"My king!" A guard burst right through the large doors to the throne-room, where the king had been talking with Commander Sergon, and Narza. Before the king could admonish the guard for exploding through the door without presenting himself first, the man continued where he'd left off. "A raging dragon has landed in the middle of the courtyard!"

"A what?" was the only thing Lodin could say.

"I thought you told them not to arrive on the backs of those beasts." Narza glared at the Commander.

"I did. Something must have gone wrong." His lips were set in a grim line as he moved towards the doors at no light pace.

From what Lodin had been told of the girl, though she might be young, she should've understood not to do that. Her parents and the guards with her had as well. It had to have been a last resort for them. And the fact that the dragon was raging worried him. They should be able to control those creatures, shouldn't they?

Though the Commander of the Royal Guard didn't slow down to make sure anyone was following him, Lodin quickly followed. Whether this was their fault or simply a random dragon, it was still serious.

It was rare to see Sergon so determined and focused on a singular thing in this way as well. Lodin found it a little difficult to even keep up with the man.

However, they quickly made it outside to a sight he hadn't thought he'd see in a million years.

A big, black dragon was snarling, growling and snapping at anyone who got too close. Its long tail swished behind it, knocking the Dragon Slayers surrounding it off their feet. Yet it didn't move from its spot. Its anger was only made worse with the pounding of rain and flashes of light from the sky.

"What is going on here? Dragons never land around here," the king asked as he came to a stop next to Sergon, who'd done the same as he stared at the sight before them.

"I have no clue."

If the princess and those guards of hers had been with it, they'd have calmed the creature down long ago. But if they weren't here, then why was the dragon?

Suddenly, Sergon broke through the line-up of Dragon Slayers, getting a better view of the situation. Lodin carefully followed, his hand resting at his sword's handle.

It seemed some had attempted getting closer to it and throwing their spears at it, but they had either been blown away, snapped like a twig or fallen uselessly to the ground, unable to pierce its scales. This one was a strong fighter, it left no openings. It was keeping awfully low to the ground, though.

That was when he saw it. A bright flash of silvery-white under one of its wings, which were doubling as its front feet. What in the world could that be?

Sergon, on the other hand, gasped with a hard look coloring his eyes. "Hells. None of you may harm that dragon! Fall back!" he shouted as he suddenly unclasped the sheath holding his sword.

"Just what the hell do you think you are doing commanding my men, Sergon? That thing out there is a dragon – of course they should kill it! That is their job!" Arthas, said men's Commander, furiously stated as he marched towards them with a flaming torch in his hand.

"What I would like to know is what you expect to do without your sword?" Lodin asked, his arms crossed as he kept his skeptic gaze on his friend, worried for his mental health.

"It is protecting the princess. One of your men could misfire and hit her. That cannot be allowed," Sergon answered the other Commander, loud enough for everyone around them to hear. Not that they did anything without their actual Commander's orders. "As for the sword," he paused, looking to Lodin. "I am simply doing what she taught me." He turned his gaze back to the dragon, which had its eyes on them as well. It probably knew who was in charge out of all of them by now.

With it still glaring and snarling at him, Sergon held the unclasped sword and sheath up in the air for it to see. And then, he dropped it.

"I knew you were not always the brightest one, but I did not count you for a madman, Sergon," the king spoke up behind him, his voice holding not only anger and confusion, but also genuine worry. Not that anyone but the few who knew him could tell. "Pick up your sword and stop acting a fool right this instant!"

For the first time ever, Sergon disobeyed a direct order and shook his head. "Just watch." He confidently showed the dragon his empty palms.

At first, it looked confused as to whether it could trust him, growling a little louder with each step the Commander got closer, but it did nothing else. When he came within its range, however, it bared its teeth at him in warning, shifting to face him more directly.

Lodin looked to Arthas with a scowl. "Your men better be at the ready if this thing decides it needs dessert."

Arthas simply nodded in reply, watching what was going on in front of them intently.

Everyone held their breath for a moment, waiting to see if the Royal Guard's Commander had stepped over its boundaries. He held his hands further in the air.

"I do not intend to hurt you." He actually talked to it, his gaze fleetingly leaving the glowing, yellow gaze of the dragon to what was underneath it. "I only want to help her," he explained, his voice shaky despite his best efforts.

Lodin clenched his jaw harshly, his own eyes trained firmly on the two of them. What the hell was even going on at this point? How hadn't Sergon been eaten by that thing yet? Was this something he'd learnt from that very same princess it was protecting?

Lodin could only stare with wide eyes as the dragon carefully lifted its wing a little, revealing the girl all curled up on herself. The flash of white he'd seen under it proved to be the girl's hair, strange color as it was. The king had never seen hair like that. It made her seem otherworldly, especially under the guard of such a fierce beast.

The dragon looked back at Sergon almost questioningly, and the Commander nodded in response.

"Yes, I want to see her," he said, as though it was a perfectly sane thing to just stand there and talk with a damn dragon. "I want to see if she is all right."

The dragon silently stared at the man, its eyes shining through the dark. Evaluating him, it seemed. It felt like the entire area around them was holding its breath in anticipation of what it'd do.

After what felt like an eternity, it moved its wing back with a huff, granting him access. But not without a snarl for a warning.

Lodin let out the breath he'd been holding along with everyone else and internally thanked any gods that'd listen that his friend remained unharmed from something as mad as this.

Albeit slowly, Sergon approached the princess. Both seemed so incredibly tiny next to a dragon of that size.

He quickly reached her under the dragon's and everyone else's watchful gazes and stiffly knelt beside her. The guy was probably painfully aware of all the speechless gazes he was being awarded. Including the yellow one. One misstep and he could still become its lunch.

The Commander slowly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Princess Ciara. It is Sergon. You are at the castle, you are safe. You can wake up now." He didn't speak loudly, yet it was so silent in the area anyone could hear it. Still, it didn't wake the girl. Shaking her didn't either.

So, the man gingerly turned the girl over and into his arms. It seemed they'd have to wait some time to find out what had happened to her guards and why she'd arrived on a furious dragon.

He got to his feet with her in his arms and slowly backed away from the dragon. Lodin could see how he froze on the spot when the dragon dipped its head and couldn't help mirroring the tension himself. It did nothing though, simply seemed to sniff at her. Was it worried for her?

A smile broke on Sergon's face, no matter how little it fit the situation.

"She will be fine, we will take good care of her," he promised it, at this point clearly not feeling ridiculous for talking with it. No one else seemed weirded out by it any longer either – it clearly understood him perfectly fine.

It looked up from her and met his gaze again. For the longest moment, the two held each other's gazes. Even from here, Lodin could see its eyes held only a fraction of the terrifying shine they'd had just a moment ago. It was a wonder it was even the same dragon at all.

With a light whimper of sorts, it pulled back and watched him calmly. It was trusting him with her.

If someone had told Lodin that his best friend would ever approach a furious dragon without any form of weaponry and communicating with it like this, he'd have likely locked them in an isolated dungeon to make sure the madness wouldn't spread. It was awe-inspiring to see what a single girl could do after just a single meeting with a man.

With a last look at the big creature, which continued to calmly sit there and watch Sergon, he returned to Lodin and Arthas' sides, each step filling all of them with relief.

Lodin shook his head at him as he approached with the drenched girl in his arms.

"Hells, you are a bloody lucky man."

"I know." Sergon exhaled deeply. Had it been any other, more distrusting dragon, he'd already be inside its stomach along with many others.

Lodin's eyes landed on the princess. Her expression and tear-streaked cheeks proved something had gone wrong in their journey here. She was, however, completely unconscious at the moment, unable to tell them what.

He sighed internally. This one would be a troublesome one, he could feel it in his bones.

"For now, let us get her up in her room. You-" He looked at a random Dragon Slayer. "Go fetch our healer and bring him to our guest room near the big willow." The man immediately nodded and scampered off.

"My king," Arthas spoke up just as the king turned around and headed inside again. "What do we do about the beast?"

Lodin turned his gaze to the dragon, whose only movement was the impatient tapping of its tail on the ground.

"It has not seriously harmed anyone, has it?" he asked the Commander of the Dragon Slayers, who had been here all along.

Arthas shook his head. "It has not," he confirmed, already suspecting the answer he'd get and not liking it one bit.

"Leave it."

Arthas frowned even deeper. "But, my ki-"

"It will not harm anyone as it is now. Until it does, I order you and your men to leave it alone," Lodin sharply told the other man, then walked inside with Sergon and the princess close behind him.