Rikke arrived at the academy and met Mandrake and told him about the ship seen at the observatory and the disappearance of Vermithraxa..:

"Vermithraxa is unharmed! She has come to her senses. But I have a parcel for her, it's a magician's ring and here another one for Auberone. I'm proud of her. She is now a magician too officially. But I have fears about them and I fear for their future. I am the king's counselor and a member of the council and I think Falkor should stay here and rest. I'd like to speak with him. Fresh horses are waiting for you at the stable and you should arrive within an hour and go to the Jester's Inn, they prepare the best dishes in the kingdom. Take this, it's on the house."

Mandrake went down to the stables and the old dragons' quarters where Falkor was resting.

"Falkor??? I know you don't quite understand me, but I'll cast a translation spell if you don't mind.

Mandrake raised his scepter and Profion came into the room:

So, Mandrake, you're chatting with reptiles now? I see your interests are joining ZANZAR: The academy before the empire. But you should know that it's not likely to change in the next few days or hours. You have no idea how far your actions will carry you. These monsters are already tough and you have fun making them stronger. What are you waiting for? For them to rule the academy and then take over the council while you're at it.

Besides, my research has just been completed on the origin of dragons, the eye of Tiamat! I am to present my findings to the council tomorrow. I hope you'll give me the pleasure of being there!

Profion went away smiling and Falkor looked at Mandrake:

"Who's this clown?"

"This clown's not the comedy type. His parents were eaten by dragons and he swears by their extinction. He is also the King's nephew and he dreams of taking my place as counsellor. He's been watching as the empire takes over the academy. He has the support of the royal faction and the Talmors. His daughter married General Tullius' son and he's been growing wings ever since. He is a specialist in the black arts and gullibility. He's paranoid and has spies everywhere. If Ignar were a female, they would go perfectly well as a couple, although he has sworn the extinction of ALL dragons, he is nonetheless head of the council and frighteningly dangerous. He is working on an ancient artifact that could subdue all dragons and doom them to certain death. He's a raving lunatic. Be very careful. And don't even think about attacking him.

Since he's equipped 24 hours a day, he'll tear you to pieces. You'll be dead even before your body knows it.

But let's talk about you. You got involved and you're a part of your little tribe's life, you, Aqua, Fuchur and my 2 wizards. You're unloved and mostly misunderstood heroes.

On behalf of the kingdom, I'm deeply sorry but I'd like you to stay together. Forget about leading a peaceful life raising children.

From now on, the countdown is on. Tomorrow, probably, I'll be dismissed and I'll be lucky if I still have my head on my shoulders.

Here is a bracelet you can wear and a set of manacoms for all of you to keep in touch no matter how far away you are.

Inside the bracelet are your eggs that were in the incubator. Take them. These are the real ones. The ones you took were perfect copies.

The king knows and already knew all about the human part of Vermithraxa and Auberone. The Talmors and other kingdoms cannot accept dragon hybrids that would rule for centuries, without age and immense powers.

Look: this enforceable warrant:

All dragons must be slain WITHOUT exception. All means are good.

A reward of its weight in gold for each dragon killed. For the red, black and ice dragons named Ignar the Madman, Auberone, Vermithraxa, Aqua and Fuchur as well as Falkor, the bounty will be tripled, an estate and a title of nobility for heroic deed. All friends, acquaintances who help or will be taken to help these dragons, the sentence will be death by beheading and is enforceable from tomorrow ...

Here I have a map with no-interest areas in the realm of reinforced shield spells and anti-magic necklaces. You'll have to wear them if you want to resist the ultimate weapon of Profion. He has a scepter that makes dragons obey. Maybe the hybrids can resist it, but you won't stand a chance.

Here are ten necklaces I put in the dimensional storage device. The eggs can stay alive in there but they can't grow to hatch. There are some potions, some spells and a volume on your culture, a volume on the powerful regeneration spell, trap detection and some small useful spells to hide you, like an anti-scrying spell and anti magic globes.

This is my farewell gift. I'm risking my head for this, but don't get caught.

Run away! Quickly! I've deceived the king into thinking that today is tomorrow for the date of the letters. Hold out until the covenants arrive, until the ship arrives. If they're further along in civilization, you might have a chance with them.

But tomorrow will be the gold rush, a generalized dragon hunt. I've counted that there will be about 100 hunters per dragon. Go to areas that are inhospitable to humans, huge deserts, impenetrable glaciers, active volcanoes, deep jungle and don't trust any humans, even children, especially children. They'll do anything to put their families out of misery."

Come on, my friend, go away!

Mandrake wept because he knew the horror of the killing of dragons, of innocent beings, and that with the death of some of them, the magic within reach of men would disappear forever.

Falkor, terrified, communicated by manacom of the situation to me and Auberone.

It took our breath away.

We hunted and prepared a good meal for Falkor when he arrived, and Fuchur went to bid farewell to his valiant father, who promised to do all he could to protect him. He was torn between Fuchur and Rikke. Then he wrote his letter of resignation because he could not act against Fuchur if he was ordered to do so or he asked to be transferred to places where he would not have to make such an odious choice.

We didn't take the risk that the hunters already knew about it via magic or manacom and we went on to the next step, which was to transfer Fuchur to a place where he wouldn't have to make such an odious choice.

We didn't take the risk that the hunters already knew about it via magic or manacom and we flew away. Falkor will have to join us tomorrow. We would go to rest on a mountain peak requiring days of preparation and pure climbing. It was the only solution to keep one or two days ahead and at least get a few hours sleep.

Our future didn't look rosy and we were happy to be together again but we missed Aqua terribly. But as we passed through the dungeon again, a pennant, a new one, was planted with a letter from Ignar.