Chapter 16 Hints of the Past

Having left the ruined castle behind, Alexander took a deep breath and sucked in the crisp morning air.

It was only now that he was back outside that he realized just how awful the dusty and putrid air within the decaying structure really was.

"Goodbye and good riddance." Alexander said as he took one last disdainful glance at the castle.

He may have been leaving the place with treasures more valuable than he ever expected to find, but he had lost part of himself. Both figuratively and literally.

Whether his gains were worth it, he still did not know.

Nevertheless, all he could do was keep moving forward and hope that things turned out for the better.

The climb down the old mountain path at the very least was peaceful. Unlike the castle that was filled with deadly undead monsters, the only creatures that Alexander saw were small woodland animals.

Eventually, he made his way back to where the range became a sheer cliff over a thousand meters high. This would definitely be the most precarious part of his journey left, but he climbed up it once before, so he was confident he could make his way down.

'Well, this is new.'

For the first time in several hours, Alexander heard the voice of his unwanted companion.

"What do you mean?" Alexander asked curiously.

'Back when I was still the ruler of this area, the mountains extended farther, and the slope was gradual and easy enough to traverse. There was certainly no sudden drop-off like this. I believe it has been several centuries since then, but the landscape would not naturally change this drastically in only that amount of time.'

Hearing this was unsettling to Alexander. If what Tharildron had said was true, that meant that something had altered the geography of this area on a truly massive scale. The power necessary to do such a thing was something he could not even fathom.

"Tharildron, how old are you?"

This question had been in the back of Alexander' mind for quite some time. And now that he was relatively safe, he wanted to satiate his curiosity.

'I cannot give you an exact number, as I do not know what year it is now. If you can tell me that, I will answer you to the best of my ability.'

Seeing as how this was an easy request, Alexander told Tharildron the current date.

In return, the shadow dragon revealed that his total age was over ten thousand years old, and that he had been surviving only a fragment of his former self for slightly more than six centuries.

"That means that you must have been around during the Great War of Calamity. What was it like back then?"

Not much was known about history going back further than six hundred years, and now that he had a living source from so long ago, Alexander could not help but want to learn about the past that was shrouded in mystery.

'Is that what it is called now? Hm, I suppose that we did make a real mess of things. Nearly all of the intelligent races suffered innumerable casualties, so I suppose that it is fitting to call what occurred a calamity.' Tharildron mussed, more talking to himself than addressing Alexander's question.

Caught off guard by this, Alexander stood rooted in place with a befuddled look on his face.

As far as he knew, the Great War of Calamity was primarily fought by humans. What little records did exist of the time period, made almost no mention of other races. In fact, the only times another race was mentioned was when the Dragon Lords brought an end to the fighting and became wardens for humanity. With each of the six watching over a different human nation.

Except, when Alexander explained this to Tharildron, all he received in response was bellowing laughter.

Try as he might to get the shadow dragon to calm down, the entity that had rooted itself inside of him was currently beyond reaching with words.

To ignore the noise in his head, Alexander focused deeply on his own thoughts.

While no one would consider him a genius, he was not so slow-witted that he could not put the pieces of knowledge he had learned together.

'That's impossible. This must be a trick to make me question that I know is true.'

Alexander shook his head to deny the conclusion he had just come to based on the small snippets of information that Tharildron had given him.

It was absurd, practically blasphemous to even consider.

Yet just as Alexander was about to cast away all doubt, his unwelcome companion's voice crept back into his mind.

'Oh, it seems that you have figured out the truth. I laid out some clues, but I did not think you would reach a conclusion so quickly. I've underestimated your intelligence.'

"No! You're wrong! There is no way I could believe something like that! This must be another one of your deceptions!" Alexander shouted in defiance.

'Deny it all you want; it won't change the truth. The Dragon Lords you hold in so high esteem are nothing like what you have heard. We are the ones that caused what you call the Great War of Calamity. Whatever history you know and is accepted by other humans, was written by them to suit their own desires. When you speak about how magnanimous they are, I laugh because I know it is a lie.'

Alexander ground his teeth in frustration. Everyone learned about how the Dragon Lords saved humanity and continued to protect it to this day. They were beings that were venerated as practically deities. This was an undisputed fact.

Of course, he never extended this respect to Tharildron, as he did not believe its claim that it was a Dragon Lord. More likely, he believed, that it was some amorphous shadowy monster that had simply taken on a shape of a dragon to trick him.

"I'm done. You can keep on yapping your venomous lies, but I won't be listening any longer."

Fed up with the conversation, Alexander walked over to a nearby tree and slid down to the ground before leaning against it.

He was tired both mentally and physically and wanted to get some rest before attempting the climb down the towering cliff.

'Suit yourself. I've already said enough. Now that you know. you won't be able to turn your eyes away from reality forever. It is only a matter of time until you notice that you humans are their sheep. And that they will employ whatever vile methods necessary to keep their flocks in line.'

With these last words, Tharildron went quiet, and Alexander slowly slipped into an unpleasant sleep, wracked with all manner of nightmares.