Now with the staff, Eric Claus was able to fight. Within a few days training with the staff he was now able to win Harris in a friendly contest. Unlike the time when he used to make use of a sword, Harris would be gaining victory over him.

With the great improvement in his skill since he started making use of the staff, Zach now saw ther new to engage in a friendly fight against him instead of his son who was no longer a match for him. Proving the fact that he had been fighting for a very long time, he beat Eric in the contest although it was quite difficult. There was now proof that he had been undergoing training from one of the best warriors in Palind.

He still continued his training, because he was still no match for his master, Zachary Hawkins. And Zach on his part loved the idea that he did not cease training and with the motivation of Eric, Harris also was improving greatly in the use of the sword.

One of the days, while Eric and Harris were in the field doing the normal training exercise, they began to hear the screaming of people coming from a distance, it was like the sound of war. So Eric thought it to be his moment to start the fulfillment of his mission, so decided to follow the sound and see what was happening.

Zachary also heard the screaming from inside the house and instantly rushed outside to see his students, only to find Eric running towards the direction where the noise was coming from. Harris did did not join Eric to make such as stupid move.

Zachary knew exactly what the problem was only by mere hearing the way people screamed, so he called Eric to stop and continue in such a foolish movement. "Hey…! Come back! You are not ready."

"I need to know what it is." Eric answered as he kept running to the heart of Hillcrest which had been attacked.

Then Zachary, knowing that Eric was his responsibility did not have any option than to pursue him. He said to Harris. "Stay here. And keep your eyes in the sky. Make sure you are out of sight but don't go into the house!"

"Why father." Harris asked. He was confused and needed to know why he must not enter the house.

"Don't ask me questions and do as I said. Stay away from the house but find coverings." Zach warned him as he pursued Eric, still calling him to stop but would not listen until he had come to the center of Hillcrest which was on fire and the villagers running around to and fro seeking means to put out the fire on their buildings. Even some of the people were burning and now Eric saw what violence looked like with his real eyes.

Instead of helping the people he had come to help, he stood still not knowing who to help and who not to help, everyone he saw needed help and he did not know how he would help one person without helping the other.

"Get down!!" Zach pushed him to the ground as the dragon which had come out to burn Hillcrest to ashes aimed its fire breath on him.

It was at this point that Eric knew what he had come out to defend the people against and was definitely not what he could do.

"I told you to come back." Zach reminded him. Then he looked up at the dragon as it flew back up into the sky.

"Is it going?"

"No, it's gathering momentum. We should find cover."

As they were getting back to their feet, the dragon flew down with greater speed and it aimed at Eric. Breathing fire out of its mouth the second time, still directed to Eric.

In order to dodge this fire breath, they had to part ways for the fire to pass theri middle. As they parted ways, the dragon followed Eric in the direction he had taken, as it kept breathing fire.

Eric did not know where speed and techniques were coming from as he saw himself leading the dragon away from the village as he kept dodging the fire breaths until he came very far from the village. He did not even know where he was going, all he knew was that he was surviving and that was the ultimate.

While he led the dragon away from the village, Zach did not go after him, so he decided to help the people whose houses were set on fire and also those who were injured. It was the thing he had been avoiding even though he knew that one day Hillcrest would be attacked. But people kept asking why the dragon had returned so fast. It was only three years since it last came out of hiding and burnt down a city which the inhabitants have just finished rebuilding, so they wondered why it did not take another seven year before it came for their city.

Harris, had waited for over three hours yet he have seen his either Eric or father returning back and the yelling of the people seem to had come to an end so he did to find out what happened and why they were taking too long to come back. he could see smoke go up into the heavens and it reminded him of when his mother, brother and sisters died in the attack by the ogres. Though he was still very small then, the sight of evaporating smoking into the atmosphere surely brought back that memory. So he feared that his father had been killed in the attack and Eric could not bear to come back and the news to him that was why none of them came back.

Thus, when her had left the valley which his father had built their house, to join the other inhabitants of Hillcrest, he could see what had happened there and he knew exactly how that felt, so he forgo the reason why he had come down and began to offer help to the victims in the little and best way he could.

While they were offering aid to the people, Zachary sighted his son and then he rushed to meet him. "What are you doing here?"

Seeing his father was alive, joy filled his heart as he remembered the reason why he had come. Instead of answering the question he was asked, he said, "Father, you are alive."

"Of course, I'm alive. I thought I asked you not to come down here?"

Still he put that question aside by asking. "Where is Eric Claus?"

Now Zach noticed what he was doing. "Will you stop and answer my question?"

Then he also realized what he had done, he did not know when those questions were coming out of his mouth instead of him answering his father's question. "I'm sorry father. But I have waited for a long time and could not see you coming back. Also the noise I heard was no longer as fierce and troubling as it was in the beginning so I came down to find you but got carried away, helping these people." He paused, and since he had answered the questions his father asked, he then repeated the one he had asked. "Where is Eric?"

"He ran off with the dragon that attacked this place. I could not keep up with them, he was very fast and the dragon pursued him."

Hearing this Harris face was downcast as he thought that Eric was gone. He had become very close to him due to their training together and they've grown to be very good friends.

"Don't worry, he is not gone. We will find him or he will return to us." Zachary used those words to console Harris and make him cheer up a little while they thought on whether to go after him or wait for him to come back to them.