— Around ninety thousand years ago. — Cwenburg raised her hand and interrupted Yenno:
— Are there going to be more songs?
— No. It's over. Ninety thousand years ago, as I was saying, the flora and fauna were stable, and the races were part of what would become the world as we know it. The five original continents existed, and peace was the law among all creatures.
— And Æthelflæd? How can we bring her back?
— Calm down, Filly. As I was telling, or trying to, from seventy thousand years ago to fifty thousand years ago, roughly when I was born, little had changed, and the number of races and Goddesses was close to one million. In those years the first cities emerged, and war became common. So many people died that the cycle of life and death was altered.
— Altered? How did it originally happen? — questioned Cwenburg.
— The River of Life, which flows through space, in light and darkness makes a being, and it grows and evolves in light and darkness, returning to the River of Life greater than it arrived, and it is shattered into fragments of light and darkness, which in turn join other pieces, forming new beings. That is the natural flow, however. When wars began to occur, that changed forever. A waiting dimension was created by the Goddess of Water. Some call that place Hell.
— Æthelflæd is not in Hell! — complained Ǣg-berend.
— Calm down, Filly, all legends are lies. It's just a great void, there souls that did not die naturally wait, and after three days they return to the River of Life. After departing to the River there is no return, but before, during those three days, there is return.
— What do we need to do? How do we get there? — knelt Ǣg-berend, and all the others did the same.
— A powerful aura, and a ritual. I cannot teach you the words, for they are not pronounceable in sound, only able to be spoken in the dreams of dragons. It is a magic created solely for my species, well, until I had that creature rummaging through my laboratory. It seems this is my farewell to this world.
— How many can come back? — asked Godwyna, fearing for Cwenburg.
— The passage of the portal I am about to open will remain open for three days, anyone who crosses from there to here can return, one or one million. It makes no difference. But if the passage closes and you remain in Hell, those who stay will return to the River of Life as if they were dead.
— Why is this not used or known by others? — Godwyna still doubted such miraculous power.
— Isn't it obvious? A Dragon only dies by its own will, so it makes no sense to bring one back. Moreover, a Dragon cannot care for a non-Dragon enough to use this magic.
— If that were true, you would not be using it to save Æthelflæd. — accused Leofwynn.
— To me, she is a Dragon. And the monster itself saw something high in her, enough to kill her. Doesn't that leave you uneasy as to why?
— Save my foolish pupil. — the daylight passed through the golden scales, and in place of the old dragon a portal emerged, and that ethereal voice taught. — Cwenburg, to return it is necessary to sacrifice souls equivalent to the power of my Soul, take this necklace. And you know who needs to be defeated there, which is also a prison.
Cwenburg put on the necklace, and all passed through the gate of golden light, the Unicorn Girl did not fear, and beside her the rescue team had no doubts, they would bring Æthelflæd back home.
Hærdas and Cynethryth remained, and they saw when the portal closed with a glint of sadness, it was a Dragon's suicide, something felt physically, and the two embraced, facing the twilight heavy with snow and smoke of death.