Ayren slowly awoke, staring out at the sun, already a good distance from the hilltops in the distance. He thought of last night, of his discussion with Rowen.

Rowen.

Ayren tried taking a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart.

He was getting dangerously attached.

Fluttering from his makeshift bed, he landed on the forest floor and wondered what to do next. Would Rowen or Jason come and get him? Should he disguise himself as a soldier and head straight into battle?

Ayren decided to sit tight, wait and see. Soon, he was rewarded with the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Hi!" Rowen's cheery voice broke through the soft early-morning sounds. Ayren couldn't help but smile.

"What's the plan today, boss?" he asked seriously, straightening up and spreading his wings out to their full length.

Rowen emerged from behind a tree and struck a judging pose as she surveyed Ayren. "You look very badass like that," she final decided. Ayren made his wings morph into black bat's wings and her eyes widened. "Woah."

Ayren then made them furry, glittery, and pink, and Rowen burst into laughter.

*

"Anyway," Rowen said, finally catching her breath and rubbing her eyes clean of happy tears. It had been a long time since she had laughed like that. "We're gonna bomb from above, like yesterday."

Ayren nodded, still smiling that adorable, crooked smile. "That should clear us of long-range weapons." He began to morph into a different man, but Rowen shook her head.

"The king's letting you fight. You're welcome."

Ayren's grin widened, and he asked no questions. "Awesome. Let's go."

The hours passed quickly and soon, Rowen was walking back into camp after a day of bombing when she caught sight of Maria and Jason. Jason was practically carrying Maria, but was praising her for every "step" she took.

"Hey, guys!" she called, racing to her best friends.

Maria shrieked with happiness and lurched toward Rowen. She caught her just in time. Jason enveloped them both in a bear hug. Finally, they all took a step back, Jason's arm around Maria.

Rowen felt tears welling in her eyes. To hide them, she pulled her friends into another hug.

Maybe things would be okay after all.

Rowen saw Ayren, watching them uncertainly. She crooked a finger and beckoned him over. He trotted to her side and she yanked him into the hug. He complied with a laugh.

His huge wings curled around them and Rowen snuggled into her friends. Yes, she thought. We will be okay.

**

That night, Rowen got to sleep in a sleeping bag, but still on the ground in Maria's tent. It sure beat blacking out onto cold dirt, though.

For the first time in all of her time in this dimension, Rowen had a dream.

A nightmare.

She was standing in the middle of a cornfield. Above her, something was happening to the sun. Strands of fiery gas shot out from the sun, only to snap back like rubber bands. Darkness began to ripple over the star.

Rowen fell to her knees, tears running down her face. She was suddenly in a cold, dark, stone room with torches on either side of her. A terrifying, maniacal laugh began and the torches snuffed out, one by one.

A child's voice began to sing, eerie and desolate.

"Ring around the rosy..."

Rowen curled into the fetal position.

"Pocket full of posy..." The child giggled.

"Please," Rowen whispered.

"Ashes, ashes..."

Rowen sobbed.

"We all..."

"No!"

"Fall..."

"Stop!"

"Down." The child was speaking the words rather than singing them now.

And Rowen was falling, and screaming, and crying. She tumbled and turned like a rag doll through the awful, oppressive darkness.

"Rowen? Rowen. Rowen!"

Rowen jolted upright, a dark chuckle echoing in her head. She choked on a sob and wrenched fistfuls of grass from the ground.

"Hey! What gives? Are you okay?" demanded Jason.

Rowen tried to catch her breath, heart rate slowing. "Fine," she muttered. "Just a really bad dream." She stood up and strode from the tent.

"Here." A medic tossed a tunic and jeans at her. "There's a pond that way," she added with a tentative smile, pointing into the woods.

Rowen thanked her and jogged into the forest.

*

Ayren finished washing off in a stream he had found and slipped on his old clothes. They would have to do.

Today, he went straight to the camp.

Soldiers did double-takes when they saw him, whispering to their friends and eyeing his scars. Ayren lifted his head higher and walked faster.

He headed to Maria's tent. A medic stood guard by the flap.

"Um, can I see Rowen?" Ayren asked nervously as the medic eyed him warily.

"Just sent her down to the pond," the woman replied.

"Okay. Can you point me in that direction?"

The woman raised her eyebrows and said in a condescending, sarcastic tone, "I sent her down to wash, honey."

Ayren flushed with embarrassment. "Oh. Right. Sorry. Um...Jason?"

The medic pointed straight across the clearing and Ayren spotted his friend leaning against a tree, holding a small device with a wire coming out of it and splitting into two, the ends in his ears. Ayren racked his brain for the name of the Earth design - a phone. And...earbuds? Jason had them and they still worked? Shrugging, Ayren crossed the camp.

He eased himself down next to Jason, who jumped and yanked out an earbud. "Woah, dude, you startled me. Hey, Rowen told me you weren't allowed in camp."

"She didn't tell me that." Ayren furrowed his brow. "Sorry for startling you. What are you listening to?"

"Um." Jason laughed, embarrassed. "A mix of stuff. Hip hop. Rap. Alternative."

Ayren snorted. "Wouldn't peg you as the type." He grabbed the earbud that Jason had removed and wiped it on the hem of his shirt. "Where did you get this stuff?"

"It's been in my jean pockets this whole time. I can't access anything that isn't downloaded on my phone, though. A medic charged it with me, with..." Jason waggled his fingers. "Magic."

Ayren mimicked him. "Is that what we look like we're doing to you?"

Jason laughed. "Okay, not really. You can listen, if you want. It's Imagine Dragons right now."

Ayren smiled slightly at the name, thinking of the dragons he himself had seen, and stuck in the earbud.