Chapter 23
The sun was above their head when they left the Hidden Valley of Dragons. It had been an hour or two since they were travelling through the forest. Both of them sat inside the carriage and Seraphina was glad she had come here. She met Sakina and the others and they had conversed over every topic that touched their minds.
What Seraphina especially loved was the souvenir that Xia had given her. Xia gave her a small dagger as a friendly gift, it was a beautiful dagger with a silver blade and hilt adorned with rubies and handle wound by a leather. Since she had nothing else other than her weapons. Seraphina couldn't deny she felt nostalgic at the touch of a weapon after a long time. She had been always around weapons and magical in her guild but here everything was restricted as she had to pretend to be a human. Before leaving, Sakina gifted her the warrior clothes she had borrowed from her. She felt comfortable so she decided to wear it until they reached Dragon's landing.
She was still in her blissful thoughts of having met the three dragon girls when her eyes fell outside of the carriage's small window.
Through the shades of giant trees she saw something dark shooting past, it almost looked like a shadow. An unsettling lump formed in her belly as she could not understand if she saw anything as she had been seeing many strange things lately. She was still confused about whether she had seen the old sage at the entrance or someone else and now she was seeing shadows.
She turned to look at Demian who sat with his elbow resting on the window sill and chin on the base of his palm. He seemed too serene but somehow his aura was disturbed as if there was some sort of turmoil going on within him. There was no knowing what was going in his head, he had been like this since the time they had talked to the Great Sage. He had talked something about Ragnarok but she didn't know what the word meant.
"What's wrong?" She asked, "You've been quiet after what the great sage said."
"Nothing..." He answered but Seraphina wasn't going to back off until she made him speak. She was his wife! She had the right to know what was making him so restless.
"If you worry all the time, you might get wrinkles before me." Seraphina said and waited for him to open up but he was as stubborn as her.
"Spit it out already!" Seraphina demanded with a determined face and Demian looked at her.
"It's nothing." Demian's voice became hard and she could feel the anger in it.
"You have been worrying about something... What is it?" She pressed further.
Demian didn't answer, instead he looked more furious than before but it only made her angry.
"If you don't tell me, I will..." Seraphina threatened even though she had no idea what she would threaten him with.
"You will what?" Demian challenged, mischief danced in his eyes.
Seraphina had no choice but to put more pressure so he would say everything going in his mind but she found she had nothing whatsoever to influence him.
"I will... I will smack you on your head."
A gap formed on his mouth and he said irritated, "You do know that smacking me would get you a death sentence, don't you?"
"Do I look like I care?"
Demian looked at her for a moment and finally released a frustrated sigh.
"The last word the old sage said, Ragnarok. That is worrying me out, that's all."
"Why?"
"I don't know, Seraphina. Up until now everything he predicted had always been accurate. What if my curse becomes the fall of the Salamander family..." he said looking out of the small window, "I could never forgive myself."
Seraphina instantly remembered the words Zenith said to her the other day. Was Demian aware that he would eat her after the curse devoured him? Why hadn't Master Valentine said anything to her about it? Was the deal he made to sacrifice her?
Seraphina's face fell. She hadn't seen Master Valentine for the past week that's why she didn't get a chance to ask him about it. But what would she ask?
But seeing Demian so helpless made her heart sink further. She remembered she had promised herself that at all costs she would lift the curse and save him.
"What is Ragnarok anyways?" She asked and Demian gave her a strange look.
"You don't know?" His expression made Seraphia frown.
"No, what is it?"
Demian eyed her for a moment before looking out of the window again.
"It's nothing." He said and Seraphina clenched her fists.
"What is the problem now? At least tell me what that is?" She asked.
"I don't want to explain it to you." He said and she was ready to throw him out of the carriage.
"What? Why? Now I want to hear it from you." She whined and Demian looked at her as an aggravated parent.
"Why do you always have to act like a child? Can't you be sensible just for once?" He asked sharply making Seraphina more angry.
"Why do I have to be sensible when you keep so many secrets from me?"
"These secrets are something that are better not of your knowledge, some would even cost your life." He said grimly, his grave voice didn't falter Seraphina's motivation of knowing about his distress.
"I don't care if my life is at a risk but if it's anything related to you then I want to know it. You are my husband and I have all the right to know everything about you."
Demian fell quiet after hearing Seraphina's words and after a long minute he started laughing. His shoulders bobbed up and down as he threw his head back, Seraphina watched him as after the town visit Demian hadn't ever laughed. Now he was laughing but somehow there was hint of mockery and bitterness in it.
Suddenly he turned to look at her, his eyes blazed like the blue flames she controlled at one time, "You think you can know everything about me? What do you want to know? That I'm cursed? That I can die? Or that a devastating prophecy can come true after my fourteenth birthday?" He asked.
In a brisk movement he gripped her arms bringing her face close to his, for a moment Seraphina couldn't breath, it felt as if she was staring right into the dragon's eyes.
"What will you do, huh? You will reverse the curse? This curse isn't something as simple as the attacks on us where someone always comes for our rescue. This curse is irreversible, inevitable and you can never do anything about it!" With that venomous hiss Demian shoved Seraphina away making her back hit against the carriage wall.
"If you don't know about something then don't go poking your nose around or you'll be killed." Demian's threat sure held a lot of sincerity which made Seraphina want to know more but also fear about the consequences which she hadn't given a thought about first. What would happen when she would know what secrets were hidden in the dragon's liar?
****
Demian was livid as he stared out of the window at the passing vegetation that didn't catch any of his interest. He was still thinking of how he'd reacted to Seraphina's curiosity some time ago, she didn't know what Ragnarok was. Ragnarok, the most destructive festival of the Dragons, the time when the world is engulfed in the dragon's flames. No other species can stand against a dragon revived on Ragnarok and that dragon can either bring the Gods of Death in the living land or the Gods of Prosperity.
Demian was worried because the moment he heard the word Ragnarok he knew that his transformation could bring chaos upon everyone. Did his curse somehow relate to that prophecy as well? Just because he was cursed would he become the Dragon of Apocalypse? And, if that happened then what about his people? His brother? Master Valentine? Seraphina? Would he kill them all?
The thoughts started eating him from within. Every dragon married after he reached his age of transformation but in his case he was married a few months before his transformation. Why? Apart from that, he didn't know exactly what role Seraphina played in curing or lessening the intensity of his curse? She seemed like a simple, weak human to him, although she was a lot stubborn and could fight. Would they sacrifice her to stop the curse? That would be ridiculous! His curse had nothing to do with Seraphina and why would an innocent human lose her life for his sake?
He turned to look at her, she had already fallen asleep some time ago after their fight and he was busy thinking about his curse and all the other things. He observed her serene sleeping face, the stray red curls danced on her cheek and her plum lips parted and joined often as if she was mumbling something he couldn't hear. His eyes drifted down to her clothing which had surprised him the moment he laid his eyes on her. He was mesmerised watching her walking with the air of confidence and self-possession that he almost felt a smirk rising on his lips feeling proud that she was his. He definitely couldn't deny the fact that, the warrior clothing suited her more than the robes or the gowns that the other ladies wore. The attire surely assimilated with her wild nature, she was more of a knight than a princess and he was a dragon.
The old sage was right, she was fearless.
Demian sucked on his breath as he realised how affected he was by her in just a few weeks. She had been growing on him.
As the carriage halted Demian was pulled out of his thoughts, he looked at the small window and asked the chauffeur, "What happened?"
"There's something... Err... Someone in front of us." He answered.
He looked at his guards and found they had circled the carriage making a protective guard around them. He could feel something wasn't right. The tension on their postures could be felt from here.
"Who is it?" He asked.
"We don't know but I caught a weird scent from ahead. Someone is there and the scent he is giving is not a good sign." One of the guards said looking ahead at the path.
"What is it? Have we reached already?" A sleepy voice of Seraphina asked from beside him and his worry grew tenfold. He knew if there was a danger, Seraphina would gladly throw herself in its hands for she was a professional at getting into troubles.
"Nothing. Sleep." He ordered but regardless, she sat up and stretched her lean back and long arms, yawning wide enough to fit a dragon in her mouth. Her sleepy eyes drifted to him and in a split second they widened with alarm.
The waves of the murderous aura touched her and she felt each hair on her skin standing straight, it was far but its power was immense. She scowled as she looked at Demian.
"This power." She spoke through her clenched teeth, "It's the same aura that I had felt when we left Hidden Valley."
"What?" Demian asked a bit shocked at her words, "What do you mean?"
"I had sensed this very aura when we left the Hidden Valley. It must have been waiting for the opportunity to ambush us."
"You-You sensed it?" He asked but before it could reach her, one of the chauffeur flew away with a force and collided against a tree. Unfortunately, he could not survive the hit and died there.
Seraphina became furious as she fisted her palms. Anger rolled off her as her eyes fell on the poor chauffeur's lifeless body. Demian and along with the four guards could guess, this time it wasn't any weak wizard who crossed their path, it was someone with high tier ranking who had been watching them from the shadows. He must have been following them from the start but no one but Seraphina could feel his presence.
With that two questions formed in Demian's mind. One, how did the enemy, a wizard know of the Hidden Valley of the Dragons when nobody other than royal dragons knew about its location?
And two, how come Seraphina, a human, could feel the presence of a wizard?
Just how many mysteries were left for him to unfold?