Chapter 12: The Dragon Witch (Conclusion)

 

I wake up to a familiar scene.

The blazing heat scorches my skin. The suffocating smoke invades my lungs and throat. The bright, flickering flames burn away my vision.

Around me, houses, if you can call them that, crumbles into the ground, reducing themselves into ashes before the spreading fire. The few wooden pillars supporting their makeshift cloth walls lie across the ground, broken and burned. Amidst this scene, around me is only a deafening silence. This place is supposed to be filled with people. But now not even a scream remains. 

This is hell.

Lately, whenever I fall asleep, I see this scene. I don’t know how I keep being reminded of it, nor how I keep falling asleep in seemingly the most inopportune times, but this nightmare keeps coming and going as it pleases. What will it be this time? Will I be able to wake up on my own? Or will I be forced to live through it once more, before shocking myself into regaining my consciousness? Whatever the result, it is never pleasant to experience.

I wander amidst the burning road. I don’t know why I continue to walk and look at this horrible sight. It doesn’t do me any good. And yet, somehow, I keep looking. I know it’s all a dream. I know this is in the past. But then… why? Why do I keep on walking? Why do I keep on looking? What is it that I want to look for?

The heat is getting worse by the second. The fire is spreading to the alleys. Everything is completely burned out, but the flame still goes on. As I tread on this lifeless road, I keep on turning repeatedly like a marionette moving to the beat of the puppeteer. 

Then, I see him.

I’ve seen this scene before. With that same golden hair, the same gentle blue eyes, the same shining smile, he stands there at the end of the road, on top of a small mountain of corpses. His presence is truly contrasting to the burning world around him, like an angel placed in the depths of hell. It’s sickening. I can’t stand it. I want to lop his head off. I want to skewer him and burn him alive. But I can’t do it. For some reason, I can never reach him in this dream. I’ve tried to come at him, but he just moves further away as soon as I feel like I’ve taken a grasp. It’s a never-ending cycle. In the end, I’m always the one to tire out first, and once my consciousness fades away in here, I will return to the real world.

Should I just continue to do that?

He is outside, right now. I can take my revenge in the real world, finally.

But what would I do once I wake up? I’m locked in a cell. I’m still wounded from the fight three days ago. And my power activates randomly, so I’m not even sure if I can fight him at all. But if I don’t do anything, I can’t win against him. The only way to get what I want is to fight. Fight with the hatred within me. Use it as fuel for my strength. Fight, and win.

I grit my teeth and clench my fist. I will try to catch him. I should be able to return once I catch him or I get too tired. And once I return, I will kill him for real. It’s the only way left.

“Is it really the only way?”

A voice calls out to me from behind. I turn around, only to see a familiar face. A face I didn’t expect to see ever again.

Facing me is a young girl. Her blonde hair looks a bit messy because of her poor living conditions, but a bit of care can still be seen. The same goes with her cloth-like dress; it’s no fancy clothes, and it still looks dirty, but at least it’s in one piece. The girl, staring straight into my eyes, asks once more:

“Is it really the only way?”

“You’ve been through this already. You know it’s the only way.” I answer.

“And you know I asked because you’ve been through it. Is it the only way?” The girl repeats her question.

“And what is your suggestion, then?” I ask her back, my rage slowly but surely building up. Sure enough, the girl answers:

“I don’t know. If you don’t know, then how do I know?”

“Then why are you questioning me?”

“Because you’re questioning yourself.” The girl answers, before saying goodbye as fast as she appeared. “I have to go now.”

“Go? Go where?” I ask. Is she going to just disappear like that? What about her answer? What about my own?

“Go there.” She points towards the laughing man. I can’t believe my eyes. All that talk, and in the end, she made the same choice as me? Unbelievable. I won’t accept it…

Why won’t I accept it? She’s making the same choice as me. I should be happy with that. But what is this feeling in my chest? What is this burning sensation that urges me to do something about it?

The girl approaches the man. I start to move as well. I try to reach out to the young girl, but even when she’s only a few steps away, I still feel like the gap between us is too far, like being separated by a cliff. I try to utter a shout, but my voice freeze in place. I try to run towards here, but somehow my feet remain glued to the spot I’m standing on.

However, it seems like I was wrong.

The girl runs past the man as if he didn’t exist at all. Instead, she makes her way towards the scenery behind him, where all the burning houses lie. With her small figure, she scours through each of the remnants, moving burning pieces of wood bit by bit, even digging her hands through the ones stuck under the ground. When she can’t find what she’s looking for, she dashes to another house and starts over, like a spring breeze amidst the flame. But what surprises me the most, is that her face does not show any signs of sadness or depression, just an expression of worry and concern.

“What are you doing?” The words leave my mouth so naturally this time as if something has finally been unplugged.

“Searching for survivors.” Somehow, my voice reached her even though the distance between us has widened even more. The girl answers, still digging through the splinters and ashes.

“Everyone’s dead. They’re killed in the fire, so they must be dead.”

“You can’t be sure about that.”

“Yes, I can. I’ve seen it. I’ve been through it.”

“You’ve been through it, but it doesn’t mean you have seen everything.”

The girl’s words are overly optimistic, almost delusional. It’s so pretty, it’s sickening. And yet… why do I feel relieved by her words? Why do I feel like I agree with her, even though what she’s saying can’t be farther from the truth? Why do I have a smile on my face right now?

“That’s hell you’re walking into,” I say, raising my hand forward. Am I trying to reach her to pull her back, or am I trying to pull myself forward?

“I know.” The girl nods slightly.

“There’s no one left,” I say, my voice grows more shaken.

“I know.” The girl nods once more. “Not here.”

As she finishes her words, rain starts to fall. Strange. I don’t remember it having rained when I was there. The soothing rain befalls the hellish landscape, blessing it with the stream of water it desperately needs to douse the accursed flames. The fire is extinguished in a matter of seconds, and my body feels cleansed along with it as well. Leaving the water dripping on my face, I continue:

“Do you know where, then?”

“I don’t know.” The girl answers, her back gets farther away from me by the minute. “But you can find out.”

“Will I be able to?”

“I don’t know.” The girl shakes her head, repeating the answer. “But you can try. That’s what living is all about.”

“Am I… alive?”

“You are now.” The girl turns back to me and lets out a smile as the sky clears out, leaving nothing but a ray of beautiful sunshine shining over the ruined town. Seeing the sight before my eyes brings a smile on my face as well, as I wave her goodbye, for I know my time with her is up:

“Thank you… for everything.”

“You don’t need to thank me.” The girl lets out a smile as her body slowly disappears into the air. “I’m always present in you, after all.”

“Will we meet again?”

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“Hopefully not. For if we do, that means you’ve forgotten yourself.”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind.” As the sight before me fades into darkness, I let out one last smile before returning to the real world, where my past and future await me.

 

 

I wake up to a soothing breeze in the middle of a grassy hill. The starry night sky is a nice change of pace compared to the everlasting fire, but I don’t get to enjoy the scenery for too long, since if I’m in this place, that means I still haven’t returned to the real world yet. I try to look around once more, to see if there’s any kind of sign that can help me wake up from this, albeit pleasant, dream. However, aside from the scenic view of the sky and the wind cooling me off, I can’t seem to find anything else. With nothing left to search for. I start treading once more. However, as I am about to leave the hill, a voice calls out from behind me, sounding nothing like the ones I’ve encountered so far in my life:

“Going so soon?”

I turn around only to see something straight out of a fairy tale. A giant four-legged creature, with a long, fanged mouth and two large horns, along with rows of spikes running from its back all the way to the tip of its tail. However, the thing that catches the eye the most has to be its giant, majestic jet-black wings to complement its also dark as night body.

“What… are you?” I ask, curious and amazed by the strangely fascinating creature.

“You haven’t seen a dragon before? Not even in picture books?” The creature asks back, breathing out a flicker of flame through its mouth as it speaks. So, that’s a dragon, huh? I’ve heard the kids in the slums talking about it, but I never took too much notice of their conversations.

“No,” I shake my head, “never seen one.”

“Well, I’m not too surprised, to be honest.” The dragon nods in understanding. “Looking at you, I assume there’s a lot going on in your life, isn’t it? Reading books might be a bit of an overreach for you.”

“Something like that.” Disregarding its rather blunt comment, I answer. “But what is a dragon doing in my dream?”

“Hmm…” The dragon pauses for a moment as if trying to rearrange its points to explain things more clearly. “Let’s start with a proper introduction, then. This form of mine might be a dragon, but I’m actually a Demon. One of the seventy-two Demons, Asmodai. I reside in the cross in your possession at the moment.”

“That makes you the source of my power.” I continue, remembering the brief conversation I had with my supposed cellmate from before. “So, why would you appear now?”

“You probably have an idea already, don’t you?” The dragon, now Asmodai, raises his jade-colored eyes. “Don’t you find it weird that your power so far has been activating in almost random situations?”

“Yeah. So? Was it you?”

“In short, yes.” Asmodai nods in agreement. “I can’t let someone like the past you wield all of my power; you were vengeful and dangerous, killing yourself along with me in your reckless and idiotic vengeance would only be a matter of time were I to give you full control.”

“Rude, but fair point.” I let out a sigh, for I know his words are true. In fact, I didn’t even need to be at full power; I could remember more than one occasion that my charging into any place within my sight almost cost me my life. “So, I guess I have you to thank whenever I activate that power in those situations, then… And? Why do you choose to appear before me now?”

“What you experienced just now, was your Trial.”

“My… Trial? What for?”

“To see if you’re worthy of this power, what else?”

“And that whole sequence just now… it was all you?”

“Well… yes and no,” Asmodai answers with uncertainty. “I only create the Trial so that it’s based on your past and it will repeat itself if you fail to reach the correct answer. I don’t know which scene from your past was chosen.”

“Tch. Thanks for letting me live through that nightmarish scene over and over again.” I grunt, letting out a complaint. However, the Demon doesn’t seem to be phased by it:

“I apologize if the scene was a tad too much to bear, but considering that you’re talking to me right now, and you’re not even that angry at me, I assume that you’ve made peace with your past?”

“… More or less, I guess.” I let out a sigh in response.

“Well, what did you learn from it?”

I think back to the hellish sequence I just went through. The suffocating air. The burning heat. The piles of corpses. That wretched smile, as well. I remember them all. But most importantly... the innocent girl standing amidst the flames and ashes vividly flickers in my mind. Yeah, I’ve found the answer I’ve been looking for.

“Hope is never so easily lost. But to see that hope takes courage; courage to save a person’s life, and that life may even be your own. All I had in mind before now was vengeance, but now I’ve realized... vengeance is but another step in my path forward.”

Asmodai stands in silence for a while. It seems like my answer still managed to surprise him, for his eyes have been closed ever since he heard it. However, I don’t have to wait much longer. Letting out a gentle smile contrary to his terrifying appearance, Asmodai nods and says:

“A good answer indeed. It’s true; you don’t have to stop hating the people you hate, nor stop seeking the vengeance you crave. However, vengeance is only a temporary satisfaction of your thirst. After that, you lose your purpose in life. When it comes a time to choose between hating someone and saving someone else, preserving a human’s life is better than taking another.”

“Ironically, I had already realized it when I was younger.” I let out a bitter laugh as the memories of that encounter return to me. “It’s just that I had forgotten it along the way… I wonder, how long will I keep it this time?”

“Once you’ve noticed it, it’s hard to forget.” Asmodai answers. “And besides, should you forget, that’s when us Demons come into play; to remind you about the qualities of the King within yourself.”

“Thanks in advance, then.” I nod, before waving goodbye, attempting to return to the real world. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go.”

“Hold on. Before you go, I have one final gift for you.” Asmodai, surprisingly, stops me in my tracks.

“What is it?”

“I said that you now gain access to the full extent of our power, right? Let me show you how.” The Demon answers. “Raise your hand forward, and let the magic inside the cross flows in you.”

“O… kay.” I give an unsure answer. To be honest, I have no idea how I could activate this power from before. It just sort of… happened naturally. But it can’t hurt to try, I guess.

I follow the instruction and raise my arm forward and steel myself. From my chest, I can feel something heating up as if an ember was started deep within my body. This ember continues to burn stronger, sending the heat around my body. From my chest to my stomach. From my stomach to my legs. From my chest to my arms. The ember keeps on burning, slowly but surely, until my entire body feels like it’s engulfed in it. However, contrary to the scorching sensation from my past, this flame is warm and soothing, almost as if I’m sitting by a warm fireplace in a cold winter night.

“Now, say ‘Armed’.” Asmodai continues as he notices a ring of fire starting to form beneath my feet.

“Armed!” I let out a shout, and my vision is quickly covered in fire once more.

 

Before I realize it, I have already returned to my jail cell. However, what I’m more focused on is the jet-black armor covering my body. The layers of plates making up the armor make it rather light and easy to move in, and the claw-like gloves and boots feel like they would increase my attack strength by quite a significant amount. What I’m most impressed about has to be what’s on my back, as the bursts of flames sprouting from the black skeletal frames make a majestic pair of draconic wings. However, before I can comment on my new look, a voice sounds inside my head:

“That, my King, is Demon Armor, or Armed for short. Essentially, you channel our power into a set of new features for yourself, useful for both defense and offense.”

“Asmodai!” I shout in surprise. “You can speak to me?”

“Once I’ve acknowledged your worth, we can speak telepathically as long as the cross remains.” The Demon calmly answers. “Now, about your Armed form: you should expect a boost in both your offensive and defensive capabilities, as well as the ability to fly and more adept control of your flames. In particular, …”

“Die! Die! Die! Die! ...” The barrage of screams and punches coming from the other cell interrupts our conversation. Without any more time to lose, I instantly conjure up a spear, conveniently ignoring how I can make one so fast now.

“We’ll have to save the lecture for later. I’m going to help him!”

“Will do, my King.” I can feel Asmodai nodding in agreement, as I channel a small flame in my hand.

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