It had taken longer than Mariana had anticipated to gather everyone who could fight in the hidden village of the Bird Clan. She understood why – it had been over half a decade of waiting, and they had grown tired of keeping alert -, but it did add unwanted complications to her plan. As it was, it was almost noon by the time their "army" of less than 30 people approached the Sanctuary.

Drakes were already circling the Tree of Life. Mariana quickly ordered her people to land before they'd be seen. There was no telling who those drakes belonged to, Youna or the Dragon King. The open plains weren't much of a hiding spot, but a little more so than the sky.

"The princess is here," Seto stated in his mind-talk. He could feel it. It was like all the spirits in the Sanctuary were holding their breaths. "That can only mean it's him."

They should have agreed on a meeting place outside the Sanctuary. She had not taken into account the possibility that the Dragon King would get there faster than they did. Admittedly, she had not been at her best after being held prisoner for days, but that was no excuse in her own mind. There was too much at stake.

A sudden, strong gust of wind blew over them. The next instant they were surrounded by hummingbirds that transformed into tiny winged boys and girls.

"Not more faeries!" Veka glared at them. The last group marveling at how soft his fur was and burying themselves in it had been plenty enough.

"Sylphs, spirits of air. Not faeries," Mariana corrected him. They were just children, dancing wherever the wind carried them, but strangely focused on them. Usually they were also as fickle as the wind. "Did someone ask you to find us?" she asked.

The sylphs crowded her, nodding enthusiastically.

"Please lead the way then." Mariana touched the sun medallion around her neck with her fingers and changed her appearance again. Their allies in the Dragon Clan would expect "Thomas" and might not recognize her otherwise.

"What if it's a trap?" Alex asked.

"We have to take that chance," she admitted. "Elementals don't usually side with anyone who's going to bring harm to Ildathach, but it's hard to be certain these days."

Fortunately, their gamble paid off and within half an hour they joined forces with Youna's group, at least twice their numbers in size. They were all civilians, barely with any dragon characteristics beyond the horns. But they were armed and willing to fight.

"I have been thinking," Youna announced, her arms crossed over her chest, after the initial greetings. "The ruthless commander we knew would never have accepted the Prince's decision to marry outside the Dragon Clan and wouldn't have cared to know her name. I don't think anyone who chose to be loyal to him cared either." She paused. "You are not one of our people at all, are you?"

Mariana bowed in respect. "You are correct." Then she reverted to her original self. "My name is Mariana. Ilyana was my sister."

Youna almost sighed in relief. "That's good. I have people with me who would have liked to separate his head from his body." Change of heart or not, it was hard to forgive someone who had killed members of your family.

"Mariana?" Other dragon people moved forward. "That Mariana? The one leading the rebellion against the Dragon King ten years ago?"

"Yes. But please, we're all in this together." She and Lana were the only actual survivors of the final battle of the war. For these people, she was likely nothing more than a legend. They might have supported the rebels from the sidelines and met her in passing, but she hadn't lived with them. They didn't personally know her.

"Do you have a strategy planned out?" Youna asked.

"We don't have much choice. We fight wherever they have set their defense line." She hoped it was outside the Sanctuary walls. The garden had seen too much death as it was. Unfortunately, it was more likely that they'd focus their efforts on defending the door.

"We would be at a disadvantage if we moved across the bridge." Youna didn't need to be an experienced soldier to know that. That was common sense – at least for anyone who had gone to school. Before the mad Dragon King's reign of terror, it had been the pride of the Dragon Clan to be vigilant and act as Ildathach's peacekeepers, and all children had received basic military training.

"I know. We'll approach from both sides over the chasm. They will expect it, but at least they'll have to divide their forces too. Don't kill if you don't have to and don't take unnecessary risks. We need to free Lana, get the star medallion from the Dragon King and claim the Sanctuary as ours."

Lana was still only a child. If she had to pray in the middle of a battle, there was no telling what she might accidentally wish for.

"What is our role in this?" Luis asked.

Youna was quick to answer. "Stay out of the way. This is our fight. There is no reason for you to throw your lives away."

"Protect us if you can, but keep yourselves safe first," Mariana corrected.

"We will carry them," Seto offered. "Drakes will not attack us, and there's a good view of the battle from above." He gave Veka a stern look. "Stay close to me, son. Your wings may carry you and drakes may leave you alone, but the soldiers won't if you attack them first."

Samantha and Alex climbed to Seto's back, leaving Luis and his older son as the other pair. Alex was excited – they'd all get to be heroes! They'd defeat that villain and then go home, all of them together. Samantha felt more conflicted. Some part of her wanted to share in her younger brother's conviction, to believe that this would all end with the triumph of good over evil like in fantasy books, but another remembered the newspaper articles about recent wars that she'd had to read in world history class. The photos had given her nightmares for weeks.

"Wait!" Luis grabbed Mariana's arm to stop her as the two women moved to give their groups their orders. "Wouldn't it be better to...uh...be Thomas?"

It wasn't just a cosmetic change. Thomas had really been a man of the Dragon Clan. In body, at least. Although his temperament was not aggressive in the least, he had all the abilities of a living weapon. Luis knew he'd feel better if the love of his life was...well, as strong and tough as possible. The Dragon King would not pull any punches.

Mariana smiled a little. She knew Luis meant well. "Don't worry. I'm not a helpless woman when it comes to a fight. The sun medallion gives me magic better utilized as who I really am too." She held out one hand and touched the medallion with another. A beautiful sword with dragons engraved in the hilt and the pommel appeared.

Warm memories washed over her along with the sad ones as she took hold of the weapon. This sword had belonged to Sarkan. The Dragon Prince. Her sister's beloved. She had retrieved it from his dead body after leaving Lana and Veka with her human family.

This victory will also be for you, my friend.