L [o/i] ve is a journey

Heart of Oasis | Solaeris Flare Dragon

For the first month after this, Nerivie shut herself into her room. She was frightened to death.

It's been a couple years, and she didn't took track of time, so there was no way to determine if it were only two or already more years. She just remembered it was when she left Farun, weeks, months, maybe, when she first started traveling. She remembered her master teaching her how to use the full potential of her magical affiliation, to the amount she was able to handle safely, and a bit over it.

Nerivie saw the serious face of Ronaya, her master, her foster mother, in her memory, telling her to make sure that there was no other way, and nothing around that would bare witness or become victim of the power of her magic.

And when the dragon who already had started to turn into stone woke up from its slumber, and was about to destroy a whole kingdom, Nerivie, back then, had decided that it was a moment „of no other way", and unleashed the destructive power of her magical affiliation.

It was horrible.

The feeling when all this power was released, the heat, the brightness, the explosion, and the pressure wave that grabbed her and pushed her away- her, and everything else... even after all these years, she hasn't found words to describe it. And even though she had sworn to never use it again without abiding to the very simple rules Ronaya had given her, she already had used it three times by now.

Nerivie pulled her legs closer to her body and buried her face between her arm that she had rested on her knees.

Back then, she was just traveling through the area. The burnt fields, devastated villiages and freshly dug up graves had struck her so deep, that she still could summon the heavy weight of pain, grieve and despairation people carried inside whereever she went.

At first, nerivie had thought of an epidemic, that had struck with the unrest of war. And she already seeked a road to travel into a different direction, when she was captured under a false pretense, and brought in front of the minor king.

It took a while of talking, until he revealed she was the first traveling adventurer, even somebody with a magical affiliation they had in months. And they needed her help. Nerivie was presented with the current situation: this country was one blessed, and even said to be created by a guardian spirit: an ancient dragon.

Now, due some unknown incident, that dragon was awoken from its slumber, and was rampaging through the country, destroying the land it once helped to create. They begged for help, even when Nerivie made it very clear she was too inexperienced with her magic- and with fighting ancient creatures like that dragon.

In the end, the dragon brought the fight to her, right when she tried to leave the country.

She has never seen a larger creature before or since. It dwarfed everything. Nerivie doubted, she would ever see something as big and old as this. the dragon was completly white, and some parts were already turned to stone. A sign of a dying giant, that had chosen for himself to fall asleep within what was most precious to him and never wake up again.

But whatever that „incident" was, was responsible for its awaking, and all the deaths followed.

Nerivie knew, dragons have hoards. Sometimes, they are large. Sometimes, they are just a few items. Just like the dragon slime had a hoard of things precious to him, dragons guard things of value.

It's not always gold: sometimes, it's a landscape. Sometimes, it's a cultural treasure. And sometimes, it's a bloodline.

Trying to figure out what was stolen from the dragon was useless. Everybody assured her, in the face of death, they didn't do anything. And while Nerivie had been suspecting lies or a ploy to overtake the kingdom without sending armies or something, there was also another possibility.

What if the dragon just guarded a memory of somebody from a very, very long time ago. And now, after it's brain lost the ability to remember, that treasure, that hoard of memories was lost. Forever.

Nerivie remembered the heat, the crying of despair, the panic, when her heart filled with pity, and to grand one last wish to the poor ancient in front of her. She remembered how the howling seemed like a cry of pain, confusion, and grieve. So much grieve.

Then, she silently began chanting the words.

Oh, Golden Dragon that resides inside of me,
you guardian spirit of light and heat,
forged from my greatest desires!
You, who burns hotter than the sun!
Ambitions, that burn through everything!
Passion, that vaporizes the impossible!
I pledge myself to the first flame,
grand me my wish,
oh Golden One, so that everything that stands in our way
will be obliterated by the power of the sun!
Solaeris Flare Dragon!

The heat was immediate.

Th surge of power withing her, that got released in one bright explosion, changing the landscape forever, and erasing the existence of the once so benevolent, and now so destructive guardian of the Talanone Kingdom in an instant, was more than frightening.

Nearly in the same instant, a big area of the Kingdom wasn't only leveled, but turned into a crater.

And so, Nerivie did the only thing she was able to do: she ran away. As quick and fast as possible. There was no way she would ever use it again.

Ever!

That's what she had sworn, but she still had to use it again on a giant sea serpent, that terrorized a whole coastal line, and that she put to the ocean floor, creating a tsunami. That wave was a result of the evaporation of all the water that was turned into steam the moment the Solaeris Flare Dragon hit the water, and the left watery void was filled with ocean water, creating the giant wave.

That said, the tsunami didn't do a lot of damage, but it was still concerning what effect one spell could have on just everything.

And now, she used it a third time.

That dragon and serpent were reasonable, in a way. They were threatining lifes. Directly. And just the magic resistence, and size of these were enough to judge it as „no other way".

But that millipete?

No, that millipete was no different. She had tried. More than enough, to keep it back. And if she had hesitated any further, than the wall would have been broken, and thousands, if not the whole city, would have sunken to ruins. And if she thought about it, it would have a cascade of a catastrophic event: without the heart of the trade routes, there would be not trades between all the states. Not only in this area, but also further away.

That would lead to a fall down of so many other cities, even countries.

If I hesitated any longer, the stability of a lot of countries would have been at stake, I think.

Ronaya not only teached her magic, and how natures was connected, but also the very basic of politics. „Mages," she once said, „not only travel, they used to be a source of wisdom to all kinds of influencial people. And they still get hired by kingdoms for one contract or another. You need to know whether or not to dip your toe into a mess or not. Or you're gonna drown in it, got it?"

„Still got it." Nerivie mumbled, responding to her memory. „but I still might have jumped into the mess before dipping my toes into it..."

She looked up, when Lunaris slit through the door, shy, as if he was an intruder, and didn't live here with her, didn't slept next to her due his nightmares, as if he wasn't the closest friend.

He stood there in silence, as he didn't dare to speak, and Nerivie rested her head on her arms: „You are right... I cannot sit here, avoiding the world forever. I have to accept the consequences of my doing." She muttered, as if she guessed his thought.

Better now than never.