The threat made Ashermoran tense visibly. The dragon-woman narrowed her eyes, and a dangerous light danced in them. Without saying a word, she raised her hand, and ice swirled at her fingertips. The room immediately felt at least twenty degrees colder, and Ailysia braced herself, ready to respond in kind.

But then the red-robed woman reached out, staying Ashermoran's hand with her own. It was a gentle touch, calmness meeting fury. Ashermoran turned to look at her, and gradually, the dragon-woman's eyes softened.

"Gisa," said Ashermoran, mollified. "I can't just leave you here."

"You need to go retrieve the bell, and it is best to go now. I will take care of the eggs here." Gisa leaned in, paused, her face mere inches from Ashermoran's. And then, she tipped her head further, so that the jagged spikes on her forehead touched the dragon's twisted horns.

The gesture carried surprising intimacy, almost like a kiss, and made Ailysia examine the red-robed woman anew. She had thought the alien was an assistant, or another guard. But Gisa seemed to be more than that to Ashermoran.

Ailysia realized something else. Gisa's appearance was unambiguously alien. Her face protruded into a snout, and instead of noses, she had a ring of gill stalks around her neck, almost like a frilled collar. But there was something about her that felt familiar. Puzzled, Ailysia tried to think what Gisa reminded her of. A salamander? But that couldn't be it. The familiarity was personal, almost as though Ailysia had met her before.

Before she could ponder further, Ashermoran spoke. "Are you sure? The dispersal sequence still needs to be keyed in. I would rather finish it before I go."

"You may not get a chance later," said Gisa. "The stranger is right: the enemies will be upon us soon." When Ashermoran still didn't look convinced, Gisa's eyes darkened a little, and her voice took on a sharper tone. "Or do you still not trust me, even now?"

"It's not about that!" Ashermoran protested. She said nothing further and only scowled at the eggs, her posture stiff and her lips thinned to a line. A look of intense conflict played out in her eyes.

Then Gisa made her move, wrapping her fingers around Ashermoran's hand. Another hand went up, tracing the dragon's crystal armor, over her bare neck, and touched her stiff jaw. "Don't worry. The eggs are in good hands. I will die before I let anything happen to them." She promised.

Ashermoran heaved a sigh, shoulders slacking, and finally pulled her attention away from the eggs to look at Gisa. "I know. I trust you," she said. Abruptly, she pulled Gisa into a tight embrace, ran a hand through her fiery red hair, and whispered something in her ear.

Whatever was said put a bright smile on Gisa's face. She nestled her head on Ashermoran's shoulder, and repeated her urging. "You should go. I will finish the dispersal sequence and load the capsule."

A strange feeling overtook Ailysia as she watched the scene. She had seen public displays of affection often, and never thought much of it. After all, it was someone else's affair. But this felt different. Try as she might, she couldn't shake the sense of familiarity. She had met Gisa before, she was certain. And as Ashermoran lifted a hand to cup Gisa's chin, the sensory recall came in a flurry.

Her skin, Ailysia remembered, was rough and scaly, and a little slimy to the touch. It also carried a muddy fragrance, like fresh cut grass.

Just then, Ashermoran began to say something, and Ailysia completed the sentence in her mind before she even heard the first syllable. "I will be back as soon as possible. But if I don't return in two hours, send the capsule through the transporter."

"I will be back as soon as possible. But if I don't return in two hours, send the capsule through the transporter," said Ashermoran. She pulled away from Gisa gently, and came toward Ailysia, who stood there frozen in shock. Suddenly, the dragon-woman's tone was much less kind. "Well? You asked me to come, so let's get moving!"

Numbly, Ailysia nodded, and followed Ashermoran out of the room. She had thought she was beyond surprises, but this latest revelation still shook her to the core. The snatches of remembrance she just experienced could be from her "genetic memory", something encoded in her DNA. She desperately hoped that was the case. But if it wasn't—

She shook her head, stopping herself from going down that rabbit hole. She had to get a grip, to remember who she was—Ailysia, the human girl. She had friends and family that mattered. She had her own life, her own identity. But if she kept getting distracted by the alien business, she could lose all of that.

Ahead of her, Ashermoran flew up the stairs in leaps and strides. Ailysia hurried to catch up, shoving all her doubts away. There was a battle to fight, she reminded herself. The questions would have to wait.

When the two of them emerged from the stairwell, the alien survivors huddling in the hallway immediately stood to attention. They surrounded Ashermoran, bowing in reverence. Some prostrated themselves before her and pleaded. Even the badly wounded ones attempted to rise and greet her.

In return, Ashermoran nodded curtly, and offered a few terse reassurances. "It will be alright," "I will deal with it," and "stay put". She then cut a path through the crowd, who readily parted to let her pass, and rushed into the main hall.

Ailysia felt terrible for the aliens for having Ashermoran as a ruler. She lingered for a bit, waited until Ashermoran had disappeared from sight, and tried to usher the aliens into the basement. "It would be safer down there," she told them, though most weren't willing to move.

"The Lady hasn't permitted us to go down there," said an alien with a falcon-like head, shying away from the door.

"She forgot because she was in a hurry. Come on, she told me to make sure everyone is safe." Ailysia lied, knowing full well that Ashermoran probably didn't care if these aliens lived or not. Their loyalty to such a terrible ruler mystified her. Was it only out of fear?

In the end, they were still unwilling to relocate, so Ailysia settled on a compromise. She raised another ice wall, sealing the corridor off from the main hall. It would protect the survivors from any ground invaders, at least, but not from a collapsing roof. The effort took another heavy toll on her already weary body, making her gasp for breath.

She met Ashermoran at the dome entrance, and the dragon-woman's patience was clearly frayed from the wait. "What took you so long? I almost left without you."

"Doing the work that you should be doing." Ailysia snapped back. "Why are you so irresponsible? Your people looked up to you, worshipped you. The least you can do is to look out for them."

"We can stand here and argue or we can go out and fight. Which is it?"

Ailysia sighed. When the memories surfaced earlier, she had thought that they were hers. She had believed—for a brief instant—that she was Ashermoran. But now she saw that it couldn't be the case. Ashermoran was so different, so selfish, that Ailysia couldn't imagine ever been her.

Instead of answering, Ailysia walked out of the gate first. She had only gone a few steps before a blast of wind blew out from behind. She ducked, and a shadow vaulted over her head into the sky. Looking up, she saw Ashermoran's dragon form racing through the air, body straight as an arrow, and charging at the enemy ships.

"Wait!" Ailysia called out, running after the dragon, but there was no way she could catch up. She saw the ships spinning, the cannons charging in an electrical storm. And her heart sank as Ashermoran flew toward them, directly into the cannon's firing range.

Did Ashermoran know about the plasma beams? Ailysia wished she could have warned her, but it was too late. In the next instant, the cannons fired, and seven supercharged beams converged on the dragon.

Ailysia almost closed her eyes, too terrified to look. But the beams didn't hit. Instead, they bent away from the dragon in a blazing arc. Five went wild, disappearing into the sky, but two swept into oncoming ships, and disintegrated them in a white-hot flash. She gaped, mouth hanging open, as the fiery wreckages crashed to the ground. How did Ashermoran do that?

The dragon made a swift turn just then, and flew toward Ailysia, coming to a stop a few feet above her head. "Are you coming with? Grab my tail," said the dragon, now with extra smugness in addition to her usual imperiousness.

As much as Ailysia disliked her tone, she had to give Ashermoran credit for that amazing move. Hopefully, it was something she could learn too. She jumped, high enough to barely grab the tail. Before she could get a grip in the slippery crystal scales, however, the dragon abruptly took off, forcing her to cling to the tail for dear life.

Cursing, Ailysia scrambled to find something to hold, and Ashermoran's sudden twists and turns certainly didn't make it easy. The dragon was charging at the enemy once more, while deftly navigating through a storm of cannon fire. Some of these attacks she deflected with her mysterious trick, while others she evaded, sometimes by a mere few feet. The maneuvers constantly threatened to throw Ailysia off—if she wasn't incinerated by a passing plasma beam first!

And then Ashermoran had the nerve to ask. "Why aren't you helping?"

"I'm trying!" Ailysia had to restrain herself from a snappy comeback, knowing she couldn't afford the distraction. Finally, she climbed further up the tail and wrapped her hands around a spiky plate, while locking her feet between smaller spikes. "Okay. I'm good to go. But you should tell me how you did that trick, bent the beams."

"Do you know how to change the magnetic moment of water?" Said the dragon, while bending another beam back, destroying a second ship in the process.

"I don't know what that is," admitted Ailysia, adding quickly. "You can teach me."

"No, I can't. We don't have the time."

I could learn, Ailysia wanted to say. But it would probably be a waste of time to try and convince the dragon. She turned her attention to the enemy. When another ship fired at them, she conjured up an ice shield. Most of the ice vaporized the instant the beam struck, but the rest of it managed to block the plasma.

"Finally, you can do something after all." Ashermoran said, very unnecessarily.

"Thank you for your worthless approval." Ailysia snapped, finally fed up with the dragon's condescension. "If you are so powerful, why were you hiding in the basement? You could have come out much earlier before so many of your people died!"

She didn't expect an answer, and the ensuring silence was welcome. She could concentrate on defense while being free of any dragon snark. After a while, however, she noticed something.

They were moving farther and farther away from the dome. While several enemy ships pursued them, most stayed behind to continue attacking the structure.

"Where are you going, Ashermoran? We shouldn't stray too far," said Ailysia. And then she remembered. The bell. Ashermoran had told Gisa that she was going to retrieve it. This was why the dragon had come out. Not to fight the enemy, not to defend her people, but for the bell.

The realization struck her with sudden clarity. She knew which bell it was: she had seen it hanging in the tower on the floating island, where she had been during the first dream. She had heard it at the beginning of that dream, and earlier during that day, in the school's hallway. The clues were there. She just hadn't put them together until now.

"What exactly is that bell, Ashermoran?" Ailysia's voice trembled a little, and she wasn't sure she would like the answer.

A/N

Sorry for the super late update! I haven't abandoned the story. It's just that there wasn't any time to write last week. I will have a lot of time this weekend, so I'm planning to put up another chapter then.

So this chapter turned out to be longer than I thought. As a result, the pivotal moment hasn't happened yet (will be in the next chapter). And after that, we can finally return to the real world :D