The giant snakes let out a responding hiss as they hesitated. Even with pain wracking his body Nona knew if this chance slipped by he would die.
Wrapping the blade in the remnants of mana and enduring the pain Nona swung his sword in a perfect circle. The sword sliced through each of them cleanly leaving none alive. Nona did not enjoy the victory but rather fell to the ground releasing the mana he had forced into himself.
His whole body ached and his mind refused to have any thoughts in it. His eyes were glazed as he forced himself up and walked over to Aquiline. He placed his hands on him and once again conjured the image of magic in his mind. Nona was not even aware of the flood of pain as his mind simply could not process it.
Fire, air, and earth seemed to gather toward Nona's hand and mix together. As it spread over Aquiline's body the slashes and punctures closed up and his breathing stabilized. With this unconscious healing complete Nona closed his eyes and slumped over. His mind stayed blank as the hours passed.
*****
Nona awoke an indeterminate amount of time later. The sun was high in the sky yet he still felt exhausted and sluggish. Color started returning to his eyes as he became aware of his surroundings.
The first thing he noticed was the ease in which Aquiline was breathing. Heaving a sigh of relief he began to look around. The bodies of snakes lay everywhere. In a few places a blessed horse could be seen buried by several snake corpses. As memories of the fight began to slowly come back Nona heaved another sigh of relief at not seeing the stallion there.
He tried getting up but found the pain to be to much. With a dry mouth Nona carefully looked through the nearby pack that Aquiline threw off durring the fight. Taking small sips from the canteen helped to ease the dryness. As his tongue felt the roof of his mouth he felt something hard and rough, but it radiated no pain so he put it out of his mind. Grabbing some rabbit jerky that he had saved he crawled back to Aquiline.
"Aquiline I need you to wake up long enough to eat and drink this." Nona sent telepathically.
There was no reaction at first. Very slowly an eye started to open and gingerly Aquiline rolled from his side to his belly. Turning his head Aquiline carefully took the jerky out of Nona's hand and swallowed it whole. After opening his beak so Nona could pour water in it both of them once again passed out.
*****
On the third round Nona was able to actually stay conscious. He kept replaying the battle over and over in his head. He knew with his skills that he was lucky to be alive but he vowed he would not make the same mistake again.
Nona groans as he slowly gets to his feet. Keeping his focus on the cave. He didn't know why the cave was so silent but was grateful that it was. Tentatively he reaches for his mana and is pleasantly surprised that it comes to mind easier and stronger. As he begins to revel in the power memories flash, of the pain of forcing mana into his body and the burning of his insides.
Shaking his head and releasing the mana he allows a small smile on his face. For whatever reason they had survived. Yet again it was due to his roar. In his mind he had no choice but to accept that at least a small part of him was a dragon. The inner reconciliation seemed to bring its own peace as a cooling sensation began to flood through him.
Looking for the source of this cooling sensation Nona enters his mindscape. The castle was still present but something about the banner caught his eye. The gold dragon on it seemed to have changed in some way. It radiated a gentle but strong power he did not infuse it with.
"That banner has become the symbol of your draconian heritage. It has also shifted from the serpentine appearance of the general dragon you had envisioned to the one before you now. The four limbs and two wings are typical of the dragon race. Though there are some that do not posses wings they are not the majority. As you continue to accept yourself this image will grow more firm and you will learn the true power it holds." The doppelganger speaks as it appears at Nona's side.
Nona had grown used to the doppelganger's random appearances so he paid it no mind. "It seems there is much I do not know." He replies as he walks inside.
He walks to the room with the chair and chooses a random wall. There he envisions a small shelf and infuses the images of past minor mistakes into it to give it solidarity. Once this is complete he calls up the image of a scroll and feeds the mistakes he made in planning the assault on the cave. The scroll easily appears and seems more solid than everything else he had created.
"I see so this is what you deem important." Comments the doppelganger.
"Of course. If one cannot learn from their mistakes than they are doomed to repeat them and next time it could be me that pays the ultimate price." With that done Nona leaves his mindscape and allows himself to sleep once more. Afterall he still had to clear the tunnels. He could not help a small smile as the thought of how heroes in his scrolls would always get some treasure after completing such a cave
He held no illusions about being a hero, but his imagination started to wander as he imagined all of the treasure from those scrolls and how he would use them. Tomorrow he would enter this cave and fulfill his promise. May be karma would be kind to him in return.