Chloe’s voice filled the space, soared with the wind. David inhaled deeply, taking in the sweet fragrance that had suddenly enveloped him. His mind settled, as if something had pushed his worries away, soothing his fears and assured him of victory. He was Achilles, matching to battle with the odds on his side. He could taste victory like a sweet fruit whose flavor lasted forever. Every part of him seemed to hum with energy, essence within him rushed with buzzing excitement…and Chloe didn’t stop singing.

“What is this?” Elisha asked, walking over to David.

“Invigoration spell,” Nurend said, smiling. He was looking at Chloe now, a new kind of respect in his eyes. David stood in front of Chloe and Elisha joined him. Zoey was at their extreme left, her bow not yet summoned.

“How do you plan to do this?” Nurend asked. “It seems my time with you is almost over. You have died many times, but I think you have learned too. Will you win or will you die one final time?”

“I don’t know about those two, but I’d like to put an arrow in you,” Zoey said. David wasn’t sure how he felt about Nurend, but he doubted that mattered anymore. They couldn’t kill the dragon and it had done them no real harm. Instead, the suffering it had given them had been of great help to them.

“I will make this a little bit exciting for you,” Nurend said. “I will use a good portion of my power as a dragon, and if you can inflict any damage on me before that sun vanishes behind the mountains, you win.”

“And when we win?” Zoey asked.

“I will give you all a gift. Something useful. It will help you suffer less under Jaresh’s torture. My brother is a hard one, he will show you all of the pain promised, but I will help you.”

Again, the dragon surprised David. Even Zoey looked skeptical. There was no reason for him to help. He gained nothing out of them surviving through the first floor. So why was he trying to help? The question plagued David for a moment, but he shrugged it off in the end. There was no need to worry. He just had to do his best. He didn’t need to know what Nurend’s agenda was. That was not important at the moment.

“I see you have decided to gamble,” Nurend said, “How about we begin?”

Chloe stopped singing and the thin glow that had spread all over the space dimmed. Yet, they could all still feel the buff she’d given them.

A gust of essence wave enveloped Nurend suddenly. It slowly clouded until it seemed like violet smoke was veiling him and then it crystalized, glinting beautifully. There was no malicious force coming from the dragon still. But there was a transformation happening. Nurend’s feet changed to scaled limbs with black long claws.

Hard violet scales formed over his body too, like an armor. It shimmered as it formed from over his entire body. His single horn extended and then twisted forward. The tip glowed a sickening purple, and blood leaked out the edges of his eyes, turning into an inked mark once they stretched down his cheeks.

The essence cloud shrouding him dispersed and he sighed.

“To show you the difference between now and what you have been facing so far,” Nurend said as he lazily waved his staff to the left and a storm sword like the one David created plunged down from the sky and tore the ground a short distance from them. The ground quaked, cracked and then shattered. As the dust settled, there was a small crater with the storm sword still churning like it was alive.

David’s grip on his sword tightened. He couldn’t tell what he felt—envy or dread. He reminded himself that it didn’t matter. He wasn’t here to compare his power to that of Nurend’s. Unlike Hilga’s test, Nurend’s was to punish them with death. He wanted to overcome that, wanted to see how he could go beyond what he could do now.

“Elisha,” David said as Nurend’s storm sword dispersed. “Imbue essence in your daggers.”

David didn’t wait for Elisha to respond, he could already see Nurend’s first move. He ran back to be as close to Chloe as possible and when the dragon appeared near her to finish her, David was there. His sword clanged with the staff and Nurend hissed.

The force pushed both of them away and before Nurend could get a grip Zoey’s arrows came like a downpour. David groaned, catching himself. He ran forward, passing Chloe who was scanning through her scripts.

“Chloe, try the buff again!”

“Alright!”

Zoey’s arrows came down on Nurend and this time he tried to dodge them. His movement was bizarre, almost as if they could see four or five of him moving. David closed his eyes, lifted his sword and waited. He didn’t have to watch out for Nurend, he could feel the movement of the dragon’s essence. Unlike humans, dragons were completely magical beings. They were filled with essence, which made it even easier for him to sense Nurend’s movement.

Spell: Gale Slash

David brought the sword down and a sharp wave of wind rushed forward. It stretched, expanding as it reached for Nurend. The dragon put out one of his scale covered hands as the spell got close and with a soft swat, he shattered it.

“I thought you had improved, wielder of Ignis,” Nurend said, then his eyes widened in surprise as Elisha appeared in front of him. Shadows stretched out to grab him, but Nurend leapt back, Elisha lunged forward, his daggers covered in slick dark essence. Nurend felt the danger in letting them touch him and quickly summoned his shield. The barrier cracked when Elisha’s daggers slammed into them.

Elisha vanished and Zoey’s arrows came into view, dozens of them pummeled into the shield, cracking it further until it shattered. Nurend grunted. He sensed Zoey coming from behind and swung his staff in a twirling attack, but Zoey slid low, getting close to him. Nurend grinned, thinking he’d just grind her with his heel, but instead she summoned her bow, pulled and let the shimmering golden arrow go.

The density of essence in the arrow shocked Nurend, but he’d fought in so many battles, so many wars. He summoned a second shield, this one dark and painted with patterns that Zoey had never seen before. The arrow crashed into the side of the shield and flew sideways, exploding to their left.

Nurend quickly brought down his staff to crush Zoey but Elisha’s shadow swallowed her and brought her up beside him. Nurend smiled arrogantly, his shield hovering in front of him.

The symbols gave off a dull glow.

“You got so scared you had to use an artifact?” David asked, frowning at the shield. “You couldn’t take that arrow with your armor?”

Nurend’s smile faded. The shield floated up to rest above him.

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Behind David, Chloe started playing a slow tune with her lute. He didn’t want to look back at her, but he couldn’t feel anything. Whatever she was doing, it was nothing like the first buff she gave them. David focused on Nurend. The dragon was angry now. He was probably going to be serious now.

Yet, David didn’t feel fear. He’d realized his task in the battle. It seemed that Zoey and Elisha fought together well. Their synchronicity was overwhelmingly good, which meant all he had to do was give them chances while he protected Chloe. He glanced back briefly at them, the sun was sinking slowly.

Nurend moved, but this time not for Chloe. He went for Zoey. He swung his staff and a ring of spinning wind flew at her, slicing through space at a shocking speed. Zoey crouched under it, but suddenly another was coming at her from below. She leapt up, spinning mid-air, right into Nurend’s trap as three more spinning rings appeared.

David cursed, running forward. He was too far to do anything. Elisha tried to swallow her with shadow, Nurend appeared near him, swinging his staff. Elisha blocked the staff with his daggers and shoved Nurend away. They were too late though.

Zoey’s body hit the ground, sliced in three by the spinning rings. David stumbled to a stop, staring at the pieces of his sister. There was something oddly different about this death, almost as if somewhere in his mind, he doubted that she would come back.

He looked up at where Elisha was fighting with Nurend. He was being pushed back, but he was holding his own.

“Chloe!” David called as he focused on his sword. “Can you try that buff thing you did the first time again?”

Chloe didn’t answer, her playing had turned into some kind of frenzied tune. The sound was harsh and all over the place, and she seemed to be sinking deeper into it. Whatever she was doing, it was overpowering her. Yet, he couldn’t see how bringing her out of it would help them. He had to trust her, had to believe that she knew what she was doing.

David ran for Nurend and Elisha. Elisha vanished and appeared again, using his shadow to augment his speed, and yet Nurend kept up with him. The dragon knew where he’d come out from, tracing the trail of essence, just as David did.

David searched for a gap, an opening he could exploit to use the spell he’d been turning about in his mind. He’d figured out a little bit about Ignis’ Bone Shard. It wasn’t just a sword. It was a channel, a way to connect him to the powers the dragon had. And it wasn’t like he was an ordinary human himself.

He was the master of all!

Elisha vanished, swallowed by his swirling shadow just before Nurend could crack his skull open. The dragon hissed turning to David just in time for him to use the spell.

Spell: Heaven’s Glory!

Fire poured out of the sword like a dragon’s breath. It gushed out, red, hot and angry. Within it, David could hear Ignis’ anger and fury. As if he was enraged by Nurend and not David. The flames poured out for a moment until David heard a crack and then he looked up suddenly to see the sky suddenly going dark.

“Elisha!” David called, but Elisha didn’t answer. Something had happened. The sky darkened, the clouds gathered, swirling as if there was about to be a storm. Thunder claps stretched across the space and veins of lightning webbed the sky with silver.

This was nothing like David had ever seen, nothing he could have ever dream of creating. He staggered back, shoved by Nurend’s shield. Nurend stared up at the sky in awe. David searched for Elisha, he found a mass of churning shadow. Its thick strand-like edges billowed frantically.

“Tell her to stop,” Nurend said, shocking David. David looked down at the dragon and saw real fear. “Tell her to stop now!”

“What?” David asked. And as if struck, he realized what was happening. This wasn’t Nurend’s doing. It was Chloe’s. “What is happening?” David asked.

“The Wailers’ Note!” Nurend said. David turned to see Chloe playing and dancing. In front of her a page of the phantom script hovered, glowing in gold. It followed her as she moved, always in front of her, always where she could see it. She moved as if she had no bones, her fingers merging with the strings to produce horrible sound after horrible sound…like wailers screaming.

It was amazing to look at.

The lightning intensified. The thunderclaps echoed. And David noticed the voice in the mix of it all. Thousands and thousands of voices. They were saying something. No, they were singing.

“If you don’t stop her, we’ll all die,” Nurend said. “She will kill herself first and then the spell will take us all too.”

“Why does it terrify you?” David asked.

“This spell is ancient, not something a bard without a ring can control, not something a child should attempt. And that lute heightens it. It only makes the spell stronger. “

“Do you admit defeat?” David asked, his eyes fixed on the dragon. His expression was steel, devoid of worry or fear. He had absolute faith in Chloe. Or that was what he wanted the dragon to believe. “I trust my sister can hold her own, and I know fear this spell will eat into the real world through your void space.”

David let a moment of silence pass and then, he repeated his question.

Nurend stared at him for a moment. He looked surprised, stunned by the human in front of him. Then he chuckled and slowly it turned into a hearty laughter.

“I do, human. I admit defeat.” He put his staff down and his body shimmered briefly as he returned to his former form, his scale armor released. They both walked to where Chloe danced and played. David had not seen what happened to Elisha but he could assume Nurend had done something to him while his shield blocked Heaven’s Glory.

“How do I bring her out of it?”

“You can’t,” Nurend said. He picked a rock and threw it at Chloe. It hit an invisible barrier and disintegrated to dust. David frowned. “The good thing is that the spell is not completed yet. With her current essence capacity, she can’t finish it. And when her essence dries out, the spell will take her life force and then look for others to devour. It will keep going until there is no more to devour.”

“So how do we bring her out of it?”

“I have to kill her,” Nurend said. He smiled when David glared at him. “Calm down, friend. I will bring her back like I have always brought her back.”

David nodded softly, fighting the urge to close his eyes when Nurend summoned his staff to him. He forced himself to watch as he sent the staff through the barrier, breaking through it with force until it impaled his baby sister.

David watched her fingers stop playing, the tune taking a moment after to fade away and then a little bit of sunlight returned. It was already half hidden behind the mountains. David couldn’t take his eyes off his sister’s corpse.

“It’s not real,” Nurend said. “But what you have achieved is real, remember that.”

David turned to look at him, but Nurend was no longer there and neither was Chloe. He turned around to see everything fade away as if being erased. And then he was back in the darkness with Ignis. David frowned. He thought he was in control, how could the dragon summon him still?

I am Ignis, human child, you can’t completely dominate me!

“Ah! I see,” David said. “How about another layer then?”

He lifted his left arm and a long link of silver chains flung out, wrapping over the first chain he’d used on the dragon. Ignis was about to say something but the chains wrapped his mouth shut. The chains blazed as the dragon writhed. David could feel his anger in his mind, but he blocked that out too. He turned and walked away.

He opened his eyes to find Nurend staring at him. David flinched and then heard someone chuckle. By Nurend’s left Chloe was wolfing down something that looks like doughnuts. Elisha and Zoey sat by David. Nurend smiled at him and then gave a low nod.

“It seems Ignis is still troubling you?”

“You dragons are woes,” David said sighing.

“Ignis is the worst of us.” After a momentary thought, Nurend continued, “There are three of his fragments, yours included. His consciousness differs, depending on the wielder. All three will possess his powers, but proficiency will depend on the wielder too. You are the Master of All, I hope you understand what I mean.”

David felt like he did, so he nodded. Nurend smiled.

“Now, it is time I give you your gifts and for you to meet Jaresh.”

“Immediately?” Elisha asked, his face contorting into a frown.

“As soon as you are ready,” Nurend said, smiling. “My brother is eager to meet the chosen ones.”

David sighed. Although he couldn’t wait to finish the tests, they needed time to prepare themselves. He could tell just from looking at Zoey that she was not ready to face another dragon.

Not yet.