Mordian Astrionyx

Jiwoo’s spell struck me from the back, the translucent barrier he had conjured grew significant cracks as fierce gales of wind siphoned through the air.

Both Aurora and I were hurtled through the platform, soon crashing on the final platform where the portal shimmered faintly.

Just as my body stopped rolling, my mind felt momentarily blurred, my entire body stung from countless wounds, as blood dripped with no stop.

My body shuddered under the effects of the curse, blood rolling down my chin as I focused, my eyes jumped to the platform where Jiwoo laid, his body was abnormally still, only the muffled thoughts of my bond assured me that he was still alive.

I moved my gaze, realizing that Aurora laid motionless near the portal.

My breathing heaved, unable to form any plan to save my bond.

Finally, I shifted my body, my back twitched from tanking the blast from earlier which had damaged one of my wings, my limbs shaking as I twisted my head back at the chaos still ensuing, and amidst all that chaos was Jiwoo, barely holding himself together, as he drifted away into the void.

His body unmoving and breathing felt so shallow that I thought of the worse, but pushing these thoughts away, I looked at him shift to another platform, lying on it, as his blood pooled below him.

‘Mordian go. Take Aurora with you...and go.’ He whispered faintly, his voice a shallow sob, so weak and broken.

My heart thundered in my chest, my mind worked for any possibilities to help him—to save my bond. But the devastation before me made every counter-measure almost meaningless, the tendrils waved around with no aim in mind, the blasts, now so random that they now struck at any given moment, even the hum and pulse they released was disrupted due to the residual shocks and energy left behind, obscuring its focus.

His thoughts leaked over to me, his desperation, pain and worry like an open book, which raged within my chest like a maelstrom. ‘I am not leaving you behind.’ I shouted, trying to reassure Jiwoo in this moment, when even I couldn’t myself. But I tried to think of something, anything.

I need to do something! I grunted, grounding my teeth as frustration boiled within me and close to erupting any moment.

‘Go,’ he murmured through our link. ‘I’ll be right behind you. Trust me. Go. Please...don’t be stubborn this once, please...Mordian...’ He pleaded, his voice so weak and hollow, as I feel silent, no encouraging words touching my lips as I simply looked as desperation swelled in my chest like a lump.

He was lying. A blatant lie he couldn’t even hide. He had lied so much. Even when we was miserable, in unbearable pain, he always lied his way through it.

Why won’t you rely on me, Jiwoo? Am I this unreliable to you? I clenched my hands into fists.

I truly felt miserable. Back when Primordial had taken over Jiwoo, there was still this tiny thread of hope within me that Jiwoo might come back. But here, in this place—in this void, there was no Primordial, no one, except for us. And I was the only one who could save him now.

But I didn’t know how? But, would he think this way if I was the one in danger? No, he would rather risk his own life to try to save mine instead.

The stalactite charged and moved, its tip aimed at my bond—the potent and extreme energy which filled the air made shivers run down my spine.

‘If that beam hits Jiwoo again, he wouldn’t be able to survive. His body isn’t regenerating after taking the blasts from that energy, and the damage that beam of energy does is too potent—enough to stop even Jiwoo’s regeneration. Something is odd about those blasts. And his mana, why can’t I properly feel it?’

Panic gripped me, as I tried to think of something, anything, Jiwoo’s mana flickering like dying flames.

But with the wounds I’d sustained, I didn’t have a lot of options at hand. I didn’t have the extraordinary abilities like Jiwoo—I couldn’t bend space to usher through it, neither could I stop time—, neither did I have some strength I could exploit at this moment.

If only I had my ancestors’ strength. The ability to manipulate time. We had lost it—shackled by Mordain’s uncertainty to pass down his knowledge on to us.

What can I do? What more is there?

Time...how could my bond bend it and not I, who was a dragon from the descendants of those who used to be masters of it.

Could it be obscured? Just like Primordial said, it’s in the willingness to do something. Then, what was time? I thought, as I tried to think back on all the knowledge I’d accumulated over all my life in this split second.

If it was in the insight and knowledge which allowed someone to manipulate these edicts, then, even I can do it.

But, wouldn’t it mean that I lacked the very first step to gain the insight into time? How time flowed, bended, twisted, intersected in its enigmatic way...did it start at that very point.

I questioned everything, piecing together the bits I knew and trying to filter out some straws of knowledge I could grasp at from my conversation with Primordial.

Then exactly in that moment, as if some being had heard my plea in this desperate moment, a deep voiced surged from the depth of my very being, the world seemed to loss colour from my perspective, everything turning bleak, as if I was stuck in this moment, everything moving in slow motion.

'Do you want to save him?'

The voice was ancient, yet it held a certain familiarity and warmth which bloomed from inside me. The voice seemed to be surging from within me, and not at the same time. It was a unfamiliar voice, yet, the way it spoke, the way it mounted each word seem to hold some otherworldly spark.

The voice echoed in my ears again. It seemed soft, yet firm and powerful. ‘Let me guide you if you wish to protect your bond. You right now, cannot achieve the result you hope for. It’s your inability to understand the essence you are trying to. Time is not be fiddled with, and how narrowed minded you are on this edict, your chances are not even slim. And insight does not come forcefully.’

I hesitated over the words. Guide?

Don’t you mean control? I grumbled, taking a step closer to the edge. The voice within me snickered for a split second, as if amused by my remark.

I squirmed under the vertigo, the pain became unbearable yet I suppressed it, my heart felt like it could burst any moment. My face wore a twisted scowl, as I thought over those words again.

‘Phrase it however you want, but with my help, your bond will get to live past yet another day, Mordian.’ Its voice grew more wry through each syllable, as if finding amusement in my desperation, yet trying to tell me something. ‘And a man who is desperate to even grab at straws shouldn’t complain about the help he can get in this moment. The choice is yours.’

‘Would you wager on this moment, bearing the weight of a single choice to protect your bond, taking on the risks of possession, or would you be stupid and prideful enough to push me away in this very moment and let your bond die a meaningless death, putting an end to this tale? Didn’t you promise to protect him. Was that an empty promise?’

‘The choice is all yours.’ It said after a few seconds.

My gaze went to the stalactite, and then Jiwoo. Everything appeared monochrome, no voice heard, or colour visible, as I tried to contemplate to come to a decision.

Yet, everything ushered me to accept its help.

The air burned in my lungs, each breath a struggle. Yet, despite the haze clouding my thoughts, I think I knew what to do. The choice I need to make.

It was my turn to make a choice, a choice in order to protect my bond. A tough choice!

The wounds I bore weren’t shallow—they were anchors, dragging me down. Yet, my resolve remained steadfast, my thoughts only focused on protecting Jiwoo.

“There is no other choice!” it said in a coaxing tone, and I couldn’t say anything back.

I didn’t reply back, but, I let go, feeling my body grow numb, the pain vanished, as I felt my spine tingle, the world around me shifted, everything turning and twisting between monochrome and colour as the mana and demonic energy around me moved—their presence seemed to respond to some will.

Everything seemed to look different from this moment forth, my eyes felt warm, the sensation lukewarm, as I saw floating particles all around me.

Fiery reds, soothing blues, charming yellows and ethereal greens. But alongside them a sinister wisp of energy rose, my eyes followed the particles, the scene filled me with awe—as if I was witnessing something mysterious, otherworldly.

So, this is what the mana and demonic energy look like? I thought in a hurry, feeling dumbstruck.

This is how Jiwoo saw the world when he activated Mind’s Eye. This is how freely the mana moved, like it had a will, but worked accordingly to some purpose, some system to create harmony.

But the voice from within me grew louder.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

‘Focus Mordian! The next part will be tough.’

I forced my gaze away, scanning the area again, but everything seemed different—no, it was not the world, it was me, I was looking, truly looking at the world how it was, the veil over my eyes finally ripped apart as I gazed upon the truth.

I looked at ‘it’, it was what moved the world, and the world ‘it. It was...I couldn’t find the words to describe it as it vanished from my sight like an illusion undone.

Aurora’s body lay crumpled near the portal, her unmoving form accentuating the dire reality of the situation, but her presence seemed to burn brightly. My breathing grew ragged, my mind spinning as I tried to formulate a plan, any plan, to save my bond. But my battered body rebelled with every attempt to move.

And there, among the fiery chaos, Jiwoo’s mana burned weakly, barely a whisk of his presence I caught, something had happened to him when he had taken the full surge of that blast earlier. Even the relic armour hadn’t held against that blast.

I felt warmth burn through me, like burning hot coal to my skin, as my muscles seemed to burst and melt, my mind churning under the maelstrom which raged within me, as I almost succumbed to the onslaught. But the voice emerged again, its tone ushering me through it all as I found some understanding, some insight nestling into a part of my mind, as if filling some block. I focused and found my attention on Jiwoo.

The stalactite trembled and surged forward, its jagged tip slicing through the air, aimed directly at him. An oppressive, volatile energy radiated from it, making the very atmosphere hum with tension. It filled the void, crawling over my skin like ice and fire. Shivers wracked my spine as I gritted my teeth.

“What do I do now?” I hissed through clenched teeth, every word scraping my throat like broken glass.

But the panic clawed at me, relentless and cold. My thoughts fragmented as I wrestled with the reality of my injuries. The curse that dug into my soul made every second an agony I couldn’t shake, despite Primordial having suppressed it.

Desperation weighed on my chest as my hands curled into fists, the sharp pain in my palms grounding me. I searched frantically, but there were no options, no cards left to play, except for its help.

‘Watch carefully Mordian. This will be a lesson worth remembering.’

A wave of cold numbness washed over me again. My body no longer felt like my own. My spine tingled with an alien sensation as the world around me warped, the vibrant colours dimming into a stark monochrome. It wasn’t darkness—it was clarity. A clarity that stripped the world to its core.

Everything around me shifted, the world itself revealing its inner workings.

And in this very moment, I felt as though I were peering into the very fabric of the universe’s secrets.

The world around me sharpened, the fog of panic lifting. My vision clarified in a way that defied explanation—colours grew darker, yet more vibrant, their edges saturated like oil paint on canvas.

Instinct pulled my hands upward. I didn’t know why, but the voice did. It showed me. A memory, ancient and indelible, unfurled like a story etched into stone. It guided me step by step, its whispers weaving into my consciousness until I felt the knowledge as if it had always been mine. A single motion, a single will, a single choice—and the world stilled.

Everything stopped. A fragmented part of the insight had become mine.

The beam of compacted energy, a torrent of death and fury, froze mid-air, suspended like a fragile shard of glass. Time itself recoiled under my will. The air turned dense, heavy, as though I had seized the world by its throat and squeezed until it could no longer breathe. All colour drained, everything fading to muted greys. The auras that once pulsed vibrantly around me dimmed to ghostly outlines.

I was moving.

And nothing else was.

This—this was power. The power that the dragons of Astrionyx once wielded to reign supreme over all other races. The power to stop time. The dominance over this edict which held an aspect of reality together.

For a fleeting instant, I understood what it meant to hold dominion over existence itself.

But the world fought back immediately, like a beast honing its fangs at me.

A shudder rippled through the frozen stillness, cracks spider-webbing across the silence. My body screamed. Agony erupted like wildfire, searing through every muscle, every nerve, every cell. The pressure was unbearable, as though the very fabric of the universe was rejecting me, crushing me beneath its enormity.

So this…this is what Jiwoo feels. This unbearable burden to stop time even for a split second.

I had watched him before, seen him wield this ability with frightening ease, but never did I imagine the price he paid each time. The sheer weight of it, the pain—it was inhuman.

‘Go now,’ it rasped, releasing hold over me.

I staggered, my lungs desperate for air, my strength barely trickling back into my limbs. It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe.

But I couldn’t stop now.

‘Go, Mordian! Save him!’ The voice rang clear this time, booming through my mind like a war drum. There was no hesitation left in me. No fear. With all the strength I could summon, I lunged, a blur of motion leaping through the broken chaos.

I would reach him.

I would save Jiwoo.

The tendrils remained stuck mid-air, the blasts the same, nothing seemed alive, everything stuck in this frozen tableau which I commanded.

I jumped and then landed, missing my steps by an inch as I staggered to him, my form succumbing as my muscles felt like lead, the pain grew to an unbearable burden as I saw the world around me distorting, the greys grew brighter, and twisted gnarled lines of colour surged through the void as the world resisted through my control, and finally I let go as I saw Jiwoo breathe.

The world shattered back into motion, colours flooding in, sound returning in a deafening rush, leaving my ears ringing. I staggered, my legs giving out as I put hands on Jiwoo’s broken form and finally realised what had happened to him.

His mana, no his channels...

I spat blood as I stumbled, feeling the pillar take aim at us.

I positioned myself above Jiwoo. It hurt to move. But I moved somehow, and the glow around my body shifted, as my form flickered from its edges as black scales grew over my body, my broken wing flailing, as I shifted Jiwoo aside, but the blast resounded and I felt my consciousness dim for a moment.

***

Seo Jiwoo

I felt the chaos around me, my ears ringing, my form felt pressed down by the weight of a mountain as I tried to move, but my limbs felt weak, my arms flailed, as I felt Mordian doing something, but unsure what.

My mana dimmed with every passing moment, my hold over it releasing as if it was no longer my own. I felt weaker and weaker each passing second.

I tried to call for the relic armour again, but it came in a sorry state, it’s scales broken, barely healing like my body, as I tried to crawl, but I slipped from the blood pooling down me.

Then everything seemed to halt, as the stalactite got ready to charge its blast at me. But then, out of nowhere, I felt a blur, like a presence tugging at me on the back of my head and suddenly Mordian was standing over me.

His battered form struggled to move, yet he still tried to cradle me, his struggle filled me with pride, warmth and care, but also desperation and concern as I saw from the corner of my eye the blast releasing at us.

I looked at Mordian and saw his body expanding, black obsidian scales grew over his skin, shimmering like polished black stone in the light, as gnarled fangs grew from his mouth, my bond took the form of his true dragonic physique, his massive onyx horns, curved and jagged grew like daggers as I saw his claws nearing me as he pushed me further away.

I shouted in my mind, my desperation growing as I saw the blast tearing through Mordian’s abdomen, a hole pierced through him as I saw warm blood gush out of him like a stream.

He staggered as I saw the pillar pulling back, its residual energy dispersing in the atmosphere, as I shouted at Mordian who laid there, unmoving, I shouted again, crawling to him somehow, as I placed a hand on his smooth scales, my thoughts bled on to him.

‘Mordian, please,’ I felt tears welling in the corner of my eyes as I tried to move him, my desperation taking hold as I shouted again. ‘Damn it, get up MORDIAN ASTRIONYX.’

I leaned against him feeling the chaos halted as all my attention went to my bond. I willed my mana but it didn’t move, every muscle, every cell inside me groaned as if bearing the weight of the world.

“MORDIAN.” This time I shouted as I struck him, and I saw his enormous body stirring.

‘You don’t have to shout.’

I breathed in relief as Mordian stumbled and rose, blood leaked slowly as the gaping hole left me concerned for him.

‘Let’s go.’ He said as I saw him taking my battered form in his claws, and the final ounce of energy inside me left.

***

Mordian Astrionyx

With no regard for my own wellbeing, I lunged forward, clutching Jiwoo tightly in my grasp. His form sagged in my grasp, his mind giving way as I felt fatigue taking hold of him, his thoughts blurring and presence still so very weak.

My dragonic form tore through the shadowy tendrils, that clawed at me, blocking my path, my wings barely carrying my weight.

My jagged teeth ripped through them as they lashed at me from all directions, piercing scales and flesh alike. I didn’t stop, I couldn’t. Blood poured from the gaping hole in my abdomen, painting my vision in shades of red and black. Yet, I pushed on, my blurred sight fixed on the safe platform ahead, only inches away.

The moment my claws touched solid ground, I seized Aurora, pulling her close. With a desperate surge of strength, I launched myself toward the portal mere steps away. My massive body collided with the shimmering rift in space, forcing it to expand as I barrelled through. The air around us howled with the sound of cracking reality; lightning flashed like a frenzied storm, carving chaotic arcs across the void. The portal groaned, shrinking and expanding as I finally breached its threshold.

The shift between realms left my mind reeling, colours dimming at the edges of my vision. Then, with a sudden lurch, we were through. Free. The oppressive weight of the void behind us lifted—but only to be replaced by a new peril.

We were falling.

The cold wind tore against my scales as we plummeted. I struggled to steady myself, but one of my wings hung limp, battered by the earlier blast from the pillars. Through the haze of my fading vision, I glimpsed a vast expanse of green—massive canopies of trees stretching endlessly, shrouding the land below like an emerald sea. A dense forest awaited our descent.

I twisted my body, angling my back toward the drawing ground. Drawing Jiwoo and Aurora closer, I wrapped my wings around them, ignoring the searing agony that tore through my limbs. My sole thought was their safety. The world seemed to slow as we crashed.

The impact was brutal. My body smashed through tree after tree, splintering trunks as though they were twigs. Each collision sent waves of pain surging through me, and at some point, my grip faltered. Jiwoo and Aurora were torn from my grasp, their bodies flung further into the chaos of the forest.

I hit the ground with a deafening crash, my body numb with pain. But I didn’t allow myself the luxury of stillness. Groaning, I forced my broken form to move. I could feel Aurora’s mana—faint, but steady. Relief flooded me momentarily, but panic soon overwhelmed it. Jiwoo.

I couldn’t sense him. His presence was gone, I couldn’t feel it.

His mana had already been weak in the void, flickering like a dying ember. Now, it was almost indistinguishable from the ambient mana around me.

‘Jiwoo!’ My mental cry reverberated through my fractured thoughts as I dragged myself forward, the ground trembling beneath my bulk. Trees cracked and fell as I moved, ignoring the blood that continued to pour from my wounds.

I searched desperately, my senses stretched to their limits. My connection to him was faint, almost severed, and it left me grasping at shadows. My claws raked the earth as I bellowed, unsure where to look, where to search.

“Where are you, Jiwoo?! Answer me!”

Each step grew heavier, my strength waning. The agony in my body clawed at my mind, threatening to drag me under. Just as despair began to set in, a sudden surge of mana flared to the south—a strong, overwhelming presence drawing near.

It seemed on the borderline of crossing to the integration stage.

My instincts sharpened, the haze of exhaustion momentarily pushed aside. The presence was only a few hundred meters away, closing in fast. I whipped around, and in moments, the figure appeared—hovering just above the ground, feet away from me.

Without hesitation, I lashed out. My jaws tore through the air, aiming for the intruder, but they dodged effortlessly, their movements fluid and precise. Summoning the last of my strength, I gathered my mana and unleashed a devastating blast. The forest around us exploded, trees reduced to ash, the earth scorched and torn as the blast surged forward.

But it wasn’t enough. My legs buckled, and I collapsed, the world spinning around me. I tried to prepare another attack, forcing my body to obey. Yet, just as I braced for the figure’s retaliation, a voice cut through the haze—a calm, feminine voice.

“Lord Mordian Astrionyx!!"

The tone was familiar, soothing in a way that caught me off guard. My vision steadied, and I lifted my head to see the woman standing before me. There was no hostility in her stance, only an unspoken familiarity, and I seem to recognise her.

I had seen her only a few days ago in the orcen world.

I collapsed on the ground, my form shimmered as my body returned to its humanoid form.