It's been a few days since I've gotten my new body. And a few years, mentally, to get used to my new physical age while climbing up the snow mountain and finding shelter through small caves without depth. Not only do I feel like new (despite the fail condition) but I feel rejuvenated. But I also feel like an imposter...
"My name is Art Turano. I am thirty years old. I had about three thousand U.S. dollars left in my bank account and about ten grand in debt to the Jasmine Hospital. I am diagnosed with narcolepsy, clinical depression and anxiety. Although I have no close connections to my family anymore, I still have my good friend Attor by my side." I recite to myself with a deep breath as I shove a stick into my small fireplace.
Seems that I still remember a good chunk of my life. Even though some words feel untrue. Does it really matter? I have a new life in a world surrounded by magic and power. Where humans are no longer at the top of the food chain and weakness brings death.
I watch as the fire shivers and waves around at the push of the wind becoming more untame the longer I linger. There, I take it as my cue to move on. Dropping handfuls of snow into the fire. The smoke rising higher and higher.
"Let's get moving." I huff as I slide out of the cave to the wild outside, where the wind is now more wilder and colder than before.
With an old school compass in my hand, I march to the east. Towards the peak of the mountain. Brushing past the white trees and thorny bushes. Singing old songs under my heavy breath while avoiding hidden rocks and wild critters.
It is sure isn't boring being alone with your thoughts as you attempt to focus on your own heat instead of freezing to death. Struggling against the weight of snow by brushing it off my body once in a while. And once I look up from my coat, I freeze.
A fortress, completely covered in snow, standing about more than twenty feet in height with the top slightly glowing.
"Is this...?" I turn to the view behind me and huff in utter shock.
I made it to the top. I haven't even realized it. Mainly because I didn't want to look back and eventually down at the very slanted slope of the mountain. The feeling that I am about to fall sharply clinging to my toes.
I turn back to the fortress with a satisfied smile.
I made it. But I shouldn't count my luck just yet. I need to get in and view the distance from within the fortress, or else I'll end up falling to my death involuntarily.
So I make my way closer to the fortress, observing the deep cracks between the white bricks. Smoothing the surface with my hand. Realizing there that the entire fortress has been painted white to blend in with the snow.
"But where's the entrance?" I wonder, running my hands across the entire fortress. Not feeling any dent or crevice to indicate a door. But I did find odd symbols painted in black.
These symbols aren't in any language I know. Yet, running my fingers over then, I begin to remember things I feel I shouldn't.
"Gar'Drason evà senti locus tök." I chant without even thinking about it.
A soft crack happens below my feet. I want to move and find safety on still ground, but the floor and snow cave in.
Out of survival instincts, I cover myself with a sharp inhale. Please don't fall, please don't fall.
I uncover my eyes and notice how I haven't I fallen into the gaping hole. Instead, I am hovering above it, somehow. Although not even a second later, a white symbol appears below my feet. Rushing through my body like running water until I'm suddenly somewhere else.
"Wha...what??" I stutter, suddenly standing before a deep and large cavern with a floor of gold and a ceiling of reflective silver.
"Welcome." A deeply masculine voice with an overtone of a feminine one, calls out.
I turn to the middle of the cavern, towards a shadow where the voice came from. From there, a ball of light floats towards me. Illuminating the entire cavern. Though the gold and silver ends up reflecting and intensifying the light, causing me to press my palms to my eyes. Groaning at the immense pain.
"Ah, bloody--! I forget every time!" The unknown voice snarls. "It's been so long, so I am sorry. Open your eyes. The light is gone."
I obey without hesitation, fighting to peer through the bundle of tears from my burning eyes.
"Where am I?" I ask softly, about to stand to my two feet but the unknown voice places a firm hand on my back. This sudden touch causes me to flinch. A rush of unpleasant memories storming my head.
"My, you are a sensitive one." The voice chuckles, his hand now holding my chest. Supporting me to my feet without any struggle.
I want to thank him but, now face to face with him, I hold my tongue.
The voice is a rather tall male figure, wearing elegant clothing like a king. With the colors of white and blue as well as gold. With a tail just like Attor's hiding under his long cloak. But that's not what first caught my eye. It's the large and smooth curvature of his black, shiny horns. Pointed up to the air like a beast of royal standing.
As I my eyes travel up, we meet eyes. His black and blue slit eyes staring me down with this overwhelming power irritating my eyes. Like two blue orbs staring at me through his luscious, long white and blue hair. I realize then, when he flashes me a fanged smile, that he's identical in looks to the wizard from my dreams.
"You, O great knight, will be our savior" He would say in that booming and gruff voice of his. And although he sounded old, he was very much young and quite handsome by looks. Like he could entrance you with just a gaze or a smile. Making you his slave, although his heart is nothing but pure and wishes from you nothing but peace.
Until his heart stood against involuntary corruption.
"Your soul and magic both smell similar to a Mirrkhian that I am well aquatinted with."
"You mean Sin?" I breathe, snapping out of memory lane.
"The prince of Sin, for he has destroyed his kingdom, the light, a God, his heart, and our worlds." The dragon shouts with his arms spread wide open, his voice echoing around us. Silence follows, forcing him to drop his arms out of awkwardness. "Sorry. It's been a while since I've had company so I'm a bit rubbish. Why don't you have a seat, human-that-smells-like-he's-in-trouble?"
With an outstretched hand, a leather couch appears in front of us.
"Wow, you guys have couches?!" I gasp, immediately taking a seat. But as I do, the Dragon sits down where I planned to. Ultimately, having me end up on his lap.
"Now, let's get a closer look at you." He says nonchalantly, holding me in place with an arm across my collar.
It feels quite uncomfortable to be in the lap of a really huge anthropomorphic dragon with power beyond both my understanding and liking. And it's even weirder that with the snap of his fingers, my winter clothing vanishes. Leaving me only in these thin shorts and shirt. Aka, my medieval version of undergarments.
"This might hurt a bit." The dragon murmurs, his hand in a supination that pushes forward, digging deeply into my chest.
I grab his arm, determined to get him to stop the blunt pain from jolting throughout my body. But it's no use. He doesn't budge and the pain--the unpleasant groping inside me yet not inside of me-- makes me dizzy.
"Pl....please..." I gasp. The urge to hurl and strike him dead, becoming stronger.
"Your soul. It's very....disturbed." The dragon huffs, twisting his hand around. "It's as if your soul doesn't belong to this body."
Then he relocates the arm he had placed across my collarbone. His hand traveling up my neck until his black claws are at my forehead.
Before he presses in, I retaliate. But "why?" is the only word I manage to push out.
"I don't like it any more than you do, boy. But, unfortunately, this is the only way our dragonkind can access the soul, aura, and mind." He explains, pushing his fingers into my forehead.
It's unpleasant, yet quick. It's like a cold, ghostly hand is forcefully grasping my essence and crunching it like a ball of jello. That's if the jello could experience pain and other unpleasant sensations. Ultimately, leaving me with the feeling of emptiness clouding my mind. A sense of distance making the world seem dim and blank.
What am I?
Why was I brought into this world?
Why did my world have to die to make this new one and why did I have to stuck to an utter lunatic?
Why did I have to experience pain for things I'm not responsible for or even remotely involved with?
Why did I have to exist....?
"--don't go fading on me, Art." The dragon snarls, pulling his hand out of my forehead to give my face a soft slap, causing me to jolt a bit. "I'm almost done."
It hurts...
Just like when the sword was driven into me. Both in my dreams and in "reality". Just like when the Mad Star drove me to insanity...
"Everything is red..." I whisper softly.
The red bleeds into every nook and cranny of the entire environment. Becoming like a whirlpool of red paint splashing across my sight until the only thing I can see is a big, black dot in the middle--
Suddenly, the pressure on my chest lifts, allowing me the ability to breathe clearly for, once. My vision no longer dim or red, and my body no longer numb.
"I couldn't dive in deeper than I hoped. But I do have an idea of your situation now."
I pull myself away onto the empty side of the couch. Left in a state of despair. Fear shivering down my spine.
"Never do that again, Dalyx. I don't like it..." I huff, resting on the couch with several deep breaths. Attempting to process what just happened.
"You know my name?"
"Yeah, well, not exactly. I saw it in you." I say, wincing past the faint pain to sit upright. "You are the banished Dragon Father, Dalyx. Just like in this webnovel I've read, you were a respected leader and guide to the protector of the five kingdoms. A great warrior and mage. But years after the incident with a power-hungry warlock, you began to show your true colors through ways of manipulation and deception. From whispering evil seeds into a king's ear to setting towns ablaze. But one day, you were struck by a dark magician. Called a betrayer. A cheater. A sadomasochist. Ultimately locked away and banished into a cave where you are to live forever alone."
Silence.
Dalyx gives a quick hmph as he sits back on his throne. "I see. It seems my suspicious were true. I do hold the same name and... nature, but a different story before the Merge happened. But let's just say I was investigating something that concerned my king. After tracing its origins, I found ruins. Amongst those ruins I ended up finding prohibited magic and madness. Traces of a magical disease I have never seen before. Then I was locked away along with a certain someone's name across my face. Now now stranded here with the key, where I can have my glory and freedom back."
My eyes fall to the ground as he told his story, where I end up seeing etching on a silver plate. I take it into my hands.
"What's this?"
"Oh that? That's....it's hard to explain but let's just say it's nothing important from my edgy years." Dalyx giggles, dismissively waving at me as he looks off to one side.
"Strip and dip thy bare body in the blood of my enemies before calling my name?"
"You can read that damned thing?!!!" Dalyx shouts, stomping towards me to whip the plate out of my hands with his tail. "Begone, edgy phase!"
The plate flings across the room like a disc, piercing the wall until it ends up stuck.
"Are you...embarrassed?" I say with a chuckle. Perhaps he isn't as mysterious and dangerous as I thought.
"Can't say I didn't miss that age. But I certainly do not accept it anymore. I'm a new dragon." He turns to me with clamped hands. "I want to be an open guy so let's get to the point."
Taking a couple more steps towards me, he stops. His body now only inches away from mine. At this distance I can smell almond, cherries, and...death, on him.
"Let's make a deal."
I raise a brow, puzzled. "What?"
"I want to ensure that our relationship is built on trust. And I'm the type who likes to be handsomely paid for the charity I give." He holds his hand, palm up, at me.
I hesitate to take it. What if it's a trap? Are dragons even trustworthy? Based on the story Ezephyr gave, I would guess not.
"Having doubts? It's ok. You have all the time and protection to make the choice."
"So, you're saying I'm stuck here until I agree?"
"Heh, you're a cute one. No. You're free to leave. After all, I'm the imprisoned one. Not you. But I'm sure you crave for answers more than freedom. And to give that Prince a good scolding. No?"
I turn my gaze away. He's right. I don't really have a purpose other than investigate. Perhaps to stop Sin? Am I really making myself out as a hero? Either way I have nothing to lose.
"I accept." I agree, holding out my hand.
Without hesitation, Dalyx guides my hand on top of his, where we then turn it over twice and end it with it held high.
"Here's to the start of our wonderfully small, but brilliant, party."