Freydelhart watched his daughter play on the deck with her little friend and her filly. It was Eri's first time on a ship.

The little dragon girl was fascinated by the enormous caravel that was carrying them through the Druhunn Strait to the capital city of the kingdom of Pellegrin. True to her custom, on the day of the embarking, she had helped the dockers and had finally boarded on the back of Peony. Now that she could more or less fly, Eri's new obsession was riding her little mare. There was something strange about it, though; usually, a horse grows fully in a few months, but this one seemed to have stopped growing so that its owner could always ride it. Frey, an equine enthusiast, was proud that his daughter took such good care of Peony. She brushed her in the mornings, made sure she got exercise, and watched what she ate. If only his squire and pupil were half as diligent.

Bestenar had brought his own horse from Meyrin and rode it on every journey. The animal was a palfrey. Beautiful, proud, but not at all fast or strong, though it did its job. A bit like the boy himself. He was no longer at all incompetent; if ordered, he did things promptly and efficiently. What he lacked was initiative.

"Frey!" Valderant was shouting at him from behind. "Get your butt off the bow, we need to adjust the foresail." As she spoke, she was pushing him out of the way, her attention focused on the ropes holding the sail and the two sailors who were handling it.

In the old days, when Jim, Runa, Val, and he himself had traveled with the dragon-slaying order, he had always been the highest-ranking officer. Runa had renounced the privileges of her title to join the order, but on that ship, she had experienced the amazing command of her former companion. Even the ambassadors of Pellegrin did what she said without arguing, especially Oregdor, the youngest. Only old Genwill resisted her, who opined that no one under a thousand years old could give him advice, much less orders.

"Alright, no pushing," he said, moving aside only to bump shoulder to shoulder with another sailor.

"I told you to get your butt out of here," she said without looking at him. "Go on, the old, immature woman is looking for you on the poop deck."

The ship was much larger than they needed. It was a merchant caravel about thirty meters long and ten meters wide. It had three masts with square sails adorned with the coat of arms of Artemia. A unicorn on its quarters, white on a blue field. Still, Frey felt like he was in the way wherever he went. The best thing would be to listen and go where Val had told him.

Runa was leaning on the railing, looking at the sea. She liked to look for signs of sea creatures, but ships weren't her thing. She usually stayed at the stern where the movement was less sudden or she would get seasick in a few hours. Today was a good day. She looked calm, and even a little smiling. In the first days of the voyage, she had been bad-tempered, although it seemed that since their fight, the two women could be near each other without insulting each other too much. Frey had been very upset about that fight, but apparently, for whatever reason, it had been necessary.

"Have you seen any krakens today, my love?" Frey tried to be especially affectionate with her. Runa looked at him with a smile.

"No, just a big, adorable goof," she gestured for him to come closer, offered her back for him to hug her from behind. They stayed like that for a moment, watching their little one run around the deck chasing her friend. Runa seemed to be looking a little further.

"We could arrive by nightfall if the winds are favorable."

"If the sea witch wasn't so stubborn, I could conjure those favorable winds," Frey thought at least they weren't hitting each other anymore, Runa's ribs and Val's face had taken a while to heal, "and we'd already be in Axandor."

Conjuring wind was a good idea in general, but Val had confided in him that she didn't know if a magical wind would be too strong for the sails or if she could maintain the direction. Apparently, sailors are too accustomed to unpredictable seas. But of course, that wasn't enough explanation for Runa.

In the distance, Eri stopped playing. The sound reached Frey only a little later. A roar, distant, somehow urgent. The little girl ran towards them, she didn't have to say it.

"Dragon!" he began to shout. "All soldiers to their posts, watch the sky!"

In the distance, he could hear Valderant giving his own orders. Runa filled him with power and nodded for him to take his place as general while she took care of her daughter. Eri also prepared herself, she had to try to reason with any dragon that approached.

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"Bluie," that's what she called the dragon that had been their lookout ever since Eri saved his life, "says a red dragon is on its way. He says it's not very big. But bigger than him. When I see it, I'll try to convince it to be our friend."

That girl was terrified. He could see her trembling. But Eri had always been like that, since their first encounter, she had feared her equals, and at the same time, she always stepped forward to prevent their deaths if she could. Frey knew it had everything to do with Lady Meracina, not just because she instilled her dragon ideas in her, but rather because of the infinite affection she had for her.

Frey gave a quick kiss to each one and jumped to the nearest mast. He could see Valderant making a similar leap from the bow, both continued jumping until they met in the crow's nest.

"Do you still have your sword?" Frey asked, seeing his companion armed with only the saber from her belt.

"Yes, don't worry," she took a vial of bright blue liquid from a pouch on her belt, "these are a bit expensive but they work." She drank it and a faint whitish glow surrounded her, a few seconds later the glow faded as a long, thin sword materialized in the woman's hands. It was practically a lightweight version of Frey's greatsword.

"Those potions are dangerous, you could have asked..."

"Mind your own business, Freydelhart, and pay attention, a red one is flying in from the starboard side."

"Careful, don't attack it until Eri makes sure it's hostile."

"Now we're trying to reason with these monsters?" she was silent for a moment, her expression turned embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"It will take us all time to get used to it, but these creatures are somehow people," he remembered the disaster of the white prince, and decided not to keep anything to himself, "the one who warned us is another dragon. A... friend of Eri's."

"You have a lot to explain, I understand, just tell me when and if we're going to attack."

The red dragon approached and retreated from the ship constantly. Frey and Val could hear Eri's roars; Frey found it fascinating that his little girl's voice was much more intense than that of any other dragon despite her size. The red dragon's responses sounded from a distance, they were having a conversation.

A few minutes later they saw the red dragon fly away. A magic bubble floated up to where they were, a sign that all was well. They both jumped down to the deck. The ambassadors, Runa, and Lady Meracina had gathered around Eri.

"Eri," Frey said as soon as he touched the ground, "what happened?"

"I told him to be our friend, but he didn't want to, he's very afraid of the red prince," said Eri, disappointment evident in her voice, "he told me that if we can defeat the red prince, he will help us."

"Lady Meracina," said Runa, putting her hand on the dragon woman's shoulder, "the red prince was your former master, wasn't he?"

"I fear so," she replied, closing her eyes but not changing her pose or tone of voice, "I was subjected to him for the past two hundred years. When we met, I was looking for a place far from his domains. A territory of my own, he is truly a formidable monster."

"Do you know anything about his power?" Frey asked, momentarily forgetting decorum, "from what I understand each prince has one, Eri can heal wounds and devour the fire of others, the white prince could increase the strength of his allies and himself."

"You're right," she replied, "but so far no other dragon knows the power of the princes, as they are rarely challenged."

"Is it possible that the dragons that have approached Pellegrin recently have something to do with it?"

"I don't know," she said somewhat curtly, "the princes would only seek new territories to challenge each other. If any are in that kingdom, it may be because another has claimed it before. In any case, there's nothing for a prince in a city in the middle of the desert as It has been described to me."

"We must say," Jamdar interrupted, "dragons are approaching great city of Pellegrin, but they attacked small towns," although Oregdor had been adopting the Artemian accent, Jamdar seemed to emphasize his peculiar way of speaking.

That behavior was what dragons often adopted if they were looking for a place to lay eggs, but only in cities with large stone castles...

"They're looking for one of their own, someone very important," Runa finally said, reaching the same conclusion as him. Something was happening in the war between the dragons.

An hour later, with the promise of a quick arrival at port, everyone was on deck. Valderant was looking now at the sea, now at the sky, her sword at the ready, she had not let it fade. If she did, she would need magic to summon it again, she had surely not summoned it in years, or perhaps she did not trust the dragon. Like almost all dragon slayers, she had joined the order with a story of a dragon ending everything she loved. Probably Eri's angelic face would not be enough to help her accept dragons as people.

"I have an idea, Val, there's something the master never let us do."

"Really, Frey? It seems we all got together for me to kick your butts."

"You have your sword, you know Jimmer never had your level. I haven't practiced against a human in years."

"Jimmer was much better than we ever gave him credit for. I hope he gets better soon."

The brief silence was broken by Oregdor and Eri running excitedly. Soon everyone surrounded them, drawn by the promise of a spectacle.

Unexpectedly, the two jumped to the height of the mainmast, the sound of swords clashing filled the void created by the astonishment of everyone present, or in the case of Lady Mera, her indifference. They fell into the rigging and used them to fall in shorter jumps as they continued to clash. When they reached the ground, Frey tried to pass Val's defense with a thrust from the unicorn pose, she rejected it with a step to the right and counterattacked with the lateral cut of the griffin pose. Eri shouted the names of the poses as if narrating the duel, Runa looked sullen every time Frey took a step back, but in a few minutes she was shouting enthusiastically for him to finish off "the sea witch."

It was a lucky thing that they were prepared and on deck when the red dragon returned.