Moving forward, we reached a wider section of the cave. It wasn't exactly a chamber, but rather a larger tunnel that continued to delve into the depths.
What set this stretch apart from the previous one was the lighting: torches fixed to the walls and luminescent stones scattered here and there. The walls displayed much more pronounced drawings, along with carved reliefs. On the ground lay eggshells, remains of what looked like nests, and numerous feathers of various colors.
At the end of this new path, the cry of a bird echoed, and suddenly, a flock of multicolored birds flew through the cave. Other animals appeared alongside them, but none came to attack us; they simply passed around us and went on their way.
"What is this place?" Hannah asked, confused, observing the reliefs on the ceiling and walls, trying to discern if they represented real animals or fantastic creatures.
"A sanctuary," Niara replied. "Do you know anything about the original dragons? The three brothers?" she added, looking at me.
Hannah began to think out loud. She had studied dragons and the history of the Deathly Hallows, but Niara immediately noticed her mistake and gently corrected her.
"I am not speaking of that tale," she said, "but of the origin of the dragons we know today. A story much older than our countries… older than humanity itself."
Hannah blushed as she realized her error.
For my part, I felt that what Niara was saying sounded vaguely familiar. I remembered reading something similar during my time with Morgana, though the texts were scarce and fragmented—ones I hadn't given much importance to due to the lack of concrete evidence.
Seeing us pensive and silent, Niara began to recount the history as if it were an ancient legend.
"A long, long time ago, before the world was as we know it today, there existed three creatures of immeasurable power," she said, stopping and pointing to different reliefs on the walls. "The three original dragons."
Hannah and I followed her gesture and made out the three reliefs. Despite the moss and the wear of time, they could still be clearly recognized.
The first was a dragon like the ones we know today, but far more majestic: four robust legs, a long tail, two fleshy wings, and a head similar to a lizard's but more refined, crowned by large horns.
The second had an elongated body, similar to that of a serpent. It also possessed four legs but lacked wings. Its horns were like those of a stag, and it had long whiskers. It was an Oriental dragon, like those from Chinese mythology.
The third seemed to be a middle ground between the two: a serpentine body, and a pair of wings. However, unlike the others, its body was covered in feathers instead of scales. It immediately reminded me of Quetzalcoatl.
"These three dragons were among the most powerful beings to ever walk this earth," Niara continued solemnly. "They were not gods… but even the gods feared to face them."
She spoke with such conviction that she seemed to have been a witness to their greatness.
"But one day, both they and the majority of their descendants simply disappeared."
Hannah listened like a child fascinated by an old fairy tale. I, on the other hand, maintained a serious expression. I knew too much about the existence of gods and how they had self-exiled from this world, so I couldn't rule out that this story hidden a profound truth.
"Part of the brood of these dragons—the weakest—remained in this world," Niara proceeded, pointing to the relief of the European dragon. "The lineage of one of the brothers was the one that proliferated the most. But as time passed, they degenerated, losing almost everything that made them grand."
Her voice grew deeper.
"They lost their intelligence, their ability to speak, to master magic and ancient powers… They became wild beasts. Powerful, yes, but insignificant compared to what they once were. Those are the dragons we know today."
Hannah's mouth dropped open in surprise. She found it hard to imagine a talking dragon capable of casting magic. The idea was terrifying to her… though part of her doubted the truth of the legend.
I, for my part, reflected in silence. I wondered if that degeneration hadn't been caused by the same decline in energies that led the gods to abandon this world. Perhaps progressive weakening, inbreeding, or mixing with creatures of inferior lineage were the triggers for that tragic result.
"The other brothers did not have such luck, if it can even be called luck," Niara continued, now pointing to the relief of the Asian dragon. "Of one of them, absolutely nothing remained except legends. Their lineage vanished completely from this world."
Niara resumed the march, guiding us toward the end of the cave. However, Hannah couldn't leave her curiosity unsatisfied.
"And what happened to the feathered dragons?" she asked. "Did they go extinct as well?"
"In a way," Niara replied as we moved forward. "Their progeny was not preserved even in a degenerate form… though it cannot be said they have vanished completely either."
Her voice echoed as we neared the end of the tunnel.
"Some creatures managed to access a fraction of their lineage," she continued, "but only the most diluted parts. So weakened that one couldn't say a real kinship exists."
Then we reached the end of the tunnel.
A small chamber opened before us, where several paths seemed to converge, including the one we had arrived through. In the center, on a slight elevation of the ground, stood what we had come to see… and it left us speechless.
A massive nest occupied the space. Inside, coiled like a serpent, rested a large and beautiful pink Occamy. Its body was entirely covered in feathers, not in the usual green and blue tones, but in a blend of pink and burgundy, with soft and deep hues. Its head, though clearly avian, had a more stylized and refined shape, and its eyes conveyed an enchanting sweetness.
Its wings were large—much larger than any Occamy I had seen during my time with Newt—as were its enormous feathers.
The Occamy let out its screech again, the same one we had heard before. This time, without the amplified echo of the cave, we noticed it wasn't as potent as it had seemed… but rather adorable. There was no malice in it, only a hint of shyness.
"An Occamy?" I asked, still surprised. "The creatures that retain some of the feathered dragon's lineage are Occamys?"
"They are not direct descendants of the dragon," Niara clarified. "But some of their ancestors managed to access that lineage at some point. Then the same thing happened as with the descendants of the other dragons: degeneration." She paused briefly before adding: "Modern Occamys no longer possess the lineage of the original dragons… Only the one before you is the last specimen that retains an authentic fraction of that lineage."
Hannah and I observed the Occamy, which returned our gaze in silence from its nest. It showed no fear, only curiosity. It seemed more like a domestic animal than a wild creature—a clear sign that the Amazons had protected it for a long time and accustomed it to the presence of people.
"Aren't Occamys originally from India?" I asked, still processing everything.
"Migrations," Niara replied simply.
She said nothing more.
I nodded in silence. Animals don't stay still, and such a migration wasn't impossible… though the explanation left me with a strange unease. Part of me expected something more mystical, a deeper reason to justify this anomaly.
"So…" I began, as the place fell into an almost absolute silence.
"We are here so that you may fulfill your destiny," Niara replied, staring intently at me.
"What destiny?" I insisted, finally hoping for a clear answer.
Niara sighed and, once more, adopted that tone of an ancestral narrator. But this time, it didn't sound like a comforting legend, but like a sentence.
—When only the last vestige of the great dragon's lineage remains, evils will besiege the jungle. It will be the beginning of its decline. The great jungle will cry out for help, but no one will be able to stop its fall…— her eyes rose to meet mine. —Then, one of the great evils of this world, the Crimson Evil, shall arrive in these lands. And by joining with the feathered serpent, they shall engender the protector who will bring eternal peace, security, and prosperity to the jungle.
She fell silent.
"That is the ancient prophecy," she concluded. "The one we Amazons have waited to fulfill for centuries."
Hannah and I looked at her without fully understanding… until Niara knelt before me.
"Please, Bloodthirsty Demon," she said, bowing her head. "Fulfill your duty and engender the god of the Amazons. Our savior."
...
...
...
I pressed my fingers to my temples, frowning as I looked at her kneeling before me.
"So…" I said slowly. "You brought me all the way here… to fuck an Occamy?"
"That is how it must be," Niara replied without raising her head.
Hannah was in complete shock. Her gaze flickered between Niara, the pink Occamy, and me, as if her brain refused to accept the scene.
I was developing a headache just reasoning this out. I couldn't believe the Amazons' doomsday prophecy involved me having sex with an Occamy. All this travel and preparation for this? Well, considering everything I had done, it wouldn't be the craziest thing, but it was one thing to act out of my own degeneracy, and quite another to do it by divine mandate.
I didn't know how to react. Destiny had handed me a task that was both ridiculous and entirely consistent with my nature, elevating my depravity to the category of a cosmic mission.
Silence reclaimed the cave, broken only by the soft sounds of the Occamy in its nest.
"Seriously, is there no other part of the prophecy you're forgetting to mention?" I asked, still hoping this was all a very elaborate joke.
"I cannot force you," Niara said. "But so it must be. And I implore you… for the Amazons, for the jungle, for all the beings that depend on it… I will do whatever is necessary to convince you."
She pulled out a dagger and held it before her, adopting a ritual stance.
"Even offer my life as a sacrifice."
"Whoa, whoa, stop!" I halted her.
The situation didn't become any less absurd. Niara was completely determined, but her sacrifice meant nothing to me. I wasn't a god hungry for blood, nor did I gain power from the faith of others… at least not yet.
After a long exchange, I took a deep breath.
"Leave us alone for a moment to decide," I requested.
"So I shall. I will give you privacy." Niara nodded.
The way she said it sounded dangerously close to a wedding blessing. She bowed one last time and withdrew, leaving us alone with the Occamy.
I just sighed. I thought I liked the other Niara better—the one who loathed me—and I was amazed at how quickly this one had changed her tune. I wondered curiously why her temperament had shifted from cold to this… this docility. But based on her phrase, "not risking anyone knowing what was happening," I could only deduce that the Amazons had their own considerable streak of paranoia. I found it hard to believe that anyone else knew about that prophecy, or that there was anyone with the interest (or fanaticism) to want to stop it if they believed it to be real.
While I was absorbed in my thoughts, Hannah approached with evident nervousness.
"Red… are you… going to…?" she looked at the Occamy, unable to finish the sentence.
"What do you think?" I threw the question back at her.
"I don't know…" she admitted. "I think it's weird. Uncomfortable. A bit disgusting… but if it's to save the jungle…"
She didn't sound convinced. She couldn't even imagine it herself.
"So, you want me to fuck the Occamy?"
"No… it's not that I want to… I… I don't know what we should do," she said, genuinely stunned by the situation they were in. Since Valentine's Day, and knowing about my sex life, it seemed everything around her now pointed toward sex. It made her nervous, and this had reached a point she couldn't even conceive of as normal.
🎁—/——/🎁/———/🎄🎁🎄/———/🎁/——/—🎁
✨🎄✨ Merry Christmas to all my readers! ✨🎄✨