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Back North, Gordon and Rex had started to pack out of the secret room when Kumiho walked towards them and said, "What are you going to do now?"

"We stay at our main objective. We take down the Dragonsbane. We can't possibly fight the World Eaters without proper help, but right now, the Dragonsbane is our top priority. They are hiding away from the Order of the Dragons, but they won't hide from Shifters."

"But then, before we can do that, we must find some of our old friends to help the dragons in fighting the World Eaters," said Rex. "Kumiho, get Svetlana and Dimitri to help you lead the rest of the Shifters to the city I gave the directions to. There, tell anyone or anything you meet about the World Eaters."

"Understood."

"Some of my friends knew about the Dragonsbane's careful moves because of the Order's extensive genocide of them. Be sure to find a red wyvern and tell him 'Gordon and Rex says hello. Let the Last Creatures howl again'."

"Alright, but when will we meet you again?"

"Don't worry," said Rex. "Time is our concern. We will hasten up."

They then separated at the Northern-Central Border, where Kumiho and Gordon exchanged looks before they waved goodbye to each other. As they disappeared to the horizon, Rex nudged Gordon and said, "So what's your story with that kitsune?"

"You mean what?"

"Kitsunes are hard to fall to a man's hand," said Rex while walking back up, with Gordon who changed into a wolf.

"Well, you gotta stop reading about the legends to find a passionate and innocent woman underneath. Also, I must thank you about that paradox you imposed to me."

"Gordon, how many times do I have to tell you? Paradox is a very serious topic. If time is going to rewind in your body indefinitely, once it's released, it will tear this whole continent apart! If there is an enemy with the same time manipulation as I am, and he or she doesn't know anything about your paradox, just kiss this planet goodbye."

"Yeah, I understand that, too."

"No you're not. And did you forget something? Eastern people don't have any idea what a wyvern is!"

"Nope, but maybe one of the Shifter know. Ramusk is always proud to tell everyone that he's a hybrid between a dragon and a wyvern."

"Yeah, until he also tell them that he's a hell Dravern!"

"Oh...uhmm...maybe I kept forgetting that fact. I wish their concept of demon is different than ours. Anyway...where do you want to go?"

"I prefer going to Ernest first, then Xerocia," said Rex. "If there's a dragon who's willing to help, Ernest is a better choice than that powerhouse."

"How about Angelus?"

"If you're willing to cross the ocean, then yes, we'll go to her next."

"How's she now, exactly?"

"Oh...she's still doing what she usually do. Hellhounds have problems, too, you know."

Gordon made a laugh. "I guess you're right. So, Ernest it is, then."

The journey to their old comrade's lair was hard due to the winter storm and their fear of encountering the same dragon that devastated the village near their hideout. Though they usually call Western dragons that plundered the north as 'bullies', it wouldn't be appropriate if the subject is a northern dragon and having a hell of an aura, as they were really prone to destruction than plundering.

A week after their trip to one of the mountains, they finally found the way to Ernest's lair. Due to the danger of his abilities, he preferred to live in a secluded part of the mountains that were otherwise inhabitable to humans, but perfect for a dragon's lair. The dragon once told them that an anomaly was the key to finding the lair. Rex, who came from a future where Ernest's race was more common, knew what it was.

The black wolf Shifter pulled out a piece of metal from his backpack. It was a rusty scrap without apparent value, but as Rex let it go from his mouth, it hovered mid-air, as if something was levitating it.

"We're getting near. You know the drill, right?"

"So how do we retrieve them in the middle of the winter storm, then?" asked Gordon when he put down his pack.

"Just ask him to retrieve it for you. What? He's a walking magnet. Of course it's easy to retrieve them."

"I'm not sure if by doing so won't take a portion of our soul. You know how his 'magnet' works, right?"

Rex sighed. "Just don't piss him off. Did you forget how nice he is?"

"For Ray's clone, he's too nice."

"Hey, who are you calling Ray's clone?"

The booming voice came from above both of them and they could see the things they had with them weren't levitating anymore. Ernest, named so by the creator of the Organic Metal, wasn't basically a 'dragon', but was a very hi-tech living metal android prototype from an alternate future where robotics and nanotechnology had advanced way more than the present day. He had been around since Gordon was still in his right age, and was responsible for saving Raithorakh from death by giving the dragon augmented limbs with nanotechnology capabilities, and in turn, Ernest constructed himself from Gordon's DNA pattern, but with added deadliness. Simply put, Ernest was as anachronistic as this explanation, so don't bother reading it if you feel it's so out of place in a fantasy story.

"I may look like him, but I'm black," said Ernest while landing near them. "And I'm an android with a soul magnet tail. Anyway, hop on, I'll take you to my cave. Oh, and Rex?"

"Yes?"

"For this once, take your things with you. The storm is worse at night, and the snow wouldn't let you see your hovering valuables."

They complied, and jumped on Ernest's back while the dragon took off. The metallic back of the dragon made them freezing cold, but because Ernest's lair was closer when they were flying, it wasn't long until they were greeted with the heat from a rather warm lair, for an android. The place was really living up to its status as a dragon's lair, but was twisted to look like a futuristic workshop, where Ernest somehow had made an anachronistic flat screen TV despite of the lack of electricity and the necessary components to do it, coupled with the fact that it's a hundred years too early (at least for that world) before a fully electronic radar would be invented.

"So, what's with the TV?" said Rex. "You do realize radar and satellites aren't even invented until 50 years into the future, right? Also, since when do you have a full-color flat-screen TV without the necessary components?"

"Oh, fashioning a microchip and many other components are easy with magnet and vast knowledge of metal," said Ernest. "Ah, but this is just a hobby of mine. I don't want to feel like the most futuristic technology in a primitive time like this, right?"

"At least you don't take these things to the civilization or you'll gonna jeopardize the future and creating another possibility."

"How about you? Can you use your time travel again?"

"No, not really..."

"Oh that's fine. Anyway, Xerocia is also here."

This revelation surprised both Shifters. "We were just going to go to his lair."

"Oh, I don't really want to go there if I were you. The place is freezing solid with weeks of blizzards on the top of the mountain. He can't keep up with his soundwave fire anymore and was freezing when I got there."

"God...is he alright?"

"He's currently sleeping in my bedroom. Both personalities couldn't operate, but his fire was still good. He'll recover in no time."

"Good to know, then. We wanted to tell both of you of a new situation."

"So explain, then."

For the next half hour, Gordon and Rex explained to Ernest of all the events that had transpired some days ago, and their intention of gathering Shifters from all around the Main Continent to help them finishing the fight the group started more than a hundred years ago. Ernest understood everything they said, up until the point where they talked about a dragon with dangerous and ancient aura, which compelled him to interrupt them.

"Wait, did you see the dragon?"

"No we didn't, but we can feel its aura. It's very different from any dragon we knew, as if it had pure hatred and hell bent on destroying the world."

"They are talking about the Northern Dragons, metal head."

Ernest and the two wolves turned to the source of the voice. The bipedal red dragon was standing near an opening into the interior of the cave, with fire inside its mouth. Xerocia, or in this case, his second, foul-mouthed personality, was also hearing their story, which he could relate to.

"So what's your business with 'em? I may be an unstable sociopath but the Northern Dragons vanished from the face of the earth because of reasons you don't want to know, and one of them is because they are psychopaths bend on destroying the world."

"What's the difference with you?"

"I like to see blood, but obliterating everything to dust is not my kind of fun, furball. Hey, how's the midget? Still doing his daddy routine?"

"Zarxavio...maybe we really should hear what Gordon and Rex have to say about this. These Northern Dragons might be more than a problem that we can face individually."

"Well, one destroyed a village in one attack."

"Okay, we'll help you."

"Well, that was fast," said Rex. "I thought you'll reconsider."

"Yeah, but we all agreed that if there's a threat that can have the same devastating effect as the midget, we'll go together, right? Fuck 'em."

"Since when do you become a noble cause and not a dirty liar? We haven't forget what you did to Ray even though he had forgiven you."

"Will you stop pulling the worst of dragons? True, I may be a fucking asshole who turn his back from his friends, but at least I'm not the one who got scared facing enemies with you, right? Say, how's your electric 'brother' doing right now?"

"Well...there's been an accident...we won't be seeing him again for a while."

They all prepared themselves to fly back to Qeveriyt kingdom, which took only three to four days from their position. Zarxavio switched places with Xerocia when they were flying back to the Central region.

All they had in their minds was the dire situation they were having. They never got one problem for hundreds of years and suddenly one popped out from nowhere and was a bigger threat than the Dragonsbane. Both Shifters just thought that being cool in front of dragons was enough, but instead, it caused them more problems than ever before.