I missed my alarm. It never screamed at me or buried me in snow. It never tried to kill me or my friends. Why had I ever complained about that beep beep beep? There were much worse ways to wake up.

Like being smacked in the face with a tree branch.

I sat straight up, hoping this was just one of Nissa's rude wakeup calls. It wasn't. A giant tree with no branches until fifty feet up its trunk was running through where our tents had been. It must've hit me with one of its flailing roots. It wasn't the only tree, either, though the others weren't moving. We were in the middle of a sweltering forest, free of snow and buzzing with insects.

Our tents were gone--presumably packed, because me and Piper were laying on the ground in our sleeping bags. Nissa and Kyton were gone, too. Scrambling out of my sleeping bag and hopping to my feet, I scanned the trees for them. They were in a tree, alright--the tree that was currently running around. Thin branches wrapped around Nissa and Kyton like ropes, pinning their wings to their backs.

Other branches were stuffed in their mouthes, apparently to keep them from shouting. The tree must've wanted to get away unseen. Sometimes I hated magic.

"Put them down."

The tree shook its branches and took a "step" back.

I kicked Piper, and she jolted awake, too.

"Wha- ack, tree, big tree." She grabbed her tranq rifle, which luckily hadn't been packed away, and spun around in her sleeping bag to shoot it at the tree.

A red-feathered dart hit one of its branches, but the tree didn't even flinch.

Eva, where are you? We need some fire. I unsheathed my fan-dagger and sprinted at the tree.

It tilted its branches downward as if it was looking at me. A creaky laugh came from deep within its trunk as I slashed at its bark. Pieces of bark flew off, but it was like trying to... well, like trying to cut down a tree with a dagger. I sheathed my dagger and called Eva again.

I in tree, no can make fire, no can flap wings, she complained.

I spotted her, a small wrapped bundle just above Kyton.

"Your crown," Piper shouted from behind me.

"What?" I turned, and a branch slammed into my side. I hit the ground with a grunt. By the time I was on my feet again, the tree was sprinting away.

Piper ran up to me with my revealer crown clutched in her fist. "I think it's charged. It's blinking."

Sure enough, the crown's light was waxing and waning like a blinking alarm clock. That might mean it was broken or not charging right, but there was only one way to be sure. I slipped it over two of my horns. As soon as it touched my scales, I knew it was charged again.

"Grab all our equipment, and follow me," I said before the wave of magic crashed through me. The transformation was just as thrilling and unpleasant as last time. By the time I was standing on four claws, Piper had my packed bag over her shoulder and her rifle ready--assumably for any threat that had thinner skin than a tree.

I took off after the running tree, following the path of destruction in its wake. Smaller trees had been crushed, unfortunate mammals and amphibians trampled. Every tree that stayed standing stretched high above my head.

None of the trees were familiar, with their huge leaves and dark colors. Colorful birds and snakes traversed the canopy. Damp soil sunk beneath my claws. Swarms of mosquitos buzzed around my eyes. This wasn't a forest; it was a jungle.

I caught up with the running tree a second later. It twisted its branches around as if to stare at me, then picked up its speed. I covered the space between us in two running leaps. Sinking my claws into the tree's bark, I sprinted up its trunk. Branches flailed, hitting my back and wings, but none of them penetrated my thick scales.

Kyton's eyes widened as I reached him. He was obviously debating whether I was a real dragon or if I was me. He shouldn't have worried; over the past two days, we'd only seen a couple of dragons flying in the distance. Most of them gave us a wide berth.

I ripped through the branches restraining Eva. She flew to perch on my head. It felt like she was sitting on my crown and hiding under my horns. Good girl.

The tree pulled Kyton and Nissa away from me, but I leapt after them. A thick branch caught me around the waist before I could free them. Hissing, I clawed at the branch with my hind claws. They cut through it like butter.

I freed Kyton, and he wrapped his arms around my neck.

"What are you doing?" I clawed at the branches holding Nissa.

"The tree got our wings. I can't fly." He swung his leg over my neck and slid down it to sit at its base.

Nissa mimicked his actions as soon as she was free. The two of them felt surprisingly light, but I had no way to tell if it was because I was super strong or they had hollow bones like birds. I leapt from the tree, spreading my wings to glide to the ground.

Kyton and Nissa slid off my wings as I spun to face the tree again. It rattled its branches at me. I roared at it. It turned and ran. Ha, that was dragon power for you.

Before I could check if Nissa and Kyton were alright, they clambered up my left wing and onto my back. A third, less nimble, person climbed up after them. I twisted my head around to see Piper, drenched in sweat and panting hard.

"Run," she shouted.

Over her shoulder, a wall of spiky caterpillars the size of semi trucks charged toward us. I ran. I ran faster than I'd ever run in my life. In a matter of seconds, I overtook the running tree. It flailed its branches at my tail, but I was out of reach in an instant.

A creaky scream echoed through the jungle, accompanied by the crunching of wood.

"Prip, don't stop running," Kyton shouted. "Those things just ate the tree."

"I wasn't planning on stopping," I shouted back. If there was more space between the trees and I wasn't running for my life, I would've tried flying. As it was, I thought being run over by a stampede of caterpillars would be embarrassing enough. Trying to fly and crashing into a tree would only make things worse.

The ground rumbled beneath my feet as the caterpillars grew closer. Out of the corner of my vision, I saw enormous trees crashing to the ground. They were devoured in seconds. Morbid curiosity made me glance over my shoulder. Past my friends clinging frantically to my back, the caterpillars were only ten yards away. They were gaining fast.

Something large and silver glinted between the back spikes of one of the caterpillars, but I had to look back at my path before I could figure out what it was.

Even after what felt like a year of running, the caterpillars didn't seem to have lost any energy. One of them nipped my tail, but I jerked it out of their mouth. My sides heaved. Spit foamed on my lips. My muscles burned. I couldn't keep this up for much longer. We needed some place to hide, somewhere I would fit but the caterpillars wouldn't.

There weren't many options in the jungle. The caterpillars would take down any tree I climbed.

Thunder boomed up ahead. Great, now I could get drenched and eaten at the same time. The thunder grew louder as I kept running. It wasn't normal thunder; it couldn't be. There wasn't lightning, and the noise wasn't stopping.

No, it was a waterfall. A huge waterfall going off a massive cliff. Thank goodness. I had wings. Caterpillars didn't. Just one little glide, and I would be home free.

I forced every bit of strength I had left into my legs. Another nip on my tail was the only motivation I needed. The cliff was coming closer, the roaring growing louder. Just a little bit farther... a little more...

I leapt off the cliff and spread my wings. It was a relief to use something other than my legs. There was something wrong, though. I wasn't gliding lightly down. I was plummeting toward the trees below. Frantically trying to steer with my head and tail, I pounded the air with my wings.

Wasn't this supposed to be a draconic instinct? Shouldn't I be flying now? The trees were too close, way too close.

I crashed through the canopy. Branches ripped my thin wing membranes and slammed into every inch of my body until I hit the ground. Pain jolted through every scale. Whimpering, I glanced at one of my outstretched wings. It was tattered and bloody.

"Can you walk?" Kyton asked. He patted the side of my neck. "Come on Lilly, can you walk?"

"I don't know." The words stabbed my lungs like knitting needles. I tried to push myself off the ground, but something cracked in my right foreleg, and I let myself fall again.

"Lilly, I wish I could let you lay here and recover, but we have to keep going."

I shook my head. "We still have two days to get to the island. Can't we just-"

"The caterpillars jumped off the cliff, and they're still coming after us. Nissa and I can't fly, and none of us can run faster than those things. It's up to you to get us out of here."