Perilous Journey (3)

"Why do dragons live in a place like this?" Vandier's brows.

"You hate this heat?" asked Yllana.

"Obviously!"

"There you have it."

Dragons are rare creatures that can be used from their scales to the last drop of blood on its vein. All of them knew it. And with that in mind, they moved forward with more vigor and enthusiasm. Turning back now would be a waste of opportunities. The treasure that they might get from this cave has now surpassed their expectations.

Midel wondered at his companions. Is a dragon as expensive as their deaths?

Yllana inched a little closer and saw the hole of the cave grew bigger until she saw two dark holes with smoke coming out. The dragon's nose! She took out a spear from her space ring and placed it over her shoulder. She leaned back trying to find the right angle to throw it. As she lunged it forward, the holes she saw went up and up and up! Her spear missed its target.

Vandier prepared his bow and arrow. He threw a small crystal ball in the air. Light poured over the vast walls. When he aimed his arrow, he saw the dragon's eye was staring back at him. His hand quivered. Cold sweat trickled down his brow slowly. Feeling parched, he swallowed hard.

Before anyone else could throw something at the dragon, it stretched its long body and grumbled. The dragon towered almost three times the average human. Midel grabbed Larika behind him as he took out a dull sword from his side.

"Stay behind us Your Highness," he whispered.

Larika's eyes widened as she witnessed Yllana and the others battle out the dragon. Her eyes concentrated on Yllana's figure. She was so fast that all that she could see sometimes is just a ray of red light passing through her vision. With dull weapons in their hands and a few bottles of medicines, the fight that was supposed to end sooner took longer than expected.

She looked at Yllana. Her life force is getting weaker. They all had to stay beside her because of the protection of the dome she had placed on them. But they could now feel the heavy pressure permeating through the barrier. Larika's knees wobbled. She clutched her chest and heaved deep breaths.

Midel was still holding two small crystal balls when he felt his chest also tightened. For a moment, he lost his concentration in the battle. He was about to raise his foot to run when he felt a sharp stinging pain on his shoulder. The crystal balls dropped from his grasp.

All Vandier could see was the dragon's head swinging something in its mouth. Was it something? Or someone?

"Heaven's Berserker,"

Twisting winds hit the dragon! It made a series of gashes and slit wounds on its body making it cry out load. The ground shook. But the berserker faded, and the dragon's cry also died down. Yllana could feel her life force nearing its limit.

She threw away the spear and reached for her sword. Now that the dragon has been wounded, chances are it could still feel the stinging pain from the berserker.

"Shadow serpents,"

Her shadow snakes crawled faster to the ground than before. She held the dragon's feet to the ground and tugged hard at the snakes. When Yllana saw the dragon trying to flap its wings, she slid down below it and raised her sword against its throat!

As she continued to pull on her snakes, she slid down fast and hard to the dragon's belly. A loud roar coupled with a harsh fire breath came out of the dragon's mouth. And then there was silence.

Thud!

Midel rushed to the dragon's bloody corpse and searched under it hastily. When he saw a clump of red hair squirming about, he heaved a sigh of relief.

~~~~~~~~~~

They took all they could harvest from the dragon's body. It was indeed a rare treasure that only a few would be able to attain in their lifetime. When they finished packing up, Vandier took another crystal ball out and threw it a few meters away from them. There was a door made of a slab of stone ahead.

"Something precious must be inside for a dragon to be sent to guard it," Midel spoke.

Vandier observed the stone. There were carvings in the middle of the stone that he could not make out. "I don't know what language this is."

"It's nymphean," Larika's eyes narrowed. Why would nymphs hide something inside a cave? A cave is not a natural dwelling place of a nymph. It's a stark contrast to their nature. She looked closer at the carvings. "It says, 'For light to come, a drop of darkness is the sum.' I don't know what riddle this is."

"Light… then that must be the way out. But it says there should be darkness. Since the cave has been dark, it can't literally be darkness." Midel placed a hand on his chin. They are tired and almost at the limit of their life forces, they need to solve this riddle right now.

Without any hesitation, Yllana walked up to the door and found the circular symbol in the middle of the carvings. She stared at it for a few seconds before she raised her hand and cut it her palm with a sword.

"What are you doing?!" Midel took out a clean piece of cloth and was about to wrap her hand when Yllana pressed her wounded palm in the middle of the stone. It moved with an eerie sound. Dust flew out of the corners of the stone.

They all stared at Yllana. What happened? Before they could ask her, she already stepped beyond the stone door and disappeared from their sight.

"Does a drop of darkness mean anything to you?" Larika whispered to Midel. They let the two young men in first before them.

"Darkness could mean many things, but all I can think of now is a demon." Midel's gaze never left that girl with red hair walking in front of them. Something felt odd with that stone. A drop of darkness? Demons are the only ones who live in the darkness in this mainland. Could they have misinterpreted the meaning?

Larika just shrugged her shoulders. Maybe this is the reason why they have dubbed Yllana as the Accursed One? Is she just like the husband she left back in the South Kingdom? Did she leave one monster just to be picked up again by another one? She bit her lip and hid her doubts deep inside.

"Treasures!" Kareem and Vandier screamed at the top of their lungs when they saw piles and piles of treasure chests filled with all sorts of treasures. They have been living in poverty for the last few years that they could not believe they have stumbled upon great rewards.

"The heavens must have heard our sufferings!" Vandier cried out loud.

Yllana's smile froze upon hearing the word 'heaven'. She remembered someone telling her that the heavens are crueler. Are the heavens mocking her right now?

"Take only what you need," she said. Her eyes set upon a white sword in one of the chests. There was a red crystal gem on the hilt of the sword. She turned it over to see the details. As she thumbed through the engraved symbols on it, she smiled. She doesn't feel anything special about it but she couldn't keep her eyes off it.

'Master, you chose a special sword. That is called the Lightning Sword. As its title suggests, you could harness lightning with it when you reach the Holy rank. There could still be more techniques that the sword embodies as you rank higher than a Holy.'

Yllana's hand stopped. She thought about what Blue told her. 'There are ranks higher than a Holy?'

'Yes, master. There are more powerful beings than a Holy. But this mainland's environment can only cultivate one rank higher than a Holy. There is a power that stops beings to advance in their ranks. I'll tell you more about it when you reach that level.'

Yllana felt the caution in Blue's words. Higher than a Holy? Then the previous empress of the North Kingdom might have been in that rank. She couldn't believe it herself when she fought the empress with nine more other Holy Knights. They couldn't kill her as easily as she thought they would. She has gained their support in that battle but there was no guarantee that they would win easily. She calculated it based on how she calculates their chances of success in battlefields.

'Blue, what else is useful for me here?' she asked inside her soul. She scanned her eyes over the other chests with treasures. Midel found a new crystal ball. Larika found some jewelry that could replace what she used to buy their equipment. And the boys took old coins along with handheld weapons. She took a fancy with boxes of jewels and stored them into her space ring. Her sister might be interested in these. And her father could also sell some of the precious items.

'Master!'

Yllana almost dropped the third small chest of jewels when she heard Blue scream inside her.