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“That one is Sven!” I shouted. ’Bout damn time.

My brother swooped low, landing claw first into our grandfather’s back. Sven was about a third of his size. Not good.

“Where the fuck have you been?” I shouted at the beautiful iridescent blue dragon as our grandfather tried to bite me, and I tried to dig his eyes out of his head.

Grandfather attacked me while I was shifting. It was a close thing.

Well, hell. That was a good excuse.

Just then the larger dragon breathed on me and it wasn’t fire, it was magic that sent me to my knees.

I felt the blood in my veins light up. Flames flared deep inside of me, and I was suddenly on the ground against my will as my body took the choice away from me.

Something he’d done to me, some errant spell he’d breathed at me was forcing me to shift mid-fight.

My grandfather then whipped around to snap at the smaller dragon on his back.

Giant monster Dom crouched beside me, looking worried.

I waved him off, tried to speak, but I was already too far gone. I started crawling away, trying to cover as much distance as possible to give myself room.

Dom was following me. I couldn’t speak to tell him he could go back to the fight, but he’d see what was happening soon enough.

The shift took me all at once, like catching fire, the flame traveled over me a flash. Whatever old magic my grandfather had used was changing me faster than I’d ever experienced before.

My wings snapped out, and I got a brief glimpse of them out of the corner of my eye. They looked like they were made of pure light, so blinding I could scarcely look at them.

I didn’t wonder about it for long as my other self took over completely.

I joined the fight with glee. They hadn’t gotten to his heart yet, not even close, so I focused on helping to hold his head down while Dom clawed at his eyes.

He tried to flap his wings out to take off, but Sven was holding his body to the earth as I pinned his head. Obviously I’d underestimated the potential of the two of us working together in dragon form. He was much bigger than us, but he was only one and he didn’t have even one slayer on his side now.

Helen and Hamish were chopping at his neck as Christian and Harvey dug into his chest. Only one dragon down but they’d developed a sound strategy in the killing of it.

Another shadow flew over us, and I looked up to see my father circling overhead in an irresistible taunt.

Don’t go after him, Sven projected into my mind. It’s not worth it.

My father roared into the air, and it was like a siren’s call.

I could not resist it. My dragon took over and I was flying, chasing after him before I’d realized it.

He was faster, bigger, stronger. All I had on my side was sheer determination and blinding hatred, and I used that to follow him as he raced across the sky. He veered straight up and I shot into the clouds after him.

It took me awhile to see his plan, his intention in drawing me out.

I chased him through the sky for some immeasurable beat of time until he suddenly took a dive, and I followed that too, right on his tail now.

I was slow to see the settlement of small houses until we were almost over it. I stared as it began to catch fire and deep inside some part of me should be horrified, but that part was buried deep from where I was looking now.

I was following my father for a second sweep before I even realized it wasn’t me setting the quiet town ablaze, I was that mesmerized by it.

I could just let go, I realized for the first time. I could let the fire take over. That was what the madness was. But in the madness was freedom from responsibility, from care, from pain.

My whole life I’d held back. I didn’t want to anymore.

I wanted to watch the world burn and glory in it.