If I’d been stronger, I likely would have killed them all. Collapsed their machine into the snow with a single blow of my fist and forced them all to stand, fight, and die.

But as it was, my energy was too depleted. I wanted them gone, and they were going. Let them look upon me and run. Cowardly little creatures.

The ones who did not carry weapons were all stowed in the disc machine now. The only ones left upon the snow still aimed their tiny weapons my way, flinging their quick, biting stones at me. I stalked towards them, about a dozen of them in all, ignoring the scoring sensations across my skin. The sounds of their weapons gave way to shouts, bleated commands I could not understand. New weapons were engaged against me – ones that they threw from their hands, detonating all around me with fire and fury. For every explosion that went off, I ripped up a wall of snow and ice to protect myself. The snow melted and dispersed quickly under the fiery blows, but it kept me protected enough as I advanced on the remaining warriors. When I got close, they tried to turn and run into the machine, like the others had. I decided these ones would be worth spending some of my dwindling power on. With a stretch of my hand, pummelling snow heaved over them with the force of a mountain falling. I turned my attention to the disc machine to see three figures jumping inside – stragglers I had not noticed before. Two were smaller and weaponless. The taller one aimed his weapon at me as he entered the disc machine.

That enraged me. I was being stupid, now, to keep using my power when there was so little left. But my restraint had become even more eroded than my stores of strength. With a vicious snarl, I snapped open my wings, leaping forward and grasping the human’s neck in my hand. I pulled him from the disc machine as some of the humans screamed. A few of them continued fighting, showering me with little rocks that did not explode and lobbing the large rocks that did explode.

I flew into the air with the wriggling, struggling warrior, out of range of the others on the disc. Even now, he still tried to kill me, clutching at my throat, grabbing my hair.

“You’re a fool,” I hissed at the flat, dark sheen of his eye. “You do not know whose world you’re in now.”

Sounds – maybe words – came from his white and mouthless face. I understood none of them, and wanted to even less. The human unloaded his weapon on me at close range, and I grunted as the stones dug deep into my guts.

I snatched the thing from his hands and crunched it in my grip as if it were nothing more than a bit of wayward ice. I let the black pieces fall to the ground, far below us now. My grip on his neck tightened, and I dragged his hideous, mouthless face up to mine.

“I’ll tell you, then,” I rasped, blood coursing down my legs, my wings beating. “This is Sionnach.” The human squirmed and gasped, but I did not let go. “Sionnach is mine. Mine to guard, mine to protect. And because you’re in it, your life is mine, too.” I held him by his neck out in the air, further away from my body.

“But not for long,” I said grimly.

With that, I flung him down. Down, down, down. He did not move again.

After a moment, I followed him to the snow and landed, wanting to make sure no more warriors remained to threaten me with their impudence and ridiculous little weapons. I saw no others. The disc thing grew louder, then lifted off of the ground, the humans in retreat.

I stood motionless upon the snow of my mother’s homeland, watching as the invaders fled, leaving their dead behind. By tonight, even the corpses would be gone, dragged away by Sionnachan beasts grown bold with winter-sharpened hunger.

Before returning to my castle to see what had become of it, I took to the skies once more, flying over the nearby forest. I needed to see what damage they’d done, and to make entirely sure none of them remained in my woods. I bristled when I saw their tools upon the ground, alongside hunks of trees they’d carved, pieces of my world hacked away without permission or consideration.

At least they’re gone now.

It soothed me, just a little, my anger abating and giving way to exhaustion. I soared down, back to the ground, landing in very deep snow that looked churned and distorted. With a quick sweep of my eyes, I realized it had come from the hill in a small avalanche.

I grimaced, hoping none of the native Sionnachan beasts had been harmed by the deluge. Breathing out in a tight hiss, I began to walk, using small bursts of power to clear the overly deep snow from my path. I didn’t want to fly right now. Right now, I wanted to be in the world, among the trees.

I recognized these trees. Many of them, at least. But they were larger. Older. And there were new young ones I’d never seen. My fingers trailed over their frosted surfaces as I tried to reacquaint myself with the world I felt I’d only just left, but had really been away from for so long.

I paused a wingspan away from the base of one particular tree. It was a tree I knew well – one of the largest even when I’d been a boy. One of the rarer colours, it stood out among the others, shining an iridescent silver-white, the same colour as stone sky blood. When we were young gods, Skalla and I would race each other climbing it. I always won, and I’d half imagined it was because the tree loved me better. That it had helped me somehow.

“So old, and yet still here,” I murmured. Just like me. “I’m sorry I left you to stand guard on your own for so long.”

Thinking of Skalla scaling the tree turned sorrow into a knife inside me. Skalla, as steadfast a friend to me as this tree was. Skalla, beloved child of my father’s only brother. Skalla, who’d nearly killed me and had forced me to abandon Sionnach in the first place, leaving the world open new invaders.

My jaw tightened, and I began to turn away.

But not before something caught my eye. A movement at the base of the old silver tree.

A white hand pushing slowly out of the snow, then stopping.

My wings snapped open in anger. So, there was still one left here, after all. Guts churning with rage, fangs grinding, I collapsed the distance in brutal, driving strides. It seemed an offense beyond anything I could imagine that a human would be hiding and seeking protection from this tree of all trees. All the trees in this forest were mine. But this one felt like mine most of all.

The hand had not moved since working its fingers out of the snow. I knew little of human biology, but based on how the others had been so easily killed by my attacks, it seemed unlikely this one would last much longer.

“This is what happens when you force your way into a world you don’t belong to,” I growled at the limp hand. “Now, you pay the price.”

I decided to leave him there, freezing or suffocating or maybe both. I turned once again to go –

A vivid flash of sunlight reflected off the old silver tree, nearly blinding me and making me falter. My gaze narrowed, whipping back to the tree and the dying human buried at its base.

I hesitated, tail thwapping the snow in irritated motions. The sudden sense that I shouldn’t leave the human there solidified in my skull.

Fine. I’ll kill him myself, then.

With an impatient toss of my hand, my energy pulsed, splitting the snow to reveal a human standing. Or, he had been standing. The lack of snow to support him caused him to toppled forward.

Already dead, then.

But, no. My keen ears pricked, picking up the weak and laboured sound of breathing.

All my rage at the humans returned, blistering as if they were still here and fighting me. The ragged, scorching emotion was entirely focused on this one abandoned warrior. As if he alone was to blame for all of it. I grasped him by the front of his white hooded cloak and slammed his back against the tree. The pain of the motion seemed to shock him into consciousness, a low, cracking groan emanating from his unseen mouth. With my free hand, I held the human’s lolling head upright so I could look at his face.