The weather was terrible. Bitter cold, and with heavy clouds covering the moon, pitch dark. We could only hope that those clouds wouldn't open up on us. We couldn't afford to loose the Zipplebacks. Already, the attack had started, the first wave of Nadders and Grounkles blowing holes in their defenses. Once a path had been cleared, the second wave would come to start raiding for whatever they could find. Food, valuables, anything. Not because we wanted to. But because we had to. To disappoint our boss would mean certain death. Not that the Vikings knew that. Not that they cared. They'd be just fine with all of us getting killed, though they might want to do it themselves. For the glory. Ugh. With the second wave sent, a third would be waiting a ten minutes behind. The big players would be in this one. Largely comprised of Zipplebacks and a few Nightmares, they would be the ones to clear an exit for the rest and make sure to get as many out as they could. And me, I was to stay out of it unless things started going badly. I was not to steal. I was not to be seen. And most of all, I was not to miss. If I did that, I'd be welcomed into the nest. No more of this solo act crap.

I was crouched in a tree, not far away from the attack. It was much farther for a human but I could see everything. So far, we'd lost three Nadders and a Grounkle. More were going to fall soon. It was time for the second wave. From behind, I could hear them taking off, and soon enough, dragons were zooming past me on either side. Nadders, Grounkles, and Zipplebacks, all of them experienced. Not that experience mattered much sometimes. For every Viking we killed, it seems like they killed five of us. It was horrible, but that's the way life was. Kill or be killed. I couldn't help but wonder about that Nadder girl I'd met earlier.

I headed up higher in the tree, clawing my way to the top where I didn't have to watch through the branches. The wind pressed against my back, through my shirt, urging me to take flight. The others had already changed that morning, exchanging their human appearance for dragon skin. But this was the dead of night, the witching hour, this was when I could change freely. I would do what I needed when it was time, and not before. The second wave was having trouble. More were dying, we'd even lost a Zippleback. They weren't my family, not yet, but that didn't make it any easier to watch. The roars of dragons mixed with the screaming of the vikings. It wasn't a nice sound. With things turning south, the third wave was sent, the Nightmares were coming. One shot me a look as he flew past. It wasn't time yet. They just had to trust me on this. With the Nightmares in the fray, things were getting very interesting. They lit themselves on fire and easily made their way through the Vikings towards those who needed help, biting and blowing fire all the while. The Vikings, meanwhile, redirected their fire hoses towards the dragons whenever possible and managed to put a few dragons out of the fight. Mostly Grounkles since they weren't fast enough to get out of the way. Attacking the Nightmares with water while they were on fire was nearly pointless unless they hit the head. Where ever they managed to put out, the fire would only evaporate the water and they'd be burning once again. When the first Nightmare was taken down, I spread my wings and shot into the sky. I was as dark as any raven and as silent as an owl. They never expected it when I hit.

The first blow was to a weapons cart, unmanned but loaded with guns, crossbows, knives, and more. It exploding with a loud bang, sending hot metal shooting through the air. It only took me a second before I was far out of their rang but I could still hear them below me. What was that? I've never seen dragon fire like that! Where is it now? I don't see anything! With them distracted, the others began making their escape. Those who were hurt let the stronger dragons help them get away. At last, one of the Vikings whispered it. Nightfury. A wave of shock and disbelief passed through them. Nightfuries were rare. I knew that. Which was why I was brought on this raid. They needed an element of surprise. I wheeled through the air and dove, this time taking out one of their fire trucks. None of them even knew what to do and it wasn't long before the second was out of commission as well. Most who could get away already had, taking as much as they could carry with them. Not everyone managed to grab something so those who had the claws for it grabbed something extra. Losing a dragon to him was not something we could afford either. We needed every fighter we had. I took out one final building, I wasn't sure what it was, only that it was empty, before disappearing into the night.

I only had an hour left before my time was up. Then, whatever I was, I'd be stuck that way for the next day. I needed to hurry. Instead of falling in with the others, I headed high and rocketed along well over their head. Fortunately, our meeting place wasn't far and it only took me thirty minutes to get there, fifteen minutes sooner than everyone else. I twisted in the air, and dove fast. Past the thick pine trees, and down beside the rocky cliffs. At the last minute, I opened my wings and leveled out just above the sea water. The cave was around here somewhere. There. A few flaps and I was inside the cave. Bones shortened and the scales faded away, leaving me looking like a normal human. I went ahead and moved to where we had stashed the first aid supplies. I wasn't hurt, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to help the others. A few other dragons had stayed behind here as humans. Mostly Nadders since they would be able to change if they needed to within a few hours. They were playing poker when I arrived. I ignored them for the time being and they ignored me. They knew the arrival time. And they also had three hundred bucks on the line. I wouldn't stop playing either. Here, we would start treating the wounded and count up what we'd gotten. That's what the Nadders were here for. They'd do what they could to those who needed it the most, and if there weren't enough to carry everything, they'd change as soon as they could to take whatever they needed to. We were on limited time though. Within an hour of their arrival, this cave would fill with water up to a Nadder's knees.

I started pulling down a heavy bag from the cave shelf were they put it. One of the Nadders came to help me. He must have folded. The man had bright blue hair that he kept spiked and thick scars on his arms to show for his experience.

"What are we looking at?" He asked, pulling down the second bag. Being older and therefore taller than me, he had an easier time with it than I did.

I didn't answer right away. We'd gotten away successfully, but not without plenty of losses as well. We would need more dragons to carry what we had too. Too many would be coming home with holes in them. "Be ready." The man whistled to the other three and we started getting things ready.

When the rest of the party arrived, they piled their loot in the back corner of the cave before landing. Hookfang, the commanding dragon on this raid, was off the dragon he'd been riding and giving orders before the third dragon even managed to drop off his things. Those who had been wounded were to gather around the acting medical team, the worse the injury, the closer to the front for treatment. Every other able bodied dragon was to begin sorting through the loot. I joined in with the medical team, along with Hookfang, since they were the ones who needed it the most. Just under half the dragons gathered around us and that wasn't even all of them. More, with minor injuries like bullet wounds and cuts, continued working despite being hurt. I saw the Nadder girl who had spoken to me earlier shoving through the pile with two ugly red holes in her back leg from a gun. It was too much work to be done. The dragons waiting towards the back of the group would have to wait until we returned home before they got treatment. I wasn't even sure how we were going to manage to get everything back. Hopefully someone had stolen some garbage bags so we could put what we could in those.

I had just finished wrapping a Grounkle's foot that had been chopped in two when I felt someone standing behind me. It was a patch job and still oozing blood but I'd done what I could. Hopefully they would be able to save it, assuming she hadn't lost too much blood and could make it home. It was Hookfang standing there when I turned around. His grey tank top was smeared with blood where he'd whipped his hands off and he looked like he was thirty instead of sixteen. Even the two braids hanging down from behind his ears looked frayed, and he usually kept those as neat as he could.

"So, kid, what do you think of your first raid?" He tried to keep things light, casual. I could respect him for that. But I didn't answer him. I just sighed and looked to the floor. I probably looked like the oldest ten year old in the world. "Yeah... But, hey, you did great out there. We'd be glad to have ya. If you still want to join that is." He was watching me, waiting for my answer, waiting for what I'd do. I looked past him at the dragons around us. The hurt ones and those trying their best to help. To those who still worked even though they were hurt. Some of them would be giving up part of their share to help those who hadn't been able to get anything. And then there was the raid itself. Things hadn't gone well. Not really. So what would things have been like if I hadn't been there to distract the Vikings while everyone else got away. A lot more lives would have been lost. I hated that we had to do this, we all did, but I couldn't just leave them either. Maybe I was being too human but I wouldn't feel right doing it.

"Yes. I'll stay."