It's clear as day to both Attor and I that the dragon behind the fire is an undead. Its scales cracked with exposed bone and rotting flesh. Like gazing upon an ancient wrath invoked by this wretched world.
"It looks badass out of the smoke..." Attor breathes. Both of us watching as the undead dragon flaps the smoke away with its battered wings, enabling us a better view.
"Fall back!" I shout as soon as I see the undead dragon's eyes glow a deep blue from within its empty sockets. "Now!!"
Attor obeys without hesitation, ceasing the movement of his wings to plunge us down.
"Where do I go?"
"Up. As far above as you can!"
Before the ground can appear, Attor flies back up again. Straight up in the air, I plant several cubes of condensed smoke as platforms for myself once the time is right.
"On the count of three let go of me and keep going up. Don't stop no matter what!"
"Okay!"
I wait until the undead dragon appears in my view. Watching with unease as zips up at an alarming pace.
"How can something dead be so fast and sneaky?!"
"Necromancer." I immediately reply. "One!"
I prepare my magic as the dragon beats its wings once for an extra jump.
"Two!"
I cast a spell of strength on myself and one to help lighten my fall.
"Three!"
Once Attor lets me go I push him off to one side, planting a sigil on his arm. And with just a thought, I cast the words to cease his movement.
A yelp and down he falls, eventually to land in the lake I planned for him to fall into.
"Now it's just us, old fool." I snarl, stepping on one of my platforms. It's small enough to only hold one foot but it'll do. It's just like training.
But the undead dragon has gone. Leaving only a cloud of smoke in its stead.
"Out with you." I breathe with a smirk, unable to contain my excitement. Who knows what type of plans lie within that head of his.
While waiting and listening to the faint beating of large wings, I reach into my magic pocket to pull out the corrupt sword.
The undead dragon lets out a screeching roar directly behind me. A roar so airy and dead, yet full of ancient pain. A type of scream that shouldn't exist.
I peer over my shoulder, waiting patiently within the uneasy smoke as it opens its broken jaw, ready to devour me.
How does it expect to eat me with missing teeth so cracked and damaged?
I hold out a hand, bracing for impact as it collides against the thin layer of condensed air I put between us.
"Idiot." I scoff, the undead dragon clawing and whacking the invisible barrier with intense bloodlust.
It struggled to break through. Never growing tired but chunks of rotting flesh flying around. Exposing bone and its hallow innards. When the moment is right, I let down the barrier to drive the sword into its forehead before it can open its mouth again.
But it manages to dodge my attempt.
"RAWWWWWRRRRRR!"
The undead dragon flaps back, circling around me as if looking for something.
"Is that you, little Prince?!" A voice calls out and then breaks into laughter. "You look like a mouse in hiding."
"You, of all people, should know better than to come after me." I huff, watching as the old man dressed in a dark blue cloak appears across from me, floating in the air.
"Yes. Hello to you too, Prince."
The undead dragon hovers closely behind him. Watching me carefully.
"Do you recognize her?" He asks me telepathically.
I squint at the dragon again.
"No. It is but rotting flesh and bone beyond recognition."
"How sad. She managed to recognize you in that new altered body. Why not give it another try?"
What dragon do I know so large yet sleek and fawn brown with one only horn remaining?
"Alvbada..." I realize and she snarls softly at the mention of her own name to which I find odd.
"You know, she isn't just a hallow corpse heeding my every command. Her fury towards you runs so deep that her mind was able to come back to life. Making her --"
"The perfect obedient killing machine, I get it. But why?"
The old fart has never sought me out after we split for many years. We did leave on bad terms however not badly to where he'd secretly lust for revenge. If anything, it'd be reasonable for me to seek revenge.
"I know what you're thinking. Why would I, a mage who loves tormenting kings and nobles for a comfortable living, seek out a bounty for your evil head?"
My bounty. I nearly forgot about that.
"The answer is simple. It's not for money nor fame. But for it."
"It?"
"The Mad Star."
Impossible!
"Where the fuck did you hear that, old bastard?"
No living being should know that name, or utter that name. Let alone, think it.
"A rather dear friend of mine told me. He said that if I kill you I'll be granted audience with the Mad Star. A deity more powerful than our stupid Gods."
"You can't live." I decide, trading the sword for my staff through my pocket.
"Wait is that the--"
"Az deba berak." I breathe into the staff, watching as the thorns around the gemstone slithers. Accumulating my spell as I repeat the words three more times.
"You mean to wipe me from existence!? Galso baté!!" The old bastard curses out loud from way below.
Seems that the old bastard grew nervous and broke our connection in order to flee. Once a coward, always a coward.
But I won't let him leave.
He will die along with his mystery conspirator.
The air grows harsher as the undead dragon leaps towards me in an effort to save her enslaver's skin.
"If you truly are in there, Alvbada. Then leave. And I will spare you." I whisper in between the spell.
'Not....you....DEAD!' She hisses, immediately swinging her tail at me.
"Be that way."
I duck her attack and direct the magic chains from the staff with my hand. Forcing it around myself like a stream of smoke from my fingers until I have complete control of its direction. During which I draw power from the dragon smoke around us, although thin.
And I almost succeed in catching the dragon with it. Until with a great push of her wings towards me causes my spell to fall back at the gush of wind. Which she immediately follows up with a head strike.
Down we both go, wind whistling loudly and the cries below becoming frantic.
In a hurry to get the dragon off of me I press my staff against her forehead and recite the spell again.
For unstable magic like this one, it's difficult to control it with just my hands. I need to focus intensely and direct the magic itself with the staff to avoid any damage to myself. More than I already am right now.
But the dragon acts quickly. Tossing me aside like a pile of sticks with her horns. Leaving me to land within a family of thick trees with branches and leaves as sharp and tough as claws. The further I fall, the more distant the dragon becomes. Just like the smoke.
In between falls I tuck away the staff for the sword. Slashing rows of branches until I make it on solid ground. Now surrounded by just plants and hungry creatures that dare not approach even me.
"Fun." I growl, looking around in hopes of recognizing where I am.
I see nothing familiar and know nothing. Only the fact that I'm somewhat near the Blue Oasis with an undead dragon that wants me dead big time.
The air tenses.
I dodge and a red fireball consumes a tree instead. I peer over my shoulder, catching a glimpse of a rapid shadow retreating back into the trees.
She's toying with me.
So I stand still. Quietly observing the natural mana in the air for any type of disturbance through sight and sense of touch. If she'll be sneaking around me like a game of tag then I might as well play my part.
As soon as the mana begins to move, I dodge. Managing to miss a potential blow to my head.
I must trace it quickly.
I follow the trades of magic from the attack. Eyes all over the place until I come across nothing but her footprints and a singular ball of fire waiting for me to trigger it.
"Clever." I admit in a whisper, wiping away the spell with just my wand.
I need a new plan. One that can outsmart her cunningness.
But what did I expect from a royal dragon? One so renowned not just for her kindness but her one-of-a-kind strategic mind.
"Alvbada. I underestimated you." I call out. "You're clearly still cunning and fast, even as an undead."
I pause, waiting for her to appear. "So was the old bastard right? Are you really in there?"
From the depths of the forest, human form Alvbada emerges. Her battered wings spread out and a flame in her hand.
Seems she was ready to snipe me.
Alvbada halts. Head turned to me sharply and releases one smokey exhale.
"Mad Prince." She hisses gruffly, shaking away the flame. Liquid pouring from her extended lower lip to show off her row of missing teeth.
Unmoved, I hold onto my sword.
"Mad Prince, at your service." I joke to which she immediately growls at.
"Pa.....thetic!!"
Strands of her messy black hair falls over her face as she lowers her head. Preparing something as she pulls tiny amounts of mana from the air towards her mouth. During which her horn appears on her head.
"You wouldn't." I chuckle, amused. "Fine."
I angle the sword, leaving its blade to handle her eyeball-sized beam of flames.
The beam strikes the blade, bouncing off and shooting straight into my injured eye. Both magic colliding with each other to create a flash of light, disappearing once the Mad magic consumes the dragon's.
"ACK!" Alvbada snarls at the light. Standing back only to immediately recover and rush towards me. Easing into the mindless animal she is now.
I dodge her attempt, realizing the change in her movement and expression. Something's clearly off about her but I don't know what.
Still, I have to kill her now.
"No! Stop! She's in pain!" Ezephyr cries from a distance.
I glance at his direction, confused as to why he'd say she's in pain when she's just a husk of anger. But I'm clawed back to the main fight when Alvbada slashes my back with her chipped claws.
"Arsin!" Attor cries, immediately leaping into action.
The two go at it while I pick myself up, my fresh wound trickling with blood and the mad magic.
"Arsin, I-I'm sorry..." Ezephyr whispers, placing something cold over the wound.
"Later, later. Just help me." I urk. Allowing Ezephyr to lift me to my feet.
Just now many wounds do I have left to go through until I enter their realm? Until my goal is realized?
"SIIIIINNN!" Alvbada screams angrily, her head now locked in Attor's arm. Trying hard to free herself by attempting to claw his flesh with nothing but her bloody, clawless fingers and her broken jaw.
"Be sure to keep her alive, Attor!" Ezephyr then turns back to me in concern. "I made sure to have Attor bless you from her attacks. Lucky that we made it in time too."
Made it in time? I wouldn't have been wounded if he didn't jump in and tell me to stop. Talk about a hero-complex. But at the same time I'm grateful that I've been given the opportunity to analyze the old bastard's work from up close. If I killed her and they saw it, our paths would have diverged and that would have been unfortunate. Because I don't want to severe our relationship just yet.
"Ezephyr, what do you mean by her pain?" I ask, looking at her from an arm's length away. "How do you know?"
"They're in intense pain. Crying and screaming from the inside. Trapped and struggling. I can see it through their nightmares."
"Nightmares? But she's...."
"She is undead, yes. Moving and talking as if she is awake. But the part of her that's alive is under a dream, stuck in between life and death." He sighs. "The necromancer that did this is an amateur with unfortunate luck. To find someone harboring such immense hate and pain. Not uncommon to find someone that hates Sin but extremely difficult to ressurect it."
"Amateur indeed." I chuckle.
"And it's not just the dragon that's dreaming."
I push forward, ready to get a closer look but Attor takes a step back.
"It's ok. She won't do anything." I assure.
And that's because his amateur magic is wearing off. She can no longer cast magic like a normal dragon can.
"Is that because she's undead?" Attor asks.
"Indeed. The undead work with limited magic, depending on how powerful they were when alive. But they cannot draw mana from the living world. Only from what magic was left or allowed by the caster." Ezephyr explains correctly.
I step forward again, inviting her hands as they cup around my neck. Unable to squeeze with the strength leaving her bones.
From there, I invite myself into what's left of her Mindscape. And as expected, it's barren and messy. An utter wasteland with every inch of the ground covered in the binding symbol.
"The Merge." Alvbada says behind me.
I turn and catch sight of her plastered against the wall. Alive with nothing but her torso and head remaining. Except she looks different. Her once brown hair now black. One eye the familiar yellow dragon-shaped, with the other brown and human.
"I am Alvbada....and Hana."
Alvbada and Hana. Of course.
Two creatures merged together after the fusion of both worlds.
"I see. No wonder why you seemed sloppier than usual."
"Please, tell me something before I disappear."
I stay silent and she scoffs at it as if it were an insult to her entire family.
"What? Don't want to face the consequences of your actions, coward?"
"You're not worth my breath."
"Za Olíashk, Nemé!"
"Don't you know you should reserve a dirty tongue like that for no one but your husband?"
"Just tell me!" She cries. "Tell me... Why you kill my children..."
Should I tell her the truth or spew a fun lie? Stir up her hatred and kill her spirit on the spot? Or play the part as the righteous Arsin who wants nothing to do with Sin?
Why should I? Art has left, the other two most likely know my true identity, and I'm running out of time. I can't possibly get them to follow Sin, the wretched villain of this new world, into Rélzhaba. Aka The Home of the Gods.
I remain quiet.
"May thy soul rest."
"Wait, no! D'mab. How ever did a prince like you become so twisted and evil?"
"Don't butter me up. All of us Mirrikhians are evil, remember?"
"You're not really doing all this because of that, are you?"
I laugh. "No. Far from it." I then look at my hand with a sigh. Remembering their blood on my hands and how rushed I felt. It wasn't satisfying but I do remember how intense it felt. "I killed them because heroes like them were never cut out for the world."
Alvbada and Hana cry. One easily, deep yet elegantly feminine cried in anger whereas the other, higher pitched yet still mature, cried out of sympathy for the dragon.
"Rest assured," I began once their cries calmed down. "They did not suffer."
The Mindscape begins to grow unstable at the best of their haunting cries.
The more they cried, the more they began to fade.
I take it as my leave. But first I must study the magic.
I lean over the symbols, caressing it until I have memorized the pattern and the feel of it. Eventually finding the answer I was wondering.
A faint foreign magic within that old bastard's. One so ancient and powerful. But also unfamiliar.
"Whoever you are, I will enjoy your death."
Having departed from the Mindscape with a half truth planted in their hearts, I smile.
"Arsin?" Ezephyr calls out once I'm back to reality with the crisp air cupping my face.
I turn to the sky. Directly at where the old bastard was with my anger telling me I should do everything in my power to kill him. Perhaps it's right that I should. This man has been nothing but a tiny thorn at my side. Not even a thorn but an annoying reminder of its past pain.
I tightly grip my sword with closed eyes, deeply inhaling as I drop it to the ground.
Alas, the old bastard has long gone with his aura no longer detectable.
"No more..." I whisper into the air in hopes that the wind can carry my message. "You no longer have a leash on my emotions."
Suddenly, my sight dims. The clouded sky becoming darker and darker as I lose consciousness.
"Arsin!"
Are they shouting in anger? Panic?
I can't tell but I force on my act, despite my debilitating state.
"I'm okay." I lie and enter darkness.