“Welcome!”

Yukiko examined the broad shouldered man that had surprised them more closely. A small sphere was hovering next to him, illuminating the dungeon around them.

“You are Lia, correct?” He didn’t acknowledge her at all and looked on to her companion. “Let me introduce myself: I am Phobos.” A cold shiver run over her spine. What was the regent doing within the dungeon at this hour? He looked down on her. “Who are you, child?”

Yukiko didn’t answer, her mind desperately searching for a way to escape. Could they overwhelm him? Unlikely. Running past him and flee? Possible, but Lia wouldn’t make it and the narrow corridors … She probably wouldn’t even leave without her father. Taking some surprise gadget from her chest was out as well.

The only thing that could work was magic. But her options in that were limited as well. With what she knew, they couldn’t just flee though a wall, as they were deep below the surface. They would only find dirt on the other side. Maybe if she did a surprise maneuver …

It only took her a moment to slip into invisibility, as she had practiced that very well. She just got closer to him, aimed with her foot and kicked as hard as she could. It didn’t connect. Instead his large, strong hand closed in on her throat. It got harder to breathe. She tried to pry him lose, sinking her fingernails into his skin, her hair tried to loosen the grip of his fingers without success.

“Guests shouldn’t behave this way, no matter if they are invited or not.” He growled at her, staring in her face. Then he let her fall down again.

She was gasping for air as she felt tears in her eyes, tears of desperation. Once again she had been helpless.

“I don’t know who she is, but I know why you are here.” He looked once again to Lia. “Follow me, obey me and Barnett won’t be hurt. Can we agree to that?”

Yukiko looked to Lia, wanted to scream “no”, but the girl just nodded.

“Good”, Phobos looked down to Yukiko. “What about you?”

She didn’t look into his eyes. She knew how much Lia cared about her father and that she hadn’t any chance to flee. “Agreed”, she hissed between her teeth. The first chance she got, she would flee, together with Lia and her father. Even if he was half dragon, he wasn’t a match for her secret weapon!

◊

Lia gulped. She felt uneasy as she looked into his eyes. What was it that he wanted from them? And … why was he down here? A regent shouldn’t be down in the dungeons in the middle of the night. Except it had been a trap. A trap she was guided into, from Yukiko.

But that little display just now didn’t fit in with that story. But on the other hand, that one could have been played.

Lia had taken of the dragon eye. She had seen Yukiko turn invisible and Phobos grasping her out of thin air. He had to know where she had been, what she wanted to try …

They followed him through the castle in silence, passing several passages and stairs until they arrived at the throne room. Two guards were flanking the door and effectively cutting their escape route.

Phobos sat down on the stairs just before the throne, his small sphere of light rising to the ceiling and illuminating the large room.

The regents face seemed hard, like a rough unpolished stone. His head could almost have been a dragons, just without the horns, normal eyes and a much more human color. His hair was very short and black.

“Well, I finally found you”, he said smiling. “Now, please, show me your true face and not that illusion.”

“How did you …?” She looked once again to Yukiko. Something felt very wrong here. The little thief snipped a finger and her magic faded.

“How did I know you were in the city, that you would come to free Barnett Dias?” She felt his gaze examining her whole body. “Well, news reached me, that someone got into the city by putting three guards to sleep. That could only have been magic and the only type of magic that worked beneath the city walls is the magic of dragons.” He smiled, getting up and closer to her. “So, the intruder had to be either a dragon, a dragon priest or a half dragon.” He stopped right in front her and looked deep into her eyes. “Dragon priests usually don’t have any reason to sneak into the city, dragons usually don’t bother with humans at all and a wild one … that would have been a carnage already. That leaves half dragons, but those are well known as they are regents, kings, imperators or high ranking officers. You were the only one left.”

She gulped. She didn’t want to correct him on that assumption. “What do you want from me?” She asked instead, a bit of fear in her voice.

“I want to make you my wife.”

He hadn’t asked. He had stated a fact. “Why me?”

“Hasn’t Barnett told you?” He backed off slightly, surprise in his voice.

“What is it? What hasn’t my father told me?”

Phobos began to smile and sat back down on the stairs. “Your … father.” He began to laugh. “Yes, of course.” He calmed down after a moment. “Barnett Dias is not your father”, he explained, serious once again. “Your father is a dragon, which makes you half dragon as well. That is why you will be my wife!”

“No”, she took a step back. “That cannot be.”

“It is. Think back. A normal human girl wouldn’t survive the sealing of a dragon within her. Or do you still think that you were the first of many to come? That things have changed suddenly? No”, he shook his head, “it is because you are half dragon.”

She noticed Yukiko next to her, looking at her with huge eyes.

“I am not half dragon. I am a normal human being.” She got louder, taking another step back.

“Why do you reject being half dragon?” Phobos seemed truly curious. “You should be proud to have the blood of a dragon flowing within you.”

“Barnett is my father”, she answered, her voice getting some resolve back, “not some dragon I have never seen in my whole life.”

“I see”, he got up and climbed the few stairs to the throne. “The truth is that Barnett is your uncle. He is your mothers brother. I have never seen your father myself. I just know that your brother and your father parted after an argument. If you want to know more, you should ask Barnett yourself…”

Suddenly there was lightning behind Lia. Light blinded her, thunder was cutting into Phobos words. She turned around. Lightning was spawned from thin air, crushing into walls, floor and ceiling, the cacophony almost making her faint.

Two persons stepped out from that thunderstorm and then everything was calm and silent once more.

◊

Yukikos ears were ringing; her eyes were still seeing those flashes of light although everything had stopped again.

It took long moments until she could finally see something again. Some sort of shadow that came closer to her. She stumbled backwards, fell and crawled further. Was that Bradley? But how? She had done everything to hide herself from him!

The shadow came closer. Yukiko turned and pulled the veil of invisibility around her once more. She scrambled to her legs. Then she heard some word spoken. She stopped and turned again. That wasn’t Bradley. The man came closer. It seemed as if he could see her as well, despite her being invisible.

Suddenly a sword slashed in between her and the stranger, forcing him backwards. Phobos started to attack the other male, who pulled a sword himself from out of his back, a sword that was almost as long as he was high. “Who are you? What do you want?” She made out Phobos voice over that constant ringing in her ears.

“I want the same thing as you: The dragon tears.”

“What are you talking about?” Their swords crossed and Yukiko could hear the ringing of their blades.

“Don’t play dumb with me”, the stranger grumbled. He was a head higher than Phobos and bald. To make up for his loss of hair he was wrapped in clothing that was made out of scales. “You have collected two of them!”

Yukiko looked for Lia. She had taken a few steps back as well. It was only a short sprint to get to her.

“Nina, get those tears”, the bold one ordered and swung his sword again. The blade scratched over the ceiling and still gained momentum. Phobos jumped to the side, barely dodging the blade. Yukiko jumped as well, as it was almost as close in hitting her as it was in hitting him.

The other strange girl closed in on Lia. She grabbed her at the arms, her hands searching for the gem hidden away under her clothing. She noticed the girl with short, brown hair. She wasn’t clad in any armor and seemed utterly uninterested in what she was doing.

Yukiko ran once again, jumped on Lias back and got ahold of the tear before that Nina girl could. She jumped back down from Lias back and started chanting those fatal words: “In kagis et seris infinis chikara kaiho!”

She could feel the warm pulsing of the gem, the magic power that cursed through her and activated the gem that now connected her and Lia. She could feel her power over the other girl that awaited her orders. It felt incredibly good, even though she knew what she was doing to Lia.

◊

Lia felt an incredible power cursing through her body all of a sudden. Not even the seal on her arm was able to do anything against that power. She felt once again free … until her freedom was taken only a moment later. Flames wrapped around her, attacked the girl before her. She pulled her hands free from her attacker and … tried to hit that girl, all without her consent.

Her attacker ignored those flames as she wrapped herself into a coat of wind and lightning. Lightning that didn’t even touch Lias body. She could hear the blades of those two men clashing. They were still fighting.

Lias fire started to spread, setting curtains on fire. But none of those flames touched Nina. She was protected by wind while her lightning twisted and curved to either floor or ceiling.

“Give me those tears”, the stranger shouted, barely audible over the crackling of wind, lightning and flames. The stones around Lia started to glow orange red.

“You will never get those tears”, Yukiko shouted somewhere behind her.

“Do you think you can stop me, little girl?” His sword parted the air and the girl cried in surprise and fear. It was only a moment then those two blades began their song of death once again.

Lias flames somehow became sentient all of a sudden. They crawled over the floor to the big man. Strong wind interfered with them, protecting him.

Then there was a loud bang. The swords fell silent for a moment and the stranger got some distance between him and Phobos. Lia could see a deep scar on his chin.

“As you wish. You leave me no other choice than to wage war with you! Nina!”

The girl fell back from Lia, standing before the bigger man with her arms outstretched. “We will see each other on the battlefield.”

Once again thunder and lightning threatened to overwhelm her senses and then … their attackers had vanished as fast as they had appeared.

Lia turned towards Phobos. Something had still control over her body, moving her against her wishes.

“Let us go”, Yukiko said behind her. Lias flames were still within the room, burning a bit higher as if to emphasize the words.

Phobos threw his sword to the side and closed in on Lia. “It seems as if you forgot that I am half dragon. Those flames don’t hurt me!”

“What about a dragons flame?” Yukiko tried to bluff, but there was something in her voice that spoke of uncertainty. Lia felt her seal unwinding. She had that much power over her?

Phobos stopped. “Fine, you win, little girl.” He looked past Lia. “But, I have certain conditions.”

“I am not interested in your conditions! You can’t force us to do anything!”

“Don’t forget that I still have Barnett in my hands. Or do you want to condemn him, without having heard my proposal?”

Lia felt her heart beating faster. It still responded to her emotions. Her lips didn’t obey her. She couldn’t say a thing, couldn’t do anything.

“We could just march down into the dungeon and free him and there is nothing that can stop us.”

“How about the fact, that Barnett isn’t within the dungeon? Do you really think I would leave him there, when I use it as a trap for you?” He smiled.

Yukiko kept silent for a moment. “Name your conditions. I will decide after I heard them.”

“Very well. The first thing I want is … an explanation!” He pointed towards Lia. “And the second thing …” Phobos sighed and slumped down on the stairs. “I need your help.”

“I … that is … you want … what?”

“Oh and put the flames out as well, would you? If you help me, I will let you and Barnett go in peace. You have a regents word on that.”

Lias flames started to die down and with them all the other flames that were still flickering and eating away on paper, wood and curtains, died as well. Lia felt her seal tightening once again, putting her dragon back into the deepest core of her heart.

Yukiko stepped beside her, staying far away from Phobos. “I accept”, she explained and put her right hand forwards. As she opened her palm a small red gem fell down from it, just being held by a leather strap. An inner fire burned within it, making it glow a fiery red. “And you really don’t know what this is?”

“No.” He shook his head.

“This is a dragons tear. She allows the one who holds it complete control over one individual. Besides that they release immense magical powers. The battle you just witnessed was a minor example of that.”

Yukiko still held the gem where it was, as if to bait him.

“I see.” He sighed and let his shoulders slump down. “But that makes it even more important that I need your help.”

Yukiko stared at Phobos a while longer. After a few long moments of silence, she took the gem back in her hand and whispered a single word: “Fuuin.”

Lia felt the power flowing backwards, freeing her once again, giving her back into the slavery of the other seal on her shoulder. Still, it was in that moment that she understood why dragon priests sought the assistance of their brothers when the time was near. A sudden chill went through her whole body.

Yukiko looked up to Lia. “W… what is your decision?”

“MY decision?” Lia stared on the little girl, full of hatred. “There is no ‘just trust me’ anymore? Oh yes, I forgot you can control me just like that!”

The girl gulped. “I … I am …”

“You wanted to decide anyways! Why give me now the chance of a decision, when there is none. There never has been one!” She turned and ran through the doors. She didn’t even notice that the guards weren’t there anymore. She bit down hard in an attempt to ignore the pain rising in her shoulder.

◊

Yukiko shuddered. “But … I hadn’t had any choice myself”, she whispered more to herself than anyone else.

She felt a big hand on her shoulder. Surprised and afraid she turned, looking into Phobos serious face. “You misused her trust.”

“What do you know?” She tried to protest.

“Trust is something very important. I need my citizens to trust me and I trust them to be honest with everything they do. But trust is even more important in a friendship.” He kneeled down before her. “I sense that you have been through many more things than you should have, things that made you into who you are. I do not ask you to trust me, but maybe you can trust her and tell her these things. Maybe she will then understand, why you had no other choice.”

Like her father he took her hand into his. “Give the tear back to her and talk to her.”

Then he stood up and left her alone, with tears running over her face. It has been so long since she had a father and that father would have hugged her now. She looked a while on Phobos back, saw him climbing those stairs to the throne and getting out a small chest from under it.

She didn’t understand him. He seemed so intent on making Lia his … why didn’t he exploit her weakness, why didn’t he use the knowledge he gained against them? Why?

She turned and ran through the doors, following more her feelings than her other senses until she found the dragon priestess sitting on a wall, legs close to her body, hugging them and herself. She cried quietly.

Yukiko came tentatively closer. Carefully she held the tear on her palm out to Lia. “Please, listen to me”, she begged.

Lia looked up once again, her tear filled eyes full of rage. She took the tear from Yukiko. “What do you want?”

“I… I know how you feel”, she answered and sat down before Lia. “Just listen and let me tell you, what happened to me …”