When Azureath was checking the city from the sky, Hans helped as an extra pair of eyes alongside Fenrir. In fact, it was Fenrir who noticed the energy blast first by being able to see when the spirit realm literally ‘split’. He quickly realized it was unusual, and as a result, managed to warn Azureath before Hans could even do so.

By this point, Fenrir’s connection with Hans was good enough that he did not need Hans’ feral form to talk. He could use Hans’ voice, and in his opinion, he was far more persuasive than Hans, especially when he was direct.

“Get aside!” he exclaimed. The urgency of his tone, and Azureath’s trust in Hans (and by extension, Fenrir) made her beat her wings to her right, creating a burst of wind that push her to the opposite side. It was barely a second before a powerful, horizontal pillar of light blasted through where she was, surprising her and causing her to roar. Her surprised roar also alerted those on the ground of the danger.

“Bloody hell, that was close!” said Hans. “How the hell did you…?”

“Hold on, little one!”

Azureath once again made an aerial maneuver by twisting her body while keeping her leathery wings close, this time to dodge smaller, but multiple, light beams coming from directly in front of them. Hans managed to stay on by tightly holding the handle on the saddle Azureath wore like a backpack while keeping his body close to her back, as per the basic training he got from an experienced dragon rider.

She quickly engaged her enemy: a light dragon taking on a wyvern form, possibly for better mobility. Hans wasn’t sure if it would be better than Azureath, but he quickly got the answer when the light dragon dodged her icicles due to being smaller and nimbler. The enemy managed to get in point blank range when the light wyvern let out an ear-piercing shriek that was followed by light beams aimed directly at Azureath’s head.

Both Hans and Fenrir, realizing the danger, jumped off Azureath’s back, claws bared. Hans landed on the light wyvern with claws dug deep into the wyvern’s chest, causing it to roar in pain.

“That traitor!” exclaimed the wyvern in anger before Hans jumped off the wyvern, with Azureath grabbing the werewolf and put him on her back. Hans was surprised that his claws could injure the light wyvern, though he knew who might be responsible for that.

“I should thank Zenithia later,” said Hans.

“Don’t get too overconfident about it,” said the wyvern as she checked her wound. “While she did give you her light, that doesn’t mean it is strong enough. In fact, I can tell that you merely have her light, but you have no idea on how to use it. Now, let me show you how you really use your light!”

The light beams once again appeared around the wyvern, but this time Azureath was ready. Her bigger body and her front legs made her able to grab the wyvern’s wings and started freezing them. She realized it was a bad idea when light beams coming out from behind them shot through her shoulders, with several deflected by Hans’ light-enhanced claws. The pain of the light penetrating Azureath’s scales distracted her enough for the wyvern to deal a very effective attack with her light, one that the azure dragon could barely deflect with her ice breath (also enhanced by Zenithia’s light) before the dulled, yet solid beam, hit her chest and sent her flying high to the sky, followed by the wyvern.

“Huh,” said the wyvern with a scoff. “She really did recover enough to give you two decent protections. If it wasn’t for her light, you two would be easy targets. Then, that ice of yours…you aren’t just an ice dragon, are you, azure scales?”

“Does it matter to you?” said Azureath. “Even if I claim to be something else, only Zenithia’s light can hurt you.”

“You got a point there. And besides, maybe you should start thinking about not putting your paws on the wrong floor. Or in this case…the wrong light spectrum, ghost dog.”

The wyvern then used one of her legs to kick the air. Hans immediately winced in pain, then felt like he was being attacked by an invisible enemy. Azureath noticed this and, concluding that her opponent was the cause of it, flew towards her aggressively. The light wyvern flew away as Azureath gave chase while occasionally avoiding light beams the light wyvern threw at her.

Inside Hans’ subconsciousness, Fenrir, bloodied and injured, limped towards Hans, who tried to support him, only to realize he had no control within his subconscious. All he could do was talk.

“Fenrir?!” he exclaimed in surprise.

“By my forefathers, I never thought….” Fenrir fell on his tail, trying to rest. “Your enemies…the light dragons. They’re terrifyingly dangerous. To think she could injure my spirit form….”

“That doesn’t sound possible,” said Hans. “I thought ghosts…”

“Spirits can’t be wounded unless the tethered body is. What she did was attack my soul and injure you, my tether.”

“I felt that. I thought she attacked me remotely. Knowing light dragons, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“While you were talking, I was trying to weaken her, thinking that she wouldn’t see an attack from the spirit realm. She saw me and tried to kill me! As a spirit! In all my life, I have never been…”

“Then don’t try it again. I know I sound selfish, but I have a feeling that if you die, I will, too.”

“It’s not selfish if you’re smart enough to know self-preservation, no matter how unusual it may seem.”

“So, what should we do? Zen’s protection is helpful, but you saw how she shrugged off our attack. If we can’t even incapacitate her, how are we supposed to win this.”

“Incapacitate, huh? Hans, I hope you don’t mind me asking this, but tell your dragon friend this.”

Hans listened to Fenrir as he saw the chase happening. Azureath and the wyvern was even in speed, but it was only because of the light wyvern flying much faster than her due to her smaller body. Azureath also needed to dodge light beams the wyvern shot at her in the most unexpected moments, such as when the wyvern was twisting around in the air and while turning her body to face Azureath. The wyvern flew unlike a bird, or a bat and it was throwing Azureath off.

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After Fenrir finished relaying his plan, Hans was stunned by it.

“You want me to tell her what? Why can’t you tell her?”

“You think she is going to trust me? I used your voice, yes, but she knew who’s talking.”

“I am not risking her life!”

“More like she’ll refuse because she’ll risk your life instead. So, prepare yourself, then tell her my plan.”

Hans groaned, but steeled himself and shouted the plan to Azureath.

“Is that what that wolf said? Are you prepared, little one?”

Hans could only say, “Yes!” while keeping his body as close as possible to Azureath. The azure dragon roared before she flew up towards the dark, shrouded sky. The light wyvern gave chase, as it was her job to deal with the flying dragon.

Then to the wyvern’s surprise, the dragon closed her wings and began to freefall. The light wyvern quickly realized what the dragon was planning and could only chuckle.

“The sky’s far bigger than both of us, dragon!” she exclaimed. “I can just fly aside and—”

But the wyvern was abruptly interrupted by ice forming around her wings. She was surprised by this development. She only assumed that the dragon could only freeze by touch. She did not know about the dragon being capable of manipulating the air.

As for Azureath, as a daughter of the Eternal Frost, she had complete mastery of weather manipulation. However, given the short time she only discovered her capabilities, she could only manipulate the weather only if she was full committed to it, as manipulating the weather to create an icy weather took all of her concentration.

However, by freefalling, she could concentrate on forming the ice around the wyvern, to ensure she wasn’t able to fly aside when the bigger azure dragon grabbed her. She knew, and Hans, too, that this was risky, owing to the fact that the wyvern could easily shoot light beams at her.

Thus, Azureath, already prepared to take risks, did not open her wings and let herself fall to the city. Hans and Fenrir did not realize it until they were close to the ground, to which Azureath was falling alarmingly fast.

“Azureath, what’s wrong?!” said Hans.

“I will not let you be harmed, Hans!” exclaimed the dragon. “So, do not be foolish and keep close!”

The wyvern and Azureath crashed through a spire, almost getting impaled by the sharp point. Azureath had not felt the pain of crashing ever since she started to learn how to fly. However, she took a very big risk by letting her underside facing the ground, something that her parents told her not to do due to the smoother scales. They told her that her wings could provide a good cushion, though her wings could be ripped, and she would need to stop flying while her wings heal. The thin, leathery membrane was delicate, but also easy to heal, especially if she was merely ten.

Good thing for her, she was also cushioned by the light wyvern she was fighting. The light wyvern, however, already tried to defend herself. She couldn’t conjure her light fast enough, but what she could do was to create powerful flash of light that could temporarily blind Azureath, causing her and Hans to reel back and let the wyvern go. Unfortunately, they were already too close to the ground for the wyvern to fly away. She ended up crashing through one of the more solid buildings alongside Azureath, who was unable to defend herself and ended up hitting her head on a wall, painfully. Both dragons were incapacitated by Azureath’s risky, and potentially fatal, maneuver.

Hans jumped off her back and quickly ran to her, checking on her. He became scared when Azureath did not initially respond. Her abrupt change of plan was both uncalled for and dangerous, but with a very good reason.

Fortunately, Azureath let out a deep groan-like growl as she rubbed her head. Hans did not even bother to ask if she’s alright. He was too worried for that.

“What the bloody hell were you thinking?! I told you to hold on her tightly, not crash onto the city!”

“We’re not…dealing with just a wyvern. Forgive me, but I have to.”

“You could get yourself killed for one light dragon out of whatever the fuck there is out there!”

“Your concern is noted, little one. Is she—”

Azureath was interrupted by the same light wyvern, who not only survived the crash, but also retaliated while the azure dragon and the werewolf were distracted. She did not bother using a long range pillar of light and engaged Azureath in close combat. Azureath, still dazed, quickly recovered and got herself out of the rubbles and stood on her four legs, facing the light wyvern. This time, to the astonishment of Hans and Azureath, the light wyvern changed form into a light dragon. At first glance, she looked identical to Zenithia if she was an adult, but Azureath, being a dragon, knew that her eyes looked different and her horns were shaped differently. Other than those, she was just another blue-eyed, white-scaled dragon.

“You’re insane,” she said. Her white scales were dirty due to the crash, and she was visibly injured, with her white scales making her bleeding even more apparent. “And a fool. You might end up dying for naught.”

“I will not deny that I was a fool,” said Azureath. “But I will do what’s necessary if it means preventing your kind from destroying the world I came to love.”

“Really? That scar all over your body tells me a different story. I bet those runes are used to tame you. The fact you’re not with a mage is proof that it failed, but it was branded to your body as a painful reminder of that. Don’t try and argue out of it. There are countless other realities out there where dragons aren’t exactly the good ones. There is one where the dragons caused the near extinction of humans in a reign of fire. Another where they formed a pact to survive, only to become the bearers of the world’s pain. In each and every one of them, dragons are the bringer of deaths and calamities. That is what we represent. That is what the light dragons are. Maybe you should start thinking about that. You might think that somewhere in your past, you dodged a bullet, but some others think this is a reality of illusions. A story that goes against the norm.”

“A story? For you, it is just another story. You eat realities as food, so of course this is nothing but another story. But this is our life. We have a story to tell, and that is the story that our young will listen, and be awed by it,” said Azureath. “That is the story worth telling.”

The light dragon chuckled. “So, that is your answer, then, azure dragon. I expected it to come out of a human with a sword and a shield, but this is a nice change of pace. Nevertheless, all those defiant words will not have merit if you can’t prove it.”

The light dragon never thought she would do it, but Azureath and her werewolf partner interested her. It seemed that for her, the fight was just beginning. The odds may be against them, but they stood against her defiantly. They might have a chance to survive.

But only if they had the luxury of knowing that. The light dragon thus decided that they should fight for it. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to show respect.

“Sacrisantis,” said the light dragon.

“Hmm?” said Hans.

“My name. To show that I consider you more than just a nuisance. You need a rival, and I am at your service.”

Azureath scoffed. “This is a battle of survival, white one.”

“Indeed. So, try and make it fun!”

Azureath had only partially recovered from her daze, but she clearly knew that Sacrisantis was not going to make things easier for her, Hans, and Fenrir. Clearly, she handicapped herself by taking on a wyvern form, built for speed and agility, but not strength and magic prowess. Now, that she took a proper form and with the command of light, she could end up becoming something even worse than Shawar did, especially considering that Sacrisantis had no indication of being weakened like Shawar.

She could only try and do her best as she opened her wings and flew away, dodging Sacrisantis. The second round of their fight had just started.