I shake my head. "No way. Just because he has an alchemical chamber and all kinds of fancy torture chambers doesn't mean he knows anything about the Caverns."
Sene flings her thin hands into the air, her clawlike nails flashing. "Fine, fine. So what do you propose we do?"
I sigh. Being in charge of people is harder than you'd think. "Um, I'll go down and explain everything now." Maye swoops down. She goes fast, so fast that Sene falls off and has to morph and fly down to us. Maye anchors herself, wings spread out like a safety net around her body. That, as small of a gesture as it is, means a lot. Dragon's wing-webbing is exceptionally delicate, and can tear very easily. It means something that Maye would be willing to damage her wings to protect me from a fall.

"Okay, troops. You're going to have to split into two groups. I need the Squalts and the Senguillies to go to the Caverns and perform a defensive. We need to protect all of the idols. Your group will be captained by General Fluctus and Colonel Catella." General Fluctus is a Squalt. He has ice-blue hair and a very long beard, and his sea-green eyes are flashing with pride. I know that he will make the army an organized unit. Colonel Catella is a Senguilly that looks like a St. Bernard dog. Every so often, she belches a burst of flame that smells of hot strawberries. "And I need the Drulario and Centrallu to come with me to defend the Red Dragon Kingdom."
Maye circles back up into the sky, leaving the army sorting out who's going where.

We soar through the skies, as I peer off the side to look around. Suddenly, I hear a loud beating, like many wings, and feel a powerful rush of air flowing toward me. I turn to look to the air, and am so shocked that I nearly fall from Maye's back. Dragons. Dozens of them. They are not the sort of dragon that I'm used to either. These dragons are easily the largest I've ever seen. They're black with mottled green scales, and at least twice the size of a regular dragon. But that in itself is not what scares me. No, what truly scares me is their riders. I see ebony-black armor accentuated with green, horned helmets with green balls of sinister, floating light in between the horns. And guess which slimy little barracuda of a man is leading them on the biggest, nastiest dragon of all? That's right, baby. In the flesh.

I suppose that Maye can sense my discomfort, because she quickly flies onward, dropping under the massive dragons. Looking up from my position, I can see that even the underbellies of these humongous beasts are thick, armored, and look nearly impenetrable. I'm tempted to fly up a little bit on Maye and test out the durability of their underbellies with my sword. But I would feel terrible if I struck first. We mirror the dragon's movements, flying under the phalanx. Eventually, we near my kingdom. My beloved kingdom! I wonder what everyone thought when I was gone for near to half a year. I wonder if everyone thought that I was dead along with my mother.

Maye and I touch down on the grounds. My landing skills have not quite improved, but we manage to land on our lines, behind the army. Everett and his minions and dragons-on-alchemic-spells have themselves lined up in a perfect row. I'm currently quaking in my magically summoned armor, but I must be brave. I must show my army what a cool and confident leader looks like. I motion Sene over. "Sene, I need you to fly to the king. Tell him that there is an evil army with alchemically enhanced dragons outside. Say that he needs to rally every Rider Knight in his army." She nods once, a sign of silent, lucid understanding. I take a deep breath and stroll to the front of our army.