Ramon stared at the tiny figure curled up behind the crystal pane. He had flown up from the little island in the lava and taken a turn to the right. He placed his paw on the crystal and furrowed his brow. “How do I heal you from here?”

“There’s already a small hole in the crystal; it’s so tiny that you can’t see it with just your eyes,” Kozabokget said. “You can heal me like you’d heal anyone else. It’ll take a little bit longer because not as much of your mana will flow through.”

Ramon took his paw off the crystal pane and scratched his head. “How do I know you’re not lying to me?” He pursed his lips. “Actually, how did you even bring me to that little island? If you could bring me, why didn’t you bring another holy dragon from a different area?”

“I relocated you to the little area by begging space to twist and transfer you there,” Kozabokget said. “Although space seems like one giant entity, it’s actually composed of many smaller ones. I’d have to talk to many different spaces to transfer a holy dragon from further away. I could try to convince one space to talk to the space next to it and communicate all the way to a holy dragon, but messages get lost when passed down through a long chain. Also, space is very finnicky. I can talk to everything, but that doesn’t mean I can order everything around. After all, if you tell your mom to pull your dad’s teeth out, would she listen to you?”

Ramon scratched his head even harder. There were a lot of things in Kozabokget’s explanation that he didn’t understand, but from her tone and cadence, he felt like he understood the general meaning of what she was trying to convey. Maybe. However, he did know one thing. “You didn’t answer my question. How do I know you’re not lying to me?”

The pink eyes floating in front of Ramon blinked. “There’s no way for you to know,” Kozabokget said. “It’s impossible to know a person’s true thoughts. All you can do is analyze their actions, analyze their words, try to see through their viewpoint, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll know what they’re really thinking. It’s something you’ll have to get good at if you want to effectively use my talent.”

Ramon frowned.

A sigh rang throughout the corridor. “It’s understandable that you can’t trust me,” Kozabokget said. “Your parents and grandparents must’ve told you terrible things about me.”

Ramon tilted his head. Had his parents said anything negative about Kozabokget? Grandma Gren said the trip would be a little dangerous because of her, but other than that, he didn’t really know anything about the pair of eyes at all.

“In order to gain someone’s trust, you have to give something up,” Kozabokget said. “I can’t give you anything right now, but if you heal me just a tiny bit, I’ll be well enough to teach you a few languages. Once you see I’m telling the truth, you can finish healing me, and if I’m lying, you can just leave me here; a little bit of healing won’t change the situation I’m in.”

Ramon scratched his chin in a manner similar to Grimmy.

“Don’t you want to grow up faster?” Kozabokget asked. “Don’t you want to be a little stronger? Your family will treat you better the stronger you are. I bet Gloria hasn’t resonated with any of us sealed folks yet. If you made a pact with me, wouldn’t that prove you’re more talented than her? I bet you’ll be your parents’ favorite child. And your grandparents will be impressed too! I’ve been sealed for over two thousand years, but you’re the first person I’m going to make a pact with; I bet your grandma would be proud.”

Ramon furrowed his brow and stared at the tiny goat behind the crystal pane. She was small enough for him to eat in a single bite. From where he was standing, Kozabokget looked perfectly harmless. But she was sealed in the evil-sealing tower—meaning she was evil! Ramon pursed his lips and squinted while making grumbling sounds.

“I understand,” Kozabokget said and sighed. Tears welled up underneath the pink eyes and dropped to the ground. “I’m not good enough for you. You saw my real body, and you’re thinking that I tricked you. I-I might’ve embellished my abilities a little. I’m not as amazing as I claimed to be. If I was, wouldn’t I be able to convince the seal to let me go? Wouldn’t I be able to convince the earth to free me? I-I saw you, and I thought you were like me. I just wanted a friend: someone to talk with, someone to care about me. I’m weak, but I had to pretend to be strong, or else I would’ve been eaten instead of sealed here. Was I wrong, Ramon? Did you not want someone to play with? Someone to listen to your complaints and really, actually hear what you were saying? Please, Ramon, please heal me. My abilities might not be that great, but I can help you convince other sealed folks to make a pact with you.”

Ramon stared at the pair of crying eyes, and he bit his lower lip.

A hoof and a furry ankle appeared in the air beside the pink eyes. It wiped at the tears, and the eyes jerked upwards as Kozabokget let out a sniffling sound. “I’m sorry, Ramon,” Kozabokget said as the hoof faded away. “I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard. Your parents are going to be here soon. It’s okay if you don’t want to heal me, and I understand if you don’t want to be friends with me. I’ll try to survive until the next holy dragon enters the tower.” The eyes flickered and faded away. Before they disappeared, Kozabokget left a few words behind. “I’ll stop bothering you now. Goodbye, Ramon. I-I just really thought we could be friends.”

Ramon stared at the empty space where the eyes had been. Then, his gaze landed on the curled-up goat behind the crystal pane. A frown appeared on his face, and he took a step closer to the crystal.