I flew with Myra to the island and we touched down on the beach where the dragon rider had touched down and was waiting for us. The dragon was huge, at least double the size of Myra, and it was incredibly menacing looking with its black and red scales, razor sharp teeth and the two long horns on the top of its head. I dismounted from Myra first and was followed by the dragon rider. They were wearing a brown cape that covered their body and a hood that covered their face. They took a few steps toward me and removed their hood. The dragon rider was a female, with dark hair, yellow eyes, purple skin, and long, pointy ears.

"You came," she said to me.

"You didn't leave me with much of a choice, my curiosity about you was overpowering, as was my interest in seeing a real life dragon in the flesh."

"Do you not have dragons where you come from?"

"No, they went extinct years ago from being captured by poachers and raised in captivity."

"How did they become extinct?"

"Dragons won't breed if they've been raised in captivity."

"I wasn't aware of that."

"How did you get yours? I don't see a binding stone on its head."

"I found him as a hatchling; I think he'd flown out of the nest and wasn't able to stay in the air. Usually when that happens they get pounced on by a predator, luckily I came upon him before that happened."

"Does he have a name?"

"I call him Draga; what about your phoenix, does it have a name?"

"Her name is Myra."

"I saw two other phoenixes on your ship, how is it that you have so many?"

"Those are Myra's children."

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"You must be something special for her to trust you with her children like that."

"Is that why you sought me out? Because you think I'm special?"

"I heard stories about you while I was in your realm, about how you were the first person for generations to tame a phoenix, about how you seized the throne of your kingdom and have gone on to earn the love and admiration of your subjects; I thought that if I could get you to agree to help me it would give me the best chance to save my people."

"So you do need help."

"Yes. My name is Saraya, I am from a race known as the dark elves. We inhabit several islands in an archipelago that's not too far from here. The main island of the archipelago is inhabited by the race that is intent on subjecting us to as much misery as possible: the white elves. We used to live on the main island with them, but eighty years ago they decided they didn't want to share the island with us and we were rounded up and separated and taken to live on the smaller nearby islands. Ever since then they've been terrorizing us; they make random visits to random islands and kill us for sport. We've done our best to build up our defenses but its nowhere near enough; whenever they come we have no choice but to run and hide while those that are tasked with defending our villages get slaughtered trying to slow down the white elves so that we can escape. Since finding Draga I've been able to do a better job of protecting everybody but I'm all alone and there's only so much that I can do by myself!"

Saraya got down on one knee and punched the ground in frustration. She had been fighting a war all on her own for years with her only hope of salvation being her ability to find allies that would help her.

"These white elves, how strong are they?"

"They outnumber us, by at least five to one, and their weapons are far superior to ours. The truth is that if they wanted they could have wiped us all out by now, they're just keeping us alive so they can use us for sport, that's how little they think of us, killing us is nothing but entertainment for them."

"The island that the white elves live on, where is it?"

"You're planning on going there?"

"Yes; I have to, after everything that you've told me."

"It may not be safe."

"I'm a queen, they'll have to afford me some courtesy."

"If you keep heading in that direction you'll reach it," Saraya said, pointing north east.

"How long will it take us to arrive there?"

"You should get there in a couple of days, and be sure not to make any mention of me or any of what I've told you when you meet them."

"I won't, but while I'm here I'm going to need to visit your islands so that I can see for myself what you're going through."

"Just be careful to make sure your movements aren't tracked."

"I will."

"I have to go, I need to resume my patrols. Thank you for coming, and be safe."

Saraya got back on her dragon and took off, back to her one woman war.