And so Marina and I fought on the front lines, after forging a document saying we were allowed to be outside the palace. General Bloodfang had assigned us to our own troops for us to fight in. Nothing really of interest happened besides fighting tirelessly every day until I heard Nyra's voice in my head, saying that the palace had been attacked and Dad sent for her and Spy to be taken somewhere else for hiding, but they managed to sneak off. After that, it was a few weeks before anything else of interest happened.

Panting, I plopped onto the ground.

"Everything alright, princess?" a soldier asked. I slowly nodded.

"I'm just tired," I said.

"Here. You can have my rations," he said, pushing part of a deer towards me.

"No, you need your food," I replied, shaking my head.

"Then get some sleep," the soldier suggested and I closed my eyes. For countless days, I had been fighting non-stop. It was extremely tiring, and repetitive. I was pondering whether or not I should ask Bloodfang for a day off. No, I thought to myself. There are no days off in this war. And if I say I want to stop fighting, Bloodfang will probably send me back to Dad, wherever he is. And since all of us had snuck off, Dad would definitely watch me like a hawk. I let myself sleep in peace until I was shaken awake by another soldier in the middle of the night.

"What is it?" I asked, shooting upright.

"We just got word of an attack in the north. We're heading out there now," he said. I nodded and joined the rest of my troop and we flew to the north to the fight. The air grew colder the closer we got and snow and ice covered the ground beneath us. Suddenly the snow was melted and the ground was covered in fire instead of ice. We landed nearby and searched for any other dragons. The captain motioned for some soldiers to head over around the fire, while 5 others, he, and I headed in to see if there was anything in the fire. Smoke filled my lungs and flames licked at my fireproof scales. Of course, all I felt from it was warmth, but the smoke did limit the visibility and it was harder to smell anything other than smoke. Three of the soldiers had gone in a different direction. I could only see the captain and two soldiers. We walked forward, keeping our heads low to the ground for a better chance of catching a scent.

"This way!" the captain ordered, taking off after a scent and we followed, but I soon lost sight of them. I slowed to a stop and looked around, trying to figure out where they went. I tried to pick up their scents, but the smoke was too thick. I tried to take a step forward, but then something grabbed me from behind. I spun around to see a big brown dragon gripping my tail tightly, smiling menacingly at me.

"Hello, princess," he snarled. "Tayam would love to meet you." I tried to pull my tail out of his grasp, but the more I struggled, the harder he gripped and his claws dug into my tail painfully.

"Captain!" I yelled but the dragon sliced my muzzle. I twisted around to claw at him and he caught my foreleg in his jaw and bit down hard. I took a deep breath to breath fire at him, but before I could he took off, still holding my tail in his claw and my leg in his jaw. He carried me through the sky. Writhing in his grasp, I opened my wings to try to catch the wind to pull me away, but he ran his hind claws through my wings. I screamed and heard the captain calling my name in the distance but I couldn't respond because he was flying too fast.

He carried me to a mountain that was surrounded by a river. He dove into the water and swam along the current until he took a sharp turn and followed a different current, then shot out of the water in an opening in the middle of the mountain. Dragons were rushing to and fro, busy with their own things. There was what I assumed was a guard at the mouth of the river. The dragon carrying me landed and shook the water off of him, then walked over to the guard, who was staring at me.

"I need to see Tayam," the dragon said, letting my bloody leg drop from his jaw. The guard, shocked, kept staring at me until what the dragon said finally registered and he nodded, then started to lead us off. The dragon walked behind me, making sure I didn't try anything as we walked deeper into the mountain, into a dark tunnel. We finally emerged in another opening, where a few dragons were talking. They stopped to look at us, then one dismissed the others and they, along with the guard, left.

"Tayam," my captor said. "I have captured the princess Miriel."

"I see that," the other dragon, Tayam, said. He stepped closer to me, looking me over, then looked back up at my captor. "You did well."

"What would you like done with her?" he asked. "Do you want her killed?"

"No, no, not yet," Tayam said. "We can use her to get information."

"Who are you?" I asked icily. Tayam looked back at me.

"I am Tayam, the one who will take back the human lands for the dragons," he said. This was the dragon who started this war.

"You will never win," I snapped. He chuckled.

"You're so fond of humans, aren't you?" he said. When I didn't answer, he put a necklace around my neck and added, "Then be stuck as one." The moment the gem in the necklace touched my scales I involuntarily turned human. I tried to turn back to my original form, but I was stuck as a human without any magic and the dragon grabbed my hands so I couldn't take the necklace off.

"Lock her up," Tayam ordered. "Don't give her any food or water tonight. In the morning, I'll go and pay her a visit." The dragon nodded and dragged me off to a cell, where he put shackles on my ankles and wrists and chained them to the wall. After he left, I tried to slip out of the shackles for hours. Finally exhausted, and my wrists and ankles stinging and red from the shackles, I tried to find the most comfortable position to sleep.

The next morning I woke up to see Tayam standing in front of me, wearing the same necklace so that he was in human form as well.

"Good morning, princess," he said.

"Let me go," I snapped, glaring at him.

"Only if you're a good little girl and tell me what I want to know," he replied.

"I'll tell you nothing," I spat. He smirked and held out his hand, palm facing up. Immediately I felt immense pain shoot up my spine. I screamed and he closed his fist. The pain multiplied and I screamed louder until finally he stopped.

"Now, where's Bloodfang's camp?" he asked. When I didn't answer he held out his hand again, causing the pain again. This went on for a couple of hours, he'd ask me a question, and I wouldn't answer, and he'd torture me, sometimes with magic and sometimes with a weapon. By the time he was done I was in bad shape, blood dripped from a head wound into my eyes, almost every inch of me was bruised, and my leg was broken. Soon after he left in the evening, a small meal arrived. It was disgusting. And I soon fell into a routine. Every day he'd come interrogate me, and then he'd leave me in worse shape than I was before and I'd get a rotting dinner. About a week went by, until the last day he came and tortured me again and I lost consciousness, and collapsed to the ground. I woke up again soon after, and it seemed that no time had passed. I opened my eyes to see that I was standing up next to Tayam. I looked down and saw my own body lying there. I gasped, and took a few steps back as Tayam put two fingers to my neck.

"No pulse," he said. "We won't get information from her, but with her dead we have the advantage." He grinned and called for another dragon, who came and dragged my body away. Suddenly everything around me swirled into another scene. Now I was watching Tayam and his dragons parading my lifeless body around. Bloodfang's troops were stunned by the sight of my body and had more trouble fighting. The scene changed again, and this time I saw a messenger talking to my dad. I couldn't hear what he said, but I saw Dad angrily dismiss the messenger and everything faded to black. I looked around in the dark until I finally saw a cloaked figure standing in front of me.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"Princess Miriel, welcome," the figure said, "to Death."