Their flight didn't take very long despite the long distance because the dragons flew at an incredibly high speed. Nume was a little frightened, not of the height, she was used to that, but the speed and the fact that she could look straight down and the dragon might just drop her at any time, giving her no chance for survival. But at the same time she was amazed by the view. She'd never been that close to the Dragon Mountains and from this close they looked even bigger.

They were flying a straight line into the centre of the mountains. Then, without a warning, the dragons suddenly let themselves drop a few hundred feet down. With mighty beats of their wings, they then regained control of the flight within the blink of an eye and soon Nume could see other dragons. There were quite some of them, all of different colours. Some were bigger and some were smaller but all were roughly the same size as the cyan winged dragon that was carrying Nume.

But then Nume saw it: a huge grey dragon she'd previously mistaken for a wreckage made of boulders that had fallen from the mountains. The mighty creature lifted its head slowly and majestically when it heard the others arrive, loudly roaring. Then they landed, Nume had been frightened of the landing before but the dragon that carried her landed with its hind legs first and then carefully released her from its front claws so she could step out of them. Nume immediately ran to Kran on shaky legs. She could also see Raf and Tarlequin, who was hiding from the big dragon behind the half-dretho. Once more, Raf bowed low and the others followed his example.

'I thought we had given up such sacrifices.' The huge dragon spoke. His voice vibrated inside Nume's head.

'Greetings, my king, these are some fools we have picked up on Nuir-ksad. They have come here with the amulet, demanding to speak to you, my king.' The cyan winged dragon explained.

'The amulet? What amulet?' The king asked absentmindedly.

'The siren's amulet.' With these words the cyan winged dragon had his king's fullest attention.

'Sethara? Is she dead?' he asked.

The question hung in the air for a moment and one of the dragons nudged Nume, who was wearing the amulet, so she stepped forward and said: 'She is not.' Then she looked at Kran and saw Raf nod, urging her to speak on.

'We have been sent here by her.' Nume said. It wasn't fully correct but she thought it sounded better than we have forced her to give us the amulet so we could come here.

'For what purpose?' The king's voice echoed in her head.

'To bring you good news, my king.' Raf jumped in. He stepped forward and kneeled down in front of the dragon.

'Is it really you, my son?' When they heard these last words spoken by the dragon king, Nume, Kran and Tarlequin all turned to stare at Raf at the same time.

'Son?' Nume mouthed but Raf didn't even care to look at her.

'Yes, father, it is me.' He said. 'And I have returned to you as promised; with the Outcast or not at all.'

The dragon king didn't reply. He just eyed the group up interestedly. The tension was hardly bearable to Nume. Then the cyan winged dragon dared to break the silence.

'Which one of them is it then?' it asked. Raf stood back up and turned around, pointing at both Nume and Kran.

'Two of them?' one of the dragons murmured. The cyan winged one nervously laid its membranes back and then stretched them back up a few times.

'What does this mean?' the dragon king finally asked.

'The siren has chosen them. At first, she thought it were just Kran.' Raf explained.

'No.' Nume whispered.

'What?' the dragon king wanted to know.

'Oh, it's just, well, she first thought it was just me...' Nume stammered.

'But then' Raf began again. 'she realised that it was both of them. Together, they are the Outcast. They are indeed phraio, but they have both run away from their tribe and have been recruited. Now they shall help us fulfil the prophecy.'

'Two phraio?' the king spoke. Nobody dared to answer, there was a strange tone in his voice. 'That is fairly disappointing. But luckily, the prophecy shall no longer be needed. Now tell me, where is the siren?'

Suddenly, Nume heard a high pitched sound and a terrible headache spread from her right temple. Looking at Kran she could tell that he felt the same for he pressed his hand against his head. Then she heard Tarlequin scream. He fell to the ground, holding his head with both hands and the pain Nume felt started to fade away.

'Ah, I see...' the king said when he released them from what Nume could only describe as a mental torment. 'Now take them away, I shall need some time to think.' He ordered.

Not much later, Nume was lying on the ground next to her companions. They were being guarded by the dragons that had taken them from Nuir-ksad. Nume could hear them talk to each other, they didn't seem to care.

'Oh but if I could just have one...' the cyan winged dragon said.

'Why would you want that? They can't even fly!' the small dragon with red stripes replied.

'But look at them, they dream of things, they have something they would fight for.'

'Oh come on, what could such a tiny thing even do?' one of the green dragons threw in.

'It could poke your eye.' The cyan winged dragon joked. 'It's the intention that counts.'

'Zar'gno, you're being a fool!' the red striped dragon shouted.

'But why not? If the king already trades with them, I'm sure I could buy one. I have gathered many diamonds and rubies, you know... And such a tiny creature cannot be worth that much. Maybe ten of them would be worth one gseirut...' the cyan winged dragon spoke.

Only now Nume got the impression they might be talking about her and the others. Did they really discuss purchasing one of them like some cattle? Would they eat them? No, it sounded more like the cyan winged dragon wanted to have them as a... pet. Nume had heard of tribes that kept some animals in their tents, lived with them as if they were friends but didn't profit from them at all. She'd never really understood why you'd do that. Gseirut were there for transport and sometimes food and production. A baymout could hunt for you and it would carry you swiftly. But having a pet for no reason at all just seemed pointless to her.

And the thought of being kept as such a pet didn't appeal to her at all. She couldn't wait for the king to finish thinking. Raf had prohibited any conversation as long as the dragons could still hear them and so she just sat there, facing the ground. She knew that, if she looked at Kran, she'd start a nonverbal conversation and that might easily result in a very verbal discussion so she kept her eyes and mouth shut.

Without opening her eyes, Nume started playing around with the necklace. She could feel the stones and the metal felt strangely warm in her hand. For a while, she managed to ignore the dragons' conversation but sometimes, a word would spark her interest again.

'... doesn't want the Outcast to leave, he'll have to keep them here...'

'... I could as well have one...'

'... never leave again...'

'... be sent away...'

'... his son won't dare to disobey...'

'... the goat looks rather delicious.'

These last words made Nume open her eyes in shock. Where they talking about Tarlequin? He must have thought the same for he moved closer to Raf, looking terrified.

'Why did you have to bring me here...' he muttered.

'They won't hurt you.' Raf reassured him, showing a tiny hint of pity.

'How do you know? Have you seen how they look at me?!' Tarlequin exclaimed.

'You, too, are under the protection of the amulet.'

'He made me tell him...' now Tarlequin was nearly crying.

'I know...'

'They'll hurt her, won't they?'

'Maybe.' Raf didn't look at him anymore and Tarlequin's facial expression revealed how guilty and horrified he felt.

'You mean Sethara, don't you?' Nume whispered after a while. The dragons were still talking about something and seemed to be too busy to eavesdrop. Tarlequin nodded.

'The amulet is magical. She made it to protect herself from the dragons. They have never trusted her and even threatened her at times... Now the amulet is here, stuck with us, and they know where to find her.' He explained. Talking help him calm down and his voice grew steadier with every word he said.

'But why would they hurt her? Aren't we all on the same side?' Kran asked.

'Didn't you listen?' Raf said. 'He said the prophecy shall not be needed anymore. They might have turned from it and might even have made plans for themselves. If that be true, they don't need any of us, nor the siren.'

'So you have taken us into the heart of the kingdom of the dragons from where we cannot escape and then made them turn on us?' Kran asked provocatively.

'Oh no, they haven't turned on me.' Raf said slowly. He didn't add anything and thus they once more fell silent.

// I hope this isn't too confusing, it's supposed to be mysterious, though! Let me know what you think and don't forget to vote, thanks for reading.