Raven’s muscles ached, and every cell in her body tried to seduce her into closing her eyes and sleeping. But she ignored the aches, and fought to stay awake. She sat upright on Owen’s dragon now, looking all around them as he moved steadily through the sky. She was watching for anything suspicious, but there was no sign of any enemy soldiers in the sky. As far as she could tell, their escape had been successful. Saul’s soldiers had been so excited to see Vance’s retreat that they hadn’t noticed the chameleon dragon and invisible wizard rising into the sky.

The thought of Vance and his retreat filled Raven with sadness. She knew the retreating group would have flown as quickly as they could toward Falcon Cross, where reinforcements would be ready and waiting to help them hold back Saul’s army. But Falcon Cross was a long ways from the Redwood Dragons’ base camp, and Vance’s army would have been exhausted and weak. She didn’t want to think about what would happen if Saul’s soldiers managed to overtake them, but she couldn’t keep her mind from wandering in all sorts of horrible directions. Her only hope was knowing that Saul’s soldiers had never been as good at flying as the Falcon Cross wizards or the Redwood Dragons. Hopefully, Vance and his army had been able to keep up their pace long enough for Saul’s men to lose them. Raven knew Saul’s soldiers would stay on their trail all the way to Falcon Cross, but if they lagged behind just enough, Vance would make it. He had to make it. There were too many people Raven cared about in that army. She couldn’t bear the thought of them falling into the hands of dark wizards and evil shifters.

The first gray light of dawn was beginning to streak over the horizon, pushing back the darkness of one of the longest nights of Raven’s life. She watched the ground below them with interest. She had no idea where they were, but she knew that they were quite far from the redwoods. Owen had flown with lightning speed, and the scenery below her looked nothing like the lush green of a redwood forest. Everything was dry, rocky, and sandy. The only plants were the small, dry shrubs typical of desert climates. And even though the sun itself had not yet peeked over the gray horizon, the air felt almost unbearably hot.

As the sky continued to lighten, and the pinkish orange sun finally made its way into view, Raven could see that there was some sort of small town ahead. It appeared like a small oasis in the middle of the desert, with one long highway stretching away from it in either direction. She felt Owen adjusting his direction slightly, and heading for the town. She could tell that he was tired as well. His pace had slowed quite a bit from when they first left the redwoods last night, and the flapping of his wings was gradually growing weaker and weaker. He was using the last of his energy to get them to the little town.

But what then? Raven thought. They had no supplies, and no money. Owen didn’t even have clothes. All they had was the dragon amethyst and each other. Raven smiled at the thought, despite her weariness. Each other. If she had to be in as precarious of a position as she was right now, there was no one she’d rather have with her than Owen. He’d been her favorite dragon since the very first day a group of the Redwood Dragons had arrived in her hometown of Falcon Cross. He was just as stubborn and witty as she was, and she’d known from day one that they were going to be great friends.

What she hadn’t known, though, was how her heart would fall for him. In retrospect, perhaps she should have seen it coming. After all, he was as handsome, muscular, and noble as they came. He could be obnoxious and strong willed, sure, but that only made Raven love him more. She hated it when a man acted all wishy-washy and weak. She’d take a fighter over a peacemaker any day. The only problem, of course, was that Owen was a fighter, as was she, and that meant that they were spending all of their time these days fighting against Saul’s army. There was no time for romance, or exploring feelings for each other. All their energy had been focused on one thing and one thing only: bringing an end to Saul and his regime of evil.

Owen was getting closer to the small town now, and descending as he did. Raven finally allowed herself to lie down on his back for a moment to rest, although she would not close her eyes for fear of falling asleep. She let herself enjoy the way Owen’s strong dragon back moved beneath her, gently rolling her side to side as his wings made their final efforts of the night. He landed with a soft thud just as the sun finally broke over the horizon in all its fullness. Next to him was a small cluster of rocks which would offer some shade, which Raven could already tell would be a necessity as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky.

Owen lay down on his belly to allow Raven to slide off his back. Once she her feet were on the ground and she had taken several steps back from him, he began to shift. A rush of energy pushed her backwards a bit as his transformation began, but she did not fall. She knew enough by now to brace herself whenever one of the dragons was shifting. She didn’t pay much attention to the change as Owen’s body began to lose its dragon shape and return to its muscular human form. She was digging in the pocket of her shirt, double-checking to make sure that the dragon amethyst was still there, safe and secure. She knew that it was, and yet, it made her feel better to see it with her own eyes. She stared down at the shimmering purple stone, and sighed. So much trouble, for such a seemingly ordinary gemstone.

Owen had completely returned to human form now, and she looked up at him to see that his eyes were as tired as her own. He was completely naked, of course, but this did not faze her. She’d seen many of the dragon shifters naked numerous times, since they lost their clothes every time they morphed into dragon form. She had to admit, though, that she always noted with satisfaction that Owen had the largest dick of them all. They were all huge, but he seemed just a bit huger. Not that it mattered. She had no claim to him. Still, he was her favorite, so she liked seeing that he was the “best.”

“Any idea where we are?” she asked, closing the pocket the amethyst was in and forcing her thoughts away from his dick.

Owen rubbed at his tired face with open palms. “Somewhere in Nevada, I’d guess,” he said. “But I have no way of knowing for sure.”

“We’ll have to get supplies,” Raven said, her voice flat. Owen nodded, his expression looking just as flat. They both knew that the only way they were going to be able to get supplies right now was to steal, and neither one of them relished the idea. They preferred to do things the honorable way, but since the only thing of value they had on them was an amethyst that they must keep and protect at all costs, they didn’t have much of a choice.

“I suppose I’ll have to do the honors,” Raven said with a sigh.

Owen nodded. “Sorry, I hate to make you be the one to sneak around, but I think it’s better that way. You can use invisibility spells and I can’t. You know the chameleon trick only works when I’m in dragon form. And I’m naked, which you might not mind so much but I have a feeling that anyone who caught me would be pretty upset to find a random naked man slinking around.”

Raven couldn’t resist a smile. “Hey now, don’t get so cocky. What makes you think that I don’t mind seeing you naked?”

Owen smirked and thrust his hips forward, accenting what lay between his legs. “You’ve never complained before.”

Raven just rolled her eyes at him, but her smile broadened. It felt good to flirt with him for a moment. It made their current situation seem a bit more normal. A bit more like just another day at the job. And that was all it was, wasn’t it? Just another day on the job. They’d faced challenges worse than this before. Raven hadn’t had to steal for the cause before, but she was willing to bet that if any of the humans in this town knew why she needed supplies, they’d be more than happy to help her. The problem was that if she told them the truth, they would probably think she was crazy. Humans seemed to have a hard time believing that there was an evil dark wizard dragon shifter out there trying to take over the world. So, stealing it was. All Raven could do was make a note of what she took and send payment for it as soon as she was able.

“I suppose I’ll go ahead and get this over with,” she said, glancing toward the town. The spot where Owen had stopped looked like it was about a half mile outside the small town’s borders. Not very far, but Raven was so tired right now that the thought of walking even a half mile made her groan with pain. She wished she had a broomstick so she could fly in, but she didn’t, and she wasn’t likely to find a broomstick of the wizard sort out here.

“Sorry you have to be the one to go,” Owen said. He looked at her with a tenderness that was a bit out of character for him, and Raven felt her body heating up under his gaze. She quickly waved her hand in the air, as though waving away his concern.

“It’s no big deal, really,” she said. “Besides, I didn’t have to do any of this. I chose to come with you last night of my own free will. I wanted to help.”

Owen nodded. “Still,” he said. “I know stealing isn’t an easy thing, even when it is necessary for the greater good.”

“Let’s just call it borrowing,” Raven said. “I have every intention of paying these people back.”

“Well, then,” Owen said with a grin. “I hope you can ‘borrow’ a big breakfast for me. I’m starving after all that flying. Try to find some real food. None of these gross nonperishable meal bar things we always have to eat when we’re out on missions.”

Raven laughed. “I’ll see what I can do. Any other requests for what you’d like me to ‘borrow’”?

“Some clothes would be good. A backpack, perhaps? And some basic supplies like a flashlight, water…you know the drill.”

Raven nodded. “I’m on it,” she said. “I’ll try to figure out where we are, too. Hopefully I’ll be back within a few hours.”

“Alright,” Owen said, settling down beneath the rocks. “I’ll try not to party too hard while you’re gone.”

Raven rolled her eyes, and then turned toward the town. “Magicae invisibilia,” she said, waving her ring over her head with a flourish. She felt the small rush of energy that told her she was now covered by an invisibility shield, and she started walking forward with a sigh.

“Oh, and Raven?” Owen said.

“Yes?” Raven asked as she turned back to look at him. He couldn’t see her anymore and was looking slightly to her left as he spoke.

“If you need help from me, send up those sparks in the air like Lily did last night. I’ll shift and come get you.”

“Alright,” Raven said. “Although I really hope that won’t be necessary.”

She glanced up at the ever-brightening sky as she began walking toward the town again. As far as she could tell, none of Saul’s army had followed them. She wasn’t sure she had ever hoped so badly that she was right about something.

It took her about fifteen minutes to walk the half mile, which was quite a slow pace for her. But every time she lifted her foot to take a step, she felt like she was lifting a heavy, leaden block. Her muscles protested with every movement, stiff and cold from the long night of flying. She mentally added a sleeping bag to her list of things to ‘borrow.’ She would have given almost anything right now for a soft spot to lie down.

Near the border of the town was a small green sign that read “Sandview, Nevada. Population 4,903.” Raven had never heard of the place before, but of course this did not surprise her. It looked like it was barely enough of a town to warrant being a small dot on a map. The place was sleepy, with not much activity happening this early in the morning. Raven wondered what time it was as she walked down the quiet main street, until she saw a bank up ahead with a large clock out front. Six-thirty in the morning.

Raven took in her surroundings, trying to figure out where her best chance of finding easily accessible food and supplies would be. A small gas station on the main drag was a likely spot for food and basics like flashlights, batteries, and water bottles. But she also needed a backpack of some sort, and some clothes. She would either have to break into someone’s home and search for what she needed, or find a store that sold clothes and backpacks. Somehow, stealing from a store seemed less intrusive than stealing from an individual. After all, the items in a store were up for grabs, and Raven could pay for them later, as soon as she had access to money once again. Call it a self-designed layaway, she thought. But she still felt guilty as she continued walking down the street, looking for a store that might have what she needed.

It didn’t take long to find a place. A few blocks down from the bank and gas station was a store that boasted the best prices in Nevada on outdoor goods. Raven had a feeling the sign was exaggerating a bit about the prices, but it confirmed to her that they were, indeed, in Nevada. She walked up to the front door of the store, and saw that it did not open until ten a.m. With a frustrated grunt, she took a step back and looked around. She wasn’t sure that breaking in was the best idea. The place might be alarmed, and, even though she was under an invisibility shield, she still needed to be careful not to do anything to raise suspicion. She couldn’t open a door when someone was watching, or take items off a shelf in full view of someone. People would become alarmed if doors and objects seemed to be moving by themselves. And if she broke into a store, people would be carefully looking around for anything suspect. No, she definitely didn’t want to set off any warning bells.

But she didn’t want to wait until ten a.m. to start gathering supplies, either. She wanted to get back to Owen as quickly as possible so that they could start planning their next steps. Not to mention, if Owen was half as hungry as she was, he was probably anxiously waiting for some food.

Raven looked around at the deserted streets. What choice did she have, though, other than to wait? There was no one out and about now, but breaking into a store was bound to draw attention. She squinted in each direction, but the only signs of life were a few cars parked in front of a diner down the road, and one car at the gas station she’d walked past. With a resigned grunt, Raven turned to start walking toward the diner. Perhaps she could sneak some food while she waited. At least she would not be hungry, then. There wasn’t much she could do about Owen.

As she started walking, though, she was suddenly startled by the sound of a man’s voice. Looking to her left, she saw that he was walking down the narrow alley between the outdoor goods store and the bookstore next door. He was on his cell phone and not paying much attention to his surroundings, although Raven knew he could not see her, anyway. She watched him with curiosity, wondering where he was heading. He wore a pair of khaki pants and a black polo shirt, which looked sort of like a work uniform to her. Was he going to open one of these stores? Perhaps it would be a store with something useful for her. She flattened herself against the front window of the outdoor store to let him pass and see where he would go. A few moments later, he stopped in front of the door of the outdoor store and started fishing in his pockets. Raven’s heart skipped a beat. She could hardly believe her luck when he pulled out a set of keys and started fumbling to open the front door. This was her chance. She could sneak in behind him and “shop” in relative ease with no customers or other employees in the store. She slowly tiptoed until she was right behind him, hardly able to contain her excitement as he turned the key in the door.

“Yeah, man, well, I’ll have to catch you later,” the man was saying. “I’m at work now. Ralph wanted me to straighten up the stock room before we open today. He suspects that our district manager is coming through in the next day or two for a surprise inspection.”

There was a pause as whoever was on the other end of the phone conversation said something. During this pause, the man managed to find the correct key and open the door. He moved immediately to an electronic alarm box behind the front door and started entering a deactivation code, letting the door swing slowly shut behind him. While he was distracted by the code box, Raven quickly slipped in beside him, giving the door just a slight nudge to keep it open an extra second so she could enter the store. She held her breath and watched the man, hoping he hadn’t noticed anything odd. The man paid her no mind, though. He was too distracted by his phone conversation and by entering a code into the code box. After a few more comments to the person on the other line, the man hung up and started walking toward the back room, grumbling under his breath about how he was always the one who had to come in early.

Raven waited several minutes to make sure the man had really gone, and then she started walking around the store. The place was small, but well stocked. The shelves overflowed with every sort of camping gear you could hope for. Near the front of the store, a display of brochures tempted tourists with “exciting expeditions” and “thrilling tours.” Raven grabbed a few of the brochures and flipped through them, trying to get a better sense of what kind of place Owen and she had landed in. Although they were in some sort of barren desert right now, it seemed that this town was not too far from a national park that offered all sorts of hiking, camping, and various other outdoor activities. It was the end of May, and Raven suspected that the town was probably just gearing up for the busy summer ahead. Perhaps that’s why the shelves here were so well stocked.

Whatever the reason, Raven wasn’t complaining. She put back the brochure she’d been holding and started to get to work. The first thing she needed was some sort of backpack in which to hold all of the items she gathered. She quickly found the largest hiking backpack the store carried, and pulled it off the shelf. Its absence left a gaping hole in the display, and she winced at the sight as a fresh wave of guilt washed over her.

“It’s for the greater good, remember,” she told herself. “And besides, you’re going to pay them for it as soon as you can.”

The words did little to ease her guilty conscience, but she had no choice other than to continue. Now was not the time to hesitate. For all she knew, Saul’s men might be tracking them down while she stood here in this store, seemingly safe in the middle of nowhere. This thought made Raven work quicker. She silently gathered up a large sleeping bag, flashlights, batteries, water bottles, water purification tablets, granola bars, shoes and clothes for both her and Owen, a GPS unit, and other various supplies. By the time she was done, the bag was bursting at the seams. She had a feeling that if anyone watched the security camera of the time she’d been in the store, it would look pretty funny. She kept an invisibility shield over the backpack itself, but there would be several instances of items seeming to suddenly disappear off of shelves of their own accord. With another sigh and a whispered apology to whoever owned this store, Raven swung the heavy backpack onto her back and made her way toward the front door. The man had not reset the alarm, although he had dead bolted the door. Raven looked down the street in either direction to make sure no one was close enough to notice the door opening by itself. The street was growing slowly busier, but the area near the store was clear. She quickly unlocked the deadbolt and slipped out. Then she started walking away from the store as quickly as her aching muscles would allow.

She still hadn’t eaten, and her stomach growled loudly in protest. Walking was truly torture now, as her exhausted body buckled under the weight of the bag she’d stolen. She forced herself to keep moving, heading back toward the edge of town, back toward Owen. More restaurants were opening now, and a cute little café next to the bank was bustling. Raven quickly decided to risk going in and stealing some food. It would be a little tricky to grab a meal with so many people around, but Owen’s words about wanting real food echoed in her mind. She wouldn’t mind some real food, either.

She set the backpack down in a spot as out of the way of the sidewalk as she could find, making sure that an invisibility spell still covered it. Then, she slipped into the café doors behind the next couple that entered. She had a hard time not running into anyone, and a few times someone bumped into her and turned around to apologize, only to stare in confusion at empty space. Raven just kept moving. She made her way to the kitchen, where the cooks were whipping up omelets, bacon, breakfast potatoes, pancakes, and other goodies. Raven grabbed a large paper bag that she supposed was meant to house to-go boxes, but she didn’t even bother with the boxes. She just started going down the line in the kitchen, quickly putting plate after plate into her bag, one on top of the other. The bag soon became heavy under the weight of all the plates and food, and Raven whispered “Magicae corroboro” under her breath to reinforce it with a strengthening spell. For a moment, no one noticed that plates were suddenly disappearing off the line into thin air. Since the bag was so close to Raven, it was covered by her invisibility spell and no one could see it. But when Raven reached for a full thermos of coffee, she pressed her luck too hard. One of the servers saw the thermos move and disappear.

“What the…” the server said. The cooks looked up then, and quickly noticed the impossibly empty serving line.

“Hey, where’d all the food go?” one of them asked.

Raven didn’t stick around to see what they did next. She ran straight back into the crowded dining room, quickly pushing her way through the startled customers who were crowding around the door as they waited for a table.

“Hey!” they yelled, turning to give each other accusing looks as they tried to see who had jostled them. Then, several of them saw the front door open by itself. Raven slipped outside as quickly as she could, but stopped to turn around and watch the scene in the restaurant unfolding. The server she’d seen, as well as one of the cooks, were at the front of the restaurant now, talking to the hostess and gesturing wildly toward the kitchen. The hostess and several of the customers were pointing toward the front door, miming it opening and closing. The server and hostess quickly came to the front door and stepped outside, looking around wildly as though the perpetrator of this strange phenomenon might suddenly come into view. Raven, who stood several feet away from them unseen, held her breath and waited.

“It was the weirdest thing,” the server said. “The coffee thermos just disappeared. And the food, too, it seems. And then you’re sure the door opened by itself?”

“I saw it with my own eyes,” the hostess said. “Do you think…”

“No,” the server said emphatically. “Those are just stories. There aren’t really any ghosts out in the desert here.”

“But then how do you explain what just happened,” the hostess said.

The server looked confused for a moment, but then shook her head and shrugged. “Probably some kids, trying to scare everyone into thinking the ghost stories are real. “Come on. Let’s not give them the satisfaction of a show.”

With that, the server turned around and walked back into the café. The hostess followed, but not before looking warily over her shoulder. Raven let out the breath she’d been holding, and walked to where her backpack was hidden. She swung it onto her shoulders and groaned at the weight. Pointing her ring back toward it, she whispered, “Magicae pluma.” Instantly, the bag became as light as a feather. Raven usually avoided spells which made things weightless. She felt it was better to always build up her muscles by bearing the weight of whatever load she was carrying. She was in the military, after all. She had to stay in shape. But right now, her pride and military ideals were taking a backseat to the exhaustion flooding through her body.

“Magicae pluma,” she said again, pointing her ring at the bag of food, which instantly grew lighter as well. With a happy grunt, she started walking. Cheating and using the spells just this once was no big deal. She knew the feather spells also made invisibility spells less effective, but she wasn’t worried about that at the moment. She still hadn’t seen any sign of Saul’s army, and her invisibility shield would still work well enough against the oblivious humans in this town.

Feeling somewhat better, she picked up her pace. The sooner she got back to Owen, the sooner they could both eat. Her stomach had grown so empty that she felt nauseous at this point. She walked back by the gas station she’d passed on the way in, thankful that she already had everything she needed and didn’t have to stop. She did notice, though, that someone had left the newspaper stand open. She glanced left and right, but saw no one. So she grabbed a newspaper and quickly continued on her way. It would be interesting to see what the local town considered news. Perhaps reading the Sandview Scribe, as it was called, would give her a better understanding of where Owen and she had landed.

She stuffed the newspaper into the bag with the food, and kept walking. It only took her about ten minutes to get back. Her pace had quickened at the promise of sitting down to rest and eat, and she used her last burst of energy to walk quickly back to Owen.

She found him asleep underneath the rock. Already, the sun was beating down mercilessly on the desert landscape, but beneath the shade of the rock it was still relatively cool. Raven sat down and began unpacking the food, careful not to make too much noise. He needed rest, and she had no intentions of waking him just to eat. If he got hungry enough, he would wake up and have some food. In the meantime, she would eat on her own.

She pulled the dishes of food out of the bag, and attempted to rearrange them so that the food, which had become quite mixed up during the walk back, looked at least somewhat organized. She made one giant, heaping plate for herself, then put the rest back into the bag to await Owen.

“Magicae therma,” she said softly, pointing her magic ring at the food. Heat emanated from her ring and warmed the food, until it was just as piping hot as it had been when she pulled it off the line in the café’s kitchen. For the next several minutes, Raven munched on bacon, eggs, breakfast potatoes, and pancakes. She wished she had some syrup, but even without it the pancakes were delicious. That café deserved its popularity. All of the food was excellent. She drank one of the disposable water bottles she’d taken from the outdoor goods store, then she found a thermos she’d grabbed and used its top as a mug to pour coffee into. The dark black liquid was strong and smooth, and between the caffeine and the food, Raven felt decently revived even though she hadn’t slept all night.

Owen still slept, seemingly dead to the world. Raven watched his chest rising and falling, and, for a few moments, she allowed herself to enjoy just watching him. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, with all the worried creases that normally accompanied his waking expression smoothed away. Raven chewed her lower lip sadly, thinking about how much she would like to spend time with him just for fun, and not because they were running around trying to defeat Saul. Then again, she shouldn’t complain too much. After all, she probably would have never met him if it hadn’t been for this war. War, which tore so many things apart, had brought them together. Raven smiled at this thought. She supposed that, even in the midst of the worst of times, there was always good to be found.

Owen showed no signs of waking any time soon, and Raven did not feel particularly tired at the moment, so she decided to read the newspaper she had taken. Besides, it was probably best if one of them was awake and on guard, just in case. Just because she hadn’t seen any signs of Saul’s men didn’t mean there was no danger of being found. Raven had learned during this war to never underestimate your enemy.

Raven took another sip of her coffee, then flipped open the newspaper, ready for some light reading. But the headline she saw made her blood run cold.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said. But she knew this was no joke. It was all there in black and white—plain as day, if you knew what to look for.