Dragon Guide

Chapter 17: Reincarnation

As the golden dragon turns to look at me, I can't help feeling a familiar draw to him. The feeling reminds me of my draw to Armin and I wonder if the nature of that is because these two are related. While this crosses my mind, I hear as Akane hisses out a sigh and turns to the other dragons and carries on a conversation that I am now unable to partake in. I notice as the silver dragon gets up steadily and goes over to join the others, eyeing me tenderly the entire way there. I make to move over to the group and join the conversation just as the golden dragon approaches me. When he is in front of me, he bends his long neck to my level and purrs as he rubs himself against me! What the living hell?! Is this really happening right now!? To add to the drama, Ryuu decides to pick now to perk up and scream at him! His little voice sounds like a human child trying to roar! With the crazy way my emotions are going right now, I can even help it, I burst out in laughter! The sound rings throughout the underground valley and I fall to my knees in tears and laughter.

I've just been so on end and the relief is so incredible that I feel light as air. Ryuu looks at me and seems to find my laughter contagious and he laughs too, and before I know if everyone is laughing. I don't know if it is with me or at me. They are laughing, but who cares? Certainly not me right now. The golden dragon rises up to look at Akane and says to her, "It looks like your descendant is not in unison with you as much as you had hoped, how does it feel to be left as the only one with such resentment?" The question he asked caught my attention and I cannot help but wonder what on earth are they are talking about. Just as I open my mouth to ask what that was about, a bronze-scaled dragon with grey eyes speaks up and surprises me beyond words with what he says next.

" Young one, I am Kojin, the representative of Yuki's bloodline. I will tell you everything you need to know about Sabina but you must keep an open mind. Let me start by telling you that you come from a line of strong dragon blood but there are things that happened in your family that have led you to this life. You live as a mage I see but, that is not befitting of you. You heard the name Sabina mentioned earlier. Well, she was a dragon that descended directly from the children of two of the first four dragons. Sabina was a third-generation descendant and she is also the source of your bloodline. Rivia you are a dragon of the finest lineage, and we plan to unlock the bindings that cage your dragon traits. We have waited a long time for Sabina to be reincarnated and finally, after thousands of years and after all our deaths, you finally appear. We've gone through great troubles to bring this day to fruition and looking at you now, I am happy to say that you do not disappointed. Even in a lesser state, you have flourished and created a stable foothold in your world and in the lives of the people you encounter." Kojin says this to me calmly as if coaxing a stray cat to him.

"Wh... what...what are you talking about? A dragon? Me? Impossible! My parents are witches and so are all the descendants of my family. You have the wrong person. I am indeed a Dragon Guide but that is not to be mistaken as me being a dragon. That is impossible. I... I am so sorry and I don't mean to be rude, but this is also not a good time for me to be going through this. I have my children and they are in a very dangerous situation and I need to take care of them first. Please can we do that first and then I will come back to listen to you. I am desperate to keep my children safe please. Look at Ryuu, he is a mess and I need to get him fully changed and out of here so I can move on to the rest. I have ten children with me and they are troublesome. I fear more than anything that the hunters will find them and harm them! Please I beg you can we move on?!" I drop to my knees and beg them all, my voice cracking in strange places as my plea rings out to them and I hear the borderline hysteria in the sound.

'We will help all the children and you to complete the change. We thought that you would bring them all together for this ceremony. We were surprised to see young Ryuu by himself, unaccompanied. We even waited a full day for you to join us, but when you did not come, Akane grew tired of waiting and took the child away and began his change herself." says the pearl white dragon. I heard them call her Briseis. She must be of either Greek or Trojan origin. I look at her like the words she is saying are alien to me.

"A full day? I came in right after Ryuu. At the most, I took five minutes before following after him. It took me about a half-hour to cross the provinces to get here, but by then Ryuu was already here and being changed. I was frantic to reach him and came as fast as I could travel. I don't understand why you would say that!" I resentfully say to them all.

" I would never abandon my child in an unknown place like that for a full day!" I feel a bubbling rage inside me, it burns like fire in my veins. I can't control what I am doing or saying. This is not a place for me to lose control of myself, this is now a matter of life and death until I leave this place and get back to the mortal world.

In unison, they all look at each other and the scales above their eyes bunch together as if something confuses them. Well, even if they are confused, then what am I supposed to be? Forget it, I'm here now and this entire conversation needs to go in one direction and that is to sort out how to change my children's form in this foreign place. You would really think this is my first time going through the change with whelps by the way this whole situation is happening! Why? Ugh... no Rivia! Do not doubt yourself! Yes, there may be many this time, but there is no way that I will leave them in danger! They are mine! I can do this. I WILL DO THIS!

I look at Ryuu and again he surprises me. He is almost a complete boy. All that remains is his tail and a scant few scattered scales across his cheeks, stomach, and limbs. His hands and feet are now normal human hands. Tears prick my eyes as relief washes over me. I wish I could share this feeling with Ryuu, but in this place, I seem to be as useful as a mere human. I have no magic here and it is frustrating!

"Return to the other children and bring them all here. I will keep Ryuu safe from harm. There is not much time left and it is clear that time moves faster here than it does in the spirit world. We also have a limit as to how long we can manifest our souls here" says Briseis. I am baffled, don't they live in this world?

"I see you have many questions child and we will answer them all but first you must go and bring the children. As you can see this change is not the same as the one you know and it is slower here than in the other worlds but we decided to come here to add an additional barrier of protection for the children. We've been watching the hunters these past few days and they have not yet caught on to you and the children but, if they move even a mile closer in the direction of where yours and the children's physical bodies rest then there will be no hope for your survival." a dragon I recall being called Eivor, he is most certainly from Raven's bloodline.

This is indeed a serious situation if it is as they say. I nod solemnly. I look to Ryuu and explain in a soft gentle voice. "Ryuu, I need to leave you for a bit but I will be back with all the others, okay? Will you be good and wait for me? I promise to return." He nods his little head as his eyes gloss over with unshed tears. He makes his way out of my hands and stands on unsteady feet. When he stands, I can finally gauge the age he has taken on now, he appears to be about the height of an eighteen-month-old human child. After a few shaky steps, he seems to get the hang of it and walks towards Akane who gently encircles him with her tail. Reassured by him having chosen to go to her on his own I feel that he is not actually afraid of her and the earlier confusion was my own misunderstanding. I stand up and brush off the white shift I am still wearing. "I will leave now; I won't be away for too long. Please wait for me to return." With that I turn to leave however I am once again blocked from moving. I look up to see that it is the golden dragon, his blue eyes look at me gently as he says, "I will take you."

Before I realize what he means his tail wraps around my waist and I feel as my body leaves the ground. The next second I am nestled in between his wing bones and I grab onto the nearest spike I see in front of me. The wind slaps against my face but luckily, I can't feel the sting in this place. I am like a being that has no actual physical properties. I just exist, except where the dragons are concerned. As we soar through the sky, I feel alive! Suddenly the golden dragon takes a nosedive and I can't hold on at this rate. My hands slip and before I know it, I am falling in mid-air.