Martha woke up first, which didn't really surprise the Doctor when he thought about how long he and Rose had talked before she'd found her way to bed.
He was waiting for them both in the console room until the Tardis buzzed against his mind in irritation, and he glanced at the rotor in confusion.
"What?" he spluttered, and if she'd been able to vocalise he was certain that particular tone of hum would have been a sigh.
Instead, he got the sensation of hunger pressing into his thoughts. It still took him an embarrassing thirty seconds before he realised that neither Martha nor Rose had eaten dinner, and he had promised that the Tardis would spoil them.
While his ship was amazing, she couldn't cook a meal entirely on her own.
With only token complaints about leaving his tinkering half-finished, he left the console room and intercepted Martha in the halls, redirecting them both towards the galley.
"Sleep well?" he greeted, and she beamed at him.
"Yup, and then I woke up in a different room," she announced, making the Doctor pause and blink at her.
"What?"
"The door's the same from the outside, but the inside's all changed. Different furniture, new carpet, gorgeous dark red accent wall," she gushed, "and there's an ensuite now too!"
"You... didn't have one before?" he asked, continuing to head towards the galley and prodding the Tardis curiously, wondering why the ship had withheld the standard luxurious room from Martha until now, but all he got back was stubborn silence.
"Nope, pretty basic before. Comfortable bed, and a shelf or two, but— Hang on, is this cause I know she's sentient now? Can she just… redecorate however she likes?" Martha asked, and the Doctor felt the Tardis' pride aimed at the medical student by his side.
"No," he denied quickly, "I mean, yes she can redecorate. Did, it seems like, but that can't be the reason why. The Tardis wouldn't do that. It was my fault you didn't know, after all," he lied quickly, having a quiet argument with his ship over her pettiness, but Martha didn't seem to notice.
"Oh, well, maybe it's 'cause you finally decided to let me stick around," she said instead, shrugging. "It's gorgeous though, like she pulled my dream room right outta my head."
"She probably did," the Doctor muttered, pulling open the galley door and holding it for Martha as she grinned.
"Breakfast?" he offered, and Martha hummed.
"God yeah, I'm starving after last night," she said, "but shouldn't we wait for Rose?"
He was on the brink of telling her that Rose being awake for the next few hours was unlikely, at best, but a soft touch from the Tardis, that told him Rose was showering, startled him.
"Uh... She won't be long," he translated, trying not to let his surprise leak into his voice. Rose could only have had about seven hours at most, and while Martha slid into a seat at the table and continued to tell him about the changes the Tardis had made to her room, the Doctor immediately started the kettle for Rose's tea. She was definitely going to need it.
He'd just managed to place a coffee in front of Martha when Rose stumbled into the kitchen in a pair of dark jeans, and a cream blouse that he was certain he'd never seen her in before.
Rose didn't look like her shower had helped her to wake up, and with a small, knowing, smile at the familiarity of her zombie-like state, the Doctor silently handed her a large mug of fresh tea, exactly how she liked it.
She hesitated, and the Doctor swallowed hard, forcing himself not to let his smile slip, but half a second later Rose let her hands curl around the mug and cradled it to her like it was precious.
She offered a soft hum of thanks as she sank into her chair that reminded the Doctor of the Tardis, and he laughed softly, turning to find Martha watching them with a wide grin of her own.
"Did the Tardis change your room last night, Rose?" Martha asked, and the Doctor shook his head as he sat beside her, and across from Rose.
"You won't get anything out of her yet," he teased as Rose lifted her mug to her lips a second time.
"Seriously?"
"Just keep talking, she'll tune in eventually," he explained, still grinning and watching the blonde's features twitch slightly into a half frown. "It's like the tea slowly brings everything into alignment—"
"—And the world gradually begins to make sense," Rose grumbled, shooting him a glare just on the adorable side of a pout, causing him to laugh into his own drink until she turned her gaze on Martha.
"Did you sleep well?" she asked, and Martha lit up again at the question.
"Like a rock. I didn't even know the Tardis had redecorated until I woke up!" she exclaimed, and the Doctor was about to fill Rose in on the part of the conversation she'd clearly missed when she smiled.
"Ah, my room got a makeover last night too," she murmured, "gorgeous walls fading up from white at the bottom to a dark blue-black by the ceiling and she's given me a starfield to gaze at."
"She does love to impress," the Doctor sighed, rolling his eyes at the smug hum the ship was radiating, and Rose laughed.
"Just like her pilot then," she teased, and the Doctor stood up quickly, turning to go and cook them all breakfast, and not at all in an attempt to hide the fact that he was fighting off a blush.
"So, how long have you been travelling with the Doctor?" he heard Rose ask Martha, and he focussed on their conversation, letting their voices wash over him as he worked.
There was every chance they wouldn't get along, but there'd been good signs the previous day. Laughing together, helping each other, and Rose placing herself on Martha's side when he'd let his newest companion down as a tour guide.
He hoped that camaraderie would blossom, so he listened, determined to only interrupt if necessary.
"I'm not sure..." Martha said slowly, after a short pause, "Uh, that whole thing with Lazarus was only a day after he picked me up, but..."
"It's been about a week in your personal timeline, Martha," the Doctor threw in gently, glancing over at them just long enough to catch sight of Rose's bright grin.
"So you've had a few adventures already, then, if I know him," she prompted and Martha quickly launched into the story of meeting Shakespeare.
She told Rose about seeing 'Love's Labour's Lost', about Peter Street and the Bedlam hospital, and about the Carrionites, Lilith and their threat to destroy the world in 1599.
Rose listened attentively, as she always had to the Doctor's own stories. She ooh'd and ahh'd in all the right places, and the Doctor found he had to keep turning back to the stove to hide his grin.
Her genuine interest in Martha's adventures had the medical student all but glowing. Having someone else to talk to about the things she'd seen seemed to be taking a weight off Martha's shoulders, and the Doctor sighed in relief as several darker timelines linked to Martha dissipated the longer the two women spoke and traded tales.
By the time he placed a fried breakfast before each of them, and sat down with his own, Martha was telling Rose how Shakespeare had banished the Carrionites with help from J.K. Rowling's 'Expelliarmus'," and Rose was holding her stomach as she laughed while Martha grinned at her.
"Oh bloody hell, can you imagine the look on Rowling's face if she knew one of her spells had actually ended up banishing witches?" Rose snickered, before picking up her knife and fork and turning her smile on the Doctor.
"Thank you, this looks amazing," she offered, before scooping up some of the food, Martha echoing her thanks.
"Ah, well, neither of you got anything to eat last night. It's the least I could do," he brushed off their thanks easily and Rose paused, narrowing her eyes as she studied him for a moment before a teasing smile crept across her face.
"The Tardis bullied you into it, didn't she?" Rose said, and the Doctor sniffed, turning away from her quickly so she couldn't read the truth in his eyes and scooping up a forkful of scrambled egg as an excuse.
"Rose Tyler, I resent the implication that the Tardis needs to force me to cook breakfast for my companions," he grumbled. He shoved his eggs into his mouth, but when Martha started laughing, he risked glancing at Rose out of the corner of his eye, only to be faced with a look of disbelief and a raised eyebrow.
Neither woman pushed the issue, however, returning to their meals with badly concealed amusement, and he released a mental sigh of relief. Bullied him into it was a bit strong, he'd merely forgotten that the pair of them would be hungry until the Tardis pointed it out.
"So, I was thinking," Rose said after a few minutes passed where the only sound had been knives and forks against plates, "do either of you mind if we stop off on a planet where I can pick up some clothes? Just a few essentials," she reassured quickly, "but preferably somewhere I won't have to run for my life."
"That actually sounds brilliant," Martha said grinning, "I didn't exactly pack a bag yesterday, just hopped on board. For the second time," she said dryly, and the Doctor forced out a long-suffering sigh when they turned to him.
"Oh, I suppose I can find somewhere boring for the two of you to do some shopping," he complained playfully, and Rose laughed.
"Good, because I kind of grew out of jeans and hoodies a few years ago," she said, but the casual mention of their time apart slammed into the Doctor and stole his breath.
He felt himself freeze and tense, but he couldn't stop the reaction before Rose noticed, and watching her smile vanish to be replaced with a sharp wince at her own words broke his hearts.
"Sorry," she offered quietly, and the Doctor forced a smile back onto his face and shook his head.
"Nothing to be sorry for," he promised. He could see that she didn't believe him from the way she ducked her head and started shifting what was left of her breakfast around her plate.
Even Martha fell silent and his forced smile withered into a grimace as he silently cursed himself, the atmosphere around the table shifting from playful to slightly morose.
He hadn't meant to react that strongly, but the casual mention had blindsided him. He'd meant what he'd said, she had nothing to be sorry for, but from the miserable slump in her shoulders, Rose clearly didn't believe it.
It wasn't her fault that they'd been separated, and she had done more than he'd thought possible. Had managed to return to him, against all odds. A mere three months had passed for him, and that had already been more than long enough.
After every amazing thing she'd done to accomplish that return, the last thing the Doctor wanted her to know was how much it still cut through his hearts that he'd missed four years of her already short life, but it looked like he wasn't even able to hide that much from her gaze.
He was failing to protect her from even that small injury, and slowly he stood from the table and took his plate to the sink.
"I'll just go and... plug some coordinates in for your shopping trip, then," he explained, forcing a smile back onto his face for the two women, slightly more natural than the last one he'd tried, before he fled the kitchen without waiting for a reply.
'I should take her back to Cardiff,' he admitted to himself as he stalked through the halls of the Tardis.
Travelling with him, being near him, it only hurt her. The memory of her flinch shot across his mind again, and the Doctor winced in turn. Shopping was a good excuse. He could drop them in London, and then leave, and they'd never—
The Tardis's hum lowered dangerously, and the Doctor slowed to a stop, leaning against the wall as he sighed.
She wouldn't let him abandon Rose, and truthfully, the Doctor didn't think he had the strength to walk away from her. He should. She'd be safer without him. It would be better for her if he could—
The Tardis pressed against his mind sharply, bringing forth the memories from the kitchen the night before. The scars across her arms from a shotgun, the older scar from a caxtar blaster, and the Doctor pushed her out of his memories sharply.
Okay. Not safer. Definitely not safer without him.
He swallowed hard, and the Tardis returned with a wave of patient comfort.
'Fine,' he sent back silently, 'she's no safer alone than she is here, and I couldn't find the strength to leave her anyway... but that doesn't mean I can let myself get close to her again,' he swore.
He could feel his ship's exasperation, but the Doctor shook his head.
'I can't,' he pleaded, eyes falling closed as he took a deep, steadying breath, 'losing her hurt too much already. I'll lose her again, one day, and it's already going to nearly destroy me.'
He could feel the ship's reluctance, knew she didn't agree or possibly didn't understand, but after a moment she relented. Backing down, for the moment at least, and the Doctor offered her a wave of gratitude.
He straightened slowly, pushed off the wall of the hallway, and continued on towards the console room in silence, shoring up the cracks in his defences that Rose had already begun to work her way through and hoped it would be enough.
"I'll just go and... plug some coordinates in for your shopping trip, then," the Doctor said, and Rose ground her teeth together as he fled the kitchen without waiting for a reply, her eyes burning into the remains of her breakfast.
As she heard the door close behind him, she sighed heavily and leant her elbow on the table, cradling her chin in the palm of her hand as she continued to stir the food around her plate.
"So... it's not just me who gets the whiplash mood swings," Martha muttered, and Rose's eyes flicked up to the other woman's face in surprise before she smiled, a small silent laugh escaping her as she shook her head.
"Nah, it's not just you. That's just what he's like," she said, sighing again, but the smile stayed curled against the corners of her mouth. "And, unless things have changed drastically, he'll probably land us somewhere and, instead of joining us, he'll go hide underneath the Tardis console and tinker," she added.
Martha didn't answer, and Rose didn't blame her. There wasn't much to say when the Doctor retreated like he had. She'd hoped, after their talk the previous night, that he'd leave down some of those walls permanently, but it looked like she was going to have to break through them all over again.
For now, he'd pulled back though, and there wasn't anything Rose could do about it for the moment so she forced thoughts of the Doctor to the back of her mind and lifted her gaze back to Martha again, shooting the woman a bright, genuine, smile.
"On the bright side," she offered, "that means you and me, on a shopping spree with an unlimited credit stick," she explained, and a Martha slowly returned her grin, Rose could feel the bubble of excitement at the chance to explore, rising in her chest.
"Retail therapy?" Martha asked, and Rose laughed, nodding.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," she agreed, and the two of them stood up almost simultaneously, clearing their plates and dropping them into the sink before following after the Doctor's dust trail.
They'd just reached the console room when the Doctor flipped the handbrake, the sudden shuddering of the Tardis sending both Rose and Martha stumbling, forcing them to grab hold of the nearest part of the ship to stay on their feet.
The Doctor all but danced around the console, flipping switches and throwing them through the vortex with a wild energy that Rose had almost forgotten. She hadn't realised just how much she'd missed it, and watching him spin around with the same manic energy as his ship in flight, Rose could help but laugh despite suspecting it was nothing more than a smokescreen of avoidance.
"Where are we?" Martha asked, eyes sparkling when the Tardis finally touched down with a soft thump and a quiet shudder.
"Out those doors is the planet Scobee," the Doctor announced, stepping away from the console and beginning to dig through the pockets of his brown pinstriped jacket while Rose and Martha regained their footing, and moved over to the console.
"Twice the size of your Earth, and colonized by humans around the fifty-first century. They're currently going through a bit of a nostalgia phase so you should be able to find some familiar twenty-first century pieces alongside some of the more local colour," he explained, before letting out a soft sound of triumph and pulling out a credit stick from his bigger on the inside pockets, tapping it against his hand as he continued.
"So, Scobee. Although the planet's bigger than Earth, it's mostly water with a scattering of small Islands, but there are two main landmasses. Assuming the Tardis behaved herself, we should be on the smaller of the two. There was a larger than average solar flare around fifty years back, so this side of the planet experiences warmer temperatures, overall. Damage to the outer thermosphere. Makes this the more appealing tourist spot, though. We should have landed in Edlyn, more shopping, less theme parks... so have fun," he finished, holding out the credit stick and waiting for one of them to take it.
When Martha stared at him, seeming to still be absorbing the fountain of information the Doctor had just offered, Rose stepped forward and accepted it, trying not to let her disappointment show on her face.
"So, you're not coming, then?" she couldn't resist asking. Despite what she'd told Martha, Rose had been hoping she was wrong, but the Doctor shook his head and Rose smothered a sigh.
"Nah. It's perfectly safe out there. You don't need me... and besides, I've got some work to do here—"
The Tardis interrupted him with a groan from her engines, and he shot her a glare over his shoulder.
"Look, just because you don't want your thermic regulator taken apart, doesn't mean it doesn't need doing," he growled, and the Tardis let loose another small sound of complaint before falling silent.
Rose hesitated, eyeing the rotor and wondering if she should push for his presence, but quickly decided to give the alien some time alone to process. She could spend that same time getting to know Martha better, and as much as she wanted to do nothing more than curl up with the Doctor on the sofa in the media room that wasn't who he was, even if they had been alone to indulge.
And she really did need some new clothes.
Turning to Martha, Rose offered her a smile "All right then, ready Martha?" she asked, only to find the other woman nodding, nearly bouncing in place with suppressed excitement, as they both moved towards the Tardis doors.
"And remember rule number one!" the Doctor called after them, making Martha turn to Rose with an eyebrow raised in question.
"What's rule one?" she whispered, stepping out of the Tardis and Rose laughed as she followed her, tugging the doors closed as they emerged into a busy marketplace.
"Don't wander off."
Rose and Martha spent the morning shopping around Edlyn, and everywhere they went the two had been sharing stories about themselves.
Rose had listened as Martha told her about training to be a doctor, how her hospital had ended up on the moon, and about her dads' trophy girlfriend and the tensions it brought up in her family.
In exchange, Rose had offered the story of how she'd met the Doctor when he blew up her job, skipping over the fact that he'd worn a different face back then. She'd told Martha how she'd been pulled across the void at the battle of Canary Wharf, and told her about her mum and younger brother still trapped a dimension away.
They'd both commiserated over the disgusting yellow goo one of them had ordered for lunch, and play fought over the dessert that tasted like raspberries and chocolate.
Four hours after they'd left the Tardis, two alien lunches, and around fifteen shopping bags each later, Martha and Rose were slowly making their way through the market back towards the parked ship, still cheerfully talking about anything that crossed their paths.
A shadow passed over the street, and Rose stopped walking, a chill creeping up her spine. Martha had taken another couple of steps before turning back to her, but before Rose could do more than open her mouth to ask if the other woman had seen the same, fast-moving, shadow that had flown across the street a piercing shriek filled the air.
"Ah," Rose hissed, her hands clapping to her ears quickly, and for a moment she thought it was due to her enhanced senses, but a quick glance around told her that everyone else was cowering away from the sound assaulting them too, and then panic erupted.
Screams filled the air, almost drowning out the first shrill cry, and shoppers began running, jostling Rose and Martha as they tried to stay near each other against the flood of the fleeing crowds.
"Perfectly safe, my arse!" Rose growled, before her eyes turned to the skies trying to spot whatever had cast the shadow, and issued the first deafening cry.
"Oh my god," Martha hissed, pointing up, and when Rose turned to look her jaw dropped open, and she could feel her eyes widen in shock.
Covered in dark, emerald green scales, with leathering wings spread wide as the creature tilted, its long body slicing through the air like a hot blade through butter, the only word Rose had to describe it was 'Dragon'.
"Is that—"
"I have no idea," Rose breathed as they watched the creature head back towards the town again, "but isn't it beautiful?"
Just then the creature let out another screaming roar, and a stream of liquid fire erupted from its mouth. Rose watched, hands pressed to her ears again, and tried to figure where the attack was taking place.
Based on how far they'd walked, and what Rose knew of Edlyn from their shopping trip, it looked like the creature was laying down fire near the outskirts but the creature cut off its attack quickly and flew across the town directly overhead.
Rose tracked its movements, frowning, and Martha's hand tightened around her forearm as they watched the creature circle around and come back, laying down a second blast of flame close to the first and making Rose grit her teeth.
"It's sealing off the town," she growled softly before both she and Martha were forced to cover their ears again against a third, ground-shaking roar, from the creature.
"We should get back to the Tardis. Get the Doctor," Martha said, her voice slightly breathless, but from pain or excitement Rose couldn't tell, and she just nodded, grabbing Martha's hand in her own so they wouldn't be separated, they both began running. As they moved through the town, they had to dodge around groups of terrified people, and Rose kept one eye on the sky as they ran, tracking the creature.
The sun was starting to sink lower in the sky, mid-afternoon light glinting off the creature's dark emerald scales, and the two glorious wings made the creature almost as wide as it was long. With each swooping circle the dragon made of the town, it flew lower, until Rose could make out the sharp claws tipping each toe on all four of its paws, and every time it roared, blasting out a fresh line of flame, Rose could see the sunlight glistening off rows of teeth.
It was an apex predator, and it had set its sights on Edlyn.
"I can't believe we're seeing an honest to god dragon!" Martha half laughed as they ducked down a covered alley, and Rose couldn't help but grin in response.
"Himself will probably tell us it's not called that," she said, laughing with the medical student, but their amusement was cut off sharply when the alley opened out into the town square, the large marble fountain in the centre depicting the founding family of Edlyn was the only structure for a hundred yards, leaving them no cover to hide beneath.
"Make a dash for it?" Rose suggested, glancing at Martha, and the other woman grit her teeth, a determination rising in her eyes that made Rose smile.
"Yeah," Martha agreed, but before either of them could move, the dragon passed over them again, the heavy beat of its wings sending buffeting gusts of wind across the square that left both of them stumbling back into the alleyway they'd just emerged from.
Rose watched as the creature slowly landed in the centre of the square, its tail curled across the cobblestones, the scales scraping against the ground like a whetstone across steel.
It folded its wings back against its body and landed with a ground-shaking thump, like a small earthquake, and Rose could see several panicking citizens stumble to the floor, screaming in fear.
The dragon's paws braced against the fountain, and the sound of the marble cracking echoed through the square as water gushed from between the shattered rocks and spilled out across the cobblestones.
It huffed out a wave of heated air, grumbling and growling low in its throat, and more cries erupted from the townspeople still in the vicinity of the square.
All Rose could hear were children crying, women screaming, men shouting orders to their loved ones to flee, but the piercing yellow gaze of the dragon swept over them all, making Rose's breath catch at the sharp intelligence she could see there.
She was going to call it a dragon, Rose decided as she stared at the almost iridescent green creature before her, because she didn't care what its actual species designation was. It looked like it had crawled out of the pages of a fantasy novel, and it was beautiful.
Without stopping to remember that she was no longer alone, and without hesitating to think about what the Doctor would do when he found out, Rose stepped away out of the alleyway and towards the dragon.
"Rose!" she heard Martha hiss, but she didn't stop or slow down. She kept her strides long, advancing without hesitation even while her hands were still full of shopping bags. There was still a distant part of her mind cooing over the beauty of the creature, but a larger part was warning her that she could very well be offering herself up as a snack.
"What do you want!?" she shouted to draw the dragon's attention, and the creature turned on her quickly, its snake-like neck whipping its huge head around to stare at her, bright yellow eyes taking her in as a similarly snake-like forked tongue flickered out of its mouth, tasting the air.
"A sacrifice," the creature hissed, and the crying around the town square increased.
"What kind of sacrifice?" Rose called, no longer shouting but being careful to keep her voice firm, loud and clear. She refused to let her fear rise just yet, letting none of her concern leak out into her voice. She hadn't been roasted alive yet, so she could only hope that, whatever the creature wanted, it wasn't an easy meal.
The dragon let loose a hissing laugh, before releasing another roar up at the sky, its long neck arching beautifully, and Rose staggered back, her eardrums throbbing in pain.
"My fires shall burn for years, trapping you all inside your homes unless one human comes with me, of their own will!" the creature roared, and Rose was sure everyone in Edlyn heard its ultimatum.
As the cry echoed out, slowly quieting, and the dragon coiled its neck back, twisting its head to stare at her again, Rose lowered her hands from her ears, panting slightly at the throbbing agony in her head, and frowning in confusion.
It had the town trapped and at its mercy, why did it want one person? Did it mean one person a day? A month? And why of their own free will?
Gut instinct told Rose that something wasn't adding up with the display of aggression, and simple demand, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Glancing around the square at the terrified people, it only took Rose a split second to make her decision and with a bracing breath, she turned back to Martha, finding the other woman standing only an arm's length behind her.
"Rose..." Martha said, her voice holding a tone of warning that made Rose shoot the other woman a grin.
"See? You know me too well already," she whispered teasingly, and Martha shook her head.
"What the hell are you thinking?" she growled, even as Rose held out her shopping bags and the medical student took them.
"I don't really know," Rose admitted softly, with a sigh. "It's just... Something about it..."
She glanced back at the dragon, and it was blowing two thin tendrils of flame out of its nose now, but the flames weren't directed at the people, or the buildings, smoke and sparks curling harmlessly up into the air.
"Look, I'm going to go with it. That'll at least by the town some time," Rose said, and Martha stepped forward, grabbing at her arm.
"You can't be serious!" she hissed, "It breathes fire, Rose! It'll barbecue you and then eat you!"
Rose offered Martha a slow, pleased smile as her worried words let one of the puzzle pieces that had so confused Rose fall into place.
"Then why hasn't it done that already?" she asked simply. Martha's jaw dropped open, and she blinked at Rose wordlessly. The question seemed to have shocked her into immobility and Rose took advantage, slipping her arm out of her new friend's grasp.
"Get the Doctor and, uh... don't take too long, hmm?" Rose asked her, a nervous laugh slipping out despite her best intentions. While the creature hadn't directly attacked anyone yet, for all Rose really knew the creature was taking her back to a nest full of no-so-discerning babies.
Martha made another quick grab for her arm, but Rose dodged and paced quickly towards the dragon. She refused to look over her shoulder at Martha, her nerves rising despite her best efforts, sending her heart thumping against her chest.
"All right, then, I'll go with you!" she shouted at the dragon, and it let loose a low rumbling sound that she would almost have called a purr. The dragon eyed her for a moment, and despite her confident words, Rose fought not to let her legs shake as the reptilian yellow gaze slid over her before holding her gaze unblinking, and she swallowed hard.
Despite her hopes, and her bravado to Martha, there was a good chance the creature would cook her for its dinner before the Doctor could find her, but for the moment it simply grinned. Lips curled back slowly, revealing dozens of pristine, white, and extremely sharp teeth, and Rose's heart stuttered before its pounding picked up speed once more.
"Very well. Prepare yourself, little human. This may be the last time you ever see the sun," the dragon growled.
Rose gasped as one of its front paws darted towards her, faster than she'd expected, the clawed digits wrapping around her body, but her instinctive wince had been unnecessary. The grasp the creature had on her was oddly gentle in comparison to its huge size, but Rose didn't have long to wonder about that.
Mere moments later the dragon launched itself into the sky, the motion similar to a cat leaping to the top of a garden fence only, instead of landing, they kept rising into the sky with powerful blows of its leathering wings against the air.
The beat of its wings was deafening, the gusts of air buffeting against her face made it difficult to breathe, but somehow Rose still heard Martha shout her name.