Melissa.ii 5

Prologue

"Where's Eclipse?" I asked Father as I went inside the house. But I have this feeling that this 'house' that I'm in isn't actually my 'house'. It has a different.... feeling. The tapestries were different. The smell of smoke from Father's forgery can't be smelled from here. The lamps made from dragon crystals were replaced by a different kind of lamp that has a normal red flame unlike the dragon crystal's blue flames.

"Oh, that damn wolf." Father, who's eating his bread and eggs on the table had a warm smile. Unlike the Father that I remembered. He used to have a huge muscles and a striking forked beard. "She's probably hunting." He laughed. "The she-wolf probably gone hungry."

I can't help but laugh at my Father. "Father, Eclipse is no wolf." I reminded him as I sat next to him. "Eclipse is a huuuuuuuggggggeeeee frozen dragon! Remember? That's why we moved here in the Artic Arsolice?"

Father gulped a glass of warm milk and laughed "What's so funny, Father?"

He wiped the milk on his beardless face. "Frozen dragon? Artic Arsolice? What are you talking about? And Eclipse is a wolf. Did you bump your head somewhere, my dear?" Father examined my head as if he was a High Maester of the Citazel of Nazrin. "My little girl is okay." He kissed my forehead and pinched my cheeks.

"But is trueeee!!! Eclipse is a dragon! I asked Aunt Therese not to fry the dragon's egg, remember? And you took it and gave it to me."

Father sighed. "My little girl..." Father lifted me up on my chair and made me stood up. "You are already 6 years-old. This talk of dragons.... it's silly. Dragons doesn't exist. Never the less, a frozen dragon. And Aunt Therese is already dead." He sighed.

"B-But..."

"No buts."

That was when a soft knock was heard on the door. And when Father opened it, a huge wolf which is as big as Father was seen. It had thick black fur on it's left part while red fur on it's right. It's blue eyes which is as cold as ice itself were glowing from it's own shadow.

"Father!!!" I shouted as the wolf ran.

"Melissa!" Father did the same thing as the wolf passed him. It bayed on me.

The wolf's eyes were staring unto mine as it was on top of me. It's eyes were sharp and cold. It was about to open it's mouth. I smelled it's breath. The wolve's fangs were about to gnaw me.

Or so I thought.

It licked my face.

"Father!!!!"

He sighed once again. "Do you still believe that Eclipse is a dragon?" He lifted the black and red wolf away from me.

"You mean?!"

"The one and only."

As if understanding what we're talking about, the wolf whined. It's ears went down and it's long and furry black tail stopped wagging.

"Eclipse." I said. The wolf walked silently towards me. Her eyes were somehow lonely. "I'm sorry. It must've been a bad dream." I smiled.

I guess everything was just a bad dream.

.......

....

..

In that dream, I was a knight. I was Melissa of the Frozen Flame.

I defended Arsolice with the sworn swords of the Artic from the bandits of Glasswel. What a silly dream. I could never be like that. But it felt so real. The battle, the flaming arrow on my chest. The melting snow around me. Eclipse's frozen breath that turned the men of Glasswel into solid ice. The song that the swords sung on that day. The blood. The burning castle.... all of it felt so real. I thought that I was gonna die when I was surrounded by the bandits so I pulled the arrow on my chest as an attempt of suicide. But I woke up here. In this place. Where my Father is alive and doesn't seem to know a thing about the word "smith" by the looks of his body.

"This is better." I said to the wolf as I hugged her. Eclipse's fur were soft and warm. Unlike the scales of the Eclipse that I know. Cold and hard. "This is better.."

Years have passed and I've studied to become an Acolyte at the Garden of Fernanzia, which is the heart of the town called Porguilla. I've learned the magick of the Old Song's of the Fae's and some Ditties of the Deities. I've forgotten about the stupid dream that I have. But sometimes, my memories gets all mixed up. I mean, I see the same faces. But they were all different. What a crazy dream it is. Anyways, I even got the reputation of being the next High Reverend due to my skills because they said that I was a "genius".

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All was fine. Until when I went on my dorm on that bloody day. There were a flood of blood on the entrance. I was shaking and before I knew it, I was on my knees.

"Melissa, are you okay?" My roommate said. She shrieked when she saw the blood on the floor. She opened the door. And there, the corpse of Eclipse was lying.

I stood slowly. My white clerical garb turned red with the blood of my friend. And when I examined her, there was a letter on Eclipse's mouth.

I opened it immediately. But instead of a letter, there was a finger inside. I made a shrill and threw the white envelope. My friend picked it up. She opened it and saw a letter inside. I, however, still hasn't calmed down as I cried.

"Your Father... Melissa." She said in a worried tone.

I couldn't speak. I wiped the tears in my eyes before looking at her. "He was taken by Drenvince Crynz and his men. He wants you to... revive someone. And that finger on the letter was... your Father's."

Hearing those words, my tears fell once again. Father... no..

We talked to the knights of Porguilla, but as I expected, they couldn't be of any use. They were the dogs of Drenvince Crynz. The town's mayor.

In the end, I went alone at the said place. The Dreaded Woods. There were nothing in there but dead trees. There weren't any animals either. I ran because the sun already set. And it's a new moon tonight. Only the stars were present. But it was bright enough to see. There weren't any animals like wolves or bears around this part. But I was scared of the dark. I was just an 16 year-old girl back then. I ran and ran. Until I saw the church that they said. It was burned down indeed like what the letter said.

I opened the door and I was amazed by the beauty of the wrecked place. Or was I just so different?

The place was wrecked in everyway but it was lit by hundreds of candles. On the middle was a huge spell circle drawn with blood. By the smell of it, it was freshly drawn.

"You came." It was Drenvince and he was surrounded by his men. "I've prepared the place for you. Everything is set." He clapped his hands filled with golden rings studded with expensive stones. A few seconds has passed and two men came with my Father. He was asleep.

"Father!" I ran towards them but they pointed a rifle on my face.

"You'll be reunited with your Father, don't worry. After the ceremony is done." He smiled. "Now do it."

"But Drenvince, ressurecting the dead is prohibited by the law!"

"I am the law." His voice boomed inside the broken down church.

"The law of the Gods."

One of his men cocked it's rifle towards me. He shoved it with his hand without looking. "In this town, little girl," Drenvince walked towards me and grabbed my face. "...I am God."

"I won't do it."

"I will kill your beloved Father then." His grip tightened. "Very slowly."

"Father...." I looked at him. He was beaten. He was filled with scars and bruises.

So I decided to do it.

"Who shall I resurect?"

Drenvince's face suddenly changed. His face turned into a frown when I asked him.

"My daughter. Divina."

I guess he is indeed a father. He loves his daughter so much that he went to such lenghts just to be with his daughter again.

Without saying a word, I lied on the circle of blood where the names of the Gods were written in old Cordirenzian language. When I opened my eyes once again, I was in a different place.

My body felt light. My arms and legs were short. It was a feeling that I haven't felt in a long time. "Something's changed." I've said to myself.

I got up on my bed and went outside of my room. I wasn't on my dorm. Nor on the house of my Father. It was a different place. I went outside and there, I saw a small dragon, chained upon a tree.

"Eclipse?!"