First thing in the morning, Fia's eyes flashed open. I'm home. That simple fact simmered in her heart and mind, still warming her up inside. The pink dragonette jumped down from the loft. "Look out below!" Fia bellowed as she landed on top of her sleeping parents." I'm gonna be the newest, bestest warrior that our clan has ever seen!"

  So much enthusiasm burned within Fia, her wings became a pink flurry. The dragonette hopped from her mother's back onto her father's side. Meanwhile, her little brother's egg joined in the excitement with a slight rock. The movement was imperceptible to all the dragons in the room compared to Fia's boisterous bounces.

  "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" she squealed.

  The eyes of Fia's father snapped open. His alert mind melded with her over telepathy, closely followed by her groggy mother.

  Fia...! You're up bright and early. Not ready to speak aloud quite yet, the mouth of Fia's mother parted in a yawn. Having just woken up, her pensive mood leached over telepathy. I was hoping you'd sleep in longer....

  "You wanted me to miss my trial to become a warrior...?" Fia gasped and reeled back. After a stumble over her mother's ridged back, the dragonette fluttered onto her father's shoulder. With slanted eyes, light as the morning sky, her look matched her father's stormy glare.

  "Don't listen to your mother, Fia." Some reprimand happened over telepathy beyond Fia's ken. In the next moment, her father made up for the deficit in her mother's mood and reinforced Fia's positivity. "That's right! That's my dragonette!" When he jumped onto his feet, he toppled Fia into the nest and tapped her with a playful claw. "Our fierce, future warrior is right here!"

  Fia wiggled and bumped the egg with her wild tail. "Oops!" Righted on all four feet, Fia loomed over her brother's egg with her snout close to the scaly shell. Sorry, lil bro. I only have to protect you once I'm a warrior. The slitted pupils of Fia's eyes dilated once she felt her brother's reaction.

  Confused.... The soon-to-be hatchling barely understood his immediate surroundings, much less the workings of the clan. Thus, that also made a second emotion radiate from the egg. Scared.

  Of me...? Fia wondered, taken aback with her wings flared to either side. This made her body cast a shadow over the center of the nest, even as her tail curled with a grin.

  Scary big sis, confirmed her little brother, still an egg.

  Huh? Now it was Fa's turn to feel befuddled. She retreated away from the egg to give them both some space. Scary? Me? Soon enough, her tongue lolled out of her excited maw. That's right! I've become scary like Viliant! Fia sauntered outside, her wings draping over her ribs in a way reminding her of Viliant.

  Fia's father tramped outside their family's hut after his daughter. Don't let your mother bother you. Mama's only worried because she knows you can do it.

  Why would that make her worried? Fia did not even understand her question enough to utter it aloud.

  That's just what a good mama does sometimes. Despite his gentle demeanor toward her mother, some frustration also lived within Fia's father. He buried those emotions in the back of his mind before Fia could become any more confused by the adults.

  The dragonette scurried up the wing offered by her father. She clenched her jaw and jutted out her chin alongside her puffed chest. "I'll show Mama! She doesn't have anything to worry about. Once I'm a warrior, I can protect her and you, me and Viliant, and... and...." In her mind, Fia wanted to protect everyone on Carlinoa Island. This intention blazed in her heart and mind even though she blurted out something more random. "And the egg!"

  "Aw." Fa's father curled his tail out of endearment. "That's so sweet. You already want to protect your little brother."

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  While he was included as part of everyone on Carlinoa Island, Fia had not thought of her little brother specifically. More so, she considered Rokirith's heroic act of saving the egg from the humans' clutches in the badlands. Like that! she revealed to her father.

  "Ah." A wry chuckle rumbled from her father's chest. The adult dragon took no offense at how Fia idolized the great dragon who rescued another egg. After he had gone to the Malakow Jungle and met Sage Rokirith for himself, it was undeniable the amazing thing which he had done. You'll really have to become a warrior if you want to become a dragon like that!

  Fia jittered from excitement on her father's back as he took off. His wings carried them away from the cluster of dragon huts on this side of the island. The altitude gained by the land leveled out to a plateau where water accumulated in pools. The basins of the pools were stained with orange and teal streaks, visible through the clouds of steam. As Fia's father tipped his wings in descent, the subtle bubbling from boiling water made her anticipation mount all the more.

  The red dragon and pink dragonette were the first ones at the training grounds. The other fire dragons steadily gathered around them. Just one tenth of the Carlinoa clan had fully awakened their magic, but only about half showed up for Fia's trial. Those that did kept their wings open with curiosity, while others narrowed their eyes in hostility—or perhaps jealousy.

  Under those looks, Fia felt safer tucked beneath her father's wings. Wait! Fia remembered, her jaw hanging open aghast. I'm supposed to be acting like a warrior! Her bravado reinvigorated like her inner flame, the pink dragonette bounded into the center of her clan's warriors.

  All the dragons had their harsh eyes on her, cut like gemstones. More warriors had gathered in front of Fia than behind her, where her father had quietly backed away. The youngest elder of the Carlinoa Clan with mottled scales, red and black, held out his wings as if to welcome Fia—or hold the other dragons in place. Elder Kivo waited for her to stop fiddling with her claws, finally meeting his eyes.

  "Well...?" Elder Kivo scoffed and tossed his obsidian horns. "Show us your power!" He flung his head back and let out a roar—a signal to all the other dragons.

  Every warrior lifted their tails and thumped it against the earth in unison. Most of the fire dragons had a sharpened tip at the ends of their tails. This clacked against stone before all the dragons raised them back up. Together, the dragon warriors beat the ground like drums.

  Fia's shallow breaths deepened to match the rhythm. The small gathering of her clan's own warriors was nothing compared to thousands of human eyes, boring down on her in the coliseum. While that was not a happy memory for her, Fia had learned just enough from Sage Rokinth before she left Malakow to harness her magic through another emotion.

  Rage, she recalled, letting it simmer inside of her. Fia's memory went back to a single moment—a single human. Fia focused on the one that she hated most.

  In her mind's eye, the Dragon Slayer stood before her. His purple cape billowed behind him along with dark strands of hair beneath his crown. Gravity threatened to bend at a brandish of his scepter. Any day now, his ships might arrive on Carlinoa's shore just as his boots were ready to step on its beach.

  No. A growl rumbled in Fia's chest like the crackle of fire. I won't allow him to do that. All her mana blazed with the desire to stop him. Fia must learn to ignite a fire as bright as a star, so not even a gravity orb could swallow up her flames.

  Fia lifted her front claws off the ground. Balanced on her hind legs, she suspended herself like that. Neither a jump nor beat of her wings was necessary for her to rise up. Hot air rushed beneath her wings and warmed her belly from the outside. Fia let her maw part with a soundless roar. A moment later, a screech like a banshee was wrenched from her chest.

  A firestorm exploded on all sides. Brilliant, blue flames seared all around her, making it impossible to look at the dragonette whose eyes burned the same color. The fire faded back to yellow amid its other, usual hues as it reached the circle of spectators.

  The rush of intense heat made even the dragon warriors shield their eyes with their wings. The complex, telepathic network between the adult dragons' horns went quiet while Fia displayed her prowess.

  Only Elder Kivo stayed put with his eyes open to watch. The black and red dragon dropped his wings to the ground out of sheer shock, and his slack tail dipped into a pool of water.

  Fia closed her own eyes, but she still saw tiny flames dance behind her eyelids. Gradually, the blazing light dimmed from her closed eyes. Her nostrils flared when she smelled steam instead of smoke.

  The glare of sunlight seemed harsh when Fia cracked her eyes open again. Her vision glanced from the sky, past the circle of dragons, down to the geyser pools. The closest one had erupted, as had all the others in harmony. Fia's feet tottered as she desperately fought to regain her balance, but she ultimately collapsed before any of the geyser water splashed back into its pools.

  No.... Fia moaned to anyone who accepted a telepathic transmission from her.

  It was just her father whose pulse raced even though his mind was empty of all thoughts. Maybe all the dragons listened to her pathetic whine, similarly shocked into silence.

  No. I can't pass out! My trial... I need to pass.... Unable to fight the exhaustion of her body anymore, Fia was claimed by a wave of darkness.