Lake of Souls Chapter 18

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I stopped short from stabbing the dragon, looking around taking in the scene before looking at the god, "Why are you here?"

The god smiled at me, "Now is that any way to treat someone who has come to help you?"

I leveled my blade at him, "You've come to help me? Why do I have a hard time believing that? As a rule I've noticed you only help yourself except when forced to do otherwise."

The god sighed, "I don't know why you feel the need to be so melodramatic. However, yes I do have something to gain from assisting you. I'd like to strike a bargain with you. Saving the life of your dear partner." The god walked over and tenderly ran a hand over Filon's cheek, "For you to kill my brothers for me."

I growled low deep in my throat as I changed my posture. My sword lifted high with both of my legs poised to spring from their testing position as I get ready to fight, "Take your hand off of him and never touch him again or I'll take both of your hands."

The god took his hand away, "Tsk tsk, again so melodramatic. I'm offering you the deal of a lifetime. Well his lifetime anyways."

I stayed in my stance taking a deep breath, "Why do you want me to kill your brothers? I thought that was your plan. What do you need me for?"

He smiled broadly at me, "You see, I can't actually kill them. All I can do is weaken them down to something closer to a mortal like say these dragons. They'll still be plenty strong but they'll at least be reduced to something that could be fought. However that wonderfully unique weapon of yours I do believe is capable of actually killing them or at the very least harming them. With that said I would like you to give me just a little cut to see if it will actually harm me. Would you mind?" With that he walked into my sword's range and tilted his head offering his cheek, "Right here if you would be so kind. If I'm right it should leave me with an absolutely gorgeous scar once it does heal and if I'm wrong it will heal completely. If that's the case then I may have to simply settle for making my brothers weak."

I grinned now, "Just a little cut you say? I can happily oblige you with that." I quickly stepped forward swinging my sword at a diagonal arc intending to cleave through his head. One second I was swinging my blade trying to kill him. The next he had moved without me seeing him and was holding his hand up to a cut across his cheek.

He laughed at the look of confusion on my face, "Oh Xea did you really think you would be able to kill me so easily? I am a god after all. Do show me a bit more respect than that. As for your blade though it is indeed the genuine article, a true god slayer. It is always fascinating when you primitive creatures devise such powerful weapons. I'm always left pondering the methodology used to achieve such feats. Regardless, with that question answered, do we have a deal Xea? I let you save your partner's life and you kill my brothers." He sticks his hand out to me waiting for me to shake.

I stare at him for a long moment, my mind spinning through the possibilities before answering, "What if I just kill the dragon now before you unfreeze everyone or I just grab Filon and start running? What then?"

The god let out a quick laugh before narrowing his eyes at me, "I'll go ahead, slaughter you both, and then find someone else willing to hold your blade for me. Do not test my generosity Xea. You will find that I pay back those who betray me quite harshly."

I sighed, stuck my hand out grabbing his, and giving him a shake, "You have your deal then. Now let me get myself into position before you unfreeze everything. Wouldn't want people to be suspicious of how I seemed to have teleported now would we?" With that I adjusted my position so that I was much closer to the dragon now and would be able to stab it in the side hopefully not killing it. "This should work."

The god chuckled, sauntering off into the shadows, "Farewell Xea. I'll be seeing you again soon. Also three, two, and one." He snapped his fingers as the shadows engulfed his body. I had started running when he said "and" so as everything unfroze I barreled into the side of the dragon. Between the blade and my momentum I fully knocked him on to his side again but this time with my blade between his ribs.

I took a quick second to make sure that Filon was okay before speaking to the other dragons surrounding us, "I have bested your leader now not once but twice. Will you cower before him still and grovel at his roars? Or will you stand by me on the path of peace and order? Where the elements will live in harmony together again as it once was before all the petty Kings sacrificed that harmony for greed."

The dragon struggled underneath me but he was weakened significantly and I was not moved. He finally stopped struggling and weakly said with disdain in his voice, "I will stand by you for now King Xea but know that the moment you show weakness I will be waiting to strike."

I withdrew my blade from his side, kneeled down next to him, and gazed into his eyes, "Tell me your name then great dragon for I make it a habit to learn the names of my potential enemies. So that I may know who comes for me when my back is turned."

The dragon grinned at me baring his large fangs, "Though it pains me to have to give my name to a traitorous creature like you I will just so you can whisper it when I kill you. My name is Solare in the common tongue, for in our old tongue you wouldn't even be able to utter the first letters. Now we will stop our attacks on the kingdom of earth but you must leave this place at once. If you do not then I will order every dragon here to slaughter you and your companion."

Nodding I stand, "I abide by this but first two things. We will need transport to the water kingdom for me and my companion will not make it through this cold. Also tell me truly, why do you harbor such hatred towards me? I feel there is something more here that you have not said."

The dragon slowly pushed itself up and looked to another dragon, this one a verdant green, "You will take them to the border immediately. However, if anything should try to stop you, leave them and return at once." He now turns his gaze to me, "Do you wish to know why my heart burns with such a vicious cruelty towards you? I'll tell you then so that you can understand why I can never forgive you for your transgressions. The proud and noble dragon Baunt who you claimed to have been friends with was my brother. Now leave this place and watch your back King Xea for I will have my revenge on you eventually."

I looked at Filon and then at the green dragon, "We will follow you. So please lead the way."

The green dragon nodded and turned heading towards a tunnel that we hadn't been down. Filon and I began walking behind it keeping an ear out for anyone trying to follow us. About half way down the tunnel I heard the noise of slight scampering behind us. I smiled slightly to myself and didn't look back lest I scare the little dragon off. We exited the tunnel into the middle of a raging snow storm. The dragon turned and looked back at us, "On my back now. I'll take us above these clouds so that you two don't freeze to death."

He laid down so that we could climb on to his back. As soon as we were secure in our positioning his wings began flapping and soon we were soaring up into the sky. Within a couple of moments we were up above the clouds basking in the sun. It was still cold but there was at least warmth from both the sun and the dragon itself. I kept looking down trying to watch the clouds beneath us. Soon I start seeing breaks in the clouds and land beneath us not covered in snow. I pat the dragon on the side, "You can take us down now if you want. We can walk the rest of the way now that it isn't snowing down there."

The dragon immediately dove down towards the earth bringing us back under the clouds. However the dragon didn't land but instead continued to fly towards the water kingdom border. I patted his side again, "Did you hear me good dragon? I said you could let us down here and that we would walk the rest of the way. I'm sure you don't want to be helping someone you view as a murderer."

The dragon continued to fly but began speaking, "I have no qualm with you King Xea but it is not within my power to defy Solare so I am forced to do as he says. Many of us do not believe you killed Baunt but Solare does and he had been our leader since the Air King's passing so his beliefs must also be our beliefs. Otherwise he kills those who dare to stand up to him especially openly. He does not care to be challenged for he believes that only the strongest should have a voice. I must ask though why did you not kill him? Surely you understood what would happen."

I nodded, "I had hoped that perhaps showing him mercy would cause him to rethink his position about me. However I also knew that it would most likely gain me an even angrier enemy. I can not bring myself to simply kill unless forced to, even when I was a vessel I rarely enjoyed the act of killing someone. I am glad to know that I have more allies than I thought though. Thank you for telling me."

I peered ahead and could see the sandy beach at the border of the water kingdom. I could say that much like the last time I left the air kingdom I was rather excited to move on. As we got closer to the border the dragon slowly brought itself down to land on the ground. Filon and I climbed off taking a moment to stretch and enjoy the feeling of ground underneath us again. While flying through the air was a wondrous experience just like when Baunt flew me I was still more content to be on the ground. I looked at the dragon, "Thank you for the transport here, it was very helpful. Also thank you for sharing what you did with us. I'm glad to know I have more allies than I once thought. Fly safe and hopefully the next time we see you it will be under better conditions."

The dragon studied me for a moment before speaking, "I don't know what you are hiding but realize you will not be able to keep it quiet forever. Eventually the world must know what is coming." With that said it turned and took off into the air.

I looked at Filon, "Well that was interesting though I wish I knew how he knew I was hiding something from all of them. Regardless, let us move forward. I have a question before we get to the water Filon. How attached are you to your armor?"

Filon looked at me curiously, "No more so than a normal knight who values their protection. Why do you ask Xea?"

I chuckled as I began moving towards the beach which was still a little bit away from us, "Well you can't travel in the water kingdom unless you are swimming. I'm not sure how well your armor will do underwater." I stopped short as I noticed a particular pile of bones off to our right, "No, it couldn't be him." I ran forward towards the bones without another word.

Filon followed, calling after me, "Xea! What is it? What did you see?"

I reached the bones and dropped to my knees, "His bones are still here. I can't believe nothing has disturbed them even though the scavengers have picked him clean." I looked to the left of this set of bones and could see the bones of the manticore next to him. I stand up and walk over to the manticore skeleton looking for the snake tail. When I finally found it I crushed it under my foot grinding it into the earth. As I did I began to cry for the loss of someone who in just the short time we had known each other I considered a dear friend. I began breaking apart the manticore's skeleton with my hands. Tossing its bones every which way. The whole time I was weeping and screaming at the skeleton, "Why! Why did you have to kill him?"

Finally I stopped my rampage on the skeleton and dropped to my knees. Immediately I could feel Filon hugging me from behind. We sat there for what seemed like an eternity before Filon moved in front of me, "Do you feel a little better now?" I nodded slightly, my tears having finally stopped. Filon hugged me again, holding me close, "It's okay. It killed your friend and there was nothing you could do about it at the time. I fully understand. Is that other skeleton Baunt?"

I nodded wiping my eyes drying to dry my face some, "Yes that was him. I really can't believe his skeleton is still here undisturbed. I don't know what came over me but I felt like I had to do something and this was all I could think of."

Filon kissed my forehead, "Well in your own very angry way I think it was really sweet of you. Now come on Xea say farewell to Baunt and let us move on. You've made sure no one will ever remember this other creature as anything more than a pile of rubble."

I smiled feebly at Filon, "I really did do a number on it didn't I? I'm sorry I lost myself there for a little bit."

Filon smiled at me, "It's okay, really. You got caught up in your emotions was all. For a being who started life with no emotions it turns out that you are a very emotional man. That's part of what I like about you though it is also what can make you a bit unpredictable and dangerous. Not that I would ever be worried about you harming me but I do worry occasionally for the safety of others around you."

I stood up now, "Well if they're smart then I guess they'll learn not to upset me then. Now let us get to the beach and I'll call on my friend while you strip out of that armor."

Filon grinned and started walking towards the beach, "You just want to watch me strip that's all. I'm wise to your games Xea. However I suppose I could oblige you." He looked back and gave me a smirk.

I strode quickly to catch up to him, "You full well know that yes while I do enjoy watching you undress that is not at all what I meant. You're being a brat again." I smile running my hand through his hair as we walk, "You are a rather cute brat though so I guess you can stay with me." With that I ran ahead to the water using my significantly longer stride to cover the distance quickly.

I can hear the cleaning of Filon's armor as he runs to catch up, "You guess that I can stay with you. Now who is being a brat?"

I reached the water and turned around sticking my tongue out at him, "I have literally no idea what you mean." I now turned back around and called out over the water, "Curant! King Xea has returned to come see you and your brethren. However I have someone else with me and we will both need your special herb so we can breathe underwater." I stand and wait for any response while turning to watch Filon strip out of his armor carefully hiding it and his blade in some rocks afterwards.

Filon came up to me after doing so in his shirt and pants. I smiled looking at him, not even trying to be playful about it. I can see the blush rising rapidly in his cheeks before he mutters out, "What are you staring at?"

I smiled at him and walked up kneeling down in front of him. I pull him tight against me, "The most beautiful person I know. Thank you for being there for me earlier. I'm pretty sure I'd still be on my knees crying over there if I had been alone. So thank you for being here. I wouldn't change it for anything."

I can feel the heat radiating off of his face, "Really? You're going to stare at me like that looking like you're about to jump me here and now then you turn around and say something so sweet. That's both beautiful and not very nice all at the same time Xea. You're welcome though. I can't stand seeing you in such pain so I did the only thing I knew to do. I wouldn't change this for anything either."

We heard a cough behind us and I heard a familiar voice, "Well this is all very sweet to watch however King Xea we really could use your help. Things got better after you left at first but now the creatures in the deep are fully awake and they are quite angry." As soon as Curant finished speaking a blood curdling screech could be heard radiating out from the water.

What terrors in the water will Xea and Filon encounter? Find out in the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If you did then please heart, subscribe, and feel free to leave a tip. You can now also pledge 3 dollars a month to me to help support me as a creator. If you do, you get the benefit of always having my stories at the top of your subscription feed anytime I post something new. Till next time. The link for the next chapter as well as the original short story can be found below.

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