The ice dragon was not a spirit. This had already been determined by those who had seen it. Yet its presence was similar, and so, when the brave knight had searched for it with his spell, he’d felt himself being pulled into a presence of such enormous toxicity he did not believe it a natural part of the world. As Shiori listened to him speak, she began to cautiously reach out with her own search magic.
She felt it. It was a thick and unpleasant mass—several times more powerful than what they all felt now—gathered past the trees. She knew immediately that it was not safe to be in contact with it for long, and she was careful not to fall in sync and sympathize with the dragon as she stopped casting her spell.
“Don’t push it, Shiori,” said Alec, worried. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’ve learned how to...avoid the worst of such things,” she replied.
Shiori had not poured her efforts into developing her spells for nothing. She was now perhaps the leading authority on search magic, and was keenly aware that in the spell lay the ability to “touch” the feelings of the target, which were wrapped up in its presence. The people here referred to this as “sympathizing.” Over time, Shiori had become skilled at avoiding the negative impacts that often came with such a phenomenon.
“But based on what I felt,” continued Shiori, “I think the dragon may have attacks that target the mind and spirit. We’d best be careful.”
“Good call... Let’s make sure we all have enough stimulants, just in case.”
Nils was quick to pass around more stimulants to everyone as soon as he heard about the dragon’s possible attacks on the psyche.
“They work as smelling salts, and as a light sedative too,” he explained, “so you can also wet a cloth with them in advance to use that way.”
The stimulant was made from natt hortensia flowers, which gave it a refreshingly sweet fragrance. That alone was enough to calm everyone, and ease the tension that had been hanging over all of them.
The carriages rolled on, and it wasn’t long before people were putting their cold weather gear over their summer clothing. Even then, however, the chill persisted; this was the residue of the dragon’s presence in the air.
“The lake surface is frozen over, and the area around it is in a perennial winter,” said Alec, explaining things to Shiori, for whom it was all new. “Since times of old, it’s been believed that an ore deposit of magic ice crystals might exist at the lake’s bottom. Given that the entire surface is frozen, however, it’s probably quite deep. Specialists have come to investigate on numerous occasions, but all went home without much in the way of discoveries. All of that said, the place has never felt like this before; something is off about the air.”
“Right?” commented Linus. “I’ve come out this way a few times for work, but this is the first time it’s ever felt this way.”
Linus’s voice was as lively as ever, but his smile was not quite as bright as it usually was, and his face was pale.
Zack said it was likely that the oppressive air was on account of the legendary dragon’s awakening.
“It’s said that just the presence of a dragon is enough to kill a man,” he said. “But even I’ve never encountered the likes of this. If you don’t keep your wits about you, you’ll be done before the battle even begins.”
Zack was experienced when it came to dragons, so there was a weight to his words. This was also one of the reasons that the knight squadron on-site had been ordered not to attack until his arrival. If the knights were to agitate the dragon to the extent that it fled elsewhere, its very aura alone could be enough to kill nearby villagers and townsfolk. Worse still, if it fled across the border, Storydia would have an international issue on its hands. It wasn’t uncommon for such issues to arise along the nation’s border, and so the margrave was expected to be not just a wielder of military and political power, but to also have the flexibility to handle such problems as they arose.
Even with the knight corps at his command, Kristoffer had asked a civilian organization, the Adventurers’ Guild, for support. He had made the decision based on the belief that an experienced hand would see the problem handled far more efficiently. But not everyone would have been so quick to make such a decision when it meant placing their reputation and rank on the line. Especially nobles, for whom prestige and appearances were everything. By his actions, Kristoffer Osbring had shown once again that he was the right man for the responsibilities of the margrave.
It was then that a horse in front of them neighed, though it did not belong to one of the squads ahead; it came from a messenger, weaving through the trees.
“The dragon has awakened!” he shouted. “It’s showing signs of movement! The mages and archers are engaging it!”
Together with the messenger’s shouts came the rumble of a low roar, echoing like that of a distant explosion. Light flashed from between the trees ahead.
“The lake is right ahead!” barked Zack. “Be ready to deploy!”
The tension could have cut the air, and Shiori’s fingers trembled.
“This is not just for us,” uttered Alec, dropping a hand to his sword, his eyes ahead. “We do this for Kristoffer, and we do this for the people of Storydia. We’ll defeat this thing, and we’ll make it home.”
He was a member of the royal family, fighting on the front lines, sword in hand, and his quiet pledge was something only Shiori was close enough to hear. His identity was hidden from the people, but in his own way, he continued to fight for them and for his country.
“Yes, we’ll do our job and we’ll get back safe,” said Shiori. “And we’ll all enjoy the summer solstice together.”
Neither said they would fight like their lives depended on it. To say as much was to give up; to have nothing left to give but your life, and to be more than willing to sacrifice it for eternal rest. And so Shiori’s words were bright; they were a way to rouse herself and her lover as they approached a chilling presence that seemed to negate life in its entirety. Rurii wobbled its agreement while Violid bared his fangs, readying himself for anything.
“We’re hitting the lake!” cried Zack.
The forest disappeared as a wide expanse suddenly spread out before them all. Their eyes met with a mass of sparkling whites and pale blues not unlike a small snowy mountain, though upon second thought, Shiori felt it was more like a blinding pearl. It was, in fact, a silvery white dragon, and as it scanned the roads, its gaze fell upon them. The dragon’s eyes were like glass marbles, and to look upon the creature was to stare into a void, where not a single sliver of emotion could be found.
The dragon’s stare, and the feeling that she was staring into a cavernous abyss, made Shiori shrink into herself. Alec gulped—he was hit by the shock of déjà vu. Rage, sorrow, pain, suffering, loneliness, yearning—in the dragon’s eyes was the crystallized emptiness that came when all these burdensome feelings were boiled together. Alec had seen it before.
I’ve seen that same look...in Shiori...
The dragon’s eyes were just like Shiori’s on the day when she had stood and faced down the three adventurers who’d looked to threaten her very existence. “Despair” was far too simple a word to describe the emotion in those eyes—in that gaze, hope no longer existed.