Aurnia sunk into a low crouch, scales bristling as she locked eyes with the towering lizard before her. Lumps of glowing brown stones studded its sloped back leading all the way to a cruelly barbed tail lashing viciously to beat the rising flames into submission.

It lunged for her throat with a growl.

Aurnia ducked and uttered a short curse as the Kylin's jagged teeth missed her by a hair's breadth. She whirled around with a hiss, darting forward to drive her claws deep into the lizard's flank. The Kylin squirmed and let out a strangled roar while Aurnia fought against her conscience, narrowed her eyes and pushed a little deeper. Blood, vibrant like wine on a summer's day flowed freely towards the ground where it evaporated with a hiss.

Just as Aurnia was about to bring her other claw down across its eye, the lizard threw its weight squarely towards her body and she found herself pinned to the ground. She gasped, legs flailing as she felt the pressure of a thousand suns dig into her back. Aurnia growled, summoned her reeling thoughts and turned her head to bite the foot on her shoulder, only to be struck by the Kylin's barbed tail.

Koa yowled and the creature leapt off her back with a snarl.

Aurnia scrambled to her feet, scales flaring a frigid blue as she pulled what little moisture there was from the air and summoned shards of ice to hurl at the fast moving lizard. Her magic did nothing to hinder the Kylin but the moment it hit the ground they exploded into pillars of scalding steam. She yelped and scrambled backwards, eyes watering as her foot made contact with the ring of fire.

The curtain of steam obstructed her vision and she desperately listened for the sound of Koa's muffled whimpers. Her desperation had blinded her and now she'd gone and stepped directly into the Kylin's trap. Aurnia glanced at the fire around her, if she moved fast enough, she could scoop Koa up before he became nothing but a meal. Then her eyes widened when a set of gaping jaws loomed from behind the dissipating haze.

She let her mother's magic coat her scales as she fired off another spell before breaking into a massive grin when the lizard slammed face first into her icy shield. Aurnia savoured the crunch of breaking teeth, pushing remorse to the side as she reassured herself that if it wasn't her for magic, she would have been helpless protecting Kao.

A sudden stream of white flashed through the air and the Kylin leapt away from her with a roar. Aurnia took the opportunity to leapt from the circle of fire and into the safety beyond. She turned, eyes widening when she caught sight of Koa streaking effortlessly between the creature's legs. With each jump he nipped the underside of its stomach, tail flashing as icy paw prints danced beneath his feet.

The lizard snapped wildly beneath its chest but Koa easily dodged each snap with a triumphant little screech.

Pride swelled in her heart and Aurnia couldn't help but smile. Then she faltered and snapped her attention back towards the scene before her. Koa's valiant efforts may have bought them time, but once his stamina waned his spirit would be snuffed out faster than a candle.

Echos of a red haired girl danced across her and Aurnia quickly waved them away. She could not stomach losing another friend. So she nodded and summoned her energies once more. Gently, she guided her powers towards the centre of her chest and opened her mind's eye and there she saw her mother's spell book hovering easily in the air.

Once she had been afraid, ashamed even, to approach the untamed secrets that lay within. But after the war that had shaken their lives, she was certain she had earned the right to wield its magic.

Now each word that poured from Aurnia's mouth spoke to the ties that bound every creature to the shifting fabric of the universe. She sang sweetly, guiding the threads needed to trap the lizard in its place. Her claws twitched, blue, green and an iridescent purple, the life around her bending easily to her will. She grinned, triumphant, when the lizard's heart string glowed a vicious red. She forced it into her claw, deftly weaving it into the silence that occupied the space beyond.

The roaring stopped and Aurnia felt Koa's heart slow to an even patter.

She had done it.

And she breathed a sigh of relief before slowly opening her eyes. Two steps towards the glowering creature and she realised that something was wrong. Her heart felt too tight, the air far too heavy. Then a sudden sharp twinge raced through her head accompanied by the sensation of being hit by a whip.

Her vision darkened and blood red yarn raced through her mind. Aurnia stumbled, then gasped and watched in horror as her own heartstring flared to life before tangling with the lizard before her. Her legs locked up and she felt face first towards the ground desperately heaving herself upright while trying to undo the spell in her head.

Her spirits sank. Her mother, for all her unearned glories, had always been careful when crafting her spell. This soul binding one was no different.

Koa twittered nervously by her side hopelessly pawing at the glowing green bonds that had materialised around her body. Nearby, the lizard squirmed as the bonds hovered neatly over its eye.

Aurnia wriggled forwards and focused on projecting shards of frost through the ties that bound her. It was no use. Each blast of magic passed useless through them with a quiet hum. A small shriek bubbled uselessly in her throat and using her tail, she easily obliterated a bush behind her. She had come so far and had only just begun to unravel the mysteries as to who could help her and Lily. But now she was trapped. Strung up like those unfortunate animals Hamlin's hunters liked to drag home.

A low rumble resounded near them and Aurnia braced for another attack. Then, realising that the sound was much too close, she looked to her left and saw the Kylin heaving in the dull light. Moments later, she realised it was laughing. A frown crawled across Aurnia's face. She prodded into its mind with a thread of magic and was instantly regaled with the sensation of being torn apart.

She blinked and found herself looking into a hollow cave. Within it, a tiny ball of yellow light floated just inches off the ground. It rippled, then took on the form of a fiery lizard.

"If I had been told of your arrival, I would have made an effort to prepare my mind." It tilted its luminescent head, narrowing its eyes with a sinister grin. "But where are my manners? Hello cousin."

Aurnia stiffened. "We aren't cousins."

The lizard shifted on its toes, slowly growing to a size that easily loomed over Aurnia's head. "Do you really believe that?From stardust we came, and to stardust we shall return. The Great Mother, Uione, never deviated from her plan when designing us dragons."

Aurnia raised an eyebrow and turned to examine the gritty cave walls. Streaks of green raced wildly around and after a few careful prods, she realised it was her spell.

"Ah, are you looking for something?" The lizard's voice had switched to her left. Aurnia ignored him and then turned with a slow smile.

"From stardust we came and yet, you were the one overpowered by a sinyo."

"Overpowered?" He laughed. "No, I merely conceded to that creature because I could sense how much you cared for him."

They stood in silence. Two pillars of a forgotten era weighed down by wishes they could never hope to fulfil.

Then the Kylin tilted its head and cleared its throat. "You elder dragons think too highly of yourself. The world no longer sits neatly in your claws and, out of everyone, we would expect you to know that the time of fire and swirling lands has settled into its place in history."

Aurnia opened her mouth, then shut it with a gentle sigh. "We do not know each other. What gives you the right to expect things from me?"

The lizard turned, crimson eyes boring into her forehead."I was one of the first who realised that clinging to the past would bring me no comfort. So I retreated to the molten seas to sit amongst wild magic and the fragments of unworthy gods–"

"You never answered my question." Aurnia shifted onto her hind legs, relishing the feeling of soft sand beneath her claws.

"I merely wanted to remind you that you have forgotten your place. You arrived, wielding magic that was never yours to begin with. And then all it took was remnants of the death goddess' magic to damage your spell." He smiled and Aurnia wanted to jump away from the jumbled mess of broken teeth and saliva. "No matter how hard you try and overlook it, we are one and the same."

Aurnia laughed, bitter and proud it echoed hollowly into the cavern. "We are not the same."

"Is that so? Perhaps there is an element of truth in that, Halfling."

Aurnia stilled, talons hovering inches above the green streaks that had embedded within the rock. "You do not get to call me that."

"Do I not?" The Kylin shrunk and retreated into the gloom with a shrug of its wide shoulders.

Hidden in the darkness, its voice echoed emptily behind him. "Youngest of all daughters, gifted by the gods to a grieving mother with no tears left to shed. Isn't that how the story goes?"

The green streaks flared to life as Aurnia clenched her fists and far off in the back of her mind, she felt the lizard shudder in pain. Unchained cruelty danced freely on tongue as she briefly contemplated tightening the bonds that curled around its heart. Yet she stopped and slowly pushed her simmering fury to one side.

"That is not how my story goes and you do not understand my mother. So I would prefer if you kept her out of your mind."

"Oh?" The lizard's eyes loomed eerily from the dark recesses of its mind. "I do not need to understand your mother to know what she sought. You speak of understanding, yet how can a creature with no true heart of her own truly seek to know and mend the emotions of those around her?"

"Again, you have no right–"

"I have no right? But aren't you the one who's treading the line of morality with your ignorance?"

"Ignorance."

"Indeed. But how could I blame you? A halfling is–"

"That is enough." Aurnia's voice rang out clear and sharp within the still air. Ice began to coat her fingertips and as her irritation built, frost arched through the air and shattered against the flickering green in the walls.

With that, she felt a shudder run through the caves as phantom rocks began to cascade from the ceiling. The chill built, bucking wildly against her heart until it melded with the threads that wove neatly around her very being.

Far off, Koa's startled shrieks tugged weakly at her mind and Aurnia turned her eye back into the world beyond. She watched in bated horror as frost raced across her heartstring before enveloping the knot that tied the lizard's soul to hers. Aurnia called frantically into the void, humming snatches of old lullabies, ballads, anything to slow her uncontrolled outburst.

There was a flash and she jolted on her toes before blinking and finding herself standing in the Molten Seas once again. Shaken, Aurnia slowly spun on her toes and caught sight of Koa huddled under a bush. She followed his horrified gaze.

What was once a lizard has been reduced to an ice studded boulder.

Her heart sank. She had lost control once again and Koa raced into her bag with a frightened chirp, burying his face deeply into the worn leather. Aurnia's spirit dipped when she sensed the chill radiating from his core. Gingerly, she patted him on the head and let his thoughts come flooding in.

I didn't mean to make him hurt, I promise. All I did was bite his leg but wouldn't stop screaming. I couldn't make it stop. I–

Aurnia reached in and pulled him into the air. "It was never your fault. The magic here is unpredictable, and I made a mistake. You fought bravely and made me very proud." She sat on her haunches, hugged him close to her heart and closed her eyes, slowly breathing in rhythm with his heartbeats.

"You were brave and came to my defence when you didn't have to." She stood and tucked him gently between her wings. "And for that I am eternally grateful."

She slowly wandered, mind racing through the conversation she had just had. Agrona wasn't here. But remnants of her magic should hopefully help locate her. Aurnia reluctantly reached out to the threads of life around her once again, carefully pushing past the fury that still simmered within her.

As if in response to her outburst, the threads sprang away at even the lightest of touch. The disordered clamour of angry voices raced through her mind once again and she forced them away with a growl. Through the gloom, she eyed the shifting threads, shifting and straining to make out the stillness that surrounded Agrona's magic.

After a couple of tries, she found it withering silently beneath a tangled bundle of red and orange. She reached into the expanse, gingerly nudging the unwanted strings away. They bolted without much complaint, but the streak of purple, brighter than Aurnia remembered in her memories, raced away with them.

Aurnia lunged forward, casting out her powers until it gripped the bucking thread in place. Her heart constricted once again and claws burning, she traced a holding spell into the ground beneath her. Even still, the death goddess' magic struggled against her touch, burning and coating her mouth with the bitter taste of Rot.

Aurnia pushed past it, nudging it neatly into place and feeding it sparks of her own energies. A short whiff of crisp damp air mingled with sweet tang of apple filled her head, then as quickly as it arrived, it vanished. But when she opened her eyes she saw the thread clearly before her, racing into the distance.

She stifled a grin and pushed her hope away before quickly checking to see if Koa was tucked safely into his pouch and bounding towards a hollow in the cliffs before them. The land passed swiftly beneath her claws and before she knew it, the looming gloom of an empty cave reached out to them.

But just as she dove into the darkness that beckoned, she heard Koa's voice stir within her head once again.

Aurnia, why have some of your scales turned black?