Orison | Celeste Academy Series BK #3

Chapter Sixty-Three ۞ Double Trouble (pt. 1)

The Abyss

North of the Ash Canyons

"Are you sure this will work? Is there even a dragon here?" Omar asked impatiently, sweating profusely as he basked under the sun. Despite the blistering heat, he possessed the same level of energy he had a while ago.

As for Valeriana, who was not built for this kind of weather, she kept on drinking from her wineskin and fanning her top. She was given a change of clothes a few moments ago before they departed, but it wasn't any different—the only difference was that she was soaked with sweat and the other by plain water.

"What are Bismuth dragons supposed to be?"

"They have really strong scales that are resistant to fire; so much that they can keep themselves cool while sitting in a river of molten lava." Gavin told her.

"Oh yeah. I remember. What about the twin-tailed lions? They won't get burned if we dip them to the lava right?"

"They're essentially made of fire, Valeriana. They wield the hottest of flames. Do you really think it would do anything to them?"

"Well, okay." She replied dumbly. "I was just asking. You don't have to be so rude."

"I was answering your questions. It would be rude if I didn't." He replied.

"Yeah, but the tone you're using."

"I'm stressed about this entire affair. I do not know what we will do if this plan doesn't go smoothly."

"Don't worry, chief. We can do this." Saeed assured him.

Valeriana's thoughts kept drifting on Corvan's condition. Jameela had promised to look after him and make sure his condition does not worsen. However, she still could not keep herself from worrying.

"That damn idiot devil! I promise I'll bring him back just to kill him again if he dies!" She muttered angrily. "Just you wait, jerk!"

"What's with the face?" Saeed asked her. "Don't worry, we'll bring back the lord and his familiar. It'll be real bad if we didn't."

Was it that obvious?

"Who says I'm worried about that jerk!"

"Arland, what's with you?"

They stood before a big abyss that Valeriana gaped at the sight of it. It wasn't called the abyss for nothing. About a hundred kilometers of gaping hole—such a huge crack on the surface of the land that it must be visible when looking down from the outer space.

"Holy crap." Valeriana said as she tried leaning over a bit to see try and sneak a peek of whatever was down there.

Pure darkness.

"God, no. I have a mild case of acrophobia." She said.

"Then you shouldn't be looking down." Saeed pointed out.

"But I can't resist . . ." She shifted slightly to continue.

"Come here. Stop that. If you fall over, there'll be no way you'll live." He told her, grabbing her arm and pulling her away. "I heard about your tendency to be clumsy from the chief. If you die here, we don't know what we'll do."

"The Empyrean Volcano is on the other side." Omar pointed. "Aren't you starting to see how impossible this is?"

Looking past the ravine, there was a tall peak with a slight tinge of a glow and curling smoke.

"How far will it be by foot?"

"Half a day of trek." Said Omar. "We'll have to go around this thing if we will."