Nearly a week after the dragon had left, Ivy approached one of her traps set in the forest. A currently empty bag was tied over her shoulders, and her sword was in its scabbard at her waist. Carrying the weapon into the forest seemed like a natural precaution now.

When she got close, Ivy noticed the glint of dragon scales. They were a familiar diamond color, so she continued her approach but put her hand on her sword. Any dragon was a threat, even one that had not hurt her before.

She told herself this time she would not hesitate to attack the dragon if it came toward her.

Hiding behind a bush, she stayed crouched. Studying the dragon sitting behind the trap, she confirmed that it was the dragon she’d treated. It was in human form, and it was still wearing a tunic like the last time Ivy had seen it. This time, the dragon had a vine wrapped around its waist again. The beast focused on something on the ground.

Ivy straightened herself and approached the trap. The dragon glanced up. It smiled. She tensed, but did not draw her sword.

She kept her eyes on the empty trap. The dragon had probably been scaring any potential prey away.

She looked at the dragon. “I do need to eat.”

The dragon stood up, and Ivy moved back. It stepped around the trap, eyeing it. “You do not need to eat meat.”

As the dragon walked toward her, Ivy started to draw her sword. She met the dragon’s eyes. “Do you expect me to believe the dragons don’t eat meat?”

“I,” the dragon stopped moving, “do not use traps.” The dragon glanced at Ivy’s sword, and then it said, “I thought about why what I said upset you. I think I understand, so I apologize.”

Ivy frowned, sheathing her sword, taking her hand off the hilt.

What in Blolanda was this dragon doing?

“But I would still like to thank you for taking care of me,” the dragon continued.

“You already paid.”

“You said you suggested letting me die,” the dragon pointed out. “I could have woken up anywhere.”

Shaking her head, Ivy forced her expression to relax. “I cannot go against the Eras or the Bishop.”

The dragon glanced at the trap again. “And in waiting to meet you, I’ve guaranteed you did not catch a meal.” It shifted to the side. “I’ll catch something for you. It is not difficult.”

“No,” Ivy said. She didn’t want to know what the dragon would expect in return. “The Shape Shifters will provide.”

The dragon laughed. “Provide? Why would you need the gods to give you anything?”

“Easy to say when all of nature bows to you,” Ivy replied. She moved closer to the trap, taking several steps away from the dragon.

“Because the gods protect,” the dragon said.

She glanced at the dragon as she knelt down. If the dragon was going to hurt her, surely it would have done so by now.

Tearing her eyes off the dragon, Ivy found that the trap was still set. It looked fine.

The dragon took a few steps to stand next to her, and she tensed. The dragon bent down and held out a single brown coin.

“An apology and thanks,” the dragon said. It explained, “an apology for what I said. And thanks for helping me.”

Ivy narrowed her eyes. “What’s that?”

The dragon glanced at the coin. “Is this not human money?”

“Might be Atlinan.” Ivy stood up. She turned, and the dragon stepped away from her. She walked toward the path she could take to the next trap.

“Atlinan?” the dragon asked. It flipped the coin, studying it.

“The people that live on the other side of the river.” Taking a few more steps, Ivy gestured vaguely in the direction of the border between Blolanda and Atlina.

“Ah.” The dragon did not follow her.

That was good.

Seeing a flash of movement in the underbrush and trees around her, Ivy jerked her head to the side. As a few branches of a bush snapped, her hand reached toward her sword, but the dragon that jumped out from the forest did not give her enough time to react properly. Dragons never did. And this dragon had scales that blended with the forest: green like emeralds.

The dragon with diamond-colored scales leapt in front of Ivy, pushing her to the side. The new dragon sunk claws into the diamond dragon’s arm. Gold blood dripped out of the wounds. The new dragon looked like a female, but it wore a tunic not unlike the one the male was wearing.

The new dragon looked much younger, though. It struggled to push past the dragon wearing diamond scales. The younger dragon’s teeth sharpened in its mouth.

“A dragon in Abrius,” the dragon with diamond scales said. It continued taking the attacks from the younger dragon, restraining it even as it tried to change form. The diamond-scaled dragon sunk its own claws into the emerald dragon. Either because it was not thinking or because of the older dragon’s claws, the younger dragon did not attempt to change its form completely. Its eyes stayed locked onto Ivy.

Ivy unsheathed her sword.

“You should le—” The dragon with diamond scales started.

Ivy jumped forward, and she thrust her sword under the diamond dragon’s arm, piercing up and through the green dragon’s torso. Golden blood seeped down Ivy’s sword. When she pulled back her weapon, the new dragon collapsed to the side, falling away from the older dragon’s arms. The diamond-scaled dragon’s arm dripped with blood from its own wounds.

The older dragon jerked its head to look at Ivy. Its lips peeled back from its sharpening teeth.

“Why did you—?” A growl escaped its throat, cutting off the question.

Ah, Ivy thought, I should have accepted the punishment from the first dragon.

She tightened her grip on her sword anyway.

Then the dragon simply walked away from her.

Watching the dragon leave, Ivy hesitated but sheathed her sword, noting that she’d need to clean the blade later. Once she could no longer see the diamond scales, she took a deep breath. Hoping the dragon was not planning on coming back, Ivy glanced at the corpse the dragon had left behind.

The dragon was going to kill me, she thought, hoping the gods would understand.

Killing a dragon would be something the Bishop would disapprove of. It would be going against the gods. The Bishop would argue Ivy should have let the dragon kill her.

The Bishop seemed interested in money these days, though. Perhaps it was something the Eras put him up to, but Ivy took it to mean if she brought back something with monetary value, the Bishop wouldn’t bother her too much about harming one of Time’s chosen.

Ivy studied the emerald scales the dragon was wearing. Then she glanced at the dragon’s lifeless face.

There was something else besides scales the rich would buy.

Kneeling next to the corpse, she checked if the dragon’s eyes had survived. The pupils had dilated. Would that lower the value?

As she used her thumb to work one of the dragon’s eyes out of its socket, Ivy frowned.

Had the diamond dragon just acted against the gods’ will?