Galen Vesa

I had never seen a sea so calm. Flat, almost glassy surface spread beyond the horizon. As if somebody ironed out the sea from all its wrinkles. Not a wave in sight even though our sails strained under the ripping gale. Their fabric, the lines and the masts creaked and groaned abused beyond their limits. Yet they held and we skipped distance twice as fast as we were ought too. I’ll be very surprised if those two had not put their hands to it. They had not taken any mana from me in a long while so I can’t know for sure. Not that such knowledge could change anything. At this point, I could feel it within myself. A fracture spreading its spider web of cracks all over my core. The constant, rumbling crescendo became the background of my own thoughts.

And I knew.

It started in my right palm. Warm bright lines spreading along all, even the tiniest veins of my body. My blood, oversaturated with mana, boiled inside me. Then my left foot showed the same symptoms. My head and my remaining limbs soon following into the shiny affliction. The lines spread about two fingers worth of skin a day, stretching towards my center where my dragon heart sat dormant inside my chest. It had not budge ever since I awoke in the care of Dorothy, but I think it had stopped a long time before that. If I only had one, I would be dead by now. Thankfully, my own heart carried on without a care in the word. Well, with the pace I am seeing, the first line will reach my dragon heart somewhere within the next three days. I’m not sure what will happen, but I do imagine a nice mushroom cloud might make an appearance.

Even Dorothy anxiously watched over the horizon, as if expecting something. Or she might as well be bored beyond staying awake. I had no way of checking. Her mask hid her face and her voice told me nothing except it kept annoying me at some deep level. Why did it sound so wrong? Eh, perhaps my mind was falling apart as well.

And people stared.

A lot of interesting names circulated around the ship. Some not really having a proper translation but rather, being a name for a feeling they all shared. Fear.

There were also the usual kind of epithets propagated by people that thought I couldn’t hear them. Bitch, whore. Cursed bitch. Hell spawn. Elven plague. A mixture of those. Many others not even worth mentioning. I do not blame them. People needed a way to release their stress. I leaked so much mana that it made their life unbearable. Random people were fainting and falling like flies throughout the ship and hardly anyone could spend more than a minute around me without bending over and hurling out their guts.

I was moved to the front of the ship where I could sit, surrounded by a wall of water filled barrels while all the crew stayed as far back as the ship allowed. Out of all the people present, only Hib and Dorothy were able to come near me without any noticeable change in their behavior. Although, Hib’s skin began to char and sizzle if he stood too close for too long. Right now, he was pushing his limits, Standing on my side of the water wall. Resting his back against the barrels and watching me in silence. Dorothy sometimes did that too. Standing over me and… waiting?

Who could she be to convince that lizard of mine to shut her yapping muzzle? And most of all, why is everything so sparkly? Oh, it’s just me. Hm? is it raining? Whoa, those are some big blotchy raindrops. I tried to catch one and it splattered all over my palm. Fancy rain. Kind of thick. And red. Oh. I think I know what this is. My nose is Bleeding. Can’t stop it…

It’s always a weird view, watching my body fall. Something turns off and bam, I kiss the floor.

“Don’t be so hasty about it. It is not your time yet. “

Dorothy picked me up. My body hung limp in her arms. She was on her way to my cabin when the ship's bell rang.

“Land! Land ahead!”

A sailor called from above and she froze in her track.

“Land ahead!”

The voice repeated

“Then, again, that’s our cue.”

She turned and went back to my spot near the bow.

“That’s at least an hour before we'll come close enough.”

“Enough for what?”

My mouth seemed to be working again.

“Oh, you’ll see when we get there. Now, won’t you nap for a bit? Hmm? It’s pleasant enough to sleep on deck. Should I get you a blanket?”

I nod my head to that. Not that I felt sleepy or tired but…

I don’t remember when my eyes closed or if I ever got that blanket, but I do remember the screams that woke me up. People were bustling up and about, accompanied by the cawing of sea birds and squeling of the ship's crane.

“Right on time. They’re almost done.”

Dorothy lowered her mask over her full lips. Behind her head, blue sky, devoid of clouds announced late morning. And I missed her face by a fraction of a second.

“We’ll move when they’ll finish unloading.”

“Unloading? Have we docked already?”

Just how long was I out?

“This morning. They dared not to navigate the passage by the torchlights. We waited the night anchored in a distance. By the first light we made port.”

I tried to sit up, but her hand stopped me and this simple attempt made me sweat. A whole new experience for this body.

“Save your strength. You will need it.”

“You are overstating my abilities. I don’t think I will last much longer. I can feel myself falling apart.”

My glowing hand felt like an empty shell that would crack and shatter at the slightest touch. The rest of my body seemed the same. I honestly have no idea what is keeping me alive.

“Hmm.”

She watched me for a moment.

“You are doing good enough. Come, it seems they finished.”

With her help I got up, all against the wishes of my groaning bones. But I did not care. At this very moment, I saw the dock we had moored at.

Old. The first thought that struck me when I looked around. Old and by no means made by a hand of man. The proportions were off and all over the place. The stones were angled and joined in ways defying reason while runes upon runes were carved into the flesh of every rock. Islands of lush green were composed into the naked stone seemingly at random yet after a longer glance, I began to notice patterns of convenient paths and archways.

“Who built this?”

“Makes you wonder, does it? Not the Undying as far as I know. A lot of them came here but these walls stood here even before their hooves clicked against those very pavements. They were, they are, will be nomads. Or something like that…”

I attempted a step, but my body jerked in some odd fashion, sending me into a nosedive aimed for her pillows. Dorothy intercepted me before my landing could happen.

“Hmm, this will be more challenging than I thought. Listen carefully. Libhro is not a place known to many for several reasons. One of those being its distaste for outsiders. If the city does not like you, you will never again find yourself able to enter it. It is a rare gift to walk those paths and a gift one must deserve to receive. You will set your foot on its soil by your own will and you shall be judged.”

She picked me up as she spoke and carried me to the gangway where she stopped near the end.

“I can carry you the rest of the way but that first step you must do on your own. It is not something anyone can help you with.”

People gathered safe distance away watched as Dorothy set me down. I’m sure some bets were made. Well, puny legs, stop shaking and start walking. Go on. You know the drill, left right, left right. Freeing myself from the support Dorothy provided, I made a step. Then another one. Then, half falling, I put my foot on the stone pier and fell on my knees.

I think I yelped in surprise when that presence hugged me. Like a dog anxious to see its owner, this lonesome presence rushed at me. Whining. So lonely it felt. Had it had a tail it would wag it like a puppy.

Mine! Mine!

It seemed to be calling, it’s cooing overwhelming my senses. Oddly, it felt like… home.

A circle of bluish light lit up around me the second I called it my home. The feeling of restlessness vanished, and a hum of pleasure went through the entire place.

“You’ve done well.”

Dorothy joined me, a similar halo shrouding her feet.

“Now allow me to do my part.”

Her arms lift me up again.

“Dizzy? It will pass. Libhro can be overwhelming but it seems she likes you.”

“She?”

“Yup. Haven’t the foggiest why or how but that’s a thing. I only ever saw her assuming a female form so I'm sticking with she until proven wrong. Anyway, she’s shy so that doesn’t happen too often. Most of the time she's just there, sitting at the back of your mind, following you like a puppy.”

What I experienced a moment ago, I wouldn’t call shy. Not in the slightest. Though, I couldn’t agree more to the puppy part. Clingy, hyperactive puppy. My head hurt as if she tried to cram herself all in. Eh. As if there wasn’t a crowd there yet.

We passed under a stone arc and through a gate that opened for us. Hib tried to follow but an invisible wall blocked his path before the gate closed behind us.

“Where are you taking me?”

Dorothy ignored the sudden commotion happening behind our back and continued to walk along the pave path, following some unseen guide. The bluish halo surrounding us spread pleasing light and at the same time awoke sleeping runes along the way we passed.

“Mines.”

Her voice echoed inside the enormous staircase. About twenty feet wide stairs lead into the bowels of earth. As we stood near the railing, warm draft ruffled our hair.

“Why?”

Another gate closed behind us. This one somewhat heavier. Thicker.

“Iron ore. An entire island worth of it. Just the kind of iron that sucks mana in like a sponge and reflects any excess back to the source. Very rare and highly resistant to magic. This was dug out just for your kind of issues.”

She sat on the railing and shift her legs to the other side so that they dangled over the empty shaft of the staircase.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

The puppy waiting at the edge of my mind seemed to share my doubts. Libhro whined and a appeared to call, don’t do this.

“Taking a scenic route in your state is not a good one as well. This will be faster.”

I wanted to protest when she slipped off, and we fell.

And fell.

And fell…

“No big splat I'm afraid.”

I would say Dorothy sniggered but with her voice and her mask, nothing seemed that simple.

Her foot kissed the earth like a falling feather after the wind stole our momentum, inches away from the bottom. I don’t know how deep we fell but the heat coming off the walls made me sweat while the humid air shivered.

And I was kind of glowing.

“Have I not told you, it is not your time yet? Why do you make me repeat myself? Hm?”

“Not much I can do about it.”

“Oh but you can. Master of four cardinal spirits can do quite a lot. Start with thinking, what can I do?”

“So, what can I do?”

“Eh… Everybody wants an easy fix. Very well, let me help you one more time but remember, do not expect such help in the future. There is a limit to how much work a wine can receive. If it remains fruitless, it shall be cut and tossed away.”

Along with a sigh, her mana erupted out of her body and crushed me with an invisible press. Such force… Something within me moved with glee, perfectly matching the pressure. It… Laugh? Cackling within me, my mana pushed against invisible border while flares of magic danced around our bodies.

Yet, the border did not budge.

Dorothy held me as if all that power melting the corridor we passed, did not bother her. More so, I think right now, only her power held me in one piece. Power so great even my monstrous mana found it enticing.

“Who are you?”

Nothing. Not even a glance in my way. How disappointing. This called for a special isekai technic number two. I groped one of her pillows. One, two, three… It failed? No kyaah? No instant slap? I feel cheated. This whole otherworldly affair is no less broken than I am. Nothing like those novels portray.

I squeezed again. Kind of familiar volume. Was she perhaps my own size? I should make sure…

“I would appreciate if you cease that.”

“Isekai technic number two success!”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“What? Ah… that. No. That does not work.”

“Well, it made you speak so it’s something. Care to tell me who are you? It shouldn’t matter now.”

“If you so insist. I am the Daemon Queen from a place all those mediocre humans call daemon continent. I came to steal your heart or hearts and recruit you into my daemon army. Death and destruction, yadda yadda…”

“Really? Do I get to wear a skimpy suit and tempt heroes off the rightful path?”

“Sure. I can toss in a pair of cursed thongs for you.”

“With a tail? Purple ones? Erta would love that.”

“Regrettably, we run out of those. Everybody wants them.”

“Eh. And you almost got me to consider…”

Perhaps this would be a good moment to laugh. None of us did.

“You still won’t tell me who you are?”

“There is no point in telling you that. I can be your Dorothy or I can be your Queen. As long as it gets you to the room at the end of this corridor, I can be anyone for you. Anything besides getting you there has no meaning.”

“Does it? You speak as if I were the wine you were sent to care for. What is the fruit you speak of? Am I being groomed for a purpose?”

Only her silence answered me. I could see no reason why she kept skirting that question and Dorothy found no reason to tell me anything else. Eh, onto the mental list of crap to watch for you go. If I make out of here in one piece, there will be a lot to consider.

Hmmm… I really must get myself a clock of sorts. Or at least a reference. I think we walked for an hour before a series of iron gates stopped us. Happy to be of use, Libhro swung them open for us and sealed them back after we passed. Each gate seemed to be about nine foot thick while there were seven of them total. The surface of the last gate as well as the tunnel ahead of us appeared burned and melted. Here and there the rock turned into perfect, glassy mirrors. I can kind of imagine what could do that to a stone that was supposed to be magic resistant.

“Will it hold?”

“Let us not test that yet. We are almost there.”

Our tunnel ended with a sharp turn and a cramped, spiraling staircase that sunk even lower than we already were. Too tight for Dorothy to carry me down there. Instead, she set me on the floor and holding my hand, pulled me inside the gap. Like a puppet, her magic moved my limbs to her will.

What I considered a staircase, turned out to be a ramp of sorts. A ramp covered in soot. Whatever we touched, stained us with black patches of molten… I do hope that this is just scorched rock and not actual remains of people that tried this before.

Libhro whined at the back of my mind. The lower we went the weaker her presence became just to vanish entirely after we crossed the threshold of the final chamber.

It felt like entering a cathedral. Dark and silent. Then when my eyes adjusted, I saw the splendor of monstrous dome cut in cold iron. Tall enough to house the statue of liberty. Spacious enough to hold four baseball fields. Walls covered with gold, gleaming runes. Some as big as a house. Some charred. Some covered in soot. All shining with reflected magic… A reflector. That what it was. Just like Dorothy suppressed my mana with her raw power, this room squeezed my core together by my own leaking mana and the closer we got to the focal point the easier it became for me to walk on my own.

“What is this place? Did Garbannel made you bring me here?”

“No. That man has no idea that this place exists and better it remains that way. As for what it is… even though this place started as a means to help those afflicted with your condition, in the end it became a weapons factory. Day in and day out, people came here to shatter and regrow their own cores.”

Was there a hint of sadness in her voice?

“Why would anyone want to do this to themselves?”

“A mana core is like a bone. Cracked it can mend itself and regrow stronger. All one needs,”

She gestured at the walls.

“Is a cast or a splint to hold the body together while the core reforms itself.”

“Then that spell…”

“Is but a chisel and a hammer to remove a badly healed bone. Given enough time and resources, the body will heal itself even from the worst damage possible. Although, in your case it gets, shall we say, tiny wee bit more complicated.”

We stopped by a human sized rectangle cut in the floor. For all I tried not to think about it, instantly it brought an image of a coffin to my mind. A coffin with an intricate rune carved about the place where a heart of a lying person would be.

Suddenly, golden dust began to peel off her frame, her presence fading.

“Hmm, that’s that I think.”

Dorothy watched her left palm become translucent. The oddly familiar shine enveloped her.

“Oh. Two more things before I go. I know how this will sound but I don’t have time to explain. If you manage to get out of here alive, make sure to take Libhro with you. She can’t stay here. You’ll find her where the earth scratches the sky.”

“Can’t promise much…”

“I know you’ll try.”

I could see the entrance we came from through her body.

“What’s the second thing?”

She made a finger gun and placed it exactly against my dragon heart.

“Bang.”

Silence. Deep, complete silence. No bells rung in my ears. No white noise in the background. Not even the sound of my blood boiling in my veins. Not even the noodle of time cared to make a sound.

Nothing.

Total and absolute nothing.

In that nothingness, I saw my body sway. Lean ever so slightly further back until I was falling backwards into the groove in the floor.

Whatever Dorothy did to me, her power smashed the mana orb within me and squashed it like a wobbly water balloon. It rippled and bounced, unable to retain its shape.

And I fell.

I fell into darkness. I fell into pain.

*Only a bit more. *

Warm hands took away the pain. We were sitting underneath the tree, its rustling leaves shading us from blotchy drops of concentrated mana falling from the sky.

And my body kept on falling… yet she held my mind in her warm hands, whispering my name.

* … Thank you. *

Her soul burned with bright, beautiful flame.

*Whatever happens… *

Her lips were soft and warm against my forehead. A web of runes braided around the entire place, came to life.

And I snapped.

Like prince Rupert’s drop, my core shattered. All the while my body fell. It seemed like all the atoms of my being wanted to go as far away from me as possible. All in differed directions. Stronger than a flash of nuclear bomb, light erupted from within my chest. Then, the water crystal on cracked and a ball of liquid trapped my falling body. Uncountable metric tons of water pressed against each and every bit of my skin. Yet, even uncompressible water could not contain all all that raw mana ripping me apart.

It swell.

And swell.

And swell until I no longer could feel myself.

It spread until only darkness remained.

Silent. Unending. Darkness.

And I’ve heard his boots.

There is no mistaking of the sound of frost setting over his iron boots. The rattling of chains wrapped over his fists. The mist that trails behind him and those eyes that even Logic fears.

Out of the darkness, out of nothingness, the Jailer came. The running mana hit his frame like a rushing wind and like a wind that hit a stone cliff, the mana broke and gushed around him. Step by step his feet carried him to the epicenter where he stopped and raised his hands.

Huh?

Such simple gesture and yet even my mana appeared surprised. Its feelings washing over me as if a tide of the ocean.

First, surprise. Then anger. Then came the chains and fear.

Hundreds upon hundreds of frozen chains erupted out of the Jailer's hands and climbed up and up and around the burning mana. Soon, all I could witness, all that left of me, seemed to be an orb power the size of a sun, wrapped in a frozen chain. Bound to me by a will that could not be broken.

Or so I thought.

The ever-frozen chain dripped water as the sun of mana burned within it. Yet, the Jailer held, his frozen forehead covered in bloody sweat. And he held.

Truly, a match between and unstoppable Force and unmovable barrier.

All of that happened within my last heartbeat.

Then, the chains broke.

“What a mess. I leave you alone for a minute and you go and die.”

With nothing else holding my mana in check, it began to consume me from the inside out until I became a pure energy. At the same time, we stood outside of time, watching. The odd one shook her head and let out a sigh.

“Well? Speak up? What is the meaning of this?”

She poked my chest with her finger, sending chills down my spine. It felt almost as if she held the knife again. The knife…

“You did this to me. That night at the wedding. You stabbed me and cracked my core.”

She smiled, her eyes sparkling with glee.

“Oh, silly. It wasn’t me. It was the knife. Such a cold and pleasant blade.”

The water orb around me vaporize. Not even this barrier remained.

“But you know, I hoped for something… well, something. And yet you just go waste. Such an anticlimactic… huh?”

She brought her nose to my chest. Or whatever broken piece of me that left in here, unconsumed by the burning mana.

“Seems I was too rash in my judgment. You did bring me something interesting with you.”

Tiny purple script still floated within me. The odd one reached for it when a blazing claw burst out of my chest and locked its grip around her throat.

“Thou shall not touch what shan’t be yours.”

“How dare you!”

The voice struggled to no avail while the Flame held her.

“Thy punishment I shall become.”

Eternal flame spilt out of the gush in my chest. I really miss my meds. I think I skipped one too many.

I poked the arm of the queen of flames sticking out of my… chest? My soul? My…

Burning, the odd one wailed. Whether she was one of mine or not. I did not care. Not anymore.

But you promised. You promised not to throw your life away.

Was I doing that? How? I did all they told me. Always.

But…

Did I try to live?

Could I?

What kind of story will I tell her? There is nothing good about my life. I will bore her to death if we ever meet again. Perhaps…

“Ah!”

The odd one stopped screaming and gazed into my eyes, wide grin spread over her face.

“Some much promise! I shall be watching. Do not disappoint me!”

She vanished from within the grasp of Flame.

And I stood there and stared.

I stared at my life.

Half of it wasted.

Half of it not going to happen.

“Hey,”

I could feel most of that power still packed within me, struggling to escape. I touched it with my mind.

“You sure you want to do this? If you’ll make us pop like this, there’ll be nothing left for you. You want that?”

I don’t know what I hoped for. Certainly not for an answer.

…maybe.

It spoke after a while. The speed at which it spread away from me dropped by a bit.

“You know, If I pop, everything will go boom and you’ll stay alone. No more grumpy dragon. No more annoying dryad. No more me. No more Dorothy…”

It quivered.

“There’s gonna be no one for you to play with.”

The outflow stopped.

You lie.

Another emotion.

“How can I lie when I am already fading? You have destroyed my core and my body.”

Fear.

It waited for more of my words, but I had none left. I just stood there and watched Flame withdraw her arm while the gush in my soul closed itself.

Half wasted, half forfeit,

I stood and watched my remaining moments.

A vessel we shall have.

Mana spoke and snuffed my consciousness.

***

“How long do you intend to stay like that?”

A voice not befitting a human mouth rung in my mind.

“Assume your form already when you are among others and restrain your mana. It is impolite and you are scaring my children.”

Assume a form? Restrain mana? No undies in sight? Come to think of it, not even my butt is in sight. I don’t think I have a sight right now. Oh, right. We went pop last I remember. So, is this some sort of afterlife?

“Afterlife? What are you bumbling about?”

Again, that voice…

“Down here you shmuck.”

If I only knew where that was.

“I’ll give you a hint. It’s opposite of up.”

Very funny. Very helpful… wait, you can hear me?

“Hear you? I’d go bald if half the place couldn’t hear you.”

Oh.

“What in the abyss are you anyway?”

A human with a bad case of misplaced body and a propensity to lose underwear.

“A human?!”

The voice burst out in laughter.

I tried to follow the sound and suddenly my awareness got filled by a view of an old fox sitting atop some sort of a pebble. Crimson red fox with at least ten tails.

“Vog! Come on Vog, wake up! You need to hear this!”

The fox started thumping with it hunches.

“It thinks it’s a human and it called you a pebble!”

The pebble in question opened an eye then slowly uncoiled its magnificent body and spread its wings. All that time, the fox kept on resting atop the dragon’s head, perched against its horns.

*That, a human? *

Deep male voice resounded in my mind.

*Daro old friend. What have I told you about eating those shrooms? Shall I go and burn the mountain they grow on? *

“Don’t you dare go anywhere near those sacred grounds!”

The fox resumed its thumping, this time with twice the vigor. What a peculiar sight.

*Hmm? *

Oh, me and my blabbermouth. The dragon noticed us, and my mana shuddered in fear. Compared to him, how insignificant it felt.

“Ha! Have I not told you!”

*So, this is why you were making those yipping noises all this morning. *

The dragon opened his maw, his fangs the size… why are they getting closer? The dragon inhaled. Suddenly I felt very vulnerable.

*Do not squirm. *

Easy to say when you’re the one chewing someone. My mana tried to escape but his tongue rolled us into a ball then after some more careful chewing, we got spit out.

Covered in a sea of drool, I landed butt first into the grass then fell backwards. My freshly recovered pillows rewarding me with a jiggle as they spilt over my chest.

*So tiny. One of your cubs? *

The fox in question jumped down and circled around me, sniffing. From my current perspective they were huge. My entire leg fit into the fox palm as he lifted me up and smelled my behind.

“Not that I know of. It does have flame inside it but going by the horns I would say it is one of yours. Maybe its egg cracked before it could hatch?”

Dangling by a leg, I was brought before the dragon's eye.

*No. It is not a blood of mine. *

“What are you?”

The beast accented his question by vigorously shaking me up and down like an empty sack of potato chips, hoping for more to come out.

“A… traveler…”

My mouth remembered how to make sounds.

“And… I would… appreciate it… if you… could… stop… doing… that...”

He flipped my body around and suddenly I was locked in his grasp with his thumb under my chin. One simple move remaining to twist off my neck.

“Brave words coming from such a pipsqueak.”

His thumb increased pressure on my neck.

*Better not play with fire my friend. *

The dragon chuckled.

*Or you might get burned. *

“As if…”

Blue flames surrounded the fox's paws and me within it.

“You, what in the abyss are you!?”

He put a whole lot more power into his flame but still, I just stared back at him.

“It does tickle but why are you doing this? I know I kind of lack experience in dealing with strangers, but I am always polite. Why do others keep on trying to kill me for no reason?”

His grip tightened but it did not bother me. Were my charms working?

*Heard that? You old fool. *

The dragon brimmed with good humor.

*Where are your manners? *

They both laughed in unison.

*Listen well traveler. A soul that should not be here. An aberration I ought to erase. Entertain me. Beat some sense into that old fart and I will see if you deserve my kindness. *

“And if I refuse?”

*Then I will kill you for you have no place here. *

His flame burned within his closed maw.

“Have you gone senile?! You almost cooked me!”

The fox dropped me where he stood and jumped away while blisters covered my skin. The earth around Vog or, should I say Vorgul, melted in an instant. Just indirect heat of his flame could wound me, I had no qualms that the fire blessing could help me against him. My mana feeling like a grain of sand against his own. Was that how Erta felt when she met me?

Instincts I didn’t know I had made me duck while the daemon’s claws sailed over my head. Mana rushed to my eyes and the world slowed down… but the fox didn’t. His blazing tail came crashing down where I stood.

Avoid! Do not block!

After so many times she screamed that at me, those words were engraved into my bones. My legs moved before I willed them to. The fox missed again.

Odd.

I stepped aside when his claws came. Ducked between his legs to avoid his teeth. Roll away from his flailing tails.

Why is he… so slow?

“Slow?!”

The beast roared ready to pummel me again with both his fist. I jumped backwards, avoiding his blow. So far not even one strike reached its target. Was I this fast… no. Erta, was much faster. I could hardly see her blows coming. Her movements had so many faints. This fox could not measure against a dragon.

*hmm? *

Vorgul’s tail crashed between us ending our duel with an earthquake.

*What did you say traveler? A dragon taught you? Who dared?! Who is this Erta you speak of! *

The world shuddered with his anger and I did the only sensible thing that came to my mind. I fell on my knees and prostrated myself before him.

“Master do not blame her for my ineptitude! She had but a moment to beat some basics into my useless self!”

*Who dared! Speak! *

“Erneaterrncira Starborn. Blood of Sergorn Black. Hatched of Rialta Starborn…”

*…blood of mine. *

The lord of dragons finished for me. His anger abated somewhat.

*Why did you come here traveler? Rialta had not yet hatched. What does the future want with the past? *

“To live? I no longer know what to say. Oh, mighty dragon, if you desire, I shall humor you with my tale and perhaps it shall make some sense to you because it no longer makes any sense to me.”

*Hmm, do tell. An entertainment even such as this is better than a lack of any. *

So, I did what one might call spilling the beans. There was no point in doing anything else. I was as good as dead anyway. My mana fading ever so slightly with each passing moment.

I talked and talked, and they listened. Quite a change of heart or perhaps just a way to ward away boredom.

“Lies! That cannot be! Me, a coat! Taken by some mediocre witch! Lies! “

The fox hissed yet did not dare to attack me against the word of the dragon.

*Why? I can well imagine your pelt…*

Vorgul chuckled.

“Enough! I will not…”

*You will not raise your voice in my presence. *

His simple command elicited overbearing silence. The dragon sighed.

*That was indeed entertaining. For eons I have not found a creature that would be capable of going beyond the simple act emptying their bowels in fear of my presence. Or as crazy as that old fool with mind so eaten by shrooms as to try talking to me. Not even my kin dares… the top of mountain known as power is a lonely place. *

He looked at the stars with undescribed longing. I'm positively sure my bowel would be working quite hard at emptying itself would I have one right now. Whatever the dragon did to me seemed to be running out as streaks of white mana kept on rising off me and escaping with the wind.

*For a traveler, you are an amusing one. Not that weak at all too. Perhaps if we had met earlier…*

He checked out my body, not like a predator would measure up his prey but more… I got a shiver I did not like. That would be a big refusal.

*Ah, the harder the hunt the sweeter the prize. *

Did a mountain sized, ancient dragon just wink at me? Nope. Not a chance. Nu uh.

*Then at least allow me this parting gift, friend of my granddaughter. *

His giant claw touched my heart.

*My mana. Feel it. Focus On the way it flows. Make yours do the same and you shall recover what you lost. *

For some odd reason his claw sank into the valley between my pillows but, what he said, his power, the way it circled inside me. I knew it. This feeling. It always sat the back of my mind. Just like one breathes without thinking of it. It couldn’t be that simple.

*Life loves simple. It is us that overcomplicate everything. Go now. This is not a place for a traveler. *

His magic pushed me out of the noodle of time. In silence I watched him fade from my view. As single moon climbed the starry sky, Vorgul spread his wings.

*A second moon. That does sound like a worthy challenge… *