"... Well, no nightmares today," Jericho sighed, lifting himself up from the cold stone.
The blue dragon looked around. It was barely dawn, but Tarvos decided to wake up Jericho, which ended up falling asleep outside. He felt energetic and refreshed, and free from worry, even if that was the case only for a little while.
"Hope you didn't catch a cold," Tarvos said. Jericho brought a paw to his nose. Just a bit of snot.
"Seems that I'm fi... ACHOO!" Jericho shouted as he sneezed. Tarvos laughed, Jericho smiling back a bit sheepishly. He shook his paw free of snot.
"Well, my friend, that came out of nowhere. Don't worry, it'll pass in a few days." said Tarvos as he circled the leader.
"Quickly enough," Jericho yawned. He raised himself up on his paws, before looking at the rising sun. "Is Elara asleep?"
"No, she's out waiting for me, we're going searching for crystals. Especially Fury and Spirit crystals," Tarvos said.
"Fury and Spirit, huh..." Fury crystals temporarily increases your element and physical power, while Spirit ones lets you... Learn new things? Permanently enhances your abilities to use your element? No dragon could describe it to me. It's a 'you'll know when you feel it' thing. Wait, this is my opportunity...
"Tarvos? I wanted to ask you something."
"Go for it."
"Right, so... You know how I have no element, right?" Jericho gestured with his front paw, imagining himself generating elemental power. Nothing happened, as expected...
"I do." Tarvos nodded, understanding Jericho's plight.
"Well... I'll admit it, I haven't tried those two types of crystals yet, in a long time. They're rare after all. I'm curious to see if... They will awaken something. I mean, how did your powers come to for yourself?"
"I... Like to keep that private, but I'll tell you that it was intense training." Jericho nodded. He knew the multiple scars on his extremities were there for a reason. He could even see Tarvos' limbs shake, as he usually does when stressed. Is that how I would awaken my... Power? By Malefor...
"I... I hope it won't be the case with me," Jericho whined.
"It won't. You were treated the best still. Either way... We'll find some and give them to you. Hey, maybe something will happen."
I was treated the best, true... But why? Any of them would had made better leaders.
He sighed, clearing out the thoughts in his head. "I'm betting on it. Whatever happens, if it shows anything, I'll be happy."
"I hope so, Jericho. It would be nice to see you happy," the Wind dragon smiled.
"T-Thanks," Jericho blurted out, ashamed. He held back a small blush. "I won't do anything stupid while you two are gone."
"Nor will us. Now stay put. It'll take us an hour at best. And please don't get killed," said Tarvos as he spread open his large wings, taking flight towards the forest.
Okay... So, I'm alone now. Good.
Jericho wouldn't lie to himself this time, he wanted some alone time, where he could be at peace. He was more interested in the objects that they acquired from the altars. Now that he was truly free, he could finally experiment with them.
He started with the blade that he left in the tent, which he found to be the most interesting object out of them all. He took it in his paws, making sure not to stab himself with the hefty sword. Jericho looked at the sword, examining it's intricacies. The rune markings on the hilt, the grooves in the blade... How did it even fit in the hilt's groove? It's longer than that...
The dragon tried to fold the blade once again, but it wouldn't move or rotate in any way. But...
It just felt right to hold in his hands. Jericho's claws seemingly tingled, as if the blade held some secret power inside. It almost felt natural to handle it. Dragons aren't meant to wield swords... We're not bipedal. Either way...
He gently put the blade down, still in awe at it. It was a beautiful weapon, it's craftsmanship near perfect. In fact, he wondered who made it. Who made all of those artefacts? Who knows...? Perhaps Malefor in his downfall, in his last will... Or the Ancestors?
He shook his head and resumed pacing through what artefacts were left. He grabbed Elara's lighter, flipping it on, revealing a nice blue flame, with green accents. He smiled, noticing the flames were also customized to their scale color. I like those lighters though. The Great Follower still cares about us... We don't smoke though, he giggled to himself. The image of himself smoking on a pipe was somehow funny. Would he have a deeper voice if his parents smoked? That myth was still unclear to him.
Ah, his parents. He never knew about it. The Great Follower said that he was an abandoned egg, that he was found and given a chance. His egg was apparently the same coloring as his scales, which is usual, but it begged the question: would he ever know what his parents were? What they would look like?
He started to talk to himself.
"I wish I knew my parents, like... I was an orphan, but where did I come from? If I had my parents, I'd know my elements. Right, Ela-"
He turned to his side. She wasn't there. Why did I...?
He shook his head. He needed to focus. What was the artefact he needed? He reached into the tent, opening the pouch Elara left behind. In it shone the artefacts they collected. But the copper cylinder took his attention the most.
The Injector... Jericho thought. He was strangely drawn to it again, like if something in the back of his mind pushed him to place his hands on it. He withdrew it from Elara's artefact pouch, feeling the cold copper metal in his paws.
He got out of the tent, and then observed it some more, running a claw in the engravings. Why was it so fascinating? Why was this small cylinder with a needle so... Compelling?
Jericho aimed the injector at himself on his shoulder, where he stabbed himself previously. His heart was beating like crazy. There were pangs of doubt in his mind, as his senses dimmed. Why should I... ?
Without any warning, he stabbed himself with the injector, making him yelp in pain. And almost instantly, the same effects came back. Lights flashed around his vision. His heart rate increased dramatically. He felt the energy through all of his muscles. He wanted, no, NEEDED to run. The injector seemed to have bitten into his scales, holding on.
So, he did. He picked up the pace around the edge of the cliff they were camping on, finally running at full speed alongside it. He didn't feel any strain nor exhaustion as he kept at it for thirty seconds, before running back at full speed back to the camp.
Finally, he ripped out the injector from his flesh, exhaustion coming back as soon as it disconnected. He fell to the ground, next to the sword he had examined before.
"Wow..." he said, still a bit stunned, laying down on the ground. So that's it's power... Amazing! he said, giving off a small sheepish smile to the sky. The rush felt great, and his paws felt a bit numb. It was an artefact he'd like to keep around, definitely.
Jericho got up, sighing. Well, that was fun.
Either way, the dragon put all of the artefacts back into Elara's pouch but the sword, which he kept by himself. He now grabbed Elara's translation book, looking for the page that showed the runes he was looking for, the ones on his sword.
Ah, there we go.
He brushed a claw against the different runes, all of them having weird shapes he couldn't identify well. After a while, he deciphered what was on the blade.
In Moonlight He shall rise, for the Realms are his rightful belonging. To whom shall wield this blade Mir will grant his blessings. Yeah, that's what Elara figured out. Albeit I'm curious about the name Mir...
A small shiver ran down his spine. What if it was another purple dragon? Or the Great Follower's name?
Nobody knew what was the true name of the Great Follower. He was either called Great Follower, Greater One or The Penitent Ascendant. Someone else perhaps? Eh, this is creeping me out... He laughed nervously. For some reason, the name dug a deep pit in his stomach.
He sighed, putting Elara's translation book where it was supposed to be. He then turned back, still focused on that sword. Why was it so mesmerizing about it? Why was he so...
That's when he noticed. Something came out of the bushes, straight for him. Jericho yelped, throwing himself off to the side before he could be struck, taking a look at his assailant.
The... Ape had its eyes gouged out; black goo dried upon them. It snarled at Jericho in a terrifying way, prompting him to growl back. There was no way he was avoiding a fight now. Time to fight...!
Jericho took up a defensive pose, trying to see what the ape would do next. Without his element, he was more vulnerable than most. He then decided to charge the creature, striking it with his head. He managed to knock it down, but felt a sharp pain in his flank as the ape-like creature tore into it just as he impacted. He groaned, starting to claw at the beast in the neck, before he was kicked back, the sharp talons of the creature tearing into his stomach once again. He shouted in pain, looking again at his opponent. Despite having its throat ripped out, it still stood, making horrible rasping noises.
Jericho shook, the creature moving unnaturally, twitching as if it was not... An ape. He strafed to the side with a powerful flap of his wings, striking the creature with his tail. But it did nothing. Instead, his tail was grabbed, and he was pulled down on his belly, blood covering the grass behind him.
He noticed the blue bladed sword was in front of him. That's when he had an idea. He had to put down this thing with whatever he had available. The ape-like monster clawed into his back, but Jericho ignored the pain. He had to win this.
With all of his might, Jericho grabbed the sword in his right paw, and screamed, spinning to strike his assailant. The next thing he knew, his muzzle was splashed with blood, as the ape's head was decapitated right off. He dropped the bloodened sword next to him, knowing the fight was over. He sighed before groaning in pain, the strike he received on his left flank pulsing in pain. Ugh, not my day... Fu-
"Oh, by Malefor! Jericho!" Tarvos screamed, hurrying over to land over him. "Are you okay? What got you?"
"I- I'm fine," Jericho said, the gash on his flank bleeding. He pressed his paw to it.
"Here, have this," Tarvos said as he put a large health crystal in Jericho's paw. Squeezing the crystal, Jericho focused away from the pain, letting the soothing power of the crystal seep into him and heal his wounds. He closed his eyes as his wounds stung, but he shook it off, as the crystal's magic mended everything in his body. He let out a long-drawn sigh as relief washed over him.
Elara soon landed near him; a bit startled. "What got you?" she asked.
"Some ape... It's dead," he said, pointing at the corpse.
"No kidding, you took his head right off. With the sword?"
"Yeah... It's crazy sharp," he said.
"Very unusual for a dragon to use a sword, but hey, you're not dead yet." Jericho then let himself rest on his side, stretching his paws.
"What even is this ape?" Elara said, flipping over the corpse. "It looks... Evil and stuff."
"Just... Throw it off the cliff," Jericho groaned, not wanting to see what that thing was again. "I'll go to the river and... Wash whatever stuff that's on my scales," he said, heaving a bit. He lifted himself up, noticing Elara's discontent as she examined the body, slowly pushing it to the edge of the cliff.
He started to walk towards the small river that ran nearby. When he arrived, he dunked his head in the water, washing off all the blood on his muzzle. Then, he walked into the stream until the water covered his whole body, the cold soothing him, as it washed all of the blood away. Ahhh... Much better...
Jericho exited the water, shaking himself off before returning to the camp. There was no trace of the ape thing anymore, just a dark blood trail leading to the cliff. I hope the scavengers don't have that for lunch...
He was still a bit shocked at what the creature was, but he tried not to think about it. He's seen worse... And done worse.
"So, Tarvos, the crystals. Got any?" Jericho asked. It has been a couple of hours after they got rid of the corpse, Elara studying the artefacts even more. He was now eager to try those crystals. But a nameless fear awoke in his heart. What if they would do nothing? No. Come on. Something will happen. I know it.
"Oh, right. Here you go, Jericho," Tarvos said as he gave the blue dragon two crystals. One of them was blue, the other a deep purple. Soul and Fury...
Jericho put the purple one at his paws, sitting down and focusing on the blue crystal. He closed his eyes, imagining himself in a void, without anything to disturb him. He then focused his thoughts on the crystal, trying to take in its power. It flowed to his core smoothly, tingling his limbs, but... Nothing. The energy of the crystal was blocked, denied. He cut the link, the remaining energy in his body fading away without anything. It did nothing, like the green magic gems. He growled, putting it aside and grabbing the Fury gem.
His heart skipped a beat as he imagined it's power. Pure rage contained in a single beautiful crystal. It tingled with power, ready to absorb it. His paws shook as he delved into his soul once again, trying to sense how his body would react to its awesome power.
The crystal's energy flowed through his entire body, but as soon as it tried to reach his heart, his core, it seemingly... Dissolved? Like if its power was wasted instead of surging through him, instead of being denied and staying in the crystal. It angered him.
"No, come on, this isn't funny! COME ON!" he screamed, denying that the crystals failed him once again. He threw what was left of the fury crystal at the ground, enough to shatter it into a thousand pieces. Elara shook her head at the scene, a small hint of sadness in her eyes.
Jericho just sobbed quietly like a hatchling. He was frustrated, very frustrated with himself. The fact that there wasn't anything working for his power. He wanted something. Anything. Let it be a single drop of water from his maw, confirming his ability as ice. Anything. Anything. Anything.
The blue dragon dropped to the ground, in pure disappointment.
"Hey, hey, hey. We're here, Jericho... We're here," Tarvos said as he quickly jumped over to Jericho, covering him with his large wings. Elara just turned her head away, disgusted. Crybaby...
Tarvos' embrace felt good, warm. Something he yearned yet won't ask for. Yet he kept crying. He was not sad, but frustrated. For almost two years, he had tried everything to find his element. May it be a light or dark one, or anything. Even a forgotten one.
It took a while but eventually, Jericho calmed down, and sighed, wiping his tears idly. Tarvos withdrew himself, giving the leader a smile. "Come on, we found something else too."
"Oh?" Jericho said, lifting his head up. A new discovery always piqued his interest.
"Yeah. Another artefact. A small one but still." Tarvos pulled something out of his side pouch. It was a golden gem, that seemed to be made out of metal. "Elara said it's some kind of storage crystal, whatever that means. You may as well have it; we didn't find any use for it."
"Thanks," Jericho said, grabbing the gem-like object. It had the same runes other artefacts had, and was fairly weighty. Slits were cut into every of its side, making it appear like a small lantern. "Huh... Maybe this is to stock up the energy of a crystal?"
"Beats me... I guess Elara will figure it out, am I right?" Tarvos grinned, looking at the dragoness. Her red weary eyes gazed upon Tarvos, and gave off a short sigh, before she resumed her reading. Jericho just held the crystal artefact in front of him.
"Right... Maybe one day we can also figure the name of Mir."
That name stuck with him, for some reason. But what was in the back of his mind was the creature he fought hours ago. He was not trained to be a direct fighter, due to his lack of elements.
Why was he even the leader?