(Year 0)

“Seriously!” I grunt as I lean back, a handaxe narrowly missing my throat. “We’re not spies, or whatever else you think we are!” I flick my tail, floating back out of reach, but the woman stubbornly pursues.

“Whatever you are, you clearly don’t belong here,” she snarls, swinging again.

She’s right; the hot desert air causes my scales to crack against each other as I move, and my control over water is useless without water to control. I swim back again, turning around the woman in a tight circle. I’m not going to fight back yet.

A large blonde projectile smacks into her with a thump, sending them both to the ground. I look down to see a snarling Kessiel crouched on the woman’s chest.

“There goes that idea,” I say tiredly.

The woman shoves Kessiel off of her, and Kessiel twists to land on her feet with a hiss. I twist in the air and shoot toward the woman, but the flash of a blade in my face forces me to turn aside. I don’t remember humans being quite this hostile last time I was on land.

I face the woman and cross my arms. “Who even are you?”

“We are Raven Empire. Soon to become the rightful rulers of Falcondar.”

Kessiel stiffens beside me. I turn to see that her face is pale, her green cat eyes wide. “What?” I ask sharply.

She points at our attacker, then makes a clawing motion and points at herself.

“Yes, I know she’s attacking us.” I reach threateningly toward my swords to make the woman pause as I keep watching Kessiel.

She shakes her head, pointing behind her, then shakes her head again with a look of resignation, as if she’s saying I’ll tell you later.

“We can figure it out later,” I agree, lowering my hands from my weapons.

Taking the opening, the woman attacks again, and I shoot up with a powerful stroke of my tail, this time pushing for more altitude. I twist sideways in the air well above her, crossing my arms. “Notice how I haven’t drawn my swords?” I puff. “That’s because I’m not hostile.”

“Said every Falcondar spy ever.” She aims a punch at Kessiel, who ducks aside with a startled mew.

“Have you ever seen ‘Falcondar’ spies like us? I’ve never even been this far from the coast before. I grew up in C’ihhtk’al. Somewhere you’ve undoubtedly never heard of.”

“Perhaps because it doesn’t exist.” She points her axe at me, but I’m far above her reach.

A second later, a quick orange flash accompanies a spike of pain in my side. I look down in shock to see that a small part of my side is now bleeding. It’s not deep, but still hurts. I turn back to the woman incredulously. “Gàgàb, bal kšbn kšt-jf?” I snap. Okay, what is your problem? “We’re not bb spies!”

Annoyed, I flip upside down and shoot toward her, dodging the next blast she shoots at me. As her axe comes at me again, I stroke down, hard, and shoot up. Curling myself into a ball, I roll tightly in the air, my tail smacking down on her head. The impact sends a flash of pain up my tail, but I grit my teeth and flip off to the side, righting myself.

The woman holds her head with a wince, and in that moment, Kessiel jumps onto her back, wrapping her legs around the woman’s midsection and her arms around her neck.

“I promise we don’t want to hurt you!” I try again. “Just take us to your leader. We have a message, and then we’ll be on our way.” I motion to Kessiel, who unlatches herself and glares at the woman crossly.

She thinks for a second, then sighs. “Very well,” she says finally. “I can’t take you to a Councilor, since they’re preparing everyone for the attack, but I can take you to someone else of importance.”

I raise my eyebrow. “Who might this person be?”

“The founder’s sibling. I will warn you, though, that their temper can be a bit… unreliable.”

“Seems to be a commonality among the people here,” I blurt despite myself.

“Would you like to speak to them or not?”

I swallow. “Yes. Yes, we would.”

She turns around and motions for us to follow. We approach an expanse of ground covered with tents. Hundreds of people weave in between them -- most armed -- casting us strange glances.

We’re led into a tent, empty except for a single person. The woman runs up and taps on their shoulder, whispering something in their ear. When they turn around, I’m startled by just how different they are from other humans: rather than the tanned skin and brownish hair of most of the others, their skin is a deep black, contrasting against startlingly bright hair.

Their striking red eyes narrow as they take us in. “It’s… a cat and a fish.”

I attempt a human-style bow, doing my best to stay steady in the air. “St’irian, gà Dacil Ahinok’il dù-” I begin out of habit, then shake my head with a wince. “St’irian, the Lord Henchman of Dasemring.” I cringe, realizing the word order was still like Tanagùk’i, but press on. “We were sent by His Lordship in the interest of securing the safety of both your land and mine.”

“Fancy,” they remark, crossing their arms. “I would ask how you can swim in the air, except it’s really not impressive, so I’ll just say this: claiming you’re some religious prophet won’t work on me. I don’t believe in Falcondar’s gods.”

“Dasemring is no fantasy!” I huff in annoyance before composing myself again. “In any case, we have your best interests at heart, even if you clearly couldn’t care less about ours. Since you know nothing about the gods, I’m guessing you know nothing about the Dragon Eternal, so-”

They scoff. “Sure. It’s only the patron of my family and power.”

I freeze. What? “Well… it’s in danger of being freed. Something that wouldn’t go over well with most life on the planet.”

Now it’s their turn to be surprised. “I don’t know what you think you know, but I’m the only Guardian alive, and no one else is able to free it. And I’m nowhere near the Forbidden Peaks.”

“You’re… a Guardian?” I stammer. The “g” in the word comes out as a hard click, my accent becoming more noticeable as my composure falls apart.

“Is that a problem?”

“But you’re not going to free the Dragon Eternal,” I say quickly.

“Wasn’t planning on it, no.” They tap their head. “Well, maybe after I overthrow the current monarchy, I’ll feel nice and warmed up and that could be a next logical step…”

I stare at them for a long moment, deciding that they’re being sarcastic. “Well, maybe you can point us to someone who can help us investigate,” I continue, although I’m no longer sure whether we should be talking or running. “Kessiel?”

Kessiel looks up from where she’s crouched in the corner.

“You’re not serious,” the Guardian interrupts.

“What? I just thought if you happened to know where-” Then I realize they’re staring at Kessiel. “Do you know her?”

They cross their arms. “I didn’t picture the person who caused such a major setback in Raven Empire’s operation to be so… fluffy.”

Kessiel bares her teeth and hisses at them.

“Or squeaky.”

I glance between them, feeling my heart speed up as the tension escalates. “What are you talking about?”

Their eyes turn back to mine. “Have you heard of the Kessiel Incident?”