Bloodshed is Our way of life. There is no escaping it. We fight and die. There is no greater honor.

This is Our Law.

~ From The Dragonling Grimoire

"Do you have your sword?" Alek asked, helping me lace up my armor. Hardly a week had passed and already the Ryns - including me and Dmitri - were getting ready to ship off to the northern border. Alek was staying behind, but, as he told me several times, he didn't like it. He apparently decided to try and deter me from going by acting like a mother hen.

I rolled my eyes and took one of Alek's hands in both of mine. "Babe. I'm fine." He gave me a long, worried look before sighing in defeat and kissing my forehead.

"Fine. Stay safe." Alek pulled his hand away from me and helped me to my feet. "Remember, aim for under their armpit."

"Alek," I groaned, giving him a small glare, "I know how to do this. I've only been fighting for all my life." He just gave me a cheeky smile and worked on buckling my bracers on.

"I know, I can't help myself. I was your teacher not too long ago." Alek ran a teasing hand down my back. "Though I could still teach you some things." He practically purred the words in my ear.

I snorted at Alek's comment and tried to stretch out, hating how the armor restricted my movement. It wasn't even necessary, but, according to Dmitri, "it looked good." Personally, I found it a waste of time and metal. Alek, however, found a completely new use for it.

Reaching around my waist, my new mate curled his arms around me and pulled me close to his side as he laughed. With the extra weight, I had a hard time getting back on my feet. "You jackass!" Still, I couldn't help laughing while I said it. When Alek played around, he was actually gentle and sweet, a far cry from the roughhousing Dmitri and I did.

Even while the idea of war lingered in my mind, I couldn't help but spend a large portion of time comparing Alek and Dmitri. Alek was clever and showed his affection in soft kisses and cuddling while Dmitri preferred to show his love behind closed doors and act more like a friend than a lover in public.

Yet, I mused as I laughingly escaped Alek's grasp and fled across the room, both of my mates had a sharp tongue and unforgiving temper. They had gotten into more arguments than I cared to count over the past week. I didn't mind so much anymore - a few talks with Jordan and his sister, Catherine, assured me it was normal for my mates to fight - but I did try to keep the peace as much as I could.

Unless I wanted to torture them. If I did, I would make them both sleep in my room at the same time. It drove them insane, particularly because neither of them wanted to have sex while the other was in the room.

I found it hilarious.

Alek grabbed me from behind and held me still, snapping me from my thoughts. "Hey." He said, breathless with laughter. "Sit still. I'm not done with your armor."

I grinned back at him and took Alek's hand, kissing it softly. "Maybe I should hop out of this armor and we can have some fun." It would have worked with Dmitri, but Alek just raised an eyebrow and stared wordlessly at me.

With a sigh, I rolled my eyes as dramatically as I could and plopped down on a sofa. "You're mean. That would have worked with Dmitri." At Alek's amused glance, I gave in and closed my eyes. "Fine. Just hurry up. I think we have to leave at noon." Alek rolled his eyes back at me and went to work, tightening the endless amount of buckles and notches in the armor.

It took a total of maybe ten more minutes - broken into small intervals by me giggling uncontrollably whenever Alek brushed against a sensitive part of my body - for us to finish. By then, it was almost eleven and we were rushing out of the door to get down to the barracks where the Ryns were meeting. Dmitri was already there, discussing battle plans.

There was quite the crowd - close to fifty Ryns in total - milling about. It was quite daunting, really. Liras aren't allowed to force Ryns to fight for them - it was against our Law. We had to either be paid or - like me - agree to freedom on exchange for service. Usually only local dragonlings joined the fight too, so I was surprised to see several familiar faces. I supposed it was different when the Queen ordered the fight.

May was the first one that I recognized. She was talking with a tall, dark skinned Ryn with the most vibrant yellow eyes I had ever seen. Even as I debated on talking to her, May just happened to glance my way. Her eyes lit up with surprise and delight. "Anita!" She called, taking the man by the wrist and pulling him over to me and Alek.

"Hey." I smiled awkwardly, shifting closer to Alek. I didn't mind attention, but May was someone I respected. She was there for me when I was taking care of my eggs and nursed me to health after their murder.

May, however, seemed to have no such reservations. She threw her arms around me in a hug. "I'm glad to see you're okay!" She said in her bright, motherly voice. As she pulled away, she turned to the broad-shouldered man with dark skin. "Harley, this is Anita Rhyan, the Wyk I told you about. Dmitri's mate. Anita, this is Harley Rea. He's my mate."

I shifted uncomfortably at being introduced as Dmitri's mate, especially when Alek was right beside me. "Hello." Trying to remain friendly, I smiled at Harley. He gave me a sharp nod but then glanced at Alek.

"Lazarus." Harley said. Shocked, I glanced back at Alek. He also seemed surprised, but it was a pleasant sort of surprise.

"Harvey." Alek smiled and put a hand on the Fyn's shoulder. "I thought you had left for the Kestreldive colony."

As the two Fyns began idle chatter - I found myself tuning them out anyways - May pulled me aside. She hugged me again before holding me at arms length, a huge smile etched on her face. "Anita! It's good to see you!"

I smiled weakly and nodded once, unsure what to do. "It's good to see you too, May..." I trailed off, at a loss, but May steamrolled through the silence, berating me with question after question that I stumbled over my words to answer. On in particular caught me off guard.

"That Ralov boy hasn't done anything bad to you, has he?" It took me a full five seconds to realize May was talking about Dmitri. Boy? He had always seemed so much older than me... yet May must had been much older. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, it made sense. The Wyk was wise and fearless, someone dragonlings looked up to.

May prodded me gently in the shoulder to pull me out of the mindscape I hadn't even realized I was drifting off into. Ugh. All this school was rubbing off on me. I couldn't wait to get into the field again-

"Anita." May tapped my forehead. "Anyone home? You look lost."

Smiling sheepishly, I grabbed her hand. "Sorry. I'm just... thinking. No, Dmitri has been nothing but..." I paused before I could say "sweet." Dmitri was far from sweet and cuddly. "Nothing but protective." I decided. That was true.

May nodded, but flashed me a smile. "Save that deep thinking for Liras. Ryns are meant to be cunning and quick-thinking. It's what keeps us alive in battle." There was a darker edge to her words. I got the warning and winced, but didn't reply. How could I have let myself show weakness so easily? And to May too! Ugh, I was such an idiot.

Dmitri saved me from any further embarrassment by appearing from the crowd. He cut through the other Ryns like a fish moving through water, totally at ease among the multitude of dragonlings. I supposed he had been through many campaigns like this. It hit me then just how little experience I had with such things. No one else seemed overwhelmed.

"May." Dmitri said as he put an arm around my waist and pulled me to his side. I had the distinct feeling he could sense how uneasy I was, and I was thankful for his warm, reassuring touch.

May didn't seem quite as happy to see Dmitri as I was. She gave him a weary stare as she crossed her arms and stood taller. "Dmitri Ralov." She said. "Did you get your assignments or not?"

Alek and his friend must have noticed the change in atmosphere because they slid back over to us. Dmitri gave May a sour stare. "Yes, but you already know, don't you?"

I glanced between the two as Alek slipped his hand into mine. "Knew what?"

May's eyes flashed to me and she smiled. "Our squadron groupings. You and Dmitri are with me."

I stood straighter as Dmitri gave my group our briefing. True to her word, Dmitri and I were placed in May's squadron. Or more specifically, Dmitri's squadron. He was assigned as our commander.

There were ten dragonlings in our group in all - May, Harley, Dmitri, me and six strangers. I hadn't quite learned their names yet, but, then again, Dmitri didn't give us time.

Barely fifteen minutes after we had all met, we were already gearing up for a fight. A squadron of Kestrelflight dragonlings were sighted a little ways away and General Sorik, Queen Dominique's appointed leader of this war, wanted Dmitri to go.

"Everyone ready?" Dmitri asked once he had finished. We nodded and saluted silently. It felt odd to me - Ryns learned the salute in school, but it was far different to give it to your squad commander than your teacher.

The others quickly paired up and Dmitri immediately stalked over to me. "I want you to stay with me at all times."

"Dmitri, I'm not an invalid." I snapped back, feeling irritation rise up inside me. "I can fight too."

"You've only killed once." My mate responded, taking my arm and leading me out of the building with the rest of our squadron. "And it wasn't even another Ryn."

"That doesn't mean anything." I shot back as I tugged away my arm.

"Yes it does."

Rolling my eyes, I lengthened my pace so I could put more distance between us. The path eventually led into the forest, and my squadron mates fell behind. They were probably watching our little lover's quarrel in amusement. Dmitri let me lead for a minute, but soon caught up again.

"I'm just saying, Ani. What would I do if something happened to you?"

"You'd move on. That's what we're supposed to do." I said stubbornly. It was true enough - that's what we were taught - but it's not like anyone actually followed that rule.

Dmitri just sighed and slipped his hand into mine. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I'm just worried. Please stay near me, just in case?" He smiled down at me.

I found myself unable to resist Dmitri's... charm. With a roll of my eyes, I leaned into his chest. "Fine. Just for this once-"

The crack of a tree caused me to stop mid-sentence and shift. The euphoria of the change was swiftly pushed away by the dizzying feeling of an adrenaline rush. Seven dragonlings dropped from the sky, noticing us too late to pull away.

Dmitri lunged out, clamping his jaws down on the face of the leading wyk. She screamed and thrashed, but he held her still as he scored his claws down her scales.

The other six took flight again, my squadron hot on their tails. I targeted an orange fyn, but as soon as I got closer I realized just how much bulkier he was than me. Unfortunately, he noticed too and zeroed in on me.

Seconds before the fyn could attack, I dove down and avoided his claws by a hair. I saw one of my comrades attack him and I turned to find a new target. A wyk the color of an old bruise was harassing May as she fought with a dragonling and I shot forward to her, sinking my teeth into her wing. She shrieked and beat at my head with her free wing, but I held tight. My claws scrambled at her sides and tried to slide under the scales, but she was moving around too much.

I flicked my tail out to impale the eye of a dragonling chasing Harvey, but it distracted me long enough for the wyk to struggle free. She let a rain of blows fall down upon my face and bashed my muzzle thoroughly.

With a roar, I lurched away and let out a burst of white-hot fire before shooting after the flames a second later. Just as I had hoped, the wyk was dazzled by the blaze and didn't see me coming. I slammed into her fullforce and scratched against the lay of her scales. The protective natural armor was ripped away and fell to the ground below us. The wyk attempted to flee by diving down, but I lashed my tail out and caught her in the neck. Hot, red blood splattered against the blade of my tail and I realized that I must have hit her jugular.

The dragonling gave a distraught and pained scream that was cut off by a gurgling cough. I moved away so she couldn't drag me to the ground with her and watched the wyk plummet to the ground. A blue-black fyn fighting with May broke away, his eyes shining with terror. "Christina!" He cried, swooping down after her.

I watched as May drifted after and killed the fyn with a single precise blow to the head. With a shudder, I turned away. That was why a Ryn couldn't get too attached to anyone. That's how you end up dead.

Throwing myself into battle again to erase the thought from my mind, I ended up right in the claws of the orange fyn. A patch of scales was missing from his muzzle and his eyes were alight with fury. I attempted to use my size against him with acrobatics, but he managed to bite into the membrane of my wings. I screamed in pain as the fragile skin was ripped open. It wasn't the first time it had ever happened to me, but it hurt just the same.

The fyn began scraping at my throat scales with his claws as I twisted my neck around to avoid them. I wasn't able to duck in time at one point and had a row of scales ripped right off. I frantically sped up my struggling. Fear caught me then, raw and dreadful, a curling snake in my stomach. I don't want to die. The revelation that I actually could hit me like boulder.

And then Dmitri was there, ripping off the fyn with an enraged bellow. I practically somersaulted away from them and hovered off to the side, favoring my damaged wing. With a throaty hiss, the fyn broke away and fled.

With a shaky sigh of relief, I inspected the area. The crumpled bodies of dragonlings - four of the Kestraldive dragonlings and one from my own squadron - were strewn across the scale-littered ground below. The scent of blood filled the air. I felt sick to my stomach.

Landing hard on the ground, I crouched down and took my time steadying myself. The others alighted nearby to check their injuries. A couple of my squadron went to retrieve our fallen comrade as Dmitri limped over to me. Blood dripped from his paw as he sat down and began to lick away the blood from my scales.

Sighing, I returned the favor. My stomach twisted painfully and I closed my eyes to block out the bloody sight of the battleground.

The images seemed burned into the back of my eyelids.