Eshdar wasn’t sure what happened before he blacked out. There was a sharp pain on his head and his lower body as he started to regain consciousness. Someone was calling his name desperately, but he wasn’t sure who until he opened his eyes and saw the man he trusted: Albert.

The blonde-haired human was, in many aspects, the most boring looking man that Eshdar had always met. His hair was well-trimmed, cut by barbers every month in whatever shop he visited. His eyes were blue like the sky as if they reflected them. Then finally, his clean-shaven, light cream skin. Eshdar had no idea how the human did it, but he looked like he never worked under the sun, yet he always did, without a wide-brimmed hat. He was wearing a shirt and a vest, but those alone wouldn’t be enough for the summer.

All of those pointed to a very untrustworthy and boring person, like someone who was part of a military or even a politician with questionable agenda. In fact, Eshdar would think that bland face of his would be a template of someone’s idea of a perfect human: blonde, blue-eyed, light skinned. Except he wasn’t. Rather, he was the most trusted, the kindest, and the best human he had ever met. Eshdar trusted the human with his life, and in turn, Albert trusted him. That relationship extended to Lilac, in which both helped her cope with her new appearance, while also mourning for Ifrit’s ‘death’, helping her to move on. While Lilac did not get to move on and still cling to Ifrit’s memories, it didn’t matter now. Ifrit was alive.

Eshdar soon returned to the present. Albert was desperately calling Eshdar’s name to wake him up while moving the rubbles all over his body, now covered in dirt and blood. Albert managed to get under a sturdy cover when the tower collapsed, but Eshdar did not manage to find one. Thus, he was buried under heavy rubbles, and Albert, his arm broken and his body aching, was trying to get him out.

“Don’t give up on me, Esh! Stay with me!” said Albert as he slapped the hellhound’s vulpine face. Eshdar was still dazed and delirious, probably suffering from a concussion, but he managed to weakly say, “Al?”

“Oh, thank the maker,” said Albert as he desperately tried to move the rubble pinning Eshdar’s legs. The chunk was too big and too heavy for him to move. Even after throwing all his body’s weight, it wouldn’t budge.

“I can’t move this on my own. Put your weight into it,” said Albert with a considerable strain. “Help me!”

But it was to no avail. Eshdar couldn’t muster enough strength to help Albert, and the human started to become overwhelmed by pain and fatigue. After trying his best, he gave up and sat beside Eshdar, frustrated.

“W-what happened?” asked Eshdar. “What did I miss?”

“We got an unexpected reinforcement,” said Albert, taking a rest. “The battle’s far from over, but I think they have it under control.”

Eshdar slowly noticed what happened around him. Hellhounds, demons, and surface dwellers alike were frozen solid. The hellhound quickly suspected Nergora, who was the only hellhound he knew who used ice.

“Nergora…is this him?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Nergora’s voice, who was limping, with one of his arms slung over Sovarn. “Even my ice cannot produce something like this. I don’t know how, but somehow, I felt cold.”

“It’s the work of our most…unlikely reinforcement,” said Sovarn. He turned towards where the fight was still in progress.

Eshdar thought it was the timely arrival of Ifrit that saved the day. But instead, he turned towards a red-furred Lycan accompanied by a scaled beast with white scales slightly bigger than the size of a car. The beast was unlike anything he had seen before. It was beautiful and graceful, especially with those semi-transparent bat wings that seemed to shimmer under the light and the blue, reptilian eyes she had. The sight of the winged reptilian somehow made Eshdar calm instead of agitated.

“Is everyone alright?” said the red-furred Lycan with the poshest Tragorian accent Eshdar had ever heard aside from Sovarn. Her accent made it seemed that any strong words would offend her greatly. It made Eshdar wanted to be courteous, which was impossible, given his current condition.

“My lady, I am sorry for asking you this, but…may I ask who you are?” said Albert, who seemed to realize who the Lycan was.

“My name is Adeline de Rochefort.”

“De Rochefort?” said Albert with a surprised tone. “The trading family?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, this is hardly the time for a pleasant chat. We got this covered, so you can rely on us.”

Eshdar sighed, but then winced in pain. He remembered that his legs were still pinned under the heavy rubble.

“Can you help me?” asked Eshdar, pointing at his pinned legs.

Adeline climbed towards where Eshdar was pinned and tried to move the rubble, but like Albert, it was simply too heavy. Knowing this, she quickly said, “Zen.”

The dragon then approached the rubble and moved the rubble easily. As she did so, she said, “I am Zenithia. Pleased to meet you.”

“You can talk,” said Eshdar. “Not many beasts can do that.”

“And you don’t seem surprised. So, you’ve meet dragons before.”

“No, not really. But I’ve met talking beasts before.”

Zenithia helped Eshdar out of the rubble, in which he noticed the damage on his legs. It was broken and parts of his flesh were torn in a big gash that revealed his bones. He never realized it, but bone-white color was really white. He would not be able to walk for a while, especially with parts of his leg so badly damaged. Personally, Eshdar was more disappointed by the fact that he wasn’t defeated by demons, but instead by a collapsing building.

He looked at Albert, noting how bad his injuries were. Unlike Eshdar, he escaped the worst of it, though his arm was broken, and one of his eyes were soaked in blood gushing down his head. Eshdar then heard the same unearthly shriek he heard before the building he was in fell on top of him. He looked up and saw the same winged terror swooping down with its rider to finish what it started.

“Shit!” he exclaimed, looking around to find his bow. “Not again!”

Nergora and Albert were ready to attack the winged demon just as it swooped down. Nergora’s ice-coated sword slash connected, but it simply had no effect on the demon. Albert could not even get a shot, though even if he did, it would not damage the demon as much since he lost his cleansing bullets when the building fell. The demon flew around for another go, and Nergora tried to muster the will necessary to do the ice slash attack he previously used as their offense, but he knew he would not be able to, especially not after exhausting himself protecting the guards and getting himself injured as a result.

But the one who saved them showed that she could do it again. Adeline pulled out her own sword, but Nergora, who was close to her, noticed that it was just the hilt with no blade.

“Are you kidding me? You can’t call that a bloody sword!” exclaimed Eshdar.

“I know what I am doing.” Adeline then made a stance. “One clean strike is all I need.”

“Ready when you are, Adeline,” said Zenithia.

The others saw that she intended to do something, but they could not even understand why she only had a sword’s hilt without its blade. The winged demon let out a shriek as it bared its claws like an eagle preparing to snatch its prey. Adeline waited, tension high. Everyone wasn’t even sure what she was thinking, though Nergora and Albert could tell that she was serious.

Just as the demon’s claw as almost the same height as the humans, Adeline shouted, “Now!” and moved her sword hand, intending to cut the winged demon. Then, to everyone’s awe, something unbelievable happened.

The part where there was supposed to be a blade formed a bright white blade constructed out of pure light just as she twist her body, with the light blade connecting with the flying demon’s underbelly. However, it did not stop there. The sword extended its length, long enough to bisect the flying demon as if it was butter, causing the winged demon to crash in two places while the demonic rider managed to jump to safety.

Adeline exhaled while Zenithia said, “Got it!” while standing up. Everyone was left speechless by the appearance of the bright sword as Adeline walked towards the demon that was downed. The demon was trying to fight back, only to face the tip of the light sword.

“That blinding light…what are you?” said the demon with a hiss.

“I am a Tragorian noble,” said Adeline with a calm tone. “And you have defiled my home.”

Without moving her hilt, the light-based blade extended and stabbed through the demon’s head, instantly killing it. Adeline saw a circle forming under her and she jumped away just as the demon fell through a crack that opened and closed, astonishing her.

“Not even your light can permanently kill a demon,” she said as she turned towards Zenithia.

“Not that it matters,” said Zenithia as she folded her translucent wings. “They won’t be a problem for us anymore.”

“True, that.” Adeline then scanned the battlefield. She soon found the two she was looking for: the team of dragon and Lycan, along with a spectral wolf, successfully pushing back the attackers with the best of their abilities.

Adeline sighed, relieving her tension as the battle turned into their advantage.

“Sorry for asking,” said Albert, approaching Adeline. “But, that sword…where did you get that?”

“The hilt came from a broken sword.” said Adeline. “But the blade is hers.”

“Hers? The…winged creature?” asked Nergora.

“I’m not a ‘creature’,” said Zenithia with a huff. “I’m a dragon. Surely, you have heraldic crests with dragons, right?”

“I’m aware of them,” asked Nergora. “It’s just…you look very normal. I don’t know how to say it. I mean, seeing a living, breathing dragon in the flesh…I don’t know. I have never seen dragons in Ternor despite the fact there are images of them everywhere.”

“Because there isn’t any,” said Zenithia. “Sapient beings do have quite an imagination, regardless of whether they are accurate or not. Even then, they still fear the unknown.”

“Ah, well…that’s what makes me human,” said Albert. “And Lycans and hounds, too.”

“We came here as soon as we could,” said Adeline. “But unfortunately, we can’t come soon enough. We were preoccupied with Angla and the surrounding towns. Tragoria is currently a hostile battleground, and we had just barely started liberating it.”

“We?” asked Nergora. “There are more of you aside from the other dragon? More dragons?”

“Unfortunately, Zenithia and Azureath are the only dragons you’ll ever find in this continent for now. We are only here because we are unaffiliated with the Order. Freelancers. We have no obligation to defend the Main Continent. I know two dragon rider teams are not enough, but we don’t need more dragons if it means causing unwarranted fear.”

“And surface dwellers are prone to that,” concluded Albert. “I suppose that is a good choice, my lady. We are indebted to you.”

“No, not just me. Us.” Adeline then climbed on Zenithia. After she sat on her bare back (Zenithia wasn’t wearing a saddle), she said, “Come on, Zen. Let’s end this.”

Zenithia let out a trilling roar akin to a songbird, then opened her translucent wings that seemed to shimmer under the light. She then flew towards the battlefield along with several guards and others that could still fight. The rest could not join the fight owing to different injuries, though they knew they would not need to do so, not with the unexpected reinforcement of two dragons and their riders.

“Seriously,” said Eshdar. “First circle demons, now dragons. This world’s full of it.”

***

“There! That’s Arbal!”

“Guess we’re late to the party after all.”

Ifrit and Rhynsa managed to reach the devastated town after driving for two hours straight. They were expecting a heated battle and was prepared to stop close to the town and walked the rest of the way there.

However, when they reached the town, it was all over. They met with civilians evacuating from the town, who explained the situation. When they arrived, they were greeted with the aftermath of the battle. There were survivors attending to their injuries as they could hear the moans and wails of people in pain, along with medics scrambling around providing first aid.

They were going to cross the city gate before Rhynsa saw the runes and hit the brakes, almost throwing them off the car. Ifrit then asked, “(What’s wrong?)”

“(Anti-demonic runes),” said Rhynsa. “(I’ll dispel it. Wait in the car).”

Rhynsa climbed out of the car and walked towards the runes. He quickly pulled out a dispelling kit and drew a counter sigil. Just as he did that, he felt a gun on his head, causing him to raise his hands and looked up to find a hellhound pointing her revolver at him.

“State your intentions, bat. Friend or foe?” said the hellhound.

“Right back at you, lady,” said Rhynsa. “I’m surprised the Demon Hunters don’t just shoot you for having horns and lizard eyes.”

“Not If I show them this.” The hellhound then pulled out a crest that Rhynsa instantly knew.

“You’re a Demon Hunter?” asked Rhynsa, surprised. He never imagined a race called hellhound could even be granted a membership.

“Between the two of us, I think I have a better chance of not being shot on sight,” said the hellhound. “You don’t exactly look friendly, and neither is your friend on the car.”

“You’re a hellhound and you’ve never seen a Fuzandre before? Wait, let me guess. Surface born, right?”

The hellhound nodded.

“Well, the more you know. I’m not a demon, but he is,” said Rhynsa while pointing at Ifrit, without even hesitating. “Long story, but I can vouch for him.”

“I’ll hold your responsible if he is not what you want me to believe,” said the hellhound as she undid the barrier. This, again, surprised Rhynsa.

“You took what I said at face value?”

“He isn’t exactly the first ‘demon’ we met. And besides, I think I’ll take the chance. In fact, I don’t think you’ll dare try anything in there.”

The two nodded, though they were unsure of what the hellhound demon hunter was talking about when she said about taking chances.

Ifrit and Rhynsa walked through the devastated town with the hellhound demon hunter, Lotte, at the front. It was clear that they had just survived an attack. Like Stadelitz, the town was destroyed, with most of its original buildings razed or just ruined by demonic attacks.

“Demons of all kinds were thrown at us all at once,” said Lotte. “There were flying demons, circle demons, and every abomination you can imagine. In fact, we might not even survive if it wasn’t for an unexpected reinforcement.”

“They beat us to you, huh?” quipped Rhynsa. “Who’s the backup, then?”

Lotte pointed towards the obvious, and upon seeing the creature, both Ifrit and Rhynsa gasped in surprise.

There was a blue-scaled dragon sitting near the edge of the town keeping a lookout. The dragon was bigger than the car Maximilian lent to the two, with its bat wings making it even more imposing, considering that it flexed it every now and then.

“That’s strange,” said Lotte, confused. “I thought there are two of them. Where is the other one?”

“There’s another one of those?” asked Ifrit.

“It’s more important to know that they’re with us. Anyway, do you know where Albert Schafner is? I was told that he’s here,” said Rhynsa.

“He is.” Lotte then pointed towards one of the intact buildings. “You can find him among the injured.”

“I see. Ifrit, you coming?”

“Sure.” Ifrit could not turn his attention from the blue-scaled dragon. It seemed to notice his presence and turned its gaze to him. A smile, which looked like a toothy grin, formed on its reptilian face, which caused Ifrit’s heart to jump a beat.

He never thought that there were creatures so majestic that could astonish him instead of scaring or agitating him.

Meanwhile, near the ruined city hall, Lilac and Hans, her brother, had a private moment where the two siblings could talk. However, Hans didn’t know where to start, at least until the silence between the two was broken with Lilac slapping the Lycan. The slap was light but was enough to cause considerable discomfort.

“Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?!” said the Lycan, rubbing his cheek.

“You bloody well know why! You sailed the unknown seas and just returned home three bloody years later! I am worried sick about you, Hans! Why didn’t you send any wires? I gave you an address!”

“I have my own reasons, but I don’t think you’ll understand.”

“We’re siblings, aren’t we? Just try.”

Hans sighed, and with great reluctance, said. “I fought interdimensional dragons to prevent the collapse of this universe along with my friends. Turns out time ran differently inside than outside, so two years have passed for you, while for me, it’s barely an hour. Then I heard about the Incursion. I got here to find that our village is now a bloody portal to the Underworld. Our home region is now hell on Earth, and all this happened in just three years.”

“Wait? What do you mean ‘interdimensional dragons’? What does that even mean?”

“Like I said. You won’t understand,” said Hans with a sigh. “You know what, never mind. I’m sorry I made you worry like that. I didn’t expect our battle to turn out that way, and I did not expect you to, well…turn into this.”

“This isn’t bad once I’m used to it. But still, Hans…I’m so glad you returned, and just at the right time, too. I thought you died. Three years without any communications started to give me thoughts. I’m glad it wasn’t the worst possible outcome.”

Hans smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. “Glad to know my sister hasn’t given up on me yet.”

This made Lilac chuckle.

“You know,” she said. “I read about your blue dragon friend from the papers, but I never imagined her to be so…beautiful. The photograph did not do her justice.”

“And I think she’ll appreciate that. Do you want to meet her?”

“I’m not so sure. Can I?”

“She won’t bite. Come on.”

That assurance wasn’t enough for Lilac, who had never seen a dragon in the flesh before, especially one that was far bigger than what she initially thought. Not only that, her first experience with a winged creature the size of the dragon was the winged demon that almost snatched her up to the sky, which wasn’t great. Thus, her first impression of the beautiful dragon was that she wasn’t friendly.

But her worries were unfounded when she met the dragon proper, and Hans’ friendliness towards her. Still, she was at a loss of words when it was her time to finally talk to the dragon. Her azure scales glimmered as the sun came up, giving her a mysterious impression. The runes all over her body also made her identifiable from afar.

“Uh…hi,” said Lilac, taking care not to accidentally offend the dragon. “I must thank you for, uh…for taking care of my brother. I hope he isn’t too much of a trouble.”

The dragon smiled and lowered her head so that it was level with the snake-wolf. Now that she had seen her up close, she found that, while she was intimidating and could even potentially eat her, she looked very loving. Not only that, but Lilac also never thought that a draconic face would be so expressive.

“I owe my presence here to your dear brother, Lilac Rezmirn,” said the dragon. She sounded so posh, like a Tragorian noblewoman. “Just as much as he owed his life to me.”

“H-How do you know my name?”

“Your brother told many stories about you, little one. As for me, I am Azureath. You should be proud, as a dragon giving you her name is a sign of respect.”

“That’s…very kind of you, Azureath. So, uh…how did you owe your life to Hans? I expected the other way around, but I didn’t think you’d need help.”

“Even a dragon must be humbled by age, little one, and acknowledge the tenacity of the other races that inhabited this world,” said Azureath. “I suppose you have heard of his journey through the perilous sea. It was I who gave them a chance the first time, but that can only be possible with Hans and his friends convincing me that there is still a fight worth fighting.”

“Like I said before, the Main continent was also attacked,” said Hans. “We fought together, and as a result, she also found closure to her own past.”

“And as a sign of gratitude, I am here,” said Azureath. “To find you, little one.”

“I wondered about that,” said Lilac. “How did you find me? I am travelling around the continent and I haven’t been settled since two years ago.”

“Elle, my uh…friend, taught me a form of tracking magic that make use of familial bond. It’s a druidic spell,” said Hans. “It uses my blood and find its closest match. Since we’re siblings, it should theoretically be easy. However, it worked on Main because the people there were naturally attuned with mana particles, whereas we, Ternorians, are not. Not only that, but the hellish incursion also made tracking difficult. I finally found you in this town, and when I saw you looking like this, I got the answer of why it was so hard to track you.”

“Because my blood is corrupted,” concluded Lilac. “That I have almost become someone else.”

“But then Fenrir told me of something far, far thicker than blood: common ancestry. No matter what you look like now, you can always trace your roots to the first Lycan, which happened to be Fenrir’s brother. Your soul is still Lilac Rezmirn, a pureblood Lycan descended from Tyr, and similar to me. Ever since then, I can easily track you, and the rest is history.”

“I…can’t pretend I understand all that.”

“Me neither.” Hans rubbed his furred head. “You have been through a lot these past three years, haven’t you?”

“Well…it’s partially my fault.” Lilac blushed, feeling embarrassed to tell the reason. Still, she felt that keeping secrets would not make things easier, so she whispered the reason to Hans, whose ears perked up in surprise.

“Oh my,” he said, eyes wide. “And you didn’t know?”

Lilac nodded sheepishly.

“Still doesn’t explain why you look so radically different. I assume you don’t know because your lover is a hound, right?”

“Oh, this? This is caused by grief and vulnerability. My grief made me impulsive, and I paid the price.”

Then, someone else joined in the conversation after listening to it from the side, amused by the way she told her situation to a bewildered brother.

“And the hound in question happened to be dead for three years before shit happened,” said Rhynsa, whose presence surprised the two (but not Azureath). “And hi. Haven’t seen you for a while, Lilac.”

“Rhynsa?” asked Lilac. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“I just arrived. I got here thinking that we might got into another fight. Good to know it wasn’t the case. Well, this happens to be good timing, too. (Hey, Ifrit! Your girl’s here! You might want to give her some explanation!)”

Lilac couldn’t understand Hordo, but then she saw the one hellhound she thought to be dead running and talking with Rhynsa. Her heart skipped a beat when she finally saw Ifrit alive, well, and relatively unchanged from when she remembered him before his untimely death. The only thing that seemed different was that he seemed to have replaced one of his legs with cloven hoof, giving him a mismatched, chimeric appearance. This also reminded Lilac of what happened to one of his legs when she last saw him.

Ifrit, on the other hand, did not recognize Lilac at first, mostly due to her radically different appearance. Yet, somehow, he felt a certain connection to the snake-wolf person, as if she reminded him of someone. This obliviousness made their reunion even more awkward.

“(My girl? Who?)” asked Ifrit, wondering what Rhynsa was talking about.

“(Her, of course. Should’ve given you her photo, but we didn’t have much time to spare),” said Rhynsa while referring to Lilac. “(Before you start wallowing in self regret, let me explain. She is Lilac Rezmirn, your girl. And no. This isn’t your fault).”

Ifrit was predictably surprised by the revelation. He could only look at Lilac, eyes wide from shock and surprise, that he was at a loss of words.

On Lilac’s side, she knew Ifrit was confused, so all she could do was say, “I…well, it’s me. I know my voice has also changed ever since I got turned into a snake, but….”

Ifrit, however, did not hesitate. He quickly embraced Lilac, feeling glad to finally be reunited with her after so many years. He wasn’t sure why he felt like he missed her even though his recent memory was barely a month old. It could be because his other self missed her, despite his earlier claims. Maybe deep down, both were glad that she was alright.

Hans, who had just earlier been told of what Ifrit did to Lilac, wanted to ask the hellhound about Lilac. Rhynsa, however, stopped him.

“Let them get on with it for a while,” said Rhynsa. “It’s love. You know how it is. Also, I told Ifrit about it earlier, but this appearance is not because of him. Mistakes happen, so just let it be, alright? She is doing rather well for the past three years. I can assure you of that.”

“Listen to the bat, little wolf,” said Azureath. “There will be time for answers later.”

Hans was a little reluctant to drop the matter, but both Azureath and Rhynsa was right. Despite his misgivings, Ifrit clearly cared for Lilac, seen when he tried to ask for her forgiveness and even shed genuine tears. That moment was the moment that convinced Hans that Ifrit was apologetic.

Thus, he turned to Rhynsa and said, “I don’t think we’ve met. Hans Rezmirn.”

Hans offered his hand, which Rhynsa accepted. “Rhynsa.”

“Just Rhynsa?”

Rhynsa wanted to say something witty and sarcastic, but he decided not to. He decided to be forward about it.

“I lost my surname when I was exiled from my clan,” said Rhynsa. “An exiled Fuzandre has no rights of taking the name of their clan.”

“I see,” said Hans. “You sound like you are close to my sister and Ifrit.”

“To be honest, I tried to kill Ifrit before he talked me out of it, though I can’t give him that much credit. It was Lilac who convinced me that his sins were not the sins of his father, and to just bury the hatchet upon his death. Well, that happened. I just didn’t expect him to return to life and resurface after three years.”

“You have a rough past, too, huh?”

“I don’t want to think too much about the past. It’s not healthy.” He then turned to Azureath, not showing even a hint of fear or awe. “And nice wings, dragon.”

“You too, little bat,” said Azureath, smiling.

Rhynsa excused himself while Ifrit and Lilac kept embracing each other, which started to tick Hans a bit. This was noticed by none other than his companion, who was invisible from the others and only visible to the Lycan.

“Do I sense jealousy, Hans?” he said.

“Oh, shut up,” said Hans, annoyed. “I don’t know how she had feelings for someone who’s clearly not a Lycan. I mean, I can understand if she likes humans, but hounds?”

“Says someone whose lover happened to be a satyr. Admit it, Hans. You two don’t exactly have common interests. Especially you. Predator-prey relationship? Really?”

This caused Hans to become flustered, realizing that it wasn’t his place to judge, given that, as the spirit said, he also had an unusual relationship.

But he could at least approve of Ifrit and Lilac, knowing how much he genuinely cared for Lilac. It wasn’t his place to judge.

Lilac’s life was entirely her own.