“What?” Bo asked. 

“We lost the wagons,” she said.  

Thomas laughed, “You should’ve kept it on your packs.”  

Kirsten shook her head and continued to follow the line of soldiers in front of them. They continued over the rolling plains, stopping only for rest at night. The following days became a blur of marching across a flat grassy landscape. 

*** 

“How far did they say?” Bo asked, rubbing his hands and warming them by the fire. 

“Less than a day,” Kirsten replied, sitting down between Bo and her brother. 

“Did they say anything about Anders or Maija?” Thomas asked. 

Kirsten shook her head, “All Rune said was that they didn’t return. He thinks they’re still with the Rollo Islanders, but others were less hopeful.”  

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Bo said. 

“Yeah, me, too,” Kirsten said. “It just doesn't make sense that they would stay with the Rollo warriors if everything was okay.” 

“Maybe they saw something that required scouting and it took them farther away than they planned? They could return any minute now,” Thomas said. 

“I hope you’re right,” Kirsten said scanning the night sky. 

In the silence that followed, Bo snuggled closer to Kirsten. She worried about what might happen the following day. She’d been spending a lot of time with Bo after acknowledging that they might not live through the next day if the dragons attacked. Now they were less than a day’s march from Aquina, a place that she and Bo had been talking of as though it were an oasis of peace on the Plains. The mood in camp, however, was a stark reminder that they were nearing a massive battle. 

“I see you two could use some alone time,” Thomas said standing.  

“You two can come join us, you know,” Kirsten said. “Instead of sneaking off together.”  

Thomas’ cheeks flushed, “We’re not sneaking. We just like our privacy.”  

“Regardless, our fire is open to you,” Bo said. 

“Thank you,” Thomas said and turned away. 

Alone at the fire, Kirsten leaned harder into Bo, “Since this could be our last night together, I thought you should know, that...” Kirsten searched for the right words to tell Bo how she felt about him.  

Shouts from somewhere in camp interrupted her. They both sat up, alert. People screamed and clambered in the distance. Kirsten and Bo looked at each other, fear in their eyes. They stood and looked to the northeast where the commotion seemed to have started. Through the gloom of the hundreds of campfires, Kirsten could see the outline of a dragon flying low in the night sky. “Dragon,” she said in alarm. 

Thomas ran back into view, not making it off before the alarm was raised. He stopped near them, “What is it?” 

“Dragon,” Bo said with a gulp.  

Kirsten heard it in his voice, he knew she had to face it. Feeling the crystal around her necklace and the one in her pocket, she stood in front of Bo. “I,” she stammered, still searching for the words from before. More screams came up from the edge of camp. 

Bo hugged her tightly and said, “You need to go. Thomas and I will get our armor and be right behind you. Whatever it is you were saying, you can tell me when you come back.”  

He released her. Tears welled in her eyes and she grabbed his face, bringing it in and kissing him. Kirsten pulled away, nodding at him, “I’ll tell you when I come back.”  

She nodded at Thomas, too, “I’ll be right back,” then backed away slowly. She looked at Bo standing by the fire watching her go one more time before turning and running across the encampment.  

Dwarfs, humans, and elves scrambled for weapons, frantically trying to prepare for a fight. Despite the commotion, Kirsten was able to navigate her way through the camp with speed. As she ran closer to the crowd of people assembling in formation on the northeast end of camp, she scanned the sky for the dragon. Not seeing anything, she rushed, hoping there wouldn’t be chaos when she reached the front.  

Nearing the frontline, Kirsten didn’t hear any sounds of fighting. With the dragon nowhere in the sky above, she expected an enemy force would be close by. The shield wall that had begun forming loomed just a hundred yards in front of her. She looked beyond it but saw nothing in the darkness. If a dragon or dragonrider was close, she would need to use her crystals as a defense. Kirsten forced her way to the front. She squeezed through the gaps between soldiers until she was directly behind the shield wall. 

Peering out into the night, her heart skipped a beat when she saw a large dragon on all fours walk into view. She focused and could just see a rider sitting between its folded wings. “Is that Merglan?” she asked, not meaning to speak out loud. 

“Who cares who it is, we need to kill them!” a familiar voice responded. 

Kirsten glanced at the soldier who had spoken. Tony stood at the shield wall where she had pushed to the front. 

Not him, Kirsten thought to herself and focused again on the larger problem at hand. After a moment of staring at the dragon and rider, Kirsten asked, “Why aren’t they attacking us?” 

“Because they’re overwhelmed by our army!” Tony answered loudly. 

“You don’t know that,” she blurted out. “That dragon could burn us to the ground if it wanted to.” 

“Who the hell are you?” Tony barked, taking his eyes off the dragon for the first time. 

Kirsten pulled the blue sapphire from under her shirt and held it glowing in her hand, and snarled, “I'm Kirsten, Anders’ cousin.”  

Tony’s face twisted into a snarl and he looked like he would attack her. “Back off, Tony!” sounded another voice, one she recognized.  

Kirsten looked to see that Rune had pushed his way through the crowd and stepped up to the front of the formation as well. Hensal and Alistair appeared from behind him a moment later. 

In an authoritative voice, Rune shouted, “Soldiers, do not break formation until you are given a command from us!” 

Kirsten heard Tony spit, but she returned her sights to the dragon and rider. The rider dismounted and stood at the dragon’s side. For some reason, Kirsten felt as though they were staring at her and nobody else. Suddenly she felt a stabbing sensation in her head. Following the piercing pain, she heard a voice ask her, Where did you get the crystal? 

Kirsten clutched her head and asked, “What do you mean?” 

“Who are you talking to?” Tony snapped. 

Kirsten looked around confused, then said to Rune, “The rider is talking to me.” 

“We should kill him before he turns against us,” Tony said. 

“And risk losing the chance to form an alliance with a dragonrider!?” Rune shouted.  

“This could be the one Anders met in the mountains,” Hensal suggested. 

Kirsten tried to focus on keeping the woman’s voice out of her thoughts the way Anders had shown them, but this rider was far more powerful than anything Kirsten could defend against. The rider spoke silently again, I am not here to fight. I wish to talk.

Kirsten looked at Rune, “She said she doesn’t want to fight, she just wants to talk.”

“She?” He repeated, looking at the rider standing alongside the fierce violet dragon. “See what she wants.”