Chapter 1: The knight, the witch, and the dragon

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered." ― G.K. Chesterton

Silence was settled all throughout New Domino City that night, except for the occasional wind that dared to breach it, whistling as it passed through black, gnarled trees. The air hung dense, accompanied by a darkness that spread over the earth, thick as oil, and a starless sky the shade of blood.

Aki felt the pressure of the environment as she stood at the city gates. It wasn't just the fact that they were unattended that was strange, it was also that she was even there. She didn't belong there, not in this place. No witch did.

But something had drawn her here. Some-one. A voice calling out to her, by name, from within the city walls. So compelling. It reached her through the stale fog over miles of distance separating her from the king's city. She had to come.

She couldn't say why, she just knew.

The gates opened, silently folding inward on their own with the absence of soldiers. Aki stepped through, moving slowly, the air so heavy it felt like walking through water. Even for the time of night, the city felt barren. As Aki drifted forward, she only passed a few people—though their features were blurred and desaturated into gray—and to her bare feet the street felt cold.

"Aki . . . Aki . . . help me . . ."

The voice again, soft and wispy, a susurrus of pain and desperation.

"Aki . . ."

It kept calling. She heard it from all around her, brushing against her ear as if the speaker's lips were close. She tried to walk faster, but for some reason her legs wouldn't do as she willed. She bobbed down the street with each step, trying to push her legs harder, but she might as well have been running on the ocean floor.

"Aki . . . hurry . . ."

She was trying, but she couldn't find her own voice to reply, to say she was coming, to ask where the speaker was, to ask who the speaker was.

She turned the corner and found herself entering a very long road, and another figure in the middle. It was a young man, close to her own age, down on his hands and knees, one arm wrapped hard against his torso, the ground beneath him growing a pool of blood. His hair was dark and short, but his bangs still managed to hide his eyes.

Aki watched as his blood kept sliding around his arm and dripping into the stain below, wondering how he could make no noise while clearly in pain. He just let his injury cry for him while his head hung.

She might be able to heal him, she realized. When she tried to call out to him, nothing came out. She couldn't even tell if she was breathing. She tried to run, but every step was sluggish and only seemed to take her backward, as if the road were stretching even longer under her feet.

She reached out an arm to try to reach him, but measuring him against her hand only made it easier to tell that he was getting smaller.

"Aki . . . save us . . . save us all . . ."

Her stomach knotted. No, she thought, but couldn't say. Let me save you first!

Whoever 'us' was would have to wait, this boy was dying before her eyes. If only she could reach him!

With a roar that made her stumble to a halt, a massive and deformed dragon emerged from black clouds above her and began a targeted descent toward the boy, its eyes bright as fire, its jaw opening to reveal a black tongue and large teeth.

Aki couldn't move. Her legs were no longer sluggish, they were paralyzed against her will. She looked from the dragon to the boy and back to the dragon. The boy seemed completely unaware of the incoming threat, and she still couldn't speak—or scream. She doubted the boy could run in his condition, but she wanted him to. She wanted him to run and escape so badly.

The dragon's mouth began to grow an orange light that shone behind its teeth while its neck expanded to accommodate the fire building inside. And then with wide eyes, Aki watched the blaze project from the dragon's mouth, billow as it came closer to the earth until it devoured the boy in a blinding conflagration that sent a wave of heat and pressure out as a dome, knocking Aki onto her back to hit her head—

—on the floor of her bedroom.

"Ow!"

She pressed her hands against her throbbing skull as she slowly realized where she was. Her sheets were all wound around her legs like snakes trying to constrict her, and she had to struggle to free herself. As she did, her heart was still pounding, making her breath short and her blood spicy with adrenaline. By the time her legs were untangled, she could look to the window and realize it was just barely dawn.

She wasn't going to try to go back to sleep. She was too awake.

So instead to got herself ready for the morning while the nightmare reverberated through her body. And she knew—she could feel it in her witch's intuition—that it wasn't a simple dream. It meant something. It had purpose.

What that meaning or purpose was, she was much less sure.

Was there a literal beast coming to destroy the city? Who was the boy calling to her? Was he real or representative of something?

After lighting a candle to illuminate her room, she could see that she had to remake her whole bed since her sheets, blankets, and pillows were scattered about. So that was her first task. Soon enough she had flattened the top blanket into a neat fold and fluffed her pillows to stand up at the head. But the mundane motions weren't enough to distract her from her thoughts.

So she tried her garden.

She blew out her candle first and stepped into the lush grass with her bare feet, feeling the cool dew squish between her toes. She was relieved to see the sky was dark blue and glittering with stars, but then with curiosity she walked over to the one spot that gave her a view through an opening in the surrounding trees of the castle. In the dark, she could make out its murky form and the windows glowing from candles and firelights burning inside the rooms. Just seeing it made her heart squeeze.

Bad memories in that city.

Bad, bad memories.

This forest breathed with her and let her be out in the open without the need for caution. She didn't have to hide her red hair or her magic among the trees and flowers because she was one of them, magic flowing in her as it did through their roots.

Humans didn't trust magic, not these days. Not since the war. It was better for everyone that she stay here.

But . . .

"Aki . . ."

That dream . . .

". . . save us . . ."

She couldn't shake it from her mind, nor the sense of foreboding that clung to her shoulders. She looked to the castle again and worked her jaw. Was something going to happen there?

She wanted to argue that it didn't really concern her. She didn't belong on the city, and the people didn't want her there. But there was no one to argue with and no one to confirm for her that it was better to just stay put and not let some cryptic dream pressure her into doing anything unreasonable like stepping outside the safety of her forest.

So she chewed her lip as she wavered, shifting her weight from one foot to another and moaning indecisively. Surely there couldn't be an apocalyptic event today. And yet the castle felt magnetic, its force pulling at her whenever she looked away. Even if she could resist it for now, she knew that eventually, she would succumb. And if that was the case, she should just go now and get it over with—hopefully returning quickly and without incident.

She raised her eyes to the purpling sky, toward the disappearing stars, toward the clouds that came with the daybreak, breathing deeply. She closed her eyes on the exhale and immersed herself in the vibrations of magic she felt webbing through the earth all around her, extending her senses into the smallest flower bud and the oldest trees. Among this web, she was part of the enormous living organism that humans only knew as the world. To her though, it was alive, spreading its energy all around and even into her.

She tried to draw on it for courage too. She was going. In her mind it seemed unnecessary and foolish, but her body was responding to some inexplicable need. She couldn't not go.

Oh, the ways of magic were mysterious indeed.


Getting through the forest had been a simple matter. She was used to navigating her way as smooth and light as a bird. It was the wide, open space that made her nervous. She could be seen there.

But she was at least wearing her cloak, the hood up to hide her vivid hair.

She walked along the dirt roads into the fields that led to the city gates, passing by the early risers who farmed the land. The gate was already open to allow the passage of goods and people, and the guards stood to inspect those they deemed suspicious and monitor the rest.

They noted Aki's arrival with a disinterested glance, one of them even holding up a hand to cover his yawn. As she stepped inside, her lungs were frozen and her body tense. But no one stopped her. No one even looked at her. So she had made it.

But then, now what?

Aside from finding a bleeding boy in the road, she didn't know what she was supposed to look for. So she just wandered around looking for some kind of sign—if there was one to find—hoping it would be obvious.

Here and there she saw open shops, circulating carts, mothers fetching water from the well or milk for their children. She smelled bread baking, but it wasn't enough to cover the distinct smell of livestock that was permanently stamped even into the grout of the stone roads.

She avoided looking at people's faces, even when she was greeted directly. She prayed in her head for them to just ignore her. If only she knew a magic that could do it for her . . .

After an hour or so of aimless wandering, she began to feel even more foolish. Really, what was she looking for? Had she really come here based on a dream? The city didn't look anything like it had: no red sky, no heavy atmosphere, no black clouds. She wanted to hit her head, but she settled for closing her eyes and rubbing her temples.

This is ridiculous, she thought. What the hell am I doing here? She had let a dream and a castle bully her into leaving home. Embarrassing. She groaned.

That's enough, she decided, ready to leave.

And she was really going to. Really. But it gradually occurred to her, standing there with her eyes closed, that she felt something. And the more she tried to get a read on it, the further out she had to reach. And the something just kept going, vibrating through the whole city.

Magic.

Tons of magic. Strong magic. Pure magic. The more she focused on it, the more she felt its resonance against her senses. And the more disturbed she became, because an amount of magic this big had to have a source that was noticeable. But when she opened her eyes and looked around her, there was nothing. Just humans and their stone walls and streets. It didn't make sense.

Well now she was curious—and not in a good way. She continued her wandering, anxiously looking around for something that could produce such energy. And she couldn't imagine what it must be like to be human, unable to feel what she felt, completely unaware of the vibrant life all around them. They might as well be blind.

She followed a lane all the way to an open square full of trading stalls and carts, and there she felt an immediate certainty: the heart of this magic pulse was hidden inside a collection of sealed crates stacked in the back of a cart parked at the mouth of an alley. Now that she had her eyes on them, she could see a glow coming from within—through her second sight for magic that overlayed the physical world.

One particular merchant began to holler from his stall, capturing the attention of people in the square. Taking that opportunity, Aki glided over to the cart and slipped out of sight behind another stack of crates in the alley. Whatever other reason might have brought her here, she couldn't ignore this. So much magic in the hands of humans was not good. Just as humans didn't trust witches, who had their own magic to use, witches didn't trust humans to do anything good with stolen magic.

They had to steal it, after all. Or buy it from whoever stole it, which wasn't any better.

Just as she had snuck into place, a man came into the alley from around the corner. He had a thick scar running down from his forehead, across the bridge of his crooked nose, and the length of his cheek. His lips on that side of his face were scarred into a perpetual frown as well. He bent his knees and with effort, hefted the last two crates by the wheel into the cart with the rest. Then he pat his thighs with his gloved hands, bent his neck from side to side to crack his bones, and then walked around to the front of the cart.

Aki whispered a sigh of relief that he didn't come deeper into the alley to the crates she was hiding behind. She didn't feel magic from these anyway, though. Instead she could smell the earthy flavor of harvested wheat inside.

The man was just about to lift the handles of his cart and get moving, but Aki made a snap decision. As she peaked around the side of the crate with one eye, she wiggled her fingers gently in the air until a sturdy root pushed its way up through the grout between the stones and snaked its way around one of the back wheels, anchoring it firmly to the ground.

The man was confused when the cart didn't move. He clearly thought he was strong enough to push a cart loaded with all those heavy crates, so he tried again, straining against the handlebar. But the root pulled to keep the wheel in place. Taking this as a threat to his pride, the man got lost in the competition between himself and the cart. He took a deep, angry breath, and then pushed with all his might.

And with that much pressure, the cart did move, but not as he wanted. Instead of rolling forward, it swung in an arc with the anchored wheel as the center point, and it swung too quickly for him to correct it, so the highest crate launched off the top of the stack and into the square. It smashed onto the ground two feet from the cart where it broke open, and its contents spilled out.

Aki, like everyone else, looked to see what it was. She crept out to the mouth of the alley, expecting that the man would be too occupied by his lost goods to notice her. And she could feel the color drain from her face.

A wave of large, shiny dragon scales had spread around the broken crate, iridescent in the morning light. Such a pretty color for such ugly contraband.

Hunting dragons had been forbidden in Domino, as had trading their body parts, for at least a decade—since the end of the war that had almost destroyed the whole kingdom. Everyone knew that. But of course, the legality wasn't the main issue. To get that many scales, a dragon had to be killed.

Aki couldn't help seeing herself—and her magic—in those scales. It made her stomach churn. Of course, dragons' magic was of a quality far greater than that of a witch, but still, in moments like these, Aki felt more akin to dragons than to humans. She began to wonder why she even felt bothered at the idea of a dragon wreaking havoc on the kingdom—didn't they deserve it? The evidence lying there in clear condemnation and her own queasiness said yes. And they should get what they deserve before they did anything to her.

Tears burning her eyes, Aki was ready to go. Seeing a strong, glorious creature be reduced to a pile of treasure put a sour taste in her mouth, and she hoped any human who tried to obtain magic from those scales exploded, like a tree being struck by lightning.

And then her stomach dropped.

What if . . . what if it wasn't just humans trying to obtain the magic? What if it was a witch, lusting for even more power?

She didn't know where that thought came from, but it made her freeze. And what made her jump out of it was a sudden hand clamping hard on her shoulder, and then a gruff voice demanded from behind, "What're you doing back here?"


"Bloody ash, Yusei, what the hell did you do? Look at this! Look at your sword! What have you been hacking at with it? A whole damn forest? And some rocks? Every time. You do this every bloody time! I have to resharpen this thing so much it's gonna be paper thin pretty soon! You know there's only so much I can do with this, right? I'm not a miracle worker here. I might as well just forge a new one at this point!"

Finishing his rant, the blacksmith threw a dirty cloth on the floor in a huff. Meanwhile the knight listened patiently, because when he looked at his sword resting on the table, he knew he didn't have much of a defense.

"Crow, you're right," he conceded. Again.

"Damn right I'm right," Crow huffed. "You know how much work it is to make a good sword? And I mean a good sword? Show some respect."

"I have all the respect in the world for this sword. It's the only one that can keep up with me."

The smith crossed his arms with a steaming frown. Knights. They were such a handful. Especially this one. But he dealt with it. Yusei was his long-time best friend, after all. And for all the stress he caused, Yusei was the best knight Crow knew—and he knew a lot. Yusei was a true believer in the knight's vow to be loyal and just, and Crow admired that.

It also helped that Yusei paid well.

"And I know you're the only one who can make a sword that good and reliable."

"Well obviously."

Yusei wasn't the type to flatter, so Crow accepted the recognition, but he wasn't going to let Yusei off easy. He was still ticked from the state he had put his creation in.

Yusei just smiled. He knew how much care Crow put into his labor, so he didn't blame him for his frustration. But Yusei also knew that every time, Crow worked the sword back into perfect shape to serve as his trusted weapon, and he felt Crow's friendship when he carried it. The artistry of the design and the heart of the artist, Yusei greatly appreciated both.

"So how much do you want as a down payment for that new sword?"

When Crow paused to think, a shout from the square erupted. "Stop that girl!" They both snapped their heads in the direction of the hysterical voice. "She's a witch! A witch!"

"Witch?" Crow repeated. The two caught sight of a small crowd chasing a young woman, the hood of her cloak fallen from her head to reveal striking red hair, while the rest of the crowd stepped backwards to put more distance between themselves and the accused.

"What in the—"

Yusei was already off, leaving Crow mid-sentence in an impulsive dash. The sudden motion startled Crow, but then he sighed, unsurprised. "Jeez, isn't it too early for this?" he muttered while pushing his back into an arch to stretch. Then he noticed that Yusei's sword was still sitting on his table, along with a leather pouch bulging with coins. Crow picked up the sword and looked up to Yusei's back as he ran. Then he shrugged. He'd be fine without it.


Shit, shit, shit shit shit!

Aki's heart raced, not so much from the running, but from the panic.

You idiot! You stupid damn idiot! Oh I'll just come check things out, huh? Just a quick in and out, huh? It'll be fine, huh?

The shouting mob behind her was a sick punchline to a bad joke. How the hell was she going to get out of there now? She supposed more magic was a possibility, as a worst-case scenario, if causing even more chaos would have a worthwhile result.

Then she got the dark, twisted idea that maybe . . . maybe she was the dragon from her dream? Maybe she was going to use her magic to lay waste to this awful city? Maybe she had come here to fulfill that role?

Her head swam. Confusion and alarm made the world around her wobble as she tried to stay focused on her path forward. Her cloak was dragging on her, making it harder to go as fast as she was capable. But she kept pushing, the sound of dozens of feet pounding the stones behind her spurring her on. If they caught her, would she end up dismembered and skinned, the pieces of her boxed up into a crate too?

Damn you! she cursed, her vision blurring. Damn you all!

Then she stumbled. She screamed, thinking she had tripped, that her hot tears had made her not see something at her feet. But she was falling backwards.

Because someone had gotten a hold on her traitorous cloak and yanked her back. In her panic, she pulled herself loose from the cloak to escape the man's grasp, but she lost control of her footing and stumbled forward all the way to the ground. The impact shot pain from her knees and wrists through her legs and arms, so when she tried to scramble back to her feet, she collapsed.

And that gave the humans plenty of time to reach her.

Two strong hands lifted her up with firm grips on her shoulders, and then holding her up from behind, the man locked one arm around her throat, squeezing it with the crook of his elbow just enough so that she could still breathe, but not escape. Then the man she had seen with the cart appeared in front of her, his glare menacing.

"You think you can fuck with us? You think we're scared of a little witch like you? Bitch, we hunt dragons! You ain't nothin' to me!"

Aki bared her grinding teeth. She could feel her magic flowing hot inside her. Oh, she was ready now.

You think I'm nothing? I'll show you. You're the one who's nothing!

She was hot and getting hotter, just like the magic in the air around her as it responded to her energy. Her amber eyes started to glow beneath her furrowed brow. She breathed deep, her breath steaming through her teeth against the disfigured face before her, and she began to wave her fingers as her hands hung out of sight . . .

Fwp!

In a blink, the man was gone. Vanished.

But not by magic.

By a flying kick crashing sideways into his jaw, sending him to the ground hard and silencing the whole crowd. The new arrival landed crouched on his feet, close to the beefy man stunned on the ground, with his back facing the two behind him.

Aki's furrowed brows rose, and her surprise made her fingers go still. And then he stood up straight, turning to look sideways at the other man still holding Aki, while Aki stared at him—and felt her stomach plummet.

It was him.

Him!

The young man from her dream!

All the heat drained from Aki as her mouth fell open.

He's real?

And that realization made her eyes jump upward to check the sky, but just like the living, breathing man in front of her, the sky was fine and healthy. No blood or dragons in sight.

"What the hell are you doing?" the man holding her demanded. "Didn't you hear us? She's a witch!"

"Hm, so you say," the knight replied casually before holding up a dragon scale the size of his hand. "But from where I'm standing, it looks like you're the only one who's broken the law."

Aki could hear the man's teeth grind and feel his muscles strain uncomfortably against her.

"Since I'm guessing," the knight continued, "she's not part of your little illegal trade ring."

"Hey, we've got nothing to do with that," he shouted defensively. "We just do deliveries! We don't know what's in any of the crates we get, we just carry them!"

"Oh, I see. Then you won't have a problem telling me who gave them to you, right?" The knight spoke calmly, but his blue eyes were cutting.

"That's . . . N-no," he stammered. "No way. That's private info."

"Well isn't that nice of you, protecting your clients."

"I ain't protecting them, I'm protecting me! Those people are dangerous!"

"Not to brag, but I'd say I'm pretty dangerous too. And I'm the one right in front of you. Listen, I'll even pretend I believe you didn't know about the scales if you give me a name." The knight's expression was set and confident, like he didn't have a fear in the world.

So different from when he was broken and bleeding and begging for help.

The square was quiet as everyone held a collective breath, waiting to see what would happen. Then a shadow grew to consume the knight from behind as the first man recovered and rose to his feet, now with a thick rod in his hands. He looked strong enough to be able to break open a man's skull with one swing, but the knight turned to face him with only a mild frown.

"Fuck you!" he shouted, his pride wounded even more than his bruised jaw. He twisted his arms back, holding his rod with both hands, about to land his swing to the knight's temple. But the young man was quicker and sank a low and powerful punch into the man's stomach and up into his lungs. The man gagged and gasped, dropping the rod as he doubled over breathless. It gave the knight a good opening to grab the man's head and bash his knee up into his face, sending him back down to the ground, unconscious.

Aki could feel the man who held her shaking, but more than that, his tension was making his grip on her throat tighten. She reached up with both hands to tug at his arm, but it didn't budge.

The knight glanced at her and noted her struggle, then set his hard eyes above her to her captor.

"You know, this isn't a good look for you," he said. "Nothing about this screams innocent."

As Aki wheezed to get in her next breath, the man dragged her back a step with him as he pulled out a knife with his free hand. When he had it pointed at her face, he hissed, "I may not be innocent, but I ain't caught. And listen up, witch," he called, tapping her cheek with the side of the blade. "If you don't wanna die, help me out of here, got it? Help me and I'll let you go. Deal?"

Aki leaned her head away from the blade, but he kept holding it threateningly close. She glanced to the knight, who stood frozen in place, frowning. He seemed stuck, as if . . . as if he didn't want to make a move that might get her hurt. But that had to be her imagination. No one cared about a witch's safety. She had to protect herself.

So she waved her fingers.

The knight's mind went into a flurry of calculations. What could he do? And it had to be him. Because he knew no one else would care about the girl if they believed she was a witch. Yusei still didn't know if that part was true or not, but it didn't matter. Not to him.

He was too far away to rush at the man and force his blade away before he cut into the girl. Maybe if he could distract him enough to give him an opening . . .

But then he noticed it. The roots winding their way up from under the stone road and around the man's boots—and the girl's fingers gently waving at her side.

So, she was a witch.

That was actually a big help.

He smiled and nodded to her, hoping she understood his acknowledgement, while the man shouted, "Did you fucking hear me? Get me out of here!"

"Die in some bloody ash!"

With that curse, she had the roots yank his feet forward, sending him falling onto his back with a heavy crash that racked his body. Aki went down with him, but his body cushioned the impact for her, and with his grip on her loosened, she slammed the back of her head into his nose. He gargled and then used both hands to cradle the blood gushing out, giving Aki her freedom. She quickly darted to the side and rolled onto her feet, then smirked as she summoned more roots to burst up and lock around his legs and arms and neck. He roared, and with blood oozing down to his chin, he strained against the roots, and they were still so young and thin that he broke enough of them open for him to sit up and reach for her. A blood-stained beard framed the yellow teeth of his growl, and Aki showed her teeth too as she summoned reinforcement roots to hold his legs harder.

And then came another reinforcement. A gloved hand grabbed the man's wrist, twisted it hard, and then a second hand pounded into the strained elbow, resulting in a howl as the man's head dropped back. And then the knight stepped over the man's legs so he could look down into his pained eyes before he hammered a well-aimed punch into his nose. There was a loud crunch! as it broke even more, and then the slap of his body collapsing to the ground.

The knight grabbed him by his hair and lifted his head to make sure he was completely knocked out as cheers and applause broke out in the surrounding audience. He let the man's head drop back down then stood up to announce, "All right, show's over, show's over. Go on now." He waved to signal for them to return to their normal day.

"What about the witch?" a faceless voice asked from the crowd, followed by murmurs of agreement.

Yusei frowned to all of them.

"I said, show's over."

His tone left no room for argument, so with whispers and more gossiping murmurs, the crowd dispersed, with plenty of curious glances to the witch. With Yusei watching, it didn't take long for the square to buzz with the usual activities.

Which made Aki marvel. She couldn't believe so many people would actually listen to him, one knight, despite the presence of a witch among them. She was frozen in place, stunned, as she looked at this knight's back.

Then he turned to look at her, and she went tense, pushing one foot back in preparation to either defend herself or flee.

"Are you ok?"

Aki blinked, feeling suddenly off balance.

"Miss?" he asked when she didn't answer.

She looked from side to side, just barely moving her head so as not to take her eyes too far off of him. "Me?" she asked.

"Yes, you. Are you ok?"

She stared blankly at him. "Um . . . Yeah," she said slowly, tentatively.

"Good, I'm glad," he said with a nod. Then he held out a hand. "Do you mind if I talk with you for a bit?"

She looked around the square, meeting a few eyes that were surreptitiously glancing toward her.

"You don't have to worry about them," the knight reassured, stepping toward her. They couldn't exactly talk privately, right there in the open, but he could at least create a kind of space just for them. "They'll leave you alone."

She gave him a strange look.

"So, can I ask you a few questions?" he asked, feeling like he was trying to coax a scared, feral cat.

She licked her lips, took a deep breath, and said, "Ok."

He nodded. "Thank you. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Maybe. Where do you want to start?"

"Well, why don't you start with what brings you here."

"What makes you think I'm not from here?"

He smiled. "I would have seen you before if you were. You stand out."

She looked down and saw her cloak in a rumpled pile, discarded after it had been stripped off her. She slowly picked it up and laid it over her arm. "Fair point," she conceded, combing through her hair with her fingers.

"So?" he prodded gently.

"I . . . came here looking for someone," she began. "I thought they were in trouble. But I think I was wrong. I was ready to leave when . . ." She trailed off.

"Do you know anything about the dragon scales?"

Aki frowned involuntarily. "You mean do I know anything about the people who killed the dragon they belong to?"

Yusei nodded with a hard expression.

"No. Just that they disgust me."

"Hm." The knight folded his arms. "You know, I've been trying to catch the ones doing this illegal business," he said with a bitter tone, "but they're very hard to find. If you know something, anything . . ."

She shook her head. "I don't. I keep to myself. Today was just a bad day. I shouldn't have come here." Then she eyed him warily, keeping her guard up. Even with such flattery as calling her "miss", she couldn't let herself trust him.

And he could tell.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, holding his hands up to show they were empty. Not that that made him not dangerous, but it was what he could think to do.

She looked at him with a measuring eye. "Why?"

He blinked. "Why would I?"

"Is that a euphemism for a quick, painless death?"

"Why would I kill you?"

"What else do humans do with witches?" She pointed to the scale the knight had brought with him. "Just like dragons. And I bet knights get great honors if they bring one's head to the king."

The knight unfolded his arms, genuinely taken aback. He was quiet for a moment as he stared her, and as she stared right back.

"I'm not a fan of killing," he said in a low voice. "And you haven't done anything wrong. Being a witch isn't a crime."

Aki assessed his expression. His gaze was deep and direct. It almost made her believe him.

"So you really don't know anything?"

She was inclined to not trust anyone, but his frank eyes were having an effect on her. She sighed and shook her head. "No. I wish I could give you something. I hate what they're doing."

He believed her angry grimace. He didn't need to convince her how repulsive the dragon 'harvesting' was.

"I see," he said softly. "Well, thank you for giving me some of your time. And for a bit of good luck."

"What?"

"With this," he said, gesturing to the unconscious man behind him. "These guys would have gotten away without any notice if you hadn't been here."

"Oh . . . Well," she murmured awkwardly, "thank you too . . . for helping me."

"That's kind of my thing," he replied with a smirk.

His smile completely disarmed her. No one else would smile like that at a . . .

"Well, I guess I'll let you go. You were leaving, right?"

"Uh . . . yeah."

"I'll make sure no one stops you."

". . .Thank you."

"Can I ask you one last thing?"

"Um, sure."

"What's your name?"

For a moment she was confused. Didn't he know? But then she shook her head and scoffed at herself. No, of course he wouldn't know. Nothing else had been the same, why would that one detail have matched?

"Aki," she replied. Then repeated herself because introductions were so foreign she felt strange doing it. "It's Aki."

The blue-eyed knight bowed with a hand over his heart.

"I'm Yusei. I wish you a safe and happy return home, Miss Aki."


Domino's palace was a masterpiece of architecture. Large, towering columns erected on a natural hill that overlooked the city almost as if to protect it, or to command it. Maybe both. It served as a symbol of the kingdom, and the kingdom itself laid out in a circle all around that magnificent castle, like a body and its heart at the center. And then around the city was a natural border, wide mountain ranges like arms embracing its child.

The kingdom was one, but there was a vestige of the second city that used to co-exist within the mountains. An abandoned castle stood surrounded by a wild forest that had overrun the city that was once called Aracnos. Back before the war, when its king, Rudger, was still alive. But when he died, his brother, Rex, the king of neighboring Domino, inherited his crown. And with his newly gained authority, Rex had merged Aracnos and Domino into what was now known as Neo Domino—though most people continued calling it Domino. The royal city hadn't changed, after all, just the lines on the map.

Inside the castle—the living castle central to Domino—a meeting was taking place.

"All right," a young, blond man sighed, sinking into his sumptuous chair. "So, you're asking me for official permission to leave the kingdom again to do some investigating. That about sum it up? Honestly Yusei, at this point I don't know why you even bother coming here anymore."

"Prince, I know I'm insistent," the knight answered, "but dragons are still being hunted. It's not just the injustice of that I can't tolerate, I owe it to Stardust to make it stop. These are his family that are being killed and sold off as parts. And I'll just point out that he's also at risk as long as it goes on, despite how strong he is."

"I know, I know," the prince sighed again, waving a hand. "It's not like I'm happy about it either. That's not what bothers me. It's that you're still so unbearably formal! I mean bloody ash Yusei! We've known each other for a decade now, when are you finally going to start calling me Jack?"

Yusei only answered him with a smirk.

So the prince huffed and waved a hand. "Whatever. If you care so much about it, next time you can ask the king."

"I don't think so," Yusei replied, breezily ignoring the prince's petulance. "It's more important for you to know about this situation, for now."

Jack rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, yeah, right. I'll tell the others in the army what they need to know too." He blew out a breath and changed into a more eager expression. "Ok, so did the two guys confess anything? How hard did you have to go with the interrogation?"

"Oh, they were quick to talk. They told me they had been promised great compensation, but their client gave them an obviously false name, so that's not much help. But they at least told me that they met him in the Black Forest. I can at least do something with that." Yusei frowned in thought. "But you know, Stardust has been getting worried lately. He's been sensing abnormal streams of magic, so something's happening. Something's wrong. And I've got this nagging feeling that someone might be plotting to upset the kingdom."

Jack considered his friend. "You think that would actually be possible?"

"Considering the change in magic going on and the amount of dragon scales being bought and sold, I can't rule it out. And I don't want to just wait and see. I've got to do something."

Jack knew Yusei. He knew that "something" meant protect the kingdom and everyone in it. And he knew that determined look in Yusei's eye, the one he saw right then. There was nothing to do but let him have his way.

"All right. Go do your thing, knight. You have permission from your prince to proceed as you see fit."

He said the last bit with a sneer. Jack didn't like formality forced between them, and Yusei knew it, but he felt a kind of obligation to respect the decorum of the castle.

And maybe he enjoyed annoying his friend, just a little.

Yusei smiled, gave a small bow of thanks, and began his exit. Jack rolled his eyes when Yusei's back was to him.

"I saw that," he said without turning.

Jack's response was, "Good."

Yusei kept his laugh to himself.

"And make sure you come back healthy so I can punch that smile off your face!"

Again, without turning, Yusei lifted a hand to give a backwards wave. "Yes, Your Highness."


"Hey, Yusei. Don't fall asleep on me now."

"I won't," he promised while scouring the forest below him. But it was getting harder to see with the sun sinking into the jagged horizon.

"I can hear you yawning," his partner countered.

"That's how you know I'm staying awake."

Stardust had them flying high enough that each tree below looked the size of Yusei's finger. It was peaceful up there—at least when the dragon wasn't talking.

"I can be more sure of it though when you say something."

"What exactly would you like me to say?"

"I don't know. You could tell me about this morning again."

"Why? I already told you."

"Yeah but it was interesting. You don't come across many witches these days."

Like dragons.

And encountering either one had a tendency to become a dramatic event. Yusei knew. It wasn't just the morning with Aki that had been noteworthy, meeting Stardust had changed his whole life. Even now, after all this time, Yusei wasn't sure how to name their relationship. Was Stardust his friend? Brother? Father? Teacher? Probably all of them. And probably much more.

Right now, Stardust was his ride. He sat at the base of the dragon's thick neck and looked down over the land while massive wings flapped leisurely behind him. From here, he could see so much, but still, there were secrets he had yet to uncover.

"Why don't you tell me if you can you feel anything suspicious?" Yusei countered.

"Because I don't, not yet. But, I guess I could get closer to the ground."

"All right. Sounds good."

Yusei gripped on tighter as Stardust curved gently downward, losing altitude until he touched the tips of the tallest trees with his smooth, armored belly. As he glided forward on outstretched wings, he scrutinized the treetops, every branch, every nest, every squirrel with his big golden eyes. But he noticed nothing.

Not below him.

Then he felt a vibration in his head. "Wait . . . Hang on," he said carefully. "Now I'm getting something . . . It's getting stronger."

The sun was gone. Only the dim light of dusk remained, casting most everything in sight into shadow. Until the darkness was cut by a ray of light shooting toward them from ahead.

"WHOA!"

Stardust swerved sharply to avoid the hit, and Yusei hugged him with his whole body, cheek against his scales.

"What was that?" Yusei asked as Stardust began to rise straight up, the wind pushing so hard Yusei could barely move his head.

As if to answer, a roar rose into the air, and a creature emerged into view, pitch black against the washed-out colors of the mountains and forest. It wasn't armored like Stardust, but feathered, and its plumage thick like a mane. Both Stardust and Yusei gaped when they realized it was a dragon.

Why would it attack us? was the first question Yusei had. But then there was a glint from the dragon's back, and the next question he had was, Is there someone riding it?


Hi! How are you? It's Yugirl here! I hope you've been following me on my social media, and if not, I'd love for you to check out my other sites! You can see lots of drawings related to this fanfic on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! More info in my bio!