"According to the reports, a particular group of Frost Wyverns, renowned for coming all the way from a lower realm, made their entrance into the Wyvernoid Kingdom but were refused entry due to having amidst them the Accursed One," she said, her gaze drifting to Isha in his arms.
"The last place they were seen was in the Evioulurnian Kingdom, where they seemed to have been restocking their spacecraft," she added, and Ryuk nodded, saying:
"I have more questions, but for now, that can wait. You..." He pointed to the one who had just spoken.
"You will follow me in search of them."
"PREPOSTEROUS!"
The others immediately roared out, but they were silenced when the one who had been pointed out raised her hand, her words slicing the air.
"I will leave with him in search of them," she said, leading to the others turning their shocked gazes upon her.
Then her words echoed telephatically in their minds:
"He’s a massive danger being here."
"Even if we can resist him in a fight, half the Kingdom will be laid to waste by him," she said, leading to the others furrowing their brows in thought.
"This is a chance to lead him away from here, and while he’s gone, you three focus on awakening the Ancients."
"Only they can deal with him without bringing destruction upon the Kingdom."
"I will keep him away long enough for you to awaken the Ancients," she said.
"But what if he..." The others tried to argue, but were silenced.
"Whatever he does to me will be nothing compared to the millions of lives that will be lost trying to refuse him.
"Eldori already fell in his hands. There’s no need for millions too if only one more person has to fall."
"Besides, now that I have a glimpse of his power, I know how to protect myself from death."
Though the conversation appeared long, it happened within the span of three seconds, and Ryuk watched as the woman stepped out.
She snapped her fingers, and the wyvern who had whispered the information to her ear rose up after her as they approached Ryuk.
"Let’s leave now before they move too far," she said to him, snapping her fingers again, and Ryuk watched as the messenger transformed.
From a crouching man seemingly in his early thirties, he changed, becoming a hulking 7-meter snow wyvern with four gigantic wings.
Ryuk landed behind him, along with the lady, and the wings flapped as they soared forward with speed, soon disappearing from the Royalties’ area of the Kingdom.
The second they disappeared, the order rang out through the skies:
"Prepare to awaken the Ancients."
"Prepare for war!"
____________
"You’ve grown stronger."
The words echoed from beneath as Ryuk turned his head downwards, brushing his hands to straighten her roughened hair.
"You’ve become warmer than I remembered," he replied to Isha.
Really, Isha had turned warm, which was quite strange, since she was a Frost Wyvern known for her freezing cold nature.
"I exhausted my core," she replied, whilst grabbing his hand and placing it upon her chest.
He could feel the cold faintly pumping, but unfortunately, it was the only place where the cold remained, and it could be barely felt.
"I’m sorry for being so far away."
He whispered, and she shook her head.
"It’s not your fault at all. I’m the one who should have been stronger," she said, as Ryuk hummed silently for a while before asking:
"Do you still wish to be, or..." He saw a flicker of surprise in her eyes, which she forced down with a smile as she asked:
"Or what?"
But all he did was silently stare at her.
"You can feel even that?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Yes. I feel your weariness. You’re tired," he said, and she smiled softly.
"My reason has always been to grow stronger to protect you," she said. "But now that I think about it, ironically, only the contrary ever happens.
"If I keep growing and cannot even achieve the thing I want the most, then I don’t see a reason to keep growing anymore..."
"I don’t want to have you protect me," Ryuk replied, watching her pause at his words.
"I am the one to protect you, so... it was never ironic that what was supposed to happen is what is happening."
"If I can’t protect you, and I’m not here to protect you, essentially being useless then," she said, "then why do you have me at all?
"Why go through all the headaches to free me and get rid of my troubles, again and again, just to be paid with nothing?"
"You’re useful."
"In what way?"
"Your existence," Ryuk replied.
"It gave me a reason to come this far."
"That’s just you being nice... again," she whispered, looking away from him.
[Her Soul has grown Wearier]
The system panel flashed, and Ryuk hmmed, an idea suddenly popping in his head.
One moment, he raised his hand and then,
SNAP!
His fingers snapped, and the world all of a sudden fell into complete darkness.
Deep darkness that completely blinded Isha, leaving nothing but the feeling of being cradled by him.
"Imagine it like the dark, Isha," he said, and all of a sudden, she felt a flicker in the distance.
She turned her head.
It was like she could see the light far in the distance, but somehow, it was dark.
Too dark for her to really pinpoint the exact location of the light.
"There’s always an end to the tunnel, like a light in the dark, Isha."
"You might not see it immediately, but I trust you can feel it," he said as she meekly nodded.
"If you try to get up and search for it in such darkness, it will be too hard."
"You’ll wander aimlessly and endlessly, waste so much time, and in the end, you might just get lost in the darkness."
Right then, something flashed right above her, and she turned to find Ryuk, his face illuminated by the light from an object which he held in his hand.
"But if you have a lantern in your hands," he said, stretching his hand to the side as the lantern illuminated the distance, and Isha could see it clearly now.
A clear path to the light in the distance.
"It will let you see the path ahead clearly, and it acts not just to help you find the exit, but it gives you a reason to keep going.|"
"It’s like a source of energy that, so far it keeps running; you’ll have enough energy to keep going in search of the light at the end."
At this point, her eyebrows creased in a moment of new realization.
"And you know what happens if halfway through the lantern suddenly goes off?" he said, flinging the lantern away.
It died off, leaving everything to fall into deep darkness once more.
"The path is lost," Isha whispered.
"And so is the reason to continue," he added.
SNAP!