The Dagon-drawn carriage moved quickly through the rocky road, hitting some bumps of stone in the process. Vedal looked out the window, his hair moving by the force of the wind as he was deep in thought about the future of the kingdom.

  “Vedal, snap out of your trance,” a man said, sitting in front of him inside the Dagon-drawn carriage. In his hand, he was holding a lance and wearing silver armor on his hands and legs.

  “Right, Hanit…” Vedal said, his eyes moving down as if he were disappointed in himself, like he had to carry all the weight by himself.

  Hanit looked at Vedal with his cat-shaped black eyes, sensing his saddened mood. He said, “Look, Vedal, I know a lot is going on in your mind, but it’s not like you’re alone in this. We already talked with Kóonfiansa and the other higher-ups. They are calming the havoc of the citizens in the kingdom down.”

  Vedal sighed and said, “I should’ve been there to calm down the havoc of the citizens of the kingdom too. They’ll think I escaped like a coward and left all the work to other people… Would they believe in a king like this, who doesn’t face trouble and makes someone else do it?”

  “Vedal, listen. You’re doing something far more important than that… that is preparing to defeat the West. The citizens would understand why you weren’t present there,” Hanit said, moving a bit forward and putting a hand on Vedal’s shoulder.

  Vedal smiled a bit, a sweet smile, then he looked at Hanit and said, “It’s the first time hearing kind and calming words from you. You were always the strict type.”

  Hanit then moved back a little and said, “It’s because my best friend is now a king. Did I do a good job at it?”

  Vedal softly chuckled and said, “I’d say you did an awesome job, my friend.”

  Hanit then chuckled too and said, “Don’t expect this soft side of me all the time though. I’m still the cold Hanit.”

  Hearing that, Vedal laughed a little, then he looked outside the carriage window to see two giant trees forming a gateway. Vedal then said, “We made it to the Fairy Kingdom.”

  As the carriage entered through the gateway made of giant trees, flowers flew and fell around the carriage as if welcoming the visitors into their kingdom. Through the falling flowers, Vedal and Hanit could see the amazing view of the Fairy Kingdom. As all the flowers fell down, the view became more clear—the greenery, the colorful flowers, all the fairies moving around peacefully. The houses of the fairies were within the many big trees in the kingdom. Many carriages passed by them as they moved toward their destination, the meetup spot.

  “Who knew the Fairy Kingdom was this peaceful?” Hanit said in awe.

  “I know. Queen Merlin sure does know how to keep her kingdom under control,” Vedal said.

  “It seems you’ve been here before,” Hanit said, now looking at Vedal.

  “Yes, this is my third time actually. I came here with King Jakar before the Yokai War, and once again with some royal guards during the war. The first time I came here, I had the same reaction as you. I was in awe too, thinking how a place could be and feel so peaceful,” Vedal answered while looking outside at the peaceful view.

  It didn’t take long until they arrived at the meetup spot. As both of them got out of the carriage, they were greeted by two young female fairy twins. Both fairies bowed their heads respectfully and said, “Welcome,” in unison. One of the fairies lifted her head and said, “We are glad both of you could make it here safely. You may follow us; Queen Merlin awaits your arrival.”

  “Sure, lead the way,” Vedal said.

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  The fairy nodded, and both of them started moving toward the spot where Queen Merlin awaited. The young fairies led Vedal and Hanit toward a tall tree. Hanit then looked up to see the top of the tree, but he couldn’t. Vedal saw Hanit trying to see the top of the tree, chuckled a bit, and said, “You can’t see it, Hanit. It’s because the tree is so tall that it can’t be seen with the naked eye.”

  Hanit looked at Vedal in shock and asked, “How could a tree have grown so tall?”

  Vedal then looked at the tall tree they were heading toward and said, “I don’t know how it’s possible myself, but somehow it is.”

  Then the fairies entered a hole in the tall tree that was meant to be the gateway inside. As they entered, small green particles surrounded them, and they began to float, moving upward toward the top of the tree.

  “Please stay still and do not move around much, or the spell might get canceled, and that will result in falling,” said one of the fairies who was escorting them. Both Vedal and Hanit nodded after hearing the warning.

  Soon, they reached near the top of the tree, and the particles made them land inside a room within it. As Vedal and Hanit landed, they saw Queen Merlin sitting in a chair. In front of her was a circular table and two more empty chairs. She looked at both of them and said, “I’ve been waiting for a long time, Proxy Vedal. Please take a seat.”

  “I’m no longer Proxy, Queen Merlin,” he said, taking a seat.

  Hearing that, Merlin tilted her head in confusion and asked, “Whatever do you mean by that, Vedal?”

  “King Jakar sealed himself away for an unknown reason and gave his throne and title to me,” Vedal answered.

  “What? Why would King Jakar do that? Can’t we unseal him?” Merlin asked.

  “I don’t know why he sealed himself, and unsealing him won’t work because the seal was a Binding Seal. It can only be opened after 2000 years,” Vedal answered.

  Merlin looked at Vedal in shock because of what he had revealed and asked, “What about the war? We lost our only chance of winning.”

  “That’s why I came here to strategize with you,” Vedal said in a serious tone.

  Merlin looked at Vedal with worried eyes and asked, “Go on. I’m listening.”

  Vedal then took a deep breath and continued, “The fairies can drain mana from an area, right?”

  Merlin nodded in answer and then said, “Not all can drain mana.”

  Hearing that, Vedal continued, “So set up all of your fairies who can drain mana right at the border of the West, and do not worry—the superior knights or warriors from our or other kingdoms will be defending the fairies from any incoming attacks.”

  Merlin asked, “Other kingdoms? Which other kingdoms are you going to contact?”

  “I personally contacted you because your fairies are playing a major part in the plan. Diri? is having a meeting with King Derick, and Itshe is having a meeting with Queen Guié, the Queen of the Beast Kingdom,” Vedal said, leaning back in the chair a bit as he finished explaining.

  “I see. So what exactly is your plan then, Vedal? Are you planning to charge them head-on now?” Merlin asked.

  “No, we can’t fight them head-on. We don’t have enough power. King Jakar was the only reason we could’ve won, but with him not here, we have almost no chance of winning this war. And we can’t afford to wait for the war cry. We will attack them first, before the war cry, because the war cry starts in three days—that’s when they’ll attack. So my plan is to take their mana. Since the Beast Race is good at controlling and calling dragons, we will have them call all the dragons to the East and put up a barrier without any warning. If they stay loyal to their war cry, my plan will succeed,” Vedal said, taking a deep breath as he finished.

  Queen Merlin looked at Vedal for a moment as if considering his plan. After a couple of seconds passed, she spoke up, “Yes. Us fairies will be part of this, no matter how ruthless it might be… We will win,” she said with a confident posture.

  Hearing that, Vedal smiled and said, “Then send your fairies to the border tomorrow. We will be waiting.”

  The next day — At the starting point of the East border

  All the fairies were aligned in a strategic way. Two warriors stayed with them as protection, and then all the fairies began chanting in unison.

  “Oh mighty Creator, we are in need. May the vast mana come to us, may the vast mana come to us.”

  They kept repeating the same chant over and over again. That was the cue for the Beast Race to move forward and start blowing horns made from dragon bones. The horn could only be heard by dragons.

  In the West, the dragons woke up upon hearing the horn and started flying toward the East, flying over many kingdoms. The civilians looked up to see many dragons flying in one direction.

  Alvan was standing on the balcony of his palace. He looked up to see many dragons moving toward one direction. He then asked himself, “What is happening?”