Nagan continued to follow the shadow steadily, ignoring both concerned and hungry gazes. If the hooded man meant to chase him off by leading him here, he was sorely mistaken.

"You there, pretty boy," came a rough voice to his left. Turning to see who it was, he saw a heavyset woman with a hard face and a large scimitar strapped to her side. She scowled and beckoned him over with a sharp flick to her wrist. "Come here."

Nagan's eyes narrowed with suspicion and stayed where he stood. Her lips quirked slightly in amusement at that. "Good. You have enough sense to be cautious. Fine then. I have no problem shouting to where you stand in the middle of the road, where the wrong eyes can gaze upon you."

With a small scowl, he reluctantly approached her yet kept his distance.

"You do not belong here," she cut sharply. "By the way you look and are dressed, you attract too much attention. You do not look stupid, but you must be if you dare walk here without anything to protect yourself."

Nagan's scowl deepened. "I know enough to protect myself," the Rakshu tongue felt odd after speaking Tarkovish for years. "The clever ones would consider the possibility of me hiding my cards."

She raised her brow and assessed him slowly before deeming him enough. "Since I have wasted my time scolding you, you will repay me. One of my girls needs to run a few errands, and I will be sending her to accompany you. You will protect her as she will protect you. Now, wait here as I call her."

She must be the owner of this bordello, Nagan thought mildly as he watched the woman disappear into the building for a few minutes before reemerging with a younger woman behind. "I may not be walking back this way once my business is complete."

"Making the road safe part of the way is better than none," the young woman said and inclined her head slightly. "My name is Keket."

He nodded in return. "Nagan."

The errand claim was just a cover story, Nagan knew, so he continued to follow the shadow while Keket followed beside him silently. Back when he lived in similar backstreets with his mother, it was a common tactic to travel with others to lessen the chances of something unwanted to happen. Though he never said it out loud, he was grateful a stranger was willing to risk herself to protect him.

The shadow turned down a narrow alleyway and evaporated in front of a partially open door. That must be where he needs to go. Turning to Keket, he took her hand and bowed, pressing her knuckles to his forehead. A symbol of deep gratitude. "I hope for your safety on the way back, sister."

A quiet giggle escaped her and her cheeks flushed, but she leaned down and placed a light kiss on the top of his head. "You as well, little brother."

After waving goodbye, they both parted ways. Him to follow the shadow, her back the way they came.

Pulling the door open further, he saw a spiral staircase leading downwards. Looks familiar, Nagan thought bitterly remembering where this all started. He stood there for a few minutes, debating if it was really too late to turn back now. The magic crystals he carried weren't in danger of running out any time soon, but he wondered if it would be enough. But I'm so close...

He steeled his resolve and pushed himself to descend the stairs. The farther down he went, the narrower the walls seem to become and heavier the sense of dread weighed down on him. He knew this feeling from back in Carvolier village and in the presence of the dark library and hooded man. By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs, he could barely control the trembling of his hands. He took a deep breath to ground himself and observed his surroundings.

To his left, right, and straight ahead were hallways, none of them looked different from the other. Great, he thought sarcastically, The path couldn't be clearer. The voice had been silent ever since he had told it to be, and he was glad for that, but at the moment he wished there were some directions. Standing at the doorways of each hall, he felt the dark presence slightly stronger going forward. This feels dangerous. With nothing else to go by, that was his method to try and navigate.

It felt as if hours had gone by since he went down the staircase, and he, unfortunately, realized too late these halls were meant to act as a maze. He may pride himself on his sense of direction, but even that had his limits. With so many turns and practically no landmarks, Nagan felt as if he was walking in circles. By now the ominous aura was too thick to aid him, so he began to rely on another factor he noticed while going deeper: It was almost unbearably hot. And that was coming from someone who had experience traveling in the desert. Nagan had already stripped himself of extra clothing, stuffing it in his bag, and it took every ounce of self-control for him to not drain his waterskin in one go. He felt an unnatural blast of heat as he passed another doorway, and he nearly continued to walk past it until he heard the faint mumbling of words. Ignoring his protesting body, he silently inched towards the voice.

It wasn't until a large archway was in his sight did he begin to understand the words, a chillingly familiar voice speaking in Rakshu.

"Kinsmen, this is our future," the tone was calm yet no less powerful, "The age where the raw might of dragons will once again reign above the rest, where those who are weak will once again cower at the feet of the powerful, where we show the deserters what happens to those who turn their backs to the old ways. This is the age we rise!"

A cheer erupted, and Nagan kept low to the ground as he peeked past the archway to see what was inside.

What he saw, was horrifying.

It was a circular room, large and like a furnace, with a domed ceiling and steps dipping deeper into the ground. Around one side of the room were dozens of people in cloaks despite the temperature, and in the center was the hooded man himself, his shadowed face thankfully facing away from where Nagan hid. But that wasn't what scared him the most.

Behind the hooded man was a giant red dragon, even bigger than Miro or any of the other dragons at Carvolier. From the sheer size and roughness of its scales, Nagan knew this was not a tamed dragon. This was a true, wild dragon. Heavy chains pinned its tail, claws, and body to the ground while a steel muzzle sealed its jaws closed. The restraints dung into its body, and its scales were beginning to rub off, leaving the softer skin underneath exposed and bleeding. The sight angered Nagan from the majestic creature's mistreatment, but there was nothing he could do for it. The hooded man's voice rose unexpectedly, and Nagan began to listen once again.

"Norbaiya is now in our sights after it was ripped out of our hands by that time mage, and this time, we will not let this opportunity go to waste." The hooded man raised the book he had Nagan retrieve, its pages still stained with his blood. "The Code of Drakarmir is safe within our hands."

The hooded man turned and his eyes locked on to where Nagan sat. "All thanks to our little guest."

A chill ran down Nagan's spine as every alarm bell went off in his head. The hooded man knew he was there, and he needed to get out of there now.

Before he was even fully aware of his actions, he jumped to his feet and ran. The sounds of shouting and others chasing behind him only fueled his instincts to go faster.

But he had no clue where he was even running to.

Turn after turn he took trying to shake his pursuers off his tail, but in the process only getting himself completely lost. All he could do was keep running.

The heat slowly sapped energy from him, and sooner than he'd like, his breaths became ragged. He thought he was doomed until he heard a familiar squawk. The fae! With a new goal in mind, he ran towards the sound of awkwardly beating wings. He had never been happier to see a flash of wings before falling down into a vortex of oily colors.

He landed roughly, collapsing on the ground out of exhaustion and nausea. The sudden coolness of the air made him shiver slightly. By the time his vision cleared, he found himself in a very familiar setting, from the now messy bookshelves at either wall and a cluttered desk at the center.

Master Dagmire stared at Nagan in surprise while Nagan stared back. Both were silent.

"Uhhh..." Nagan grinned sheepishly and cleared his throat before asking, "May I have a drink of water?"