Volume 3, Chapter 5: Days Before the War (Part 2)

“Hah, jester,” Eden said in a somewhat mocking tone. “You shall regret fighting me. Our magic level may somewhat be the same, but unlike you, I have had much more training.”

In a way, her words were somewhat true. I had spent almost a year in Shail Kingdom, while Eden had spent her time in the dragon lands training. We differed in the fact that I only had some basic training with fire magic from the eldest, Navra.

Astlan dragons like us came into our other magic when we reached adulthood, two and a half years old, or when we start our second tribulation. Unlike Eden, I had trained my earth magic and improved my fire magic independently.

What it all boiled down to?

It was the difference in training and experience between Eden and I. Our magic level might have been the same, but that was not the only factor.

Through training and practicing your magic, you would be able to use more of your inborn magic capacity. For example, if I had to estimate my strength during this time in the past, it was like a small trickle of water that had been diverted from the full potential of a raging stream.

Threads of dark green colored magic flowed out of Eden's body, forming a dense, green aura around her. The aura covered her from head to toe, but it was transparent, so I could still see her face and body.

Lana, Efari (I had sensed her through my bond), the soldiers, and the mages who were surrounding us in a large circle—all of them could see the both of us use magic. We were, unlike extensively trained mages, still unable to hide our magic from the eyes of others who were far weaker than us in using magic.

“It is not only you that can do that,” I said without a trace of arrogance in my voice.

I formed my own threads of black colored magic and they formed a dense, black aura around my whole body. It was similar to the time when I had been fighting that undead lich during my second tribulation, except this time I was covered in an aura of magic, and not a blazing fire.

Eden only gave a small laughter at my words. “Let me show you how to truly wield fire magic.”

Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw next.

The whole area around us was lit up with a bright flash of fire as a vortex of flames reaching twenty feet tall surrounded Eden. The vortex of flames, however, lasted only for a few seconds before the fire retreated back. They retreated back—no, they were absorbed into Eden.

When the vortex of flames disappeared, Eden stood in the center with a changed appearance.

“What in the bloody ashes is that!” a soldier shouted, his voice reaching all the way here.

“Fire woman!” another soldier said, her voice filled with awe.

“Monster!”

“Get back!” a water mage instructed the soldiers. He must have sensed the danger of the magic Eden was using.

From the corner of my eyes, I could see all the soldiers and knights hastily giving us even more distance. The only ones who did not retreat were the water mages. They still kept a circle around the two of us.

“I have never seen such fire magic before,” a young water mage said out loud.

“I have heard of such things before from Grand Magus Cervia and Headmaster Alzeroth. It must be an Eastern magic,” an older and more experienced looking mage explained.

“What are you talking about? This must be an advanced stage of fire magic mastery! I have seen Grand Magus Cervia do similar things before!” a mage captain shouted in excitement. “To think a young girl less than half my age could do this already!”

The words of the mages exactly resonated with the feelings I had.

Eden, about a fifteen feet distance in front of me, had turned into living conflagration. Her blonde hair had turned a scarlet orange, and instead of hair, she now had flames for hair. Her hands had also turned into a pair of living conflagration, blazing and crackling with power. The simple white dress she was wearing, however, was unburnt. The green aura she was covered in and her will protected her from the fire of her own magic.

“Vurdis Incentia,” Eden said, her voice soft enough so that only I could hear her clearly. At those words, the living fire that surrounded her hands and hair turned brighter, and more intense. The area of grass where Eden stood on instantly caught fire, unable to bear the heat of her flames. More than six feet of ground around Eden had caught fire.

Vurdis Incentai—Dragon Fire Armor.

Eden's words were familiar to me, yet I could not place what they were. It did not seem to come from the dragon language I communicated with the other dragons.

Perhaps sensing the confusion in me, Eden said, “Vurdis Incentia, the language of the Ancients. This is just one of the many differences between the two of us, jester. You have wasted far too much of your time in these human lands. I do not even know why our king allowed you to come here, even if he was busy.”

There was a pause as if Eden was thinking upon something. “It also seems to me that the eldest did not told you of the Ancient training a dragon must undergo after their second tribulation. I wonder why...” Eden's dark green eyes blazed with an intense light. “You are lucky that I have barely begun to master this form.”

“Prepare yourself!” Eden yelled, closing the distance between us with perhaps twice the speed of an average human warrior. It was not enough to cause suspicions because the Grandmasters I had seen were far faster and stronger than that. Grandmaster Kizam, for example, had surpassed human limits and was perhaps seven times stronger and better than an average warrior.

I had wondered how it was even possible to reach such realms of physical strength. And Grandmaster Kizam had only replied with, “Do you think magic is the only thing in the world? Inside our bodies lie a hidden strength, which can only be forged, strengthened, and revealed through blood, sweat, and tears. When you have the time, you should visit Excelon Kingdom, the home of warriors, in the Southern Region. These warriors are far stronger than me and can rival even mages.”

Still, it was useless thinking of such curiosities at this moment. I had greater things to focus on.

I quickly formed three fireballs, each of them thrice the size of a human head, and shot it at the incoming Eden.

Eden formed a grin, a grin that told everyone around her of the joy she took in battling foes. She blocked the three fireballs with the fire that surrounded her pair of hands. The three fireballs were simply absorbed into the conflagration that was her hands. They had been swatted away like an insect.

By then, Eden had already closed more than half the distance between us in just seconds. I turned around and retreated further back, limiting myself to twice the speed of an average human warrior—it wouldn't do me any good to use more physical power than Eden did.

I turned my head a little and saw Eden still chasing, but also limiting herself to the same speed. “Stop running!” she yelled, while continuing to absorb the fireballs I kept throwing at her. There was no need to look behind, I could just direct the fireballs with my will and magic. After all, I knew the path Eden was taking to chase my back.

Every two seconds and every irregular interval of seconds mixed in, I would form columns of fire a few feet in front of her. These, Eden chose to dodge, wasting some time, while I gained a few seconds of time.

With a horizontal slash of the conflagration that was her right hand, a wave of fire about twenty feet wide came shooting forth from it. Just from the heat of the wave of fire alone, everything in its path started to catch on fire. The grasses underneath the large wave of fire crackled with flames, while everywhere Eden traveled through caused the nearby ground to catch fire.

I stopped running and turned around, taking a stance. Then I formed a large shield of fire in front of me. It was just in time too, before that arc of fire collided with the shield. Even as I poured magic into the shield to strengthen it, I could feel it straining from the pressure of holding back just a part of the wave of fire the shield had blocked.

With my sheen of black aura surrounding my entire body, and my shield of fire holding a majority of the wave of fire, I was not damaged by the parts of the wave of fire that had passed through beside me.

I heard the water mage shout from a distance behind me as they saw some of the wave of fire that had gone past my shield.

“Defensive Formation Two! Reflection!”

Not having the time to look at what the water mages had done, I didn't even turn around to take a peek, though I was a little curious.

I dissipated my shield of fire, and instantly saw Eden come spiraling down diagonally from above me with two flaming fists aimed at my face. She had jumped into the air a little before I finished blocking her wave of fire.

My choices were limited. I could roll sideways and dodge her pounce, but that would have left me vulnerable. There was really only one choice that remained to me—to take her flames head on.

I quickly moved both of my arms up, and my hands met with her two fists. My hands were formed into palms, which were being strengthened by my magic and covered with my own dense layering of fire.

My own flames met her flames, but there was no collision or any explosions—fists and palms did not even collided with each other. There was only the force of my flames against her flames. But my fire, as fast as it was forming around my palms, were simply being overcome and absorbed by her fists.

“Give it up, Jester,” Eden shouted, her whole body still in the air due to being supported by the force of my flames and her flames.

I could feel the danger of the situation I was in. It sharpened my senses and I fell into a cold state of mind, where everything, except the bare essentials of what I needed to battle, were ignored. I could feel renewed strength flowing inside me.

I formed more fire and covered my palms with an even denser aura of magic. But even that wasn't enough. The force of her magic and her flames were simply too strong to contest with.

Very well, I thought to myself.

I put forth as much magic as I could in one instant and instead of trying to overcome Eden's flames, which were continually growing stronger and stronger, I grabbed onto both of her fists, ignoring the damage being done to my hands.

Then I spun Eden around once before throwing her away. “Ashes,” I muttered, seeing the damage the fire around her fists had done to my hands. The damage was mostly on the palms of my hands, but they were an ugly mess. The whole skin had peeled off, revealing a raw redness, and blood of various shades of red were weeping out from the entirety of my palms. Some areas of my palms were even blackened.

Even with the impressive regeneration of dragons, the damage would take more than a day to heal; in this, I somewhat envied my other self who could heal far quicker than I. Just how was my other self that much more powerful than I?

About eight feet away from me, Eden was already getting up from the place I had thrown her toward. She had a look of excitement on her face, and the area of grass around her had caught on fire. Eden, as she was getting up, indeed looked as if she was being born from a blazing fire.

“That was incredible,” Eden said with pleasure as she jumped up with joy. “I had not expected you to last that long in a direct confrontation with my flames.” Her green eyes blazed with the joyous fire of battle. “Again! I am far from done!”

In the age-long and familiar method of giving up, I raised both my bleeding palms up above my head, and walked about two feet toward Eden. “I concede. It is your win, Eden,” I softly said, neither sadness from loss or joy from victory in my voice.

As Eden heard my words, the battlelust in her eyes disappeared, and she returned back into her normal form. Her usual cool and haughty expression was also seen. “It is my win, jester! I only hope you will put up more of a fight when we have our Dragon's Duel of Dominance.” The expression on her face changed a little, becoming perhaps slightly softer. “Oh, you're injured,” she said, her voice yielding a slight sliver of its usual coldness. Then both her expression and voice quickly became normal again.

The changes in her expression and voice were barely noticeable and had quickly returned back to normal, making me think that the change was just my imagination or perhaps due to the aftermath of a battle. There was simply no way that I sensed the slightest bit of worry from Eden. It was unthinkable.

“No need to worry, I can just go see a mage healer.”

“You must be crazy, jester. Why should I be worried about you? In fact, if you die, I would be rather thankful, since I will not need to marry you then.” Eden turned her back toward me and said in a voice low enough that I could barely hear it. “Not too shabby, Verath.”

Then she left without even once looking back, the crowd of soldiers and mages spreading apart to form a path for her. There were fearful expressions on their faces as they let Eden pass through. All of them had seen the power of her scarlet-orange fire. It would haunt them forever in their dreams, and perhaps nightmares, the intensity of her flames.

All around me, water mages were quickly containing the patches of wildfire that had started. Steam was made as streams of water were dropped onto the fires to extinguish them.

I could hear the whispers of the mages, soldiers, knights, and commanders. Judging from the whispers, most of them seem to think Eden had only used some form of strange magic, advanced magic, or perhaps a unique magic talent of her own. Or perhaps it was Eastern magic. None of them thought that she was a monster, a dragon hiding in plain sight.

How curious...Just what was Eastern magic and advanced magic? And the language of the Ancients? Why hadn't the eldest spoke of it to me?

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Before the night truly started, I went to see a mage healer, and in just a few seconds, the old man had fully healed my bleeding palms.

“Thank you, Sir Lorae,” I politely said.

“Not a problem, General Verath,” the old man, most likely past seventy years, replied with a strong voice. Age had not caught up with him just yet, the strength of his voice an obvious testament to it.

I nodded a thank you once more at the old man and turned to leave the healing tent.

Healing magic.

It was a strange magic talent that were only seen in very few humans. Being quite rare and powerful in its own way, healing magic usually overtook any other magic affinities you could have. This was why most mage healers did not go into battle.

And in a way, magic worked quite similarly in humans and dragons, though there were some exceptions such as the fire magic of dragons.

Magic showed itself once you reached adulthood, or in the case of humans, puberty. This was why most human students, in general, started their education in Shail Mage Academy at around twelve years old.

Dark magic and the undead, however, were entirely different matters, as I would find out in the future.

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Inside my tent, I reflected on the fight with Eden a little bit in the middle of the night, while Efari sat on a chair, silently watching my face.

I wondered what would have happened if the Flames of Interitum, the dark flames my other self had used, contested with Eden's flames. Would the dark flames simply devour her flames and with it, her whole existence?

But I could not bring myself to use these black flames out of logic and uneasiness. I felt—no, knew—that if I used these dark flames, it would increase the influence my other self had on me.

The magic behind the Flames of Interitum was intriguing, however.

When my memories had been connected somewhat with my other self, I had learned and sensed how he had formed those flames. To form it, I would need to tear apart the threads of magic before its formation and mixed it with the dark pool of magic that was inside me.

To better understand what had happened to me after my other self had taken over, imagine an underground cavern and residing in this cavern, an enormous clear pool of magic. A very small part of this pool of magic had now turned black. It was a slimy and cold darkness that wanted to devour everything in existence.

I could only shiver a little, knowing such a thing was mixed inside my magic reserves. Just what was my other self? Could it be my black dragon soul? Then what was I? The soul of a human?

There were simply too many questions.

Yet I could sense that Efari, this Matriarch Devourer in front of me, knew some of the answers.

“Tell me, Efari. Just what am I?”

“You are my master, my destined mate, and the Deathwalker of my Goddess. You bear the proof of her mark on your back,” Efari answered coolly. And perhaps it was just my imagination, but I could somehow sense a slight hesitation and perhaps bitterness when she said the words, “my destined mate.”

“And just what is a Deathwalker?” I asked, this time my voice becoming a little firm.

“One who brings death to those in his way and traverses ruin,” she said without hesitation in her neutral voice. I could not tell whether she was lying or not.

But even then—

So, she will not answer clearly, I thought to myself.

I had no methods of forcing Efari to answer honestly, even though I could sense that she was hiding many things. Her strength and power was unknown to me. But instincts and logic told me that Efari was much powerful than me.

“Very well, I shall go to sleep now,” I said. “You should return too.”

“I shall stay the night, Zakir. I only wish to gaze upon you for a while more.”

On my cot, I closed my eyes and unhurriedly went to sleep. Even with the dark and staring eyes of Efari on my face, in the presence of a mosnter whose strength I could not guess, I went to sleep unworried. Somehow, I knew with certainty that Efari would not harm me.

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{12 Days Remaining}

This time, I chose not to sleep for an hour and instead chose to sleep for seven hours. When morning came, Efari was already gone from my tent. I had heard her leaving during the crack of dawn, but I didn't bother to say farewell.

Outside of my tent, and around the camp, I could see the men and few women rinsing their mouth with cold water on crude basins. After rinsing their mouths, they would chew a small piece of herb. The herb was called Whitetooth, the name obviously reflecting its use. It was a major trade product in many of the kingdoms, but since Shail Kingdom was, for the most part, self-independent, the kingdom grew Whitetooth mostly in the southern region before transporting it to the other regions.

The herb was inexpensive, allowing the majority of people in the kingdoms to use it, so only the poorest of the poorest would be unable to buy it daily.

There were other more expensive methods such as breath freshening powders and slightly caustic substances, but that was mostly for the nobles, especially the higher noble ladies.

Aside from selling spices, weapons, carpets, and many various other luxurious products from other kingdoms through ship trading based in the western region, father and I also dabbled a little in hygienic products. Of course, Alan Mead, my father, never touched the darker arts of trade, such as slaves, poisons, and dark potions.

Hah, did you think I was lying when I had told you I was a merchant and quite well read in certain regards?

There were a few whispers and looks the soldiers and knights gave to each other as I passed through sections of the camps, but I only ignored them. Rumors of my loss in the fire magic duel with Eden must have spread to every camp by now.

As I had found out, soldiers and knights off-duty, and particularly before wartime, were more talkative than your mothers-in-law or little girls bursting with energy. I particularly knew well of the latter since as a child, I had observed little girls my age.

It was...well...interesting to see what others my age were doing. And to be honest, I was disappointed by the fairer sex that were around my age when I was a little child. I never did particularly get why dolls were so intriguing.

They seemed, not at all, amusing to me. Rather, I found it a waste of time.

Quite a bit curious about this as a nine year old child, I went toward the house of a small girl whom I had been observing for some time—from a far distance, of course. The house was located in the corner of a small street of a city my father and I had been staying for some time.

If I had to estimate, the house was normal, perhaps a little larger than the average house. The walls of the two-story house were also clean and somewhat new still, so I guessed the family to be living better than the average family.

Thus, with my expert bodyguard silently following behind me—father had not trusted me to go alone until I had turn ten years old—I knocked on the door of the little girl.

The mother of the little girl I had been observing opened the door.

And I, with my cold, blue eyes, said, “May I play with your daughter?”

Naturally, the mother was surprised and even took a step back, looking taken aback. In my defense when I had been a blunt and indifferent human child, I knew very little about human emotions until I turned ten years old. You could say I was late in developing, or rather, feigning emotions.

I could see the mother hesitating, thinking what to do about this strange little boy in front of her demanding / asking to play with her daughter. In hindsight, the mother's eyes were somewhat calculating, as she judged the quality of my clothing.

“Who's your parent,” the mother asked. She had asked the question that started with “who,” and not with “where.”

“Falin Mead,” I instantly replied.

The mother, all of a sudden, put on her brightest smile—she was still young and somewhat pretty-looking. And she knew who my father was, a rich merchant who was staying in this small city for a while. “And what's your name?”

“Alan Mead.”

“I see. I see.” She nodded as if that was a natural outcome. “Well, come on in then.”

Thus, I entered the house of that little girl.

Inside the somewhat spacious living room, I saw the little girl with brown hair and brown eyes playing with her four dolls on the carpeted floor. Her hair was short and she had a small smattering of freckles near her nose. Her attire consisted of a simple white dress with black flowers. Pretty enough for the most part, I suppose. I had not really been paying attention.

“Good afternoon,” I said.

The little girl looked up and instantly showed an expression of annoyance. “Who are you,” she said imperiously. Her tone made her question seemed more like a statement.

I replied back indifferently, “Alan.”

“I see,” she said, looking back down on her dolls.

“Is it not proper manners to give me your name also,” I said.

The brown-haired girl continued ignoring me, while I silently watched her play with her dolls and silently waited for her reply. A minute passed by as the silent atmosphere reigned over the living room—she was the only child and her mother was busy elsewhere. Only the two of us were alone in the room.

“What is so amusing about these dolls?”

“You are annoying. Go away,” the girl finally deigned to reply. It was the first time in my life as a child that I had received such replies and such an attitude from someone my own age, not that I had much experience with others my own age.

Seeing that conversing with her was not going to work, I tried another method.

I sat down in front of the short, brown-haired girl and grabbed one of her dolls, a blonde girl doll.

It was unexpected. It was unthinkable. It was surprising.

Never in my mind, which was still afflicted with naivety as a nine year old child, would I have expected her fist to come flying at my face.

Her attack put me off balance for a short second and though she was a girl and had a child-like strength, it was still painful. I could feel that a bruise was going to form on my face, specifically my cheek.

“That hurts, you know,” I said, somewhat surprised. I was not angry, however. I only knew that I needed to retaliate.

Thus, I punched her back.

My punch put the girl off balance also and I knew there was going to be a bruise forming on her face.

“An eye for an eye, a cheek for a cheek,” I calmly said toward the girl who was holding her cheek with one hand in surprise.

Then she tackled me and we both went down on the carpet, each of us trying to gain the advantage. Our little fists went for each other and her attacks were furious. In the end, after a few minutes of fighting had passed, we were both tired and beaten and bruised.

I would have liked to say I got in more blows, but that would have been lying. The girl had been furious and quick in her attacks and kicks.

I laid beside her on the floor, panting for breath. And before I knew what was happening, the girl got on top of me and kissed my lips hard. It was a childlike kiss. It was forceful and not a kiss at all, rather our two lips just smacked into each other. It was rather painful, to be honest.

“Mother says to kiss the man who can be my better,” the girl only replied. “But you are not really my better, so for that kiss—the girl slapped my face once more.

“...” I became silent. I didn't know what was wrong with this girl and her mother.

“My name is Arina.”

Thus, this was how my first kiss was stolen, and how I first started learning more about human emotions. But let us go more into detail about that later.

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I was at the mage section of the camp, and the time was just about enough right for the fresh Air mages scout I had sent to return.

It took only an hour of waiting before five of them, three males and two females, descended from the air.

“General Verath,” the leading female bowed. “Our scouting was successful.”

“Continue,” I said.

“The enemy army changed direction a little and based on this new path, it seems they will head for the area between the third earthen regional defense and fourth earthen regional defense.”

“Very well, all is going as expected,” I said. “Their own scouts of Air mages must have confirmed that this was the weakest section of defense.”

I smiled inwardly to myself. How wrong the enemy forces are.

The area between the third earthen regional defense and fourth earthen regional defense was the best spot.

“Very well, starting from today, we shall make haste for the third earthen regional defense and fourth earthen regional defense. It shall only take us about nine days to arrive there. By then, the enemy forces will be seen clearly in the distance. Likewise, the same goes for the enemy. They shall also see us, if their scouts have not already reported our gathering here.”

“If they did scout us without the 17th and 18th Air Mage Battalions knowing, General Verath, we shall tear off our symbols and offer our lives in apologies. We have been guarding the air space around this region, so none should have trespassed without us knowing!”

I nodded, knowing that these Air mages were competent.

“Dismissed. And have some rest for now. We shall be leaving in two hours for the third and fourth earthen regional defense, where we shall set up our positions.”

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Volume 3 (Chapter 6)