~ Chapter 28: Trapped ~

[Alkelios’ point view]

 “Ugh… Heavy!” I groaned as I moved the metal plate off of my face.

“Ungh… Ow…” the Paladin groaned as he was pushed off.

Getting up, I looked around and massaged my shoulders a bit. My whole body was sore, I felt like that time when Seryanna slapped me into a tree. Of course, there was no sight of a tree anywhere around me. There was no sight of a field with angry undead or a village. I was in some sort of a tunnel, and the stench reminded me of old rotten food.

“What the…” I said surprised and walked over to the wall.

I hope to dear God I’m not in a sewer… I thought and knocked on it.

Without a doubt, this place was built with cold hard stone. Magic was definitely flowing through it, but I couldn’t tell if the wall itself was created through magic or enchanted with it. This was definitely strange.

Looking back, I noticed Iolaus pushing himself off the floor.

“Where are we?” I asked him.

“Why do you presume I would know? Maybe this was all a part of Thraherkleyoseya’s plot to kill us?” he smirked.

I let out a sigh and walked over to him. With one punch, I sent his arrogant face into the ground.

“One. I appreciate the fact that you can actually spell her name right. For me, it’s a tongue twister. Two. You are an idiot.” I then walked away from him, while he struggled to get up.

“Why… How dare you strike a Paladin!” he shouted and rushed at me with his sword.

I could feel the anger and hate in his glare, but he was slow. He was terribly slow!

With a simple step forward, I grabbed him by his face and slammed him into the ground. The air left his lungs, and his body tensed as a result of the shock. I didn’t kill him, of course, but this was just a simple self-defense action against an idiotic dragon.

“Three. I’m at least one hundred times stronger and more powerful than you are.” I told him and then grabbed him by the collar of his armor and lifted him up. Pushing him into the nearby wall, I glared at him and then said “Now, mister Paladin, unless you forgot your logic lessons at the capital or wherever you come from, please answer me this: HOW could Kleo be responsible for the shit that happens here when SHE was with ME for the past month in Tomeron?!” I then dropped him on the ground, while he looked up at me with disbelief in his eyes.

It wasn’t my style to be so violent, and I didn’t particularly fancy it, but morons like him usually didn’t get it until you spat the truth in their face.

“It’s not that impossible to cast a remote spell.” the Paladin glared at me.

This bastard’s not going to give up, is he? I thought while my cheek twitched.

“I give up. You are a lost case.” I shrugged and then walked away.

“Ah! Wait! Where are you going, ally of the necromancer?!” he shouted and then ran after me.

“To find Kleo and get the Hell out of this place! And my name is Alkelios!” I retorted.

That was my very first conversation with the dragon who went by the name of Iolaus. The fact that he was a Paladin and acted like that made me wonder if he wasn’t part of the group of brainwashed fools who were indoctrinated into weird cults that made absolutely no sense. Unfortunately, I never did remember a case where having around a fool like this one was a good thing.

If worst came to worst, I was going to leave him to die, but there was a high chance that my sense of justice would push me into saving him. This was the truth, an incorrigible and unwavering truth.

Not long after we started moving through those tunnels, we encountered our first group of monsters: two skeleton archers, one warrior, and a zombie mage. When I saw them, I didn’t wait for mister Paladin to act and immediately used my skills to take them down.

With a [Dash], I was in front of the mage and stabbed him in his rotten heart. I used [Side-Step] to avoid the arrow, [Block] to stop the warrior’s attack and then [Earth Arrow] to destroy him. Using [Dodge], I avoided the second wave of arrows and immediately used [Dash] to close the distance between me and the archers. Two side swipes were enough to finish off the skeletons. The battle was over, and I emerged victorious.

Paladin Iolaus wasn’t able to do anything in this battle. By the time he arrived at my position, there were no more enemies for him to fight. I picked up the dropped items: two silver nuggets, two iron nuggets, and four fists of dust. The last one had a couple of good uses in potions.

“Are you alright?” I asked the Paladin behind me.

The dragon narrowed his eyes at me and then looked at the spot where the undead had fallen.

“Even without a Light attribute, you were still able to defeat them.” he told me with bewildered expression on his face.

“Of course, didn’t you see how I fought on the battlefield?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head.

“I wasn’t paying attention. You are an Unawakened, right?” he asked me.

Should I tell him the truth? Hm, dumb question… I smiled “Yes, I’m an Unawakened just like my girlfriend, Seryanna.” I said.

“Girlfriend? You mean to say that you found that knight to be attractive?” he raised an eyebrow.

Do dragons around these parts have stones for eyes? What’s not to like about Seryanna? I thought while looking with cold eyes at him.

“Yes. I love her.” I told him bluntly, but I tried my best not to sound too annoyed by him.

For some reason, this Paladin was rubbing me the wrong way.

“It won’t last.” he said as he walked past me.

Grabbing his shoulder, I asked him “What do you mean it won’t last?” and I glared at him.

Slapping off my hand, he stared back at me and replied “Because you don’t know yet what sort of element she will have. If it’s one opposite to yours, then your chances as a couple are non-existent, especially if it’s something like Light and Darkness.”

His words made sense, but I didn’t see why it should matter to me, especially since I already knew what sort of element Seryanna would have. It was going to be Fire or High Flame. As for mine, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t a dragon nor was I ever going to change into one. My chance with her remained the same no matter what sort of awakened element she possessed.

I really don’t get what’s up with him. I thought while continuing to explore these tunnels.

[Kleo’s point of view]

 With a groan escaping my lips, I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. My arms and legs were bound in cold metal shackles preventing me from moving freely. Startled and surprised by this, I opened my eyes and looked down.

Black chains kept me there, a prisoner.

“Ah! You woke up!” I heard a stranger’s voice and moved my eyes towards him.

It was a man about the same size as my sister, but he was wearing a black robe with a black hood covering his head, while its shadow hid his face from my gaze. All I could see were his black beard and evil grin. He had no tail or wings, and there were no signs of scales on his hands either, meaning this man was an Unawakened.

“Who are you?” I asked as I tried to focus my magic in my palms to set myself free of these cuffs, but as soon as I did that, an electric shock surged through me. “AAAH!” I screamed and fell on the ground, trembling.

My muscles hurt, and my magic was gone. Purple runes were glowing on the black chains used to restrain me.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Every time you will try to use Magic Energy, you will receive a nasty shock.” the man explained in a rather gallant tone of voice and shook his head.

“Ugh…” I groaned and tossed him a glare.

“Ah! You asked who I am, right?” he then rubbed his beard “Hm, I can’t tell you who I am, but I can tell you what I am… I am a human… A human hero to be more exact.” he grinned.

What did he just say? I thought as I looked in shock at him.

“You know? I was quite surprise to find out there was a dragon necromancer around these parts.” he got up and walked over to a nearby desk filled with a bunch of potions and test tubes similar to what Alkelios used on his Alchemy Lab. “I heard your kind is quite rare. The Paladins are hunting you down to extinction or something like that?” he turned around to look into my eyes “But that’s not true, is it?” he shook his head “No, it’s not. Dragons can be born with any element. One of a high chance while the others of a low one. But…” he lifted a finger up “it’s possible.” he grinned.

“What does it matter to you?” I asked and pushed myself up, taking a sitting position.

“Hm? I guess you could say… that I’m only interested in your magic? I managed to strip the magic of a couple of dragons in this place, but they were weak, they barely managed to level me up a few times. Your Magic Energy, however…” he looked back at me “should give me a decent boost, especially since it’s of the same element: Darkness.” he returned to his experiment.

This man is a madman, but how did a human like him managed to get so far into the Dragon Continent? Is he similar to Alkelios? No… this creep isn’t in any way or manner like Alkelios! This human… he’s dangerous… I shook my head and glared at this bastard.

Between me and him stood only these enchanted black chains. It was true that they could stop my magic, but I also had a decent strength. Maybe I could rip them apart? It was my only shot. Although, what I was wondering about was what he said about stripping me of my magic.

Is something like that even possible? I thought.

[Alkelios’ point of view]

 I wish he’ll tell me the truth about his relationship with Kleo. I thought at one point after we defeated the fourth group of monsters.

Now we were at the 20th, and he had yet to say a single word about it.

“But seriously, what’s up with you and Kleo?” I asked in the end.

Iolaus frowned.

“What do you mean by ‘what’s up’? I don’t understand.” he replied.

“Sigh…” I shook my head “I mean what’s your problem with her. Why are you two like this?” I narrowed my eyes at him and stopped walking.

“Even though you are in a relationship with her sister and you are both Unawakened, you don’t know?” he asked.

“No! And what does it matter anyway if we are Awakened or Unawakened?” I glared at him.

“It does! If you fall in love with an Unawakened, you will only end up suffering!” he shouted and then covered his mouth as if it was something he shouldn’t have said.

“What did you just say?” I squinted my eyes at him.

100 Luck struck again.

“Nothing.” he looked away.

“Oh no! Don’t you try to avoid the subject, mister Paladin who can’t even kill a skeleton!” I pointed my finger at him.

“I was getting there! IF you hadn’t intervened, I would have killed him!” he pointed his sword at me.

“Yeah, sure… whatever.” I rolled my eyes.

Of course, I didn’t believe him. Earlier, when I left the small fry for him, he was actually barely holding his own against the skeleton. It wasn’t like he was weak, it was just that the monster was very strong. A normal human would have ended up squashed by him, but this guy was a dragon and a Paladin at that, I was expecting him to be able to put up a bit more of a fight. In the end, I killed the skeleton for him.

Iolaus let out a sigh and looked down. There was a sad gaze in his eyes.

“Tell me what happened.” I told him in a calm tone of voice.

“We were young… and foolish. Neither of us knew our elements, but we didn’t care…” he explained.

“Wait, you mean you and Kleo were together?” I asked surprised.

“Yes… We were lovers.” he looked up at me.

[Seryanna’s point of view]

 “They are endless!” I shouted.

“They are boring!” Kataryna complained.

I couldn’t blame her, she was just slapping them and killing them instantly. I feared to think what would happen if she were to use spells or blades.

“Do you think Alkelios is alright?” she asked me.

“I’m more worried about my sister.” I replied as I slashed another skeleton.

“The Paladin what’s his name?” she asked raising an eyebrow.

The dragoness forgot to attack, and a zombie was trying to chew on her forearm. When she noticed him, she flicked it on the forehead and sent it flying. I cut three skeletons in half and stabbed a zombie in the heart. They vanished and turned to dust. Neither of us bothered to collect the metal nuggets.

“Yes.” I walked closer to her so the other dragons didn’t hear us. “Iolaus and Kleo were… childhood friends.” I told her.

“That’s surprising!” Kataryna said and then decided it was time to listen to me, since my story was far more interesting than the army of undead.

With one spell chant, she sent a wave of ice spikes towards them. Countless zombies, skeletons, and dullahans turned into puffs of smoke in the blink of an eye, and this assured us a few minutes of break time. But this was only on our side, the Paladins kept fighting with all of their might, although, I wasn’t sure for how much longer they could keep going at that pace.

“Do tell me more about it!” said the dragoness as she approached me with a wagging tail and a big smile on her face.

“Well, when we were young, before grandfather became sick and our parents were still alive, we lived in our mansion in the capital, Drakaria. There were very few children in the neighborhood who were willing to play with us. Our noble blood and grandfather’s reputation made their parents cautious and fearful of us. Just idiotic adults who believed that children playing together had the power to start wars.” I started to remember the old days; they were the most peaceful in my life.

“The old geezer didn’t strike me as a big noble back in Tomeron.” Kataryna commented.

“At that time, we were, but after he got sick and my parents died, our house declined. With Kleo’s Awakening, the Temple of Light and the Temple of Life put pressure on the Queen to further strip us of our power until we were forced to leave the capital. The only thing keeping Kleo safe and alive is my status as the Princess’ Royal Knight and grandfather’s former reputation as a General.” I let out a sigh.

Right now, I feared even that might not be enough and if it came to be known that I had fallen in love with a human, thing could end up… disastrous. My only hope was that Kataryna’s existence and Alkelios siding with dragons would act as a trump card in the worst-case scenario.

“As I was saying, Iolaus and Kleo are childhood friends. My relationship with him was of acquaintances at best. He didn’t come from a rich family, and he didn’t care about our noble status either. He was a good dragon, but the more he and Kleo spent their time together, the more attached they became one to another. Eventually, they fell in love. It was about two decades later when he awakened as a Dragon of Light. He was recruited by the Temple of Light and became a Paladin Squire.” I explained.

“Then Kleo awakened, right?” Kataryna asked.

“Yes… then she awakened… and she was of Darkness, the complete opposite of his element.” I let out a sigh.

“Dragons of opposite elements can never be together…” said Kataryna as she looked down.

“It was the worst thing that could have happened to them… Iolaus changed afterwards, they broke up… and now, he naturally hates her.” I looked over at the Paladins.

If only their order didn’t exist… I thought.

This was the other reason why Awakened dragons never looked at Unawakened dragonesses. Even if they were beautiful, their element was what mattered the most. If one was of opposite to theirs, then it would have been hard to make an egg. In my case, with Alkelios was almost impossible, but I had already given up on that idea. As long as I could at least be by his side, I was happy.

“It’s unfortunate, indeed… Sigh, such a narrow vision those without a Breakthrough have.” Kataryna said with a sigh.

“Here they come again.” I said as I pointed at the approaching wave.

“Good! I feel like smashing something now!” she grinned.

[Alkelios’ point of view]

 I sort of guessed it after he said that two Unawakened could never find happiness. He was so sure about it, almost as if he was speaking out of his own experience. Apparently, that was exactly the case.

“So, you and Kleo were lovers, huh?” I said and then leaned with my back against the wall.

“Yes.” he nodded slowly.

“What happened?” I asked.

“What do you mean? We both awakened and ended up of opposite elements. Isn’t that obvious?” he asked narrowing his eyes at me.

“Not really… “ I tilted my head.

“Hahaha! Now I understand why you don’t think your future together with Seryanna is in any danger! You don’t know what this means!” he laughed, and I felt like punching him in the face, but I abstained; my fist was too beautiful to break on his face.

“Do tell, why is it so?” I asked with a sigh.

“If she turns out to be of the Fire element and you of Ice, you two will never be able to have an egg together! It’s impossible!” he grinned.

I bet on all of my skills that if I wish for it, it will happen. But alas, he is unaware of the fact that I have 100 Luck. Let him live in his ignorance. I thought while smiling to myself.

“I don’t really mind, I’m sure we’ll manage.” I shrugged.

“No, you won’t! No one manages something like that! That was why Thraherkleyoseya and I could never be together!” he glared at me.

“What do you mean? Weren’t you two lovers? What changed?” I asked.

“You really don’t get it, do you?” he narrowed his eyes at me.

“I’m an idiot, so please, enlighten me.” I said with a bored look in my eyes.

“Hmph! Before I awakened, indeed, we were in love. I loved her with all of my heart and all of my being. Even our first night together was an absolute bliss!” he said looking at his palm.

“Wait! Wait! Wait! Kleo’s not a virgin?” I asked surprised.

“No. I’m pretty sure I took her maidenhood that night.” he said furrowing his brow.

I punched him in the face and sent him flying into the wall behind him.

“Ah… Oops.” I said when I realized what I had done.

“Ugh! What was that for?!” he shouted back at me as he held his nose, which was bleeding.

“Sorry! Reflex…” I shrugged and offered him a potion.

He drank it and then glared back at me.

“What sort of reflex makes you punch people in the face?!” he questioned me.

“Older brother reflex? Now, continue with the story.” I said with a smile while trying not to punch him again.

This bastard… How dare he do that to Kleo? I thought.

“Sigh… Well, after I awakened as a dragon of the element of Light, I was recruited by the Temple of Light. While this happened, something changed… I still loved Thraherkleyoseya, but whenever we were together, it felt odd. Then I found out why when she awakened. She belonged to the element of Darkness… my natural enemy.” he looked down and clenched his fist.

“How exactly did that make her an enemy? You still loved her, right?” I asked tilting my head to the left.

“Yes, and I still do, but not the Awakened dragoness Thraherkleyoseya. She betrayed me by turning into that! You have no idea what it’s like to feel betrayed in such a manner! Anything else would have been fine, but Darkness was the absolute worst! Thraherkleyoseya became a monster!” he said and shouted at me.

I punched him again and sent him crashing into the nearby wall. He coughed and spat out blood from the cut caused by a tooth I broke.

“This time, it wasn’t a reflex.” I told him as I walked over.

“You bastard!” he jumped at me and punched me in the face.

I didn’t even feel it, but I grabbed his hand and then kicked him in the stomach.

“Ugh!” he groaned.

I punched him in the face and broke his nose again. Pushing into the wall, his armor cracked, and he struggled to get free.

“A monster you say? You are the monster!” I shouted at him.

“Ugh… Let go!” he struggled.

I punched him in the stomach and then tossed him on the ground.

“Agh!” he groaned and coughed a few times.

The armor was cracked, but still hanging in there. If it wasn’t for that, I would have probably injured him even more. Actually, I was surprised I managed to control my strength a little. Maybe it was a reflex or pure luck, but if I were to hit him with my full strength, I would kill him instantly.

“You said that I had no idea how that felt like, right? Well, do you know who felt like this because of you? Do you?” I asked him as I pushed him into the ground.

“N-No…” he groaned and struggled to get up.

“Kleo did. You betrayed her. You, the follower or light who shouts Justice this and Justice that out of your ass, you betrayed her in a worse manner than anyone could have!” I told him.

“You lie! I never betrayed her!” he shouted back at me.

Glaring at him, I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.

“Then tell me, what do you call someone who says he loves you but then attacks you just because your body changed a little?”

“She didn’t change a little! She’s a Darkness element!”

“So what? Did her personality change?! Did her smile change?! Did her love for you change?! Or wait, you never did love her, did you?” I shouted in pure anger and then dropped him on the floor. “My apology, I was mistaken. You, oh great Paladin, never loved her in the first place, you just messed around and had fun with her, so my anger was indeed misplaced.” I told him in a clear tone of disgust and then tossed him a healing potion.

He grabbed it and glared at me.

“I loved her! I really did love her! I still love Thraherkleyoseya from before she awakened!” he shouted at me.

I stepped on his chest.

“No, you didn’t.” I looked into his eyes. “If you loved her, you would have accepted her entirely. You wouldn’t have cared if she was Darkness, Fire, Light, or even a freaking human! You would have loved her and accepted her entirely! Isn’t that what true love means? To accept one without exception? To not have doubt in your heart about them and hold expectations of them?” I asked him while glaring at him.

He didn’t answer me back, he just stared into my eyes.

“If you do love her even now as you say, then you will do whatever it is in your power to stay by her side. You will fight the gods if you have to… That’s what true love is… Yeah, it sounds lame, but unfortunately, that’s the truth.” I removed my foot off his chest and then left him there.

At the next corner, I stopped and leaned on the wall. My body was shaking, and I was breathing hard. All of those things I said, all of those words and the way I behaved wasn’t like me at all. I knew of it in theory, I read about it in stories, in games, but the certainty I held in those words was abnormal…

Now, after the adrenaline rush was over, I couldn’t even recognize myself. Thinking back at those words, it was like I was saying those things to myself and not him. It was like I was warning myself and not Iolaus.

Did I say all those things because of my [Dragon Tamer] skill? I wondered.

It was possible. Back when Seryanna and Kleo were in trouble, this ability turned on a switch inside of me. It was a spark of courage, something that pushed me forward and told me to go help and rescue my friends. If it was instinct or not, I couldn’t tell, but it was there.

After what happened now, I could clearly remember that I had such moments before, but I never truly noticed them. This sensation manifested through a few words, or a glare, or something small, but this time, with Iolaus, it was the first time I reacted in such a violent and strange manner.

Actually, I could hardly remember what he said or how he looked like when I said those things. All I could remember were those words, although a bit changed: If you loved her, you would have accepted her entirely. You wouldn’t have cared if she was a human or not. You would have loved her and held not even a drop of doubt in your heart about the relationship between the two of you.

I repeated those words in my head again and again while thinking about Seryanna. I knew I was supposed to follow them, I knew they spoke the truth, but my heart told me I still lacked something… I wasn’t there yet. I couldn’t accept or love Seryanna entirely for who and what she was, but I didn’t know why.

It was like trying to look at a painting hidden behind a black fog. You knew the painting was there, but you couldn’t see its beauty.

Why am I like this? I asked myself as I looked at my trembling hands.

“Kakaka!” a skeleton’s cackle pulled me out of my weird state of mind.

I should clear my head… Busting a few skulls open should help me out… Yes. I thought as I got up and clenched my fists.