A portal appeared without warning above the platform, its dark red light tearing through the ice-blue sky.
The dragon remnant jerked his head up, near-mad delight bursting in his crimson vertical pupils.
He prostrated himself, pressing his forehead to the ice as he folded his wings and curled into a ball.
"Welcome back to life, my lord!"
His voice echoed through the wind, full of reverence.
The portal slowly opened, dark red light pouring through the gap as though something ancient were awakening.
Lin En tightened his grip on his shortsword as Geo energy gathered in his palm. His heart leaped into his throat. The monster emerging from the portal was clearly no ordinary creature, so he made a suggestion.
"Whatever's in there doesn't look easy to deal with. What if we leave now and fight another day?"
"Are you scared?"
"Of course not. I just want to conserve our strength."
A small, round figure tumbled out of the portal.
It was a little dragon, only about as long as the distance from Lin En's feet to his stomach. Its entire body was brown, and a red bandanna was tied to the tip of its tail, fluttering gently in the wind.
It landed, staggered a couple of steps, then raised its head and stared at its surroundings in complete bewilderment.
"Rawr?"
The dragon remnant raised his head, and the moment he got a clear look at the little dragon, his pupils abruptly contracted.
"What... this..."
His expression shifted from wild delight to shock, then from shock to an almost shattered disbelief.
He stared at the little dragon for a long while, looked up at the portal, then looked back at the little dragon. His lips trembled, but he couldn't get a complete sentence out.
"L-little one, where's your daddy?"
Lin En's mind buzzed. Hadn't he seen this dragon somewhere before?
The bandanna reminded him. Wasn't this the dragon the Traveler had saved in Natlan? The Traveler had saved it and tied a red bandanna to its tail.
It did seem to be the Pyro Dragon Sovereign, only...
"Don't just stand there."
Ronava's voice came from behind him. Lin En looked back and saw that she had already come to his side, her golden eyes fixed on the dragon remnant kneeling on the ground.
"Attack."
Lin En had no time to think. He activated his Vision, and a Stone Stele erupted from the ground, slamming into the dragon remnant's back.
The dragon remnant was still reeling from the shock of the Pyro Dragon Sovereign being a little dragon. Caught off guard, he was sent flying by the Stone Stele, crashing onto the ice and sliding several yards.
Ronava raised a hand and waved it. Black energy formed several chains that shot at the dragon remnant from every direction, binding him tightly to the ice and leaving him unable to move.
"That's... impossible..."
The dragon remnant's face was pressed against the ice, his crimson eyes still fixed on the little dragon.
The little dragon tilted its head and looked at the bound dragon remnant, then at Lin En, and then at Ronava.
"Rawr?"
It seemed to have no idea what had happened.
Ronava walked up to the Skyfrost Nail and placed a hand on it, then looked back at Lin En.
"Keep an eye on this dragon remnant for ten minutes."
Lin En nodded.
Ronava closed her eyes. The runes remaining on the Celestial Nail's surface lit up, and blazing white light poured from the nail into her body. The Skyfrost Nail dimmed slightly before returning to normal.
Lin En stood beside the dragon remnant, shortsword clenched in his hand, his gaze moving back and forth between the dragon remnant and the little dragon.
The dragon remnant had stopped struggling. Bound tightly by the black chains, he had no way to escape.
The little dragon, meanwhile, was perfectly at ease. It took a couple of unsteady steps across the ice, then came over to Lin En's feet and tilted its head to study him.
Lin En looked down at it. The little dragon had big, adorable eyes.
"Are you hungry?"
"Rawr."
The little dragon answered with a sound, showing none of the majesty the legendary Pyro Dragon Sovereign was supposed to possess.
Lin En crouched down and reached out to stroke its head. The little dragon's scales were warm and smooth, pleasant to the touch. It narrowed its eyes and rubbed against his palm.
"Forget it."
Lin En muttered to himself.
"Ronava doesn't know the little dragon's real identity anyway. Why not keep it with me for now?"
He glanced at Ronava, who was absorbing the power. Her silver hair streamed behind her in the energy storm, and she paid the little dragon no attention at all.
Ten minutes passed quickly.
Ronava withdrew her hand and flexed her wrist, her golden eyes brighter and deeper than before.
She turned around, glanced at the bound dragon remnant, then at the little dragon by Lin En's feet. Her expression remained cold.
"Come on. We're going down the mountain."
The descent was much easier than the climb. Ronava walked in front, the black chains dragging the dragon remnant behind her. The dragon had completely lost the will to resist, like a shell emptied of its soul.
The little dragon followed close behind Lin En, slowly trailing the two of them.
When they reached the camp halfway down the mountain, Albedo was hurrying up through the snow. After waking up, he had noticed the strange phenomenon on the mountain and chased after them.
He was startled when he saw Lin En and Ronava, and then his pupils widened slightly at the sight of the dragon remnant being dragged along by the chains.
"What's this?"
"It's a long story."
The three sat in the camp tent while Lin En told the story from the beginning: from the voice in the cube tempting him, to Ronava seeing through the fake Albedo's disguise, to the dragon using the cube to break the seal on the Skyfrost Nail, and finally to the appearance of the portal and the little dragon.
Albedo flipped through his notebook as he listened, writing swiftly, occasionally frowning and occasionally nodding thoughtfully.
"So the one who impersonated me was a dragon remnant?"
Albedo closed his notebook, a complicated expression on his face.
"He had been hiding on the snowy mountain for a long time. He knew the terrain and the domain inside and out."
"Yes."
Lin En nodded.
"And this little dragon is the Pyro Dragon Sovereign he tried to summon."
"Yes."
Albedo looked at the little dragon dozing on Lin En's lap, fell silent for a few seconds, and then sighed deeply.
"I apologize for my earlier oversight. If I'd noticed something was wrong sooner, or informed the Knights of Favonius sooner, perhaps none of this would have happened."
"It wasn't your fault. That dragon remnant knocked you out. Who could have guessed someone would impersonate you?"
Lin En waved a hand, shifting the blame for what Ronava had done onto the dragon remnant.
Albedo stopped blaming himself. He stood up, put his notebook away, and shouldered his backpack.
"I'm taking this dragon remnant back to Mondstadt for Acting Grand Master Jean to deal with. I'll write a detailed report about the domain and the Skyfrost Nail."
"All right."
Lin En nodded.
Albedo walked over to the dragon remnant and crouched down to check his condition. Then he took an alchemically made rope from his backpack and secured the black chains again. Once he was done, he stood and nodded to Lin En and Ronava.
"Until we meet again."
"Until we meet again."
Albedo dragged the dragon remnant away, disappearing into the curtain of snow.
Only Lin En, Ronava, and a little dragon sleeping beside his leg remained in the tent.
Lin En looked down at the red bandanna on the little dragon's tail, remembering how the Traveler had crouched in Natlan and tied it on with both hands. It would take quite some time for the little dragon to return to Natlan. Perhaps he could entrust it to her the next time he met her.
"You know it."
Ronava's voice came from beside him.
Lin En looked up and found her watching him.
"Hm?"
Even though he knew the truth about everything, he still lied.
"No, I don't. It's just a little dragon."
Ronava looked at him, her golden eyes as calm as ever. Without pressing him, she simply stood up.
"Let's go."
"Where?"
"To Mondstadt first. We'll rest there for the night."
He followed Ronava out of the tent. The sky above the snowy mountain had completely cleared, and the sunlight on the snow was dazzling.
Ronava walked ahead, her silver hair gleaming softly in the sunlight.
Lin En and the little dragon followed behind. After a few steps, his foot slipped, and he pitched forward, bringing Ronava down with him.
Lin En's mind went blank in that instant.
All he remembered was his foot slipping, his body pitching forward out of control, and then colliding with Ronava. They slid about five feet downhill.
Then he opened his eyes.
Ronava lay beneath him, her silver hair spread across the pristine snow. He had pinned her hands on either side of her shoulders, and her wrists were so slender that he could feel the contours of the bones through her gloves.
Her habitually cold face was less than a palm's width from his. Her golden eyes were slightly widened in surprise, reflecting his image.
Ronava's breath brushed against his face, warm and quick, turning his whole face red in an instant.
Time seemed to freeze. Lin En's mind buzzed, and he wanted to say something. His lips moved, but not a single word came out.
Ronava didn't move either. Her gaze rested steadily on his face. She showed no anger and didn't push him away.
"-Rawr?"
The little dragon's voice came from beside them, bringing him back to himself.
The little one didn't know how it had slid down the snowy slope. It shook the snow off beside them and tilted its head to look at them, its round golden eyes full of confusion.
Lin En sprang up as though he'd been burned.
"Sorry! I slipped! I didn't mean to!"
He scrambled to his feet and reached out to help Ronava up. She glanced at his outstretched hand, then pushed herself up from the snow and brushed herself off, acting as naturally as though nothing had happened.
"Watch where you're going."
"You're not mad at me?"
"Do you have some kind of strange kink? Do you like being scolded?"
Lin En was left speechless by her words. After all, he was the one in the wrong.
In truth, Ronava wasn't entirely calm either. Her feelings were in turmoil, and she couldn't say what exactly she had felt in that moment. But her heart was beating unusually fast.