(Chapter 6)
The heat was unbearable. His scales were burning, and I felt my skin blister at the slightest contact. But I didn’t pull away. Instead, I closed my eyes and pushed myself.
’Let me in. Please. Let me in,’ I pleaded.
My energy pulsed in my blood, focused in my hands and surged forward, the last of it, the dying embers of what I had left.
It crashed against the wall of his rage, like a fiery blast. For a moment, I thought it would shatter. His fury was immense, uncontrollable, all-consuming.
A century of pain, a century of isolation, a century of being trapped in a body that had become his prison.
But beneath the fury was something else. Something small, frightened, and so desperately lonely and vulnerable that it broke my heart.
"Aksel. I am here. I am not going to hurt you. Please, trust me."
The dragon’s roar faded to a whimper on my desperate words uttered in a plea. His massive body trembled, and the chains that had held him so tight suddenly seemed loose. He didn’t lunge, and he stopped fighting.
He simply stared at me with his fiery gold eyes, which had changed to the warmth of honey. Slowly they began to droop and rolled back until they closed. His massive form collapsed on the ground with a deafening thud, sending a storm of air my way.
I stood there, my burnt hand still hovering in the air, my body shaking with exhaustion. The world spun around me, and I felt myself starting to fall and hit the ground, but I didn’t pass out.
"What did you do?" The Commander’s voice was raw, disbelieving as he hovered over me. "How did you? He has been like this for a century. A century. And you just made him fall asleep." His astonished eyes were fully focused on me.
"I don’t know," I whispered. "I simply wanted to help."
My vision blurred. The dark crept in at the edges, and suddenly I couldn’t move and couldn’t keep my eyes open.
"Starla." His voice was suddenly urgent.
I tried to answer, but the words wouldn’t come. All I wanted to do was sleep. How I could finally rest. I am sorry, Sirela. I did my best. I hope that was enough. Everything went dark after that.
***
Warmth crept up to me before I could even open my eyes.
Not the burning heat of the dragon’s cavern, but something gentler. A fire crackling nearby. Soft fur beneath my body. The weight of a blanket pulled up to my chin.
Then came the excruciating pain.
Every muscle in my body ached, especially my shoulder and my right hand still seemed to be burning. I could sense the bandages around my hand. My lungs ached with each shallow breath, and my energy, whatever of it remained, flickered like a twinkle of a star in my chest. I knew I had pushed too hard. I always pushed too hard; that was my trait.
’You are still alive. Somehow, you are still here,’ I reminded myself inside my head.
I forced my eyes open and focused them on my surroundings.
The ceiling above me was made of rough-hewn stone; flickering shadows from the fire in the hearth elongated across its surface. I was lying on a bed, with furs, pillows and a warmth that seeped into my aching bones. The room was small but comfortable, clearly carved inside the mountain.
I was not alone, though.
My head swivelled, and I found Azkan sitting in a chair beside the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, his head bowed. His dark hair fell forward, hiding his face, but I could see the tension in his scaly shoulders. The way his hands were clasped so tightly together that his knuckles had whitened. His gigantic structure made even the chair appear small.
He was waiting for me to wake up.
I should have said something. Should have announced my return to consciousness. But I was too tired, too drained, and honestly, I didn’t know what to even say to him.
How do you explain collapsing in front of a Beastman who thinks so lowly of you, who dislikes your kind?
"You are awake."
His voice cut through the silence like a knife through butter. He glanced up, and those violet eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made my breath catch.
I tried to sit up but failed. I fell back against the pillows with a frustrated groan.
"Don’t. "You need to rest. You barely survived. Are you always this reckless?"
I almost bitterly laughed. If only he knew.
"What happened?" My voice came out as a croak, and I ignored his question. "Is Aksel well?"
"Asleep." He leaned back, and something shifted in his expression. Relief, maybe or wonder. "For the first time in a century, my brother is actually asleep. He is not burning. He is not screaming. He is just... resting."
I let out a breath and let my body relax. "Good. I am glad to hear that."
"Good?" He laughed, but there was no humour in it. "You walk into a feral dragon’s den, nearly get yourself killed, somehow reach him when nothing else has worked, and all you can say is ’good’?"
I didn’t have the strength to argue with this beastman. "What else do you want me to say?"
"I want you to tell me how." He leaned forward again, his desperate eyes searching mine. "I have tried everything. Every S-ranked compatible guide and above. Every healer and their herbs, their rituals. For a century, nothing worked. And then you, a human who can barely stand. Whose energy appears on its last breaths, walks in and touches him, and he just..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "How?"
’Because I am dying; I am dying because I have been burning myself out for years. Because I am a fraud wearing my sister’s papers. And maybe because my Beastworld energy is different from the human world. I was beyond the wall now,’ I monologued.
But I couldn’t tell him any of that.
"I don’t know," I mumbled instead. "I felt his rage but also his pain and vulnerability, so I reached out. I wanted to help him. And something clicked."
"Something clicked." He repeated the words flatly, not believing me. "That’s your explanation?" There was heavy distrust in his voice.
"What do you want me to say? That I have some secret power? That I am special?" I closed my eyes, exhaustion pulling at me. "I am just a human guide. A tired guide who got lucky."
He was quiet for a moment. "I don’t believe that, and I don’t trust you one bit. You are hiding something."
I opened my eyes again at his allegations. He was right that I was hiding something, but how I was able to reach Aksel was beyond me.
"I have been around guides for a century," he said slowly. "I have seen the best of them. The strongest. The most skilled. None of them could do what you did." His gaze was searching, curious. "Whatever you are, you are not just a guide."
He didn’t know. He had no idea how far from the truth he was.
He studied me with his lips forming a thin line of annoyance. I could feel him weighing me, searching for the lies, the truths I was hiding. But he didn’t find it. How could he? He didn’t know what to look for, and I would never tell him.
Finally, he sat back with a heavy sigh.
"Fine. Keep your secrets. I will find out, and I am not letting you near Aksel again until you tell me the truth."
"You can’t do that."
"I can." His voice was firm. "You collapsed after touching him."
"I was exhausted before I got here," I countered.
"Which is exactly why you will stay away. You won’t step outside your room without my permission. You won’t go near my brother without my permission. You won’t speak to anyone without my permission."
What was he, a tyrant? How could he impose such restrictions on me?
I opened my mouth to argue, but a soft weight landed on my chest. Doodles. The little orange furball had appeared from somewhere, and now he was kneading my blanket with his paws, purring like a tiny furnace.
"You brought him in here?" I asked, startled.
"He wouldn’t stay in the corridor." Azkan’s voice was flat; he was trying to be indifferent, but I caught the faintest hint of something else. Amusement, maybe. "Your cat is remarkably stubborn."
"He gets that from me."
"I noticed." The side of his lips pulled as he tried to control his expression.
Doodles settled into a ball on my chest, his warmth spreading through me. I stroked his fur absently, my eyes growing heavy.
"You should sleep," Azkan said, straightening to his full height. I marvelled at how tall he was. "I will have someone bring food when you wake up again."
With that, he silently made his way to the door and halted.
Without turning towards me he rigidly said. "Keep one thing very clearly in mind. Don’t try to touch or guide me."
With those harsh words he left. I stayed awake for a while, pondering his words and why he must have said them before falling into a deep slumber.