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Slace sheathed his blade as a goblin fell to the ground, Vira using fire magic on it to make it burn to ashes.
The both of them were in a dense forest; to anyone else, it would've seemed like Slace was lost, but he knew where he was going.
Slace did note to himself that there were a lot of monsters in these forests compared to other places; he found it almost odd for a region that shouldn't have that many monsters.
The two were walking in the dense forest, shade encapsulating it as a whole, with trees scattered almost everywhere, monsters hiding behind the trees keeping away out of fear of Slace and Vira.
Slace, naturally keeping his distance from Vira, asked her a question.
"If Yoltzin can create clones, why doesn't he always do it?"
Vira answered honestly, but her voice sounded much like reading an infographic or Wikipedia page.
"He can't; elves have long lifespans, but cloning takes up a huge amount of magical energy…"
Slace listened on, slightly more intrigued but not trying to show it.
"Even the Nature King has to wait over a thousand years before being able to clone a single person again." Vira was avoiding saying Yoltzin's name.
"And even then, when he does it, it just weakens him significantly for a long time, and the clone is usually weaker than the original."
"So that's why you're weaker than me." Slace said, not as an insult or compliment, just an observation.
Then Slace's tone changed; he seemed pleased, but there was a crooked sense of it, being pleased mixed with hatred.
"That'll make killing him easier."
Vira simply nodded.
Either way, both Slace and Vira finally arrived at a patch within the forest; there was a lake, and a huge black dragon lay by it, its scales rigid and rough but shining, its body showing signs of age and regress.
Vira stayed back, but Slace walked forward towards the dragon.
"You look so old that you could die any minute."
The dragon opened its eyes and turned to face Slace, its rigid eyes softening, its voice rough and deep but loud.
"The Kurai boy, right? It's been a long time since I've last seen you."
"So how many ancient dragons are left other than you?" Slace asked, getting to the point.
"Of my species, I only sense a few... about five? Or ten?" The ancient dragon said in grief.
Vira from further back was watching the whole thing; she was surprised and kind of intimidated, but also was Slace.
"The strongest species regressed to extinction; you should've never trusted the kings." Slace's voice held slight pity and hatred.
The ancient dragon glanced away before laughing slightly, the laughs being as long as roars.
"Naive boy, the kings never did anything to us; they would've never had the guts to do so, and the Ice King is too kind."
"We partnered with the kings back then to protect the people, not them. I don't regret that decision in all my years of living." The ancient dragon was sincere and seemed genuinely at peace.
Slace just gave an irritated look, averting his eyes; he already knew why the ancient dragons decided to help; he just wanted to mock them a bit.
"Wait… what do you mean by the ice king is nice?" Slace asked a reasonable question.
The ancient dragon explained.
"The ice king is a kind but cold man… look, he never wanted to destroy your clan."
Slace caught on, although he still held hatred. "All the kingdoms would've gone to war with him if he disagreed."
Slace then looked at the ancient dragon's state; old, beaten, and frail, it was edging the end of its life span.
Slace didn't say anything, but he knew the reason why the ancient dragons were going extinct was because the kingdoms were hunting them down for going against destroying the Kurai clan and the Light and Dark kingdom.
Slace unsheathed his blade, pointing it at the ancient dragon, not in a declaration of a battle but instead in resolve and defiance; Slace wouldn't conform to the idea of abandoning his revenge; his eyes told the ancient dragon that much.
"I don't care if the ice king never meant to do it; an action is still an action, and if you participate in such, you deserve to also pay the price."
The ancient dragon looked at Slace dead in the eyes, testing his resolve. Slace's gaze did not falter, his blade steady in place. The ancient dragon looked down.
"I won't try to stop you, boy, but I cannot help you in your quest."
Slace sheathed his blade; Slace had already very much assumed that, considering the ancient dragon's state.
"But that being said, I can give you details on where all the other ancient dragons reside as of currently."
That surprised Slace. Slace wasn't particularly greedy, but knowing this could make his goal much easier.
"That'll be good enough."
Before Slace could get any concrete answers, though, the ancient dragon let out a cough and slight laugh.
"Now now, boy... I want something in return."
Slace sighed, looking down and running his hand down his face.
"Fine, what is it?"
The ancient dragon lifted its head up, looking up at the sky, its wings twitching, its eyes showing want.
"I want to fly one last time, like the old times… when I used to fly you around when you were just a kid."
Slace sighed, looking down and walking up to the ancient dragon, and as he looked up at the ancient dragon, he formed a smile that showed reminiscence of the past, he softened.
"Fine, but only this one time. Vira, get on."
Slace climbed onto its back as Vira followed suit; Vira could feel the luscious yet rough texture of the ancient dragon's scales.
The ancient dragon began to flap its wings, their wings twitching with intensity as the wind around them rumbled.
As the ancient dragon took flight, the sudden gust of wind hit Slace and Vira, making their hair fly back before eventually falling back into place as the ancient dragon rose up into the sky.
The ancient dragon then began flying at a decent pace, the air cold.
"It feels nice to fly again, almost exhilarating." The ancient dragon said calmly.
"Hope you're enjoying it; I'm risking my life taking flight with you." Slace responded, sighing.
Truth is most dragon riders usually wore gear so they wouldn't fall off a dragon during flight (dragons are just a more populated but lesser version of ancient dragons (way lesser)).
Vira laughed slightly, but the two didn't seem to notice it.
"You'll be fine as long as I stick to this pace." The ancient dragon wasn't worried at all.
"Yeah, whatever." Slace said, looking up, noticing huge patches of floating land way above.
"The Sky kingdom," Slace said.
"Are we going after them too?" Vira asked.
"No, they didn't participate in the destruction of my clan; we should just leave them be."
Vira nodded; the ancient dragon said nothing.
Slace's hair continuously blew through the wind as he glanced down at the ancient dragon's face.
"If there are still ancient dragons alive, are they in the kingdoms or outside?"
"The Fire Kingdom and Ice Kingdom have a protection law for them, so they tend to be there most of the time." The ancient dragon answered.
That made sense to Slace since the Fire Kingdom's culture was centred around fire and ancient dragons and also because of what the ancient dragon said about the Ice King.
The ancient dragon then began to reminisce.
"It's been so long since I've last flown with a partner; the feeling is so nostalgic. I remember when you used to always want to take flight with me when you were a kid."
Slace blushed slightly, embarrassed, responding sheepishly.
"Whatever…"
The ancient dragon continued on, its expression softening.
"Your people were so kind and peaceful; those were the best days of my life. I remember when the Kurai took me in when I was abandoned."
Slace's blush disappeared as he averted his eyes with guilt; he still blamed himself for not being able to save his clan.
"Stop blaming yourself, my boy; it's not healthy… and you couldn't have done anything; you were just a child back then."
Slace seemed insulted by that; he was never going to stop blaming himself.
"Shut up… it doesn't matter if I was a child; I was too afraid to do anything."
The ancient dragon said nothing, not wanting to agitate Slace further, but the ancient dragon did feel sympathy for Slace.
Vira's expression also slightly softened.
"Let us down now; it's been long enough." Space requested.
"I agree…" the ancient dragon responded.
The ancient dragon began to start scaling down back to the ground, the same spot where they first found the ancient dragon.
As they landed, Slace and Vira got off.
The silence after was awkward and long, but then the ancient dragon shifted its gaze to Slace.
"I have a request for you, Slace..."
"What is it?" Slace asked.
The ancient dragon took a moment to find its words, looking Slace seriously in the eyes.
"Could you…"
"Kill me?"
11.1
The sudden change was surprising, but it was also stark compared to the fun they were just having; now things were just more grim.
Although it was surprising to Slace, why would such an ancient dragon want to die?
Slace asked the ancient dragon a question with an apathetic gaze and tone.
"Why would you want to be killed?"
The ancient dragon's expression softened into one of somberness and one of relief.
"I've lived for so long; I want to die at the hands of a warrior… someone who I can trust to do the right thing. I'd rather die to you, boy, than the knights of other kingdoms."
The ancient dragons were always powerful; they were the most powerful species. Slace could never win against one unless it was this old. But with power came wanting to die in glory, to die to a strong person.
Slace hated people who fought for glory or died for glory; he hated how they were always so narrow-minded despite Slace himself also being narrow-minded with revenge. (Also another reason why he dislikes Bjornulf).
Slace walked over to the ancient dragon, his emotions hard to tell.
"You're a fool…" Slace replied, his tone holding slight grief.
The ancient dragon simply smiled, laughing one last time.
"I know that very well… Slace, don't give up on your goal."
Slace didn't reply as he unsheathed his blade, stabbing the ancient dragon in the neck, a decisive blow that instantly killed it.
"Goodbye… Drmin…"
Slace took his sword out of Drmin's neck, ancient dragon blood coating the blade. Slace then began to leave; he was completely silent, his expression silent, just nothing.
"Let's go, Vira."
Vira followed behind; she didn't know how to feel or how to help Slace.
As Slace walked away from the corpse of Drmin, he remembered it's last dying words.
"Thank you, Slace..."