Eri leapt onto her father's shoulders as they had practiced when the horn sounded. They ran in the direction Asterión's team had headed. The horn sounded a second and third time before they finally caught up to them. One of the scouts was on the ground, and Asterión was defending him with a spear against a manticore.

The creature had the body of a lion, the tail of a scorpion, and wings similar to those of dragons, but its most terrifying feature was its human-like face, complete with ear-like protrusions, though it betrayed its nature by unhinging a wide jaw with three rows of sharp teeth. It seemed it had already used its stinger on the scout, and Asterión was trying to keep its jaws at bay with his spear while the third member of the team continued to sound the horn for help.

Runa ran to the fallen soldier and immediately began magical healing. Manticore venom was fast-acting and difficult to counter. Frey had to help, but Runa couldn't afford to stop to infuse him with magic; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to summon his greatsword. His short sword would have to suffice. Eri got down from his shoulders and stayed behind, cheering him on.She joined the captain, and together they managed to put the monster on the defensive, attacking from both flanks. However, it was very agile; fighting it was nothing like battling a dragon. It left little room and attacked frenetically with claws and fangs. The tail was a problem, but it had already used its stinger and would take a day to grow another. Nonetheless, it could still use it to knock them down if they were careless.Frey managed to corner the manticore against nearby trees and wound it in the neck. The monster roared with a sound between a trombone and a screech before flapping its wings and flying away.

Frey had only a few scratches, but Asterión was exhausted, bleeding from wounds on his wrists and leg. Runa continued trying to save the man on the ground with her healing magic. Several minutes passed until she announced he would be fine, but they needed to carry him back to camp; the hunt had gone wrong too soon.

Eri walked touching Frey's wounds and asking if he was okay. She asked over and over if it hurt. Poor Eri, she hadn't been hurt until now, and she struggled to know how injured someone was or how much pain they felt. Frey could only ask her to be patient.The third team had joined them, drawn by the alarm. They helped carry the fallen man.

Everyone arrived at the camp to decide what to do next.While Runa checked Asterión, Eri looked at her father's wounds. He had an open cut on his arm that was bleeding, though it wasn't too severe."Does it hurt, Daddy? Should I give it a kiss? Koro's mom says that's how you heal it.""It's okay, Eri, that will surely help," he agreed, hoping it would help her feel more at ease.

"Mwah!" The little girl placed her lips on the cut for just a second, but Frey felt a sharp pain. He had to bite his lower lip to keep from shouting; it was like the pain of a burn. He pulled his arm away to look and realized that his wound had closed. It wasn't cauterized but had healed rapidly. On Eri's lips, he saw a faint blue flame flicker out. Eri breathed fire like a dragon, he knew that, but this was different.

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"Eri, have you ever healed someone with a kiss before?"

"Just Koro, once when he fell. He was helping me fly."

"Sweetheart, go to your mom. She's helping the injured men. Tell them to let you try blowing on them gently, remember, gently."

"Yes, Daddy."

Eri went to her mother, who, like Frey, played along to discover that Eri's blue flame helped close wounds. It didn't improve the state of the poisoned soldier, but the sting wound healed immediately. Frey congratulated his daughter for a job well done, which made her very happy. It was a reason to stop seeing her nature as something bad; it would be very good when they explained it to her.

"It's incredible, your daughter is truly special, Princes. You have my gratitude for letting me meet her. Now the best thing is to prepare, manticores are man-eating beasts, now that we are all together it will surely come for us."

One of the soldiers had already seen it flying in circles not too far away. This time, Frey invoked his sword with Runa's help and got ready. She had little magic left to use after helping the wounded, but surely, Frey would be enough to finish off the manticore. It was best to face it away from the camp. He took the captain's spear and ran down the hill toward the tallest trees he could see, hoping to attract attention and be pursued.

The ruse worked, drawing the beast into an environment where the air was not an advantage; the trees could hide him from attacks from above but left him little room to use his sword. The manticore continued attacking without fully touching the ground, with swift charges that he kept avoiding until finally, he felt he was in the perfect position.

He planted himself on the ground to wait for the attack, which came fast and violent. He took the captain's spear and threw it at the monster, injuring its left wing and making it fall heavily, writhing in pain. Frey defended himself from the desperate claws with his greatsword until the creature got up and managed to flap clumsily, putting itself out of his reach. It was what he expected.

With the manticore limited by the trees and slower due to its injuries, Frey could take advantage of his best ability. He jumped several meters up to a tree, which he used to propel himself to a second and finally, right above the manticore to fall on it using the harpy pose, putting all his strength and weight into a vertical greatsword strike, splitting the head and torso like one would a melon. Blood splattered the grass as Frey fell to the ground in a loud and dry thump.

He had finally won. It would be better not to let the sword disappear, although he almost allowed it out of habit. Besides, it seemed he had injured his ankle in the fall; he could use it as a crutch. Goddess... Runa was going to yell at him again for fighting carelessly. Maybe Eri's power would heal him before she noticed? No, it was unlikely she wouldn't notice immediately.

He limped back to the camp, greeted by Eri herself, who was excited to feel useful. She gave him her healing kiss instead of blowing her flame, but the ankle didn't improve; it seemed she could only close the skin, but not heal muscles or bones. Runa hit him on the head in anger before using her last reserves of magic to heal him.

"Manticores are very territorial beings; there's never more than one in a large area. We should be safe; last time we didn't encounter it. We can search for the pegasus without danger from now on," Captain Asterión always spoke confidently, making one want to believe him. They rested that afternoon, although they had barely advanced, they would wait until the next day to continue.

That night, when everyone was asleep, a small light, like a firefly, appeared in front of Eri, who, awakened by excitement, chased it to the clearing where they had made their wish...