The sky was clear the day before they appeared. It was hard to believe that in a matter of hours the sky would be filled with nothing but smoke, ash and fire.

The London National Airport was busy as ten year old Alice Bradfield, her older brother and their father made their way to the baggage claim. They collected their luggage and made their way outside.

"Daddy, is all of England going to be this busy?" Alice asked.

Her father laughed as he hailed a cab. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see." He said as they piled their luggage into the back and climbed in.

"What I find odd was how empty the plane was, and there were a ton of people waiting for planes to leave."

Alice stared up at her brother. "Cid, please. No more of your wild stories." Their father said.

Alice turned her eyes back to the front of the cab and saw the driver nervously scanning the sky, as if he was expecting it to fall in on them at any minute.

They pulled up in front of the rather large house that they had rented for the summer and climbed out of the cab. They climbed the front stairs and found a note taped to the front of the door. Their father read it before shaking his head and digging into his pocket.

"Good thing she sent me the key." He muttered under his breath as he unlocked the door. They turned back to collect their luggage from the cab and found the car gone and their luggage sitting on the curb. "Odd, I didn't even pay him."

Cid and Alice glanced at each other, now curious about the note their father still had in his hand. They collected their things and walked into the house. Alice noticed that her father had dropped the note and quickly stuffed it into her pocket.

"Alright, go pick out your rooms. Then we'll figure out what to do for supper." Their father said in a voice that was meant to sound cheerful.

They climbed the stairs to the area where the bedrooms were. Alice tossed her bags onto the bed before walking to her brother's room. "Cid," She said softly, pulling the note from her pocket. Cid snatched the paper from her hand and opened it up. "Well, what does it say?"

"If you've still come, may God save you from the Devils beasts."

They heard a glass shatter below them and they ran down to the kitchen. Their father was watching a small TV and his eyes were wide. There was a pile of glass shards and water around his feet.

Cid stepped beside his father and looked at the screen. "My God." He whispered.

Alice pushed her way in front of them and stared at the TV screen. "Once again, this shocking footage was taken just moments ago. It would appear that Paris was been attacked by several Dragons. This footage has not been doctored in anyway."

Alice stared in shock of the now zoomed in picture of the dragons. "What should we do dad?" Cid asked.

"They mentioned a little while ago that there were several shelters being opened that were accessible by underground trains. Maybe we should head to one of those." He said. "I wish your mother was here. She'd know what to do and she'd keep a cool head."

"No, she'd say that there's no such thing as dragons and we'd get stuck here." Cid said. "I think we should go to a shelter, just in case."

"Alright, take Alice upstairs, fill one small bag each with a few changes of clothes and whatever else you think you might need. Then we'll go to a train, there should be one nearby."

Cid grabbed Alice's hand and dragged her upstairs. "What's going on?" Alice asked, not fully understanding what was happening.

"We're going somewhere safe." Cid said, throwing her things into a duffle bag.

"But why?" Alice asked, grabbing her teddy bear and hugging it, seeking some kind of comfort from the familiar object.

"Because we have to." He handed her the duffle bag. "Here is this too heavy for you?"

"It's fine." She said as he pulled her to his room.

When they were ready, he led her downstairs to where their father was waiting, looking at a map of the city. "Okay, there's an underground train station about twelve blocks from here, so it isn't that far away."

Cid grabbed Alice's hand and followed their father out the door. They were shocked to find the street completely deserted and it made them quicken their pace. Alice was looking around with wide eyes, not paying attention to the conversation that was going on between her father and brother.

They were half way to the train station when an explosion behind them made them all jump. Cid stopped and turned back to look at the devastation in the distance. He quickly picked Alice up as the two men began to run in the direction of the station. Alice looked up at the sky and could see several large shapes circling the black smoke.

Cid put Alice back down on the ground when they reached the station and pulled her along behind him. "Cid, come on, there's a train!" Their father yelled and led his children through the crowd.

They pushed their way onto the train, the two men sticking Alice between them. Within minutes the train was moving and Alice could feel her father breathe a sigh of relief.

"Daddy, you said Dragons weren't real." Alice said, glaring up at her father. "You lied."

Her father looked down at her and put a hand on top of her head. "I know sweetie. I guess I was…"

His words were cut off by what sounded like a speeding freight train and the squeal of brakes. Everything became bright, like someone had turned on a light in a dark room. Alice was thrown against Cid, her eye striking his elbow. Her cry of pain was lost among the screams of the other passengers and the screech of metal as the train was knocked on its side.

Before she had a chance to ask what was going on, Alice felt something hit her back. She heard a sickening pop in her shoulder before everything went black and she collapsed to the ground with her family.

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