by SlyOkami
Makaela chuckled, “What about it? She’s…hard to hate.”
“And you’re hard to understand, even I needed a certain fox to help me. Makaela, if you’re conflicted on who to choose between us and your people…The decision is all up to you, and no matter which you choose, I will hold no grudge.” Erik reassured her.
“Even if I choose to protect my people…over helping you?” Makaela sheepishly asked.
“Yes, even then. Because for once, you’d have chosen a path for yourself. And nothing could make me prouder than to see you grow independent from me.” Erik said…
But she could tell from his expression and tone, that her words had still saddened him.
Seeing his sorrow at the thought of her leaving, it gave her joy, but at the same time filled her with guilt. (“What am I doing?…”) She wondered, as she met his deep blues, “Then, you won’t mind, if I choose you anyway?” She asked.
Her body suddenly moving on its own, as she stepped closer to him.
(“Am I this unfair?”) Makaela asked herself, as she found her face mere inches away from his surprised expression. (“Only…another step and…”) She thought, as she lay her right hand over his chest. (“He could be…Maybe we could…”)
But she stopped herself, as he had glanced away from her.
Burning that slight bit of hope that had suddenly appeared in her heart, (“I’m not the one he sees…”) she knew that before, yet his earlier saddened eyes had made her wonder…what if?
A ‘What if’, that he had just denied by looking elsewhere.
Makaela pulled away, “I shall return to the camp then, we must make preparations for Lahihr, and you should go check on the others…” She solemnly said, then walked around him, taking a few steps away before pausing.
“I treasure Thea, as a friend I’ve never had before. I treasure you, as someone I look up to…But,” She told him, (“Because you won’t see me…”) thinking to herself before continuing to walk away.
“I choose my people, I choose my brother and sisters.” Then speaking again with finality as she left.
Leaving Erik alone, and with his thoughts.
(“What was that…about?”) As he did not realise what had just occurred, other than the sudden weakness he had felt when she approached him. Deciding it was best to not think too much about it, he pushed open the door he had stopped at, entering to find Nerick standing with his back to the wall.
Directly to his left, and staring at him with a raised brow and narrow eyes.
“I…didn’t mean to listen in but, these walls aren’t exactly thick.” Nerick said, “I’m not really sure what I just heard, either.”
Erik sighed at his words, “How is she?”
“She just woke, she’s asking for you so I was coming to get you. Then I realised we were in a different complex entirely, that Thea and Kayle are somewhere else, and that there was an extra door…” Nerick explained, straightening himself before leading the way to the room.
Nerick paused before the door, “Prepare yourself…” he warned Erik with a glance, then turning back and pushing it open.
Revealing a disaster zone, as furniture, bedsheets and other objects lay scattered about the floor. Shizuka stood at the centre of the room, trying to clean up a shattered vase with her water magic, but stopped when she noticed them entering.
“Finally, see? I told you he’d come, can you calm the hell down now?” Shizuka said, turning to the agitated girl that lay sitting at the bed’s corner and as far away from the centre as possible, legs raised before herself as she hugged them.
Erik now understood Nerick’s warning, not only was the drake highly agitated but her body’s appearance had…changed. The only similarity to her earlier form, were the green eyes that had remained, but the rest was entirely different.
For one, her body had somehow grown much younger. Now seeming like a young girl in her early teens compared to the late twenties woman’s body she had before. Her hair also had changed from being short and pitch black, to a pale brown, approaching dirty blonde. And was long enough to reach her own feet, as she lay on top of the scattered mess of hair.
But what was most noticeable, were the draconic parts of her.
Her eyes were like a serpent’s slits, focused and alert.
Her skin, although pale, came with patches of emerald snake-skin-like scales.
A tail, was also present, as it lay wrapped around herself. Reptilian and bright emerald green just like her scales, but unlike Erik’s which ended with a thin and smooth tip, her’s ended with a crystal bulge akin to a war-mace.
Finishing her appearance, was her singular horn. Crystalized just like her tail’s end, and rising out of her forehead like a crescent moon that had been sharpened to have a bladed edge.
And as Erik came to stand before her, Ivyieth’s feral eyes locked on him. “You…Erikathyr?” She asked in draconic.
“She’s been saying your name a lot, but we can’t comprehend anything else.” Nerick explained with a shrug.
“She doesn’t speak common?” Erik mused as he faced her, “I am Erikathyr, and you are Ivyieth then?”
Her eyes widened with relief as her tail uncoiled from around her, then letting go of her feet she leaned onto all fours, grimacing when she accidentally pulled on own her hair to move. “G-Gwah…Y-Yes! I’m Ivyieth! W-Where…where has the demon gone?” she asked after stepping off her own hair.
“Demon? What demon do you speak of?” Erik asked back, unsure who she was referring to.
“My captor! The vile creature that chained me and…what happened to me?” Ivyieth asked as she glanced down at her hands.
“Young one…you weren’t held by a demon but instead by a Black Clansmen, Delirio, who sided with the Devils.” Erik explained as she neared closer, inspecting his tail and wings with great curiosity before looking at her own tail.
“Delirio? A Black Dragon?…I-I couldn’t tell…” Ivyieth mused with surprise.
“I don’t blame you, his people are well learned with deception. As for what happened to you-” Erik continued, but paused as Ivara suddenly appeared out of nowhere and leapt onto Ivyieth, wrapping herself around the drake’s neck and shoulders as if at home.
Ivyieth didn’t seem to mind, as she petted the young wyvern with a childish smile. “Hm…Ah!” Moments later remembering that he was still there, and she yelped in embarrassment before returning to face him. Her eyes wide as she sat straight.
“Ah…Ivyieth, how old are you?” Erik asked with an awkward smile.
“Eh-Errr, what…year is it?” She asked, still embarrassed from her moment of distraction.
“This is the 6th age, year 225 since last month.” Erik answered.
“Ah then…I’m on my first cycle still,” Ivyieth counted something on her fingers before responding, “A…hundred and…twelve years.”
“So, she’s basically still a child…” Erik mused in common.
“Like we haven’t figured that shit out already, little thing acts like a wild beast.” Shizuka grumbled.
“So…Elder, what happened to my body? Why am I in this strange mixture of a form?” Ivyieth then asked, the word ‘Elder’ catching Erik off-guard.
Swelling him with pride, “Ah…Delirio was trying to fuse your soul alongside hundreds of others into a small vessel which he then wanted to offer to his master, the Devil Brazath. We stopped the ritual but…your soul was too far gone into that vessel, so we had no choice but to pull it the rest of the way. Apologies little one, but you’re stuck in this body, as dreadful as it might sound.” He explained to her.
“Hmm…I don’t mind it, I still have my tail, horn and claws, and my magic doesn’t feel obstructed at all…I think I actually like this form better, I’m smaller and harder to catch!” Ivyieth exclaimed as she suddenly stood up, but tripped over her own hair and fell forward into the bed. “Oof…”
“Well as long as you don’t mind it. But it might take you a few days to get used to movi
ng about, although it didn’t really take me long since I frequently shape-shifted in the past.” He warned her.
“O-Of course, It won’t take me long either!” Ivyieth assured him as she pulled herself together, moving to sit back down and remain still as to not fall over again, nor embarrass herself further.
Ivara though whined in annoyance as she had to leap off as to not get squashed. The young wyvern then gliding over to Nerick’s neck where she coiled up and fell back asleep.
“If you say so…Also Ivyieth, I’ve been meaning to ask you something since…I’ve known of you.” Erik then said, his previous cold gaze softening as he realised this was truly just a child.
“If Elder brother wishes to know something, I can answer!” Ivyieth replied respectfully, her tail beginning to swing about excitedly.
Causing him to smile, (“Elder is enough…”) He thought but didn’t want to burst her bubble, “Ivyieth, who were your parents? Where were you born and how did you survive this long alone?”
Ivyieth’s excitement died down, her tail lowering about her as her expression darkened at his question. “I…Galaxio was my father, a Green Dragon, and Terrestra was my mother, a Brown Dragon. But…I never knew either of them. When I was laid as an egg, I was given to a Fae Lord who took care of me.”
“A Fae?” Erik mused, (“Things were so dire then…that they relied on Pepputia?”)
Ivyieth nodded, “Lord Dree’Velio Adreus, and his mate, Lady Dree’Velio Soleil. They raised me…”
“Do you mind if I ask…what happened? When and how were you taken?” Erik asked softly, seeing the pain that now filled the young one’s eyes.
“I don’t…remember everything. It was four months ago, and all I remember was the sky turning black one day…the…beating of heavy wings…” Ivyieth shook her head, returning to hugging her legs and tail as she tried to remember. “I don’t even know if they…lived…”
Erik stepped to stand at the bed’s side, “Don’t worry young one, the Fae are tricky, they won’t die so easily.” He assured her, patting the sulky drake over the head and trying not to cut himself on her very sharp horn. “We have some business still on this continent, but I can send some messengers to Pepputia to get the whole story. Is it fine with you if you wait here just a bit longer?”
Ivyieth nodded silently, lowering her gaze and grabbing her own head as he removed his hand, seemingly embarrassed by his patting.
Erik turned to the other two, “Shizuka, give the young one an appropriate haircut, you know where ever you put the tool for that right?”
“A tool you wouldn’t have even considered if I didn’t tell you about it…” Shizuka reminded him with a snide smirk, “Yeah, I know where the scissors are.” She then said, taking a pair out of a nearby drawer.
“Fine,” Erik rolled his eyes as he then turned to Nerick, “I need to speak with you in private as well, bring Ivara with you.” Nerick nodded and moved to open the door, “Shizuka when you’re done, take the little one to where Thea and Kayle are, I’m sure they’d like the company now…”
“Ah…sure.” Shizuka said sheepishly as she watched them walk out, sighing after as she turned to face the feral beast before her.
Silence befell the both of them for several moments as they gazed at one another.
Ivyieth then regained the cold wide grin she wore before Erik had entered, as she bunched up her hair and showed it to Shizuka, “Well beastie? I believe Elder brother ordered you to take care of me?” she said snidely in elven.
Shizuka raised the scissor before herself and cut empty air a few times, “I’ll cut you…” she warned the youngling with basic elven.
“Isn’t that the point?” Ivyieth continued to be contemptuous, causing Shizuka no small amount of annoyance.
As the Spirit Beast summoned up dozens of tendrils of spiritual energy, and the Drake forming crystal blade-edged vines out of her back.
Ch 50 / Part 2 - Their Strength
Erik lead the way, and Nerick followed silently.
An unusual silence surrounding the usually loud and talkative man, glancing back Erik also noticed him gazing off into his surroundings with a blank expression, as if in thought and only following through instinct.
Erik did not know what worried the man, (“Brazath? Or is it Kayle?…”) He pondered, still undecided on how to approach this. (“The party’s weakest link…Why did Kyllix call him that? Each of them could take on a Demon Lord at this point…Shizuka as well with some luck on her side, so why Nerick?…”)
Looking forward as to not walk into a wall, Erik continued to ponder as they silently walked. (“Each of them fights for something…but Nerick only fights for someone? Thea? Kayle? Himself? Maybe his family? Does he have family?”) Breaking that silence then, “Nerick?”
“Yeah?” He responded, seemingly still in a thoughtful daze as he caressed Ivara’s snout while the wyvern slept around his neck.
“From which part of Druvia are you? I realised I’ve never asked.” Erik said, continuing to lead them down the long hallway.
“Ah, I was born at Fort Swain, both of my parents were army and… My aunt ran an orphanage in Ejul where I was raised with the rest of the abandoned. The orphanage was funded by the Selene Family, so I grew up around Thea and Kayle as well since they’d visit often with their caretaker.” Nerick explained.
“Abandoned?” Erik repeated in question.
“Well, that’s what we called ourselves much to my aunt’s frustration, the abandoned children. And I was one of them, since my parents chose the kingdom over me.” Nerick sighed before continuing, “Around ten years after my birth, they were promoted and transferred to Balgor, which was further away so I rarely saw either of them. Less so the both of them at once and…thirteen years after that the…Fort Balgor fell, they both died defending what they loved I guess.”
“I see…” Erik trailed off, unsure what to say as they reached the hall’s end, now standing before a large set of wooden double-doors.
“Ahah, don’t worry about me, I’m wasn’t too affected by their loss unlike Kayle and Thea were with their mother.” Nerick assured sensing the awkward atmosphere he had created, “I never really knew them, so I guess I never really had them to lose in the first place. That’s how It felt.”
“Hmm, that’s…I can’t say I understand. My parents were…always there, always so strict and controlling. When I left them behind to go on my folly of a conquest I was relieved, I felt free. Then when I was reborn…and realised that they were all gone? I wasn’t sure if to be devastated, or guilty.” Erik explained as the two massive doors opened for them, leading into a small hall with five more of the same massive set of doors surrounding it.
“Nerick, who do you fight for? What do you fight for?” Erik then asked, turning to face the Djiin as they stood before the open doors.
Nerick’s eyes narrowed as he faced the Dragon, “Kayle.” He answered immediately, “But I guess I don’t make much of a knight, huh?” a melancholic smirk making up his expression.
(“I see…So this is your hypocrisy then.”) Erik mused, (“Your weakness.”)
“I’m not sure I can believe that. If you fight for Thea’s sister, then why did you come with us? Why did you not stay with Kayle to protect her?” Erik argued, “Just how you did when Thea and the rest of her army platoon chased after those fiends back at Crodor?”
Erik’s words seemed to hit a nerve, as Nerick stopped petting Ivara, lowering his hands to his sides. “I…Back then It was because I knew I could make a difference by being by her side…But how could I compare to professionals like the Crimson Guard? How can I even try to take the spot of the Dreadblades you left by her side? I’m not, so instead I left with you…to find the strength I need.”
“You have that strength now.” Erik added, “You could face off against even the Dreadblade captains and have a fair chance of victory. So, what will you do now?”
Nerick sighed, raising his left hand slightly to gaze at h
is open palm. “What can I do? I’m still nowhere strong enough…I could barely fend off against that giant of a Bestia at Ai’Sen, and I couldn’t even move a finger against…Delirio…I’m still not worth to stand by her side.”
“Therein…lies more truth than you know…huh?” Erik mused quietly, “You’re afraid, aren’t you, Nerick?” he then asked out loud, seeing him tense up. Erik’s cold gaze focused on the Djiin, as their eyes widened, their walls crumbling to dust beneath his words. “You feel guilty for what happened to Kayle, because you weren’t there. But you’re also afraid, you’re afraid that even if you were there, that there would have been nothing you could’ve done to stop it from happening.”
Nerick’s hands clenched into fists, as his expression trembled. “Yeah…” He hissed back, “What of it!?” all the frustration he had been holding onto…rushing out of him all at once. “Even after…Even after all the training I gained with the army…even after being told I couldn’t learn shit for magic! I did my best…I became the army’s best bloody spear and sword! But…how…how could an orphaned street rat get into the Slayers? They rejected me, they told me I wasn’t good enough.”
Nerick took a deep breath, as his fury suddenly turned cold. “Then you came around, spouting magic like it was just second nature to you. Turning a lost cause, turning a bunch of afraid villagers…into victors. You, you who saved everyone…I had to follow you, I had to know why you were so strong…I wanted your strength Erik, and you offered me some. Something nobody else ever had done, Erik you gave me strength but…Is it enough? Am I…Am I enough now?”
“At this rate, you never will be.” Erik responded coldly, “You’re weak, Nerick.” He told him straight.
Nerick’s shoulders slumped and Ivara woke, the young wyvern sensing his distress and turning to hiss at Erik.
“That is, what you want to hear though, isn’t it?” Erik then asked, causing Nerick’s eyes to widen anew as his gaze rose to meet his own. “Kyllix was right, I understand now. You are weak Nerick, but not because of what you are, not because of what you think but how you think.”