Chương 129: To Heal A Dragon Part 1

The masked man regarded the motley crew in front of him. Human assassins mostly, as well as merchants, nobles, and a few who had given their bodies over for the use of demons. They all stood in circles awaiting his instructions. It was said that humans hated demons with every fiber of their being. It was the natural order of things that they feared creatures so powerful, so ancient, with no morality except for a loyalty to themselves.

They weren't tied down by principles or ethics that humans prized, and they always went after their goals with dogged, unabashed zeal. There was something admirable about that. Working with demons had so far been one of the more exciting aspects of Nio's career. But there was a beauty in working with humans too. They were remarkably simple. They liked to play roles, and each one wanted to believe they were fundamentally right, even when there was nothing to show for it.

Even those who prided themselves on integrity, who swore never to entangle themselves with demons, could be enticed with a few well-placed words. You just had to find out what they truly wanted, give that to them, and everything else would fall by the wayside.

"So," Nio said to them.

"I believe the attack on the archmage failed, but we will forge on with our plans. Today is the day the dragon will be at its weakest. So, today must be the day we raise hell." As those in the room murmured with anxiety, Nio smiled, already thrumming with excitement. His father often said that success was luck meeting preparation. The appearance of the dragon in the volcano had been pure luck. They had assumed that they would have to do a lot more to raise a guardian like the Great King of the Fire Giants.

But the death of the dragon would cut down that preparation time by at least a decade. But of course, when good luck came, bad luck was soon to follow. It was unfortunate that they had been discovered thanks to the agitation that had leaked out, despite their diligent siphoning. Now, everything was down to timing. They would strike tonight, and by morning it would all be concluded. Some of their ranks grew nervous about the undertaking, but Nio wasn't concerned.

He was optimistic by nature and visited an oracle weekly who told him that everything would turn out well for him. She was likely a quack, but still.

"What about Archmage Vittoria Di Santinael?" one asked.

"She has been investigating us, and we don't know how much she knows."

"Do not worry," he said.

"Your involvement will be hidden, as will the crux of our goal. You just let us handle that."

"Do not underestimate her," another spoke.

"She is something of a hybrid herself, though not the traditional type. She is partially elven and was able to single-handedly take down Mordius and his sons, and now they are on the run in the demonic realm. She is a much bigger threat than you know." Nio grinned wider. He already knew of Vittoria very well, had studied her and her magic. She was a talent, the third strongest archmage in the world. She was undoubtedly a threat he was looking forward to facing. But strength and magic weren't everything.

Especially not to the self-appointed Prince of the Hybrids.

"It's a two-part blood spell," Vittoria explained to Arielle as they appeared in the forest, to an even more aggressive buzzing in the atmosphere. So many orbs were charged and engaged in twisted spell forms which would likely make the terrain a minefield. A few of them had already formed manalings. The air quality was worse now, filled with escaped mini-orbs and the dragon's increased agitation. Growls from disfigured creatures emanated, the dark rippling with anger.

Clouds gathered overhead, split by a grumble that could have been thunder.

"The spell was already inscribed in the demon's blood before capture," Vittoria continued explaining, as she lifted them above the trees.

"It can be activated remotely to act independently and destroy everything within its vicinity. But it doesn't work if he's unconscious, which is why I knocked him out."

"Oh," Arielle said.

"What about now? What if he wakes up?"

"He won't," Vittoria said.

"And if he does, I took extra measures."

"What extra measures?"

"Let's just say, the home will take care of itself." Above the trees, they zoomed towards the volcano, avoiding the pitfalls on the way. Arielle adjusted the sack on her shoulder, and Vittoria turned to her.

"It's now or never. We have to try and heal the dragon." Arielle nodded. All she had to do was go in and give the dragon the potion. But what if it didn't work? She hadn't let herself truly consider that a possibility until now, being faced with the action. Neither Vittoria nor even Professor Woden seemed to have much confidence in the cure. He hadn't seemed hopeful when he'd handed it over to her, simply shrugged and told her it was the best they could do. Vittoria seemed prepared for it to fail.

But it had to work. The Spirit Path had to be real because she didn't want the dragon to die and for Sir Spendulon to become an orphan. As they landed on the tip of the volcanic hill, a cloud of heat surrounded them. The noises from below- loud, harsh breathing- shuddered through her ears. Her heartbeat immediately thundered in response, her senses on alert to even the cloying scent of smoke that smelled like incense.

It was so strong that it made her feel dizzy, and they hadn't even entered the stony nostril of the volcano yet.

"It's a little intense," Vittoria said.

"And it gets even more so the lower we descend. Are you ready?" Arielle nodded, even though she wasn't sure at all. It was an incredibly overstimulating experience. But there was no time for her to adjust.

"I'm ready." Vittoria wrapped them in a transparent bubble of temperature-regulating air as they sank deeper into the volcano. The walls around them were lined with green glowing lava, cracked open with angry flames sizzling underneath. They were assailed by constant clouds of darkness and soot that covered them with each thunderous exhale, obscuring their way, though Vittoria appeared to know exactly where they were going. She moved with ease, casting a spell to illuminate their path downward.

The low tunnel opened up to a wider floor of lava, where the first thing Arielle saw was a red, scaly tail lying on the fiery stream, unburnt. The tail was twice the height of Vittoria, and so long that she didn't see where it led in the darkness. It took Vittoria holding up her hand and sending a bubble of light ahead of them to uncover the rest of the body of the dragon as it curled around, surrounded by hot lava. Vittoria held out her hand and cooled a section into hardened basalt.

The sizzling heat steamed the outside of their bubble.

"Poor thing," Vittoria said.

"It's half dead."

"Yes," Arielle said.

"This is going to be a very delicate process, Arielle," Vittoria said.

"We have only a small window of time between my breaking the ritual and the dragon either dying anyway or recovering its strength. Which means that you have a short window to ensure that you heal the agitation, alright? If not, the second it recovers its strength, it will attempt to kill us and everything in the vicinity."

"Understood," Arielle said. She immediately activated her conglomerate of spells to enhance her sight to be able to scan the dragon's body. It was a mess, to say the least. She had studied some dragon anatomy with Professor Woden and knew the basics of what a dragon's inner organs were supposed to look like. So she knew that the heart wasn't beating nearly as fast, its stomach was compressed, and its spine was chipped in places. It was taking its last hollow breaths, the life force draining out of it.

"You sure it would have lasted till morning?" she asked Vittoria.

"It would have," Vittoria said.

"But only barely." Arielle swallowed. She focused on searching for this spirit path, through a pattern in the floating free mini-orbs connecting junction points such that she could ensure that that was the problem and the potions would fix it. So far, she saw nothing but chaos. The free mini-orbs zoomed about, following no discernible path, most of them travelling up out of what she assumed was the dragon's mouth, some coming out the other end, filling the entire space.

They seemed to be generating from the base of its stomach where its core likely sat. She focused on it, but the dragon's core wasn't as easy to see as that of humans. She could get a brief outline at most, in a given vicinity, and could sense the strength. But it wasn't nearly as clear as Lyra's, and she could not see a spirit path. Or perhaps, there was something beyond that she was supposed to be looking at. Or maybe… She had an idea.

"Can you take me back to campus briefly?" she asked Vittoria, who had hitherto been scanning the area, presumably for hidden doors or passages.

"Why?"

"The blue orb. It adds depth to spells," she said.

"Perhaps I can use it here."

"Don't you think that's a little dangerous? You mentioned that you don't truly know how to incorporate it into spells yet, and it has unpredictable effects. You might do something to make it worse."

"Yes," she said.

"But it might also help." The last time she had attempted to use the blue orb with [Sensate], it had enhanced every aspect of her senses to the breaking point. Every subsequent time she attempted it with complex spells, it tended to either break the spell or try to break Ari herself. However, maybe the blue orb plus a simple spell would suffice to help her find the spirit path before giving the creature the potion. Perhaps something similar to the spell she had used to find the abyss, turned on the dragon's body.

She didn't have a spell form in mind, but maybe just maybe, the blue orb would help her figure it out. After all, it worked with one's intent... right? Though it couldn't help her see the soul, the spirit path should be easier to tell, as it worked with the physical body too.

"Just let me try," she told Vittoria. Vittoria didn't waste time. In the blink of an eye, she got her out of the Volcano to the North Base cave. Upon Arielle's arrival, the orbs came together to greet her, including the blue orb. She felt almost guilty that she'd only come because she needed it again. She just had to remember to bring it back once she was done.

"I need your help again," she told the blue orb, and Vittoria gave her an odd look. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. But the blue orb bobbed its acquiescence, and Ari murmured a thanks as she formed a simple spell. She then walked slowly through the portal, holding the spell steady and ignoring her flashing vision as Vittoria lowered them into the volcano once more.

Ari used the abyssal blue-violet light spell to scan the dragon's body, but it showed a combination of blacks and whites, with nothing special moving in the abyss. She tried to reconfigure the spell in a way that might help her notice the spirit path, but the spell only gave her different versions of light and beams that had been replicated in the North Base cave already. Nothing new and nothing that could help her. She ended the spell and let the orb recharge as she tried to figure out her next move.

Maybe she should just give the dragon the potion and observe while the potion was already in its body. She'd initially wanted to ensure that she knew precisely what the spirit path was before she did so, to avoid wasting the potion if the spirit path was actually not the thing causing the dragon's illness, and to be able to adjust the potion as they went on. But maybe just seeing it work would give her the sight she needed. Or maybe it would work perfectly, and she wouldn't need to do anything to adjust it either.

One could only hope. As the orb moved around, familiarizing itself with its surroundings, Arielle took out the potion from her sack.

"Are you doing it now?" Vittoria asked, readying herself to leave.

"I think so." She glanced down at the potion, watching the orbs bound within it. She had already memorized the spell form, but she watched it again now, identifying exactly what spells allocated the essences to different parts of the body. Professor Woden had explained it all to her in the journal that he had given her. Base of the spine. Heart. Brain. Third Stomach. Cores. Elbows. Knees. Those were vital points in the spirit path of a dragon.

Those were the points she had to ensure were healed and properly aligned. There should be excess qi floating between those organs, with charges interrupting them. If so, why couldn't she see it? What if she crafted a partial version of the [Sensate] spell, or maybe used the light spell and combined it with the portion of the spell that attached the potion to a given spirit path. Maybe it would give her extra insight into that spirit path? Would it be too complex? What should she do?

Vittoria lifted her head sharply and said, "They're here." Ari's head snapped up too as she stared at Vittoria in alarm. Vittoria seemed completely relaxed.

"I'll go meet them and break the ritual. You stay and give the dragon the potion."

"Okay." Stray nerves flitted down her bones, despite Arielle's outward calm. This was like a test she felt wholly unprepared for. Despite Woden's lectures and her own efforts, there was so much she didn't understand about spirit paths and dragons. The idea of spirit paths was not accepted by the magical community, and some of its suppositions had been debunked. Yet, something about it had to be true since the effect Woden discussed mirrored what Arielle had seen in the younger dragon's body.

On the surface, her task was easy. Give the dragon the potion and let it do its thing. But she was plagued by insecurity and doubt, and the possibility that it might not work. What if she was delusional and Woden had only been humoring her? If she couldn't heal the dragon, then she would have to kill it once Vittoria gave her the order, probably. And if she didn't kill it, it would likely escape and kill everything else around them. Sweat trickled down her neck and spine.

The fact that this was a dragon she was standing in front of, a full-grown dragon that was actively dying, and she might have to kill it, or it could also kill her and so many other people... It was a lot to think about. Vittoria must have noticed Ari's doubt, because she put her hand on her shoulder, stilling her thoughts.

"Relax," she said.

"I believe in you, and regardless, I'm here. Don't worry about anything except giving it that potion. If it doesn't work, well, at least we tried. Just tell the portal bird if it doesn't work, and I'll handle the rest. Alright?" Arielle nodded. She was glad Vittoria was here, even as she ascended to deal with the intruders. Arielle searched around for the blue orb, noticing that it had already charged up, though it had been less than ten minutes. Thanks to the free mini-orbs, of course. Ha. Convenient.

Not only that, but the blue orb was chasing the free mini-orbs around, playing a game where it seemed determined to befriend and capture as many of them as possible. The blue orb was always the friendliest of all the essences. It liked to understand things, particularly foreign things in new environments. Arielle was suddenly struck with another idea. Perhaps the answer wasn't to use the blue orb in a spell. Perhaps the trick was just to observe it.

"Hey," Arielle whispered to the blue orb, using her core to draw it closer.

"I need you to go inside the dragon." The blue orb, of course, didn't understand what she was saying, but it was happy enough to stop its game and follow the path that Arielle had pointed it toward. She floated with the blue orb to find the large, spiky head of the dragon, its eyes half-mast and unfocused, mouth agape. It looked on the brink of death. Still, seeing it struck fear and sympathy into her heart. It was such a large, large creature. And she was right in the path of its mouth.

"Careful, Arielle," the portal bird said. She nodded. She didn't have any more time to experiment, so she took out the potion and directed it into the dragon's mouth.

"I've given it the potion," she announced as she activated her [Sensate] [Orion] combo, pushing the blue orb to follow the potion down the path of its throat.

"Now to see if it works." She hoped against hope that this would work, that it would give her something she could work with. The potion dispersed into the body, targeting the aforementioned junctures and surrounding them. It worked, in that the spell unfurled and attached to the targeted organ, and began to soothe and erase the bruises on it, but not by a notable amount. The potion stabilized the spell forms, and the hook created by the Vacu and Massa essences also worked to trap and drive away the mini-orbs.

In fact, it worked far better and faster than hers had, and seemed perfectly suited to the dragon's body. However, it seemed like there just wasn't enough of it. It would be fine if their theory was true and it was just those sections of the body that needed clearing to enable the spirit path to work well enough to restore the creature's immortal advanced healing. But no spirit path showed itself to Arielle, and there was not enough potion to heal the entire body.

The dragon didn't respond to any of what she was doing, but Arielle took comfort in the fact that Woden had said that this would not hurt it at least. The spell forms shifted perfectly as they cleared around the juncture points, but it still wasn't making much of a difference to the dragon's overall being. Meanwhile, the blue orb swam through the chaos, chasing the charged orbs, relentless in the pursuit as some got temporarily attached and some ran from it. Except not everything ran.

In fact, some of the free mini-orbs remained undisturbed and kept moving, particularly those in the space between the core area and the stomach. Arielle's heart jumped. That's it! A trail of free mini-orbs between the stomach and the core that, even with the blue orb swinging by, never changed its trajectory. Because it was already bound to something. The spirit path. With considerable effort, Arielle paused the blue orb's play and directed it to move between the stomach and the heart.

It showed a similar, although reduced, effect. Same with the knees and the stomach. Core-to-stomach was the strongest interrupted spirit path, and now all Ari had to do was realign it and remove the charged mini-orbs that were obscuring the path. Easier said than done. She directed the potion towards the general core area, trapping the free mini-orbs there. It was a painstaking process, and she could only hope that she would finish it in time.

It would help if she could see the direct effect of what she was doing on its cores. The aura reading spell helped, but she still felt like she was moving blind. Until the dragon groaned. Arielle shifted her gaze to find that its eyes were now on her. She gulped. But the dragon did not move to incinerate her. Arielle hesitated for a mere moment and continued to work, to clear a path between the core and the stomach.

She still couldn't see the effect of what she was doing, but she diligently used the potion to remove as many excess mini-orbs as she could and prevent them from clogging the path again, to give the dragon time to heal itself. How much time would it need? Hopefully, not too much. The dragon groaned again, louder this time. Triumph struck her, but she stayed still.

"Heal yourself," she told it, using the translation spell she had used with Heedy." You can do it."

"What kind of language is that?" A loud, booming voice echoed.

"Do I look like a child to you? Do you insult me? I would kill you if I had the energy." At first, Arielle didn't know where the voice came from. It sounded like it was in her head, but it wasn't the portal bird. Had someone invaded her thoughts? She turned, but no one else was there with her. Just the dragon, who had its eyes opened wider now. It was staring at her.

"Did you just..." Arielle wondered aloud without the translation spell, because she began to doubt herself.

"Did you just speak to me?" At first the dragon didn't respond, and she felt ridiculous. After all, Woden had told her that dragons preferred not to interact with humans. But then...

"Yes, I did speak, human. Disgusting, vile thing. See what you have done to me. Your kind only destroy everything. Worse than insects. I only wish I could use the last of my strength to do away with you." She blinked. That was unmistakable. Woden had said that dragons did not like to talk to humans, but it seemed this one decided to talk to her, if only to insult her.

"I'm trying to help you," Arielle said.

"You? Help me? What mockery. I will kill you and all of your lot. Especially since I know what you've done to my little one."

"Your little one is alive."

"Lies. I smell him on you. I smell his suffering. You humans have hurt him."

"No. I helped him. I'm here to help you."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying."

"You are."

"I'm not. Can't dragons sense lies?" It had said so in a storybook she'd read about dragons. Rather than admit or deny, the dragon grumbled.

"I am tired, child. Kill me if you must, but if I do not die, know that I will kill you." Ari didn't say anything. She didn't know if she should continue healing a creature that had sworn to kill her. But there was nothing else she could do. She'd already come this far. And maybe she just needed to convince it that she was a friend, not a foe. If it still didn't believe it, then Vittoria was always here to kill it.

She stared down at the spirit path again and continued to spread the potion as far as it would go, holding it in place to isolate the path for as long as needed. She wasn't sure she had enough. She focused mostly on the vital areas, but it was still stretched thin. Woden should have made more. Perhaps he underestimated the size of the dragon or the length of the path. Or just how aggressive the free mini-orbs would be. She couldn't blame him. This was new territory for all of them. She just had to try her best.

However, whatever she was doing caught the dragon's attention. It had remained silent as Arielle worked, occasionally snorting, but then even that reduced in frequency, until it said, in an almost curious though disgruntled tone,"What are you doing, puny one?"

"As I said," Ari responded.

"I'm trying to help you."

"By doing what exactly?"

"Strengthening and realigning your spirit path."

"My..." The dragon snorted once more, a weak one.

"Ah, foolish archaic humans. Spirit path indeed."

"Am I doing it wrong?"

"Obviously. Your kind can never do anything right." Arielle was disappointed. She'd thought she'd been doing well.

"Then you can help me," she said.

"I've given you a potion that is supposed to help, and it's been tested on a Phoenix–""A Phoenix!" It sounded insulted, and the heat pulsed in the room.

"Ari," Vittoria's voice was urgent with the portal bird.

"The ritual is entirely broken. Now, I'm taking care of the intruders. You have minutes."

"Okay," she responded, then told the dragon, "We have freed you from the ritual binding you. But if you don't help me heal you, then we will be forced to kill you."

"Arrogant fool. You want to play healer and killer. You do not know the kind of ancient magic that lies in my veins, child."

"But you do," she said.

"I can see the power inside you. I can see your cores practically, or at least the outline of them. All you have to do is tell me where to go, and I'll go there. Tell me what to do, and I'll do it. I learn fast."

"And if you fail, I'll have the joy of killing you."

"Or maybe I will kill you." Ari nearly regretted the words the second they left her mouth, but the dragon didn't react in offense. It evaluated her and said,"Fine. Since you do not seem to be a complete idiot, human, I will direct you through this 'spirit path,' as you so call it. Open your third eye."

"My... what?"

"Bah! Useless. Fine then. I will give you access to my cores. If you do one thing wrong, I will scorch you."

"Okay. Noted."