"Kilgharrah?" Melina called the dragoness whose demeanor was especially unusual today.
She raised the torchlight which flickered and almost gasped when she saw the dragoness's red eyes.
Her eyes were no longer the fierce, molten gold that once commanded fear and respect. Instead, they were wild, flashing dangerously between a soft amber and a furious blood-red, betraying the turmoil that raged inside her.
Something had happened.
"Why have you come here?" Kilgharrah said again in haste, her clawed feet hitting the cave subtly in impatience.
The dragoness was in no mood to see her.
Melina, standing a few feet away, felt the shift. The air itself seemed charged with Kilgharrah's unrest as though the dragoness's very spirit was vibrating with anguish.
Melina could sense it, and her heart ached even though she didn't know the source of the pain.
Approaching cautiously, her feet barely made a sound in the cave. She extended her hand but knew better than to touch an angry creature without permission.
"Kilgharrah," Melina's voice was soft, filled with warmth in attempt to calm the tension. Even she was scared.
"Something troubles you. What is it?"
Kilgharrah's eyes flickered towards Melina, sharp and filled with untold pain. Her tail lashed against the ground in response, sending up a cloud of dust.
Melina felt her chest tighten. This was the first time Kilgharrah looked so...broken.
What could lead to something like this?
The redhead, however, didn't flinch. Instead, she stepped closer, her gaze soft yet unwavering, like the warmth of the sun.
She had her brows furrowed, curious as to what was going on. The dragoness had been just fine the last time and had even helped her harness her powers during the battle.
Had this been what Berlin spoke about? Was this the urgency?
Stepping even closer, now beside the dragoness, Melina reached out, this time laying her hands on Kilgharrah's scales.
The creature stiffened at first, her body growing taut beneath the touch. But Melina's hand remained steady, her palm warm against the dragoness's skin, as though she were channelling the calm within herself into the chaotic storm raging in Kilgharrah.
"Tell me, what is it?" Melina's voice rang through the cave, her gaze intent on the enormous being.
As if compelled, Kilgharrah's ragged voice rasped, "It's... inside me. This darkness... I can feel it clawing at my very soul.
Melina's brow furrowed in confusion, "Darkness? What do you mean?"
Kilgharrah let out a low growl, her massive body shuddering as another wave of agony tore through her. "Something... something unnatural, dark magic. I feel it," She growled, "It's tearing at me."
Dark magic? Melina was shocked as her eyes widened.
"What do you mean?" she asked softly, her voice calm despite the storm raging in her mind.
Who else could practice dark magic except her and Kilgharrah?
Hadn't it been banned in the kingdom?
"The dark magic is not your doing but it's after me and it lies within the palace walls."
"The palace walls?" What was going on? Melina didn't understand.
Kilgharrah closed her red eyes for a moment, struggling against the pull in her chest before continuing, "There are bodies...two bodies...laying in the royal infirmary. One dead and one clinging to life. There's a dark force embedded in them, trying to trace me and seek me out."
Melina could sense the hint of fear in the dragoness's voice.
"Two bodies?" In the infirmary? She knew a war had taken place and from the little chit-chats she had with Cinna, most of the knights were still receiving treatments from the infirmary.
However, the idea that a dead man still laid there with dark magic in him was absurd. And to talk about it tracing Kilgharrah was even more strange.
A dragoness as powerful as Kilgharrah, a dark magic wielder herself... How could she be threatened by another mere dark magic? Wasn't she ancient enough to fight it or even deflect it?
"How? How is this possible? Who else is capable of wielding such magic?"
Kilgharrah paced, quivered and stomped her large foot in discomfort, "I don't know, young kin. But I am certain it is no ordinary sorcerer. This is an intentional magic. I know it from ancient times." The dragoness explained.
Melina tried to drink in this information, feeling her head throb as she stepped away from Kilgharrah.
Dasha...
Could it have been Dasha?
She remembered her encounter with one of the Vagarian soldiers and how he could see her despite the cloaking spell.
Surely, the soldier had his reason to have been shocked when he saw her right? It could only mean their princess was a dark magic wielder.
That was the only thing that explained what was happening right now.
Melina, though didn't have the luxury to bask in her thoughts right now. Kilgharrah's state was not conducive for it.
"Could it be Dasha?" She asked with uncertainty.
That was the only mysterious person enough to point this blame at.
Why would Dasha try to trace a dragon that had been locked up for years?
It made no sense.
Kilgharrah, however, was in no condition to reply her.
"You must find the source of this magic. Draw it out from their bodies unless it would consume me." Kilgharrah told her, still appearing unsettled.
Consume her? The thought of dark magic consuming a creature as wise and ancient as Kilgharrah was something unbelievable.
"B-but h-how do I do that?" Melina was not confident about anything concerning her magic.
She had only, out of instinct, used it to cloak herself earlier and Kilgharrah had to aid her before she could use it at the battlefield.
How would she even know how to remove dark magic from two grown men?
"I shall aid you. We are mind-linked now. It would be easier to draw the magic from them." She said, blinking at Melina and Melina nodded slowly, planning on what to do.
"I should do it now," she replied and Kilgharrah hummed in unison.
Turning around with the torch still in her hand, Melina rushed out of the cave and fog enveloped her again, bringing her back to the grand hall.
She hurried through the alley as though she was running out of time, her chest heaving with every step she took and when she left the hall, she strode through the palace corridors leading to the infirmary but paused when she realized it would not be easy to enter.
Looking around, she dropped the torch she was holding, depending on the illuminated lights that had been lit all over the palace.
There were guards stationed there, as if protecting the men from intruders and Melina's shoulders drooped in frustration.
She knew how dangerous the things she was doing were and it would be stupid to go there thinking they would let her in.
She could not lie that she wanted to clean the infirmary because it was impossible to be assigned such in the middle of the night without proper reason.
That lie would only put her in more trouble.
She hid before one of the pillars that concealed her presence as she relaxed herself on the wall.
Her eyes darted about, thinking of a way out and her lips were pressed in a thin line
As an idea slipped into her mind, she raised her brows in excitement.
Why didn't she just cloak herself?