The staircase was longer than normal, and filled with dust. Sasha carefully examined the ladders.

“They seem a bit old, but sturdy. Will you go first, Isaak? Not sure you will fit.”

Isaak looked up, Denise shining in front of him.

“What’s up there?”

“Friendzone”, Denise said. “We will go directly up in town, now please, hurry up. Food is running away.”

“There are no entrances towards town”, Isaak disagreed but starting to climb. “Man, this is tight.”

His skin was scratching towards the walls, as he slowly forced his ways upwards.

“No entrances, just exit. Never try this on your own. We usually use this one as a chimney.”

The dragon alighted at Ivy’s shoulder. She polished her wings, making them shine ever brighter.

Sasha was the last one to leave the underground. Halfway up towards the surface, she looked down, ensuring that no one was following their footsteps. Underneath her feet, there was no longer any tunnel, nor a staircase. Deciding this information was probably too much for Isaak, who was struggling even more to squeeze his way through the small hole. She crossed her fingers and hoped that the queen had not played them.

The four of them ended up on the floor beneath a fireplace. Isaak was coughing, and Ivy breathed heavily, as she smoothed her dress and looked around. Sasha sat down on the floor, studying the fireplace.

“It doesn’t make sense”, she said, lifting the stones and looking at a solid wall.

“Where are we?” Ivy asked.

Sasha went up from the floor, looking around with a big smile on her lips.

“Esmeralda!” she shouted. “You have visitors.”

The woman entering the back kitchen had three plates balancing on her arms. She looked brittle, and Isaak immediately helped her with the plates.

“Dinner for four?” he asked, putting them down at the table situated behind the bar, in Esmeralda's private quarters.

“I’ve already eaten, and customers are waiting. You start and I come back with something to drink.”

“I´ll help you”, Denise said and dimmed down her colours.

Denise now flew behind Esmeralda looking more like a big moth than a bright pink fairy tale. Sasha took the well-worn kitchen footstool, sitting down beside Isaak and Ivy. It was a sturdy piece that was once in bright fir wooden, now it was so stained with dirt and grease it looked more like oak. She preferred it to the other two small chairs that were far much more fragile and hadn’t aged as well. Any moment the chair would probably break underneath the weight of Isaak. The risk of such an occasion was probably why Esmeralda had just put yet another layer of brown paint on them instead of changing them.

“Two steaks well done, and one rare”, Isaak noted. “That must have been one of the most surreal things in my life.”

“The steaks or the excuse of a salad?” Sasha asked.

“The Dragons”, Isaak said and pointed his thumb towards the bar.

“I am really hungry”, Ivy said and mashed the potatoes. “Now, that went well.”

“Well?” Isaak looked at her sister as if she was crazy. ”Ivy, that was absurd, and I do not trust that small pink devil for one second. We will have to slink off, getting rid of her.”

“She is not a devil, and I kind of like her.”

“Well I do not”, Isaak said.

“She is a terrific protector”, Ivy said, her lip a thin line as she carefully wiped her mouth with the napkin.

Isaak fell silent, but Sasha knew him. He was sulking. He had made it his quest to keep Ivy safe, which said something, him being the most searched for criminal in the kingdom.

Sasha felt squeezed in between the two of them, the table just made for two.

“We will rest here for tonight, then we head out of the city”, Sasha said. “I am sick of getting chased by Elias.”

“He looked pretty beaten up”, Ivy said. ”You must learn to curb your mood.”

“I did curb my mood.” Isaak took Ivy’s hand in his “I know exactly how well he heals, don’t you worry small dove.” He kept his hand in Ivy´s, turning to Sasha. “If I didn’t curb my mood, I would have twisted the knife, let him scream in agony, making him pay for hitting on Sasha.”

“Bastard! It was you that sent him hunting me down.”

“Hugging?” Ivy said and pulled them closer.

Sasha pinched Isaak in the back. She may be letting her sister lead her by the nose, but Isaak didn’t have that luxury.

Their hug was interrupted by a high pitched scream followed by complete silence for two brief seconds, before a cacophony of noises and yelling was heard from the bar.

Sasha sprinted up. She ran across the kitchen, out of the swing doors, and looked into the overfilled pub. Half of the people had risen from the chairs, knives, bats, and hands close on the sword tilts. The reason for their sudden outburst had obviously something to do with their newest companion. All eyes were stuck on the floor beneath the big mole.

“Bloody dragon”, Isaak said and pushed forward.

Sasha scanned the area, looking for Esmeralda. She stood behind the bar, wiping some glasses.

“She fucking had to go and kill someone!” Isaak stated. He kicked with his boots on the body. “I will not clean this up.”

Sasha had reached the place of the crime. She pushed Isaak aside. Some of the men standing close to him made a cursed sign and stepped back when they saw her.

“That was mine to kill” Sasha growled. She looked up at the tiny dragon, looking all innocent. Her fists were pumping and she saw red smoke in front of her. “You had no right!”

”Aiden betrayed us”, Denise said. “Now, if you excuse me, I think my dinner was just served.”

Sasha turned her back to the scene and walked up to Esmeralda.

“Give me a beer, your biggest bottle.”