Chapter 26: Escaping the Ruins of War

Saffron watched in horror as the dragons fell towards the earth, intertwined. "No!" she screamed and began to run, pushing men out of her way. She stumbled, landing hard on the frozen ground. She lurched to her feet. She had to reach him. She had to.

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Her mouth was agape in dismay when she reached the field. Elric's body, still in dragon form, heaved with wet, ragged breaths. Arrows protruding from his body and his blood ran free and thick down his sides. She scrambled over the embankment his crash had created and slid down the other side. She saw Udril's soldiers advancing towards his prone body.

Suddenly, she was standing before him, brandishing a sword she had found abandoned on the ground. She held the sword expertly; her grandmother had insisted that she learn at a young age to defend herself and she remembered the lessons now. She spun the pommel in her hand and stared down the advancing soldiers who froze, their faces unsure how to approach the woman defending the drago