Emilia Rodes lay on a straw bed inside a bamboo cage as over a dozen men in heavy armor enjoyed food and wine that they found in the bandit house. It is also the place where all her family members died. Emilia wanted to go back to their side and see their faces again.
But she could not move her body due to being tied up by an invisible force. The old Lizardman had placed a binding spell on her before she woke up after being attacked by him.
She had tried everything to activate her unique ability, which had allowed her to break free of the bandit’s spell bindings before. But, for some reason, these particular bindings are immune to the effects of her ability.
The old Lizardman was a hard nut to crack when it came to getting answers. He did not bother answering her questions about Valgrind and the Candon Knight’s appearance in this place. All that she could pull out from him was that their meeting was pure coincidence.
She could not believe that! Not after what she went through over the past few days.
“Valgrind… why?” Emilia whispered.
There are so many emotions and questions that are going through her head right now. She had just slain the bandits and her brothers by accident. The brutal death of her parents when her siblings tried to escape the bandits was still fresh.
She moaned and wept tears of blood while cursing Valgrind’s name and the day he ruined her life. Then hearing his voice and seeing him right in front of her made her think she had gone insane.
What was the noble son of one of the famous great houses of Prandaval doing in this place? Then her mind clicked! Could it be, he had organized everything? All the misfortune that she experienced after meeting him could be explained away if he was the one manipulating everything to toy with her.
From a young age, her parents had warned her that the children of nobles treated Human commoners in an Elvan society as their playthings or garbage. Coming into contact with them was the same as letting a monster into your home.
There was nothing you could do to stop it from destroying your home and everyone in it.
Her mind pieced together the events that led her to accept his invitation.
That day, when Valgrind came up to speak to her family, she noticed her father and brothers were shocked speechless. They knew he was nobility, but since he was a human, they let their guard down. The boy had been a mysterious stranger to her on the day of blessings. He aroused her curiosity with his theories and disarming personality. But, she thought, what was the harm in engaging in his ideas and challenging his reasoning.
She did not expect he would invite her to his home because of it. So she rejected it and tried to ignore the confused look on him.
After the temple monks took Valgrind away, she and her siblings went ahead with receiving their blessings. When she entered the ritual chamber, she experienced a vision. In it, she saw an older version of herself flying on the back of a Gold Dragon. It roared and spewed streams of fire that washed over the land below, which was crawling with hundreds of warriors. The older Emilia was a woman whose face could have belonged to a beautiful queen. She wielded a mage staff that created fireballs and tossed them towards towers that had mounted several ballistae. It was obvious they were meant to shoot the Dragon and its rider. Fortunately, they all were reduced to rubble and scraps after receiving a storm of fireballs from her mage staff.
The Gold Dragon Emilia rode on looked young, a few years old at the most. It clawed and snarled at all the archers and mages below who tried to shoot it down. Finally, however, one of their attacks managed to pierce through the Dragon’s wing.
The older Emilia jumped away from her Dragon before it crashed into the battlefield. She managed to land safely on the ground by using fireball spells to slow the speed of the fall. Warriors charged towards her from all sides, but they stopped when the Gold Dragon turned into mist and fuzed with her body. Then, she transformed herself into a humanoid dragon without wings.
Emilia’s fingers had turned into long Golden curved claws. Her shoulders, elbows, and knees were covered in Golden scale armor. Her exposed skin was now covered in black scales, and her head was crowned by Golden spikes that protruded from her black hair like a halo. A black lizard tail appeared behind her back, a razor-sharp Golden arrowhead emerged from its tip. Her human pupils turned into elliptical ones that could be found among Lizardmen. The aura she generated after her transformation made all those around her take a few steps back. Emilia let out a dragon roar that caused everyone to grab their heads in pain. Many of the warriors lost their balance, while others fled the battlefield. She lunged into the enemy, who remained and slaughtered many in a single blow.
Her claws, tail, and crown were used to deal precision strikes to her opponent’s vitals. After a few minutes, the effect of her roar disappeared, and the tide of the battle turned. The number of enemies increased, and the restraints they deployed managed to stop her movements. When it looked like she had been captured and was about to be executed. A young man with white hair, grey eyes, dark skin, and a silver robe with the symbol of house Candon on his back rode into the mass of warriors on the back of a beast covered in Green flames. Two more beasts covered in different colored flames appeared beside him.
They created a bloody path that led straight to Emilia and the warriors who were restraining her. A barrier deflected all arrow and magic spell attacks that struck Valgrind directly. He soon started jumping and evading across the battlefield until he appeared by her side. He liberated her from the shackles by ordering one of his beasts to cut the restraints. Once freed Emilia, and Valgrind fought side by side until all the enemies were wiped out. At the end of the battle, the current Emilia saw her older self shake Valgrind’s hand. Then time froze, a disembodied voice filled the air with a message.
“An ancient power that has not been seen since the primordial era of this world now lives within you. To awaken this power, you must seek out the Herald of Chaos. It is he who will be your salvation and your damnation.”
Before the vision ended, Emilia thought she saw a smile on her older self.
When she woke up, she found herself wanting to meet Valgrind and tell him about her vision. It was an older version of him, and the symbol of house Candon was imprinted in her memory. But the part about Valgrind being the
Herald of Chaos and her damnation troubled her. Was that a warning to stay away from him or to not trust him? All she knew for sure is that she possessed the power of a Dargon, and that power needed Valgrind for some reason. If she could awaken the power of a Dragon, then the Elvan in Tarelam would have to upgrade her status and that of her family. Status meant everything in the Elvan society. It could only be given to those who are blessed with extraordinary abilities. Being able to call upon and ride a Dragon into battle was sure to qualify.
She begged her family to visit the Candon castle and see if they could meet Valgrind again. Emilia’s parents rejected the request until they heard her ability needed him. So they decided to take advantage of Valgrind’s invitation to see the Candon castle and let Emilia get to Valgrind.
Emilia could not have predicted that doing so would lead to her damnation.
“I am all alone now…” Emilia whispered to herself as she cried with her eyes closed. In her mind, she resigned herself to meet her family soon. Valgrind and his Knights would dispose of her when they had no use of her.
She fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion and did not wake up until noon the next day.
Emilia opened her eyes to find Valgrind sitting in front of her bamboo cage with Senu and the old senior Knight standing behind him. The other Knights surrounded her cage from all sides as well.
“Emilia I…”
Valgrind was about to say something when Emilia turned away from him.
“Haven’t you had enough entertainment from torturing my family and me?”
“Entertainment?”
“You know… It was my fault for asking my family to accept your invitation. We were poor, but we were all happy. You took that away from us and left me with nothing but guilt! Do you nobles have no mercy on us commoners?”
Valgrind recoiled in confusion, but then he shook his head and cleared his throat.
“I believe there has been a terrible misunderstanding-“
“Why don’t you just get this over with and tell me what you want already!”
Valgrind held up his hands in surrender and then pointed his finger to the opposite side of the bamboo cage without speaking.
Emilia was confused by his actions but turned her head around out of curiosity. She saw another Valgrind sitting there, but has a Red robe while the first was in a Silver robe.
“Did you order your Lizardman to cast an illusion spell on me?”
Senu shook his head.
“That is young master Zolgrind of House Candon. He is the identical twin brother of young master Valgrind.”
Senu spoke in a low deep voice.
“Twin?”
Emilia whipped her head back and forth between the two brothers. Eventually, she could spot the differences between them. Zolgrind’s eyes were more playful, while Valgrind’s looked haunted. In addition, Zolgrind’s body is more toned than Valgrind’s, and their hair is combed in different styles.
Then a memory surfaced of the boy she and her family thought they saw as Valgrind at the gate of Candon castle.
“That night…it was Zolgrind we saw?”
Both the twins nodded.
“I was only looking for familiar faces who were invited to the feast that night. If I checked properly, then this could have been avoided.”
Zolgrind said apologetically.
“So you did not know anything about what happened to my family, Valgrind?”
“The truth is the Candon family was preoccupied with a dispute with the Borlo family. So none of us paid attention to what was going with you and the guards at the gate.”
“Then why were we made into slaves?”
“It is a standard practice to make everyone who messes with the great families into slaves… especially if they are foreigners.” The senior Knight answered.
“Our Father handed you over to the Borlo family to appease them without investigating the issue. That was my fault in a way.” Zolgrind explained.
“Did you tell your father to do that?”
“No, I mean he had to appease them because of me. Plus, he drank a lot of wine, so I think he was not thinking straight.”
“Then how come you all are here? You must have some connection with the bandits.”
“We discovered this location when you used the ‘Dragon’s roar.’ We were on our way to Tarelam when it caught us in its domain. So coming across you is just luck.”
Senu explained.
“Luck? It was all just luck?”
Emilia took in a deep breath and exhaled. She was visibly shivering in rage.
“Are you saying all of this… my entire family is gone because of a mistaken identity and bad luck?”
Her rage made everyone uneasy. The knights pulled their weapons out of reflex.
“HOLD!” The Senior Knight yelled.
The Knights re-sheathed their weapons.
“Miss Emilia, it would be wise to understand your situation. Though it is unfortunate to hear this, there is no one to blame but bad luck. Unleashing your anger on the young masters will not bring your family back or give you any satisfaction.
None of us will stand by and let you go berserk again. All that waits for you is death if you raise a finger against them.” The Senior Knight warned.
An uneasy silence filled the air as Emilia pulled in cold air and let out hot air. She eventually calmed down and looked towards Valgrind.
“My parents were killed by the bandits, and my brothers died at my hands. I am the one who asked my family to go to the Candon house that night. So it is all my fault!”
There is still anger in her voice, but one could see she was facing the reality of what had happened.
“You came because of my invitation, so in a way-“
“No. We did not come for your invitation alone. I… I had a vision that day! It said I needed your help to awaken my ability.”
“What?”
Everyone asked the same question out loud.
“The All-Father said you needed Val’s help? Are you sure it is Val and not someone else?”
Zolgrind questioned as he pointed at himself.
“Well, now that I know he has a twin! I am not sure which one of you I needed to meet.”
“He did not say any name?”
“The message said the ‘Herald of Chaos’! I saw an older version of one of you in that vision helping my future self. That is all I know.”
Everyone looked around in confusion before their eyes settled on the twins.
“Herald of Chaos? Chaos… cards of Chaos?” Valgrind whispered to himself. Emilia picked up his words and felt that it might be Valgrind.
“You are the Herald, aren’t you?”
Valgrind stared at Emilia with fear in his eyes.
“Young master, why are you sweating?” Senu asked.
Valgrind wiped the sweat from his face and then got up.
“Emilia! In your vision, what was the Herald’s ability?”
“He was some kind of weird beast summoner. White hair, grey eyes, and dark skin. He danced around a lot on the battlefield, and he could also block-“
“STOP!” Valgrind yelled.
“What is the matter, Val?”
Zolgrind walked up to Valgrind and asked as he placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“I believe her. She saw me in her vision.”
“You mean you are the ‘Herald of Chaos’?”
“I am sure I was in her vision, but it is the first time I am hearing that title.”
“What do you want to do now?”
Valgrind looked back to Emilia.
“Meeting me has technically awakened your ability, right?”
Emilia suddenly realized that it indeed awakened indirectly.
“Though I am not sure how to control it without making it go berserk.”
The memory of her realizing that she killed her brothers made her fear the power inside.
“Then it must be fate that I am here then.”
Senu interrupted.
“What do you have to do with all of this?”
Emilia asked, confused.
“I am Senu! I was the last disciple of Guru Galonza, who had the same ability that you have right now. I doubt anyone else can teach you how to control that ability.”
“Senu… you want to teach her?”
Valgrind asked.
“If you will allow me, young master. I feel obligated to help the one who has inherited my Guru’s legacy.”
“Then she will have to come with us to the Takshila Monastery.”
“Monastery?”
“It is located within the territory of Aknal Island. The young masters will be training there for the next few years.” The Senior Knight answered.
“Aknal Island? Is that not the place where all exiles go?”
“Yes, it is, but we are not going to stay there forever. Only until the young masters have reasonable control over their abilities.” The Senior Knight explained.
Were they asking her to join them in exile?
“If you are willing to accept me as your Guru, I will be able to train you there.” Senu offered.
“It is not like she has anywhere else to go, right?” Zolgrind pointed.
“Zol, shut up!” Valgrind rebuked.
Emilia could not stop herself from smiling. These two reminded Emilia of her brothers. She then remembered the message from the All-father said Valgrind would be her salvation. He did save her in that vision, and she saw her older self smiling.
Maybe just maybe, accompanying Valgrind is what the All-Father wanted all along. But, unfortunately, her family had to pay the price with their lives to get her to this point. She could not look at Valgrind or Zolgrind without being reminded of what she had lost.
But maybe if she could become the warrior she saw in her vision. Then she could make her family proud and honor their sacrifice. Wait! Their bodies…How could she just leave them to rot!
“I need to prepare a funeral for my family first. Then, I will have to find a village and make some arrangements. I cannot leave them to rot in that house!”
Valgrind smiled.
“We built a funeral pyre this morning… just in case.”
Emilia was surprised, then her mind thought up other requirements.
“They have to be shrouded in white linen. Since there are six-“
“We wrapped them in the best silks. A whole trunk of it was buried under the hideout.” Valgrind answered.
“Offerings to the All-father?”
“We gathered the best ingredients from the leftovers along with luxurious animal furs. You can use them as offerings. Since you killed all the bandits on your own, their loot belongs to you.” The senior Knight added.
“Does that not mean we stole and ate her stuff?” Zolgrind asked.
“I do not care about all that! But I still need a priest or a monk to perform the service.”
“Though I may be a Mage, I used to be a shaman among Lizardmen. If you have no pro-“
“None! It would be appropriate for my Guru to preside over their funeral rights.”
Senu smiled and then led everyone to the site where the funeral pyre was prepared in advance.
“How did you prepare all this? You could not have known I would join you.”
“Let’s just say I felt responsible for this tragedy, and in that guilt-ridden state, I mobilized everyone to make sure you wanted for nothing,” Valgrind explained.
“Val, that was smooth. I recall you telling me you were prepared for her to beat you up and to let it happen even if it meant death.” Zolgrind commented.
“Shhh, this is a funeral!” Valgrind said as his cheeks blushed.
Emilia smiled and prayed thanks to the All-Father that she did not have to live alone in this world. Last night for the first time in her life, she felt truly alone. If possible, she wanted to build a new family and see where her ability takes her.
The Knights carried six bodies wrapped in luxurious colored silks and placed them in a neat row next to each other over the wood used to burn their bodies.
Everyone placed food, animal furs, and the deceased belongings on their bodies before covering them with more wood.
Senu made Emilia sit in front of him. He made her chant the names of her family members along with the year they were born. He then gave her a clay pot full of oil and asked her to circle the corpses three times before pouring.
She did as instructed and then was handed a lamp.
“You may say your last words to them now.”
For a minute, Emilia did not know what to say as she held on to the lamp.
“Mama, Papa, and brothers… I know that All-Father has a purpose for why these things happen and that we are not in control of our destiny. It is his will that we aspire to achieve and live. I do not think I will be able to forgive myself for what happened and what I did to… sniff…all I can say is that I am sorry. I wish I could have told you all that I loved our life and that I wanted for nothing. But that is a lie… I wanted many things, and I wanted to be noticed by the world. I let that blind me into this mess. I hope that when we meet again in the next life, we recognize each other and remember. Until then, goodbye.”
Emilia drops the lamp into the funeral pyre. In a few seconds, a towering wall of flame hides everything within.
