Get to the sky, Corona's most primitive instinct said. Hurry up hurry up hurry up!

But she had enough smarts to set something on fire first. She took one of the torched by the said of the oasis and chucked it at the tent, hoping to catch the fabric on fire. She knew someone would put it out long before any real damage was done, but she was going for confusion, and it would actually be better to her if no one was hurt.

"Somebody catch her!" Thorn's voice rang out as Corona's talons left the sand. Her muscles burned as she flapped hard to get as high as she could. Wind generated by her scrambling wings swirled around her. The moons cast a silver glow on the city. It would've been a tranquil scene, were it not for the conflict.

Corona was high in the air by the time the few of Thorn's soldiers which had elected to follow her had started to really gain on her.

Just when it seemed like nothing could possibly get any worse, what with being about to be caught and having set a fire in the only place that could help her, when she saw the first SkyWing. He descended like a wrathful, regal ball of fire, the moonlight shining darkly on his red scales. Two dragons were with him, and it appeared that they had seen her. They were coming closer fast, their massive wings beating slower than Corona's heart but taking them farther than it seemed it would. No safety in the sky anymore.

Panic dug painful claws into her chest. In the split second she had to think, her brain rattled off reasons why it would be smart to keep running. Give yourself to Thorn, she gives you to Ruby. Give yourself to Ruby, she forces you to use your animus powers until you go on a rampage. So she spiraled into a dive, back towards the fire and all the dragons who wanted to catch her. Her talons once again felt sand and she took off running. Apparently the fire was more resilient than Corona had thought it would be. It hadn't occurred to her that the SandWings in the Scorpion Den might use something to keep their torches lit for longer. But here was the proof in front of her, dragons scurrying to and fro through the steam and smoke. Aha. Steam, just another bit of chaos she could use to her advantage. She dived into it and skirted around the back of the flaming tent. She could hear Thorn barking orders from somewhere, which made her feel as though her heart had climbed into her throat and was crawling around while some other organ played in her chest.

It was going well. She had made it around the edge of the tent and was now trying to make her way inconspicuously back into the crowded alleyways of the city, where dragons were coming out of their homes to see what all the fuss was about. Little did they know that the nervous-looking dragon sliding right past their snouts was the one they were looking for. Her nerves screamed at her to run, but she knew that even Thorn might not recognize her in the dark if she wasn't running.

She slipped into an alley and turned a corner, hiding in the temporary shelter of what appeared to be a family's pile of decomposing trash. Deep breaths, she told herself. You made it this far, and if you actively avoid all Outclaws and SkyWings for the next couple of days, you should be able to slip out unnoticed. Besides, even if you do get caught, neither side will kill you. That sounded silly even to her. A feeling of hopelessness and, most ridiculously, a dragonet-like longing for her mother enveloped her, pressing down on her like a physical weight. She felt so tired, remembering her desperate escape from the SkyWing palace, and before that, the death of her mother, and even before that, her few years of true peace.

Her limbs felt useless, like they had suddenly turned to stone in protest of the events. Her eyes felt sore, and soon she felt she could keep them open no longer...

Corona woke to the feeling of sharp claws pressing into her neck. It took every ounce of courage in her not to cry out. It was still night, which made sense to her. Someone was bound to find her by then. Idiot. Why on earth would you fall asleep somewhere so conspicuous? Your mother gave her life for you, and you repay her with such carelessness? You are such a scum-scraping scavenger-brained piece of-

"Give me a reason not to kill you right now," a voice said, close to her ear, as the claws pulled her to her talons. A poisonous tail worked it's way up so that the barb would sit directly on Corona's heart.

Cliche, Corona's brain noted uselessly. What did it matter to her if this dragon obviously read too many adventure scrolls? She wished her near-genius mind could tell her useful things for once, or keep her awake when she was about to fall asleep during what was probably the third most crucial night of her life, aside from being born.

"How am I supposed to give a good reason if I don't know who I'm talking to or why you would want to kill me? I could say something completely out of context," Corona said.

"Valid point," the dragon agreed. Male, judging by the voice. Deep, but with an obvious stammer. Almost certainly fake. Why? To hide an identity? Oh, I'm an idiot.

"Haze." Corona let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in.

"Don't act so relieved," Haze said, evidently unable to keep a hint of indignation out of his voice. "I can be dangerous too, you know."

"I'm sure you can." Corona's natural tone of voice made it sound sarcastic. She hoped he wouldn't be offended. "But you aren't planning to be right now, because if you wanted to kill me, you would've done it while I was asleep."

"Maybe I enjoy this."

"You don't."

"You sound awfully sure of yourself."

"Your tail is shaking, alerting me of the fact that you're nervous. Also, your stammer is a fairly obvious sign." Corona had to stomp down her pride, which, paired with the emotion she didn't understand but was always there, was threatening to make her cocky. Cockiness leaded to death, if she'd ever learned anything.

"You're right. I don't plan on killing you. But if you don't give me a good reason to help you, I'm going to hand you over to Thorn," Haze said.

He dug his claws into her neck just a tiny bit more, a reminder that escape was out of the question. Corona gulped, an unfortunate but temporary breach in the wall of cool and collected that usually protected her.

"You have a fear of animuses," she started.

"Who said that?"

"I did, mostly because your claim that I was hallucinating was completely irrational," Corona explained. "I am actually an animus." She reasoned that this was one of the few moments in her life where the truth could be preferred.

"I was afraid of that," Haze grumbled.

"You probably know, then, why I can't let the SkyWings catch me, and you probably know that Thorn has to hand me over if she wants Burn to continue to tolerate your staying in the desert," Corona said.

She could almost hear the gears turning in Haze's head as he rationalized. "Okay," he said at last. "That's a pretty good reason. I can't let the SkyWings have that much power, especially with how unpredictable Ruby is. If Burn found out we let you go, we'd all be in trouble, though," he continued, thinking out loud.

"Right, but Ruby won't ask Burn about me because they aren't allies right now," Corona countered.

"If Thorn gave you to Burn and Burn sold you to Ruby in exchange for help in the war, Burn would never breathe down our necks again."

"But Thorn can't give you over to Burn with the SkyWing soldiers here."

"Alright alright," Haze said, loud enough to make Corona cringe. "You're right." He let go of her, and Corona took a few steps back to study his face. She realized from his expression that he was the kind of dragon who would've helped her anyways. "I have a short cut which will get us out of here and into the rainforest. Don't ask questions, just listen."

Yay, chapter two all finished! I never write chapters this long, so I'm surprised at how long this is going for, and I have a lot of plans for this so if I keep at it, this should be good. I hope you're enjoying it so far! Review if you will.