Meera stepped aside and let the old grump see that she had arrived without any bloodshed. Unlike last time, he didn't seem exhausted from putting back all the animals that she had butchered. This time, he looked clean, as if he had taken a bath. There was a strange aroma of mint and sandalwood coming from inside the hut.

As for the Keeper himself, his visage was neat and clean. His turban and clothes didn't have the splotches of dirt and blood. The scar on his left cheek made him equally as fearsome as last time. He walked past her to take a look, and once he saw that everything was okay, he turned and nodded to her.

Though there was a hint of a smile on his face. "Genuinely surprised that you and Sysone didn't attack each other on sight."

Meera glanced at the basilisk. "I asked nicely to be brought to you."

"Oh, so you finally remembered your manners."

Meera snorted. "I suppose so."

The fact that literal Tarzan was chiding her about her manners was hilarious.

"Well, aren't you going to ask me to come inside?"

"Depends, are you planning on bleeding all over my home again?" Dara asked.

"Oh, most definitely."

He shook his head. "Well, come in and let's see why you want to waste my time?"

Meera ignored that, no matter how much she wanted to grumble about his manners, but she needed this man pliable to ensure he would help her. All she cared about was finding a way over that ice wasteland. And she couldn't do that without this man's help.

She remembered he had been searching for information on dragon evolution the last time she was here. This was why she rushed here when the professors said the best people would be the Keepers of the Wild. She really hoped that he had the answers she was looking for, or this would've been a tremendous waste of time and effort.

Dara led her to his study, which was stacked with books and scrolls. The room was small and cramped, but the Keeper kept it clean.

He motioned for her to take a seat opposite the wooden table, and he took the seat on the other side of the table.

"So, what's happened that the Champion's sister has come to my humble abode?" Dara asked.

"Well, it's a bit of a long story, but I'll keep it short and sweet," she said. "Do you know of the royal siblings' trials to prove their worthiness for the throne?"

"I do."

"Good, that should make it easy."

Meera explained to him how she was helping the princess bring down the Cult of Aetheron. That perked up his ears immediately. He leaned in as her tale went on. His eyes blazed when she got to the part about meeting Elrasil and his tale about why he went to Rothedon. By the time she finished, Dara was practically frothing at the mouth.

"That lying son of a wart-ridden whore." Dara slammed his fist down on the table, making the scrolls and book jump.

"I'm guessing you have history," Meera said tentatively.

He looked at her and breathed out his anger. "Not me personally. But you cannot believe a single word that falls from that fucker's mouth. Had a dream from Aetheron to save the people. I would much sooner believe that humans had learned how to domesticate dragons."

"Oh, believe me, if I had believed him, I would be in the White Ember wasteland, heading towards the Warlocks, instead of talking to you right now. So, what's the truth about him?"

"The truth is, he was a Keeper of the Wild," Dara said, rocking Meera's world.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me. He was born some four hundred years ago, and he was a devotee of the Lady Vashira, until he charred his name and the name of my sect to the worlds. So much so, that it took nearly a century to separate our names from his deeds."

Meera leaned forward. If she could gain any information on him that she could use to throw him off-balance at their next meeting, she would happily take it.

"What did he do that was so bad?" She asked.

"Details about his life are scarce, and that was because of his own design, or maybe he muddled the facts over time, starting new rumors about him, so we would never know the truth."

He stood and pulled out a book from the bookcase to the right. It had no title. It was a simple, brown-leather-bound book with yellowed pages. He flipped through the pages until he landed on a page, somewhere toward the end of the book.

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"This is all I've gathered on that dog." Dara's face was wrathful. "Everything I'm about to tell you is as close to the truth as it gets with this man. Elrasil was born on Gethys, close to the Wiryar forest. What happened in his youth is hard to say, but something occurred that led him to despise the dragons. This hatred was so pure that he even went to Rothedeon. While some say that it was only after he took over the well-being of Rothedon's forest that he lost his way. Again, that is a fact that only he knows, but all the research that I've done about him points to the fact that he sort out Rothedon because he wanted to exact vengeance from the dragons. Rothedon, being Rothedon, exacted a price for the knowledge that Elrasil sought."

"He made him a Charred Rider?" Meera asked, remembering the deal between Lainor and the Cosmarian King.

"Quite possibly, but again, he has never displayed any skills that would mark him as such. We believe that Rothedon wanted to escape his bonds, and so he bade Elrasil to become a Keeper of the Wild. Elrasil set about the task in such a manner that he fooled the goddess Vashira herself. It was said that there was never a more dedicated devotee of Lady Vashira since Rolhar, the first Keeper of the Wild. Elrasil impressed the goddess so much that she even taught him skills that she hadn't taught anyone since Rolhar. Then, soon enough, Elrasil showed his true colors."

"He went over to Rothedon," Meera finished.

Dara nodded. "Quite possibly so. He tried to use all the skills he had learned to free the Cosmarian King and his brood, but he failed. However, he did enough damage that he weakened the barrier in such a manner that we've had to set up a permanent watch on it. And the barrier has been weakening ever since. Little by little, it has dwindled over the centuries. This event was the reason why the goddess Midea started recruiting people from different worlds to fulfill the great prophecy. If not for Elrasil, then the end times might not be upon us."

Meera was stunned. She had a feeling that Elrasil was bad, but she didn't think he was apocalyptic-level bad. Her anger for this man was rising by the minute. Not only did he cause her all sorts of headaches on Gethys by manipulating the dragons against the humans and sorceresses, but now this. He was the reason why Neel and she had come here.

"And he got his repayment from Rothedon," Meera said, making Dara frown. "He is the one who poisoned the archdragon known as Akhessai."

Dara nodded. "Yes, that was the thing that got him ejected from our order. It is said that the goddess herself appeared before the Master Keeper and declared her verdict. Not long after that, he formed the Cult of Aetheron to lure wayward souls to himself. Ever since then, he has slowly been amassing power as he worked with the Cosmarians. I've been trying to find as much as I can about him, hoping one day to pass all this information to the Varshans and let them take care of this menace."

"Well, you can give it to me and I'll make sure the Varshans get it," Meera said. "Though I need one more thing from you. It's really the reason why I came here."

"How does a dragon evolve from a dragon to an archdragon…"

Meera started, but quickly regained control of her expression. "Only an archdragon's flames can melt the runic wall that Elrasil has built around his Spire. Trust me, I've tried everything, even assassination. This is the only thing that remains."

Dara nodded. "Well, you've come to the right place."

He stood and pulled out a scroll. He unfurled it, and it had the words Dragon Evolution written on top. He passed the scroll to Meera, and she read it hungrily. A slow smile crept up on her face as she realized that if this were true, then it was doable. She could create an archdragon.

The only problem was getting the said archdragon to keep its word once it underwent the transformation. After all, she had gone up against an archdragon, and they were not a plaything. According to the scroll before her, it stated that an archdragon was almost godlike. Sort like an Ascendant dragon. Just as an Ascendant was the middle step between mortal and divinity, so it was true for archdragons. Even then, the requirements stated that it would be too strong for Meera to fight.

"Judging by your expression, I'm assuming you think you can fulfil this ritual," Dara said.

Meera nodded. "I can. Though it will cost me my life if you're wrong about this."

"I'm not wrong," he replied plainly. "That parchment came to be after the ritual was observed by Rayina, the Keeper, who saw the transformation of the archdragon that the worlds know as Aris Stormeyes. It's the archdragon that has ruled over the Nakata archipelago on Rhione."

Meera couldn't verify that fact, as she was unfamiliar with the archipelago and the archdragon. So, she had to take this at face value. Seeing as how she had no option but to take this ritual, if it could even be called that, to the closest dragons.

She shook her head. By God, I really did not want to go back there so soon.

Dara smirked. "Having second thoughts?"

"Wouldn't you, if you were in my position?" she retorted.

He shrugged. "Maybe, but then it's either you trust me and move ahead or turn back and hope you get lucky and the ice wall cracks and sunders by itself."

Meera sighed and made to take the scroll, but Dara's hand shot forward. Meera was faster than him. Dara's fingers smashed against her chakrams. Rivulets of scarlet blood dripped onto the table.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to," she spluttered.

He gave her an annoyed look, cupping her cut fingers in his good hand. She dropped the parchment on the table, making sure the blood wouldn't ruin it. She waited for him to heal himself, but he walked over to the sink and began cleaning the blood with the water.

Meera frowned. "Wait, you don't have a skill to heal yourself?"

He grumbled something under his breath. So, she asked again.

"No, I don't have a skill to heal myself. All my skills are to heal animals and nature."

"I see." Meera quickly jogged to him and placed a hand on his ruined hand, and activated Greater Vitalize. Relief cleared the lines of tension on his face. The cuts on his hand sealed up, and within a few minutes, he was as good as new.

"That is some skill," Dara said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Meera replied. "Though I hope it gets better in healing others. It's still a little too slow. So, Lady Vashira didn't bless you with healing humans."

"No, we're only meant to protect and nurture nature."

Meera nodded. "I'm going to need to keep that parchment, so you know I don't get anything wrong. I promise I'll return it to you once my work is done."

He looked at her for a long moment. "Fine. Where are you headed?"

She sighed. "Some place I've been warned not to return to…the Wiryar Forest."

Dara shook his head. "No…"

"Oh yes, where else am I going to find dragons?"

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