The Unlikely Hero

Chapter 24. Ancestry

My thoughts muddled and my loyalty wavering, I trailed back to the Tower slowly, trying to prolong the inevitable. My injured shoulder had started to throb insistently and I tried casting a healing spell on it, the strongest one in my repertoire, but it trickled past the wound and away like water. This made me wonder even more. What kind of magic was it to cause a wound that could not be healed by traditional means? Or was it me? I was not stupid enough not to know that my body had undergone many changes in the past few weeks. Affinity to fire magic was only the tip of an iceberg. I could not help but wonder what it truly entailed to be a dragon. Jeth's words rang in my mind persistently, refusing to let me rest.

'Holy Warriors kill dragons; it's as simple as that. They consider us demons of the highest rank, to be destroyed immediately upon sight.'

Demons of the highest rank.

What did that mean?

Where dragons actually demons? Was I... a demon now?

And if I was a demon, what would Elek think? What would he say upon finding out? What would he do?..

Shaken and confused, I trudged towards the quarters of Ralph. I was scared of being alone right now, too scared of the conclusions I would draw in my loneliness. Ralph always had this soothing effect on me and, perhaps, he could help me out with my questions and my wounded shoulder. The injury was pulsing with pain which seemed to grow with every throb. Whatever Jeth had done to heal it was not permanent, apparently. Or, perhaps, I would be increasingly worse if not for his help.

My mind was still unable to wrap itself around the thought that I was saved by who was supposed to be my enemy in all of this. Granted, I did not really want to get involved in the quest of killing Jeth but still. Was he not supposed to be cruel and merciless? Focused on destruction and mayhem?

Once again, I felt both unsettled and baffled by my own thoughts. I'd never given that much thinking to anything before. Life was complicated, I knew that, but I tried to simply live the day to its best. I did not have any exact plans for the future but I did know there were quite a few paths I could take. Now, I was not so sure any more.

The Tower was silent when I got back. Carefully, I trudged up towards the personal laboratory of Ralph. My shoulder was still throbbing, the pain spiking up now and then. It felt hot but not in a good way. I could only hope Ralph had something to ease the pain as I pushed the door to his laboratory open.

"Oh, my lady! What a wonderful surprise!" Ralph exclaimed as he saw me enter but as soon as his soft green orbs landed on my battered form, he gasped and rushed to my side, foregoing his undergoing experiment. I winced as I saw a tube crash to the ground, spilling pinky substance on the floor.

"My goodness, Miss Aleta! What has happened?"

"Shouldn't you take care of that spill, Ralph?" I asked smiling crookedly at him but the elf was already leading me towards a nearby stool, his hands gentle and soothing.

"It is of no importance, my lady. I can see you are hurt, where does it pain you, my dear?"

"My shoulder," I sighed as I sat down, inkling back towards the wall and letting my back rest a bit. "I got hit."

Ralph nodded as he could already see the torn material of my garment. He peeled it away carefully from my shoulder and I winced at the sight. The gash did not look too good. Granted, the wound was not large and already closed and I, ridiculous as it sounded, thanked Jeth silently in my head. The skin around the gash, however, was reddish and swollen, tender at the touch, no matter how gentle Ralph was.

"This is..." Ralph broke away mid-sentence and I could see realization in his eyes as well as indecision. He knew what it was.

"Holy magic," I whispered.