"What did you say?" Tigris' voice didn't carry the rage she had thought it would. It was threateningly low. Almost as if he hadn't heard, but the threat in them was clear enough. There was a guttural noise coming from his throat.

Meera gulped and whispered. "I need your dragon names."

Tigris's chest started to glow red, and it travelled upwards to his jaw. Ignis, on the other hand, was impassive as ever, which somehow made him even worse than his brother. With Tigris, it was easy to see what was going on in his mind. With Ignis, she couldn't tell if he was about to eat her or consider her words.

Meera backed a few steps while raising her hands in defense. "Before you try to blast me away, please listen to what I have to say."

"I've heard all I need," Tigris thundered. Flames danced in his mouth, like a chained wild beast, lashing against its restraints to burst out and run rampant.

"I don't want your dragon names because I wish to control you. I need it because without knowing your true names, I cannot start the ritual." Meera dribbled out the words as fast as she could manage.

Tigris didn't like that response at all. Flames erupted from his mouth. Meera launched a chakram from her back to the side and teleported to it at the last possible second. The column of fire from Tigris's mouth was too wide, and its temperature was so intense that her face developed boils as it burned.

She activated The Great Renewal and healed herself almost immediately.

"Please, I'm telling the truth," Meera said. "Just hear me out. I'm even willing to go through Drania's vision again."

Tigris's eyes started glowing red, and she knew what was coming next. Those things were next to impossible to dodge. She blasted tiny mirrors out of her armor and hoped that she could teleport away to safety. It was growing dark, so she could activate Shroud of Shadows and turn invisible and fly off the mountain, if it came to that.

"Brother, wait." Ignis raised a hand. "I want to hear what she has to say."

"Brother, she is a human. They are made of nothing but lies and deceit. Do you not remember how she used Father for her own nefarious purposes?"

Ignis turned and gave his brother a look. "Last I looked, I was still king. Was I not?"

Tigris's eyes stopped glowing. "Yes, brother."

"And I don't need a reminder of father's actions. He killed indiscriminately, dragons and other lesser creatures." Ignis turned to Meera. "Speak, and if I do not like what you have to say, then I will no longer hold my brother back."

Meera sighed in relief and bowed to the dragon king. "Yes, thank you, my lord. The ritual of becoming an archdragon is rather simple in its nature, but difficult in execution. There is a price to pay for the one who ascends to an archdragon."

"What price?"

"Let's say you were to become the archdragon, then you would have to heart the eat of the one closest to you, whether they may be mother, father, or…brother."

"You…" Tigris stomped towards her. "Brother, surely, you see what she is planning. She wants to learn our dragon names, so she can control us while she weakens us. On one hand, she will get me out of the way, and on the other, she will control you and force you to take our army to fight her war for you."

"And how will I take you to Ealisto?" Meera snapped. "I am no archdragon that can open a gateway between worlds to force you to head towards Ealisto. Also, you saw what happened when I ordered your father to stop. Just one word was enough to drive me to my knees. What you're suggesting would require unparalleled amounts of Stamina and control. Your brother is vastly stronger than I, and I could never control him, nor do I have the intention of doing so."

"She has a point, brother," Ignis said. "Is that all, Meera?"

"No, my Lord, after you eat the heart, the transformation must be blessed by another archdragon or someone who stands on equal footing as an archdragon."

Even Ignis frowned at that. "There is none that stands on equal footing as an archdragon."

"I'm sorry, my lord, but there are some who do like a human equivalent of an archdragon. We call them Ascendants. Just like how archdragons are not truly divine, the same is true for ascendants. They both stand on the pedestal that is between mortals and the divine." Meera drew a deep breath as the next part would surely draw some doubts, especially from the dark dragon. "I can perform this step of the ritual, as I am an Ascendant. However, this will tie us together until one of us passes from these worlds. We will know where the other is at all times, and more than that, we will know what the other is feeling and if need be can call for the other's aid, through this mental link."

All three dragons were quiet. Drania showed the least bit of emotion. Tigris looked as though he would attack, but he didn't want to break his brother's orders, so he stayed quiet.

After a whole minute of contemplation, Ignis spoke and asked for the thing that was the least bit inconsequential to him. "And how did you become an Ascendant?"

Stolen novel; please report.

Meera looked up at him and told the truth. "I became one when I helped Veridiana pass from these worlds." The brothers stiffened at that. They didn't know that, but she didn't want to hide that fact from them, lest it cause more problems later on. "After her battle with your father, her body was battered and bruised so thoroughly that she would not be long in this world, so she asked me to put her out of her misery...and I did. When she died, her Ascendant nature passed on to me."

"I see," Ignis said. "Is that all?"

She reached into her Hoard Belt and pulled out Dara's scroll to make sure. "Yes, my Lord."

"Drania, put her words to the test," Ignis commanded.

"Come here, child," the female dragon commanded, as she rose to her feet.

I'm really going to regret doing this.

She walked as slowly as she dared to Drania. Even when she walked past Tigris and his murderous gaze, she didn't pick up the pace. That's how much she didn't want to go through that again. It was like being at a rave, where all her senses were being assaulted at all times, and there was no Thulir to pull her out of this. No friend to pull her out of that wave of colors and force that vile liquid down her throat.

Then she paused mid-step. Thulir had given her the rest of the Canterworm juice, so she had the cure to whatever the dragon was about to do to her, but what she didn't have was someone to remind her to take it, or so she thought.

She got clear of Tigris and stopped before Drania, who somehow seemed normal in the presence of the two gigantic brothers.

Meera pulled out the bottle of Canterworm juice, uncorked it, and set it on the ground. The smell alone was enough to make her want to vomit her insides upon the snow.

"Just the Canterworm juice that Thulir gave me," she said to Drania.

"I know, I could tell from the smell. I don't know how you humans drink that. If I told what was in it, you would want to kill yourself."

"Then, please don't. Also, please don't be surprised, I'm about to call upon a friend. He is harmless to you." She said that last part, looking at all three, but waited on Ignis's nod before she called on Onyx.

Her ghostly friend neighed loudly as he appeared out of her soul. His voice echoed around the mountain top. He always permeated an ethereal blue light, which at this time might as well have been as bright as a light bulb.

"Meera..." His voice trailed off as he took notice of the three dragons. "Dragons!" He shrieked in a particularly shrill voice and ducked behind her. "Meera, we're surrounded by dragons again."

She couldn't help but chuckle. "And they cannot do anything to you, remember."

"Oh, that's right." He straightened. "I remember that. Do you need help running away from them?"

"Not yet. But I do need your help?"

"Name it."

Meera quickly explained to him what was going to happen to her, and she needed his help. He took that all in stride and listened carefully while he kept glancing at the dragons nervously. She feared he might bolt at any second.

"So, you need me to just scream at you to drink from that bottle down there?" Onyx asked.

"Precisely."

"What's in it?"

"Canterworm juice."

He gasped and then gagged a few times. If he were a real horse, she figured he would be violently throwing up by now.

"Meera, do you know that Canterworms are—"

"No, I don't want to know." Meera cut him off. "I fear, if I know, then I won't be able to go through with this, and I need to go through with this."

"O-Okay."

With that, Meera turned to Drania and nodded. "I'm ready."

"Look into my eyes," Drania commanded, and she did so. "To the best of your knowledge, is everything that you have told us true?"

"Yes."

Then the assault began. The colors sped up, and Meera lost her senses. Her whole world became those eyes and those colors. The psychedelic trip started again. However, it was different this time. It wasn't as bad as last time. Maybe because she had been through this already. Then, as abruptly as the effect had started, it stopped. Meera rocked forward and was nearly driven to her knees. She huffed, and the others were talking, but it was all a blur.

"Meera, are you okay?" Onyx shouted, but it was as if his voice was faraway. "What did you do to her?"

She fell to her knees as his voice sounded sharp and had a haunting effect. Like last time, she was no longer staring into the dragon's eyes, but the aftereffect of all those colors was still ravaging her vision. Thankfully, it was mostly dark, so it wasn't as bad.

"Meera, drink from the bottle!" Onyx shouted in her ear.

She was sure she had asked him to say that, but she wasn't sure why. He shouted once more, but she kept staring at him. He even went as far as to move her head so she knew where the bottle was.

"Drink it, Meera," came a feminine voice. Almost a soothing, surreal sensation passed over her.

Meera's hand moved on its own. She gripped the bottle and before she knew it, it was to her lips and she was drinking what was perhaps the worst-tasting thing she had ever drunk. She swallowed and fought through her gag reflex to keep the juice down. With a start, she realized the world was fine again. The colors felt normal again, her hearing was back, and the first thing she heard was the brothers arguing in their own tongue.

"Oh, hey, you're back," Onyx stated. "I was honestly so worried."

Meera smiled and patted his neck. "Thanks, Onyx. I'll see you later."

"Sure thing," he said, eagerly.

"What are they saying?" Meera asked Drania, wiping the last of the Canterworm juice from her mouth.

"They're deciding if vengeance is worth one of their lives," Drania said.

"It is." Tigris snapped. "Brother, take my heart and go avenge Mother. Truly, this time and…and Raasai."

Coming from him, that was saying something. He was the one who was the most vocal about hating Veridiana and even Aksha. Though Meera was sure it had hit them deeply when they found out Aksha was dead.

"Our vengeance will mark me as kin killer," Ignis replied. "No, brother, I will not kill you. No matter what power I attain. I say the same to you. If you wish to avenge Mother and Raasai, then I will not stand in your way. Strike me down and become an archdragon."

Tigris looked away.

"Words are easier than action," Ignis said. "Meera, I thank you for bringing this knowledge to us, but we cannot help you in this endeavor. You may leave these lands and no harm will come to you."

Meera deflated. She had come all this way, braved all this danger, and gone through the torment of Drania's eyes for no reason. She would have to return empty-handed. The only thing that remained for her was to fight her way through the White Ember wasteland. But in the back of her mind, she knew either the cold or the Glacidrak would beat her eventually.

"Brother, we will not get this chance again," Tigris reiterated. "Once she leaves, we will have no way to become an archdragon until Father rises again, and he is more likely to strike us down than let one of us become his equal."

Ignis looked away. "I have given my verdict."

"Call for the challenge of the Dawndreamer," Drania said. "A duel to the death, and whoever wins will become an archdragon and go with Meera to avenge your mother."

Meera looked up with hope at the brothers, who exchanged impassive glances.

"Aye, I will hold to that," Tigris said. "Brother, by the Dawndreamer's creed, I call you to battle."

"Brother, you do not know what you ask of me, but if this means that much to you, then I accept. Tomorrow, when the sun rises, one of our fires will be extinguished forever."

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