The shock rendered Evie immobile as her eyes were fixed to the dragon that was emerging from the thick dark clouds. Her mind and her heart were trembling in fright because of the fact that the dragon was already called. How can this happen?

Evie knew that calling the dragon was always the last resort. The dragon guardian would never call the dragon immediately because it was always their secret weapon. Apart from that, the main reason was because the guardians cannot keep the dragon for a long a time nor could they control the dragon however they wanted to. Dragon guardians do not have full control over the dragons they summon as opposed to general views. Thus, it was always a rule that the guardians would only call on the dragon when it was time for the final battle or when they were sure they were on the losing end.

So why? Why was the dragon already summoned out here when the war had even yet to begin? Most importantly, Evie could not believe that her father actually called upon the dragon after all the things that they had discussed, and she had disclosed to him about. She had told him everything. She had told him the truth… so why? What was going on? Something had to have happened. Something wrong must have befell her father!

"Fuck!" Zolan cursed watching the dragon heading towards Dacria. They were not prepared for this. Just like Evie, the vampires knew about the guardian's strategies. They already knew about everything, even the exact amount of time a dragon would take to stay and fight before leaving the battlefield. Zolan had an access with all the records the vampires had about the guardians and dragons, so he already knew about everything.

However, never had they expected that the guardian would have summoned the dragon right at the start – even when both sides of the armies have yet to clash with each other. Worse was that the dragon was going to reach them first before any clash would happen.

Zolan could only grit his teeth as his gaze searched for Gavriel.

Their eyes immediately met. 'Take my wife and bring her to the dungeons, NOW! Have the women and children hide there as well!' Gavriel ordered and before Zolan could even hesitate, Gavriel roared the word 'NOW!', causing Zolan to curse again and suddenly, he grabbed Evie.

"Pardon me Princess, but His Highness had already ordered me to bring you to the dungeons now!" Zolan said and he was about to leap away with her when Evie pushed him away and screamed 'no'.

"No! I will stop my father!" she yelled at Zolan. "The dragon will not go against us! I have already spoken to my father! He knew that Gavriel is not the enemy! He does not plan on going against us!" Evie struggled as she hastily explained all that to Zolan breathlessly.

"Then how are you going to explain this, Princess? If the guardian is really on our side, he would never have summoned the dragon this early on." Zolan stated the blunt facts.

His statement was like a slap in her face, forcing her to accept the reality of things at the moment. Evie shook her head, unable to accept what Zolan had said.

"Please, let's go. This is His Highness' order." Zolan approached her again, but Evie quickly stepped back.

"No. There must be some mistake somewhere. My father knows that I am here. How could he call for the dragon? He knows that the dragon does not discriminate friend from foe! He would not attack Dacria knowing that I am still within these walls. He will never harm me! Let me stay here… so he could see me! I'm not going to go and hide!" Evie blurted out as she stepped away from Zolan's reach.

Zolan was torn and did not know what to do. He would normally follow the prince's order whatever the circumstances they might be in. And it seems this would be the first time that he was going to disobey the prince's order. He was fully aware of what was at stake here, but he wanted to believe in the Princess. He did not know why, but there was a nagging feeling deep within him saying that putting the princess in the dungeon to make her safe was a very bad move. He also wanted to believe that they were not doomed yet. And what the princess' said was true. That perhaps this was not what it looks like.

Maybe, this was just a decoy, and that the dragon would turn its back and burn the enemy instead if the guardian saw the Princess fighting here for Prince Gavriel and Dacria!

In that instant, Zolan ordered his men to have the duchess lead the children and women to the dungeons. He then proceeded to drag Evie away from the edge, so she would be hidden from Gavriel's view.

"I know His Highness would skin me alive for this later… but I am going to put my trust in you, Princess." He said with an ironic smile. For the first time, he was truly going to disobey Gavriel and believe in someone else. But oh well, he reasoned in his mind, was this woman not His Highness' other half? He could use that point of view to argue his case with the prince later.

Heaving a long sigh, Zolan braced himself. His intuition told him to believe in her this time, but if all things fell through, and it turned out that he was wrong, he at least knew that he was still capable of saving her from a dragon's attack. Though, that would most probably be the cost of his own life, of course.

"Thank you, Zolan." she breathed out in relief as a huge and bulky vampire maneuvered the dragon killing arrow and aimed it right at the dark dragon that was still quite far from them.

"Where is my father?" Evie asked.

Zolan's eyes focused towards the approaching army and his gaze settled on the silver-haired man riding in front on a white horse. But the moment he focused on Lucius' face, his brows creased into a hard knot, as if he had seen something unbelievable.

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A/N: Thank you so much for supporting me for july win-win event guys. I am not going to join this month cause i'm a little exhausted. I might join next month again after a month break. But dont worry, i will still update daily. ^^

Thank you so much again spellbounders! Love you guys so much