I tilted my wings to the side to catch a better air current, enjoying the feel of the hot breeze hitting my face. The desert spread out under me in all its beautiful, desolate glory. I still hadn't gotten used to seeing it this way, being able to look at such a large swath of it all at once. Oddly, the perspective made it look even vaster rather than smaller.

I turned my head to look over at the other dragons who were flying beside me. They were all golden, glinting prettily in the sunlight. I knew I must have stood out like a sore thumb next to them, with my lavender scales and the red feathers that edged my wings.

But this was my third supply run with this group and they had finally stopped giving me odd looks when I changed. Maybe they had finally gotten used to my odd appearance. I didn't really hold it against them. I could see how it would be a little jarring to see a combination of the dragon skein that you had up until very recently had a giant feud with, combined with the plumage of the phoenixes that had been a dragon enemy for generations upon generations. My other form was built to inspire feelings of discomfort for Ashur's skein, at the very least.

I was feeling the extra burn in my muscles due to the supply crate I had hanging from my claws, safely wrapped in a strong steel net that I could easily hook. Each of us had one crate. But the strain was definitely less than it had been during the first run I'd made. I must have built up some more muscle around my wings, the ones that aided flying, and around my legs to hold the extra weight of the crates.

It was nice getting the opportunity to become more comfortable in this skin. I felt less separated from this part of me than I had even just a few days ago because I'd spent so much time flying for these supply runs. I was thinking about how odd it was that I'd never tapped into this big part of myself until so recently when the dragon next to me swayed towards me.

And bumped me. I looked over at Amara with a frown, wondering if she'd listed a little because she'd been distracted and if I had to put some distance between us.

But she didn't look at all distracted. She arched her neck, point her head in the other direction. She'd meant to bump me. I looked in the direction she was pointing. The others were already focused in the same direction, and now I saw why.

A group was flying towards us. A pretty large group, maybe around twenty-five or so. As they drew closer, I saw what the others had already noticed.

They were too small to be dragons.

And they were lined in fire.

Phoenixes.

We hovered in place as we watched. I knew what everyone was thinking. Because I was thinking the same thing.

We'd never make it to the skein that was our destination before the phoenixes intercepted us. And there were only ten of us to the twenty-five of them. We would need all of the energy we could get. Spending it in a sprint that wouldn't even reach help would be foolish.

When one of the other dragons dove down, I wondered what Justin was doing until I saw him let go of his crate closer to the ground. Then he flew back up into place. Good idea. The weight of our shipment would literally wear us down during a fight.

So we all followed suit, swooping down, dropping our crates on the desert ground, and then flying back up to ready ourselves for the group's arrival.

And that was all the time we had.

The phoenixes were upon us, their eyes focused and their beaks opening in shrill cries as they collided with our group.

I didn't know how long we would last. They were almost triple our number. That was math even I could do.

And I didn't even know how to breathe fire or light my feathers on fire either. I tried before with Ashur, but no matter how hard I tried to follow all the steps he told me to, it just wouldn't come. And he didn't really know how the phoenixes lit their feathers on fire. He could only coach me through what he knew, which was the dragon part of me.

I guessed this was going to have to be an old-school tackling method of fighting.

One of the phoenixes angled itself towards me, but then blinked as it took in my form, its face looking confused.

I didn't even know a bird's face could be so expressive. I guess he or she wasn't used to a dragon-slash-phoenix combo. Perfect. I didn't wait to see if recovery was going to come next.

Taking that opening, I shot straight towards the phoenix and turn to the side just as I got close, keeping my wing out of the way and slamming into its body with my full weight. I hit with a meaty thud. It jarred me a little.

But not as much as my target. The phoenix went flying end over end, its mass so much less than mine. It also hadn't been braced at all. I winced a little as the phoenix slammed into the ground, but then shrugged it off. Maybe they shouldn't have attacked us.

Then I didn't have time to think about it anymore as three more phoenixes attacked me all at once. It was all I could do just to avoid being hurt too much. One of them singed me with its feathers, and another stabbed me with its beak, opening a puncture wound in my thigh.

Exit needed. I dropped in altitude to get out from in between them and then shot away before circling back around. I got a view of the fight from a little bit of a distance.

It didn't look good for us. The phoenixes were winning. There was no doubt about that. I already saw a couple of our people on the ground, unconscious at least. I didn't want to think of the worst. The sight of them sparked a renewed anger inside me.

What the phoenixes were doing was wrong. We were taking supplies to people in need. Their people! People who the sociopath king they chose to follow had displaced in the first place because he thought killing was always the answer to his problems. I felt that rage bubble up inside me and spread through my veins. And felt a burst of heat as I darted back into the fight.

I didn't realize that it was an actual physical heat until I collided with a phoenix and the feathers on its head caught on fire because of my wing feathers. The phoenix screamed and ducked down, curling its wings over its head as it dropped down to the ground.

I knew he or she would recover as soon as they went through the change. If they were able to.

I had other things to worry about. I barreled into the fight with a renewed fury, using my feathers and my size to my advantage. And to devastating effect.

Even in my rage, I could see that we were still losing. There was just no compensating for the lack of numbers. I could feel the strain in my lungs as I breathed hard, the burning in my wing muscles that was turning into a sharper pain, the particular pain of the burns and other wounds that I'd already accumulated. Even if I wanted to keep fighting, I knew there wasn't a lot more that I could do before my body simply gave out.

I dodged to the side as one of the phoenixes tried to swing its burning feathers at me, just missing. My reaction time was also starting to slow.

I turned and caught something out of the corner of my eye. I blinked and saw it again. The sun glinting off something in the distance.

What was that?

I stared a little longer, as the battle continued around me. More phoenixes? What did they think we were, that they needed to send out this many for only ten dragons?

I squinted. Something was off.

That wasn't...

Those were...

Dragon scales. Red dragons. The skein we were taking the supplies to?

But it was more than the dragons. What had thrown me off was that there seem to be flickers of flame among the scales...

As they drew closer, I realized it was because there were both. Dragons and phoenixes. They were separated into two groups flying not that far apart, but they weren't fighting each other. They were flying together. Was it dragons from the skein we were going to and... The phoenix refugees? That was the only conclusion that made any kind of sense.

A dragon bumped into me and I came back to the fight going on around me. Slamming into a phoenix that was about to nail another one of my group, I kept an eye on the group headed for us.

They arrived just in time. I could see the phoenixes startle as they saw the mixed group coming in to fight them back. There were about forty of them in total, more than enough to immediately put an end to the phoenixes still flying.

I watched as a few dragons broke off and did the same maneuver Cinira had earlier in her territory, creating a cage around phoenixes with their bodies and forcing them to land. They took two prisoners. No one was left to run.

Just like that, it was over.

I landed on the ground along with the others in my group, needing some time just to catch my breath. Four of us were lying on the ground. I didn't know how many were still alive.

As I looked up to see the dragons and phoenixes still flying above us, the sight struck something inside me. I would never have expected to see something like this. Ever.

Was this a glimpse of the future?

Could we work together like this?

Or would it always take something this earth-shattering to make it happen?