Her Royal Highness, Mirana, daughter of Zal,
Princess of the Sun. Gaze into her light.
The princess and I would have our privacy.
Leave us to it.
Your Majesty. I trust you received my message from the viceroy.
You're damn right, I did. I'm imagining a state wedding,
a state wedding to redefine state weddings.
We'll invite governors from every province,
demand a delegation from every ally and trading partner.
We'll spare no expense to send the message far and wide,
the Imperium is united.
I said I accept your proposal, you have not yet accepted mine.
You want a wedding, I need an army.
The army, huh?
Our daughter.
You poisoned her against me.
You made me a monster!
Filomena's thoughts were her own.
You needn't have said a single word.
Your hatred seeped through you, teaching her the same.
There is no hate in that book. Only grief.
Every morning and every night, Filomena held that doll and prayed.
She filled it with nothing but love
and hope that someday, her mother would return to her.
She loved you until she died.
She prayed.
Auroth told me a human caravan was passing through.
-Heading south. -And you're going to join them.
After everything that's happened, what I've done, what's started,
I can't hide anymore. My people want war.
I have to go back. I have to try and stop it. But you…
We'll be just fine. I promise.
I still owe you so much.
We either help people or we don't. There is no ledger.
So, the elf girl left.
Everyone does, eventually.
Not everyone. Not always.
Portal scroll. Keyed to my sword. Say the words and I'll know.
I'll come. Don't lose it. With Father gone, those are precious.
Yeah, I won't. I promise. Wait.
Just to be clear, this doesn't send me anywhere, right? Because…
I love it. It's my favorite.
-Thanks, I think we've got it. -Well, good.
I lost 29 brothers to that Eldwyrm inside you.
I don't trust him. I never will.
Do what you have to do. Just remember who you are.
Take this to my family's estate. Auroth knows the way.
All of this might sound better coming from you.
Nearly everything sounds better coming from me.
Except this.
I can't get you an audience with the Emperor.
My sister can.
Your sister. Lina, right? Father said--
I know what Father said. I know what father believed.
How do you think I met Kaden? Just tread lightly with Lina.
-We didn't part on the best of terms. -So, I shouldn't mention you?
It's more, try not to say anything particularly nice about me.
The two of you will get along famously.
You remind me of her in some ways.
You both want to save the world.
You both think you're the only one who can.
Oh, I'm a terrible shrew! Remember that when you see her.
Four thousand spans to the Helio Imperium on the back of a dragon.
Could be worse. You could be inside the dragon.
You know, as lunch.
-If she gets hungry, I'll save you. -Ha-ha.
I would never eat Bram. We shared the dance of ritual combat.
You hear that? She would never eat me.
We are bonded as mates.
We're bonded as mate-- Wait, I'm sorry?
"Ritual combat." Sounds about right.
Is there a problem?
What they're struggling to express
is that they can't believe you've come home.
They're not alone.
I'll be brief, Highness.
You're welcome to sit in that chair. We will bow, curtsy, and smile,
but do not delude yourself into thinking you have authority in this room.
I see.
Now, as to the so-called elven threat, it's very simple.
We will fortify the Enclave borders.
More troops, a few more outposts. They will try their tricks, of course.
They will give us the occasional bloody nose.
Then they'll realize the futility of it all and crawl back in their holes.
Oh, yes, of course. Very simple. And the Leylines?
-The which? -The Leylines.
Dark for a thousand years, kept dark by Selemene.
If Selemene is gone, if a new goddess rises in her place,
your borders won't matter. Your troops won't matter.
Our army is the best in the world.
I saw what one Enclave could do
to an entire legion of the Dark Moon Order.
I was there.
I fought them inch by blood-dimmed inch. They showed no quarter, offered no mercy.
They pursued us for hundreds of spans
because they wanted to gut us and hang us from the trees.
We can't wait for them to come to us. We must go to them.
You're calling to invade the Nightsilver Woods?
And for what? To aid your goddess?
You're insane. I won't allow it.
Then you're dismissed.
"Dismissed"?
Council is concluded. Your Highness.
You are pushing too fast.
Making pronouncements on things you do not understand.
You sacked Legatus Tihomir.
She has no combat experience.
For god's sake, has she ever fought more than a persistent cough?
Just because she's rich.
The richest woman in the Imperium became Legatus of her own legion
because she is largely responsible for funding the rest of the army.
You made an enemy. A dangerous enemy, and for what?
We don't have time to coddle them.
Your father was impatient too.
It profits nothing to move quickly if you do not move wisely.
Better quickly than not at all.
We made a good team in the shower.
I already thanked you.
-In fact, uh, you never thanked me. -Mm.
-Is it the tail? -It's the rest of the equipment.
Who wants out of this place?
You're welcome.
We didn't even get to celebrate your last night as a bachelor.
It's not funny.
I'm just surprised. I didn't know you could dance,
much less perform some kind of mating ritual.
-You. You're gonna do this? -What?
You're gonna mock someone for having a weird relationship with a dragon?
Fair point.
Come. I will show you the way to Lina's family estate.
Uh, I'm not sure going into the city with a big, scary dragon-- Ah!
Hi.
I mean, what?
When my last dream of the thunder ended, I awakened like this.
I was wondering how such big claws could write poetry with such a tiny pen.
I thought, "Now there is a dragon with very fine motor control."
Mystery solved.
There are too few mysteries in the world. It is a sadness to solve them.
Oh, trust me, I'm confused by plenty of stuff.
Hard to believe that each twinkle represents another soul.
Hope. Someone in the dark, with fears, like you and I.
So many different universes out there, each wishing for just a little more light.
-I'm sorry about earlier, Sunbeam. -"Sunbeam."
I'm not the little girl you helped escape all those years ago.
She would have looked at this city and thought it was here for her.
Now all I see is a place that seems to have moved on without me.
It has merely evolved, as we must all evolve.
While I was gone,
I learned you can be absolutely right and still lose.
I'm not sure if that's evolution or luck.
It is wisdom. The hardest earned.
I've been playing with forces and people I neither know nor understand.
If I am to succeed, I need help.
I need you to teach me.
I love my father, but I will not repeat his mistakes.
Sorry to bother you, Madam.
There's a Dragon Knight at the door. He aggressively wishes to speak with you.
I thought the Dragon Knights were all dead.
This one is alive, Madam. He has your sister's symbol.
It's easy. You put your hand on the knob and turn.
You're in!
The hell is going on… here?
Uh, I'm Bram. A Dragon Knight. And, and this is another Dragon Knight.
Davion. He's, uh, he's a man of few words.
Listen, we have a big problem.
-Davion has a big problem. -Dragons.
That is exactly where I was going.
We finish each other's sentences. Isn't that adorable?
Hm. Adorable.
I'm sorry, I, I feel like we've met.
Same.
So, dragons. Big dragon problem.
Right. Yeah, see, the thing is, I am the problem.
I find that easy to believe. Follow.
Oh! Your sister is a terrible shrew.
-She told you to say that. -Yes, she did.
This is no proper home for you.
Here. Enjoy the flowers and the weeds.
You promised me seven souls. You have delivered only one.
We are bound by a Shopkeeper covenant.
I am bound only to collect the souls.
We never specified that I would relinquish them all.
See, I know why you want them. I know what it all means.
And I am not so self-destructive as to aid you in your efforts.
Clever.
You imagine yourself the cleverest being in all of creation.
Clever enough to expunge your own name from it,
and to make yourself untouchable by god…
man, or me.
Your intellect protects you from harm in exchange for loneliness.
I see you. I know you.
In countless realities, you are the same,
a broken old man desperate to conceal his agony.
We bargain, you lie. You change the terms.
You fail to consider that I see everything,
and all of this is part of my plan.
Interesting.
And in how many realities do you and I have this conversation?
In how many does the game progress so far?
Only this one.
What you can see, I can imagine. We are evenly matched.
And the girl?
The girl?
The elf. Well, she's a means to an end and nothing more.
A pawn.
I know her name. Her true name.
And the place she occupies. A hole left by a little child.
A victim of her father's failure.
Resist all you like.
In the end, you will beg me to take the dragon souls from you.
The little squirrel couldn't go back to the tree,
even though he'd spent his whole life there.
Ah, she's a good sleeper.
-This story, how does it end? -It's the Tree of Lore. Everyone knows it.
-My childhood was very sheltered.
Every childhood should be.
The squirrel, he did something bad.
Ruined his tree. But he does fix it, doesn't he?
No. Some things cannot be fixed. Deeds cannot be undone.
They become stories. Lore. Leaves on the tree.
Ah, the squirrel learns to stand in its shade,
knowing even tragedy can grow into something beautiful.
Can I hold her?
You don't look big enough to carry around a whole Eldwyrm.
I can't. Not forever. That's what makes this so urgent.
Slyrak needs the eye. I need an audience.
The Emperor. He's a small man. Weak.
Convincing him won't be easy. We have to make him feel like…
He's stronger for it.
Yeah. But no one refuses a Dragon Knight.
Not bartenders, not kings, not even emperors.
"Bartenders." That is impressive.
I'll take you to the little man. It'll be fun to watch him squirm.
-Oh, shit! -Close the--
Ready spears!
Ready crossbows!
Kill them! Kill them all!
One flare doesn't seem like much of a party.
It's a signal.
It's for me.
In the mood for a little spontaneous human combustion?
-We head for the spire. -No, no, no…
The spire is the opposite direction of which we should run.
Suit yourself. I have a princess to rescue.
A princess? Well, you should have said so.
The Slayer.
That isn't possible.
-I know. Is that a turtle, or-- -Stay here.
Davion, the turtle is now worth the--
Luna. What have you done?
Hey! I just wanna know about Mirana.
Stay down, long pig.
That was unnecessary.
-Ah, you know him? -He knows the princess.
-How well? -I gather very well.
I married the right dragon.
-What? -We're not really mated.
I'm inexperienced with human humor.
I'm sorry. I hope you're not angry.
Well, honestly, it was nice while it lasted.
You could do that, so…
You really are adorable for a mouse who is too easily crushed.
Well, not easily crushed.
Well, you look like the top of a cake no one's eating.
Oh, you smell like a sewer.
I bathed. Once.
Hi.
-We need to go. -I can't.
You can. You just walk out the door and pick a direction.
How about someone tells me what is going on?
Uh.
Lovers' quarrel, I suspect. This explains much.
I'm not a prisoner. I found a way to return home.
I can fix everything. But I need to stay here.
-That isn't an option for me. -Definitely not.
I know a secret way. Follow me.
No. No.
No, no.
No, no, no, no…
The arrow. It came from there.
A fight is coming. The princess is dead.
Luna, listen to me.
Ah, to hells with you.
-You can mourn later. -I don't want to mourn.
I want blood.
Put the princess down, or I swear, by the eyes of my fathers,
-I will carve the bones from you.