We appeared in a large, depressingly grey chamber made of concrete. There was a freight elevator to our backs, along with two unconscious guards, and most of the floor in front of us was divided into holding areas with chain-link fencing. The holding areas held various newly awakened Beastkin, Merfolk, Dwarves, Kitsune, and humans that I had to assume were Witches. There were even Fae, though they were mostly too young to have been trained in magick. Off to one side was a haphazardly stacked pile of animal kennels and hamster cages containing Pixies, Sprites, Fairies, and small animals that were probably the Familiars of those Witches.

I could feel my blood boiling at the sight. Many of these people had been beaten severely and most of them were little more than children, close to Lissany’s and Kinara’s ages. Most were in filthy and sometimes bloodied clothes, except some of the Beastkin who had to make do with blankets wrapped around them. The Merfolk hadn’t even been placed in water, just thrown to the concrete floor, and most of them looked dehydrated. The prisoners that were conscious and within hearing range, all looked hungry, exhausted, and terrified as they looked up at the sound of the muttered curses from my companions.

“Let’s get these cages opened and get these people out of here,” I ordered after a quick look around. The fact that there were only two guards was somewhat concerning for me, so once the others started going after the cages to release the prisoners I turned to Nishalle with a frown. “Sis, does any of this feel too easy to you?”

The Tokh’dhraí nodded grimly. “I keep wondering when the other shoe is going to drop too. Two guards here, two at the main entrance, two in the security office, and a few science types upstairs, it’s a bit of a skeleton crew but I guess there’s a reason for that. Something big is happening downtown and they called in everyone who could be spared. Good timing for us, but I have to wonder what’s going on downtown.”

“Well, I’ll take every advantage that we can get,” I grumbled. “We may have to go downtown and see what the trouble is though, people may need our help. Did you get anything useful for us to go on?”

“Yeah, one of the idiots in the security office was playing solitaire on the computer in there so I didn’t even have to worry about a password. These guys are calling themselves the Department of Changed Affairs, they’re under the umbrella of CSIS and it looks like your friend Jonesy is in charge. They don’t have any real official government backing as an agency yet though.” Nishalle paused and gave an involuntary shudder before she spoke again. “I want to personally kill each and every one of these people, Tae.”

That shudder and her words worried me, as did her trembling voice and gritted teeth as she spoke the last part. “What’s wrong, Sis?” I asked in concern.

“There’s a morgue on the level above this one and most of them were beaten to death. Some of the bodies, or what was left of them, were Fae. Most though were probably just everyday people, just as scared and uncertain about what was happening to them as these assholes,” my sister said through gritted teeth as she clenched her fists beside her and glared at one of the unconscious guards. “It’s like Alien Autopsy 101 up there, they’re trying to find out what makes all of us tick.”

Between that bit of news and the deplorable conditions, I was furious. I closed my eyes and took several deep calming breaths. I needed to control myself. The last thing that this city needed right now was me summoning a hurricane because I was pissed off, especially because I wasn’t sure exactly how powerful I was anymore. “Go up there and destroy any data that they’ve gotten so far. Take Venika with you so she can cremate the bodies. We’ll see to the prisoners.”

We went to join the others where, Venika, Salem, Kinara, and Whisper had made short work of the locks on the main holding areas. As my sister went to inform Venika of their new assignment and spirit her away to the house of horrors upstairs I made my way to where the prisoners were beginning to gather. Harley was looking around frantically trying to find her mother, but it was possible that she wouldn’t recognize her, given how much that she herself had changed. We needed to stay organized and keep these people calm.

“Everyone, may I have your attention?” I cleared my throat loudly, and once I was certain that I had everyone’s attention I continued to speak. “I’m Taelya and we’re here to rescue you and take you somewhere where you will be safe, and where those of you who have questions about what has happened to you can get some answers. In a few minutes, I will cast a portal and ask you all to calmly walk through it. Kinara and Salem, please get to work on freeing those smaller Fae and the Familiars. Harley, feel free to ask this lot all at once now that I’ve got their attention, it’ll save time.”

The Unicorn Beastkin wasted no time. As Salem and Kinara set off toward the stack of cages and kennels she tentatively said in a voice loud enough to carry, “I’m looking for a woman named Darlene Nelson.”

A tiny Beastkin woman, probably a few inches under five feet tall, stepped forward. She was wrapped in a blanket and had long brown hair and small round furry ears high on the sides of her head, she was probably an otter with that cute nose and the ears. She had some nasty-looking bruises all over her face and one of her chocolate brown eyes was swollen shut. If she was that bad now with the slightly accelerated healing that Beastkin possessed, how bad had it been when she had been brought in? “I’m Darlene Nelson,” she said, giving Harley a curious look.

“M… Mom?” Harley sputtered wide-eyed. It wasn’t her mother’s new appearance or Beastkin nature that prompted that reaction but the bruising. She had her hands clenched into white-knuckled fists and she all but growled, “I’m going to kill that piece of shit.”

I placed a calming hand on my Guardian-to-be’s shoulder and guided her and her mother away from the crowd, even as her mother said gently, “I think that I would remember having a daughter, especially one as pretty as you.”

“I… umm… you’re not the only one who has changed. It’s me, Mom, Ken. I’m going by Harley now though.”

She didn’t seem to believe it so I offered, “This is Ken Hawkins, Ma’am, I was there when he changed. You’re both something that we call Beastkin. You take on the characteristics of an animal that calls out to you and then you’re able to change into forms based on the animal. Her animal just happened to be a female Unicorn. She may need your help adjusting to being female but at least she doesn’t need an inhaler or those thick glasses anymore.”

Her little round brown-furred ears twitched slightly as she seemed to remember her own situation. “I was taking a walk in Stanley Park when I saw an otter, I don’t really remember much after that until I woke up. I wasn’t human anymore and I started to panic and somehow changed back, but I had these ears and tail and this strange little nose. I went home in a panic but I guess that wasn’t a very good idea, because Paul…”

Harley looked furious once again as her mother’s voice trailed off, her face contorting in anger, so I gently took the older woman’s hands in my own and promised, “We’re here to help. We came to bring you and all of these other people to a place where you will be safe and accepted for who and what you are.”

Darlene eyed me suspiciously for a moment, then her brows slowly shifted upward as she looked from me to Harley and then repeated the process. “And how do you know my Ken? He didn’t mention a girl in his life. Are you two special friends?”

I managed not to let out an undignified giggle as Harley turned bright red and said, “Moooom! It’s not like that! Geeze, this is like Jenny Fraser all over again! Taelya is engaged! To someone else! She’s my… umm… new boss. I’m going to be one of her bodyguards, she’s the Empress of the place we’re taking you to, you’ll be safe there.”

Whatever had happened with ‘Jenny Fraser’, Harley mentioning it while flustered was apparently enough for Harley’s mother’s eyes to go wide. “Ken, that’s really you?”

“Yes Mom, geeze. Like I said though, I’m going by Harley now, Harley Kendra Hawkins,” she replied, still a bit flustered.

“That’s a nice name,” her mother agreed. “Your father would have liked it.”

Now that I was sure that I had gotten the ball rolling between the two of them I said, “Well, I will be opening the portal now so that you can all go to Varüus’kiel. Harley, I want you to help get people settled for now since you’ll be needed there anyway. The Guardian training program should be ready to run soon and I want you in a F.I.T as soon as it is. Since we’re not doing any physical changes for you for the moment, it should only take you a few hours in real-time for the skill downloads and some hands-on training practice to get used to the new skills.”

Harley snapped me a quick salute and a quick, “Yes, Your Imperial Majesty,” that I think was for her mother’s sake as much as mine.

I just nodded and after checking to ensure that Salem and Kinara were finished releasing the Familiars and Fae of the smaller variety from their captivity I started to draw and speak the sigils for the gate. “Kaida kathair aentuire tiurin’híel uis!” The portal formed and I called out, “Okay, everyone! Please make your way calmly through the portal and the people on the other side will see that you get food, water, and explanations. They’re going to try to pair you with people who can help teach you about what you are now and how to use your new abilities as well. Those of you that are Fae, there will be people from your Courts to explain things as well.”

By the time we got the last of the refugees through the portal, Nishalle and Venika were finished with their own task. Once I had teleported us all back to the safe house we had other work to do. I placed a glamour on Grell so he could drive Robyn and Rob to the pop starlet’s home. Despite their names not being on the watch list, Rob wanted to check the house for listening or other monitoring devices and Grell would be able to help him with that while Robyn got a good night’s sleep in preparation for her campaign for the rights of the changed.

Whisper would be continuing to monitor the national news and social media feeds for a couple of hours before sleeping and putting out or starting fires as needed. Meanwhile, I was going to be checking the local news on the other laptop to try to find out what the disturbance downtown was. It didn’t take long to find what I was looking for.

“Well, sh… poop,” I corrected myself as I saw Venika hovering with the others, waiting for news. The breaking news was live, showing some kind of monsters that I wasn’t familiar with. They resembled small wingless dragons roughly eight feet long, not including the tail, and were covered with iridescent blue scales that the police couldn’t penetrate with their handguns. There were roughly three dozen of the creatures, which had come from the water at Kitsilano Beach and they were savaging anyone that they came across.

“It’s a damn good thing that anyone with any sense is at home and in bed right now,” Venika grumbled. “What the hell are those things?”

“Whatever they are, those cops obviously can’t handle them,” Pete said with a grimace.

“What do you want to do, Babe?” Rei asked though I was pretty sure she already knew what my answer would be.

“We need to go help,” I said with a sigh. “We find weak spots and take advantage of them. Rei, you’re on support duty, heal any injured civilians and try to stay safe. Salem you’ll assist her and try to keep you both covered with magick. Daenyss and Nishalle, I’ll want you up high where you can do your thing. Daenyss you’ll set up the Dragon and cover us, but don’t waste ammo unless someone is in a pinch, you have the only one of those monster guns for the moment and there’s not much ammo in your storage box. Nishalle, use your sniper rifle and look for weak spots; eyes or inside the mouths might be good. Venika, you’ll get above them and cast while Kinara looks for a good spot to cast from out of the line of fire. Pete and Liss, you’re with me.”

After a quick enchantment to Pete’s big-ass claymore and both of my swords to make them preternaturally sharp I teleported Daenyss and Nishalle to a high-rise rooftop where they would have a good view of the scene playing out below. Then I went back for the others and, once we were all geared up, I teleported us to the beach itself and behind the creatures which were charging the police cordon at the far end of the parking lot. This could be bad if more came at us from the water but it kept the creatures between us and the bullets until we could all get into position. It would also allow us to attack them from the rear.

It seemed that Nishalle was already set up because the moment after we appeared one of the creatures went down with a ruin where its eye used to be, causing its brethren to roar and intensify their attack on the line of police officers and suits taking cover behind squad cars. We wasted no time either. As soon as that deafening roar rang out through the night air we were on the move.

Rei cast several ghost lights and she and Salem began looking through the prone forms on the beach for any injured to heal or possibly revive. Fortunately, there weren’t many since the attack had happened after midnight, and the Moss Maiden quickly cast the shielding spell that I had taught her over both of them as they headed for the nearest prone form. Hoping that they would be safe enough with her magick I turned my attention to the problem at hand.

Even though there weren’t many, there were injured laying around and there were all those cops, suits, news reporters, and cameramen to worry about too. I couldn’t risk any of my usual spells, I was still using far too much power and I could end up wiping out those people along with our opponents, and on live television no less, if I used offensive magick. Nope, I was going to have to do this old school and hope that Venika and Kinara could pick up the slack magick-wise.

While Venika took to the air and Kinara swiftly made for the cover of a flipped and mangled car at the edge of the parking lot, I led the charge with Pete and Lissany at my sides. Being careful to keep the dragon-like creatures between us and the bullets as much as possible we went on the attack. Pete’s ginormous claymore slashed along one of the creatures’ sides and as it howled in agony it was dropped as Pete swung for its neck, lopping its head clean off.

The creature’s howl got the attention of its brethren and they swung about to face the attackers that were actually able to damage them. Maybe they were smarter than the average draconic offshoots. A half dozen screaming blue balls of flame peppered another from above and I took the opportunity as it was turning and roaring in anger to dive in and slit its throat. Another lunged for me but I rolled aside and it got Lissany’s war hammer to its head instead. She followed up with a shield bash and I rolled back in under its extended neck to slash at it as well, eliciting a spray of blood before it fell to the ground, lifeless.

A rain of icicles showered several of the beasts from above, courtesy of Venika, as Kinara peppered them with a scattershot spell, and Pete once again dove in to slash at another of the draconian creatures. It was a glancing blow and the creature reared, flames glowing in its mouth before Lissany backhanded it with her war hammer, dazing it and allowing Pete to stab it in the chest and bring it down. As he was wrenching his claymore free of the now-dead creature I dove in at another, my swords biting deep and causing a crimson eruption from its throat.

These monsters really didn’t like us. They were rushing us now and being blasted from both sides by a pair of fireballs only seemed to annoy them further since it seemed that they were fire-resistant. Lissany placed herself and her shield between me and one such advancing creature, its head connecting with a sound like a gong. “It’s hard to keep you covered like this, Your Majesty,” my Guardian muttered as her war hammer connected with the creature’s head with a sickening crunch and it fell to the ground in an unmoving heap.

“Well, I glow in the dark now so at least I’m easy to keep track of,” I countered while slashing at an advancing dragonoid’s outstretched neck.

Pete slashed at another, having more luck than me as he opened a deep wound in its chest but not enough to kill it. “Yeah, it’s weird as fuck having you in the thick of the fighting with us though.” A second slash found the creature’s neck and with a spray of hot crimson, it fell to the ground.

“Why the change in tactics? You’re our most powerful Magus, shouldn’t you be hitting them with AOEs and attacking from a distance?” Lissany asked in concern as she smacked the creature that I had landed a glancing blow against with her weapon, allowing me to jump in and open its extended throat.

“I can’t risk it, Liss, there are too many people around,” I told her grimly. “I’m a fucking Demigoddess now and I’m still trying to figure out how much power I should be using for everyday spells. If I try using attack magick I could end up killing everyone in the area if I overdo it. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if I overdid it with an AOE. It’s not a risk I’m willing to take, especially with those news cameras pointed in our direction and me glowing like a nightlight. It’s going to be hard enough making peace with the Humans without causing mass destruction on live television.”

“Unless your goal is to terrify the world’s governments into negotiations, I agree,” Pete contributed as he slashed at another creature causing it to back off a bit. “Besides, I like being alive. Feel free to carry on as you were.”

That was when I noticed that several of the creatures were looking around for the source of the barrage of icicles that hit them from above and to the side. They didn’t do much damage for the most part but some of them had penetrated. A couple managed to, through sheer luck, penetrate the neck of one and kill it, putting the others on guard. I can’t be sure if they saw Kinara moving behind the ruined car or if they thought that the toppled vehicle itself might somehow be responsible for the attack but three of them sent a torrent of flame toward my Yseil’dhraí apprentice.

It was a combination of the car that she was using as cover, her hastily cast shield spell, and her Lindwyrm-hide armor that protected my Yseil’dhraí apprentice from serious damage. There were still the three beasts to worry about though, and the gasoline dripping from the ruined car that had caught fire. “Kinara, the gas! Move!”

The pink-haired Fae took off at a run as I took cover behind Lissany. When the car blew, the draconian beasts hardly seemed to notice but I saw that Kinara had managed to get clear and take cover behind a bench as Lissany protected me and Pete by intercepting the brunt of the blast and shrapnel with her shield. Unfortunately, the three mini-dragons had seen Kinara when she made her run to safety and they were stalking her as she cast another shield spell.

That was when a high explosive Dragon round hit one of the creatures that we were facing in the back of the head, splattering that head everywhere. Five more shot’s quickly followed the first as Daenyss took down a beast with each shot causing the rest that were in front of us to look around for the newest threat. There were still the three stalking Kinara to worry about though, so I decided to use the confusion of the main group to my advantage.

“I’m going to go save your girlfriend and try to give her some cover, Liss. Try to keep up, guys,” I called over my shoulder as I took off at a run. Swiftly and silently I approached the rearmost of the three from behind, dancing around its tail and diving between its rear legs. While underneath I slashed upward as I rolled forward, barely getting out from under the beast as first its innards and then the creature itself fell to the pavement. Using my momentum from the roll I ran toward the second, grateful for my Fae agility and balance as I dashed up its tail and along its back to drive both of my swords into the back of its head. Its brief shriek of agony at so close a range nearly deafened me and I was almost thrown aside as it twitched and bucked wildly before finally going still.

The last of the group, attracted by the death cries of its companion, turned to lunge at me, only to receive the head of Lissany’s flying war hammer to the side of its head as Lissany’s voice rang out through the night air, “For the Empress! For Varüus’kiel!” As it was still staggering from the blow she closed in and landed a punch with her armored fist that sent little dragon teeth flying everywhere as the beast fell to the ground unconscious. I could practically see her grin through her faceplate as she picked up her weapon once more and said, “Welcome to Earth. Now that is what I call a close encounter.”

“Liss, you know that you’re scary sometimes, right? You just punched out a dragon,” Pete said with a shake of his head as he finished off the unconscious beast and we turned back toward the dozen or so remaining creatures. Two of those searching for the source of the explosive rounds went down as Nishalle put bullets through their eye sockets.

“It was only a small dragon,” I clarified before adding with a shake of my head, “She’s a nerd too, I mean she does that and then goes quoting Independence Day?”

“I couldn’t think of a good Lord of the Rings reference,” my Guardian admitted with a smirk.

“Well, since Daenyss and Nishalle seem to have whittled them down, maybe we should finish this off,” I told them with a grin. We made a run for the pack of beasts as I heard Kinara casting another spell. A large spear of ice went hurtling past us as we closed in, impaling one of the creatures in the chest and killing it and Kinara let out a whoop of joy behind us.

Venika apparently noticed because another massive spear of ice took out a second of the draconians from above and to the left. Then we were once again in the thick of it as we slashed, hacked, and stabbed at any of the creatures in our way. Between our melee efforts and the spell and sniper coverage it wasn’t long before we were able to finish them off and in the brief silence that followed I breathed a sigh of relief as everything seemed to be over and the others who weren’t on rooftops somewhere came to join us.

Thank goodness for Lindwyrm-hide armor and Lissany’s massive shield, it was only because of those that Pete and I weren’t filled with holes as the sound of gunfire filled the air. From the corners of my eyes, I saw Rei and Salem moved behind the corner of a building, the people they had treated having already fled the area. Kinara dove behind the cover of another car but I thought that she might have taken a hit from the cry of pain that I heard from her direction. At least they were mostly safe for the moment and Lissany was providing us decent cover. I still stung from a few of the hits my armor had taken though.

“What the hell do they think they’re doing!” Venika hissed as she dove from above to share our cover behind her daughter and her shield.

“I imagine they think that they’re trying to kill us,” I offered graciously as we all hid behind the cover Lissany was providing.

“Seriously, what the fuck?!” Pete yelled. “We’re on your side! We just saved your asses!”

“Screw this,” I muttered as I sheathed my swords so that I could draw the sigils for my spells. “Kaida ikandiir ysoldir aentuire! Kaida liantuir ophaíne!” I frowned as I felt the magic armor and my shield spell both settle over me and muttered, “Still too much power, though I guess there’s no chance that their guns can hurt me now. Venika, Pete, when I start walking I’ll need you to move to Kinara, give the signal to go back to the safe house, and get going.”

“Are you crazy, Tae? I’m supposed to protect you,” Pete snapped. “Your sister would kill me if anything happened to you.”

“Kinara needs medical attention, she took a hit and we all need to withdraw before things escalate and someone else gets hurt,” I insisted with a worried glance toward Kinara’s hiding spot. “Trust me, these guys don’t have anything that can hurt me right now with the protections that I just cast over my armor. I only even did that on the off chance that they think to try to shoot me in the head, the Lindwyrm hide can take the bullets to my body, even if it hurts. Besides, Lissany will be with me and her armor and shield can take the small arms fire too.”

I stepped out from behind Lissany and we both calmly walked toward the line of suits and police officers behind the cover of patrol cars as Venika and Pete made a break for Kinara’s cover. Bullets fell to the ground around me as I walked, their momentum stopped by the shield spell as others rang against my Guardian’s shield and armor. I found myself smiling as they started to reload and I realized that the news cameras were still filming. Time to be a badass.

I was within ten feet of the cordon line when they started shooting again. I coolly raised my eyebrow and focused my glowing violet gaze on a certain balding CSIS agent that I recognized from the photo on his phone while I waited for the gunfire to stop. “You and your friends are welcome to keep wasting your ammunition if it makes you feel better, Agent Jones, but there is something that you need to realize. You are not in control of this situation. You were never in control, which is why I was kind enough to bring my people to take care of your little monster problem. That’s what we do, we hunt monsters and restore balance to the world.”

I was about to go on about how didn’t appreciate them abducting and experimenting on my people but it was about then that I noticed that they weren’t looking at me anymore. Given that I effectively glow in the dark and it was night, people’s attention being drawn to something other than me when I was standing right in front of them was alarming, to say the least. Lissany had realized the same thing and when she turned to look behind us, she let out a gasp. I sighed as I turned just enough to catch my glow reflecting off my Guardian’s armor as I whispered, “Liss, there’s something really terrifying behind me, isn’t there?”

Her slow nod was all the confirmation I needed. “Well, crap, of course, something had to come and ruin my moment, I might as well see what it is,” I thought bitterly before turning around. I was presented with the sight of a golden and white dragon of gargantuan proportions approaching from above the water, gleaming in the moonlight. Each flap of its wings as it reached the shore sent sand and anything unfortunate enough to be below it and not solidly connected to the ground flying. This thing put a Kraken to shame, it was like kaiju-sized. “Oh. My. Goddess.”

~I am afraid not, my daughter. That is Tiamat, one of the ancient gods, worshipped in Babylon, a goddess of the sea and chaos. Her specialty though is making monsters, those beasts that you slew were some of her children,~ Danu’s voice slipped into my mind to inform me.

~I thought that you Gods had rules against showing yourselves to mortals. What the hell is she doing here?~ I inquired, swallowing a lump in my throat as the ginormous dragon came to a hover above the beach and parking lot and turned her gaze toward us. I quickly turned to the line of police, newshounds, and suits. “You need to evacuate the area, right now.”

~Tiamat’s worshippers are long dead and, though she is powerful when near the sea, she has nothing else but the chaos that the world is in now to give her power. It could be that she hopes to cause destruction and chaos by announcing her presence and gain enough worshippers at the same time to make the punishment she would receive for oath-breaking worth it. I would imagine though, that her primary purpose is to kill you while you are near her primary aspect and not in my domain, she could gain some of your aspects and power by doing so,~ the Great Mother explained. Then, with an indignant sniff, she added, ~She would just love to foil my plans and kill my daughter at the same time.~

~Please don’t tell me this is personal,~ I thought back at Danu with a groan. Tiamat collapsed several trees beneath her massive bulk and caused the ground to shake violently as she hit the ground. Lissany was sent crashing into one of the police cruisers and I barely managed to stay standing while everyone behind the cordon were knocked on their asses and/or sent flying from the shaking ground and the flapping of her great wings as she landed.

~For her it is. We are both goddesses of the sea and she creates monsters while my children destroy them. Do not let her get you into the water, my child,~ the Goddess replied before her presence slipped from my mind.

That was when the colossal dragon crouched down, leaned her head close to me, and laughed. She could have tried to swallow me whole right there but it seemed that the drama queen wanted to make a show of killing me and puff herself up. “Puny little demigoddess. So, this is who Danu has entrusted the fate of humanity to, one of her pitiful creations given a spark of divinity. All that it took to lure you out were a few of my children, Danu’s spawn are so predictable. I am Tiamat, a true goddess, and you shall die by my…”

That was when she was interrupted by a really large bullet between the eyes. It was like a mosquito bite to her though and even as Daenyss emptied the rest of the clip into her face the rounds barely penetrated. I saw the glint of crystal in those shallow wounds though and I really hoped that it would weaken her a bit as the great dragon shook her head in annoyance.

Lissany wasn’t going to be able to help me with this, this was a Goddess that we were facing and my Guardian seemed to be fighting just to move, her motions sluggish under the petrifying influence of the Goddess’s aura as she tried to extract herself from the police car. I was surprised that Lissany could fight it well enough to do even that, but my Guardian was a genuine badass. The aura wasn’t near as powerful as Danu’s had been, but the power that she exuded was still terrifying. How the hell did Daenyss manage to not freeze up? Maybe the fear effect was lessened with distance? Maybe it was Nishalle who was shooting? It didn’t matter because I needed to keep Tiamat’s mind on me and not all those people.

I reached slowly for my colts as I tried to appear thoughtful. “Tiamat, huh? Can’t say that I can place the name. Oh wait, I know! Yeah, Mother told me about you, you’re that lesser sea goddess.” Then I emptied my clips into those big beady eyes of hers, holstered the colts, and ran for all I was worth across the parking lot, down the beach, and away from the crowds while she was shaking it off.

She recovered too damn quick, I barely managed to avoid her massive flailing tail with a tuck and roll and then a handspring as I shouted behind me, “Are you sure you shouldn’t be attacking Tokyo instead?! I could give you directions!”

Tiamat swung around in a rage, quickly catching up to swat at me with one of her massive forefeet and send me flying high into the air. Holy crap, that single blow took out both of my protective spells, I was lucky that every bone in my body wasn’t crushed. It was as I was considering the wisdom of taunting an ancient dragon goddess that I noticed the water coming up fast. "Oh shit," I thought, "this is going to hurt."