From above, Astaroth saw a forest of willows and hazel trees, their branches dried and leafless, as black mist floated ever-present just over the murky water. He knew this was the corruption.
He could also see in the distance, at the edge of his vision, a place where the trees were dying. Astaroth understood that's where he needed to go.
Bursting forward, his wings beating strongly behind him, he made his way there. But the rot seemed to quicken, as if aware of his arrival, and he couldn't quite make it to the edge of its influence.
But the closer he got to it, the further the forest stretched ahead of him. He doubted it had an end.
But he still needed to reach the dragon before the corruption did. Redoubling his efforts, Astaroth used his magic to accelerate his flight, finally surpassing the rot trees.
He kept flying in the same direction, hoping to find the dragon soon.
***
In another dragon's soul space, Phoenix appeared within a cave-like tunnel, the black and red mist floating around her feet. She could feel the mist try to climb on her legs, animated with a will of its own.
She ignited her body, burning away the mist from her, making it reel in fear of the flames.
"This probably won't work forever. I need to find the dragon," she said to herself.
Phoenix looked behind her, trying to find out which way to go, but the tunnel extended out of view in both directions. So she fell back on her magic senses.
Closing her eyes, Phoenix breathed in deep, before exhaling slowly.
The faint whistling of wind that had been present in the tunnel faded away, replaced by utter silence. She felt the light mana coming from the mist all around her, like ripples on a pond.
*Drip*
A larger ripple washed over her, the sound of a drop of water hitting water right before it.
*Drip*
Honing in on this sound, her sense extended behind her, pinging back to her like a mana sonar, every few seconds, telling her which way to go.
Phoenix started walking, her eyes still closed, sliding her hand on the wall to guide herself. Her travelling speed was slow, but she could feel the sound of water drop getting louder, as the ripples in her mind became bigger and bigger.
When her hand suddenly had no more wall to follow, one final ripple washed over her, accompanied by a splashing sound.
Phoenix opened her eyes, and right before her, in a now large open cave, was a green dragon, staring at her, his maw uncomfortably close.
"Who are you, who dares enter my soul domain?" the low, raspy voice echoed in her mind.
Phoenix shuddered slightly at the mental pressure the dragon exerted over her.
"I have come to help you get rid of the corruption attacking your mind. I mean no harm," she replied, taking a small bow.
The dragon huffed, his nostrils flaring, as a powerful gust of wind pushed Phoenix back a bit. But she resisted its push.
"Two intruders in one day. How annoying these intrusions are becoming…" the dragon growled.
Phoenix looked around her, searching for traces of the dark mist. But the room was strangely devoid of it.
*Thump thump*
She heard a faint thumping coming from the other side of the cave. She tried seeing what caused it, but the gigantic dragon's shape was blocking her view.
But as if he had noticed what she was looking for, the dragon huffed once more.
"The other intruder, I have locked away. Unless they are stronger than me, they won't come into my domain. I ought to do the same to you. Or maybe I will just eat you? Hmm. Yes, the option is tempting…"
Phoenix paled a bit.
"Sir dragon, I am not your enemy. Please let me help you get rid of the other intruder, and then I can leave you alone."
*Thump Thump!*
The thumping started becoming louder, which made the dragon turn his head toward the opposite of the cave.
On the other side of the gigantic cavern, a thin veil of green mist was blocking out a cloud of black-reddish mist, and it seemed to ram itself upon the green veil.
"Tsk! What a pesky intruder this is! Perturbing my sleep. Assaulting my mind in the middle of the night. How presumptuous!"
Phoenix looked at the other entrance, barred by magic, and frowned.
'If he's blocking it outside of his domain, then why is he acting out on the outside?' she wondered.
Contrary to Astaroth, Phoenix had never been inside someone's soul. So she didn't know the entire space was its domain.
If she did, she would have understood that the slight mist floating about the floor in the tunnels was already a sign of corruption. This other enormous cloud was just the principal source of it.
*THUMP THUMP THUMP!*
The collisions were getting stronger. The veil was showing signs of stretching.
"Sir Dragon. Please. Let me help you get rid of it," she begged.
The dragon spun his head around again, looking at her. Hunger filled his eyes.
That's when she saw it. A faint flicker of black mist, dancing about in the dragon's eyes.
'He's already changing… I don't think he will let me help…' she realized.
As her thoughts flashed by, the green dragon sneered at her before licking his lips.
"You will make a fine hors-d'oeuvre, Human."
Opening his gigantic maw, which was only a few feet away from Phoenix, it lunged forward.
*Snap!*
The sound of its jaw clamping shut echoed through the room. Phoenix was nowhere to be seen.
The dragon looked happy with itself, raising its head to a normal height for its body size, and spun around. It started walking toward the other side of the cavern before halting abruptly.
A strange frown appeared on its face, as its nostrils flared up, blue flames exploding out of them and out the side of its mouth.
Spitting out the sudden ball of fire in its mouth, the dragon coughed, smoke escaping its throat. The inside of its mouth was in pain, as part of its tongue, and the majority of its palate had been seared violently.
Out of its mouth flew Phoenix, who was alight in blue fire.
"I come to help, and you eat me?! You ungrateful fat lizard! Fine! I'll burn everything, including you, if it gets rid of the threat!" she shouted, rage on her face from being almost eaten alive.
"Avatar of Flames; Regulus Supernova!"
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