They came for him. And there was nothing we could have done about it. I could see the tears forming in Dorian's eyes as he kissed me and Elisabeth.

"I'll be back." he whispered. I felt bad because I couldn't cry…everyone else was crying. I was just tired of it all. The village seemed so sad, depressing and…empty.

My cousin didn't want to stay with me; she already had someone staying with her in her house. Somehow that information got to Lily and she was in my house before I could think of something else.

"I don't want you to stay at my house!" I said that right into her face. The pregnancy was already affecting me.

"You need protection." she said calmly.

"No, I don't." I said "Most of the women here are alone…and they're doing fine…why would I fail at that?"

"Firstly, they don't have visions and secondly, they are not pregnant with a Dragon Rider!" she said.

I sighed. My favorite curse…If I could only see what will happen…but everything that will happen; not just some stupid fragment which will get me in trouble.

Dragon Rider…where was he, anyway? I didn't know what I'd been thinking when I thought we have a future. But nothing he did to me could stop me from thinking about him or worrying is he alive.

"You stupid woman!" Lily's annoying voice brought me back to reality "Don't think about him! It brings no good."

"But I can't control my thoughts!" I yelled.

"You can't control anything, sweetie." she smiled and took Elisabeth into her arms. I couldn't stand it that she was holding my daughter but I couldn't stop it either. However, Elisabeth seemed to enjoy Lily's company…maybe even too much.


I saw myself running through the woods. It was very dark and I couldn't see where I was going. The wind was blowing against my face and I had a feeling I'd scratched my leg on something but I didn't care.

Suddenly I came to the clearing; and there he was. Murtagh. He was waiting for me. I ran to hug him but at that moment I saw the dark ceiling of my room. The dream was gone.

I shivered; the night was cold. I could see the moonlight coming all the way to me.

That night I threw away the thing Lily gave me for protection. If anyone wanted to see me, so be it. I didn't care for Lily's warnings. If Murtagh cared a bit about me, he would try to find me…and if he wanted me dead, then he already gave up looking for me or maybe not.

At least I tried to explain it like that to myself. He was preparing for the war and the only reason why he would try to look for me was affection or something…and not his wish to kill me. But then again, he didn't know I was pregnant. Would that mean something to him?

I hated it when Lily pretended to know everything. How could she possibly know what Murtagh was feeling? How could she know what he was thinking? I knew she was powerful, but that powerful she, for sure, wasn't.

Stupid magic. It would be better if we just knew nothing about other people, future or the past…unless the people told us on their own or we saw it happening in front of our own eyes. But then again, what did I know about it? Maybe the world wouldn't function without it.

I thought again about Lily's idea that Murtagh was just like his father. It used to happen that sons did same things as their fathers, but then again why would that be true for everyone? Elisabeth was my daughter, so I guess she was supposed to be like me…but she was so happy with Lily, so I wasn't really sure about the whole theory.

I wanted to hear Murtagh's side of story. I wanted him to tell me into my face if he'd been lying to me. Maybe I was just dumb and needed real proof for it. However it was, I decided I would try to find out the truth.


"What have you done?" Lily almost attacked me one day. Great. She found out about my protection. It was so annoying she knew every move I've made.

"Why do you even bother to ask?" I said "You know my reasons."

"But I have to go to get another one now!" she was angry "You didn't have to destroy such a valuable thing! You will be responsible for your own death!"

"So?" I didn't really care.

"I'll be back as soon as I get it…and you stay here and be careful, very careful!" she frowned and went out of the house in a second. I could swear I heard her cursing me for my stupidity.

It was a nice change to be alone with Elisabeth at home. I was glad Lily had left. At least I hoped she wasn't able to read my thoughts so far away from me. Even though I had no idea where she had left, I had a feeling it wasn't near here.


Then I decided to do something crazy. I took Elisabeth in my arms, took a bag full of things I might need and I left the house. I was hoping no one will see me and I was truly hoping Lily didn't know what was I doing or where was I going. Even I didn't know where I was going.

It was madness to go closer to the battle fields but I didn't know where to go. What I was doing was very dangerous. I didn't really realize that until I found myself alone with Elisabeth in the dark woods.

I was tired already. I didn't know how far away was the nearest village or in what direction, but I knew I wouldn't make it. Elisabeth was heavier to carry than I thought. I always estimate everything wrong; I was sure I would reach some village before I get tired.

I was too scared to stop walking but I couldn't keep up. I finally sat under on tree, holding Elisabeth in my lap. She was sleeping and I hoped she wouldn't wake up. There was always danger she would start crying and that could have attracted a lot of danger.

I took a deep breath, but I couldn't stop panicking. Of course, it wasn't the first time I made a wrong decision but this one was really amazing. I hated myself for putting Elisabeth in danger. Again.

Suddenly something moved in the bushes. I gasped. This was exactly what I didn't want to happen. Maybe it was just a wind…but there wasn't any. I bit my lip nervously.

There was a man standing in front of me. A soldier and he didn't look friendly at all. His clothes were dirty and ripped. There was blood on his left arm and on his sword. He was laughing madly when he saw me.

I got up as fast as I could and I started running. I hoped he wasn't going after me because I was too slow to escape him. As I was running, I heard his laughter but it was quieter and quieter. He didn't bother following me.

I kept running, even I didn't know where I was going. I was afraid that if I stopped, I would fall down and wouldn't be able to get up. I couldn't feel my legs anymore. Elisabeth woke up and she was crying loudly in my arms.

I thought about the soldier and the blood on his sword. But the battle couldn't be so close here! At least that's what everyone in our village thought. I was worried something had changed. What if more villages and towns were involved in the battle? What if there were more battlefields?

As I ran further and further, it all became more and more similar to the dream I had. The cold air was really blowing against my skin and I didn't know where I was going. But Elisabeth was with me. So it wasn't really like the vision.

I ripped my clothes on some sharp branches because I just couldn't avoid them. I cut my arm on something too but I didn't care as long as Elisabeth was unharmed. She didn't stop crying.

I was desperate. The woods seemed to have no end. I couldn't take it anymore. I stopped running and almost fell down from exhaustion but I had to be careful because of Elisabeth. Pregnancy wasn't helping either.

"Shh, Eli, please." I whispered into her ear and sang her a lullaby as I sat on the ground. There were some bushes all around us so I hoped we were safe for a moment. But then I realized wild animals could smell us anyway so it still wasn't a good idea. However, I had no choice. We had to stay where we were.

Then I heard a horrible sound. It was so loud and powerful roar that I wanted to cover my ears. It made me shiver. I looked up at the almost dark sky. Through the branches of high trees, the only thing I could see was a shadow passing really fast over us.

A dragon. It was a dragon. I closed my eyes for a moment. Elisabeth stopped crying, she was just looking at me with her big eyes. I could tell she was scared too.

"Don't worry, honey. Mummy is here." I whispered to her, kissing her forehead. I put my hands over her ears and pressed her tightly to me.

I heard more roaring: it didn't seem to be so close, but what distance was it to dragons? They had whole sky for themselves; and they had the speed to be wherever they wanted in a second.

It sounded like something crashed on the sky. Was it iron? I couldn't tell. I heard two furious roars; so there were more dragons. I gasped. Were the dragons fighting? Was Murtagh there?

I tried to remember my vision. At the end I found him, but from the dream I couldn't tell was that a bad or good thing. However, not everything was the same as in my dream so maybe even that won't be true.

I realized I was crying. I should have never left my house. I even missed Lily. I was wondering did she come to my house already and realized I was gone. Probably not yet, unless she used magic again and saw me exactly where I'd been.

I was also wondering could she kill me with magic without being near me. But did that really matter when I was close to death?

Strange sounds continued…until I heard a horribly painful roar. Something hit the ground not so far from where I was. Or at least that's what I thought. The other dragon roared triumphantly.

I realized why there weren't any wild animals around me and Elisabeth; the dragons probably scared them away. I guess they knew better than us when the danger was coming. Or maybe everyone knew except me.

All I knew was that I had to get out of the woods. Even if I would run into the soldiers. Maybe Dorian was with them. He couldn't have gotten too far with the army. Or maybe he wasn't alive anymore.

That was the first time I thought of it. No, it was impossible. My Dorian was better than that, right? Right? Oh, great. I wasn't even sure. I used to think he was the best and strongest man in the Empire because he was my love. He was my husband…but that dream actually left me.

Maybe running into the soldiers or other people wasn't such a bad idea. I mean, we were still on the same side…I couldn't harm them in any way. But did they become mad as the soldier I saw in the woods? What if they're not thinking straight and kill everyone who they see?

I got up and gathered all my strength. I started walking but then the fear passed through me and I ran…ran, and ran…I wasn't going to stop.

After some time I got to the clearing…the one from my dream. I stopped there, looking around. I tried to catch my breath. Elisabeth was staring at me, some strange shine in her eyes. She was too quiet. Something was wrong.

I took few steps forward. There was nothing there. I stood there for a moment, completely confused.

"Got you." someone whispered behind my back and laughed. I bit my lip and closed my eyes for a moment. No.