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The sound of footsteps woke me. The dark disoriented me, but I could feel Langston beside me. His breathing was slow and deep as he slept. The fire had died out and only the subtle glow of embers lit the room. I listened carefully, but could hear nothing other than Langston. It must have been a dream, I thought. I lay still against him, my own breath held as my ears strained. I sensed the movement only seconds before the blade drove into Langston's chest. My arm shot out and stopped the attacker. I expected to be overpowered, thrown across the room like I had seen Theodore batted around, but no overwhelming strength came. The attacker was human, but still stronger than me. They pulled back for a second attempt as I cried out. Langston roused from his slumber and knocked the attacker away. The man scrambled in the dark, falling over himself as he tried to escape. Langston climbed from the bed and walked calmly towards the man. I realized that, while my eyes could barely see, Langston had no difficulty in the darkness. He grabbed the man and lifted him up with one hand. "How did you get here? Who sent you?"

"Did you think you could hide from us? You and your whore?" The man spat. Langston calmly put his other hand on the man's chin and twisted. The sound of the cracking neck made my stomach turn. The body crumpled to the ground.

Langston moved to the door and opened it slightly. The hallway was empty. He latched it shut and lit the candles around the room. As the light moved over the man's face, I recognized him as one of the dragon hunters that had attacked us. Langston went to a closet and pulled out several articles of clothing. "These should fit you. Get dressed. Trouble has a way of finding us it seems." He handed me a pair of riding pants and a man's shirt, but roughly my size. He also managed to produce a pair of boots that were only slightly too big for me. I wondered how such things came to be in the Roost, but did not begrudge the single fortunate thing to come our way. The shirt was sheer and did little to cover my chest, but I found a small jerkin, likely a young boy's, which suited me better. Once we were dressed, I thought we looked like a pair of roguish pirates like I'd seen in storybooks. The twisted body of the dead spy sullied the moment.

Langston grabbed the man's body and heaved it over his shoulder. "Stay close to me. If we're attacked, run. You'll not last a second if a dragon wants you dead. They won't reach you as long as I draw breath."

"What's going on now? Why would someone attack us here?"

"Hessa. She would love nothing more than for the other dragons to be outraged once again. The spy's scent was masked or I would have woken. He smelled like you. A dragon can't hide themselves by scent and have often used humans for such dark work. With me dead, they would have blamed you for it and started a new war. The dragon hunters and Hessa's brood want the same thing in the end."

We moved quickly down the hall. I trailed behind him, occasionally looking behind us. The snapped neck of the dragon hunter lolled from side to side as Langston walked. The halls were quiet and empty, but as we neared the glow of the main chamber, I heard the roars of dragons. As we entered the cavern, I saw a scene more chaotic than any I had before. More than a dozen dragons lay dead on the floor. Others crouched over them, mourning or roaring in anger. Blood stained the floor in huge pools. At the council's seat, the red was absent. The gold dragon, Thordram, remained in his seat, looking down on everything with distaste. Ardogan's immense form had stood and pinned beneath his front claws was the neck of the green dragon, Hessa. Others around the rookery called out for vengeance or mercy. Some called Hessa traitor and some called her savior. Ardogan seemed to be weighing his options as Hessa hissed and sputtered beneath his claws. I saw a large tear in her side and bite marks around her rear legs. The area around them was scorched from flame. I wondered how we could have slept through it all, but the stone of the mountain easily held its secrets.

"What is this? More treachery!" boomed Ardogan as he noticed Langston and the dead man. "This viper must die, Thordram!"

The gold dragon sniffed slightly. "Langston the Black, explain this."

Langston looked around him in disbelief as he dropped the body in front of the two massive leviathans. It seemed ludicrous to demand an explanation of him in light of the bizarre circumstance in the room. "An assassin. He came to my room and sought to kill me. I know him. One of the Duke of Coren's men. He came with help. He knew to mask his scent to evade our detection. Clearly, he was part of whatever devilry cause this destruction. Had he succeeded, the murder could have been blamed on my consort, Lady Anna. With no other proof, it would have been grounds to kill her and seek vengeance on her family."

Ardogan growled. "This traitor attacked my brood. Ryontha is wounded and cannot speak. Thordram, you have the vote. Let this be the end of this madness once and for all."

The gold dragon cocked his head to the side. "Hessa, old friend, is this true? Have you brought an assassin into the Roost?"

Hessa writhed under the great black's claws, but could not free herself. She hissed in frustration. "You blind fools. They'll hunt us to extinction. Humans were meant to serve us! You are all cowards and race traitors. My children, attack them! Claw out their eyes and throw them from the mountain to wander in true blindness!"

I looked up, expecting some of the dragons to fly down and attack, but none moved. A few seemed uneasy, but I realized that any who would die for Hessa's cause had likely already done so. Thordram's voice rumbled deep inside him as he sighed. "Very well. I vote in favor. Hessa is sentenced to death." The gold moved gracefully from his pedestal and walked towards one of the four massive tunnels behind the council's seat. "I will not watch. Hessa, I will remember you as you were, not this maddened thing you've become." I heard the sorrow in his voice. The ground shook as he padded down the hallway. A number of other dragons followed and Ardogan waited.

I held Langston's hand. Already, I had seen too much death, but all of it had been in a heat of defense. This felt different. Langston watched with a steel resolve. He did not smile or take any happiness in watching the former mate of the Wyrm splutter and rage. Gouts of flame spewed out of her mouth, ineffectively splashing against the stone walls. Hessa did not submit. She struggled against the much larger dragon until his jaws closed around her neck. Ardogan's sword like teeth easily cut through an otherwise iron hide. Hessa's body jerked as blood gushed from the wound. Ardogan's jaws jerked hard against the resisting dragon and Hessa finally went still. The dim light behind her eyes faded and her breath stopped. Ardogan delicately let her fall to the ground while licking the blood from his lips. "Mourn her if you must, but hear this. This is the end of it. If you cannot abide by the will of the council, leave the Roost and do not return. Hessa, the Wyrm, and many of their offspring, brothers and sisters to some of you, were all driven mad by a foolish desire to see us as gods. We are dragons and that is all."

Ardogan moved slowly back to his spot on the council seat. A few of the larger dragons flew over to Hessa's body and started to move it. It took more than ten before the massive dragon would budge, but they managed to move her, carrying her down another corridor, further into the mountain. "What will happen to the body?" I asked.

Langston's eyes remained focused on the disappearing corpse. "It will be taken to one of the lower chambers. They will mourn for a few days and then collapse the stone around the body. Come, we have to speak to Ardogan."

The behemoth was addressing several of his consorts as we ran over to him. The women looked up lovingly at the creature fifty times their size. "Langston, good, this concerns you as well. Hessa's plans did not stop here tonight. I wonder how long she has plotted these little traps. Go then my loves, fly swiftly." The consorts bowed and then hurried towards the narrow passage that led out of the mountain. "The entryway to the Roost was made to remind all visitors and those departing that we must temper ourselves or weaken ourselves to be accepted in either world." He growled thoughtfully as he lowered his head to rest on the ground. "Forgive me, I am weary, but things will not wait. I have sent envoys to the human governors. They must be warned of other attacks. We stopped several of Hessa's loyalists before they could depart on their mission, but not all, I fear. Other news as well, young ones. As soon as you arrived, Hessa's lackeys contacted the dragon hunters. Our own spies sent the warning, but not completely in time. The message warned of the attack, but also that a mob was forming at Hartfell. They intend to march to Annandale. The Duke of Coren leads them with Robert Locke at his side once again."

"They're going to Annandale? Why? If they hunt us and know where we are, wouldn't they attempt to reach us?" My fear of speaking in front of the great dragon had faded. Langston squeezed my hand and smiled at me, but his face was fraught with worry.

"I have told you what I know. The message came no more than an hour ago. Hessa's treachery has delayed you receiving it, but if you hurry you could reach them in time." He paused long enough to raise his head and look out over the cavern. Many of the other dragons had dispersed, but a good number sat in their perches looking quite solemn. "I can give you no aide. Any more of our kind will only complicate things worse. Langston, you view the Ingrams and that place as your family and home. You have taken the daughter of a great man, a good friend of dragon kind, as your mate. I believe, and have shared this with the others, that young dragons like you will do the most to soothe the wounds between our races. Go quickly and return to us in happier times."

We bowed and Langston led me from the hall. I wanted to stay. I wanted to do something to help. Many of the dragons were grieving as we passed. I thought of Marie and wondered how long it would take for her to recover. The red dragon on the council had been wounded in the fight and I hoped it wasn't serious. Though their faces did nothing to resemble humans, the expressions were almost the same, the eyes especially. As we hurried from the hall, I saw that the dragons shared the same griefs and old wounds from the war. We emerged into the small cavern that sheltered the entrance and Langston turned to me. "I'm sorry for all of this. You could have lived a quiet life with none of this to worry about. Now we're hunted and your family is in danger."

I touched his face gently. "Don't be sorry. From the moment I saw you, I knew. Everything will work out in the end and we'll be together."

He kissed me and we both chose to believe my words. Langston undressed and put his clothes to the side. I hoped someone would think to collect them after we were gone. It seemed surreal to care about such a small thing, but I wanted them to return to normal lives where the collection of stray garments mattered and the burial of friends was unnecessary. My chosen mate's body started to change. The shift had become slightly less shocking and even alluring. Skin morphed into scales, limbs lengthened, and his body grew. I wondered if the process was painful as well as tiring. Wings erupted from his back as he stretched to his full length. He shook like a dog shaking off water and then nodded for me to take my place. I crawled up onto his neck and stroked him as I settled in. He walked forward, shifted to a run, and jumped out into the darkness and we started to fall. I screamed and grabbed hold of his neck as tightly as I could. My stomach rose up to my throat and my heart pounded as adrenaline pumped through my veins. The black stone below us hurdled upwards until finally his wings caught the air. We rose in a dramatic rush of wind and speed. I slapped his neck as I held on as hard as I could, my body shaking from the thrill. Though I could barely hear it over the roar of the wind, I am certain Langston laughed. His body warmed to drive away the cold of the high winds and he set off to the south and Annandale.