Rikke, Falkor and Auberone advanced into the dungeon and after destroying a series of mechanical spiders insects the size of a small dragon appeared. They looked like a mixture of beetle, thousand paws and scorpion. What was scary were their very sharp, poisonous chelicerae.

But repeated bursts of draconian flames got the better of them.

Then they came to a large golden door...

An avalanche of weights, balls and round stones rolled in the direction of the group and everyone took damage to varying degrees, except Rikke who was protected by Auberone.

Falkor and Auberone had bloody legs.

Then the smell attracted other creatures: Falmers: They were a kind of elf and Golum with pointed ears and no eyes. The eyes were covered with flesh that in a few hundred generations could erase any trace of ever having had eyes.

These beings are evil and only think of destroying everything that exists on the surface.

Some are dressed in insectoid armour which increases their repulsive appearance.

They make you think of the living dead, or mummies.

Alone they are vulnerable, but in groups, formidable.

A battle of hammer blows and tails, bites and scrapes raged on and on.

When Falkor crushed one, two returned. It was exhausting. A war of attrition.

The dragons were tiring.

The vile Ignar, though less intelligent than his daughters, was no less cunning, vicious and calculating. He was well aware of the dragons' flaws and weaknesses: Stamina. Their stamina was for gliding, but for walking, for fighting, if it lasted, they would lose. Besides, this was the tactic of the dragon hunters: weaken, make all attacks wear out by draining the mana and tiring the breath gland and attack vitality. Once started, prevent rest by continuous harassment. Then, exhausted, any dragon will go to the finish and usually when they want to flee, the trap is closed. Then it's the end, tears, regret and then death or the cage at best.

Ignar experienced this once and he learned his lesson: one bad move and then run away! He discovered that running away from combat increased his survival rate tenfold.

The biggest problem in the dungeon was really stupid:

Auberone had no idea what Falkor was talking about. She was guessing vaguely and supported by signs. Learning the draconian now is too late. He communicated with the common signs of the hunters and Falkor was able to say a few words in common.

The dialogue was mostly between Rikke and Auberone. A real bond of friendship was born between these two.

In fact Rikke was wondering, why are we doing this? For Vermithraxa? No, but for the mission to stop the massacres of her people and to deactivate this infernal dungeon and then, and especially for Vaillant whom she was in love with. Fuchur would become her adopted nephew/son, Aqua, her sister-in-law and she would be the aunt of a sibling of dragons. Although she's a little jealous of Aqua who might, but no, Falkor is in love with her. Which would make a big hybrid family.

What if the empire wants to wipe out the dragons... once and for all?

My arms were aching, and the sword was torturing me.

"Ignar, Ignar, I know you can hear me..."

"Father! I beg you, answer me!"

Ignar: "AAaahj, I like that better. I'm listening."

"Father, why are you picking on me like this? We haven't done anything to you! We haven't even taken a piece of meat or anything! And as for Meta Novae, we didn't even know you were going out with her. Please, I'm begging you, please stop torturing me. We're not shit, are we? We're red dragons and I'm proud to be, I'm proud to be a dragon. Why do you keep making us hate you so much? We didn't even try to avenge mom when we should have!"

"You were right, dear girl! I'm hard because you won't believe it, but I'm doing all this for your own good. Haven't your trials made you stronger? If I had been the sugar daddy, what would you be? A big, scaly turkey that spits fire on pigs?

But look at you: you have a family that you build and protect and you're even a magician!

I'm developing your hidden resources. Your sister, who's not as smart as you are, will have to outdo herself. I am armouring you, shaping you to be stronger for what lies ahead. Do you think I've become evil this way? It's my anger, my anger and my cruelty that's kept me alive! I was finally convinced when I saw my brothers and sisters in pieces in formaldehyde jars!"

"Ignar, let me go, we just want to go to a remote mountain spot with my sister and start a family."

Ignar: "NAN! I don't want you to be the laying turkey. I want you to be the queen of dragons, or better yet, the keeper of this world! I can't tell you anything but I'll motivate you anyway. The dragons are headed for mass extinction. It's inevitable and there's no turning back. If you know dad's world, you must know the movies, right? "Flash Gordon conquering the universe?" Dad rewarded me by letting me see a black-and-white movie and color cartoons he had with him when I passed my exams. In flash gordon, there are ships you see and I know there are ships on their way here. Do you know Rintintin? Or blue coats, cowboy movies. Good cowboys kill bad indians and all ends well... Except, you, my dear, me and the other dragons are the bad Indians and the good cowboys are on their way. They'll be here in a few years, maybe sooner. And that's why you must be strong, very strong! A thousand times strong

"Father, untie me and let me help you, I've kept the science of this world and I can help you fight them, I'm 70 years ahead of Grandpa"

Ignar: "Aaah so here, you call him grandpa now. It will please him. But even if it disappoints you, time has many surprises in store for us. According to my calculations, those who are arriving are at least 70 to 100 years older than you, with almost 200 years between grandpa and them. Forget about technology."

"But a father's rifle could very well kill a man 200 years in the future. And they're computers, thinking robots and I'd be able to assimilate their science."

"NAN, you're a dragon and you have magic. They have science but they don't have magic. But you have to be stronger, you have to become a monster. You are not given the right to live, but you must earn that right. Well, I think your friends just passed the test of exhaustion. At least they've learned to save their strength and not throw everything stupidly into battle. Ah, I've got Aqua next to me. Rest assured, Fuchur survived. His genes aren't that bad. You can have him as a boyfriend. But he's gonna have to grow up if he wants to see his beloved mommy again. I've said too much, way too much, and it's all because of your flattery.

But don't forget: if you fail, you'll die and I won't spare you! Not you or anyone else! You are strong or you die! There is no room for the weak in the world that is coming! And you know what my biggest disappointment is? Vermithraxa? That you haven't yet tried to avenge your mother! Running away from your problems, escaping without solving them? You suffer the world around you without trying to control it.

For a red dragon you should say to yourself: "This is my world! And I have the right of life and death over everyone in it!"

That's the motto of the red dragons.

We don't have any blood coursing through our veins. It's fire. ROARRRRRRRRRRRRR"

And the globe went out, the communication was cut off.

I was alone, hanging like a shirt on a hanger.

He managed to put doubt and tuck it away in my head and I tried to contradict him, but he was right, the monster! He was right.

And everything he says is full of riddles, clues and nothing, nothing is innocent. This Ignar, he's much, much smarter than I thought he was.

When he told me to get stronger, he was right. When he said that red dragons have fire instead of blood, that's for the sword!

This is my trial! The test of strength!

But I'm in human form!

I must find the dragon in me!

Fire. I am fire!

And I closed my eyes and concentrated on the flames. All kinds of flames, primary volcanic flames, molten rock, lava, liquid metal, the fire of the sun, inferno, torches, nuclear fire and every time I breathed in I swallowed fire and breathed out fire....

My chakras were balls of fire, a primal fire like the sun generating life and taking it back through the anvil.

My skin reddened, blisters were felt, the blisters exploded and reappeared. My hair burst into flames and the next moment I was a torch, an inferno, a pyre. I fell to ashes and ashes of glowing scales appeared and the flesh of my fingers fell to make way for black, pointed talons. My eyes burst into flames and my hair was replaced by a mane of spikes and sharp scales. My scales covered me and I continued to heat, to burn, to set on fire to forge until the blade of the glowing sword finally bent, reddened almost to white, and eventually it fell from its own weight and from the pillory, there was nothing left. Nothing but a flaming red dragon and even bigger! I had reached my height of 25 meters of adult meadow but I felt that I could still grow. The fire in me was strong, very powerful and cleansing. A fire from the beginning of the universe, a fire from the beginning of the creation of the world, a fire which saw the first creatures, now forgotten, a fire of titans, a fire which saw the first men, and the fire which will fall upon the last ones.

SKRRRRRRIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK..... I was the RED DRAGON.

An absolute monster of fire and power. Everything around me is a joke, it's rude, unsightly, at odds with nature. My eyes were red. Light emanated from me. I was in fusion with nature. I was a force of nature.