When you see a dragon simply appear behind you, it's always an odd moment. And even more so if that dragon is a baby. That was suddenly a reality I found myself facing. A little dragon somehow got to our headquarters without anyone realizing anything. And what caught us off guard, even more, were the words he said: "I am a traitor."

"A traitor? Traitor to who? Us? We don't even know you!" Soul immediately started asking questions. He was by far the most curious of us all.

"Not to you. I don't know you. At least not directly. I've heard about you before. And based on what I've heard, I came here. You guys are fighting against Ifrit, right?" As soon as the dragon finished speaking, we exchanged concerned expressions. How could he know such a thing?

"It's a dragon..." Anci whispered in the background, yet nobody paid him much attention. It seemed like he still had trouble processing what was going on here.

"Then who did you betray? And how did you get here?!" Soul significantly raised his voice and walked closer to the little creature. It seemed that "Foof" wasn't very happy about the way the reaper treated him. He started slowly sinking his head into his robes. A few glints in his eyes showed us the tears that would probably soon start flowing if we didn't stop our comrade.

"Hey, Soul, give him a break. He's just a kid," I tried reasoning with him.

"Just a kid?! This kid got into OUR world! That's something practically impossible. And we didn't even notice a thing! How can you know for sure that he's not some sort of a weapon sent to destroy us?!"

White walked up to Foof and picked him up from the ground. "A weapon? How can he be a weapon? He's so tiny." From his surprised expression, I could clearly see that he didn't like being carried by someone.

"Now, tell us what you meant by that traitor thing, would you?" she asked him nicely. Her voice was like a soft wind shimmering through leaves. It had a tone that made you feel safe and put your heart at ease. Foof wiped the tears out of his eyes and continued with his explanation.

"Well, you see, I..." he stopped for a while, staring into the ground. "I used to be... an accomplice of Ifrit." Our jaws hit the ground and White nearly dropped him.

"You?! You were one of his henchmen?" Chester asked, just to be sure.

"Yes. But... I was different back then. You see, Ifrit found me one day very badly hurt. Where exactly, he didn't tell me. I lost my memories and didn't know where to go. He told me how he wants to save the world and offered me the power to help him. Of course, I accepted. My body grew big! I was strong and dangerous! And over the next few weeks, he took care of me. He offered me food, a place to stay, and even new friends to meet."

"But you betrayed him? Why?" Chester threw yet another good question his way.

"Because he changed. At first, he was really nice to all of us. But then... he started going to the cellar of our hideout. We didn't know what he was doing there, but he always came back stronger. With each visit, he was also... worse. He didn't care about us anymore. All he wanted were fragments of the Creativity. If we failed to bring them to him, he'd... he'd hurt us." The little dragon jumped out of White's grasp and onto our table with the map. He pulled up his robes and rolled up his sleeves, showing us various scars on his arms and legs. When White saw it, she immediately covered her mouth with both hands. I could see how her anger for Ifrit was boiling again.

"So that's why you betrayed him? Because he hurt you?" Soul finally calmed down and started asking normally, instead of in his angry interrogative tone.

"No. My betrayal was... an accident. We asked him many times about what he does in the cellar. He always told us that we must never know. But... I had to know. He was like my dad. I was worried about him. So I silently followed him down there to see what was happening to him. But... I didn't get to see anything. I just heard some other deep voice telling Ifrit to take care of the intruder, which I figured was me. He attacked me again, and when I tried to fight back, he stole my powers. I barely managed to run away alive. Without him, I was turned back into the old me. I was... this again - little."

"So... wait... that creature I met in my vision, that was YOU?!" It felt unbelievable that this little guy would be the terrifying masked monster.

"Yes. I'm very sorry for scaring you. Back then I... I thought you were an enemy. But now I know that the deep-voiced person is the real bad guy. If we can stop him, Ifrit will be good again!"

Despite his story, I had my doubts. Even I saw Ifrit's strange communication, but there was no way I'd believe that this man was ever "good", to begin with. Not after what I've seen. Perhaps he was a father figure for the little dragon, but for me, he was a tyrant. A tyrant that had to be killed.

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"An actual dragon..." Anci kept on whispering to himself. He was probably the most confused out of us all.

"But wait, that doesn't explain how you got here. Would you be so kind and tell us that too?" Beast finally spoke after a while of silence. His new mask, which seemed to be glued together from various ceramics, showed a big question mark on its surface.

"I was alone for a long time. I survived in the city. It wasn't easy. I heard the creatures in the streets talk about hunting me down. Some eventually even tried. But I lived long enough to eventually catch Jack alone. I knew he served Ifrit, but he also wouldn't hurt me. At least not immediately. I explained to him that I needed to get out. From your... ghostly visit, Eddie, I remembered you mentioning Sunwalley. I asked Jack to take me there and he did. Then I wanted to meet you and join you, but... I didn't know what kind of a person you were. I was scared. But then everything went south, and people were dying and... I just kinda jumped into a portal after you when you were leaving. There was nothing left in Sunwalley so I just didn't want to stay there alone.

"So the Darkness... I mean... the Burned, can talk?" Chester asked the little dragon after a long period of silence.

"Yes! But only some of them. Some make funny sounds. Like BLAAAUGH! Others speak very slowly. But some can talk like you and me." The answer seemed to have sparked even more curiosity among the Deaths.

"If they are smarter than Darkness, then we have a problem. We'll be facing actual sentient beings, not just mindless hungry beasts. That will make things harder." A thinking emoji appeared on Beast's mask.

Soul made a motion with his head, which resembled annoyed rolling of eyes. "Whatever! That doesn't change a thing. We depart tomorrow. The plan we've made is safe. We'll sneak around and use the shortest way possible to make it to Ifrit." He ran his ghostly finger over the map.

"I can show you a better way if you want," Foof happily turned to Soul.

"Not a chance. You claim to be a traitor to Ifrit, but we've never met you before. You want us to trust you? Then you'll have to earn that trust. But so far, I think you're just full of sh..."

"LANGUAGE!" White interrupted the grumpy reaper. "Sorry, but... we've got a child among us. We should watch what we say."

"Why? He's gonna learn it one day anyway." Soul shrugged.

"Yeah! Plus, I've been an adult during my time with Ifrit. I know what shit is," the little dragon immediately took away a part of his innocence in our eyes. Soul reacted with a laugh and a cheerful: "See? He's all grown up!" White, on the other hand, stayed quiet, probably thinking whether or not she should scold him for saying such a word or leave it be.

"You are an ACTUAL dragon?" Anci's rambling suddenly increased in volume.

"Yes. I can even breathe fire, look!" The little creature took a deep breath. What we expected, however, didn't happen. Instead of a burst of fire, merely a little dark cloud escaped his mouth, accompanied by a soft "Fooo..."

"I... I can't do it when people are staring at me," he mumbled, and I could see his face turning slightly red.

"Awww... THAT'S why you're named Foof!" White exclaimed immediately after she saw it and attempted to grab the little creature again. This time, the dragon's reaction was faster and he managed to dodge. Unfortunately for him, he didn't see another pair of hands reaching for him from the other side. Anci grabbed him and started inspecting him from every possible angle.

"Aaaaah! Let me go!" the boy called out for help.

"Anci?! What has gotten into you?" Beast was the first to react. He hit Anci over the head to distract him, and then snatched Foof from his hands, keeping him away from the seemingly crazy Death. "Have you lost your marbles?"

"Don't you see?! That is a living, BREATHING dragon! I thought you were all dead. Oh, how glad I am to see you. Tell me, which tribe are you from? Valark? Islon? Restan?" Anci kept spurting out one name after another. I finally realized what this was all about. He had to witness the species he was watching over die thousands of years ago. He saw all the dragons eventually perish, which is why he was wearing their armour. It served as a reminder of the good old days. So seeing another one of their kind was probably a great shock for him.

"I... what is he talking about?" Foof asked and looked around at all of us, expecting answers. I tried my best to explain to him what Anci means.

"Oh! I'm sorry Mr Anci. I don't remember where I came from. Maybe I was part of the world you described, but I don't recall it." Judging from Anci's sad "Oh...", it was clear that the boy's answer was quite a disappointment for him. I wanted to say something. Anything that would help him move on from the genocide he had to witness. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. How would someone even help a traumatized grim reaper?

"Okay!" Soul clapped to get our attention. "Since we depart early tomorrow, we're gonna use the time we have for ourselves, even a little bit. Beast, you fought last time, get some rest. The same goes for you White, but you will also keep an eye on the little visitor. You are known for being so... cuddly, with such creatures. Anci, you need to pull yourself together, understood? So do something that will calm your mind. Help us defeat Ifrit, and then you can do all the research you'd like with the little dragon. Chester, you should probably get some training done. You might have powerful abilities, but the way you use them is sloppy. I'm gonna make sure everything is prepared for tomorrow. We'll be taking water and food as well since we have three mortals with us now. And you, Eddie..." he paused for a while, staring right into my eyes. It was weird, being watched so closely by basically a sentient smoke. "You will go home. Sort your thoughts, train some, but most importantly, go to bed early. You're gonna be the key. We need you in top shape to face Ifrit."

None of us had any objections to his orders. White happily took Foof from Beast's arms and headed off with him, looking for a place where they could spend the night. I returned to the house I previously rested in and did exactly as Soul told me. Sleep was avoiding me as much as it could though. I couldn't stop feeling worried about my future. The entire world... No, several words were depending on me. My anxiety was through the roof.