Zodiac Circle

Chapter 6: The Tale of the Blood Dragon

Tamie’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment and worry – ugh, what had she done?! She had just called a man she barely knew! How awkward!

“Tamie, you there?”

She sighed – there was no turning back now.

“Um… Hey there, Erik!”

She sweated in nervousness and thanked the stars Erik couldn’t see her right now but could only hear her voice.

“Haha! I’m glad you’ve called! Oh, wait… Do you perchance need my help, Tamie?”

“Ah, no, nothing like it!” Tamie grinned, even shaking her hands as if Erik were actually there. “I… I’ve called you by accident. I hope I haven’t disturbed you from some serious work?”

“Haha, no worries, Tamie, I’ve been doing nothing. I’ve got a meeting in three hours so in these three hours of leisure I’m actually quite bored. I’m happy you’ve called. Um… might it be you were about to call someone important? In that case, I can turn off the call…”

“Oh, no, no, don’t do! It is fine. I was going to call my mom, but I’ve already talked to her earlier, so I guess I’ll just call her later tonight”.

“Haha, then it’s settled – we can have a little chat. So, how’s it going? Have you already joined the Rose Cruce?”

“Ugh, yes… I reunited with my brother. I’ve got quite annoying neighbours, though, and the Magister is really weird”.

Erik laughed:

“You mean, Edmund Jaeger? But he’s a Libra too, isn’t he? How come you think he’s weird?”

Tamie laughed too:

“I know he’s a Libra, but we Libra rarely get along with each other… I especially can’t understand Libra boys. They seem way too weird to me. Sometimes I can’t even believe we’re the same sign”.

“Yeah, I’d agree on that – Libra men and women are quite different. Libra men are generally losers. That doesn’t apply to Edmund, however. Don’t underestimate that guy, Tamie. He’s got quite some tricks up his sleeve”.

“Well, that’s nice if he’s not a complete weakling, or else I’d seriously start worrying I’ve joined a wrong order”.

“Nah, no worries – Rose Cruce Order is one of the strongest. Stick to it! After all, my rival’s there too. I don’t choose my rivals blindly. Only those who are worthy can rival me”.

“Well, he’s my brother, after all!”

Both of them let out a laugh.

“By the way, Erik, um, as your signal shows… you’re a Dragon spirit, right?”

“Oh, yeah… Why asking?”

“You know, since I’m a lefty, I asked these guys to let me wear my ring on my left hand…”

“Oh, haha, you’re a lefty too? Awesome! Fellow lefty here, yo!”

At such a positive response, Tamie couldn’t help but giggle.

“It is cool! But then Edmund talked about some Blood Dragon guy who was also a lefty and had worn his ring on the left hand, and then he massacred his whole order. So, I wondered… since you’re a Dragon too and even a lefty, do you know anything about this guy?”

Silence fell for some minutes. Erik’s voice didn’t call out for long.

“I know that story, but it’s not like because he’d worn his ring on the left hand he turned berserk. That’s just superstitions and gossips of some uneducated righties. The Blood Dragon had his motives for turning his back on his order, as all people have their reasons for doing things”.

“So, you know about the Blood Dragon?” Tamie clutched her gadget in excitement, “W… What was the true story, then? Do you know?”

“The Blood Dragon belonged to the Crimson Flame Order, the same as I”.

“No way, so you’ve known him in person?!”

“Yes, I have. We were the only lefties in the whole order. However, I wore my ring on my right hand as was the tradition. Anyway, the Blood Dragon was never a cheerful guy, at least not when in our order. We didn’t know a thing about him. He only did his jobs and that was it. At that time, the Sun Celestial Lord was, of course, another guy, because we were then still too small. It was an old man, Merlinn Goldreich. He was the Overlord of the Crimson Flame Order, where the majority was fire signs. The Blood Dragon and I, too, were fire signs. Then, one day, when we grew and got stronger, the Blood Dragon indeed went berserk in all of a sudden and massacred the whole order… But I am sure his hatred was long sowed and grown. So don’t worry about such tales. No one goes crazy just by wearing some ring on a different hand than the majority does,” he laughed.

Tamie was dumbfounded – so Erik was actually from the same order as that murderer?! But if the Blood Dragon had massacred the whole order, how come Erik was still alive?

“So, you were the only survivor from your order? I… I’m so sorry, Erik!”

“Nah, don’t worry about that. That was long ago. Many winters have passed since then. You enjoy your time in that order!”

“So then… Erik, do you know where that Blood Dragon is now?”

“I was the one who defeated him back then, but he fled. Stars know where he might be now… Don’t tell me you’re worried!” Erik laughed.

“Of course I’m not!”

After some time, Tamie and Erik finished talking. Tamie fell back onto her bed, flying into her thoughts – this Blood Dragon story was still such a mystery…

Soon, however, she decided to forget about it and go to bed, for tomorrow she would be taking her first job as a Zodiac Mistress.