Meyara was sure that the dust from the previously shaking ground had clogged her nose and throat, the tickling sensation made her want to sneeze as hard as she could. Her disgust with herself should have made her get up, jump into any clear lake she saw first, and scrub her sticky skin until her heart content. But she found herself still lying on the ground, surrounded by traces of scorched dragon flames. A mixture of distinctive, earthy odor and smoke clung to her body.

"You’re awake?" Adriel asked in a half whisper. From his hoarse voice, Meyara knew that he was also worn out and needed time to recharge.

An encounter with a dragon was truly something that could not be compared to any interaction in this world. The creature radiated immense energy, every word it spoke was full of demands, making every lower-position creature unable to stop themselves from kneeling before it, baring every cell in their system to obey the dragon's orders.

It drained all their energy and even their souls. Meyara didn't think she wanted to do it twice.

"I think so,” she muttered lazily. “Don't ask me anything yet. There’s a thick cloud hanging over my mind right now, I can't think straight.”

"Really?!" The young man shrieked in panic, a cracking sound was heard when he got up abruptly. “Do you think the smoke penetrated your brain?”

“No. But it definitely robs you of your intelligence.”

Adriel surely rolled his eyes at her remark, a reaction he started to get used to showing every time Meyara responded to him carelessly. However, he sank in relief, knowing the girl was fine based on her curt answer. “I'm serious, Meyara. We don't know anything about the dragon,” he sighed, “it might have been nice to us, but maybe it was just playing around and watching us die slowly from somewhere.”

Meyara opened one eye to peer at him, or at least a shadow of him. “Are you seriously thinking like that?”

"No? I'm not that stupid."

“Okay. Neither of us can have a proper conversation right now,” she decided as she closed her eyes tightly. Enjoying the temporary peace that the dark forest gave them. She should really cherish these moments, because based on what the dragon told them, their journey would be much more complicated and long than they had expected.

Despite some difficulty, she remembered some of what the dragon had said. The Queen’s Imogen and Earthhill. She only focused on those two things, but it was strong enough to make her shudder.

Little by little they got closer to meeting the Queen, Meyara could feel the tips of her fingers tingling with excitement. But then the name Earthhill woke her from her dreams, weighing on her resolve. The city was very difficult to reach for ordinary citizens, reaching the place is like the worst miss the moon. That impossibility made anyone never dare to dream of going there.

As the capital of the Midehelm kingdom, where the palace stood, Earthhill was renowned for its excellence. In contrast to its name—which gave the impression of a village—this city was much denser and had more advanced science and technology than other places. Meyara even heard that the use of steam trains was starting to be trialed there.

The name ‘Earthhill’ was taken from the hill containing gems in the middle of this city, which Meyara didn't know much about. She only knew that the gemstone was special enough to be worshiped by many people. Many mages wanted to research it but had difficulty getting permission from the kingdom.

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Back to the main problem, ever since Meyara set her heart to meet Queen Hera, she should have known that she had to set foot on Earthhill, but she never thought much about it until now.

“So … if we find this Imogen, or at least her family, can we meet the Queen without going to Dawnlake first?” she finally asked after debating with her own thoughts.

With eyes still closed, she couldn't see what exactly Adriel was doing. However, based on the rustling sound and the clearer sound of his breathing, she knew that the young man had positioned himself closer to her.

“We can't go to Earthhill without passing through Dawnlake anyway,” Meyara's suspicions were proven by Adriel's voice which sounded nearer, “might as well stop by Dawnlake to refill our energy and supplies. It would be difficult for us to do all that if we were already on a boat sailing down Everford Lake.”

A groan escaped Meyara's lips. “But I don't think I can bear another unwanted encounter with a stranger! They’re much scarier than wild beasts! We barely avoided death!"

"Trust me." Out of sudden, Adriel's voice sounded full of confidence. "I can take care of whatever we need to do."

“I'm sorry, but your words don't sound convincing after all the wailing you did under the rain of fire.”

“Don't bring that up again!”

“Seriously,” Meyara sighed and got up with half-open eyes. “This is exhausting! Why do people always tell us what to do, where to go? Can’t they just… help us by giving us what we need?”

Meyara's frustration bubbled up and she almost couldn't contain it. She took several deep breaths, head full of the path she should take next. She tried to find a way out of her jumbled mind, but thinking hard in the middle of a forest shrouded in darkness was not a good idea. There was nothing she could discover but a dead end.

While she was busy fighting her inner turmoil, Adriel looked at her direction with a flat face.

“Really? Is that what you really want?” he exclaimed. “I don't think so. The Meyara I know prefers to solve problems with her own strength. You might get a little advice, but help? Usually you'll just throw it away without a second thought. Your pride is too valuable to be taken lightly.”

"Stop it! I don't want to hear it."

“You have to listen to me, just this once.” Adriel cleared his throat awkwardly then stood up to take and put his big bag on his back. "While you were asleep in those 4 fateful years, I had learned so many new things about this world to discover the facts behind the plague, and how to cleanse the Deterville springs of the disease that kept you from opening your eyes."

Meyara, who was busy pulling her hair to reduce a sudden headache, froze in place. "What did you just say?"

Feeling successful in getting the girl’s attention, Adriel repeated his words with his chest puffed out. “Like I said, I have learned a lot.”

“No, not that.” In an instant, Meyara was standing right in front of Adriel. Her irregular breathing sounded heavy, adding tension to the situation. "You said you wanted to find a way to clean up the Deterville springs?"

Now it was Adriel's turn to freeze. His breath was so shallow that he couldn't answer right away. Meyara's question hung heavily in the air.

“How did you know that? Who knew that spring was the problem?” Adriel's silence only made the girl press him even more. "As far as I know, the virus is invisible, even the Chief is having difficulty finding out its origin."

Silence. Not even the night insects dared to make a sound. It was as if everyone was so shocked by the situation that enveloped the pair.

Meyara's hand grabbed Adriel's shabby collar while holding it tightly. Leaving him with no choice but to stand still.

No matter how tired she was, she was awake enough to catch the meaning behind Adriel's suddenly silent behavior. In any normal situation, the young man will usually defend himself fiercely if anyone appears to be accusing him, even before the accusation was made. Meyara had said enough unfriendly words to him to find out about this. Therefore, her only student's silence struck her to the core.

She didn't want to ask, afraid to hear the possible answer. But she was more afraid if her bad suspicions were true.

“Adriel Cassius.” The way Meyara pronounced Adriel's full name seemed to say something, considering she had never bothered to say it before. “Did you pour anything forbidden into the spring?”

***