Chapter 93: 93-Provocation (2)
"Swear on Sseraphis’ head that you didn’t betray him by choosing another and asking him for a divorce... that you didn’t abandon him and cause him to run mad with grief?" Hadrian challenged.
Sseraphis looked up at Nytherael. He recognized the fox too from the memory he relieved of dancing in the rain. But unlike the version of him in the memory that was floored by the fox, his heart seemed to chill when he glanced at him.
It wasn’t the indifference he had with Hadrian. It was pain, the same kind he felt when his mother left without looking back. The betrayal echoed in every ounce of his body, both physically and mentally.
"Go ahead," Hadrian got bolder when Nytherael went silent.
"That... it wasn’t what it appeared to be, and even I was fooled..."
"Fooled? Is that your excuse?"
"It’s not..." Nytherael didn’t know how to explain. He had gotten sidetracked when Fairy Zarathia was explaining about the hex on him. All he recalled from that conversation was that their enemy was a dragon, anything more, and Zarathia would be best to explain.
"Do you hear that. He can’t even defend his actions... he’s just like your mother. They both are!" Hadrian claimed.
"Tha... that isn’t true," Aeltharion defended. "I don’t know what he has done to you or what doubts you are feeling inside," he addressed Sseraphis, holding his venom’s gaze and hoping that all the love that they shared over the years would help him remember their bond. "But I want you to listen to your heart and feel the truth for yourself. Don’t listen to me, don’t listen to Nythe, don’t listen to thar monster. Just... listen to your heart," he said.
That advise warmed Sseraphis’ heart. He felt that the words matched his impression of Aeltharion. The weak dragon seemed like the type to give him every right to make his own decision with full support of whatever that choice was.
"Don’t listen to him. He’s just acting kind because he is dying, and your blood is the only thing that can save him," Hadrian provoked.
Sseraphis was stunned. He glanced down at Aeltharion. His gut refused the accusation, and in as much as his mind doubted Aeltharion in that second, no part of him agreed with that doubt.
"Don’t try to manipulate my brother," Ssoren spoke up after catching his breath. "The truth won’t change just because you are good at twisting the truth. Sseraphis won’t believe a word you say. He knows that Aeltharion is the one beast in the entire universe who’ll never hurt him!"
Ssoren was confident in that truth. It was in that truth that he was able to leave to pursue healing away from his brother without feeling guilty. He was certain that Aeltharion would protect Sseraphis with his life.
"You put a dark energy inside my brother. You are distorting his memories and acting like his well-wisher?" Ssoren continued confronting Hadrian. "If you really mean well then why don’t you free my brother from that thing," he said, pointing to Sseraphis’ forehead where the snake-like black energy was frozen still because of the cleansing he performed.
It brought every beasts attention to it. Nytherael forgot his malice against Hadrian and rushed to Sseraphis’ side. His hand moved on its own, and his finger brushed against it.
"Does it hurt?" He asked, his eyes looking pained like the snake-like energy was in him and not on Sseraphis.
"Are you alright, Venom?" Aeltharion seemed mire worried. Before getting a response from Sseraphis, he turned back to glance at the fairy. "Is there anything you can do?"
"So?" Ssoren pressed Hadrian. "Prove that you are the Saint you wish to paint yourself as in my brother’s eyes and free him. Set him free or get lost!"
Hadrian stilled. He hadn’t expected a beast to catch a whiff of his lingering spirit on Sseraphis. Nytherael and Aeltharion had missed it before, even the powerful healer Jura hadn’t known it was there and yet Sseraphis’ brother had not just spotted it but had frozen it in place, preventing it from moving around and causing more harm to Sseraphis.
He glanced at Ssoren and tried to gauze what level of cultivation he had achieved. With a slight glint in Ssoren’s eyes, his vision was blurred, and he couldn’t tell how powerful Ssoren was.
"I am Ssoren Noxveil!" He said like that was supposed to answer for why Hadrian couldn’t read him.
Fairy Zarathia waved her hand. A blue light shot out from her fingers and hit Hadrian. The hit landed with a load thud, and then the spirit cracked. A whisp of black energy escaped from the remains and flew aways leaving a warning behind.
"This isn’t over. I will come for what is rightfully mine!"
"What?" Ssoren was stunned.
"A decoy," Fairy Zarathia let known. "He’s not a fool to come before me without first retrieving his body. Why else do you think he didn’t initiate a fight and choose manipulation instead?" She added as though it was supposed to be obvious to every beast present that Hadrian had sent a shell of his spirit and didn’t come personally.
"Fairy," Nytherael kowtowed to her. "Please save Sseraphis from that thing."
Fairy Zarathia shook her head. The energy was a part of Hadrian’s soul, and it had already stayed in Sseraphis for too long to be removed without causing permanent damage to the snake.
The best solution she could offer was numbing it so that it doesn’t affect Sseraphis in his daily life. Only until she finds a permanent solution to the problem.
"That’s not as easy as it looks."
She explained the situation to them in the simplest form possible before tapping her fingers on Sseraphis’ forehead.
Sseraphis felt a chill run through his body from hus head to his toe. The headache and his raised temperature from the affliction of the black energy cooled down.
The snake-like black energy twitched. It moved on command down Sseraphis’ face to his neck. It slithered beneath the skin like blank ink floating through his veins.
The snake moved down his arm until it settled on his wrist. It settled there like a tattoo engraved on his skin and laid motionless.
"There," she said, she had dulled its power and its effects on Sseraphis. But thar wasn’t enough to fix the damage it already did on Sseraphis’ head. Thar part was a healing process that would take time, meditation, and the right approach. "How do you feel?"
"Better," Sseraphis answered weakly and cautiously.
"That’s good," Aeltharion said, relieved. And just as he finished, he fainted onto Sseraphis.
Sseraphis caught him. The feeling felt familiar, like the dragon fainting was a normal occurrence, and him being the dragon’s support was a role he’d played for a long time.
"Aelthie," Nytherael bent down, his heart in his throat. He reached out to touch Aeltharion, but Sseraphis’ hand acted on impulse and grabbed hold of his hand before it touched Aeltharion. "Go show your fake concern to your first love," he fired.
Sseraphis blinked. The animosity and the words came out of nowhere. He didn’t understand his protectiveness over Aeltharion or his hatred for Nytherael but he figured it had something to do with what Ssoren said about Aeltharion being the beast incapable of hurting him and Hadrian’s claim that Nytherael abandoned him like his mother once did.
He just knew that he didn’t want Nytherael touching Aeltharion, and he had to care for the dragon.
"I can prove that it was never my intention to betrayal you."
"Whether you intended to or not. What matters is what went down, right?"
Comments