Choose wisely

"Alistein!? You… You're alive!" Blaze's shock remained clear on her face as she eyed the supposed dead man sitting on the side of the wooden-framed bed she was on, the only son and child of their Faction Emperor. Surely, his presence didn't match their poorly-made, wooden surroundings, built as a shelter for temporary use.

Without a second thought, Blaze suddenly pulled him into a hug, completely forgetting what happened in her dreams as she was glad to see him alive. Alistein blinked in surprise, taken aback by such a sudden move. The lioness of the Ember Tribe had never shown him fondness before. But he realized again, everyone truly thought he was dead.

"What happened to you?" Blaze asked. "How did things become this way? Do you know how heartbroken the Emperor became thinking he'd lost you forever?"

Blaze pushed him back with her hands on his shoulders, examining him carefully in wonder as he forced a tight-lipped smile in front of the unmindful woman. Part of him wanted to show delight upon hearing such words, but something deep inside him couldn't bring himself to, even though he knew since yesterday, from Winter, his father's current condition.

"I just… I happen to be alive," Alistein said awkwardly, not knowing what else he could say.

"'Happen' to be alive? Whatchu mean you 'happen' to be alive? You're telling me you suddenly woke up after everyone left you inside that dungeon inhabited by a dragon and that's why you're alive?" Blaze snorted playfully, as a joke. But what Alistein said after could not be taken as lightly as a joke.

"Actually…yes. Miraculously, you guessed correctly." He smiled, this time, a genuine one. He watched as Blaze was left in confusion, her eyes narrowing as she cocked her head to the side in thought. He sighed, deciding to give her a push into what was reality.

"Was it not the same with you?" he said. "Remember when you fought Jarak, Blaze?"

And with that, Blaze instantly fell speechless. That name was…familiar. Jarak, who was that again? Wasn't that the person who had a magical sword and tattoos? The person she thought she defeated after pulling her trump card, Hyper Surge, that would've killed if overused. But…that person was left completely unscathed, his tattoos and aura mixing into an impenetrable, full-body armor.

'Am I imagining things right? If I am, then like Alistein… I should be dead now, too,' she surmised. Her eyes traveled and landed on Alistein's clothes, the same unusual attire as Jarak's that she had never seen before meeting them. She was just about to ask when suddenly, she remembered there being an individual who called her name, an individual she failed to see since she fell asleep before she could turn in his direction… Who was that?

If she was magically resurrected like Alistein, didn't that mean she was a part of their secret group now? Were all the members resurrected like them? Then, if that was the case…did Winter die when he was on the run and get resurrected too? But who resurrected all of them? For what purpose? And how? With the sudden surge of questions running through her once-quiet mind, a steady flow of blood came dripping down her nose, staining the sheets of the bed.

"Do you remember now?" Alistein pulled her from the mess in her head.

"Alistein… d- did we die?" Blaze asked frightfully, smudging the blood coming down her nose across her face with two rough swipes of her arm.

Alistein snorted in amusement. "Hahaha… Don't worry," he assured her, "we didn't."

"B- but then… how come I'm alive? That Jarak guy, I fought him with all my might, destroying my body in the process. Not even the best shamans in our faction, even working together, can restore my body from the backlash of using Hyper Surge," Blaze boldly claimed, sure that her information was correct.

"Right?" Alistein responded. All of a sudden, his eyes were shining with determination and expectation, and he leaned forward, saying, "I don't fully know how the leader did it, but all I know is, he can do things that the world would deem impossible! You have a reputation in the dragon-slaying academy yourself, right? Because you always questioned the doctrines being taught, and you carried that attitude even after you became an official dragon-slayer because deep inside you, you know the doctrines are flawed."

He held out his hand, offering it to Blaze. And with an excited grin, he proposed, "If you truly want to know everything in the world, join our Death Reaper!"

'If you truly want to know… If you truly want to know… join…' Blaze swallowed a mouthful of saliva as Alistein's words repeated and repeated in her mind, her faith shaken in levels she couldn't imagine.

After dragons emerged a decade ago and destroyed everything humans built to become rulers of the world, humans were compelled to fight back and study the creatures of destruction. But even after a decade, their origin remained a mystery no one could solve. Were they the product or experimentation? Or…had they been hiding all this time?

Blaze was one of the few who thirsted for the truth; thus Alistein's offer was greatly enticing…tempting. But why was Alistein here to convince her instead of Winter? Certainly, there was something amiss. Her instincts told her right off the bat.

Blaze looked up, scrutinizing the Faction Emperor's son as she tried to hypothesize the motive behind such an offer. "Before I answer, what would you do if I decline?" Blaze queried.

Alistein laughed it off, certain that what she said was not a possibility. "Why would you decline such a wonderful offer? Not anyone can just join the organization. I am being generous already. You will have everything; the truth, knowledge, security, wealth, absolute power…and the chance to be with your lover."

Blaze quickly straightened in response, going into defensive mode. "Winter is not my lover!" she insisted. "He helped me because we're from the same tribe, same faction!"

"Are you sure that was all?" Alistein asked impatiently, brow raised.

Blaze crossed her arms and turned away, annoyed. "Tsk. Don't sweat it! I have already decided. I am not going to join your little dance group! Everything you said earlier, that was a smart way to lure me in. But no matter how tempting your offer is, I can and will achieve what I want on my own! You and Winter, just wait and see," Blaze firmly announced.

Although Jarak had completely shattered her confidence, she took and saw her defeat as a means of motivation to train harder and become better in every way. She must have the strength to solve the crisis they were facing because of the dragons.

"That's completely rubbish!" Alistein seized her by the clothes, pulling her close so that they were looking straight into each other's eyes. "You know, there was one time in my life that I had the same faith in the faction and its people as you do now. I had that faith…until they deliberately withdrew from the battlefront against that three-headed bipedal dragon, leaving a lone dragon-slayer to die as they laughed their way out that water dungeon!" he hissed maliciously. His tight fists shook, eyes burning with sheer hate and rage as he tried to stay calm recalling such a memory.

Blaze trembled as she listened to his story, spoken from the wronged victim himself. She stiffened as he leaned towards her ear, his hands still gripping the neck of her clothes. "Listen here," he seethed, his spiteful tone as sharp as a knife. "The people of the faction abandoned me purposely. The leader saved me from my demise, just like how he saved you. Now, choose wisely! Or…

…I just might kill you!"