"Fly, little children. Try to catch up with me, if you can."

Elkay whinnied in agitation as her mother flew faster and faster. She was having trouble keeping up already, but Ellie was trailing behind, making it impossible to speed up.

"Come on, Ellie!" she snapped, "We don't have all day!"

Ellie gasped and beat her wings unsteadily.

"Can't fly . . . losing strength . . . slow down . . ."

Elkay snarled.

"I will not slow down! I need to catch her!"

Ellie looked up at her with tired eyes.

"You don't need to. Don't. It's impossible."

Elkay sneered.

"Fine. You stay here, and I'll go get my mother."

"Elkay, wait!"

The dragon sped away before Ellie could stop her. Exhausted, she landed clumsily in a nearby field. She panted and rolled over, looking up at the sky.

"Don't leave me . . . Don't leave me . . ."

Suddenly, Elkay was intercepted by Neithhotep's monster. The whale-sized creature barked in a rasping voice and tore at Elkay's throat. The dragon pushed her off with ease, taunting Neithhotep cockily when she was free. Ellie watched the exchange from her resting place in the tall grass. She wanted to fly up and help, but she was too weak.

A mystical singing filled the air as another flying animal came into view. It was Balenor. He drifted across the sky, curious to see what was going on. Neithhotep said something to Elkay, who replied in a harsh tone. Ellie didn't have to guess what the conversation was about, for at that very moment, Neithhotep sent her monster to kill the whale. Ellie winced and tried to push herself up by her wings, but to no avail. She crawled forward painfully, hoping that she could somehow stop the murder.

She felt the impact of the whale crashing all the way across the field. There was a horrified shriek, and Elkay sped over to where he had fallen. Ellie closed her eyes tightly and tried to prop herself up on her elbows. She collapsed before making it all the way, and curled up miserably on the ground. A few minutes later, the dragon returned.

"Ellie? . . . Ellie? . . ."

She poked her head through the grass and spotted Ellie in her frazzled state.

"Ellie, are you hurt?"

She took a deep breath.

"Not hurt. Just tired. Is Balenor-"

"He's dead," Elkay choked, "She sent that awful monster to kill him, and- Oh, god! Ellie, I should have listened to you."

Ellie didn't have the strength to reply. She tucked her wings around her body and closed her eyes.

"Ellie?"

"Don't talk to me."

Elkay folded her ears back.

"Ellie, I didn't mean to-"

"Leave me? Actually, I'm pretty sure you did."

Elkay bit her lip and nudged Ellie with her beak.

"Ellie?"

"What."

"I'm sorry."

Ellie frowned.

"You left me. You abandoned me to carry out some stupid revenge plot. Your mother may be a murderer, but that doesn't mean we have to be. I don't think you even know why you're fighting her."

"I have plenty of reasons! She-"

"Shut up. I don't want to hear your dumb excuses."

Elkay's face hardened.

"Fine. Be that way. Never mind the fact that I just lost my son-"

"You're using his death to gain pity. That's disgusting."

Elkay growled.

"I'm leaving."

"Again?"

"Hush. This is between me and my mother. I don't know why I ever involved you. You wouldn't understand."

"I sincerely hope I don't understand, because that would mean she's right about you."

Elkay was flabbergasted.

"You can't be serious! After everything I've done for you-"

"What have you done for me?" Ellie snapped.

"I . . . Well . . . Plenty of things, I'm sure."

Ellie shook her head.

"I don't believe this. You're just as bad as she is."

Elkay snorted angrily.

"Don't act all high and mighty! You've done plenty of bad things!"

"And now you're leveling," Ellie sighed, "Perfect. Just perfect."

With an indignant sneer, the dragon turned away.

"I don't need you. I'll find Neithhotep on my own."

Ellie didn't move.

"Good luck with that. Let me know when you get yourself killed so I can risk my skin to save your ungrateful soul. Again."

"Is that really how you feel about me?"

"Yes."

"Well, I don't care."

"I don't care that you don't care."

Elkay sniffed.

"Great. Goodbye."

She turned around, but ended up making a full circle.

"Ellie, why are we fighting?"

"Because you left me."

Elkay nodded.

"Yeah . . . That was kind of a dick move. I'm sorry."

Ellie sighed.

"Your emotions are rather sporadic, aren't they?"

Elkay shrugged.

"Maybe. You were right. I was being bad. Can we just forget I said anything in the past fifteen minutes?"

"Okay."

Elkay helped Ellie to her feet. Seeing that she couldn't stand on her own, she draped her over her tail.

"You ready?"

"To chase Neithhotep?" Ellie wheezed.

"No, to go home. I figure you need the rest, and besides, what are we gonna do if we catch her? Nothing, that's what. I can't kill my own mother, and you're too nice to do it for me."

Ellie blinked.

"Um . . . Okay. Do you really want her dead?"

"Ideally, that would be nice. I guess we'll just have to wait for someone else to pick her off, eh?"

Ellie nodded.

"Sounds good."

Elkay smiled and trotted away with Ellie hanging from her tail. She gave a merry skip and let her wings bounce cheerfully.

"So, once we get home, are we going to finish your story properly?"

Ellie nodded.

"May as well. There's no reason to leave the characters hanging. I'd better catch up, speaking of which."

She pulled a scroll from her back pocket and scanned the auto-narration. It was strange to read things in her own words when she wasn't even aware that they were happening. It was like having amnesia, only she could turn it off at any time.

Ellie's eyes flitted back and forth across the page, pausing every now and then to absorb important details. After one very specific line, however, she stopped reading.

"Elkay . . ."

The dragon wasn't paying attention. Ellie yanked the end of her tail.

"Elkay!"

She craned her neck around.

"What?"

"Look."