Chapter 428: Blood & Smoke

The scent of ash filled Yara’s nostrils. The crackling of a fire and the ocean waves echoed in her ears like a distant storm. The taste of iron filled her mouth. She opened her bleary eyes and slowly looked around. She was lying on the sand of the beach. In the far-off distance columns of smoke rose from the smoldering remains of the island’s village. Roaring fires blazed across the small docks and every fishing boat there.

“No…!” she muttered in horror.

“You’re awake,” Caligo said calmly.

Yara turned around and saw him crouched on the wet sand, stroking Lin Lu’s head. The small white fox squeaked in an anxious voice while Caligo whispered quiet reassurances. Behind them lay Meldor or what was left of him. The sapphire dragon’s body had been mutilated almost beyond recognition. His limbs were broken and his wings were shredded into tatters. The chest cavity had been torn open, and his organs had been ripped out and strewn across the water, bathing the shore’s waters a dark red. Meldor’s jaw was hanging loosely by the skin and scales, the bone having been wrenched apart from the skull. There were no eyes, only two hollow bloody holes.

“What have you done…? What have you done!?” Yara cried out.

The young boy smiled, his eyes shifting colors in an erratic pattern.“I saved you.”

“Saved?” Yara sat up abruptly, “Where are the children, Caligo!?”

“You mean the aberrations? I killed them, of course.”

Yara staggered to her feet, blood dripping from the side of her head. “Y-You–! How could you!?” she screamed.

Caligo cocked his head to the side. “You seem angry.”

“Do I!?” she laughed incredulously. “You murdered children!”

“They were not children. They were monsters, all of them!” he screamed, then he broke into eerie laughter. “I do not understand, do people not celebrate the hero when he slays a monster? When did they begin to condemn the hero for saving them?”

“You’re not a hero. You are the monster,” she spat.

“I am neither,” Caligo narrowed his ever-shifting eyes. “And it seems you are unaware of what they are. You don’t even know who he is,” Caligo pointed his thumb behind him at Meldor’s mutilated corpse.

“He was my friend!”

“He was a traitor, but more importantly he was a dragon.”

“And what difference did that make!? Do you just kill any dragon that you find?”

“You don’t understand,” Caligo clicked his tongue. He winced and held his head, “I’ve lost so much time, I don’t even know how long, Meldor had few answers to give. …You have no idea what the dragons have done, do you? You’re just a child wandering through a graveyard believing it is a garden.”

“What the hell are you even talking about!?” Yara yelled.

Lin Lu whined anxiously.

“Yara, the only reason you live is because Lin Lu begged me to spare your life. Do not waste her mercy,” he said coldly.

Yara shook her head in disbelief, “Why have you done this?”

“Why…?” Caligo stared out at the sea, his expression pensive. “A long time ago, there were no ‘chromatic species’ besides dragons. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“I… I’m not certain I—”

“The dragons bred with elemental species. Hybrids after hybrids, endless cycles until it was no longer just a hybrid, it was an entirely new species of aberration. How many off-shoot dragon bloodlines exist now? How many of these ‘species’ roam the realms? Even your blood is tainted.”

Yara frowned, “But Lin Lu’s isn’t. She is a delusory fox. A goddess, albeit a young one. Is that why you spared her? If she was different, would she be dead like all the rest?”

Lin Lu looked up at Caligo, a trace of fear in her amber eyes.

Caligo gently picked her up and placed her on his shoulder. He turned to Yara with a raised eyebrow, “Is that your plan? To try and turn her against me?”

“I am not the one manipulating a cub.”

“I am the one who protected her. I am the one who avenged her mother’s death. And I have run out of patience. If you wish to stay angry and ignorant then I shall grant you your wish.” Caligo turned his back to her and walked away.

“You’re just going to leave? After murdering all these innocent people!?”

“Heh, that’s ironic coming from you. You act like you care but you and I both know that you are no stranger to death. You reek of it. Death follows wherever you go, perhaps even all of this is thanks to you.”

“You bastard…!”

“Will you kill me? Oh, I know you’d like to. But you and I know you cannot.”

Yara clenched her teeth. “I won’t forget what you’ve done.”

“Mm. Never forget what you’ve lost. I certainly won’t.”

~~~

9 centuries later… Dusk Valley…

Holo sat atop a grassy hill, overlooking the vibrant green valley. In the western horizon sat the black shade walls of Hollow Shade, a proud and oppressing symbol of the might of the Ebon Lords.

To the east, a herd of root-bison trotted across the hills, away from the city, as if sensing the danger that was coming. Soon, all this green land would be dead red with the blood of innocents and guilty alike.

Caligo’s words echoed in her mind. Perhaps all this death was her fault for interfering in the realm, for interfering in the lives of those Violet children so long ago, or for leading the Monster in the Dark to the dragon Meldor… Perhaps this was how it was all meant to be. If there was such a thing as fate, perhaps this was meant to be her end. If so, she’d fight against fate till her last breath.

“—lo… Lady Holo… Lady Holo…?”

“Huh?” Holo turned her neck. “Atlas?”

A tall robust drow dressed in dark armor and a black cloak stood behind her, his hands held behind his back in a patient stance. “Are you alright, Lady Holo? You seem— distant.”

Holo scoffed softly, “Yeah, I suppose so. I was thinking of the past.”

Atlas took a step closer, “How deep into the past, my lady?”

“Long before any of you were born, when my city wasn’t even a dream.”

“Ah… I see.”

“You have no thoughts on the matter?”

“None that I believe may help you.”

“You sell yourself short, I wouldn’t have chosen you as captain of my guard if I thought you were incapable of advising me.”

“Perhaps someday I may think of advice worth sharing, until then… I will kill whoever you deem necessary.”

“Fair enough,” she said wryly. “So, what is it? Any word from our lead healer?”

Atlas nodded, “Indeed, Kaitlin has written a report regarding the city’s defenses and their military strength. As of now, she is waiting on standby in the city with the troupe’s mages, as are Una and Unalla.”

“I should have already been there with Kaitlin and the Noirs, preparing the Houses for what’s coming,” Holo said pensively. “I should have let you go to them, I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, my lady. It could not be helped. We’ve been traveling through the realms, gathering your warrior mages without rest.”

“If only that was enough.”

Atlas bowed his head and gestured to the bottom of the hill, “My lady, you sent out a call to your allies from across the Null Realms and they answered. Your battle regiment has fully gathered at this hill just as you requested.”

Two hundred elite mages dressed in similar dark armor and cloaks stood waiting below them. Some were natives of the Ebon Realm but most had come from faraway lands at the call of Lady Holo.

“They are ready to move on your command, my lady.”

“What of the dragons?”

“Lord Kaleidrog’s brood was sighted multiple times over the Rupture Mountains and even the outskirts of Dusk Valley, but ever since a few weeks ago they have been strangely silent. I believe it may have something to do with the warlord Marek’s dragon rider.”

“...Dammit, this is getting worse by the day,” Holo muttered. “What of my request?”

“Ah, yes,” Atlas said delicately. “I had our messengers from each realm search for them, but your friend was nowhere to be found.”

“That’s to be expected. Still, I sent them a message through the dreamscape, they should have received it by now. But they haven’t answered… I was really hoping they’d come. This is worse than I thought.”

“My lady, you've assembled the greatest army of mages in the realm, forgive me but what difference could one more mage make?”

“That ‘one mage’ brought down the greatest Order of the Scarlet Realm. If there was one person I’d want fighting by our side, it's them.”

Atlas stroked his beard in thought, “You’ve never spoken much about this ‘friend’ before. I don’t even know his or her name. Why is that? Why keep such a powerful ally secret?”

“We left on not-so-great terms. Besides, they’d prefer to keep to themselves.”

Atlas frowned, “If this friend of yours holds resentment towards you then what makes you certain they’ll even come?”

Holo smiled half-heartedly, but said nothing.

Atlas sighed, “Are they truly that powerful?”

“The greatest of us.”

“Do you think they’ll come?”

Holo stood to her feet and grabbed the orichalcum scythe lying next to her. “No, but I hope they do.”