Arad woke up the next day beside Aella in their room. He sat up, looking at the door. “Come on. I know you’re standing outside,”

The door opened, and the queen walked in with a smile on her face.

“How did you know I was there? I hid my presence well,” She scanned Arad with her eyes. There wasn’t any magic around him.

TAP! Arad tapped his head, “As long as you think, you can’t escape me,”

The queen stepped back, seeing the purple flame burning in Arad’s eyes, which she found extremely disturbing.

“Psionic? That’s a rare power to have, indeed,” She closed her eyes, sitting on a chair beside the closet.

“But Psionic abilities don’t work when the user is sleeping,” The queen stared at Arad, “Aren’t you lying?”

Arad stared back at her, smiling, “I never sleep. Each second passes, I’m awake and observing each move around me.” Arad stood from the bed, approaching the queen, “All two thousand five hundred and sixty-nine people in this castle, I’ve been watching ever since I woke up yesterday,”

As a dragon that can stay awake for a long time, Arad never sleeps when in a location he doesn’t trust. Especially on quests, he learned to sit motionless through the night, pretending to be asleep just to watch and guard.

“Explains why I wasn’t able to surprise you yesterday,” She smiled, “By the way, I came to retrieve my clothes,”

Arad blinked twice, staring at her. A dark hole appeared on his chest, and he plunged his hand, pulling a leather pouch and showing it to the queen, “I sold them,”

The queen’s face paled as she stared at the pouch, “To whom?”

“Don’t know, put it in the auction.” Arad shook the bag, “Twenty-three platinum coins for the full set,” The queen’s fresh clothes, as Jack expected, they could be sold for a ridiculous price to the right pervert.

“I can’t believe you!” The queen cried, rushing out of the room in panic.

Arad extended his hand toward the door, Gravity Magic. He used the pull to close the door and then shoved the pouch back into his stomach.

“Don’t worry about it. I neutralized them so they can’t be used to curse her.” A voice came from his chest, and Arad smiled, “I know,”

Aella sat up, looking at Arad’s face, “I told you she would come looking for them,”

“She shouldn’t have left them in the first place.” Arad looked back at her with a smile, standing up and stretching his arms.

CLICK! The queen opened the door again, approaching Arad while panting, “The guards are on their tail. Let’s hope nothing back would happen,”

“If you’re worried about curses, I already neutralized them. They also can’t be used to track you,” Arad approached the queen, looking back at Aella as she stood.

“You what? What got you to know curses?” The queen gasped, “Even among archmages and the dark arts, such a thing shouldn’t be easy to achieve,”

Arad smiled, lifting his hand, “Curses that bind people into submission, slave contracts. Curses that kill people, death snake. Curses of petrification, Medusa’s bane. Even curses that break marriages and force lovers, I know more than I look,” He rested his fists on his hips with pride.

^I’m the one teaching you at night, don’t forget me.^

The queen’s eyes lit up as she stared at Aella with a happy smile, “If that’s the case, then there shouldn’t be a problem taking you there now,”

Aella looked back at the queen, “To where?”

“You’re family’s domain, the Deianira’s household.” She smiled, waving her hand for them to follow her.

“We’ll follow you after we change,” Arad nodded, but the queen sat back on her chair. “Then I will be waiting,” she smiled.

“Arad,” Aella looked at Arad with a passive face, and he approached the queen, grabbing her by the head, “See you later,”

Void Step He sent her away, dropping her in the middle of the throne room head first. CRACK! She fell on her nose, almost breaking it, “How did he do this?” She cried.

***

The queen stood, walking toward the throne as the guards chased after her, “Your majesty, how did you get here?”

“This isn’t your problem. Leave at once,” She wiped the blood from her nose, hushing them away. “I want the throne room empty.”

The guards saluted her as they rushed out, locking the door.

The queen approached the throne, “What am I going to do with this dragon? I can’t figure a way to keep him around.” She knocked on the throne with her hand, and a magical door appeared behind it.

The queen walked through it with a sad face.

Ding! The door closed.

****

In Arad’s room, he was changing clothes with Aella, smiling.

CRANK! Suddenly, Arad’s eyes shifted into draconic as scales covered his skin, “The queen’s mind disappeared,” He growled, feeling as of her soul got snuffed like a candle in a storm.

It’s a huge problem if someone killed the queen,

^They won’t get away. I will catch them.^ Arad was less concerned with the queen’s safety and more about eliminating the grave threat that just appeared.

To a dragon, having someone killed in his presence without him knowing how it happened is a grave insult and danger. The dragon would chase the killer to the end of the world to squash them.

The castle shook as Arad blasted through the fools, landing in the throne room just five seconds after the queen disappeared. “It wasn’t a curse, nor teleportation magic. She fazed out of existence.”

CRACK! Arad shifted into his draconic form upon landing in the throne room to enchant his senses, prowling around with deep growls.

Everyone in the castle stopped moving, shaking in their boots as they felt the dragon’s frightful presence descending upon their minds.

Dalla woke up from her bed, shivering to the bones, “A dragon? No, it’s Arad,” she rushed out in her pajama, running at an incredible speed toward the throne room.

The moment she got close, she saw the two guards at the door standing as if paralyzed, crying and pissing themselves from Arad’s sheer presence.

“What is happening?” She asked, but they couldn’t reply. Their minds couldn’t decide whether to fight or flee and ultimately landed on standing there, hoping for the best.

Dalla grunted, “Paralyzed with fear.” She grabbed the door with her hand, opened it, and rushed inside.

CLAP! The door smacked behind her as she froze, seeing Arad’s jaw above her head. His heavy hot breath gushed at her face as she saw his opal teeth as clear as the sun.

GRRRR! Arad growled, sniffing her. “Dalla. Not the one behind it,” He turned around, running like a cat toward the throne.

Thud! Dalla fell on her but, staring at him, “This isn’t a mere dragon. Why is his aura so heavy?” She wasn’t versed in magic, so she couldn’t tell why.

Arad stood on his hind legs, lifting his front claws and balancing with his long tail, “This throne. It has traces of a strange magic.” Arad growled, “Yes, divine magic, like the one Lydia use but with a different scent.” He mumbled.

“We can break it, can’t we?” Arad mumbled again, and Dalla stared at him, confused, “To whom he’s talking?”

Two magic circles appeared in front of Arad’s claws, crackling with a bolt of purple arcane lightning.

****

The queen walked through darkness, her eyes closed.

BAM! She suddenly heard a loud magic burst, stopping her in her tracks.

The queen bowed, looking at the ground as a massive tree exploded from the ground, reaching the heavens.

“Cerilla, the current queen of the elves.” A woman’s voice came from the tree, “Lift your head,”

Cerilla lifted her head, staring up to see a throne in the middle of the tree trunk, a blond elvish woman sitting on it, glaring down with her ruby-red eyes.

“I came as your ordered, goddess of the elves Sylph Zylphyra.” The queen said with a calm voice.

“You came but failed. The dragon would still roam the world, unbound to the roots of fate,” The goddess said with a bored voice, “No wonder he’s useless to her.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t find the fated one. Where should I keep looking?” The queen said with a sad voice, fearful of her failure. 𝚍ｏ𝚟𝚕.ｏｒｇ

“Being fateless isn’t a bad thing,” The elf goddess smiled, “I would say. It’s best for him and worst for everyone else.”

“What do you mean?” The queen gasped, pondering an answer.

“Mortals shall not new fate, and you’re one.” The elf goddess smiled, “That elf with the dragon. Her mother prayed with her dying breaths to spirits of wind to protect her daughter.” the elf goddess stood, walking down.

CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! Her heels knocked loudly on the wood, and she smiled. “The wind spirit has no such power. They are mere forces of nature.” approached the queen, “What do you think they did?”

“The wind spirit prayed for you asking for help,” The queen replied.

“Wrong,” She glared at the queen, “She prayed to whoever is listening, and the one that answered is the fairies goddess,”

The queen started sweating, “Titania?”

“Her name is Ishtar, but she’s the one called Titania.” The goddess sighed, “Warn the dragon. She’s hungry for magic. And she’s dwelling in that mansion, awaiting the day of the wind spirit herald arrival.”