When Leo's captor removed the bag from his head, Leo instinctively closed his eyes to protect himself from the sudden change in light, even though it was very faint, coming from a small skylight on the ceiling. Though most of the room was so dark Leo couldn't even tell how big it was, the skylight had been placed where it would always illuminate the cage in the middle of the room, into which Leo was thrown.
The cage had a very specific design. It was a narrow cylinder, hanging from the ceiling by a chain: a human-sized birdcage. A brief glimpse of light reached his eyes when the soldier opened the door to leave. Most of Leo's stuff had been taken from him as he was dragged into the cage, including his sword, the bag with potions, his armour, and the Queen's crystal.
Leo showed his claws and tried ripping the cage bars open, to no avail.
"Stop it, Leo," a voice said from the darkness. "Your talons are mighty but even they have limits. This is no ordinary steel, you know."
Ephideus emerged from the darkness, no longer bruised and shirtless, but wearing fine elven clothing and a triumphant smile.
"Ephideus?" Leo couldn't believe it; Ephideus was annoying, but he had never come off as a traitor. "You are on their side?"
"Please, Leo, think a little harder," he laughed. "The elf knows the location of your hideout; if he were one of my allies, there would not be a hideout anymore."
Leo tried not to frown in confusion. Ephideus was too eloquent to refer to himself in the third person.
"Wait, you are not Ephideus?"
"I hoped you would realise it in time," he said, clasping his hands together with a condescending expression. "But I suppose my appearance could be deceiving. Allow me to show you something."
The next few seconds would be engrained in Leo's brain for as long as he lived. From under Ephideus' left sleeve, a dagger jumped into his hand. It was the same dagger the White Mask had wielded when he disappeared from Leo's tower. The supposed Ephideus brought the dagger to the left side of his face and buried it under his skin, cutting from the chin to the temple.
Ephideus didn't scream, cringe, or flinch, and there was not even a drop of blood. Instead, Ephideus, or whoever he was, slid the dagger from one side of his face to the other, slowly detaching the skin from his flesh. As he did so, his body and clothing began trembling and morphing, transforming into different ones. The body shortened, the arms and legs changed, the elvish armour turned into a lilac overcoat with a yellow vest, and the straight blond hair was covered by the coat's hood. When Ephideus had dragged the blade to the other side of his face, now nothing more than a piece of skin placed on his head like a mask, he removed it and threw it away. What hid underneath was an artificial white smile.
"You," Leo said. "The White Mask."
"Yes," he said, monotone. "But only one of the seven."
Leo recalled the last time he heard that featureless, indistinct voice. There was no way the man in front of him was human.
"So...what are you?" Leo mumbled, barely above a whisper.
For a moment, the White Mask said nothing and remained motionless. He could have been mistaken for a statue, but he eventually spoke again.
"I'm a White Mask."
Leo stared at the lifeless smile, expecting some kind of elaboration on that useless answer, but none was given.
"Do you have a name?"
"No. But you do know me as someone else. In fact, many others."
The White Mask put a gloved hand over his mask and paused, once again still as a statue. When he moved, he took the mask off his face, and from underneath it came a horrific sight, a face Leo didn't know, yet was completely familiar. Ephideus' blonde hair almost covered Father Halford's saggy ears. Laurel's charred eyebrows and the distinct, crooked nose of Ron, the missing egg smuggler made up the front, and below all was Heiron's triangular chin. An uncanny collage of people.
"I see this sight distresses you," he said, Herion's mouth grinned from ear to ear. "I'll leave the face you know best."
He brought the dagger to the side of his face and once again cut it off. The bizarre combination of features disappeared, leaving Heiron's complete face intact.
"You..." Leo gasped, struggling to comprehend. "You were them? You were Heiron?"
"Yes," Heiron said. "Every day, I was in the castle with you. Every time we greeted each other in the hallway I was planning this moment, gathering my forces, your opposition, my supporters," he savoured every word as proof of his superiority.
"But... but Ephideus—"
"He was indeed captured," Heiron clasped his hands together again, speaking like a teacher giving a lecture. "But he wasn't the one you set free. That was me."
"And you had Anna lie to me to trap me," Leo said, disappointed.
"Well, not exactly, Anna also thought I was the elf. I always doubted her loyalty and now I have proof. Don't worry, I had a cell prepared."
Leo dropped to the bottom of the cage. He hadn't saved Ephideus, and he had put someone else in danger. He wanted to know what happened to Moonie, but if Heiron didn't know she was there, Leo wasn't going to tell him.
"And Father Halford, and Laurel..."
"Eventually I became them as well, although you had the luxury of meeting the real ones. Heiron, however, never had such an honour."
Sitting on the cold bottom of the cage, Leo's entire life ever since he saw the Sky Castle the first time flashed before him, as all the pieces suddenly fell into place.
"But what about Lillian? She died when the dragon attacked—"
Heiron interrupted Leo by laughing loudly.
"I have no idea who that woman is, Leo," he said, rubbing his eye as if wiping a tear of laughter he never shed. "I made all that up, to try and mess with your mind a little more. But, wow, thanks, I'm glad I was so convincing."
And I fell for it, he thought. Leo's stomach turned; he couldn't tell if he was more disgusted by the fact he fell for his act, or that Heiron seemed so thankful for his stupidity. Leo covered his eyes so Heiron couldn't see them, how embarrassed he was.
"Where are the others?" Leo asked, attempting to drift the conversation elsewhere. "You said you were seven, where are the other six?"
Heiron's smile disappeared.
"Centuries mean nothing, but the birdmen didn't just sit back and let themselves be killed. My siblinghood is over. I can't sense my brothers and sisters anymore, but I still live."
His expression was one of deep pain. Leo felt something strange in him. It almost felt like sympathy, and then disgust at himself for feeling that way.
"How do you transform into other people?"
"It's a talent of mine," he said, still with that anguished, pitiful expression. "Although as the years have gone by, my skills have deteriorated. Certain special features have become difficult, such as, say, an elf's ears."
Leo realised he hadn't seen Ephideus' pointy ears in the cell.
"Even then," Heiron continued. "It's still a remarkable ability, don't you think?"
The gloat returned to his voice, which echoed in a frequency that seemed specifically engineered to irritate Leo. He loves the sound of his own bloody voice, he thought.
"But why do all this? I thought you wanted to kill me. Why didn't you just do it when I got here?"
"Of course I wanted to kill you," he pressed his lips together, like a parent trying to resist screaming at a child. "My purpose is to eliminate your species. However, it's a bit more complicated than that. Of course, I wanted you dead. Very much so. After I killed Ellius I thought it was finally over, I had fulfilled my purpose, and then you showed up," Heiron circled the cage, like a shark trapping its prey. "You might not have noticed but security tightened as soon as you entered the castle. The wench Ellina took special care of every single thing you ate or drank. I couldn't even use my special poison because that senile old man and his annoying little student stole it from me. As for Miyamoto, she kept an eye on you day and night. You two are very similar, you know that? If I were commander, things would have been simpler, but she, like you, showed up at the most inopportune of times, to claim a place she had no right to. What a revolting woman."
Leo wondered if Heiron would transform again if he ripped the skin off the man's face with his claws. Hopefully not.
"But if you can transform into anyone," Leo asked, "why didn't you just turn into someone closer to me? Hikaru, for example."
"I'm not as good as our leader. No, I need a little something in order to transform," he slapped his forehead. "Which reminds me," Heiron grabbed Leo's arm and sliced the skin with his dagger, just deep enough for a little bit of blood to stick to the blade. "I swear I have the memory of a goldfish sometimes. As you know, no one makes Hikaru Miyamoto bleed, but I make sure all my prisoners do."
The White Mask paused to put the dagger back under his sleeve and watch Leo try to clean the blood from his arm.
"Still, killing you wasn't the issue, was it?" he asked. "You know very well I had plenty of opportunities. But after that, what then? You're not the last birdman, as people like to say, and if you died, the other two would show up to take your place. With each one, it would be more and more difficult. There's no guarantee I'd be able to kill you three, but with more power, maybe I could. As king of Asaelia I'll be able to lure the little falcon and eagle right to me. I'll be the one leading the expeditions to find them. I'll have an army when they come. But in order to do that, I couldn't kill you. Making you a martyr wouldn't help matters, but it's a lot easier to take and keep a crown that was abandoned rather than stolen. I started gathering a few followers, a few of them didn't like you as king, other wanted gold, and others just needed the right incentive. Then, once you left, I took advantage of the confusion to enact my coup."
Leo was simultaneously absorbing every word the man said and trying as hard as he could not to listen.
"But you went to my world. You were the priest. Why not kill me then?"
"I was going to. But now that I've shown your world what you are, in front of dozens of witnesses, one of them, you might not have seen it, had what you call a camera, they will be a lot more attentive for the other two. This will make things even easier for me. Your face also helped make it a lot more fun."
Heiron put his hands to his face and made a comically exaggerated shocked expression, followed by a fit of laughter.
"I would have killed you after that, but you escaped me. Of course, being as helpful as you are, you eventually came right back to me, haven't you?" he continued. "I usually disguise as my latest catch, especially if they are a valuable hostage, like an elven prince, just in case someone wants to come and take me to your hideout. Still, I never expected you to be that someone. I think I underestimated how gullible you are. I considered letting you take me to the hideout, because I know you'd do it, but I don't think I'll let you get away from me again."
Heiron laughed some more, but Leo no longer cared. More than tracking the unicorn, or riding to Fell Keep, or searching the Keep for Ephideus, the conversation with the White Mask had left him exhausted. Speech after speech about how Leo played right into his plan filled him with a sense of worthlessness that surpassed his need for answers. He didn't want to talk anymore, any other question he had didn't matter. It wasn't worth hearing the man speak. But the White Mask kept going.
"However, I do have a proposal to make."
Leo slowly raised his eyes to meet his, wondering if he should even bother to ask. Heiron didn't wait for him to do so.
"I will execute you in the morning," his smile disappeared, shadows covered his face, and Leo could no longer see his eyes. "However, I'll offer you an opportunity to regain your right to live. Work for me, Leo. Be my servant, and I'll let you live, live to become useful. And all you have to do to prove your loyalty is tell me where Miyamoto and the rest of the old castle dwellers are hiding. I know you know it, the potions you had with you had to have come from them. Help me, and you can live to serve me."
Leo didn't bother to look at Heiron. A part of him wanted to spit in his face for the sheer arrogance of believing Leo would take such a proposal. Yet, something about it bugged Leo on a different level. If the White Mask's goal was to kill all birdmen, why risk letting Leo live again?
"What makes you think I would help you?" Leo asked.
Heiron stepped closer to the cage, his face inches away from the bars, so Leo could see every detail of his dark, cold eyes.
"Because," he said. "It's what you do."
Though his expression remained sombre and neutral, his eyes gleamed with sadistic joy.
"Why do you think I bothered to tell you all that I did?" he asked. "To satisfy your curiosity? No, I did it to give you some perspective, to show you that you are, and have always been, my puppet. Everything you did was to my benefit; every decision you made was mine. I was only able to accomplish all I have because you were such a conveniently obedient tool. Which is why I think it would be a waste to kill you right now, when you've served me so well before. But don't be mistaken by thinking I need you alive. Your life is not invaluable to me. Finding the rebels' hideout and destroying them is inevitable. Your help would be a simple convenience. Which is why my offer is so generous. I don't need you to live to serve me; I'm allowing you. So, how does it sound?"
"Of all the insane things you've done," Leo said, standing up to look at Heiron in the eye. "Believing that I'd willingly help you in any way might be the most insane."
His answer was filled with false confidence, an attempt to give himself some sort of superiority. But the truth was that Heiron had broken Leo completely; never before had he felt so tiny, so worthless.
"Disappointing, but doesn't matter," he shrugged. "You may have noticed the interesting cage you're in. Its design is not just for ironic humiliation, although that is a perk. A fun fact about birdmen is that a good number of them develop claustrophobia after their wings appear. They get too anxious in enclosed spaces, and this cage is perfect for playing on those emotions. Also," he put his left foot through the bars and planted it on the floor of the cage. "It swings."
He launched the cage forward and stepped aside to avoid getting hit as it swung back. Inside, Leo lost his balance and fell to the floor, and the back and forth motion made him dizzy and nauseous.
"Listen," Heiron said, with his hands in his pockets and turning his head from side to side, following the cage's swinging motion. "At the end of the day, I'm doing you a favour. This world may seem like a paradise to someone like you, from outside. But in reality it's a world of monsters and killers. You really can't survive without turning into one or the other, and you seem determined to be neither. I'm just hurrying the inevitable," he slowly walked towards the exit, still speaking. "I have some business in Laimíreaude, I'm sure you've heard. I'm heading off there for now, but I promise I'll be back first thing in the morning so we can talk. By then the anxiety should make you more receptive. If not, I'll just kill you anyway and get on with it. Bye bye."
"Wait!"
Leo shouted that as the cage began to slow down and he was able to stand up once again, dizzy and weak. Heiron turned back, expectant.
"Were you him?" Leo asked. "Were you the moustached man?"
"Who?"
Heiron's expression was blank, and Leo had his answer. If he had known whom Leo was talking about, he would have said something about it. Leo wasn't sure if that knowledge was a relief or a disappointment.
"Actually, I also forgot to say one last thing," Heiron said, putting his hand inside his coat. "I didn't know you had company," Leo hoped he didn't mean what he thought, but sure enough, from under his coat, Heiron took out a tiny cage, with a fairy inside, unconscious. "Thanks for mentioning 'Moonie'. Once again, couldn't have done it without you."
He left.
*****
An hour had passed. Time slowed to a glacial pace for Ephideus as he patiently waited for his rescuers to exit the Fell Keep. She instructed me to flee were she not to return, and such a case is slowly but surely revealing itself to be, he thought. Leo Gawain risked his life to save me. I thought too little of him, and now I am in his debt. How worthless would I be if I were to not repay such a debt? However, this was beyond Ephideus capabilities. His wounds had him in submission; the mere act of standing would become impossible soon.
He turned his gaze from the Keep to the unicorn. Ephideus knew him, Silverlight. He had already encountered Silverlight in Laimíreaude, about once every couple of decades. He is not the tamest of unicorns, it would be unfair to not recognize Leo's feat in earning his trust. Ephideus looked back to the dark fortress in the plains, unable to help those who helped him. He felt the unicorn's warm, humid breath on his neck. A unicorn, being such a legendarily swift creature, would be able to cover the distance between the Fell Keep and the Secret Keep in just a few minutes. Realizing that, Ephideus jumped on the creature's back. I may be incapable of helping them in my current state, but others are not.
Ephideus rode out of the grotto on Silverlight's back and headed to the woods. Oaks and willows passed him, along with leaves turned orange by the autumn, as he rode through the forest of his kingdom. He needed to reach the Secret Keep; he needed to get help. However, midway through the journey, something surprised Silverlight; the unicorn reared and Ephideus fell off. Every wound on his body stung him as he struck the ground, and he needed to gather every ounce of his willpower and strength to stand back up. As he did, he saw what had gotten in his way; he had to clean a little bit of blood from his eyes to clearly see the Zalo blocking his path. Ephideus looked around to see many other Zalos surrounding him and Silverlight. The elf-sized reptilian monsters were all armed with sharp claws and teeth. However, a few of them also held some old swords and lances they had likely salvaged from a battlefield after a fight, showing some animalistic understanding of such tools.
Ephideus tried counting the creatures, but mist covered the forest and some of them were half hidden in the fog. The exact number was irrelevant anyway; he was surrounded, and they were too many for Ephideus to fight in his condition. His only hope was to find an opening for him and Silverlight to slip through, unless he had been lucky enough to come across a bask of Zalos with a particularly prideful leader. Zalos obeyed their leader to their deaths, until said leader was defeated in battle, in which case, they switched to the victor's side. It seemed his luck was turning around, as the creatures stepped aside to allow passage to one that stood taller and carried a larger, shinier sword than the others. Looks like I will have a fighting chance, Ephideus thought as he picked up his sword. My body must not fail me now; my life is not the only one at risk.
*****
Leo sat in his cage, in the illuminated centre of the dark cell. Not only was the room pitch black, it was also dead silent. Leo had very good hearing but not a single sound reached his ears for most of the night, outside of the occasional cold gust of wind passing through the skylight and chilling his spine. Then there was the fear. As Heiron had said, the enclosed space, coupled with the dark, the silence, the loneliness, and the anticipation of dawn were quickly getting to him. So, he aimed to distract himself in any way he could. The first few attempts, which required some sort of movement, were quickly discarded as most sudden motions caused the cage to shake.
He eventually found an interesting way to entertain himself by thinking back over the last six months to see what he should have done differently, going further back each time. He should've never tried to rescue Ephideus; no, he should've never tried to go back to Asaelia; no, he should've never have gone to church with Brittany; no, he should've never have fled from Asaelia; no, he should've never have gone to Asaelia at all; no, he should've called the police the moment Frederick stepped into his hospital room.
But that didn't keep Leo occupied long. Maybe it did for thirty minutes, maybe for an hour, he couldn't tell, but he grew tired of it. He grew tired of regret; he grew tired of self-pity. The best thing he could do maybe was accept his fate, pray that someone, Hikaru maybe, would find a way to defeat Heiron, and that the next birdman to show up would do better. At least now he could have his wing in a comfortable position.
Leo had no idea how many hours passed, but based on the moonlight, it was still very much night-time when the door opened.
Strange, he thought. Heiron said he wasn't coming back until morning.
The faintest of lights entered the room during the brief moment the door was open, just enough for Leo to see two guards enter the room, one tall and one a bit shorter, and that was all he could see before it went dark again. But that darkness also only lasted for a moment, as the shorter guard raised her hand and, from it, a ball of light materialized and illuminated the room. He lowered his head, ready to accept his fate.
"Don't fall asleep now, birdie."
The regret, the fear, the sadness, all of it immediately vanished when Leo heard that last word. The weight on his heart and shoulders disappeared when he raised his head to see Hikaru and Lucy taking off their helmets. Leo had never found two people more beautiful than at that moment; he couldn't help when the tears came down and he cried and laughed at the same time. The two girls were amused; they laughed while opening the cage and hugging him.
"Why? How? What are you two doing here?"
"Rescuing you, dummy," said Lucy. "I mean, what does it look like we're doing?"
"I told you not to think anything stupid until I got back."
"You think I gave this any thought at all?" Leo laughed. "But how did you know? How did you get here? How did—?"
"Ephideus," Hikaru said, placing a finger over Leo's lips to shut him up, "he came back and told us what happened. We borrowed his unicorn and came here for you. He wanted to come too, but I didn't allow it. He was in awful shape."
Ephideus went to the Secret Keep? Leo wondered, confused. How had he escaped? Moonie, you did it. But more importantly, it's my unicorn, not his.
"She tried to make me not come too," said Lucy, an accusatory finger pointing at Hikaru.
"Clearly, I could have tried harder."
"Oh," Lucy crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows in superiority. "But whose idea was it to dress like soldiers to fool the guards?"
"Mine."
"Oh yeah, that's right," Lucy scratched her head for a few seconds. "But who distracted the guards so we could steal their armour?"
"Calm down, Lucy," Hikaru smiled. "It is good that you came," Hikaru turned to Leo. "And as for you, I think I need to emphasize this is the stupidest idea you could have had," she smirked. "Yet, here I am doing the same. I'm happy to see your bravery, birdie."
"Well, I'm not happy," Lucy said, slapping Leo on the back of the head, multiple times. "You realise the heart attack I had when I heard you had come here?" She punctuated every word with another slap. "You didn't think of how worried I'd get? Why didn't you tell me, why didn't you wake me up to come with you?"
"Shut up, Lucy," said Hikaru, covering Lucy's mouth with her hand. "You'll wake up the entire fortress. We need to go now."
"Wait, Hikaru." Leo held their shoulders as they turned around to stop them. "It's Heiron."
Hikaru looked at him, confused.
"What about Heiron?"
"He is the White Mask. Heiron is the White Mask."
"What?" Her mouth formed an awkward smile of disbelief. "That can't—"
"He can change his face, transform into other people. People from whom he took blood. He could be me or Ephideus right now."
Leo was getting good at telling what Hikaru really felt underneath her usual calm expression. He could tell she was trying to hide both her surprise that her previous second-in-command was the one behind it all, and her shame for never having noticed it.
"Very well," she shrugged. "I suppose we'll have to think about that later. Now, we need to get out of here."
"Wait," he held their shoulders again.
"What is it now?"
"Moonie, the fairy that came with me. She was captured and is still here. And the guard that helped me, we can't leave them."
"Leo," Hikaru put both her hands on his shoulders, as a slightly condescending way of trying to put some sense into him. "We are already taking too much of a risk rescuing you, we can't search around for two other prisoners. Every second we stay here we are in danger; this fortress is brimming with soldiers. There's three of us and dozens of them."
"There's dozens of them but probably hundreds of prisoners," suggested Lucy.
"Exactly. We couldn't possibly search them all!"
"That's not what I meant."
Hikaru looked at her in disbelief.
"Anna," Leo said. "The guard who helped me, she said that a lot of the White Mask's followers are doing it against their will. What if we could turn them to our side?"
Hikaru looked back and forth between Lucy and Leo.
"Are you two suggesting a prison break?"
"Well," Lucy shrugged. "We are already here, anyway."
Hikaru kept quiet for a minute. Leo knew she was considering every upside and downside of the idea.
"All right, maybe," she finally said. "But we'll have to move fast. First we need to find Anna."
"There's just one problem, though," said Lucy, as if there weren't many more than that. "If he can turn into other people, he can be any of the prisoners, right?"
"That's what I'm counting on," said Hikaru. "Don't worry, leave that to me."
Hikaru and Lucy put their helmets back on and handcuffed Leo. They found his belongings in a corner of the room and left. After rushing through endless identical corridors they bumped into a stumpy guard, who ordered them to halt.
"Where are you taking that prisoner?" he demanded to know.
"We've been instructed by the White Mask to prepare him for his execution," Hikaru said. "Is he still in the fortress?"
"No, he has left for the base," the guard answered, squinting.
"Very well. What about the traitor, Anna? We've been ordered to pick her up as well."
"She is in the southwestern tower."
"Thank you, we'll be on our way."
The guard didn't drop his squint when he crossed his right arm in front of his chest and saluted.
"Glory to the Mask, sister."
"Glory to the Mask," Hikaru responded, imitating the gesture and discreetly kicking Lucy in the shin when she threatened to laugh.
The guard smiled, showing a shiny golden tooth. He reached for his sword.
"I knew it. There is no such salute. Die, intru—"
He couldn't finish the sentence because his mouth was filled with Hikaru's fist. The guard fell to the ground and remained there. The trio threw the unconscious man inside an empty cell and continued on their mission.
They made their way to the southwestern tower and eventually found Anna's cell, guarded by a single soldier. With a bullet-fast kick to the head, Hikaru knocked the guard out and freed Anna.
"You escaped, milord," she said with a look of surprise when she saw Leo.
"Don't thank me yet, Anna," Leo answered. "We're going to need your help."
"Of course, milord. What is it you need?"
"We're planning a prison break."
Hikaru hadn't removed her helmet, so only then did Anna recognize the voice of her former commander.
"Ma'am?" she saluted instinctively. "Ma'am! Please forgive me, I didn't want to betray—"
"Save this for later, Anna," Hikaru raised her hand to shut her up. "We need you to do us a favour."
"Yes, ma'am! You're planning a prison break?"
"Exactly. We're taking the fortress from the inside. Leo told me there are many of you who would be willing to switch sides, is that correct?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Anna said, saluting with every 'ma'am'.
"We're going to need all of them, and we'll need you to get them for us. You've already been branded a traitor; I suppose you don't have much else to lose."
"No, ma'am."
"Remember, we need only those who really can be trusted. The last thing we need are double agents. Now go."
Anna saluted Hikaru, bowed to Leo and left. They searched the unconscious guard and found a rusty keyring and began testing them on all doors they could find. Almost every cell had a prisoner, humans, elves, orcs and other things Leo didn't even recognize. Some of them were in good shape, many were not, but all jumped at the opportunity to escape. The first two prisoners to be freed received weapons Hikaru had taken from the two guards she had knocked out. Their trio grew into a group of eight, then thirteen and soon they had formed a small army. They navigated the fortress, ambushing guards, taking their keys, and freeing prisoners. It didn't take long until a horn was blown. The whole fortress now knew, but it was too late to stop. Guards showed up to confront them several times, but they were easily outnumbered and overwhelmed.
After a while, they came across a different group, composed of both guards and prisoners, led by Anna, who had begun breaking out prisoners of her own. At Leo's request, she led them to where Moonflower was imprisoned. It was on the very top of the easternmost tower, where tiny cages hung from the ceiling, all of them holding a glowing fairy.
"Leo?" Moonie asked when she saw him.
"Hey," he gave her a cocky smile. "You feel like going home?"
The fairies cheered when the group released them; and the sky was filled with a bunch of glowing, coloured little lights happily flying away, Moonflower among them. As he watched her fly away, he heard a sound, it was muffled and distant, but Leo thought it sounded somewhat familiar.
"You heard that?" Hikaru asked.
"Yes, I think it's coming from the bailey."
Like many fortresses in Asaelia, the Fell Keep was of a rectangular shape, with the outer walls encircling a bailey. Leo hadn't seen it, but he had a theory about what could be there, making that sound. When they finally made their way to ground level and opened the door to the courtyard, Leo's theory was confirmed.
Under the purple sky of early dawn, chained and muzzled, a titanic, green winged creature with yellow spikes all over her back struggled and roared. The muzzle fastened over her mouth softened the sound, but it was still loud enough for Leo to have recognized it. Although Hikaru instinctively reached for her sword, Leo signalled for her not to, and calmly walked towards the creature.
"Hey, Mama Dragon, remember me?" he shouted, waving his arms and taking careful steps toward the creature.
The dragon looked at Leo and snarled, her fierce yellow eyes fixated on him.
"It's me, see? I helped you with your eggs remember? Look."
Leo reached for his bag and took out the Dragon's Breath potion. He hesitated for a second before swallowing it, he remembered the last time all too well, but he drank it anyway. It was a little easier to swallow this time around. Leo sensed the heat spreading through his chest; he opened his mouth and a ball of fire came out. Mama Dragon ceased her struggle. He had her attention.
"See? I'm a friend. We've met before, remember? I helped you find your eggs. We even got a little bit of your saliva to... oh, God, I forgot this potion was made of spit."
The thought made Leo's stomach roll, but at least Mama Dragon had calmed down. With Hikaru's help, Leo unchained the creature and took off her muzzle. Instead of roaring, breathing fire or just flying away, Mama Dragon opened her wings, stretching them. Afterwards, she looked at Leo, turned the side of her head to him, and lowered her neck near the ground.
"I think she wants you go with her," Hikaru told him.
"What?" Leo turned to her, confused. "Go with her? The big, scary dragon?"
"Exactly," Hikaru smirked. "Don't worry, if she wanted to eat you, she would've by now. She seems to like you, Leo. If I were you, I wouldn't be rude to the big, scary dragon. You have a way to get back to the Keep, don't you?"
"Right. Queen Arataina gave me a crystal that will take me back to her. But I can't abandon you."
"I can handle things here, Leo. You should go. Don't refuse a dragon's invitation."
"All right," Leo's heart was jumping out of his chest, but he wouldn't let Hikaru know that. "I'll go. I'll see you at the Keep."
Leo climbed onto the dragon's neck, just behind the head, between two spikes. It turned out to be pretty comfortable, scales and spikes aside. When Leo found a position he felt was safe, Mama Dragon lifted her neck, opened her wings, and took flight, taking Leo with her away from the Fell Keep.