Johan gasped when Dagon fell unconscious in his arms, the remainder of a half eaten chocolate bar, falling to the ground.
 
“What did you do to-”
 
“Stop.”
 
The force of command in Eirian’s voice made everyone’s body quiver.
 
No one moved.
 
No one could even breath.
 
“You think a mere dragon child would be enough to stop me?” Eirian said with amused laughter. “Now listen to me,” she said, only then did the people around her take a gasp of breath. “No one tells me what to do. I give all the commands here, and you will simply o-”
 
She was surprised when Johan suddenly struck his hand out towards her.
 
She tried to jump back, but wasn’t quick enough. The fire mage quickly grabbed her mouth and covered it with a rough, calloused hand.
 
“Got you, you bitch,” he snarled with Dagon dangling on his left arm, still sleeping. “You think your tricks can work on me? I’m used to dealing with double crossing bastards like you, and I’ve got experience!”
 
He looked back as someone touched his shoulder and saw Dorin standing behind him.
 
“It’s okay, Johan, you can let go, I’ll take care of her.”
 
“Are you sure?” Johan asked. “I don’t think even you’s good nough for her to listen to,” Johan continued in his rough way of talking. “It’s just like Sebastian said. You confrontin’ her would only make her madder. She might say she change, but she just lookin’ for nother chance to erase our mem’ries and keep on manipulatin’ us. And we won’t know any better!”
 
Johan looked at Eirian who glared back at him, purple eyes full of malice, her long fingernails, digging on the flesh of his right arm that still held her mouth shot. There were trails of blood dripping from it, but the fire mage kept his hold.
 
“You try somethin’ an’ I burn yo flesh and weld yo mouth shut!” he sneered as he tore his gaze away from her hypnotic eyes.
 
“Eirian, I ask you again, can you promise not to toy with my friends?”
 
Eirian simply stared at Dorin defiantly.
 
Dorin took a deep sigh and clapped his hands three times, breaking Eirian’s hold on the students around them. They all fell on the ground, exhausted from the powerful enchanter’s hold.
 
“Eirian, I told you before that I chose to stay here to learn more about the world,” Dorin told his friend. “How can I be able to do that if you keep trying to cage me?”
 
Eirian’s eyes widened, her brows rose up and fell down, then looked at him, filling with tears.
 
“I want to discover this world with you, Eirian, but if you keep doing this, if you keep hurting my friends and keeping me away from everyone else, then I would have no choice but to escape from you like I did with mother.”
 
Now, Eirian’s eyes looked angry.
 
“I ask you again, Eirian,” Dorin continued. “I know that you always keep your word. So will you swear to me that you would stop playing with my friends?”
 
Finally, the look in Eirian’s face looked resigned.
 
She looked down as a small tear trickled down her flushed cheek and dripped on Johan’s hand.
 
“It’s okay now, Johan,” Dorin said, touching his friend’s shoulder once more. “You can let go.”
 
“Are you sure?” Johan’s eyes narrowed.
 
“Yes, Eirian is ready to talk to us properly now, right Eirian?”
 
The subdued enchantress nodded her head.
 
“If you say so...”
 
Johan slowly pulled his hand away from Eirian’s face. It left a red hand print that could easily be noticed on her pale face.
 
Eirian kept her silence, her gaze down, hands tightly balled into fists.
 
“Eirian, do we have a deal now?” Dorin asked her once again.
 
Eirian nodded.
 
“Then, can you swear to us that you would stop using your powers on my friends, or any of my acquaintances here on campus?”
 
“That’s a pretty broad range,” she said with a pout.
 
“Because I know how you like to twist the rules,” replied Dorin. “Just promise that you would not use your abilities on anyone in campus, unless you are in danger.”
 
“Okay, then, you win!” Eirian glared at Dorin and his companions.
 
“Make her promise!” Xander said beside Johan. “If possible, set it into writing!”
 
“It’s okay, an enchanter’s sworn words are more binding,” said Mordecai. “So swear to it, Eirian.”
 
To this, Eirian sighed and gave a resigned smile.
 
“Then I, Eirian Marie, do hereby swear that I will not use any of my abilities on anyone in this campus, unless I deem myself to be in danger.”
 
“What is she swearing for?”
 
Johan and Xander turned around to see Benette standing behind them with the rest of their classmates trailing behind.
 
“Are you still having a duel?” called Dean Alcione who was with the crowd. “It’s time to head back to your dorms, classes are now over.”
 
“Yes, Dean Alcione,” replied some of the students who have decided that the show was finally over.
 
“Oh, Benette, we just had a talk with Eirian,” Xander replied to the new comer.
 
“Bitch tried to charm us again,” Johan explained, his eyes still on the enchantress. “She even put Dagon to sleep!”
 
“Oh, is he okay?” asked Benette who took the sleeping child from Johan and gently shook him.
 
“Yeah, I think he’s just sleeping, he’s really hard to wake once he’s out cold.” Johan finally took his eyes off of Eirian who was still scowling at her friend Dorin.
 
“So, is it okay now?” Benette asked again while holding Dagon in his arms. “Can we trust her now?”
 
“Don’t worry,” Xander said with a smile. “She just gave her sworn word.”
 
“Huh? Is that what she said earlier?” Benette asked, his brows raised.
 
“Yes,” Mordecai assured him as he walked towards Eirian and Dorin. “An enchanter’s sworn word is binding even to themselves. She can’t simply take it back without receiving repercussions.”
 
“But...” Benette said as the three went closer to Dorin and his friend. “But Eirian Marie is not her real name!”
 
He warned them too late.
 
Mordedcai turned around to look at him, his eyes wide open, as Benette saw a smile break on Eirian’s face.
 
It was an evil, twisted, smile.
 
The kind a psychotic person makes when they know that everything was going according to their plan.
 
Benette had first seen it in a military prison they once visited with his father, where he was shown how heartless criminals work and why they deserve to be tortured and killed.
 
He saw it next when Eirian entered Prof. Althea’s office without realizing that he was also there.
 
It was the reason why he never trusted Dorin’s Friend.
 
And now, it seems that Eirian is showing exactly why they should not trust her.
 
“Kneel before me, you fools!” said Eirian in a loud commanding voice that almost knocked the breath out of Benette. “Kneel and cower before my power!”
 
Benette saw all the people around him fall on their knees and drop to the ground. He also felt a great urge to do the same, and something tells him that that was exactly what he had to do if he wanted to survive.