Rose and her companions were falling. Rose hadn't expected Haldthin to drop them, but she adapted well enough to it. It hurt more when the rope tied between her and the Dragon stopped her, and she was hit with a jolt of force to her stomach. The pain was significant, and she supposed there would be some bruising, but she'd probably be fine. She looked to Haldthin in case there was more to this.

Far above, Haldthin had righted himself and Kaesdir peaked over the side to look at them. "I know who you are," Kaesdir said, his voice made loud and clear over the winds by a spell most likely. "You are Lynde the rogue rider and her companions: Arlen Shadeslayer, Rose the Ranger, and some old man. I thank you for healing me, but it is my duty as a Rider to capture you. My only question is this: where is the Dragon?"

Suddenly Artsanna flew over Kaesdir's head, whacking him with her tail as she did. He seemed to still have wards, but he was knocked off Haldthin as the ropes around him broke. He was like a sitting duck, hanging off Haldthin, but so were they. Rose took out her bow and began to fire the arrows that didn't fall out when she fell.

One arrow that she still had was the blue feathered arrow—Könungr'andlát it was called by some, or "king death" roughly—that she used to kill Raud. It was deadlier than anything else in her arsenal, but she wouldn't use it. A Rider was something the world couldn't afford to lose, no matter how frustrating they were, and to lose one of the first four could be doubly awful. She only had to wound him, if even that.

Her arrows that she had put spells on never to miss were being deflected by Kaesdir's sword. He used magic to draw it to his hand, and was using it in a way that reminded her of how Raud fought her in the tomb. However, this was no Shade, and he was probably tired, so he would not be as skilled at it as Raud had been. He was intercepting most of her arrows, and his wards—probably only very recently applied—were stopping the rest, so perhaps this wasn't going to work out.

Artsanna didn't seem to think so either and flew in, breathing fire. She burned the ropes holding them all up, and they began to fall again. This she had eventually expected, so she had a contingency plan.

She pulled another arrow out of her quiver, this one with a rope tied from it to her waist that she had tied while they were flying. She fired it at Haldthin, aiming it at a part of his scales that was weaker than the rest. She had underestimated the scales' thickness though, and it bounced off harmlessly, which was impressive since the arrow had been fired from an Elven bow. She had no time to be impressed though, as she was still falling.

Artsanna grabbed her with her front feet—claws, paws, whatever they were—as well as the others. Lynde landed on Artsanna's back, which she was quick thinking enough to use a spell to slow herself before she got hurt from the fall. Rose however would still have a lot of bruises to heal.

We need to get on the ground! Rose said to Artsanna. We can't fight in the air.

Maybe you can't, Artsanna said as she descended.

Now's no time for jokes!

As they went down, Haldthin was fast behind them. Kaesdir had managed to get into the saddle and they were closing in on them. Rose knew exactly how to fight him and began to cast a spell. She very quickly compressed the air near Haldthin, throwing him off course. She then lit the compressed air on fire, causing a fiery explosion that sent Haldthin careening towards the ground. Rose was very pleased with her work, especially since she had no idea if it would work as she had never done it before.

Artsanna dropped off Rose and the others when they got to the ground, and then flew off with Lynde. As Haldthin was getting up, Rose turned to Arlen and Herbst. "If you want to be of help, go to Feinster and tell them of what we're facing. If they refuse to help, then that's too bad, but ask."

Arlen and Herbst nodded and ran towards Feinster. Their battle was in view of the city, so the people of Feinster could probably see them as well. If Orrin truly wanted to help them as they speculated, then he would have to show it now.

Haldthin, now righted, roared at Rose. Artsanna and Lynde had disappeared, so it was just her against the Dragon and the Rider. Even she could not face down a Dragon, not without killing it, which wouldn't be very good for the rest of them. But if she had no choice, she would use Könungr'andlát. As she drew the blue feathered arrow from her quiver, Artsanna pounced onto Haldthin with a roar.

As Artsanna and Haldthin battle, Rose noticed something. Haldthin's spikes—which there were an unusually high number of for a Dragon of his size—were piercing Artsanna's hide. It seemed that an ambush predator like Artsanna could not contend with a spiky Dragon like that without getting injured.

As Artsanna breathed fire into Haldthin's face, she flew away, the fire being simply a diversion. Haldthin did not know this however, and swatted at where Artsanna had been. Artsanna was now in the sky, breathing fire at Haldthin, specifically his back where Kaesdir was. It was a good enough tactic, trying to drain his energy through his wards like that, but Artsanna had very little rest in the last week, trying to keep up with them on Cade's ferry, so it was more draining her than Haldthin, who probably was a lot fresher than her.

Artsanna, when she was out of fire, began to retreat. Haldthin was faster though, jumping into the air and bringing down Artsanna like a wild cat. When she went down, Artsanna was hurt, Lynde probably was also, and Haldthin stood over them in victory.

Rose drew her bow, but just to be fair, gave them a warning amplified by a spell. "Back away or I will kill you," Rose said.

"You cannot unless you have far more arrows than that," Kaesdir replied cockily.

"This arrow is Könungr'andlát, the arrow used to kill the Shade Raud and many others before him." Kaesdir was silent. "If you value your life, step away from them."

"I only wanted to talk anyway," Kaesdir said.

Rose was in disbelief, asking, "Then why did you throw us off?"

"I didn't think it would be safe otherwise," he said. "You do have a reputation with fighting Riders."

"Because they keep picking a fight with us!"

"Hmm. I'll try to pass that on to Alaric. I think it would be best if we talked in Feinster."

Remembering Arlen and Herbst, she contacted one of them mentally. Arlen, are you at Feinster?

Almost, Arlen replied. We're about to get help.

Don't bother. We're not fighting anymore.

Arlen's "voice" seemed surprised. Who won?

It was a draw. We're going to talk it out.

Then Herbst sprained his ankle for nothing?

I suppose so. She didn't need to ask how he did it, since it was likely that he stepped in a rabbit hole or something. Get Herbst and wait for us. We'll be arriving shortly, and I think as our original selves.

Huh, I was just getting used to your new faces. Oh well.

Rose went to Lynde and Artsanna, finding that the Dragon was tougher than she thought. She had a few broken bones and some nasty scratches, but nothing serious. Rose had expected her to have a few more, but she was glad she didn't have more work.

After getting Artsanna healed with the help of Kasdir and Haldthin, Rose went about restoring hers and Lynde's faces to normal—or at least how they looked before this journey started. While Lynde was glad to have her own face back, Rose decided to remove a few years from her own. She knew that she was getting old when she decided that, but there had been older Elves, certainly.

They went to the gates of Feinster, and after healing Herbst's ankle, Rose and the others went into the city. Kaesdir said that he didn't feel like making the walk to the keep, so Haldthin would fly him there. Artsanna felt a bit shy, so she flew with him. And so, when Rose, Lynde, Arlen, and Herbst went into the city, practically no one recognized them or thought they were anything special.

In a way it was frustrating not to be recognized, but it was somewhat alright with her. Most people looked up to see the Dragons flying overhead than look at the travelers coming through the gate. At least they would make it to the keep unopposed.