Ep 65. Get A Life, Will You? (5)
Raizel trudged alongside the flowing river as Eterra Lake once again came to view.
“Tch. Damned mages, telling a dragon what to do…”
Admittedly, the steel dragon couldn’t care less about what a human told her – heck, she hardly cared what elder dragons told her. But when it came down to Serenis, she found it strangely difficult to dee nore.
The dragon came to a stop before the edge of the ke. Otoka had told her that this ‘alem dust’ was found in discolored portions of the ke’s floor – along with instrus on how to get them without damaging their quality. All she had to do was dive in, grab them, aurn.
‘Yeah, return. Easier said than done.’
Raizel did not know how to swim.
Swimming ated that oay afloat, at least to some degree. But with a majority of her body prised of metal, all Raizel was capable of was sinking to the bottom. Floating back up was out of the question, and so she’d always chosen to walk her way back ashore from bodies of water.
“Well, better get it done and over with…”
After l her stance, Raizel kicked herself off the ground as she leapt across the water. Her fall refused to break for quite some time as she soared across the ke’s length – when the dragoually did crash into the water’s surface, the nd behind her had bee tiny.
Raizel kept her eyes wide open as she rapidly sunk into the water. Darkness weled her from below like the gaping maw of a giant monster, but even with minimal amounts of light, the dragon could make out the details beh her feet – and sinking quickly was rather helpful when she could hold only her breath for so long.
When her feet touched solid surface, Raizel began t her heavy body across the ke’s floors. The huge pressure was making her abysmally slow, but she had little time to spare idling around in this airless enviro.
As soon as she spotted a discolored location, the dragon drove her cws into the ground itself. She couldn’t care less about the archmage’s careful instrus on how to pick up some mounds of dust.
When Raizel lifted her arms, a giant k of the ground lifted itself iirety.
‘Now, to get back up there…’
Raizel slowly turned her head upwards. She couldn’t evehe surfaymore.
“…”
The dragourned around, taking a step back towards the dire she’d jumped from: an abysmally slow step that would likely take her days, if not weeks, to carry her back ashore. Uher streams ahis particur ke was signifitly deeper, the pressure uantly – and expoially – stronger.
She’d initially po run the way ba an instant. That was obviously out of the question now.
“…”
Clusters of air bubbled out of the dragon’s mouth. Raizel sidered herself retively good at holding her breath, but she was far from living with the fishes; being a dragon didly e with superb lung capacities.
‘Fuck.’
? ? ?
Serenis quietly sighed as she took Aldrid’s worry into at. It’d been quite some time since her awakening – it wouldn’t have surprised her if a deity of death had bee aware of the dragonlord’s renewed presence.
“…I suppose it’s only natural that a deity of death would know. I’ve defied death, after all.”
“That’s…not true!...He couldn’t have known, or else he would’ve e to you the moment you awoke. Even I didn’t know you’d returo life.”
Aldrid began to sort through her memories of the other deities – specifically the ohat could’ve reized Serenis’ return. Truth be told, most of them couldn’t possibly have known.
“The only ohat could’ve sehat something was amiss is Lady Felicis, and only because you carry so much mana. The others couldn’t have…”
The deity trailed off her words as she betedly remembered who was standing before her.
Serenis. Lord ons, only referred to as ‘Starchild’ by the people of their era.
“…Lord Serenis, did you use star-aspected magice your return?”
“On occasion, yes. Why?”
A dreadful look washed over Aldrid’s face as she heard the answer. Besides the deity of mana, there was, in fact, oher that would reize that something was amiss. A peculiar deity that hardly anyone ever saw, ohat would’ve been fotten had they not seemed to share the dragonlord’s affinity.
“…Oh, dear. There…might be another one…”
? ? ?
A bck tear ripped through the darkness of the frozen cavern. Two men stepped out of the dimensional gate, their breaths letting out chilled steam in the immense cold surrounding them.
One of them ed his feathered wings around his body, studying the icy hall. At the edge of the cavern’s depth was a small, horned silhouette sitting on its glimmering floors, staring into a frozen dead end. She seemed rather relut to turn around and face her guests.
The winged figure sloroached the girl ahead, waving his hand iing. He cared little if she could see him or not.
“Aymeia, you could do better than to ignore me like that – especially when you’re the one who asked for my presence.”
However, a dry response was all that was returo him.
“Don’t e near me, Felicir. I’ll kill you.”
The winged figure halted his steps as he remaianding some distance away. A thin smile curved his lips.
“Not the frie greeting I’ve heard, but not the worst. I’ll take it.”
Silensued as her of them spoke a word. When it stretched on, the other, elven figure who’d tore opee began to shiver, impatiently tapping his e on the cavern’s icy floors.
“You two wouldn’t happen to mind tinuing your versation, yes? I’m eager to leave as soon as I . Might I remind you both that I’m not too fond of id cold.”
Felicir smirked at the remark, shrugging back at the pining elf. There wasn’t much he could do other than urging Aymeia to speak.
“You heard him. We’ve been kind enough to e to your dreaded ir – state your business, Aymeia.”
The girl still refused to move, nor turn to face the two men. However, she did return an ahis time in a less hostile voice.
“…Something’s wrong. There’s another being that the star is responding to.”
“Could be just another peculiar manaspawn, no?”
“Not possible. I ’t interfere. They’re more attuhan I am.”
Felicir s the expnation, soon bursting into ughter.
“YOU ’t interfere? Did someone pickpocket your divinity? I worked hard to get you that, you know.”
When the girl finally turned her head, a menag red glow illuminated her eyes. A tiny orb of fire formed above the two men, which soon expanded into a small replica of the sun. The burning sphere sizzled against the cavern’s surface, threatening to desd on the visitors’ heads.
Droplets of heated water began to drop dowing away at the cavern’s floors. The deity of death defensively raised his hands.
“It was just a joke. o be so unfriendly.”
“I don’t uand jokes.”
“I’d tell you that it only makes it better, but you probably won’t get that either, will you?”
When the miniature star blinked out of existence, Felicir lowered his hands, widening the grin on his face.
“That’s a good girl. Location?”
“Southern edge of artivine.”
“Partivine? Why, that’s wonderful. It’s been a while since I’ve seen my dear sister.”
“She hates you.”
“Oh, it’s just her way of showing affe.”
The winged figure turo leave, being over his friend. The elf readily owards Felicir, tearing open a new gate before hurriedly throwing himself across the portal first.
The deity of death spared o gowards the girl before leaving.
“Aymeia, this may sound odd ing from me, but get a life, will you? You don’t have to follow the dragonlord THAT closely.”
“Get out.”
“Haha. Alright.”
Praybird
