Eri never woke up at dawn. Her eyelids felt heavy as the strange man pulled her hand. She didn't like him; he wasn't kind, though not mean either, and Dad had told her to obey him. He hadn't even let her put her doll to bed or change her nightgown. Mom was going to scold her for going out like this.

They dragged her to the lake, not too far from where she practiced flying. It wasn't a good time; the water was very rough. If she fell in, she couldn't swim to shore, and Mom wasn't there to watch for her. This man didn't know anything. The strange thing was that the more she walked, the more awake she felt. It was giving her something like hunger, a feeling she hadn't had in a long time.

She heard a splashing sound in the distance. Everyone had gone to see. Then she remembered that Dad had told her that she would soon have to talk to a dragon. Really, today? And why so early? Eri was almost no longer afraid of those big monsters, or any monster. Dad could handle any of them because he was great.

Mom arrived flying on Dad's pegasus. She jumped off and gave her a very, very tight hug, like she did when she was sad. She was breathing very fast, it seemed like she was going to cry. Eri forgot about her sleepiness and gave Mom a gentle hug back, but stronger than hers. The two continued walking and left the unkind man behind.

They stayed on the shore. Eri could feel Mom's hand trembling every time she saw the water churning.

"Honey," she said, kneeling to be at her level. She did that to scold her or to comfort her when she was sad, so Eri didn't know if she liked it or not. "We want you to talk to this dragon, like you did with the green one. Remember what Dad asked you to ask him?"

"Yes, Mommy." She was confident, no longer had any doubts. Nothing the dragon said would make her cry like that day at Grandpa's house. Eri was Eri, Erifreya Verrin Draconis. That old name that sounded so bad was left behind along with the fear. Although maybe she would have to ask the dragon some words she didn't know the meaning of.

"We're very proud of you, my girl." Mom said that as if she really wanted to say it, and it felt very good. Eri wanted her parents to feel that way. "Soldiers! Raise the trap!"

With Mom's shout, a bunch of men started pulling on some chains. The water churned more, and Eri could see very angry yellow eyes in a large black head with long, curved horns like a lamb's, or like hers... Part of the mouth was still underwater when they stopped pulling.

"Now, Eri, it should be able to hear you."

Eri spoke to it as the man at the door had taught her. She didn't like the sound; she heard it echo through the city under the waterfall. Dragons couldn't speak softly.

"«Mr. Dragon, my name is Eri. Forgive my parents for tying you up, but you're very scary»"

"«What kind of aberration are you?»" Every time it spoke, a lot of steam came out of its mouth because it was half submerged.

"«I'm not an aberration, I'm also a dragon, but I'm smaller and prettier because I'm a princess»"

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"«You're the lost princess. The last daughter of the dragon king. What have they done to you?»"

"«I don't know, I'm like this. My dad wants me to ask you things»"

"«Your father? Are these humans in your father's service?»" The dragon's eyes widened like those of the bad kids when Koro took her necklace that day in the market square.

Eri thought about it for a bit. "«Yes, Dad is with us. He says he'll punish you if you misbehave»"

"«No, wait, I'll submit»"

A light appeared around the dragon for a moment. Everyone covered their faces. When it was over, the dragon was gone, and in the water floated a lady with a very elegant dress that floated and tangled around her. Eri could see the dragon's fire for a while, as if it were floating in the air.

Dad and two other men with swords jumped into the water and grabbed the lady. Luckily, they got her out quickly because it looked like she didn't know how to swim.

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Frey had anticipated the possibility. When the dragon took on a human form, he was ready to jump towards it from the trap's joints. They had prepared a shackle that would trap its soul in the human while he carried it. Courtesy of the mages of Meyrin. What he hadn't expected was that it would be an older woman.

They got her out of the water, coughing and cursing with words that made Runa's insults sound even more childish. She struggled and snapped, even though her human body was fragile. They took her in chains as quickly as they could to the underground dungeons, where even if the shackle failed, she wouldn't be able to regain her dragon body.

Once in her cell, covered with blankets since they had taken away her wet dress, Frey went to see her, accompanied by Runa and Eri. The woman who had been the black dragon was shivering from the cold, sitting on the humble stool they had given her. She didn't take her eyes off him for a moment, as if fearing imminent betrayal.

"Eri," he said, "ask her..."

"I can understand you, ignorant human," her voice came out raspy, almost serpentine. "I took this form to be able to talk to you. I don't want to anger the king. I won't be loyal to his tyranny, but I won't risk him devouring me."

"Are you referring to the dragon king? Why would you anger him? Do you know where he is?"

"What? The girl claimed her father would punish me if I didn't cooperate. She's a dragon princess, even with that appearance..."

Eri stepped forward, emboldened, proudly patting her chest and pointing at Frey.

"Yes, my daddy is invincible and punishes bad dragons."

"I've been fooled like an idiot. Twice." She lowered her head towards her bound hands and then looked at Runa. "First, I let myself be provoked by that witch, and then a child deceives me."

"Don't you dare call her a witch-" Runa interrupted him, preventing him from getting closer.

"Easy, Frey, I can handle being called a witch by someone I dropped lightning on." She looked at the dragon woman with a mocking smile.

"That hurt, damn it!" The woman bared her teeth as she spoke. "What do you want from me? What have I even done to a bunch of insignificant insects?"

"For starters, attacking human populations. We've been defending ourselves from you dragons for centuries. It's been too long a war for you to ask that." Runa walked around the prisoner as she spoke.

The woman let out a series of laughs. She laughed for a long time until she started to writhe and gasp. It took her a while to recover, and finally, she was able to respond.

"We're not at war with you. Your existence in our world doesn't bother us. You're insignificant. Even the best among you."

Frey was about to fly into a rage, but once again, Runa stepped forward.

"Then why do you attack us?"

"Sometimes we need a place to nest. Your castles are perfect, just need to fumigate first." She didn't even have an expression of mockery or malice; she spoke convinced of what she was saying. "Other times, someone finds out that a traitor in human form is hiding among you, and we wipe out populations to destroy them."

Frey and Runa fell silent. Eri was angry; she thought she had been made fun of, even though she didn't fully understand the situation.

"Dragons," she said, adopting a serious tone, strict even, "we're at war among ourselves. You're just in the middle."