"By the Sky Mother's swollen teats!" he said. "After all we've been through—fleeing our tribes and villages, trekking through the wilderness all winter, nearly freezing our arses off—are you going to let one little demon frighten you?" He spat a glob of fiery saliva; it burned, digging a hole into the ground. "I am Dorvin, son of Karash, a hunter. I told you I'd lead you to safety, and stars damn it, I will. We will find a new home. We will find this place called Requiem."

Alina stepped up to stand by Dorvin. Still in human form, her purple robes fluttering in the wind, she addressed the crowd. While Dorvin's voice was loud and fast, she spoke in a smooth, slow lilt like the music of flutes.

"Children of Starlight." She pulled back her hood, and her auburn hair billowed. Her eyes shone, deep purple flecked with gold. "Let no fear fill your hearts, for the Sky Dragon constellation shines upon us. The stars of our magic bless us. They will keep us safe. Shift with me, my friends. Become the dragons, take flight, and find the sky."

Smiling softly, Alina shifted and soared, a lavender dragon with white horns. Her scales gleamed in the sunlight, and a stream of fire rose from her mouth, white and blue and spinning as it crackled. Dorvin beat his wings and rose to fly at her side, and they spun together, two dragons, silver and lavender, wreathed in flame.

"Rise, dragons!" Dorvin shouted. "Show me your strength."

The frightened, hungry people—exiled from their homes for their curses—summoned their magic. Nineteen more dragons rose into the sky, their scales of many colors, and their flames rose, many columns of a fiery palace.

"Like this we are strong!" Dorvin roared.

Alina flew above him. "Like this we are blessed."

Dorvin turned in the sky and began flying north, leading the others, leaving the corpse behind. He knew that some among them feared the sky—the sky was full of rocs, pteros, and now demons—but Dorvin would have them conquer fear.

For too many years, we were afraid, he thought. For too many years we dared not shift. Now the sky is ours.

Pain welled inside him, and he growled and spewed flames. The damn memories would not leave him. Even here, in the sky, a proud silver dragon, he remembered his old tribe's hunters mocking him, calling him a creature, a reptile, a cursed one. He remembered their Elder Druid, a proud old man with a bald head and stern eyes, striking Alina, spitting upon her, banishing her from their order because of her magic. Everyone who flew behind him had such a story to tell. To the world they were monsters, but Dorvin refused to treat them so.

"We are dragons!" he called out to them now, flying at their lead. "We are proud and strong."

Gliding beside him, Alina smiled. "We are blessed with starlight."