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    He drew his sword from his back and started towards the dragon, but then he stopped for a second. If he killed the dragon, what would happen to Moira and the blockade? He took a step back, relaxing the sword by his side. The boy saw Eloken move and a flicker of hope crossed his face, but when Eloken retreated a step, horror took over. The boy’s barrier was weakening, the fire creeping closer to him.


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    Eloken assumed the boy’s source was depleting, giving him no more than a minute. Aet was a highly volatile source of power, and the boy seemed inexperienced to Eloken. The boy''s expression grew more desperate, and finally, he managed to murmur under his breath.


    “Help me,” he said, now lying completely on his back as the dragon approached, only a few meters away, with the invisible barrier just half a meter from his face.


    Eloken was torn internally. Should he save the boy, an innocent life from the creature that he and his magic had likely brought into the world, or let the dragon finish its job and use its anger to lead it to Moira to burn the pirate ships? If he killed the dragon, the chance to free Moira and advance his plans could die, and worse, Echo, Dalamir, and the others would soon have to face the Morrowshade and Joixari fleets without Eloken’s help. Without the dragon, they were almost certainly doomed. The General might save part of the fleet, but it would be a devastating blow to the Isari Kingdom, bringing it to its knees.


    He had to let the dragon kill the boy. There was no other option—one life against the lives of his friends and the fate of the kingdom for whose throne his family had been killed.


    “Please,” the boy pleaded with his last ounce of strength, the fire now dangerously close. He was completely on the ground, arms raised in a futile attempt to shield himself.


    At that moment, Eloken didn’t see an unknown young man but his younger brother. The scene of the Imperial Guard cutting down his helpless brother was forever etched in his mind. This boy was much older than his brother had been, but the situation was the same—a helpless boy before an unstoppable force.


    Eloken recalculated and raised his sword again, burning Vit and quickly casting a series of spells to enhance his speed and physical strength. He jumped towards the dragon, deciding to think of something else for his friends and the kingdom.


    He charged and leaped at the dragon. The creature, consumed by rage, did not expect him and didn’t even know Eloken was there. Eloken used this to his advantage, landing on the dragon’s back just above its wings where its long neck began. Only then did the dragon notice him.


    Its scales were as hard as titanwood or the strongest steel, Eloken felt under his hand. The dragon immediately started to thrash, but it did not stop breathing fire at the boy, as if sensing the end of the barrier and the boy’s life was near.


    Eloken summoned all his strength and drove his sword directly between two of the dragon’s scales. The sword found a line of lesser resistance and pierced beneath the dragon’s skin. Eloken knew that if it had been any other, ordinary sword, it would have shattered from the impact and the thickness of the dragon’s hide. The dragon roared with a different sound, similar to a wail.


    Eloken barely managed to pull the sword out using his superhuman strength and then stabbed it again between two scales nearby. The dragon thrashed and tried to flap its wings, but it was clear that Eloken had severed some tendon because it couldn’t lift off more than a few meters, and its wings moved sluggishly.


    Eloken pulled the sword out again, leaped off the dragon as high as he could, and brought it down with all his weight on the creature, aiming to cut through the already weakened spots on its neck. His plan worked. The dragon’s hide offered resistance, but already weakened, it gave way under the force of Eloken’s leap and strength. The dragon’s head was severed, falling to the ground not far from the boy, who still lay on the ground, unable to move from shock.


    Eloken landed beside the fallen dragon, breathing heavily. The boy’s barrier flickered out, and he stared at Eloken with wide, grateful eyes.


    "Are you alright?" Eloken asked, approaching the boy and offering him a hand to get up.


    "I don''t know," the boy replied, barely managing to speak. "I think I am, thank you."


    "You''re welcome," Eloken said, glancing at the dragon''s head lying nearby, its enormous tongue hanging out of its mouth.


    "Why didn''t you help right away? Were you scared too?" the boy asked timidly.


    "No," Eloken replied bluntly. "I needed the dragon alive. I thought about letting it kill you and then using it, but in the end, morality prevailed. Now I''m in trouble."


    The boy was shocked by Eloken''s honesty. "Alive? For what?"


    "Doesn''t matter now, I have to go," Eloken said, turning away.


    "Wait, what should I do?"


    "What were you doing here in the first place?"


    "They convinced me to come, promising me a little coin. My family needs it," the boy said, pointing to the lifeless bodies around him. "And they needed my power. They thought with it we could defeat the dragon."


    "Idiots," Eloken said. "Figure it out. Go down the path to the beach and catch a boat home. I really have to go; lives depend on me."


    "Who are you?" the boy asked, bewildered. Something about Eloken''s aura seemed familiar.


    "Eloken, maybe you''ve heard of me."


    The boy stared at him in awe. "Yes," was all he could say.


    "Will you be alright?" Eloken asked.


    "Wait, you need a live dragon?" the boy asked instead of answering.


    "Yes."


    "Well, this isn''t the only one on the island. There are many."


    Eloken paused and turned back to the boy. "What are you talking about?"


    "Yeah, this is just a small dragon. We''ve seen at least a dozen flying around the island. There are some really huge ones."


    Hope returned to Eloken, but time was running out. "Where exactly?"


    "All over the island, but mostly towards the center, near the volcano."


    At that moment, a deafening roar shook the ground, and Eloken felt like his eardrums might burst. A few seconds later, the sun suddenly disappeared, and the entire clearing was covered by a massive shadow. Eloken looked up. Now that was a mythical creature, a dragon. The creature flying above them had a wingspan of at least fifteen meters, and from tail to head, it was at least twice as long.


    "Shit," Eloken muttered, and at that moment, the dragon ascended higher into the air before turning and beginning to descend onto the clearing. "Run," Eloken shouted, grabbing the boy''s hand and pulling him in the direction he had come from.


    They scrambled through a large bush and watched as the dragon landed. The ground shook from its weight. It approached the body of the fallen smaller dragon, nudging it with its enormous snout, then walked over to the head lying a few meters away.


    "It must be its mother," the boy whispered, but Eloken did not respond.


    When the dragon sniffed the head, it let out a roar so loud that the boy instinctively covered his ears, and Eloken felt like he might collapse. The dragon returned and sniffed the ground around the fallen smaller dragon, then turned in all directions and began sniffing the air. It paused in their direction and let out another thunderous roar.


    "It found us," Eloken said simply. "Run after me."


    They started running, and the dragon flew after them. As they broke through the underbrush, following the path to the shore that Eloken had taken, the enormous shadow loomed over them again, followed by a blast of fire in their direction. Both raised invisible barriers using Aet and barely avoided being burned alive.


    "Don''t waste your source, save it for later," Eloken said as they crouched under the barrier, and the boy let his shield drop. "Can you use Vis and enhance your speed?"


    "No, this is all I can do," the boy said, disappointed.


    "Alright, when the barrier falls, jump on my back and hold on tight. We need to sprint to the shore."