I sat alone in my room, surrounded by the mess of random clothes and junk I was slowly collecting. The mess had only gotten worse when after my mom had more clothes ordered in a similar style to what was made for me a couple days before. My mom then lectured me about the mess but it did not really bother me so I just left it for now.
Rather than the random assortment of clothes, I was much more interested in the small bundle in the corner of the room and the small bird that lay there. Sylvie had still not woken up since my experiment and I was beginning to worry.
Even as she slept, Sylvie’s tiny body quivered and shook as if trapped in a nightmare. My undead were not supposed to feel pain but right now I knew Sylvie was. I much as I wished I could help her, there was nothing I could do. Sylvie had to suffer through this alone.
This continued for several minutes before Nox mewled in alarm. A wisp of smoke began to rise up from Sylvie’s feathers. Before I could even react, a golden flame engulfed the small bird. It was not the same as when Nox transformed. I watched in horror as the golden flame burned away Sylvie’s feathers before it began to burn away her skin as well.
“Nox, save her!” I shouted with a slight panic.
Nox immediately grew to several times my own height. His hulking form filled the room as he towered over the small bird. Nox opened his mouth around Sylvie. A single one of his fangs was as big as she was. The golden flames of the lion’s mane flared brightly as Nox breathed in.
The fire engulfing Sylvie fluttered slightly but quickly returned to engulfing the bird. Nox’s roared furiously and tried to eat the flames again. This time, the flames flickered out and silence filled the room as the charred body of Sylvie fell still. Our relief only lasted for a second, however, before the flames burst out of Sylvie again, returning brighter than before.
Nox’s fury turned to a whimper as he tried again to devour the flames and failed. There was nothing we could do but watch as Sylvie burned in agony. In less than a few seconds, the fire consumed Sylvie. All that remained was a small pile of ashes on the cold floor. Even then, the golden flame still burned as if even those few ashes had to be burned away as well.
Nox shrunk back down to his normal size as he mewled sadly. His nose moved to nudge the ashes as if not fully understanding where Sylvia had gone.
Grief and anger swelled up within me as I slammed my fist into the hard floor. I barely even felt the sting in my hand as I tried to think of what could have gone wrong.
I moved to dispel the still-burning fire, prepared to give up until I understood more about the flame when movement caught my eye. The small pile of ashes began to swell as the golden flame that had been burning atop it was sucked inside.
For a moment, Nox and I fell still as we stared at the ashes. Then, more movement, a small little beak poked up from under the ashes. With a chirp and a shake, the rest of the ashes fell away to reveal Sylvie, unharmed.
Laughing in delight and relief I reached out to pick up the tiny bird. Sylvie chirped up at me as she hopped on my finger excitedly. Nox bounced around excitedly. At this moment, he looked more like an energetic puppy than a kitten.
Using my free hand, I brushed the remaining ashes off of Sylvie’s new feathers. Before this, Sylvie’s feathers had been a dull brown with two white streaks on her head but now, that had changed. She now sported a bright reddish-gold plumage that shimmered in the light of the room.
I marveled at what I saw. There were no burns or scars anywhere on her body. If I had not seen it myself, I would not believe she had been nothing more than a pile of ashes a few seconds before. I still hardly believed it. Sylvie had been reborn from the golden fire.
“How did you survive that?” I whispered down as I continued to brush away the ashes.
The tiny bird cocked her head as she looked at me as if not fully understanding what I was asking. The bird chirped at me and through the connection we shared, a single word was conveyed.
‘Hungry’
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I made a new nest for Sylvie to replace the one that was burned away while she slept off the meal. Her stomach bloated outwards as she rested contently.
Meanwhile, Nox was rubbing up against my hand, purring contently. I looked down at the kitten and smiled.
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“So, why did you not burst into flames when you were reborn?” I asked curiously.
Nox stared at me absently for a moment before pawing at his neck. I followed his movement and saw the golden patch of fur around his neck.
“Of course,” I mumbled as I got lost in my own thoughts, “I put that collar on you to siphon away all your excess energy when you wouldn’t listen. Instead of burning your body, the flames were instead stored there. I guess for the next experiment, I need to decide which of the two processes is better. The method Sylvie went through seems much riskier. I might have to try it on someone else to make sure first.”
Deep in thought, I wandered out of my room and through Dragon’s Nest. I did not make it very far though before Svend burst through the doors looking angry.
“Wren, tell your pet to get off my house!” He shouted with a booming voice that reverberated through the halls.
“Pet?” I asked as I was broken out of my reverie.
Svend did not seem to notice my confusion as he marched towards me and grabbed my arm. “Hurry up before it collapses another section of the roof!” He said as he dragged me outside.
Half carried by Svend; I was pulled through the doors. I heard the commotion outside before I saw it but it did not take more than a seconds to figure out what the problem was. Less than three steps outside the door was a massive figure that cast a shadow over the entire island. Just its head alone was bigger than a house.
“Naga, you made it here faster than I expected,” I said as I reached out to touch the scales of the giant snake.
Up until now, Naga had been busy hunting the ever-increasing number of Demonkin being born in the blood mist. She had made great strides in keeping the area from expanding. The mist there had even started to thin slightly with how many Demonkin she hunted. However, with the upcoming war just around the corner, I needed her here.
A few days prior when deciding what to do about Sebastion, I had commanded Naga to return to me. Apparently, she took that command literally and when she arrived, Naga directly climbed onto the island, pressing her giant head against the door.
“Don’t chat with it!” Svend complained, “Get that oversized serpent off my house before she crushes it even more!”
I leaned over and looked past the giant head blocking my view. Naga was so big less than half her body could fit on the floating island even if she curled up. As such, the rest of her body was currently twisted around Svend’s manor. More than a few pieces of stone roofing had already been destroyed by the massive weight. Honestly, it was a testament to the construction of the manor that anything was still standing at all.
Past the mansion, I could see hundreds of Kala soldiers running around in a frenzy as they tried to keep the peace among the panicking crowd. Svend had no doubt told the soldiers the snake was mine but that information had not spread to all of the civilians yet leading to chaos down below.
I chuckled slightly at the unintentional chaos I had caused and commanded Naga to move. She slithered to the ground, leaving large tracks of damage behind on Svend’s manor.
“I’ll… pay for the damages…” I squeaked out in embarrassment.
“With what money?” Svend replied after cursing under his breath a few times, "I know full well you do not have a source of income right now. Do you have a vault hidden somewhere King Sebastion has not found?”
“Maybe?” I replied thinking hard. “I had multiple places to store valuables when I ruled the continent. After four hundred years I had amassed a decent fortune even if most of it just went into the war effort. The problem is I never really cared that much so I do not remember where they all are. I had kept the locations recorded in my chronicle. Which is currently in Sebastion’s hands. He cannot read it but right now neither can I.”
Svend sighed as he pulled on his beard in frustration. “It is fine. you do not have to pay for the damage. Just… keep that thing away from my house.”
I gave Svend a mock salute and gave a few commands to the giant snake. For now, I would have her move well outside the city so that she would not cause any more panic. I would have made her burrow underground and out of sight but that would be really bad in a city like Kala where almost everything was underground. There is no telling what she might run into if she did that.
Only once Naga was sufficiently far away did Svend relax. I could still hear him mumble obscenities under his breath as he stared at his house though.
Svend was not the only one inconvenienced by Naga’s reappearance. Nearby, I saw my dad and Charly also scrambling to repair something carved into the ground.
Curious, I walked over to see what they were so worried about. as I approached the two boys both fell silent and looked up at me as if they had been caught doing something wrong.
“What are you working on?” I asked as I leaned over to see past them.
Carved into the ground was a series of interlocking glyphs that stretched all the way to the edge of the island. Despite my elementary understanding of the exact function of these glyphs, it did not take much for me to guess what my dad and Charly were working on.
“Are you… trying to turn the island into a war glyph?”
My dad coughed nervously, “I am surprised you can tell. I guess you are still studying everything I taught you. Do you want me to check your progress?”
“Do not try and change the subject. What are you planning to do with a war glyph?” I said as I placed my hands on my hips and gave the two my best impression of my mom’s glare.
My dad and Charly both looked at each other for a second before looking back at me. “Nothing,” they both said in unison.
Obviously not believing them, I continued to glower at the two, focusing my gaze on Charly. It took nearly a minute but eventually, he faltered.
“We just wanted to help!” He shouted.
I sighed and crossed my arms. “I already told you and Mom; I do not want any of you involved when Sebastion arrives. He is not an enemy you can face.”
“Maybe,” my dad replied with a shake of his head, “but that does not mean we are useless. After awakening a domain of my own I understand a bit how terrifying our enemy is but thanks to having my own domain I also understand its weakness. At least listen to my idea. You can decide afterwards if it is too dangerous or not.