Anastasia was running for zir life.

Ze growled. What upset zir the most was that ze couldn’t fly, as ze was still stuck in human form.

Hours ago, Anastasia had found a weakness on the floor of the cage.

As Ana had been left alone for hours, ze had the time to explore every inch of the cage, including the floor with zir bare fingers.

It didn’t take long before ze noticed that a patch of the ground was warmer than the rest. Ana rubbed at that spot, and pressed it with increasing vigour.

Soon, the patch of warmth crumpled, and cracks appeared in the ground. The platform eroded until Ana sat at the top of a dark staircase.

Ze never liked going into dark and unknown places, especially not in human form. But it was much better than staying in that cage like a trapped animal.

The passageway down here smelled like sulfur. Anastasia almost wished ze lost zir sense of smell, as the stench was so bad.

It was terribly cold as well, not to mention pitch black. From the sound of Ana’s own footsteps, ze knew that it was a concrete floor.

Before long, Anastasia heard a strange clicking sound. Ze halted zir footsteps, but the clicking only grew louder. With panic, Ana ran in the direction opposite to the clicking.

For a while, the clicking stopped, which made the dragon shifter even more anxious. It was also bizarre that ze hadn’t hit any walls yet, with zir long hours of running.

Then, the floor started to slope upwards. Ze held zir breath, but marched on with purpose and hope.

Finally, Ana’s hand touched a metallic surface. Within seconds, ze found a door knob. Ze was surprised that it was unlocked.

***

When Ana pushed the door open, ze was stunned that ze had arrived at the Valley. That door must have been a portal, since the Valley was very far from Revi’s home.

But it hurt to think of Revi the gold dragon. Without realizing it, Ana had subconsciously seen him as a friend. Who could have known he would be such a backstabbing bastard?

He claimed that he wanted to “protect” Anastasia, but he was clearly malicious. Nobody protected a person by throwing them into an enchanted cage, and trapping them in their human form.

Now, Anastasia flexed zir muscles and shifted. Ze sighed with relief and euphoria when zir weak human body turned into the strong, sturdy one of a dragon.

But zir peace was short-lived.

“Woo! It’s one of those nasty dragons.” It was a ghost from the Valley, possibly one that had imprisoned Ero before.

Yet, there was something off about the ghost.

Without fully understanding what was wrong, Ana sensed that this was no ordinary ghost, not combustible by flame.

But ze still wanted to try. Ana took a deep breath and incinerated the ghost.

The ghost cackled with infinite malice, the fire burning through his body but doing no damage.

“We’re not afraid of dragon fire anymore,” he snickered. “The new era is here!” And with that, the ghost started moving towards Ana.

The red dragon stopped zir flame and darted high into the sky. The ghost followed close behind.

Soon, Anastasia saw a swarm of ghosts, all with the same strange energy coming toward zir.

Ze growled, not wanting to admit defeat, yet not knowing what to do.

Just as an experiment, Ana unleashed a blast of fire towards the ghosts, but again, the flame passed through them without any effect. In fact, the fire seemed to encourage them in their pursuit.

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The only advantage that Ana had, was that the ghosts were slow. But they were persistent.

With a swoosh, Ana easily outpaced the ghosts. But there were more spectres coming from the opposite direction.

Moments later, Ana was surrounded. The spirits formed a tighter and tighter sphere around zir.

The dragon felt the icy pressure of the phantoms, but ze didn’t want to give up. With a deep breath, Ana charged zir way into the wall of ghosts.

When Ana’s body touched theirs, zir blood was chilled with an unimaginable cold, and loud, raucous laughter filled zir ears.

Anastasia made it to the other side of the ghost wall, but the spirits just laughed and drifted back towards zir, closing in.

Anastasia flapped zir wings with all zir might, determined to break away. But the chill had seeped into zir bones and slowed down zir flight.

The ghosts chanted, “We won’t be under the dragons’ reign of terror anymore. We will be invincible and have our justice.”

Anastasia was tiring out, not just because of the cold, but because ze had been stuck in a cage for hours, and had even run in human form underground for a long while. But ze couldn’t give up.

With a burst of reckless determination, Anastasia dive-bombed at breakneck speed towards the ground.

Ze broke through the wall of ghosts under zir, which was freezing cold but did not stop zir gravity-charged momentum.

Then, Ana gasped when ze fell headlong into the river.

As frigid as the water was, it was nothing compared to the ghosts’ bodies. Ana peered upwards and saw the phantoms swirling around but somehow avoiding the water.

Though Anastasia was a fire breather, water wasn’t fatal to zir. It was just uncomfortable. Ze swam as best as ze could with zir legs and tail.

The dragon felt silly, but paddling through the water was better than being crowded around by ghosts. Yet, ze could only hold zir breath underwater for so long.

After a few minutes, ze decided to try something. Ze gathered as much water into zir mouth as ze could, and then burst out of the river.

Immediately, the ghosts swarmed towards Ana’s head. The dragon shot the liquid from zir mouth like a water gun. The ghosts moaned, grunted, and moved away.

They didn’t seem scared, but they were annoyed.

The red dragon had no idea why the ghosts would become immune to dragon fire yet be put off by water. But ze would take any advantage ze could. Again, Ana filled zir mouth with water and sprayed it out in a stream.

This time, the ghosts were so frustrated that they shifted quite a few meters away from Ana. The dragon shot water at them several more times before the ghosts finally floated away, as if they wanted easier quarry.

Anastasia climbed back onto the shore to rest, and for a long while, the red dragon didn’t want to move.

But ze had no choice. Could ze at least find the other Valve dragons, if they were even here?

***

Meanwhile, Revi the gold dragon shifter rode on the ice unicorn. Together, they dashed through the portal to escape the cataclysm at the palace.

They emerged at the heart of the Valve. As planned, the ghosts ensorcelled by the unicorn’s magic, had become impervious to fire, and they successfully drove all the dragons out of the Valley.

All except one dragon.

Revi laughed with mirth. “Ana will understand, Ana will understand,” he repeated.

The ice unicorn, Phaeton, just shook his head.

Revi then frowned, thinking out loud, “I wouldn’t forgive myself if the ghosts hurt Ana, though.”

Phaeton rolled his eyes now. “Your precious red dragon friend will be okay. The ghost wouldn’t dare disobey you. You’re the one who granted them the power to defy dragons, well, most dragons.”

Revi sighed heavily. He dismounted from the unicorn and began to morph back into his golden dragon form. The ice unicorn watched with a nonplussed expression.

As Revi grew in size, his vision sharpened as well. He swooped to the air, scanning the Valve from end to end. He then scanned the Valley in general.

At long last, Revi spotted a familiar, dear red figure near one of the rivers.

Revi was suddenly struck with emotion. Maybe it was happiness, or even sadness. He dove towards Ana and hoped for the best.

Anastasia looked at him with disdainful eyes. Ze was always so beautiful and majestic, even when ze was down in the dumps and apparently dripping wet from the river.

Revi laughed. “My friend, what were you doing swimming in the water?”

Anastasia outright hissed at him, though this didn’t discourage the gold dragon. “You are a monster. Were the ghosts’ transformation your doing?”

Revi grinned with satisfaction. “Yes, and I know you’re probably mad, but I’m sure you would understand. If we must emancipate all species from the cruel reign of dragons, we must emancipate the ghosts as well. They’re dead but are also beings who deserve to exist in peace.”

“You’re insane,” Ana spat out. “The spirits here are sheer malevolence. The dragons aren’t the best, but they could at least keep the specters under control.” The red dragon glared at the ice unicorn, who just looked smug

Revi chuckled. “You know what? That’s what the other dragons said, too. They despise other species as dumb, unworthy, or simply malevolent. And so they subjugate all other species, which is unfair and imbalanced. We must destroy that world and create a new one.”

Anastasia glowered at him with wary eyes. “I’m not letting you trap me in a cage again.”

But the gold dragon shifter guffawed and shook his head. “I’m genuinely sorry that I put you in that cage. But I truly did it to protect you.

“We unleashed a massive earthquake in the palace region. I knew you would go back to the palace, since your loved ones are there. But I wanted you safe and alive. The prison was uncomfortable but you would be okay.

“I was going to free you from the prison after, only to discover that you had already freed yourself, which I am glad to see. I have no wish to detain you, Ana. The only thing I had on my mind was that in this new era, I want to live in a world with you rather than without you.”

Anastasia looked disgusted. “Well, I don’t want to live in a world with you.”

Though Revi knew that Ana would say that, his heart still broke. But he was not daunted. He moved a little closer towards Ana, while the red dragon backed slowly away from him.