"Do you think he'll ever come back?" Lyssa asked Storm as she handed the older girl another damp blanket.

"Your uncle will come back Lyssa, I know he will." Storm assured the child. "And when he does, he will love to see you and your little sister Rosie and your cousin Koda and be proud of how beautiful you three turned out to be!"

"Why did he leave?" Lyssa asked as Storm clipped down the blanket and handed her a shirt from the basket.

"I guess he felt confined here, I would have done the same except that I had a job to do here. My father needed my help after all since I have no brothers or sisters to help him if I left, or any other family members." Storm explained. "Plus we wouldn't have Smokey here with us either." At the sound of his name, the wolf raised his head but laid it back down before going back to his nap.

"That's true, and no one would be around to help grandma either if mama was busy." Lyssa said with a nod.

Storm gave the seven year old a smile before bending over to pick up the now empty basket and began to walk back into the house. Siv was in the kitchen chopping some vegetables with little Koda asleep in his crib and Rosie sitting in the corner and playing with some wooden toys.

Storm couldn't help but wonder what Eret's children would look like if he had stayed and had a little family of his own. Of course they'd look really cute with their dark brown hair and hazel eyes and chin.

'And I'd be miss lonely.' Storm thought to herself. 'No one wants a weirdo like me for a wife, I probably can't have children anyways.'

"Storm were you listening?" Storm's head snapped up and turned her attention to Siv who was snapping her fingers under her nose.

"Sorry, what did you say?" She asked, mentally scolding herself for not paying attention.

"I asked if you could come with me to get some fish." Siv said and sighed. "Were your thoughts straying to something else again?"

"Sorry, sure I'll go. But don't you need someone to watch your grandkids?" Storm asked looking to the three children.

"I can trust my granddaughter to look after her sister and cousin, right Lyssa?"

"Yes grandma!" Lyssa chirped. "I can look after Rosie and Koda all by myself!"

"Good girl, now behave yourselves and keep the door locked till we come home, got it?" Siv instructed as she grabbed a basket from the floor and a sack of runes from the table. "Storm and I will be back in a bit."

"Remember, do not open the door to anyone!" Storm warned as Siv shut the door behind her.

"Now, let's go get that fish to make some dinner." Siv said as she started walking to the docks with Storm. Smokey had awaken from his nap and decided to come along with them, much to Storm's relief.

"I feel as if something bad is going to happen." Storm said to the older woman when they reached the docks. "There is this knot in the pit of my stomach telling me that."

"Perhaps it's your woman parts telling you that it's that time again." Siv suggested. "It's bound to be that time."

"It's not, I feel like it's really not." Storm said shaking her head. About two years ago I got that feeling and a week later we got a letter from Eret's crew saying that he got branded."

"Well, whatever it is, let's hope it's not as bad as that." Siv said patting Storm's arm.

As they were heading to one of the fishing boats, Storm spotted an unfamiliar boat with a symbol of a dragon with a spear through it's head. Several men stood on the docks besides the boat, talking amongst themselves or standing there with their spears or swords in hand. The knot in Storm's stomach grew tight at the sight of the ship and the men. Something felt utterly wrong about them being here.

"Excuse me miss, are you the mother of a man named Eret?" One solider asked Siv. Smokey growled at the soldiers and Siv quickly pulled him back to be near Storm.

"What do you want?" Siv asked nervously gripping Storm's arm. She felt Storm grip her hand as Smokey's growls increased in volume.

"Are you, or are you not the mother of Eret son of Eret?" The man repeated in a more impatient tone.

"Y-yes I am, what happened to my son?" Siv asked looking more worried than before. "What happened to my baby?"

"Your so-called son betrayed our leader." One man sneered. "And you have to pay the price for birthing a traitor."

"Traitor? What did he do?" Siv asked gripping Storm more tightly.

"Deserted our leader and threw his lot with a bunch of people who call themselves dragon riders." Another man explained.

Storm glanced around to see if anyone else was close. The whole dock was deserted of anyone except them.

"No...it can't be." Siv said shaking her head. "My son is a good boy! He was a loyal follower!"

"Guess he wasn't one after all." The first soldier who spoke to them said and drew his sword out. "If there is a traitor in one tribe, his family must be punished with death. And we'll start with the woman who pushed him out into this world.

"No!" Storm screamed, shoving Siv back and putting herself between the older woman and the armored man. "Don't hurt her!"

"Stand aside wench!" The man snapped, grabbing Storm's arm. There was a loud snarl and Smokey leapt at the man and clamped onto his arm.

"Smokey stop!" Siv yelled as the wolf tore into the man's arm, causing him to release Storm.

"Get him Smokey!" Storm yelled as the wolf released the man's arm and snarled at the others.

"Kill them! Kill them all!" The man yelled, clutching his bleeding arm. "Kill the whole village if you have to!"

"Siv run!" Storm yelled, grabbing her arm and running back towards the village with Smokey at their heels.

The two woman ran up the walkway that lead to the village with the soldiers behind them. As soon as they reached the village, Storm grabbed the closest rock and shoved Siv forward.

"Go and warn them all!" She yelled as the soldiers came into view.

As soon as they got close enough,  Storm flung the rock at one of their heads and ran. Villagers were already gathering and rushing out of their houses with spears, bows with arrows, and whatever weapon they had available. Storm rushed towards her home and snatched up her staff before running off to join the fight.

"Kill them all! Especially that traitor's family!" Storm ran in the direction of the soldier who was yelling that as he stabbed one villager after the other. "Kill-" He was cut off when Storm swung her staff and hit his head. She heard a crack, signaling she must have hit him harder than she intended to.

"Well I definitely can't say 'whoops' to this." She muttered, rushing off to find Siv. "Please don't let anyone else follow her, the kids are alone in the house and-"

A shriek pierced the air and Storm's head snapped in the direction of Eret's home.

'Oh no...the kids!'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nWeC2tmrHw

She ran for the house with Smokey ahead of her and ran into the house to find Siv  clutching Koda and Rosie to her chest while Lyssa was held high in the air by a soldier and crying.

"Smokey, KILL!" She yelled.

The soldier barely had any time to turn around to see a blur of black and grey slam into him. Lyssa scrabble to her grandmother as the wolf tore into the man's throats. He gave a dying yell before he went limp. Smokey barked at the dead body before walking back to Storm and nuzzling her hand with his bloody snout.

"Is anyone hurt?" Storm asked.

"My neck hurts." Lyssa said in a small voice and rubbing her neck where the man was clutching her.

"He's dead now, but I have to go back and defend the village." Storm said walking over and placed a hand on Lyssa's head and another on Siv's hand. "I'll be back with a friend to help us, she'll save us."

"Storm, be careful please." Siv said gripping the girls hand. "Please I'm begging you!"

"I will Siv, I promise." Storm assured her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now that we have this whole village under our command, tell us where is the family of Eret son of Eret?"

The whole village remained quiet. The general frowned and ran his hand over the flat of his sword.

"I'm going to repeat myself again, where is the family of Eret son of Eret? If you tell us, the village will be spared." He repeated. "And don't try to be heroes."

When no one spoke up, he nodded at one of his soldiers and several grabbed some children from the crowd. The men and women they tore them from began yelling and begging to let them go.

"Are you all ready to cooperate or do we have to slit the little ones throats?" He asked.

There was a yell as one soldier dropped the child he was holding and fell to the floor. The villagers looked at him to see a large spike in his back. Another suddenly dropped with a spike in his back as well and so did several others.

"What in the-" the general gave a loud gasp as he felt something sharp hit his back and twisted his head around to see a silver spike sticking out and covered in his blood. "Dragon-" He stumbled forward and fell on his face into the mud.

"What just happened?" Finn asked Angus the blacksmith's apprentice.

"I think we just got saved." Angus whispered. "By who or what, I have no idea. But call me crazy, but I think a dragon saved our lives."

"And you are right!" A familiar voice from above yelled as the sound of wings became loud. "Your welcome!"