Death was, in short, a nightmare.

The cloaked figure led me into the darkness, and soon we entered what I figured was the Underworld. We walked along a dark path shrouded in a thick mist. In the distance I could hear blood-curdling screams. The further we walked, the louder they got until they soon were almost unbearable. Along the ground bloody mangled corpses littered the ground.

"Who are you?" I asked, trying to distract myself from my gruesome surroundings.

"I'm the embodiment of Death," the figure said, not looking back or slowing down. Suddenly something grabbed my ankle. I jumped and looked down to see one of the corpse's hands gripping my ankle. Horrified, I shook it off and noticed some other corpses slowly crawling along the ground. "This way," Death said, veering off the path.

"Why aren't we staying on the path?" I asked in a shaky voice.

"It's quicker this way. I want to get this sorted out as fast as possible," he replied.

"I- I don't want to leave the path," I said, looking at the moving corpses.

"You'll get used to them," Death said, noticing my hesitation as he turned around to look at me, then looked back forward as he added, "After all, there's a chance you may end up one of them."

"What?" I asked, alarmed.

"I haven't made up my mind what to do with you yet. Now come on, before I decide right here and now to have you join them." I stepped off the path and found myself wading through blood. I gasped in horror and disgust but hurried after Death nonetheless, carefully avoiding the corpses. I followed Death into a large stone building that resembled a crypt. Anxious to leave the blood and bodies behind me, I entered the building and he sat down in a chair made of bones.

"So, Miriel," he began. "You have made my job much more difficult than it should be."

"How so?" I asked timidly.

"You may or may not know this, but when it comes to fate, some things are set in stone and can't be avoided, and some things are implied. The things that are implied happen because that's the only way it would work out without any interference. The parts of your fate that are unavoidable are that this war will result in your death, and you will play a key part in ending this war. What was implied was that you would play a key part in ending the war and you would die later from injuries. However, you got yourself killed before the war ended. So now I need to decide what to do with you that won't mess everything up," he explained.

"How will the war end with me dead now?" I asked. He paused.

"I can't tell you anything of the future," he finally said. "But I'd rather that scenario not play out."

"Then send me back," I suggested. "Let me do what I was meant to do." He paused again, considering what I said.

"That would cause complications as well. Hmm…," he responded, trailing off into thought. "Do you really want to go back to the world of the living?"

"Yes," I nodded. If there was any way I could get out of this place I would take it.

"Very well then." Death stood up and started walking towards me. "But you must know that it will cost you."

"So you'll send me back?" I said.

"Yes. I will send you outside of Tayam's mountain, but I will not heal your injuries and you will remain in human form and without magic until you remove the necklace yourself. You will have to deal with how others react to your revival on your own. And on top of that, once you leave here, a bit of your sanity will remain here. Are you willing to pay this price?"

"Yes," I nodded again.

"But that's not all. This is a huge favor I'm doing for you," he added, leaning in so close I could smell the rotting flesh underneath his hood. "So you owe me big time. I don't know when I'll do this, but I will call in a favor from you. And when I do, you have to go through with it, no matter what it is. And don't think I'll forget about this, either. I never forget these things." Before I could say anything else I woke up again, lying on my back in human form in some grass outside the mountain. The sun was blinding, and every part of me either ached or stung. My leg was still broken, I was still bruised everywhere, and blood still dripped from me head wound and various other cuts.

I need to get out of here; I'm too close to Tayam's mountain, I thought, I don't have time to worry about taking off the necklace right now. I staggered to my feet and, trying to keep as little weight on my broken leg as possible, staggered back to Bloodfang's camp. I saw him studying a map on his own.

"Bloodfang," I choked out, then coughed up blood into my arm.

"Miriel?!" Bloodfang gasped. "But… you're dead!" I only coughed again in response. "Can you heal yourself?" I shook my head no.

"No strength," I said. Talking in full sentences was too exhausting. Bloodfang nodded and gently laid me down on some soft grass and darted off, returning a few minutes later with a Sky Dragon, who began to heal me. I ended up falling asleep and when I woke up again, I was in dragon form again and the Sky Dragon was gone and my father was standing nearby. I was feeling much better after the Sky Dragon healed me.

"Miriel!" Dad exclaimed, hugging me. "What happened? You were dead!"

"Yeah, yeah I was. But I was sent back," I said.

"How did you get sent back? What happened?" Dad pressed.

"I… I don't want to talk about it," I said shortly. I didn't want to have to remember the nightmare I went through. Of course, no one let me forget it. Dad took me back with him into hiding until I had recovered to full strength. Every day, everyone would ask me what happened. What happened to me while I was hostage, what it was like to die, what it was like to be revived, how I convinced Death to send me back, everything. I couldn't take the questions anymore and shut myself in my room for weeks. I didn't let anybody in, not even Dad or Marina, and I didn't leave. The only exception to this was when Dad or someone would give me food. And every time they gave me food, they asked me questions. I would give them the same response and shut them out as quickly as I could. Of course, rumors spread like wildfire. From my room, I could hear dragons spreading them. It appeared that dragons believed that I had sold my soul to Death in order to come back, or that I had already was on good terms with Death or he owed me a favor. None of those were good rumors to be spread about a princess. But it seemed like the one most dragons believed was that I was an undead abomination who had no right to be in the Royal Family. That I was a monster.

Finally, I overheard Bloodfang talking to my father. Apparently they were having trouble locating where Tayam's troops were. This is why I was sent back, I thought to myself, and opened the door and went over to them.

"Miriel-" Dad started.

"I know where Tayam's troops are," I said, cutting him off before he could say anything. "They're hiding in a mountain northwest of here. You can get inside through the river that circles it." I gave them exact directions to get inside.

"Thank you for telling us this," Bloodfang said when I was finished. "We'll send our forces in as soon as the sun sets."

"And I'll go with you," I said.

"No," Dad said sternly. "You've already been killed once, I won't let you be killed again."

"They can easily get lost on the way. They could take a wrong turn in the river. I'm the only one who knows how to get in. Even with the directions I gave you, you still need a guide," I pointed out. "I won't do any fighting. I'll lead them in, then hide while they do the fighting. I won't die this time." The last part, of course, was a lie. But I knew if I didn't tell Dad that, I would have no chance of going.

"Bloodfang, make absolute sure she goes into hiding. I will not permit her to fight. But I will permit her to be your guide," Dad said.

"Yes, sir," Bloodfang said. And so all I had to do was wait until nightfall.