“Take the princess away!” was all he had to say before two other men from farther back

dropped everything to rush and support her as she was now being taken to the makeshift

infirmary, which used to be the armory, close to the outskirts of the territory. Masses of

the wounded lay on beds or mats as nurses were kept plenty busy tending them. One

separate room on a higher floor of the building had just been vacated and Jessica was

quickly taken here. A personal caretaker had already been requested for her highness,

and she got right to work, using a spell-bound bandage to wrap from her eyes to the

back of her head several times, all without a single sound from the patient.

Jess was thinking of how she was unable to lead her people to victory, especially now.

Then she remembered her father, and how she would be on her own from now on. She

would cry, no, she wanted to cry, but the gauze wrap and the laceration it covered made

that impossible.

Her thoughts were cut short by the sudden noisy chaos of all able-bodied people fleeing

to evacuate the building. Blind, she had no idea or vision as to what was happening,

until she heard the thunder. Not just ordinary thunder, but a deep, rumbling, unnatural

kind of thunder which is only heard in tales or stories. She could hear numerous citizens

yell “Dragon!” and it became clear about who exactly this threat was.

Previously, in the younger years of her youth, Jess was quite fascinated by dragons and

often inquired about them to the king in what little time he had off of kingly duties. He

had told her one rumor about a dragon known by the universal name Aftershock, since

he coincidently came after every war. Not only that but a special dragon with human

form. She was intrigued by stories like these. Then again, they were only stories up until

now.

Flashes of light as bright as the sun shown through the window as a torrent of fire was

brought upon the city. The blistering heart could be received even from inside the

armory’s walls as Jessica sat propped on her bed. For the first time she actually felt

helpless, unable to pry herself away from the safety of that second story room, where

she wouldn’t have to worry as much about falling down stony stairs and could avoid the

new danger that has appeared before them all. Trying to block out sounds of the deathly

screams and crumbling of the now fallen kingdom, she forced herself to sleep through

this crisis, even if it meant she wouldn’t wake up, which didn’t sound that terrible at this

moment.

* * *

To her surprise, she woke up to a sort of piercing, utter silence, save for the crackling of

a few embers left over frm the previous destruction. Her feet moved on their own,

carrying her carefully down each step of those stone stairs, out of the door of that

infirmary. Despite how close the fire had felt, it only reached one corner wall of the

building, where it was burnt to rubble. Although Jess couldn't see it, she could feel it.

Everything. The whole territory was an uneven mess consisting of charcoal and molten

iron and ash. She knew she was the only living being left, the only survivor, and was left

with nothing but the bandage, the infirmary's gown she was wearing, and her memories

of a wonderful kindom ruled by her hard working father.

As she gradually felt her way through rubble and rock, there was something she didn't

notice. A very large Aftershock crept by quite a ways in front. He was fascinated by this

struggling human survivor who had an absolute nonthreatening presence. As for him,

being human himself, the difference was his own presence, a dragon. He took a few

steps in her direction, but she was starting to grow accustomed to feeling her way, and

was able to walk slightly more quickly. A sound directed his attention away for a

second, but lost sight of her when he returned to her direction. Then he felt something

move at his feet, and was startled by a pair of hands which belonged to Jessica herself.