REVENGE FOR THE DRAGONS' BETRAYAL
"Why will you offer your hearts to me? Don't tell me it's because of your agreement, the Dark Angel was long dead. That deal was off", I replied to the dragon.
I don't really want the dragons' hearts, no matter what deal they may offer to me.
"Tell me, Incarnate of the Dark Angel, do you cherish your life and freedom?" Xexgana asked me.
"Yes, I do", I replied to him.
Xexgana nodded at my answer before pausing for a moment to think. Then he made a proposal to me.
"There is a trial in the Temple of Dragons. If you pass our trial, you may obtain all of our hearts. That is our rule and tradition", Xexgana told me.
"What trial?" Meera asked.
"You must obtain the sword behind me and kill someone for us", Xexgana told me when he moved aside to show us a sword stuck in the walls of the cavern.
"This is just an ordinary sword", Sara told us.
"It is an ordinary sword now but once imbued with the flame from the garden of Eden, it becomes the Sword of Angels. The only weapon under heaven that can kill the souls of angels, the Angel who wields the sword can kill another angel with it, including himself", Xexgana told us about the sword.
"Why will I want to get a sword that can kill myself in the future?" I asked.
"That is precisely our trial. Only if you will kill the Dark Angel with the Sword of Angels, you shall pass our trial and obtain our hearts", Xexgana told me.
"This is so confusing, why must master kill the Dark Angel to get your hearts? The hearts are meant for the Dark Angel", Meera asked.
"He is making the trial this way so that nobody will be able to pass the trial and claim their dragon hearts because nobody will kill themselves to obtain the dragon's hearts", Sara told us her opinion.
"You got something wrong girl, we didn't ask you to murder yourself, only the Dark Angel and you don't have to do that now, you couldn't, maybe later", Xexgana replied.
Xexgana could probably read my heart. The dragons' trial was exactly what I needed.
I needed a weapon that could kill the Dark Angel inside my soul in case it would attempt to possess my body one day when he fully revives.
The Sword of Angels was that weapon.
"I'll take your trial", I replied to Xexgana.
"Then we have an agreement", Xexgana replied to me.
Xexgana and the dragons were once subservient to the Dark Angel and had to sacrifice their hearts to him periodically. Despite the death of the Dark Angel, that pact probably still exist.
It was possible that the Dark Angel would one day come here to claim the dragons' hearts by force even if they would not willingly give them up.
So, they came up with a solution.
They wanted to tempt me with an offer to be freed from the burden of becoming the Dark Angel. He wanted me to kill the Dark Angel before he is fully resurrected and he showed me the way and gave me the weapon to do it, the Sword of Angels.
The trial wasn't really a trial for me, but a contract for me to eliminate the Dark Angel for the dragons and end their slavery to him.
"How do you know that I will accept your trial?" I asked Xexgana.
"Because I read it from your mind when you came here. Why do you think I didn't kill all of you if I read something differently", Xexgana told me.
When we first came to the temple, Xexgana read my mind with his magic. He found out that I was a reluctant candidate for the Dark Angel, so he decided to make a bet.
Xexgana bet that I would kill the Dark Angel for him with the Sword of Angels and would not take their hearts.
If the Dark Angel was killed by the Sword of Angels, which was a permanent, un-resurrectable kill, the sacrifice pact between the Dark Angel and the dragons would be terminated.
"Master, we cannot agree to this trial, you cannot kill yourself with the Sword of Angels", Meera told me.
"Don't worry, I won't be killing myself any time soon. The Sword of Angels will be useful against other angels too and would become valuable to me. Obtaining the sword is more valuable than the dragons' hearts", I replied to Meera.
"Meera, this is the best deal. The dragons will not give up their hearts without a fight and we are not ready to fight them now", Rinna told Meera.
"Yes, I respect your plan", Meera said to me, unsatisfied with our compromise with the dragons.
"Well, we will not send you out of the temple. You may go now", Xexgana said to us.
Suddenly, a powerful whirlwind surrounded us in the cavern that surprised us.
"What the hell is going on?" Sara asked.
"Tricky Dragons. How dare you scheme against me", a voice shouted out from around us that echoed throughout the cavern.
All the slumbering dragons were suddenly aroused by the powerful voice.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"No, it is the master. Why didn't you say your Sword of Malevolence has already been formed? He can control its magic," Xexgana asked me angrily.
"You didn't ask me. The Sword of Malevolence is formed but its magic is not complete", I replied to him.
"The Sword of Malevolence's magic is not lacking. You merely lack the ability to control it but the soul inside you can", he said to my surprise.
Suddenly, dark clouds formed like claws emerged before me that rushed out toward Xexgana.
Xexgana quickly breathed a powerful fire at the dark clouds, but his flames were engulfed by the darkness completely. Soon, the claws from the clouds pierced into Xexgana's chest.
"Arggghhhhhhh"
Xexgana screamed as his heart was taken by the dark clouds of the Sword of Malevolence to our horror.
Then more dark clouds of claws and lightless fabric like magic emerged that went around the temple as they looked for the awakened dragons.
Soon, these once powerful dragons were all pierced at the chest by the malevolent clouds. Their hearts were soon taken by the Sword of Malevolence.
"I will not brood any Betrayal", the Dark Angel screamed out angrily to our shock and horror.
THE CONVENIENT PATH CLEARED
Fortunately for us, the Sword of Malevolence was gone after it took the hearts of the dragons. The Dark Angel's wrath was directed only on the dragons.
"Master, I told you we could have claimed the dragons' hearts easily", Meera told me with a satisfied, 'I told you so'.
"The Dark Angel's final warning was not meant for the dragons, the dragons were all dead by then", Rinna told me and commented.
"I know. It was meant for me", I replied to her.
I have the Bell of Separation from the chaos god Delirium and my mind was isolated from the Dark Angel. Although the Dark Angel couldn't read my mind, he could read the minds of those around me.
The souls of the Dark Angels in my soul realm probably read Xexgana's mind and knew of his intentions before he struck out with his Sword of Malevolence.
"Is the Sword of Malevolence formed and complete?" Sara asked me.
"Yes, it is complete now", Ratatouille replied to her on my behalf.
The Sword of Malevolence of the Dark Angel was fully formed now, ready to strike the Dark Angel's enemies at his whim.
"What are we going to do now, all the dragons are gone?" Chash asked me.
So, I went to take the Sword of Angels before we started leaving the temple.
Meera helped herself with all the books and scrolls in the temple while Ratatouille took everything else that was valuable in the temple.
------
My soul realm lay shrouded in profound darkness, a darkness so consuming it seemed to devour even the faintest glimmer of hope. Within this bleak expanse, the familiar landmarks were lost, either swallowed by the shadows or transmuted beyond recognition.
Then, like a beacon cutting through the gloom, two luminous orbs pierced the blackness, like malevolent eyes fixing upon me with an unsettling intensity.
In an instant, I found myself whisked away to a place altogether different.
No longer trapped by the oppressive darkness, I stood in a playground teeming with life. People moved about, engaged in a spirited game of ball, their laughter and shouts filling the air.
It was a basketball court, a relic from my former life, a world I had thought forever lost.
Among the players, a young boy approached me, dribbling his ball with practiced ease.
"Why don't you want to join our team?" the boy asked me with an open mouth filled with braces.
"Who are you?" I asked the boy.
"I am your teammate of course. You don't play alone, you play with all of us. That is the only way to play this game, together", the boy said to me.
"Come on, let's play", another teammate asked me.
Suddenly, the ball bounced towards me, and I caught it.
As I looked at the basketball, my teammates shouted to me, "This is not a game that you play by yourself".
-------
"Something is not right in the mountains", Sara told us suddenly before we exited the cave to the temple of Dragons.
"What is the problem?" Rinna asked her.
Sara placed drones around the Temple of Dragos and the surrounding mountains to monitor strange activities. She found some strange activity in the mountain when we were about to leave.
"What is this fog in the mountains?" Cassandra asked us as we came out of the cave.
We were surrounded by a strange fog that clouded our vision once we came out from the cavern.
"This mountain is usually covered by fog during certain times of the year. It's quite common", Meera explained to us about the fog.
"Look, I can see a path through the fog. Perhaps we can take this path to return to Death Valley", Chash told us as he pointed to a direction where the fog was the least.
There was a clear path for us in the mountains that wasn't covered by fog. It was the most natural way to go to avoid the mysterious fog around us and leave this fog filled mountains.
"Why are we surrounded by fogs everywhere except that direction and on that path?" I asked with curiosity and also amusement.
"There is an artifact over there that dispels the fog", Sara replied to me.
"Great we should go there immediately", Cassandra suggested.
"Yes, we can inspect and acquire that magic artifact in the mountain that dispels fogs", Ratatouille told us as he rubbed his hands in glee and greed.
"Fools, don't you find it suspicious that a magic artifact that clears the fog appears right in front of us just when we needed to escape from this blinding fog?", Sara replied to them.
"Are you saying someone is trying to nudge us into that direction? For what purpose?" Cassandra asked.
"We should just take another way to leave this mountain. We won't be flying blindly, our ship has navigation tools", Chash told us.
"We could do that and leave this mountain range safely but seriously, should we miss out on all the fun that is prepared for us?" I replied to him and asked.
"What kind of fun?" Ratatouille asked me.
"It is a surprise party for us of course", I replied to him.
"Morons", Sara said to us.
------
"Master Conjurer Golrimon, our target is walking into our trap as the prince predicted", someone reported to a conjurer.
"Are you sure? The Bully managed to escape from the Temple of Dragons?" Golrimon asked.
"Yes, someone came out from the cavern to the Temple of Dragons", the scout replied.
"How many of them are they?" Golrimon asked the scout.
"Just one of them. The Bully dressed in his usual golden armor", the scout reported to him.
"My report says the Bully went to the Temple of Dragons with a group of powerful legendary conjurers and knights, why did he return alone?" Golrimon asked.
"Maybe they lost their lives inside the Temple of Dragons. Nobody survives going into the Temple to tell the tale", the scout reported to him.
"That is reasonable. I didn't believe they would survive the ordeal. It's a pity the Bully returned. Now, commence our magic arraye", Golrimon told his men.
Golrimon's men conjured their magic as the cloud filled mountains was charged with an intricate magic arraye. This magic arraye reached out through the mountains terminating at its apex on a plateau that was prepared for those who arrive here to escape from the fog.
Suddenly, the Bully stepped on the plateau planned for him.