Meera stared in shock as Ignis stirred. She had inadvertently stolen the power of a goddess and, with it, brought a being back to life. If she weren't so stunned, she might've even made a joke at how she was Frankenstein and Ignis was her monster. If that were the case, they would have to put him down eventually, but she hoped it wouldn't come to that. That the other dragons wouldn't turn on their former king, and by extension, Meera.

No one paid attention to Ignis as he got off his back and onto his feet. They were all so enamored with Tigris. After all, who wouldn't be? The archdragon was even more majestic-looking than the tiger-striped Ignis.

Ignis's eyes only beheld his brother, and even she could tell how proud he was of his brother. His brother had done it. He had become an Archdragon. The one thing they had been striving for so long.

Finally, Ignis flapped his wings and took flight. Meera almost took off after him, but she knew her moment would come. She let the brothers have a reunion worthy of the ordeal they had just gone through.

As Ignis rose higher, the dragons took note of him. Their eyes widened, and they moved aside to make way as the king went to his brother. It wasn't long before everyone started murmuring in their own tongue.

She didn't need to know their language to understand what they were saying. They were shocked and wondered how Ignis could have returned. They were probably also wondering where all his injuries went and how he could be alive without a heart. They might've also mused whether their king had a healing skill.

Tigris finally noticed his brother's coming as all the dragons had parted for him. It was like Ignis was flying to a small hill that used to be his brother. Ignis was about the size of his brother's head, if even that. The younger brother was so large that it seemed he had a gravity of his own.

The newly formed archdragon spoke in his dragon tongue.

"Thanks to Meera," Ignis replied. "She brought me back."

All heads snapped to Meera. For once, she wasn't worried about getting attacked. Their eyes held more shock than the hate she was used to. After all, not only had she turned Tigris into an archdragon, she had also brought back their deceased king.

"Come here, Meera," Ignis said, in a tone so calm that she couldn't think it could come from a dragon.

Meera tilted her head and took off. She flew fast but not too fast, so the others wouldn't think she was attacking them. Even if she was, it wasn't like she could do anything to the brothers.

Meera bowed her head to Ignis when she arrived. "Your Majesty."

"I'm no longer the king," Ignis said, then turning to his brother. "Well, it's no competition who is the bigger one now, eh, brother."

Tigris was so stunned that his brother was alive and that Meera had brought him back that he didn't even have a retort.

Ignis went on. "Tigris, I relinquish—"

"No!" Tigris snapped back to reality. "No, brother. I may be an archdragon, but you are still my king. Only a true king can make the sort of sacrifice that you did. I was only thinking of vengeance and the power to attain it, but you…you gave your life so that I would be an archdragon."

The dragons murmured amongst each other at that. She was sure, Tigris had all but confirmed it, that Ignis had thrown their fight.

"But the challenge of the Dawndreamer dictates that whoever wins the fight is king," said one of the dragons to Ignis's right.

"The challenge of the Dawndreamer is to the death," Tigris snapped. "And Ignis has even defeated death to return to us. I concede defeat and will go into exile for having to challenge my brother's rule."

Another stunned silence descended on the dragons. Only the sound of the blowing wind and the crackling flames was heard throughout the clearing.

Ignis broke that silence. "You don't have to do that."

"No, brother, if you excuse my discretion, then you have to excuse everyone, and soon, we will have a kingdom of miscreants and rebels."

Meera didn't know how their kingdom worked, but if she were in Ignis's place, she would be devastated to see her brother go. But she also saw the point in what Tigris was saying. To maintain order, the brothers had to part ways. It wasn't the ideal solution, but Meera couldn't think of anything that wouldn't see the brothers part.

Ignis sighed. "Just like how I couldn't kill you, I can't do this either."

"You can, but don't worry, I'll always be your brother. At your beck and call, whenever you need me."

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Ignis looked down, and it felt like the weight of the world had dropped on his shoulders. His shoulders hung, and Meera could see him being dragged down by the chains of responsibility. A minute passed, then another and another. Everyone watched the king with abated silence.

"Not yet," he finally said. "We have a debt to repay, and I will not let it be known that the dragons do not keep their words. I will come with you to finish off Elrasil and his Cult, for the crimes they have committed."

Tigris's eyes drifted to Meera. "Come, Meera."

Meera could feel anger radiating from the archdragon. She wasn't sure if that was because she could sense that through the bond that they now shared or if it was because of her own Ascendant abilities. He could probably feel what she was feeling as well.

Ignis turned to his dragons. "My kin, I will return when we have slain the true killer of our mother, and wipe his bloodline from the worlds. His death will be so horrendous that all will shudder at the mere mention of his name. Elrasil will rue the day he dared to raise his hands against us. Let the hunt begin."

The dragons roared so loud that their echoes must've been heard for many miles. And of course, her eardrums burst again. Once their mouths shut, she repaired her eardrums and followed the brothers, who had taken to the sky.

It was hard staying in the air around Tigris as the downward draft generated from his wings was enough to smash her into the ground. She had to fight to stay in the air. Finally, she decided to stay above the archdragon and avoid wasting all this Mana.

With a start, she realized that she didn't know where they were going. Archdragons supposedly had the power to travel between worlds, so what was the point of all this flying?

She flew beside the brothers and shouted at the top of her lungs. "Where are we going? Shouldn't you have the power to transport us directly to Ealisto?"

"I do have a skill that can open the gate to Ealisto, but to do that, I need a Gateway Mirror," Tigris replied, without looking at her or slowing down. "There is only one place I know that has Gateway Mirrors."

"Oh no..."

*****

Meera knew this wasn't going to end well. There was no way the people of Drurith were going to take the arrival of an archdragon lightly. If they attacked, Tigris would probably turn what remained of the city to nothing but ash. The city couldn't be far. She had to get the brothers to stop before they got in sight of the city.

Meera pushed in front of the dragon brothers and came to an abrupt stop, forcing the brothers to stop. The bigger of the two almost rammed right into her, and she would've been swatted out of the sky.

Tigris wasn't happy. Smoke trailed out of his nostrils as he bore down on her. "What?"

"I think you should stop here," Meera said. "If the people in the city see you, then they are sure to think that you are here to finish them off, and they'll most definitely attack. Let me go first and talk to them. I'll try to bring a Gateway Mirror back, and failing that, I'll just steal one. Please, these people have gone through enough already. We don't need to add to their misery."

Tigris looked to his brother, who nodded. "Okay, Meera, we'll do as you say."

"You have one hour to convince your kin, or then we'll convince them in our way," Tigris added.

Meera glared at the archdragon for a long moment before tilting her head towards his brother. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Then, without looking back, she blasted off. She flew at top speed, and it wasn't long before she saw the great city in the distance. Then she put as much as she could spare into Mirror Bolt and arrived at the city gates. She didn't stop to introduce herself, as time was of the essence. She blasted inside the city, scanning the streets below for the one man who could allow her to take a Gateway Mirror out of the city.

People pointed fingers at her, but she didn't care. Time was of the essence. She needed to find Leonel and fast, before the brothers showed up and sent the city into chaos once again. She didn't know how much time she had remaining.

A column of stone jutted out of the ground. Followed by two more beside it. Then two more behind it. All of those columns carried Stone Spears, the city guards. Meera sighed in relief.

"Halt!" exclaimed the one directly in front of her. "State your business."

"I'm Meera, and I need to take one of your Gateway Mirrors immediately. If you cannot allow that, then let me talk to Leonel immediately."

They all exchanged glances with each other. Meera didn't need to be Firaan to know what they were thinking. They had just used Identify on her and knew who she was.

"Look, time is of the essence, I need that Gateway Mirror, right now," Meera almost snapped, and realized that wasn't the correct tone.

They all tensed up. Their fists tightened around their spears. "Only the Captain can allow that."

"Then take me to him." They all looked uncertain. "If you don't want your city to descend into chaos again, you will take me to him. Right now!"

That got them moving.

"Follow us," said the one in front of her.

The columns descended to the floor, and Meera dropped to the ground with them. They walked through the city streets at a brisk pace, but as far as Meera was concerned, they weren't fast enough. She kept prodding them to move faster. She had half a mind to tell them about the dragons, but she figured that if she even mentioned the word dragon, they would go into a frenzy and take up battle positions.

Finally, they arrived at where Leonel was talking with a bunch of citizens who had crowded around him, making their pleas. From what she could understand, they were pleading with him to spare some men to excavate their homes, while the overworked captain was telling them that he had no more men to spare.

One of the guards in Meera's entourage rushed forward to explain what had happened. Leonel turned towards Meera with a frown, and his frown deepened as the guard talked. He was brought up to speed by the time she arrived.

"Why do you need a Gateway Mirror?" Leonel asked as a form of greeting. "And why would my city be plunged into chaos if I don't give you one?"

But his answer came from the sky as two dark shapes blotted out the sun, plunging the entire city into shadow.

A single shout rang out across the city, and Meera knew she was too late.

"Dragons!"

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