I know some of you wanted Mason to live. And I am sorry. But Mason's death is such an intricate part of VA that I couldn't in good continuance save him. Not only was it a forming moment in Rose's live, it was also the harsh reality of the world of Guardians.

DPOV

We got word from one of our scouts, and I moved towards the scene. Eddie was in his human form and looked like shit, which if I am to believe Christian was an improvement. Christian himself looked a little battered too.

When I asked Christian were Rose and Mason were, he pointed into the direction of a cabin. The look in his eyes didn't bode well, and I raced towards the cabin in panic.

I didn't quite understand the scene in front of me. There was blood everywhere, the deep red contrasting against the pristine white snow. There were two large bodies on the ground. One which I could still make out a head and neck and shoulder even if they weren't in their original composition. The other body though, was mangled up pretty bad. The only reason I knew it was a Snow Dragon was because his legs were still intact. The Dragon's belly was ripped open, his intestines spilling out. His head and neck were simply all over the place. Some of the pieces landing near, some of them far, and some of them… were on Rose.

It wasn't difficult to understand who had done this damage. The blade mark on the female was clearly from Rose's blade, and the brain splatter on Rose's coat told me she was also responsible for the larger Dragon's death.

But she didn't seem to register any of this. Because all she was doing was wailing and rocking Mason's lifeless Dragon head back and forth.

Christian had filled us in on what happened. Mason and Eddie went in search of this cabin to fight Snow Dragons, Rose and Christian went to stop them when they encountered trouble.

"Rose, we need to get you somewhere warm."

At the sound of my voice she looked up, but she didn't seem to recognize me. All she saw was a threat. She was still in battle mode.

"Get away from him. Don't hurt him."

"Roza, it's me. It is over. Come with me."

"No, I have to protect him."

"You did."

I moved a little closer and extended my hand.

"Come on Roza, let the others prepare him."

She held onto him tighter, but when she put his head back down on her lap and looked at me, I saw she was aware of the situation again. I moved over to her and laid my body down next to her and Mason's. I curled around her, trying to shield her from the horrors of this world. She held my snout and started crying again.

I wrapped a claw around her, and I pulled her close as two others were taking Mason away from her.

The other's looked at the scene.

"She did this? To two of them, with that itty bitty sword?"

I would have laughed if the situation wasn't so morbid. I knew Rose would be an amazing fighter, but this was beyond what I had expected. I would have preferred her to lose her innocence in battle in another way than this, but was what done was done, and she had singlehandedly finished our mission for us.

According to Christian, the cabin was a relay station and it was where this Isaiah was gathering intel. By killing Isaiah and destroying the cabin, we rendered the Snow Dragons blind north of the border. With their leader gone and no way to relay information, our main troops would be able to finish them off.

There was still a war to fight, but the fight was no longer in this deserted place filled with death and silence. We would get to go home.

"We need to move back to the border. Luckily it means we can fly back, making the trip much shorter. Someone will need to carry Eddie, and we will need to find a place where he can get medical attention and where we can rest and regroup and report back to other squads."

Stan moved forward.

"I know someone just a few leagues south of the border. He will take us in, and we can contact people from there."

I nodded and instructed Stan to make arrangements and lead the way. He seemed to have realized I would be occupied with other tasks at the moment.

"What do we do with him?"

Stan motioned towards Mason lifeless body as he was carefully being handled. I was torn. On the one hand, I didn't want even his ashes in this place. It seemed wrong that this would be his last resting place. But on the other hand, his lifeless body was simply too big to carry.

"Burn him. Perhaps he will provide some peace for this place."

Dragons didn't have burial rituals like humans did, which always seemed strange to me. Humans lived much shorter lives than we did, and death was a much bigger thing for Dragons because of it. But I suppose humans would need a physical reminder of someone so even after a few generations they knew that they had existed. Dragons simply remembered, so a physical token was not necessary.

Rose stirred in my grasp at the mention of us cremating Mason here. Her pleading eyes told me she didn't agree. But there simply wasn't anything else I could do.

"Just like Arthur remember? His soul has crossed over; his body must remain here."

She turned around towards Mason's body. A few others had prepared a nice snow-free spot and made him a makeshift bed, or casket as the case was. I saw Rose look at him in horror, but she didn't make a move to stop the Dragon who unleashed his flame on his body.

But never in my life will I forget the sound of her cries as his body burned.

We were off after that. Rose was still covered in gore, but that was something we would have to remedy once we got south of the border again.

It was a long flight, but we were all eager to make it home tonight and to sleep in a warm bed by a nice fire. Rose had cried herself asleep on my back, the silence a welcome reprieve from her wailing if only for a moment.

I jostled her awake a few minutes before we arrived. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, looking around. I could feel her physical relief as she noticed there was no longer snow, and the mountains were behind us.

We followed Stan towards an inn. We must have been quite the sight, an army of Dragons approaching the human-sized inn. But the clearing in front of the inn was large enough and was flattened nicely, almost like it served the purpose of a landing strip for Dragons.

A Dragon in human form came outside, and we all transformed into our human forms. Obviously we would be staying in the inn tonight, and the place simply couldn't hold so many Dragons. I sat Rose down first before transforming myself.

Stan was first to approach, and I could tell the innkeeper was elated to see him. They embraced in a surprisingly intimate display of affection.

I saw Rose look at the two men trying to piece it together. It was a nice distraction from the crying. She looked the innkeeper over, perhaps trying to see if they were related, but there was no family resemblance. The moment when the truth hit her was hilarious. She turned to me and pointed discreetly.

"Is he?"

I chuckled.

"I believe that is Stan's partner, yes. I never met him. Stan is very private about his personal life."

I saw a few others share Rose's reaction, but most of us knew Stan was gay. He never willingly told us. Not because he was ashamed or anything of the sort; he simply thought his personal life was irrelevant when on the job. And I would have to agree. Your preferences in the field of romance have no bearing on your ability to perform in the military.

"Come on Rose, let's get you into a nice hot bath."

She looked down at herself, almost as though she had forgotten she was covered in blood and gore.

"There is a lake a few miles that way if you want to bath as Dragons, but it is very cold at the moment. Otherwise, I will prepare baths inside. Also by the look of it, you will all need some fresh clothes. My name is Lee, if you need anything don't hesitate to ask," the innkeeper said, and motioned us inside. He particularly raised an eyebrow at Rose.

"I'll have a maid fill her bath and bring some cleaning cloths. I'll also see about finding her some clothes," he said to me, with a gentle and concerned look directed at Rose.

"Thank you."

He said a few words towards one of the maids, and she motioned us to come with her up the stairs. She led us towards a large room with a giant twin bed. I raised an eyebrow, but I suppose Lee had guessed my attachment to Rose, and that I would be staying here as well.

The maid started to bring buckets of warm water towards the tub. I had her fill some bowls first and asked for plenty of cleaning cloths. If Rose got in the bathtub now, the water would be red in an instant.

Rose was looking around the room, although I doubted she was seeing much. She wasn't crying anymore, but after the short reprieve of seeing Stan's partner, she was turned inside herself again.

I started taking off her clothes. The maid was on her last bucket filling the bath and after she left the room. I was on Rose's last undergarment, and after I removed the smeared and bloodied piece of clothing, I looked her over. The blood had soaked all the way through her clothes, and it was stuck to her skin.

I put one of the cleaning cloths in the bowl of water and put some soap on the cloths before gently washing Rose. I was glad that even if there was nothing sexual about this, she seemed to find comfort in my attentions. She leaned into my hand and closed her eyes. Other than a single tear escaping her eyes, she was calm and relaxed. The water in the bowl had turned a deep red, so I replaced the water and continued. After the third bowl, I thought she was clean enough to take a bath.

"Come on Rose, into the bath you go."

"Are you going to join me?" Any other time Rose said it, it would have sounded sultry and inviting. Now it sounded pleading and desperate. She didn't want to be alone.

"I can't fit with you in the tub, but I'll stay with you."

It seemed to be enough to calm her down and make her move toward the bath. She dipped her toe in, feeling the temperature of the water. She deemed it worthy, and slowly sank herself into the warm water. I saw her instantly relax. The warmth of the water was fueling her own fire, and I could feel the cold from the north leave her body.

She leaned back and let her head rest on the edge of the tub. I folded my large form behind her, and started to wash her face and hair to get rid of the last of the grime. I was massaging her scalp and shoulders. I was hoping she would talk to me. Anything about what was going on inside of her, but she didn't speak. I didn't think she meant to shut me out; I just think she was feeling a million things at once, and was sorting through those things first before she could even talk about it.

I wondered how Eddie was doing. I knew he had suffered severe blood loss, but with rest and some medical aid he should be fine. Maybe once he was awake they could talk about Mason? I think it would help Rose.

"There, all clean again."

She looked down at her naked body then she held her hand in front of her eyes. She slowly turned it around seeming almost surprised it was no longer covered in blood.

She got up from the tub, and I handed her a big towel, and she wrapped herself in it. She looked me up and down, and I realized I was naked. We had flown here in our Dragon forms, and I hadn't put on any clothes since we arrived. I think the maid must be accustomed to Dragons because she didn't bat an eye.

"I'll wash a little too, and then we can go to sleep. Why don't you dry and crawl under the furs where it is warm."

She obeyed and snuggled under the furs. The room was actually quite warm, there was a small fireplace where a pleasant fire was warming the room. Fire Dragons were warm by nature because of our internal flame. But it was a nice change from all the snow and cold in the north. Somehow it was the kind of cold even I couldn't chase away from my bones.

After washing myself with a bowl and cloth, because there was no way I would be able to fit in that tub, I dried myself, lifted the blankets and crawled into bed next to Rose. She pressed her naked body against mine in search of comfort, and I tried my best to provide it.

"Talk to me Roza, please let me in."

She looked up at me, and I saw she was on the verge of tears again. I gently stroked her cheek, but I could not prevent the waterfall of tears erupting from her eyes.

"It's my fault," she wailed as she buried her face in my chest.

At first, I didn't think I heard her right. How was any of this her fault? If anything, her actions saved Eddie.

"What do you mean? None of this was your fault."

"He came back for me. He was supposed to leave and take Eddie to safety, but he saw I was in trouble, and he came back for me. He died because of me."

I pulled her closer to me, and gently stroked her back as her body was convulsing with sobs.

"Oh, no sweety. Mason made his own choices. He made the choice to go to the cabin with just Eddie and himself. He made the decision to come back, probably because he felt responsible. But it was his choice. You and Christian did what you could, and you saved Eddie because of it."

She shook her head from side to side, disagreeing with me.

"I wanted to protect Mason and Eddie. I had hoped we would have been fast enough to stop them altogether and then they wouldn't have been in trouble. But I should have warned you. I should have told you they were gone. We should have all gone together. Mason would be in serious trouble, but he would have been alive."

"You don't know that. And Isaiah might not have landed there if he had seen a squad of Dragons around the cabin and he might still be controlling the North. No matter how it turned out, the current events will save lives."

"Just not his."

"No, but he knew the risks. He knew what he was getting into when he signed up. He knew the dangers when he and Eddie took off, and he knew his chances when he came back to help you. And for the last part, I will always be grateful to him."

I didn't know if she eventually agreed with me or if she was just too tired to argue, but she didn't say anything else and eventually her small sobs made way for sleep.

I had stayed awake most of the night, keeping a close eye on Rose. She had stirred a few times, with what I could only assume were bad dreams of the incident, but she had remained asleep. Sleep is the best way to process these kinds of things. Being tired and emotional never bodes well, so a good rest, to process the events and to sort out your emotions was always welcome. Furthermore, the more often she slept, the faster time went, and the more time passed between the incident and the present, so the more that wound would heal.

I had eventually fallen asleep myself and woke up to an empty bed. I looked around the room in panic, but relaxed a little when I saw Rose sitting in front of the fireplace with a blanket wrapped around her.

The fire in the fireplace was dancing gracefully and occasionally leaping out of its confines and stretched out towards her. It seemed to be soothing her. I had seen something similar after she had killed Viktor. All Fire Dragons had a deep connection to the flame, but I didn't realize until this moment how deep hers went. It must have been excruciating to be blocked from it for nearly eighteen years.

She let the flames whirl around her hand and her fingers; she was stroking the flames as much as they were caressing her. The playfulness of the flames seemed to be designed to make her laugh and by the small smile gracing her lips they were succeeding.

I sat next to her near the flames but didn't say anything. I just observed her. The little speckles of fire moved from her hands to mine and started their peculiar dance on my skin. She seemed to have convinced them to mock me because they were running across my arms and shoulders always a little out of my reach. I heated my skin and let my own flame chase them away. I saw them returning to their mistress almost in fear of me. But Rose chuckled, and crooned to the little flames and sent them back to their origins in the fireplace.

"We should head downstairs for some breakfast," I said as I stood up and gathered my clothes.

The fact she didn't immediately jump up and mow me over trying to get downstairs at the promise of food was alarming, but she did put on some fresh clothes, and headed downstairs. She had a way to go before she was her bubbling self again, but I knew she would be alright now. The image of her holding Mason's lifeless body was still freshly ingrained in my memory, and with it the fear she would never recover from something like that. Now I knew she would be alright, I just didn't know how long it would take her.