Yet, his lips did not reach hers. Instead, they suddenly witnessed the cold taste of iron. The dragon managed to dodge the fierce spear before it blew his teeth away.

“Elias!”, Aira shouted in relief after she fell to the ground, forcefully released from her abductor's hands.

“Did you miss me, my little lady?”, Ellias asked, pointing his spear at the disguised dragon.

“I never thought I would be so happy to hear you calling me your little lady, you bastard.”, she thought.

“Do you think a mere master mage could defeat a higher being? You will turn to dust before you could touch me.”, the two-legged lizard rumbled.

“Yet, I didn’t turn to dust when you had a taste of my spear.”

“I was distracted then. It won’t happen again. I assure you.”

“We’ll see about that.”, Elias said.

As he charged towards the dragon he swung his spear, cutting through the air, then the sound of an explosion nearly turned everyone deaf. Smoke spread everywhere.

At that moment, Aira felt her hand grabbed in a hurry as she coughed violently.

“I thought you were dead.”, she said.

“Let’s go!!”, Elias said as he pulled her away.

“He said he sent you a surprise.”

“He did. A very useful surprise.”, Elias grinned. “I fed it to my spear.”

“…”

“Do not let go of my hand!”, Elias instructed, then a loud roar wailed in the air. “We need to go at the top. Run!”

A labyrinth-like hall spread ahead. As they ran, the floors trembled, and many walls fell behind them.

“Wretched thief!”, the dragon cried in rage. “Do not think you will escape my palace. I will skin you alive. Return the vessel to me, and I will give you a less painful death.”

“You should worry about your own life, fossil.”, Elias spoke.

The labyrinth-like paths came to an end when they reached the stairs that led outside.

Elias pulled Aira into his arms and sprinted up as fast as lighting. A large meadow extended before them. No buildings could be seen - only grass, the sky, and its few fluffy clouds scattered here and there.

“The palace. Where is it?”, Aira asked after Elias carefully let her feet touch the soft grass.

“It’s above us.”, Elias replied.

“Huh?”

“This dungeon is a gathering of magic portals. While we were in the palace, we must have passed through one of them and ended up here. But  this one seems more stable.”

“We need to find a way out. That annoying lizard will catch up to us soon.”

“It already did.”, Elias smiled.

Just like a storm, the dragon appeared in front of them in his human form but with wings attached to his back, flapping wildly while the grass barely held onto the soil.

“There is no point in escaping, my little cute vessel.”, he said, a grin extending to his ears.

“You are talking as if I am invisible.”, Elias said.

“I do not concern myself with useless flies. I am the great Perak Dragana, a high being of Asteria. Many had fallen on their knees in fear after hearing my name only. I will allow you a few moments to say your prayers before giving you the honor of sending you to your creator with my own hands.”

“Funny words coming from a lizard defeated and imprisoned by the very ones who feared you. You also call yourself a high being when you are merely one of the fallen.”

“They did not defeat me. If it weren’t for those damned pillars, I would have destroyed this world before the gates closed. And We did not fall. We were envied for our power and beauty. The other beings of Asteria chased us away because they wanted Asteria for themselves.”

“Lousy excuses!”, Elias said, not losing the chance to sneak behind the dragon and land a strong blow which was in the end blocked by Perak’s arm, sowed with iron-like scales.

“Did you really think you had a chance against me? You should have ran away while you still could and left my vessel behind.”

“I could have. But I am not someone who wastes chances that are hard to come by. My companion is still hungry, you see.”

Elias pointed the tip of his spear in Perak’s direction, then launched another attack.

The two of them exchanged many moves, none of them backing down. Aira had no choice but to watch.

What else could she do in that situation, when she lacked mana? Throw grass at a dragon or fight him with a stick? She could barely stand from the wind created by the force of their attacks. Yet, she could not help but be fascinated by the scene cut out of a fantasy book.

Perak, although in his human form, fought fiercely, continuously aiming for Elias’ neck with his claw-shaped hands while Elias defended either by blocking his attacks or pushing him back with his sharp spear, which from time to time it was either surrounded by lightning or simply turned into a scythe, ready to cut the dragon’s head if any chance arose.

Most importantly, he seemed to enjoy the fight too much, even if he did not put a scratch on the persistent two-legged lizard.

“Is he a masochist?”, Aira wondered, her mouth wide-opened.

The fight lasted long enough for Perak to let his guard down and for Elias to take advantage of that moment to scratch his forehead holding the silver stone attached, which flew towards Aira. She managed to catch it, and Perak desperately ran to retrieve it.

He was stopped in his attempt to snatch the stone along with Aira’s hand by none other than the mysterious fox whom Aira thought was lost within the dungeon. Its paw was powerful enough to push him back more than ten steps away.

As Aira held the stone in her palm, it started disintegrating, countless particles being absorbed inside her chest.

“No!”, Perak yelled in despair, and tried once again to grab his treasure. Elias blocked him with his hungry for blood scythe.

“Why so desperate?”, Elias asked. “Ah! I see! That stone is the reason why you were still alive although most of your brothers and sisters disappeared thousand of years ago.”, he added. “I wondered why a being like you still lingers inside a dungeon. You were using a  relic. But now it found its owner.”

“Owner? That? She may be able to serve as a vessel but she will never be able to use it.”

“Hm! You may be right, but you might also be wrong. Only, you will not live to see it, of course.”

Although he could only watch the stone turn into dust in front of him, Perak still did not give up. He thought that he should kill Aira at least. 

Author notes:

QUIZ:

What do you think about dragons who wear stones as accessories?

A. I think it’s cute.

B. Dragons can wear whatever they want.

C. I never think.