Coming into contact with the small child was more than he bargained for. It wasn’t the stiff flesh of a newborn, one that was not at all normal. Can’t say it was the second touch was made, the baby stopped crying. He couldn’t even contribute this feeling to the hand that reached out to touch his cold fleshly finger. Nothing about the child itself was enough to make him change his decision. Still, one couldn’t ignore the irony.
The Will of the World wasn’t one for such irony. Nothing was subtle about those two. Therefore, the only explanation was fate or destiny. Destiny was as elusive as fate. However, fate was one that could be felt if one paid the upmost attention. Even during those times, it was still elusive and could only be felt like a slap in the face. Possibly because of the cold breath of air he took that allowed him to laugh uncontrollably.
How else would someone that had fought with a person tooth and nail. Two generals that did the dark and bloody of their entire race. Duo of misfortune. Where they went, blood spilled. Friends, family, strangers, nobody was safe when either of them were around. While there were lines neither of the two were willing to cross. Or so he thought, maybe that is why when he raided the dragons that guy wasn’t there.
Mountains of bones, sea of blood, and grinding insides of guilt. Older they become, the more substantial the pain of being a hero became. The two heroes that were the pride of their kind. No matter how he tried. In the end, neither, stayed with their own kind. Both took their people and left, while he slaughtered a good number of dragons, they were not something so easily wiped out. So how was it that the only person he felt that understood him was the person he spent his life attempting to kill?
If karma was a bitch, it would simply spin and the forward momentum of your actions caused everything to spin around and slap you in the back of the head. Fate, now this sick fuck, hid in the dark enjoying its handy work. Since he was tired of his own kind, then send him his enemy. How could he not laugh hysterically?
That’s right, the child didn’t just have dragon blood. This was the blood of his greatest enemy, that one that understood him best. Since this was true, why was it that the child now looked absolutely adorable. Now holding the child, a cold glint entered his eyes. It didn’t matter how deformed a child was, to abandon them in such fashion made you less than a person. Only the second he went to move, a tiny hand squished his own as it laughed.
Now looking at that child, who once so small they could be carried easily with a single hand. While still being able to carry her with a hand, she wasn’t a tiny child. Glancing at his side, “When was the last time she had a premonition?”
Shrugging, “I don’t know. Can’t tell you something I don’t know anything about. She was very tight-lipped about her dragon blood. Jessica never explained that part about herself.”
Frowning, “Generally they need to sit still, if you can sense the dragon blood, you would have noticed it. Power inside the blood isn’t normal, once activated, there is primordial power type of feeling that activates in it. Jessica’s dragon blood isn’t normal. Possibly could have activated it while moving. You’re telling me you never felt the power of the blood activate itself in anytime you two were together?”
Leo didn’t answer immediately. With a slight delay, “The only time I felt the power of her blood activate was when we returned. Even then, it wasn’t exactly activated. Instead, felt like she was constantly using it. Jessica was overly emotional, she was very good at hiding it. Only problem was that her actions showed rush decision-making and bits of sloppy choices.”
Somewhat hesitant, his thoughts were interrupted, “What is it? You just thought of something, what was it?”
A bit uncomfortable having his expression read so easily, “Jessica mentioned something about an evolution. When we were staying in Green River, we started to get to know each other. This was around the time we finally escaped. Having finally made it to world outside, I had many questions. During that time we were both answering questions the other had. At that time, she mentioned very briefly that her blood evolved while inside.”
“Let me guess, she didn’t explain further…” Seeing his expression said it all. For once, he was a bit upset about the things he had taught her. Only this was enough. With a dark expression, “If her blood evolved she is vastly shortening her time. Sealing isn’t going to be easy…”
Everything went by in a blur. Jessica was ushered into a room. Beast was in charge of gathering supplies that were asked for. After everything was gathered, they were left alone. Around now were Jessica, Leo, and the old man. Of these three, one was still unconscious. Looking over, he spoke with a bit of a stern tone, “Promise me something.”
Raising a brow, Leo didn’t say anything. Seeing a nasty expression, he couldn’t help but spit out, “I am not writing you a blank check. I take my words rather seriously.”
This caused an undecipherable expression to appear on the old man’s face, “Right now I will seal her dragon blood. This will affect her considerably. Only dragon blood isn’t something that can be sealed. What I am doing is building a dam, slowly over time this dam will crumble and break. What comes will be a flood. As I said before, normally the blood is of some nobody. Someone is not very important and very weak. Jessica’s blood comes from someone far different. If you meet someone named Ken, and he turns out to be a dragon, I need you to get Jessica to stick to him.”
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His face must have had a bunch of question marks, as the old man commented, “You don’t have to worry, at most Jessica might not get along with him. They have already met. While our relationship is complicated, he will help Jessica. Only with his help will Jessica be able to survive when the dam breaks.”
With a quiet room while some type of circles were being drawn with the materials gathered. When everything was almost done, Leo couldn’t help but ask, “What. What happens if she doesn’t receive help and the dam breaks. You said that at forty to fifty is a swift and instant death…”
Not being able to finish his sentence caused a slight smile to appear on the old man’s face. He could tell that while their contact had been short, the two truly started to care about each other, “There are two possibilities. As far as I know, nobody that far up has ever had a loose bloodline. Dragon blood doesn’t dilute the same way normal blood does. Normally even for an elf, if they procreate with a human or dwarf, they’re halves. For a dragon, their blood is nearly a toxin.”
With a heavy breath, “Anyone with dragon blood has a mutated heart. This heart slowly produces dragon blood that seeps into their body. Normally around thirty and through to forty, as the body reaches a threshold. Their bodies start to fight off the blood, only it can’t win. This causes drastic outbursts from the dragon blood that causes their premonitions to dilute into their own psyche, causing nearly psychotic breaks. If they survive, somewhere around ten years, the body will basically be a shell.”
Taking a break as he concentrated, possibly not wishing to say the next part. Soon he finished writing a series of symbols that looked similar without being able to place it, once that was done he continued. Quiet as quiet could be, whispering softly, “While on the outside they look fine. Inside, they’re nothing but a walking corpse. At best, they could live fives years. With everything at their disposal, they might make it to fifty.”
After a week, Jessica opened her eyes again. Everything seemed normal, however she was sure something was different. Lacking words to describe said difference. Unfortunately, she could do nothing about it. Much less describe, she could only vaguely sense something was different. No matter how she looked at those around her, nobody was telling her anything. Unbecoming of her age, she could only pout with annoyance. In the end, they retreated back to the settlement.
Making matters worse was the send-off. Again, feeling something was off, she couldn’t find the answer. Feeling better this time, she wasn’t the only one. Taking pleasure in it, Jessica could only exhale as she sat in the same boat as Leo this time. Traveling back slowly, they finally ran into a Grade E creature. Looking at the distant four legged creatures.
For the life of her, Jessica felt nothing. All that excitement, that rush to find the difference between the two. For one reason or another, she felt nothing. They had food, so she, in the end, decided to leave the creature alone. Instead, playing around with the old man. They took their time traveling back. Surprisingly, still was the atmosphere when they got back. Normally there was always this cloud of darkness over the settlement.
“What is it? You keep staring at me from the corner of your eye…”
Scratching the back of her head, she turned to her side. There, Leo was also watching her with a questioning expression. Being so easily seen through caused her to question her life for a moment, ignoring that she turned back to the old man, “It, is just strange. We haven’t spent that much time together like this. Deep inside, it just felt like something was wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time like this.”
Looking at her with a bit of surprise, “Well. I guess you can say that.” Pausing just long enough to bring a strange expression to her face, he smiled cheeky, “You remember my promise?”
Not understanding his meaning, she had to think back deeply. “Promise? Wait! You mean it?!” Partially screaming, she showed extreme excitement.
“Of course. A promise is a promise.” With a smile, there was a look in his eye that had an untold upheaval that finally settled in a silent type of mirth.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Showing how excited she was, she repeated herself three times.
Looking a little displeased, Leo couldn’t help but speak up, “If I am not mistaken it took two to reach this.”
Not seemingly affected, she laughed with giddy satisfaction. “Yes, thank you, thank you, and thank you!”
Looking a little bit better, he didn’t seem to really care. To be fair, he never really seemed to care. Since it was what Jessica wanted. There wasn’t any downsides he could see, so why not. He, in the end, was bound to her. Not like he would grow a pair of legs and simply run away in the middle of the night. Though he had to admit, there was something in the old man’s eyes that made him uncomfortable when he looked at him.
That night was a sleepless one. Maybe because of her excitement, she stayed up nearly the entire night. When the sun was starting to come up. There was a knock on the door. With dark circles, Jessica come out. Even that didn’t stop the glee shining from her eyes. Not explaining the details, they were only told they had to go somewhere first. Looking outside the house.
It was still a bit too early for anyone to be out. The sun was just barely coming over the horizon, most of the settlement was still covered in shadows as light had to cut through the freshly grown foliage. Looking back, Jessica couldn’t help but look at him questionably.
With a smile, he spoke in an upbeat tone, “After this I will be going on a long trip. Won’t be back for a long time.”
“A trip?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it. I was going to go on a trip when I ran into you in the forest. Who knows, maybe after this trip you will have a sibling.”
Jessica and Leo gave him a strange look. Leo couldn’t tell why he felt a chill go down his back. He didn’t have a body, so this was a feeling he couldn’t understand.