25. Divine Deliriums #2
Nearing the wall I press my hand on the runes etched on it, hoping it'd work.
To my relief it does, and so do the series of doorways leading to the biggest cavern.
The last stone door requires my blood, so I manage to make a cut on my palm and smear it on the runes.
The cut keeps bleeding, with no signs of the accelerated healing.
The darkness gives way to a soft golden glow.
Mounds of countless treasure sprawl like molten hills further up ahead.
The burning scones on the walls cast their glow on the heaps of dragon gold, making the orangish-red metal gleam.
Shining weapons, spell-bound gems, glimmering artifacts, and rows upon rows of scrolls make up my hoard.
I breathe in the familiar surroundings, but it feels different.
The normally comforting scent of my treasures is layered with melancholy. There's an echo of despair tainting the air. I cautiously proceed further into the cavern and notice new items that I know nothing about.
This is my hoard, right? How come there are treasures here that I don't recognize? Did Mother take over my lair?
My thoughts come to a screeching halt as I find an old dragon with aged leathery skin lying in a corner with his eyes closed. Gray spots cover his hide in places that's no longer ivory but a faded cream. The dragon's nostrils flare at the smell of my blood, still dripping.
"Bazrosh." The dragon says on a surprised exhale, opening his amber eyes. Familiar amber eyes. My eyes. His voice is weary and rough from disuse.
"How is this possible?" I whisper.
The dragon stands up and inches closer, lowering his massive head and staring deep into my eyes. His gait is wobbly, as if his old bones no longer support him well.
"It's fair I suppose, to see my humanity separated from my dragon." He says cryptically.
"You are me!" I frown, baffled.
"Yes."
"But how? This must be a figment of my imagination."
"Perhaps. But I've lived for centuries in this cave by myself. A very real existence, Bazrosh." The dragon says tiredly.
"Wait, what do you mean by yourself? Where's Aleiraah? Where are the rest of the seven?" I ask, in bewilderment.
"Aleiraah...my beautiful Starling." The dragon closes his eyes, a deep breath sawing out of his lungs.
And when he opens his eyes, there's such deep pain and loss reflected, it makes my eyes sting.
"She left us."
"What?" Disbelief strangles my voice.
"It was a couple of decades after a Veilmoon that almost ruined our marriage.
But I never learned my lesson. Pushed by Mother, I impregnated another dragoness.
Aleiraah had warned me when I perused the candidates paraded by Mother, that she'd leave me if I went any further.
She couldn't bear the thought of me having an offspring with another.
But I felt guilty. My species, my lineage, was dwindling.
I was afraid of not doing my duty and did as Mother asked for the sake of dragon kind.
Aleiraah found out and forsook me. And so did the rest of the seven.
"A century later she found another dragon mate, who didn't give a rat's ass about his duty to his flight.
I challenged him, Aleiraah got injured halfway through our battle by stepping in between us.
I walked away after that—because staying would've meant wounding her again, and I couldn't bear to cause her any more pain.
She was happy, until centuries later she perished in a battle with the goblins. "
The dragon remains quiet for a long moment. My heart falters, speared by loss, hearing that Aleiraah is no longer in this world. My sweet Starling truly left me behind.
"I've been thinking of ending my existence ever since. To join my Starling in the afterlife. But I couldn't take the easy way out. I chose to suffer by reminiscing about the sins I committed against my one true love." The dragon continues.
"Why?" I can only croak out. "Why not end it sooner?"
The dragon turns his sorrowful gaze toward me. "Because Aleiraah deserves to be remembered. Her memories meant to be cherished. And I get to live knowing her love is something I'll never feel again. That, mortal Bazrosh, is the true punishment I deserve."
I manage a single nod, my throat too tight to speak. I survey the vast mounds of treasure surrounding us and feel hollow. All these riches mean nothing without my Starling, because what was most precious is lost. In this version I squandered Aleiraah's love due to my overinflated sense of duty.
I swallow the lump in my throat and ask the question that won't leave my mind, "What about the offspring you helped sire?"
The dragon manages to look even more dejected.
"Zarkosh...He turned out to be a bad egg.
Greedy and rotten to the core like his dragoness mother—which I discovered much later.
He was unruly as a dragonling, and his cruelty grew in leaps and bounds as he came of age.
I tried to curb his malicious tendencies, but he threw the Emberfang flight in chaos, ultimately destroying it.
He joined a rival flight and betrayed us in the end.
Now there's hardly anyone left from my line. "
I pity this version of me. That singlehandedly destroyed my future with Aleiraah, and for what? Continuing my legacy out of a sense of duty, where the heir turned out to a traitor? Such a waste!
"Why don't you come take a walk with me? Maybe change into your human form while you are at it? We could look at some scrolls together in the fresh air outside." I ask, trying to get this pitiful dragon out of his cave that reeks of desolation.
"I can no longer change into my human form, mortal Bazrosh.
" The dragon admits gravely. "I lost my humanity the day I hurt Aleiraah, fighting her new dragon mate.
I haven't been able to shift after that.
And I wish to spend the end of my days in this opulent grave I made for myself, reliving my memories of Aleiraah.
Don't make the same mistakes I did. Living in their shadow has been worse than death. "
I'm about to protest—urge him one more time—when the ceiling of the cave begins to crack in places and the ground beneath my feet quakes. Looking up at the sound of a loud crack, I see a chunk of the cave's ceiling hurtling toward me. It's too late to move, so I close my eyes, accepting my end.
I gasp for air, water plunging over my head.
I fight my way up, lungs screaming, only to be dragged violently toward a churning vortex spinning in the middle of the oasis.
The moon is hanging brightly in the sky.
I try to swim toward the sandy shore but the strong current yanks me closer to the vortex.
I scream Aleiraah's name with my last breath before I’m pulled under.