Dragonlord

Ep 150. I’m Sure We’ll Meet Again. (4)

Ep 150. I’m Sure We’ll Meet Again. (4)

Some time later, Aymeia’s closed eyes began to twitch; the girl winced in pain as she came to, opening her eyes rather abruptly.

And, much to her own dismay, she found herself alone and freezing within what seemed like a wooden cage. Just outside the cage was Light, sitting on the ground with her back against the wooden bars.

Hearing Aymeia stir, Light turned her head to face the former deity, waving a short greeting.

“Hey. You’re awake.”

“What happened? Why am I in a…”

Squinting in disbelief, Aymeia quickly made her way over towards the half. She gripped the wooden bars keeping her within, as if to make sure that they were real.

“What’s the meaning of this?”

“One of the warriors started questioning if you’re really Aymeia or not while you were passed out. No one could really prove it, so…he put you inside that cage.”

“An Asardan doubted who I am? Who?”

Just as Light was about to answer the confused former deity, Orkaan stepped into view, crouching downwards to meet Aymeia’s eye level. His enormous figure nearly rivalled that of the entire cage.

After a few seconds of observation, the warrior’s rumbling voice addressed Aymeia’s question.

“That would be me.”

“…You’re the one who put me in here? Why?”

“A strange question. I was told that you were allied with the monster responsible for this chaos. Had it not been for the white one’s request, your head would have long joined our firewood.”

“I was...only trying to mediate things. I’d never harm my own people.”

“We are not your people. You are but an outsider to us.”

“…”

Gritting her teeth, Aymeia gripped the bars that caged her. She summoned her strength to burn down the cage’s wooden make to prove her identity to the warrior before her.

Unfortunately, not a single spark arose from her palms.

Orkaan mused as Aymeia seemingly struggled in vain to break out of her cage.

“Is aught amiss? I was told you were Aymeia.”

“I, I am! I don’t know what’s going on right now, but I’m-”

“I’d thought Urgus had outgrown his fantasies. But I see he’s still just a child.”

A rumbling chuckle from Orkaan interrupted Aymeia’s protests. The warrior then pushed his hand in between the wooden bars, flicking his finger at the prisoner’s forehead to send her stumbling backwards.

Even when Aymeia rubbed her forehead with a despising glare, the warrior showed no sign of remorse.

“The guardian’s existence is but a legend. Asarda has seen plenty of pretenders like you.”

“…I’m not a pretender.”

“Hmph. A revolting thought, that.”

“What?”

Confirming the disappointing, expected outcome, Orkaan rose to stand firm once more. He turned to leave Aymeia be, giving a final glare at the imprisoned guardian.

“Imaginary as she may be, I would rather our people’s faith rest in a righteous, benevolent deity: the infallible Star of Asarda. Not some puny lass helpless within a cage of wood.”

“…”

Aymeia couldn’t say anything back at the leaving warrior. She instead bit her lips, once again gripping at the wooden bars, but to no avail.

Seeing the frustration on the former deity, Light cautiously tapped the cage to gain her attention, pointing at her own head.

“Um, in case you didn’t realize…”

“…? Realize what?”

“You’re…normal now.”

“Normal?”

Only then did Aymeia finally take the time to run her hands through her head. When she began to examine herself, it didn’t take long for her to recognize all the changes.

Her horns were no longer there; her orange hair had lost their color and returned to the black that she’d been born with; she could no longer summon her flames, and she could no longer recall a single memory of Vulka’s.

But, most notably…

‘It’s…cold…’

In all fairness, Aymeia was wearing only a single grey cloak Light had put on her. Her own clothes had been long burnt by her own flames.

But for the last thousand years, the former deity had lived her life having forgotten what it was like to be cold. Even the worst Asardan winters couldn’t make Aymeia shiver.

That is, until today.

✧   ✧   ✧

After leaving Light and Aymeia, Orkaan trudged his way through the surviving inhabitants of Chell.

Everyone was busy with recovering what they could from their broken homes. The fires had at least been put out, but there were still countless huts to rebuild, and countless bodies to recover.

And amongst Chell’s inhabitants was a peculiar purple-haired individual, wordlessly helping the people effort with nary a complaint.

“Lizar…dragon.”

“…”

Ilias didn’t return an immediate response. The youngling instead lifted another burnt wooden beam off the ground, checking for any valuables or survivors underneath.

Finding nothing, the beam dropped back down to the ground before she’d finally turn to face Orkaan.

“What is it?”

“The lass has awoken.”

“…So?”

“Why, I thought you might want to know. It sounded to me you were quite intent on turning her to firewood.”

“…”

When Ilias first learned that Aymeia was responsible for Raizel’s state, the red dragon had made an immediate attempt to return the favor.

Of course, her attempt amounted to nothing as Serenis prevented her from harming Aymeia.

“…I can’t. Not until Lord Serenis is back.”

“That’s the white one, yes? Where has she gone, exactly?”

“She told me she needed to be alone with Raizel.”

Ever since Serenis had sent everyone away, Ilias had busied herself with helping Chell’s inhabitants.

She needed to do something – even if they were just menial tasks. Without anything to do, she felt as if her fear and anxiety would drive her insane each second.

‘I’m worried about nothing. I’m sure I’m worried about nothing…Raizel will be fine. She always was. Lord Serenis will find a way.’

“…”

Unable to understand the full extent of the rambling that was going on inside the youngling’s head, Orkaan loudly cleared his throat, awkwardly turning to a nearby rubble.

“Now then…with Urgus asleep, I suppose I should pick up his slack…”

Soon enough, Ilias would likewise resume her efforts in silence.

Though, the youngling’s mind still churned with incessant thoughts of Raizel’s state.

Truthfully, she didn’t get along with Raizel as well as she did with Light – but the steel dragon far surpassed Light in terms of time. After all, Raizel had been with her since the day Ilias had hatched.

They’d argued often, they’d fought often, and more often than not, they were scolded together for it. They’d spent time away from each other then and there, but as far as Ilias was concerned, they basically grew up together.

And in that time, Ilias had come to think that the two of them would never face any real danger. Being the two strongest individuals of a nigh-invincible race, her sense of danger had long grown dull; thinking back, Ilias had been laughing about their crazy trips with Serenis when, realistically, she should’ve been growing worried.

‘…It’s too late now.’

As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t go back in time to rethink their decision to come here.

The youngling continued to occupy herself with menial labor. And, as much as her worries grew, her bitterness was likewise growing.

“…”

On the off chance that Serenis would return with dreadful news, then…