Chapter 17: Child of earth

Kael and Abel moved carefully, keeping their distance as they shadowed the three bandits through the village's quiet streets. The bandits walked with an air of confidence, their steps unhurried, as if they had done this countless times before.

At the village entrance, the poison mage, Hughes, knelt and pressed a hand against the soil. A dark green aura pulsed from his fingertips, seeping into the dirt like ink spreading through water. The earth darkened, veins of toxic energy threading through the ground, and an acrid stench filled the air-just like the other poisoned plot.

Kael's fingers twitched at his side, irritation simmering beneath his calm exterior. Watching them defile the land so brazenly made his stomach turn, but he forced himself to stay still. Their goal was to observe, not engage. If they acted now, the entire camp would be alerted.

He glanced at Abel, who maintained his usual stoic expression, but Kael could see the tension in his jaw, the way his fingers clenched ever so slightly. As an earth mage who meticulously tended to his own flower garden, watching people corrupt the very soil that others relied on to survive was nothing short of torture.

Kael exhaled slowly, willing himself to calm down. He met Abel's gaze, silently urging him to do the same. After a tense pause, Abel finally took a deep breath and relaxed-if only slightly. That, in turn, helped ease Kael's own frustration.

With their task complete, the bandits lingered, strolling casually through the village outskirts. Without their leader breathing down their necks, they seemed lighter, almost at ease, as if savoring the midsummer night's gentle breeze.

"Feels nice, doesn't it?" Hughes murmured.

"Yeah," another agreed, glancing up at the star-speckled sky. "Shame we'll have to ruin this place soon enough."

They relished the moment of peace before their patience bore fruit. Soon, the village would suffer, and they would reap the rewards.

Then, a low, guttural howl pierced the night.

The bandits froze.

"Seems like Orlae has made contact with the monster," Kael whispered.

Abel gave a small nod. "So it would seem."

Another howl followed, closer this time. A few villagers stirred awake, the flicker of candlelight appearing behind shuttered windows.

"...We should go," Hughes muttered, already taking a step back.

The others didn't need convincing. Without hesitation, they turned and hurried away, trying to slip into the darkness before being spotted.

Kael and Abel remained hidden, tracking them to the west side of the village. From there, the bandits slipped into the forest, disappearing into the trees.

Kael and Abel tensed, ready to follow suit and trail them all the way to their camp. But just as they were about to move, a deep blue glow flickered in front of them.

The fairy darted out of Kael's cowl, hovering in their path.

Both of them halted, eyes locked on the deep blue light radiating from the tiny creature. Almost instinctively, they opened their palms, offering the fairy a place to land.

Without a moment's hesitation, the blue fairy immediately settled onto Kael's hands.

"It seems the fairy has gotten quite fond of you," Abel said with a hint of annoyance. Being dismissed by Orlae so easily-only for the fairy to jump straight into Kael's hands-made him a little envious. It almost felt like an older brother being ignored in favor of the new, younger sibling.

Kael smiled nervously, "Haha, so why did you stop us, little buddy?" he looked carefully into the fairy's eyes, deep dark shaded irises, almost resembling the night sky, with scattered golden-yellow specks that resembled distant stars that lit the night sky. At the center a bright glow radiated strongly. Those eyes looked as if there was a miniature galaxy inside of them. They looked divine, more godly than fairy like.

"Do you know where the bandit camp is?" Kael asked the fairy gently.

The fairy nodded twice.

"Ok, so what do you want us to do now?" Kael asked 

The fairy moved to one side of Kael's palm and pointed toward Mr. Arves's house.

"Wait you want us to go back and sleep?!" Abel jumped in.

The fairy nodded once more.

Abel frowned, crossing his arms. "I think this is a terrible idea. We just found a perfect chance to track them, and you want us to go back and sleep?" His frustration was evident, but Kael kept his gaze on the fairy, thinking.

The tiny creature fluttered its wings, the deep blue glow around it pulsing slightly as if to emphasize its insistence.

Kael sighed. "I don't think it's just about going to sleep, Abel. There's the monster as well, even if Orlae is taking care of it, we can't risk getting in his way. We can't go raid a whole bandit camp exhausted, tomorrow we have to deal with a whole bandit camp with at least 1 wizard, heal the land and whatever else that blasted Mr. Arves might want. And I'm certain our little friend here will guide us to them."

Abel clicked his tongue but didn't argue further. He knew Kael was right, even if he didn't like it. The experienced mage seemed to lose his cool slowly.

The fairy, satisfied with their understanding, lifted off Kael's palm and hovered near his cowl again, nestling herself back into the folds of his cloak.

"Fine," Abel muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "But if we miss our chance because of this, I'm blaming your little 'buddy.'"

Kael just chuckled. "She's got a name, you know."

Abel raised a brow. "Oh? And that would be?"

Kael opened his mouth, then stopped. He actually… didn't know. The fairy had never spoken or given any indication of her name. He glanced toward the tiny figure, but she merely nestled deeper into his cowl, as if amused by his realization.

"...We'll figure that out later," Kael muttered. "For now, let's head back."

Abel grumbled but followed Kael as they rushed towards Mr. Arves's house, the fairy's glow dimming slightly as if content with their choice.

...

Kael and Abel got back into the guest room they were staying at in Mr. Arves's house through the window, just like how they left in the first place.

As soon as they returned, they took off their cloaks and relaxed on their beds. Abel lay on his side, staring at the wall. While Kael relaxed with the fairy.

Kael sat on the bed, his fingers resting lightly near the tiny fairy, who hovered in front of him. Her deep blue glow pulsed gently, illuminating the dimly lit room. He watched her curiously, then he glanced at Abel, "Abel is usually so calm and serious, but if he gets angry, then no one can stop him, seems like something really got to him..." he thought.

After a while of silence, Abel said "Hey, Kael. I'm sorry, I got way too angry for no reason, I'm supposed to be the responsible one since I'm older and more experienced, sorry to you too little fairy, I know you care and are trying to help us in your own way.", he still laid on his side, not looking at them.

Kael exchanged a glance with the fairy, both of them smiling before he turned to Abel and said, "Don't worry about it. I get why you were mad," Kael said, stretching his arms behind his head. "Seeing them ruin the land like that… it's not something you can just ignore."

The fairy fluttered closer to Abel, her glow softening in a gesture of comfort.

Abel let out a sigh. "Still, losing my temper like that won't help us." He finally rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. "I should've kept a cooler head." Then a thought plagued his head, "I can't tell him that my pride is hurt after getting dismissed by Orlae, getting rejected by a fairy and being called a 'fake' all my life just because I absorbed her magic stone... Lithora, I miss you, my savior."

Kael smirked. "Eh, you say that, but you kept it together way better than I would've if you weren't there, I was ready to attack them."

Abel let out a small huff, but Kael could see the tension in his shoulders lingering.

 The fairy hovered close, her deep blue glow dimming slightly, as if sensing the weight of his thoughts. Then, with a surprising amount of gentleness, she tapped Abel's forehead with her tiny hand before retreating back to Kael's side.

Kael chuckled. "See? Even the fairy thinks you're being too hard on yourself."

Abel exhaled slowly, his gaze still fixed on the ceiling. "...Maybe."

Silence settled between them again, but this time, it felt lighter. The tension that had hung over Abel seemed to ease-even if only slightly.

Kael had a sudden thought and jumped up, startling both Abel and the fairy, "How do you think Orlae is doing? We haven't heard any howls for a while."

Abel thought about it for a few seconds before he said, "Yeah, you're right, maybe he managed to slay the monster."

"We can only hope." Kael chuckled.

"Let's go tomorrow, after we take care of the bandits." Abel said with more confidence this time.

"Aye aye captain." Kael smiled, "Looks like Abel is feeling better." he thought.

The fairy, still hovering near Kael, let out a soft chiming sound-almost like a tiny, melodic sigh. She crossed her arms and gave them both a firm nod, as if approving of their decision.

Kael grinned. "See? Even our little friend agrees."

Abel smirked slightly, shaking his head before sitting up and stretching his arms. "We'll need to be at our best tomorrow. The bandits won't be easy to deal with."

Kael rolled his shoulders, feeling the tension of the night settle into exhaustion. "I'm way too tired.", he yawned heavily before he spoke once more, "At least we got a guide to help us." as his gaze flickered toward the fairy, who tilted her head innocently.

Abel settled back down as well, staring at the ceiling for a moment before closing his eyes. "Get some sleep, Kael. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

"Yeah, yeah," Kael muttered, already feeling sleep pulling at him.

As silence filled the room once more, the fairy's glow flickered gently, casting tiny specks of light like distant stars.

Tomorrow this quest of theirs would reach its grand finale.

...

That night, as Abel drifted into sleep, memories long buried resurfaced, He dreamed of Uruk, his home country. Towering mountains, rivers, and lakes that flowed from their peaks into crystal-clear beaches. Vast caverns and sprawling plains of vibrant flowers.

Altough there was a 'tiny' thing that made Uruk so special, its waters were full of pirates and exotic fish, all kinds of majestic sea creatures such as sea-lions, nymphs, sea serpents and even kraken like creatures. Among all of these creatures, one stood far greater than the rest, the great water spirit Leviathan. Legends say that it's the first offspring of the god of water and oceans, Neptune.

Abel was the son of some nameless pirate that set sail with some other villagers in order to get gold to help their families, Abel saw his father only once a year if he was lucky, when he turned seven, news came that his father and his crew fell to some 17 year old prodigy who was rumoured to be able to create dragon like heads and bodies from water, they encountered his ship in the middle of the ocean, he had the advantage there.

When Abel's mother heard news of her husband's untimely demise, she fell sick, Abel did his best stealing, doing tiny jobs and anything so he could buy medicine to help his mother, a year later, she also passed away. Abel had been left all alone.

Thus 8 year old Abel, packed a backpack with some of his clothes and some of his father, for when he got taller and bigger, he also took his mother old earrings, a gold pair of earrings with 2 blue gems, like his eyes and left the village.

On his first day away from home, a heavy storm hit and Abel got caught in a landslide, caused by the heavy rain, there he stumbled and fell into a large open like cave, with a large trench, where he nearly drowned cause the bag was dragging him down, but a giant rough hand with claws fished him out in time.

As Abel started coughing out all the water he had taken in, he wanted to take a good look at the person that had saved him. To his surprise and terror, a giant and brown, dirt like colored dragon had pulled him out of the water.

"Fear not child, I'm not going to eat you." Said the dragon with a weak and ederly female voice.

Abel stammered, his body still trembling, from a combination of cold, fatigue and fear. "You're a dragon! Of course I'm afraid!"

The dragon let out a low rumbling chuckle, though it ended in a tired sigh. "And yet, you are still here. Not running. Not screaming."

Abel swallowed hard. "I just fell in a hole-where would I even run?"

The dragon tilted her massive head, her golden eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. "A fair point, little one." She shifted slightly, her movements slow, deliberate. "I believe that the terrible storm led you here?"

Abel clenched his fists. "Yeah there was a landslide causeof the storm," he muttered. "I didn't mean to come down here." He hesitated before adding, "Thanks for...saving me, I guess."

The dragon hummed in amusement. "Manners, even under constant fear. You're an interesting one." Her gaze softened. "But I must ask you. What sends a child wandering into the wild, burdened by a pack too heavy for his small frame?"

Abel's breath hitched. He looked down at his bag, soaked and covered in mud, the weight of it suddenly heavier than before. He had carried clothes of a father he couldn't remember and a memento of the mother that he didn't manage to save in that bag of his.

His voice came out quieter than before. "I had nowhere else to go."

The dragon regarded him in silence for a moment. Then, with great effort, she lowered herself onto her side, her tail curling around the cavern floor like a protective barrier.

"Then rest, little one," she said gently. "For now, this place will shelter you."

Abel hesitated, but exhaustion pulled at his limbs. He was cold, tired, and aching. And despite everything, despite the sheer impossibility of it all, there was something... safe about the dragon's presence.

So, for the first time in a long while, Abel let himself rest.

"What is your name child?" The dragon asked gently.

Abel mustered all his remaining courage and said, "My name is Abel."

"Well then Abel, you can come and rest on my body if you want, I promise it will help you warm up with terrible weather and those drenched clothes of yours." The dragon said.

Abel didn't hesitate and ran toward the dragon as she shifted into a comfortable position, her massive form settling into the cavern floor.

He dropped his backpack beside him and carefully laid down on her warm scales. It felt like resting against sunbaked stone after a long swim-solid, comforting, and radiating heat that seeped into his frozen limbs.

As his eyes grew heavy, he managed to whisper one last question.

"What's your name?"

The dragon let out a deep, rumbling exhale. "My name is Lithora. I am but an old earth dragon."

"Lithora…" Abel murmured. "Thank you…"

Sleep took him before he could hear her response.

"My name is Lithora, I'm but an old earth dragon."

"Lithora... thank you..." Abel said, as he fell asleep.

...

Three years passed.

In that time, Lithora taught Abel all she knew-survival skills passed down by the humans she had met over millennia, how to read and write, and the knowledge that a young man would need to navigate the world.

She told him stories of ages long past, of ancient heroes and forgotten legends, of gods who shaped the world and the creatures that once roamed it. Abel would listen, eyes wide, absorbing every word. Stories that he has long forgotten now.

Somewhere along the way, he stopped thinking of Lithora as just an old dragon. She had become his family.

Then, one day, Lithora lay down to rest-and Abel knew she would not rise again.

Her breaths were slower, heavier, the deep rumble of her chest now weak. She turned her golden eyes toward him, filled not with sorrow, but with warmth.

"Be proud of who you are, my child," she said, her voice softer than ever before. "Live without regret."

Abel clenched his fists. He had already lost his first family. Now, he was about to lose his second.

"You will not be alone," Lithora continued, her voice quieter. "I will leave behind one last gift-a magic stone, deep in my heart. My magic, my essence-it will be yours to carry, if you wish."

Abel swallowed hard. "I-I don't need it," he said, his voice shaking. "I just… I just don't want you to go."

The dragon let out a tired but knowing hum. "You are strong, Abel. Stronger than you know. And you will continue forward, just as you always have."

She gave him one final look-a silent farewell-before her body stilled, and the glow in her golden eyes faded.

For a long time, Abel sat there, unmoving. His hands clenched at his sides, nails digging into his palms, but the pain did nothing to ground him. He wanted to speak, to call her name, to tell her to stay-but the words never came.

But he remembered her words.

With trembling hands, he followed her instructions, searching for the magic stone that she had promised. And when he finally held it in his grasp, he understood.

This was her final gift. Her power. A farewell, but also a promise-one last lesson.

But he did not leave her with nothing.

Gently, he placed his mother's old earrings beside her, a quiet offering to the one who had given him a second chance at family.

Thus, the Cavern Dragon was born.

...

Abel wandered the continent for the next eight years, taking on all sorts of odd jobs and learning to master his magic.

But with each passing day, his pride for Lithora fueled something darker within him. Every time someone called him a fake mage, every time they scoffed at him for not learning magic the "proper" way, it felt as if they were mocking Lithora herself.

And he would not allow that.

Pride and anger grew together, feeding off one another, shaping him into something unyielding.

Until one day, three years ago, he made a mistake.

Desperate and reckless, he tried to mug a pair of twin mages. He was skilled-more than most-but they were stronger. They beat him with no difficulty and dragged him, bruised and humiliated, all the way to Eldoria.

There, they gave him a choice.

Jail for his past crimes.

Or Second Dawn.

They told him about their vision-a guild for those who had broken the law but sought redemption, a home for those with nowhere else to go. Abel had laughed at them.

But when he looked into their eyes, he saw something real.

And for the first time in a long time, he thought about family.

So he joined.

Partly because he had no better option.

Partly because he fit both of their criteria.

And partly because, when he saw the guild's large garden, he thought of something Lithora had once told him long ago. "I like flowers. They bring me peace."

So he tended the garden.

Not for himself.

But for the dragon who had given him everything.

...

Abel's breathing was slow and steady, but the faint shimmer of tears traced silent paths down his cheeks.

The stoic strategist, the unshakable dragon of Second Dawn, lay vulnerable in the quiet of sleep. His brows furrowed, his fingers twitching slightly, as if grasping at something just out of reach.

Deep down, beneath the hardened exterior, he was still just a child-a child who had lost everything, a child who fought every day to make sure no one ever underestimated his mentor and savior.

A soft glow hovered near him, casting gentle light upon his face.

The fairy watched him with quiet understanding, her tiny hands reaching out to wipe the stray tears from his cheek.

She did not speak.

She simply smiled, her gaze filled with warmth.

She understood his pain. The burden he carried. The weight he had placed on himself without realizing it.

And for this moment, at least, he did not have to carry it alone.