"What are you doing here?"

My voice sounds cold and defensive. I stare at that man, as he crosses his arms and lets a brief laughter get out of his mouth.

"I needed you to bring me what I wanted. And, in fact, you did. As usual, Huntsgirl."

"DON'T YOU EVER CALL HER THAT!" Jake takes a step forward and shouts at him. "HER NAME IS ROSE!"

"Is it?"

A shadow dragon approaches and punches Jake's stomach once. He tried to punch twice, but he grabbed the creature's paw and broke it with a twist.

Although surprised by how he got strong and wanting to hug, kiss him and squeeze his cheeks with my fingers, I run towards him just to see if he's okay. Just.

"Aren't you going to ask me what I want?" The Huntsman asks me.

"Pointless, don't you think? I know you're gonna tell me anyway... And where's Alex?"

With a quick hand move, his face changes and his body becomes smaller. His mask disappears and a blond hair grows on the top of his head.

Alex.

"I kissed the Huntsman?!" Haley is stunned. "Excuse me, I must throw up, where is the restroom?"

"Shut up smartie, I can kill you with a snap of fingers."

"And yet, you didn't kill us at all." I say. "Why. If you really wanted me to ask you, I'm asking now: why?"

He sights. He was about to say something, but the Dark Dragon interrupts him.

I thought I had got rid of that thing. We trapped him inside that portal, and he was supposed to stay there for a thousand years. Now, the number one threat to the magical world is back; and by his exhausted face, I guess he needs help to stay alive.

"We actually needed the dog. That's all. I turned him into the boy, so that we could bring the dog here. AND, he was also the two boys who invaded your houses. That was to kidnap the American Dragon and his master... We knew you and the dog would come after them." His dark voice echoes, and I remember hearing the same voice in my dream, when the Huntsman came to visit me: "Cheaters never win". They're cooperating.

"You crazy fuc-"

"Why do you need Fu?" I cut Jake off and look up at the monster.

"His blood. We need his blood. He's 600 years old; in him bears immortality, and I just have to drink it to gain eternal life. I'm dying."

"Oh really?" I answer, in a mocking tone. "Guess what? I don't care."

One of the dragons put his paws up and sings "I love it!". Then another one punches his face.

The Huntsman smiles. "And I must drink it too. We'll drain his whole body dry."

"Actually... You won't. Your work here is done; you're useless to me, now." The Dark Dragon says, grinning evilly.

"But... You said..."

"I said, I said... Well... I, what is the word? Oh yeah - lied."

One of the dragons comes with an adaga, about to hit the Huntsman; who is with his original appearance, but the Dark Dragon stops it.

"Give the adaga to the girl."

That thing gives me the weapon; and I already know the reason why.

"Kill him, Rose." I look at the weapon. "Don't you wish that? Revenge... The feeling that feeds many of our hearts; and yet stops so much more of them."

I walk towards him, who kneels on the ground, apparently weak. I raise the adaga and, with one single blow, I hit face, that turns aside. When he looks at me again, there's a red line on his cheek.

"I guess they have a way worse destiny for you besides death. I really wanna kill you. But not like that. Enough."

I turn around to walk away.

"ROSE!" Jake shouts, running at my direction and making me kneel. As soon as I do, I see a knife above my vision, and I attack with the adaga, pointing at the origin of the blow. There's a noise of pain and of metal cutting flesh; when I look, I see what I've done. My weapon made a whole in my opponent's stomach. I get my hand off the weapon and whisper, loud enough for him to hear me:

"Cheaters never win."

He gasps and his mouth becomes red; his eyes go empty. All that revenge, range, fear... They're all gone now. One simple blow and they're all gone.

And I don't know if it's the worse or the best part of it; but I don't regret what I've done. He wanted to drink blood? Well, that's the only blood he's going to drink. His own.

Unable to look at him any longer, I turn my face away and hear the noise of his body hitting the ground. Jake puts his arm around me and leads me to our group.

Suddenly, I look at the dragon and say, with all the range I've got.

"Go fuck yourself."

He smiles. "I predicted that. Shadows?"

I feel a wind hitting the back of my head, which means one of them is flying to hit me. They're monkey size, but still difficult to stop. I get down and slide my leg under him, making him fall. Another one tries to punch me, but I punch his eye first.

I keep on fighting the best as I can, but, eventually, they grab my hands and I'm unable to move.

—

We're thrown inside the cell and the guards lock us up. I really thought we could get out of here alive. Well, as usual, I underestimated the situation.

I look at Jake and he looks upset (an obvious conclusion). I guess the beast must have put a sort of spell on this place; cause I haven't seen the American Dragon form since we arrived. There's just some seconds until he starts speaking.

"Don't be upset" he says to his sister, with a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault we're here, you didn't know ab-" he stops when he sees the smile on her face.

"Your welcome" she says.

Jake looks puzzled. He glances at each one of us and then looks back at Haley.

She sights. "You said we needed some time to figure out a way to defeat them and get out. So here's your time. I wasn't fooled; I followed him on purpose. Now I have a better idea about the hallways, entrances and exits; AND, you get time to think about a plan."

"When did you figure out he is a traitor?"

"Please... First, he shows up out of nowhere and says he wanted to know if I was safe. Second, he disappears when the ghosts attack us and then shows up AGAIN out of nowhere saying he knows a way out and starts running down the hallway. It would have been easier if he had just run around in circles holding a piece of paper with 'I'M HERE TO KILL YOU' on it."

I smile. "Smart, sassy Haley..."

"So sexy..." Spud says and Jake turns to look at him; again, puzzled; making Spud look away.

Haley smiles and walks towards her new boyfriend, standing next to him.

"Yeah, Jakie, about that..." She says and glances at her news. "We sort of kissed..."

Jake stares at them. "You two are... Together?!"

"Together kinda... Dating?" She says, looking at Spud, who shrugs it off:

"We haven't gone on a date yet."

"That's something we should do when we go back."

"By date, you mean the romance date or the calendar date?"

"Yeah, we are actually taking pictures of butts to the next year's calend-"

I cut her off with a whisper. "Not the right moment to be sassy"

"Right..."

"So to make things clear here..." Jake says. "You two like each other."

I don't know how I imagined this moment would be. But I'm really surprised when Jake raises his fists up and says:

"FINALLY!"

"Wait..." Spud says, confused. "Since when do you notice this kind of thing?"

"He didn't" Trixie laughs. "I told him."

"Aren't you mad?"

"Am I supposed to?!" Jake says. "I'd be mad if I were mad..."

Haley smiles and hugs her boyfriend.

"But, you know, not to break tradition..." Jake says to Spud. "If you break her heart, I'll break something way worse of yours."

"Deal" He says, grinning.

I take a brief moment to glance at Fu and, when I do, I see something in his eyes. He smiles, but his look is sad; it's just as if he's taking a good last look at them, before... Before something happens. And I guess he knows it will happen; and what was supposed to be a glance turns out to be a stare.

When he notices I'm looking at him, he looks back at me and manages to move his lips for me. I read "Sorry" on them.

"For what?" I say out loud, serious.

Everyone looks at me and then at Fu.

Lao Shi steps forward. "It's time."

"For WHAT?!" I repeat, angry.

I can predict what is going to happen. Suddenly, before I can hold it back, a single tear falls from my left eye; and the silence that rules these few seconds is like an explosion inside my chest.

Finally, Fu speaks. "There's just one way we can defeat them. T-The Dark Dragon wants me. He wants my blood, 'cause it brings long life to the ones who have it. So I have to make sure he never touches it."

"No." I say too quickly. "Don't you dare..."

"It's the only way. The old..." He hesitates, but says it anyway. "The old wizard should die."

Suddenly, everything is clear inside my mind.

"OH MY GOD..." I put my hands on my head. "I'M SO STUPID! TOWSD! TOWSD! IT'S NOT A PLACE, NOT A WORD!" I grab Jake's shoulder. "IT'S A PROPHECY! ABOUT FU! TOWSD stands for The Old Wizard Should Die!"

"So Fu is the wizard?!"

I look desperately at the shar pei, waiting for an answer, and hoping it's a "no". But I know that's too much to ask right now. My heart jumps when I hear his voice, calm and steady, as if everything was okay.

"A long, long time ago, I used to have a human form. I was a wizard, but the scientist kind. My friends and I used to do experiments to discover new potions, spells and cures to curses. But one day, I was in the middle of an experiment and the spell went wrong; caboom, turning me into a talking handsome dog. And I couldn't find a way back.

"I reported my situation to the council and they gave me two options: to simply wait for a cure, unemployed; or to become a guardian dog and protect objects and people. No need to say I got the last one."

"You forgot the option in which you lie to your friends about, you know, YOUR WHOLE LIFE."

"I didn't know one day I would have to tell you!"

"Oh, really?! And you decide to tell us when you're about to DIE?!"

"Have you met Dumbledore?" Spud's voice comes suddenly, along with a sad smile.

Fu grinned. "No, those are just characters. But I did go to Hogwarts; that place rocks."

After that, there's a moment of silence, in which I start to cry without even trying to hold it back. I glance at Jake, who is also crying.

"You knew that." He says to his grandfather. "You knew that if Fu came here, he would have to die."

Lao Shi nods. "It's necessary."

"Necessary?! Couldn't we just trap the dragon in another dimension again?"

"SO THAT WHAT? He escapes?!"

"It's better than sending a family member to death!"

Lao Shi glares at him. "So you think I'M the villain? DO YOU THINK IT'S EASY FOR ME?! IT'S MY BEST FRIEND! THE ONLY ONE I HAVE TRUSTED FOR ALMOST MY ENTIRE LIFE! I LOVE HIM AS MUCH AS YOU DO!"

"Grandpa..." Haley says quietly, like a child; and Gramps calms down. And that's only then that I notice the tears flowing down on her cheeks.

Fu speaks this time, quietly too. "Anyway, that's not a decision you have to make. It's a decision I have to make. And I decide to save your lives."

"But..." I can barely believe it. I kneel on the ground and Jake comes to hug me. He kisses my head and my forehead; and I feel the wetness of his lips, caused by his tears.

Fu approaches and touches my cheek. "I will always be with-"

"No" I say. "No you won't. You're gonna die; and I know that when people die it's like they vanish from this world and you never get to see them again. I..." I look at his eyes and all I can see is determination and trust. "I don't want you to vanish... We love you."

He hugs us and we hug him back.

"I love you guys too. But I really have to do this."

And for the first time in forever, I let it go. [You see what I need here?!] He sighs and hugs Spud, Haley and Trixie. But when he looks at Lao Shi, he just makes a gesture with his hand on his head, as a goodbye; and Luong gestures his head down as an act of respect saying. "Good luck, my friend."

That's when, unexpectedly, a shadow dragon comes and unlocks the door. "Master wants to see you."

It puts chain on our fists and drags us by them, leading us to the main room. And I try not to seem weak or vulnerable, but I don't know if I succeed.

Cause that's when it's all over. That's the day Fu Dog dies.