The masked men started leaving when Adrianna called, "I demand to meet Shang Kui." She sounded like a Queen.

"You have to wait for the dawn to break," came a reply.

​​

"No! I don't have time," Adrianna replied.

"Sorry." The men denied her.

Adrianna and Enya snapped their fingers and the jail broke. The masked men took their wands out and immediately attacked them from all sides sending bolts of red and blue lights their way. As her team countered the lightning bolts, the first thing Adrianna did was to raise her wand above her head. Her wand emitted white light that fell around them like glistening spider webs forming a sheath of protection.

Enya scoffed. She sent a shockwave through that sheath. It hit two masked men and with massive force, they were thrown outside the periphery of the plateau.

"Stop!" shouted Adrianna. "We are not here to kill them."

"This was only self protection," answered Enya as she blew the smoke at the top of her wand.

Adrianna rolled her eyes. She wanted this entire thing to go smoothly. She needed all the support that she could get and didn't want to take a chance to annoy Shang Kui. He was a vital link of the chain.

"Keep your temper in control," snarled Adrianna.

By this time, other masked men were already throwing fireballs towards them. "Stop it!" Adrianna yelled. But the men didn't stop.

As Enya stood there in defiance, she watched them silently. Her patience was wearing out. Anger cruised her system and it manifested in bursting out from her body. A flurry of snow formed and it swirled around the protective sheath Adrianna had formed. It was so intense that small vortexes were created at intervals on the surface. Four masked men got sucked into them. Mihr thought that the men would come inside their cover, and stepped away but to his shock the men got sucked and disappeared.

A loud, blood-curdling roar in the distance stopped every one of them. They stood rooted to their spots. A dragon emerged from the darkness. It walked with lethal grace towards them. As it walked, they realized that the dragon was huge. It towered upon all of them. In the night, they saw its scales standing on its skin. The dragon was the color of the night. His eyes were red-hot flames. It thumped its way. Adrianna noticed its claws—large enough to lacerate even the strongest to flesh and bones.

It came to a stop in front of the visitors to his realm. With teeth as sharp as icicles, it ripped the only armor that was protecting them.

"What do you want?" the dragon asked, his face right in front of Adrianna's.

Adrianna bowed and introduced herself. "I am the Queen of the Wizard Kingdom in the West. I have come to seek your help."

"We will talk tomorrow," replied the dragon and turned. He flapped his gigantic wings in the air and flew away in the darkness of the night.

There was nothing Adrianna could do. The team was escorted through the deserted streets of the village to a small house.

Each and every minute was precious for her, but in this situation she only felt desperate. Her thoughts wandered to Dmitri. She knew she would be spending a restless night. All others made themselves comfortable.

Although he didn't show it, Haldir was satisfied internally at this pause in their travel. He wanted her to rest.

---

"What is it Niiya?" Dr. Tanaka was in a pathetic mood. Anger from his eyes showed how scared he was inside.

"I hate the way Ziu treats us. What is the guarantee that after he takes over the Wizard Kingdom, he wouldn't attack other realms? Do you want to be a part of this massacre? In my opinion we should hold a meeting with other humans and find a solution to our problem ourselves. Why do we need help from other realms?" reasoned Niiya.

"You know the extent of our problem, Niiya! I don't want to discuss this with you again. So leave me for now. The General will come back to meet us in an hour again. So stay here."

"What?" Niiya was aghast. Everything had suddenly catapulted.

"Yes, we can't wait anymore."

"Father, you are not being reasonable!" Niiya barked.

"Shut up!" Dr. Tanaka raised his hand but stopped mid-air.

Niiya stood from his chair. He looked at his father's raised hand and said, "Ziu attacked Nate to the extent that Nate could have died if Dmitri hadn't intervened."

Dr. Tanaka's expression changed. He wasn't talking to his daughter and her choice of mate, but he was concerned. He brought his hand down.

"Ookashi is five months pregnant with Nate's child."

The blood from Dr. Tanaka's face drained.

"I simply can't fight against Adrianna. I won't. It takes such a toll on my mental wellbeing." Niiya paused. "Now you have to make a choice whom you have to side with."

"There is no choice left, Niiya," said Dr. Tanaka in a hoarse voice. He sat in his chair, his knees feeling weak.

---

Adrianna was up and pacing the room at the break of the dawn. She couldn't wait to meet Shang Kui. Haldir was sitting by the window. He watched the quiet village outside. There were very few pedestrians on the streets. The wooden shutters of the homes and shops were closed. Morning mist hadn't lifted its veil from the air. His gaze shifted to the movement in the room and settled on his queen. She had stopped in front of a study table that was exquisitely crafted with gold filigree.

"When will I meet him?" She said holding the table's edge and leaning forward. "We need to return today."

Haldir didn't have an answer to that. He knew that Adrianna would return back to her kingdom without Shang Kui's answer if he didn't show up on time.

Time was the key here.

Mihr and the two Mozias were sitting on the chairs watching their queen's anxiety when suddenly a familiar roar filled the air.

Enya was sitting and brushing her hair gently, casually.