Seraphina was enraged after Demian had gone without her. She sat on the bed with a grumpy manner as her fists clenched against her skirt. How dare he say he would tie her up!
Her face heated. And to say it in front of Alonzo!
What was happening to her? Up until now she wasn't this riled up by anyone-other than Demian, that is. But now wasn't the time to get all angry as Demian had made sure she didn't leave her room. The three guards behind the door gave off a dangerous amount of aura and not to mention, he had threatened her with tying up and doing something about it.
She flushed. Honestly, what was wrong with her mind these days? Her thoughts were taking different routes, especially the once she couldn't even spell.
She laid down on the bed as her eyes stared at the ceiling. Intricate carvings of dragons painted on it conveying different tales. Each dragon seemed to be different but one of the dragons was very familiar. It was white. Where had she seen it?
She tried to remember as her eyes moved toward the window where daylight penetrated and she got an excellent idea. A grin parted her lips as she jolted up on the bed.
If The Dragon Prince thought he could confine her in this chamber, he had been so wrong.
Now it was time to get dressed!
*****
Demian and Alonzo were heading toward the dungeon once again to resume their interrogation that had been delayed due to his exhaustion. Now that he had taken enough sleep, he would not make a mistake to postpone it again. Time was flying and he had been feeling the pain in his skin coming back.
"Are the families alright?" Demian asked.
"Yes, your Highness. I had to provide the children with food and water." Alonzo said as Demian nodded.
"What about the Lords?"
"Most of them had arrived in the early morning and now have lined up before the entrance."
Great. Everything was going smoothly as they would get enough money from them. He knew the Lords may have spent most of their earnings in making the city, but still they weren't naive enough to spend it full.
Soon they reached the dungeon and Demian saw Irwin from the gap of the door who stayed at a side in a cocoon, his clothes reeking of blood, sweat and urine. The dirt on him matched his personality well and it was what he deserved.
The guard opened the door with a noise which had woken most of the captive soldiers and Irwin jolted up immediately. As he saw them, he crawled back, fear replaced his dizziness. His swelling had gotten dipper and taken a brilliant shade of blue and purple.
Demian went inside as Alonzo followed. Both of their faces were grim and it made Irwin more frightened that already he was.
"Y-your Highness?" He mumbled weakly as he bowed.
"I had been thinking that there was something in your story that quite isn't matching," Demian said.
Irwin gulped. "W-what is it, Your Highness?"
"It's very unusual that out of all places in the Dragon Nation, the wizards came to start their business in Rockdelia where the water travel is quite expensive. They could have got to the East side where the forest was an easy way to do their deeds. Yet, they chose Rockdelia further away from the wizard nation," Demian stated matter-of-factly yet it had hinted some untold doubts which made Irwin's body to tremble before him. He gulped.
He could not even say or think what the devil before him was about to do. This person was no doubt very dangerous and certainly hard to read. Somehow, Irwin thought, was it the end of his journey
"You have come from Goradhill, haven't you?" Demian asked which made Irwin's blood run cold. How did he know about his origin? His eyes went wide as the name left from the prince's lips.
Goradhill was the small village that came in contact with the crossfire between The Dragon's and The Wizard's warzone. The village that no longer existed. Now only the forest had expanded and devoured the whole place. His place.
"In short, you are not even a Dragon," Demian stated his eyes had mischief dancing in it as Irwin looked between Alonzo and The Young Prince. Sweat bids appeared on his forehead.
"I-I don't understand what you are implying, My Prince?"
"Indeed?" He smiled and it was enough to make Irwin pale.
"Why don't you show your real self, Irwin?" The devilish prince asked.
"Your-my...my Prince... You are mistaken, I don't... I haven't heard of that village..." Irwin stammered as he tried to form his excuse but the sudden shock made his mind go numb.
"Ho! Then how did you know it was a village?" Demian enquired, "It could have been the name of a forest or a city or a hill. Since it had been perished over 25 years ago, people don't even remember it. The name itself had been extinct from their memories. I'm rather impressed that you still remember it."
Irwin's breath hitched as he remembered everything from the small village that resided further into the forest. They used to hunt, make weapons for their survival and grow crops.
"A goblin that you are, aren't you, Irwin?" Demian's cold voice made the ground beneath his feet perish instantly.
The small village had been a free spirited place where the goblins lived. Goblins were infamous for their loots yet Goradhill didn't loot or hadn't raised anyone to survive on looting. They had no collaboration with any of the races who were fighting among them and they had no interest. They only wanted to live in peace. Was wanting to live in isolation where there were no fights, no worries a mistake?
Irwin's belly filled with his anger. The anger that had been sleeping for so long. Very long as he survived the war and went to the human territory. They tried to kill him because he was a goblin. No matter how much he tried, they wouldn't listen that not all the goblins loot or kill.
He tilted his head toward the prince, his eyes blazing fire and the corners of Demian's lips curled up. For so long no one could see through his made up appearance but this person saw through everything. Who was he?
He didn't care now that he had been caught. Slowly, the colours of his skin changed as his ears grew, pointed to the edge. His nose grew and eyes turned green. The smashed-face had been replaced by a young goblin's face who had no trace of disfigured face.
"You've caught me, my prince," a crackling voice said and Prince Demian nodded. The mischief had gone and now he bore a grave face which could make anyone cry in their sleep.
"Now, tell me the rest of the story." Demian ordered, "No lies. Everything from the start."
Irwin laughed as his fear had vanished. Why would he fear anyone when he had seen death from very close. His doom was standing before him yet he felt good in his original body. He had despised it for a very long time. But now, he didn't care.
Irwin nodded as he sat comfortably on the ground, crossing his legs and said, "Shall I start from my village?"
"We don't have time-" Alonzo tried to retort but halted as Demian put his hand in the air.
"You shall."
Alonzo looked at his prince with a wide gap in his mouth which was of course, half covered by his thick moustache. He knew the Prince for too long that he was a very impatient man. But seeing his deep eyes that had a little sympathy in them made Alonzo choke on his own thoughts.
Irwin bowed as his anger evaporated and sadness carved his face as he started, "Goradhill. The village had been very peaceful and had no other villages or races in an alliance. Because we thought, it would be better if we stayed low after Goblins made everyone think that we had no tactics other than looting. Of course, it had killed many of our brothers, children and families. But it was enough in the forest for just a few villagers to lay hidden. Nobody knew about us and we never went to the nearest places for loot."
Irwin looked at Demian, "Until one day, a dragon came. A deep blue reptile, eyes of a dangerous predator. Large enough that one swap of wings broke all of our houses." Irwin's green palms twitched, "We went to defend but it was futile. Before we could save ourselves, his fire burnt everyone. Nothing was left."
Hair on Irwin's skin stood straight as he remembered the scenes flashing before his eyes. He lost his entire family. He wanted to die as well but he swore he would take revenge.
"I went away somehow stumbling on the little life I had left. Could not eat for days and the humans wouldn't want to give even their wasted food. They wanted to kill me and one day when I was on the brink of death, I met a person."
Irwin tilted his head, "A wizard."
Demian's eyes narrowed down on him as Irwin began, "I didn't get his name but he gave a spell. A spell that would make me a human. But with a cost."
"What cost?" Alonzo asked.
"I would have to fulfill my one true desire."
"Desire?" Demian asked, somehow this felt off. He could tell Irwin wasn't lying but everything seemed very unusual and very connected.
"After surviving the tortures and the torments, I had restored a grudge against the dragons and the humans. I wanted nothing more than to watch them suffer the way I had." Irwin's face twisted as anger devoured him, "I wanted to find the dragon who killed my village and I found him."
He added with a hiss, "It was Former Lord Heartstone."
Alonzo's eyes popped out of his sockets.
"How did you find him?" Demian seemed to be unaffected by the sudden revelation as he asked.
"The large reptile had three claw marks on his right eye and he had it the same way in his human form." Irwin continued, "I wanted to kill him there but I knew I had no power against him so I formed a plan and approached him as a young man who wanted to serve the dragons. He took me under his wings and I came here."
"But the Former Lord died of an incurable disease," Alonzo said and Irwin laughed but it was somehow to mock himself.
"Very unfortunate for me as after I came to get a revenge on him, he was already dying." He added, "but I became his right hand man in no time and while on his deathbed, he wanted me to kill him, to free him from his pain."
Irwin remembered the old Heartstone gave him a knife. He felt his anger rushing in his hands like a flood yet that would be not enough. Because killing him would free him from this pain and he heard him crying, begging him to end his life but he didn't.
"I didn't kill him," Irwin said. He recalled he had laughed at him and told him that he was from Goradhill. The face of the former Lord was worth watching. It calmed him but it wasn't enough. The old Lord was shocked but he didn't tell anyone about a goblin living under him. Instead he endured the pain. He never told anyone again to end his life. He died a painful death.
"If I had killed him he would not feel the torment that I had endured and he died."
"Has it calmed your heart?" Demian asked.
Irwin shook his head, "Never. So I planned the next best thing. I would make the whole Rockdelia, the city he had loved, turn into ruins. And just in time, Felis came."
Demian had been listening with utter concentration but there was an unsettling feeling stirred in his stomach that he failed to decipher. Irwin had been played by his vengeance and all he had done that led to Rockdelia's doom. Demian was impressed at how the goblin had accomplished that many things in just two decades. If he had fallen into great hands, he could have reached somewhere good but it seemed, his hatred won this time.
It was no doubt, Irwin misled Lord Heartstone and the way wizards appeared here somehow justified Irwin's connections. He had betrayed the Dragon nation and done illegal works to corrupt it.
"Where is this Felis person?" Demian asked as Irwin looked at him, it seemed he was troubled to remember.
"I don't know. Felis had never come after he told us to give him slaves."
"Felis is a wizard. But what would he gain from taking slaves? Money?"
"I don't think he is a wizard."
Demian's forehead ceased, "What do you mean?"
"Honestly speaking, I have no knowledge of that guy. But I had never felt what I felt with the wizards. The scent, the traces, everything is different in his case." Irwin informed.
"Is he a human?"
"I don't know but he never seemed so weak to me. The life energy I felt within him was very dark unlike what a human can handle."
Demian was troubled. What was he then? If not a wizard or a human. He was certain, he wasn't a dragon.
"Where would we find these wizards then?" Alonzo asked from beside him.
Irwin looked at them as a smile made its way on his face which made Demian a bit irritated. He seemed to have overcome his fear of death and he likely wouldn't tell them.
"Why should I tell you when I know, I am going to get a death penalty?" He asked, there was no desire to live in his eyes but it was a mischief that confirmed he would enjoy it more than death to let them suffer blindly.
Demian knew it would come to this and he said, "To atone for your sin to the former Lord Rockdelia."
Irwin's face paled as he looked at him with wide eyes and laughed, "What? I hated that man. Why would I atone for the sins when all I wanted was to take revenge?"
"After knowing that you were a survivor from Goradhill, the former Lord Heartstone didn't tell anyone about you nor did he asked anyone to end his life." Demian said, "I've heard from Master Valentine that after the incident in Goradhill, the former Lord Heartstone resigned from his position from the army general and went into isolation in his chamber for years."
Demian's eyes grew hard, "No one knew what had happened until before his death when he wrote a letter to my father."
Demian looked into his eyes and could feel the shocked expression of Irwin which stated he knew exactly what was in the letter. "The letter read, ' I've been waiting for my doom and the deity has granted my wish.' "
Irwin's lips quivered as he bit his lips to stop the tremble as Demian continued, "We all thought he was talking about his incurable disease. But it wasn't."
Irwin broke into cry as his agonizing weeping echoed through the walls of the dungeon. Somehow he knew in his heart that the Lord of Rockdelia didn't ask anyone to free him from pain because secretly he wanted to atone for his sins. He knew the Lord could have made his knights to send him to the dungeons but he didn't.
Demian said, "He atoned for his sins and didn't let you or anyone free himself from his suffering because if you had killed him, your hands would have been painted with his blood and the chain of hatred would live on. So, by dying from the suffering, he only wanted you to live a life free of your hatred."
Irwin sniffed as tears poured down from his eyes. He knew it. He knew everything but lived in denial. He could not understand the restlessness he felt even after his death. He still felt something was wrong but could not decipher what it was. He had thought it as his revenge but he knew he had grown to love Rockdelia. He had grown to love the former Lord and he didn't want that but hearing it from the Prince of Dragons made him realise he was such a fool.
Demian finished, "That was his last gift to you."