Chapter 261 - The Dragon That Ate the Sun ( Part 4 )

This took much longer than she anticipated. Much longer.

Jennie hopped from chain to chain, trying to find the times when the links would loosen. Using the broken dagger, she forced it between the metal parts and turned the weapon with all the power she could muster. Some chains snapped instantly. Others resisted until her hands were bleeding. There were also some protected by magic barriers, which burned her skin every time she got closer.

Jennie learned how to wait for the black star’s pulse. She learned how to expect the change of gravity. She learned how to take advantage of the movement of the ancient weapons to loosen the chains, letting them slide under their own weight and causing more damage.

Every small success was changing the inner world of the dragon. Darkness was weakening. Stars were becoming brighter. The huge ribs stopped shaking. And somewhere far beyond the miniature world, roars of Vorthal changed.

At first, they sounded like screaming of pain. Then they became confused and frightened. Then they died out completely.

Jennie reached the last chain.

It was different from the others. The links were made of golden metal and were lit with the light of a dying star. While black chains were pulsing according to the rhythm of the heart, this one was pulsing against it. Each beat of the black star caused a tremor in the golden metal, as though it wanted to force the heart to go on.

Symbols carved into the surface of this chain made a single sentence.

CONSUME. CONSUME. CONSUME.

Jennie looked at the words on it. Her face darkened.

"That’s enough."

She inserted the dagger between the links of the chain. It burned her hands. Pain started in her palm. Jennie clenched her teeth and turned it harder. Dagger bent. The metal didn’t yield.

Jennie re-gripped the handle. Her right hand was useless, always reminding her of everything she had lost. Her left hand was shaking from exhaustion. Her leg wasn’t able to keep her upright.

She had no Divine Swords. No help. No miracle power, which could wake up at the very last second. Only a broken dagger and determination to stop another creature from suffering because some fool decided that it should.

Jennie looked at the chain. Then she thought of Lilia. About Rudy. Of Snow.

She couldn’t save them anymore. But maybe she could save something. Someone.

Even if that someone was a dragon that wanted to eat her.

She drew a deep breath. "You’re not going to suffer because of that decision."

She twisted the dagger. Metal started to squeal. The chain tightened.

Jennie screamed from the pain that shot in her injured hand. But she didn’t release the dagger.

Black star pulsed. The chain loosened. Jennie tugged it with all the power left in her.

The last link broke.

The universe was silent for a heartbeat.

Then black star was engulfed by light. Not darkness. Light. Brilliant and bright. It spread in the miniature night sky. Orbits of the ancient weapons broke, turning into silver streams. Chains were breaking up, their symbols burning away one by one.

The black star was expanding. Its surface was changing from absolute darkness to deep blue. Constellations started to shine. Silver light was covering the huge ribs surrounding Jennie.

And for the first time in forever, heart of Vorthal started beating freely.

Jennie fell down, collapsing on the platform and watching the stars dancing above her.

Sound echoed through the dragon’s body. Long and trembling cry. It wasn’t screaming of pain.

It was a cry of relief.

The darkness started to fade. And Jennie Queens finally gave in and closed her eyes.

She woke up to sunlight.

Real sunlight. Warm and golden rays illuminated the enormous bones and jagged cliffs around them. Jennie lay on the pale stones, and for several seconds, she didn’t move.

She just watched the sky. Blue. Clean. Beautiful.

She almost cried.

Then she remembered where she was.

"Oh, right."

She sat up too abruptly and immediately felt pain in her injured knee. She hissed and lay back again.

"Wonderful. Injured."

Deep rumble came from the valley. Jennie froze.

The enormous dragon was lying next to her. Vorthal’s black scales had changed. Now they had silver patterns on them, shining softly under the sunlight. His huge wings were stretching through the valley, no longer blocking the light coming from them. His enormous head was lying near the ground.

His eye opened. It was golden—ancient and alive.

Jennie stared at it. The dragon stared at her.

Neither of them moved for a long moment. Then Jennie raised her left hand.

"Hi."

She paused.

"Don’t eat me, please."

Vorthal blinked. Then a voice entered her mind—deeper than ever before, carrying all the weight of ages.

Little wanderer.

Jennie’s eyes widened. She looked around.

"Who is talking?"

You are standing next to the creature whose heart you have freed. Believe me, the rocks aren’t to blame.

Jennie slowly turned toward the dragon.

"...You can speak?"

Not with a mouth. You will admit that it is an inconvenient way to communicate at such distance.

Jennie stared at him. Then she covered her face with her left hand.

"I have been eaten by a sarcastic dragon."

You came into my mouth voluntarily.

"That doesn’t improve the situation."

On the contrary, it greatly amuses me.

Jennie lowered her hand. The dragon’s golden eye softened.

I haven’t spoken with any living creature in an age. Please forgive me if I find it entertaining.

Jennie watched the dragon for a moment. Then her face became serious.

"You were cursed."

His eye narrowed a little. You have seen the memory.

"I have seen enough."

Then you know the reason for eating the light.

Jennie nodded. "Someone has forced you."

The dragon was silent for a long moment.

The gods that chained me are long dead. They vanished from the skies, they lost their kingdoms and their weapons crumbled into dust. Yet their curse survived.

Its eyes gazed at the sky above.

I absorbed the light, as the chains forced me to. I ate the stars, drank the dawns, and wiped out the glow of thousands of worlds. I became the creature that they were planning to raise from the very beginning.

Jennie looked down at her feet. "You had no choice in all of it."

Choice is a strange thing, little wanderer. No matter how much the chain weighs on one’s body, the heart learns to forget about freedom in time.

The words hung between them in silence. Jennie knew their meaning better than she was supposed to.

For so long she had to bear the title of Leonis KingHeart, as her identity ceased to exist. They had given her a fate, even though she did not yet understand it. They gave her a name, even though she had not chosen it. A burden that everyone expected to bear as if she was destined to it.

And now she was learning that freedom did not necessarily mean leaving the past behind.

Freedom was about making new decisions.

Jennie looked at the dragon. "Then what will you do now?"

Vorthal lifted its head slightly.

I will learn how to live without the curse.

A pause.

But maybe, if the world is not yet entirely unbearable, I will try to find some meal that will not scream.

Jennie tried to smile. "That seems to be a good start."

The dragon moved its head closer to her. A single scale separated from its neck. Black as night it looked, edged with a delicate silver line. Unlike all the other scales that covered Vorthal’s body, it reflected no light whatsoever. When Jennie touched it, the space around her fingertips seemed to warp.

The scale landed in her left palm. Jennie was looking at it.

"What is that?"

A piece of the darkness I used to command.

Jennie turned the scale. It was surprisingly light.

It can absorb a single powerful magic attack. The stronger the magic, the faster it absorbs it. But the scale breaks once it uses up all the energy it contains.

Jennie’s face tensed. "A single attack?"

A single attack. Don’t waste it on some unimportant things.

She put the scale carefully into her pocket. "Believe me, I am not planning to waste anything."

The dragon stared at her in silence. Then its gaze changed. The golden eye became narrower, and the atmosphere around them grew colder.

There is something else you should know.

Jennie looked up at the dragon. "What?"

The next guardian does not want to kill you.

She waited.

The dragon’s voice became colder.

It wants you to kill yourself.

The wind was swirling around the valley. Jennie gripped the black scale tightly.

"...That is comforting."

You have faced the tests of your strength, your patience, and your understanding of the world. The next test will require something much harder.

"What?"

Your desire to stay the same.

Jennie became silent. The dragon slowly raised its huge wings.

Watch out for the forest beyond this valley. It grows from the lives that could have been, and it knows perfectly well which memories you would give away everything to retrieve.

The dragon spread its wings fully. The valley flooded with the silver light.

Don’t confuse the comfort with the kindness, little wanderer. Some prisons are made of our dearest things.

Vorthal rose to the sky. For a moment, its silver scales shimmered in the sunlight like the armor of a forgotten god. Then the dragon disappeared behind the clouds.

Jennie sat down on the stone. She gazed at the horizon.

Beyond the valley, there was a forest. The trees in this forest were upside down. Their huge roots stretched up to the sky like the fingers of sleeping giants.

Jennie stared at the weird sight in front of her. Then she sighed.

"Of course they are."

Jennie managed to stand up with the help of the nearest bone, stabilizing her injured leg. The black scale was resting against her chest. Her right hand was still useless. Her Divine Swords were missing. And the people she cared about died.

Everything stayed the same.

Yet, somehow, she did not feel quite alone anymore.

Jennie started to walk to the forest. She did not know what was waiting for her there. But there was one thing she knew for sure.

No matter what the next guardian shows to her, she will not give away her life because the world offers her an easy lie.

At least, she hoped so.