Ayah stood still, with the egg cradled in her hands as the fire ate away at the shell. Soon, she started feeling the scales shifting in her palms. They weren’t visible at first, with the red flames encircling the whole thing, but what appeared red with a hint of black scales were visible through the wall of fire.

It was a red dragon, just like the first emperor’s dragon.

Ayah grinned, her heart pounding with anticipation. Her luck maxed out. Finally!

The baby dragon’s head peaked at her as the flames died out. Ayah stilled. It was–it was a–

“A lizard?” Harith wondered from next to her, his brows furrowed in confusion.

A red lizard. It was a red lizard. Her baby dragon looked more like a lizard than a dragon.

“Excuse you!” Ayah blinked in surprise. The lizard had spoken, its voice filled with offense, its head held high toward Harith, its yellow-slitted eyes glaring at him with enough venom to kill him if it could.

“I am the great dragon of Morr! I will not stand still while a halfling such as yourself dares to insult me!”

The dragon looked a bit cute as he angrily yelled at Harith, with his small and delicate-looking wings flapping behind him.

Harith glared back at the small creature. “Great dragon? Is this what flying lizards are called these days?”

The small creature huffed, small flames escaping his snout. “I’ll let you know,” the dragon said, his tiny chest puffed out in pride. “I have lived longer than–” He closed his maw with a click, his eyes blinking frantically. “Anyway,” he said, cutting off whatever he was going to say. He looked around, trying to appear nonchalant, but the slight tremble of his wings gave him away. He cleared his throat, tilting his head to the side. “Where is this place?” His eyes locked on Ayah, a displeased frown pulling at his mouth. “What’s with this gloomy atmosphere? Not even a welcoming committee for my emergence? Is this how a dragon is treated in this place? How disrespectful!”

Ayah stared back at the creature. She was cheated off again. She couldn’t believe how foolish she was, thinking that anything good would ever come from the system. She was a fool.

Where was her small, cute baby dragon?

The system’s ding resounded, startling her. She glared at the pop-up window.

[A new quest is available!]

[Form a pact with Morr’s last dragon.]

Ayah stood still, staring at the floating words. She had first thought she would need to bribe the cute little dragon with treats and head pats to get him to form a pact with her. She glanced at the spitting fire lizard-like creature that spoke like someone who had lived for years instead of a baby, his suspicious gaze roaming around the three of them.

“Damn. to think I would still be stuck here after everything,” the dragon muttered under his breath.

How was she going to convince him?

Her shoulders shifted, drawing the little dragon’s attention to herself. He narrowed his eyes at her, then huffed.

“No,” the dragon said with finality.

What? She didn’t even say a thing!

Her surprise must have shown on her face. The dragon crossed his scaly arms over his chest, fire wafting from his snout as he snorted.

“I can see it on your face,” he elaborated. “You humans all want the same thing: power, power, and even more power. Nothing would ever quench your thirst. It’s like watering sand.” He looked at his fingers, picking at one of his claws. “With that being said, I’ll be tailing out of here. See you never!” He flapped his tiny wings, ready to fly up and away from Ayah’s grasp, taking her chance to complete the stupid quest with it.

“Wait!” Ayah closed her hands around the squirming dragon. He sent her a glare that would have looked threatening if not for his tiny size.

He paused, squinting his eyes at her, before he blinked in some kind of realization. He looked at Ayah as if she was trying to trick him into signing his life away to the devil. “No. Absolutely not! I’ve done it once. Look where that got me! I will not be fooled by another human.”

Ayah opened her mouth to reason with him. But the dragon held a clawed hand up to silence her.

“I won’t trust a word from a human’s mouth. Your kind would claim ownership over a star they never even stepped foot onto, let alone own. Making a deal with you is akin to offering myself up for servitude for free.” He crossed his hands over his chest. “I won’t. No matter what you promise me.”

He batted his wings furiously. Ayah winced as one of the wing’s sharp edges cut into her skin. He flew up. But instead of leaving, he stood some distance away, staring at her with searching eyes. He kept muttering, but he was too far away for her to discern any of the words he was speaking. Though, she thought she might have heard him say, “Dumb ancients. Wasn’t one failure enough?”

So, he knew then that she was a champion–or whatever Uliya had called it. She shifted on her feet. If so, then there was no need to hide it.

She didn’t know why he was loitering around instead of leaving–as he had claimed, but she wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

She called the system and asked it–or her–for any information about the dragon. What she got wasn’t as helpful as she had wanted. But there was something else along with the creature’s stats.

[The last Dragon of Morr]

[Type: Familiar]

[Grade: Unknown]

[Level:1]

[Health: Locked]

[Magic Attack: Locked]

[Magic Defense: Locked]

[Strength: Locked]

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[Mana: Locked]

[Intelligence: Locked]

[Speed: Locked]

[Passive Skill: Locked]

[Skill: Locked]

[Special skill: Locked]

[Strength: Fire element (Locked), wind element (Locked)]

[Weakness: Water element (Locked)]

Strengths and weaknesses? Those weren’t available before. Were they manifestations of some of Uliya’s powers? Of her newly acquired blessings?

She squinted her eyes at the words—water element. The dragon’s weakness was water. Too bad there was no water-based mage around here. However, she did have something that could be proven helpful. The dragon was still level 1. How strong could he be?

She schooled her features into a neutral expression, burying her giddiness deep inside.

She knew what she had to do.

“I’m asking for more of a partnership rather than servitude,” Ayah said slowly, enunciating each word.

He glanced at her warily but said nothing, waiting for Ayah to continue.

“Don’t you want to become strong? Or do you want to stay a lizard forever?”

Ayah tilted her head to the side, evading the flames the dragon spat at her face. He snarled, baring his teeth threateningly at her. Ayah had no doubt they were sharp enough to cut through her neck. She let a smile pull at her lips.

“Tell you what. Let’s play a game you and I.” The dragon paused at her words. “A fight. Whoever forfeits first wins. The loser would have to listen to the winner’s request,” she continued, ignoring Harith’s incensed “Really?”

“You think you can win against me? You? A mere mortal?” The dragon seemed amused enough by her proclamation.

“Why? Afraid to lose?” Ayah goaded him on.

He snorted. “As if! The mighty me had never lost a battle against a human. And I don’t plan on starting now.” He grinned, its sharp teeth bared threateningly at her. “Pick up your weapon, human, and face me.”

Ayah glanced at Harith, who was looking at her with a pointed look. She smiled sheepishly, shrugging. It wasn’t like she had a choice. She had to make a pact with the dragon to complete the quest. What she needed now was a sword. She still had yet to get another sword, and repairing her broken one would require materials not currently in her possession. Harith seemed to understand her querying look. He unsheathed his sword and handed it to her.

It was heavy, heavier than she ever thought. It wouldn’t take more than a couple of swings for her arm to fall off. How would she be able to fight with it?

But with a flick of Harith’s fingers, the dark sword was coated in even more darkness. Its shade became even darker than it was, but also lighter now. She sent him a grateful look.

“Don’t get killed,” he said sternly. “I don’t know what you want with this dragon–” He spat the word as if it was coated in venom. They hadn’t met for more than a couple of minutes, and the two of them were already sworn enemies. The dragon seemed to despise all humans. But why was Harith so irritated by the creature’s presence? Was it because the dragon had called him a halfling?

“But it’s not worth your life,” Harith continued, his jaw straining under his words. Ayah had an inkling he would step into the fight if things went south.

“It’s okay. I know what I’m doing.”

He looked at her for a moment before sighing. “Of course,” he muttered under his breath.

“Move it, human. Or are you getting second thoughts?” The dragon smirked. “If you beg for your life, you won’t find me merciless.”

Ayah twisted the sword around. She took a few steps away from Harith and raised the sword. As she neared the dragon, she spotted Loaye hiding behind a tree trunk. She huffed. She would have to steer away from the defenseless idiot.

“We need to set down the rules–”

“I’m not a dishonorable dragon. I will not ask a mortal to meet me defenseless. You can use anything you can get your hands on,” the dragon airily announced.

Perfect. That suited her just fine.

“Let’s see if a mortal can withstand my magnificent flames.” The dragon smirked. Ayah could already see the flames escaping his grinning mouth, dissipating around his face. He roared, and an onslaught of fire shot towards her.

She slashed the black sword at the oncoming flames. It cut right through the curtain of fire. The flames traveled on each side of her, scorching the ground as they went, leaving nothing but dead earth and the overwhelming scent of burnt vegetation.

Impressive. She glanced at the dark blade. She would later need to ask him how it was forged. Maybe she would get something similar. Though a bit lighter.

She evaded another fire attack, leaping from tree to tree, mourning their fate as fire engulfed them as soon as her feet touched their trunk.

She leaped forward, placing herself before the dragon’s opened mouth. She could see the flames brewing inside, making their way outside his throat. The dragon’s satisfied smirk said it all. She was going to lose. It was over. Soon, his flames would engulf her, with no other way for her to twist herself away from the incoming attack. She had lost.

Or did she?

Focused on her, the dragon failed to take notice of the several items she had summoned from her inventory. She lifted the sword and slashed upward above the dragon’s head. The dragon’s smirk widened. But before he could utter any taunts or celebrate his victory, freezing water cascaded above his small body, drenching him.

Soft thumps resounded as the enormous clay water jars fell to the ground. That was all the water she had in her disposition. It better work. Or else, she would not only be short on water but would have nothing else to use for another attack.

There was a moment of silence, during which only the dragon’s flapping wings sounded as he flailed to shake the water from his body. Unable to hold himself afloat, the dragon flew down and landed heavily on the ground a few feet from Ayah. He glanced at his wings spread around him, then leveled a murderous glare at her.

“You cheated!” he accused.

Ayah crossed her arms over her chest. “The agreement was to use anything at my disposal. You’re just a sore loser.”

“You–!” He opened his mouth to shower her with flames, but instead, what came out was a sneeze.

Ayah stilled. They stared at each other, dumbfounded.

Dragons could get sick?

She felt a bit bad for drenching him in freezing water, but he left her no choice.

“So… you lost to a mere mortal,” Ayah said. “Just at the outskirts of the forest is a vast army that would want nothing more than to get a hold of an ancient dragon. You’re but a sitting duck waiting to be captured.” She leveled him with a look. “Do you still refuse to make a pact with me?”

The dragon hesitated. After a moment, he said, “A partnership, you said?”

Ayah nodded.

“I won’t be obliged to obey your orders if I refuse to.”

“To the best of my ability. Sometimes, you and I will be forced to accomplish certain tasks…” She trailed off, unsure how much she was allowed to reveal. She felt two pairs of eyes boring at her back. She kept her stare trained on the thinking dragon, her eyes locked with his suspicious ones.

They stared at each other, silent. Ayah didn’t know what else she could do to convince him to form the pact. She was at her wits’ end. She waited patiently for the dragon to speak, to announce his verdict that would allow her to continue this ill-fated adventure till she found her way back home or end it right here. She doubted she could force him into the pact.

Then the dragon sighed. “Fine.” He shot her a glare. “If you trick me, I’ll make you regret it the rest of your life. You would wish for death, but you wouldn’t find it.”

Ayah nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’m serious.”

“I know.”

Satisfied with her answer, the dragon approached her, his tiny feet not even making a dent in the forest floor. He sure had a lot of threats for such a small body.

“I, Girra, the great dragon of Morr, the lord of dawn, and the owner of the Darkflame, accept to make a pact with you.”

A circle of light with symbols and signs appeared underneath their feet. It shone brightly till it nearly turned the night’s darkness into morning.

The system’s ding sounded, announcing the fulfillment of her quest.

[Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations!]

[You have formed a pact with the last dragon of Morr!]

Girra looked at her with guarded eyes as if expecting her to laugh at his face, proclaiming how much of an idiot he was for trusting a mortal’s words.

Ayah smiled at the dragon.

“Pleased to meet you, Girra. I hope we’ll make a great team.”

Girra huffed. “Yeah. whatever.”