“I am,” I said. “Help me.”
“Very well. Initiating the ancient process,” the Dragon said, and shadows rose from the ground, covering and suffocating me like an ocean of darkness. Fear gripped me tight, sending confusion through my mind and shivers down my spine. The blackness consumed me, taking over my senses.
“What is this?” I asked, my voice trembling even in my thoughts.
Acnologia spoke back, but with just one phrase, one that shook my very being.
“Dragon fusion.”
***
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Darkness surrounded me.
I wasn’t sure how many times I’d been in this situation before, but this time it felt different, almost as though there was something going on that I didn’t understand.
“Diablo,” a voice said. A rush of lights surged from nowhere, assembling in front of me. In a flash the Shadow Dragon emerged with its silver eyes and black wings, resting comfortably in the space opposite me.
“What’s going on?” I mumbled.
And then the words of the past few minutes flashed before my mind, my thoughts catching the one phrase that mattered.
“Dragon fusion,” I whispered.
“Exactly,” Acnologia said.
“Why are you doing this?” I yelled, anger coursing through me. “I don’t want you to die! There must be something else we can do to go after Markus.”
The Dragon laughed. “Who said anything about death?”
I blinked. “But Dragon fusion…”
“Is not the same thing as becoming a Dragonborn,” he said.
“Huh?”
“A Dragonborn…” He stayed quiet for a few seconds. “To become a Dragonborn, one must strike the heart of a Dragon and consume some of its blood.”
I shivered where I was, the very thought too inhumane for me to handle. The imagery invoked was a lot gorier than what I’d heard before from the Guardian.
“Dragon fusion is different,” Acnologia said. “You do not need to…kill a Dragon for it to occur. It is simply two individuals fusing their consciousnesses together.”
“You make it sound simple.”
“It is anything but that,” he chuckled. “There is lot that could go wrong, and a lot that could hurt very much. However, when the consciousnesses of both parties synchronize, the power they wield as one increases tremendously.”
“Fine,” I said. “If that’s the way things are going to go, then I’m fine with it.”
“Good,” he said. “Let us begin the process, then.”
A howling wind entered the space around us, sending a chill up my skin. I saw a point of white light shine from high above. All of a sudden, the darkness around us was stripped away, like layers of cloth had been shrouding us within. We were in in darkness no more and found ourselves in some kind of forest.
Large trees stood around me, dark leaves hanging from their many branches. I could see the sun high in the sky, shining rays of light on my face. The scent of flowers and berries floated in the air, the smell carrying through the gentle breeze that ran awry through the forest.
“We are here.” Acnologia stood next to me, a little cramped for space between the trees. I was quite certain he could just fell them if he wanted to, but he probably preferred not to.
“Where exactly is here?” I asked.
“I do not know,” he said. “The Dragon fusion process chooses of its own accord.”
“So the process is what put us here?”
“Indeed.”
“Okaaayyy,” I said, not really sure how or why that had happened. “What are we supposed to do now?”
“A crystal,” he said. “We must find what we call the Stone of the Dragon, a perfectly cut crystal that emits rainbow light under the light of the sun.”
“Is this like a trial?” I asked.
“You could say that, yes.”
“Very well,” I said. “Where do we head to?”
“Climb on,” he said.
“What?”
Acnologia knelt on the ground, letting one wing drop as a sort of ramp onto his back. “The crystal will be in an easily identifiable location, like a cave or a hilltop, not something obscure like inside a tree. If we’re in the air, we’ll be able to see if there are any special landscapes around here.”
I waited for a second and then shuffled up his wing, climbing onto his neck and holding on tight. “You sound like you’ve done this before,” I said.
He flapped his wings powerfully, and in a second we were up into the sky. “Once,” he said quietly, his voice barely heard over the sound of the rushing air. “It was back during the war with the Eternals.”
“Oh,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“Do not be,” he said. “Those were trying times, and they were hard on many of us. Moreover, you were one of the men on the side of reason.”
“I was?” I blinked.
“Indeed,” he said. “You and I never knew one another, but I had heard of you many times. There were quite a few Dragons who respected your effort to stop the war. It was unfortunate it ended up the way it did.”
“Yeah…,” I said, still pondering his words. All this while, I’d been told I was the evil Eternal, the Dark Overlord who’d killed for fun and shown mercy to nothing and no one. This was the first time I’d heard anything positive about my past self, and it was a little stunning that such a thing even existed.
“You seem a little taken aback,” Acnologia said. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “It is nice to hear of how I was back then.”
“Memories are wonderful.”
I smiled. “Indeed, they are.”
A burst of chilling wind hit us, and Acnologia climbed even higher up in the sky, the clouds now level with the Dragon.
“This is quite high up,” I said and looked down. My eyes immediately widened at the sight before me.
Down below was a large island, covered with trees, edged with fresh sand, and surrounded by glowing blue water. The island inclined up towards the middle, and the mouth of a volcano opened up at the center, at the topmost section of the island. There was no smoke coming from the open mouth, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this thing was active.
“Where could this jewel be?” I mumbled, looking down at all the surfaces beneath. I could see green treetops all around the island, but nothing apart from that. From what Acnologia said, we were searching for a place that stood out, and so far, the only one that did was the—
“The volcano,” the Dragon said, voicing my thoughts. “That’s where.”
“That’s a good idea,” Nyx’s voice popped up out of nowhere.
“Whoa, hey there,” I said.
“I was not aware you were here, spirit,” Acnologia said.
“Uhhh, you realize I live in Diablo’s Spirit Space, right?” Nyx said. “And that that’s exactly where we are right now?”
“What is this space he talks about?” Acnologia asked.
“A section within my consciousness where I can host spirits,” I said.
“Ah, I see,” the Dragon said.
“I just kept quiet for a while because you guys seemed to be talking important stuff and I didn’t want to intrude,” Nyx said. “However, I felt that, given the situation, it might be useful to let you know I can sense a weird presence at the volcano.”
“You can sense the Gem of the Dragon?” Acnologia asked, surprised.
“I don’t know how things are usually supposed to work here, but it seems I have greater knowledge of this place, since it was constructed within the Spirit Space.”
“Interesting.” Acnologia flapped his wings hard, taking us many yards closer to the volcano with each stroke. We quickly began our gliding descent, arriving close to the mouth in about a minute.
“Nyx, do you know where exactly the presence is?” I asked.
“I don’t have that much information,” Nyx said. “Maybe I’ll get more when we get there.�
��
Acnologia tilted his body and spread his wings wide, catching the air and stopping right above the volcano, letting us hover there. I looked down and saw that there wasn’t magma inside the volcano, but crystal-clear water instead.
And thank God the water was crystal-clear. One look and I could tell there was an entrance in there that led to somewhere much deeper. And much darker. That was where we had to go.
“There.” I pointed to the water, and the Dragon understood immediately. He retracted his wings, streamlining his body, and then we dived down. Acnologia didn’t pull up even when we neared the water, instead speeding up.
“Take a deep breath,” he said, and we plunged into the surface. The Dragon used his wings as paddles and moved around underwater. In seconds, we located the entrance I’d seen and swam down. The path itself was a little small but still big enough for us to move through easily.
The big Dragon shot in while I focused on keeping all the air within my lungs. You’d think being the Phantom Lord plus my knowledge of the Water Arts, would be enough to let me breathe underwater, but apparently it wasn’t.
A shot of purple light came from ahead of us, splitting into multiple beams inside the water and radiating in an ethereal glow. The Shadow Dragon surged down with vigor, heading right for the light. We exited the water all of a sudden, collapsing onto the surface. I brushed the liquid out of my eyes and found myself on solid ground once again. I looked up and noticed the water sticking to the ceiling, not a drop falling down to the floor.
“Spirit Spaces are odd,” Nyx said.
“How interesting,” Acnologia said.
I avoided commenting on the water and looked around us instead. We were in a small rocky chamber, and right there, on the wall to our far right, stood the stone head of a Dragon. And within its open mouth lay a jewel of silver, radiating brightly with its own light.
“There’s the stone,” I said. “What now?”
“You must pull it out,” he said.
“Oh,” I said, a little surprised that the task was this simple. I walked over to the bust and put my hand into the Dragon’s snout, my fingers wrapping around the jewel and tugging it. It slid out smoothly, with basically no resistance at all.
I held the jewel in my hand and held it up to show Acnologia. “What happens now?” I asked.
“This will hurt, Diablo,” the Shadow Dragon said.
“What are you—”
A spark shot out of the jewel, and all of a sudden, blasts of electricity burst through me, causing a silver glow to envelop me. I slumped to the floor, a scream on my lips, my body completely immobile. The Dragon neared, his silver eyes looking into my frozen gaze.
He uttered a word, and pain struck me even harder, as though my very blood was boiling. I felt my muscles squeeze and tear, as though my body was beginning to crumple like a plate of paper.
And then everything went dark.
I lay in the darkness, breathing heavily, feeling my body to just make sure I was still here. What was that? I gasped, wishing I could forget the feeling.
“Thank you, Eternal, for bearing with that,” Acnologia said. “The Dragon fusion has been completed. We are now one.”
“Good,” I said softly, my voice still a bit weak.
“We have to take this one chance to attack the Dragonborn.”
“Understood.”
The darkness began to fade away slowly.
“May the shadows be with you,” Acnologia said.
All of a sudden I found myself back in Ikarius, the light shining down on me. I turned around but couldn’t see the Shadow Dragon.
“Ah, I forgot to mention,” the Dragon said. “My physical form disappears for the period when we are in Dragon fusion. I will return once the mode is deactivated.”
“Got it,” I said.
“What the hell just happened?” a voice whispered. I turned and saw Markus standing in front of me, confusion all over his face.
DING!
A screen appeared in front of me.
Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill:
Dragon Arts Level 18!
The world of the Dragons now sits before you.
Effect 1
Attack increased by +10% in the presence of a Dragon
Effect 2
Speed increased by +10% in the presence of a Dragon
DING!
You have activated:
Dragon Fusion!
The Curse of the Phantom Lord has been erased. Equipment modification will now start.
Equipment modification? I blinked.
In less than a second, the neck of my Berserker armor expanded, forming a helmet over me, and I could tell immediately that this one was shaped like a Dragon’s head.
Like the Shadow Dragon’s head.
I felt a spark of electricity to my side, next to my sheath. I tugged on my sword, pulling Dawnbreaker out. My eyes widened as I noticed the jewel on the blade’s hilt, its color no longer an ethereal purple, but a rich shade of soul silver.
“What the heck happened to you?” Markus asked, unease in his tone.
I looked at him. “Are you curious?” I asked. I surged forward and punched him right in the face, before he could even flinch. The Dragonborn went straight through the air, smacking into about three houses before crunching to a stop. I didn’t stop there and went after him, sword in hand.
I heard a boom from inside the house, and Markus broke through the roof, jumping high up into the air and landing on the house closest to him. “So you fused with Acnologia,” he muttered. “How unnecessary.”
“Says the man who would kill a beast for power.”
“Are you saying you’re any different from me, Eternal?” He shot forward, sword in hand. I held my weapon up and he struck it hard, pushing me back a few feet. “We’re the same, you and I,” he said.
“Don’t you group me in with scum like you,” I muttered, putting my hand into the air. “Uher!” I yelled.
A massive phoenix, nearly twice the size of the Dragon, shot out of the ground, smacking into Markus and throwing him high in the air. I placed myself on the ground, right where he was going to land, and readied myself for the next move.
Markus came down headfirst, his fist recoiled and ready.
This is going to be fun, I thought and swung hard.
Our fists connected, and a boom shattered from the impact point. The soundwave sank into the buildings of the village, cutting the wood and stone like it was paper. Dust and smoke picked up all around us as we nearly collapsed to the ground from the effort.
“You are like me, Eternal,” Markus said, wheezing as he stood up straight, his body but a silhouette behind the smoke. “You thirst for power, the same as I do. The only difference is you were born with it, and I wasn’t.”
“I don’t want this power,” I muttered.
“So you say,” he chuckled. His hands made a sign in the air, and all of a sudden, a rune of light glowed, hovering over the floor. In seconds a blast of lightning struck from the sky, hitting him where he stood. It kept contact with him, maintaining a single bolt of lightning between the sky and the earth. Sand and dust around him levitated in the air, influenced by the sheer raw power around the man.
“He’s turning stronger,” Nyx said.
“How strong?” I asked.
“It is better you don’t know,” Acnologia said.
“Dammit,” I muttered.
“You seem astounded, Eternal,” Markus said. The lightning broke off and he instantly shot at me. One second, he stood a few yards ahead, and the next I found myself flying away, an aching pain in my body. I went smashing into multiple walls of stone before I sank down to the ground, my body exploding with pain.
“Even I could not see that move properly,” Acnologia said, and that was when I realized how outmatched I was.
“What do I do?” I asked. “Even this doesn’t seem to help. Dragon fusion has had no impact on our power in battle. Markus just keeps
getting stronger and stronger.”
“There is one last thing,” Acnologia said. Our thought processes went in sync, and I instantly knew what he was talking about.
“It’ll be hard,” I said as I got up, brushing the rubble off my face.
“It’s the best way,” Acnologia said.
“It’s the only way,” Nyx added.
I nodded and stood up straight, just in time to see Markus walking up to me.
“How was that, Eternal?” he asked. “Powerful, was it not? The sheer strength of such a blow, an attack so fast even the fastest cannot see it coming, let alone predict its movements. This is the epitome of the Lightning Dragon’s power.”
“That Dragon was always all about power and speed,” Acnologia said.
“That’s a good combination to have,” I muttered. However, I quickly focused on the task at hand and put my hands up into the air.
“Felias octane,” I said. A spark of light shot up far beyond the clouds, and in a second, a dark haze covered the skies, a sea of black hovering over the village.
“What is this, Diablo?” Markus asked, a little unease in his voice, but his arrogance showing through at the same time. “This will change nothing.” He shot at me, but I was ready for his strike.
However, being ready helped in no way. I don’t know what happened, but the next thing I knew, I found myself flying through the air once again, his punch far too fast for me to even see. I didn’t give up, though. I planted my feet on the ground as I came down and let myself slide to a stop.
You will regret this. I immediately thrust my hands into the air, and words spewed from my mouth, the sounds echoing as I recited them. Markus glanced at me, and I could see panic seize him. Fear grasped his mind fast, and he shot forward, ready to strike me where I stood.
No no no, I need more time! I panicked.
All of a sudden, Freya shot out of nowhere and swung her massive sword at Markus. The two met with a thundering boom, and my eyes widened as the elf flew into the air, unconscious, completely overwhelmed by the Dragonborn’s strength.
The Eternal: A Boxed Set (World of Ga'em Book 6) Page 48
