“S-Sylvia? You’re a dragon?” I said.

“Now that I am in this form, we do not have much time. Yes, I am what you humans refer to as a dragon. This wound that is killing me was inflicted during a narrow escape from men who sought to capture me. I sensed one of them drawing dangerously close a few days ago, so I feel that my time of hiding is drawing to an end. This form will alert them of my location, so I have time to explain only what is necessary. First, take this. I will need you to take care of it from now on.”

One of her bladed wings unfolded to reveal a translucent, rainbow-colored stone the size of two fists. With its myriad of colors and shades, the stone gave off an aura that made me hesitate to take it. I felt almost as if I wasn’t worthy of holding it.

Without waiting for me to respond, she continued: “Everything will reveal itself when the time comes. Just hold onto it—and do not let anyone else know that you have it. Most will not know what it is, but everyone will be attracted by the aura it emits.”

While she spoke, she had plucked a feather from her wings with her claw; now she handed it to me. “Wrap the stone in this to conceal it.”

After I followed her instructions, the once-divine, radiant stone now appeared to be merely a smooth white rock—pretty, but ordinary.

While I studied the feather-encased stone, I was suddenly pushed back as Sylvia’s snout gently brushed against my chest, where my mana core was.

Taken aback, I looked up to see Sylvia’s purple eyes, and the gold markings around them, blazing even brighter than they had when she first transformed. As the markings grew dimmer and then disappeared, Sylvia pierced my core with her tongue, giving off wisps of a golden smoke that crackled with sparks of purple.

A sharp yelp escaped my mouth as I blinked, confused and surprised. I continued to just stare at her as she drew her head back, leaving a trail of blood from a hole in my threadbare shirt. My sternum had bled, but when I ran my hand over the area, there was no wound.

Sylvia’s expression was visibly pained and weak; it was apparent even for a mighty dragon. Perhaps most notably, her once-shimmering purple irises were now just a dim yellow, and the beautiful runes that had flowed across her face and body were now gone.

I opened my mouth to ask what she had done, but a giant explosion interrupted me.

I whipped my head up to see that the ceiling of the cave had been blown off. The figure that now appeared through the opening reminded me of Sylvia’s previous form.

It was clad in sleek black armor and a blood-red cape that matched its eyes. The figure’s skin was pale grey, like the clouded sky in the background. Its horns were different, though—this entity had two horns which curled down and under its ears, following the line of its chin.

Sylvia immediately covered me with one of her wings to protect me from the falling debris—and probably to keep me hidden from our visitor.

“Lady Sylvia! I advise you to stop your stubbornness and hand it over. You’ve already caused us quite enough trouble by hiding yourself. If you submit, the lord may even heal your wound.” The entity sounded impatient.

As soon as he finished speaking, the world around me seemed to pause. Except for Sylvia and myself, the colors of the world had changed, as if I was looking at a photographic negative. Most surprising of all, everything was as still, as if suspended in amber—the entity, the clouds behind him, even the debris falling from the ceiling.

Ignoring the enemy, Sylvia casually peeked at me underneath her wing. “I’ll open the portal now,” she whispered, her eyes solemn. “I didn’t have time to make it go directly to your home, but it should take you to a place with humans nearby. Do not let him see you and do not look back.”

But I had heard the intruder’s promise, and I ignored Sylvia’s instructions. “Sylvia! Is what he said true? If you turn yourself over, will you be able to live?”

“Do not trust his honey-coated words. It will be worse for you if you are found right now. As for me, I would rather die than go back to where he is,” Sylvia said, impatience and anger mingling in her voice.

“No! I won’t let you die here. If you refuse to go with him, then please, just come with me,” I begged.

“I cannot go with you. You will forever be in danger if any one of them finds out you have had contact with me. I must stay here.”

Sylvia gently wiped my cheeks with a claw, her draconic eyes lined with tears.

“You once asked me why I chose to save you. The truth is, it was to satisfy my own greed. I wanted to keep you as my own child, even for just a little while. I intentionally prolonged the transportation spell, because I wished to have more time with you, and now there is not enough time to finish it. I’m sorry, little Art, for my selfishness—but I have one last request to make. Can you be my grandson? Will you call me ‘grandmother’ just this once?”

“I don’t care about all that. I’ll say it as much as you want if you come with me. Grandma! Grandma! You can’t! Not like this!” I was stuttering with fear and frustration. “Please, I’m begging you, just come with me. I-I don’t know what you did but everything is frozen right now; we can escape! Please, Grandmother, don’t go. Not like this!” I held tight to Sylvia’s claw, desperately trying to pull her away with me.

In that moment, Sylvia’s face blossomed into a smile so beautiful she looked almost human.

I barely caught the words she spoke as she pushed me into the portal.

“Thank you, my child.”