When the Sky Amphitheater was empty, Asya placed her palms on her face before running them over her hair. She could still see some dragons flying across the sky, perhaps returning to their homes.
As no one was around her for a mile, she felt more comfortable as the boiling magic sparked in her chest, threatening to rush out. Grabbing a handful of her blood-red hair, she looked up and screamed. An ear-splitting scream that shook the few pine trees around her.
It took a while for her to stop.
When it did, she was huffing heavily. But she was more at ease, as though a heavyweight was lifted off from her shoulders. If she kept the excess magic bottled up, she might switch into berserk mode, and god knows what would happen then.
She shook her head and stretched. "Now that felt good!"
It had been a while since the last time she'd woken up, sleeping for 800 years was the longest she ever did.
Perhaps because she'd been deceived by the old king, she refused to wake up no matter how many times he'd called her. Besides, the dragon race hadn't been in genuine danger when he tried calling her.
She thought the old king had changed into a woman when she'd heard Queen Vassi's voice in her dreams. But then she remembered the old dragon had perished by her own hands for his evil deeds, and that his only daughter had taken the throne.
Curious, she accepted Vassi's call, only to be led around like a puppet.
If Asya learns she's being fooled for something darker and unethical, she'll make sure the queen meets her father on the other side of the living. The old magic did not exactly forbid punishing royals whose ideals goes against the rules of the Seven Realm.
"Ah, what an awful fight. The Legendary Celestial might as well have been toying with a newborn dragon."
"If her Dragon Master knew of this, he'd come rushing down from Heaven and cull this new generation."
"Meh, this is what I witness when I specially came down to see the newest candidate after 800 years of no contact?"
Shut the hell up, Asya thought. Their one-sided conversation gave her headaches.
But she hid her real thoughts and smiled gracefully like a saint at the three gods who'd been sticking to her ever since she came out from her cave.
She hated these three with passion.
The god of doom, the god of destruction, and the god of the undead were floating around her. Only she could see them because of her prestige as the candidate to become the newest god, if she finished her service to the old magic by being a guardian to her own race and overseer of the actions of the royal family for 10,000 years.
What she desperately wanted to understand though was, why the hell were the gods of Darkness attached to her every time she takes on a quest? Why were there NOT a single god of Light among them?
Was she bound to become the goddess of Darkness too? Something like the goddess of famine? Or the goddess of anti-socials?
No matter how much she despises them, she kept it in because showing it would lower her reputation to the gods of Light in the heavens.
"Sorry, but I can't entertain you well enough, everyone," Asya said. "Even the next few days because there's a journey I must take."
The god of doom waved his hand while shaking his head at her. "Don't worry, child. Watching you in the sidelines is enough, may it be interesting or boring."
"Yes, yes, he is right." The god of destruction nodded his head. "Somehow, everything that you take on is interesting in some ways."
"I don't really care about anything. I just want to watch something right now." The god of the undead yawned loudly beneath his cloaked figure.
So I'm just a THING to pass their time? Asya thought, offended, noting this in her list to remember, and take revenge after she becomes an immortal.
"Then I hope you can keep up with me or... find me," Asya said before teleporting back to her cave where the gods could not eavesdrop on her because of the barriers she'd placed. A barrier that was strong enough to keep gods away.
Complete darkness met her as soon as she appeared in her cavern. With a flick from her wrist, blue flames lit up like chandeliers floating over her vaulted ceiling. Her eyes skimmed over bones and treasures untouched for thousands of years.
Asya made her way over a small clear area and kicked off some skull back into the rest of her trophies. "Now, let's see what changed throughout the years I was out."
She tapped into her core and bid the Mother Nature a greeting before asking for help in shifting through the history of the Seven Realm. When she opened her eyes, something similar to a large mirror was floating before her.
"Thank you," she said, sincerely.
She eyed her reflection. Her physical appearance remained the same, ginger hair, natural scarlet lips, a porcelain skin and dark eyes with pupils similar to a reptile's. If she shape-shifted to her Wargon form, her eyes would be the same color as her hair.
Placing a palm on the cool surface, she directed a tidbit of magic to stream through her fingers. Ripples appeared on the surface. When it stopped, it was showing the Seven Realms.
Dragons, beasts, demons, undead, faeries, magicians, and lastly human territories were displayed.
Asya shifted through them and searched only the things she'd been out dated.
The dragon race almost remained the same. But, there was a change in their militia members. There were more new generations than the veterans. If the new generations were the same as Esmeralda, she could tell the future of her race was bleak.
She scrolled through the Beast Realm's current news of events. To her surprise, the death of the Beast King she'd killed had no big impact to the beast race. A competent heir had easily replaced him.
"They act fast." Asya assessed, nodding in approval for their sense of management. She hoped the dragons would learn from them at least.
"Now to the main dishes," she murmured.
Demons. They were as war-driven as they'd been since the beginning of time. No change at all. The only remarkable things they've been doing was expanding their territory, which was dangerously closing in on the Human Realm.
Because of their hot-blooded nature, anyone of the demons could be a candidate as their king. They base it on individual strength and powers. But, their current king was unusually young, so the mirror says, about a thousand-years-old.
The problem was, Asya could not get a glimpse at the demon king's appearance or location. It seemed like there was a barrier around him to keep enemies from spying on him, especially those using magic.
"Tsk. How troublesome," she stated. She'd thought it was an easy job because demons were known to be simple. All they do was fight, kill, eat, shit, sleep, mate and back to fighting, killing, shitting, sleeping and mating again. A vicious cycle.
She never thought they had a brain in them. Because of this, she would need to ask around for more information about her target who knows how to use his brain for once.
Having seen what she needed to know, she waved her hand, and the mirror collapsed into smoke.
Asya checked her teleportation spots. She cussed loudly when she saw the direct line to the Demon Realm.
The summit of a stone monument.
A very, very, very tall and thin monument. Like the thickness of a tree branch. Just the thought of appearing right on top of it made her dizzy and gave her goosebumps.
"This is their fault!" Asya exclaimed.
Having been exposed too much to the gods of Darkness, she'd been stripped off of her luck. Doom! Destruction! Undead! Their titles said it all. But, overall...
Why was she born with a phobia that goes against her every being as a dragon? Had she done something in her past life? Why did the punishment have to make her look like a fucking coward?
If the gods and her race learns of this, her well-kept secret, she'd be a laughingstock for thousands of years. This would hurt her reputation badly.
Breathing in, she calmed herself down.
As the fog of frustration cleared up in her mind, she searched routes that would lead to the Demon Realm, which would teleport her on solid ground in seconds.
"Found you."
The fastest line she gathered was to teleport into the Human Realm, reach the border between humans and demons, and then teleport there again. The final destination would be the heart of the capital city of the demons.
A very ideal location.
Especially when the demon king's palace was located there.