With a sullen look, Cale squatted in the armchair of his study and tried to concentrate on the books Aaron had given him a few days ago. They were about the events in Tsuke, even if many of the things described were pure hypotheses. The authors of these stories seemed to attribute everything that had happened at that time to the judgment of the gods, without providing any real facts. The only things that Cale found meaningful in the last days were that the inhabitants of Tsuke were attacked and overwhelmed by a large amount of unknown creatures with tremendous powers more than 500 years ago. But the more Cale read, the stronger the suspicion became that this had in fact been an act of the Thormods.

With a loud bang, he closed the book and stood up. It bugged him to know how little he actually knew. A lot had happened in the last few days. Grischa had made his way to the coast and joined Rangar and Nora. He took advantage of their location and proximity to the water to test his flight crystal without exposing himself to danger. The Eldest had informed the King of Sylve, the three chiefs from Frignez, and the representatives from Winstest of the Thormods' existence. Cale, Aaron and Odin had also been present and were allowed to listen to the shock, the unbelievable and above all the questions of the representatives of the countries for quite a while.

The especially interesting thing here was the reaction of the faith community. They were the strongest opponents at first, but after a very direct statement by the Eldest, they ended up being the biggest supporters. Cale could not judge exactly why, but it seemed as if the Eldest had addressed something that they took very personally. Whereby, he had brought many comments, some of them vicious. First and foremost, one particular statement. Damian reproached the representatives of the people of faith that he will no longer tolerate their ignorance. He explained to them that he in no way wanted to attack their faith, but the fact of how they always abstain from all discussions and refer everything to the will of the gods, he would no longer accept.

The Eldest gave them an ultimatum: realize the danger and help, or stay behind alone.

The fear, anger and shock was written on their faces. A few evenings later, they convened what must have been the largest gathering of peoples ever held. Without exception, all communities, no matter the size, were allowed to participate. This was the first time Cale had witnessed such a gathering come to fruition. One of the leading leaders from the Layon tribe had called it, and hundreds of thousands of people had responded. However, outsiders did not know the exact content.

Some dragons were hiding nearby, watching the events on the other side of the world, as they kept feeding Cale information. The Eldest himself was speaking with the King of Sylve, while Odin had left the Magistrat with Luc and Ziyad and were currently combing the north of Sylve. So far, they had not discovered anything suspicious. They had specifically examined Groka more closely, but again had not discovered a single clue, and the thought of that reassured Cale. Not necessarily because Sylve was out of danger, but rather because he hadn't missed anything important in his own investigation at the time.

"Got bored?", Fengari spoke up, causing Cale to turn his gaze to the cat.

"More like exhausted from reading too much", he replied matter-of-factly, stepping up to her and beginning to gently stroke her head. Her passive-aggressive, almost condescending manner had become a strange refreshment in Cale's life. Besides her deeds and information, the dragon was a surprisingly great help and Cale had become grateful for her presence. He had spent the days talking to the dragons about the origin of the Thormods, but surprisingly they had no clue that Holy Mana could have been a reason. Cale, however, would not let the idea go, and so had requested an official conversation with the Chief Merensen, for whose reply he was still waiting. He found the response somewhat questionable. If he didn't want to share the secret, why didn't he turn it down right away?

"Are you doing something interesting?", Fengari gave after a while, looking expectantly at Cale, which made him sigh and look down at the city through the window.

"I don't know yet. How about we walk around the city for a bit?"

"Yes, with pleasure!", Fengari exclaimed immediately and jumped on her wickets, which made Cale grin. Secretly, he just wanted to take a little detour to see how his friends were doing, who were training with Miguel. They'd barely seen each other these days, to the point that Cale was almost sorry he didn't have more time for them.

"Why do you like humans so much, Fengari?"

"It's not that I like them. You're interesting creatures, that's all."

"And why exactly are we so fascinating to you?", Cale echoed irritably, conjuring up his usual cloak with the help of his mages.

"Well, you live so completely different from us dragons. You are weak and helpless and the gods don't talk to you, but you don't seem to mind that at all. Before all this happened, I could never understand why you have so many approaches to your short life, why you have such different characters, why you kill each other, and how you are so inventive in your need. It's fascinating to watch you guys."

"The same can be..."

"And you have candy", Fengari interrupted him immediately, causing the mage to look at her perplexed for a moment.

"Candy? You like candy?"

"Yes!"

"When did you try candy? Have you attacked cities?"

"What are you thinking!", Fengari cried indignantly. "I was given it by human children out of gratitude long before you or your leader Damian of Fiet were born."

"How long has it been since you last ate candy?"

"Exactly 673 years", Fengari replied, causing Cale to frown. He almost forgot that dragons are the oldest creatures to walk the earth. From the stories it can be guessed that they can live up to 5,000 years, Cale didn't even want to imagine how old the little cat in front of him actually was.

"How come you never asked me if I could buy the candy? They have them here in the capital too, you know."

"I know, I've been looking for it. But I also know that candy is expensive and precious, which is why I didn't ask."

"Fengari, sweets are not expensive. I don't know how it was in the past, probably they were rare then or those kids were poor, but for me, it's not a hassle. I can buy you as much candy as you want until you fall over from it", Cale explained calmly, and for the first time he caught sight of a real gleam appearing in the dragon's eyes. She straightened up and braced her paws against Cale's torso as she stared at the mage with her mouth half open.

"Really? You'd buy me some?"

"At least, as long as you behave."

Fengari visibly winced at the statement and sank back onto the windowsill in a fluid motion before reaching her paws forward and resting her head on the floor.

"Oh great God Caleb, please forgive my sin. This dragon is truly not worthy to be your faithful servant. I stand before you in humility and ask you to judge my actions and give me an appropriate punishment. I will bem..."

"What by the Eldest's beard are you doing?"

"I am paying homage to you like a god."

"Don't do that, it's creepy", Cale retorted, causing Fengari to look up again. Nervously, she stared up at the mage, which made Cale start laughing. "You don't have to do that. You've helped me a lot and always kept your promise. Buying you candy is the least I can do."

Joyfully, Fengari straightened up again while Cale held his mouth with one hand and looked at the cat. Sometimes she acted like an arrogant, all-knowing dragon, but other times she acted like a curious little child - that much was certain.

"I can't give candy to a cat, though. People would look at me strangely."

"Eh?", Fengari uttered regretfully, but Cale did not explain himself further. He reached forward with his hand and used his magic. Even he was fascinated by how the dragon's shape slowly changed and her body grew larger. Long black hair fell down and a few moments later a little girl sat on the ledge.

"You gave me a human form!", Fengari exclaimed in surprise, stretching her hands in front of her face. She wore a light beige sweater and a dark, long skirt, with black pantyhose underneath and ankle-high boots. Her eyes were black and slightly covered by her bangs.

Fengari had taken the form of the girl Cale had turned into the first time he saw her. She had become the neighbor girl, only instead of her red hair, Fengari's hair had turned black.

"This way it shouldn't be a problem anymore", Cale explained, watching with satisfaction as the dragon jumped down and her first steps. Carefully, she inched her way forward before becoming confident and jumping a few times in delight.

"This is amazing! I never thought I'd be able to become human. Thank you so, so much, Caleb! Really! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!"

"You're welcome", Cale replied, stroking her head. Fengari was quite small, a good six feet, maybe. It was the perfect figure, considering he was planning on buying her masses of candy. It probably would have been a lot stranger on an adult than on a child. "Just please don't talk to much to strangers. I'd rather have you act a little reserved and stay by my side instead of getting us into trouble."

"Of course, oh great God C..."

"Please don't call me that."

"Master Caleb?", Fengari interjected questioningly.

"I'd rather not, it makes it obvious who I am."

"Then... father?"

At the statement, Cale froze in place. Wordlessly, he stared at the little dragon, who showed a surprisingly genuine, questioning face. Cale sighed.

"Feels wrong, but better than calling me Caleb in public. Shall we go?"

"Yes!", Fengari exclaimed delightedly, prompting Cale to hold out his hand. The dragon often seemed to be watching people, because knowingly she grabbed his hand and followed him out of the Magistrat, accompanied by some irritated looks from the mages present.

Somewhat nervously, with the dragon right at his side, Cale strode through the city streets. Late afternoon had arrived and it was noticeably brighter than it had been at this time a few weeks ago. It had also become surprisingly warm, so nature was beginning to flourish inside the wall. People also seemed to have slowly overcome the shock of the second wave, for the paths were bustling with activity. He caught some young men exchanging blows and bringing remarks to their counterpart's attacks. A few meters away he noticed a couple looking together into the chronicles of the creature lore and again a corner away he noticed some students showing some magic to younger children.

This was probably the dream image Cale had always hoped for. A peaceful city that had survived the attack of the creatures. A satisfying smile flitted across his lips as he thought of Aletta, William, Ben and Philippa at the sight. He was looking forward to paying them a visit in a moment.

"How much further is it?", Fengari spoke up, who couldn't really see through the crowd of people what was ahead of her. With a jerk, Cale lifted her in his arms and, with a nod of his head, pointed to a bluish house that seemed well attended.

"We'll be right there. Do you remember what the candy was or do you have any preferences?"

"No", Fengari replied, shaking her head as Cale arrived in front of the building, opened the door, and was greeted by a quiet ring.

"Welcome!", an older woman to his right announced, who was in the process of packing up some purchases. Simultaneously, a much younger woman greeted him and bowed politely to him, which Cale did the same. He set Fengari back down on the ground and reached for her hand again before looking at the strange lady.

"How can I help you?"

"I would like to buy some candy, could you tell me where to find it?"

"I'll show you, please follow me", the woman replied kindly, leading the two through the shelves. Fengari was already prancing before they reached their destination, which made Cale grin.

"You know I have to buy the stuff before you can eat it, don't you?", Cale interjected mockingly.

"I know, father", she replied, and the moment the group turned and arrived at the candy, she stopped in surprise. Silently, the two adults watched as Fengari's eyes wandered through the two huge shelves. With horror, she cried out. "So much!"

"You don't shout in public."

"Sorry", Fengari replied in a slightly whimpering voice, as if she were afraid of being punished. Amused, the woman next to them laughed, so Cale turned his attention to the stranger.

"A loving daughter you have, sir", she finally remarked, as Cale let go of Fengari and let the dragon look at the scale independently.

"You're probably right about that, she is truly loving. How bad would it be if I bought everything here empty?"

"Please?", the saleswoman replied.

"The candy. I'd buy everything you have here if it's possible and won't cause you any problems."

Surprise was written all over the woman's face. She fell silent for a moment and just stared at Cale before catching her voice and politely speaking up.

"Of course. You can have as much as you want!"