Back on the day of the departure to the Dragon’s Keep, Hekate fidgets with her armor, idly thinking as she readies for the trip. She has already confessed one of her biggest fears to Daniel, since she doesn’t know how to fly, doesn’t know how to transform even partially, and she doesn’t want to. Thankfully, Daniel’s shuttles don’t remind her that they’re high up, since she doesn’t have to look out of the windows, and she has a solid floor under her feet, as well as the seat belts to hold her in place. And, if she needs extra comfort, Daniel will hold her and reassure her.

Unfortunately, what is bothering her now isn’t the fact that they’ll be flying high up in the shuttles, but the location to which they are headed.

That place is the Dragon’s Keep, sometimes called Shaiulvalgarro’s Hoard after the dragon who conquered it long before Hekate was even alive. She never met Shaiulvalgarro himself or herself, as it was Morthybargaron, the Red Lord, who ruled the Keep when Hekate was born.

And, who enslaved her.

The little feldrok had no idea she was one for most of her life, until that fateful day when Daniel defeated Lugrae the Feral Feldrok and spoke to Xyreko the first time. She was always taught that feldroks are hideous, ugly creatures to be feared, because they are disgusting monsters. They were the only things the dragons seemed to hate more than the little fox-eared slave girl herself.

Or rather, the little feldrok-eared slave girl.

She suffered every day in the mountainside fortress belonging to the dragons. While some of the dragons simply ignored or neglected her, like Ryuogriar, Reignleif, and even Geirahoel, the male greater dragons, specifically, treated her as scum. They would spit on her, give her cruel orders, and remind her that she is an ugly wretch.

Her hands tightly grip the dagger Daniel gave her when they first met. She had a rusty shortsword that she had scavenged when she first arrived at the Citadel in a futile endeavor to conquer it all alone; one such cruel order given to her by Morthybargaron.

The human from another world never treated Hekate with disrespect. He was cautious at first, since she tried to kill him and lost strength, collapsing onto him. Even so, he never tried to harm her or take advantage of her. He never even tried to contract enslave her the way he did with the dragons, even though Hekate is now one of the most powerful magic users in the world, even if she lacks the experience to make total control of her magic.

That is ultimately why she is able to even consider going to the Dragon’s Keep. She is still technically contracted to Morthybargaron, but because he’s dead, no one really ever thinks about trying to remove hers. In fact, it’s possible everyone has forgotten about it.

Unfortunately, she sees his name etched into her chest every time she bathes, and it makes her feel sick.

She takes a deep breath and exhales to try to steady herself.

“Daniel will be with me. I’ll be alright,” murmurs the young girl quietly. “He can kill anything scary, even if… that one comes back to life…”

She trembles, twitching with a start when the door to her room opens.

“Hekate?” asks Ryuogriar from the door.

“Y-Yes!~?” chirps the young ravenette with surprise, trying to mask her worries.

“Before… you depart…” The platinum white dragon steps into the room, not yet making eye contact.

Hekate stands up, hiding the dagger behind her back so Ryuogriar doesn’t ask about it. “Wh-What is it? If you’re here to tease me about Daniel…”

“No,” interjects the dragon with a suddenness that startles Hekate. It’s not a sharp or cruel interjection, but a desperate one. The voluptuous blonde murmurs even more gently, “No… There… is always time to tease. But, I came here…” She finally looks at Hekate, and the young empress is taken aback by the serious expression of concern on her elder’s face. It makes Hekate begin to become worried.

“I came here to ask… are… will you be alright?”

The feldrok girl cocks her head, and her triangular ears flop to the side, emphasizing her confusion. Given the fact that Ryuogriar continues to look directly at her with that same serious expression, it suddenly registers to Hekate that Ryuogriar has seen right through her, causing her ears to jerk back up to their alert position. At the least, the dragon matriarch knows something is wrong.

“I’m fine,” replies Hekate, looking away somewhat without thinking. She realizes immediately that it only confirms that she’s lying.

Ryuogriar steps a little closer, cautious not because of Hekate’s immense magic power, but because they have a more rival-based relationship, meaning Ryuogriar should be ecstatic by Hekate being distressed. Instead, she’s showing concern.

“Hekate… Your Greatness… It’s reasonable to be afraid…”

“I’m not afraid!” snaps the feldrok girl.

The dragon slumps her shoulders a little, losing what remains of her usual haughty and elegant posture. Now, she is an elder trying to console a younger companion. “That place… is a place of darkness, your Greatness. I would be lying if I tried to claim I wouldn’t be afraid. So much happened there,...” She looks down, ashamed of her own silence at the time. “None of it was worse than what happened to you.”

The feldrok girl squeezes the dagger for comfort, still keeping it hidden. “I told you, I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”

Instead of trying to deny Hekate or dispute her claims of being alright, Ryuogriar instead smiles and simply says softly, “Then, you are stronger than me, my dear little empress.”

This shocks Hekate, and she can’t help but stare at the dragon as the latter makes eye contact with her again, showing a tender smile. She adds, “Just know, no one will think less of you if you need to leave that place. Least of all, Mukori.”

This time, Hekate is the one to break eye contact as she looks to the side. “There won’t be anything to think, because I’m not afraid. Morty is dead, his stupid brother is dead, and the stupid green one is dead. They’re all dead and they can’t hurt me anymore. So, I’m going to steal and destroy everything those stupid…” She winces as she is unable to say it. Her hands are trembling, and her eyes water a little as she tries to close them to hide the pain she’s feeling from the dragon.

She can hear the white dragon approach, from her footsteps to the way her dress moves and the ambient sounds around them change with the woman moving through the room.

However, Hekate also hears a different set of sounds; those consistent with the dragon coming to a stop in front of her and sinking to a kneel. Hekate looks, and she snaps her gaze rigidly to Ryuogriar, who is on her knees before the feldrok empress.

“Hekate, I understand. I have many regrets, as well as fears. Mukori will understand as well. You need closure. We all do. You don’t have to hide your feelings. As the highest ranking of the surviving dragons, though second highest of our family, it may not be my place, but I grant you not only my permission, but my full encouragement to do whatever you see fit to Shaiulvalgarro’s Hoard. Plunder it to the last coin, jewel, and scroll, or erase it from this very world. You are the empress over even the dragons now. We, who do not deserve it, are at your mercy now.”

The feldrok empress is stunned by this admission. It’s extraordinarily awkward, and it’s making her feel restless.

“I…” Hekate swallows her saliva, her trembling finally subsiding a little. She takes a breath and exhales to calm herself again. She finally shows Ryuogriar the dagger, saying softly, “I… Daniel gave me this when we were in the Citadel, and it gave me strength. I couldn’t do anything against Lugrae, and I couldn’t do anything against Morty or the other dragons… I still wouldn’t be able to…”

Hekate grips the chest of her armor, and Ryuogriar is quiet for a moment, thinking of what to say.

Hekate adds on her own, “Daniel will be there, so I’ll be fine. I’m sure of it.” The young feldrok ravenette smiles warmly, and Ryuogriar gives a gentle curve to her own lips in return.

“I’m sure you’re right, your Greatness.”

Hekate becomes a little sheepish, and she adds, “D-... Don’t tell Daniel any of this, though. I… I don’t want him to worry…”

Ryuogriar’s smile becomes more caring and gentle. “If that is what you wish, I will. But, Mukori won’t think less of you either way.”

“I don’t need or want to find out,” pouts Hekate quietly. She then puts her brave smile back on, saying, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s almost time to go.”

Ryuogriar smiles and nods. “I look forward to teasing you upon your return, your Greatness.”

The young feldrok empress scoffs and she makes her way to the door in a jog. She stops before exiting, and she hesitates for a long time. She finally takes a breath and says haughtily, “If you touch any of my things, Ryuo, I’ll bite your face off. And then your hands.”

The platinum dragon can’t help but laugh warmly as she follows Hekate out, “I wouldn’t dream of it, your Greatness. After all, Mukori is not a ‘thing’ of yours.”

The feldrok huffs and growls impotently as she chases Ryuogriar out of her bedroom and stomps childishly past the blonde seductress to make her way to the hangar, since they’re both going the same way.

She can’t refute, since Daniel isn’t a thing, but she won’t agree, since she won’t hand him over to Ryuogriar without a fight.

On the bright side, the dragon successfully distracted the young empress from her worries for at least the time being.

***

After arriving at the Dragon’s keep, the group is confronted by members of the Unity of the Great Dragons, as it translates. They are essentially cultists that chose to live around the dragons and worship them. And, for the lucky few of their number, they might be chosen as ‘Acolytes’, who would be able to serve the dragons directly.

In actuality, the acolytes were nothing more than elegantly named servants, holding a slightly higher status than the slaves, of whom the lowest was Hekate, back before she ever even had a name.

The name which her beloved companion Daniel gave to her when he saved her mind, body, and soul. Now, the doorway into the ancient mine serving as the home of the dragons of the continent for centuries feels bigger than it ever did.

Hekate is thankful that she has her armor and full-face helmet to hide her face and ears from everyone else. She’s terrified of this place, even now, but she looks to her rock of safety; Daniel. He is studying the columns and other structures of the exterior of the Dragon’s keep, which have mostly been taken over by the dragon worshippers as their homes.

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Like the day they met, and the time they travelled through the Citadel together, Daniel appears unafraid on the surface, but he is cautious and alert. He walks with his dragon-slaying rifle like it’s a staff, even in spite of how heavy it is -or, perhaps because of how heavy it is-. Though, she does know that he does it to give the illusion that it is a strangely-shaped magic staff like one used by many mages, rather than a weapon anyone with the most basic know-how could operate.

The teenage ravenette swallows her fear, stepping quickly back into close proximity to Daniel, keeping him and the security bubble he provides close. Everything feels okay as long as he’s with her. She can face the impossible, from the scariest of heights to the strongest of monsters. Even Morthybargaron is no threat to her, made even moreso by Geirahoel when she annihilated the magic bag he was in.

Hekate doesn’t know if he could be revived, because she doesn’t know what happens to things inside of magic bags when the bag is destroyed, but Daniel and the others seem convinced that Morthybargaron is gone for good, which is good enough for Hekate.

Or at least, it’s mostly reassuring.

She’ll verify with Daniel that he’s really gone when they’re alone.

She notices herself falling behind and hops back into step. She’s doing everything she can to hide how she’s feeling so Daniel won’t worry about her. He’s very attentive, and she doesn’t want him to think she’s even weaker than when they met. In fact, she has no excuses at all, since she absorbed the magic power of the Devourer, meaning she is probably the singular most powerful being on Zenkon, save for the gods.

And, she’s still bound to Morthybargaron. If he’s still alive…

She shakes her head vigorously clear. No! He’s not alive. Daniel will kill him again, even if he is. He’d be able to defeat me if he had to. So, it’s fine. Daniel can defeat anything.

She smiles at Daniel, likewise hidden from everyone thanks to her helmet. But, she does notice Wenlianna looking at her. The human magic artisan is the newest member of Daniel’s family, though it could be argued she’s the most senior of his family members, since she was close to him before anyone else. She gave Daniel a strong foothold in the world of Zenkon, even if it ultimately faltered at the time, setting him on his path to meet Hekate, for which she is thankful.

Wenlianna specifically works her way closer to Hekate, acting casual, while Daniel gets a little ahead during their entry into the keep. The magic artisan asks quietly, “Hekate, is… everything alright?”

The feldrok empress nods, replying equally softly. “Yes. I just felt like this place is… bigger than I remember…”

“I see. Were… you in your feldrok form, then?”

The ravenette shakes her head. “No… I was… numb…”

“Numb?” asks Wenlianna, confused. However, she notices something about Hekate, perhaps her own posture shrinking or drooping, and she quickly adds, “Oh, forgive me. If… there’s anything I can do…”

The young feldrok smiles, which hopefully shines through in her voice, “I’m fine. Thank you for asking. I’m stronger than I was.” And, I have Daniel to keep me safe.

The brunette human smiles and nods, adjusting the strap of her void bag on her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here then. This is exciting, but I don’t think I’d be able to protect myself from an angry benki, let alone a dragon.”

Hekate snickers warmly. “Then, I’ll gladly protect you.”

“You have my thanks!” replies the artisan brightly.

Hekate feels a little guilty, since she’s feeling the walls closing in on her even now.

When they finally arrive at Ryuogriar’s private chamber, Daniel walks past the threshold and around a corner. Hekate is right behind him, until her head clonks against something solid, causing her to stumble back. She cries out, “What!? What is this!?” She slams her fists against the invisible wall which now separates her from Daniel. It sounds like a big pane of glass or even solid concrete, even though it’s completely invisible.

Treia asks nervously, “Daniel?” She steps up close to Hekate, inspecting the air that has halted Hekate in her tracks.

“It’s some kind of automatic barrier,” explains Vaergraes as she touches the invisible surface on the feldrok empress’s other side. Now knowing there is something blocking her path, Hekate takes a step back and begins charging magic.

“I bet I’m stronger,” growls the feldrok girl.

“Hekate, I’m fine.” She flinches and stops in her tracks at Daniel’s words. He says with a playfully teasing tone, “I’m guessing all of them guarded their rooms with barriers to keep others out, especially uninvited guests.”

“Well, I’m invited too!” whines Hekate.

“I don’t know if that’s it. I’d be more willing to guess that it has to do with me, of all people.”

Hekate pouts while a brief conversation occurs regarding the wall, ending with them realizing that it’s because Daniel has no magic that he could pass through.

Vaergraes, Aoloan, and Kera'tai are the first ones to laugh, and then everyone else does as well.

Still a little perturbed, Hekate crosses her arms. “Fine. But, if you need help, Daniel, I’m breaking through this barrier.”

“And, I’m sure you’ll succeed. But, relax. I can’t imagine Ryuogriar booby-trapped her personal quarters.”

“Booby-something, maybe,” grumbles the small feldrok teen, since the platinum dragoness takes great pride in her well-endowed humanoid form.

Vaergraes does her best to reassure the ravenette as the others snicker softly, “Don’t take it to heart, your Greatness.”

Hekate huffs with a “Hmph!” and she turns away. “I was hoping I could use a long stick or net to sweep all of Ryuo’s treasure out of the room, but that stupid wall is in the way.”

In actuality, she’s nervous because Daniel will be out of sight, and anything could happen in this place. Morthybargaron was terribly cruel and possessive of his treasure. Hekate, herself, witnessed one of the female lesser dragons be nearly killed for simply picking up one of the former Dragon Lord’s treasures simply because it had fallen off of its pedestal and she was putting it back.

Now that she understands how desperate the situation was for the dragons, Hekate is certain that the only reason that the pink dragon is still alive is because there was always a desperate need for one of the females to lay a viable egg, and for that egg to hatch safely into a healthy offspring.

Hekate does her best to keep her focus on what’s going on. She listens intently for Daniel. She’s afraid the room is so vast, that even her powerful ears won’t be able to hear him. This is especially possible because her helmet dampens sound some to protect her from rifle and pistol shots.

Thankfully, when he does speak, Daniel is comfortably audible, and he talks enough that no one has to worry about whether or not he’s still all right.

During her efforts to distract herself, Hekate decides to throw rocks at the barrier, and to her surprise, they pass through. Everyone is curious about it, and she calls out, “Daniel! Rocks can pass through! I think it only blocks people!”

Daniel replies loudly enough to be heard, “Hang on, I’m working on it.”

There’s a sound deep in the tunnel, and Hekate snaps her gaze in that direction. A few of the others with her, including the Stalvaltan Guards and villagers, also snap their gazes in the same direction, mostly in response to Hekate looking so urgently.

One of the Stalvaltan soldiers asks quietly, “Did you hear something, your Majesty?”

Hekate couldn’t be bothered to correct him in that her chosen title is ‘your Greatness’, since she’s afraid it could be one of Morthybargaron’s loyalist allies. Or, worse yet, in some terrible, terrible twist of fate, it’s Morthybargaron himself, magically revived via…

There’s some noise in Ryuogriar’s chamber, and Daniel calls out, “Alright, try it now.”

Without even thinking, Hekate immediately whirls and jumps into the short hallway. She gives no regard to whether or not the barrier could still be active, or even be slow to dissipate. She wholly trusts Daniel and will endure anything to get back to him as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, the barrier is gone, as evidenced by her safe passage across the threshold that blocked her moments ago. She swallows quickly, feigning her composure, “Haha! Yes!”

“Y-Your Grace… What if the barrier was still active?” asks Treia nervously.

This prompts a brief conversation that leads into Daniel teasing Hekate and tricking her into embarrassing herself by trying to disagree with him to prove she’s not a blind follower, only to blindly disagree with that very statement.

Now embarrassed, the feldrok empress whines, “I… Shut up!”

Hekate doesn’t mind being teased by Daniel in actuality, and she joins him in searching, now that she is back in close proximity to her beloved darling.

The rest of the mission in the Dragon’s Keep goes similarly until shortly after searching Reignleif’s quarters. The closer they get to the deeper parts of the hoard, the more fear grips Hekate’s soul. She can feel a sort of pressure; a miasma that makes the air feel heavy and stifling. Her hairs are standing on end, thankfully hidden mostly by her inner layer of clothing and her armor, as well as the fact that her tail is normally fairly poofy on its own.

Daniel doesn’t seem to feel it, but to Hekate, it’s thick like a fog or smoke, threatening to steal her breath and choke her.

She hears the faintest scrape of metal on metal; armor of a colossal being beginning to move faster than anyone else can process. Her instincts scream at her, and her gaze closes in on itself, narrowing to see only one thing.

Rather, one person.

Everything in the world is about to end, because the entirety of her world is Daniel.

He’s in danger!

“Look out!” screams Hekate as she pounces forward, shoving Daniel thoughtlessly with far more strength than she should ever assume he can survive. She knows him. She knows the truth. While he can kill anything, he is an especially weak human in this world, since he has no magic.

She doesn’t have time to even realize the potential horrifying mistake she just made as his body rockets up the hallway from the force with which she pushed him.

A massive weight slams down on top of her, and Hekate briefly blacks out from the impact smashing her into the ground.

Daniel’s in danger! Get up! Get up now! Do something! What even is this! Who cares!? It’s trying to kill Daniel! Don’t let it hurt him! There’s nothing without him! Nothing! I can’t! I can’t survive!

She hears the muffled ‘BOOOM!’ of the dragon-slaying rifle being fired, and the weight shifts. It gives Hekate just enough sense to focus and breathe, and she casts the first spell she can think of to give herself some space and free her; a magic beam out of her palm that, even at point blank range, should be diffused enough by her armor not to hurt her too much. The beam explodes against the floor of the hallway, and the weight disappears as Hekate is launched by the blast through the air a ways and into a tumble on the ground. She coughs as she climbs to her feet wearily. She flinches when the rifle fires again, this time very close to her. Even with her armor and helmet, the volume of the rifle’s report is terrifyingly loud and startling, made no less so by the massive dragon-suitable hallways of the ancient dwarven mine.

Thankfully, she will never do anything to have that rifle pointed at her by the person she loves most in this world. Even if it causes her pain, she knows it is the thing that has protected her life and freedom many times over now.

And, it is what brought Daniel to her.

That’s right. Daniel is fighting, which means we’ll win. Get up and help him!

Hekate climbs wearily to her feet, trying to make sense of the battle quickly as most of their allies are being evacuated, especially the non-combatants like Wenlianna and Aoloan. Hekate just needs to help Daniel buy them some time.

The titan, which turns out to be an especially large dragon in full plate armor, stomps right as Daniel fires the railgun, and his shot misses narrowly. The air cracks like a clap of thunder, but the railgun is significantly quieter when firing than the proven dragon-slaying rifle.

Hekate finds that her magic bag is still intact, and she withdraws her ice blaster to join Daniel in fighting this dragon. Its armor appears to have the shifting rainbow hue of sharmelkolle, meaning magic will be almost ineffective, especially coming from an amateur like Hekate, whose precision leaves a lot to be desired. Vaergraes and Kera’tai are working their way closer to Hekate, and the hallway is chaos, even though it doesn’t feel like it has even been that long. She feels hot liquid running down her chin inside of her helmet, and she wipes it with her wrist, finding the crimson ichor of her own body staining her armor. It’s her blood, flowing steadily from a wound somewhere inside of her helmet, though her whole body is rattled, somehow simultaneously feeling too numb and painful to determine where it’s at. Still, she is on her feet and able to fight.

And, like a beacon in the midst of the fight, Daniel’s voice calls out over the noise, “Hekate, Vae, Kera! Use ice and lock it in place! Hurry!”

That’s just perfect for Hekate. She already has her ice blaster, so all she has to do is aim and fire.

She can feel her body growing weaker, but she is the Feldrok Empress, first wife and darling to her beloved Daniel, who protects her and guides her every chance he gets. Together, they can defeat anything. She confirms Daniel’s order with a nod, focusing on the thing she has to do.

The ravenette fires her ice blaster, and the ice magic explodes, locking the armored dragon’s foot in place with a sudden bloom of solid crystals, which throw off the dragon’s balance.

Hekate cycles her ice blaster as Vaergraes and Kera’tai cast spells. The dragon meets a wintry ray from Vaergraes with his own fire breath, while Kera’tai locks down the dragon’s other foot with her incantation.

It’s then that Hekate looks up at the colossus looming over them in the hallway. It was easy to forget about when focused on its feet, but now the massive dragon is falling forward thanks to its loss of balance.

And, its trajectory places Hekate, Vaergraes, and Kera’tai in its path.

This realization shatters Hekate’s remaining resolve, and her body feels even weaker as a result. She’s losing what strength she still has, and the last thing she can hear is Daniel calling out.

Hekate instinctively takes a step back and her body gives out from the pain and exertion.

Her tunnel vision closes in completely as she blacks out.

***