It had been five days since Shawar’s demise. The pillars of light that intensified after a couple of days became less frequent and less dangerous. Life went back to normal for most people, but not for the Order or anyone who regarded the light dragon as a threat. Dracokin stayed alert for more of them, and the Marked dragons were kept under heavy surveillance after what they did.
The incoherent incantation they spoke was never written in any books the library of Dracokin had to offer, and no mages knew what kind of summoning spell they were tied to. It wasn’t even translated by the Gift of Languages, which confounded them even further.
With everyone on edge and racing to get to an answer, Azureath kept her wits with her. She tried to stay calm to inspire others to be, but after witnessing the unnerving spectacle that was the Marked dragons, even she wondered if she was only doing this for herself. The azure dragon did not want to end up catatonic and acting like a mindless beast. She was a dragon, not some four-legged beast!
Her concerns and worry did not escape anyone’s attention. Everyone, especially those who knew her like Elyse, Ritik, and Richie, wanted to help, but she would either avoid them or, in the case of Ritik, did not wish to talk personal things and focused only on the Mark. She rebuffed Zenithia, feeling that she caused everything.
Avila noticed this and felt that she needed something more convincing to make her feel better. It must be something even Azureath could not expect.
It may be time for her to be more heavily involved. Still abiding by the rules, of course.
***
Still troubled by the uncertainty of the situation and on the Ternorians’ conditions, Azureath was unable to rest that night. There was no progress on understanding the Mark of the Fallen, and the fear of another light dragon finishing the job Shawar failed worried her. She wasn’t sure how, but she felt intense fear. She never was a dragon that fear anything, but ever since her self-imposed exile and the trauma of seeing her family slaughtered, she…felt like she was a different dragon. She did not feel like a fearsome dragon. She felt like a docile horse.
It infuriated her, even when no one pointed it out to her. But it was the reality, and all Azureath could do was accept that her relevance was over the moment she arrived in Pol Hain with the Blackjack and her crew and passengers.
She was a guide for their new land. And now she was a glorified research subject.
The depressing reality of her involvement made her tired. All she wanted to do was lay down lazily and sleep. And she did as Ritik and his fellow researchers compared notes.
Unbeknownst to her, it would be an experience she would not forget.
It started as a peculiar, dream-like feeling. She could see her own body lying on the floor while she was floating. Not flying. Floating. She did not beat her wings at all.
She tried to move, but her unfamiliarity to her current state did not help her at all. It quickly dawned to her that she might not be dreaming at all. How could she even think about the peculiar situation in a dream? And she had not had a good dream for almost 75 years. This dream was not only pleasant, but also too lucid.
As she wondered on how it could happen, she saw a familiar figure in the darkened landscape. This time, the figure looked uninviting and outright menacing, but she knew it was Avila, the feathered dragon.
Then it dawned to her.
“So, this is it, then,” said Azureath, accepting her fate. “This is the end of my journey. Strange. I never thought I’d die by mere depression, but I suppose that battle took more toll to my body than anyone thought.”
Avila then chuckled. “It is a fine assumption, azure one, but fear not. This is nothing more than a temporary arrangement.”
“Temporary arrangement?”
“As of this moment, you are dead, but your soul is still tethered to your body should you wish to return. However, I do not pull you out of your body for a twisted sense of humor.”
“I see.” Azureath was supposed to be mad, but Avila’s presence soothed her. “Then, what is it that you want, o aspect of draconic death, other than claiming my soul?”
“Why don’t we take a walk while I do my job? I may be involved, but that doesn’t mean I can abandon what I am.”
Azureath nodded, and the two dragons walked from the courtyard into the city. The darkened landscape proved to be a very different experience for the azure dragon, especially when she saw more dragons than usual. Those dragons, however, looked very pale and sickly. One that Azureath stumbled suffered a fatal injury, yet still walked around as if nothing happened.
“Dead dragons waiting for their guide,” explained Avila. “They are lost, but not to the point of turning into an Unsent. They questioned their deaths, yes, but they have not succumbed to the curse.”
“Why don’t you be their guide?” asked Azureath.
“I can offer my claws for them, but only if they accept me. It may sound simple, but your soul cannot lie. Not every dragon feels the same way regarding death. In time, they will accept the truth. Or, they may not, and their souls are doomed to be the Unsent; corrupted souls that exist to drag other souls into their mud of despair, denying them eternal rest.”
“What a terrible fate to fall on a dragon,” remarked Azureath with a growl of worry. “To be forever lost in this…purgatory.”
“It depends on how the aspect deals with the situation. Some, like them, are hard, but others…are easy. Unfortunately, the reality may be hard for you to understand.”
Before Azureath knew it, they were no longer in the city of Dracokin, but instead somewhere different. Azureath noticed that the trees looked different, almost like the ones on Raptor Island. The fact that the sea was light blue and there were sands also made her think she was back in Raptor Island.
But before she could ask Avila where she was, she heard a dragon’s weak mewl. It sounded like a youngling. Azureath’s motherly instinct draw her to the female youngling, which was nearby. Upon seeing her, however, she was surprised by the youngling’s appearance.
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Unlike the western dragons, but like Avila, this dragon had colorful feathers and had no limbs, resembling a snake. The dragon also had wings despite of its serpentine appearance, which made Azureath even more confused by its appearance. It looked like a snake with bird features and wings, with nothing to indicate that she was a dragon except the pair of horns barely visible from the feather ‘headdress’ she had.
However, Azureath did not care. She only cared that the youngling was crying. She approached the snake-like dragon and said, “Hello, there, little one. Are you lost?”
“I…I’m not sure,” said the dragon. “I went swimming near the sea, but when I’m back, my mother left me. I don’t even know where I am.”
“Don’t worry. I can help you find your mother. Your wings are not fully developed yet, so I can give you a—”
Avila interrupted Azureath with saying, “Xilotl, why don’t we…have a little talk? There is something important I need to tell you.”
“You…know her?” asked Azureath, surprised that Avila casually call the winged serpentine dragon by her name.
Avila silently beckoned towards the sea, and Azureath turned towards it. There was something washed ashore where Azureath could see something that looked…serpentine.
Her guts then told her that it was something bad. She started to remember why she was there and not in Dracokin. She did not want to see it, for she knew what little Xilotl’s fate was.
Yet, she did, and she regretted it.
She was just talking to Xilotl’s soul. Her mangled, drowned body was washed ashore after being hit by corals. There weren’t any sea creatures or fish eating her. Her green, acidic blood also made it clear that she was not killed by an animal.
Azureath became sick. She started to remember the traumatic experience of losing her own youngling, similarly mangled, while she survived with the Mark that scarred her, to remind her how much she had fallen into despair. This revelation angered her and she turned around, intending to confront Avila on why she took her to a youngling’s grave.
Then she heard the conversation between the Aspect of Death and the young, deceased dragon.
“I…died?” she said with disbelief. “But why? I haven’t even learned how to properly fly!”
“I know it is hard for you to understand, dear Xilotl, but it is the truth,” said Avila. “I have no control over it, for I am merely a guide. I simply tell you the facts, nothing more.”
“What…what will my mother do? What will she feel? I…I don’t want to make mother sad. I…I shouldn’t have played in the sea!”
“Yet, it happened. And it is time for you to rest.” Avila nuzzled Xilotl, who reeled back. “Unless…you want to say goodbye?”
“I will. This island is foreign to me. Mother must’ve thought I was lost in the sea. I don’t want her to be sad.”
“You are a brave one, dear.” Avila smiled, then beckoned Azureath to follow her. The azure dragon, still overwhelmed by the youngling’s death, did not respond at first. But then, Xilotl saw her and said, “Don’t be sad, azure one. It’s all my fault, after all.”
Then the scenery changed into a tropical rainforest. Azureath then saw a horned serpent with similarly colorful wings and scales, wrapped around herself. She seemed tired, clearly trying to find Xilotl’s remains and failed to do so. It made the azure dragon wondered how far did the young winged serpent was lost.
Xilotl slithered towards her mother and, nuzzling her, said, “Mother, I’m…I’m sorry for worrying you. I know you can’t hear me, but please don’t be sad. It’s not your fault. I know I should’ve listened to you, but…”
Xilotl then slithered around and Azureath could see a couple of eggs gently wrapped around the mother’s coil.
“Do tell them that they had a good sister,” said Xilotl. “And don’t let them go near the sea. I know they won’t understand, but I do not wish for you to be sad. It’s all…it’s all my fault.”
Xilotl lowered her head and nuzzled her mother once more. “Good-bye, mother,” she said. “I’m going now. Thank you.”
She then slithered away, just as Azureath noticed the serpentine dragon opened her eyes and looked towards the sea. Xilotl and the two female dragons looked on as the serpent dragon looked at her eggs and hissed. Azureath understood it was a hiss of sadness, and the realization that her eldest youngling was no more.
“I hope I didn’t worry her more than it should,” said Xilotl. She then turn to Avila and said, “Will it…will it be painful?”
“Never, dear Xilotl.” Avila then opened her raven wings and wrapped them around Xilotl. Azureath could hear the sound of flapping wings. And like that, Xilotl disappeared under the wings.
Azureath, however, did not like how Avila claimed the soul of a youngling and said, “Why did you take me here? To make me relive the moments of my failure as a mother?”
“You are never a failure, Azureath,” said Avila. “Circumstances beyond your control did it to you.”
“Circumstances caused by those wretched humans! We are not talking about the sea claiming the life of my younglings, Avila. Humans did it! And I can only wish for them to burn in hell if that even exists! What does it have to do with the young one’s death, other than showing how her mother failed to find her? And why did you take me here? You might as well claim my spirit when you did so back in Dracokin!”
“I have no rights to take the soul of one whose life is not forfeit,” said Avila. “But I can take their souls provided they will return after due time. Azureath, I am not doing this to make you remember your failure. I am doing this because I need your help.”
Azureath scoffed. “You? An omnipotent aspect of Death? You, who reap souls and guide them to their eternal rest? You need my help? Shouldn’t it the other way around?”
“This whole mess is not my doing, and it certainly won’t force me to get involved if it wasn’t for the circumstances of my own death. Those Light Banes changed the fate and destiny of this world, altering a reality already set in stone. But then, there is you, a Marked dragon that was able to resist the Mark while others failed. Yet, the trauma of witnessing the end of your family forced you into exile. I am doing this to let you know that I am responsible for putting them to rest!”
“So, you showed me the untimely death of a youngling to convince me you guided my children? Is this your twisted way to convince me that they are at rest? Why can’t you just tell me?”
“Do you think you will be convinced?”
“Even now, I don’t. You are the only aspect of death that came to us and gave us a cryptic clue. Why can’t there be any other aspects, then? We have Lycans, a satyr, a Raptor, a kobold, and even a dragonborn, and they don’t have their own version of death calling for them?”
“They certainly will…if their own aspects of death experienced what I experienced. Azureath, I know you will despise me for this, but the only way for you to be truly convinced of the full danger of this situation is for you to confront your past and let it go. Convince yourself that everything happens for a reason. Be curious, and it will lead you to your answer.”
Azureath wasn’t sure what Avila was talking about. True, she was still traumatized by her family’s death, but she already had friends to help her forget. Why would she reminded her of it again? What was she hiding?
“I will keep in touch,” said Avila. The scenery abruptly changed back to Dracokin. “Remember this, Azureath. Your past holds part of the answers necessary to find Qeveriyt.”
“What?! H—”
Before Azureath could even say anything more, she felt herself being pulled inside her own body, then she opened her eyes and took a sharp breath, unsure how to make of that out-of-body experience.
“That’s one hell of a nap, Azureath,” said a familiar voice. The azure dragon quickly turned to the voice and saw the person she was finally glad to be healthy again: Hans Rezmirn.
“Oh, Hans!” she exclaimed, almost forgetting what Avila was talking about just a moment ago. “I am so glad you woke up!”
“Wasn’t exactly a bad time to rest, but it’s hardly the time. Azureath…this may be a very unusual request that will come out as improper, but…do you want to go find your lair?”
Azureath became surprised by Hans’ remark. Didn’t Avila just talk about convincing her to return to her lair and find more about her past? Was it simply a coincidence?
She got her answer when she saw Avila sitting by the corner of the city’s wall and winked at her, making her realize that the Death Aspect made sure she got what she wanted. This also made her realize that she lied about her powers being limited to dragons.
Or she never told the azure blue dragon about it. Either way, being manipulated did not make her feel better. However, for Avila to do that, it must be for a very good reason.
And Azureath intended to find out.