Walking up the countless stair steps took its toll on Aira’s body. She often tripped on flat ground, and luckily Elias was there to catch her every time. She was upset still, but did not refuse his help, acknowledging her weaknesses.

A large closed door awaited for their hands to touch it. It cried a loud noise as if lamenting for the time before it was left abandoned. The accumulated dust and spider web-like threads hanging thick in each corner, or connecting one wall to the other, ominously adorned its insides.

They passed through all chambers, including the throne hall but found only the emptiness of forgotten times. As they stood in the middle of the large chamber, the palace began to shake, tall pillars falling right and left.

The floor began to crack, barely leaving enough space to put one’s foot. The shaking halted but was soon followed by a loud howling and growling.

“Hmm! How lucky!”, Elias grinned.

“You call this luck?”, she still asked, knowing he was teasing her, hiding behind him.

A large crowd of white fiends surrounded them out of nowhere, either crawling on the floor or hanging from the spider web-like threads. They looked like distorted humans, walking on their legs and hands, like spiders - hairless creatures possessing no ability to speak.

“And here I thought I would leave empty handed.”

Aira soon understood the reason the word fear might not exist in his vocabulary. As he rushed towards the bizarre life forms, a long spear took shape in his right hand, as dark as his hair. As it pierced through each fiend, nothing was left of them but white dust, the particles floating in the air until the spear absorbed it all.

“Hm! I’m truly disappointed.”, he said as he defeated the last fiend, the ground still trembling under his feet.

“Um! Sorry to interrupt your fun, but I think there’s something underneath.”, Aira said, trying as hard as she could to keep her balance.

Elias walked towards her as if the trembling did not affect him in the slightest, his steps as silent and soft as falling feathers.

The distance between them was not that significant, but enough so that Elias would not be able to reach her on time when another fiend suddenly dragged her through a crack below, the crevices closing up and the trembling stopped.

She saw nothing but darkness in that soundless space until she felt a gust of warm wind, like something large was breathing onto her skin.

“How many centuries since the gates closed? 100? 500? No! It must have been more than a thousand years ever since I was confined behind  these illusions. But now, I can finally be free, little girl.”

“Who are you? What are you?”, Aira asked, crawling back as soon as she saw a white, overbearing, gigantic creature appearing in front of her without warning.

The fiend who dragged her there seemed to have vanished before she realized she was brought to a strange, large hall. She was brave before she set on her journey, but now was terrified.

The creature in her sight breathed viciousness through its grinning mouth and wide nostrils.

“What do you want from me?”, she asked as if it was not obvious. “I am small and bony. I would not even touch an inch of your stomach were you to swallow me.”

“Although I wish I could eat you, it is not why I have brought you here. You will serve as my host. Your body may seem frail but it can keep my core safe for at least a year until I find a more suitable vessel. “

“So, you want to possess me.”

“Hmm! You are not stupid. I believe we can get along.”

 Well, I am sorry! But I cannot let you do that. I have a lot to do with this body.”, she replied.

“Do you want revenge? I can help you with that. Do you need power? I have more than you could handle. Give me your body, and I will grant you your wishes.”, he tried to coax her.

“No, thank you. I will do what I need to myself, with the power I have.”

“Is that why you are searching for the Acarasa? You are not fooling me, little human. I know your inner desires.”, he said, breathing his voice into her core, whispering words of deceit. “Anyway, you do not have a choice.”

His words echoed through the room but also dispersed, washed away by cold blades of winds, whirling around.

“Your core is frail. Someone must have put a seal on it so that you could not use it. But if you let me find shelter in your body, I can fix your core and you will never have to worry about it breaking. And, with my power, you will rise above all and become an arch-mage , stepping on all of those who hurt you.”

As he enticed her into giving in, Aira noticed a shiny silver stone, attached to the dragon’s forehead. It was plain, but it still caught her attention, drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

The dragon quickly withdrew his head. The stone seemed important to him but she did not inquire about it.

“Little human, make your decision. Otherwise, the only way for you to leave this place is for the wind to carry your ashes into the oblivion.”

“Can I think about it? It is not as simple as you make it look. I am only a  frail human while you are a mighty being.”, she re, trying to buy time and think of a way to escape.

She thought that if he wanted to, he could have possessed her immediately, but there might have been a reason he could not do it without the consent of the host.

“I will give you time until after I have completed my sleep. Do not think about escaping. My fiends will slit your throat as soon as you make a step out of this room. And do not wait for your knight. He must be already dead. I sent him a little surprise. Ha-ha-ha!”, the dragon laughed as he sat on a pile of silver coins and treasures, soon falling asleep.

Author notes:

QUIZ:

How would you react if you met a dragon?

A. Show them your dance moves.

B. Play hide and seek with them.

C. Teach them how to curse in 25 different languages.