Artemis's hand was bleeding, and her mind was completely dazed.

At her instruction, the dragon had torn one of his impressive black scales from over his heart, and she had proceeded to lather it in the blood seeping from her wound. The scale was huge and sharp. As she'd lifted the monstrosity from the floor, its weight had cut into her left hand by accident, relieving her of the focus she would have needed to do the deed herself.

She knew the bonding process; what it took, what to do, but still she fumbled. Weak. Confused. Helpless. It was strange and uncomfortable to reveal the intricacies of the bonding process to him, this dragon she’d just met who was quickly overturning her life. It was all happening too fast. It didn’t feel real. She hadn’t expected him to accept her. 

"Now what?" he asked impatiently. 

She lifted the scale up higher with both hands. “Now that my blood is on it, I must put it back in place.”

“Hurry.”

Artemis went forward, seeing nothing except the dark, oozing hole above his heart, where she was about to attach her life to his. Her heart pounded in her ears. She had to do this. Lane needed her now.

The great black dragon lowered his head down behind her, cutting off her retreat. Artemis felt like she might be sick, her panic making her hands clammy. She could feel his urgency, the insistence in the way his body curled around her. If it was protective or possessive, she couldn’t exactly tell. Maybe it was her imagination running wild… but she just couldn’t comprehend why he’d so swiftly pinned her for partnership, when she’d been desperately dreaming about this for years. Was there something wrong with her? Was that why – out of all dragons available – this dark beast had accepted her?

‘This is a good thing,’ she tried to reason. Lane would be safe and free. That was all that mattered… wasn’t it?

The closer she got to his chest, the worse the dragon's small wound looked, but as she subtly moved her eyes along his powerful, fearsome body, she understood it to be no more than a pinprick to him. A fly bite. A trifle compared to what he was going to gain and take from her.

Artemis hoisted the scale up into position against him and held it fast with her right hand, but the black dragon took issue with this.

"Use your left hand," he warned. "These bonds are all about intent, right? You'd dare initiate this pact with your sword hand, human?"

Artemis didn't know what to make of that, considering she had never held a sword in her life. Could he not tell? It figured the black dragon would be suspicious of something so trivial... but it was not for her to refute, and she switched hands obediently.

She waited for what felt like an eternity, leaning onto the bloodied scale with the desired hand. A tiny, irrational part of her screamed at herself to stall, drop the scale, and make up an excuse. But what would she gain? One minute? One second more? It was a mere drop in the ocean of time spanning before her. One extra moment to come to terms with the fate befalling her. 

One selfish moment she wasn't going to be able to spend.

The scale beneath her hand began to heat, its temperature rising rapidly—faster than her skin could cope.

"Don't move," he warned as she accidentally took a step back.

Artemis snapped out of her panic as she recalled her brother behind her. Somehow, it made the burning of her flesh easier to endure. This was greater than her.

She kept her hand as flat as she could, gritting her teeth together in agony as the scale flared with power and heat, welding itself back into place; her blood as the adhesive. This was the bond, it had to be. 

Through the crack in her eye she could see another glow begin to pulse in the dragon's chest, just at the base of his throat and Artemis realized what was happening.

She was lighting his spark with her blood.

Awestruck, she watched the green light through her pain, mesmerized and horrified by what she was creating. In a few mere moments, he would have the power to burn her home to the ground if he so wished.

 Realizing she knew nothing about him, Artemis whipped her gaze up to his in desperation. "Promise you won't hurt them!" 

The light in his chest flared ominously again as he spoke. "I’ve gotten what I came for."

She just nodded; it was all could she do as the burning swelled and pulsed incredible pain up her arm. Would the agony ever end?

But just as she thought this, it quelled, and the dragon didn't protest finally as she ripped her hand away to assess the damage that had been done. Surely she was seared straight down to the bo—

Her hand appeared untouched—the only visible proof of what had just happened was the shiny pink scar across her palm; the wound that was inflicted and drew blood. Confused, she just stared at the pale flesh without uttering a word. No burns at all, and when she flexed her fingers they moved with little pain. 

"It's done," the black dragon said. “I presume you can touch me now without injuring yourself.”

So he knows a little… Artemis thought. The dragon remained hunched next to her, and she realized the statement likely meant he wanted her to test it.

Gathering her nerve, Artemis reached up to touch him, choosing a wicked looking spot at the base of his throat. Despite her fear and trepidation, she noticed instantly the differences between this dragon and Razorit. Where Razorit’s scales cracked and parted and sometimes needed to be removed like teeth, this dragon’s scales were perfectly lined like chainmail, or the feathers of a bird… like each one knew its place and purpose. 

An uncomfortable feeling stirred in her gut that she couldn’t quite define. Grooming certainly helped a dragon maintain their scales. She’d learned that mostly from inspecting Palhano, Kendric’s dragon, but with this dragon… it seemed more akin to a trait that he was born with. 

When Artemis finally laid a gentle hand upon him, his head swung unexpectedly, coming around to look at her. She flinched, but remained where she was.

“What are you doing?” he asked, suspicious.

“I-I’m testing,” she answered. Is that not what he wanted?

He eyed her, and if Artemis had to guess she would have thought him to be perturbed. But surely that was just her mind playing tricks?

After a moment of consideration, he snorted and turned away. “Do as you please.”

Artemis had trouble digesting the response, turning her face slowly back to his scales. Do as she pleased? Those definitely weren’t words she expected to hear in their first few moments as pact partners. She was his servant. He’d made that inescapably clear.

Slowly, she smoothed a trembling hand down his warm scales, guilty with fascination. When she pressed the pad of her finger to the edge of one, she didn’t bleed. She pressed harder, but there was nothing to indicate she could be injured by his scales. Artemis let out a wavering breath. The bond was in place. 

She looked up at the awesome creature and despaired. She was his.

“We’ll leave now, if you’re through with gawking,” the black dragon said. Artemis’s heart jumped up into her throat when he stretched his head towards Lane, pausing briefly to stare down at him. 

Anxious, Artemis tried to distract him. “I don’t have any supplies. Let me gather them quickly.”

“You wish to fight your brother, then?”

She hesitated, confused. “Fight him?”

“Your brother’s breathing grows stronger, mirroring that of the green behind me. Soon they will awaken.” His massive jade eye turned onto her, ruthless. “If you’re trying to stall, we will fight to the death right here. Is that what you want?”

Realizing he was right and realizing how horrible it would be, Artemis immediately abandoned any desire she had to prolong her time in Glassgarden. She had to go now. If she didn’t… everything she was sacrificing would literally go up in smoke. 

"Can I at least say goodbye?" Artemis asked, numb.

"Do so.”

With his permission, she went to Lane, kneeling down next to him. What could she say? Apologize? He was going to be so angry at her, but surely he would be able to see past the dark dragon's evil intentions, and see her good intent on the other side? 

As she smoothed his matted hair away from his forehead and murmured her farewells, the black dragon rumbled something unexpected.

“This is not the end. Remember that.”

Artemis drew in a sharp breath, holding herself stiffly, afraid to get her hopes too high. Was it possible that he meant that as a kindness? A token of compassion? Was she to see her brother again?

The dragon looked away, aiming his muzzle towards his dead kin staked upon the wall. “You’re mistaken if you think your sacrifice will dampen his ambition. He will hunt us knowing full well that if I fall, you will fall with me. Prepare yourself for that outcome.”

Stop, Artemis thought. Don’t say such things. It isn’t true!

But, Great Ones, a bond with a black dragon… was anything worse?

Ignoring her new partner, Artemis leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Goodbye, Lane..." she whispered, "I love you." 

Out of the corner of her eye she saw something strange, a flickering green glow. When she turned to regard it, it was already too late for recognition to do any good, as her fearsome partner had already fired up his spark, and its light was illuminating the hollow of his throat.

“What are you doing?!” Artemis screamed. She threw her body over Lane’s to shield him as the green fire launched from the black dragon. 

From what she could tell with her arms covering her head, it hit the back wall with a crash. The force and the intensity of the flames reflected back on her instantly, the very air around her vibrating with chaos. Only when the noise from the blast lessened did Artemis dare peek through her bangs to see the devastation her pact partner had inflicted on her home. 

The wall was scorched black, the curtains that were strung up to frame the centerpiece were being devoured by green fire and the rest of what his flames touched were crackling and popping, injecting a nauseating amount of smoke into the air. 

“Why did you do that?” she cried, staying hunched over Lane. A part of her was so ashamed, realizing it her who had given him this power.

The black dragon lifted his chin. “Testing,” he said, his voice oddly hollow, like there was no stock in the answer.

Artemis shook her head in anguish, following his gaze to the destruction. Was he content just to watch her home burn…?

While momentarily gazing through the abyss that was the smoke and dragon surrounding her, Artemis realized what his aim had been.

Directly ahead of her, still staked upon the wall, the female dragon’s head finally burned.