New Life in a New World Ch. 05

"Now, Lydia!" Sirenia shouted

The half-lycan quickly nodded to the necromancer. She darted forward running at full strength. Her heart was filled with rage over her fallen friend. Her arm and katana extended to her side, her movements graceful and deadly. Reaching the beast, she jumped onto its knee, then once again to its chest. This time she didn't anchor herself, she wouldn't need too. Remaining true to the acrobatics lycans possessed, she jumped off the creature's chest and spun beautifully in the air. Lydia's white hair flailing; her long, bare legs locked together. With deadly accuracy, she cut her blade deep into the minotaur's throat. The beast dropped its weapon, its hands reaching to cover the fountain of gushing blood. Sickening gurgling sounds coming from the bull-like creature before it dropped to the ground. Sirenia's minotaur collapsed to the ground, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Lydia stood over her kill; with a snap of the wrist, she flung the blood from her blade and placed it back in its sheath. Her mind taking a moment to shift from the frenzy of battle to now worry for her friend, her eyes moved to search out Sasha.

"Sasha!" Lydia cried out as she rushed toward the unmoving dragoness. Sirenia caught up to her as they both reached Sasha's body. The half-lycan quickly knelt down next to the dragoness.

The wolf girl began to shake her friend, "Come on Sasha, say something!"

There finally came a muffled moan as Sasha lifted her head slightly, "O...Owww!"

Sirenia and Lydia grabbed the dragoness's arms and helped her get to her knees. The wolf girl impulsively embraced her friend. Tears running down her cheeks, the half-lycan cried in relief. The dragoness was covered in blood; some of it from the minotaur, but most of her own. Lacerations covered her body, her eye was swollen shut. Sasha gradually put her arm around the half-lycan, only moving as much as her body was comfortable with.

"I'm alright," She said with a laugh, "It's going to take more than that to bring me down."

The half-lycan finally composed herself, wiping away the last of her tears. This had been the second time in three days that she had nearly lost one of her friends. Yes, her friend. A woman that she considered her rival, now her closest companion. If she could develop a friendship with Sasha, then why not Sirenia? Lydia nearly jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see the necromancer smiling gently.

"Come on," said Sirenia, "Let's get your man back."

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Everyone stood around John's bed, quietly waiting. Lydia and Sasha sat in chairs next to each other, the dragoness expertly bandaged by Faelar. Her eyelid still swollen, her wing mended but unable to fly for weeks. Sirenia sat on a stool at the foot of the bed with Faelar leaning against the wall behind her, still not ready to trust Mira's disgraced student. John, or at least his body, seemed to be resting peacefully. His chest steadily rising and falling, almost looking relaxed in his deep sleep.

There was a little bit of clattering in the kitchen as Mira finished up the last of the potion. The three girls had made it back by sunset with Gia's Tears. Their journey took longer due to carrying Sasha most of the way. The experienced necromancer was able to extract the nectar from the flowers for the final ingredient upon their return. After about a minute, the necromancer walked into the room with a teacup in hand. Using one hand to prop the soldier's head, she poured half of the cup into his mouth before letting his head rest back on the pillow.

"What now?" Lydia nervously asked.

Mira sighed dreadfully, "Now one of you needs to make a sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?" The dragoness replied with deep concern, "What kind of sacrifice?"

"Half of your potential lifespan," the necromancer said with immense gravity to her voice.

The wolf girl nearly shot out of her chair, "Wait! You're saying that...."

"I'm saying that if you are destined to live to be eighty, you will die at forty. Even if you don't fall by the sword, you will still die an early death. That is the price you must pay."

Lydia sat back down, silence filled the room once again as the three women let Mira's words sink in. Someone was going to have to pay a steep price, to allow death to take them much earlier. A life for a life.

Sasha pushed herself out of the chair, a hand against the wall for support. "I'll do it. Living to only be fifteen hundred is a small price for me."

For the dragoness, the men she loved were mortal and would die in her lifetime. She could not imagine taking a dragon for a mate or falling in love again. As far as she was concerned, a shorter life would only help ease her loneliness when they were gone.

The older necromancer shook her head, "I'm sorry but this will not work on magical creatures."

A dragon's long life was attributed by the radiant magic of the world. Therefore, a dragon was partly pure magic themselves. All eyes in the room turned to Lydia. Her head lowered, tears flowed down the side of her face as the weight of the room came crashing down on her. Her thoughts drifted to the scene she created for herself back in the cave, John and their children playing as a happy family. Then a dark image entered her mind, John and their children weeping over her grave. She swore she could even imagine the faces of her children, so young. But would a shortened life be worth it? Yes! Even if to only see him for one more day, to tell him she loved him, to make love one last time. It was worth the price.

"Lydia?" Sasha's voice bringing her back to reality. She lifted her head and glanced around, everyone still watching her. Slowly she stood up and nodded.

"Alright, what do I need to do?"

Mira was just about to speak when Sirenia shot out of her seat and interrupted her, "Lydia, no!"

The half-lycan completely froze, what was she doing? The young necromancer closed her own eyes for a moment, tears welling up. She took a deep breath before opening them with her reply.

"Lydia, if you truly love him, then you deserve a long life together. You deserve him as a mate. You deserve the chance to raise children together. And you deserve a life free from fear or worry. I'll pay the price."

Mira's eyes opened wide in surprise, for the first time showing any concern for her former student. "Sirenia, are you sure about this?"

"I've never been more sure in my life," the necromancer laughed. "Besides, I've screwed up a lot. It's about time I did something right for once."

The half-lycan smiled softly at Sirenia. "Thank you," she whispered.

Mira nodded as she handed the cup to her former student, "I'm so proud of you."

The young necromancer smiled at the comment, the first time in years there was an ounce of respect between teacher and student. She sipped from the cup until there was nothing of the potion left. Sirenia started to blink a few times, slowly shifting her weight, her head nodding off. It was at this time that Mira took her hand and held John's hand in the other. The older necromancer closed her eyes and started to ramble on a few words that no one else in the room understood. It was the same chanting that Sirenia was doing when creating the faux soul for John. A slight glow began to emanate from their hands, glowing brighter as the light bled through their skin. Suddenly, Mira let go of both hands and Sirenia collapsed on the floor. Lydia started to rush around the bed when the younger necromancer held up her hand, letting them know she was alright.

"It's ok," she said breathlessly, "I just feel...weak."

"Don't worry child," Mira replied, "The feeling will wear off in a few moments."

The older necromancer then put her hands on John's chest and everyone knew it was the moment of truth. Once again she closed her eyes, chanting a few words over and over again. A pure, white glow began to form in his chest. Mira's chanting became louder, almost until she was screaming her words. Suddenly, her eyes flew open and her hands quickly left his chest. Everyone knew something was wrong by the terrified expression in her face.

"W...We can't bring him back," the older necromancer gasped, "I refuse to bring him back!"

"What do you mean you refuse," Lydia shouted, "We had a deal, you promised!"

"No! There's...too much darkness in his heart."

"Mira, that's probably from Lilith's spell," Sasha tried to calmly explain, "he had a dark entity possessing him. That must be what you're seeing."

But the older necromancer was not having any of it. "No, this is truly in his soul. So much anger, and sadness. He deserves to be stuck in purgatory after what he did!"

"What! What did he do?" the half-lycan asked desperately.

The necromancer shook her head, still in disbelief after what she saw in his soul. "He's a MONSTER!"

In a flash Lydia unsheathed her sword and aimed the tip at the necromancer's neck. Faelar, with bow in hand, reached for an arrow. But Sirenia had regained most of her strength. Faster than anyone could blink, she pulled out her dagger and threw it at the young elf. The blade pierced his hand, impaling it against the wall as the elf wailed in agony. The half-lycan kept her sword trained on Mira.

"Bring him back...now!" she growled.

The older woman seemed to stand her ground. But then she looked into the wolf girl's golden eyes. Not filled with rage, but with passion. The look of a woman ready to kill for her lover. The necromancer finally sighed and gave in. "Very well, but I hope you realize just how much anger you're bringing back into this world."

The half-lycan lowered her blade to allow the necromancer to finish the spell. The light in the young soldier's chest grew brighter and brighter until the room was awash with a pure, white light. Then the light quickly dimmed and everything seemed to become quiet again.

Suddenly John shot straight up, his eyes wide open and screaming in terror. Mira screamed for someone to help hold him down. Lydia and Sirenia each grabbed a shoulder, pinning him back down. But his eyes were still locked forward as he continued screaming for several more moments. Then his screaming ceased and he passed out.

While everyone seemed to settle back down in their seats, Lydia remained by the bed. She softly held his hand, her gaze never leaving his face. His eyelids began to twitch a bit, then slowly began to open. Gasps filled the room from the three women, still wondering if the spell had actually worked. Did they get him back? Mira walked over to the bed, first pacing her hand on his head as if checking for a fever. Then when she was satisfied, she leaned over slightly.

"My name is Mira," she said softly and slowly, "Can you tell me your name?"

The young man took a deep breath, "Corporal John Young, United States Army Special Forces."

Lydia then bit her lip nervously, "John, do you know who I am?"

His eyes seemed to dart around the room, looking very lost. He scanned over everyone standing around the bed, glancing over at Sasha sitting against the wall. He looked like he had no idea who he was. But then his face softened as his eyes fell on Lydia again and smiled. "The woman I love."

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High up in the mountains, above the clouds were no mortal would dare venture, the dragon leader Norruth glared at the ominous incoming storm. He could hear the howling of the winds off in the distance. Within the clouds would be shards of ice whipped around by the wind, strong enough to tear the hide of any dragon caught in the storm for too long. But it did not matter, for they would be long gone by the time the meeting was over.

Surrounding Norruth were the ancient ruins that has for generations been the meeting place of the Dragon Council. The ruins themselves were perched on the side of the mountain, at the edge of a cliff face. At one time this may have been a temple, but now only a circle of granite pillars with a few archways remained.

Twelve other dragons joined Norruth in the ruins, each taking their place in the circle of pillars. Some young, some old, but each with the distinct honor of being a council member. All in their full dragon forms. Norruth did not understand why some dragons chose to take humanoid forms. While still advocating peace, he felt that the full form displayed power and discouraged enemies from ever attempting to attack a full dragon. Once everyone had arrived, the lead dragon started the meeting.

"I would like to report that there may be some developments in our sister, Sasha Arananth's, search for the warrior described in the prophecy."

"You sound unsure, Great Leader," one of the other dragons stated.

"I have not spoken to our sister directly," Norruth explained, "But I believe she has left us a sign."

"What kind of sign?"

"There is a torch in her cave, one that she told me she would extinguish if she found the warrior. I visited her have three days ago and that torch no longer burns. It is my belief that Lady Arananth has indeed found this warrior."

"But if she was not in her cave, where could she have gone? " another dragon chimed in.

Norruth shook his head, "I do not know, brother. That's why it's my belief that the next course of action for this council is to locate our sister and provide her any assistance she requires."

The dragons began to talk amongst themselves, most in agreement with Norruth's proposal. "It still does not explain why our sister didn't come to us first after locating the warrior."

"Because that whore is too busy sleeping with her new pet," a new voice interrupted.

All conversation ceased as everyone looked skyward. A black scaled dragon flew in and landed on in the center of the circle, facing toward Norruth. His red eyes staring back menacingly.

"How dare you even show your face, Drahak!" the elder dragon growled, "You have no business with the council."

"Actually, I do," the black dragon laughed, "I'm here to bring our kind back to greatness. I'm here because our leader is an old fool whose time has passed."

"And you're a traitor!" Norruth roared back. "That's right, I know about your dealings with Solomon. You're working with the enemy to bring us to our doom."

Drahak's gaze pierced the eyes of the elder dragon. "I'm working with him to give us a better future. A future where we don't need to hide in the mountains. A future without mortals to hunt us and we can rule these lands unopposed."

"What you speak of is madness and I will never allow it!"

The black dragon growled menacingly, "Then I challenge you for your position as leader. A fight to the death."

Norruth could hardly contain his laughter. In his fifteen hundred years leading the race of dragons, he has never lost a challenge despite the many that tried. The dragon leader reared up on his haunches, ready for battle. "Very well, but I must warn......"

He never got the chance to complete his thought. Immediately, Drahak opened his maw as a brilliant blue fire erupted from his mouth. The flame was so bright and vivid, many dragons had turned their heads away. The blue flames engulfed the elder dragon and when they cleared, there was nothing left. Norruth was nothing more than a pile of ashes. All the other twelve dragons sat there in pure shock and disbelief. How did he acquire the blue fire? He was now the only dragon in existence that could kill another with their fire breath. All the council members were petrified with fear, for Drahak could destroy them all if he so chose.

A cruel smile spread across the black dragon's face as he looked at the other dragons that surrounded him. He wondered if any would dare challenge him, but none did. "Per dragon law, I rightfully assume the position as leader of this council and all of the dragon race. Sasha Arananth is a traitor to her kind, I want you to find her and kill her. Do not return until you've come back with her head."