47.

A tale one thousand years in the making

Dominic awoke with a gasp, bolting upright. He was back in Largo’s lair, sitting on the stone floor, with the dragon’s eye positioned right in front of him, staring intently. He took a slow breath and let himself calm down. The memory was over.

“You’ve awakened,” Largo said, his voice rumbling through the floor. “As expected of my liege; you had no trouble.”

Dominic wanted to send him a glare, but didn’t have the energy to.

“You are banned from doing that again unless I ask,” he said.

“I obey my liege’s commands.”

He looked down and found that Aster was still safely tucked into the front of his robes, asleep. The crow’s breathing seemed peaceful, but he knew that the moment he woke the boy up, all the shock would return.

“Largo,” Dominic called.

“Yes, my liege.”

“Tell me about your affinity. Properly, this time.”

He somehow pressed his head even lower to the ground.

“I apologize for my rash behavior earlier.”

“I permitted it. Now speak.”

Largo rose slightly.

“My affinity is psychological,” he said. “I can manipulate minds.”

“Tell me the details.’

“Memories are the easiest to work with, since they already exist in the subject’s head.”

“Can you extract them for information?” Dominic asked.

“Easily.”

That could be useful. He wouldn’t have to interrogate anybody if Largo could read their minds.

“I can manipulate dreams as well,” the dragon continued, “but there are limitations. It would be difficult to deal with things that the subject themselves has no knowledge of. I can’t make a person who’s lived in a cave their entire life dream of sunshine.”

Dominic nodded.

“Are there conditions for your power?” he asked. “Do you have to touch people, or be near them? Can they be conscious?”

“In my prime, there were no conditions,” Largo responded. “It was a given that I had to at least know who I was working on and where they were, though.”

“That was your prime. What about now?”

The dragon looked dejected for a moment.

“For now, I’m stuck here. If they are not here, then I cannot do anything.”

He glanced up at the dragon’s huge form. His wings, proud and expansive, sagged limply on the ground. His entire body was transparent, barely the husk of a living being now. But when Dominic reached forward and touched the tip of his nose, it was still solid as rock, the scales cold and smooth.

“What if I gave you a body?” Dominic asked. “Even just a rudimentary one. What could you do then?”

Largo was silent for a second, and his eyes slowly widened.

“I would be honored beyond compare, my liege!” he shouted, smashing his head into the ground again, sending debris flying.

“I asked what you could do.”

“Yes! I could do anything for you!”

Dominic sighed. The religious zealot wasn’t speaking coherently, but he got the general idea. As long as Largo had a body, even a crappy one, his limitations would be lifted. There was a more pressing matter, though.

“The thing you did to me,” he said, “can you also resolve other emotions?”

“Of course,” Largo replied. “But I have to know what you want of me first. Dealing with the wrong emotions can have unexpected repercussions.”

Dominic glanced down at Aster, still asleep in his shirt.

“Can you make it hurt less?” he asked.

Largo followed his gaze, and his expression softened. Despite how he had been wary of the boy before, he still seemed to understand what he meant. He hadn’t been paying attention to them when it happened, but perhaps he had seen the memory just now.

“Tell me what you require of me, my liege,” he said. “Shall I make him forget it all entirely?”

Dominic shook his head.

“Make it less jarring—no…”

He pursed his lips, trying to decide. He wasn’t sure he even had the right to meddle in the first place, even if it would help Aster through those memories.

“Just make it so he doesn’t have to dream about it when he closes his eyes,” he said.

Largo lowered his head.

“As you wish, my liege.”

A warm, orange glow gathered around the crow’s small body. Dominic felt the boy’s transformation magic unraveling once faced with the dragon’s mana, and he placed him on the floor just as he shifted back. The light formed a small sphere, then popped. A shower of sparks flickered in the darkness of the room, then disappeared.

Dominic waited a moment in silence, then looked down and tapped the center of the boy’s palm, canceling his sleep spell. Aster groaned, and his eyes slowly cracked open.

He was surprisingly calm. Perhaps the memories were taking time to register in his mind. Perhaps they were too far-fetched to believe. Or perhaps he had just blocked them out for now, and they’d come crashing down later. Aster rolled his head to one side and spotted Dominic, then glanced to the other side and saw Largo. He looked away immediately.

“How do you feel?” Dominic asked, cautious.

“…Pretty terrible,” he replied quietly. “Are we…safe now?”

Dominic nodded.

“Largo won’t hurt us,” he said.

He sent Largo a pointed look.

“I’ll make sure of it.”

The dragon grumbled under his breath.

“Okay,” Aster said, still refusing to look at the giant beast.

He scooted closer to Dominic, then popped into his crow form. Now that Largo wasn’t using magic, he stayed that way without any problem. He hopped up onto Dominic’s lap and tucked himself into the front of his robes again.

“Do you want to go back to sleep?” Dominic asked.

The crow shook his head.

“I’m just going to pretend the dragon doesn’t exist for a little bit.”

“Alright.”

“Hmph.”

Largo turned his chin up haughtily until Dominic sent him a glare again. As Aster settled into his spot, his gaze turned to the gate on the far side of the room, the stone pillars supporting its rim cracked and crumbling, but the portal still glowing a low blue.

“That,” Dominic said, nodding towards it, “can it still be used?”

Largo turned to look as well and pursed his lips.

“Not in this state,” the dragon replied. “Or rather, not while I’m in this state. It is active, however, in order to use warp magic, I need to be able to connect it to the other side. And right now…”

“You can only use magic in this one place,” Dominic presumed.

“Yes, my liege.”

“So you require a body.”

“That is correct, my liege.”

“Okay.”

If it was something he could do, then there was no reason to waste time not doing it. Mars had told him it was possible, and he had made meat before to eat. Although it might not be perfect, he would just have to try until it worked. What mattered now was deciding on a form.

Dominic was not capable of fabricating an entire dragon yet. He didn’t know if he ever would be able to—considering Largo’s condition, there was probably no physical body of a dragon remaining anywhere in Denea to study. So he had to make something else.

His first thought was a human—despite the complexity, it was the animal he was the most familiar with. As a healer, he knew all the ins and outs of organs and the body. But having Largo take a human form felt terribly inconvenient. The only things people had above beasts was their intelligence and their magic. Largo could do both of those things no matter what shape he was in.

Dominic glanced down at Aster. Perhaps something small would be best. A large animal would attract attention, and there was no reason they would ever require the strength of a bear or a big cat.

“Can you change bodies after possessing one?” he asked.

“If it is made by my liege, easily.”

He nodded to himself. There was no need to think too hard about it if he could improve it later anyway.

“Let’s just do something simple.”

He held out his hand and summoned his mana, molding and forming it like when he had made the apple from before. This time, there was flesh, scales, a tail, short limbs and pointed claws—

“Ugh.”

Dominic lost focus for a second, and the half-formed lizard in his palm fell to the floor with a sad flop, cut cleanly mid-torso. He had barely hesitated, but that was enough to cancel the magic. The inner workings of a lizard’s body—the organs, the vessels, the shape—he’d have to think it through further if he was really going to make it happen. He had a good basis with his knowledge of the human body, but transferring it was another matter.

Largo crawled forward on his belly, tapping the failure with his claws, inspecting it sadly.

“Be patient,” Dominic said, lifting his hand again.

“Yes, my liege.”

He made more. He continued to fail, but each body was slightly better than the last—a little more complete, a little more complex. The trail of half-made lizards around him was a bit strange to look at, but seeing Largo pick at them sadly with his claws was even weirder. The giant beast looked like a deflated dog.

Dominic finally managed to make a full body, though lifeless. It plopped limply into his palm. The dragon perked up immediately, but he waved him off. Not yet. He could do better.

A few more came and went with minor adjustments. He gave the lizard small wings on its back, then realized how conspicuous that would be and made another one with wings it would tuck and hide. It was a long, arduous process of editing and editing more. Even Aster, who had resolutely been looking away from Largo, turned his head and watched Dominic churn out lizards.

It must have taken hours in total. Largo’s eyes sparkled as Dominic finally finished one last body, the form dropping gently into his hands. It was a small lizard—something between a salamander and a gecko—with wings on its back and two ornamental horns sprouting from its brow.

“What color were you when you were alive, Largo?” Dominic asked. He couldn’t tell while the dragon was in his ghostly form.

“Black, my liege,” Largo replied. “With a white underbelly.”

“And your eyes?”

“Black, my liege.”

“A little like a shark,” Dominic remarked. “Okay.”

He added color to the scales bit by bit. It was uncomfortable having Largo stare at him so intensely all the while, but it was finally done.

“Will this suffice?” he asked.

The dragon nodded enthusiastically.

“My liege, words cannot express my grati—”

“Just take it, Largo.”

“…Thank you, my liege.”

He closed his eyes, and his huge, ghostly form flickered, dissipating into smoke. It floated down towards the lizard in his hands and was absorbed into its body.

Warmth seeped into the lizard as it slowly gained life. Largo opened his eyes and blinked a few times.

“Finally!” he shouted, his deep voice booming out of that tiny body and echoing through the room.

With one kick, he shot out of Dominic’s hand and right to the front of the gate, the single leap so powerful that a cloud of dust flew up in his wake.

“Come, my liege!” he said, planting his claws into the ground. “This servant will release you from this place!”

In an instant, mana rushed towards the gate, blowing through the room like a storm. The pillars framing it repaired themselves, shards of rock clacking back into place, and the low blue of the portal swirled and thickened until it glowed bright white. Dominic shielded his eyes, the sudden light blinding him for a moment as it flooded the dark room.

He stood and approached it. He glanced down at Largo, who was looking at him expectantly, and held out his hand.

“Good job, Largo,” he said.

“I am honored by your praise, my liege!”

He hopped onto Dominic’s open palm and climbed up his sleeve, settling on his shoulder. He was light as a feather, but surprisingly warm. He realized that he’d forgotten to make the body cold-blooded, or rather, he’d never healed anything cold-blooded, so he had just defaulted to what he knew. There didn’t seem to be any problems with Largo’s new body yet. It would function fine.

“Aster,” Dominic called quietly.

“Yeah?”

“Are you ready to see the place I’m from?”

“V-Vaine?”

“Mhm.”

The crow stared at the swirling portal, then shook his head and hopped out of Dominic’s clothes. He transformed midair, returning to his demon form. His eyes didn’t leave the gate. It was certainly daunting.

“I’m ready,” he replied. “It’s not like this leads to the middle of a city center, right?”

Dominic glanced towards Largo. The dragon stomped his tiny feet haughtily.

“Of course not!” he said. “I built it to hide it! It would never be in such a place.”

“Then I’ll be fine, brother.”

He put on a weak smile, not enthusiastic but not afraid either. Perhaps he just wanted to lie down in a bed and rest after all these days of traversing the jungle and dealing with the labyrinth, and it didn’t really matter to him where it was.

“…I’ll go first,” Dominic said.

Aster nodded.

“I’ll be right behind you.”

He stepped through the gate, subconsciously holding his breath as he passed through. His foot came down on stone on the other side, and he found himself in a large, undecorated cavern, barely lit by glowing stones embedded into the ceiling.

Aster followed quickly, glancing around.

“Are we underground?”

“No,” Largo replied. “The door is ahead.”

Dominic could see nothing but a wall of rock blocking their way, but he walked up to it anyway. On the surface were carved channels, similar to the ones that had been on the doors that had led into the labyrinth. He placed his hand on the cold stone and put his mana into it.

With a loud scraping sound, the door slid—almost rolled—to one side, and fresh air rushed in, gusting around them. They were standing on the face of a sheer cliff, the next step leading at least a thousand feet down. Below was a lush green forest, not a jungle this time, with flocks of songbirds fluttering between the trees.

He took a deep breath. The air was clear and warm. The wind carried with it the scent of flowers. It was a regular, midsummer afternoon. There was nothing different about this day compared to any other.

He tapped his earring and called Midi. He felt the mana connect, but he spoke before the owl could say anything.

“Can you feel it, Midi?” Dominic said.

The mana in the breeze. The way the wind blew. The clarity, almost aridness, of the atmosphere. A signature just slightly different from Hesia’s, without the background noise of the fog, of salt and ash, of that one degree of oppressive, ominous humidity that followed him no matter where he went. This was the side of the world that wasn’t caged. There was no way the owl didn’t know it.

“…You crazy bastard,” Midi replied.

Dominic laughed to himself, and Midi abruptly ended the call from the other side, probably annoyed by the satisfaction in his voice. Aster glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Are you happy to be back, brother?” he asked.

Dominic stared at the soft white clouds, the clear blue sky, the swathes of trees below. He let it wash over him.

“Not at all,” he replied.

He held out his hand, and in a flash a crow hopped onto it.

He set Aster on his shoulder and smiled.

“Let’s go.”