With a loud bang I land. I hear Arnestalia call out. 'Ernastel, is that you?'

'Yes, mom. I brought Arden with me, like you asked.'

Arnestalia crawls out of one of the caves. Her daughter is right behind her. 'Mom, don't walk! You don't have the strength!'

Arnestalia ignores her daughter. Her entire body is covered with wounds and bruises. I'm shocked. 'Who did this? Who did this to the dragon I owe my life?'

'Humans did this. I was patrolling the perimeter of our valley when a group of humans turned up. Like I was ordered I landed and requested their business. They attacked me.'

'Are you badly hurt?'

'Didn't Ernastel tell you? I'm dying. I'm bleeding to dead.'

'Let me get some bandages and I have you fixed up in no time!'

'Don't try. It is not the wounds on my flesh that will kill me. It is the wounds inside me. And they can't be fixed.'

'Internal bleedings. If I was a doctor and if I had the right equipment I could have fixed it.'

'And if I was a mind reader I would have been able to help you before you tried to kill me. What happened has happened. You can't change the past. I'm here for something else. My children. Ever since the day you came here you have been protecting them. Just like me. Now my time has come to join my ancestors. I want you to take care of my little ones. To protect them on their journey.'

'Journey? Where are they going?'

'They are going to gather the other races to fight back. We are going to strike back at the humans. The elders already agreed.'

'But I'm not allowed to leave the valley.'

'You are now. Hereby I give you permission to leave the valley at will. If you keep an eye on my kids.'

'I will. If you die they are the closest thing I have to an family.'

'Thank you, Arden. Thank you...'

Then she breathes out for the last time. That is when my fire starts to burn. 'Whoever ordered this attack will not go unpunished. Humanity just lost a supporter.'

Ernastel runs to me and keeps me on my legs. 'Easy, old man. Don't go past your body's limits.'

'I don't care about myself any more. Arnestalia gave me everything I lost. And now humans had to take that away. I won't let them go unpunished. That I promise.'

'So you will fight?'

'I will fight.'

'Then I gladly accept your help. Welcome in my company.'

'Thank you. I only have one question. What was your sister's name again?'

His sister responds. 'It's Restiala. Please remember it now.'

I don't mention I never heard her name in the first place. I can see on Ernastel' s face he knows. 'Don't worry about it. I'll talk with her. You go to your cave and pack up. I go and speak with the counsel about Arnestalia' s last words.'

'Let's hope I remember correctly how to fly...'

I go and sit on my own back. It is strange, but at least it works. Then I fly down. In my cave I gather all the useful possessions. Only then I see how little I have. My blade, some gold and the clothes on my body. Barely enough to fill a backpack. Still I pack it into a backpack, hoping to fill it on the road. Then I join the kids in the cave above me. 'What are your plans. Do we wait for Arnestalia' s funeral or are we leaving today?'

'We are leaving now. Even though her funeral is important to us, we need every bit of time we've got. And that means leaving as soon as possible.'

'It is probably for the best, since I have to learn how to fly on the go. So that will be time-consuming to. I have my stuff packed, so I'm ready when you are.'

Ernastel holds out something. 'I believe this is yours.'

I take the object in his hands. It is the map I used to get here. It depicts the entire island. Some extra maps depict the known areas from the distinct races. The human city, some of the mountains from the dragons, the outer forest reaches of the elves, the deserts of the sphynxes and a part of the mermaid coral reefs. The only map that is complete is the one of the human city. Restiala curiously looks at the map. 'What is it?'

'It is a map. A schematic drawing of the entire island. With this we should be able to find everything we need. According to this map the Sphynxes are the closest, but they are hard to find since they have most of the desert designated as living area. The other race that is relatively close is the elves, but my map says nothing about their living area. So it is your choice.'

'I say desert. They are close, and we can search large parts of desert at once.'

Ernastel is a bit more doubtful. 'The desert is hot, dangerous and sphynxes are just the least dangerous creatures in there. It might not be the smartest move.'

'Then what is? Going to the elves even though they could easily shoot us down, which they will without someone to guide us in? Going to the mermaids when they could quench our fires? We need the sphynxes to help us first. They could keep the humans of our backs while we get the rest of the races on our side. We need another race as soon as possible.'

'Fine. We go to the desert. But don't say I didn't warn you.'

'Sound ok. Let's get going.'

Now I interrupt them. 'Remember I can't fly. And Ernastel has to speak with the counsel.'

'I will give you some flight lessons, while Ernastel speaks with the counsel.'

'Sounds good.'

And so it goes. Ernastel is gone speaking with the counsel, explaining the situation and telling them about my permission to go out of the valley. Meanwhile I have flying lessons with Restiala. Restiala is a patient teacher. Even when I land hard multiple times she doesn't get angry with me. 'Try to slow down before you land. It reduces the chance at injury.'

'I try. It is not exactly easy to fly if you have never flown before. Especially if you have to fly two bodies at once.'

'I understand. Don't worry. Just keep on trying. We have to wait for Ernastel anyway.'

After some time he returns. 'It took them a long time to accept your freedom, but they will let you go. On the other hand, they do not believe we can win this. They will only declare war against the humans if we manage to get a considerable amount of support. So only if we return successful they will declare war.'

I respond to that. 'Then we must not fail. And mostly: we must believe it. If we believe we can succeed, we will. And I believe we have a chance.'

With that we leave Arnestalia' s cave. I feel horrible to leave her behind without a proper burial, but we have to. We cannot afford to lose any time, because I know the humans want me. I know things about the dragons that can hurt them, and the humans want to strike against the dragons. And I don't want to be used against the people who helped me wherever they could. And if I stay they can use me against them. So I don't really have a choice. So I mount myself, which still feels strange, put Francine behind me and take off. With my dragon body I signal where we need to go. Multiple times I start to think my map is wrong when I see mountains that should not be there. Eventually I feel the air get hotter. I gesture to the others that we must land. They do as I say. 'We are close to the desert. The air is hot. If we were to fly over the mountains we would be hit by heavy updrafts. They would knock us of our wings, which would kill us. We have to fly around the mountains, and then fly high. The lower we fly the hotter and dryer it gets. The drought could kill us. Also, most of the creatures of the desert live under the sands and only come above the sands at night or when prey, in this case us, gets close to them.'

'Understood, boss. Lead on.'