The dragon opened its jaw wide to swallow them whole. They thought it was the end, but something unexpected had happened. The dragon halted just before them. It looked at the figure before it. A young girl was standing there in front of it, her eyes are glowing gold and dazzling long hair was dancing in the wind. Her hand was raised to him, signaling him to stop.
Startled, Kishi looked at his side to find his sister not there anymore. She managed to slip away from him and stood between them and the dragon in just half a second. He planned to step in when things get worse, but little did he expect that she would be acting like this. But he should have judging by her attitude towards this matter. But all didn't go according to his plans. Everyone was stunned and their mouths fell on the ground, not understanding what just occurred in front of them.
Kira's lips formed into a beautiful arc. She was very pretty and stunning. She looked at the dragon with fondness and care. The dragon just looked at her quizzically.
"Er, s-shall we kill it?" Aster asked tensely
"No!" Kira immediately reacted. The dragon too. It glared at Aster from head to toe then snorted, releasing cold steam from its nostril
"Why? Isn't that what we came here for?" Pearl protested
"You do, but that's obviously not reason the two of them are here" Airi sniggered, looking at Kishi who avoided his gaze
"You don't say..." said Mythica disappointedly
"Why are you all looking at me?!" Kishi retorted "Okay, I admit it. But even if I don't want to, I had no choice but to go, or else she would kill me!"
"Nisan...." In a distance, Kira spoke with a soft yet malicious voice. Making Kishi shudder and curve into a ball, mumbling apologies as if he had gone crazy.
Airi only chuckled though, while everyone did not expect the most aloof person in their class to reveal his weakness in front of all of them. He was adorable and fragile at the moment. His cold and detached self, seemed to have vanished as if it never existed.
Meanwhile, Kira was gleefully skipping closer to the dragon that eyed her cautiously. She halted near enough to it, hid her hand on her back in an adorable manner, and bent slightly forward.
"Do you really wish to die?" She asked "By your actions, I suppose you already knew who I 'am. Now, I ask again. Do you want me to grant you your wish?"
Without a reply the dragon just stared at her.
Grinning, she made an offer. "You missed your home; it must have been lonely. I can't blame you if you wish to perish. But I can offer you a new home if you like. That's...if you come with me of course"
Stunned, the others turned to stare at her again. Is she serious?! Bringing an ancient dragon to her home?! What kind of crap is that!?
"Kira...I thought you said you only wanted to see him?" Kishi asked
"But he needs help" she replied affectionally "he's suffering, I can't just leave him here, can I?"
He sighed. She was right, the dragon was screaming for help all along. He was just too ignorant to mind it. For a certain reason, she was more sensitive than him. She can sometimes hear inner voices, that he can't. She can also sense and see auras more effectively than he could. In this aspect is where she is greater than him.
But if he could already hear the screams of the dragon, how loud must it been for her?
Her pleading voice sounded so frail. Knowing her, Kishi already knew that she wanted to cry in the dragon's stead. Yet, she wanted to be strong and suppressed her emotions. His heart aced along with her.
How can he be so insensitive?
He gave in and said sorry that only the two of them would be able to hear.
Kira looked back at the dragon and it looked at her for a moment before landing on the ground and bowed its head.
Once again, everyone was surprised to see the Ancient dragon of ice bow down. None of them uttered a word. The dragon respected her. And the fact that it bowed down meant that it subjected itself to her. This actually triggered their curiosity
How many dragons does she really have?
It was dragon's nature to bow down before someone stronger than them. And whoever the dragon bowed down to, the dragon will submit itself entirely. As such, mages with more dragon are viewed highly above the rest. But of course, it also varies on the dragon's power and capabilities.
Dragons are also humans' closest allies. Like humans, dragons are very intelligent creatures and has great amount of power. But the dragons also follow the very same hierarchy like the humans. That is also the reason why humans trust the dragons more than other creatures like the fairies. Fairies are human allies but unlike the dragons, most of them are on the scared realm and average humans will most likely never meet or see any of them. The only real connection they have are the Sacred royals, which is only two percent of the whole human population. Unlike dragons that you see them everywhere, even if they are only lowly ranked, they are still dragons.
Kira walked closer and caressed its icy scales. Tears flowed from the dragon's enormous eyes and froze right before it dropped on the frozen ground.
She gave him a warm smile and told him reassuringly "Fear not, I'll take a good care of you."
She went even closer and gave the dragon a hug. But because of the dragon's enormous size, she looked as if she's only leaning on him.
"What's your name?" She gently asked
The dragon didn't utter a reply.
"I see..." she sighed "If you don't have a name then I'll give you one. Wait, let me think..." She pressed her lips with her index finger
After a short while, she said in delight "Glaciel! Glaciel, that's what I'll call you"
The dragon's mood brightened up somehow. Glaciel raised to the sky with its majestic wings and started flying in circles above them.
Kishi stood by her side and held her hand "Glaciel huh..."
"Beautiful....." Mythica sighed
Just after things are starting to get better, Rex just had to break the mood as he asked "Er...so what now?"
Everyone turned to him with a disappointment. He just can't help but ruined everything. But fortunately for him, the dragon saved him.
The ice that covered the whole land for who knows how long melted way into steam. The structures that the ice was keeping up crumbled to the ground.
"Why did you do that?" Kira turned to Glaciel's position and asked
Instead of remaining quiet like he used to before, Glaciel answered. His voice seemed to be inside their heads. It was cool and deep yet very gentle. The dragon didn't open his mouth to speak as he used telepathy to convey his words
*To give you thy reward Princes*
"But I don't need any reward, none of use need any treasure"
*Yes, I am aware of that. However, my dear Princes, thy should not forget that this a quest*
"I know that as well, but we didn't slay you as the quest said we should. So, I say it's not necessary at all"
*I'm afraid I can't deny that. Hmmm....Take this as a gratitude then*
The twin exchanged glances, then Kira nodded. Glaciel was pleased and asked them all to follow. He led them to the center of the village that was a fallen monument.
*At the center, thou shall find an entrance that will lead thou to a tunnel. At the end of it was a large chamber. Take all that thou desire, I really hope all of thou may find something thou like. This faithful subject shall wait for you to return*
With a nod, the children proceeded as they were instructed. They opened a door under a burned carpet and entered it. The tunnel was a small space, but it was not long before they reached the end. It was a bright place, too bright for a dark underground space.