Erica had burst through the doors to the Willowcreak medical centre like a raging bull, and the sound of the doors slamming open could be heard several streets away. “Where’s William!?” She yelled at the elven doctor who sat in the reception.

“He’s not here.” She responded coldly while looking over her nails. “He’s still at home with his sickness.”

“Don’t lie to me, you stuck up cow. I am done with all your fucking lies.” Erica exclaimed as the attitude of the woman before her only fed her rage.

“No matter what you accuse us of I can’t bring you someone who isn’t here. Go home, I am sure your daughter needs you-” Lore’leia began but was quickly interrupted by the palm of Erica’s hand colliding with her cheek.

“How dare you? After what you did?” Erica said through gritted teeth as she grabbed the woman by the collar of her robes.

“You dare touch me? What exactly did we do? Try our utmost to find a cure for your daughter? Who do you think you are?” The elf exclaimed in a frustrated manner as her cheek reddened from where Erica had slapped her.

“No matter what happens from here on out, Molly dies. I would suggest poisoning her.” Erica responded coldly and Lore’leia’s face suddenly lost its colour.

“How…? What? What is that supposed to mean?” The woman asked as if trying to save face, but Erica had no interest in answering her question. She pushed the woman to the ground and walked towards the door leading further into the medical centre, the door forcefully slammed open and dented the wall where it collided with the doorknob.

Down the hallway she heard hastened footsteps and sprinted forward, spotting the back of the man who poisoned her daughter sliding into a room down the hall. The backside of his slick, greasy looking hairdo made him highly recognizable, and Erica marched forward as quickly as she could, with newfound confidence born from the rage she had been filled with since she learnt of her daughter’s death a few minutes ago.. “Guards!” She heard the elf yell behind her but she didn’t care. There was nothing left for her anyways, she had to hear him tell her the truth. If she was arrested after it didn’t matter, she had to know the truth.

Running to the door she pushed her entire body weight against it, and shortly after she could hear the clinking noise of the door's iron key hitting the floor on the other side. Knowing the doctor had dropped the key on the floor, she pushed against the door with all her strength yet it refused to open much more than a few centimetres as the doctor was pushing back against the door from the other side. “Let me help you.” The voice whispered as the soothing heat graced her back. For a brief moment she felt a surge of strength flowing through her body, and she fell forward as the door suddenly flew open before her. Surprised by how she had so effortlessly pushed the door open, she briefly glanced at her hands. This shouldn’t have been possible, as the man before her was without doubt much stronger than her.

After catching herself in the moment she turned to the man who was desperately pushing himself away from her, as he too had fallen to the floor once the door slammed open with the force of a boulder fired from a catapult. His right cheek flared bright red where the door had likely hit him, and he even looked somewhat dizzy as he struggled to get to his feet.

She quickly got on her feet and marched aggressively towards the doctor, who had only just barely made it to his feet when she pushed him up against the wall behind him. “Tell me you didn’t do this!”

“What?” The doctor asked nervously, his facial expression riddled with guilt.

“Tell me you didn’t kill Molly.” Erica asked through gritted teeth.

For what felt like forever, William didn’t answer and an unbearable silence filled the room. The man looked as though he was in serious pain, yet he had no serious injuries which would warrant the frown plastered on his face. “I’m sorry…” he muttered as Riley barged into the room. There were more words that left his lips but Erica couldn’t hear them, all she could hear was a painful ringing in her head. Her legs gave in and she fell to the floor as tears streamed down her face.

“They did this…” The voice repeated, putting an end to the ringing noise inside her head. “They took her from you, she could still have been saved.”

Erica wanted to cry, yet every fibre of her being was overwhelmed with rage which caused her blood to boil. The voice was right, it had been right this entire time. Yet Erica hadn’t listened and as a result these pathetic excuses of medical ‘professionals’ had been allowed to murder her sweet, innocent child. Molly had died, scared and alone, all because these monsters gave themselves the right to end the life of a kid that wasn’t theirs.

Without a word she got back on her feet before lunging at doctor Witherbark. “Who gave you the right to take her life, you pathetic worm of a man.” She yelled as her fist collided with his stomach.

William bent forward somewhat and clutched his stomach as Erica prepared to strike him again, only to be stopped by Riley grabbing her arm. “Stop this, we didn’t have a choice.” Riley pleaded, but Erica had no interest in hearing his words.

“You chose to end her life, you chose to stop trying… and you said you didn’t have a choice? She could still have been saved but you chose to take the easy way out.” Erica argued furiously moments before her knee collided with his crotch, and his face lost all colour as he collapsed on the floor with a pained grunt.

Her head pounded in a way that put all of her past headaches to shame, yet she could still clearly hear the heavy footsteps and clinging of metal rapidly approaching behind her. She grabbed a blue ceramic vase which stood on the cabinet to her right and turned towards William, whose expression now conveyed fear instead of guilt. In a frantic manner the man quickly bolted for the door behind Erica, only to get hit in the back of his head by the vase which she had mercilessly thrown at him. Covered in water and purple lilies he desperately crawled towards the door when he was stopped in his tracks by Erica’s foot stomping down on his back. Though before she had the chance to say anything three guards burst through the open door and pulled her off the man.

“Let go of me!” She yelled as two of the guards tightened their grips around her shoulders.

“She’s clearly not well in the head.” She heard the voice of the damned elven woman as she peaked into the room. “Please get her out of here before she seriously hurts any other medical staff or the patients.”

The two guards pulled at her while a third helped William to his feet and he threw Erica a worried glance as guilt returned to his face. Though it did not take long before he turned his back to her, seemingly unable to look her in the eyes. Erica wanted to scream, yet no words could leave her mouth. Her vision blurred from the tears which she failed to hold back, as she did her best to struggle against the grips of the two well-trained men which held her down. She knew at that very moment that she had lost everything, and she couldn’t help but feel hopeless. How was any of this fair? Why her? Why Molly? Her thoughts spun out of control, crashing into one another like ocean waves on a stormy night, and only once they had calmed did she realise how quiet things were. She could barely move her head as a paralysing feeling overwhelmed her. As if time itself had slowed around her, everything moved at a fraction of its normal speed, yet her thoughts seemed unaffected by the phenomenon before her.

“It is unfair, is it not?” The voice said, though it was no longer a whisper. She could hear it clearly, as if it came from right in front of her, yet there was nothing around which seemed to speak with her. “Though it does not have to be this way. You can still save her.”

“Who are you?” Erica tried to ask, but her lips would not move.

“A friend.” The voice answered, as if it could hear her even though Erica could not speak. “Someone who wants to help you.”

“Why me?” She asked, her own voice echoing in her head in the same fashion as the voice which she had now finally been able to properly speak with.

“You are strong, though not in the way the world asks of you. We can help each other, you and I.”

“Is it true? That Molly can still be saved?” She asked desperately, with a glimmer of hope in her voice.

“Yes, I can still save her.” The voice stated in an assertive tone. “But I will need your help in doing so.”

“How? What do I need to do?” Erica asked nervously.

“Returning her to you would normally be a very simple task, though there is a certain predicament preventing me from accessing the full extent of my power. Help me deal with this and I shall return your daughter to you, free from the curse of both death and disease.

“A predicament? Like a problem of some kind? How can I help?”

“Countless years ago I was unjustifiably locked away by a man of great power. I was shackled to the ground of a prison I cannot escape, and I have remained here since. But the shackles can be broken, and I will show you where you find the means to do so. Every step of the way I will guide you on your path, until we are both free from the cruel fates handed to us by this world.”

“I… Can I really do it? I am not strong and I have no talents… You are asking me to do something you cannot when you are someone who claims to be capable of defying death.” Erica said in a defeated manner.

“I already told you that you are strong, little one.” The voice stated as the lights dimmed around her. “You possess a will to fight comparable to the greatest warriors of this world, that is all I need from you. The strength and talents you need I will give to you, and then I shall be the guide you need, so you can reclaim the life of the one you care for most.”

A tiny flame appeared before her, floating in the air as if held up by the hand of an invisible being. “Power comparable to that of fairytale heroes is all yours, all you have to do is reach out and grasp it.” The voice finished as the flame flickered before her.

As she tried to reach her hand forward it was as if time around her slowly began to move at its normal speed. Every muscle in her arm hurt as she reached her hand forward against the force of not only the two men who held her back but also time itself. With the little strength she had left in her body she grabbed the flame with her bare hand, extinguishing its small and fragile form. She expected the flame to singe the skin on her hand, yet she could feel no pain. Instead her hand filled with an incredible strength which travelled up her arm and spread to the rest of her body.

“Let’s lock her up for now, though I’m going to have to ask some questions about what happened here afterwards.” The fourth guard said to Lore’leia as time flowed normally once again, though with this newfound strength Erica had no interest in going along with their plans.

With one guard clinging to each shoulder she effortlessly used her right hand to push the guard to her left off of her, sending him stumbling into the large meeting table at the centre of the room. Shocked at her own strength she stopped for a moment, pulled back to reality by the remaining guard which clinged to her shoulder trying to unsuccessfully force her to the ground. Using her left hand she pushed the guard back up against the wall, though as she did the man cried out in an ear piercing screech. The palm of her hand had somehow heated up the iron breastplate he wore to the point where it glowed bright red, and between each of the man's screams she could hear his flesh burning.

The guard by the table stumbled to his feet and drew his sword, frantically pointing it at Erica while the doctors fled out of the room. As if stunned, Erica couldn’t stop staring at the man whose consciousness quickly faded from the pain of his flesh melting and sticking to his armour like tree sap. Was this her doing? It all seemed unreal. Magic was for the wealthy or the lucky, yet she couldn’t consider herself either.

Behind her she heard a man yell before a stinging pain spread from her right arm to the rest of her body. She noticed the warm blood which was staining her dress before she noticed the sword which had dug its way into her upper arm. The guard which had aimed for her head had somehow missed, and instead left her with a deep wound which went all the way down to the bone. Adrenaline surged through her as the little survival instincts she had kicked in. Her life had never before been threatened in such a way, and everything within her told her to run.

The guard pulled back his sword, which was dripping with Erica’s blood and readied himself for another attack, but before he could swing his sword again Erica made her move. Without thinking she ran out the door, rushing past the other guards and continued out of the medical centre, before swiftly heading towards the outskirts of town. She continued deep into the forests outside Willowcreak and after what felt like forever her legs gave in from the exhaustion, as lack of sleep and blood loss was catching up to her. All she could feel and think of was pain, and as her vision grew blurry she tripped over her own feet, tumbling head first into the ground before her.

“Rest.” The voice commanded once she had somewhat gathered herself.

“I-I don’t understand any of this.” Erica said between pants as she leaned back against a tree.

“You do not have too. All you have to do is trust me.” The voice responded as the pain in her shoulder flared up, though once she looked over at her wound she found it closing itself on its own. Her own flesh and muscles repairing themselves was a sight that made Erica want to throw up.

“Who exactly are you? The god of the sun?” She asked while gently touching the newly formed skin where the wound had once been.

“You confuse me for a spineless worm. I told you that I am a friend, and friends help each other, do they not?” The voice responded dismissively in a way that frustrated Erica somewhat.

“Do you not have a name?”

“My name has long since been forgotten by this world, it has no meaning to your kind anymore.”

Erica wasn’t sure what to say, she felt as though she could pass out any second yet she wanted to know who this being was. Her own guardian angel in a sense. “If your name has no meaning, then could you tell me about yourself?”

“Little one… I am ancient, if I am to tell you my tale it will not be short.” The voice almost sounded frustrated as it spoke.

“It’s been a long time since someone told me a bedtime story.” Erica said with an empty chuckle.

Silence surrounded her, and for a moment she was convinced the voice would not respond. Yet just as she was about to close her eyes to try and rest it spoke up. “Long before your people roamed this land my father came to this world. He was an outsider, and the mortals of the time feared him for his immense strength. But more than him they feared one another, as while he only watched, they fought over trivial things. They came for each other’s necks with swords and shields, and wars riddled the once peaceful land. So the immortal one stepped down from the great beyond and granted beings of all races a gift of great power, she tasked them to use it to bring peace to the land.”

“My father was among those who received this gift, alongside his brother. But not all used these gifts for the sake of peace, and jealousy caused some of the giftless to turn against the gifted. My kind, few as we were, were among the few who managed to preserve peace. Until one day a temptress; my mother, stole my father’s heart. Through her, our species thrived, but she caused a great divide within us as she had not only stolen the heart of my father but also that of his brother.”

“She poisoned the minds of both my father and his brother, turned them against each other and soon war ravaged our kind. Me and my siblings were forced to choose a side, and so we did. It was a slaughter as the great strength between the forces involved brought casualties to not just our kind but also those of the mortals of the time… The skies were dyed red from the bloodshed, as death rained from above and destroyed the land below… Until the other gifted got involved.”

“A man which you mortals now know as Aelius the God of the Sun stepped forward with the intention to end the war. But he was a foolish man, a man who stepped into a conflict he knew nothing of. He gathered many other gifted and they forced themselves into the war, choosing the winner without understanding the reasons behind the conflict, and they chose my father’s brother, and by proxy my mother.” As he spoke his deep, gruff voice took on an increasingly disappointed tone, yet behind the disappointment she could also hear the resentment. Simply saying the gods name seemed to have awoken feelings of anger and rage within him which he struggled to contain.

“My father, enraged by the actions of the other gifted, rained down fire upon the world, and was as such crowned the God of Rage. Yet his anger was justified but no one chose to listen.”

“I alongside some of my brothers and sisters chose to confront the Sun God and the other gifted, accusing them of meddling in business they did not understand. That the wretch who poisoned the minds of two once inseparable brothers had been crowned the winner by their foolish actions… and their response? They locked us up and tossed away the key. For countless years I have been sealed in this prison, and while my body cannot move, my mind still functions. They once called me Dror’Khanik, and the followers of Aelius crowned me the Enemy of the Sun.”

Erica was stunned, if what this being said was true that meant not only that she was speaking to a demigod, but also a dragon which was almost as ancient as the gods themselves. “Once you are set free, what happens then?” She asked carefully, her path now filled with uncertainty.

“Once I am free… I will end the war within dragonkind, and I will make the sun god pay for his misdeeds against our kind. When the day comes, I will personally devour the sun.”