To say Meera was stunned was to say the sky was blue. The witch was in a similar state of shock as her eyes were wide open, and her jaw hung loose. It was one thing to know about the archdragon and another to know its secret dragon name. Even Akhessai didn’t tell Veridiana her dragon name until the very last moment.

  “How?” Meera asked. “How do you know his dragon name?”

  “He told me, of course.” Eryx chuckled as if it were the most normal thing for an archdragon to entrust a Cosmarian with their dragon name.

  “He just told you,” Kalrina said, disbelieving him. “An archdragon gave away their true name, just like that.”

  “Well, no, not just like that.” He scratched his scruffy beard. “What was it? Oh, I know it was something important…” He went still as if someone had enchanted him.

  Meera glanced at Kalrina, who shrugged. Meera reached out to shake him, but a tremble went through him as he started moving again.

  “Sorry, I can’t remember,” he said with a laugh. “But I’m sure it was important, or why would an archdragon tell me their true name? Maybe he told me it because he thought I would forget it, but I forgot the reason why he told me in the first place.” He laughed again. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must plant these roses. Cannot have them wilting on me, now, can I?”

  He began walking off, but Meera called. “At least, tell us his worldly name?”

  “It’s Raxor Winterbrace.”

  Kalrina gasped. “I’ve heard that name before.”

  “Please tell me he’s the loveliest dragon and very nice to humans,” Meera said.

  “No, he’s the exact opposite of that,” Kalrina said. There was a fear in her eyes that Meera hadn’t seen before. Even when her death was announced, she didn’t look so afeared. “Dearie, your plans better not have anything to do with him.”

  Meera gulped. “Well, my plan was to wake him up and tell him what happened to his dear Akhessai.”

  Kalrina gave a slow nod. “My dear, let me ask you this nicely…Have you lost your fucking mind?” She shouted before composing herself. “Raxor has a deep hatred towards humanity. He was the reason why no human settlement could gain a major foothold on this side of Gethys. If you wake him, Drurith will only be found on the pages of history.”

  “Oh, he’s that bad, huh?”

  “He’s worse,” the witch exclaimed. “Some say he and his kin are the reason Ealisto is a frozen wasteland and that once he finished destroying that world, he came here to continue his terrible work. I always knew that was horseshit. Tales concocted to inflate his terror. Since when did dragons learn to use the Gateway Mirrors? But then I learned he’s an archdragon, and archdragons don’t have the same limitations.”

  “They can travel between worlds?” Meera asked with a frown.

  “That and much more,” the witch replied. “As much as I love your plan of waking him and having him decimate the sorceresses, we would be the first casualties of his rage for having woken him from his deep slumber.”

  “Why is he sleeping in the first place?” Meera asked.

  The witch shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe his vigorous love tired him out.”

  Meera snorted at that. “So, like my ex.”

  “I suppose,” the witch said, cracking a smile. “But even if we decide to do this, the moment we step out of this glade, the cultists, the sorceresses, and the dragons will be on us. Right now, they think we’re heading to Drurith, but the moment they find out our direction is the Light Bringer mountains, I fear they might even pause this war to come after us.”

  Meera frowned. “Even the dragons?”

  “Yes, even the dragons. Something tells me Ignis wouldn’t want to give up his power. Think about it, dearie. If his all-powerful, estranged father wakes up, he will no longer be the strongest dragon around. So, I’m sure he’ll turn the dragons around to get rid of us first.”

  “So, what you’re saying is we’ll be causing a power struggle amongst the dragons, meaning that’s both the big groups taken care of.” Meera rubbed her hands. “When do we head out?”

  Kalrina drew a deep breath and spoke in a controlled voice. “Did you not hear what I just said, dearie? How everyone will be coming after us?”

  “I heard you,” she replied. “The problem is not waking the dragon. We’ll survive his wrath.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  The witch rubbed her temples. “No matter how strong you think you’ve gotten, you cannot save us from his wrath.”

  “Did you forget we know his dragon name?” Meera replied. “His true name. I remember you telling me you could make a dragon dance to your tune if you knew their true name.”

  “Yes, but I also told you that our level difference matters. Even if we know his name, we’re so under-leveled compared to him that we’d barely be able to hold him for half a breath, if even that.”

  “We take our chances with the archdragon, or we’ll be hunted like dogs till Drurith. You remember how difficult it was for us to get to Akhessai. It’ll be thrice as hard to get back.”

  “And yet you think going to the Light Bringer mountains will be somehow easier,” The witch snapped.

  She had Meera there. Her plan, which seemed simple, was getting more and more complex. She had hoped to wake Zerodra and tell him about what had happened to Akhessai. Then the archdragon could have taken care of the rest. She had failed to take into account how perilous the journey would be. They were safe here, but outside this glade, danger waited for them at each step. Their enemies had probably reinforced themselves, most likely surrounding this entire meadow.

  Meera sat down, huffing. Oh, I hate this place. Maybe I should have stayed another day or two and leveled up more in Veridiana’s room.

  But even that wouldn’t have helped little. She was stuck, and they couldn’t stay here forever, as the dragons or sorceresses would eventually win and come knocking. And now they knew that all they had to do to gain the Cosmarian’s favor was to bring him flowers.

  Shit! The window’s closing fast. We need to do something.

  Eryx was humming a tune as he worked somewhere in the darkness. An idea came to her. Maybe he could provide a solution to this conundrum. He was, after all, a Cosmarian who just happened to know the archdragon’s true name. So, she walked towards the humming.

  “Where are you going?” the witch asked.

  “To see if the Cosmarian can help us.”

  “Let’s see if the half-crazed—” she stopped herself and sighed. “Sure, it couldn’t hurt, could it.”

  Meera followed his humming and found him on his knees, planting the Dragon Blossom roses she had given him. They were in a central spot with flower beds all around them. She could be mistaken, but it could be the central spot of the glade. She would need the light of day to confirm.

  Meera knelt beside him and tried her best not to gag from his smell. In the end, she was forced to breathe through her mouth.

  “Need any help?” She asked.

  “Huh?” He finally noticed her. “Oh no, they’re planted already. Now, I just need to water them and hope there aren’t overcast skies for the next few days.” He leaned in. “If there are, then I might have to do something about the clouds.” He chuckled, which became a wheezing laugh as he slapped his thigh.

  Kalrina rolled her eyes but chose to keep her thoughts to herself. Eryx was doing it again. Laughing at his own jokes and most likely hearing things or people that weren’t there.

  “That’s nice,” Meera said. “Uh, Eryx, I was wondering if you could help me out. You’ve already done so much for us by letting us stay and sending our enemies away. But there is a problem.”

  “You’re worried about food and water, aren’t you?” Eryx chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. I have enough food to last me a lifetime, and since Cosmarians never die, so I have an infinite supply.”

  “No, thank you for the offer,” she replied.

  “You sure? I have lots of Dingleberry fruits. They’d be perfect for us.”

  The witch snorted. “Yes, they’d be perfect for you, dearie.”

  Meera frowned at her and didn’t get the joke. “No, thank you, Eryx.” She brought him back to the topic at hand. “It’s just that, now that we’re here, our enemies are encircling the glade, waiting for us to step out. And the moment that we do, we’ll be set upon again. I plan to go to the Light Bringer mountains to ask the archdragon Zerodra for help, but we’ll never make it there with all these enemies on our tail.”

  “Hmm…” He stroked his scraggly beard with his dirty hands, leaving dirt and wet soil everywhere. “I cannot do anything about your enemies. I’ve given up fighting, after that fight with Osgarion. If you were in my place, you would’ve also given up fighting after that brutal defeat. In any case, I can get you there, provided you don’t scream.”

  “Don’t scream?” Kalrina asked, stepping back. “What are you planning to do to us?”

  “Oh, nothing horrific. I’m sure you’ll survive.”

  Meera got up and joined the witch. “Survive what?”

  He laughed and clapped his hands. “Yes, they are scared.” Then laughed some more. “You say your enemies are surrounding you and will follow you. What if they can’t or well, by the time they catch up to you, you could wake the archdragon, assuming that is what you still want to do.”

  “Once again, what do you have in mind?” Meera asked.

  “I could simply throw you to the mountains. You’ll get there like that.” He snapped his fingers.

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Trust me.” He smiled, showing all his yellowed and crooked teeth.

  “Okay,” Meera said.

  “W-Wait,” the witch said. “Maybe we should think about this. Are you absolutely sure we should do—”

  She never finished her thought as they were suddenly lifted into the air and hovered over to Eryx. It was like flying, but for some reason, it was even more secure than when Meera used the Mirror Wing to fly.

  “When you see Zerodra,” Eryx said. “Tell him Eryx says hello; that should get the sleepy head to wake up. He’s an old friend, you see.”

  “I have a really bad feeling about this,” Kalrina muttered.

  “Nothing to worry about,” Eryx said, overjoyed for some reason. “I just hope you land in the snow and not on the rocks, because you know, all your bones might turn to jelly.”

  “What?” Meera and Kalrina cried at the same time.

  “That won’t happen…probably.”

  All of a sudden, Meera wasn’t so hot on this plan anymore.

  “I take it back. We don’t want to be thrown to the mountains,” she dribbled out.

  “Yes, please put us down,” Kalrina quickly added.

  “Nonsense. It’ll be fun.” He leaned back with his outstretched arm, they were floating on. It was as if he was getting ready to throw a ball very far, but the ball in question was Meera and the witch. “Goodbye.”

  Then he hurled them towards the sky, and they blasted off like a missile, screaming their lungs out.