An hour or two ter, I’m sitting on a bench outside the Arena, drinking from a beaker of ice-cold water. Skadi sits beside me, the tip of her tail swishing from side to side, the spikes rustling softly as she does. After a few moments, she speaks.

  “Sorry about the challenge… My uncle asked me to test you, to see if you had more fire in you than he believed. And sorry about dislocating your arm, again.”

  I shrug. “I mean, you did fix it, and it’s stopped hurting. And I DID kinda knee you in the dy-bits, which I’m sorry about.”

  Skadi colours a little, shaking her head.

  “N-no, it’s fine. You just caught me off-guard. I’ll probably get scolded for that by Jekk.”

  I tilt my head. “Who’s Jekk?”

  Skadi frowns, before her expression clears. “Oh, right. You won’t have met him yet. He rarely leaves the Arena. Jekk is the current Deathcw, and the one training me to succeed him. However, since Deathcws are… executioners, those whose purpose is to deal with traitors, assassins, and those who have transgressed against the Drakeblooded Cities, he prefers to keep himself to himself. No reason to make those around him uncomfortable, he says.”

  I blink. “You’re training to be an executioner? Wow… we don’t have that kind of punishment anymore, with a few rare exceptions. Those criminals who committed super-serious crimes end up on Death Row, where they wait, sometimes for years, to be given an injection designed to kill them as quickly as possible. They get to choose their st meal, and then they get killed.”

  The Onyxblood dragonel wrinkles her nose.

  “That sounds silly. Why dey their judgement? If they were put in this row, why not feed them their st meal, and then kill them immediately? That way, justice is administered swiftly and they don’t spend years still breathing?”

  I swallow. Truly, dragons are very different from humans…

  “Honestly, I have no idea. I never really looked into the process that much. But, that was back when I still thought I was a normal human.”

  Skadi leans in. “so, how did you find out? You… just woke up like this one day?”

  I shake my head. “Not exactly. My mom and every girl in our family’s bloodline was born a magical girl. Each of us gets different powers. My oldest sister, Niko, can control her own blood, hardening it and shaping it into weapons. My second-oldest sister, Philippa, generates purple lightning and can direct it as she pleases. And, until recently, my third sister, Tricia, could make gravity her bitch! She made things heavier or lighter as the situation demanded. But… she got hurt really bad, and lost her powers. They… sort of got moved to me, though. My powers hadn’t awakened, and when I got Tricia’s, I got dragon stuff instead of gravity stuff.”

  Skadi’s eyes widen. “So, no-one else in your family is a dragon??”

  I shake my head. “Nope. Aurexiar might know why I got dragon blood, but I’m honestly not reeaally that bothered about HOW. I just… HAVE these powers now. And I’m very gd I do…”

  Skadi curls her tail, flexing the muscles as she plucks a loose spike from her tail. A new spike grows and slides into position, and she fiddles with the freed tailspike. “So… you’re caught between two worlds, huh… human and dragon. And then, there’s finding a pce for yourself here. Priestess Khione is one of the best on the Council, so you’re lucky she’s taking care of you. My uncle is very strict, and tends to focus on the now. You are… an anomaly, one he does not understand. That’s why he wanted me to fight you.”

  I sigh. “Well, I hope you won’t have to fight me again. I don’t have any intention of causing problems. I DO want the strength to fight off the monsters that keep showing up on Earth, but I’m not looking for more than that.”

  Skadi pulls her knees up to her chest, wrapping her tail around her feet. Her dark hair ruffles in a light breeze, and I smile. She’s surprisingly awkward and cute, when she’s not trying to rip bits off me. I’m gd I asked her to be my friend.

  Suddenly, a huge shadow falls over me, followed by the smell of bread, apples, and fresh-cut grass.

  “Howdy, young’un. I saw your fight. Now, since that’s all been settled, how about you come by for a visit?”

  It’s Bryn, the patriarch of the Earthcw cn, the farmer-looking human form tanned by long hours outdoors in ideal outdoor conditions for growing things.

  I nod, smiling as he looms cheerfully over me. “I’d love to, Bryn. Can I bring my new friend?”

  Skadi looks at me with shock, about to open her mouth, before Bryn’s warm, pleasant chuckle fills the air.

  “Of course! You’re both welcome whenever you want!”

  I stand, before turning and holding a hand out to the dark dragonel. “Coming, Skadi?”

  Slowly, she reaches out, and takes my hand, letting me pull her to her feet as she unfurls her wings. I smile before responding in kind, as Bryn shifts into his huge emerald dragon form, short ochre horns sprouting in a crest as he takes off, flying steadily towards his home City, taking his time. The very picture of someone not in a hurry in the slightest. Skadi and I follow, wing-to-wing, flying in tandem.

  It seems as though I’m not the only one who’s chosen to stay half-shifted, although at least Skadi has the option of going full-dragon.

  The weather changes as we head from the skies surrounding the Arena and into those bordering Bryn’s territory. The air here is warmer, and filled with the scents of life. Ripening fruit, sun-warmed bckberries, freshly-baked bread, steamed vegetables, and all the aromas of good healthy food. Touching down at the edge of one of the farms, Bryn shifts back to his human form, stretching luxuriously.

  “Come on, kids! Get down here, I’ll show you around!”

  I touch down, Skadi barely a second behind me. Furling my wings and letting my body return to human, leaving only my tail, horns, and wings, I feel my toes sink into the thick grass. My shoes have been destroyed by my transformations, and I dig a fresh shirt out of my bag, tugging it on to repce the ripped one. Luckily, my sports bra hasn’t been totally shredded.

  Bryn’s back is turned to me as he raises his hands, cupping them around his mouth as he yells, “Hey, guys! I’m back, and I brought some guests!”

  Three dragons call out in greeting, with one, a slender woman with gnarled, root-like horns and deep, grass-green hair, jogging over to pnt a kiss on Bryn’s cheek. Then, she turns to smile at us.

  “So, you must be the guests my mate brought home? I’m Autumn; it’s a pleasure to meet you!”

  Skadi nods, standing a little bit behind me. I grin back. “I’m Rika, and this is Skadi. It’s my first day here, so I hope we can get along!”

  Autumn giggles, before her eyes widen. “Waaaaiiiittt… YOU’RE the human girl the High Priestess brought here?!”

  Bryn grins. “Indeed she is. She’s a Winterwing in the care of Khione. I figured she’d benefit from spending time with as many different cns as possible.”

  Autumn squeals, before hugging me. I splutter I shock as she eagerly babbles, “Ohhh, this is amaziiiing! I’ve always wanted to meet a human!”

  I blink, a dozen times in rapid succession, as Autumn eventually releases me, looking me up and down. “Gods, you’re so small! I keep forgetting that humans don’t grow to the same size as us. How old are you, dear?”

  “I’m 21 years old, ma’am!”

  “So young! Practically a hatchling here, but I think that makes you an… adult, back on your home, yes? Then I will treat you as such! And enough with the ma’am! Call me Autumn!”

  Skadi suffers her own Autumn-hug with good grace, and Bryn introduces us to the gathering crowd of Earthcw dragons, each of whom share simir bronzed skin or green or brown scales. There’s so many of them, and I can barely remember everyone’s names. If I end up visiting every other City, I might need to make notes!

  As it’s past noon, a rge table is brought out, and set with ptes for everyone, with baskets of fresh bread, homemade jams and preserves, cured meats, cheeses, the biggest tomatoes I’ve ever seen in my life, and huge jugs of barley tea, sweetened with honey. This is the kind of meal you think of when you see tavern scenes in RPGs or anime. Everything looks incredible, and I take a seat when offered, trying not to let my stomach growl. Skadi sits beside me, her nose twitching. She looks as hungry as I feel!

  The Earthcw dragons all take their own seats, and the table livens up as people start serving themselves, chatting and ughing as they eat. I can’t help but feel a little homesick now, but having made a friend and being welcomed by these nice dragon-people, I think I can bear it.

  After our te lunch, Bryn leaves us in the care of his mate, Autumn giving us a little tour. The Earthcws’ isnd is less architectural, more rural, with homesteads all over, with massive fields and streams, a ke at the centre filled with fish of all kinds, fat, healthy livestock grazing in paddocks, even some zy farm cats. Well, they’re not ‘cats’ like you get back on Earth, but they fulfil the same pest-control function. They’re furry, with long, tuft-tipped ears, with a tail ending in a paintbrush-like floof. They’re somehow sinuous, like a ferret, but more rabbit, too. It’s really, really hard to describe them, and I kinda want to draw a few, so I can show my sisters when I go home after my stay here. Philippa will gush over them, while Niko might just hug me to death if I bring pictures home.

  Autumn’s a good tour-guide, too. She tells me a little about how, when they need rain, Bryn schedules one of Indra’s Stormweavers to come by and whip up a rainstorm, in exchange for getting first pick of the fruit crops that harvest.

  The sun is bright, but not too intense, the perfect summer weather, as Autumn leads us through the farmnds, her tail swishing through the thick sheaves of wheat and brushing over the grass. She turns, her gnarled, root-like horns raking through the leaves, and asks me, “so… what’s your family like? That IS the word for it, yes?”

  I smile. “That’s right. I’m the youngest of four sisters, actually. The oldest is Niko. She’s the quiet one, but she’s really sweet and kind despite not really being easy to read. It took YEARS before I could tell what she was thinking or feeling. She’s always looked out for me, especially when I was being bullied at school.”

  I smile. “Then, there’s Philippa, the second-oldest! She’s a little cheeky, sneaks out at night sometimes, but she’s always been the one who’d keep an eye on me whenever Niko wasn’t around. She’s the best cook out of us, and she taught me how to do it as well! We make dinner together most nights, though she tends to set our mouths on fire.”

  Autumn blinks. “She does what?”

  I blush and expin, “I mean, she doesn’t like spicy food, she LOVES it. She’s known to get a little carried away if we don’t keep an eye on her sometimes!”

  I climb over a fallen branch as Autumn and Skadi stroll around it.

  “Then, there’s the third-oldest, Tricia. She’s the most independent of us, so when she got hurt, it was kinda a blow to her self-esteem. She doesn’t like us helping her unless absolutely necessary, but she’s healing well and will be back on her feet properly in less than six months!”

  As the three of us amble around the Earthcws’ home turf, I talk at length about my siblings and parents, carefully avoiding the whole “I’m trans and my mom is transphobic” angle. I’d hate to have to expin that to a race of nigh-immortal beings who might not have any kind of understanding. I LIKE these dragons; I’d hate to start another argument between Aurexiar and her asshole brother…