“Already did,” Nyx said. “She’s about two hundred yards away from here. I can’t discern anyone else’s location at the moment.”
“You are daring, Eternal,” Elizah said. “I will give you that much.”
The Dragon spread its wings out, and in less than half a second, the beast was already in front of me, ready to smash into my body. I pushed off the floor and jumped into the air, just high enough to let the beast pass under me. The moment my feet touched the ground once again I pushed forward, running to the dragon.
“Eternal, it is not good to fight a dragon,” Acnologia said, as I recoiled to strike.
It is the only way. I wound up my attack.
“Remember what I told you when we first met? In this time, you are a man on the side of reason. You never hurt a dragon, let alone kill one. This will change the past of who you were, and what your place was in this Eternal Dragon War.”
I froze, and my legs buckled beneath me instantly. I dropped to the floor, and slid across the soil until I stopped mere yards before the blue Dragon.
“Giving up already?” Elizah asked.
I picked myself up, the sword still in my hand. “To end this battle, one of us will have to die,” I said. “Seeing how I’m the only one with a resurrection ability, it will have to be me.”
The Dragon chuckled. “Is this your stance?” he asked. “Surrendering does not quench my thirst for revenge, Eternal. You will feel the pain I have felt, you will feel the pain I have seen. Vengeance does not forgive.”
A spark of silver emerged between us, and in an instant a flame of soul-silver rose up, extending high into the tree tops. A monstrous roar echoed out of nowhere, and sailed into the night skies. I looked at ahead, and my Night Vision showed me an astounding sight.
A dragon of pitch-black emerged from the flame, and his wings spread out, protecting me from Elizah. His eyes were colored the same shade as the flames, and he glared at the blue Dragon, anger coursing through his gaze.
“YOU WILL NOT HARM HIM,” the Dragon roared.
“You...You’re Acnologia,” Elizah backed away, and his legs trembled. “You must have been the presence I felt inside him. But how?”
“There is much you don’t understand, young Dragon,” Acnologia said. “And to be fair, it is something that even I do not completely understand. I am a spirit that lives inside this Eternal. I chose to do so myself. There is nothing being forced onto me here.”
The blue Dragon looked at me, and then looked back to Acnologia. “You chose to live inside an Eternal?” His tone sounded confused. “Why would you do that? They’re the enemy, are they not?”
I could see that Acnologia had put himself in a tough situation. There was no way he could explain anything without telling Elizah of events that had not happened yet, and doing such a thing was not good. Messing with the twists of time was not something I wanted to try.
Ever.
Acnologia sighed. “It is hard to explain, young Elizah,” he said. “But I will tell you what. I am in need of a favor. Do something for me and I will reveal all that you wish to know.”
What are you doing? I asked, but the dragon didn’t respond.
The blue Dragon on the other hand seemed enticed by this offer. His eyes sparkled at the trade. “Very well,” he nodded, and sounded calmer now. “What do you need?”
“I am searching for a great Dragon scholar,” he said. “One that could help me learn of everything within these lands.”
“Eh?” he asked. “But Acnologia, are you not one of the most learned Dragons?”
I saw him sigh once again. “But think of a man even more brilliant that I. One that we could find relatively close by.”
Wow, that’s pretty narcissistic, I said.
“You will appreciate what I am doing for you here, Eternal,” he said.
“Ah!” the young Dragon said. “That would certainly have to be Polaris.”
“What?” Acnologia looked at the young one.
“Oh yes, Polaris is known to most as the most learned Dragon of all.”
He paused. “Is he the only one you know of that is within these regions?”
“Indeed,” he said. “That Dragon would be the one you should seek. He lives down in the forest, a third the way between here and the river.”
“I know,” Acnologia said. “I have one last question for you.”
“Anything.”
“Those two Eternals that were fighting down there,” he said. “I saw you fly down to their battle. What did you do?”
“I went to observe, nothing more. I quickly moved away when I noticed the presence of this Eternal.” He gave me a dirty look. “The Dragon presence within him was enough to make me abandon everything and charge after him.”
“Thank you, that was all I needed to know.”
“I also had a few questions to ask of you, how did—”
“Elioris,” Acnologia said.
A circle of light shone underneath Elizah and the blue Dragon dropped down to the ground, unconscious.
I blinked. “What did you do to him?”
“Memory manipulation,” Acnologia chuckled. “As I said before, meddling with the past is not good at all. I have removed you and myself from his memory. He will recall nothing of this incident.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a very powerful spell.”
“It has its own pre-condition,” he said. “One of them is that the subject of my attack should have complete trust in me.”
I looked at the unconscious Dragon. I couldn’t help but feel a bit of sorrow for him. Having one’s memory pulled away was all too familiar a feeling for me. It was not nice to wake up and notice gaps in one’s memory.
“Let us go find the others,” Acnologia said. “We must ensure they are safe.”
“Freya is the closest to you,” Nyx said. “About two hundred yards to your right.”
Got it, I said as we headed in the direction, with the large dragon squeezing through the tight spaces between the trees as we walked, and ultimately breaking most of them.
“How did you manage to summon yourself?” Nyx asked.
“Will,” he said.
“Eh?”
“It was pure will.”
“So you just wished for yourself to be there and you were?”
“In essence yes,” he said. “However, in the bigger picture, I believe the key lies in the owner calling out the name of his familiar.”
“Really? Why?” I asked.
“It is a feeling I have. It will not hurt to try it out the next time the opportunity presents itself.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
I noticed a small spark of red light ahead of us. A Volcanic Forest Bear, I realized and rushed toward it. The beast lay immobile on the ground, and from a glance I could tell it was dead.
Well, dead for the second time.
Where’s Freya? I looked around.
“Her signature says she’s right around here,” Nyx said.
“I sense more than one presence in the vicinity.” Acnologia looked around.
I noticed a large sheet of creepers hang from the branches a few yards away. Behind that? I walked up to them and slashed them open.
“STOP!” a voice yelled.
I froze up, and then a smile curled onto my face. “It’s nice to see you, Irmeia,” I re-sheathed my sword.
“Diablo!” Her eyes widened. “Apologies, I assumed anyone who entered would be the enemy.”
I knelt down, looking at the four forms that lay there — Freya, Raffyr, Viola and Oris, all of them alive and accounted for.
“They were all knocked out the moment the Dragon stepped in,” Irmeia said. “The bears were a little too violent in running away. The clash was too hard for them to handle.”
I sighed. “At least these for are okay.”
“What of the Dragon?” she asked, worried.
“My friend took care of him,” I smiled. The Shadow Dragon lowered his
head, growling softly.
“Oh!” Irmeia exclaimed. “I was not aware you were friends with a dragon.” She stepped back, and her eyes quivered.
“We’ve been friends for a while, don’t worry,” I said.
“I see,” she said. “You know…based on what just happened, it seems clear that it was best to have taken shelter in the forest like the elf suggested.”
“No,” I said. “This was bound to happen no matter where we went. That Dragon was intentionally tailing us. Don’t blame yourself. In fact, we actually got quite a bit of information because of this battle with the dragon. We know where to head next,” I said. “Don’t we, Acnologia?”
The Dragon lowered his head and growled once again.
“Can you please stop making me do this,” he sighed.
Sorry, I grinned.
“All of that is fine,” Irmeia said. “But are you okay?” She reached out, and touched my cheek.
I stepped back. “Ah.” I watched her hold her hand in the air, awkwardly. “I’m...fine.” I looked down. “Why do you ask?”
“Your eyes,” she said. “Your eyes say something else.”
“I’m totally fine,” I smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Anyway, what do you say we stay here till these folks wake up, and then head back out? I’ll go find the Volcanic Forest Bears so I can resurrect them to life once again.”
“You should not go out alone,” she said. “I will—”
“It’ll be fine. I have a Dragon with me,” I said. “Alright, bye then!”
And with that I’d walked away from there, before she could respond.
“That was…a surprising exit, Eternal,” Acnologia said.
“Something wasn’t right, was it?” Nyx asked.
I rolled my eyes. You guys act like you can’t read my thoughts.
“Hey, we were being nice okay,” the spirit said.
“I didn’t expect Irmeia to realize I wasn’t completely okay,” I said.
“What’s bothering you?” Nyx asked.
“It’s what Elizah said,” I sighed. “There was so much…pain in his words.”
“Indeed,” the Dragon said. “It is good you speak of such feelings. It is never wise to hide one’s emotions.”
Speak for yourself. I raised an eyebrow. You’re hiding something from me too, aren’t you?
“What?” the Dragon asked. “What makes you say that?”
I saw you react to Elizah’s words when he mentioned that other Dragon’s name, I said as we walked a little further into the forest. What was that about?
The sounds of silence spoke for a few seconds before the Dragon’s voice rumbled into my mind. “I did not wish to say anything since I deemed it unnecessary.”
Hey, if you don’t want to tell us then that’s fine, I said.
“No,” he sighed. “It is fine. I will tell you. Do you remember what happened after the Eternal Dragon War?”
Yeah, I nodded. The Dragons started fighting amongst themselves.
“Ah, so is this Polaris a Dragon you used to fight with?” Nyx asked.
“Worse,” Acnologia said. “I was the one who killed him.”
***
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DING!
You have brought three new undead warriors to this world!
Volcanic Forest Bear (x3).
More bears is always a good thing. Even if they can set themselves on fire.
DING!
Warning!
You have resurrected a creature for the second time. This causes its full strength to be lower than it previously was. There is now a greater chance of the creature turning against you. Resurrection a third time is not recommended.
“That’s new,” I said. I watched the Volcanic Bears slowly rise to their feet once again. In total only three of them had actually died. The other two had sustained grave injuries, but were still alive.
After a bout of healing and resurrection, I now possessed five Volcanic Forest Bears once more. The creatures turned to me, and their yellow-orange flame cast light through the darkness of the night.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about second resurrections for now,” Nyx said. “The fact is, these creatures you resurrect can’t go above Lv. 200 at the moment. And so, even if they did turn against you, it’d be pretty easy for you to take them out.”
“Hilariously easy,” I chuckled.
“If something like this happens once again, don’t hesitate to resurrect once more just because of what the prompt said.”
Got it, I said. The Volcanic Forest Bears followed me, forming a line as they treaded over the ground. I used my Night Vision skill, and made my way through the forest, walking between trees and ducking under branches.
A minute later, I saw the end of the upper forest. We’re here. I moved ahead, stopping at the very edge, and my hand grabbed onto the nearest branch as I leaned over. I was on a steep cliff, with the vast section of the Alpinian forest growing beneath me. I sat myself down at the end, and my feet flailed in the air. The Volcanic Bears stood nervously a few yards behind me and didn’t move. I looked up, with a smile on my face, and took in the sight that lay before me.
Stars studded the night sky, and were sprinkled everywhere I looked. They glowed brightly between the shadowy silhouettes of the mountain, like a bridge of light that connected the peaks. There was not a single cloud in the sky, but there was a lot of wind. Blades of air rushed past me every few seconds, but it did not feel aggravated. Rather, it was gentle — less like a gale in a hurricane, and more like a fresh evening breeze.
I caught no scent within the wind, and that seemed apt. For a wind that exists this high up had no scents it could carry, and any that it did, it lost along its long path.
So, I reclined back, and looking up at the midnight sky, what happened between you and Polaris, Acnologia?
The Dragon emerged from the trees behind me, but remained silent. He’d been silent all along, which was why Nyx and I had dropped the topic of Polaris entirely for a few minutes. Honestly, it’d probably be better if the Dragon had more time to process, but we didn’t have more time.
Even now, everyone else was slowly waking up from their slumber, which meant we’d have to leave soon. And if that was the case, I’d rather know who this Dragon we were going to meet was, instead of just knowing that Acnologia was the one who ends up killing him.
Acnologia sighed, making his first sound in while. “You are quite adamant, Diablo.”
Thank you, I think it’s one of my endearing qualities, I smiled.
“That is…questionable.”
Hey! I pouted.
The dragon chuckled.
“So, what’s the deal with Polaris?” Nyx asked. “What happened between you two?”
“It is similar to what happens between the Eternals,” the Dragon began. “Though people these days only talk about the Dragons in the context of the Eternal Dragon War, they forget about the times we fought between our own.”
The stars above us twinkled brightly, and I watched them, listening to the Dragon speak as I did.
“There were many conflicts between the Dragons, just as there were many conflicts between the Eternals,” he said. “We did not have factions or Alliances, but that was only in name. There existed many sub-groups within the Dragon Clan and most of them were at odds with one another.”
“Oh, so that’s how the battling began,” Nyx said.
“Polaris and I were…the most opposites there could be. I am, as you know, a Dragon of the Shadows, whereas he is a Dragon of the Stars.”
“A Star Dragon,” I whispered, and my eyes glowed at the sound of the phrase. “Sorry, but that sounds very cool.”
Acnologia continued. “Even during the Eternal Dragon War, when all the Dragons were united, Polaris and I fought many a time. It was never a physical battle however, and was usually a verbal argument because of our differing opinions. He and I were often involved in how the Dragon Clan carried out its attacks, and we almost
always disagreed with each other on a plan of attack.”
“Because he wasn’t that good a strategist?” Nyx asked.
The Dragon shook his head. “On the contrary,” he said. “Polaris was brilliant, but that brilliance of his let him forego simpler tactics, ones that would have been much easier to implement during our battles.”
“Ah,” the spirit said. “The problems of being too smart.”
“Once the Dragon War ended however, we both never had any reason to see eye-to-eye, no reason to give each other any benefit of the doubt.”
“And so you killed him?” I asked.
“It would be harsh if that were the case, Eternal,” the Shadow Dragon chuckled. “The Star Dragon attacked my home, unprovoked. And that was when I decided I’d had enough of his annoyance. We battled for two days and three nights. When we were done, his blood had been spilled more than mine.”
“Ouch,” the spirit said.
“Of course, I have realized this is an event that does not take place for many years from where we are in time,” Acnologia said. “Which is exactly why it is unnerving to see Polaris now.”
“Because this meeting has potential to change the past,” I said.
“Indeed,” he said.
“Can’t you just erase Polaris’ memory?” I asked. “That’s what you did with Elizah.”
“Elizah was a young dragon,” he said. “Immature. Brunt. Polaris is much more refined. He will see an attack such as memory manipulation coming from far ahead, and my attack requires taking the target by surprise. It does not work if they’re fighting its powers.”
I frowned. “Well, that sucks.”
“Does this mean the Star Dragon isn’t going to cooperate with?” Nyx asked.
“Ah,” the Dragon paused. “I’m honestly not quite sure how this exchange will turn out. There are many possible results, but him helping us is not the likeliest one.”
“What’s the likeliest one?” I asked.
“Polaris and I begin dueling right upon the sight of each other.”
“Eh?” Nyx asked. “But didn’t you say you fought a lot AFTER the Dragon War? Since we’re in the Dragon War right now we should be fine, right?”
The Eternal: A Boxed Set (World of Ga'em Book 6) Page 59
