Sleep was impossible for Chaerin. The camp was quiet and Insoo had gone back to sleep so there was no one else around to bother her. Oh, Hero was still awake and being grumpy, according to Fei, but two of the other dragons were officially on watch and everything else was strangely peaceful.

            Except for her mind anyway. Over and over again, she replayed what she’d said to Taekwoon. And of course, the memory of his face being so close to hers kept shoving its way to the fore too, but that only added to her confusion and irritation. “Stupid!” she berated herself quietly, curling tighter into a ball against Fei’s belly.

            The gold shifted with care and then the ground scraped as her head slid into view, peeking under her wing. It was quite dark but there was just enough light to see the faint sheen of her eyes as she stared at her rider. Almost childlike, Chaerin reached out and pulled Fei’s nose close, locking gazes as she willed entrance into Trance. Her dragon acquiesced easily and Chaerin fell into familiar but slightly altered space.

            “What’s troubling you, Rin?” the gold in her human form asked, pulling her rider into the circle of her arms protectively.

            It was strange that so simple a thing as a hug could bleed away most of her tension. Chaerin wrapped her arms around her dragon’s waist and squeezed hard, soaking up the mute but obvious affection. Fei didn’t try to pull away or rush her. She simply waited for her rider to come around in her own time. At last, Chaerin pulled back to pillow her head on Fei’s shoulder. “Can you talk to Jongup?”

            Fei chirped in mild surprise, one hand moving to pet the back of Chaerin’s head. “I can.”

            “Privately?” she wondered, not sure how likely others were to be able to listen in.

            Her dragon stilled for a moment and took a breath. “Probably,” she hummed after a pause, her expression obviously pensive. “Normally yes, but… I’m not sure what Tiamat did to this space,” she admitted quietly.

            Chaerin sighed once and looked around, noticing again how strangely solid the area surrounding them looked. “Is this a room? Like where we speak but different?”

            “More like a cage,” Fei murmured unhappily. “I can hear from and speak to those on the outside, but I cannot leave.”

            “What? Why not?” her rider asked, pulling back so she could look directly into the dragon’s face.

            Fei shook her head and grimaced. “I suspect it has something to do with me knowing where Tiamat is…”

            “Right…” Chaerin exhaled, turning to look at the hidden horizon. “Is she close?”

            “We’re moving in the right general direction,” she conceded with a nod. “She’s not far now, but she won’t be easy to find regardless.”

            “Why not?”

            “She’s hiding,” Fei murmured, turning her golden eyes on her rider once more. The admission made Chaerin gasp and for one heart stopping moment, she was deathly afraid about where the dragon god was. The gold’s dry snort of amusement was a strange balm, but it made Chaerin feel at least a little better. “She hates humans, Rin. A human body is not one she would choose to hide in. Especially when there are so many dragons available.”

            “Oh…” Of course she was relieved by that announcement, but she also knew it was no time to celebrate. With a grimace, she shook her head and forced herself to focus. “Well, okay. Let’s at least try to talk to Jongup. I don’t think we really finished our conversation earlier,” she admitted nervously, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

            “Very well,” Fei agreed with a nod, turning to look outward as her eyes unfocused slightly. “He’s… sleepy,” she laughed once, mouth quirking to the side in amusement. “But coming around,” her dragon relayed. “Wants to know what we want.”

            Even though she had asked for this conversation to start, Chaerin was hesitant to send her question. Eventually, she took a breath and rattled off, “What does Taekwoon want to do about what I told him?”

            Dutifully, her dragon relayed the question but then frowned when she heard the response. “He wants to go,” she hummed, tilting her head to the side in mild confusion.

            Chaerin wrinkled her nose and groaned. “Are you sure?” Knowing him, she wouldn’t put it past the other rider to have a ridiculous desire to challenge the dragon god himself. Or worse, it wasn’t impossible that he might have some subconscious death wish given what had happened.

            “Yes,” she nodded, seemingly not as bothered by the thought as her rider was.

            “Ugh,” Chaerin exhaled, tilting her head to the sky. Of course he’d say that. She didn’t really know what she’d been expecting. “Well… no,” she grumbled after a moment. “It’s too dangerous,” she added, not looking at her dragon, almost afraid the gold would chastise her or something.

            “I agree it’s dangerous. We don’t know what will happen. But is it wise to ignore Tiamat’s wishes?” Fei questioned gently, her fingers tightening just a bit on Chaerin’s arms.

            It made her rider look towards her and she searched Fei’s face uncertainly. “No. It’s not wise, but… I don’t want to be used as a pawn that leads to other people being hurt again. And besides, I do owe him.” He’d helped and saved her more than once already.

            “What if he does not want to be saved?” Fei asked, patting Chaerin on the head and letting her hand rest there.

            “Well… he’s obviously not thinking very clearly right now,” she muttered, looking down when it was harder to meet her dragon’s gaze.

            “And you are?” the gold prodded with gentle amusement.

            “Quiet you,” Chaerin mumbled, declining to answer as she stepped forward and chose to hug her dragon again. It was easier than looking in her eyes and she could close her own to imagine she really did know what she was doing.

            “It’ll be alright, Rin,” she murmured, petting Chaerin’s head again before hugging her back. “I won’t let anything happen to you either way,” she promised.

            “I know you won’t,” Chaerin smiled and sniffed, relaxing further into her dragon’s arms. She was vaguely aware when Fei gently eased her out of Trance so that she could fall asleep in her physical form, content with the decision she’d made.

            As far as she was concerned, that was the end of it. She’d delivered her message but she couldn’t just let Taekwoon throw himself into the dragon’s nest in his current state. Especially since they were so close to being home anyway. And it wasn’t like he’d have much chance to approach her with the sea crossing so near at hand. So yes. Her decision was quite fine by her.

            Granted, she did have to avoid his eyes in the morning. A shred of guilt gnawed at her about it, but with Jungkook and Hyunseong at hand to distract her, it wasn’t the too difficult task it could have been. Insoo came by to check on her as well, making sure she really had been alright during the evening. Intended or not, that devolved into another diversion as she explained the misunderstanding for the other two riders. And by then, it was time to start getting ready for the last leg before they stopped on the coast.

            A small part of Chaerin wondered just where Tiamat was but she was determined not to let it bother her for too long. They had enough to worry about with Bahamut and whatever he was doing, or not, in his silence. Astride Fei, she was content when the dragons launched into the air. The weather looked like it was going to hold quite well for this leg and the breeze rolling off the water was welcome, even if the ruined scenery wasn’t.

            There was a tiny nervousness in her belly as they approached the coast though. She couldn’t help but cast glances back at Taekwoon and Jongup, the both of whom seemed either entirely disinterested in her or all too focused at any given moment. It was mildly unnerving. At least when she looked over at Jungkook and her brother, they gave her encouraging smiles. Well, Jungkook did anyway. Hyunseong wasn’t a fount of positive energy yet but he did at least nod at her.

            They approached the coastline with a couple riderless dragons scouting the shore for ideal places to land. She felt the general call to descend, like they always did when they were going to take a break. Fei shifted and set a very gentle angle to coast down. Distracted by the scenery in front and the need to see their landing zone, Chaerin didn’t realize immediately that there were suddenly a great many more dragons in front of them than usual. Frowning, she looked around and realized that most of the ones they’d been flying with had passed them.

            “Fei?” she wondered, focusing on her dragon’s head. Her eyes widened and she inhaled slightly when Fei looked back at the only other dragon on their level and nodded. “Fei!” she yelped, feeling fear, betrayal, and surprise clash within her as the gold put on a sudden burst of speed and flapped hard towards the open ocean, veering away from the direction of Kinshire. Jongup was right behind her.

            A chorus of confused and worried cries erupted in their wake. Looking back, she could see almost the entirety of their group had pulled up to give chase. The only ones missing were the injured and those carrying the wounded. But… despite their training and determination, the longer Chaerin watched, the longer the distance between them didn’t change much, even for the fastest of their group. Seohyun led the pack but only just and Taeyeon looked nothing but frustrated by the realization she could not catch up. Chaerin’s dragon flew as if she was driven by something and Jongup seemed almost feral in his focus.

            “Fei! What are you doing?!” she screamed, turning her confusion to action as she hit at her dragon’s back with blunt fists. A wave of apology and love and reassurance washed through their bond, further confounding her. “Stop this!” she commanded, yanking at the straps that connected them. “Stop, Fei! Stop!” Chaerin looked over to try and yell at Taekwoon too, but shock stole her words.

            A shadow marred the rider and his dragon. They looked up. And then Chaerin was looking down as something literally knocked them out of the sky. “Taekwoon!” she shrieked, throwing herself against the straps as she reached for him belatedly. “No!” she denied, watching in horror as a silver dragon spiraled down with them. “Fei!” she railed in betrayed anger, glaring at her dragon when the gold made no effort to go after them. Another sad apology washed through their bond, but Fei merely kept flying, her head pointed down as she watched.

            Chaerin flinched when they hit the water, the sound like the breaking of a mountain, before they disappeared beneath the surface. She wailed in denial, her stomach tight and heart aching. Fei lowed, something between an apology and a warning as some of the other dragons drew close to where their wing mate had disappeared. In another heartbeat, Chaerin understood why. A shadow unfurled beneath the surface, black as pitch and as large as an aerie. The dragons above the water floundered and flapped upwards, all too aware of the danger.

            “Tiamat,” she whispered, drawing in a shaky breath that froze in her lungs when a silver eye opened. It darted once, twice, and then focused on her and Fei. She was sure of it. The giant eye blinked and then faded away as her head turned, taking the shadow further into the depths. “No!” Chaerin sobbed, knowing the dragon god had them. “Bring them back!” she demanded before turning her anger on her dragon. “Go after them! Fei! Go! Now!” the rider wailed. When mute apologies were the only response, she shoved the sentiment away and beat against the gold back with her fists.

            As they were quickly surrounded by confused allies, the only thing that Chaerin felt was betrayed. Her dragon had tricked her. And now Jongup and Taekwoon were gone and it was her fault…

            When awareness returned, the first thing Taekwoon realized was that the ground was hard. It was surprising only because he last remembered the agonizing sting of hitting water and then being surrounded by it before he lost consciousness. But now… he was dry, utterly vulnerable and… someone was watching him. His belly clenched in reaction and Taekwoon slowly looked up, freezing entirely when he saw an equally vulnerable, obsidian skinned woman with silver pinpricks for eyes looking at him.

            “Tiamat!” he gasped, instinctively knowing who she was without needing to be told. She had the same feel as Bahamut had when he’d met the dragon god in Trance before. The recognition was followed by a myriad of emotions that clamored within him: fear, anger, curiosity, and surprise.

            She acted as if she had not heard him. Kneeling near his head, she leaned closer and asked, “Where is your dragon?”

            It was such an unexpected question. Reactively, he reached for Jongup, suddenly afraid he was gone and he’d missed it. But the connection was still there, even if he couldn’t actually see the blue dragon right now. He didn’t know where he was. In light of that, her question felt taunting and he snarled, “What did you do with Jongup?!”

            One brow rose in amused surprise and she snorted a gust of air through her nose. “Your dragon,” she stated simply, pointing at him as if it was supposed to mean something, “is gone. Where?”           

            Unable to ignore the sharp command in her final word, Taekwoon flinched, very natural fear warring with his anger. But with it came a possible understanding. He couldn’t quite meet her gaze, the intense strangeness was too intimidating just then, but he looked at her in his peripheral vision and swallowed. “Bahamut.”

            The dragon god waited, obviously listening for more, but no additional words were forthcoming, she sniffed once and sat back on her heels. Her eyes narrowed with the sudden fire of anger and, even though it was not directed at Taekwoon, he still felt a frightened chill race down his spine.

            He had been a complete fool for thinking he could stand before Tiamat. When the opportunity had finally presented itself, he was reduced to nothing more than a frightened human that knew he was powerless against her. The realization burned like the high heat of a fire and he dropped his head again. But even so… he couldn’t deny that he was still curious about why she wanted to see him. And… he wondered if she had answers she would actually give him.

            “Foolish man,” she scowled, rage darkening her features. But just as quickly as the emotion came, it left and a strange thoughtful satisfaction appeared instead. It was almost more unnerving than the anger. “I see,” she mused, eyes drifting down to look at Taekwoon again, the expression otherwise unreadable. “This might actually be better.”

            Unable to even conjure independent thoughts, the only word that came to mind was, “What?”

            “Right now, you are useless to me,” she sniffed with undisguised disappointment. The tone of her voice stung more than the words themselves. “Incomplete. Broken. Even less than a human. You are not what I wanted. But…” she paused, hesitating as her face turned strangely pensive. “You may still be what I need.”

            At last, a shred of angry defiance bloomed in Taekwoon and he clenched his fists. “No.” He would not be used by the dragon god.

            His response amused her, if the quirk to was any indication. “That I can use,” she laughed once, a quiet hiss of sound. opened just enough for Taekwoon to see her tongue run along one row of teeth, and her gaze drifted up. It was clear she was thinking. “The last time I… fought my mate,” she murmured, fingers drifting up to grip her chin lightly. “I felt something in him. Something familiar,” she explained, letting her eyes fall back to Taekwoon who had suddenly grown very still.

            “What?” he whispered, not sure if the word was a statement of surprise or a genuine question.

            Tiamat pursed her lips and leaned close again. “You are hollow but, like the chutes of new grass, something in you is reaching out. Is it not?” Taekwoon in a quiet breath. “As I thought,” she smiled in satisfaction.

            Taekwoon swallowed and dared to start getting to his feet. Tiamat followed his movements, rising up with graceful ease. She was slightly taller than him when standing and she still felt impossibly powerful, but it didn’t matter just then. “I have just one question.” He paused to see her raise her brow in mute interest. “Where is my dragon?”

            “Which one?” she asked coyly, a sly smile tugging at her lips.

            At her response, the hope that leapt into his throat was painful and terrifying. “Tell me!” he growled when she just looked at him with an insufferably smug expression.

            “Make me.”

            The fact Taekwoon knew it was a taunt didn’t change his reaction in the least. He threw himself at her with single minded focus, fully intent on dragging the answer out. His plans were curtailed when she reached her hand out and stopped him with a palm to his chest. It felt like he hit a wall and he gasped, blinking in dumbfounded surprise. “What…?” the rider croaked, looking at her with fresh eyes.

            She raised her brow again and snorted. “You are merely human and I am not bound by runes of power this time. You will have to do better than that, hollow man,” she scoffed, shoving him away with ease.

            Head over heels, he tumbled backwards, awkwardly catching himself on all fours when he came to a stop. Looking up again, he grit his teeth and growled, pelting towards the dragon god once more. She treated the feint like it was another straightforward attack, allowing him a chance to pivot around her palm, bringing them close again. Briefly elated by getting in range, the feeling faded just as quickly.

            For every strike he threw, she countered with ease. She knocked his jabs away with a flick of her wrist. When he recovered and tried to elbow her in the face, she caught it in her palm and shoved it down. Shifting his weight back to his right foot and yanking his shoulders upright, he rammed his left foot at her midsection with a swift heel kick. Tiamat deflected it with a downward swipe, knocking him to the right. He let his momentum take him down so he could plant his hands and try to kick her feet out from under her with his other foot but even that was useless. She simply lifted her foot and nudged him away.

            Smarting from being so completely outmatched, Taekwoon rolled once and then scrambled to get around her for a better vantage. It was insulting that she remained stationary as he did, but even though it let him get behind her, he discovered it was a false hope. As soon as he tried to grab her hand and draw her arm into a lock behind her, she overpowered him with unquestionable ease. As a last resort, he foolishly tried a choke hold, literally jumping on her back and wrapping his arms around her neck.

            She gave a perturbed exhale and grabbed his hair before dragging him down in front of her. “What are you doing?” Tiamat asked while leaning over his downed form, clearly disappointed.

            At a loss, Taekwoon held his tongue, trying to cling to enough anger to attempt a surprise attack. When she gave a slow blink in irritation at his silence and stood up, he reacted. Kicking backwards, he rolled over his shoulders and shoved off his hands to try a horse kick. Taekwoon grunted when he connected, barely managing to make her move at all. Worse still, it was clear she’d let him hit her when she grabbed his ankle and yanked him into the air to keep him from falling. Taekwoon felt like a spider caught in a web and he froze unintentionally.

            The dragon god saw it and curled her lip in disgust. “You disappoint me.” Her comment was followed by a casual toss that had more force than he was expecting.

            His back hit the ground too flat to roll out of and he coughed, desperately trying to catch his breath. Panic hit when he couldn’t draw air into paralyzed lungs. “No!” he scraped past a too tight throat. He rolled onto his stomach and endured the eternity, fingers crooked into the ground. JONG!

            Fear spiked again when he suddenly felt Tiamat’s hand on his shoulder, rolling him over. Her face was cold and hard, eyes narrowed while she looked down at him. Taekwoon’s gut clenched and he made a strangled noise of protest as she calmly gripped his throat in her hand and picked him up, dangling him in front of her. “No human alone can beat me,” she reminded him, fingers tightening around his throat as she looked in his eyes with frightening intensity.

            Choking, Taekwoon pried at her hand with desperate fingers. His feet kicked out but caught mostly open space. The thought that he was going to die passed through his mind and his body spasmed as if of its own accord. His chest burned and every patch of his skin tingled, the sensation nearly lost in his mortal struggle.

            “So Taekwoon,” the dragon god asked quietly, her voice impossible to miss despite the thunder of blood pounding in his ears. “Should I kill you or do you want the answer to your question?”

            The rushing sound in his ears turned to a high pitched whine. His vision started to fade. Numbness cast a pall over his skin and a single phrase tumbled through his mind like a boulder rolling down a mountain. ‘Which dragon? Which dragon? Which dragon…?’ ALL OF THEM!

            An explosion of feeling erupted around the hole in him. Like the burning of warmth after too much cold. He felt his body move but he didn’t know what he did. And yet, suddenly he could breathe again as he fell to the ground. Taekwoon convulsed as he coughed once, one hand rising to his aching throat, and inhaled twice. On the second breath, he slammed his free hand against the ground and roared. The sound that emerged was strange, blended, but it didn’t immediately register. When Taekwoon looked up to see Tiamat, his vision flickered, sharpening for a heartbeat before returning to normal. He barely noticed. All he saw was Tiamat’s smirk and he felt a familiar rage descend over him. Sharp fingertips tore into the ground as Taekwoon attacked the dragon god anew. This time, she responded with a genuine smile on her face. He didn’t care.

            Taekwoon struck at her, seeing flickers of movement in the corners of his vision that didn’t quite make sense to him. But Tiamat moved as if to defend against something he couldn’t truly see. When he got close enough to engage with his hands and feet, the dragon god blocked and pivoted away. He knew she was still holding back and it only angered him more. His body crouched and pivoted in a way that he didn’t understand but it felt right so he went with it.

            With his back to her briefly, he didn’t see what made Tiamat make a surprised sound. As he came around, he noticed one foot out wider than the other, like she’d had to stabilize herself. But she was still smiling, delighted this time. And her eyes appeared to follow something behind him but when he looked over his shoulder, he couldn’t see it.

            Confused and angry, he charged straight at her. “WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS?!”

            Tiamat grinned and stepped to meet him, locking hands as she stopped them in place. “Can’t you feel them?” she asked, staring into his eyes as if she was looking at something more.

            ‘Can’t you feel them?’ The question looped around his mind once and Taekwoon blinked. “Feel… them…?” he murmured, eyes widening as he abruptly recognized the signs. The pain in his chest. His tingling skin. Flickering vision. And the rage… Numb in a different way, Taekwoon stumbled back, hands sliding away from Tiamat’s with no resistance. He looked down and placed a trembling hand over where his heart was. “Dragon?” he whispered with desperate hope.

            Taekwoon gasped. He was there. He couldn’t hear him but he could feel the shadow of his inner dragon; the faint ghost of his presence. Taekwoon smiled and then laughed as he cradled his hand over his heart. His vision grew misty and tears fell onto his cradled fists. If his inner dragon was… alive, did that mean a part of Jonghyun was too? And if Jonghyun was, could it be possible that Jinki wasn’t entirely gone either? “Tiamat…” he whispered as he looked up, not sure what else to say. She was immediately in front of him when he did and he should have been startled but he wasn’t. He was more surprised by the conflicted look on her face.

            “A dragon’s love and respect is not so easily lost,” she murmured, ghosting her fingers against his face to draw the specter of his inner dragon’s image before them. “Especially when it is not truly gone.”

            It was harder to breathe with his bronze dragon half visible, but Taekwoon was mesmerized by it. He didn’t really understand what she meant and yet, it didn’t matter. He knew where his dragons were and that gave him hope. Fragile and trembling, but there. Only… “Where’s Jongup?” he asked, tearing his gaze away from his dragon as he looked at Tiamat, his thoughts beginning to clear.

            The dragon god guided his dragon back and nodded once. “Sleeping. He would have gotten in the way here. And you needed to face this on your own.”

            His elation was marred by suspicion and wariness, but… considering what had happened, he was willing to go on a tiny bit of faith at least. “Is this why you wanted Chaerin to bring me to you?”

            “Yes,” she answered easily, no hesitation in her voice.

            “Why?”

            Now the dragon god paused, mouth twisting into a distasteful frown. She even closed her eyes and rubbed at her temples with one hand before she spoke again. “I can hardly believe I’m saying this but…” she trailed off, taking a breath and meeting his gaze again. “You might be uniquely capable of assisting me in stopping Bahamut.”

            Certain he’d heard wrong, Taekwoon blinked at her dumbly. “Huh?” he grunted after a moment in which she didn’t clarify otherwise.

            “Are you willing to hear what I have to say?” she asked, one brow rising archly as she pulled her shoulders back, looking every bit the proud, regal figure she was.

            He still wasn’t entirely sure he was hearing her correctly, but if she meant what she said, it was ultimately what he wanted to do to. And if she had a plan, that was more than he did. Not to mention, he would likely need help getting to the dragon god anyway. Taekwoon sniffed once and nodded with a quick shrug. “I’m listening.”