I looked up from my brother's body to behold the human woman, a vision of radiant savagery who had appeared and saved the lives of at least one of my kin.

She was tall for a human, with pale golden hair spilling out around her face. I felt an unwelcome rush of heat when my eyes met the soft brown of hers. For a brief instant, it was as if the ground beneath us had shifted.

Pavar moaned and broke through the dangerous direction of my reverie.

Lifting his bleeding body, I called out to the others, “Zaruv! Jennifer! Are you injured?”

“We are here, batr,” Zaruv called back as I carried Pavar around the corner toward the clinic's doors.

“We need to get out of the open and treat these injuries.” As Dragselians, I knew we would heal, and rapidly, but in a weakened state, we made for more attractive targets, and it was clear we needed to regroup before facing our enemies once more.

“I couldn't agree more, Karun,” Zaruv replied in a strained voice as I saw the gushing stump where his hand once was.

Jennifer pulled out a key from under her blouse and quickly unlocked the door, letting us all into the dark cavern of her clinic. Heading straight past the waiting room with its comfortable, worn chairs, she flipped on the bright LED exam room lights and medical equipment, quickly triaging Zaruv’s and Pavar's injuries despite the purple marks at her own neck.

I turned once more to the brown-eyed woman who was already at the windows, scanning the street outside.

“So is someone here going to tell me what just happened?” She looked back at Ragal and me expectantly.

“Yes, but first, I owe you a debt beyond measure.” I drew closer to her, following a gravitational pull I was incapable of avoiding. “From the depths of my soul, I thank you. Your aid against those Infernian bastards has saved my brother.”

“So they were Infernians then?” A note of unease colored her words.

At this, Ragal joined in. “Surely, and though they are not likely to attack again tonight, one of us should secure the area.”

Nodding, I looked back at the woman. “You are correct, Ragal. I shall go.”

“No, you're injured as well.” He was right, of course. In the chaos, I had forgotten about the gashes on my forearm which, though not serious, were making a mess.

“Besides, my form is more easily concealed in the dark than yours . . .” catching himself, he glanced at the woman.

“Don't mind me. I'm just sitting here clueless,” she rejoined sarcastically.

Ragal, not one for conversation anyway, hastened out the door. With a glance out the window, I watched him shift and take to the air, blending in perfectly with the darkness above.

“Who are you?” I asked her, clearly startling her with my directness.

“I'm the person who just saved your asses. Who the hell are you?” Feisty, she was.

Staunching the bleeding from my wound, I turned back to her. “What you have seen tonight and what you have done entitles you to a truth I do not share lightly. My name is Karun, Son of Patabu. I and my brothers are Princes of the Royal House of Dragselia, a planet in the Lernaean sector of the Hydra galaxy.”

“That's not exactly a puddle jump from here. Why are you on Vaxivia, and more importantly, why are those Infernians and their TriScurra thugs after you?” she asked impatiently, tossing hair out of her face.

“I can't speak to the hired hands except to say that there is no low to which an Infernian wouldn't sink. The seething hatred between Infernians and Dragselians is mutual and longstanding, but we fight our own battles. Our presence here has, as I feared, endangered more than ourselves.” I took stock of several scratches on her arm to which she appeared oblivious.

“Surely, it has.” Zaruv joined us with a taut expression, his left arm wrapped tightly in layers of gauze and held against his body by a sling. “It grows back already, batr. Jennifer has taken good care of me. If only her morphine worked on us.” He smiled, following my gaze and correctly guessing at my thoughts.

“Many thanks to you, my lady.” Charming as ever, even when growing back a hand, he bowed before her. “I am Zaruv, exiled Prince of Dragselia, and I’m eternally thankful for the service you have done us tonight. If we were on Dragselia, you would be draped in gold, lauded, and presented with any object or favor you would have. Unfortunately, we are before you in humbler circumstances and I have only my gratitude to offer.”

If not for the pain I knew him to be fighting through, I would have mocked my brother's effusiveness.

“You have risked your life for us tonight. Please do us the favor of telling us to whom we are so indebted.”

“Oh! My name, right,” she said after a slight pause. “I'm Andie . . . well, Andromeda Titania, I guess, if we're being formal here.”

Andromeda. Andromeda Titania . . . it was a beautiful mouthful, I thought, which drew my attention to her mouth and two full, pink lips as they moved.

“I'm a Gunnery Sergeant with the 13th Regiment of the Vaxivian Free Citizen's Militia. I'm not on duty, but I've grown up here, and it's not in me to walk away from a fight,” she added, sounding proud and almost defensive at the same time.

“I respect your perspective, Sergeant. Especially as it has benefitted us so greatly tonight,” Zaruv acknowledged as he sat back into one of the faded neon green chairs.

Jennifer came in and went directly to Andromeda. “Oh Andie, I don't know how to thank you!” Jennifer wrapped her in a tight embrace, her voice still scratchy. “So you're up to speed?”

“Not entirely, but I think I got the bulk of it. One thing I don't get—how are you tied up in all of this, Jen?”

Blushing a little beneath the red splotches already dotting her upper cheeks and eyelids, Jennifer answered, “Well, I found Prince Zaruv and his brothers along the eastern line of my property while I was out collecting Varda roots for the clinic a month ago, and they've been staying out on the compound ever since while they search for their spacecraft.”

She asked in a voice she surely thought was low enough not to be heard by us, “Do they all do the dragon thing?”

Rolling my eyes, I cut in, “Scared?”

“No.” She blushed, looking embarrassed to have been overheard. “I'm just wondering why you didn't come to the militia. We could have aided them in the search.”

Jennifer jumped back in. “Come on, Andie, you know as well as I do that most residents of the Outpost would not adjust easily or happily to the idea of man-dragon aliens living among them. Half the people here are in hiding from their own demons. No way would that go over well if they heard their newest neighbors were being hunted by actual demons.”

“Okay, yeah, good point,” Andie conceded, half smiling.

“You should have seen Courtney Camps when she saw Karun here at the clinic with me the other day. You know how she is.” Jennifer gave her a knowing, amused look. “She did her whackadoo thing, and I'm pretty sure she's been hiding out in her basement with her 'invisible suit' on at all times.”

Jennifer's neighbor had not handled the presence of a man with green skin particularly well. Whereas most residents hadn't seemed to mind my un-earthly coloring, Courtney had a complete meltdown and barely came out of her house since we’d met. Of course, very few of Jennifer's closest friends knew our true identities or that we could shift into dragons.

“Well, that explains why I haven't seen her around Picard's Post lately,” Andie said, referencing the local market inside a hollowed out starship where residents relied heavily on a bartering system for most of their necessities.

She continued, “I'm sure she'll be back to annoying everyone again soon, unfortunately. When Orud moved here with his family, she was only down in the bunker two months tops. Guess we should enjoy the break!”

Finally turning back to Zaruv and me, Jennifer began, “So, about Pavar—he has penetrating abdominal trauma, including a number of perforated organs. He's in a lot of pain but resting now. You guys would probably be better than me at projecting this.” She looked somewhat unsure. “Based on how I've seen you guys heal so far, with a wound this deep, I'm guessing four to five days, at best, before he is back to his old fighting shape.”

Zaruv said, “As smart as you are beautiful. That sounds like an accurate prediction to me as well.” Jennifer's blush returned as Zaruv reached out for her hand, and I could see Andie's eyebrows raise in interest. “I am unfamiliar with how humans heal. How long will you bear the marks of those monsters?”

“Believe it or not, I'll heal almost as quickly as Pavar. The petechiae should be pretty much gone in three to four days, but the bruising will be well over a week,” she said as she absentmindedly touched her neck.

“I would kill them a thousand times over if I could,” Zaruv growled as he pulled her into a consuming kiss. It was a strange moment—seeing my brother so protective and flagrantly affectionate. Strange but gratifying.

Clearing my throat, I decided it was time to interrupt.

“Zaruv, we need to discuss our next steps. We have been compromised, and we no longer have the luxury of taking our time or blending in. Someone other than Andromeda will have heard or seen what happened tonight, and our enemies know where we are.”

Straightening but keeping his good arm wrapped protectively around Jennifer, Zaruv furrowed his brow. “Where is Ragal?”

“He shifted and is securing the perimeter. I don't expect the Infernian scum to return tonight, but we aren't in a position to be taking things for granted anymore.”

Zaruv looked down at Jennifer, “No, we can't afford to take anything for granted.”

“What will you do?” Andie asked, stepping back into the conversation.

“We need to find our ship, but with Infernians on the loose, it's no longer safe for anyone. They didn't just show up tonight. They'll have watched us and chosen tonight when we were separated and away from the protections and fortifications we've made to the compound to strike at the weakest target.”

I looked back at Jennifer. “Sorry, but you are human.”

“Hey, wait a minute . . .” Andie began.

“No, he's right. I don't like to think of myself as weak, but I'm no Dragselian . . . though, I wouldn't repeat all of that to Pavar.” She smiled at me.

“Smart human,” I returned, smiling despite the circumstances. I looked back at Andie. She seemed somewhat less amused.

“Hey, you know, despite what you may believe about us, I assure you that not all humans drop so easily.” She looked back at Jennifer somewhat sheepishly. “Sorry, girl, but you did almost get strangled.”

“It's fine. I'm okay with not being battle hardened if it means going through that on the regular.”

Moving closer to me, Andie refocused with more fervor. “We lowly humans have been on Vaxivia and holding our own for the last 200 years. If there is a threat to Vaxivia, I'll be the first one to go headfirst into that fight,” she said, all the while getting closer.

“Then you take foolish risks,” I replied calmly, despite the thrum of my blood in my ears.

“Or maybe I just know what I'm capable of,” she said as the space between us grew narrower.

“And what might that be?” I asked, my eyes dropping to her lips.

“Ahem.” Ragal had returned, an intrigued expression on his face.

“Ragal, this is Gunnery Sergeant Andromeda Titania of the Vaxivian Militia,” Zaruv helpfully supplied as I stepped back to safety and regained control of myself.

Ragal bowed politely. “A pleasure.”

“Same, but just call me Andie.”

“So, we were ah . . .” Zaruv said, “discussing our next steps.”

“As I was saying, if there is trouble brewing, we're more than capable of holding our own. If these Infernians are hiding somewhere in or around the community and willing to attack, especially in the open like tonight, this is our problem too. I'd like to talk to my Commanding Officer, Master Sergeant Lee Johnson. He's a good man. Jennifer can vouch for that.”

“Yes, I have met him,” Zaruv added.

“You have?” Ragal and I both asked, surprised.

“Indeed. I was ah . . . assisting Jennifer in the clinic after closing, and he had stopped in to speak with her about some business.” There was surely more to that story, but Zaruv forged on. “He seems a trustworthy man and would be a good ally.”

“Great, so it's settled! I'll speak with him at first sunrise,” said Andie, looking pleased with herself.

“Batr, can this be the best course of action? The more who know of us, the more we endanger, and besides, I am not convinced his help is needed,” I added, not looking in her direction but feeling the heat of Andromeda's ire ignite anew.

Dismissively, Zaruv cut in. “If it would ease your mind, accompany Sergeant Titania. I would go myself, but I am not fit for such a meeting in this condition. Now, we all need to rest.”

“There is a large bench in the exam room with Pavar for whoever wants it. I'm going to take the couch in my office, and then there are, of course, the chairs out here,” Jennifer offered.

Ragal spoke first as he left the room. “I'll keep watch over Pavar.”

Without another word, Jennifer and Zaruv strode purposefully down the hall. As a Dragselian, my sense of hearing was better than a human's, and unfortunately, it allowed me to hear a few choice whispered promises regarding pain relief that the good nurse planned to provide.

I looked back at Andromeda, not quite prepared to be suddenly alone with her. She recovered quicker from the quick change of events.

“Don't look so scared, dragon boy. I'm just a human, remember?” With that, she plopped into a chair and covered herself with a rough, weathered coat, promptly falling asleep.

Going to a chair along the opposite wall, I wondered at the night's events. I had started the night searching and finding nothing, but now, standing there, I couldn't but feel I had found something. Whether this would prove good or not, I couldn't bring myself to examine.