It took me eight minutes to be able to walk through the bridge again, arms stretched out again to try to balance my body again, eyes ahead because I knew if looked up or down or at my sides I would freak out again. Swallowing my pride in order to survive as the damned dragon flew to be under me and consequently the four who were with me, as Percy was still with my bag, I kept singing. Everything to avoid it from snapping annoyed and burn me or throw me off the bridge.
Parts of my garments were burned my the fire, but not all as I had managed to get a vest and pants that were dragon-fire proof for being made with their scales. To my dismay, even the parts made of dragon scales that are said to be fully fire proof for obvious reasons, had been quite danified and burnt in some places, but my breasts, part of my back, the center of vest that covered my waist, the waistband of my pants, the back that covers my ass, and some parts of the legs were still good. Most of my back, the deep edges of my waist, part of my left hips, and a big part of the edges of my pants had been burned.
My shoes and socks were gone, most of the shirt I had underneath became ash and the only parts remaining were the ones under what was left of the vest, my arms are bare and so is my feet, and the remains of my clothes were all tainted in my blood that had been spilled earluier. The black tie that was keeping my long ginger hair tied also undid itself leaving it loose and a mess after the falling.
We stayed quiet for three hours, only my singing voice echoing in the air.
"What… what is wrong with this dragon?" Barbie cried softly.
"Why isn't it going away?" Percy asked exasperated.
"Land!" Sage shouted behind them.
Heart speeding up, I narrowed my eyes and spot the landing on Arkhane Mountain far ahead, but in sight. Relief was apparent in my voice, as I kept singing, unable to trust that the damned dragon will remain agreeable if I stop it. I couldn't see anyone there yet, but we saw the very edge of the cliff we're headed to, with my eyes I calculated it to be four kilometers away from us, and I quickened my steps, the four behind me joining, probably as anxious as me to get to land.
Dragon growls, screams, and the sound of fire breathing came from behind us, but we remained on our pace, unstopping, because there's no way any of those stupid young dragons got anything on the monstrousity under us.
"How… how far are we?" Barbie asked.
I showed four fingers as an answer, not to pause singing the lullaby.
"Four… meters?" She asked, hopeful.
"Four kilometers," Sage corrected, out of breath, as if close to panicking.
"How… how much is that?" Barbie groaned.
"Four thousand meters," Percy told her.
"How much have… walked so far?" The nameless girl asked.
"If," Percy huffed, "if Grace is right, then 84.8 kilometers."
"Shit," the girl gasped, "fucking hell. This shit is long as hell."
"We are almost there, almost there, almost there," Sage said, struggling.
"Are you alright there, buddy?" Percy mocked.
"Don't provoke me, not right now, Peregrinous!" Sage snapped. "I'm on the fucking edge in here, I'm struggling to not collapse in this damned bridge, so, do not fuck with me, because you're in front of me and I can push you off!"
"I guess you're not alright," Percy poked. "Neither am I, buddy."
"I've walked so much after getting through that damned climb, that I think my legs are about to fall off my body," the girl whose name I still don't know, cried exasperatedly. "Fuck, it was already hard enough to survive that psychopath."
"What psychopath?" Sage gasped.
"Psychopath? As in cold-blooded killers with no remorse or emotions?" I am genuinely surprised how Barbie knows about that, I was waiting for her to ask what the fuck is a psychopath.
"Yes," the girl groaned. "Number 100, I was 88," she cried. "He came on a storm, running up the stairs, arms with countless sharp daggers, killing countless in front of and behind me. Saying some shit about wanting to be number 1. I think I was the only one who survived him, given how when I got to the top of the damn mountain, he was already there, but only him, covered in blood and grinning."
What the fuck? That explains why I went from the 800s to the 200s.
"What? How did you survive that?" Percy gasped horrified.
"I grabbed him by his collar and smashed my lips on his, how else?" She said it so seriously that I couldn't know if she was joking sarcastically or not.
"Tell me you're joking!" Sage groaned in dismay.
"Oh? No. I really did kiss him. Fucking bastard kissed well as hell! I guess I kissed well too, if he kissed me back and allowed to stay alive. The things we do for survival, oh heavens," she said dramatically.
"You kissed him?" Barbie barked, shocked.
"Of fucking course. He was hot psycho!" She reasoned. "You'll see him."
"He killed 98 people!" Sage yelled in dismay.
I rolled my eyes. Big talk for the son a killer.
"I'm pretty sure Gracie killed more than a 100 since we got on the bridge, and even then, you have a crush on her!" The girl mocked at him, and for the first time, I realized her and Sage may know each other.
And Sage has a WHAT on me? Ew.
"No, I don't!" He screamed as if horrified, very dramatically.
"Yes, you do!" She mocked. "Your ears a blushing, Sage."
"Fuck off, Davalyn," he yelled annoyed. "I don't have a crush on her."
The nameless girl finally has a name. Davalyn something.
"He's in denial," she told us.
"The fuck I am, I hate her!" He barked.
"Oh, yes, of course. Because it was toooootally out of hatred that you followed them on the bridge that you were almost shitting yourself out of fear of getting onto, and not because you got jealous of her so close to Marvor, uh?" She laughed.
"I swear to Gods, if you weren't my best friend, I would throw you off of this fucking bridge and into the mouth of one of those dragons, Davalyn Mercier!" Sage yelled exasperated and I frowned at the fact that they are best friends, quite unbelievable that this piece of shit has any friends at all.
As I searched for her name in my brain and my eyes widened.
There's only one Mercier clan in the Empire, they were never sided with any families, not with mine back then, not with the Velothren now, they are strong enough and have some autonomy, some freedom. It's the family of the Great Grand Meister of the Von Damme Citadel, from a lineage that has attended Von Damme Academy and sat up as the leaders of the Citadel for generations.
I heard he had a family, married to his wife, and children. But I never had imagined that the Mercier had a great connection with the Vadryon, enough for the two of them to go as far as calling one another best friends. Does that means that the Mercier sided with the Velothren like the Vadryon?
Better yet, what the hell is the daughter of the Great Grand Meister of Von Damme Citadel doing in Arkhane War College? Shouldn't she be taking part in the Von Damme College entrance exam?