You should've killed her.

It played in his head, over and over, and he had no intention to silence the thought. What kind of twilight are you? he wondered. To just let her go. And get one of our spies killed in the process, nonetheless. She was injured, it would've been easy, so easy.

Araxion's flight back to the twilight camp was taken alone, the battlefield already mostly empty. The few green drakes that remained were medics, tending to the fallen, and they let him pass as long as he kept a wide berth. They didn't want any more trouble than he did. It was incredible how quickly the battle had cleared, really, but all twilights knew better than to try and take on an aspect. Maybe if there were no other dragons to deal with, or if they had the Destroyer himself to back them up.

Araxion flew into the twilight camp quietly, the skies above unusually empty. He scanned below until he found the familiar colors of Sariona, who, as she often was these days, alone in a quiet part of the camp. He swooped down to meet her, kicking up a bit of dust. She looked up, her face sullen. Then, for a moment, she looked elated, far happier than Araxion had seen her since they were training under Esteria, before she forced herself to put on her characteristic poker face.

"Araxion," she growled, "What took you so long?"

She was worried about me. The thought made him so happy, so pleased that the old Sariona was still there. Then it occurred to him: She wouldn't be if she really knew why- she'd hate me. I let Kasiona's killer get away.

"I couldn't dodge Ysera's tail," he said. "I got knocked down, and it took me a while to find my way back. But I'm okay."

"You look a little banged up," she said.

"I'm fine," he said. "I landed in water, I'm fine. Don't need any sort of medical attention."

"You better not, do you know how busy everyone is?" Sariona sounded unusually irritable, Araxion noted.

Don't let her know, Araxion reminded himself, the scenes from the cave playing in his head. There was a little voice of doubt in the back of his mind. But shouldn't I, though? Aren't you supposed to report traitors? Well, I don't think there's ever really been a traitor to the twilight cause. Everyone is so devoted.

He couldn't stop criticizing himself. I don't know how devoted I am, after what I demonstrated to myself. Stupid. I can't believe I was so stupid.

Without either drake noticing, an even larger drake had landed alongside them. "Araxion? Sariona?" he asked.

After a moment, Araxion recognized him from the first camp they'd been stationed at. "Yorion," he greeted. "It's been a while."

"I'll take that as a yes," the larger drake said. "They want you at the main tent as soon as possible. Both of you. Sounds like it's important."

"What could they want now?" Sariona grumbled.

Araxion shot her a sharp look, and lifted himself into the air. "We'll go as quickly as we can," he said.

The main tent- the whole camp, really- was surprisingly quiet considering the major battle that had just occurred. Hesitantly, the two drakes walked into the tent. The high priestess sat at a table, speaking with a few other high-ranking cultists. She stood up when she saw the two dragons approach, clapping. "Araxion and Sariona," she said. "It's good to see that you lived. Both of you, nonetheless."

Suddenly, Araxion had a bad feeling. That old, familiar cold feeling washed over him, stronger than it had since he was an egg, and something was just wrong.

"I do believe you both recall the visit you had with Kerelion and Lady Irissia," the high priestess said.

"Of course," Araxion nodded.

"I'm happy to tell you that you both have been selected for their purposes- Araxion for Kerelion, and Sariona for Lady Irissia," the high priestess announced. "I hope you're pleased, it's a great honor you've both been given."

Sariona bowed her head, and Araxion, after a moment, followed her lead. "We are honored, high priestess," Sariona said.

"Of course you are," the high priestess said. She walked to a table, pulling out two rolled up pieces of paper. "You two will be returning to the land of your birth- the Twilight Highlands- to prepare for your missions. You'll have a little bit more time together before you have to go your separate ways."

Separate ways, Araxion noted, and immediately, a sadness filled him. Perhaps it was naïve, but he had somehow always imagined that he and Sariona would always be together. It was difficult to think of them apart.

"Of course, high priestess," Sariona said, lowered herself to a bow. "It's an honor. We'll make you proud."