's– A jolt nearly caused him to come free. She's having a soldier's terror– She thinks she's saving me! If you get close she might attack!

But–

No! Let me handle this. I've dealt with this before! I can pull her out of it… Trust me, please.

There was a long period of silence as he awaited Eri's reply. All the while, Zira never once slowed down. With reckless abandon, she tore through the forest.

Okay… But we're still following. Kyrith and I will keep our distance. We're family after all and both him and I care about her too.

Felix gave her a mental nod. That's fine, just stay out of sight! If she sees you…it could get ugly.

As their conversation came to a close, he managed to get squarely in his seat. And as he settled into it, he took a deep breath and tried to control his own nerves. Now comes the fun part…

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