Namaari still had nightmares about that day. She had just been following her mother's orders to find where Heart kept the Dragon Gem. She hadn't meant to break the world. Seeing the fighting break out and the Druun turning all those people to stone was far worse than anything she could have imagined. Sometimes she could still see the Druun coming after her, see the look on Raya's face as she lay on the ground, helpless to protect the Dragon Gem from the warriors advancing towards her.

But of course, she couldn't tell her mother that. Her mother, Queen Virana, assured her that she had done the right thing. Fang didn't have a piece of the Gem before, and now they did. And they would get all of it eventually. They just needed Namaari to find the other pieces. So when she was old enough, Namaari set out with a small crew to do just that.

When Namaari began looking for the other Gem pieces, she learned that Raya was doing so as well. Raya, the girl she had betrayed all those years ago. The girl she had caused to lose her father and her home. Namaari had genuinely liked her, and they had bonded over their love of dragons. But that didn't stop Namaari from doing what needed to be done.

Namaari had offered to help Raya find the Gem pieces for the good of all of Kumandra. But Raya had refused her help. Understandable, Namaari thought. She wouldn't have trusted her either after what she did. But how could she prove to Raya that she had turned over a new leaf?

And then she got her chance. Raya sent her a message. She wanted to meet her outside the Fang city. She had all the other Gem pieces, and now she just needed one more. Namaari sent word that she would come. No weapons. Sisu must have convinced Raya to trust her.

As Namaari stole the Gem piece from her mother's staff and prepared to leave, she suddenly felt more torn than ever. By keeping her promise to Raya, she was betraying her mother and her people. How could they ever forgive her? How could she ever forgive herself, if Raya ended up betraying her like she had once betrayed Raya?

But unbeknownst to Namaari, she was followed.

Ever since their conversation in the courtyard, Queen Virana had grown suspicious of her daughter's sympathies. Namaari may be a hardened warrior, but she was only a teenager, and that meant she could be far too trusting, especially of people her own age like this Heart princess. As soon as she noticed Namaari gone from the palace without notice, she ordered the queen's guard to follow her secretly, out into the night.

Namaari found Raya standing on a small cliff, surrounded by her gang of friends: Tuk Tuk, Boun from Tail, Noi from Talon, Tong from Spine - and Sisu, the Last Dragon. Namaari gasped upon seeing the dragon up close. She was so majestic and beautiful, just like Namaari had thought she would be. She bowed and held up her hands in a circle on her forehead in a sign of reverence. Sisu smiled back warmly.

"Namaari," Raya said. She narrowed her eyes, and it was clear that she still didn't trust her. To be honest, Namaari didn't trust them either. Even though they hadn't brought any weapons (allegedly), it was five against one and they could easily overpower her if they wanted to.

"Raya," Namaari said. "And Sisu… it's such an honor to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Sisu said. Her tone was a lot more casual than Namaari had expected.

Raya put an abrupt end to the small talk. "Did you bring the Dragon Gem shard?" she asked.

"Yes," Namaari said. She opened her bag and reached inside it for the shard. But just as she was about to hand it to Raya, several Fang soldiers emerged from the bushes with weapons drawn. Virana appeared among them and walked slowly towards Namaari, her eyes burning with cold anger.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day," she said. "My own daughter, a traitor to her people."

"Mother!" Namaari said. "I'm not betraying my people. I'm helping them. And all of Kumandra. This is Raya, the Heart princess, and Sisu, the last dragon."

"I know who they are," Virana said. She seemed utterly unimpressed at being in the company of a dragon.

"It's not just them," Namaari said. "Look at these people - they've come from all over Kumandra to make things right."

"Of course Raya told you that," Virana said. "But I didn't think you'd be so stupid as to believe her. She's using you, Namaari! She's a Heart princess, and Heart can never be trusted! They hoarded the Dragon Gem for 500 years, and prospered while the other tribes suffered!"

"Fang doesn't deserve the Dragon Gem any more than Heart did," Namaari shot back. "The only way to bring back Kumandra is if we work together."

"I've heard enough about Kumandra," Virana said. "There is no Kumandra. There never was, and there never will be. There are only people looking out for themselves and their tribes." She turned to her soldiers. "Seize the Gem pieces."

"NO!" Namaari and Raya shouted in unison. Raya reached into her cloak and pulled out an arnis - so she did bring a weapon, Namaari thought. She used the arnis as a whip to keep the Fang soldiers at bay, and her friends put up their fists, ready to fight. Namaari tried to knock a sword out of a soldier's hand, but he and another soldier held her down. It was no use. The soldiers took the Gem pieces, and Virana put Fang's piece back into her staff.

"Shoot the Heart Princess," Virana ordered coldly.

Namaari gasped. An archer aimed his crossbow at Raya and pulled the trigger. But as the arrow flew through the air, Sisu jumped in front of Raya and was shot in the chest. She fell into the water, much to the horror of Raya and her friends - and Namaari. The last dragon was dead.

As soon as Sisu hit the water, it began to dry up. The protective barrier around Fang was gone. Now there was nothing to stop the Druun from attacking the city. The soldiers looked behind them, shocked by what they had done.

While the soldiers were distracted, Raya stole back the Gem pieces the soldiers had taken from her and made a break for it. She and her friends disappeared into the forest, but not before Raya took one last, sad look at the spot where Sisu had fallen to her death. Namaari also looked, but couldn't see anything.

Namaari turned to Virana. "Look what you've done," she whispered.

"No," Virana said. "Look what you've done."

Namaari, Virana, and the soldiers returned to the Fang city. There was nothing left to do but try to protect their people. But with only one Gem piece, there wasn't much they could do. So they gathered in the palace, awaiting the inevitable.

Raya crossed the bridge into Fang, her arnis drawn. There was only one thing on her mind: revenge. Revenge for the death of her best friend.

Raya marched up the steps into the palace. "Queen Virana," she said.

Virana looked down at Raya in shock. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"You want me dead," Raya said. "Well, you've taken everything I had worth living for. So go ahead and kill me if you want. Unless I kill you first."

"Raya, no!" Namaari shouted. "Don't do this. Please."

"Stand down, Namaari," Raya said. She drew her sword at Virana. Virana drew her own sword, and the two began to fight.

Namaari watched in horror as her mother fought Raya to the death. Virana had been an excellent warrior in her prime, but her age was catching up to her, and she was no match for Raya. Raya fought fiercely, knocking Virana to the ground. She was about to strike a deadly blow, when Namaari blocked her sword with her own.

"Namaari," Raya said through gritted teeth. "Back off."

"No," Namaari said. "I can't let you kill her."

Raya and Namaari began to fight. But just then, the earth shook. A giant crack appeared in the middle of the palace floor. Raya and Namaari were knocked to one side, while Virana lay stranded on the other. Namaari watched helplessly as her mother turned to stone. Now she knew how Raya had felt all those years ago. It made her sick to her stomach to think about it, to think that it had been her fault.

"No," Namaari whispered.

The ground quaked again, and Namaari had just enough presence of mind to grab the staff containing the Gem shard that lay beside Virana's lifeless form. She and Raya ran down the steps out of the palace and into the city outside.

Everywhere people were screaming, trying to get away from the Druun, but there was nowhere to hide. Raya found her friends, who had followed her into the city. But just as they tried to escape, the floor collapsed, and they found themselves underground, trapped by fallen rubble.

Everyone had their own Gem piece. They all held them aloft to hold off the advancing Druun. But it was little use. The magic in the Gem pieces was fading. The Druun were closing in.

"We need to put the Gem back together," Raya said. "It's the only way." She turned to Namaari.

"Her?" Tong said. "But she's the one who started this mess!"

"Someone has to take the first step," Raya said. "I trust you, Namaari." She gave her Gem piece to Namaari, and the Druun took her, turning her to stone.

Boun gave her his Gem piece, and he turned to stone. Then Noi. Then Tong. And finally, Namaari was left all alone.

She could escape. She could take all the Gem pieces and hoard them for Fang. But she didn't want to do that anymore. Raya had finally trusted her again, and she wanted to be worthy of that trust. She wanted to be like the dragons, who had given their lives to save the world.

Namaari took the Gem piece out of the staff and put all the pieces back together as fast as she could. Then she let the Druun take her.

For a moment, everything was still. There was no water, no dragons, no humans in all of Kumandra. All was stone.

And then, it began to rain.

The rain poured over Namaari and Raya and Tong and Noi and Boun. The stone seemed to melt away, bringing them back to life. Raya and Namaari smiled at each other. They had done it.

The Druun were vanquished, and everyone was back. Virana was back. Chief Benja was back. The water was back. Sisu and the other dragons were back. The Dragon Gem wasn't needed anymore, because there were enough dragons for everyone. And Raya, finally, went home.

Of course, that wasn't the end of the story. The five tribes had been separated for 500 years, and each had evolved its own distinctive culture in that time. All of them wanted their own tribe to be the seat of government of the new united Kumandra. And many people wanted justice against the tribal chiefs who had broken the Dragon Gem and, with it, the world.

The dragons were there to help. They negotiated a compromise that the seat of government would switch from tribe to tribe every year, starting with Heart, and a dragon would serve as a neutral representative during every official meeting. Over time, they hoped, this arrangement would be unnecessary as the tribes would come to fully trust each other again. But for now, baby steps would have to be enough.

After the first summit was over, Namaari wandered the halls of the Heart palace alone. It was just as grand as it had been the first time she had been there, maybe even grander. She didn't deserve to be there, not after what she had done.

As she turned the corner, she saw Raya looking out over the balcony. Now there was just one thing left to do.

Namaari swallowed and gathered her courage. "I'm sorry," she said.

Raya turned around. "What?"

"I know it can never be enough," Namaari said. "I'm the reason your father got turned to stone. I'm the reason the Gem was destroyed. I broke the world."

"So did I," Raya said.

"By trusting someone you shouldn't have?" Namaari said. "No. Trust is what saved us all. I'm the one who betrayed your trust."

"You were just a kid," Raya said.

"So were you," Namaari said. "You need to stop beating yourself up over what happened."

"And you?" Raya said. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to accept whatever punishment the Kumandra Council gives me," Namaari said. "And then… I guess I'm going to go home."

"I hope you'll stay for a while first," Raya said.

"In Heart?" Namaari scoffed. "No one wants me here."

"I do," Raya said.

Namaari's eyes widened. "Really?"

Raya nodded. "And I'm sure my father would too. He'd want to make sure you got a second chance."

"A second chance," Namaari repeated. She hadn't thought it was possible. She thought back to that day all those years ago when she first met Raya, that day she still had nightmares about. What she wouldn't give to go back to that day and make a different choice.

"Can - can we start over?" Namaari asked.

"Sure," Raya said.

"Hi," Namaari said, holding out her hand. "I'm Princess Namaari of F- of Kumandra. And I'm a huge dragon nerd."

"Hi," said Raya, shaking her hand. "I'm Princess Raya of Kumandra. And I'm a huge dragon nerd too."