◆ Chapter 20: The Floodgate was the Easy Job?
THE dragon circling overhead belches a thunderous roar that electrifies the air. Everyone, including me, is scared stiff. Fear disorients me, but Nady’s calm voice centers me.
“I don’t think the dragon knows we are here.”
“Really? It’s been circling right above us…” I point out.
“This is just a guess, but maybe it can’t figure out our exact location.” Nady observes the dragon through narrowed eyes. There’s a considerable distance between us and the dragon, so I have no way of telling where it’s looking.
“You have amazing eyesight,” I say.
“N-Not really. I think just about any Lucor can see as well as I do.”
Even if that’s true, Nady is the only Lucor here, and the one who’s using that talent to our benefit.
“Either way, it doesn’t look like it’s gonna leave anytime soon,” Rosso says to Lex as they watch the sky together.
“Mayhap it has some means of knowing that we are in this general area,” Lex speculates.
That’s an interesting theory. It’d definitely make more sense why it’s circling overhead if the dragon somehow knows we are still here. I just can’t imagine what could be alerting it to our presence.
“It must be Goddess Mizuha’s scent, no doubt about it,” Iris suggests. “Even Iris can smell you from short distances.”
“What the heck?! Don’t make it sound like I smell!” I huff.
Great, her weird comment made everyone stare at me. Lex contemplates it for a moment then scrunches up his nose.
“She does smell...”
“UGH! Not you too, Lex!”
Do I really smell that bad? Has the foul odor from all the filthy zombies I’ve touched finally rubbed off on me? It can’t have. While I can’t bathe during expeditions, I do whatever it takes to stay clean. I probably—I absolutely do not smell…I think. I won’t be able to live another day if I don’t remain positive about it.
“I-I didn’t mean it that way!” Lex rushes out, noticing how upset he made me. “I meant you have the holy smell of Goddess Sadia’s power within you. It wouldn’t be strange for something with the Dark Djinn’s power to be drawn to its polar opposite. I also believe that is why the dragon stayed locked on you last time!”
I understand what Lex is trying to say, and I agree with him. But, as a woman, I can’t accept him explaining it away as “my smell” being the cause.
“I don’t like you phrasing it like I smell bad, even if you say it’s because of my powers…” I grumble.
“D-Don’t feel bad! You smell good, Mizuha!” Nady desperately appeals.
Beside her, Iris agrees with a euphoric smile, and the soldiers quickly nod along, possibly out of pity. At least now I don’t have to feel as bad, but it still doesn’t sit well with me.
“Moving on,” Lex says, taking control of the conversation, “if we don’t do something, we will not be able to leave this spot.”
“Yeah, but it’ll know if we move…”
As Lex and I are racking our brains over how to get out of this predicament, the captain of the soldiers with us speaks for his unit. “We shall become bait, my lady,” he offers. “The beast may be drawn to your scent, but surely creating enough of a racket will draw away its attention. Please advance with your team while we distract the dragon.”
“But then you will be in danger—”
“We won’t be able to accomplish our primary objective of vanquishing the dragon with it lingering in the mountains,” he stresses. “Someone will eventually have to lure the dragon toward the main force for this to succeed.”
He’s absolutely right. Our journey to the floodgate is just one step in our overall objective. It defeats the purpose if the dragon stays here. Still, does that justify sending soldiers into danger?
I hear the dragon’s rumbling roar from the sky, pressuring me to make a quick decision. My head hurts. The soldiers all offer me reassuring smiles. Did my distress show that bad?
“Please permit us to go. We all volunteered to partake in this operation for you, Lady Mizuha.”
“I am absolutely opposed to surviving at the expense of another,” I say through clenched teeth.
“We know, my lady. May we ask a favor in return?” Looking at their faces, I realize it’s impossible to stop them. Thus, my answer is obvious.
“…If it’s something I can do for you.”
“We just want a bit of good luck,” he says.
What they seek from me is a handshake. Though I didn’t expect it, I exchange lengthy handshakes with all ten soldiers. I eventually finish shaking hands with the tenth person.
“We shall take our leave now,” the captain of their unit says.
“…Please come back safely.”
“We wouldn’t have it any other way. After all, we have received your divine protection, Lady Mizuha.”
The soldiers offer one final smile before mounting their horses and galloping up the steep slope.
“Come get us, DRAGON!”
Their perfect riding formation lends credit to their title as the elite of the elite. Seeing their resolve embodied in such a way constricts my heart.
May they return unharmed, I pray with all my heart, when—
“Are you jealous, dragon?! Lady Mizuha shook my hand!”
“Capture us if you want a sniff of Lady Mizuha!”
“Lady Mizuha! Lady Mizuha!”
The soldiers bellow my name as they spread out. The last guy is just repeating my name over and over. I’m not even sure how to react anymore—I have but one thing to say: “I regret ever being impressed by them.”
“I-I believe this is necessary for morale…” Lex says, trying to defend them. “They succeeded in luring away the dragon. Surely it is because they shouted your name—”
“My name had nothing to do with it.”
“A-Anyway, we should hurry, m’lady!”
However weird they might be, it doesn’t change the fact they are drawing the dragon away despite the danger. I must hurry to make the most of their courage. I start running with Lex, Nady, Rosso, and Iris.
The detached force was mostly made up of soldiers, so our numbers have been reduced to just the five of us. We have no choice now but to trudge ahead with these members.
Rosso, who took the lead, shouts over his shoulder, “Boss Man, the path ahead is flat!”
“Everyone, on your horses!”
The farther we make it, the harder it will be for the dragon to catch us. I want to cover as much ground as possible while the dragon is distracted. The moment everyone finished mounting their horses and kicked them into a gallop, I hear a deafening sound. There’s no mistaking that noise after all the times I’ve heard it.
Cheeks twitching, I look at the sky behind me—and see the dragon gunning straight for me.
“Crap! Why is it coming after us?!” I cry.
“I don’t know! I can only guess it is coming after you, Lady Mizuha!”
“Me again?! Do I smell that bad?!”
I’m worried about the soldiers who became bait, but my own survival comes first. The dragon flies close to the ground behind us, roaring. Spooked, the horses naturally run faster.
“Boss Man! The dragon shouldn’t be able to enter that cave!” Rosso points to a cave ahead of us. The opening is too small for the dragon to squish through. It’s only a matter of time before it catches up to us if we just keep running. It’s our only choice.
“Everyone, to the cave!” Lex commands just as black flames shoot from the dragon’s mouth and sear the ground in front of us.
The hot flames narrowly missed us, but Vianta stops running to rear up on her hind legs. Lex immediately spurs her into a gallop, but it’s too difficult to pick up the same speed after stopping.
The dragon is upon us. Its face is right behind me when I look back. Lex and I are reflected in its blood-red eyes. Its large maw opens to devour us. Lex manages to avoid its teeth by pulling Vianta’s reins hard left. We’re not out of the woods yet. The dragon consumes the trees, soil, and rocks near where we had just been and takes another snap at us. And then another. We dodged both by the skin of our teeth, but we can’t keep this up any longer.
“Boss Lady! Boss Man! Hurry!” Rosso shouts from inside the cave opening.
Nady’s horse races inside as well. We’re the last ones, but death is snapping at our heels. I’m not sure we can survive another bite. Except that bite doesn’t come. Did it give up?
I fearfully look back and see something even worse than its fangs—the dragon has opened its mouth to spew more black flames at us.
“Th-That’s a game ender if you fire that here!” I cry.
“Iris will protect her goddess!”
Something zips past my temple. I figured it out from Iris’s shout—my statue. It soars through the empty sky and dives hard into the dragon’s open mouth. The dragon writhes and starts choking like it got stuck in its throat.
I have mixed emotions seeing my statue meet such a brutal end, but it saved my life, so I’m not angry at Iris. Actually, I want to lavish her with praise.
“Boss Man, now!”
“Vianta!”
Vianta speeds up in accordance with Lex’s voice. She closes the final stretch to the opening and leaps inside. We rush deeper into the dark cave with Nady and the others who got there first. I hear the dragon raging behind us. But that’s it—it hasn’t miraculously found a way in the cave to attack us.
“Looks like we were right about it not being able to fit inside the cave,” Lex says.
“I seriously thought I was a goner…!” I exhale loudly and slouch in the saddle. We might be momentarily safe, but I can’t relax yet. “What do we do now…?”
I mean, the dragon’s waiting outside, and only pitch-darkness lies ahead.