by Eric Vall
“Did you find the breeding ground?” the feline asked as she peered into the Qianlong’s face.
“Were my directions correct? I hope they were, the book I was relying on didn’t have anything exact in it, so I had to guess a few times.” Haruhi smiled as she looked over the petite alchemist’s shoulder.
“Yes, thank you.” The Qianlong nodded, then she swept forward in an elegant bow.
I turned toward my women and noticed that all of them had their packs ready and slung over their shoulders. The time for us to separate and go on our ways was quickly approaching. I was anxious to get on the move toward the last two sacred items, but I didn’t want to part from three of my original minions. I would miss them dearly, but this was something that needed to be done. I stood in front of them and looked into each of their faces one by one.
“We all know what we’re doing, correct?” I questioned as I lifted a single eyebrow. “Annalise and Carmedy will travel along with Rana to find her family wherever Tuzakuer has hidden them.”
“Yes, Master,” Rana said as she shot me a grin.
“What will you use to find them?” I tested her.
“The Eye of Alipsis,” Rana stated as she wrapped a paw around the chain and lifted the sparkling sapphire. “It will guide us in the right direction as the Tichádáma said it would.”
“Don’t forget about Heijing!” Carmedy giggled as she nudged the stoic Qianlong. “She’s the one taking us there!”
“How could I not?” I chuckled as I smiled to the two women. “Morrigan, Haruhi, and I will travel to the city of Galencia, where we hope to find the last two of the sacred items.”
Rana’s red brows furrowed as she looked up into my face, and I could tell there was something worrying her.
“Isn’t Galencia the city that the Holy Order is based out of?” the fox asked worriedly.
“Yes,” I confirmed with a sharp nod. “But there is no reason to worry, I am here and I will protect your sisters while we journey through the city.”
“We’re so lucky to have you as our Master.” Carmedy sighed as she clutched her paws to her chest.
“But there is something I need to do first to ensure that those not with us are safe.” I stated, and all of my women looked at me curiously.
“What is it, Master?” Annalise asked with a tilt of her head.
“I will craft another body so I can accompany both teams,” I said.
“Wait, you will?” Carmedy clasped her hands together with happiness, and my other women sighed with relief.
“Yes,” I laughed. “Did you all think I would just choose one of the groups to go with?”
“Well, yeah,” Rana laughed. “We were all kinda nervous about who you would pick.”
“Don’t I always take care of my women?” I chuckled, and then I stepped away from the group and silence fell over them. They didn’t question me as I turned away from them and pooled all of my dark energy around my body. I pushed the building power away from me in one spot in the dirt, and the air began to undulate and spin. My eyes closed, and I breathed in deeply through my nostrils. Like any of the techniques I’d taught Morrigan, I imagined what I wanted to happen in my head.
I pictured the new avatar’s skeletal system in my head, the connecting bones and cartilage holding each piece together. From the gasps behind me, I knew that what I saw in my head came to life in the spot in the dirt in front of me. I pushed myself further as I created the muscles and meat over the alabaster bones. I breathed life into the mass of blood-red flesh that was the second avatar’s heart, and it began beating quickly to match the one already within my chest.
Black smoke swirled around the second avatar’s unfinished body as pink flesh appeared and spread itself over the whole of the being. Dark brown hair sprouted from the top of its head and the blank white of its eyes cleared and became a deep hazel. The air shimmered for a moment as an immaculate copy of my holy armor appeared over the avatar’s skin and just as suddenly, another version of the God Slayer materialized in the second avatar’s hand. I breathed in sharply, placed my hands in front of and slammed my dark power forward in a rushing wave. It overcame the proxy and settled into its skin.
A portal opened up between us and rooted itself within my void pocket and the second body’s. The space opened up and deepened enough that if I placed something within, it would stay there and be usable for each avatar. I breathed in deeply as I solidified each of the changes on my second avatar and let the bones settle into the flesh for a moment.
My eyes snapped open, and we stared at each other for a moment. The avatar’s eyes were blank and lifeless, and I summoned a single Shadow Slave to me. I didn’t have to direct it, the Shadow Slave simply shuffled over to the avatar and disappeared into it like a ghost walking straight through a wall. The new avatar jolted, and the hazel eyes rolled in their sockets as if seeing the world around them for the very first time.
“Can you speak?” I asked in a firm voice, and the avatar’s eyes settled on me.
“Yes,” the Shadow Slave within answered.
“Good, you will go with these women,” I stated as I gestured toward Rana, Annalise, and Carmedy. “You will obey their every word and help them along their journey, understood?”
“Yes.” The avatar answered immediately, its eyes never leaving my face as it stepped unsurely toward the three women I’d indicated.
Carmedy shuffled away from the avatar with wide emerald eyes as her sleek black tail whipped out agitatedly behind her. From the way her lips pulled back, I could tell that she was still unsure about letting the Shadow Slave in my avatar join them, but she would slowly get used to it.
“Hey now pussycat, I thought you wanted the Shadow Slaves to watch over and protect us? Didn’t you say that before?” Rana chuckled as she wrapped an arm around the feline’s shoulder and pulled her closer to the avatar.
The copy of my body turned stiffly and smiled widely at Carmedy as if to ease her mind, but the expression he made was off-putting and had the opposite effect on the feline. The petite alchemist’s fur stood on end, and her lips pulled back as if she was about to hiss at the avatar.
“There is nothing to be afraid of, Carmedy,” my copy smiled as he offered her a hand.
The feline tentatively reached out and shook the second avatar’s hand then quickly pulled her hand away when he let go. She stared down at her own paw for a moment then shrugged.
I knew it was time but my women were huddled together closely. Each of my minions hugged each other tightly and said their saddened goodbyes. They would have me by their side whenever they needed me but their sisters couldn’t do that. Their bond was strong, my core minions had been together since the beginning, and they’d wholeheartedly accepted Haruhi into the fold. Together, we were a family and parting made these small journeys much larger than they really were.
My heart swelled as I watched each of my women embrace Haruhi tightly and say their goodbyes to her in soft, tender tones. It let me know that the librarian truly was part of our party now. Tears spilled down Carmedy’s cheeks as she said her goodbyes to each of her sisters, my other women didn’t cry but their eyes were suspiciously red.
Carmedy turned away from the group as she glanced over at the dragon. The feline smiled widely and held out a single arm to the tiny woman. Heijing glanced at the alchemist then to me out of the corner of her eye, then took a tentative step forward. My women came together and swallowed the Qianlong in a tight embrace and slowly, the dragon’s eyes fluttered closed.
When they finally parted, my women and Heijing gathered around me. The alchemist wiped tears away from her eyes as Haruhi and Morrigan stood on each side of me.
“I guess this is goodbye?” Annalise asked quietly as her eyes watered with tears too. “I’m going to miss you three so much.”
“No, not goodbye,” I shook my head as I smiled softly to them. “Goodbye is forever, let us simply say ‘see you soon,’ instead.”
“We’ll be
back,” Haruhi said in a shaky voice as she rubbed at her eyes. “It won’t be more than a few days.”
Morrigan stood to the left of me and though her face was devoid of emotion, I sensed that she too was upset to leave her sisters. I placed a hand on each of their shoulders and gave them both reassuring squeezes.
“Correct, and if you miss your sisters too much, you can always reach out to me, and I will allow them to speak through me,” I smiled as I dropped my hands and offered them to my three minions.
All of my women nodded in agreement as they wiped their tears from their eyes. Heijing seemed to be the only one unmoved by emotion, but that was to be expected. The Qianlong hadn’t gotten to know all of us yet, but I guessed that the next time something like this happened, she would be more emotional towards us.
“Alright, Scaly, how are we getting out of here?” Rana asked as she turned to the dragon, and Heijing smiled widely.
“How else would we leave?” the Qianlong grinned and Carmedy scratched at an ear confused.
“By boat? That’s the way most people leave Mauntenraion.” The alchemist stated in a confused voice, but Heijing wasn’t listening as the dragon turned away from them.
Heijing took a deep breath, as if she was trying to swallow all of the air around her in one gulp, then her icy blue eyes fluttered closed. We’d seen this happen only once before and we watched entranced as the space around Heijing sparked with yellow light like fireflies on a dark night. The yellow sparks fluttered and cascaded downward as the human form of the Qianlong completely disappeared. She was replaced with the towering, silky body of the dragon we’d met at the sanctuary. Her icy blue eyes rimmed in scarlet were back, and her maw filled with pointed teeth opened and closed as she breathed deeply.
Heijing’s true form, the dragon form, was mesmerizing, especially the way that the sunlight reflected off her scales and turned them from electric blue to blood red in a single movement. The mane of white tendrils floated around her head, and the two spiraling horns seemed to brush at the clouds above our heads. I stared up at her in awe and felt my avatar’s heart pound in her presence. I’d been alive when the dragons still roamed the earth, but I hadn’t paid them any mind. Then in a blink of an eye, all of their species had died off without any answers. I knew why Heijing’s tribe had died, and it made me wonder if the gods had killed all of the dragons out of spite. But that was a question that I would have to wait and ask my father as he took his last dying breath.
“We will not go by caravan or a ship, we will fly,” The Qianlong’s voice didn’t come from her mouth but from all around us as if she spoke directly into our minds. “Climb onto my back, I will keep you safe during the journey.”
I crossed to them and stood next to Heijing’s towering back. The Qianlong watched me closely as I removed a single glove and ran my fingers over the cool, moist scales on her side. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before, and when our eyes met, I smiled up at her pointed face. The dragon was massive, and she swung her head down close to me as her icy blue eyes cut into me once again. Her breath was hot, but I reached out with my left hand and ran a finger down one of her pointed horns.
“What a magnificent creature,” I murmured only to the Qianlong. “I’ve never seen anything like you in my entire life, not in the heavens and not on earth.”
Heijing snorted and pulled her head away, but the sound of her tittering laughter filled my head to the brim until I grinned up at her. In this form, it was hard to tell, but I knew that the girl within her was flustered from not only my words but from my touch.
I turned, replaced my leather glove and waved Rana over. The redhead scurried over, and I placed my hands on her waist. I lifted the fox up and onto the dragon’s back. Rana shifted herself up between Heijing’s neck and held tightly to the dragon’s horns for support. I turned and offered a hand to Annalise. The high queen smiled as I held onto her and launched her up behind her sister. Annalise wrapped her arms around Rana’s middle as I held out my hand to Carmedy. The feline looked nervously up, then back to me as her ears twitched.
I could tell that Carmedy was scared, but I knew that Heijing would protect them no matter what happened during this journey. I helped the feline up, and she held tightly onto Annalise’s back with all of her strength. The last person to climb up was my avatar, but I didn’t need to help him. He climbed up Heijing’s back like a monkey and slid into place a few inches behind Carmedy. The second avatar looked into my face and nodded once to confirm that they were ready.
I placed my fingers into my lips and whistled loudly to Heijing. The Qianlong reared back her head and let loose a stream of blazing orange fire into the sky. It exploded upwards, and my women screamed in delight. The dragon moved farther down the street away from us, then turned back. Her icy blue eyes met mine from a distance, and she bowed her head to me. Her gaze broke away from me as her legs pounded against the ground.
The Qianlong didn’t have wings like the others I’d seen before, but that didn’t seem to affect her in the slightest as her head lifted into the sky first. Heijing stretched out her neck and tucked her arms and legs up underneath her as she shot up into the sky. Her movements were like a ribbon, and all of my women screamed Rana in delight, and Carmedy in fear. The dragon flew up higher and circled the town as she kept her eyes on me.
Haruhi and Morrigan came to stand on either side of me as we all watched the dragon circle us once more, and then she shot off toward the east. We stood there together for a long while until the dragon and my three minions were nothing but black dots in the distance.
“Wow, that was amazing,” Haruhi sighed as she held one of her books tightly to her chest and stared up at the sky. “I don’t think I will ever get tired of seeing her transform like that.”
“I must agree,” Morrigan stated in her cold voice as Fea and Macha bobbed on her shoulders. “It is like finding the rare violacias flower in the wild and watching it bloom.”
“I-I can’t believe we found a living, breathing dragon. It’s almost like a dream, they all were supposed to be dead, but here she is, surviving on her own on my home island… I wish I’d known about her sooner.” Haruhi smiled widely, and when I looked at her, I saw that the librarian was on the verge of tears. “There are so many things I want to learn from her and want her to teach me, but she’s so…”
The sage trailed off as she swiped at her eyes, and Morrigan nodded and placed a thin, delicate hand on her shoulder.
“Walled off and unapproachable? I understand how Heijing feels, I was once like her,” the elven woman comforted the librarian. “She will come to trust us eventually and will open herself up to us like a blossoming flower.”
Haruhi grinned up at Morrigan and nodded feverishly. I was glad to see the elf and the librarian were getting along so well. Morrigan was the only one in our party who had reservations about allowing the sage into our family, but it warmed my heart to watch them comfort each other so easily.
I placed a hand on each of their shoulders and turned them away from where my other minions and Heijing had just left. I didn’t want them to wallow in their absence for too long, I wanted them to focus on the path ahead of us.
“I will miss them as much as you two will, but we have other things to worry about now,” I told them in a firm voice as I steered them down toward the dock where our chartered ship waited for us. “The last two sacred items are out there waiting for us, my loves, and now we must go find them.”
“This is so exciting!” Haruhi rocked back on the heels of her low flats and clapped. “This is my first, official adventure to an unknown land!”
“I would say that it gets tiring, but that would be a lie,” Morrigan uttered as she gave the feline a tiny smile. “I am glad to be on your first adventure with you, Haruhi.”
I smiled down at them and gently massaged their shoulders as we hurried off down the side of the mountain. The salty ocean air brushed our hair back, and as I looked out over the water, our next adven
ture beckoned us onward with feverish hands. I would miss my other women, but I was ready to be off the islands and killing gods for more power. I looked to the two women at each side of me, and they both gave me broad smiles. I let my hands drop from their shoulders and took their hands in mine instead.
“Come,” I commanded as I stepped forward. “Adventure awaits us.”
Chapter Eight
Morrigan, Haruhi, and I set sail on a small charter ship named ‘The Lusitana.’ We were welcomed onto the ship by a tall, lanky captain who barely looked over the age of twenty-five. He had a scraggly beard and a broad smile, but once his eyes fell on me, the grin fell away, and he dropped into a low bow.
“My lord, my Master,” the captain murmured as he raised his head to me. “Word has traveled over the seas and land of your power, and it is truly an honor to be in the presence of the ruler of the new world.”
It didn’t surprise me that more and more people were learning of my power over the world, and it was nice to have the recognition that I deserved, finally. I inclined my head to him as the captain slowly raised to his feet.
“Please, if there is anything that you and your women need, do not hesitate to ask.” The captain said before he returned to the helm.
My women and I were shown to our rooms, which were the largest ones on the charter ship. I would wager that our room was larger than even the captain’s and crew’s quarters combined. We settled in the expansive room, and Haruhi began laying out large books on the wooden table carefully. Morrigan helped her silently, and finally the sage pulled out a long rolled tube of paper and unrolled it onto the table.
Haruhi used various heavy objects to weigh the edges down then looked to me with a wide smile. We didn’t have any plans set in stone yet, and I could tell that the librarian had something cooking up in that big brain of hers. She pointed down at a spot on the weathered map and tapped it twice with her paw.