Meera stepped out into complete darkness. Her heart quickened at the thought that she was somehow back in the shadow box of the Scribes. Either that or she was still stuck in the mirror's darkness. There was an acrid, almost sulfuric smell in the air, as if something had burned recently, which confirmed she was out of the mirror.

She could've brought out Onyx, as he had his Light of the Dead skill, but she was sure she had a few torches in her Dragon Hoard Belt.

What am I going to light them with?

Meera sighed and brought out Onyx. The horse emerged from her hand with a loud yawn.

"Were you sleeping?" Meera asked.

"I'm always sleeping when I'm not out here." He looked around. "Are you imprisoned in the shadow box again?"

"No, this was supposed to be Drurith, but I think someone moved the mirror into their basement," Meera replied. "Can you use Light of the Dead? There is a strange smell in the air, and I don't like it."

"Sure." Onyx glowed like a horse-sized bulb and gave off a bright white light.

Meera drew a sharp breath and immediately wished she hadn't asked him to turn on the light. There was no light because she was in a collapsed building. The walls were still holding up the roof on her end, but they had been charred black. The other end of the building had collapsed and, worst of all was littered with burnt corpses. They were the cause of the stench.

"That is not good," Onyx said.

"Indeed. They must've pulled the mirror in here as a means of escape when…well, when whoever or whatever did this to them, but these poor souls were unlucky, it seems."

There were not that many corpses on their end. Thanks to Onyx's light, Meera found a path to the wall.

"Onyx, follow me," she said. He clopped alongside her, trying his best not to step on the deceased. It was not like he would be touching them, but it was nice that he was paying them some respect. "Poke your head out and let me know if it leads outside."

Onyx gave her a very humanlike nod. She figured he was picking up human gestures from being around her or being locked in her soul. He poked his head out and returned a moment later.

"Yes, it's the way out, but it's not looking good," Onyx said. "Unless human cities are supposed to look about as nice as the cave I was stuck in."

Meera frowned, activated Druvis Power, and punched a big hole in the wall. She jumped out right away in case the building fell on her. But thankfully, aside from raising some dust, her punch didn't do much to the building.

It was evening on Gethys. Mirithia was beginning to brighten and was bigger and occupied more of the night sky. This must mean this world is closer to the massive planet.

Of course, being closer to Mirithia meant being closer to Aetheron. She would have zoomed in on the ring, but the devastated city drew her attention.

Drurith had clearly seen better days. The greatest city in the world had been reduced to nothing more than a ruin. There were hardly any buildings that hadn't been caved in or utterly destroyed. Worst of all, most buildings supported scorch marks, and she feared to venture in on account of what she would find inside.

"What the hell happened here?" Meera mused.

"By the looks of things, I would say someone let loose a pyromaniac," Onyx replied, causing Meera to stare at him. "What? We had one back at the cave. Edwyn put him down himself."

"No, I was more surprised that you knew that word."

"What is that supposed to mean? I'm not supposed to know your words just because I'm a horse." Onyx countered.

"Fair enough," Meera countered. "Onyx, turn off your skill. You're going to bring undue attention to us."

"Right," he replied, stopping his Light of the Dead skill.

Meera led the way through the destroyed lanes. Wherever they walked, all they saw was death and destruction. Some poor souls had tried to run into their homes, only for them to have met a fiery end, as only their blackened bones remained.

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Even though she didn't want to, Meera checked in several buildings, and she found the same thing as the building with the Gateway Mirror—charred dead bodies. The whole place was deserted. Not a single soul was alive.

"This couldn't have been the work of a singular pyromaniac," Meera mused as she ducked out of what must've been the sixth building.

"Wasn't this city supposed to be one of the best?" Onyx asked.

"Not one of the best, but the best," she replied. "I wonder what happened—"

She stopped when she heard a child's scream, but it was far off and toward the dipping sun. She looked around, and there was no way she would figure out a way through the streets. She took off into the air, blowing up dust.

"Since when can you do that?" Onyx protested. "Do you even need me if you can fly?"

"Shh! I heard a child's scream."

Meera concentrated and listened. From the light sound of the wind blowing, she heard some birds chirping and the quick flapping of their wings. Then the child screamed again, followed by the unmistakable sound of a torrent of flames.

"Onyx, follow me!" Meera called.

She blasted off towards the child. She heard a second, louder torrent of flames and even saw the glow from several blocks away. Below her, Onyx raced at full speed right through the buildings.

Meera planned to drop down to a street when she was a street away and saved the kid first, but when she saw what was producing the flames, she halted in mid-air.

It was a dragon.

It looked exactly like how they had been portrayed in movies and TV shows. It had grayish scales, four legs, two massive wings that sprouted from its back, and two big, curved horns on its head. They looked like those of a bull. It wasn't that big, about five meters in length. Its slitted irises were focused on the child, who was hiding in a building. A building that was being melted thanks to the intense dragon flames. Meera could feel their heat from a block away.

Despite her astonishment, she used Identify on it.

[Sootscale Dragonling – Level 438]

"Meera, what is it?" Onyx called out.

She floated down to street level. "A dragon…"

"You're joking?"

She shook her head slowly. How is a dragonling so strong? If the kids are so strong, then how strong are the parents…

"The dragons did this," he said, looking around. "But why would they attack a human city? Did a human attack their den?"

Meera looked at him as the answer came to her. "Neel did this…"

"Your brother?" Onyx tilted his head. Then he gasped and neighed at the same time. "He came here to hunt Dragonlings. So, now, they've come for revenge."

The child screamed again, this time a painful scream. Even Onyx flinched as they were close enough that he could hear it. It didn't sound good. Meera didn't hear any crunching of bones, which meant the dragonling wasn't eating the child yet. Despite not knowing this kid, she couldn't just leave the kid to be eaten by a dragon.

"Onyx, listen closely," Meera said. "You distract it while I get the kid out of there."

"Like with the Mistblades."

"Exactly." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "Run right through this wall and confuse the heck out of it."

"By asking it dumb questions?"

Meera gave him a blank stare.

"Aw, don't be mad. I reserve all my dumb questions for you."

"Thanks."

Onyx neighed loudly. The dragon gave a guttural growl as Onyx dashed through the wall. Meera rose into the air and peaked above the top of a ruined building. Onyx had made it to the dragon, making it turn away from the child in the almost collapsed building.

The dragon breathed fire at Onyx, which did nothing as he sped down the street. The dragon roared, almost making Meera's ear bleed. It beat its great wings. The dragonling's wingspan must've been fifteen meters, covering the entire width of the massive street. It took off after Onyx.

Meera saw her chance and dashed over the rooftops to land before the charred building.

"It's okay. You can come out now," Meera said in her gentlest voice. "The dragon's gone."

"Is it really?" It was a small girl's voice.

"Yes, but we need to get out of here quickly before it returns."

A small girl who couldn't have been more than five years old, dressed in dirty, tattered rags, stepped out of the building. Her quivering eyes were on the sky. She clutched a small bag in one hand and held the other arm tight to her chest. This one was red with boils and burn marks.

Meera fished out a Health potion. "Come drink this. It'll make your arm better."

"Mother said not to take things from strangers," she said as she kept her distance.

"It's okay. Watch this." Meera took a little swig. "See, nothing happened. I'm Meera, and you are?"

"I'm Verna." She took the potion in a quivering hand, not letting go of the small bag. She took a small swig. The boils on her arm vanished, but the redness remained.

"You should drink some more. Your wounds are not fully healed."

"I know…Miss Meera, is it okay if I keep this potion for my mother? She's suffering from horrible burns from the dragon. The doctor says she won't survive without medicine, so I came to get these." She showed her the bag. "I can pay. Please, my mother—"

"It's okay, Verna," Meera said. "You can keep the potion. Say, are there more people where you and your mother are hiding?"

She nodded. "We've all moved underground—all the survivors." Her head fell, and tears bubbled up in her eyes. "There are not many of us left. The dragons…" A sob escaped her throat.

"It's okay, little one. I understand. Just take me to the grownups."

"Okay…" She gasped and pointed to the sky.

Meera didn't need to turn to know what she was pointing at. She looked at her hand, and Onyx's tattoo had returned to the back of her hand. This meant that Onyx did have a limit to how far he could go from Meera.

"Verna, go hide in the building and do not come out until I say so. Do you understand?" Meera asked.

The little girl nodded and ran back inside.

Meera turned to face the Sootscale Dragonling.