Rebirth

Chapter 23: End of the First Trial

I stuck my head in the flowing river, drinking deeply. Coming out, I rubbed my eyes and shook my hair dry. "Hey, hey," I heard a voice. Zhaniah for sure, no mistaking that. I looked at her, and she slowly stepped back. "The hell happened to you?! Your eyes are all red and bloodshot!!"

"I'll explain later... But I have a very important favor to ask."

She watched me, then nodded and walked closer. "What is it?"

"Show me your body." That earned me a quick blow to the head, that was to be expected. "WHY WOULD I DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"

"MAYBE BECAUSE I JUST SAW ASHLEY'S BARE ASS BODY AND I NEED TO CLEANSE THE IMAGE FROM MY MIND WITH SOMEONE THAT ACTUALLY LOOKS GOOD!!"

She paused, as if contemplating my words. "That's the most perverted, and nicest thing you've said since we came to this world." Zhaniah hesitated a moment, looking down at her dress. "Are.. Are you absolutely positive that it has to be me?.. We could wait and find Cynthia..."

I rose a hand to stop her, breathing in deep, and looking at her. "You'd kill me if I said yes. I just have to hope to get lucky." I said standing.

"You're joking right?"

"Am I?" I said, looking at my eyes in the river reflection. They went back to normal somewhat. "You'll have to wait and find out."

"That.. thought scares me more than anything..."
"Good." I said, walking past her.

Zhaniah came back to find me after we split up from each other. As we made our way back, I filled her in on what happened. Multiple times, her face pinkened in a light blush, and only towards the end did her face reach a deep shade of red. We closed in on one of the other guilds, quickly smashing through them and gaining a full nine points. Not stopping, we kept pressing on, following the scent of our team. "How much time is left on the clock," I asked.

"Four minutes," She responded. "The others gained three points while I was looking for you."

"That's not so bad. We could have absolutely nothing." It didn't take us too long to regroup with the team, and as we did, the trial ended. We weren't completely behind, but Silent God was at the very top. As the forest disappeared, they smirked at us, gloating as if they won the whole thing.

I bared my own fangs at them, growling lowly in retaliation. Out of all of them, only Ashley averted my gaze. Probably because of her failed attempt to score a point from me. It was funny honestly, but at the same time, I felt bad for her. Damn two way consciousness. Regardless of who it is, if I have any type of knowledge of who they are, I always have to feel guilt at the things they do. Part of my character I guess.

"You all fought valiantly!" Richard said, Michael standing behind him. "However, there can only be one victor, and in the course of the scoring, there are two teams that are tied for today. Silent God, and The Queen's Pack!" Two massive scores shot up on the board. Both guilds had a score of ten, and inside, I felt a small shot of happiness. Mostly because the Silent God looked at us again, not with a smug grin, but a growing irritation. All of us just smiled at them, waving a hello to bait them. Richard concluded the games for today, and the colosseum began emptying. The guilds who scored had mini cheers, us included, but I couldn't help but feel like something was missing. We didn't do too bad, but inside, I felt hollow, like someone should be here with us to celebrate. Looking at my team, I got a small bit of comfort, and swallowed the hollowness inside. Still, there was so much going through my mind.

The following night, I had a dream. A realm of flames, followed by a massive bright light, and the absolute darkness below me, trying to grip my soul. I would struggle against the dark with the light and fire, but the shadows were much stronger than I could hope for. They restrained me, gripped at all of my limbs, seeping into my skin and under my flesh. I felt it covering my bones, but even reaching deeper on a spiritual level. It gripped my soul, attempting to rip it free from my body. I was prepared to quit struggling, just let it happen, until something roared in my thoughts. Louder and louder, which almost sounded like a.....

"DRAGON!"

My eyes shot up and I fell off the bed. Sitting up, I raced to the window next to Zhaniah and Cynthia, and the three of us watched in shock as something massive flew overhead towards the limits of the town. Massive, beating wings, and red scales all over its body. It was massive enough to crush a few houses when it landed. As it left, the beating continued, and two more dragons followed in its place. One with white scales, the other with black. My mind quickly shot back to the dream, and it placed two and two together.

Dragons were creatures of the most common myths. Strong, and gallant, with the power to back it up. The dream must've been related to their sudden appearance. The longer I watched the dragons fly, the more I felt myself edging to follow after, and see what's going on.

"What... Was that..." Beowulf said, hugging his pillow tight. G was wide eyed, frozen with fear. Cynthia and Zhaniah stepped back, thinking as hard as they could and trying to process what they, and the entire town, just saw. It was as if I was the only one who didn't feel remotely affected by this. If anything, I was more intrigued than anything. We all stayed where we were, listening to murmurs of the town, and subconsciously, I came to a decision. Before anyone would get the idea to go, I would go and look for the dragons, hopefully, figuring out why they suddenly appeared.