Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Inland Journey

Unfortunately for Hans, he was outvoted by the others. Everyone who heard the voice, which included Keeshar and Ulster, all agreed that Dracokin was the best place to find answers. He begrudgingly agreed, despite his reservations.

The two days of their preparation did not come as lightly as they wanted it to be, especially considering the development all over the regions. The pillar of light over Pol Hain, later known as the POL incident, was the first of many other similar occurrences all over the regions. As Ritik had explained for his reason to meet Azureath, the pillars appeared in many places, apparently on random. Some hit villages, while others were far from any settlements. However, the high frequency of the pillars’ appearances severely disrupted the flow of mana in the air with anti-magic.

This hampered a lot of the efforts to understand the pillar of lights, and to explain the bizarre occurrences that accompanied them. First, it was the Marked dragons, then people, humans, and beast people alike, behaved erratically. It wasn’t alarming at first, but then, the situation escalated.

It was as if the world was ending. First, the hellish incursion in Ternor. Then, the pillars of light summoning monsters causing people and dragons to go insane. It was a wonder it did not overlap due to the Ocean Between. Otherwise, Earth as everyone knew it would end.

Not if the crew had something to say about it.

Hans, despite his misgivings on the vague and cryptic clue, decided that the best course of action would be to follow the others and get to Dracokin. If the clue about the city turned out to be a dead end, they could still try and solve the mystery of the Mark with Azureath. But he still wished that there would be a way to explain the whole pillar of light mystery. If it wasn’t from him, it could be from someone else’s conclusions. He just needed something concrete to follow, even if it was just a theory.

Given the big travel group, they decided to rent a magicite-powered carriage, which acted similarly like a car. The design was closer to that of a horse-drawn carriage compared to the cars of Ternor, which made it look rather odd considering that there weren’t any horses to pull the carriage. It could fit all six of the travelers, though Hans preferred riding on Azureath, which put the travelers down to five. Zenithia, being cat-sized, did not count. The carriage was enough for seven, so the interior was quite spacious for everyone, considering that it was designed with beast races in mind.

The travelers were Hans riding on Azureath, Adeline accompanied by Zenithia, Ritik, Elyse, and Keeshar. Ulster wanted to join them, but the potential danger of the journey, along with his condition, forced him to stay and be tended by the doctors stationed inside the embassy. He did tell them to contact him on updates regarding their search for answers, which Hans and Adeline promised to.

And so, two days since they received the mysterious words, they departed Pol Hain. They weren’t the only ones travelling that day, for many chose to travel to the relative safety of Xici, which was only several hours drive. The drive to Dracokin, especially using a magicite-powered car, would take two days at best due to the massive desert of the Central Region. They all decided to relax and tried not to be worried of dangerous situations.

Though they really should, especially considering what happened to them in the middle of their journey.

Azureath was the first to sense what was wrong when she was forced to land near the car, followed by the car breaking down. Ritik also realized what was wrong when he checked on the magicite in the car.

“Of course,” he said with a sigh. “With all the pillars around, the air is thick of corrupted mana. I can clean it up, but I need a sufficiently big mana source.”

“How about a draconic mana source?” said Azureath.

“That’ll work perfectly. Just breathe to the crystal and I’ll do the rest.”

“I have a better idea in mind. Give me the crystal.”

Ritik promptly took the crystal off its casing and handed it to Azureath. The dragon simply used her signature ice touch to freeze the crystal and fed it pure draconic mana, which was the one the kobold needed to clean the magicite from anti-magic particles.

“That is an impressive feat, azure one,” said Ritik, astonished. “I never met a dragon who primarily used their claws instead of their breaths. In fact, it’s so versatile and…unheard of.”

“I have learned to do this ever since I was a hatchling,” said Azureath. “As far as I have known it, I have always had an icy touch instead of an icy breath.”

Hans snorted, not expecting Azureath to have a sense of word play. Azureath, who did not understand what she said unintentionally, ignored Hans.

“Controlling ice with limbs is very uncommon…no, almost unheard of for a dragon,” said Ritik. “That usually falls into the humans and the beast people territory, but a dragon with that level of elemental manipulation is unprecedented.”

“It is unprecedented. I have never met any dragons with that kind of ability. My…”

She stopped mid-sentence before she shook her head and said, “Hans, we should scout ahead. Ritik can deal with the crystal himself.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Hans.

“Nothing’s wrong. Just to stay vigilant, that’s all.”

Azureath quickly opened her wings and tried to fly, but it was clear that she struggled. After several awkward attempts to fly, she resolved with running ahead, leaving the group alone with Hans.

The others already knew Azureath was bothered by something. Adeline, in particular, turned to Ritik and gave him a piercing glare that the kobold could not ignore.

“W-why are you glaring at me like that, wolf lady?” he asked, slightly intimidated.

“It’s Adeline, Ritik, and you know why I’m glaring, you insensitive kobold.”

“What?”

“I thought you of all people should know her change of mood. Clearly, you care more about her scars than her well-being. Do you even realize what she’s been through to get here?”

“She was traumatized by her own ordeal. That I’m aware of.”

“Then why—”

“The fact that she’s not the mind-broken dragons in Dracokin is the reason why I respected her enough not to mention anything about her past. She came to that conclusion, not me.”

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Adeline scoffed. “Learn some manners, or I’ll do it for you. Don’t try and be witty on me, kobold, or I’ll swear these claws of mine will leave a mark on your scales.”

Meanwhile, Hans realized what’s wrong with Azureath as she stopped a distance away from the car. She was unintentionally offended by the conversation.

“Azureath, Ritik does not mean to make you remember. He’s just fascinated with your abilities, that’s all.”

“It is not the bronze one’s fault, little wolf,” she said with a deep growl. “It’s…me. I never thought the scar of that day is still fresh after so many years of exile. The Mark, the pillars…I never thought everything would be related.”

“Why would you still keep that pain, then? I thought the dragons of Pol Hain convinced you it’s all in the past.”

“I may not be in immediate danger, Hans, but the fact remains. I lost my mate and my hatchlings that day. The image of their bodies splayed all over the ground, bloodied and mangled by swords…it was burned into my eyes. I couldn’t avert my eyes, nor close them. I was forced to look as they kill my hatchlings…watching them call me as…”

“Stop, Azureath,” said Hans. He couldn’t bear to hear more. “Just…stop. I know you’re hurt. I know it won’t go away. But the least you can do is to not relive that harrowing moment. It is so unbecoming of a dragon's image."

“Yes, I…I’m sorry for making you hear them.”

“If I were you, I’d go back and slaughter them, but I suppose your grief ended up saving you in the end. The Mark of the Fallen was incomplete, but they can always finish the job. You can always remind yourself that it’s better to get away then becoming…whatever Ritik described those dragons have become.”

“I prefer to die instead.”

“Will they let you? A dragon with a unique ability?”

“I can always kill myself.”

“Then, why didn’t you?”

“It’s…I suppose those Raptors already helped me,” she said with a sigh. “Still, I lived through three generations of shamans. Now, Hrashiran is at the end of his own journey, while I continue on, maybe to witness the end of the world, or maybe the end of the age. I’ll even outlive all of you eventually. Maybe dying is a better option than suffer through all of those all over again. Yes, someone as kind as you and as assertive as Adeline can help me, but I do not wish to restart everything all over again. Everything ends…and I go on.”

“I…guess I can’t relate on that,” said Hans, scratching his head. “I’m still young compared to you but being 25 means that I'm already a quarter off my expected life journey. I’ve been through a lot in only half a year, and it still can’t compare for your long life.”

“I, too, have experienced many things, good or bad. But none has damaged my pride and my soul more than that experience. Dragons do not get traumatized because they always have such a prideful personality, but I…met my match. And now, we are in the middle of a continent-wide event that has disrupted everything that is normal, even for me. I can’t even fly with the anti-magic so thick in the air.”

Azureath sighed. “But you’re right. Maybe I was thinking too much lately. I will try and return to Ritik and explain my abrupt departure. I know that kobold is…interesting, for the lack of a better word, and I know he doesn’t mean it.”

Hans nodded, though he was sure that Ritik’s insensitive personality, even if it was just for the purpose of getting some insight, was to blame. The kobold had been so dedicated to his own projects he came out as rude to others. The werewolf did not think of it as ruder than a drunk bar patron, or Lycanphobes who just hated the sight of werewolves and would do anything to make their lives hell. Still, Ritik’s scholarly attitude was less refined than Ulster.

The kobold sounded like he was an outcast, even in his own community.

“Let’s go back,” said Hans. “I’m sure they’ll understand.”

But just as they turned around towards the car, Azureath’s head perked up. Hans saw this before. She sensed danger. He knew there was no need for an explanation or a question, so he simply tightened his grip onto the saddle as Azureath started dashing back towards the carriage. Sure enough, a pillar of light came out of nowhere from where Azureath’s head turned to, near a patch of forest. Hans hoped no one was living near the forest or in the forest. The pillar, even if it was considerably smaller than the one hitting Pol Hain, still had a destructive potential. If a town protected by magical barrier could be severely ruined by the pillar, then this pillar would surely ruin anything nearby.

The two reached the carriage just as Ritik finished cleaning the magicite and giving a proper upgrade to prevent contamination. Everyone with mana sensitivity knew the danger and quickly sped away, with Azureath following suit. Hans could feel the same itchy sensation hitting him. It felt like a thousand needles pricking him, which wasn’t painful, but still enough to cause discomfort.

However, the one who clearly got affected the most was Elyse. Hans heard her pained scream just as Adeline and Keeshar tried to calm her down.

“What the hell is wrong with her, Ritik?!” exclaimed Keeshar as Elyse wildly thrash around on the chair. Ritik was still focused on driving, but he tried to answer.

“The same thing that happened to the carriage! The pillar of light corrupts magic all around its vicinity, and being a satyr made her even more susceptible to the changes!”

“What’s being a satyr got to do with the light?!”

“The trees!” shouted Elyse. “The trees! The animals! Stop it! Stop torturing them!”

“She’s a druid with high sensitivity to nature’s magic,” explained Ritik. “She feels the pain and suffering of plants and forest animals.”

“If that is the case, then step on it! Get us the bloody hell away from that light!” exclaimed Adeline.

“This is the best I can do with so many corrupted mana in the air! We’re fortunate enough it isn’t Aetherium-level corruption, or we’ll be dead!”

“There is nothing ‘fortunate’ in our present situation!”

Azureath caught up with carriage, but then another pillar came out near them, this time by the river. There were many other pillars that appeared, even if they were not as big nor as strong as the one hitting Pol Hain. However, the quantity made up for it. There were many other pillars right in front of them and everywhere else, with the whole green plains of the Western Region filled with the horrific lights.

It did not last forever, which was the best thing that could happen to them since the barrage of lights started. After a relatively short time, the pillars dissipated, leaving behind an air thick of foreign taste that assaulted the werewolves’ acute senses, causing them to wince in discomfort.

“Elyse! Elyse, it’s all over!” said Adeline trying to hold the satyr’s thrashing.

“The damage is still there! Those trees are being twisted, corrupted by the pillar’s corruption! They became something else! I can feel the pain of the forest animals that relies on those trees! Oh, by the forest guardian, they all…”

She then started crying, overwhelmed by everything that happened. Even Ritik started sympathizing with her pain, just as Hans and Azureath got to the carriage and saw how Elyse was reduced to a pained satyr. It was as if she had been through a horrifying event (which it was) and was traumatized by it. The sight of the caprine beast person crying and tormented made Hans instantly wanting to hug her, which he did. He embraced her, keeping her safe.

“It’s alright, now, Elyse,” said Hans. “You don’t have to sense it anymore.”

“I can’t. My senses are--”

“Focus on us. Can you sense anything wrong? We have safely escaped, and everyone’s accounted for. You’re safe.”

Elyse, still overwhelmed by the way nature were horribly twisted all around her, did so in considerable difficulty. She sensed…a feeling of warmth. A feeling of safety. Hans was right. Everyone around her, while shaken, were fine and was worried of her anguished state. Hans, specifically, was genuinely trying to calm her, even if he looked like a wolf. His lupine appearance did not disguise the fact that he was still a human with strong sympathy, and she decided to focus on that.

“Thank you…,” she said, softly as she slowly calmed down. She felt drowsy and exhausted. Before long, she closed her eyes and her breathing calmed as she went to a sleep. Hans set her on the best as he climbed off the carriage, letting out a long sigh.

“I can’t believe we went through all that,” said Adeline. “And I never thought they’d be painful for her.”

“Now I understand why she doesn’t want to be left alone in the desert,” said Azureath. “What would she do without anyone around her? She would be…just like me that day. Alone and…wishing I could join my family in death.”

Hans realized how Azureath could relate to Elyse’s predicament far better than anyone else on the car, including even him. He lost his village and his sister’s whereabouts were still uncertain, but he did not have to experience them firsthand.

Though he would argue not being there to see it unfold made it even worse, but he wouldn’t want to sound selfish and kept it to himself, just as everyone reflected on what just happened.