Lin stamped down her foot on the warrior's chest after taking her humanoid form. Her face was the epitome of anger and pride, her cobalt hair blowing in the wind.

"You will never claim us! We are not yours to take!" she barked fiercely at the downed fighter. "Your descendants will know you as the fools who brought war to yourselves!"

She once again took her dragon form, a white Chinese dragon with blue markings and flames, and flew up to get a look at how many attackers were left. She saw the one in command of this, a prince clad in armour with a sword at his side.

Another Chinese dragon flew up beside her, this time a earthly shade of brown with forest green markings.

"Lin, do not advance. You'll be killed." Asia had a small nick across her muzzle from a cavalier that bled.

"That bastard prince is the one who declared all dragons be slaughtered..."

"And he will be brought to justice. But we have suffered heavy casualties. Think of your mate and young." Asia reminded.

Across the fields, Lin's mate Apollo, a red Norse dragon with gold markings and wings, exhaled flames at his adversaries. The men ran and dived, some being scorched by the fire.

Behind Apollo, a young Chinese grey whelp and his smaller pinkish Norse sister cowered at the fight. Blood of all colours, both of man and dragon, stained the once peaceful fields. The gray whelp Alfheim shrieked at every scream. His father loomed over him, his only thought to protect his young.

"LIN!" Apollo heard Asia calling. A white-blue blur sped across the sky, and dived into the crowd of soldiers. Lin slammed many into whatever was nearest, and made her way towards the prince. The young man didn't show an inch of fear, unlike his comrades. He drew his sword out of the scabbard, it's blade gleaming in the coming twilight, and faced the dragon with the courage of a lion.

Apollo's dark yellow eyes widened.

"Alfheim, get you and Ellifif to safety. Now." he raised his giant wings.

Alfheim nuzzled the smaller whelp to open her eyes, and the two of them ran, dodging broken armour and dragon alike.

Apollo skirted over the battlefield to where Lin was fighting the prince. Her claws clashed against the sword and fire the colour of sky seared the land around the human.

"Lin!" Apollo called to his mate. The Chinese dragon didn't pay heed to him or Asia, who was approaching fast.

"Lin, do not try to be a hero!" Asia screamed over the noise.

Lin was so caught up in her adrenaline that it was as if nothing could stop her. She was a mountain compared to this human. She would stop him. She would stop this genocide of her kind. She would win this day. Her scaled body coiled around the prince, his blade not making a dent in her, but he was grinning. He had just as much arrogance as she did.

He waited for the right moment.

Lin swooped down, her fangs bared ready to rip him apart.

Then the prince leaped and swung his blade, and everything went in slow motion to Apollo. The sword met Lin's neck just where it connected to her head, the famous weak spot of all dragons.

Apollo wished he could have covered his ears from the screech. His mate fell to the ground, her neck spilling blue blood. So much blue...

And Apollo saw red.

The prince looked at the body with pride and triumph, only to be face-to-face with Apollo for a split second as he was bitten into and torn apart violently.
___

The army, or what was left of it, had retreated once they saw what had happened to their prince. Who could blame them?

Apollo flew miserably towards where he and Lin had roosted. Once he was sure Alfheim and Ellifif were safe, he would spend the night next to the body, like all dragons did. There would be many there to accompany him, and human funerals would be held too.

That son of a bitch prince.

Damning the human he had killed quite colourfully, he landed and looked into the roost.

It was empty.
___

After some searching, Apollo spotted a little pink ball curled up. The father dragon immediately sped to her, assumed humane form and picked her up. Tear stains on her muzzle were visible as she slept. She had fallen asleep crying.

"Alfheim, you can come out. I'm here..."

No answer.

Apollo's eyes focused on a green sticky liquid trailing a while away. His stomach lurched and he fought to urge to be sick.

His fears were confirmed by a small body laid in a pool of green, a large slash across his belly. His own son was dead on the ground.

Ellifif stirred a little. Apollo cradled her back to sleep so she wouldn't have to see it.

She was all that was left of his family now.
___

Ellie walked down the streets of the city, talking to the dark haired young man next to her, Zakku.

"I sometimes wonder if my dad ever gets lonely when I'm away here... I mean, he has friends back on the island, but you know..."

"You're his only kid, and he doesn't have a mate..." Zakku shrugged. "I'd say he misses you quite a bit."

The two approached a statue up ahead. It was of a dragon snatching up a human prince in armour with a sword. The dragon was done to look twisted and monsterous. Ellie sighed. She always got a little irritated when her kind were portrayed like this.

She looked closer at the statue.

"Hey Ellie, what's up?" Zakku asked when his companion stopped.

Did that human look familiar?

She read the plaque.

"Prince Ranulf and the dragon. Long ago, a fabled prince of Britain led a noble crusade against the beasts that threatened Britain. He was slain by a dragon of mighty power, and is supposedly laid to rest under a church."

"Normal people would say that's a load of crap, but we're not normal people. Maybe we can explore it some time." Zakku sighed impatiently.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. You don't have to drop hints..." Ellie fell into step beside him again.

"If I don't have to drop hints, can I just say straight up I want to have a bit of 'time to ourselves' tonight?" Zakku grinned mischievously.

Ellie gave him a dig in the arm.

"It was just a joke..."

"Behave yourself, Akiyama. Then I'll think about it."