The world around Eni continued to play by its own twisted rules. Leaving the threshold of Bartolomeo's house, she felt the weight of the steel corset, which she still simply carried in her hands, but its presence burned her skin even through the fabric of her uniform. The air in the abandoned village was still, but as soon as she left its borders, the landscape abruptly changed.

  After walking just a few miles along a rocky path, Eni froze. Ahead, in a lowland, lay another settlement — but it wasn't abandoned. Smoke rose from the roofs, and in the center, on a huge scorched clearing, lay a Red Dragon. Its scales blazed in the sun like scattered hot coals, and every movement of its tail kicked up clouds of ash. The dragon wasn't sleeping. It lazily turned its heavy head, watching the area with amber, vertical pupils.

  "Them again..." Eni whispered, pressing herself against the rock. "Why am I always so unlucky with them?"

  She stood there, thinking intensely about how to get around this monster. The direct path led through open space where she would be a perfect target. Eni slowly began to back away, planning to make a detour through the hills, when she suddenly noticed something strange. The dragon rose. It didn't take flight or let out a furious roar. The massive creature, almost silently for its size, began to move away toward the forest.

  Eni breathed a sigh of relief, deciding the predator had eaten and just went about its business. But she was wrong. The Red Dragon wasn't leaving — it was making a tactical maneuver. Possessing intelligence beyond that of a beast, it was circling the rocky outcrop in a wide arc to come at Eni from behind.

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  By the time the sound of breaking branches reached her from behind, it was too late. Heat scorched her back, and Eni, without looking back, rushed forward. Her only hope seemed to be the Mangrove Forest ahead. Its tangled roots stuck out of the viscous swamp sludge, creating a natural labyrinth too tight for a huge winged lizard.

  Eni plunged into the thicket, nearly losing her heel in the slippery mud. The air here was damp and smelled of rotting seaweed. She pushed through hanging vines when silhouettes in dark cloaks flickered ahead.

  "Not you again..." she hissed through her teeth.

  They were the misogynists again, the ones Eni hated with all her heart. Three men were already raising crossbows, drawing the strings with a dry click. Their faces twisted with malice at the sight of a girl promised nothing good.

  "Look what prey came running on its own!" one of them shouted, aiming at Eni's chest.

  But today luck wasn't on their side. From behind Eni, breaking ancient mangroves, crimson flame burst out. The dragon pursuing her had no intention of stopping for bushes. To him, the bandits were just a larger, noisier target blocking his path.

  Eni dropped into the mud, covering her head with her hands. The next moment, the forest filled with desperate, inhuman screams. The dragon switched targets. Heavy jaws closed around the torso of the one who had just held the crossbow, while the other two, dropping their weapons, tried to crawl away as the dragon's flame turned the mangrove thicket into a funeral pyre.

  While the bandits screamed in unbearable pain and agony, becoming living toys for the red lizard, Eni, without wasting a second, crawled sideways. Mud got under her nails, stained the violet fabric of her stockings, but fear gave her strength. She ran out to the edge of the forest, leaving behind the sounds of crunching bones and fading screams.

  The dragon was busy with its meal. She had been given a chance.

  Eni ran until her lungs burned and a sharp, stabbing pain appeared in her side. Only when the sounds of the slaughter finally died down did she stop, leaning heavily against a tree trunk. Her uniform was stained with swamp mud, her breath came out in wheezes. She was still clutching Bartolomeo's gift in her hands.

  The Voice in her head still maintained its deathly silence, and this silence now seemed ominous to Eni.