KGWingfeatherFan: *gasps, drops phone, eyes wide* OH MAKER PLS! Pls tell me they're not dead, or worse! Pls maker pls! And the fluff! I almost died from it it was so good! I. NEED. TO. KNOW. WHAT. HAPPENS. NEXT! Pls keep writing!

KGWingfeatherFan: LIAM! Oh poor Marissa! I'm hurting for both of them Good job pls write more!

RainyDayReading342: LOL It is pretty heartbreaking when we write about it, we are writing our own characters doom! SADDNESS. But WAIT! There is still hope...the story is FAR from over! *don't worry it won't stretch on forever I promise it will have an end XD*

Writer-Rabbit-Newsie-Grace: Okay, I know this was just a typo... but the Strander Sith a burly brown beard. My star-wars brain went nuts XD

Oh my gosh, I know this sounds evil, but I love the pretending-your-best-friend/love-interest-is-a-worthless-nobody trope. It just breaks my heart every time. Poor Marissa...And while I'm at it, I might suggest writing a chapter from her perspective to help her become a more relatable character? I mean, she's clearly smart and kind and all around fierce, but does she have any hopes and dreams, besides, you know, getting her inn back? Again, just a suggestion :)

RainyDayReading342: GAH! STOP GUESSING OUR PLOOOOOT XD And yes, the typo wad kinda hilarious XD I fixed it, but forgot to save, so when I published it the typo was back LOL And I feel so bad for what I've put Marissa through, but her story is not over yet! That is all I can say now *shhhhh!*


Arthedor lay on the ground, his head pounding. He was faintly aware of a firery sensation slowly vanishing from his body. Smoke filled his gaze and nostrils and he heard Murgah and Amrah gasp.

Arthie suddenly found his strength. Energy ran through him, renewing him as if he had just woken up from an early bedtime on a Saturday morning.

He found his arms and pushed himself up from the ground, wincing as he coughed out smoke. He got up and staggered over to Itzel to help his little sister up.

Finally, as both of the children got up, they finally looked over at Eggy.

But Eggy wasn't there anymore.

Instead, a reddish-looking scaly creature was curled up in the middle of all the eggshell ruins. It had wings folded over itself, but a snout poked out from between the scaly folds, snorting out more smoke. A large scaly tail snaked around its dagger-like claws.

"A real, dragonet," Amrah breathed, falling on her bent and broken knees.

"I don't understand," Murgah said, wide-eyed. "Dragons don't have...fire. They. Don't. Breathe. Fire. And how are its wings already spread out? Of course, in the final battle it was revealed that dragons used to fly, because they obviously had wings. But I have studied dragons intently, and for thousands of years they have had their wings tucked away as fins for navigating the ocean. Why would this one be born as if it had always been a land dragon? This doesn't make sense!"

Arthie watched as the dragonet slowly unfolded its wings and revealed bright amber, wondering eyes blinking slowly and staring at him.

Arthie?

"Yes," he whispered. "Its me."

Arthedor noticed something peculiar. He had seen sketches of sea dragons, and heard stories of how his parents had been face to face with them.

But he didn't know dragons had lights in their necks!

The dragonet's neck had a bright yellow light that shone through the scales like a little flickering candle.

Fire!

Itzel started approaching cautiously, but Amrah grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back.

"No! Do NOT touch that dragonet! It is obviously dangerous to you and all of us! We did not anticipate that it was to have fire! It will burn this whole place down! And especially since it hates all of us!!" she shrieked.

"Let go of me!" Itzel shouted, and she twisted around Amrah's deformed arm and bit her- hard.

Amrah screamed and immediately dropped her grip on Itzel.

"You little wretch!" Amrah shrieked.

Murgah bared her teeth. "Fangs! Squad One, we need backup!"

Itzel ran forward towards the little dragon. Arthie followed and stopped Itzel from reaching out to hug it.

"Maybe Amrah is right! The fire part, not the hate part, that is," he said. Arthie rubbed his forearm where a bandage was wrapped around.

Itzel looked fearfully at the dragonet and quickly retracted her hand.

"You wouldn't burn us, right?" she asked the small dragon.

The amber eyes blinked at her and the snout snuffled more smoke.

Itzel?

"Yes, its me, Itzel!" she cried, hanging on to her brother. "No burn, please! Can you control that?"

The dragon cocked its head. The reddish scales glisened with heat.

No burn, Itzel, Arthie?

"No burn, please! We are your friends!" begged Arthie.

The dragonet slowly struggled to stand on its tiny taloned claws.

No burn. Friends.

Itzel felt relief fill her, but then her blood turned to ice as an enraged voice asked behind them,

"What do you mean, no hate? And what do you mean, friends?"

Arthie and Itzel turned to face the Stone Keepers, and a whole squadron of Fangs.

Itzel looked in fear at Arthie. Arthie looked at her, then at the dragonet. They had to escape now. There was no other chance. Arthie looked around the whole place as the Fangs advanced at them. They couldn't let this colony live. They would probably move, not that Arthie knew where they were to where to find it again. They would have to destroy it on their way out.

He turned to the dragonet, who stretched her wings and stood up.

"This time, we burn the bad guys, and this whole place," he said, with determination set in his eyes.

The dragonet blinked with innocence.

Burn? Bad guys? Place?

"Yes!" Itzel exclaimed, and the dragonet's eyes turned fiery as she turned and glared at the incoming fangs. She flapped her wings clumsily, and that was when the children realized how large she was. Her wingspan was about twice the size of Arthie, and her body was equally large. The children would easily be able to ride on her back.

Then it clicked. She was also their escape route!

A Fang grabbed his arm, but Arthie kicked him in the stomach, hard. The Fang doubled over and hissed.

Arthedor ran to Itzel and grabbed her, running toward the dragon.

"No burn, please!" he begged as he tentatively reached out and trace his fingers along the dragonet's nose. The dragonet nuzzled into his hand, and Arthie's was not burnt.

"Alright, come on!" he shouted, whirling around and Facing the Fangs.

He was wondering how they would get out, when he heard the dragonet growling behind him. He turned and saw her eyes narrowed, snout smoking and teeth showing. The lights on her neck were glowing brighter and a deeper orange, and Arthie dove out of her way and dragged Itzel to safety as the dragonet opened her mouth and roared, the fire rushing out from the back of its throat.

The flames shot out, melting every Fang's armour and the flames licked up along the walls.

FIRE!

Heat rose up, and Arthie and Itzel sunk into the water that offered protection. Murgah and Amrah screamed as flames licked up their clothes.

"WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Arthedor shouted to the dragonet, pulling Itzel close to protect her. He was the Throne Warden, after all.

Follow! The dragonet said, and she turned and waited for them to scramble after her. She then turned and walked calmly through the fire, and it all extinguished in the path she walked. Arthie and Itzel followed closely behind her, watching the screaming Fangs thrash in the flames before turning to dust in the inferno.

Once they were out of the door, they ran down the hall, and the dragonet hobbled after them, not quite used to walking. Fangs and Stranders were running and screaming holding buckets of water and running toward the room where the inferno was.

The dragonet whirled around and roared again, fire burning in her belly and whooshing out of her jaws an leaping everywhere in the massive cave. Barracks and houses, wooden tables and massive structures along the stone walls erupted into flames.

Arthie and Itzel kept running, Arthie trying to shield Itzel away from the blaze behind them.

Everything was on fire.

"COME ON! WE NEED TO GO, NOW!" screamed Itzel to the dragonet. who was still planted to the ground, even as flames engulfed her. For a terrible second, the children thought she was going to be burned to death. But then the dragonet turned around to them, flames licking up her scales, and huffed, her lips curving into what looked like a smile

"HOW IS SHE NOT DEAD?" Yelled Arthie, trying to be heard over the roaring flames.

FIRE! BURN! she answered, leaping out of the flames and shaking herself off, clearly unaffected.

The children turned and ran, the dragonet following behind them in wobbly steps. Finally, they saw the forest outside of the cave! And the beach! The sand, and waves! They had made it!

They sprinted our, and when they reached the sand, they collapsed, coughing out the smoke in their lungs and trying to wipe away the soot and ash.

The crashing waves seemed so quiet and calming, after the roaring inferno they had just experienced. Arthie crawled over to the wet sand, and then let the tide wash over him. The water cooled him off, washing off the dirt and soot from his shaggy hair and face. His clothes were torn and dirty, but they were given a short bath.

Itzel did the same, and the dragonet sat on the sand and watched them.

She was huffing loudly, tired and spent after releasing so much energy and fire escaping out of there.

* * *

The children sat on the beach, watching the golden sunset wash over the tropical area. They were nestled against the belly of the dragonet, who had her head laid down on her scaly claws, watching the rolling waves.

Smoke had floated out of the cave mouth for a while, but hours later, no more smoke came out. The children had assumed the place had finished burning.

They had decided to go look.

"We need to go see what is in there, if we can see if there were at least some stuff we could use to get out of here. Or call for help," Arthie had said. Itzel nodded sleepily, and the both got up. The dragonet raised her head questioningly.

"We are going back. For a little while."

BACK? BUT, BURN.

"We will see what's left of the burn," Arthie had said. The dragonet got to her four feet and wobbled along with them. Itzel held Arthie's hand as they made their way back to the cave. They traveled a little longer, the smell of smoke was coming to them. It was getting dark, so the dragonet puffed out her neck and huffed, and the lights started glowing again, illuminating their path.

When they had finally made it all the way back to the place, they gasped.

There was nothing left but ashes.

No wood, no beds, no tables. Just ashes, burnt bones, and dust.

"Wow," breathed Itzel.

They had been silent the whole way back.

The dragonet wrapped her tail around the children as a chilly wind ruffled their hair, making them shiver. The dragonet's scales warmed, not hot enough to burn them, but warm enough to not keep them comfortable over the night.

"We need a name for you," Itzel yawned, looking up at the dragonet.

"What about...Ash?" Arthie proposed.

Itzel smiled. "I like it. Ash. What do you think?" she looked up at the dragonet.

ASH. LIKE, she approved.

"Ash it is," Arthie yawned, and he curled up next to her warm body and watched the stars slowly start to shine in a darkening sky.

They had just escaped their captures, and burned the place to the ground.

But now they had to find their way home.

The children both fell asleep in the warm embrace of Ash, a new hope kindled in them to be able to get home.