Mega Dragon: Harbinger of Death

CONUNDRUM

“Do you know the last time someone tried to break in here? A few years ago. Two years after the armistice was formed. I was seventeen then. Do you know what happened to them? Of course not. There was nothing left of them to remember. Come out now while I’m feeling chivalrous. Or should I rip you out of this wall myself?” Ara said, staring intently at a part of the wall.

He was certain that Ara wasn’t bluffing at that point. Like ink out of a painting, the intruder came out of hiding within the walls. Ara noticed the resemblance to the man without any presence – the man who approached Kiro in the eastern market. He had a lot of questions to ask him. And that thought distracted him from seeing the intruder’s attack.

“Incendo!” the intruder cried and Ara burst into flames so strong, that all the surrounding windows shattered. He ran as quickly as he could through the walls. It was easier for him to hide in plain sight from everyone else. And if he were successful enough in putting distance between himself and Ara, Ara shouldn’t be able to sense him. He knew well that the fire spell he cast on Ara would do little damage to him if any at all. But he wanted to but some time and it did just that for him.

Ahead of him, he noticed Zenon resting on the wall on the same path he trod. He didn’t have enough time to implement his plan against Zenon. Zenon knew where he was so there was no use hiding. He sprung out of the wall and ran in another direction from Zenon.

“Don’t go that way. Ara is already there,” Zenon said.

“Excelsia!” the intruder cried, conjuring a force field that pushed Zenon through the wall in an instant.

Alas, Zenon spoke the truth. Ahead of him was Ara Croft. The man he set ablaze behind him. And even more frightening was that Zenon was beside him. He was sure both his spells made contact with both of them, but there they both were like nothing happened.

“You’re not very smart, are you?” Zenon goaded. His attention turned towards the sky. Someone was coming. A quick swing of a sword from a warrior lunged at Zenon from above. But no one except Ara saw Zenon unsheathe his sword and cut his opponent’s sword in two. All they saw was his sword break in two without any movement from Zenon. Instinctively, his opponent retreated.

“Didn’t you notice? The whole place is deserted. I picked up your scent a lot earlier and evacuated everyone you could try to use as a hostage. Not like we couldn’t stop you if you did, but I’d rather avoid that,” Zenon said.

Neither of the intruders could move a step or utter a word. Breathing was the best their bodies could do. Their eyes were so dry that they could barely blink. They were faced with the worst scenario possible – Ara Croft and Zenon Lo.

“What did you come here for and who sent you?” Ara asked, but the intruders said nothing. Ara was irritated. “Do you fear someone else more than you fear me?” he snapped. Zenon took a few steps back from him. He knew very much what was about to follow. Ara released his aura, but not completely. Just enough to intimidate the intruders. Their will was strong and this annoyed Ara even more to release more of his aura.

“Ara, relax,” Zenon warned, but Ara was far gone. The walls around them cracked as the leaves creased from Ara’s aura. “Ara!!!” Zenon beckoned on him snapping him back to his senses.

He noticed the two intruders unconscious on the ground. His aura did a number on them. More than he expected. “Are they---?” he asked, but he couldn’t dare to complete that question.

“Yes, Ara. They’re dead,” Zenon said.

***

It was far from ‘mission success’ for Zenon. They might have just stopped two intruders from achieving whatever their goal was, but they were left with no information. The swordsman died from being exposed to Ara’s aura, while the sorcerer committed suicide out of fear. Fear of what really? Dying? t*****e? Betraying his comrades? Whatever it was, he did not hesitate to take his own life. And there was nothing Zenon could do about it. Whatever spell he cast took effect immediately. If he had noticed, he would have at least tried to knock him out instead.

Ara on the other hand couldn’t be bothered. Info was good, but they just stopped a threat. And no matter what threat arose in the future, he would always be able to deal with it. That was the type of face he tried to wear. But Zenon was aware that he was a lot smarter than that. Deep down, he writhed in frustration for going overboard. He only wanted to scare them a little. From the way they attacked, he estimated they were a lot stronger. It had been a long time since he released his aura so he might have overdone it. And Zenon was not happy about it at all. But he said nothing. He knew that Ara got the message loud and clear.

“Let’s close this up,” Zenon said.

“That wizard could hide from Jerome,” Ara said.

Zenon stopped in his tracks. He knew what Ara was getting at. The wizard should have been able to withstand that much of Ara’s aura. He even wore a Hyacinth mix to hide from Ara. He was well prepared.

“What do you think was his plan to hide from me?” Zenon asked. He was truly curious. It would be disappointing if they hadn’t come up with a countermeasure for him. Even he was not aware of what his weakness would be. He was human. He was already weak.

“I don’t know. But his output at the beginning and at the end was very different. He should have been okay. You know what I’m trying to say, right?”

“Well, he’s obviously not working alone. He had this guy right here.”

“And the man with met at Kiro’s shed,” Ara said. It was a hunch. A strong one. The patterns on the cloak arose suspicion. Ara removed the cloak from the sorcerer’s corpse. It might not be the case, but the cloak might have some perks. “I’ll have Jerome look at it. We might get something,” he added.

***

Aroha and Zhiyi continued their t*****e. That was what hours of repetitive basic training were for them. Vela watched them all the while. Waiting for when they would finally drop either out of exhaustion or frustration. But the girls persevered. They didn’t know what Vela’s end game was but they were not going to stop until Vela said so. Gero and Miya had trained them on how to use the druid’s mana for extended periods. How to replenish mana while using it at the same time. How to balance between the input and output while replenishing their strengths. And for three days, with not more than two hours break a day, the girls went non-stop on manipulating water bubbles. By that time, Kiro was fully healed. He was stunned to find the girls training so hard.

“Why do they have to train so hard? They were already born gifted,” Kiro asked Vela. To him, there were two types of people – those born with gifts and those without. Those with gifts need not put too much effort to be successful. Hard work was for those born without gifts. That was an ideology that was stuck in his head for as long as he could remember.

“It’s for that very reason that they have to work hard. Let me ask you a question Kiro. Between someone who has to climb a hill and a mountain, who do you reckon has to put in more effort?” Vela asked.

“The mountain?”

“Exactly. Think of those two things as potentials – the hill and the mountain. The more gifted you are, the more work you need to put in. Because those without gifts reach their top quicker than those with. And to live with the pain of never reaching our peak is not something you want to live with.”

“What about equipment?” Kiro asked.

“That would be the environment, family, mentorship. Like you. You just got the best equipment someone with your gifts could hope for,” Vela replied.

“I doubt he had to work that hard. He was born as the most powerful druid human ever. There’s no way he had to try that hard.”

Vela chuckled. Most people thought that way as well. It was easier to believe that Zenon trained hard to be as strong as he is now. He might be human, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t gifted. However, Ara trained just as hard as Zenon, if not more. The human mind is insatiable. The feeling of wanting to reach your peak increases the higher your peak is. And Ara had done things that most people couldn’t fathom.

“You have no idea, Kiro. You’ll understand it a lot better when he starts training you. That’s as much as I’m willing to say,” Vela said.

Kiro cringed at the thought. Vela’s smile made him even more uncomfortable. What twisted things had she seen to make her smile that way? And if she could train the Renoffs that way, what kind of hell awaited him?

“I shouldn’t have said that,” Kiro said.

“Relax. You’re a beast. Once you get your ego, you’ll train even harder. It’s just a matter of time,” she said.

After three days and seven hours, Aroha dropped first. Vela was a little surprised and disappointed. With Aroha’s reserves, she should have lasted longer. She frowned heavily when she noticed Kiro’s presence. He looked away. Then she remembered that she called a truce. As inconvenient as it was, she had to honor it.

“Rest. You’ve done well,” Vela said.

Three hours later, Zhiyi followed suit.

“It would seem as though control is a lot more important. I thought you would last a lot longer, Aroha. But good work to both of you. You would be pleased to know that you both rank number four and five in the longest time spent in this test. Behind both your parents of course.”

“So, which one of them is number one?” Zhiyi asked through her teeth. It was hard to breathe let alone talk.

“That would be me of course. Miya second, Gero third,” she gloated.

Aroha felt even more disdain. But on the bright side, they had proven that they were far above that level.

“The reason for this test is simple; stamina. There will be times when we would need to heal for extended periods. The minimum requirement for healers is one day. So congratulations girls. You pass!” Vela cried with her arms outstretched. She was the only one that was excited, however.

“No kidding,” Aroha goaded.

“You’re both smug, aren’t you? I have another---”

“Yay. We passed. Hurray,” the girls feigned delight for the fear of being thrown into another test. They were both exhausted.

“That’s more like it. You both get the rest of the day off,” Vela said. She turned back to say something after walking some distance. “Ara sent for you three. If you have some steam in you, check him out. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Urgh. Ara. What did he want? They’d rather spend the rest of their day in bed. But it was better to see him first. There was no way they would be stepping out once they were wrapped up in bed. Kiro on the other cringed at the thought that his training would begin that day. He was just made aware that the girls were at work for three days straight. Beast training was known to be a lot more demanding because of their physical nature. He was sure of it. He would be visiting the healers nest regularly. And not to greet the girls.

***

The night after the intruders were stopped by Ara and Zenon, Alex left the manor in a suspicious black cloak. It seemed like the fashion trend for all things secret. He avoided the guards well. The terrain wasn’t difficult and he could surely talk his way out of any question but he would rather avoid the suspicion. That was the only reason he took the pains to dress in such a manner. He pushed a brick on one of the walls of the streets and moved into a hidden passage. The capital was ridden with them. Hidden passages that dated back to the time of the first humans on Maori.

Alex moved swiftly through the poorly lit passage within the hidden entrance. The neon lamps flickered and there were inscriptions on the walls that were similar to the ones in the garden at the palace. Finally, he entered a small room. It was just as poorly lit. And from the shadows emerged the stranger that had approached Kiro in the Eastern market. “What took you so long?” he said.

“They failed. Badly. They didn’t even stand a chance and they failed to get the creature,” Alex said. He looked very hesitant.

“Relax, Alex. It’s just the two of us,” the man said.

“They might be able to hide their presence but not their shadows,” Alex said as he noticed drawn-out shadows all over the place.

The man grinned mischievously. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t notice.” From the shadows emerged almost a hundred men! “We will keep trying until we get it right. We have time. They don’t.”