The dragon started first, charging a large blow and almost hitting them head on as the kelpie dodged to the side. Was this a normal occurrence? Her friend seemed pretty used to dodging projectile attacks and it made her wonder whether that large mythical being was attacking them for sport or for food. As quickly as she thought that, she was thrown to the floor just a meter away in a big bush that caught her fall. Without her realizing, the kelpie had released her so she could run away and hide until the fight was over and after wasting about three seconds, the girl ran to take cover behind a nearby tree; it was a bad spot to take cover.

Ice covered the treeline, unwilling to melt anytime soon during the moon's rain and the wind's cold heartedness, almost catching the girl's hands that were stuck to the bark while she was leaning on it. A small yelp later, she was peeking out from behind the tree to see the damage in the valley. To her surprise, the kelpie's legs were covered in small pieces of ice, probably from the frozen grass he was stepping on -she was expecting to see him frozen like an icicle. And then, she saw him flee, starting with wild steps and then breaking out into a fast gallop, withdrawing in the woods to maybe get away, retracing his steps to the lake's clearing. The dragon flapped its wings a few times, jumping in the air and chasing after him with an angry and threatening roar.

The girl came out from her hiding place, contemplating whether to chase after them as well or stay put. Unwisely, she chose the former. Running at her highest speed, she followed after them, missing the two fairies who had come out of hiding to watch as well. They were too fast to catch up to and she only got a glimpse of her friend jumping in the lake and the dragon diving right after him with a huge splash. Was it just her or did that thing become smaller?

"Ohhh, I wonder who will come out a victor!", Nana whisper-yelled right behind the girl, making her almost jump out of her skin. Nine agreed. They both sounded to have a smile on their faces but their glow was too bright for it to show and it would hurt her eyes too much if she were to try and catch a glimpse of it. So, she ignored them and neared the lake cautiously. The bottom could hardly be seen as it was dark and the moonlight wasn't providing enough light to make the water illuminate. Two silhouettes were dancing underneath the surface, that much she could see, and there was no doubt it was her friend and that dragon because there was no other form of life in there.

Dancing? No, it only looked like they were dancing; in truth, they were fighting. In its home, the kelpie seemed to have the upper hand in that fight, even when the dragon suddenly disappeared, he was swimming through the lake with the same agility and speed he had shown before. Wait, swimming? The girl narrowed her eyes, trying to see the figure of her friend a little more clearly. There was no way he could swim so fast with those legs, right? At some point, he held still, looking around him and that was when she saw it. From the waist down there were no legs; their place was taken over by a big, whale-like tail with a fin that looked similar to that of a tropical fish in appearance with the beautiful fade from white to transparent. It was truly something out of a fairytale.

Something disturbed the gravel at the bottom and that was when he moved again, striking fiercely at the spot as he had sensed the dragon sit down and rest at that exact spot. It looked like the kelpie was winning up until the surface of the water became more disturbed than it already was. It began to swirl around clockwise at a fast pace, creating a whirlpool in the middle before finally withdrawing into walls, leaving a circular spot of the lake's bottom visible. The dragon then pushed the other out of the water wall and onto the drying gravel, making the kelpie's home a cell made of ice with its freezing fire.

 The girl screamed out of fear as the dragon, who was perched over the makeshift holding cell of ice, bagan walking towards her, growling along the way. The fairies fled into the forest, abandoning the petrified human, who they had been assigned to lead, to save themselves from whatever was about to happen. She could hear her friend neighing, perhaps trying to get his assailant's attention so she wouldn't die but no matter what he was trying to do, it didn't work. Right in front of her wide, frightful eyes, the dragon grew to its original size and opened its mouth. The back of its throat began to glow again, a small hissing sound coming from it sucking air in.

Something stopped it though -and that something was standing behind the girl. She couldn't look back as her eyes were glued on the terrifying beast in front of her. Even if it seemed to have changed its mind about turning her into an icicle, she was still scared of getting up on her feet and running away; animals always seemed to snap at a sudden movement and every living thing fell under that category. There was a voice that came from where the dragon was looking, one that sounded like it belonged to a man that smoked a little too much. The girl couldn't tell if it was because of cigarettes or if it was naturally like that.

The big creature sat down, wings closed at its sides and showing no hostility anymore. It was then that the girl snapped out of the stone that had enclosed her body and rushed to get up and run away, forgetting everything about the dragon possibly snapping and spitting its icy fire on her. She didn't get far, however, because she bumped into a log right as she went to turn around and run, almost falling again but something caught her by the arm; or rather... someone. Looking up, her eyes met a body covered by a black cloak, yellow eyes shining from the darkness the hood created on the face. Those yellow eyes looked angry as they landed on her small frame, examining her every feature before letting go of her arm and lowering the hood.