Knowledge and Divinity Book 1 : Knowledge

The Trap

      I was in the same warehouse, my parents were tied under a flickering bulb in a corner, poisoned. I realised that this wasn't like my previous dream, this wasn't the future. This was happening now. Somehow, my conscience found a way to get to my parents in a dream. Or maybe it was just a dream, and I was going crazy. Suddenly, a tall figure, a dragon, emerged from a dark corner. His features weren't clear, but I could tell that he was the king. I could hear his voice loud and clear in my mind.

"You can save them", he said. "Just bring the slayer to me, and I will let them go". I tried to move, but I couldn't. It was a dream, I wasn't physically there. Sensing my helplessness, the dragon laughed in my head. His laughter started becoming slow and echoing in the back of my head. Suddenly, the dream changed.

     I was in a forest, and in a distance, I could see two dragons talking, in their mind, of course. I was on a small hill, and the dragons hadn't noticed me. One of the dragons was holding a... something covered in white cloth in its talons (although its talons weren't like hands and didn't have an opposable thumb, so it was more like its arm was on the thing). The dragon was almost as big as Moonscales, its colour was red, but not bright. More like the colour of blood. The other dragon was bigger, almost 16 feet long and 8 feet tall, it was black, but not like Shadow. It had shiney sleek-black scales, and stood elegantly, like he was some sort of prince. I tried to listen to their talk.

"It will. I assure you", the red dragon said.

"It better. The lord has paid a huge price to get this."

"He had to lose his sister. So what? She would hardly affect his plan."

"She meant a lot to him. You wouldn't understand. Anyways, you didn't have any problem while getting this here?"

"Night stalker was sent to get this, but the slayer killed him. Thankfully, that was before Night could get this. I've myself brought this from the Himalayas. It will contain him."

Suddenly, a loud voice boomed over everyone. I realised that it wasn't actually a sound, but we were hearing it in our minds.

"You fools!", the voice said. "The alchemist is here. He has heard everything!"

     An invisible force pushed me out of the dream. I woke up with a start. At first, I thought it was the middle of the night. Then I remembered where I was. It was always dark here. I checked my watch. It was 5 a.m.

"Good morning, sleepy head", it was Sakhi. She was already dressed and ready. She was wearing a strange, but sort of pretty red top lined on the folds with brown leather, and had small ornamental dragon scales on the shoulders. She had yesterday's jeans on.

"Bear has called us behind the shop in fifteen minutes".

"He talked to you?", I asked.

"Not exactly. He just came in and said it to no one in particular."

"And that doesn't bother you? I mean, he has been ignoring you since we first came. Doesn't that make you feel bad?"

"You have shown me his life. I know why he doesn't trust slayers. I understand."

I still found the fact that she was a slayer unbelievable. "So, how many dragons have you slayed till now?"

She sat down and sighed. She got the dreamy look back in her eyes, staring at the ceiling. "Forty six. But everyone of them worked for the king. The king kidnapped your parents, didn't he? Don't worry. We will avenge it."

I didn't react to that statement. Instead, I asked her another question. "So, forty six limitations have been removed from your soul. What things can you do?"