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The Undelivered Message

While Seraphor was struggling to keep his powerful elemental energy under control, Avila and Terrador had reached Qeveriyt after a half day journey, where it was dark. Avila quickly ran towards where she knew Yort's lair was, where she met Riant, the new Order leader after Ramusk left leadership.

"Riant, where is Yort's body?" said Avila.

The dragon silently moved away so Avila could see the body of her old friend.

Yort's body was covered in dried blood. The wound, a clean circular wound went through his chest and through his back, impaling him. The smell suggested that it was burned by something, yet the details weren't what Avila had in mind.

When she turned her focus to the dragon's open, lifeless eyes, she realized that he was seeing something that's horrifying, as if the one killing him was someone he knew and he feared. Considering how he died, it wasn't surprising to know that a dragon with the same ability as Ceroz would make even Yort surprised.

Just as she wanted to find more clues to what killed him, Terrador said, "So, I'm Watson and you're Holmes?"

"No we're not. We're dragons. Why are you suggesting that?"

"Because you seem to be thinking, and I'm here trying to find more clues to help you out."

"Maybe we don't make jokes when one of our friends...and your counterpart, is dead in front of our eyes, okay? In fact, this is what I do when I'm with the Dark Sentinel, so it's experience. Can't help it."

"Alright, fine. So, what do you got?"

"Aside from what the messenger said, I can't seem to find anything that can imply that there's another dragon aside from Ceroz himself. To put it simply, the dragon in question walked towards Yort, close enough to deliver the killing blow. The prints near Yort suggested that he wasn't aware of his enemy, or he was caught off-guard. No additional damage to the environment means that it was a swift kill. There was no time for struggle, and Yort died almost as soon as the dragon turned around and run. That's my hypothesis, but I'm not sure that's what happened if there's no eye-witness. Riant, which dragon talked to him before he died?"

"I did."

Avila turned around to see Bartoz behind him. When their eyes met, Bartoz said, "Well I'm sure we both will be delighted to see each other again, but...Yort's death is the real problem."

"I know. So, what did you think of Yort? Was he expecting someone, or was he content of what he's doing?"

"This attack is a complete surprise to him and those who knows him. He never made any enemies for the past 50 years. He is not a member of the Order and he's living inside one of the most secure city in the whole Northern Region."

"But, he's not a paranoid."

"Avila, he's a peace-loving dragon healer. He rarely gets out of this city. you know how crippled he is now."

Bartoz's claim wasn't entirely false. Since the time when they met, Yort claimed many times that he had a back problem that got worsen each year. Aside from that, because of unknown circumstances, his heart was failing, too. He was more like an old dying human than a proud dragon he once was a hundred years ago, all for some unexplained reasons.

Avila once asked her father of what ailed the old earth dragon. Unlike most of the other dragon healers, he had more knowledge of it, yet unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

"Dragons can live a very long time, but when faced with a draconic disease, it shortens their lifespan," said Xiciro once when Avila visited him. "His condition is also the same. What I can tell you is that his organs were failing, and he would die a natural death over time. He has lived long enough for a ten thousand years old dragon."

Then, back to the present, she stopped reminiscing when he heard the earth Guardian called her.

"There's something fading in front of Yort, where his left front leg was positioned," said Terrador. "It's engraved in stone. Let me help you clear it up."

With Terrador's ability, the patch of stone was raised, cleaned from sand, and polished to be more visible to Avila. On it was a word, written in old draconic word, that was very clear to her, yet puzzling, as if there's no meaning to it. The younger members around weren't aware of the translation, even Terrador, as he wasn't from that world and was a stranger to their old language.

"What does that mean?" asked Terrador.

"I...don't know. It's cryptic. Are you sure this is the only stone engraved? No hidden message, like, another one written under the layer? Runes, maybe?"

"If there's any, I should be able to detect one. I felt the rock around this lair, and there's nothing that indicated that they were modified by elemental magic. This one is the only one with magical trace left."

"It doesn't make sense," said Avila examining the words closely. "It's only one word. Kul, means...son."

"Son? That's it?"

"It can mean a lot of thing. Son, descendant, male offspring, dragon boy, everything else that I can think of and they all means 'son'."

"It's cryptic, alright, and it's hard to get the point. But, why did he leave something that has no meaning to anything in particular?"

"Did he have a son, or maybe a relative...or his killer?"

Something came up on Avila's mind. She quickly turned around and opened her darkness-induced wings. Terrador thought she wanted to teleport, but then she said, "We're going to Pol Hain, Terrador. There's something I need to know."

"Not teleporting?"

"I am wise enough not to rely on dimensional shift too much, and I'm well aware that I'm a dragon with darkness-based abilities, not to mention a hybrid. I just hope you are not too lazy to open those wings, Terrador."

Both flew at the same time in the middle of the night. When they were far from Qeveriyt, Avila said, "In this world, any dragons have their limits, or else they're omnipotent. We don't believe a god controls our fates, but I believe what my ancestors left me is what I am."

"We don't believe in any gods either, but why did you not rely on your darkness? I can see that it's dangerous, but when I see you fight, you try not to use grand abilities like your mate."

"Truth be told, I don't know my capabilities either, and I don't want to know. I'm serious of me being an angel of death, and angels are known to be very, very strong. I don't want to be one, but this is what my ancestors left me, and I'll embrace it."

There was a silence, before Avila said, "Maybe Cynder hasn't told you yet, but my time in this world is numbered."

"Say again?"

"My mother is claimed by the ruler of Death when she became one, and my father said no Argoon dragon that became a death dragon can live longer than a hundred years. I may have broken that custom twice. First, for being a 186 years old dragon, and second, for having a twin. I was glad for that, but now I don't know when Death will claim me."

"You're not exactly saying that you're dying, right? If that so, then who will raise your twin? Seraphor is still in a state of uncertainty, and now you claimed that your ability has that consequence? I don't want to offend you, but those are some tragic life you're going down the dark path."

"I guess real world is far darker than fantasies, huh?"

While they were flying to the port town, at the same time, in Pol Hain, Xiciro was helping out with a dragon to load some cargos into a giant intercontinental ship. Since the first explorers reached the place many years ago, the place was never this busy, or maybe it was when he was still trapped inside his own dimension, busy trying to find a way out.

"The battle of Pol Hain, huh?" thought Xiciro. "It is ironic to come back here as a resolved dragon, flying on the same place where the fortress should be, where I was lost in my own dimension. It was for the best, though."

Just then, Xiciro felt an overwhelmingly strong dark aura. At first he thought it was his daughter, but it was different from her. Not only did it full of rage and obsession, but it was definitely a male, and similar to what he knew, long time ago.

"Are you going to stay hidden, or are you going to open up, young one? You may not a dark dragon, but you can't hide your killing intent."

Xiciro landed on the port as a yellow dragon came out from between the buildings. He knew the dragon wasn't going to negotiate, and if they would fight there, it wouldn't be long until many smaller races would drop dead with their fight.

"Ironic, isn't it?" said Xiciro. "This is the place where we both know what's in our memory. An avenger and a redeemer. Kind of a nice pair, no?"

"You are betraying the trust my father gave you a long time ago," said the dragon. "Yet, the thing is, I'm not here to avenge him. He's a mad dragon obsessed with ruling over the others like a god. Oh, I'm not a believer in omnipotence, but I'm sure you know what I'm after."

"I may have been a scholarly dragon with knowledge of things more than most dragons, but I cannot read minds, nor do I need an explanation as to why you came to a port town with a significant history. All I can say to you is a warning. Get out of this town, or suffer the consequences.

"Then I'll make you understand."

The dragon suddenly jumped towards him in a blinding speed. The force of its jump chipped off the pier's rocky platform. Xiciro just had enough time to jump to the side to evade the lunge. The dragon wasn't just blinding lunging towards him. When his legs landed he quickly made an impossible feat of a foreleg stand (at least for a dragon), and breathe fresh fire to Xiciro behind him. It hit the dragon, but the dragon was saved by his dark dimensional rift, which he could now control freely. Xiciro retaliated by imbuing his front claws with darkness, making a great close combat technique that rivaled bestial humanoid creatures. It was so sharp that the platform where it hit was cut clean.

With no choice left, Xiciro resorted to improvised attacks. He quickly grabbed the dragon's leg and pulled it, while he bit the dragon's neck. At the same time, the dragon opened his wings, which was what Xiciro was waiting for him to do.

Using his darkness, he grabbed the wings and forced him to land. Being bigger than the dragon, he easily crushed the dragon. He then quickly grabbed the dragon's head and shoved it down into the water, deep enough so only his horns were left. The dragon struggled to get Xiciro off, but the more he struggled, the more he lost air, yet he wasn't entirely helpless.

The dark dragon then saw a light from the dragon's front leg, and realizing the danger, he frantically tried to move away. A strong light beam was discharged from it, grazing Xiciro and dispersing most of his darkness energy. He quickly let go of the dragon while he took a big breath.

"A light dragon? Fascinating. With that in mind, I really should be very careful."

The dragon produced the same light beam again, which was effective enough to actually negated Xiciro's dark aura. The dragon dodged it and retaliated by using a new power he actually felt proud of. He then concentrated, and before long, the dragon was being pushed to the ground.

"You may have light, but gravity is also a form of darkness, more specifically, a black hole."

"You're mistaken, Xiciro. A black hole can absorb even light. But this is not even one!"

With a feat of incredible strength, the dragon broke free of the gravitational field and resumed his attack on Xiciro. Both were fighting with such ferocity that it attracted the attention of the other dragons. Yet, when they offered their help, Xiciro exclaimed, "No! You don't know what he's capable of!"

Then, there was a sudden turn of event. Xiciro's last attack was hardly successful, and it was a mistake. The dragon managed to negate the last attack and find an opening in Xiciro's attack. He quickly put a spherical light on Xiciro. The dark dragon realized the danger of the thing and took it with his darkness, which hurt him. He managed to throw it away, but the resulting explosion was so close to him that he was thrown away, crashing onto Seraphor and Avila's copper statue and finally stopped after destroying the porch of a building, where the inhabitants quickly went out in panic. The crash broke many of Xiciro's bones, and the hit on his head was particularly strong enough to quickly make him fainted.

Some dragons that saw this event quickly ran towards the black dragon, trying to help him, while the rest tried to fight the dragon. The yellow dragon just smiled, while spitting a speck of blood bearing one of his broken tooth.

"Blame yourself for being the father of the dragon I hate," said the dragon before opening his wings, and flew away from the docks, ignoring the attacks from other dragons. In his mind, he knew killing the dragons wouldn't do him good unless he acted. He then made a smile to himself.

"I guess it's time to use the legacy of my father," he thought to himself while flying in the deep of the night.