I smiled, and repeated his words. “The answers will come to us.”
“That isn’t practical, Zoran,” Freya said, a little annoyance in her tone.
I was taken aback for a second, but responded. “But there’s nothing else I can go on,” I said. “This is what I was told.”
“That isn’t very helpful then, we might as well have-”
DING!
You have received a message from: Ijyela! Would you like to open it?
I tapped on the ‘Yes’ option.
Diablo. You need to get here, now.
My eyes went wide, my heartbeats freezing up for a moment.
“What happened?” Krof asked, concerned.
“It’s Ijyela,” I said. “She wants us to head back to Ikarius.”
“Did we get attacked again?” Freya asked, agitated.
“I don’t know,” I thrust my hand into the air and activated my Shadow Travel skill. Darkness consumed all four of us once again, and I navigated through the pathways, finding the necessary portal in seconds. We quickly entered the portal leading to a large room, and in an instant we were face to face with a confused Ijyela.
“That was fast,” she said. “Your Shadow Travel skill has gotten better.”
“Are you okay?” Freya rushed to the elven witch, giving her a hug. “We thought you’d been attacked again or something.”
“Oh,” she paused. “I should have probably been clearer, sorry.”
“What happened?” I asked. “Why did you call us here so urgently?”
“This,” the green-eyed elf held up a stack of dusty, torn sheets in her hand.
“Scriptures,” Krof said immediately.
“Indeed,” she nodded. “I found them hidden in the basement of one of the bigger buildings in the village. There are some scriptures in here from nearly three thousand years ago.”
“What?” Freya’s eyes widened.
“What do they say?!” Krof asked, excited.
“I found something of interest, and that’s why I called you here, to take a look at it.” Ijyela turned silent for a few seconds. “This village…” she said. “The name Ikarius means something.”
“What?” I asked.
“Centuries upon centuries ago, Ikarius meant exactly one thing in the old tongue.”
I stared at her, anticipation in my breath.
“Dragonfall.”
***
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“You will find your answers soon.”
The Guardian’s voice echoed in my mind.
“Dragonfall,” I smiled
“Those answers came a lot faster than I’d expected,” Nyx said.
“Diablo,” Krof said. “Is it possible…”
I nodded. “I believe so,” I said. “The name has a striking resemblance to the riddle we were posed.”
“If you wish to see the rise of the Dragon, here is not the place,” Freya said. “It will rise where it had fallen, for that is the Shadow Dragon's fate.”
“A place named Dragonfall seems a perfect fit to that,” I said.
“Does this mean…Acnologia’s resting place is this village?” Nazu asked.
“It means his resting chamber and his symbol are somewhere in the vicinity,” I looked out the window, feeling the gentle wind come through. “We just have to go find it now.”
“That’s easier said than done,” Ijyela said. “From what Krof told me a few minutes ago, this Dragon’s chamber must be around three thousand years old, so it was likely here before the village even existed.
“Meaning it’s not somewhere obvious.”
“Exactly,” she said.
“Where do we begin looking then?” I asked.
“The chambers could be anywhere in and around the village at this point,” Freya said.
“We could try looking at these scriptures you found,” Krof said. “Have you seen them all?”
“I am yet to go through more than half of these scrolls,” Ijyela said.
“It is possible there could be helpful information within those parchments.”
“So we just go through all these scriptures here?’ Freya asked.
“That actually sounds like a good plan,” I said. “You guys can start. I’m going to go talk to Raffiel for a bit and head back here. Will you guys be fine?”
“You go on ahead,” Ijyela said. “Raffiel was actually asking me pretty frequently about when you’d show up.”
“Ah, okay,” I nodded. “I’ll take your leave then.”
I closed the door behind me, the wood creaking shut as it hit the frame. I turned around, facing the village in front of me. The buildings were all fixed now, their walls strong and polished. The structures around me had all been brought back to just the way they had been.
“This place has come up well,” Nyx said. “However, can it bear the brunt of the Alliances’ attack?”
Most certainly not, I muttered.
“I doubt there’s anything we can do to change that though,” he said.
I doubt there is, I agreed.
All said and done, we were a tiny village west of a kingdom and an empire. Compared to the mighty battle power of either of the two entities, we were but a tiny speck, an insignificant dot hardly visible on the map.
That was how I thought before, and that was how a part of me thought of things now. But another part of me stayed more optimistic. This village was called Dragonfall. We were capable of holding out on our own, no matter the enemy that showed up at the doorstep. That was what I wished to believe.
I walked through the village, my health recovering with every step that I took. The grains of stray sand crunched beneath my feet. The wind howled as it passed through the narrow streets before rising up into the open skies once again.
DING!
Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Save Nazu II. The young kobold has finally been rescued from the Ulhur mountains and brought to a place of safety. Reward: Relationship boost.
DING!
Congratulations! Your relationship with Nazu has changed from ‘Allies’ to ‘Follower’. The young kobold owes his life to you, and will do anything to help you out.
DING!
Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Resurrect Acnologia I. You have found Dragonfall, the place that contains the Shadow Dragon’s resting chamber. Now you must find the actual chambers of the Shadow Dragon in order to raise Acnologia from the dead. Reward: Resurrect Acnologia II.
DING!
You have obtained a new quest: Resurrect Acnologia II. Now that you have the found the village the chamber is in, all that remains is to find the chamber itself. Godspeed to you, Phantom Lord! Reward: Unknown.
Well, now we know for sure that Acnologia’s resting chambers are here, I thought.
“Are you sure?” Nyx asked. “The Ga’em been pretty wrong with these things before.”
Uhhhhh, I sighed.
“My lord!” a familiar voice called out.
I turned around and saw Raffiel run up to me, a piece of steel armor over his torso. “How have you been, Raffiel?” I asked.
“I have been well, my lord,” he bowed as he reached me.
“That is good,” I nodded, sounding a bit dazed.
“My Lord, I hear we are expecting conflict to arise within our borders soon. Is this true?”
I paused for a few seconds.
“My Lord?” he asked.
“It is true,” I said. “Even right now it is highly likely there are strong forces marching up towards us. Thousands of soldiers, each of them as strong or stronger than you. The Alliances will make a move on us soon.”
“The Alliances?” he froze. “The very Alliances are coming after us?”
“That’s right,” I said. “Why, does that concern you?”
Raffiel looked at me and then snapped back to his military personality. “No, my lord!” he yelled. “The enemy men will have no clue what hit them.”
“I hope so,”
I smiled. “Raffiel, I know you only have forty men with you to support this village, and so I would be interested in hearing if you have any alternative battle methods to suggest.”
“Understood,” he said. “I will work on strategies and present them to you by…”
“Dusk,” I said, giving him a deadline.
Raffiel turned to the sky, noticing the sun was already making its way to the western end. He didn’t have much time left. And yet he turned to me. “Understood,” he said, his voice confident. “You can depend on me, my lord.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Let me know if you need help.”
“Certainly.”
I nodded and left him behind, walking further through the network of streets.
“He’s been very useful,” Nyx said. “He seems on top of things.”
He does, I said. We may be able to depend on him more.
“I feel that way too,” he said.
Two carts pulled by oxen passed me in the streets, the defected men of the Dark Alliance leading them away. I could see fresh vegetables as well as herbs and fruits bunched up in the back of the carts.
Looks like the farmland has started functioning well, I said.
“Indeed,” Nyx said. “Now if only you ate this healthy regularly.”.
“We need to focus on our task at hand,” I said, ignoring his comment. “Finding the Shadow Dragon’s chambers won’t be easy.”
“Do not look to me for help,” the spirit said. “Things within the realm of the Dragon Clan are not things that I am well versed in. I do not know where to even start our search.”
“So there are things that even you’re not good at,” I joked. In all seriousness however, even I was unsure of how exactly we should start our search. The entrance to the chamber of the Shadow Dragon did not seem like a simple thing to find.
I shook my head, casting aside my thoughts and heading forward. We’d walked along the streets for a few minutes when I saw that we’d come back to the village square.
“I thought we were heading back to the house to help Ijyela and the others,” Nyx said.
“I just wanted to come here first,” I said. “It’ll only be a few moments.”
I looked at the square. The fountain stood at the very center just as before, the water atop it slowly trickling down now. Moisture from it sprayed into the air, rising up to the sky as mist. Light refracted through it, but where I expected to see rainbows, I saw regular light, once again.
How boring, I thought as I stepped towards the fountain, my eye scanning the surroundings right around it, hoping to find something that could help us out, but where I’d kept hope, there was actually none.
I tapped the bottom rim of the fountain with my finger, creating a short rhythm.
Where on earth could a Dragon Chamber be hidden in a place like this? I thought.
All of a sudden, I heard a sound play from within the fountain, as though in response to the rhythm that I had sent into it. The tones rang into the air, in perfect song and symphony. A light shone into my eyes and I realized something was forming in front of the fountain.
A section of the ground grew brightly in a small circle. I quickly stepped back, keeping my gaze focused on it. The surface morphed and in seconds had molded in what was now a crystal pillar of about three feet standing right in front of the mountain.
“What the heck?” Nyx said.
I stepped forward, taking a closer look at it. It was nearly transparent, and had nothing written or inscribed on it. It was just a chunk of smooth crystal that stood in front of the fountain. And yet, I felt great unease in its presence.
That doesn’t look good, I said. I opened the Ga’em menu, and navigated to my message menu. I quickly sent Freya and Ijyela a message each, asking them to come meet me at the fountain.
About two minutes later I heard a couple of voices and a lively atmosphere came into the space around me. Chatter ruptured the air as two voices turned to six quickly, with everyone else making their way here.
“The scroll hunt went pretty bad,” Freya said, walking up to me.
“How bad?” I asked.
“We’re nowhere closer to finding out what to do.”
“Okay, because I made much more progress,” I said.
“We figured,” Ijyela smiled.
“So, what exactly did you find?” Krof asked.
“That,” I pointed to the pillar that’d just formed.
“That wasn’t there before,” Freya rushed up to it, her eyes glazing over as she took a look at the crystal structure.
“It’s beautiful,” Krof said.
“It just rose out of the ground,” I said. “I was tapping a tune onto the fountain and all of a sudden I heard sounds being played back to me. The next thing I know there was a light glowing on the ground and this thing rose up to the surface.”
“How odd,” the wizard said.
“Diablo,” a voice called out to me, a voice that felt familiar but was still foreign. I stepped forward, moving closer to the pillar and then hesitated. I glanced at its surface and my eyes immediately widened. Where there had been a transparent surface now stood a crystal structure inscribed with runes, mysterious contortions of black ink that told things I did not understand. I slowly brought my hand closer to it and touched the surface.
Freya stepped towards me. “Zoran, be care-”
A blast of wind rang into the village, heading through the streets and collecting around the pillar. I instinctively tightened my grip on the pillar top, holding on tight. More blades of wind quickly added on, each one coming from a different direction. In seconds, a massive twister of wind surged around me, sending my vision spiking to a hazy white, and causing me to feel faint.
I looked at the crystal in front of me. It was just I and it now.
“Diablo,” a voice sounded once again.
The twister contracted fast, tightening its radius, and the winds smacked into me. I shifted my body weight, fighting the constant tugging.
And then all of a sudden, everything stopped.
The winds around me died away, giving me clear vision once again. I looked up from the pillar, and my breath caught in my lungs once again.
My fingers trembled, my eyes fixated on the sight I saw before me. The sky had gone from deep blue to a warm yellow, and I could see creatures sail through it.
Majestic dragons of large flew through the air, powerful strokes of their wings sending gusts of wind down onto the land. I could see their form high up, but they were too far away for me to make out anything other than their shadowy silhouette. And yet, I stared at them, astounded. I could count about ten in the sky, which was ten more than I’d expected to see. They let out a thundering roar as they surged through the air, flying away at fast speeds.
“Where am I?” I mumbled, turning away from the sky.
“You won’t believe it”’ Nyx spoke.
Oh, thank god, you’re here, I said.
“I’m starting to think you can’t function without me,” he chuckled.
Where are we? I asked.
“From what I can tell, this is just a vision. The crystal pillar must have given you a feedback reaction and made you watch the past.”
“The past?”
“Exactly,” he said. “Look at the place around you.”
I turned around and saw massive buildings stand all over, large halls, tall towers and more. But between these giant buildings were small houses, each one large enough to host maybe a family. I stared at it for a second, noticing a sense of familiarity within the small structures. My eyes widened.
“Ikarius,” I realized. “This is Ikarius.”
“Three thousand years ago, yes,” Nyx said.
“What,” I blinked.
The roar of the dragons exploded into the air, echoing through the sky. A chain set off, with the dragons roaring continuously for a few seconds. I stared at them in awe, completely taken in by their presence and by the way they carried themselves.
They’re so majestic, I said.
“We need to focus,” Nyx said. “What even are we doing here? Why are we in this time?”
“Fine,” I said, looking around, “How do I even begin figuring things out though?”
“I don’t know.”
I looked to the sky, watching as the dragons slowly disappeared into the distance. I picked myself up and ran through the street, keeping their forms in my sights until I could keep up no more.
All of a sudden, the sun began to darken, as though it was disappearing from the heavens. The yellow light all around me quickly shunned away, like darkness was coming faster than we’d expected. In a few seconds, all I could see was black, black and more black.
That’s how bad it was.
“This isn’t comforting,” Nyx said.
“It’s fine,” I said. “It’ll be fine.”
“Maybe,” the spirit replied
I looked up at the sky, squinting at all the black I could see. Not a single star shone through, leaving me under a lonely night.
“Diablo,” a voice rumbled through the darkness.
I turned around, and my heart jumped into my throat.
Large eyes of soul silver glowed from mere feet away, their shades glowing in the pure black of the darkness.
A dragon, I said.
“Go,” the voice said. “Do what you must.”
Silver flames of fire shot in from everywhere and sunk into me, scorching my skin.
I opened my eyes, a gasp on my lips, and the scenery of the past had disappeared, the image folding away fast. The next thing I knew I was looking at the worried faces of all my friends.
“Thank god!” Ijyela shook me in relief. “That was too close a shave. I thought we’d lost you.”
“That’s the second time within the last hour that this has happened to you,” Freya sighed. “Are you okay?”
I looked around and realized I was still in the town square. I sat up, my body immediately aching with every inch I moved. I bore the pain and stood up anyway. The pillar sat right in front of me, the inscriptions upon it no longer black but instead, a faded gray.
The Eternal: Dragonborn - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 2) Page 21