The first car flew above them in a wide arch, its blood red tint the only reason why it caught Fiona's attention as she was about to close her eyes in anticipation of Peregrine's kiss, which, she suddenly realised, she had craved from the first moment she had seen him.

He wrapped his arms tighter around her and drew her closer yet as if he wanted to make her disappear within his body, his wide brimmed hat and the long flowy cloak invisible to any Londoner but her concealing them in shadows.

People's screams echoed off the glass walls of the supermarket and the brick houses surrounding the parking lot as they ran for cover in wild confusion even as another car flew in Fiona and Peregrine's direction, green one this time, then landed on top of other cars, squashed like a can of Coke, its windows exploding into shrapnels dangerously close to them.

"I need you to listen to me now, Bella," Peregrine spoke, addressing her by the name he apparently decided to use for her. "He's a Highlander, and he's here to duel me."

He turned his head away, his breath leaving her curls into which he had spoken before to look over his shoulder. 

Feeling perfectly unafraid of anything in his presence, she lifted her face from where it had been hidden in his chest, immediately missing the sound of his heartbeat, his scent, his warmth. She stood on her tiptoes and tried to look over his shoulder without success as she was too short, then, not giving up, she peeked around his arm. A tall man clad head to toe in dark blue stood at the other end of the parking lot, staring challengingly at Peregrine. 

The dragon shifter looked back at her, cupped her face in his large hands to make her meet his eyes, the loud, frightened commotion reigning around them disappearing in an instant when she did, at least for her. She didn't hear anything else but his voice when he spoke to her, his mesmerising silvery orbs pouring into her soul.

"You don't have to be afraid, I've got this. Everything will be fine." At least he thought so. "But I'll have to fight him." Kill him. Otherwise, the other dragon would go after her once he finished with him. He couldn't lose this fight, dying today wasn't an option. "I want you to run, go home and wait for me there," he instructed, his voice becoming more insistent, the words coming faster with another flying car.

He was afraid for her, she could feel it, but so she was for him. She wasn't going to leave him here alone.

"No way," she said, raising her voice so he could hear her clearly through the noise. The... Highlander was approaching. Botheration, this wasn't the best moment to be getting flashbacks from an old movie... "I'm not leaving without you."

Peregrine sighed in exasperation, but the corners of his lips tugged up into a suggestion of a smile. She just said what had been on his mind ever since he had laid his eyes on her. I'm not leaving without you...

He bestowed a quick kiss on her forehead before he pointed to the large tree growing behind the bench. "Then hide, please, stay here no matter what happens until I come for you. And don't look!" She would be safe there as long she didn't get in the way; the Highlander was here for him, not her.

She nodded, allowing him to escort her to the wide tree, which would have to provide her with enough protection while he would deal with his opponent. Of course she would look, he mused as he kissed her again, on her cheek this time, then wrapped her in a bone shattering embrace before leaving her there, alone. She would look and see him kill the other dragon shifter, and he couldn't predict how that would change her opinion about him, her feelings...

But the die was cast. He couldn't change his destiny. He couldn't think about this now, he needed to focus on fighting. Or it would be him who would perish today.

Swift as the wind that had begun to blow while they had sat on the bench, Peregrine made his way to the opposite end of the parking lot now silent and devoid of people, as far from her as as possible, throwing cars standing in his path away to clear the place for the impending fight. 

Fiona watched him from behind the tree, moving away from her with impossible speed, his cloak billowing around him like a pair of wings, awed by the display of power hiding within his body. She turned to the other end of the parking lot, daring a peek at the other man, dressed in dark colours, like Peregrine was, like Lagon used to be. He seemed a little shorter than Peregrine, but broader, stockier... Judging by the looks, this duel wouldn't be easy for Peregrine to win. 

She frowned and bit her lip when she considered her thoughts. How could she accept this situation so easily? How could she believe that this was really happening, that it wasn't just a dream? She looked towards Peregrine, her breath hitching when she saw him standing steady and unafraid, the enormous, unsheathed sword in his hand reflecting the shimmer of lightning issuing from the fast approaching storm clouds gathering above them, followed by a muffled rumble of thunder and first raindrops. He looked... so wonderfully otherworldly, a warrior prince out of the pages of a fantasy book. 

Tearing her eyes off him with difficulty, Fiona glanced to his opponent then shifted around the tree, shocked with surprise, pressing her back to the wide trunk before her legs would give way. The man was gone. An ink blue dragon stood in his place, a magnificent beast as large as the five cars he had just flattened with its silver-clawed paws, its enormous, bat-like wings hovering above him, flapping like sails in the increasing wind. Despite her fearless nature, Fiona was beginning to feel uneasy.

Turning around again and shifting her eyes towards Peregrine didn't make her feel better. A charcoal grey dragon, its shiny, silver coated scales the colour of Gollum's fur glistening in another trembling bolt of lightning that emerged from the menacing clouds only a shade brighter than the beautiful beast, stood where the man had been. She knew she was dreaming when she found herself admiring the magnolious dragon instead of feeling scared. It was gorgeous, its wings thrumming with life and power seemed to be spun of dove grey velvet, and she yearned to touch its shimmering scales... Were they hard or soft, cold or warm like the man who had entered her mind, and heart, like a bolt of lightning...?

She didn't have enough time to pursue her reverie further, though. The inky dragon pounced an landed on top of the grey one even as the drizzle morphed into a downpour, making the two bodies become indiscernible, a blur of darkness rolling around the parking lot in the wind, lightning and rain, making incredible, unbearable noise as they growled, breathed fire and destroyed yet more cars. She pressed her hands to her ears to muffle the awful sound but didn't look away, she couldn't, she had to look to know that Peregrine was all right, that he would win, that he would come back to her.

It didn't take longer than another flash of lightning appearing in the pewter coloured sky before the dragons shifted back, their dark cloaks swirling around them with wind and motion, their swords hitting each other with a metallic clamour penetrating Fiona's ears through her hands. She would never forget the sound, just like she would never forget the scream when one of the dragon shifters hit the ground, injured. The other lifted his sword again and let it fall one more time upon the prostrate body, the motion followed by a sickening sound of severed flesh and bone. Then, the very next moment, what looked like yet another lightning hit him-- it was impossible to say who he was because the men's drenched clothes had assumed the same dark colour and Fiona was too far to spot any distinguishing detail in the stormy gloom-- square in the chest. The man, struck by lightning, fell to the ground on his knees, shaking, while the other man's black haired head rolled, leaving a rivulet of thick, dark red blood on the flooded asphalt, towards the far end of the parking lot.

As if by magic, the lifeless, beheaded body crumbled into ash in seconds, before Fiona was entirely convinced that it wasn't Peregrine, and a gust of wind picked it up and scattered it among the raindrops, the ashes seemingly impervious to the falling water. 

Her legs finally gave way, and she dropped on the ground, hid her head between her knees, muttering under her breath, "Let him be all right, let him be all right..."

And then he was next to her on his knees, a few bleeding slashes crisscrossing his face and clothes. He threw his sword on the ground as he cupped her face and looked into her eyes. "I'm all right," he promised, responding to the words he had overheard.

"You killed him," she announced, not judging, not questioning, simply stating the facts, her eyes pouring into his, demanding truth.

"I did. I had to," he replied just as matter-of-factly. "I'll take you home now, just let me do one thing before we leave."

He stood up and helped her up too when he noticed that she was scrambling to her feet, then put one arm over her as she wrapped her arms around his waist for support. 

Closing his eyes, he focused, drawing on his magic. He needed to reset this moment in time. Everything would be as before, none of the people who witnessed the Highlanders' duel would remember anything. Expect Fiona. He wouldn't wipe her memory, he had decided during the fight. He wanted her to remember; he wasn't going to build their friendship upon a lie.

Peregrine knew that he was risking; she might never be able to look at him again as anything else but a ruthless killer who dragged her to her father. Because that's what he absolutely needed to do now, without a delay, before his display of magic, and rumours about another Highlad Dragon's death would draw other Highlanders their way. 

However, he would risk it. Anything was more acceptable than lying to her.