That fall had left me breathless and slowly losing consciousness, leaving me alone in the cold darkness.

For the first time in my brief life, I had begun to feel the cold, and not that comforting warmth that usually surrounded me.

I could feel the wounds on my joints and limbs, both in my shoulder and my paw, loudly screaming in pain while every one of my inner muscles burned.

I was lying on a pile of dry branches and leaves that were digging into my skin, which was now more sensitive than it had ever been, despite still being covered by scales.

I tried to move, but my body was incapable of doing so. I remained motionless, breathing deeply while I heard that sound again in the background. It was a distant noise that grew louder with every second: the sound of that feline leaping among the branches.

I was too foolish. I had thought I could escape it, but even though I had bought a few minutes of time, that being had found me again and was on its way to finish what it had started. I tried to move again; I had to escape, even if it wouldn't help much. My mind and instinct were screaming for it, but my body did not respond with its usual strength. I was completely exhausted.

*"Shit, shit... come on... just a little bit..."*

But nothing, just a slight wobble, and the fear and terror in my body began to fade. After all, there was nothing more I could do. I had done what I could. If the world no longer allowed me to advance, who was I to doubt it?

The creature was approaching. I could feel it again with that sensation on the back of my neck. My time had come. It had won in the same way I had won against all my prey before that day. This was nothing more than the cycle of life; the strongest commanded the weakest.

I closed my eyes, not out of fear of the pain, but from the humiliation of my powerlessness. I couldn't fight, I couldn't run, I couldn't even growl. Life was escaping me, drained by exhaustion and pain.

I waited for the impact of its claws, the puma's final bite. I felt the air around me, which until then had been static and heavy, begin to vibrate. Not with a sound, but with a sensation.

I could feel my skin stretching and contracting with desperate slowness, as if an invisible hand were kneading the flesh and bones. I felt the space I occupied shrinking. The tissue on my back, where my wings folded, burned with an unbearable itch, as if someone were grabbing them with a rope and pulling with all their might. I thought it was the puma that had finally caught me, but the sound of its paws was not yet close enough. No, this was different.

It was too much.

I opened my eyes in surprise and sharp pain, forcing open my swollen eyelids.

And then, the world had changed. Everything seemed more distant and blurry.

Finally, the puma arrived. It was there, only a few meters away. Large, absurdly enormous compared to how it was before. Its muscles were tense, its purplish fur bristled, the black roots that tangled around it—everything was colossal. Its mouth, full of fangs ready for the feast, approached slowly, without haste, enjoying my helplessness. Its cobalt blue eyes, like two frozen stars, did not leave me. It had defeated me, and it was coming to claim its reward.

In that instant, a dry, resonant sound cut through the tense silence.

¡Zas!

A short, sharp object plunged into the blue flesh of its shoulder. The puma, which was about to pounce, roared in pain and surprise. Its body trembled, destabilized by the wound, and the fury in its eyes multiplied.

¡Zas! ¡Zas! ¡Zas!

More objects fell, some on its back and others sticking into the earth right beside the feline, raising a small mound of dust. The tips of the arrows shone faintly, reflecting the sunlight. The puma hesitated. It seemed that the wounds from our fight, along with those objects, had left it more hurt than it would have liked.

With a final growl of frustration and defeat, the creature turned around and dissolved into the undergrowth, leaping with the same speed and grace it had shown during our fight. It had fled.

And I had been saved.

But the feeling of not being safe did not disappear.

Voices, harsh and grave, echoed in the gloom.

"Damn it! It got away!"

"It's alright, Edric, calm down," said a deep, authoritative voice. It was the one who had shot the first arrow. "That's the King of the Mountain; don't expect it to fall with a single sting. It was wounded, I know it. Pursue it! It's weak, we can't let it escape."

There were sounds of rapid movement, the crunch of leaves under heavy boots, and the echoing of horses' hooves moving away in the search. I could hear and understand every word and phrase they pronounced. I knew what they were: hunters. They had come for the puma, but if they found me, what difference would it make? I was a dragon, and an defenseless one at that; I would be next.

The law of the strongest, what nonsense. In the end, I was being dramatic. I had to take that opportunity to escape.

I tried to get up, to crawl, to escape that cursed place. It was a pathetic attempt. My body writhed, unstable and weak. I fell again, the blow against the damp earth forcing a whimper out of me, not a roar, but a high-pitched, strange lament that echoed in the momentary silence. The pain, which had been sharp, was now a constant wave of agony in my shoulder.

"Wait!" A closer voice stopped my escape attempt. "Lord Valcrest... there's something here!"

I could hear the sound of the earth being disturbed, footsteps approaching cautiously.

I closed my eyes again. If they were going to kill me, let it be quick.

The sound of footsteps stopped right beside me. I could feel a dark shadow looming over me, blocking the little light that filtered through the trees.

"What...?" muttered the voice, which belonged to a robust man in worn and dirty leather clothes.

A rough, enormous hand lifted me off the ground with alarming ease. I hadn't been grabbed by claws, but wrapped in a soft, thick fabric. I felt completely helpless, dangling in the air.

The man referred to as Lord Valcrest approached me. He had a suit much more elegant and well-kept than the others. And a trimmed mustache to accompany his elegant bearing. He walked with a firm and confident stride.

"What is this baby doing here?"

Baby?

I hadn't yet reached a year of age, but I was sure it would be difficult to mistake me for a baby due to my size. But he couldn't be referring to me. Who was he talking to?

I struggled in that grip, desperately trying to free myself, but only managed to emit another high-pitched, nasal cry. Suddenly, I realized that I no longer felt the pain of my wounds, but I also didn't feel...

I quickly fumbled with my body. I searched for my wings, the pendulum of my tail, my hard scales.

There was nothing.

I looked at myself. My muscular paws and claws were gone. In their place, I had ridiculously short, soft, and pink extremities that ended in small, chubby fingers. My dark skin, covered in gem-like scales, had been replaced by a smooth, soft tissue, pale and vulnerable. Where there had once been an elongated, strong snout, there was now a flat, round face.

I wasn't a dragon. I was a baby a human baby.

The man carrying me seemed to laugh at my situation as he watched me touch my whole body while babbling.

Baron Valcrest awkwardly took me into his arms in a very uncomfortable way while his companion told him not to bother, but he didn't stop.

He looked at me without blinking, observing me directly in the eyes where I could see myself reflected, confirming that, somehow, my entire draconic body had been converted into that of a human baby.

"He must be in shock. Bring a blanket," he ordered one of his companions. "We will inquire among the families in the area to see if they have lost an infant." He looked back into my eyes in silence and with great coldness.

"Alister!"

A feminine voice, loaded with uncontrolled emotion, broke through the undergrowth. The hunters had regrouped. The woman ran toward us. She wore clothes just as elegant as those of the man who seemed to be the leader. She also had her red hair pulled back and her eyes filled with anguish.

"Lya, don't come closer! The King of the Mountain is wounded, but it could return!" he warned her, stepping between her and the place where the puma had been.

But Lya didn't look at the forest or the danger. Her eyes were fixed on me. Her face, which had been covered with worry, transformed into a mask of astonishment and adoration.

"I-is that...?" she asked in a thread of a voice, and then, without waiting for an answer, she lunged toward me.

Alister couldn't stop her. The woman snatched me from his arms with surprising speed and hugged me against her body, a warm and perfumed body that did not smell of the forest, but of flowers.

"Where did you find him?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

"He was on the ground. Right next to where we shot the Spirit."

Lya held me up to her eye level, looking at me with an intensity I hadn't seen in the eyes of the mountain animals. Tears began to slide down her cheeks. I thought they were tears of sadness, but she seemed to be smiling non-stop at the same time.

"Thank you! Angels of the Stars, thank you!" She squeezed me gently, a movement that, despite my panic, slightly calmed me.

Alister, visibly uncomfortable, approached his wife.

"Lya, we are both still hurting from... what happened... but..."

"No!" Her voice rose, sharp as a sword. "It's a gift! For all our work, they have sent him to us."

The impact of her words resonated with great force, with a great sentimental weight that left me quite surprised. It was the first time I had seen another living being express that kind of emotion. The pain on her face, the desperation in her eyes.

Alister sighed, frustration fighting against compassion.

"Lya, darling, listen to me. I know how you feel, but this is a dangerous forest. He could belong to a peasant who lost him, or a caravan that had an accident. We can't just keep him. He will have a family looking for him. You know that pain as well as I do... and we cannot cause it to anyone."

The woman backed away, her grip tightening. She held me so tightly, as if she feared they would take me away from her. The tears overflowed from her eyes.

"No!" She cried out, her voice now a desperate plea. "If we found him here, Alister, right next to the King of the Mountain, they didn't want him! They abandoned him! What kind of family would leave their baby to be devoured by a puma?" The tears fell uncontrollably. "No one is looking for him."

She looked at me with a love that I could not understand where it came from; we didn't know each other at all.

"Please, Alister. Please, let me keep him. He is ours," she said between uncontrollable tears.

The man hesitated while looking at me with the same coldness and seriousness with which he had inspected me... he yielded.

"All right. We will only ask a few people in the area. If they don't know anything, you can keep him."

Lya nodded so hard that her tears were flung away.

"But remember. No matter how much you care for him and teach him... he is not our son..."

I could see her eyes shining through the tears. The danger, the puma, the hunt, the forest, everything vanished for her.

She lifted me high, looking at me with great determination.

So high.... It was as if I were still recovering from the trauma of that terrible last flight attempt.

But she didn't seem to notice. In that moment, in her eyes, I was no longer an abandoned baby.

"I am Lyanna, Lyanna Valcrest... and from now on... I will be your mother," she whispered just for us, where every word was accompanied by great sentimental weight. "Welcome home... Dorien."