Erika’s grin warped with added scrutiny as two blades appeared out of thin air caressing her soft throat, someone was behind her.

Sighing, Teol approached Erika with narrowing eyes, coming to stand before and towering over her, his heavy gaze set upon her with cold examining eyes. Silence gathered as he stared deep into her eyes for a long chilling moment, “Either, you’re smarter than I can figure, or you’re simply this stupid. Why’d you come here? Are you an assassin? Why target me if so? If not, well back to my previous question.” He asked.

Caught off guard by his sudden questioning, Erika stumbled on her words trying to respond, “I-Uhm-ah-” which only annoyed him further.

“So you are a fool.” He mused, rolling his eyes and beginning to turn away.

“There is no point me in running away! I won’t survive out there, not alone. I have no idea what even IS out there.” Erika quickly began to speak, “Use whatever method you want to, if you still think I’m lying. I escaped your cage and here I am, willingly standing before you. So go ahead, cast up some truth spell or mix up a serum, I need not hide anything!” She exclaimed and he paused in his steps.

Wiping the grin off his face, Teol turned about, “So, you’re willing to be enchanted? That’ll tell us the truth.”

Erika met Teol’s eyes, something was off…

Something felt off to her about those words…

His eyes…His tone…The change in the blade at her throat…

“I’m willing.” Erika answered with a nod.

Teol couldn’t hide his grin again, “Well, we know something for sure, you’re no spy.” He then chuckled at her confused gaze to his words. “You really don’t know, do you?” He mused, “Lycans cannot cast magic, we have not a single drop of mana in our bones. We’re not creatures of the magical variety, we’re on the opposite side of the spectrum. We’re cursed, active mana that already has a purpose, it’d take a God to manipulate such a thing.”

“She could also be calling our bluff, sir.” The woman holding Erika at blade-point said from behind her.

“Indeed, she could be, but I could smell her confusion from across the village.” Teol once more sighed, “Though there is no real way to tell if she really is or isn’t a spy, we’d go round and around all day with that theory.” He then walked up closer and grabbed her arm, raising it up to be at his height, “I can put to the test her claim of draconic descendancy. Blade.”

Taking one of the daggers off the woman whilst she kept the other unmoving before Erika’s throat, Teol placed the blade’s edge upon her palm. “This’ll sting.” He mused, before suddenly slicing her skin open, causing Erika to shiver and squirm in response.

Blood, it trickled down her hand as he let go of it and immediately she pulled it back, grasping it away from him.

Teol smirked, keeping eye-contact with her as he then raised the blade up to his nose. At first taking a deep breath of its scent…Teol sensed something old within this scent.

He then lowered it to his rough lips, pulling out his canine tongue and taking a long lick of the blood.

Teol expected human, maybe hybrid human-vampire or demonic.

Teol did not expect to find his senses scurrying and shuddering.

Immediately he dropped the dagger, going still as a log as his expression paled and eyes widened.

“Sir?” Erika felt the dagger at her throat lower slightly.

“You can tell, can’t you?” Erika mused, she was the one smirking now. “My father’s blood runs through these veins. You can taste it, can’t you?”

Teol never felt so intensely ill before, yet nothing was wrong with his body, his senses were just that greatly overwhelmed. He had tasted blood like this before, he had hunted and eaten its flesh, but never before had he witnessed a drop so pure.

He felt it, and more so than that, he saw it.

Having tasted her blood, he now sensed the mana surging within her.

A fiery flow of fire alongside a chaotic storm, they raged within this young girl.

He could tell it was still murky, but compared to everything he had sensed before, this girl before him…

As his wide eyes filled with shock fell upon Erika, Teol realized, this girl before him was the daughter of a dragon.

But what does this mean? What will be the consequences of this!? Pure-blood Dragons fell to extinction eons ago! Is she truly…

His heart sank, another realization hitting me then.

Erika truly wasn’t of this world, she couldn’t be.

Which brings forth another question…

He thought, gritting his teeth at what could be.

She is…royalty? But will she be friend or foe?...Her people…her kingdom…friend or foe?

Clearing her throat Erika then began to speak, “So…if you understand now, I’d like to make arrangements to go home as quickly as possible. You say you can’t do magic but…you can manipulate mana with scripture, I saw it on the cage.”

“Indeed…” Feeling himself at a loss for breath, Teol sighed much more deeply than before, “We have no way of sending you back child. No mind of what you mean by…another world.”

“Another realm! Where we stand right now there is an infinite amount of them divided by an intangible wall called the veil-” She began to explain.

“We cannot.” Teol firmly restated, “Our sigilcraft takes as far as reinforcement, empowerment and manipulation but barely powerful enough to affect a river boulder. We’ve survived on our animal instincts and body strengths, not magic. If you want that, go forth to the bats, but don’t expect a welcome from those vermin. More likely, you’ll be caged up for experimentation.”

“But…” Erika’s heart sank at his words, she wasn’t going home? “So then…I’m stuck here?”

“If it makes you feel any better, we don’t have any other cages available.” Teol dryly joked as he walked on back to his desk and sunk into his chair, pulling out a large flask from beneath.

“Sir…you shouldn’t be drinking so ea-” The female soldier began to say only to be shut up by a gruff grumble as Teol popped it open and began chugging.

Downing the alcohol for a good moment, Teol only paused to say, “We just discovered there are other worlds out there Kei, give this old man a break.” Before continuing to gulp it down.

Kei released Erika from her blade, stomping about the dragon princess as she collapsed to her knees, Kei came to a stop before Teol and took the flask from him. “Perhaps I should key in grandmother on this artifact.” She warned, her tail swinging violently from side to side as she stood over him.

“Ugh, fine fine, pup.” Teol grumbled, recovering his flask and sinking beneath his desk to hide it away, taking one last sip as he was out of sight.

“So…so then…” Erika faced the dirt as her hands lay in fists upon it, shaking as she mumbled to herself, “I can’t go home…Father…Mother…The twins…Everyone…” Then picking up some of the dirt into her uncut palm, she slowly ruffled through it. “I’m so far away…”

Sorrow filled Erika’s eyes as it filled her heart at this heavy grasp of her situation, as she opened her palm, allowing the dirt to shift off with the breeze. Watching it flow away, tears began to stream down her cheeks then. “So far away…we’re not even standing on the same soil.”

The very thought of never seeing her family again, of not ever speaking with everyone she knew a loved…ever again…It crushed her. The thought tore into her heart and ripped it open.

The feelings of loneliness, fear and panic, they flooded her chest.

Thoughts of what to do, how to continue on from here, they drowned her mind.

Until words she heard before rang out from memory.

In times of unknown, stick to what you do know. Dragons do not panic, we know to be calm before the occasion to even be confused arises. Never let your emotions sway your ever standing state of watchfulness. Dragons are never confounded, never outsmarted, never outclassed except by ourselves. Why you might ask, my dear child? Simply because…

Her father’s words played out through her mind, as her tears stopped, her shivering coming to a pause as she whispered to herself. “We are Dragon.” Clutching her still bleeding palm to her chest, Erika took a deep breath. “I, am Dragon.”

Her fear, her panic and flood of thoughts were swept away as a state of stoic calm took their place within her heart and mind. As easily as they came, they went.

The advantages of having Dragon blood running in her veins, Erika was not just any human easily swayed by the situation.

She wouldn’t allow it to, and it was that simple to her. Expecting all and everything ahead to be harsh and stormy, Erika steeled herself, knowing not what she needed to do.

She only knew two things.

One, that she had to, no matter what it was she had to.

To get home.

And two…

That she…

“I…am a Dragon.”

Erika wiped the tears off her face, it wasn’t time for that.

Glancing about, she saw the old Lycan arguing with his apparent grand-daughter, she didn’t have very long.

She knew from their strength she wasn’t in just any common village, but also from how they reacted to the demons she knew they weren’t…or at least couldn’t be the strongest political force on this world. The demons acted afraid of them, but didn’t try to bargain, only escape. And never once did they bring up their lord or master to bargain. So the demons weren’t it either.

Maybe the humans were? Or these creatures they called vampires? Erika had seldom heard of the latter race, only that her father had encountered a pesky one before.

Looking over Teol’s desk, she saw many scrolls piled up about a set of writing tools and a map.

Erika stood up to get a closer look, slowly she rose, getting a brief peek of it before Teol and Kei noticed her recovery.

“Right right, that aside, what should we do of her?” Kei mused.

Erika only caught a glimpse, but it was enough, she had all her cards ready now.

One card, in particular, she hated to play but saw little choice and she had to play it just right…as she knew from their counterparts, wolves, that singular strength was taken just as seriously as the total strength of their group.

Teol turned to gaze at her once again from where he sat, seemingly contemplating her fate, Erika wasn’t about to let him choose it for her.

“I understand what danger I pose to your people, I understand you cannot just let me leave either.” She began to say, gesturing with her head to the map, “You’re hiding.” She mused, pointing out the barebones map of a swamp, forest and little bit of fields. “Four markers, two being groups of your allies currently away, one being a possible enemy, and the forth being on the very edge of the map. Possibly an enemy with unknown location? Yet nothing marking where we currently are ourselves.”

She then glanced about at the warcamp around her, obviously much newer than the run-down yet large village, it was also haphazardly put together. “You’re a people on the run, which explains your reaction to my existence and your suspicions.” Turning then to meet Teol’s eyes, she kept his gaze.

“I am more than just a Dragon’s kin, I am daughter of Royalty. My father, an emperor of a vast kingdom, would handsomely reward anyone who aided me in this time of need. And my people are no strangers to conflict, to war.” Erika explained calmly, “Draconia is armed with several hundred thousand strong warriors, magic beyond your comprehension weaponized and draconic beasts tamed and bred for combat. My father himself, is a half-blood Fire and half Storm Dragon, wings and all.”

At her words, Kei and Teol’s expressions hardened.

“I do not fully know your situation, which is true enough.” She said, walking over to Teol’s desk where a stack of papers lay. “But, that doesn’t mean I cannot be useful.” Erika grabbed hold of one of the papers and raised it towards them, “So…”

It was a recruitment form.

“How do I, a Dragon, fill this?”