Two days after the battle, Dart felt better than he ever had before. Everyone marveled at his quick recovery, as Shana had expected him to remain in the infirmary for at least a week. But Dart's wounds seemed to disappear overnight, and it was not long before he was able to bound around Hoax without limits.

While they all were eager to leave Hoax, Shana expressed a desire to stay for a while and take care of her patients – a desire that Lavitz and Dart were happy to indulge. She'd become a favorite among those injured, and man and woman alike delighted to see her enter their wards on her rounds.

Another two days after his recovery, Dart finally gathered the courage to speak to Rose again, and she affirmed Shana's suspicions that the speedy healing was thanks to his dragoon spirit. Afterward, she encouraged him to spend time with her learning what it meant to be a dragoon and promised him mastery over his new abilities, but such words forced Dart into a mild panic, and he retreated into avoidance. Despite her calm words, Dart feared Rose and what she might do to him should he place himself under her tutelage. She was, he decided, the most terrifying woman that he had ever met.

Instead, he poured his efforts into Hoax, and its recovery from the battle became Dart's primary focus for a full day once he was on his feet. Immediately, he joined in the Sixth Knighthood's efforts at removing debris and repairing damage. Thankfully, the physical damage was limited, as the fighting had been mostly constrained to the town square, and all that was needed was the repair of the gates and south wall. More tedious by far was the removal and burial of the bodies.

True to Lavitz's word, half of the Sixth Knighthood had been killed in the battle, and it was left to the remaining fifty or so soldiers still standing to tend to the bodies of their fallen comrades and enemies. Many of them proved unable to stomach the arduous task, and Dart ended up being one of ten infantry who volunteered when Kaiser explained that soldiers could opt out if they wanted. Over the next three days, Dart, Lavitz, Kaiser, seven men, and two women sorted through the bodies, dragged them outside the city, dug graves in one of the fields, and buried the dead.

It was a grim venture, and many tears were shed by the knights as they worked. Often, they had to wait as a soldier's close friends were gathered to grieve over the corpse before burial, and it was at these times that Dart had to step away or risk breaking down himself.

Amid all this activity, Dart was able to draw comfort from two things. First, he noticed that this heavy physical labor was almost easy. He found that he could work over twice as long as the others without being winded, and lifting the bodies was easier than it should have been. Even Lavitz grunted as he dragged some of the heavier men in their armor, but with the right stance, Dart could carry such heavy loads off the ground, though it was a strain for him. Still, the time wasn't right to lord such abilities over Lavitz, and he did his best to copy Lavitz's strenuous exertions so that he would not stand out.

However, Dart could not help but stand out to the remaining knights. Whenever they saw him, their faces lit up with wonder, and he shook many hands over that week. After discovering his effect on the soldiers and their naming him the "savior of Basil," he took to visiting the infirmary, where many still lay struggling to heal. The room where he'd stayed had almost cleared out within five days after the battle, but two more rooms in the inn still held wounded, and Dart made sure to visit each soldier every day as long as he had time. While inwardly, he shirked from the idea of being a "savior," he knew that these men and women needed hope, and that was something he could provide.

Over his many visits, Dart came to know several of the wounded soldiers. Many of them were from Bale, but a select few hailed from other parts of Serdio. One had even defected from Sandora several years ago, and Dart was disturbed by his many tales of Emperor Doel's iron fist and cruel rule of the people. But the soldier that Dart visited most often was the young man who had been given the bed next to his. The wound on his head was not healing as it should have, and he had also been pierced by an arrow in his abdomen. While the weapon had been removed and all care provided, Shana and the knighthood's doctor both feared that he would not survive the next few days.

The fifth day after the battle, while Dart was sitting beside him, the knight finally slipped away. Dart stood and watched while a couple men carried the body outside to be buried, and Dart followed before insisting that he be the one to dig the grave. Through an hour of hard work, Dart shoveled dirt until the boy could be laid to rest, and he stood by with a steely gaze as it happened.

The next day, after so many knights had recovered, all the remaining soldiers and a great deal of the town's population gathered outside the city to hold a mass funeral. Dart was invited to stand at the head with Lavitz and Kaiser, both of whom gave a short speech commemorating the fallen soldiers. Dart stared fixedly at the ground for the length of the event.

The morning after the ceremony, Dart sat in the dining room of the inn with several knights while they shared a light breakfast. Lighthearted conversation was had until someone mentioned the dragon.

"I heard it's been spotted fifty miles east of here," someone said.

"That's just hearsay," said another.

"That scout came in two days ago. He must've told Kaiser something."

"Maybe not. Maybe he just said everything was fine."

"What will we do if a dragon attacks? We only have half a knighthood right now. Will King Albert send more troops?"

"We don't need any! We have Dart with us!"

"Yeah, he can fight off a dragon!"

Chuckling awkwardly, Dart tried to return the smiles of the men and women who now ushered a cheer in his honor. Inwardly, he trembled under the weight of responsibility that these knights had placed upon him. What if he should fail? What if he wasn't what they expected him to be?

The door creaked, and Dart sighed to see Rose enter. She marched over to him with a frown.

"Can I have a word?" she said.

"Uh, sure." Casting an apologetic glance to the soldiers, Dart left with Rose and stood outside in the morning sun. The dew had not yet lifted from the grass, and Dart felt unnervingly cold.

"What are you planning to do here?" asked Rose with a fierce eye.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you just going to galivant around a small town until something happens?"

"Look, Rose, I—"

"Do you have any idea what has been given to you? Do you understand the concept? Such a thing hasn't been seen in thousands of years, and yet you sit here and drink coffee with brutes who can't conceive the implications!"

Indignant, Dart puffed out his chest. "Do you think I wanted this? I didn't want this! I didn't want any of it! And yet you shoved it on me anyway!"

"You have a responsibility," said Rose, suddenly calm in the face of his anger. "You have not once asked for any help with it, and I have to wonder if you have any drive to be better than the terrified mercenary I found in the east."

Shame plucked at him, and he sighed. "I don't know what to do," he admitted. "But it doesn't help that you're so… whatever you are. All we know about you is your name. You never said where you found your dragon spirit."

"Dragoon spirit," corrected Rose.

"Whatever! We don't know anything about you. How am I supposed to trust someone who appeared out of nowhere, doesn't have any friends, and won't tell us where she's from or where she found one of the most important artifacts from a legend that I didn't even know existed until a week ago?"

For a time, Rose merely watched Dart in her response, and her apparent apathy to his speech was infuriating. Just as he was prepared to huff and walk away, she answered.

"My story isn't important," she said. "You don't have to trust me. I certainly don't trust you. But you have been given a gift, and you seem like the kind of person who understands the weight of that gift. Don't be the kind of person who tosses it away through fear."

"But what if I am afraid?" he whispered.

"Then I suppose that you're human, just like the rest of us."

"But I'm not anymore, am I? I'm not like the rest of them." He nodded to a couple civilians passing by.

Rose shook her head. "No, you're not. But that doesn't mean that fear just disappears. I'm not asking you to be fearless. I'm asking you to be brave."

For a moment, Dart watched her. She was sincere, he thought, and that seemed significant. He'd been avoiding his reality for so long, but now Rose's words were forcing him to confront it.

"I'll ask for help," he said finally. "Tomorrow."

"Good." She nodded. "I'll see you an hour after sunup at the west gate."

With a sigh, Dart agreed, and Rose released him. Shaking his head, he trudged up to the door of the inn. But as he lay his hand on the doorknob, a desperate shout reached his ears, and he spun toward its source outside the east gate.

The calls had gathered a meager attention, and two soldiers opened the gate to allow a horse inside with a Basilian knight atop it, screaming for Kaiser.

"We're under attack!" he called. "Sir Kaiser! Where is the captain?"

As Dart meandered closer, the other knights in the inn and several others around the square followed suit, and it was a minute or so before Kaiser and Lavitz burst into the square.

"What's going on?" demanded Kaiser as soon as he was within earshot.

"It's the Seventh Fort, sir. We're under attack, and I was sent for reinforcements."

"What sort of attack?" asked Lavitz.

"A contingent. And the dragon is with them."

"What?"

Murmurs ran over the growing crowd, and Lavitz's face, full of concern, sought Dart. When their eyes met, Dart sighed and stepped forward.

"We'll have to send as many as we can," Kaiser was saying. "We must help our comrades against this foe."

"How can we stand against a dragon?" someone asked.

"You can't," said Dart loudly, and all eyes turned to him. For a moment, he considered running back into the inn and hiding under one of the beds, but Lavitz's worried brow forced him to stay. "But I can. Send me after the dragon."

The courier eyed him in confused skepticism. Then Lavitz's frown broke into a grin, and Dart did his best to return it as cheers echoed around the town square. Despite the fervor of the knights, a hesitant Kaiser eased close to Dart and spoke quietly.

"Are you sure that you can do this?" he asked. "I've seen your capabilities as surely as these have, but against a dragon?"

Dart nodded. "Yes, sir. If I can't… no one can."

"Very well. As long as your commanding officer agrees, of course." Kaiser turned to Lavitz, who clapped Dart on the back.

"You bet I agree," he said. "As a matter of fact, I'm going with him."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"No, but I'm not about to abandon Dart to fight something like this on his own, either. Mystic powers or not, I'll be with him. I could never live with myself if I stayed behind."

"Then it is decided," nodded Kaiser. "The situation is urgent. You should leave as soon as possible if lives are to be saved. I will meet you all at the east gate in an hour."

"Yes, sir," said Lavitz.

Amid the still-cheering crowd of knights, Dart turned toward the barracks, head hung, unsure as to what he'd agreed to do. Everyone perceived him as the deliverance of Basil, but he wasn't so sure. Either way, his test was approaching, and it did so quickly.