*Proceed with caution,* the Fire Crew Commander sent back. As always, his mental voice was tightly controlled, but from long experience Dai could detect the growing concern under the calm surface of his thoughts. *Dispatch reports we just lost contact.*
Dai hissed under his breath, forked tongue flickering. That meant that the woman who’d made the call, saying she was trapped by a dragon in a burning building, had either hung up or lost consciousness. The rest of his fire crew wasn’t far behind, but even with Chase’s reckless driving there was no way they could reach the scene as fast as he could.
*See you there,* Dai sent to Ash, then broke contact. He swept his wings back into a dive, arrowing toward the fire.
Even before he saw the other dragon, Dai knew it was no ordinary blaze. The wooden barn was burning with the white-hot ferocity that could only be sparked by dragonfire. The leaping flames silhouetted a lean, pale form hunched in front of the barn door like a cat in front of a mouse hole.
Anger rose in Dai’s chest, and he had to swallow his own dragonfire. He roared instead, hurling a thought into the stranger’s mind like a javelin. *Stop!*
The white dragon leapt, wings twitching open and head snapping round. The stranger’s startlement lasted barely an instant, however, before his wings and tail settled into a posture of offended dignity.
*How dare you!* His mental tone was as rich as gold, and imbued with an absolute sense of his own power and righteousness. His snout turned upwards disdainfully at the sight of Dai’s own crimson scales. *Some peasant Welsh red, interfering in my business? Who do you think you are?*
*Firefighter Daifydd Drake, of the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service,* Dai shot back as he backwinged in to land. He drew himself up to his full height, glaring down at the white dragon. *Stand aside, now!*
*You can’t possibly challenge me.* The other dragon’s head spines bristled in indignation. *Don’t you know who I am?*
*Yes,* Dai replied. The other dragon squawked as Dai lashed out with his muscular tail, knocking the smaller dragon clean off his feet. *You’re in my way.*