There's a solemnity that has settled over us since the pup fell silent. The silence is nearly absolute—when we pause speaking, even our breaths seem afraid to disturb it.

I turn to look at my friend. Like me, he stands at the edge of the pit. He begins to chant, and I observe mana gathering around him—not at his hands, but concentrating near his heart. Intriguing. When the final word leaves his lips, it's as though a distant bell has been struck, and with that resonant sound, Ronan's dark mana dissipates. The bell's toll continues, echoing again and again. Ronan has closed his eyes in complete concentration. The bones remain motionless. Seconds stretch on. If not for the lingering echo, I might believe his efforts had been in vain.

Minutes later, one final sound reaches me—more powerful than all others—as if a massive bell had rung beside us. Suddenly, Ronan's mana reappears, now transformed into a sphere that hovers before him, pulsing in rhythm with the reverberating bronze of that phantom bell. The realization strikes me—this is no longer mere mana. It has returned bearing something. An entity. A consciousness.

The necromancer reaches out and gently strokes the edges of the dark sphere.

"Welcome," he says. "It is an honor to bring you back, Myrthaxya."

I am far too caught up in the stillness and solemnity of the moment to break it by asking how he knows its name.

Ronan stretches out his hand toward the skeleton, which now lies only lightly covered. The sphere of darkness sinks through the icy layer and merges with the bones, beginning with the creature's ribcage. The black spreads like a lit trail of gunpowder. And as it moves, some of that dark mana turns blue. I do not understand why, but that is how it happens. When it reaches the empty eye sockets, the black and blue seem to dance together, forming that telltale flame of the undead. Then, the skeletal dragon casts some sort of spell that causes the ice around it to crack and shatter, and—majestic—it rises to its feet.

I take a step back to avoid getting hit by flying shards. Ronan does not. A few strike him, but he does not seem to care. His eyes never leave his new companion, who unfurls its vast, bony wings. They're magnificent. It keeps them extended for a moment before lowering its head in a gesture that feels like reverence toward its new master.

I glance at Ronan and see him grinning from ear to ear. His face radiates genuine joy.

He struggled with mana just to raise the mountain king bear, and now he's brought this ancient dragon back as if it were nothing. Did he simply have enough mana this time? Or does his soul inn mastery let him bypass that massive cost?

I'll ask him. About that—and about the name.

"Are you not going to ride her?" I inquire when I see him eyeing her longingly but making no move to climb on.

If I were him, I'd already be flying around the cave.

"I do not wish to draw the rest of the dungeon's creatures, my lady. I have no mana left, only one small potion, and I believe you have no means of regenerating yours other than through meditation."

"True."

"We should sleep to recover, at least I should, but I would rather do so safely at the academy."

"What about the worms?" I frown.

We came here for their eggs.

"You also cannot summon the divine beast in his adult form again. I do not believe we are in any condition to fight."

That's true. According to the mission info, we'll have to fight the trolls guarding the spawning grounds. And those are no pushovers.

"Alright. But we're coming back tomorrow. I'm not letting those third-years swoop in and take advantage of us clearing the wraiths."

"My lady, I do not believe they planned to approach the lake, and besides, if we leave the dungeon without defeating the boss, all the other creatures will automatically respawn. They already came and went anyway. What concerns me now is where to hide Myrthaxya."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Seriously? The other students were here? One thing at a time.

"We're not taking her with us?"

"She cannot fit through the spiral staircase."

"And can't you just cancel the reanimation?"

Ronan looks at me with a certain intensity.

"Have you seen the size of her bones? She was once the steed of a demon lord, a valiant warrior who gave her life for her kin. Her soul wished to return to help us—otherwise, the soul inn would not have worked. However, I cannot simply take a tooth or a vertebra to raise her again later. There are restrictions."

"Restrictions?"

"By returning her original body through soul inn, I have created a special bond. This soul is now tied to this body. If she dies, I do not know whether I will be able to summon her again, or if I can even store her soul in the inn. You do see the color of her flames, do you not?"

Well, that much everyone can see, as far as I know.

"They turned blue. This dragon had powerful water magic, with a specialization in storm and lightning. It is her magic."

"But the golems also retain their water magic," I say, still not quite understanding.

"Yet mine is the one that prevails in them. If they were skeletons, their eye sockets would burn black. However, Myrthaxya is so powerful that her magic leans on mine and remains dominant. That is why they are blue."

The flames animating her eye sockets, yes—and also the entire aura that runs through and emanates from her bones.

"Do you see her aura?" I ask him.

"Yes. But not everyone will. They will see the eye flames, but not the rest."

"Only people with strong affinity for water, darkness, light, or earth?"

Water was weak against earth, right?

"Mostly water and darkness. The other two will see less."

This augmented-vision thing is really something. It's like wearing those 3D VR goggles from Earth.

"So how do we get her out?"

Ronan points toward the ceiling.

"This cave has a very high ceiling. It easily rises above the spiral staircase. I believe you could make a hole for her to leave through."

"It's rock, not dirt."

"I meant in the future. When your control over earth allows you to shape stone."

"What if we do it by brute force? The wolf could dig, and so could the dragon."

"I would prefer not to collapse the dungeon. With your Earth magic, you could do so safely—reinforcing where necessary."

"And then I'd seal it up afterward?"

"Or the dungeon itself might do it if we give it time."

"Then the dragon has to stay here, hidden so no one attacks her."

"If it pleases you, let us see if we can dig a hole beneath the forest and cover it with branches, my golems, and some snow."

Poor dragon, comes back to life and the first thing she has to do is bury herself again.

"Myrthaxya, I will try to get you out of here as soon as possible," I promise.

The female dragon looks at me—or I think she does. She should scare me, just like Ronan's bears and other large creatures should do, but she doesn't.

Either I really trust my vassal, or this future Dark Queen thing is really getting to me.

We head to the forest, not venturing too deep to avoid attracting the wolves' attention. I begin digging a hole with my magic, taking advantage of the good layer of soil here. When the space is large enough, the dragon crawls in and curls up. Poor thing. I form a solid layer of hardened earth above her, reinforced with a base of branches. Then we place the ice golems on top. Finally, we cover everything with snow.

"Thank you for your patience, Myrthaxya," Ronan whispers to her.

We leave.

"Hey, what was that about those third-year idiots running into the zombie bear?"

I ask him while we retrace our path through the labyrinth. Of the sixteen small golems and eight large ones Ronan had left, he kept only two small ones with us, leaving the rest with the dragon. We ride on top of them—they hover—and the bats push us across the pits of frozen spikes we'd already triggered on the way in.

"Exactly that, my lady. They came by a few hours ago, saw him, froze in place, the bear growled menacingly, and they ran away."

What I wouldn't give to see the mental images the bear has sent to Ronan. Just to see the face of that Octavius Laltiery guy when he stumbled upon a terrifying, colossal creature that had no business being there.

He was an arrogant jerk. I smile at the thought of that scene—him running off in sheer panic.

Anyway… I keep asking.

"All that aside, where did you get the mana from?"

"To animate the dragon?"

"Yes."

"Raising skeletons is cheap, unless the skeleton itself requires more than usual. I do not believe I had enough mana to lift her, but soul inn allowed me to do it without a cost."

Interesting. That skill of his is seriously overpowered, though I imagine finding an ancient soul like the dragoness's cannot be easy. Even less so with her bones still intact and in good condition. I imagine that played a part in allowing him to raise her for free.

Let's clear something up:

"But you still need all your mana for the giant papa bear. That one is not free."

"Yes."

"Got it. And how do you know the female dragon's name?"

"She told me when she came."

"With an image?"

"She is unlike all the others. She can speak directly into my mind."

I fall silent, lost in thought for the rest of the walk through the labyrinth. When we reach the upper cave, where the zombie bear is, we find we are not alone.

A group of high-level soldiers looks like they are about to attack him.

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