The Necromancer's Dragon

by C D Muller

  “Oblivion awaits my glorious return,” Venexus said, followed by an eerie laugh, “I’m growing bored of you. I will withdraw my army and lie low for now, but I will come back. I always come back!”

  He turned to dust as his words rang throughout the broken chamber.

  Silver immediately dropped to his knees and propped Selena up.

  “Selena! Please speak to me!”

  Selena tightly closed her eyes, trying to fight back the tears. She forced herself to sit up a little, but she screamed out in pain once again.

  “I…I need…to get…this out,” Selena forced out after spitting out her blood.

  Silver looked at the sword with a horrified expression.

  “If I take it out, you’ll bleed to death!”

  “Then…I’ll take it out…myself,” Selena said through gritted teeth, “I’ll pull it out…get ready to use healing magic…”

  “You’re not strong enough to pull it out,” Silver said through his tears. He frantically looked around and called Kain to come over where he was.

  “You just keep getting yourself into more shit,” Kain remarked as he knelt beside her and wrapped his hand around the hilt.

  “The Divines have a sense of humor,” Selena spat out, “Help me…take this out…”

  “Are you sure about that?” Kain asked.

  “Just do it!” Selena cried out in pain again.

  Kain lowered his head and laughed a little.

  “You have guts, kid. I hope I don’t have to rip them out of you.” Kain looked over at Silver and nodded.

  “I’m ready when you are,” he said.

  Silver’s hands trembled as he got up to draw a large circle around them with a piece of chalk he had in his robes. He rolled up his sleeves as he knelt beside her once more and placed his hand on her chest.

  Thor lowered his head and glared at him.

  I pray that he knows what he’s doing.

  His words sounded more like a threat.

  “I think he does,” Selena said out loud.

  “I always know exactly what I’m doing,” Silver responded in a deep tone.

  “Do I really need to remind you of how wrong you are?” Kain shot at him.

  Silver ignored his response and started waving his hand. The strange symbols that he drew started glowing gold. Selena felt such an odd combination of feelings. The pain was just as bad when the blade was first thrust into her chest as when Kain tried to pull it out, but then she felt a cooling sensation as Silver used his healing magic to patch up her wounds. Every little bit that Kain managed to pull out from her chest was filled with the healing of her flesh.

  She cried and screamed and howled. Selena tried to fight it off as much as she could, but it hurt more as the sword was almost pulled out. She wanted to beg them to stop. Selena tried opening her mouth to plead for the pain to end.

  Her vision started to fade and her mind slipped away. With one last bloody cough, her eyes began to glow and her body became shrouded in light.

  “What’s happening?” Kain asked, but Silver grabbed his arm to pull him away after the sword was finally taken out.

  “Take cover!”

  Thor could not find the strength to move from his spot. He kept staring at where his rider once was. At first, he roared at Silver as if it was his doing.

  Selena! Can you hear me?

  When the light disappeared, in her place stood a large, spectral dragon with piercing, glowing eyes. Its titanic wings unfolded to reveal the leather textured membranes. On top of its head were slender, delicate horns that gently flowed from the side while the two on top took the shape of that of a crown. A red gem was encrusted in the middle of its chest.

  “I knew it! I’m a genius!” Silver cried out as both him and Kain ducked behind the debris.

  “Knew what? What happened to her?”

  The dragon, with a loud roar, created a ring of fire around her. When she flapped her enormous wings, she created powerful waves that flew in all directions.

  Selena, stop!

  “I think she triggered it!” Silver yelled through the blasts.

  “Is this what you were talking about before?” Kain shouted.

  “I had a theory that she gained the ability to transform into a dragon from my experiment! She has the soul and blood of a dragon! Amazing!”

  After releasing one final blast, her eyes stopped glowing and the dragon disappeared into smoke, leaving Selena unconscious in its place.

  Chapter 29:

  Her head throbbed with excruciating pain. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a blinding light.

  Where am I?

  From what she felt, Selena knew that she was not back at the chamber. She felt her stomach and realized that the sword was gone and she was no longer in pain.

  She then quickly sat up and squinted at her surroundings. The light that bothered her eyes was no longer there. Instead, she was trapped in a night sky. The stars glistened above her, with multiple moons hanging in the Heavens. She was sitting on a cold, circular platform suspended in the air that looked as though it were made of ice.

  Selena then felt her stomach quinch and quickly looked over the edge. Down below was an endless abyss. She panicked and looked around once again to see a small, icy bridge that connected to her platform.

  The last that she remembered was a strange feeling of overwhelming power wash over her before blacking out. She felt alone and even isolated from Thor’s consciousness.

  “Hello? Is anyone here? What is this place? What happened to me?” she asked.

  “Don’t be frightened, young one.”

  The voice was inside her head. It sounded strong, but kind.

  “Who are you? Where am I?”

  “This is my realm. I believe your world calls it the Nexus,” the voice answered again.

  Selena froze on the spot out of fear and looked around her.

  “You?” she choked out, “you’re one of the three Divines! You’re the Fire Lion!” She was not sure how to react to the god of creation. She trembled and found herself immediately on her knees, bowing. “Please forgive me; I didn’t come here on purpose!”

  “You make it seem as though I was going to strike you down for something that you cannot control. But yes, I am he, although I go by another name. You may refer to me as Xyaxon. It’s not known to your world. I actually summoned you here so that you could be warned. Since you are of divine birth, you yield to us like the Divinity Dragons. War, death, and destruction is upon your realm. The Day of Eternal Darkness draws nigh.”

  “What is the Day of Eternal Darkness?” Selena asked.

  “It was what the device spoke of before it was destroyed. It is where the sun is completely blocked by the moon caused by distortions in time and space that cannot be prevented. The strength of all demons and the undead is increased dramatically while the Divines are weakened.”

  “Then that means that we will surely lose this war, and…” Selena could not finish.

  “And Venexus will destroy everything. The last time the Day of Eternal Darkness was upon us, the Lich had overthrown Death and took over Oblivion. Now, he seeks to do it again not just with your world, but mine as well.”

  “How do we stop it?” Selena asked.

  “There is no stopping it. It has been foretold,” Xyaxon said sadly.

  “Then why did you tell me all of this?”

  Her thoughts then drifted back towards what Venexus said to her before. Despite how corrupted the world was, she felt and knew that there was still some good. All of those who have used her as a tool, they were only doing what was right and fighting back, out of the will to live. Thor, Rahim, Silver, her friends, everyone she knew and loved; Selena wanted to protect them and knew that even people like Vidar, Ashur, and even Azrael deserved a second chance.

  “No…I will not let that happen. I was always told that we can choose our own path and this is my choice.”

  The voice did not respond. Instead, from the corner o
f her eye, Selena saw what appeared to be a castle made of ice on the other side of the bridge. She carefully walked across it, reaching the delicate structure that waited for her at the end. Its towers were smooth and glassy to the touch, portraying the rays of the northern lights within the very structure of its foundation.

  “Hello? Xyaxon? Great, now the voice inside my head is ignoring me,” Selena said in irritation.

  “Expose your heart, then face what you fear most. The closer you are to the light, the darker the shadows,” she finally heard him say.

  A sound of clashing metal echoed in the air. Selena quickly turned around, but did not see anything. Soon, all around her began to grow darker. Near the edge of the platform by the entrance of the castle, there was a bright light. Selena then looked down and noticed her very own shadow. She stepped backward a bit, but shrieked when her shadow began to move on its own accord.

  It pulled itself out from the ground and walked over to her, armed with the same sword and shield as she. It darted across the platform and into the darkness.

  Selena then quickly pulled out her sword and shield as well, preparing herself for a surprise attack.

  Coming from the darkness, her shadow stood before her, mimicking every move Selena made.

  She held her shield up to her face. Out of all the battles she had faced, this was different and the most challenging.

  Her shadow followed every move she made, mirroring her changes in direction. Selena gritted her teeth and jumped up in the air with her sword, but was parried in the same manner.

  The two fell back in sync. She tried clashing blades with her shadow once more, but she pushed it away. Selena felt a bit drained and tired; she stopped for a moment and stood back and watched as her shadow did the same.

  “You’re just my reflection,” said both simultaneously. Selena walked up to her shadow with her blade by her side and held up her left hand to touch her image’s.

  “I don’t know what to do,” they whispered again.

  “Tell yourself that you’re an embarrassment,” Xyaxon commanded. “Tell it that it's worthless and useless.”

  “No,” Selena cried.

  “Why not? You already do this to yourself. That's what you do every time you say these awful things. You've convinced yourself that you're a burden to the world. Do you really think that?”

  “No,” Selena whispered again. Her shadow repeated what she said back to her.

  “What do you want to say?” Xyaxon asked again.

  Selena swallowed hard and stared at her shadow.

  “That you’re perfect just the way you are,” Selena responded through her tears.

  Her shadow then disappeared right before her. When she looked down again, it was back underneath her feet, inanimate once more.

  “Well done,” Xyaxon said again. The light orb disappeared near the entrance of the castle and the realm of the Divines was back the way it originally was. “You are very wise for someone so young.”

  Selena smiled a little and sheathed her sword and put her shield over her back again before walking towards the interior of the castle.

  “Now I need to explain more to you, if you are still willing to listen.” Selena nodded. “Good. Venexus is threatening the balance of our worlds by attempting to open up a dimensional portal to Oblivion. That's never been done before. It would only issue the destruction of your world.”

  “How can he do that if Ragnarok is destroyed?”

  “There is only one other way, although I’m afraid I don’t know how, other than him using one of us.”

  “Then why does he want do that?” Selena asked.

  “Because he can,” Xyaxon continued, “he wants to recreate your world as he sees fit and to expand his kingdom but it can only be done on the Day of Eternal Darkness when he is at his most powerful. Do you remember anything that happened to you before I summoned you here?”

  “I remember that I was almost killed but it was as though something overcame me. I can’t explain it. It was as if I was all of a sudden very powerful but I couldn’t control it. For a moment, it felt like I stepped out of my own body,” Selena answered.

  “You have the soul and the blood of a dragon. You possess the ability to transform into such, empowering yourself with the skills and abilities of a Divinity Dragon. You are able to focus all of the energies through your body. In this form, you are at your most powerful but you will need to learn to control it. If not, then it will completely consume and destroy you.”

  Selena’s eyes widened in fear.

  “How do I control it? Why was it that I was never able to use this power before?”

  “When the Lich almost killed you, he accidentally triggered and unlocked your ability. With full mastery, you would be able to freely take on the dragon’s form at will. I believe that you already know someone who can help you learn.

  “However, even though the prophecy speaks of doom, I believe that you can still defeat him. We are already weakened with that dreadful day drawing near and cannot interfere. You must do this before the Day of Eternal Darkness, or our worlds will be destroyed.

  “I will send you back, but I want you to remember that you do have allies to help you. Destiny and fate has brought you here, but the question remains as to whether or not you are willing to accept it. Even in the darkest of times, there is still hope.”

  Chapter 30:

  Selena stirred a little bit; pain surged through her limbs. She winced when she tried to move her bandaged arms. Blood stained the white linings of her bed and of her clothing. Selena’s sword lay on the floor, partly unsheathed. In the corner of her room, a few pieces of dragon armor were beside it with gouges and some blood that stained part of the metal. The center of the chest was completely shattered from when Venexus made his near-death blow. When she saw this, Selena quickly sat up.

  She realized that she was back in the barracks, but almost fell over when she thought she saw death, but it was Azrael who sat beside her.

  “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

  “We’re bunker buddies?” Azrael said with a raise of his brow. “It’s my job to look after you.”

  “After you probably helped the Lich,” she grumbled, but Azrael reached out to try and punch her in the stomach, but stopped a breath away from touching her.

  “I told you before that as long as we’re both here, that if the Lich did anything it wasn’t because of me!”

  “Then why in the Divine’s name did you try to kill me before? What is wrong with you?” Selena demanded.

  “Because you really pissed me off!” Azrael yelled again. “You weren’t going to die anyway, whether or not Silver dove in after you.”

  “How do you know? You act like you know when people are supposed to die,” Selena said as she glared at him.

  “You need to shut up, you’re getting as bad as Silver,” Azrael growled. “If you keep working yourself up again, you won’t ever heal and won’t make it to the Day of Eternal Darkness.”

  “How do you know about that?”

  “You talked an awful lot in your sleep, as if you were having a full on conversation with someone,” Azrael answered. “I heard about the Day of Eternal Darkness but I didn’t think it was real.”

  “It’s supposed to be part of the ancient prophecy of doom that the Oracles made before the One Hundred Years’ War,” Selena answered.

  “I kind of figured that much,” Azrael said as if he were bored. “Silver and Kain told me what happened after they saved you.”

  Selena grimaced, as that was not his concern.

  “What exactly did they say to you?”

  Azrael glared at her and looked as though he were trying to choose his words carefully.

  “That you got pissed off and blew up the dwarven ruin,” he said sarcastically. “Silver wouldn’t stop talking about how you had a hidden ability or something.”

  “Why would he tell you anything?”

  “When he’s excited, he will tell an
yone who is willing to listen. Within reason, of course,” Azrael mumbled with an irritated tone. “Quite frankly, I don’t give a damn. Just don’t blow yourself or the barracks up, okay?”

  “What happened to Venexus?” Selena demanded.

  “Please don’t say his name,” he growled, “I hate it. Alfheim is celebrating our victory. I also heard that you destroyed Ragnarok. Honestly, it was for the best. All that was caused from its existence was pain and misery.”

  “I don’t understand how it was easily destroyed. It was supposed to be the most powerful weapon ever created,” Selena whispered.

  “I wonder if there were other forces at work. Maybe the Fire Lion didn’t want anyone else using it again? Who knows.”

  “Where is my dragon?” she forced out.

  “Doragon is watching over him as he heals,” Azrael said sternly. “He’ll be fine so don’t start throwing blows. Doragon won’t do anything to hurt him.”

  “You are the most backwards person I’ve ever met. You’ve spent most of your time trying to kill me until we got here and now all you’ve been doing is trying to help us,” Selena said.

  “Just as I’ve said to you before, you know nothing of what Doragon and I have gone through. I prefer it to be that way,” Azrael barked.

  “But I want to at least try to understand,” Selena began, but he cut her off once more.

  “I’m not going to repeat myself. Drop it now.”

  * * * *

  “Ashur Bel.”

  The Empress stood in the main room of the cottage in front of the fireplace. Ashur sat down in his chair with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together.

  “My Lady,” he whispered. He could not bring himself to look at Empress in the face.

  “After investigating, I learned that you attempted to kill a fellow soldier with the Marcupo you captured.”

  Ashur’s hands began to tremble with fear.

  “Look at me when I am speaking to you,” the Empress demanded. He slowly looked up at her. She glared at him; Ashur rose from his chair and bowed before the Empress on one knee, keeping his gaze fixed upon the Empress’s face.