The drones came before dawn.
Owen had barely managed to drag the survivors back to the secondary cave system before his CE reserves finally gave out completely. The transformation back to humanoid form had taken everything he had left, a brutal reversal that left him shaking, his core smoking with residual draconic energy that had nowhere left to go.
He was human-shaped again, more or less, but something had changed in the process. His hands were still slightly too sharp. His eyes still held traces of gold at the edges. When he breathed, the air came out slightly warmer than it should have. The transformation had left marks.
Yalira was the one who noticed the drones first.
She was still on watch at the cave entrance, refusing to rest until the others had been accounted for and the survivors had water and shelter. When the mechanical whine of the orbital platforms started descending, she came down into the chamber and pulled Owen up with more force than was strictly necessary.
