The Eternal: A Boxed Set (World of Ga'em Book 6)

by Dhayaa Anbajagane

  I stayed silent, contemplating her words. “What must I do, then?” I asked her. “What am I supposed to do to stop all of this?”

  “Acnologia,” she said. “Resurrect him yourself.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because when a Dragon resurrects, it is at its weakest,” she said. “Resurrecting Acnologia yourself would give the Dragon time to recover, as well for as allies to stand by in a faceoff against anyone who comes against it.”

  “I see,” I replied, not entirely convinced.

  “I know it seems odd, but Dragons are not the angry, vengeful creatures that texts portray them to be. They are gentle, caring, and loving in times of peace. For such a beast to face pain and death upon waking from a long slumber…it is not how things should be.”

  “How do you want us to resurrect him?” I asked. “If you think I will sacrifice the Kobold, then you’re wrong.”

  “No,” she said. “I do not know when the scriptures changed, but sacrificing a Dragonblood was never how one resurrected a Dragon.”

  I blinked. “Then how do you resurrect one?”

  “Just Dragon blood,” she said. “A few drops are enough. There is power within every bit, and the Dragons respond to that power.”

  I immediately thought of how Nazu has summoned that Dragon roar from this chamber. His bloodied hand had brushed against the rock doors just before that had happened.

  “You are right,” she said. “What happened there was a response to the pain the Dragonblood was sharing with his ancestors.”

  “Ah,” I said. “Fine. I will resurrect Acnologia. However, I do not know how this may differentiate me from the others, at least in the eyes of the Dragon himself.”

  “Every other group that’s after him does so out of their thirst for power.”

  “Am I not the same?”

  I heard a small chuckle. “Hardly.”

  A soft wind blew through the white, brushing past my face like a gentle, soothing touch.

  “I do not have much time here, Eternal,” she said. “The longer I stay with you, the longer I do something against the turn of the world.”

  “Fine,” I said. “If Acnologia must be saved, where must I go to find him? It seemed like this chamber was his resting place, but from what you said, that does not appear to be the case.”

  “Indeed it isn’t,” she said. “The symbol on the ceiling of the chamber is one that was intentionally modified when drawn, since this is not the Shadow Dragon’s chamber. The actual chamber will have Acnologia’s full symbol upon it.”

  “Where do I find this chamber, then?”

  “If you wish to see the rise of the Dragon, here is not the place. It will rise where it had fallen, for that is the Shadow Dragon’s fate.”

  “The riddle from before,” I whispered. “How is that supposed to lead me to the Shadow Dragon? Is this all you can tell me?”

  “It is all.”

  “Dammit,” I muttered. “How can a Guardian of the Dragons be bound by rules when she is trying to save them?”

  “It is odd, isn’t it?” she said. “But then again, so are many other things.”

  “Fine,” I muttered, not indulging in the puzzle of words.

  “You will find your answers soon, Diablo,” she said. “I can feel it.”

  Feelings don’t help me now, I thought but I said nothing.

  “Our time together is coming to an end,” she said. “I hope you will think about what I said. The fall of another Dragon is not a sight I wish to see once again.”

  “I will do my best, Guardian,” I said.

  “Thank you, Diablo,” she said.

  The light around us began to fade, the white slowly dimming to a hazy gray. I felt warmth drain from the space, and my vision turned fuzzy.

  “What…is your name?” I asked, my voice weak as my consciousness began to fade.

  I heard a chuckle. “The Guardian of the Dragons.”

  “Zoran!”

  I gasped awake, my eyes shooting open instantly. Freya and Krof sat before me, the elf’s hands grasping mine, the old man holding a vial of red in his hand. In a daze, I looked between their faces, and then up to the ceiling, at the symbol of the Dragon that was no longer glowing.

  “Thank goodness.” Freya hugged me, her soft hair brushing my skin. I put my arms around her, holding her.

  “Zoran.” Nazu stood beside her, sadness on his face. “I…I’m sorry.” He knelt. “I didn’t mean to put anyone in danger. I’m really—”

  “Do not worry,” I said, cutting him off before he could blame himself even more. Freya pulled back from me, letting me talk properly to the young half-Dragon. “Everything that has happened here is not your fault,” I said. “You have seen the number of people that have come after you, the number of people that have come after us. There is nothing just one person could have done to start or stop this. It is far bigger than any of us. Do not worry yourself by thinking you were the cause of everything.”

  I placed my hand on his head, feeling the warmth of his coarse skin. “I am glad you are okay, Nazu.”

  “Mmm.” He nodded, and a small smile showed upon his face.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have completed the quest:

  Shadow Dragon Mysteries.

  The Guardian has given you much information. You now know that the Dark Alliance, the Black Guardians, and the Alliance of Light all want to resurrect and kill the Shadow Dragon in order to enhance their own strength in one way or another. Act against this, for much depends on what you choose to do. Reward: 14500000 XP.

  DING!

  You have obtained a new quest:

  Resurrect Acnologia.

  The Guardian of the Dragons has made her desires clear. She wants you to resurrect the Shadow Dragon and show yourself to be a dependable ally to him. However, to do all this, you must first find the chambers of the Shadow Dragon. Reward: Unknown.

  “Where exactly did you go, Diablo?” Krof asked as I closed my screens. “I sensed an extra presence in here until a few seconds ago.”

  “Ah,” I said.

  “You just collapsed to the floor after we heard that voice, and then nothing happened for nearly ten minutes.”

  “I met with someone who knew about the Dragons,” I said. “She had something to ask of me.”

  “What did she want?” Krof asked.

  “We need to find Acnologia’s chamber,” I said.

  “Isn’t this it?” Freya asked.

  “No.” Krof shook his head before I could answer. “The symbol on the ceiling is an altered version of the Shadow Dragon’s symbol, but the fact that it is modified attests to this not being the actual chamber.”

  “Yeah,” I said, impressed that Krof knew that.

  “And what of the puzzle we were given?” he asked.

  I repeated it once more, the words now embedded in my mind. “If you wish to see the rise of the Dragon, here is not the place. It will rise where it had fallen, for that is the Shadow Dragon’s fate.”

  “Hmmm,” Krof said. “That doesn’t seem to give us too many clues.”

  “I was told we’d find an answer to it soon,” I said. “I don’t know if that means we can stop pursuing the answers on our own and just wait for them to make their way to us.”

  “I doubt that is how things work.” The old wizard smiled.

  “I found out a lot about everything else going on, though,” I said. “The Dragonborn…they acquire their powers by murdering one of the Dragon race.”

  “Ah,” Krof whispered. “I had my suspicions but could never confirm them, since there were no scriptures that ever talked about the process one underwent to become Dragonborn, only that their existence was real.”

  “Mmm,” I said. “It appears our friend Markus Goodfield went after a Dragon a few weeks ago. He went to a land far to the east of the Kingdom.”

  The two of them looked at me in astonishment the moment I uttered those words.

  “How far di
d he have to go for no one to hear of this?” Krof asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “But he resurrected and killed the Lightning Dragon.”

  “Ah, so his powers—”

  “Come from that, yes,” I said. “Wherever he did this, it must have been quite obscure for none of us to have heard of it.”

  “Indeed,” he said. “But I presume we can’t be worrying about this right now.”

  “We can’t,” I said. “We need to find Acnologia’s resting place. We need to be the ones to resurrect him.”

  “Eh?” The old man’s eyes widened. “I thought we were searching for his chamber in order to destroy it so no one else could resurrect him.”

  “That is not the case,” I said. “We must be the ones to resurrect him. We cannot let the Alliance of Light or the Dark Alliance do this themselves.”

  “Why are we resurrecting him?” Freya asked. “How are we any different from the Alliances then?”

  “Resurrecting Acnologia ourselves would give the Dragon friends,” Nazu said quietly.

  I stared at him. “What?”

  “Acnologia,” he said. “The Shadow Dragon must be lonely.”

  “Where did you hear that from?” I asked, a little confused.

  “The lady.”

  I smiled. The Guardian.

  “What is he talking about?” Krof asked. “What exactly do we gain by resurrecting Acnologia ourselves? The Alliances will still come after him even then.”

  “If we resurrect him, we give him time to recover and regain his strength,” I said. “Acnologia might be what the Alliances are after, but he’s also one of the only beings that can help us defeat the Alliances. I cannot beat them on my own, certainly not with Markus as strong as he is. And the Alliances are going to try to resurrect Acnologia regardless of what we do. Our best bet is to get the Dragon on our side to help us defeat them, rather than stand aside and let them channel his powers themselves.”

  Silence entered the chamber, my words disappearing through the walls and not echoing back.

  “Very well,” Krof said. “Where do we start our search for Acnologia’s chambers, then?”

  “The answers will come to us,” Nyx said, finally speaking after his bout of silence.

  I smiled and repeated his words. “The answers will come to us.”

  “That isn’t practical, Zoran,” Freya said, a little annoyance in her tone.

  I was taken aback for a second. “But there’s nothing else I can go on,” I said. “This is what I was told.”

  “That isn’t very helpful, then. We might as well have—”

  DING!

  You have received a message from: Ijyela! Would you like to open it?

  I tapped Yes.

  Diablo, you need to get here, now.

  My eyes went wide, my heart freezing up for a moment.

  “What happened?” Krof asked, concerned.

  “It’s Ijyela,” I said. “She wants us to head back to Ikarius.”

  “Did we get attacked again?” Freya asked, agitated.

  “I don’t know.” I thrust my hand into the air and activated my Shadow Travel skill. Darkness consumed all four of us once again, and I navigated through the pathways, finding the necessary portal in seconds. We quickly entered the portal leading to a large room, and in an instant we were face-to-face with a confused Ijyela.

  “That was fast,” she said. “Your Shadow Travel skill has gotten better.”

  “Are you okay?” Freya rushed to the elven witch, giving her a hug. “We thought you’d been attacked again or something.”

  “Oh.” She paused. “I should have probably been clearer, sorry.”

  “What happened?” I asked. “Why did you call us here so urgently?”

  “This.” The green-eyed elf held up a stack of dusty, torn sheets in her hand.

  “Scriptures,” Krof said immediately.

  “Indeed.” She nodded. “I found them hidden in the basement of one of the bigger buildings in the village. There are some scriptures in here from nearly three thousand years ago.”

  “What?” Freya’s eyes widened.

  “What do they say?” Krof asked, excited.

  “I found something of interest, and that’s why I called you here, to take a look at it.” Ijyela fell silent for a few seconds. “This village,” she said. “The name Ikarius means something.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Centuries upon centuries ago, Ikarius meant exactly one thing in the old tongue.”

  I stared at her, anticipation in my breath.

  “Dragonfall.”

  ***

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  “You will find your answers soon.”

  The Guardian’s voice echoed in my mind.

  “Dragonfall.” I smiled.

  “Those answers came a lot faster than I’d expected,” Nyx said.

  “Diablo,” Krof said. “Is it possible…?”

  I nodded. “I believe so,” I said. “The name bears a striking resemblance to the riddle we were posed.”

  “If you wish to see the rise of the Dragon, here is not the place,” Freya said. “It will rise where it had fallen, for that is the Shadow Dragon’s fate.”

  “A place named Dragonfall seems a perfect fit to that,” I said.

  “Does this mean…Acnologia’s resting place is this village?” Nazu asked.

  “It means his resting chamber and his symbol are somewhere in the vicinity.” I looked out the window, feeling the gentle wind come through. “We just have to go find it now.”

  “That’s easier said than done,” Ijyela said. “From what Krof told me a few minutes ago, this Dragon’s chamber must be around three thousand years old, so it was likely here before the village even existed.”

  “Meaning it’s not somewhere obvious.”

  “Exactly,” she said.

  “Where do we begin looking, then?” I asked.

  “The chambers could be anywhere in and around the village at this point,” Freya said.

  “We could try looking at these scriptures you found,” Krof said. “Have you seen them all?”

  “I am yet to go through more than half of these scrolls,” Ijyela said.

  “It is possible there could be helpful information within those parchments.”

  “So we just go through all these scriptures here?” Freya asked.

  “That actually sounds like a good plan,” I said. “You guys can start. I’m going to go talk to Raffiel for a bit and head back here. Will you guys be okay?”

  “You go on ahead,” Ijyela said. “Raffiel has actually been asking me pretty frequently about when you’d show up.”

  “Ah, okay.” I nodded. “I’ll take my leave, then.”

  I closed the door behind me, the wood creaking shut as it hit the frame. I turned around, facing the village in front of me. The buildings were all fixed now, their walls strong and polished. The structures around me had all been brought back to just the way they had been.

  “This place has come up well,” Nyx said. “However, can it bear the brunt of the Alliances’ attack?”

  “Most certainly not,” I muttered.

  “I doubt there’s anything we can do to change that though,” he said.

  “I doubt there is,” I agreed.

  All said and done, we were a tiny village west of a kingdom and an empire. Compared to the mighty battle power of either of the two entities, we were but a tiny speck, an insignificant dot hardly visible on the map.

  That was how I’d thought before, and that was how a part of me thought of things now. But another part of me stayed more optimistic. This village was called Dragonfall. We were capable of holding out on our own, no matter the enemy that showed up at the doorstep. That was what I wished to believe.

  I walked through the village, my health recovering with every step I took. The grains of stray sand crunched beneath my feet. The wind howled as it passed through the narrow streets before rising up into the open s
kies once again.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have completed the quest:

  Save Nazu II.

  The young Kobold has finally been rescued from the Ulhur Mountains and brought to a place of safety. Reward: Relationship boost.

  DING!

  Your relationship with Nazu has improved!

  From Ally to Follower!

  The young Kobold owes his life to you and will do anything to help you out. Abuse of your power over a follower will result in a reduction in reputation.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have completed the quest:

  Resurrect Acnologia I.

  You have found Dragonfall, the place that contains the Shadow Dragon’s resting chamber. Now you must find the actual chambers of the Shadow Dragon in order to raise Acnologia from the dead. Reward: Resurrect Acnologia II.

  DING!

  You have obtained a new quest:

  Resurrect Acnologia II.

  Now that you have the found the village the chamber is in, all that remains is to find the chamber itself. Godspeed to you, Phantom Lord! Reward: Unknown.

  Well, now we know for sure that Acnologia’s resting chambers are here, I thought.

  “Are you sure?” Nyx asked. “The Ga’em has been pretty wrong about these things before.”

  “Uhhhhh,” I sighed.