Dragon seal

Chapter 2 part 1: Dragon seal Found

I traveled south for twenty-six days and nights. On the twenty-seventh day, at the nineteenth hour, I came to the outskirts of the village Silverus called Doragon. There I hid behind a bush, watching the entrance to the village; Silverus's voice echoed through my mind, "We should wait until morning to enter the village." I looked toward the entrance and saw two guards. I climbed the nearby tree to get an overhead view of the village. A huge wooden fence surrounded the village. There were only two openings; one faced north, the other faced the south. At each opening stood two watch towers; The village itself was a huge circle. The tallest building stood in the center of the village. I assumed that's where the village chief live. Four big roads branched out from this building, and several smaller roads branched out all over the village. Candles lit up the whole village. I thought to myself, I could just sneak in from above. Silverus must have read my mind because I heard her voice, "That won't work, look closer at the fence. We don't want to catch any attention." I looked closer at the fence. At the top I noticed that there was a walkway, where several guards stood; they were watching for intruders. I sat down on the branch and looked up at the stars; then sleep came quickly.
+++
Those last twenty-six days, after Kane let me off the leash, felt like a dream. Silverus told me which way to go, using a voice inside my head. It was weird at first, because she was always reading my mind. Eventually, I got use to it. I traveled mostly during the day and rested at night. Silverus said the nights were dangerous, and I didn't feel like fighting any unnecessary battles. The only time I used my element was to hunt and fill my thirst. Every night, when I went to sleep, I thought I would wake up back at the hideout. My nightmares became progressively worst the farther away from the hideout I traveled. I wish I could remember them. All I do remember is always waking up with a heart attack. It was horrible, but I eventually got use to it.
+++
The next day, I woke up suddenly. I sat up so fast that I fell off the branch. I grabbed on to the branch, and hanged from the tree. My heart was pounding through my chest, and I was having a hard time catching my breath. My eyes were filled with fear. Fear of what, I do not know. I let go of the branch and landed on my feet. I looked to the sky, the sun had just began to rise. I hid behind some bushes and looked to the entrance of the village. The guards' faces had changed. Silverus's voice echoed into my mind, "Why do you wake up so early? It's too early to enter the village." I stood up and started walking along the trail, that led to the village. "If we're going to enter the village, than you've got to listen to me. I have a plan." I followed the trail toward the village; when my legs began to feel wobbly, I looked down at my knees, and noticed that my arrow wounds had reopened. Blood dripped from my knees. I tried to keep walking, but it was hard. When I got closer to the village, I saw the guards opening the gate. I figured that they must had seen me coming. Then my legs collapsed from exhaustion and I fell to the ground. I looked toward the village; my vision was blurred, but I saw the guards running toward me. I tried to get up, but I was too weak. Blackout. While unconscious, I heard the voices of two men. One man said, "She must had been ambushed."
The other said, "Indeed, we should take her to the hospital and alert the chief."
Then Silverus called out to me,"Selina....Selina....we need to talk." A second later I awoke in Silverus's prison. I walked toward the gate, and Silverus appeared. "We need to discuss what will happen after you regain consciousness." I nodded in agreement.
"Okay, but first why did my wounds open back up; I know they were fully healed," knowing full well that Silverus had something to do with it.
"I can damage your body as fast as I can heal it, but that's not important right now. When you wake up you will be in a white room; it will be best if you do not try to sit up right away. You will have a needle in your arm; do not take it out."
"Wait, how do you know all this?" I asked.
"Unlike you, I know how it is to live in a village. There are many rules and customs that each village has. You must know about them if you wish to fit in."
"I don't want to fit in. I just want to take the dragon and get out of here."
"First of all, you do not know where Pheseus is. Second of all, you can not just take the dragon and run; you will die." I looked away. I could feel Silverus's eyes glaring at me, like she was trying to read my thoughts. "If you want to even get close to Pheseus, you will have to fit in. I will guide you."
I sat on the ground and closed my eyes. "Good bye Silverus," I whispered. Blackout.
+++
I woke to see a white ceiling, just as Silverus had told me. I looked down at my arms and saw a needle in my right arm. I lifted my head up slightly, trying to get a better view of the room. Then I began to feel dizzy. Silverus wasn't kidding, when she said it would be best if I didn't sit up right away. I laid my head back down. "So what's the plan," I thought trying to reach Silverus.
"The plan is to lie. When the doctor comes in and starts asking questions I can take over, if that's okay with you."
"That's sounds cool. I'm not that good at lying anyhow", I thought. Then I heard the door open, and a man with white clothing came in. I stared at him until his eyes met mine. Then I quickly looked away.
The man sat down in a chair beside my bed. "I see you have awakened, that's always a good sign." I saw that the man was holding a clipboard and a pencil. I stared at him blankly, waiting for him to speak.
Then, suddenly, my mouth opened and I heard my voice asking, "wh..where am I? Wh..who are you?" But I never wanted to say that. What is going on, I wondered.
"You're in a hospital. My name is Dr. Pikecle. Can you tell me your name?" Dr. Pikecle spoke in a calm voice, but his voice was so calm it was almost creepy.
Then, suddenly, I unwillingly said, "My name is Selina. How did I get here?" I didn't understand what was going on.
"The village guards found you unconscious on the trail to the village. You have some nasty leg wounds." He felt my head. I wanted to slap his hand away, but a mysterious force would not allow me. "Do you remember what happened? Could you tell me where your parents are?" That was a sore subject, and there was no way I was telling some stranger the truth. I looked away from him.
"My parents and I were traveling to this village, to settle down, but we got ambushed in the woods," I heard myself say. I didn't know where this story was coming from. I'm not exactly the best liar. There was a long sad silence. "I was able to get away but my parents....." my voice trailed off. I didn't understand what was going on. A tear slowly trickled from one of my eyes, but I wasn't sad.
"I'm sorry to hear that. It seems you've been through a lot; you should rest. If you need anything just push this button by your bed," Dr. Pikecle said, pointing to a red button by the bed. I nodded. Then he got up and left the room. What just happened? Why was my voice acting on it's own? I wondered.
Silverus's voice echoed through my head,"That was me. I took over your body."
"What!? That's creepy and..." I stopped my thoughts from going too far.
"Relax, I can only take over when you allow it; which is why I asked first, plus that is common courtesy."
"But it's still creepy", I thought. I slowly sat up and looked around the room. "So how do I get out of here," I thought. There was a window on the wall to my left, and there was the door that the doctor came through.
"You do not get out." I had forgotten that Silverus could read my mind.
"Perhaps you could let me in on your plan, on how we're gonna find Pheseus, when we're stuck in here." I thought. I was getting tired of being left in the dark.
"The plan is simple, we wait."
"Wait for what?" I thought.
"You will soon find out, but for now you should rest and heal. We have traveled a long way; we should make use of this time to recuperate."
"Great," I thought. I didn't want time to recharge, I wanted to get this over with. The faster, the better.
I stayed in the hospital for three days while my wounds healed. During that time I was visited by four people: the doctor (who was miraculously surprised by how amazingly fast I healed) and two officers, who asked me a lot of questions about where I came from and what happened. I mostly let Silverus take over when they came. I also was visited by the village chief. I was surprised and glad, to see that the chief was a female. At least the village didn't seem prejudiced. The chief allowed me to live in a vacant room, at the village's apartment for orphans and the homeless. She also allowed me to attend the academy, not that I needed it. It was mandatory, for all children under the age of sixteen to attend the academy. At sixteen you are eligible to graduate, but you have to pass the final test that I wasn't worried about. Sliverus warned me that I shouldn't revealed all my tricks, and try to lay low. She took the fun out of everything. The chief also said I would be given a weekly allowance, to buy food and clothes, until I was able to get a job. I wasn't planning on staying that long.
Once I got out of the hospital, I moved into the vacant room the chief gave me. The room was simple and had the basic needs; a fridge, a bed, a dresser, a table, and a chair. I was finally alone. I took advantage of that, and laid out all my weapons. I needed to take inventory, and make sure the hospital didn't take anything. I only carried four daggers, a pocket knife, and a small journal. I used the journal to keep track of where I was and how long I had been there; it also kept me from becoming an insane serial killer. I never wanted to be the killer Kane made me into, but I needed to survive. Once I saw that I still had my belongings, I placed them back in their rightful place. I placed a knife in each of my boots, inside each of my long sleeves, and the pocket knife into my back pocket. I picked up my journal, and sat on the bed. I opened my journal and began to write, using the pencil from the secret compartment. Once I was finished, I hid the journal in my right boot where it was safe.
The next day was my first day at the academy. For the first three hours, I was put through a series of tests. The tests allowed the instructors to see what level I was at, and what classes to put me in. The tests were easy, the only thing I was worried about was doing too well. Silverus told me that the child, who had Pheseus sealed inside it, would probably be in an average class, which meant that I couldn't do anything too fancy during my tests. I had to keep it simple, but I also had to make it seem like I was giving it my all. Once all the tests were done, the instructors told me to go outside while they evaluated my scores.
While I was outside I saw kids of all ages, but none of them seemed older than me. Nothing was out of ordinary. All the kids were playing and socializing with one another, except in one area. There was a tree there, and a swing hung from it's branches. A boy sat alone on the swing, staring at the ground. He had fiery bright orange hair with yellow tips, and it curled down just above his eyes. His eyes were filled with sorrow. He seemed a couple inches taller than me.
I walked closer to him but stayed out of sight. Some of the kids stared at him, their eyes filled with hate and fear. I wondered why they were afraid of this boy. He seemed about the same age as me. I got closer. That's when I felt it. The boy had an enormous amount of energy surrounding him. The energy seemed familiar, like I had felt it before. The energy felt warm and gentle, but also angry and fierce. The energy was intimating and to others it might have seemed frightening, but not to me. I looked around at the others, and wondered if they could feel the energy. After a few hours the instructors called us in.
They showed me which classroom I was in. I stayed in the back of the room, and kept away from others. I notice that the strange boy, that I saw earlier, was in my class. He sat by himself in the back. I kept a close eye on him. Many of the other kids picked on him. They called him names, playing jokes on him, and were always laughing at him. The kids always made sure to keep their distance from him. The boy tried to ignore the comments, but he would suddenly have these outbursts. He would yell at them, saying "one day you will all respect me."
It got the kids quiet for awhile, then they burst out laughing saying, "Yeah right". At the end of the day all the parents came to pick up their children. No one came to pick up the boy. He just sat on the swing and watched all the other kids leave. That's how it was for several weeks. Silverus kept quiet and out of my mind. I didn't know what she was doing, but I didn't worry.
Six weeks had passed, since I joined the academy, and it was the last week of the month. The final tests were at the end of week. I was at the top of the class, while the boy was likely to fail. I needed him to pass these last tests so I could keep an eye on him. After class that day, I approached him. He was sitting at his usual spot, on his swing, "Careful, you wouldn't want to get too close."
I ignored him. "I'm new to the village, and was wondering if you knew any good places to practice throwing knives," I said.
He looked up at me. Then he looked away. "This is some kind of joke isn't it? Jike put you up to this didn't he?"
"No joke. I need a place to practice, and was wondering if you knew a good place?" I said, trying to sound convincing.
He looked back at me and tried to read me. "I know a place, but you sure you want to be seen with me?"
"I think I'll take my chances. I'm Selina."
"Zelos. So where'd you live before you came here," He said, jumping off his swing.
"My family and I traveled a lot. We could never stay in one place long."
He began to walk off. I followed him. "So let me guess; your parents died in some kind of incident and now you take care of yourself."
"Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it." I said.
"Well, you can join the club. My parents died the day I was born."
"Wow, it must of been hard growing up without them."
"You don't know, the half of it," he said. However he was wrong; I knew how it felt to be alone. "Stay close," we were near to the edge of the village. Zelos walked closer the fence. I followed right behind him. I saw a small opening in the fence; Zelos stuck his head through the opening and then popped back out. "You first," he said pointing the way. I crouched down and crawled through the opening. Once I was out, I walked toward the forest and hid in the bushes. Zelos soon followed. "This way," he said walking deeper into the woods. We walked for an hour, before arriving at what Zelos called Z's hangout. In truth, all it was was an open area surround by trees with targets on them. "So, what's your element?" he asked
"Water, yours?" I figured it wouldn't hurt to tell the truth, for once.
"Fire, but I'm not exactly the best at it," he said, pulling some knives out of the tree. "You want to throw first?" he asked politely.
"Nah, you go first." I said, since he was the one who really needed to practice. He shrugged his shoulders, and gripped the first knife. He looked down at the first target, and chucked the knife towards it. It missed by a foot, but it hit the tree behind it square in the center. Then he began to grip the second one, anger filled his face. "Um.. hey a little advice. Try stepping back a bit, and don't get frustrated." I said trying to encourage him. He looked at me and nodded. Then he took four steps backward, and threw the knife. It hit the target, in the dead center. "Not too shabby." I said looking at the target. "You want to try something harder?" I asked, and held out my hand. Instantly, water swirled into my hand and froze; forming a small ball of ice.
"Whoa." Zelos said, "Wait, what do you mean harder?"
"Moving targets," I said, making another ice ball. I threw the balls into the air and, using my hands, I controlled their movements. "Try to hit the ice balls with your knives," I said. Zelos gripped one of the knives and aimed for a ball. He waited for the right time. He threw the knife, and it went straight through both balls. I reconstructed the two balls and added another. Again, he threw his knife and hit all the balls with one strike. I put him through the test several times, each time adding another ball and changing up the movements. Every time he passed, with knives left over. We stopped, when we got to ten balls. He threw five knives, all at once, and hit all ten. "Wow, you're pretty good at this." I said, "How come you don't show this talent at the academy?" I looked at him. He looked away.
"It's hard when everyone stares at you like you're a monster. You wouldn't understand." he said looking at the ground; although I was probably the only person who would understand.
"I want to see how well you can control your element," I said, trying to change the subject. He looked at me, and then held out his hand. Fire swirled into his hand, and remained there for a few minutes, then disappeared.
"Pitiful isn't it? That's all I'm able to do." he said looking away. I wasn't really expecting that much.
"It's not that bad, considering that the academy doesn't focus on your elements." I said, realizing that I must of seemed like a complete show off earlier. Oops.
I continued to train him all night. We went over everything, we'd been learning at the academy. He was actually a lot better than most of the kids at the academy. His only weakness was close combat. When he fought, he was very tentative and predictable. I tried to get him to be more aggressive, but he acted like he didn't have the heart. I left plenty of openings, but he never hit me. When I came at him he would do perfect blocks, but then he would jump back. He didn't come at me like he wanted to hurt me. I asked him why he was holding back, and he told me that he wasn't. After we were done training he led me back into the village, and we went our separate ways.
+++
We continued training every night for the rest of that week.We mostly focused on close combat, since he was so bad at it. I gave him plenty of openings, and every time he would just jump back. He was well prepared for whatever I threw at him. I wished he would just attacked, with full force.
The night before test day, I asked him, "Why won't you attack me? Is it because I'm a girl or something?" my voice holding an edge.
"No its not that." he said, looking at the ground. He always did that, when I asked him something he didn't want to answer. That happened quite often.
I shook my head, " Then what is it?" I asked my voice softening.
He looked at me, then back at the ground, "I know you won't actually kill me. It's just training, so there's no threat to my life." he said, his eyes glued to the ground.
"So you're saying that you won't fight seriously unless your life is in danger?" I said, shaking my head. I was trying to get my head around the idea. He nodded tentatively.
I laid down on the ground and closed my eyes. "What are you doing?" Zelos asked. I could feel his eyes staring down at me.
I opened my eyes and looked at him. "I'm thinking." I said, sitting up and looking toward the direction of the moon. An idea had popped into my mind, "I should get going, I have to prepare my room for inspection." I lied.
He looked at me suspiciously, and then shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so. Good luck on the test tomorrow, although you won't need it." he said, walking toward the village.
I followed him out of the woods and then disappeared behind a building. I made it look like I was heading toward the orphanage, but I wasn't. Once I was a decent distance away, I began to follow him. I kept him in view, but stayed out of sight. I followed him outside the southern entrance and into the back woods. I stayed hidden within the scenery. After traveling for a short time through the woods, Zelos stopped in front of a tree and looked up. He took a small pocket knife out and threw it straight up at the tree; a rope ladder, made of vines and wooded planks, fell from the top of the tree. He climbed up the ladder and disappeared into the crown of the tree. Once he was gone, the rope ladder was pulled up into the foliage. I expertly climbed the tree in front of it, until I entered the umbrage. Sitting on a high branch, I was looking at a beat-up house. From the front of the house, I could see that it was mainly supported by five trees. The house look pretty normal. It had one door in the front and two windows beside the door. Looking closer, I could see Zelos moving around in the house. I noticed a sign above the door way, and it read, H's hangout, no girls allowed. I gave it a puzzled look, but decided it wasn't important. The house itself was made of only wood and vines. It looked hand-made and definitely had some aging to it.
As I was watching Zelos move about the house, I gripped the navy blue (almost black) scarf and pulled it off my waist. I then wrapped it around my mouth and forehead. I made sure to cover any identifying feature; especially my short, white, silvery, aqua hair. With the way I covered my head I looked bald, and only my eyes and nose was visible. My dark clothes and mask made me blend in with the surrounding terrain. It was time to put my plan into motion. I stealthily made my way over to the tree house, and closely watched Zelos from a window. The inside of his house looked very normal. The kitchen and living room were connected and there was a third room that I assumed to be his bedroom. The kitchen was simple; it only contained a fridge, one counter, a sink, a stove, and a table with four chairs. I could smell the subtle scent of baked bread from the oven. Zelos was sitting on a lounge chair, in the living room, and he was reading a comic book. He must of been waiting for the bread to cook. The smell made my stomach growl, since I hadn't eaten in a while.
I took my knife out of my boot, and prepared to enter the house. Then Zelos got up and walked over to the oven. He opened the stove and pulled out the bread pan. The warm smell filled the room and ventured outside toward me. My stomach growled louder. I allowed him to eat before I prepared to put my plan into action. I watched him, in agony, as he ate his bread. Once he was finished, he placed his leftovers in the fridge and disappeared into the bedroom.
I sneaked into the house and went to the fridge. I grabbed a piece of bread and ate it silently. I couldn't allow my stomach to restrain me. Once I finished, I walked over to the wall beside the door way to the bedroom; I cracked the door open and peaked in. Zelos was laying on his bed sleeping peacefully. I walked up to the bed and stood over him. I held my knife high, and allowed my energy to flow out of me. Zelos stirred nervously, he could feel my presence. I threw my knife down at him; it nicked his arm, awakening him. He stared at me, his eyes full of shock, but his face held a stern look. I grabbed my other knife from my waist and raised it high. He held his arm and kept his eyes trained on me. I faked a throw, and he rolled out of bed. He stood up, staring at me. I held my knife firmly in my hand. I slowly moved into a offensive stance. Zelos got into a defensive stance and backed toward the window; he wanted a quick way out. I lunged toward him, and sliced his other arm. He was back against the wall. He stayed in his stance, staring at me. I made another attack, but this time I aimed for his legs. He jumped up and kicked me right in the face. I fell backward. I laid there on the ground, staring at him . I took my knife and threw it at him. He ducked below the blade, but he didn't see what I was doing. A vine laid on the ground beside me; I whipped the vine around his leg, and pulled it out from under him. He fell backward, hitting his head on the wall. I stood up, holding the other end of the vine. He looked up at me from the ground. I pulled out another knife from my waist and stood over him. He held his hands up. I sensed his energy dispersing uncontrollably from his body. I held my knife high in the air, ready to attack. I sliced the air and stopped right before his hand. I dropped the blade and stared down at him. I then jumped back and kneeled down to grab another knife out of my boot. I stood up and waited.
Zelos slowly stood up and held my knife in his hand. I stared at him. I wanted him to make the first move. I gestured with my free hand, for him to come at me. He lunged at me. With my knife pointed downward, I sliced toward him locking the blade between mine and my arm. The blade pierced the fabric of my sleeves and blood trickled out. He tried to jump back, but my blade locked his arm in place. He didn't want to lose his only weapon. I pulled out my pocket knife, and brought it into view. Zelos eyed it carefully. I readied my weapon, aiming it toward his stomach. It was a death shot. Zelos watched my movements carefully. I was wide open for an attack. Zelos's energy sprouted out from within, releasing in tremendous amounts. He took his hand and slammed it into my stomach. I could feel heat transcending from it, fire. It burned through my shirt, leaving severe burns. I fell backward, dropping both of my weapons. He still came after me. He stood towering over me, holding the knife high in the air; fiery anger flourish in his eyes. This wasn't the Zelos I knew, he had the eyes of a killer; I was his target. Zelos came at me with the knife, aiming for my stomach. I put my hands up and grabbed the blade from his hand. I then threw the blade toward the wall, and kicked Zelos into the wall. His energy was tremendous; it continued to disperse from his body, allowing heat to spread throughout the room. I allowed water to swirl around him and freeze him. It contained the flames within. The ice turned bright red and then disappeared. I knelt down and melted the ice. Zelos was unconscious. I sat beside his limp body, healing my wounds. Once I was done, I took off my scarf and wrapped around my stomach. It hid the hole that had been burnt through. I then healed Zelos's wounds, although he did not have many. The only reason he was unconscious was because he overused his energy. I picked up Zelos and placed him in his bed, so it would seem like it was only a dream. Then I collected my knives and left.
+++
The next day, I went to the academy early. Zelos was already there, laying beneath his tree. I walked over to him and stood over him. "You ready for the test today?" I asked him. He looked up at me. He seemed highly annoyed.
"Not really," he said. His voice was slightly shaky, like he was afraid. I frowned and sat down beside him.
"Why not?" I asked him. He sat up.
"You should go sit somewhere else, before the others get here." he said avoiding the question. I shrugged my shoulders and went to sit on the bench by the school. I watched Zelos' as he laid back down.