“I waited centuries to show you the truth, and now… now you see!”
I crossed my arms and waited for her to finish the exposition. It was only polite.
“Caelian, did you not think that it was odd? This little elf’s blood was so potent as to dispel the magic around you and the Heart as well? Do you have any idea who he is?”
I perked up at that. I had the same question all throughout this story, but considering the genre, I had lost all hope of having an explanation.
Caelian huffed and stood in front of me, hand outstretched to protect me. I rolled my eyes.
“Tell him your name, boy.”
“Ethan Thornwood,” I replied eagerly, waiting for this to be something. Anything.
“What?” Caelian flinched from me, clearly recognising the last name I never mentioned.
The spirit of vengeance laughed. “Exactly! The very Thornwood who betrayed you centuries ago and led to the downfall of dragonkind! The traitor who broke the sacred bond. The traitor you shared a bed with!”
“Hold up, now.” I could feel my hopes for a good twist being dashed as this went on. But I had to set the record straight at least. “There was no bed sharing involved, I assure you. Also, this doesn’t make any sense.”
“What?” The witch glared at me like I threw her baby out the window.
“Hear me out.” I began. My turn to monologue now, bitch. “You say my ancestors broke the sacred bond with the dragons. Elaborate on that, please, Caelian?”
“They were bound through an oath, like you and I. But heedless of their mortality, they ventured into battle with the human kingdom and perished.”
“Ah ha! Objection!” I yelped. “I invoke the proximity clause!”
Both Caelian and The Spirit looked at me in silence. I felt a little embarrassed but carried on.
“The bonded partners cannot be too far away from the dragons, isn’t that right? About a mile or so away? So how did the elves manage to mobilise themselves and head to a battlefield to fight the humans without the dragons knowing about it? I reckon they were both present at said battle, and there is more to the story than you claim.”
I saw Caelian’s face light up in recognition and the Spirit gasp in horror at my statement. The girl had no poker face.
“How DARE you, lowly mortal! You disrespect the glorious dead! Not only do you besmirch their honour, but your filthy blood is also what sealed Caelian in that cave all those centuries ago!”
“Oh, I’m not done.” I had a hunch and decided to roll with it. “The Thornwoods are a family of rangers. Bows, arrows, backflips, all that. Not a single one of them even remotely had any magic; is that not so?”
“Yes, that is correct.” Caelian began to get closer to me again, clearly buying what I was peddling.
“So how would they be able to seal an ancient dragon, one that hasn’t bonded to anyone yet?” Caelian’s face was a sight to behold. Check.
“Oh, and by the way.” I bent down and picked up a pebble. “Think fast.”
I launched it at the villainess. She shrieked, and her staff went up to deflect the projectile with her magic. A sigil of the same red colour and the same symbols materialised in the air, distorting the trajectory of the pebble. Checkmate.
I looked with satisfaction at Caelian’s face, who saw the whole thing. I pointed at the Heart and at him, then at the woman heaving angrily in the distance.
“Notice anything, oh ancient one? Something tells me this ‘Spirit of Vengeance’ over there is the one who trapped you in the cave. I rest my case.”
“NO!!” the woman shrieked and ran towards us. I backed away behind Caelian as he shielded me.
“Caelian! He is lying! Don’t you remember me! I would never hurt you! I love you!”
Oh, boy. A crazy ex-girlfriend.
“Begone, witch. I know not who you are.” He replied with such a similar cadence to the well-known meme that I almost cracked up in laughter.
“I am Lyra! Your companion all those years ago before his family destroyed the last of the dragons! I just wanted to open your eyes to how vile these Thornwoods were!”
“Ma’am. Not to pour salt on the wound, but if you loved him, why the hell did you seal him for centuries in that dark cave?” I retorted, feeling flames of righteous anger licking at my feet. “If you really wanted to be his partner, you could have just sealed him for a year or two and then conveniently freed him, making him go all gooey-eyed at you as he did at me.”
“What…. I…. I….” She froze mid-sob. Her face was confused, angry and twitching between the two in an uncanny valley sort of way. I realised I might have short-circuited the villain by accident.
“ENOUGH!” Caelian yelled and transformed into his dragon form. He full-on chomped on the witch and flung his head out, tossing whatever was left of her into the deep forest.
I didn’t even have time to blink.
Leave a Reply