“My name?” Istaria echoed, staring at the Aramooran dragonelle in surprise. Most of the larger dragons ignored her or treated her like she was beneath them. She wasn’t used to being asked any personal information, even her name. “I-Istaria. Might I ask for your name as well, my lady?” She shuffled her feet and leaned back on her haunches, curling her tail around her [i]saa[/i]. She had finished cleaning the dragonelle’s wound so it could heal properly.

Istaria suddenly smelled another dragon, and craned her neck around to see a white-scaled drake limping towards them. In almost the same moment, she saw SoNem bound over to confront him. She rolled her eyes. Dragons could be so conceited. She considered going over to stop the standoff, but decided against it. She doubted SoNem would be foolish enough to start a fight when they were already battling against the humans.

---

SoNem snapped his [i]griff[/i] shut and snorted, satisfied that the drake had submitted to him even if he did so with reluctance. He heard the whooshing of wings behind him and turned to see the silver dragonelle taking off with the human. He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again. It wasn’t worth it to try and stop her. If she wanted to rescue one of the awful creatures, then so be it.

SoNem cast the drake one more skeptical glance, and then turned to rejoin Istaria and the injured Aramooran. He swept his tail around, flicking the tip to indicate for the drake to join them. He sniffed at the dragonelle’s wound, grimacing at the blood-scent. His own blood boiled. He couldn’t stand to see his own kind hurt like this at the hands of a human.

He stomped down the grass, softening the ground, and lay down near the two dragonelles. All the activity from the earlier attack had finally caught up with him. His limbs ached. He yawned and rested his head on the ground, fixing one eye on the drake.

“I never did catch your name,” SoNem said lazily. “What is it?”