The Chronicles of Exodus 2: Wrath of the Fallen

Chapter 10 The Hydra, The Serpent, The God, and The Boy

I walked back over to the Dining Hall. Even from the outside it was bundling with noise. The chatter was extraordinarily loud, and the sound of things being shoved into bags was a constant. I gently pushed open the door and approached Mimir. "Mimir, what are the chances of the group's survival?" I whispered. He looked at me and scratched his beard. I could imagine thoughts bustling in and out of his genius mind. He blinked and finally responded. "With our dragons and if we were to leave tomorrow morning, I can speculate that our chances of survival are above 60%." I nodded and let him return to his packing. As for me, I needed to gather some things. I exited out of the back of the hall and followed the fence and the dirt path down to the line of sheds at the back of the property. I continued walking down to the second to last one. The rusted doorknob was crusted and sealed the door shut. The walls were mostly rotten, and cracks riddled the structure. I sighed and broke down the door with my shoulder. The door swayed in the wind before breaking off from its hinges and collapsing to the floor. I blinked the dust out of my eyes and walked to the back of the wooden shed. A large, thick layer of dust coated everything, cobwebs strung from the ceiling and planks from the roof had collapsed inward. A thin glimpse of the moon peaked through the hole in the roof. I sighed again and kneeled down on the floor. I felt around before feeling it. I ripped the carpet off the floor and tossed it aside. After coughing up a storm and swinging at the dust that had flown up, I felt around the damp wooden boards. Finally, I found it again. I pried a piece of wood from the floor and reached into the crevasse. It was ages since I last used this, but I figure it may speed up our journey to Sydney. Upon prying the object from the hole, I held it up to the moonlight. Gently, I blew the dust off, allowing it to float off into the night. I felt almost uneasy holding it but I ignored it as I do many things. Before I left the shed, I reached back down into the hole to retrieve another artifact. These would serve me well.

Before I returned, I went to the stables to collect the dragons, prepare them for our next journey. I reached the stables and unlocked the first stable gate. The dim fire light of the candle illuminated the first dragon. A bright blue wyvern with its wings folded up on its back and a tail with spikes as sharp as daggers protruding from the tip. I sighed; this was Astrid's dragon I could remember her riding it into battle with the dragon poachers at Tyr's Temple. After opening the gate, I moved to the second dragon. This one was large with two crests on its head and a frill around its neck. Most notably, this dragon had four wings which inspired its name, X-Wing. This was Mimir's dragon and was notorious for being incredibly stoic and whimsical. I guided them out to the centre of the camp and returned to the stables. I released the rest but stopped and watched the last. Perched like a gargoyle atop a wooden post, shrouded in shadow and flames flickering in his eyes, was Hellfire. I opened the gate and collapsed to my knees. Hellfire whooshed down, past me and stood up looming over me. His eyes stared deep into my soul and growled. His scales had darkened due to the frosted environment however, his core burned forever. Hellfire consumed atomic energy and 'hellfire' from The Underworld which he uses as sustenance alongside traditional means of sustenance, for instance meat. His horns curved up, out and then in, his wings were large and batlike in appearance with visible spikes on the bones of the wing. His head was reptilian and almost serpent-like in appearance with spikes poking out from his cheeks. He had black circles surrounding his eyes which only added to his menacing character. Lastly, his tail had a long black sickle shape on the end of his long, dynamic tail. I nodded a sign of respect to the powerful dragon and gestured for him to join his fellow dragons at the camp's centre. He nodded his head and walked off, but as he did, I peered into his stable. Hidden from view in the corner, covered in shadow a charred skull lay on its side. I didn't want to question whose skull it belonged to, but I had good feeling it belonged to that bastard who rid this world from Astrid.

Upon returning to the rest of the group we decided it was time to say our goodbyes to this place. The most emotional of us was Freyr. After all, this was his parent's land and leaving it after all this time, it wasn't easy for any of us. I fiddled with the objects I just regained. One was an Yggdrasil seed and the other, a sword hilt. Both artifacts I was gifted by Hades on our last journey. The seed acted like a key to a Mystic Gateway. The gateway allows people, gods, and mortals alike, to travel between realms and get to another realm or location in this case. We crowded around in the Serpent's Pass. It hurt to be here. I shouldn't be here. What right do I have to be here. Both...all three people here died because of me. I sighed and waited for the group to say their farewells before I had mine. I kneeled at Astrid's grave. I read her headstone. "Here lies Astrid, A Friend, A sister, A Lover." It read. I swallowed and sighed. "I had hoped things wouldn't have turned out this way." I said softly. "You were my everything, a sun to wake me in the morning, and a moon to watch over me at night. You were a cunning warrior, and a great friend, I'll miss you forever." I turned to Patrick's. "For the brief time I knew you, you were a pain in the ass, but, in a good way. You kept us in check, made sure we were all fed, even me when I didn't require sustenance and before we went to sleep, you insisted on staying up to watch over us. You were extremely brave, and I'm sorry that my mistakes had to cost you everything." I nodded a sombre farewell and approached where I buried Jordan. "Jords, you were the best. I remember playing out in the fields when we were young, when Cooper would trip over, we'd pick him back up and wash up his scrapes. I remember tossing spears at trees for no reason other than plain fun. I wish those days could've lasted forever. When you got infected and followed Cooper up to me on that cliff, I didn't want to pull that trigger. Never in a thousand millennia, would I want to pull that trigger. A friendship that should've lasted centuries, shattered to pieces in under a single century. While you were struggling, trapped, and corrupted for all that time, I mourned you! I cradled the memories we made together. God dammit! I loved you! I'm sorry! There's nothing I can say to express how much it hurts that you're not standing with me right now." I finished while tears streamed down my cheeks, and it hurt so bad that it felt as if they burst into flames. I wiped the tears from my face, straightened my stance and raised my shoulders, puffing out my chest. I walked past the group and approached the Mystic Gateway. But someone grabbed me before I could move. "Jira, are you okay?" Mimir asked me, his grip tightening. I opened the gateway and watched as the rocks and planks formed the door to the Realm Between Realms. I pushed open the door with ease and gestured for the others to go through. I watch them all pass through one by one, bidding their farewells to our home. I sighed and waited for Mimir to go through. He didn't move an inch, his grip tightened, and he stared me in the eyes. "Jira! Tell me!" He yelled. My breath grew thin, and my heart pumped into high gear. "No!" I said. He wrapped his arms around me, patting me on the back. "Soon this will all be, soon you can rest, and no matter what, I'll always be by your side." I nodded and we stepped into the gateway, gesturing for the dragons follow us through.