With a mighty kick, the door exploded into dust and blue sparks, revealing it had been sealed with some kind of spell. What truly surprised me was that it shattered with just one kick.
The shattered door fell, revealing a staircase leading down into a deep pit, nothing but darkness ahead. The house was just a facade; it was an empty building, and the only entrance led to this kind of basement.
I glanced down and hesitated for a moment, feeling a strange energy, but continued to descend the stairs calmly and silently. Even breathing was difficult; it seemed to be an underground dungeon, built long ago, with chains of narrow galleries stretching out before me.
But this wasn't really what I was seeking. I could explore it another time. Initially, my goal was to find the entity behind the dreams.
I crept slowly, spreading my meager mana throughout the environment to try to detect any traps or the like, but found nothing. It was just ruins of an ancient network of tunnels made by the old imperial architects. It wasn't a difficult scene to understand; often, tunnels like these are used for sewage or as a secret means of transportation among powerful, status-rich individuals.
"It's ahead, Ziriel," I heard from my companion Dragoa, who hovered beside me, pointing the way.
So, I came upon a door, a simple black dungeon door, forged of steel and with various locks on the outside: about fifteen locks of different sizes, shapes, and styles. It would be intimidating if I didn't know what lay inside. Honestly, it was a waste of protection.
"Well, shall we knock?" I questioned with a smile on my face and then swiftly rushed forward, delivering a powerful kick to the door, shattering it once more.
BOOM!
The kick was so strong that everything shook; again, splashes and sparks of luminescent blue dust flew through the air, another magical sealing/protection circle broken.
"The person who wanted to seal this place was quite foolish," Voralith said, flying inside.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing. It's just that, instead of writing in the magic circle 'Protect the Room,' he wrote 'Protect the Door.' So, the door remains intact, but the location is completely oblivious to invaders. Hehe," she said, and I looked at the door on the ground. It was indeed intact.
"Fool," I said aloud, and then came across another staircase, but this one was small, with about ten steps leading down.
I descended the stairs and came upon a rather... questionable scene.
An underground prison.
Honestly, I expected something like this, but... I guess even for me, this was too much...
BLEEEH!
I vomited at the sight... let's just say it was horrifying... various rooms covered in blood on all sides, a corridor leading to a round surgical table, and in this corridor, three rooms on each side with black iron bars and protections. The floor was completely filthy.
Blood was everywhere. Usually, I was fine with these things, but... I don't know what came over me; I just started vomiting and breaking out in cold sweat seeing that...
"Pull yourself together," I heard from Voralith. "The worst is yet to come," she said, lightly pointing towards the round table.
I composed myself after vomiting. I stood up straight and began to observe the disaster before me.
"What the hell is this?" I questioned, seeing a body... a hybrid... of Vampire and Werewolf.
"Damn it, idiots! You can't mix the blood of these two races without causing internal destruction in the creature!" I exclaimed, seeing the body of a creature destroyed from the inside out. Its ribs had opened up as if something had exploded inside its chest; it was a grotesque sight.
"Disgusting humans keep experimenting, trying to become progenitors or create progenitors, no matter how many thousands of years pass, these disgusting animals," Voralith said, growling.
"Calm down," I told her as I surveyed the other cells.
"The same," I said, now seeing different species. Men, women, and even... children. Most were demi-humans... When I saw those little bodies...
"I'm getting really angry," I murmured as the killer instinct pressure emanated from my body like a natural aura.
GROWL
A loud growl; whatever emitted that sound was in great pain. I heard it and immediately turned towards the main room, where there was a round table covered with a blood-stained cloth.
"This is terrifying. What kind of mad scientist would do such a thing?"
GROWL
I heard it again and made my way to the table. Nothing but blood and torture tools. Honestly, I was starting to think it was a hallucination, but I saw a small room with black bars, a bucket full of red water...
GROWL
Finally, I found the source of the noise.
GROWL
It grew louder with each step I took; now it sounded like a sob, a melancholic and lonely cry, like a child crying itself to sleep in a fairy tale.
I approached the cell. The floor was bloodied in a horrifying manner; moisture dripped from the ceiling, running down chains that held bird cages, a disgusting and frightening scene.
The remains of some animals lay on the ground, torn apart, broken, chewed, and vomited. Bloodied bird feathers and broken animal bones were scattered on the floor.
SNIFF
I heard a faint sound as I approached the darkness. As I got closer, the sounds ceased, and the breathing of the being in front of me simply stopped.
The heavy atmosphere made me tremble slightly as I saw what was before me. It seemed made of shadows, its eyes carried a gleam of distress, its fragility evident. The being hid among its wings, torn and wounded, a scene that broke the heart. Only muffled groans of pain and despair could be heard; it was dying of fear.
The shimmering scales seemed rare, but they were completely broken, torn off, and covered in blood, marked by cruel scars and cuts.
"You sure are lucky, kid," I heard in front of me, as the slowly luminescent dragon lifted the light upon the being made of darkness.
When I came face to face with the creature, I couldn't help but be startled... it was a baby... a dragon hatchling.
The little creature was frightened, it was less than a meter tall, maybe about 80 cm, its wings torn and its green eyes amidst the darkness enchanted me.
I looked at it, trembling and panting, trying to hide from me. I approached slowly, and it shrank further and further.
So scared and helpless, it didn't even look like one of the most terrifying creatures when grown; it just looked like a fragile little creature.
"What have they done to you?" I questioned to the air, although I already knew everything it had been through. Ironically, I had experienced a whole day as this little dragon.
"Calm down," I said, approaching slowly, but it kept retreating until it hit the wall. Its wings tried to stop me, but I saw that its head still had an exposed wound.
"This is cruel," Voralith appeared without hiding her presence from the little one. "Calm down, little one, she's not evil," she said, and the hatchling looked at Voralith.
"Your blood, give it to him, a drop is enough," she said, and I was confused, but she herself ran her claw over my finger and made the blood flow. "Ah~," she said, feeling the pain. She pointed to the little one, and I had no choice but to follow what she said.
Even as it tried to pull away, I gave a drop of my blood into its mouth, noticing that even its jaw was dislocated and broken.
"Don't do anything," she said, and the little dragon nodded slightly.
It was four seconds; on the fifth, the dragon's body began to slowly morph and glow. Its whole body began to regenerate.
"What's happening?" I questioned her.
"Your body is still made of draconic essence, it's not even 1% awakened, but it's enough to heal the little one. In the future, don't give blood to anyone, not even that red-haired woman," she said, and I nodded.
"Can you speak now, child?" Voralith asked. I let her take over the conversation; it would be easier.
"!@$!@#$!@", he growled in whispers something to Voralith, a language I would never understand even if I wanted to.
"Use words, girl, in this language I'm speaking, she needs to understand what's happening," Voralith said, and the hatchling, revealed to be a girl, looked at me hesitantly.
"Don't worry, my mistress won't hurt you. I know you resonated through a previous dream. She's the person you asked for help," Voralith said, and the youngling continued hesitantly, but for the first time.
"Help me," she said, her eyes filling with tears as her body continued to slowly heal.
"Please, get me out of here," she pleaded, starting to cry, a sight that tore me apart inside.
"Calm down," I said, placing my hand on her head and stroking it. Fortunately, the wounds on her skull had healed quickly; I imagined the process was enhanced to heal the most important parts first.
"Voralith..." I said, and she knew I wanted answers.
"She's a common species of Dragon, not like me, a True Dragon who inherited the memories of my predecessors, even though I was human," she said, looking at the little beast I continued to stroke.
"She's two years old. Dragons are peculiar, they can use all the magics that exist and are the beings mana loves most, but this one was abandoned by mana, or rather, she was corrupted," she said as her body shifted into that of a beautiful woman.
"Dear child, can you transform?" she asked, but the little one denied. "I understand." She returned to her usual small form.
"Ziriel, pay attention to what I'm going to tell you, this child cannot stay here, or it will be chaos in the future. Common Dragons are not as strong as my kind, who possess the knowledge of Runes and Draconic Speech, but still... With this child's psychological state, if she reaches adulthood, this kingdom may vanish," she said, and I nodded.
The arrogance of dragons is always represented everywhere; Voralith was no different, but this one... If she evolves and keeps everything to herself, when she grows up, this kingdom may indeed be wiped off the map.
"Alright, little one, I'll take you with me," I said, and she shrunk slightly. Voralith landed on her head. "Don't worry, she may seem wicked, but she's a good person, despite having so many wives and still looking for more," she said, offending me.
***
Hours later.
"WHAT HAPPENED HERE?! WHERE IS THE DRAGON?!" He shouted, echoing from all sides, the man, however, didn't yield.
"I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU ASKED FOR, AND STILL, YOU LOST THE DRAGON? DO YOU THINK THE EMPEROR WILL BE HAPPY WITH THIS?" He yelled.
"Y-you, sir, had the idiotic idea of hiring a gang to take care of this place!" He stammered, answering to his superior.
"YOU..." He raised his hand and delivered a heavy punch to the employee's face, who fell unconscious to the ground.
"What am I going to do? If the emperor finds out... damn, I need to find that brat!" He exclaimed and pulled out some sort of magical cell phone.
"Yes, call everyone. The Dragon has been stolen," he said and immediately hung up. "Damn it, why did I want to save money, but it was too much money... ah, screw it, I want them dead." He said and kicked the unconscious man's head.
"DAMN IT!" He shouted again and heard footsteps. Turning around, he saw a kind of secretary. "Miss Jun-he, what brings you here?"
"It's a displeasure to see you, Baron Gordon Khaneth, but I'm here on business. The Princess has arrived in the Empire," she said, and he promptly began to tidy up, straightening himself and wiping the bloodstains off his shoe tips.
"Your Majesty the Princess has Returned? What did the Emperor say about this?" He asked, and she looked at him analytically. "Emperor Ethan asked you to get rid of her within a week, or he'll get rid of you," she said and turned away.
"And I will inform him about your lack of character in embezzling money and losing the Dragon," she said.
"Sir..." "Shut up, before I kill you," she said and walked away.
"DAMN IT! CURSED DRAGON!!!!!" He shouted and left the place walking.