CHAPTER 9
GATRIA BREATHE out as she healed the last wounded hunter who took part in defending the town from monsters. Apparently, no one could heal multiple people at the same time aside for the high priests from the Holy Theocracy, so to avoid the reverent gaze of the people she healed as if she was a miracle worker, she left the town's plaza and sat on a bench hidden from everyone.
Now alone, Gatria took a deep breath and sighed. She never thought that she would use her essence to heal human hunters and soldiers. She wanted to ask herself what was she thinking, but the truth was, she didn't know as well. Her body just moved on its own accord and the next thing she knew, she was healing them.
It was as if someone compelled her to. But she knew there was no one. It was her decision to move, she just couldn't accept that she did.
"Someone's looking gloomy."
Gatria raised her head and immediately eased up when he saw Drago in front of her. As if naturally, Gatria used her essence to heal the cut on Drago's arm. "I think Treven is in need of punishment. He didn't protect you well."
Drago chuckled. "It's just a cut. And I think Treven was chased by a scorpion earlier. He said he was traumatized."
Gatria wanted to roll her eyes so much at Treven. "Knowing him, he's just probably saying that to get Zarek's sympathy."
"I think so too. He looks unperturbed that he was chased— well, until Zarek arrived." Silence fell on them until Drago motioned his hand on the bench Gatria was sitting on. "May I... sit with you?"
Gatria nodded.
With Gatria's permission, that was the only time Drago moved to sit beside Gatria.
"Were you always this gentleman?" Gatria asked teasingly when Drago carefully took a seat beside her. "I never noticed. I always thought you were a brute."
"Maybe you just... didn't look my way long enough to notice." Drago said in a low voice.
"I guess..." Gatria gracefully raised her hand and with a playful flick, vines and flowers adorned Drago's wrist and arms. "Hmm. Suits you."
Drago slightly raised his adorned arm as if inspecting it, then afterwards, he carefully unwrapped the vines around his arm together with the flowers. He was very careful to the point that even Gatria was impressed that he didn't break anything.
And before Gatria's astonished eyes, Drago made a flower crown out of the vines and flowers and then when he was finished, he gently placed it on her head and he smiled.
"There. It suits you more."
Gatria's lips parted for a second before a teasing smile appeared on her lips. "Isn't this sautéing me in my own lard?"
Drago chuckled before he become serious. "I can make the most magnificent flower crown for you... if you let me."
That made Gatria raised her eyebrows. "I actually want to see that."
"But you can't, am I right?"
Gatria stared at Drago. If one could read the look in the depth of her eyes, one could tell that she was not as dense as she appeared to be. But when she smiled, everything disappeared. "Maybe after everything is settled." She slightly leaned at Drago as if trying to read him as she stared at his handsome face. "That's okay, right? I mean, you're a Dragon. A decade or so is just a blink of an eye for you."
Drago didn't pull away from Gatria's gaze. "Patience is my strongest suit."
And Gatria never doubt that. Not even for a second. "That settles it then. And maybe, when that time comes, we will fight again and I will win of course. And as for my prize, I will ask you to show me your dragon form. I'm curious."
"Why wait until you win...? I can show it to you now."
Gatria's glistening eyes widened. "Truly? You're not jesting?"
Drago stood up and offered his hand at Gatria. "May I...?"
Gatria didn't know if Drago was just pulling her leg, but she was too curious what he looked like in his dragon form that she accepted his offered hand.
And the moment she did, he gently pulled her body close to his and she heard his low baritone voice over his ear. "May I hold your waist?"
"What...? Why?"
"We're flying, of course."
Gatria blinked. "Oh. Then, sure. You can."
"My pleasure, Your Highness."
One breath later, Drago's arm snaked around Gatria's waist and before she could feel the heat of his body against hers, Drago already leaped earning a loud, shocked gasps from Gatria that was followed by another when she realized how that leap brought them high up in the sky.
And for Gatria who dislike flying, she glared at the culprit who took her there. "Drago...!"
Drago just laughed and even let go of her.
"Dragoooo...!" Gatria screamed when she felt her body falling! "Dra—" Her scream ceased when she saw Drago in front of her, falling as well, and in a blink of an eye, Gatria had forgotten that she was falling.
Drago's golden eyes glowed and before her eyes, Drago transformed into a majestic obsidian dragon. Jet black and dark. Only his golden eyes that never left her had a different color and Gatria wouldn't deny it. It made him look imposing, yet the regal air around him couldn't be denied.
"Drago..." before she could finish calling his name, Drago already dipped and positioned himself underneath her. And in less than a breath, she stopped falling and her feet landed on Drago's sturdy back.
But Gatria didn't remain standing. She fell on her knees and as if her life depended on it, she tightly held on Drago's scales.
"Drago! Put me down!" She bellowed. She really hated flying. She hated the height. She disliked it. Especially this kind of height. She could endure Vago, Treven's wyvern, but not this. This was too high!
But she only heard Drago's soft chuckle before he flapped his jet-black wings and flew even higher.
"Drago...!" Gone was the calm, gentle and cold Gatria. The Gatria on Drago's back had become nothing but a terrified queen. "Drago! I swear! I will kill you later...!"
Drago's soft chuckle filled Gatria's ear. "Don't worry. I won't let you fall."
"How would you know that?!" Gatria screamed.
"I just do." Drago flew even higher and Gatria continued panicking.
She couldn't see nor hear anything as fear of height consumed her. She hated anything that had something to do with height. She didn't know why, she just hated it.
"Look around and down, my Queen."
"No!" Gatria stubbornly replied.
"You don't want to see the beauty of Azitera?"
That made Gatria froze. "A-Azitera?"
"Yes. Look. You can see the sacred forest from here. We can even see the ocean from here."
Intrigued by Drago's words, Gatria forcefully pry open her eyes to take a peek only for her eyes to widen when she beheld the beauty of Azitera that Drago spoke of.
Azitera...
Gatria felt a lump on her throat as her eyes took in the beauty before her.
So beautiful. Barren land aside, Azitera was breathtaking. It looked majestic and Gatria became immersed at the sight as Drago silently and steadily flew in the sky.
The picturesque splendor before her eyes calmed Gatria's nerves and in a matter of few breaths, her fear disappeared and she calmly sat on Drago's back and enjoyed the scenery.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Hearing Drago's voice in her head, Gatria was nonplussed. "Did... did you just speak to me in my head?"
"I'm in my dragon form. I can't possibly speak normally. And I'd been talking to you like this since I transformed."
"Oh." I was so scared that I didn't notice. Gatria concluded before she sighed and looked at the scenery below them. Silence was nice and she was thankful that Drago always gave her the silence she needed, but at that moment, for some reason, she wanted to have a conversation with Drago. "Drago?"
"Hmm?"
Hearing Drago's voice in her head still made her jolt, but she was quick to pull herself together. "Does all dragons has the same color as you?"
"I don't know. We don't really transform into our dragon form that much."
"Huh? Why not?"
"First, we can't communicate with our own kind in our dragon form."
Gatria's forehead furrowed. "But you can communicate with me just fine?"
"Well... that's a different matter."
"How different?"
"I rather not say."
Gatria narrowed her eyes on Drago's neck. "Is that a secret?"
"Not really. I just don't want to say it. It won't do us both any good anyway."
When Gatria became silent, Drago asked.
"Are you mad, Sword Goddess?"
Gatria wanted to know about why he couldn't communicate with his own kind in his dragon form, but he could with her. She wanted to force the answer out of him, but she knew how rude she would be to force someone to spill their secrets, so she dropped her curiosity and change the topic.
"You know, Drago, you'd been calling me Sword Goddess, Her Highness and my Queen. The inconsistency is bothering me. Why don't you just pick one out of the three and call me that from now on?"
"That would be hard. Because to me, you're the Sword Goddess, you are Her Highness and also my Queen."
"Well, that 'Sword Goddess', your 'Her Highness' and your 'Queen' has a name and it's Gatria. Why don't you start me by my name?"
"That would be presumptuous of me."
"How so when it's me who's giving you permission to call me by my name?"
"Still inappropriate for the likes of me to address you as such."
Gatria rolled her eyes at Drago. "As far as I can remember, you already called me Gatria when you thought I was in danger and you were worried about me. So I'm assuming that it won't be hard for you to call me Gatria. Only fair since I'd been calling you by your name as well." If Drago was stubborn, Gatria was more so. "If you kept calling me with those titles, I will call you 'my lord' as well— aaahhhh!"
Drago's body literally fell as if he had forgotten how to fly for a few seconds until he heard Gatria's full of terror scream and got his bearings back.
"Don't scare me like that!" Gatria snapped and punched Drago's back. Of course, even when Gatria used all her physical strength, Drago didn't so much as flinch.
"I'm sorry. That 'my lord' shocked me."
Gatria wanted to scold Drago more, but she couldn't help smiling at his reason why he suddenly stopped flying for a few seconds and fell. "Seriously?"
"I apologized for being weak."
Gatria held her laughter in. "Should I start calling you 'my—"
"Don't." Drago warned Gatria in panic. "We'll fall."
"I thought you wouldn't let me fall?"
"If you call me 'my lord', we will!"
Gatria couldn't hold it in anymore, she laughed.
"I always knew you were a bully."
Gatria laughed harder.
"Whatever. As long as you're happy."
Gatria sobered up and patted Drago's back. "From now on, call me Gatria, or else, I'll call you 'my lord'."
Drago sighed and spoke in sarcasm. "And they say you're the most gentlest queen of Yther."
She smiled so innocently. "I am. You should meet the three. Compared to them, I am gentler."
"Now that's scary."
Gatria chuckled and her smile widened when she realized how free she felt flying on Drago's back. It was like her woes had been whisked away and all she could feel was tranquility.
"Drago?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you have an ability to make someone feel tranquil even in the midst of chaos?"
"I wish I have so I can calm you down when you're confused and mad."
"Is that so?" Gatria lifted her head to feel the wind against her face before she smiled. "Say, Drago, after you find what happened to your young kind, what will you do?"
"Go back home, I guess."
Gatria opened her mouth to say something, but decided not to. "You should tell your king to secure his kingdom, so humans won't be able to trespass."
"I will. How about you? What are you going to do once we reach the capital of Treterra?"
"My initial plan was to bring havoc and kill them all." Gatria said apathetically. "But it seems that I can't do that to the remaining good apples— whoever they are. Though it doesn't mean that I trust those good apples and won't cause havoc. Those people in the palace and their noble houses owes me a huge debt. And it's time for me to collect."
Gatria expect Drago to say something against her plan, but he kept quiet.
"I thought you'll be against it." She said.
"I will never know your pain. I can only imagine it. I have no right to tell you what to feel or put words in your mouth. But it would make me happy if your wrath did not include the good apples and the little ones. Whether you like it or not, the little ones are the future of Azitera, together with other races young ones. You may argue and say that they might destroy Azitera one day, but that's just an assumption. And if they ever did, it would be no sweat for you to take them down as the overseer and I will help you if I must. It may be selfish of me to ask, but please, Your Highness, give the good apples and the little ones a chance. They could still be molded into an upstanding citizen of Azitera under a good ruler. The last thing you and I want is for the civilization to decline."
Gatria understood Drago. It was her job to oversee. She was blessed by the deities for that purpose. It was her responsibility to stop anything that threatens the decline of the civilization.
And at that moment— she was that threat.
But because of Drago, his wisdom, his words and the tranquility his presence provides, she was slowly deviating from being a threat.
Gatria took a deep breath and sighed. "Drago."
"Hmm?"
"One more 'Your Highness' and I will call you 'my lord' until we parted ways."
Drago immediately went silent.
Gatria shook her head before she looked down and sighed. "We should land. The others might be looking for us."
Without saying a word, Drago flew down and midway, he went back to his humanoid form with Gatria on his arms and he safely and carefully landed outside Belrac.
Drago could land inside Belrac, but afraid that the impact would destroy their surroundings, he chose to land outside the town.
Gatria immediately jump off from Drago's arm to fixed her dress, cloak and hair. Only when she looked decent did she face Drago.
And without sharing words again, Drago motioned his hand to the town's gate and together, they walked towards it.
Midway, Gatria slowed down until she stopped all together and stared at Drago's broad back. A few seconds after that, Drago realized Gatria was not by his side and immediately turned around to look for Gatria and when his golden eyes found hers, he tilted his head as if asking what she was doing, stopping midway.
"Thank you," she said.
Dragon blinked and frowned. "Did I do something to deserve a thank you?"
Gatria just smiled and run to catch up to Drago."
"Your Hi—"
"Continue that and you will be 'my lord' for the rest of our travel."
Drago did not continue and sighed. "That's blackmail."
Gatria just chuckled before running towards the town's gate. Drago immediately followed and in no time, they arrived at the entrance and was immediately ushered in when the soldiers realized who the two were.
"It's just a matter of time before this town gets destroyed." Drago muttered under his breath as he glanced at the empty stalls and lifeless streets. Only soldiers and hunters could be seen wandering around town.
Gatria silently agreed with Drago.
"Finally!" Someone bellowed and then the a carriage stopped Drago and Gatria on their tracks. "I'd been looking for Her Highness and His Lordship for a while now." The soldier jumped down from the carriage's front and bowed his head, "would you please enter the carriage and let me bring Her Highness and His Lordship to Count Salas' residence? Her Highness's and His Lordship companions are already there, waiting. We apologize for not preparing a carriage.
Drago frowned at the soldier. "What did you just call me?"
Gatria stifled a laugh, earning a glare from Drago.
"His L-Lordship...?" The soldier gingerly replied.
Gatria couldn't hold it in anymore, she laughed and Drago couldn't do anything but sighed after hearing Gatria's melodious laughter.
"I'll forgive you just this once," Drago told the soldier, "don't call me that again. My name is Drago. Use that instead of that horrible sounding title."
Gatria was still laughing as they rode the carriage and Drago sighed and stared at her flatly until she sobered up.
But even after Gatria sobered up, she would still chuckle from time to time as the carriage moved towards Count Salas' residence.
Drago shook his head at Gatria. "Is it really that amusing?"
Gatria nodded while chuckling. "You should have seen your face when he called you 'Lordship'." Gatria stifled a laugh. "You looked horrified." And Gatria's laughter continued again.
Drago sighed heavily. "I'm happy that you're happy, but to be happy at my expense? I'm hurt, Gatria."
Gatria abruptly stopped laughing and stilled, then she turned to look at Drago.
Drago frowned at the suddenness of Gatria's change of emotion. "... hmm?"
"Nothing." Gatria pulled her gaze away and looked outside the carriage.
Drago's gaze lingered at Gatria, after a while, he leaned back and closed his eyes as if resting.
Silence fell on the two until the carriage stopped and they heard the soldier's voice announcing their arrival.
Stepping out from the carriage, Drago offered his hand at Gatria who gracefully accepted it and let Drago guide her towards the Count's home.
There was nothing out of the ordinary as Gatria and Drago entered the Count's home, until they reached the drawing room where they were welcomed by the Count and his family who were all kneeling and bowing at them— at Gatria.
"Please forgive our humble abode, Her Highness, Queen Gatria!" The Count and his family bowed even more deeply that his forehead was already touching the floor. "Please...! Welcome to Belrac!"
CECELIB | C.C.