Maev growled, tossed the copper scale aside, and shifted into a green dragon. She soared and blew her fire.

Three sphinxes dived through the treetops and slammed into Maev, knocking the green dragon onto the forest floor. The beasts roared, their massive jaws splitting their bloated human heads down to the ears. Their lion bodies bristled, and their feathered wings beat madly, raising a cloud of fallen leaves. Their claws scratched at Maev, and the green dragon roared.

"Stars damn it!" Laira leaped from under the bush, shifted into a golden dragon, and leaped toward the fray.

One of the sphinxes spun toward her, growling. Its human head leered, covered in tattoos, stretched to several times the normal size as if pumped with water. The beast's feline body crouched and bristled, and its mouth opened. It spewed a cloud of smoke thick with small, bustling demons; each looked like a grub with a human face.

Laira hissed and beat her wings. She soared above the smoke, hit the treetops, and swooped. Her claws drove into the sphinx's back, through fur and skin and into stringy flesh.

The creature howled and bucked. Its tail lashed, covered in spikes, and slammed into Laira's back. She roared, scales cracking, and clung to the beast. She leaned down, grabbed a fold of its flesh between her jaws, and bit deep. Acidic blood flooded her mouth.

At her side, Laira glimpsed Maev fighting two of the creatures. The green dragon rolled on the ground, clawing and lashing her tail. One of the sphinxes pinned her down, and the other blew a cloud of its demon-infested smoke. Maev shut her eyes and her mouth, and even her nostrils pinched shut as the cloud spread over her.

Beneath Laira, the sphinx she had grabbed bucked madly, tossing her about. Clinging, Laira turned her head and blasted fire against the sphinxes attacking Maev, trying to keep the flames off the green dragon.

The sphinx below Laira thrashed, bleeding but still alive. It tossed Laira off its back and against a maple. The tree shattered and branches rained. An instant later, the wounded sphinx pounced on Laira, jaw biting into her chest. Laira fell backward, slamming into an oak. The tree cracked and fell.

The sphinx stood before her, grinning, its claws red with her blood. It blasted its unholy miasma her way.

Laira blew her dragonfire.

The two jets crashed together, fire and smoke.

Trees burst into flame. Grass burned. The weapons roared, and Laira sneered as she blew her fire. She stepped forward, foot by foot, shoving her pillar of flame against the smoke until it drove through the cloud and crashed into the sphinx.

The creature burned.

Its magic vanished, and it returned to human form—a blazing, screaming man.

Laira stepped closer and stomped down her foot. Her claws passed through flames and into the man's chest. She yanked back, tearing out ribs and meat.