With a quick glance, Amelia examined Orion's state, that she couldn't all the way back into the forest.

She immediately sealed the power she shared with Orion, which made the pain subside drastically.

His condition was deplorable. She couldn't touch his leg at all, steaming through his black jeans, while the ice around his leg provided by Monolavir was melting at a staggering rate.

Even Monolavir began to show concern.

Orion's breathing grew heavy, but he managed to maintain his consciousness. He wasn't weak like in the past, he trained hard to be able to endure this pain.

"Are you going to be alright, young man? I can create more ice for your leg if needed, tell it to the young lady."

Orion nodded and turned his head to Amelia.

"Amelia, the dragon that took us... he's called Monolavir. He's helping us..."

Amelia wasn't expecting to hear him talk to her, which made her listen without letting out a single word.

"He can create ice with magic... and he said that if you need any to help cool my leg... you just have to tell him."

After listening, she almost instantly knew what to do. With a nod, she looked at the dragon above her.

"Monolavir, was it? My name is Amelia, and I'm Orion's companion. Thank you for saving us."

Surprised, Monolavir expected everything else but gratitude.

"I never expected a human to show such kind emotions. It is fairly unusual."

"Anyway, your friend... Having such a dedicated companion, it is rather impressive. It was to be expected, you have the charms of your faction."

Orion closed his eyes with a smile on his face.

"It's not... like that. Amelia, he's happy to know you."

"I never said that! But it's not wrong either. I'll let it slide."

The large dragon snorted.

"I always give back."

Orion smirked while Monolavir grimaced. Maybe because he was not used to these kinds of interactions, he stopped talking to Orion.

Amelia stood up and asked the Azure Dragon.

"Could you give me fifty liters of water in ice form? In a cube, if possible?"

"F-FIFTY LITERS?! Is your friend crazy? I know I said I would help, but you're really treating me like a horse."

Even though he complained, he still slowly began to form the ice cube.

Less than a minute later, it was ready. Orion's leg was getting hotter by the minute, so she had to act fast.

"Orion! What did I say before you entered that building? Don't put too much stress on your leg! What part of it didn't you understand?"

Anxious, mostly because he was in bad shape, she started lecturing Orion, oblivious to what had happened.

Using her wind dagger, Aura, to cut into the large cube of ice, she removed a cylinder shaped piece from its center.

She placed his leg inside the cube, which had a large hole in it, and broke the cylinder in several pieces, which she placed in a piece of cloth that she gently pressed on his burning face.

"It wasn't my fault... I was ready to go at that moment, but I was also at my limit... before the wall appeared. Without Monolavir, I would have died..."

He felt the burning pain dissipate steadily, and relief could be seen on his face. With a sigh of relief, Amelia's face began to relax, too.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"You'll explain to me everything later, you have to rest for n-"

Interrupted by Orion, she listened as he had something important to tell her.

"I killed one of the Apostles, the most pervert and a cruel man I've ever seen. I won't tell you what else he did, since it's not relevant anymore."

Closing her eyes, Amelia nodded.

"I expected as much the moment I heard that crazed woman's shout. You've done well, though I would have appreciated getting you back without the injury."

They both smiled at each others. Monolavir took this chance to ask.

"How's your leg, young man? Is the ice effective?"

Monolavir's only way of checking on Orion was to ask, as he was focused on flying.

"It is working. Half of it has already melted and evaporated, but it's slowing gradually. The pain is gone, and my head stopped throbbing. I'm feeling better."

A low growl escaped his mouth.

"It is good to hear. My ice magic is powerful, so I never used it outside of battle. Using it to heal a burn came to me on the spot."

"I should come up with different ways to use the other abilities I have. I'll help the other dragon if I can."

Only now did Amelia realize an important detail.

"Wait, you can understand the dragons? Since when?!"

Her voice ringed inside his ears, as Orion plugged his ears by instinct.

"Don't shout, you remind me of that woman..."

"You compared me to that old woman? What's wrong with my voice anyway?"

"You're ripping my eardrums with your voice, so tone it down, please? I'm trying to recover, here. And I never said anything bad about your voice, I quite like it."

Being complimented, Amelia calmed down, and got back to nursing him in silence.

'These two...'

Monolavir kind of understood their relationship just by hearing their conversation.

The woman, Amelia, was trying to protect Orion and get his affection, while he remained unmoved toward her.

"By the way, Monolavir, where are we going? From what I figured out, we're going for the Talviera Mountain Range. No one goes there because it is a hostile environment."

Since they were already moving towards the dragons' territory, he didn't felt like lying, as they weren't his enemy.

"This land is where we were created a long time ago. We dragons have lived in a system of caves left by the protector of the mountains, which vanished a long time ago."

His voice showed hints of nostalgia in them.

"Her roots left us lots of ground into the mountains to hide, and hide out of sight from our enemies. Everything changed when the Apostles came to subjugate us two thousand years ago."

Orion froze, as he couldn't believe what he heard.

"Wait, how many dragons are there? And we never heard of any besides the 'Savior'?"

This time, it was Amelia that stared at Orion, seemingly as shaken as him.

Monolavir developed further, explaining what had happened in the past.

"I have no idea which fool decided that our faction was a threat. Maybe it is because we can't communicate, or because they cannot tolerate our existence as the most powerful faction, but the only thing we asked for was a peaceful place to live in."

"The humans attacked us when they've invaded the demons and angels' territory. At the same time, they began to hunt every faction around them. We had to support a few of them at that time."

Focusing on what Monolavir said, as it was a part of history he didn't hear about, Orion frowned and nodded.

"We had a few dragons mature enough to fight, so we had to choose whom to protect and whom to leave out. The giant faction had already been decimated, so we were unable to do much about them."

"The fays had already disappeared without leaving a trace as a result of their fear towards the atrocities they were subjected to."

"We could only protect the beasts, the snakes, the spiders, and the elements. We also tried to help the bird-lions, but they fled to another part of the world when they saw us."

Orion analyzed his words, and linked the names to their factions.

'Does he mean the fairies, the beastmen, the lamias, the arachnea and the elementals? The last one might be the griffins. I am assuming the kelpies were out of danger because they lived in the sea.'

There was one faction he didn't speak about. Orion already knew the answer to his next question, but still asked nonetheless.

"What about the kobolds?"

"The two-legged wolves? We tried to get to them after failing to help the bird-lions, but they were already wiped out by then."

A sigh escaped Monolavir, which sounded like a growl to Amelia.

'This might be a regret they continue to carry to this day.'

Feeling the emotions transmitted in his mind, Orion tried to talk the dragon out of his sorrowful emotions.

"You don't have to feel guilty. The ones who did that were not the dragons."

"We know, but if we had chosen them first, maybe they would have survived."

"The faction doesn't exist anymore, there's no need to be stuck in the past forever."

Amelia couldn't hear Monolavir, so she barely understood the conversations. She asked Orion if he could resume it to her, which he did.

...

He took this opportunity to explain what happened inside the church, and that Elliott was still sealed, to everyone's relief.

After getting closer to the Talviera Mountain Range, there was one remaining question that Orion had to ask.

"What happened to the factions the dragons protected?"

The response was faster than anticipated.

"They disappeared like the fays, except for the beasts and the snakes, that couldn't flee from their home in time."

"So they might still be alive somewhere?"

'I would like to find them someday.'

Orion didn't realize at that moment, but the artifact he received from the lady merchant began to glow slightly in his bag, unaware that his thought was linked to it.

"I hope you've recovered because we're arriving soon."

Said Monolavir in a pressing tone.

"I'm fine now, thanks to both of you."

He managed to recuperate completely from his weakened state, without any lasting injuries.

Amelia, worried about his wellbeing, asked that he refrain from moving too often for a few days.

They all looked below, into a hole inside the mountain, where many dragons hovered around the entrance.

"Welcome to our home, Ormrdivin."