Anastasia, Revi, and Princess Leyla descended upon a vast heath.

It was a dismal, cold place, covered with grey sand and empty of much life.

But they should be safe from more catastrophes for now.

Revi, the gold dragon, seemed more on edge than usual. He glanced around, eyes wide. “We won’t find much prey here, will we?”

Leyla snorted, her green tail rolling up with a sense of self-assurance. “There will be food. You just have to look a little harder.”

“Why can’t we find a grass field or a forest?” Revi asked with a tense look on his face. “Even a river. Somewhere we won’t starve.”

Anastasia ruffled through the coarse sand at zir feet. “We told you already. This is just a temporary place for us to catch our breath. Whether the instigator was Phaeton or someone — something — else, they probably won’t target somewhere as barren as this.”

“This is too barren,” the gold dragon persisted. “We’ve been flying for quite a bit, and I need sustenance soon.”

Before Ana could reply, Leyla said in a mocking tone, “So you’re hungry already, are you? Why don’t you lie down and snooze, to save yourself some energy before we travel to a more fertile place?”

The gold dragon gazed down in silence, as if he didn’t want to quarrel with Princess Leyla.

So Anastasia trotted over and nudged him with a wing. “Come on, it won’t be for long.”

He shook his head and grimaced. “I don’t like this at all, Ana.” Revi seemed more distressed than ze would have expected.

The red dragon watched his face carefully. “Aside from your hunger, is there anything else you’re concerned about?”

Revi’s wings shivered a bit. “Just because this is a desolate land mass, doesn’t mean nothing bad can befall us.”

Ana wanted to scoff. As if he hadn’t been responsible for a lot of the mayhem. Even if the second catastrophe, the volcano, might not be because of him, he did launch the earthquake that shattered the palace in the first place.

Ze asked in a softer voice, “Why can’t you summon Phaeton to ask if he was behind the eruption? If it wasn’t him, maybe he could tell us who or what caused it.”

The gold dragon had a pained expression. “Phaeton isn’t a servant for me to summon.”

“Oh?” Leyla came over and stepped into Revi’s space. “This unicorn friend isn’t a lackey or a servant. So you make deals with him like you would with fae folk?”

“He is fae,” Revi said. His tail drooped and his scales were duller than usual, or maybe that was just the lack of light. “We’re business partners, so to speak. We barter through favors. A creature like him never needs money.”

Ana nodded sombrely.

Leyla, the great green dragon, started pacing, restless.

For all the heath’s ugliness, at least it gave the dragon shifters plenty of space to roam in their dragon forms.

She said, “I suspect we will never fully get out of this mess if we just fly around, not knowing what else we may encounter. Even if we rebuild the palace, we would face the same threat of annihilation.” She directed a sharp glare at the gold dragon.

He turned his face away.

Anastasia stared into the distance, feeling torn between sympathy for the gold dragon and loyalty to zir mother. Idly, ze asked, “Mother, would you like to rule as queen?” Leyla frowned while Revi appeared to perk up. The red dragon went on, “I don’t know if we will ever find Queen Freya, or even Princess Teefa. I’m too young to rule.”

Leyla stared at Ana and then at Revi with a look of distaste. “Why don’t we see whether we can find Freya and Teefa first? And then we can sort things out later.” She tossed her head and trotted away.

Ana hadn’t expected such a dismissive reaction, but perhaps it was all too much to think about, and zir mother needed some time.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Meanwhile, Revi chuckled. “She didn’t answer your question. That means a no, right?”

The gold dragon’s laughter was bitter, even sad.

Ana felt awash in a kind of despair.

***

To save her daughter, Mildred the cow shifter ran after the two dragon shifter brothers, towards the creepy castle in The Gloom.

She hated the clumsy scuffing sound her shoes made on the ground. But at least she managed to fight free of the unknown sticky substance on her sole.

The entrance to the castle looked as dreadful as the rest of the building.

There was a veranda of some sort, but the overhang had grotesque shapes on it, under the dim lighting. She didn’t want to look too closely at what they were.

Lance’s smile was rigid as he rapped on the door.

Mildred wrapped her arms around herself as a chill spread over her body.

The door creaked open with an eerie whine. She held her breath, but no one was there. There was nothing but an endless sea of darkness inside.

A split second later, the lights snapped on.

Mildred was stunned.

A long dining table stood in front of them. It was covered with a white tablecloth, and perfectly set up with dishes, cutlery, and fresh food.

Lance and Demiel approached the table, but Mildred hung back.

Lance looked over his shoulder at her and snorted. “You’re not afraid of some plates and food, are you?”

Mildred bristled at his patronizing tone. “No, but how do you know this is real?”

“For goodness’ sake, you don’t have to eat any of it, Mildred,” Lance said.

“Of course not. If I did, it would probably taste like ash,” Mildred shot back. “If the food is real, it’s likely poisoned.”

Demiel chuckled. “She’s probably right.” He strode to the table, however, and took a seat. His brother sat opposite him.

Mildred strode over to the vast dining table but stayed standing. She glowered at all the splendour, expecting it all to disappear, or explode, at any minute.

But it didn’t. “What on earth are you two doing, sitting like you’re waiting for the hosts?” Mildred demanded.

Demiel grinned. “That’s because we are waiting for the hosts.”

***

Mildred tried not to squirm too much in her seat beside Lance. She felt like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Or a cow, rather.

She hissed at the two dragon brothers. “This had better work.”

“It will,” Lance reassured her again.

The only reason why Mildred agreed to this crazy scheme was because going deeper into the castle, especially if the brothers refused to accompany her, was unthinkable.

She may be brave, but she wasn’t rash. If she died, she wouldn’t be able to save her daughter.

Lance and Demiel had claimed that just by sitting there like civilized folks, their hosts would appear and take them to see Vera.

Mildred dreaded having to confront the hosts, whoever they were. Who knew what they wanted?

After what felt like hours, she heard footsteps.

Or rather, hoof steps.

She gasped when a large brown bull entered the room and stepped towards their table.

Mildred prepared to bolt if he charged them with his horns.

Instead the bull halted, and his skin blurred like water. In a few seconds, the bull shifted into a man with light brown hair and faint wrinkles around his eyes.

Mildred gasped. He looked so like her husband, though he was clearly someone else, not to mention quite a bit older.

“Natash,” Lance said with a short bow.

The man grinned in a way he must have thought was charming. When he spoke, his voice made her think of an old oak tree. “Welcome, esteemed guests. Let me take you to our princess of the castle.”

Demiel and Lance murmured their thanks as they both rose. Mildred got up belatedly, feeling confused.

Thankfully Natash did not ask her any questions, and led them up the stairs.

The stairs, despite being in a dimly lit tower, were nothing out of the ordinary, that it was almost a relief. Mildred wondered if their princess would be as congenial as Natash.

When they got to the seventh floor, Natash took out the keys to the nearest door.

When they entered the room, Mildred couldn’t restrain her gasp.

Vera sat in her human form on a tall, ornate chair with a smooth desk in front of her.

But her body was strong, lithe, none of the sickly child to be seen. She raised her eyes to meet Mildred’s. “Hello, mother.” Her voice was cold.

***

Princess Teefa thought about diving into the lake to find Ero the calf shifter.

But the lake looked so unsettling that she feared that she would only drown and not be able to save him, either.

Perhaps she was a coward, but she also believed in having common sense.

She didn’t want to fail Anastasia, as she knew her child and the calf were close. But there was a smarter way.

So Teefa glanced around her, looking at the lake, the damp soil above, the grass farther away…The sky was losing its light as the day plummeted towards dusk.

She inhaled deeply, closed her eyes, and called out, “Phaeton, I know you’re here. Please come out.”

An instant later, the air in front of her turned freezing cold. When she opened her eyes, she was face to face with the shimmering, gorgeous, but deadly ice unicorn.

He lifted his chin, arrogant but pleased. “Only for you would I ever come willingly.”

Teefa couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you, Phaeton. I am delighted to see you as always.” She glanced towards the lake. “A little help, please? Ero the calf shifter dove in and I’m scared he can’t get back up to the surface.”

Phaeton tossed his silvery mane of frost. “I can’t get him out if he doesn’t want to come out.”

Teefa blinked in bewilderment. “But wouldn’t he be in danger?”

“Maybe. It depends on his choices,” the unicorn said. “But if I drag him out by force, it could only end badly for him.”

Princess Teefa gripped her hands together. “Isn’t there something we could do?”

The unicorn regarded her, a bit of warmth lighting up in his eyes that never appeared for anyone else. “There is something we could do.” He angled his head, as if listening to some mystical sound. “I’ll take you to Queen Freya.”