Chapter 5.
The knock on the door made Merlene look up, she watched Seraphina as she slept and then walked over to the door. She opened the door revealing Nerion who looked solemn.
"Master asked me to deliver this to you." He said and handed Merlene a scroll, Merlene frowned as he slowly peeked inside and then sighed shaking his head and then left without any other word. Merlene walked inside and went up to the kitchen.
"Merlene!" Merlene slightly jumped as River appeared out of nowhere with urgency on his face.
"What's wrong, River?" Merlene asked and River opened his mouth and his eyes dropped to the scroll.
"I guess I got late." He sighed with an annoyed look, "By your looks you haven't read that yet." He said and Merlene looked down at the scroll.
"What do you mean?"
"Read it and you'll know what's going on." Merlene eyed him as she slowly unrolled the scroll and started reading.
The spaces where Merlene's fingers clutched the scroll it wrinkled to the extent of tearing as Merlene grimaced at the scroll.
"What kind of shit is this?" She exploded.
"I wonder the same thing, I wasn't supposed to but I heard the thoughts of the Waterborn who had come down to our guild with this. He was thinking that his 'Great' master will tame the Flame Queen and bring peace to the world." He made the quotation marks for 'great' as he spoke.
"Tame her? What is she? A monster?" Merlene growled throwing the scroll down on the floor.
"Master has agreed though." River said and fire erupted from Merlene's hands.
"How could he? Here we can't send Sera off to any of the Fireborn Guilds and he's ready to send her off to the Waterborn Guild? Has he lost it?"
"Possibly, but this guy is the Master of Oracle Hearts, you have heard of him, haven't you?" River said and Merlene nodded. She had heard a lot about his power and strength yet, she wasn't satisfied with that to send Seraphina off to him.
"Master was thinking that the guy will keep Sera happy and Sera will lead a good life." River said as he leaned against the wall watching the fuming Merlene.
"Lead a good life my ass! Those are Waterborns how on earth can he keep her happy?" Merlene grounded her teeth.
"That's not it, we won't be able to see Sera once she's gone." River said and Merlene casted her glare on the scroll that lied on the floor.
"I'll go over there and I'll roast him." Merlene said.
River raised his eyebrows, "Wow, you sounded like Sera just now."
"You think this is a joke?" Merlene hissed at him and he sighed.
"I very well know this isn't a joke but I do know that we only have four days in our hands with her. If you can, then make a plan of saving her, I'll help." River said and Merlene looked at him.
"Besides, where is she? It's so quiet. Is she not at home?" River asked looking around and Merlene looked at the room where she had kept Seraphina. Her condition wasn't good at all, she was almost delirious after losing her mother's flames and now–
"She what?" River shouted and Merlene cursed herself for thinking all that knowing full well that River was greatly capable of hearing her thoughts.
"What the hell is happening?" He demanded.
Having no choice Merlene explained him everything that had happened within two days and he took it all in silently.
"I don't understand Master's ways sometimes." He hissed pinching the bridge of his nose after Merlene was done.
"We need to get her back to normal." Merlene said and River nodded.
"You said she was delirious and too weak to say anything." Merlene nodded.
River stroked his chin as he walked towards the room where Seraphina was and found her lying on the bed with her eyes closed. He frowned as he walked closer and waved his hand over her.
"No, wizard aura." He noted and then turned to Merlene, "If her powers are sealed then we could at least bring some energy to her body. We can't keep her lying around like this." River said.
"How am I supposed to make her get up? She barely speaks or eats."
"I have a medicine for it It's found in the South, the elves make it. I'll go and get it. It'll definitely bring strength to her body, I can't say about magic." River said and Merlene sighed.
"Anything works."
"Fine then, I'll leave right now. I'll be back till tomorrow evening, take care till then." He said.
"Alright." Merlene said looking once at Seraphina.
"Fine then, I'll get going." He said and jumped out of the window.
Merlene looked at Seraphina who opened her eyes and turned to look at her, Merlene took a seat beside her.
"Sera? How are you feeling now?"
She blinked, "Dead." Came the same reply which irked Merlene. The Seraphina who was always full of life now was saying she felt dead!
"Everything will be alright, okay? I'll fix everything. You won't have to marry any jackass, I'll get you out of this mess." Merlene said and Seraphina dryly chuckled.
"He's... already... decided." Seraphina said and Merlene frowned.
"Even if Master has decided yet, I won't let it happen. I won't let that Oracle Hearts Master marry you." Merlene promised.
After dinner Merlene fell asleep on the chair while Seraphina lied awake watching the ceiling thinking of her life. She had had a lot of fun moments in her life with her guild members, her father was always there to laugh with them then how did the situation change now?
Seraphina turned and her eyes fell on the scroll which lied on the floor, she looked at Merlene who was quite deeply asleep and slowly rose her body from the bed and nearly fell off but caught herself right in time and checked if she'd woken Merlene. Merlene seemed quite out so Seraphina slowly took small steps towards the scroll. She had overheard the conversation between Merlene and River in the evening and had heard that her father would send her off forever. Seraphina stopped as she reached near the scroll and crouched down to pick it up, it was dark so she walked over to the window to read it. The Guild Master of Oracle Hearts had agreed to marry Seraphina and he didn't want the guild, he just wanted them to comply to his three conditions. The conditions brought tears to Seraphina's eyes, she couldn't use magic, what an irony! She couldn't even see her guild members and her father after marriage.
Her tears glistened in the silver light of moon as along with her mother's last legacy she had lost everything.
The next day, River came back with a potion and gave it to Seraphina to drink.
"What good will it do?" She asked.
"It'll give you energy and you would be able to move around and even fight." River said and Seraphina gave him a blank look.
"Sera drink it." Merlene said and Seraphina turned away.
"What good does fighting bring me? The last time I did it my flames were snatched away."
River sighed as he swung his hand and smacked the back of Seraphina's head, "Hey!" She growled and even Merlene scowled at him.
"Hm, now that's a familiar expression of your face." River said and Seraphina glared at him, "Now, I see our old Sera who has enough guts to storm right over to this Water Guild Master and kick his ass."
"The old Sera is dead." This earned a smack from Merlene.
"What the–" She glared at both Merlene and River now.
"Just because your magic isn't with you doesn't mean that you're dead, idiot. The name Flame Queen isn't only for your flames, it's because of who you are." River said.
"He's right. Apart from magic there are a lot of things where you excel." Merlene added.
"Like what?" Seraphina asked.
"Combat, Swordsmanship. You are one of the gifted fighters of Fireborns, Sera. Only magic doesn't define you." Merlene answered.
"But, my flames..." Seraphina looked down at her hands.
"We love you just as much as we did when your flames were with you." Merlene said and Seraphina looked at her and then at River who nodded with a smile.
"Even if Master's plan of marrying you off sucks we can still overwrite it." River said and Seraphina frowned.
"What do you mean?" She asked and he waved the bottle of potion before her.
"Drink this and I'll tell you." River said and Seraphina looked once at Merlene who gave her an assuring smile. Seraphina took the bottle and drank all the potion, it tasted like the water and once inside Seraphina felt as if her entire body was getting lighter. In a few seconds she was bouncing with renewed energy.
"That was awesome!" She grinned and River smiled bowing slightly.
"We can always trust the elves with this stuff."
"You were saying about overwriting, Master's plan." Merlene reminded and Seraphina nodded.
"I have thought about it and," He pulled out a rolled piece of paper from his shirt and spread it out on the table and Merlene and Seraphina gathered over to see a map laid out before them.
"Now, here is our guild." He said pointing at a red flame in the map, "And here, all the way to West is Oracle Hearts." He pointed as the blue dot and then traced his finger over the route that joined the two towns.
"This way which goes through Shadow Forest is the only route from where we could reach Oracle Hearts soon and this is the only route from where we could whisk away." River said making the two look up in shock.
"Whisk away?"
"You mean we run away?"
"Precisely."
"Wait, but what will happen when I don't reach at Oracle Hearts?" Seraphina asked.
"Let your father deal with it. Let's call it his punishment." River winked and Seraphina looked at Merlene who looked pleased with his plan.
"So, we're eloping?" Seraphina asked with her mischievous smile and Merlene smirked along with River.
The two days passed with Merlene and River making silent preparations for running away with Seraphina.
"We can't do anything about the seal on our own, but we can take help from my friends. There are a lot of species in the forest of South, we can escape and stay there as long as we don't get in the dragon's eyes. The trolls or elves or dwarves any of the races that live there might just be able to tell us what we can do for Sera's seal." River said and Merlene nodded.
"Also, we'll have to live somewhere in the South too for a while and then keep moving." River said.
"What if the seal doesn't break?" Seraphina asked and the two looked at her.
"It will." Merlene said firmly and Seraphina smiled.
The entire plan was ready and Merlene and River had completely talked off every little casualty that might appear and out of nowhere, the summon from the guild came on the fourth day.
Seraphina faced her father, her eyes downcast not wanting to meet his.
"You... Merlene told you about your groom." He asked.
"She did." She replied.
"You, go and start getting ready. You have to put on the ceremonial robes." He said and that was all of her father that she heard.
Seraphina was donned in the bright red robes with golden embroidery, her hair tied back in an elaborate bun with the help of golden pins. The ceremonial robes came with the gold jewelry that went on the beautiful clothes, after seventeen years of being born for the first time Seraphina looked like a beautiful girl as she was. She was led towards the main guild Hall where the entire guild waited for her, the robes felt suffocating along with the veil that nearly covered her entire face. But the clothes wasn't something that made her heart heavy, it was the fact that she was being taken away from her family with whom she had spent the most happiest days of her life. She looked at all of her friends whom she had grown up with. Among that crowd one of the girl shot out and ran straight into Seraphina's arms.
"Sera! Sera! Please don't go!" She cried.
"I have to Thea." Seraphina said brushing Thea's soft sandy brown hair.
"Don't go!" She cried and was pulled away by Mrs. Turos.
Seraphina eyed the girl who bawled reaching out for her, the rest of the guild also seemed like they were about to burst out crying creating the rivers of tears that would flood all the Fireborns.
"I'll roast you all if you shed any tears." She warned as she looked at Carson, Fred, Asilax and some more of her friends.
"Let's go." An unfamiliar voice said and Seraphina turned to see four unfamiliar men dressed in dark blue robes with the ceremonial carriage near them.
"Who are they?" Seraphina asked as she looked at Merlene who looked equally confused. They looked around to see if River would appear out and answer them.
Nerion volunteered to answer, "These are the Waterborn wizards from Oracle Hearts. Master Ryujin sent them to escort you safely to Coralisle."
The revelation made the ground slip from under both Merlene and Seraphina's feet. If these guys were to escort them then how would they escape?
***
Everything seemed to be going perfect but it somehow gave Celia a feeling as if she was chewing on something bitter and the taste just lingered and never faded. Naomi was persistent with her views that she would save humanity by sacrificing herself but then what about her?
Celia had lost all her family and the village in the attack of dragons when she was just a child, she had seen the horror with her very own eyes as the massive creature flew over her village. It was pitch black with a terrifying face, its red eyes still haunted her in her nightmares. When it opened its mouth the gust of flames blew out destroying everything that was in its way. Celia found herself extremely lucky that even after the near death experience when she had almost been crushed under the burning log she had managed to escape with a few burns on her right arm and right jaw. The dragon's rampage didn't last even for complete ten minutes and the entire human village was incinerated with only a few survivors who ran to the forest.
For days Celia along with a few more survivors travelled through the forest to reach another human town. King Theodore was kind enough to taken them all and then Celia found herself in the castle as a maid. All of her past suddenly behind her and the luxuries of the life laid out before her. Celia after her family had first time experienced kindness from Princess Naomi and since then she had been looking after all of Naomi's needs personally. Princess Naomi unlike other maids didn't cringe away from Celia's burns. Celia had always looked up to Naomi but now that it had come down to this, Celia thought the only way to save Naomi was running away. They could go anywhere, change names and live somehow but if Naomi went to the Dragon's land she might never see the life ever again.
Celia had decided, she would just have to make Naomi run away somehow, if this time she wouldn't listen then Celia would just have to convince her anyhow. The dragons weren't the kind that should be trusted so, Celia wasn't letting her precious friend become a martyr.
Celia gathered her clothes and took whatever earnings she had saved in years and snuck to Naomi's room. Naomi was lying awake in her bed when Celia walked in.
"Celia, what is it? Is there something you want?" Naomi asked, her voice was thick as if she had cried.
"Did you cry?" Celia asked and Naomi smiled shaking her head.
"Don't lie, your eyes are puffy." Celia said narrowing her eyes and Naomi looked down.
"What did you need?" She asked instead.
"I need you to run away with me." Celia said and Naomi chuckled.
"Are you jesting, Celia–"
"No, I'm not. The one who's jesting here is you. I know you don't want to marry that dragon, I know you don't want any of this yet, you are doing this and that is a big and very sick jest." Celia said sharply and Naomi sighed.
"We had talked about it, Celia."
"I don't think we had reached a conclusion, I'm not letting you go to the Dragon's land, you don't deserve to die at the hands of dragons." Celia said and Naomi sighed.
"They won't kill me, Celia."
"How do you know? Those dragons attacked and wiped out countless human and wizard villages why do you think they'll spare your life?" Celia asked and Naomi clasped her hands together.
"Naomi, I know you don't want this. You have a life of your own and it is not necessary that you should do this. His Majesty only is thinking of the trade and how he could gain more power with the help of dragons to rise above other races. He doesn't care what happens to you. So, please... I beg of you, don't sacrifice yourself for his sake." Celia said.
"I'm not doing this for my father, Celia." Naomi said and Celia looked at her.
"I'm doing this for those people who are under the threat of being attacked by the wizards and other races. If this alliance is successful then as the dragons had vowed the protection for all humans then, the wizards and others will think before harming the humans who couldn't protect themselves. The human race which is close to extinction will be saved and we could grow more."
"Then why you? Why not any other thing to seal the deal?"
"Because I'm the princess of humans, Celia. I have the responsibility as a Royal member to protect and see that my people are safe and happy. And, to gain that, if I have to marry a dragon then I'll do it." Naomi's words once again sent Celia with annoyed thoughts. If possible Celia would've just tied her hands and feet knocked her out and then whisked her away but she knew even that would be useless. Naomi was a determined girl and it was useless to talk sense into her after her decision was made.
The next day, Naomi was dressed in the beautiful ceremonial red and golden robes, it was the day that she would depart for the Dragon's land. She was donned in ornaments and the maids wouldn't stop saying how beautiful she looked. Naomi smiled at their words but the heaviness in her heart was growing with each passing second and Celia wasn't visible. Did her words from last night offend Celia so much that she wouldn't even come to see her before she was sent off to the dragon's land?
Naomi was led out of her room towards the main entrance of the castle, the entire townspeople were gathered showering flower petals over their princess. Naomi had her head down as she felt the heaviness growing and her father started talking as how they would benefit from the dragons and how lucky Naomi was that she was to be married to the dragon prince. Everything now seemed a farce to her, her life had become a farce. Suddenly she felt a presence beside her and she tilted her head to see Celia beside her dressed in deep green robes with silver embroidery. Her mood lifted slightly at least she got to see her dear friend before she was gone.
"I'm going with you." Celia whispered and Naomi's eyes widened.
"What?" She hissed.
"His Majesty chose me to be your lady in waiting and personal maid who would accompany you and serve you in dragon's land." Celia said and Naomi couldn't help but feel happy that at least she wouldn't be alone.
"If you're going to play a martyr then I'd at least go along with you." Celia said and Naomi smiled behind the veil.
"But one thing I'd say, Naomi." Celia said, "If the God who decided to save me listens to me, then you will not marry the dragon prince."
Naomi at first didn't understand what she meant but then she decided to leave everything over to the fate and walked over to the ceremonial carriage which was ready for her. She stopped and once looked at her home and her father for one last time, she wouldn't be able to see them again. The tears appeared in her eyes and she hid them as she sat inside the carriage ready to be taken to the Dragon's land.
Here, started the journey on the path where the life would take her.