Edge pulled out her dagger like a seasoned warrior, jumping the rest of the way to the ground. She landed with a heavy thud just in front of the advancing Dark Soldiers. Echo landed beside her, spreading his wings menacingly. Dread settled on her shoulders as she studied the enemies. The way the Dark Soldiers moved, slow and deliberate, told her they had no intention of letting anyone leave alive.

“Edge!” Kilah gasped, “What—”

“No time,” Edge dismissed her, glaring at the Dark Soldiers. Daring them to take another step. Her grip tightened around her dagger, a lingering doubt at the back of her mind. Was she truly outmatched this time?

There was a tense pause. Then, the middle one stepped forward, sword at the ready.

Edge glanced at Echo, who hissed and bared his teeth. She had no more energy to summon shadows. This time, the battle would have to be fought hand-to-hand. Sword-to-sword.

Instead of fear, though, Edge only had one thought running through her mind.

Protect.

Without hesitation, Edge leaped forward, slashing her sword like a seasoned warrior. She didn’t know how she knew how to angle her dagger perfectly, or why she knew exactly when to block the Dark Soldier’s attacks. Her eyes scanned their every move, and her brain came up with a response. Everything was so automatic. Like she had done this a thousand times before. But even as her body moved, the Dark Soldier’s blade crashed against hers, sending a painful jolt up her arm. She staggered, eyes catching on a bit of blood on the steel.

Her own.

The largest Dark Soldier stabbed at her heart, but she narrowly dodged and countered by swinging for its leg. When it took a step backwards, Echo pounced, slamming the large figure to the ground. She couldn’t help but notice his own black blood was dripping onto the ground. They were both bleeding now.

When Echo snarled with deathly intentions in mind, Edge turned away so she wouldn’t have to see what happened next.

Now, there were only two Dark Soldiers to deal with.

This time, Kalmar and Kilah leaped into the action as well. They both challenged the second Dark Soldier, and while their movements were much less automatic and fluid, they didn’t have bad swordsmanship, even with the awkward blades they held. For a second, Kilah’s sword slipped from her sweaty grasp, and the Dark Soldier’s blade was at her throat. Kalmar quickly intervened, shoving his own weapon between them just in time.

Elias and Liora also tried to play their part, yelling out instructions for where the Dark Soldiers were about to strike next or when they had their guards down. But Edge’s muscles were begging to falter, exhaustion settling into her bones. How long could she do this for, before completely collapsing?

With lots of slashing and near-perfect stepwork, Edge finally caused her Dark Soldier to stumble. Echo played his part to perfection, ending its life before it could take another step. The final soldier suffered a similar fate, eyes wide with terror at the surprisingly powerful group.

The rest of the nearby skeletal monsters, and even the normal human soldiers, took one more look at the scene and fled. The Dark Soldiers should have killed them all. They were the most formidable enemies on the battlefield, except maybe the trolls. And here t hey were, five human kids from the outside world and one wounded dragon, defeating three of them. Not just one. Three.

However, they didn’t finish the battle unscathed. Edge’s arm throbbed from where the sword had grazed her, and all around, her friends clutched similar wounds. Nothing fatal, but enough to remind everyone of how close they had come. Even Echo had multiple wounds, noticeably keeping the weight off one of his back legs.

“At least this went better than my dream did,” Elias broke the silence with his shaky voice.

“Oh yeah?” Kilah said, swiping the sweat from her face as she turned around to face him. “And your dream was…?”

He looked down sheepishly. “I was fighting a, uh, Dark Soldier. And…lost.”

“That’s just great,” Kalmar sighed dramatically, throwing his sword onto the ground. He casually glanced down at the wound on his hand, trying his best to hide his cringe. “And you didn’t share this news with us because…? You know, maybe a ‘hey guys, I dreamt about these enemies and they may or may not have killed me, so be careful’ would have been nice but…okay.”

“Never mind that,” Kilah interjected, her eyes sparkling. “We won. We actually won.”

“I thought we were gonners,” Kalmar shrugged. “BUT, I was wrong. Sooo…that’s good, right?”

“Guys?” Liora suddenly asked, eyes wide. “Did you somehow not notice that we were fighting alongside a dragon?”

All eyes shot towards Echo, who was standing only a few feet away.

The group instinctively shrank back, pressing closer together. Kalmar’s grip tightened on his sword, knuckles white, and Liora slowly stepped behind Elias, her eyes darting between Echo and the ruined street. Elias stared, frozen, sweat beading on his brow. Only Kilah stepped forward, her gaze bright with awe and curiosity.

Echo stood motionless, silver eyes flicking between each of them. A low rumble vibrated in his chest. Not threatening, but enough to make the others flinch. Kilah, unbothered, gave a small, shaky smile and whispered, “He’s not going to hurt us. He helped us.”

Liora’s voice trembled. “You don’t know that for sure.”

“He’s fine,” Edge confirmed, coming up and placing one of her hands on Echo to prove it. He didn’t even flinch.

Elias managed to whisper, “Let’s just…not get too close.”

“Actually…” Kilah said, the glint of a plan sparkling behind her eyes. “I have an idea.”

Everyone muttered a collective, “What?”

Kilah grinned. “We want information on how to get home, right? Well, where better to get answers? A battlefield littered with monsters and bodies. Or a castle with royalty likely inside.”

“Castle?” Liora questioned.

“You didn’t notice it?” Kilah sighed. “We can’t see it now, there are too many buildings. But I saw it when we were outside the gates, and it was really kind of stunning.”

“Okay,” Liora responded, voice filled with hesitations. “Assuming that there is actually a castle, then what? What if everybody from the castle is gone? What if they kill us since we’re impostors? What if they don’t know the information we need? What if—”

“Hey,” Kalmar stopped her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. “Kilah has a point. We can either stay here and get mauled by the monsters, or go have a super fun time at a sparkly castle! I vote for the sparkly castle, because as much fun as being mauled sounds…I’d rather not today.”

Kilah grinned with relief. “Thank you!”

“How are we, uhm, getting there?” Elias asked, already knowing the answer.

Edge and the others looked at each other, the question hanging in the smoky air. Echo, still breathing heavily from the fight, lowered his head until Edge could rest her hand between his horns. "Echo will take us," she said, finding confidence in the dragon’s steady gaze.

Kilah immediately nodded, eyes bright. "We’ll have to move fast before anything else finds us."

There was a brief scramble as each of them climbed awkwardly onto Echo’s back, finding makeshift grips on his scales or the small ridges along his spine. Edge swung up in front, just behind Echo’s head, feeling the tension in the muscles beneath his scales and giving him a reassuring pat.

“There’s no way I’m going on that thing,” Liora crossed her arms defiantly.

A huge crash suddenly resonated behind the group. Everyone’s heads turned in unison, eyes locking onto the trolls thundering towards them. Their roars shook the ruined street, and as they barreled closer, the ground trembled beneath Echo’s claws. The trolls were gaining, snarling and swinging their arms as if eager to tear anything in their path to pieces. Edge felt the panic surge through the group. There was no time to hesitate. If they didn’t move now, the trolls would be on them in seconds.

“That’s not good!” Kalmar said, eyes wide.

“No kidding,” Liora muttered.

“Liora, you'd better get on this dragon!” Kilah screamed. When Liora didn’t respond, she started counting down. “5…4…3…”

Edge kicked her legs, not even waiting for zero. Echo rose into the air, and everyone clutched his small spikes to avoid falling off. A loud scream erupted as Echo swooped to grab Kalmar and Liora, each in a different leg. Then, Echo flew into the sky just as the trolls came crashing into the spot where they had just been hovering.

Taking a deep breath, Edge let the cool air fill her lungs. Part of her was glad to be in higher altitudes again. Everything seemed so much safer. Even the other dragons gliding above didn’t pay them any mind. And, besides, the view was breathtaking.

The setting sun cast a warm glow over the horizon, bathing the whole world in golden light. Everything was so bright and lush, except for the destroyed and burning patches, which made her wonder how beautiful this would all be without the war. And Kilah was right, there really was a castle in the middle of the village.

It was surrounded by a moat, and was made out of beautiful black and silver bricks. It was probably as tall as the Eiffel Tower, and wider than two mansions put side by side. The windows, doors, and pillars were all in a navy blue colour, and a large flag was fluttering at the highest peak of one of the towers. It had a black pole, while the flag itself was light blue and had the image of a dragon with a sword running through it stitched in the middle.

“I did not give you permission to take me flying!” Liora screamed, terror lining every syllable. “Let me down right. Now!”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t say that,” Kalmar yelled at her, the wind whipping most of his voice away. He was surprisingly calm through all of this, as if flying, only by the hope that a dragon wouldn't drop you, was a fun adventure. “The landing might be…’abrupt’ to put it lightly.”

Kilah could barely hide her grin. “If you really want me to, I’m sure Echo would be happy to oblige.”

Liora’s mouth snapped shut.

“It’ll only be a few-minute ride, anyway,” Kilah continued. She seemed perfectly at ease, rubbing Echo’s scales affectionately. However, beside her, Elias was white-faced and clutching Echo’s spikes so hard that his hands looked like they were going to go numb. Every time Echo dipped or made a sudden movement, Elias would let out a terrified squeak.

Echo circled the castle once, scouting for a safe place to land. Smoke curled from shattered rooftops, and the battered village below teemed with monsters and fleeing soldiers. But within the castle’s high walls, there was a patch of clear ground, an open courtyard lined by crumbling stone pillars and a fountain, miraculously still trickling water.

Echo banked sharply, wings slicing through the air. He spiralled down, coming to a careful landing in the courtyard. The impact was jarring, but nobody fell. Though Elias did slide off and nearly hit the stones before Kalmar caught his arm.

For a moment, the group just sat there, too stunned to move. The courtyard was eerily quiet compared to the chaos outside. Kilah helped Elias to his feet, while Kalmar patted Echo’s shoulder in gratitude.

Only Edge remained atop the dragon, scanning the shadows along the castle walls. The silence pressed in, broken only by the distant thunder and the faint clashing of weapons. It was a moment to breathe after the nightmare outside.

"We made it," Liora whispered, obviously glad to be on the ground again. She looked at Echo, a mix of gratitude and shock woven into her expression.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Kalmar shrugged.

“Soo…” Kilah looked around the courtyard, almost like she was expecting an answer to engrave itself on the stone. “What do we do n—”

“Be quiet,” Edge suddenly snapped, eyes scanning the terrain. Someone was out there. She could hear the murmur of their thoughts at the back of her mind, but it was too weak to grab hold of.

Everyone froze, glancing at Edge curiously. She noticed Elias fidgeting nervously and Kilah taking a step closer to Echo. Their eyes traced the trees, anxiously watching for the unspoken threat to reveal itself.

“You have good ears,” A new, soft voice spoke behind the group.

Edge whipped around, fists clenched, ready to unleash whatever she had to. But, as the figure came into view, her defences slowly dropped. It wasn’t the monster with bulging muscles and a club that she half expected to see. Instead, it was a teenage girl who looked around seventeen years of age. Her skin seemed to glow a dim white light, her features soft, and grey eyes radiating perfect beauty.

“Who are you?” Edge immediately asked, pulling out her dagger as the girl walked a few steps closer. As Edge studied her closer, she couldn’t help but notice how elaborate her attire was. She had on a dark blue dress that swept the ground, with long sleeves and small white gloves to match. The dress was embroidered with golden stitching and tiny diamonds glittering at her waist. To top it all off, her blond hair was pulled into an elaborate, but beautiful, braid at the back of her head. She almost looked like a princess with it all.

Wait.

Castle? A girl who looked like a princess at the grounds?

“I mean no harm,” The girl held up her hands like a prisoner feigning innocence. “I meant only to decide whether you were friend or foe.”

“And?”

She cocked her head. “Friend, I believe. Though it would be more prudent for you to tell me.”

“We are friends,” Kilah assured her. Edge glanced over, almost forgetting that they were there.

“I’m Kalmar,” Kalmar offered helpfully, stepping forward. His light blue eyes glinted as they met hers, and Edge could see how truly enchanted he was by the new stranger.

The rest of the group offered their names, except for Edge. She kept a weary eye on the girl, never fully lowering her dagger. She couldn’t trust anybody in this world. Especially those who seemed trustworthy.

“What about you?” The girl turned to Edge, a wrinkle creasing between her eyebrows. Edge stared at her, trying her hardest to push into her mind and hear her thoughts. But all Edge heard was a soft murmur of songs, barely coherent enough to make out a word or two.

“That’s Edge,” Elias whispered when she didn’t answer. Edge shot him a glare, and he shrank back a little, mumbling. “Just trying to help.”

“There are five of you?” The girl asked softly, a hint of uncertainty crossing her face.

“So what?” Edge shot back.

“It’s just…well, nothing.” She sighed and shook her head. “And anyway, pardon my manners. I’m Rose.”

Liora opened her mouth to speak, but a loud horn blasted through the air, cutting her off. Rose stopped, glancing over at the nearest watchtower that was going up in flames. Horror wove into her expression, and she squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, they looked a little red and teary.

“What’s wrong?” Kilah asked, wincing as a nearby monster shrieked, its high-pitched cry splitting the air.

Rose wiped away a stray tear, forcing herself to look Kilah in the eye. “That was the signal for defeat. We lost the battle.”

A heavy silence pressed on everyone’s shoulders. Nobody knew what to say. What could they say? Edge still wasn’t sure if the village or the monsters were the bad guys. She assumed the monsters but…were they really? And why was there a war in the first place?

“It’s no longer safe here.” Rose said, staring intently at Edge. Her eyeline never wavered, not even as Edge narrowed her own.

“About that,” Liora jumped in, not looking too sad about the news of the lost village. “We need help getting back home. Think you could do something?”

Rose studied them more closely. “Where is your home, then?”

“Well, y’know,” Liora waited to see if Rose would answer for her—she didn’t—and said, “Earth.”

A pause. Edge saw Rose take a shaking breath, looking conflicted about something.

“Then, you really aren’t safe here.” She squared her shoulders and exhaled. “I’m sorry.”

Suddenly, a dense fog cut through Edge’s head like a knife. Her vision wavered, and she dropped to the ground, the mist settling into every corner of her mind. Taking deep, ragged breaths, she stole a glance to her side. Everyone—Elias, Kilah, Liora, and Kalmar—were also collapsed on the ground, eyes twitching too close.

“I knew it,” Edge said slowly through gritted teeth, fighting to look Rose in the eye. Rose looked tired as well, but in a different way. I: In a way that Edge knew all too well.

She was using her powers.

“You really are…a…traitor…” Edge was finally forced to succumb to the darkness, but not before she heard Rose’s reply.

“I’m not who you think I am.”