Meraxes' hand bled over her mistress. She had tried to stop the knife, but had only managed to cut her palm. The knife had broken against Eri's invulnerable skin despite her intervention. Everyone tried to stop him, but the dragon in the body of a man was fast and strong like few others. If he was using his fire to strengthen his body, Mera didn't know how to do it. She was as fragile as the woman whose body she occupied had been.

That human Frey had told him they would put a shackle on him like hers. If they had succeeded...

Mustering her strength, she took Eri in her arms and ran out of the room and down the hallway, leaving her shoes behind, trying to reach a courtyard, some open space where her mistress could free her. In her draconic form, the dragon in human form would be no match for her.

She could hear that behind her, her pursuer had closed the door to the room behind him, probably locking it to trap the humans. She couldn't count on them, she had to keep running. She couldn't hide either, she was leaving drops of blood wherever she went and the mistress was crying, holding back so as not to shake the palace, but it was easy to hear her. She passed a group of guards who were alerted when they saw her run by. They yelled at her pursuer to stop, but the sound of metal hitting the marble floor told her she had only gained a little time.

"Miss Erifreya," she whispered as she ran, "please, the words I taught you, say them..."

The mistress was very scared, stammering, but little by little she remembered the words. She could already see the light of the door that led to the great esplanade outside the palace, when finally...

"By our pact of eternal servitude, be free to be who you truly are, swear to always return to me and use your freedom for my good." The mistress's voice was choked and came out as a whisper, but it was enough. She could already feel her own fire, her own body floating in the ether. She kept running until she reached the esplanade, the sun timidly peeking out from thick storm clouds. She left the mistress on the ground and instructed her to move away.

When she saw her pursuer reach the esplanade, she smiled.

"I swear it!" With that cry of confirmation, the spell ended. A lightning bolt accompanied her transformation and once again Meraxes, the black dragon, terror of the night, showed all her power. Once again, she saw over the outer towers of the castle, the humans once again looking insignificantly small. Something was different, her fire felt more intense, but she didn't think about that as she launched her claws at the false man who had tried to hurt her mistress, tearing splinters of stone from the ground and the lintel of the door, but he escaped her. She began to move, serpentine, following him across the esplanade. A single flame, a single claw would be enough to finish him off, but he moved swiftly, determined, inexhaustible...

Suddenly, a roar like thunder was heard as the figure of the little man disappeared. In its place, a beast of white scales tipped with red appeared, as if each tip were stained with blood, long black horns, straight and shiny like obsidian spears. It was only slightly larger than Meraxes, but the feeling it left was unmistakable, like the one given by Miss Erifreya, its power was on another level.

It was the white prince.

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What in the name of all the orcs was happening?

The man who was supposed to be a dragon was kneeling, his head against the ground, muttering endless apologies and crying. The peasant was hitting the door with his sword like an ape while the half-elf tried to break it down with magic. But it was an Orichalcum door, it dispersed almost all magic and was heavy, resistant. One of the many things elves had always done better. The room had no windows, just a few slits that faced the outside of the castle and let in a dim light, too small for most. It would take them a while to get out, and that monk... that monk was trying to kill the girl...

Why did that make him so nervous?

He grabbed the man from the floor by the neck of his tunic, throwing him against the wall, anger and confusion lending him strength. Without letting go, he spoke to him, almost nose to nose.

"What's happening here?" he asked. "Speak, damn dragon."

"Leave him, Bestenar, he's not the dragon, they've seen our faces," said that stupid peasant as he continued to hit the door with his sword.

"And you gave him what he wanted?" He released the man, who collapsed contritely to the floor. He was useless. "You're just like my father, you ruin everything because you think you know everything!"

He didn't wait for their answers. He moved a nearby wardrobe, stacked the chairs in the room in front of it, and with all that, climbed up to the slits. His slender build should allow him to get out through one of them, although... why did he want to get out? What was he going to do if he succeeded? He felt the push from behind him as he tried to get his shoulders through, and a few moments later, he fell outside the castle with a thud.

"Run, kid!" the half-elf yelled at him. "Help Eri! Do what you have to do!"

She didn't have to say it, he was already running when she started talking. It was all happening again, it was so close this time, he was bigger, he had changed, but everything was the same. He didn't know where to go, he had no weapons, and the guards didn't obey him, but he had to get there...

Thunderous roars filled the air, dragons, more than one. He ran towards the esplanade, not thinking.

As he turned the last corner, he saw them. A gigantic white dragon was slashing at an almost equally enormous black one. It was a terrifying sight, but in Bestenar's mind, there was an even worse scene, one he had never actually seen, but that tormented him every night, an even bigger dragon, fighting with three others, crushing his home...

Back in reality, the black dragon was trying to resist the white one, which was pouncing on it, dominating it with its weight. Both were trying to reach the other's neck, it was a nightmare of claws and fangs that destroyed the floor of the esplanade and the imposing walls of the castle. The black dragon used its claws to gain space and with strong bites managed to break free from the white one's grip. Bestenar had no idea what was happening. Was one of those dragons the girl, finally revealing her true nature? No, there she was, on the ground, her eyes full of tears, empty, paralyzed. Just behind the black dragon.

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He didn't think about it, his skinny legs trembled as he ran, a cold sweat ran down his face, his stomach was a whirlwind, but he didn't stop. He miraculously dodged the black dragon's tail and reached the little girl. He picked her up in his arms and kept running, her empty eyes staring ahead as they moved away. His heart a powerful drum, his breath almost exhausted, he managed to mutter a single sentence.

"Never again, Erina."

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"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

Frey kept hitting the door while insulting himself. He had been so arrogant, that brat was right, they had been deceived because they thought they knew what they were doing. And now Eri was in the greatest danger she had ever been in. The castle was full of soldiers and dragonslayers, but if they killed Mera first, the worst could happen.

Runa had exhausted her magic trying to open the door. He hated seeing her so desperate, he himself was on the verge of collapse. A group of guards were on the other side trying to help, hitting the hinges and locks to tear the door off. It was a matter of time, but how much did they have before something terrible happened?

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, his arms were already aching when the door finally gave way with a crash befitting its great weight as it fell to the floor. He didn't waste any time, neither did Runa, but upon leaving the room, they both ran in opposite directions. Where was he going? No, it wasn't time for questions, the sound of roars was coming from outside. He ran towards the esplanade, praying to the Goddess of Peace to be in time to do something. Debris and wounded people hindered his path in the last few meters, but he didn't see them, there was only one thing on his mind. He didn't even notice that a group of his best companions were already at the door's threshold. He prepared to let out a whistle as loud as he could, Jumper would surely hear it, would come no matter the distance. But the air escaped him in an astonished gasp when he reached the esplanade.

Two enormous dragons fought fiercely, moving heavily, destroying everything in their path. They had already destroyed part of the district closest to the castle, the wounded were piling up nearby where Eri was blowing her healing flame on those she could. The brat was trying to restore order, with his eternally disdainful tone but with more authority and urgency in his voice than ever before. It seemed he was learning. The soldiers had waited for Frey, why?

"Your Highness!" It was Jimmer, his second. "Finally, you're here. Prince Bestenar says one of those dragons is on our side, and I believe him, but he says he doesn't know which one. He said you would know what to do."

Damn him! That arrogant brat had made a very difficult decision and it had been the right one. If he hadn't kept so many secrets, if he had trusted Bestenar, or Jimmer...

"Jimmer, form everyone who's left into a ring. I want everyone with ranged weapons aiming at the white dragon. Send someone to watch the man in the room where we were, see what information you can get out of him. Get my daughter and my ward out of here, if either of those dragons fall, the explosion is going to leave very little of the city. I want the best trying to pierce holes in the white dragon's belly."

Almost like an omen, as soon as Frey finished speaking, it started to rain.

Frey prepared his sword and jumped into the fight.

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Eri was trembling. She didn't know if she was crying or if it was the rain, but she could barely see through the water falling from her hair onto her little face. Dad had just arrived, he could fix everything, he was the best of all dads, but she wanted to help. Many people had bad cuts, luckily the rain couldn't extinguish the fire she blew to heal people. She couldn't repair bones or very strong blows, only closed the wounds that bled. Mom was better at that. But she wasn't there. She wanted to ask Mrs. Mera so many things about her powers at that moment, but she was busy fighting that dragon who called her sister. And it seemed she was going to lose. That dragon didn't seem to get tired and was hurting everyone.

There came Dad with his sword. He jumped so high that Eri thought he was going to start flying, but when the sword should have cut the dragon's body, it bounced off with a metallic clang that could be heard even from so far away. The dragon didn't even notice. Dad fell backwards, he was going to get hurt for sure...

Dad hit the ground on his back. Impossible, he never got hurt, not really. Mom always scolded him and told him he was going to get hurt, but it never happened. This time, Dad stayed still for a while before getting up a little, he stayed there on his knees, clutching his side.

A white spot appeared in the sky, it was Jumper, Dad's pegasus, but Grandpa was riding it. Mom was on his back, the two of them were moving some strange sticks and the clouds started to move in a spiral, like when you take the plug out of the bathtub. Lightning bolts started to fall on the dragon, but it barely shook its head. It started to move its wings and a terrible wind made Jumper have to move away. Mrs. Mera, in dragon form, dug her teeth into the other dragon's neck and the two of them fell sideways onto a group of houses.

The two of them roared, Eri could barely understand what they were saying, but she knew that Mrs. Mera was asking... her for help.

"Mistress Erifreya, you are more powerful than this other prince, free yourself, don't worry about me, just stop doing what I taught you."

She was terrified. She had already understood what she was asking her to do, but she would have to get close, and Uncle Jim was already coming for her. She couldn't hesitate if she was going to do it.

"Bestenar! Please help me get close to that dragon!" she said in a pleading voice. Dad must have heard her too, because he turned to look at her and yelled something that the rain and distance didn't let her hear.

He clenched his fists and nodded. He snatched the shield from a guard who was watching over them and the two of them started to run. Dad stood up with great effort and started yelling at the other soldiers. All together, they caught the attention of the white dragon, which stood up, spilling steaming blood and fire from the wounds on its neck. Mrs. Mera also got up, she had a lot of smoke coming out of her side, what they were going to do could be dangerous for her.

Eri approached, followed by Bestenar, who hid and protected her from the debris of the fight with the shield. The soldiers tried to get the dragon's attention, but it recognized Eri. It tried to lunge in her direction, but Mrs. Mera jumped on it, digging in with claws and teeth. The dragon then unleashed a flame towards them.

Grandpa's shield arrived just in time, resisting enough before breaking. Now, between Mrs. Mera, Dad's soldiers, and Grandpa with Mom, they were managing to keep it busy. Eri was already where she needed to be, so she opened her mouth and instead of yelling or exhaling a flame, she inhaled with all her might.

She could feel it, it was like before, when she lived with the lord of the door. An insatiable hunger overcame her as she devoured the white prince's fire as if drinking from a huge glass. The dragon roared words of threat, hatred, and fear as it struggled to free itself from Mrs. Mera and resist the attacks of swords and lightning. Every moment that passed, it seemed that the swords penetrated deeper into its scales, that the lightning kept it paralyzed longer. Blood and smoke continued to flow from its wounds, but less and less fire. The roars began to sound pleading, when Mrs. Mera, with her dragon eyes fixed on Eri, bit the prince's neck with all her might. They both collapsed.

One last lightning bolt fell on Dad's sword, which shone as if it were gold, like a beacon in that storm, before Dad, using all the power of his hippogriff stance, used it to cut off the white dragon's head. It was as if the sword had become longer and brighter for a moment to pierce that neck as thick as one of the castle towers. The head fell to the ground and the rest of the body burst into flames, consuming itself instead of exploding. Eri consumed all the remaining fire. Mrs. Mera was about to collapse, instead, she flapped her wings and flew away, towards the mountains. But Eri knew she would return, she had sworn it.