Chương 404: A Dragons Wisdom

Vale stared up at the night sky, but his mind refused to settle. There was simply too much to think about. His meeting with Kealix had answered almost nothing, yet it had given him enough new information to create even more questions. Resting felt pointless now. With a quiet sigh, Vale pushed himself upright and brushed a few pieces of grass from his clothes.

"Alright," he muttered.

"Let's see what I actually know." He took a moment to sort through his thoughts. He tried to separate what he knew for sure from what he only guessed. After a few seconds, he began speaking aloud. He raised one finger with each point.

"First. Something is hunting me. Something stronger than even Kealix. Yet, for some reason, it can't reach me while I'm in my normal body." He raised another finger.

"Second. Zellion has saved my life twice. He's the reason I'm alive in the first place, but I still don't know how he did it." A third finger followed.

"Third. Kealix told me never to trust an Unwritten. The way he said it makes me think I've already met one. I just don't know who." Vale raised a fourth finger.

"Fourth. Kealix knows about me. He knows about what happened to me, which means he's probably been connected to me for a very long time." He lowered his hand and stared at his fingers for a moment. That last point brought another question with it, and this one bothered him more than the others.

"If he's been connected to me for that long... why didn't he save me? Am I not his heir? Why would he let someone kill me?" The question stayed in his mind. He thought about it again and again, but none of the answers made sense. Maybe the person who killed him had been stronger than Kealix, but that seemed impossible. Maybe Kealix could not control Vale's body at the time, but that also made no sense. He had taken control before during the fight against the Colossal. So why had he done nothing when Vale died?

Vale sighed and rubbed his face.

"Damn mystery again." He raised his hand once more.

"And finally... Mirage wasn't there, even though he's part of me." That problem bothered him more than almost anything else. Mirage was supposed to be part of Vale himself, yet when Vale had looked deep inside his own being, Mirage had been nowhere. He had not been there in Vale's inner world. He had not even been inside Kealix's domain. He was simply gone. That made no sense. Vale had spoken with Mirage normally before they entered the Tower of Ruin. Months had passed since then.

But Mirage never communicated once...

"So where the hell are you?" Vale rested a hand against his chin.

"Could Mirage be me?" He frowned as he thought about it.

"No. That doesn't make sense either." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. If Mirage were only another part of Vale's mind, then Vale should have known about it. More importantly, Mirage had his own body. He had spoken to Vale and acted like a separate person. There was no simple way to explain that. Vale's thoughts slowly moved to something else. The darkness. Not the darkness that had surrounded Kealix's domain. He meant the other darkness.

The place where that strange being had been hiding. He remembered what he had seen beneath it. Or, at least, what he thought he had seen. Something had been there. Vale was sure of that. The darkness also reminded him of the mist that had once hidden the true form of the Spawn that gave him Ember. That mist had not been simple cover. It had been dangerous. It had acted almost like a weapon. Maybe this darkness was the same. Maybe it was hiding something. But what? Vale thought back to that moment.

He remembered the feeling of being watched, and that was what bothered him most. The darkness had not ignored him. It had noticed him. It had actually seen him. A giant could step on an ant without ever knowing it was there. This had not been like that. Whatever lived beneath the darkness had known Vale was there. It had noticed him and then tried to crush him. But had it really been trying to kill him? Vale frowned.

"No." The answer came quickly. The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed. The being had crushed him slowly. It had taken its time. If it only wanted Vale dead, it could have killed him much faster. So why didn't it? Did it enjoy watching him suffer? Did it enjoy fear and pain? Maybe it liked playing with its prey. Kealix had called it a predator, after all. But even that answer felt wrong.

"There has to be another reason." Vale slowly started listing what he knew about it.

"It can sense me. Something only Kealix and that thing seem able to do." He raised one finger.

"It has that deep darkness covering its whole body. I couldn't even see what was inside." A second finger.

"There was something beneath that darkness. Something I couldn't understand." A third.

"And it's hunting me." He paused before adding the final point.

"Something stronger than Kealix is hunting me." Vale fell silent. He stared across the lake as the same question returned to him.

"Where was Kealix's domain again? Somewhere on the edge of existence? Could it be... something beyond existence?" The idea sounded stupid as soon as he said it.

"Are there even things beyond existence?" Vale shook his head.

"No. That's stupid. Maybe it's just a Goliath." He stopped. For a moment, the idea was almost comforting. Then he quickly rejected it.

"No." If the being were a Goliath, then that would mean a Goliath could reach the level of the Creator. That could not be right. No Goliath should be able to match the Creator. Even the strongest Goliaths could, at best, fight against gods. The Creator was far beyond them. Of course, that depended on one thing. Vale rubbed his temples.

"Assuming Kealix is even on the Creator's level." He sighed.

"This is such a pain." Vale looked down at the lake. The water was almost black beneath the night sky. Only the faint light of the stars could be seen on its surface. Even if he could see his own reflection, the darkness would make it hard to notice. He reached down and picked up a small stone. With a simple throw, he sent it across the lake. The stone bounced once. Then twice. Then a third time. It finally lost its speed and sank beneath the water.

Vale watched the ripples spread across the surface before letting out another sigh.

"Well, I'll go for a walk." He reached for the upper part of his armour and pulled it back into place.

"Maybe clearing my head will help." Vale stood up. Then he stopped. Something was wrong. The water was moving. At first, it was barely noticeable. Small ripples spread across the surface, even though there was no wind. Then the ripples became larger. The lake began to shake, and the water slowly started to rise.

"It's coming out..." He stared at the lake in confusion.

"But why?" Before he could think of an answer, the water suddenly burst upward. Dark water poured from the sky like a waterfall as something massive rose from the lake. A huge head broke through the surface. The Serpent. Water ran down the serpent dragon's blue scales as more of his body rose from the lake. His massive form towered over Vale, while his huge eyes slowly settled on him. But something was different. Vale could not explain it, but its gaze did not feel the same as before.

He had seen the dragon some times now. Still, Vale did what he always did when facing him. He lowered his head in respect.

"Revesh." The dragon said nothing. For several seconds, neither of them moved. The only sound was the water falling from its body and returning to the lake. Then the ancient dragon finally opened his enormous mouth. His voice rolled across the water.

"Wrista."