No way... I'm... On schedule... Holy cows...

I don't even care if it's 10:30 at night - I'm counting this. Though it being vacation DOES help somewhat.

So, here's the thing. The last chapter, this chapter, and the next chapter are probably the most nerve-racking I've written thus far, which is why I absolutely, capital N, NEED your reviews. Honestly, I'm sure you're quite tired of hearing that from other writers, but reviews are what keep me writing this story, so if you're enjoying it, just leave something. Anything. Well, preferably not "This is literally the worst story I've ever read, I hate your guts" but if that's your opinion, go for it. Ask questions as well. This is the internet, remember - anonymity is your friend, and I'll almost always give you an answer.

Getting away from that, special thanks to those of you who followed and favorited this story - it means a lot. I'm glad to see that you're interested.

So, lastly, I'll mention one more time that I now have a Wattpad account as well, under the same name, with the same story(ies) and profile picture. Just in case you missed that.

For those of you who for some reason have skipped the last three or four chapters to see what happens in the story... I'd really recommend you go back and read the others first. Seriously.

How to Train Your Dragon is property of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.

To say that it was awkward for Astrid and Toothless to sit there waiting for Hiccup to wake up would be an understatement like no other.

After a few minutes with no response from the boy viking, Toothless asked Astrid if he should try to rouse him himself. She disagreed at first, but after a moment's thought decided that he would probably end up sleeping the rest of the day away if they didn't do something.

Toothless had started gently at first, trying to rock him back and forth on his saddle in an attempt to slowly bringing him out of his slumber, but it only seemed to send him into a deeper sleep, annoying Toothless even more. Astrid could see the dragon's impatience grow as he started to rock him faster, and swung higher than he had before, shaking him around and likely rattling his brain quite a bit. But the boy still did not stir. Finally, with an frustrated snort, Toothless lurched the boy out of his saddle, flinging him onto the ground a few feet away head-first. Astrid cringed and looked away, hearing his unmanly screech as he was hurled through the air, then the THUMP of his body hitting the ground a moment later. As tough as she told everyone she was, she hated to see Hiccup get hurt.

After a moment, Hiccup put one of his hands out on the ground, clutching at his head with the other, and brought himself up to a kneel on his metal leg. He turned his head up and stared at Astrid for a moment, then blinked, squinting as though he didn't think she was actually there. She expected to see fear or hatred in his reaction - anything to show he had at least acknowledged what had happened, but she was instead met with a sort of dull disappointment, the kind of look he took on whenever one of his inventions wasn't working.

He sighed and shook his head, then replied sarcastically, "Great, so it wasn't a dream - my girlfriend really turned into a dragon. Just perfect. How's that for relationship issues?" He chuckled to himself for a moment, smiling.

Astrid gaped at him for a moment, before turning to Toothless, who just shrugged his wings and licked one of his paws in response. She reeled back around to face the boy, baring her teeth.

"Hiccup! I just turned into a dragon! Do you think this is some kind of a joke?! This is really me in here - I didn't exactly have this happen WILLINGLY!"

She tried to send the message to him for a moment, before mentally slapping herself for being so stupid. She was way too used to Toothless's mind-talking already, and she hadn't even been using it for a day. Although it was probably a step backwards from not completely turning into a dragon, she had a terrible feeling that she would have to get used to it, at least until they figured out how to fix everything.

After staring at her for a moment, Hiccup cringed and scratched the back of his neck, suddenly looking quite embarrassed. "So when Toothless was trying to tell me… And he said he knew… And that's why you ran… And then, with the hand… Oh my Gods, the bonding thing! Astrid, I… I'm so sorry about that. I just thought… I had no idea you were, um… In there..." His voice trailed off, and his cheeks grew red as the summer sun.

She nodded at him, accepting his apology. As scared as she had been to go through the… Bonding, as Hiccup called it, she was able to forgive him for it - he'd had no idea that it was her - to him, it had been just another dragon he could train in the woods, if a Night Fury, at that. As much as she hated to admit it, she was willing to accept that she had… Changed, at least for the moment. If she ever wanted to fix it, she knew she would have to at least acknowledge what had happened. Besides... Connecting with him hadn't been all that bad…

He looked at her with concern and asked, "Are you okay? I mean, of course you're not okay okay. But do you have any pains at all? Does anything hurt more than you think it should?"

Well, apart from growing scales, wings, and a tail after I had a bucket of burning hot acid dumped on my head, I feel completely fine! She thought sarcastically, before wondering if she had accidentally sent the message to Toothless. She really needed to learn how to control that.

She started to shake her head in response, but then turned back to the Night Fury beside her, trying to raise an eyebrow. "Um, am I... Okay?"

Toothless turned to face her, his eyebrows coming together. He sniffed the air for a moment, before responding. "You look healthy enough, though I've never seen another Night Fury of the blood, so I suppose that's just based on assumption. I can't smell any infections or diseases on you, either, which is always a good thing."

She turned her head back to Hiccup, wondering how Toothless could smell injuries. Blood she could understand, and she could already tell how much better a Night Fury's nose was than a human's, based only on her experience as one thus far. But a specific wound or scar? How would that work? She couldn't help but wonder if, on the small chance that they didn't change her back within the coming few days, or hours, even, she could learn how to do it herself… But it didn't matter - Hiccup would doubtless solve everything as soon as she explained what had happened, and besides, there was no way she would ever succumb to becoming a dragon that much. Never in a millenia.

Hiccup blinked slowly and rubbed his forehead. "So… Alright, Let me get this straight - You and Toothless found the trap in the woods, you tripped it and something happened that made you turn into a… A Night Fury. You passed out, and… Toothless came back to find me. Somehow, you can talk to each other, but I can't hear it. Is that right?"

She nodded. She hadn't remembered seeing Toothless run off to find Hiccup, of course, but he had told her as much when he was explaining what happened. At the very least, she was glad they were all on the same page, more or less.

"Okay…" He sighed and closed his eyes. "This… This is a lot to take in. Astrid, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. If I had just gone with Toothless, then maybe… This," - he gestured to all of her - "wouldn't have happened. I just..."

He looked down, and his words faded, noticing that she was writing in the dirt again. She wrote in the simplest terms she could, trying to get the message out as fast as possible. She wasn't exactly a fast writer or reader as a human, never mind trying to write with dragon-claws, so she knew the words likely came out rather untidy and confusing, but she also knew that Hiccup would at least get the meaning.

NOT YOUR FAULT

YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO FIX

YOU READ BOOKS LIKE THIS ALL TIME

FISHLEGS TOO

I KNOW YOU HEARD OF THIS BEFORE

YOU MUST HAVE

He looked down at her, a desperate and brooding expression on his face that made her heart fall down to her stomach.

"I… Astrid, I… I just don't know." The world around Astrid suddenly blanked out, and she was barely aware that Hiccup was still talking, never mind what he was saying. "I mean, Dad and Gobber used to tell stories and legends when I was younger about trolls that used to be human before witches cursed and exiled them, and stuff like that. But you turning into a dragon… I've never heard of anything like that before. I… I'd have to go back to the great hall, and do some research, but a lot of those books got burnt up last time Snotlout let Hookfang in there. It must have something to do with that trap you set off yesterday, but I just… I haven't seen anything about shape-shifting acid or liquids with skin-changing properties in any of the books I've read, and to be honest, I don't think anyone else in the village has, either. I don't want to tell you this, - believe me, Astrid - but I have no idea where to start."

Inside of Astrid's mind, a battle was unfolding. Looming in one corner, there was despair - After all, if Hiccup couldn't fix this, who could? If she gave in, she would be forced into becoming a dragon, to live as what she had turned into for the rest of her life. For once, the full impact of the idea swept over her like wildfire. She would have few choices - in the worst case scenario, she would be exiled from Berk, if not accused of practicing witchcraft and burned on a stake, if you could even burn dragons. Assuming she wasn't, what then? Well, perhaps Hiccup and Toothless could find her some safe cave or abandoned hut to dwell in, somewhere hopefully on the island - No matter how cast out she would be from the village, she knew she would never be able to bring herself to leave her home. She could see the rest of her life play out before her - At first, Toothless and Hiccup might come to visit her, to check on her and ensure that she was still alive and well, and bring her food. Every day he would come to tell her that he loved her no matter what had happened to her, that he would find some way to make the village accept her, that he would change her back... But then those visits would change. Every day would turn into every week, and then every month, with each instance becoming less about his concern over her health and his compassion, and more about whether she was still living - a sort of dark, emotionless curiosity that she never wanted to see. With every year that passed, she would become more and more of a… Of a dragon, slowly becoming even less human than Toothless and Stormfly seemed. Then, one day, whether it be a hundred years later or barely a few, Toothless would visit her, teary-eyed, and tell her that Hiccup had been killed by some enemy tribesman or crazy dragon he found in the woods, and she knew she would tell herself that she could have been there to save him, if only she hadn't picked up that stupid shield so long ago. But at that point, it wouldn't even matter - She wouldn't even know him anymore, wouldn't even remember him, or anyone. By that point, she would be all gone - she wouldn't even remember that Toothless was ever more than just another Night Fury, more than a… Potential mate, even. All she would think about was all dragons' needs were - food and shelter, the basic survival needs. She would be a savage. The village would slowly forget about her as well, as she shifted from a tragic case and life lost to a legend, a myth. She could hear the children talking about it, could see the words being written on the pages of storybooks years in the future. Astrid, it read, the girl who became a Night Fury, and vanished forever. Though some even say that she still lives on this very island, preying on those who dare venture near her... And in small words near the bottom, a necessary precaution in red ink: Extremely dangerous - kill on sight. The worst part? it would be completely true.

Yes, the despair of the situation was most certainly a contender.

Huddling in the other corner, shaded and fragile, there was hope. Hope that there was a cure for her out there, and that Hiccup could somehow find it before the situation got out of hand, before the village exiled her, before she turned full-dragon. Hope that somewhere, tucked away in some forgotten corner of the Great Hall was a book documenting something, anything, that would explain what cruel witchcraft had turned her into the very offspring of lightning and death itself. Hope that maybe, just maybe, resting in the confines of that book was a way out of the terrible mess she had gotten herself into.

The despair was tempting - it stood there, reclusive but dangerous in the shadows, seemingly an easy way out at first sight, but hiding underneath the surface, a life of sorrowful remorse, and regret that she had never tried to fix her problem. And so, she chose the underdog - she chose hope. She needed it then more than ever.

She lifted her head back up to Hiccup, who still seemed to be verbally listing off all of the things he thought might help her, mixing his own thoughts in between sentences. She couldn't help but admire his ability to go straight to fixing the problem, something that she was more than glad they shared on the situation. Toothless, on the other hand…

"Astrid, what… You're sure you're feeling alright?"

She rolled her eyes and looked at him. "Yes, I'm fine, you stupid reptile! Now stop asking me that! What makes you think something's so wrong with me?"

His mouth fell open, and he shook his head back and forth, before responding, "Wrong with you?! Astrid, you just became one of the blood! I mean, you're... You're supposed to be Stormfly's human! Just a moment ago you were having a mind-crisis every few seconds! Now you're acting WAY too calm about this - I mean, I'm just afraid that you're, I don't know, losing your wings, or something."

She narrowed her eyes at him - he had just brought up the exact thing she hadn't wanted to think about, above all else."Losing my w… Listen, Toothless. You're right - I should be completely freaking out right now. I should probably be writhing around on the ground in a complete panic. And you know what? Maybe I am. Maybe, on the inside, I'm terrified at everything that's happening. I'm terrified that my legs don't feel right, and that I can't feel my fingers anymore because they are NOT THERE. Maybe I'm freaking out about the fact that I'm covered in scales, have these huge leathery wings sprouting out of my back right now, and what feels like a whole new arm that moves like a snake coming out of my butt. Yes, you're right - I am acting a little weird. But that's only because I DO NOT WANT TO DEAL WITH THIS RIGHT NOW. And, based on how fast Hiccup can normally solve these problems, I hopefully won't have to. So, I'm ignoring the problem. As soon as we fix this, I can act like it never even happened, because right now, this is the only way I have to fight it without hurting myself!" She huffed at him and tried to ignore his response, but ended up listening to him anyways.

"Astrid... you can't just ignore what's happened to you. I've tried ignoring changes in the past, but it never ends well. The queen used to tell those of the blood - dragons, I mean - that there are two reactions that we all have two choices whenever we face a problem - fight it, or fly away. She used to tell us that humans acted the same way, but then I thought that she just meant in combat with us. After all, I always saw humans in your nest that chose to run whenever we hunted there, but there were always just as many that fought. After Hiccup untied me the day he shot me down, I… I didn't think he was a warrior. I thought he was a… What do you call them? Coward. I thought he was one who ran away from the fights and hunting parties. But then… I realized he wasn't. He became like a brother I never had. He brought us together, Astrid. You and me. I don't understand a lot about humans, but I know that doing something like that takes more courage than all the warriors in your nest have, combined. He paused for a moment to let her respond, but when she didn't, he continued.

"I've seen you out there, too. You're not just a warrior - you're a leader. You're like him. For all the moon's turns I've known you, you've never backed down from a challenge, whether it be on the battlefield or in your nest. Ignoring what's happened to you might be easy for you to do now, but soon you'll realize that you can't fix this without at least opening your eyes to the problem. I might be a… Dragon, but I don't want you to stay this way, believe me. I don't know if you're right for him, but you're Hiccup's mate, and I want you to stay that way. I want you to keep him safe. One day, you'll raise children together that will become the next leaders of your nest, is that right?" She felt herself blush, but nodded. He narrowed his eyes, thinking, then continued, "You need to be human to do that. You're Astrid of the humans, friend of dragons. You can't just make this problem go away without facing what's happened first. I won't let you run away again, either."

She knew that he was probably staring at her, waiting for a response again, but she refused to return the gaze. Eventually he dropped it and padded back over to Hiccup, who was writing something down in a notebook he had seemingly pulled out of thin air. After a moment, she mumbled back her own thought, "You have a very odd definition of 'hunt'. What are we to you, prey, or something?"

He looked back at her, astonished, and replied "Hunt?! That is an old term, we've used it for years to describe the… Trips. No, of course not, I meant that it was…" He thought for a moment and frowned, before responding, "I guess we don't have a proper term for it in our tongue. What did you call them, in the nest?"

"Well… We called them raids…"

He looked up at the sky for a moment, and then replied, as if trying the word out for the first time, "Raids… Interesting. What exactly does raid mean?"

She began to reply, a bit surprised, "Well, a raid is…" She stopped herself after a moment, baffled by what she was saying. "Why am I even telling you this? It doesn't matter, I'll be human again soon…"

"Well," He said, "That's all the more reason to tell me right now. You can explain it to me, and I'll be able to ask you questions. There are SOME benefits to what happened to you, you know."

"No," She hissed back at him, "There are not. There is absolutely nothing GOOD about my turning into a dragon - a Night Fury, nonetheless."

"Well," He replied, a sly grin crawling onto his face, "At least I got you to accept that it happened."

She was about make a comeback, before she realized Hiccup had dropped his notebook, and was staring at both of them, awe-struck.

"Wow," he began, "so you two can talk to each other with your minds? That must be one hell of a conversation you're having, then."

She realized that Toothless and her were face-to-face, with only a foot of space in-between them. After a moment, she broke off from the conversation, giving Toothless her best "We'll finish this later" look, and turned to Hiccup with an equally venomous stare. He picked his book back up, and after a moment - with a fair bit of stuttering - replied, "Sorry, it's just… Well, think about it! With this, we could finally talk to each other! Toothless, and I, that is. How does that even work, anyways? Are you in each other's minds, or something? That's… Amazing. Think about everything we could put in the Book of Dragons! I mean, what we can learn from Toothless… And, uh, you too…" She hardened her glare and huffed again. He blushed as though he'd just said something inappropriate, which to her, he had. "Right, moving on… So, we have no idea who set that trap. I think it might have been that girl we were chasing yesterday, but to be honest I'm not even sure she was trespassing at all, though I don't see why she'd run away from us if she wasn't up to something. But who knows? Maybe she's just a hermit that lives out in the woods here. Of course, you'd think that my father would tell me about something like that, but once again, who's to say? I've seen stranger things in this forest... Anyways, what matters right now is what exactly turned you into a dragon, not so much who, though we'll probably have to get to that soon enough. I've never heard of a chemical or substance of any kind that would turn anything into another creature, and anyways, I have a feeling that there's something else going on here beyond that acid that we don't see. Something… Magical. Either way, we need to go back to the trap."

She nodded at him as she watched him hop onto Toothless, and tried to follow when they started walking back towards the cove, only to quite abruptly remember that she was standing on all fours, trip over both her front and back feet simultaneously, and fall on her face for the umpteenth time that day. To make it worse, she felt her wing being nearly crushed under her body, and thought she felt the urge to lick it as soon as possible, but figured that she must have just imagined it.

"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled, turning at the sound of her scream as the wing went under her. He jumped off of Toothless and ran over to her to her, worried.

"Come on, roll over. I need to check your wing," He replied, likely not remembering it was Astrid he was talking to, and not just a Night Fury he found in the woods. She was annoyed, to say the least, but complied anyways.

He frowned and said, "This… Could be a problem."

After a moment, she stood back up to all fours, glad that she didn't feel any pain, but still nervous after hearing Hiccup's words.

BROKEN?

Hiccup shook his head after seeing her question in the dirt. "No, you seem to be fine, as far as I can tell. But, well, you can't even walk a few feet. The trap's at least a few miles from here, if not more. I figured you'd be able to make it there, but I guess I forgot that… You know…" He gestured at her feet, making her close her eyes and let out a sigh. Once again, she was reminded of what she had turned into, and she had to subdue her instinctual urge to throw a fit of panic and anger as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Maybe Toothless was right… Maybe she did need to stop lying to herself… But not just yet.

She was about to write a response before she received yet another message from Toothless. "Tell him that he and Stormfly can go, and I will stay here with you." She turned back to look at him, surprised, but he continued to stare blankly at Hiccup.

"Toothless… I need to go back there with him. There's no way I can just stay here with you. Besides-" He turned to look at her, and she was cut off by him again, unable to finish sending the message. "It works better this way, Astrid. I have my own guess as to why you can't even walk all of a sudden, but unfortunately I can't explain why right now, because we really don't have the time, and I doubt that you'll like the answer. If Hiccup goes back with Stormfly, he can figure out whatever he was talking about with the human-acid-spitter and make it back by the end of the day. Aside from that, I had some… Things, I wanted to ask you about."

Astrid sighed. She could only guess what Toothless wanted to talk to her about, but aside from that, she had to admit that he was right. She figured that she could probably make it back to the trap site, given enough time, but she had a feeling it would take hours for her to get used to walking on all fours, as natural as it felt, and she didn't really feel like seeing Stormfly in the… Body, she had, either.

She turned back to Hiccup, frowning, and wrote the message in the dirt.

TOOTHLESS SAYS YOU GO TO TRAP WITH STORMFLY

I STAY HERE WITH HIM

"That's amazing!" Hiccup said a moment later, grinning, "We can finally talk to each other! At least with more than nods and stuff. And, uh, for as long as you stay… Like this, Astrid."

She narrowed her eyes at him and quickly scribbled in the dirt.

DON'T GET ANY IDEAS

"Of course not," Hiccup replied, his smile dropping some. "Are you sure about this, Astrid? The last two times I left you two alone you turned into a dragon, and nearly ran away, from what I can gather."

Her eyes widened as she realized something, and wrote another line in the dirt after moving ahead some.

HOWS YOUR LEG?

"Oh, this?" He gestured to his metal foot, and smiled again. "It's fine - A pin just got out of place when we crashed - I was able to fix it while you two were gone. I still need to make an adjustment when we get back to the… Village…" This time, it was his turn to come to a realization. "Gods, Astrid, the Village! That was a huge storm we had last night. My Dad probably has half of Berk out looking for us. If he finds us out here…" He shook his head, "I don't know what he'll do, honestly."

Astrid thought about it. She knew it would likely be better off if less people knew about what had happened, though she couldn't bear living with herself if she knew that nobody else found out but Hiccup. If something happened to him, then the situation could end up worse than if they found out and banished her. Not only would her story be lost forever, but she would have to play the part of a dragon, living in the village and eating fish for the rest of her life to avoid being banished. Still, maybe there was some way they could tell the village that she had turned into a Night Fury and didn't deserve to be banished for witchcraft. The more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed, but until the time came, she was clueless.

Hiccup's brows were creased in frustration, obviously having similar thoughts. After a moment, he looked up. "Alright," he began, "If I can get back to that trap soon enough, I could bring the liquid to Gothi, and she might be able to make an antidote, or at least explain to me why this happened. If it all goes well, we might be able to solve this by the end of the day. Though I doubt Gothi's ever seen anything like this before, if anyone on the Island knew anything about this, it would be her." He started running back towards the cove, his feet digging into the mud and dirt, still wet from the shower the night before. "I'M GONNA TAKE STORMFLY BACK TO THE TRAP," he yelled back over his shoulder, "I'LL SEE YOU BACK HERE IN A LITTLE WHILE… MAYBE."

She rolled her eyes, and thought to herself, And I'll still be back here, your everyday Night Fury girl… Probably."

A few minutes later, she saw the familiar shape of Stormfly rising over the trees in the noonday light, Hiccup riding on her back. With a sigh, she turned back to Toothless. "So," she asked him, "just what exactly did you want to talk to me about?"

"WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME?! ANYONE?!" Syl knew nobody was looking for her, but she was out of options.

Rather than stay curled up in a ball and slowly wither away in the tiniest cave on the island, she had decided she would be a woman of action, something her mother would never expect her to be. A few hours into the middle of the night - which seemed colder than she remembered Berk being - she had made another important decision: If she ever got out of that stupid, damp cave, she would make it her life goal to prove her mother wrong. Of course, she had no idea exactly what she would do to her, but she knew it had to be rebellious enough to make her mother wish she had never exiled her for as long as she lived. And if that plan happened to involve a little bit of revenge? Okay, a lot of revenge - then so be it.

At first, she had tried brute force, which she knew probably wouldn't have much of an effect, anyways. Nonetheless, she had spent the better half of what she assumed to be morning, based on the daylight seeping through the cracks in the wall, trying to kick and punch at the wall in the fruitless hope that it might collapse. After what felt like hours, with bloodied hands and a tired heart, she finally gave up, slumping to the muddy floor in defeat. She let herself rest for a while, before getting back up again and trying to take a more reasonable approach at taking down the wall. As much as she hated thinking about her stupid wretch of a mother, she still tried to imagine what she would do in the same situation. She tried to look for weak points in the rocks, places on the verge of collapse that she might be able to push through or adjust in order to get out. But the search was in vain - after an hour of pushing and prodding at the boulders, both big and small, she had only managed to make more rocks tumble into the already small dip in the cliff-side, making her fear that she had triggered another rock-slide for a moment, before stopping just as abruptly as it had started.

And that, eventually, led to her wailing at the top of her lungs in the hope that someone - anyone - might just be in the area and happened to hear the cries of a small, innocent girl stuck in a hollow after a landslide. At first, she had had her own ideals - she imagined some idiotic but conveniently strong Viking bumbling through the woods who happens to hear her cries, and digs her out of the rocks. Her thanks would be a few cuts across the chest with her knife to assure there was nobody alive who ever saw her, and then she would be gone. But after the first half an hour of trying to make her voice sound like the pinnacle of damsels in distress, her relatively calm requests for assistance quickly became sobbing, desperate calls for help. It could be Bjarke for all she cared - she just wanted out.

Licking her lips, Syl slumped down against the wall for the third time that day - she was done. Her mother was right - she really was a failure. She had never succeeded in her so-called "missions". She had never tried to make friends, only tricking the kids in her village to be testers for the traps she tried to design in the woods, which never worked, and got her into trouble all too often. If only her brother could see her then, he would probably say that-

A sudden rumble and resonating THUMP from the outside shook her out of her thoughts, and for a moment she was terrified that her yelling had somehow triggered another landslide, something she really did not want to deal with right then. But she knew it couldn't have been - if it was, it would last at least a few seconds, which whatever was outside hadn't. For a moment, she considered the thought that it might have just been another boulder tumbling down the cliff, but somehow she knew that wasn't true, either.

Then she heard a voice.

All of her worries seemed to melt away, as she leaned against the rock and tried to listen closer, something in her mind telling her that she should recognize the voice, and that she should be very, very worried, for some reason. Instead, she ignored it, letting the bliss of the sound of another human being's voice fill her ears like sweet chocolate.

"Hello? Is someone in there?" The voice was muffled through the stone and dirt, but the words were clear enough to understand.

"Yes, yes! I'm here! Please, get me out of…"

And suddenly she realized where she had heard that voice before.

Oh, GODS… She groaned the most tired groan she could muster. Please, anyone, she prayed to all the Gods she had been taught to worship from a young age. Anyone but HIM.

"Hang on," the nasally voice of the dragon conqueror seeped through the wall once again, more anxious this time. "I'll get you out of there in no time!"