Tia's POV

"What's wrong Ana?" I ask calmly, gently taking the twins off my lap and placing them on the sofa, stroking their hair softly.

"Apparently a dragon or something ruined a village" Ana pants.

"Impossible! Dragons haven't been on this Earth for years" Deamon snorts, kissing Robin on the hair who looks anxiously over at me.

"Wait till you see what's happened" she sighs, beckoning us forward impatiently. "Hurry! There is a massive fire in the forest as well!"

"Deamon, can you stay at home with the twins?" I smile calmly so the twins didn't get scared. They merely looked confused, and slightly angry that their cake session had been brought so abruptly to a close.

"Alright. You guys better bring me back a souvenir" he groans, and I whack him over the head. He whines and grumbles, rubbing his head, and I give the twins a squeeze.

"Mummy and daddy will be back soon. You need to behave for Uncle Deamon, OK? And no more cake!" I smile, and they nod in unison, smiling like angels.

"Yes mummy" they chorus, and I kiss them both on the head before following everyone out of the door.

Taking off into the air, I race after the already air born Ridge as he flies quickly where Ana was leading him. Ryan and Robin followed behind me, and I took the time to breathe in the spring air. I smile as Ridge glances behind to me, raising an eyebrow and rolling his eyes-clearly he didn't believe the rumours.

But when we reach the village, we ground to a stop as we gaze at it in a morbid fascination.

The charred, smoking remains still let off thick spouts of smoke, billowing into the air and contaminating the spring breeze, drifting into us and making our eyes water as we fight our way through the grey cloud. Fire lapped at the buildings and crops, and in the far distance, a few burnt, dead trees lay on the ground pitifully as the flames raged on in the horizon.

But most shocking of all was the simply colossal footprint in the ground. It was the size of a house, and was as deep as an enderman's height. It was unmistakably the biggest footprint I had ever seen, and it made me shiver just staring at it. People gathered around it, measuring it out with tape measures-the architect and scientist wannabes. My gaze was directed back to the fire, and I quickly snapped into action, watching someone run away, screaming as their house collapsed from the fire.

"You guys spawn in some buckets and go collect water from the river to put it out. Robin, Ana and I will evacuate everyone" I list off quickly, diving towards the ground, and landing beside a group of terrified people, a small family.

"My Queen...please...stop the fire" the man, probably the father, croaks hoarsely, holding his family close in his arms.

"Go stand near the edge of the village and try and gather everyone up" I order, pointing to the outskirt of the villlage where the giant footprint was.

Ridge flew past me quickly, dumping a bucket of water onto a house, the water cascading off the broken roof and flooding the inside, putting out most of the flames with a hiss.

Someone suddenly crashed into me, and I whirled round to see a girl, 16 years of age I would guess, clinging to my arm, staring up at me with wide, urgent eyes.

"Please, save my sister! She's in that house, she's trapped!" she gasps, brown eyes reflecting the fire behind me flickering wildly out of control. 

I quickly jog to the house, throwing myself into the flames.

The moment I knew something was wrong was when the flames began to hurt.

Impossible, I thought, I've survived lava, fire and nuclear bombs-this isn't red matter fire either. What is this?

Staring at the flames in confusion as they lick at my skin, I suddenly see the small tinge of green in the tips, the recognizable characteristic of Dragonfire-the only fire, apart from red matter fire, that could harm an immortal.

My mind took me back to my moment in the palace library, reading out loud an ancient book, titled: "Dragonology-The History of the Dragons in the World." I was reading it to Jack and Arya-they seem fasincated by mythical creatures, such as unicorns, centaurs and dragons. In fact, they were almost obsessed with them.

Now that I remembered more clearly, I realized that this truly was Dragonfire, the unmistakable green colour tinting the dangerous flames. 

Hearing a scream, I snap out of my thoughts and, ignoring the pain, knowing it could not kill me, I pushed my way through the burning building, squinting through the blinding smoke to see a girl, 10 years old I would guess, curled up in the wardrobe, clutching her knees. She had long, thick brown hair that hung down the back of her head in ringlets and sky blue eyes that were alight with fear and 

Her eyes widen when she sees me and I suppose it's not everyday the queen of everything alive comes to save you from fire.

I wrap my arms around her, whirling round before pushing my way through the rubble and bursting out of the house just as it collapsed behind me.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you Your Highness!" her sister sighs in relief, taking her from me.

"Go stand over there with the other people, it's safe over there" I command firmly, but gently, patting the girl on her head before leaving the girls and going in search of Ridge.

Squinting, I see Ana, Robin and Ryan tackling the fire in the forest. By now, most of the fires had been put out, some by us and some by the local people who were uninjured and were able to help. Ridgedog was putting out a few small flames in a collapsed house with his feet, and his eyes meet mine.

"It's true, Ridge, it's Dragonfire" I pant, pulling up at his side.

"I know. I...why would a dragon attack us now? After millions of years, how..." he murmurs, questions brimming in his eyes as he frowns in confusion at the destroyed houses and crops, searching for an answer.

Tugging on the sleeve of his coat, I draw his attention back to me.

"We'll think about that later. For now, let's save what we can from the ruins and find these people a place to shelter" I say firmly, and he nods, snapping from his trance. Kissing me quickly on the forehead, he flies off to help Ana and co to put out the fire.

"My Queen, what shall we do?" someone shouts from the middle of the large group of people behind me and there are murmurs of the same question in the crowd. Turning round, I do a quick head count. There were at least 60 people here, most of them shaken with burnt clothes, and some were bleeding.

"Listen to me" I order, raising my voice so they can hear me. "All those who are injured go to the right and wait. Help will arrive shortly. Children or those who cannot work, go to the right and wait for small jobs after the rubble has been cleared. Keep your children and yourselves away from the buildings as they could collapse at any moment. All those who are still fit and are willing to volunteer, step forward."

About 40 people step forward, tiredness in their eyes but they all looked pretty much able to do the work. Around 15 people went to the right, most of them bleeding. A small group of children went to the left, including the two girls I helped earlier.

"Alright. I want ten of you to get a steady wood supply and plenty of essential building materials, like fences and gates. I want ten of you to replant the crops that have been destroyed, fix the farm and tend to the animals which are still alive-we will, later on, supply you with more animals and a temporary food supply to help you get back on your feet. Ten of you can clear away any broken or burnt bits of wood and check to make sure all of the fires have been put out. And ten of you can help me set up a temporary shelter."

The temperature had dropped for some reason, and low, grey clouds were spilling across the sky like someone had knocked a bottle of ink over. 

Everyone got to work, and I flew quickly through the air, tapping Ana on the shoulder. "Ana, I need you to go help the injured" I urge her and she nods quickly, flying back to those who are injured.

"Tia, we need to collect some of this Dragonfire" Ridge insists, spawning in a small glass bottle.

"Why?" I ask curiously, watching as he floats down to a burning twig and somehow manages to capture it in the middle of the bottle. He snaps the lid on quickly and the fire magically suspends itself in the middle.

"We need to study it. If we do it right, we can find out what kind of dragon we're dealing with" he explains, tucking it into his pocket.

"I never took you for a scientist" I smirk, raising an eyebrow. 

"I'm not. But the scientists back at Voxel will be disappointed to miss such an opportunity" he sighs, before spawning another bottle in to capture some more.

"Why are you getting more for?" I nagged, frowning as he caught some more of the strange green fire.

"Deamon wanted a souvenir" he winks, before flying back to the ruins, me in tow.

We help build a shelter out of oak planks, the basic hut with a slab roof and a tacky door with beds on every floor, so many you could barely move.

We had sent Ryan back to the kingdom and came with more helpers and loads of food to supply the hungry, scared village people, from roast chickens to apples. People began to flood in, and Ridge and I disposed of the bodies quietly, burning them individually and capturing the ash in small pots, giving them to close friends and relatives who mourned quietly on their beds. There were twenty three deaths in total, three of them newborn children.

It was awful hearing the crying of mothers as we handed them their children for the last time. Some of them clung on to them, refusing to let go. Ridge found it hard to burn the children, so Ana did it for us. 

The injured had all survived thanks to Ana's healing powers. She was exhausted though, and was lying on a bed, eyes shut, her forehead creased with pain. Ridge was sat beside her, stroking her hair softly. I advance, kissing him lightly on the cheek as I sit next to him.

"What now?" I whisper, trying not to worsen Ana's headache. 

"We help these people rebuild their lives and we find out what this dragon is and where it has come from." he sighs, leaning his head on my shoulder. We stand up together, the glass bottles containing Dragonfire clinking together in his pocket as we stroll outside, looking at the large footprint in the ground.

Thunder boomed deafeningly in my ears as I inhale deeply, breathing the air out as the heavens open and begin to saturate us with water. Ridge wraps his arm around me, pulling me into him in comfort.

Something very, very bad was coming. Soon. And we had to wait to see what would happen.