Chapter 82: Fire

Givontair: 

A week has passed since arriving in this small village. I can feel something with a strong dark mana in the air. Every morning, I feel the foul presence. My nose stings from it. I asked Sorix about it, and he just shrugged. Yet, I know for a fact, that there is something hiding in the grasslands. 

I go out of the village gates, all alone. No one cares that I smell the dark object. As far as they are concerned, I just smell the rot from the goblin settlement. I hear someone run after me, and turn around.

 Ajax falls in step next to me, and takes a couple of deep breaths, to get his breathing back to normal. 

"What do you think you are doing, going out alone? Don't you know this is the Dread's territory?" My father asks me. 

"There is something dark, right under the goblins' settlement. I can smell it. It makes me get up at night, and brush my teeth. Can't you smell it? The sickly-sweet stench of rot, and dark mana?" I ask. He shrugs. 

"That is how Sorix smells to me. I honestly don't know how you put up with him," Ajax says, as he makes a couple of steps forward. "But if you really think that there is something viler than a Dread Lord in the settlement, then lead the way." 

"Sorix is not vile," I say, but Ajax just snorts. 

"You say that, but do you believe it? Or, do you need to clean the inside of your nose with herbal scents, every time you sleep with him?" I don't want to discuss my love life with Ajax. So, I just follow him in silence. 

We reach the settlement, which is one big pile of ash. The foul stench gets stronger here. Back when I came in here for the first time, I thought that it was just rot, from the corpses. Yet, now that there are no corpses, I can feel that there is something hidden in the ground. 

I let my nose lead me. When we reach the center of the village, I look down. There is a stone slab right in the middle. It has black miasma pouring out of it. 

"I think the goblins stole something they shouldn't have," Ajax says, practically voicing my thoughts. 

"They paid for it. I wonder, just what their chief was thinking, when he ordered this thing buried?" I ask, more myself, than my father. 

"They weren't thinking. Like typical goblins," Ajax says with a snort. I narrow my eyes at him. 

"Say only good for the dead," I tell him. He rolls his eyes. 

"Step back. I will dig this out," Ajax says. I shake my head, but he glares at me. "There is no telling what is buried in here. You are not going to risk yourself!"

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He points at the entrance of the settlement, and I reluctantly drag my feet that way. When I pass the remains of the gates, I feel the shift in mana, and see Ajax in all his glory. His tail is still damaged, but his claws are sharp. Besides, in dragon form, he is going to be more resistant to whatever mana the object gives out. 

I see him rise a paw, and then bring it down. The black miasma explodes from the ground. My breath hitches, when the thing wraps around Ajax. I forget all about caution, and rush to him. When I reach him, he is in human form again. Yet, he has the black miasma wrapped around him.

"This thing is blocking my transformation," he snarls. I can see a hole in the ground. In the hole, there is a book. It pulsates with mana, and the binding looks like it is made with leather. 

"Is that?" I ask, eyeing the book. There is the sign of the Dread on it. If I am right, then this is what we were searching for. 

"Burn it. I can't shift," Ajax says. I shift then, careful not to step on my father. I can see a barrier over the book. Is this the cause of all the outbreaks all around the Dorumian Theocracy?

 I ready my fire glands, and then breathe an inferno down on it. The book actually lets out a scream, as it tries to counter my flames with its mana. Yet, a dragon's flames are no laughing matter. The barrier gives way, the book is reduced to ashes. 

When I shift back, I turn to Ajax. In his haste to not get burned, he has gone to the nearest ruined house. I go to him, wanting to know if I did good. 

"The mana," he whispers, looking as if he is sensing something amazing. "It is no longer dwindling." 

I blink at him. What is he talking about? I ask him to explain himself, and he does.

"The mana was leaking out of the air, before. Yet, now, it almost seems as if it is stable. Son, you saved the mana of the world. Now, as the book is destroyed, there shouldn't be a prophecy about you, anymore," Ajax rushes to me, and envelops me in a hug. I stand still in his arms. This is the first time, when my father has hugged me in his true form. I close my eyes, and take in his scent. 

"We did it. We put a stop to the Dread's plans," I murmur, as I return the hug. Ajax chuckles. 

"And all that, because your nose is keen," he pats me on the back, and then looks at the ashes of the book. "We should bring this to a priest of Harika. Where are we going to find one, in the Dread's territory?"

"We can always go back to the forested area. Erik could use some time with his peers. He is enrolled in Amestavora Academy," I say, and Ajax nods. We place the ashes of the book in a bag, and then place a moonstone in there as well. Just in case, if the book can piece itself back together. Together, we go back to the village. Ready to give the rest the happy news. 

 

 

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