'Sorry I ca late, Lord Zy,' Aura thought as she stared down at Zy. Thrills moved through her body as she acknowledged her fault in this. But amidst that vulnerability of hers, a confusion stretched in.
Why did the dragon emperor commit a taboo despite knowing the consequences?
anwhile, Zy had a dream. It was as if he was alive – feeling at ease in naturalness, yet the other side of everything felt otherwise.
He dreamt of a dark forest, illuminated by the silvery full moon that shone through the misty cloud. Tall, thin woods stood as imposing and gallant as war soldiers, separated by a half tre distance.
Zy turned and turned, then again. But nothing else but these woods surrounded him. In the distance, hazes filled the air. They made his exposed skin feel unsafe whenever he turned.
His chest tightened as tension gripped him. A faint burning scent wafted to his nose. But could he care more about where he was?
'Curse it...'
Everything felt unnatural to him. His heartbeat was abrupt, unlike in real life. Seconds would pass before he realised he had never blinked.
And his body appeared to float, though his shoes remained buried in a pile of leaves. It felt as if invisible hands suspended him above the ground.
The thought of not blinking made him want to do so if it was impossible to correct his heartbeat. But he couldn't, in the next second – he knew he couldn't blink because of another thing.
His sight turned dark with sothing pinning against the lids. Warm chills of tension wafted through him. He wanted to feel what the heck was blocking his sight, only to realise he couldn't swing his hands either.
Many scents he couldn't quite register approached his sense of sll. He sniffed the air; was that a tallic scent? Cold chills passed into his nostrils. An earthy one, too?
In the next second, things went numb. A realisation dawned on him that he couldn't act nor think any more. But it was otherwise again. Wasn't it foolish that he couldn't think but still had a realisation?
How dumb could a dream feel?
His sight opened with no one nor himself helping him to. Sohow, it seed to him like he was a spectator of himself. But in contrast, he still felt as if he were the one in action.
Ti seed to freeze in place...
A deep chanical voice of a man echoed in wherever he was. He raised his sight. He could see only a few inches of the stranger's silk gown. Intricate designs embroidered it.
"On behalf of everyone that believes in , I will take your life tonight. Roll through the future, a pit of hell, and await there, which is your destined mont of glory too.
I'm not the devil here. But it's you, Orin Stonewood, who kills innocent souls all in the na of carrying out your future mission."
The statent faded in his mind. His vision blurred completely. But it opened with a sharp motion to reveal a yellow talisman bearing the title "Fate" written in red paint.
The blurring repeated itself, then opened to grey feathers. Then to a glowing crystal and to a bowl holding a fine content of thick red liquid.
Despite his efforts to look up, he found it impossible. His neck would grow stiff, and it would feel like potent forces lowering his head roughly.
Brim! – the sound played and faded off the next second. Pictures of a variety of things and places flashed in his mind. It felt like he was being absorbed by them, sohow.
As if he was falling through a dark maze. He realised with a start that sothing was supporting his back.
Now, he could think on his own.
A soft surface held him in place; the unmistakable comfort of a bed surrounded him. The chirping of birds scread in the distance, and he heard distant axing sounds.
He creased his brows, still not opening his eyes yet. "That place... wasn't it the abandoned house in the Astral Kingdom?" The intricate embroidery and stern words drifted to his mind.
He clenched his jaw. He squeezed the soft-textured material tucked over him. 'And... why am I rembering him now? When I have never dreamt of such before?'
He sighed. He lifted his back from the bed with care. He had expected a tightness in the joint. But to his surprise, he felt nothing.
He opened his eyes, with his palms resting on the bed behind him. He focused on the wooden wall that faced him at first. Next, as he turned left...
His eyes widened in shock.
"Oh? Aura... how are you here?" he asked, seeing her seated in a chair around the half-tre tall table placed in the middle of where he was.
Aura had crossed her arms while she stared at an ash cup that simred with vapour. Then, she heard his voice. She glanced at him imdiately, her eyes widening even more than his.
Her arms uncrossed. She stood, disrupting the alignnt of the chairs. She bowed to him and said with delight, "It's been a while, Lord Zy. I hope you've had a nice rest."
Zy didn't reply imdiately, but gazed at her instead. A hint of wonder crossed his face. He mumbled, "Woo... she's even more respectful and submissive than in the beast's realm. Strange."
Mumbling that, he moved his legs down the bed, shifting his weight towards Aura. That was when he realised he was still in black, but it was rather a top instead of his tattered cloak.
He moved his hands on it as if checking sothing. He raised a part, slling it. Even though it had a faint earthy sll, he assud it was better.
He shifted his attention to Aura. "Weren't you at the Infernosphere before? When did you co here and find ?" he inquired.
As Aura raised her head, Zy noticed the door open with a creak. A shadow stretched between the arc reflection of the sun's rays.
He lingered there as a woman with her white hair in a braid, wearing a skin-tight blue gown entrance.
The woman turned, Zy finally seeing her glowing-skinned face. She first stopped at the door. She held a large bowl close to her side.
Then, she looked between the young man and that hot-tempered girl from last night. She felt she had interrupted their discussion. Both were looking at her with the sa expression.
She chuckled as her gaze shifted towards Zy. "Good to see you're up. Welco back."
"Yes. Thank you," Zy replied in a low tone with a tight smile. Despite his confusion about her identity, how Aura t her, and whose house they were in, he played along.
But Aura wouldn't have a house on Earth, he knew.
The woman passed behind Aura to a large clay jar at the corner of the room. Zy and Aura looked at her. She bent before the jar, opening the lid and dipping her hand inside.
Soon, smoky and herbaceous scents filled the room. She took her ti to fetch the vegetables. First, bay leaves. Then, onions, spinach, and carrots. Finally, she got so smoked at.
She fetched everything into the bowl in her hand. No one said anything, leaving the room silent until the woman reached the door. And she glanced back, looking at Zy again.
A smile flushed her face. "I'm making a chicken and vegetable broth this morning. It's a soup that aids complete recovery from an injury. Wait for a few minutes here. It'll soon be ready."
"... That might be unnecessary, ma'am. Thanks, but I don't have an appetite. I would tell you when I want to eat anything."
Zy forced a smile at the end.
The woman smiled back. "Mm. Hope you're feeling completely well already."
Zy nodded back. "Yes, I suppose so."
"You could take a walk around the vicinity to strengthen your bones. Well... choose for yourself. You're a grown-up man, after all."
With that, she opened the door and exited. She nuzzled it closed afterward.
Zy sighed. He rose from the bed. He paced himself towards an open window and looked through it. Its position was at his chest level. His hands rested on the fra.
The view was the house's rear. Ice bags littered the land. Distant mountains pointed at the sun. Snow drifted downwards in a soft manner. From the window, he saw a river to the right. He couldn't see the other side.
Zy reverted to his focus, turning and looking at Aura. Their eyes locked imdiately.
"Aura..."
She cut in.
"...Did you... have amnesia?" she asked, her tone frank. Sothing contrasting her strong exterior masked her face. Her chest tightened as she awaited his response.
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Let's reach 20 GTS this week and 100 power stones. I will update three bonus Chapters if we do!
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