Soon, Celine breathed a sigh of relief as her thirst was quenched. It was not just her thirst though, she felt as if she had rested for days, weeks even, as her tiredness were all gone. She looked down at herself and noticed her wounds were gone too.
"What? How..." Celine stared at herself puzzled. Her stomach that had a very fatal wound was healed, in fact it looked as if she was placed in new skin, as the only sign of her ever being injured were the blood stains here and there on her dress and body.
'It couldn't have been the water could it?' She wondered and glanced up at the sky. The dragon didn't look surprised at that outcome, it was a routine to it. Celine stared back at her body again. Her babies were even more secure. She could roam the earth freely now that traces of life in her were hidden and probably check up on Hades. But such advantage couldn't have come free right?
"Who are you?" She was suddenly wary, her silver orbs focused on the creature before her, her straight brows raised, due to the height.
"Illuminous" a deep conc voice reverberated in her mind, sending shivers down her spine, but not out of fear but the weight it's name bore on her mind. She haven't heard of it before but she felt it has always been there. Respect involuntarily flowed out of her bones for the creature, it seemed she wasn't in the presence of an ordinary dragon.
"Why did you help me?" She asked, keeping her attention on it to detect any trace of lies even though it brought strain on her neck.
"You wanted water" A voice played in her mind bluntly, with a hint of confusion within.
"So... You won't ask for anything in return... Like I mean, your water did wonders, I won't pay you back right?" Celine had to be sure. In this world where different species of mortals rested on the earth, you couldn't be too careful. One misstep and that could spell the end of your future. Especially with dragons, the mightiest of all mortals.
"Do you want to?" It asked plainly.
"No, no, no- not at all. Thanks a lot for the water." Celine said hurriedly, almost biting her tongue.
Silence reigned.
"Umm... So, you did this- I mean the burnt temple?" Feeling awkward, she decided to change the subject.
"Mmm... Fear not... The god is dead" The dragon assured, assuming her fear. Well it was expected. Dragon flames were... She shivered, it was not something she wanted to think about.
"What god was here?" She wondered. If it was a major god, she would have felt their weakness by now, so...
"Nemesis"
"..."
Celine was speechless.
Nemesis?! That was a god mortals didn't dear mess with, even though it wasn't a major god, it was as good as one, except ofcourse they wanted to be covered in bad karma for their remaining living days. But a dragon killed it!? No wonder the gods were especially aggressive, unlike what she thought, the gods lost something too, she just didn't know. No wonder they didn't show mercy. She was suddenly happy even though listening to the name placed a weight on her mind, a slight smirk could be seen on her face.
They lost countless comrades.
The gods lost on of their own.
In conclusion, they won this round of the war.
Mortals could easily be replaced, gods couldn't.
Once dead, forever dead
Though their duties and some of their power might either go to their alters or, to other gods of their choice, so... The alters could very much hold unimaginable power or just be plane marble. If not, there might be a lesser, weaker version of that feature in another god's hands placed on the mortals.
A weaker 'retribution'
A cracking boom resounded on the earth, scaring her out of her thoughts that the god's name influenced on her.
It seemed the gods also acknowledged the pain of their loss as some part of the earth cracked and swallowed the martyrs while the heavens sent heavy bolts of lighting in a chaotic havoc as the air became thinner.
All these though, the dragon seemed carefree about, she could have sworn she saw a thunderbolt disintegrating and turning into mists when it's draconic orbs moved. It landed on the surviving bodies targeted by the bolts, increasing their chances of survival by bounds, it was surprising how such people were still alive. Well, it wasn't a coordinated attack, so it was not surprising.
This Illuminous... Who was he?