The Sovereign - the One of Fire (Book 1)
Chapter 5 - Bond

Seraphina

The journey was longer than I expected it to be, though it was also much more enjoyable with my new companions.

The scenery was breathtaking, we got to see the sun sink slowly beyond the horizon as we climbed Mount Sigmora. Terron had said that the oracle stayed at the peak of the mountain, her name is Helia and she was also known as the All-Seeing Witch.

The trip didn’t weigh on me too much as all I needed was to hang on to Shiki, but it was much harder for the hounds as they needed to climb. There was no path carved into the mountain and they could only scale the rocky surfaces. The mountain surface was a disaster, with large sharp boulders jutting out here and there. These rocks had surfaces that were wide enough for the hounds to steady themselves on, but they had really huge distances between them, thus making it a very challenging ascend.

I looked down and immediately regretted it. I gulped at the distance, and realized that it was actually a very dangerous climb, one mistake and we would fall to our deaths. Even though both Land and Shiki seemed to be very experienced in climbing, I was still worried about their safety.

I patted Shiki every now and then, to make sure he was hydrated and not too tired. He didn’t seem to be fazed by the heat from the afternoon sun, the tough climb seemed easy for him as we gradually overtook Land and Terron.

“Oi you bastard!” Terron had scolded in annoyance.

Shiki grinned, baring his sharp fangs.

Well, I guess he knew the way.

“Bones rusty, brother?” he called back.

Land hurled some more insults back and Shiki’s grin widened, his bushy tail swayed in amusement.

“You guys seem to be really good friends,” I said to Shiki as he leaped gracefully onto another rock.

“Yes we are, or he wouldn’t have approached me for help,” Shiki replied.

His breath was ragged but controlled, I could hear Land’s ridiculous draws of breaths not far behind us. “And plus, not every hound can climb this mountain.”

“You make yourself sound really scary you know,” I pursed my lips.

“Oh you don’t know how scary I can be, girl,” he chuckled.

As we ascended the mountain, the air grew thinner and breathing became rather difficult. The winds were also getting stronger, throwing my hair into my face.

“Are you alright, do you need me to slow down?” Shiki asked softly, stopping for a moment to check on me.

I like how the purple magenta sunset reflected in his amber gold eyes.

“I think I’ll get used to it, it’s alright, don’t let me slow you down,” I told him as I picked hair out of my mouth, “Thank you for asking,” I smiled awkwardly at him.

He had a hint of a smile on his face, and he seemed to be enjoying the journey himself.

Shiki offered Land to rest, but he didn’t want to.

“If you don’t rest, you’ll take up more time,” Shiki sighed.

“I said no!” Land was furious though he was obviously tired.

There seemed to be a hidden rivalry between the two, though the upper-hand seemed to fall completely one-sided to the black hound.

“Girl, get some food out of the pouch and fill yourself, we’ll reach slightly later than expected since this idiot is refusing to rest,” he turned back to me, shaking his head helplessly.

“Do you want an apple?” I asked, reaching for my pouch. “It’s my favorite fruit, my mum used to get them for me all the time,” I held one to his mouth. He bit the side gently, and only moved on to eating it after I took my hand away from his fangs.

Gentle beast he is, I appreciated it very much.

Eventually, Land gave up and rested for around half an hour or so below us.

Night fell and the darkness made the climb even more dangerous. Shiki had to wait for Land to be only a rock below him before he continued.

Shiki said he had powers of darkness, so I assumed the darkness doesn’t affect his vision. He stopped talking, focusing on his leaps and also on Land’s movements.

“Am I heavy?” I asked to break the silence that was starting to dwell between us.

He almost burst out laughing.

“No, you’re nearly weightless girl, you should eat more.”

“We’re almost there,” Terron called from below, he sounded as breathless as Land, who was panting like a machine on the verge of breaking.

I should thank him for helping me, he didn’t need to.

“Too naïve girl,” Shiki said suddenly.

“You can read my mind?” I asked, surprised.

“You’re really easy to read with all that darkness in your heart,” he said softly. “I read darkness like a book.”

He jumped onto another ledge. I raised my head and saw the last rock not far away. We were reaching the top soon, just like what Terron had said.

“That lad has a purpose, he wants you to lead the rebellion that no one dares to start,” Shiki growled, keeping his voice low enough to keep his words out of the other duo’s earshot.

“I don’t think I’m powerful enough to do that.”

I doubted myself the exact moment that sentence came out of my mouth.

I have seen the destruction that I have caused. Scenes from that night had etched themselves deep into my mind.

And I knew deep down, there was a part of me that yearned for nothing but destruction. I felt the hatred and sadness, and the strong desire for revenge.

“Don’t underestimate yourself, girl,” he glanced at me as he spoke, and I noticed a small glowing golden mark that spiraled on his forehead.

“You had your first taste of revenge on those who killed your parents, but that isn’t enough to sate the Eshban within you. She wants more, to wreak havoc across the land and make the Sovereign pay for what they have done in the past. You have yet to figure things out and come to a mutual agreement with the other entity within you. I understand that feeling very well. Thus, you need to figure out your direction, and what you really want,” he paused, glancing back to check on Land.

That was good advice, despite the fact that he just read my mind.

“We all have our own demons – and life is all about conquering them.”

With one last leap, we reached the peak of the mountain. Shiki moved aside to make way for Land and he landed with a crash. The poor hound sprawled on the mountain like he lost his soul while Terron grimaced at the rough landing.

“You bring her to Helia, I can’t move,” Land croaked.

Shiki scoffed and turned away, leaving the pair alone. The howling wind was deafening but at least I could see more with the moon’s light.

“You have something on your forehead,” I muttered softly.

“It’s just my Drakath mark, they glow when I use my powers. It’s like the mark on your chest, except mine’s on my forehead.” he explained.

That confirmed my doubts. He really was using his powers, probably to see through the darkness? And to read my mind while he was at it.

Hmm, I wonder if my mark glows when I use my powers too.

As we made our way towards the only source of warm light, I took in my surroundings.

Statues, everywhere.

Carved from large stones, the creatures were so lifelike they seemed alive under the pale moonlight. I could see trolls, goblins, angels, demons and elves among the statues. There was a few that stood out from the rest due to their large size, and I didn’t even need to get close to know that they were dragons, their scaled wings reaching for the sky. These statues were all littered around with no arrangement. Everything seemed even more haunting and menacing in the night, shades of grey flooding my view.

Shiki didn’t seem to be bothered. He moved with lethal grace, like a predator hunting for prey. His large paws, that were twice as large as my head didn’t make any sound on the rocky surface, I don’t remember Land’s movements being this quiet. He was focused on his surroundings, making his way around the statues carefully and sensing anything that might be of danger. He had to be extra cautious due to his large size as to not topple any of the statues around us.

The warm light grew closer and closer, and finally, we arrived our destination.

Helia’s doorstep.

“We’re here,” Shiki announced as he stepped onto the clearing.

Helia’s cottage was built from stone, but I sensed fire within it, probably a fire place to keep her warm. The place looked really cozy for a witch, I had expected a cave of some sort. The knocker on the wooden door was a hand with a green cat’s eye on its back.

I clambered down from Shiki’s back, hesitating to knock. When I finally mustered up the courage to touch the hand, the horizontally-slitted pupils dilated. I retracted my hand immediately, horrified.

Shiki raised his paw, but the door swung open right before he could knock.

“I was expecting you, Shiki,” Helia had quite a high-pitched voice, toned down by excessive smoking.

The woman that emerged from the doorway had long dirty blonde hair and pale skin, with tattoos lining up her left arm. Her eyes were steel grey, and her complexion was serene. She was tall and skinny, probably even skinnier than me. Her bony hands had a pair of silver bangles that seemed too large for her.

Shiki nodded in greeting and I clambered down slowly from his back to greet the witch.

“Greetings, Seraphina,” her cold eyes bore into me, guess I didn’t need to introduce myself. “What a surprise to see one of fire emerge again in this era,” she took my hands into hers. Her cold bony fingers wrapped around my wrist and I shivered. My hands shook slightly in the cold wind and the butterflies in my stomach didn’t help.

“You’re scaring her,” Shiki’s deep voice sounded right behind me. His presence eases me for some particular reason.

Helia laughed and let go of my hands.

“She has much to learn, we’ll see to her training carefully,” she smiled a toothy smile. Her teeth were yellow, probably caused by excessive smoking. “You will need to rest first, and we will start tomorrow,” she gestured for me to enter her cottage.

I looked back at Shiki, his warm amber eyes met mine.

“Are you coming in with me?” I asked softly, letting the wind scatter my words.

“I don’t think I can fit through that door,” Shiki sounded amused.

“Oh my, how inconsiderate of me,” Helia grinned at him.

With a wave of her hand, the doorway arched and the stones that formed the house broke themselves down to form a wider opening.

“My thanks,” Shiki nodded in gratitude. I looked at the stones in wonder, following him as he stepped through the doorway.

Helia’s home was quite spacious, so the hellhound had no trouble moving around, though her furniture sometimes get in the way.

“I can sleep in the living room, on the floor,” he said to Helia.

“Wonderful, I’ll show the girl to her room then,” she gestured for me to follow her up the spiral staircase. The stone steps of the staircase were levitating in the air, literally levitating with no other structure underneath to support them. I hesitated for a moment and tested my weight on the first step, they were surprisingly steady and I quickly followed in Helia’s footsteps.

There were no lights on the second floor and I noticed it was quite bare. Even so, the space was sparkly clean, Helia probably just cleaned up right before we arrived. I was led to a simple room with a small window, a bed and a dressing mirror.

“Make yourself at home,” Helia had said before closing the door.

As I sat down on the bed, I noticed there was a pile of clothes folded neatly beside me. It wouldn’t have been surprising for Helia to be expecting me, but the fact that she was kind enough to make preparations warmed my heart.

For some reason I didn’t miss home.

Home felt like home because of my parents, and they were gone.

I fished a set of pajamas out from the pile of clothes and changed into them, they hung loose on me, but I was never one to complain. As I lay down on the bed. I wondered what Helia’s power was. I have watched her manipulate stone, so does that mean she was of Earth? If I wasn’t wrong, stone is a sub-element to Earth, I have never seen anyone manipulate stone until now. But at the same time, she was also an oracle, I used to think that oracles only had psychic powers, I didn’t know one could have both elemental powers and psychic powers at the same time.

The pillow was hard, guess no one has been in this room for some time. I stared at the ceiling, my thoughts lingering to Land and Terron. But I was sure that my worries were extra, Land and Terron were going to be fine.

I tossed and turned, changing positions, yearning for sleep’s embrace.

At the brink of sleep, my nightmares would come, of my flames and of my parents mostly, I would force myself awake to chase them away.

After several times I grew tired of it, I grabbed my blanket and opened the door.

I descended the stairway and I saw Shiki curled up in front of the fireplace, his bushy tail laid in front of him. He was asleep as I tip-toed up to him. I wondered if he would mind if I stayed here with him. I stood there, not knowing what to do, until I noticed he had an eye open.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked, his voice surprisingly soft.

“Y-Yeah,” I stammered.

He unraveled his tail, opening up the space in front of him.

“Thank you,” I whispered as I hurried over to him.

As I pulled my blanket onto myself, Shiki’s extended a paw and pushed me closer to him.

“You’re going to get burn-” he stopped, realizing his mistake and rolled his eyes.

I smiled silently, he was really warm.

I tried to sleep. His calming presence definitely made it easier, but it wasn’t enough to keep my nightmares at bay.

Flames were everywhere, and I could see a man with graying hair in the midst of the flames with a smoking pipe in his hand. He had crimson eyes with a hint of brown, they were warm and gentle and he reminded me of my father instantly.

He was looking in the distance, scratching his thick beard, seemingly waiting for someone.

He took a puff on his pipe and exhaled the smoke slowly. His clothes were battered and worn out, I noticed a bright red tattered cloak trailing behind him. A badge sat in front of his heart, I recognized the mark instantly. The mark of the Eshban, the very same mark on my chest.

His eyes turned to me, and I stood there not knowing what to do. He smiled at me knowingly and placed his left arm onto his chest, a ruby ring glistened on his finger. I knew that gesture from the picture books my parents had let me read when I was younger, it was a very old form of salutation.

He nodded at me kindly before turning his gaze back to the distance.

“Use your powers wisely, my heir and my avenger,”

He disappeared, leaving the inferno behind as they surrounded me. Unlike the devouring flames from the day I awakened, his flames were kind and gentle, their aura peaceful and understanding.

“These are not my flames anymore, these are your flames, my dear.”

Gradually, I fell into deep sleep.