I stepped out of the core room standing side by side with Mare. It was a strange feeling standing next to a person that looked almost exactly like me. It was like looking into a broken mirror. At least, I did not have to worry about anyone getting the two of us mixed up thanks to Mare’s bright purple hair. Otherwise, that would cause a whole different problem I was not ready to deal with.

“So, how do we explain this to everyone else?” I asked, imagining my dad’s face when he saw the duplicate. I still found the entire event difficult to believe and I saw it with my own eyes.

Mare just shrugged. “I was planning to just wander around and see how long it took people to notice that I am not you.”

I instantly felt a headache forming as I realized all the trouble Mare could get up to now that she had a body of her own. “Please do not cause problems for me.”

“Do you really think so little of me, that I would intentionally cause problems for you?” Mare asked. Her face shifted to an exaggerated pout, even sticking out her lower lip. Her eyes even watered as she looked at me with a mask of absolute innocence.

“Yes.”

The façade crumbled instantly as Mare broke into laughter. She waved her hand, shooing me dismissively. “I like you Wren, but you’re really no fun. An opportunity like this does not come along often. The least we can do is enjoy it.”

As Mare and I talked, Vissna burst into Dragon’s Nest with her eyes wide. The normal composer of her human form was replaced with anxiety and panic. “Wren, there you are. What happened? There was a sudden surge of power just like…” Vissna paused as her mind processed the sight of two identical girls standing next to each other. “Who…”

“This is perfect!’ Mare interrupted with a delighted clap of her hands, “I was just thinking I needed someone to play with. Who better than the overgrown lizard that smashed me into the ground and constantly threatened to destroy me?”

“What? Who are you?” Vissna asked in confusion.

Mare did not reply. A wicked grin stretched across her lips. Her body started to radiate glowing purple energy. It billowed out of her like a storm. I was forced to take several steps back, even with my domain protecting me. The girl’s low laughter sent chills down my spine.

In a blur, Mare suddenly vanished. She barreled towards Vissna like a child-sized cannonball. It all happened so fast that Vissna did not have any time to prepare. The two figures collided with the deafening sound of thunder. The two figures rocketed out of the open doors of Dragon’s Nest and flew high into the sky.

Despite the distance, I could feel the sudden drop in temperature as Vissna’s rage exploded outwards. Layers of ice spread across the ground but even though she was the closest Mare showed no signs of being affected by the frost. She just laughed louder and grabbed Vissna by the ankle. Vissna let out a surprised yelp as Mare started spinning like a human cyclone.

Mare released her grip, sending Vissna flying back down towards the ground. Rock shattered as a plume of dust rose into the air. A purple blur followed the falling Vissna, creating a second, louder impact on top of the first.

“That is enough!” a roar of rage thundered. Vissna’s human body morphed into an enormous dragon. Her talons slashed down at Mare without mercy. “I don’t care who you are. You are going to die here!”

Mare’s delighted laugh echoed across the plateau as she barely dodged the talon by a hair’s breadth. “That’s the way it should be!”

The two figures clashed again but now that Vissna was in her full Draconic form, the fight was much more even. None of Mare’s attacks could do much to the thick scales of the dragon but Vissna was too slow to land a hit on the girl dancing just out of reach. The two figures reached a stalemate where neither one of them was able to do much to the other. This didn’t bother Mare. She seemed to be enjoying herself even more now that her opponent was tougher. Vissna, on the other hand, was getting more and more irritated the longer the fight dragged on.

It was not long before the commotion drew the attention of everyone in the encampment. Svend, Sebastion, and General Arthur, all found me standing at the edge of Dragon’s Nest watching the spectacle and massaging the headache that was now becoming the norm when Mare was around.

“What happened? Is it an enemy attack?” General Arthur asked.

“More like an internal squabble,” I mumbled dejectedly, “This is like the Brute Calamity all over again. Why do I always find myself surrounded by violent buffoons?”

Sebastion raised an eyebrow as he shot a sideways glance at me. “Are you really one to be criticizing others on the subject?”

“Why does she look like ye? Is she a shape changer?” General Arthur remarked.

I stopped glaring at Sebastion as I considered how to answer General Arthur’s question. “She’s… difficult to explain. She’s Mare, the intelligence that ran Dragon’s Nest. I am not really sure how she copied my body but she did. I think it’s safe to say she is on our side, for now, but we should probably keep an eye on her just to be safe.”

The three men processed what I had told them with varying degrees of shock. General Arthur was the fastest to recover, probably because he knew the least about Dragon’s Nest and its origin. “A warrior that can go head-to-head with a dragon and not be at a disadvantage is a great asset. Takin’ Ater-Albus will be even easier with her by our side.”

Svend stroked the stubble growing on his chin as he watched the battle still raging below. “I kind of want to try fighting her myself. It is not often I meet someone that fights up close and personal like me. That purple energy seems to be supplementing her strength. I wonder what its limits are.”

“The both of you are barbarians,” Sebastion stated dismissively, “Call me when something actually important comes up.”

I watched Sebastion enter Dragon’s Nest and sighed. “How is another warrior at our level not important?”

“Don’t ye mind him,” General Arthur reassured, placing a hand on my shoulder, “The king has been working tirelessly this past week to help us find a way past the splinter cannons protecting the capital. He was up all last night with Chancellor Otto, brainstorming.”

“Really?” I uttered in surprise.

“He is not wrong either,” Svend said. His eyes were still intensely focused on the fight between the girl and the dragon. “The girl is a madman. Look at how she fights. When she attacks it is more vicious than a wild animal and when she dodges, she leaves zero room for any margin or error. It is practically suicidal. If she misjudges one of Vissna’s attacks by even a millimeter, she would be gutted. Not many people can stare death in the face like that with a smile on their face.”

“And none of them are sane,” I replied.

Svend nodded. His eyes were practically sparkling now. “I want to fight her even more now.”

I shook my head and decided to ignore the battle maniacs. Turning to General Arthur I asked. “Have you spoken to my dad?”

“Yes! I am delighted to see my old friend up and about again. He came to talk to me about the glyph I use to push back the blood mist. He then requisitioned supplies used to make war glyphs.”

“Can you keep an eye on him?” I muttered softly, “I’m concerned about him. He might try something reckless if nobody is around to keep him grounded.”

“Don’t ye worry your little head, Wren,” General Arthur replied with a smile, “I’ve known ye dad since he was a boy. He might be a bit reckless sometimes but ye can always trust him to keep a cool head when the fightin’ starts. He’s kinda scary that way, ye know.”

I chuckled, “Yeah, I know I can trust him. I just…”

General Arthur slapped my back roughly. “If it makes ye feel better, I will stop by and look at what he’s workin’ on from time to time. If it’s somethin’ dangerous, I will put a stop to it.”

“Thanks,” I replied with a weak smile.

As General Arthur and I talked, the fight below took a sudden shift. Mare stopped mid-charge and suddenly flew back up towards the floating island. Vissna pursued after her, roaring viciously.

“Get back here you annoying gnat, I am going to crush you like the bug you are!”

Mare landed on the island in front of General Arthur and me. Her bright purple hair was a complete knotted mess, she was covered in dirt, and even had blood dripping from her lip, but despite it all, she was smiling brightly.

A dome of purple energy suddenly surrounded the floating island. It formed a shield just in time for Vissna to fly head-first into the unforgiving wall. The dragon yelped in surprise as she was sent tumbling back towards the ground.

Mare broke into laughter at the dragon’s misfortune. “I don’t mind continuing our game but you need to be ready to fight all of me!” As she spoke, the entire building of Dragon’s Nest lit up like a sun in the sky.

Vissna froze mid-air, her eyes wide as she stared up at Dragon’s nest responding to the girl’s words. “You are…”

“So long as there is light, it will cast shadows,” The girl replied with a smile.

Vissna’s body visibly shuddered. She moved back from the floating island slowly at first before suddenly turning and flying in the other direction as fast as she could.

Mare shrugged as the dragon fled towards the nearby mountain range. “What more can you expect from a lizard that hid away while the rest of her race was hunted down?”

“She is still a useful ally, I would prefer if you didn’t antagonize her,” I said, putting my hand on my hips similar to how my mom used to when I got in trouble.

Mare plopped down on the ground and blew a loose hair off her face. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’ll go drag her back later, but can you really blame me? I have a brand-new body. I wanted to test the limits of what it could do. Speaking of which, how is it that you can only use your Divine Body for such a short time? I started tearing muscles and blood vessels after only a few minutes of fighting!”

“You inherited Wren’s Divine Body!” Svend gasped in amazement, “How? No cloning or transformation technique has ever managed that.”

“I don’t share my secrets for free, big guy,” Mare said with a smirk.

“What do you want? Tell me and I will get it.”

“You are the Divine Body expert, right? Help me fix this endurance problem and I will tell you what you want to know.”

“Deal,” Svend replied enthusiastically, “And once you recover enough, I think you and I should have a match as well.”

Mare laughed joyously. “You’re brave, big guy. I like you. I can’t remember the last time someone picked a fight with me on purpose!”