The town nearby lay quiet as usual under the winter sun. The leaves rustled as heavy footsteps tread on the withering forest. The sun shone uninterrupted but the wind blew calm and cold. The scent of the frost of morning lingered in the air.
The dragon heard the footsteps from afar. The sound of the footsteps we're all too familiar.
"Ah the Phoenix has paid me a visit." He thought.
The raven-haired woman who had been wandering around the forest for a while, reached the cave's entrance.
The dragon opened his eyes. The footsteps weren't so familiar now.
The dragon shifted his position bringing himself closer against the mossy wall of the cave blending in with the surrounding as the raven-haired woman approached.
Her silhouette stood prominent by the light from outside the cave.
She sensed that the dragon was in hiding. She took off her hood.
"It's me." She said.
The dragon revealed himself.
"Why did you partially transform?" He asked looking down at her legs in their Phoenix form.
"Well I needed to make a run while coming here and this is the fastest way." She replied as she followed his gaze to her feet.
"Is something troubling you?" The dragon asked.
The raven-haired woman let out a shaky breath.
"Everything is... I had revived her by a promise she'd made to the girl's mother... I thought I was doing the girl a favour but I was just doing it to ease my guilt."
"I...I don't think I can keep up with this play anymore." She replied.
The dragon made his way outside the cave. He took a deep breath and spoke.
"I was thinking, Azalea, that maybe you should hand the grimoire to the girl ..."
"Are you saying that she should learn the truth for herself, dragon?"
The dragon nodded.
"I don't think that is fair...I am not worthy of teaching her the art of fire. I am a necromancer than a Phoenix." She replied.
"You did what you think was right at that time. And don't think low of your own kind, Azalea. The old lady summoned the same power you have to bring me back." The dragon said.
"And it killed her." She replied. "Necromancy has its worst flaw. A punishment by death. A life for a life brought back. But I, on the other hand used a promise she wrote to bring her back. I couldn't sacrifice myself to save her even though I initially insisted to."
"It's because she gave up hers to save yours. You wouldn't want to throw that away." He paused for a short while and then continued. "I am the guilty one, Azalea." The dragon said as he looked up, paying attention to every movement of every feather of a bird and the falling leaves from the dying trees.
The raven-haired woman pondered for a while before speaking up.
"You were innocent. And if you weren't saved, the world would have been plunged into Chaos. The ones that did you harm are the ones guilty."
The dragon felt slightly hurt upon hearing those words--that the humans had no choice but to save him in order to save themselves--but he knew how selfless Azalea is and how she would do and say anything to make others feel less guilty.
He dodged her statement as he could find no proper reply to it. He sighed for he could sense her burden.
"You've done enough Azalea..." He said. "You've carried the burden all on your own. I shall tell her the truth myself. It's the least that I can do for you, for her and for the old lady who saved me."
"I'll give her the grimoire the burden should end with me." The raven-haired woman replied in haste.
"Give me a chance to redeem myself too, Azalea." The dragon insisted.
In the midst of the argument they both fail to realise someone had been watching them the whole time. The unknown person stepped forward to the clearing.
"If anyone were to tell her. That would be me." The old lady--the so called grandmother of the girl--stood in front of them.
YOU ARE READING
The Dragon's Abode(Compressed)
Fantasy"𝓛𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓪𝓷 𝓮𝓬𝓵𝓲𝓹𝓼𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓸𝓸 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓹𝓪𝓼𝓼..." In the land of clouds and mist, a legend was told of a black Serpentine Dragon that lived within a cave spanning from one village to the next. This is a story retold, years after...
