User blog:JeielYozama/Tale Of The Mark Maker - Silah

''All characters deserve their limelight. Their share of pain. Their thoughts and ideas. We can't always feature on one single nutcase ranting on and on. So this time, this is Ryla, talking.''

''Yes, indeed. In this chapter, Ryla speaks for her part after Marden is swept from his feet (literally). I admit. It's hard. Integrating the female character and the persona of a Dragon Mamono is a double difficulty. As you can see, that lasted awhile. But here it is. Enjoy readers! (And a new MG is in!)''





(Ryla’s POV)



I am a failure.

The worst of my ilk.

An utter disappointment.

A Dragon-scorn.



It should have been me.



I have failed them all.

Pa. Ma. My siblings, even though I’ve hated them so.

..Marden.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">…….

<p class="MsoNormal">Apologies. To anyone wondering who the devil is growling here, this is Ryla the Mamono. Dragon offspring of the Echidna Tiamat and Struthenrich Van Winkelried, the Dracon Slayer. A pleasure.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Oh. You thought I’d be all willy-nilly and force yourselves to prostrate before me.

<p class="MsoNormal">Tempting, but no.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Normally, I would have saved myself the trouble of making an entrance fit for a Dragon, saying how much of a pride and joy it is to be myself. But I won’t bother causing a spectacle.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Today is not any perfectly normal day.

<p class="MsoNormal">Today, I humble myself in anxiety over a certain man.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">He is Marden Bale, the Mark Maker.

<p class="MsoNormal">And I wish to be his bride.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">It might be childish to hear such things. Especially since a Dragon rarely lets her feelings show except when she has a mate in mind. Of course you’ve read the bloody notes of the bloody scholar who traveled the bloody reaches of this realm for the sake of recording in scroll and parchment Mamonos and their ilk as if it were a preservation project and beings like me are at sake. I impart you this then: what you know is a trickle of the truth. You don’t know how it is to be ME.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">How would you know what it’s like to be trapped in an abysmal crevice for hours beside a man who kept you safe and understood your share of loneliness?

<p class="MsoNormal">For an icy-hearted Dragon, it was a saving grace.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">That day, my heart was beating so fast, it was in the verge of bursting. My body, sweltering even though the cavern was ice-cold. My limbs, clammy and dysfunctional.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">A sign spring was nigh in my dull, nonchalant Mamono life.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">I was always an uptight snob from birth. Living a well-mannered monster life provided me the impression I would never experience any shot on romance, compared to my sisters who were so enthralled on men and on how to milk them. Ugh. Are Mamonos supposed to be male-crazy all the time?

<p class="MsoNormal">Well, not me.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ma was not the sort of mum who’d want us to settle in alongside our men. She encouraged us to do the opposite – living our lives in thrill and adventure while fooling around. I always interpreted her speech as an outdated, yet deluded way of thinking. Surprisingly, it worked out for my siblings. One by one, they went ahead and found happiness, leaving the youngest of the litter to care for their bedridden father.

<p class="MsoNormal">It wasn’t boring, being with Pa’s side. He taught me how to deter upstart Dragon Slayers and Order Paladins should I ever encounter one. He imparted on me common knowledge on Dragon-kind (which I could rarely expect to hear from Ma). He told me that should I find a man, he must be someone I’d rely on, and someone willing to rely on me, too. He was my best friend.

<p class="MsoNormal">That was until…

<p class="MsoNormal">….

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Enough with the sobstory. My eyes have begun to water.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Pa, I had not forgotten your teachings. Good news is I’ve found what we’ve been searching for. Bad news is on how to keep him in one piece.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Marden Bale is a typical Hero stereotype. Brave, intellectual, relies on common sense more than the average man - an exact replica of Pa. The only flaw is his constant contradiction of his true feelings (which I admit, is amusing to pry and poke at). I already made it a pastime to bother him to a point of agitation, and afterwards, he would wear a scowl too cute to ignore.

<p class="MsoNormal">Marden’s skills in Marking Sorcery is rash and impulsive, yet strangely effective. He has the tenacity and stamina fit for someone his build. But give him an audience with the Demon Lord and he’d be stomped flat in no less than a wink. His knowledge in spell weaving is still nowhere as brilliant as Pa’s (despite the massive network of magical energy in his veins he is yet to find out for himself).

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">I am not surprised. Those traits, coupled with his extreme prejudice on loneliness, drew in a particularly depraved soul apart from mine.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">A Wurm by the name of Nadredda Dolennych.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Two years ago (in accordance to Marden’s vivid retelling), Ada – as she would call herself – met the Mark Maker one moonlit night and tried to rape him. Such a charming custom of meeting people, isn’t it?

<p class="MsoNormal">Wurms. Sex maniacs.

<p class="MsoNormal">Marden outwitted his mad attacker and emerged from their confrontation unscathed. And when he had his chance, an opening he could not afford to lose, he didn’t flinch. Apart from the philosophy he learned from his former master (Ada’s father) to never to harm a woman, he discovered she was in many ways, similar to him. So before leaving her in stasis, he promised to fight her again in the future, and by then both parties would have conquered their own misgivings. The darling snake mistook this vow as a challenge to win his heart over and marked it.

<p class="MsoNormal">Since that encounter, Ada had been doggedly pursuing the luckless Hero to-and-fro. She was on to his scent like a Kobold sniffing out her favorite bone. Wherever Marden went, news of a Wurm rampaging on where he should’ve been escalated not far behind, giving him a boundless supply of nightmares on the outcome ‘if’ she ever gets a hold of him.

<p class="MsoNormal">As luck would have it, three days after Marden and I met, the wretch lands in on us and wildly declares that he’s to be her wedded husband.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">The NERVE.

<p class="MsoNormal">Who in the world does she think she IS? Chasing Marden all over Monstrum Regni for the sake of her alleged romance when all she has done is scare him senseless..

<p class="MsoNormal">Clearly, she’s trapped in her own delusion that him and her are meant to be.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">I was inclined to shoo her off. My, is the witch obstinate. She was testing my patience the minute she arrived. The longer she flaunted, the more my annoyance of her sick smile grew. Then she draws the last straw, sucking the saliva from Marden’s mouth.

<p class="MsoNormal">In anger, I fired a threatening squall at her direction. She dodged it with ease. Her wily snigger afterwards was the trigger. Our fists and talons met head-on, right in front of Marden. A catfight. Well, in our case, a Dragon-fight.

<p class="MsoNormal">I was highly expectant I’d flatten her in five seconds. Our close –quarter combat lingered for more than ten. Laughter and sarcasm collided as we severed the landscape instead of each other’s faces. Towards the end, Marden’s Hawk Eye Mark shattered the nearby mountain apart and stopped us from our scuffle until one raises a white flag.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">(Pathetic as it was.. I couldn’t even take down one flimsy Wurm. Chyrene my Echidna sister wouldn’t stop insulting me if she ever saw this..)

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">And just as I could not feel any more shame, a Chimaera dives in the midst of our eventful skirmish and abducts Marden clean off his feet.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">My dignity as Dragon, soiled.

<p class="MsoNormal">The man I adore, taken from me.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Now, let’s head off to where Marden last left us. Before I lose my mind.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; tab-stops:364.5pt">*     *     *     *    *     *

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">The heavens should’ve shattered after I screamed my lungs out.

<p class="MsoNormal">As it were, I was on one scaly knee, genuflecting on the smoldering ruins of a forest, wing visibly smoking from its last bombardment of Chimaera-fire. My back was hunched, quivering like a human woman drenched wet. Outrage and humiliation swirled within my indignant temperance.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">If Pa were here, he would have told me to steel my wits.

<p class="MsoNormal">But he wasn’t here. He couldn’t be here.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Unhindered, my tears trailed off, wetting the ash-wasted earth. A fraction of me wished all that had come to pass was a nightmare.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Marden protected me. And I couldn’t even protect him. I couldn’t lift a finger to save him

<p class="MsoNormal">'' WHY?! ''

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">My vacant fists slammed the dirt. Cinders flew while the wind blew past me.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">''Have you always been this weak? ''My inner thoughts rang icy-cold, like a tormenting shadow I had avoided since childhood.

<p class="MsoNormal">Shut up.

<p class="MsoNormal"> 

<p class="MsoNormal">''Such power to dominate life, and you cannot defeat a Chimaera? ''

<p class="MsoNormal">Stop IT.

<p class="MsoNormal"> 

<p class="MsoNormal">''What is the use of your almighty Dragon-blood if you couldn’t even ensure the safety of the one man dearest to you? WHAT A JOKE.''

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Yes. It was me. It was me, and nobody else. It was my weakness that brought this.

<p class="MsoNormal">And now he’s been taken away.

<p class="MsoNormal">I am a failure.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Another fist of mine slammed towards the ground. The strength I had gathered for it immediately went awry. The scorched earth fragmented as if it were a glass pane, debris flying into the thin air.

<p class="MsoNormal">“IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Once more, the heavens were still.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Somehow, I wished some of the gods would smite me. End my misery for being this pathetic.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“ UGHH… Keep it down Darling… you’ll wake up the neighbors….. Hwehehe..”

<p class="MsoNormal">Between my feet, the newest bane of my existence had begun to stir. A long-haired, silvery-redhead Wurm studded in transcending jade-colored scutes, sprawling face-first on the ground before her. Her complacent, dreary voice infuriated me.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">For the record, saving her from being torched by Chimaera flame was far from planned. I half-expected her to acknowledge me, but to sleep in the middle of her unconsciousness, chasing dream-sheep was something I didn't even find funny. Drool had trickled from her sleeping mouth curving in the form of a grin. No doubt, she had sought to divulge in her own sex-crazed fantasy with an imaginary Marden instead of doing anything comprehensive.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“Marden… Not the Lotus Blossom…. Hehe.. you should let me drive it in…. Waooow..”

<p class="MsoNormal">What in heaven’s name is she dreaming about?

<p class="MsoNormal">Hearing myself wonder for her rattled me so much, I was tempted to box her ears.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">I roared near her pointed earlobes, “WAKE UP!!”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“MARDEN, your DICKENS!”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada bolted her head up all of the sudden, knocking herself against my chin. Throbbing traveled up my jaw as I reeled back from the impact. Even with her dainty womanly appeal, she was hard-scaled as me. She rubbed the sleep off her eyes and scanned the landscape.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Huh? Where’s Marden? His pants? The bunnies? Where did it OH.”

<p class="MsoNormal">She finally stopped scanning upon laying her orange-hued eyes on me. Her expression drooped to no less than exasperated. At least I can see something where our feelings are mutual.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh. You.”  She muttered.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes, me.” I replied, sarcasm intended. The mood tensed now that she was up. “Who else, Ada?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada snaked away from reach and folded her arms. “I don’t reckon allowing you to call me by my name, Dragon-chan.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“From what depraved scene where you picturing yourself into?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I don’t think I’m obliged to answer that, you know. You wouldn’t like it.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“True. Not as much as I dislike your guts.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Same.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada yawned and stretched her arms, allowing her toothy maws to glisten under the influence of the sun. “Say… what did I miss?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“EVERYTHING. Does that corresponds to your query?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hmm… Oh yeah. This and that happened. It was all such a blur.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">I am genuinely baffled. Is she displaying a lack of motivation in Marden’s case on purpose or does she REALLY NOT CARE?!

<p class="MsoNormal">I held my temper down. It was clouding my thoughts.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“Clearly, you are uninformed on what went on in your blackout, you twisted lindworm.” I explained in an irritated tone. The noble Dragon in me passed clear emphasis on the words I spoke. “If you must know, Marden Bale has been KIDNAPPED –  No, he ALLOWED himself to be taken hostage for our sake. And that Chimaera who took us out in an underhanded stroke, plans to do only-Druella-knows-what for whomsoever she is serving. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE BREVITY OF THIS SITUATION NOW?!?”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada stared at her moving fingers. No change in her current expression.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Are you sure for our sake? Maybe he did for MINE and not YOURS.”

<p class="MsoNormal"> “WHY WOULD HE DO THAT FOR YOU ALONE? GODS, I HATE YOU!! ”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">My ire exploding at last, I threw an effortless punch on a nearby tree blackened by brushfire. It disintegrated into a pile of ember in seconds.

<p class="MsoNormal">“ UGHH!! You are just so annoying! Wurms and their unsatiated AROUSAL!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Dragons and their UPTIGHT-NESS.”  Ada retorted. She understood her race was the subject of insult. “Hmm.. No wonder our species never meet eye-to-eye. We’re too far from having any thing in common.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Quiet.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">I listened in on the sound of incoming thunder. Black clouds had gathered on the sky from the offsetting warmth, glimmering in color with random flashes of whitish-blue.

<p class="MsoNormal">Rainfall. A heavy storm, at most.

<p class="MsoNormal">If I don’t move soon.. his scent, faint as it already is, would be completely washed off.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“I am leaving.” I trooped past Ada in a hurry. I was raring to take the skies, until a twinge on my upper wing sent me lurching in pain. I realized at once the Chimaera’s attack had rendered my flight impaired.

<p class="MsoNormal">Damn it. Walking it is then.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So soon?” Ada asked. There was feigned concern in that last sentence. “To where Marden is? Without a plan?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“There IS a plan. Storm the front, reclaim Marden, leave. Do you plan on doing the same?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Tempting.. but it’s such a barbaric notion.“ I saw her place her chin up her palm as she contemplated.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Granted you do have the courage to dive in and make an entrance, how can you save him if you were to go by yourself? I don’t see you overpowering that Chimaera-girl.”

<p class="MsoNormal">I hissed silently and gritted my teeth. “If you do not show the slightest amount of care, what are you still doing here?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Planning on how to catch my Darling beast.” She answered, giving me a conceited smile. “He’s probably waiting for me to make my move.”

<p class="MsoNormal">I placed my hands on my hips. “Exactly what are you letting on, Nadredda?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I’m just saying he did this deliberately so that I’d give chase again. Hide-and-seek-the Hero, and he’s the prize. How unethical of him…. ”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada giggled in her own delight. Her coils quivered like an ice cube had slid down her human-esque spine.

<p class="MsoNormal">“The thought of straddling him as I claim his member inside me…. It makes me want to see him and force him down right now!”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">You know what? I have had IT.

<p class="MsoNormal">I wasn’t entertaining the thought of burning her to a crisp, and yet my brows were twitching mad. Everything about her - the way she talked, the way she flaunted who she was, the way she wouldn’t pay attention to detail – was driving me insane.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“YOU…”

<p class="MsoNormal">My nostrils began to sear in blue flames.

<p class="MsoNormal">   

<p class="MsoNormal">A vague memory filled the void of what I was preparing to do next.

<p class="MsoNormal">Pa, clicking his tongue at me.

<p class="MsoNormal"> 

<p class="MsoNormal">''Ryla? No. Don’t let anger get ahead of you. Be rational.''

<p class="MsoNormal"> 

<p class="MsoNormal">Right.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">All at once, my flaring emotions subsided. I took a deep breath. Exhaled. Landed a conspicuous gaze on her line of sight.

<p class="MsoNormal">“First of all, that deluded insight of yours is highly impossible, given that Marden would not go so far as to stoop down and stake on his manhood for you. Second of all, I am still clueless as to why you have to centralize all your ideas to carnal knowledge. Would it hurt for you to be realistic?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada’s ears pricked in attention. Her scaly arms were folded across her bosom. “Sorry for existing as a Wurm, your Highness, but I was born this way. No use trying to clutter my independent judgment. ” She implied in turn. “Sadly, I can’t entertain you no better than our human male.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“OUR human male?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“It’s clear to me you won’t surrender the man, so I’m willing to share him, in case you’re wondering.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“You make it sound as if he’s property.”  I muttered under my breath. Given her sharp hearing, Ada heard my comment and laughed.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well, he’s not property but he’s mine. And so is his manhood….”

<p class="MsoNormal">I heard the clink of unsheathed talons.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes, so I’ve heard. Spare me your nonsensical whims.” I said, ignoring the menacing glint in her eyes. “And can you please keep your claws to yourself?”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada groaned as if she were a child being deprived of fun. Her talons withdrew with a steely sound of reentry.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Bored.” She mentioned aloud.

<p class="MsoNormal">Of course.

<p class="MsoNormal">One fact I learned about my kind’s interaction with other Mamonos:  the worst that could happen is a winged lizard’s monotonous drawl on propriety. Except, when a male is involved in the conversation (which I would rather not dwell on since the mere utterance of it disconcerts me further) –

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh? What are you so flustered about? ”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Potzblitz.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">I wound my wings in front of my mortified demeanor.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I am NOT! You’re mistaken!! Forget you saw anything!”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada moved my wing-bone aside and gazed into my eyes. Her reptilian pupils seemed to glisten. “Admit it. Marden Bale crossed your mind.“

<p class="MsoNormal">“No. Mind your own business.” I harrumphed. I turned to avoid her, but she slipped past my guard and coiled underneath my feet.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Come on. Be a dear and say it.” She continued to tease while stroking my cheek.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Why do you keep pestering me?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I’m an incorrigible twit, Dragon-chan. And my incorrigible self is telling me your emotions don’t lie.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“QUIT IT! Only Marden – gets to - CALL ME –THAT NAME! ”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Ah, bollocks. I went ahead and said it.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada’s narrow slits for eyes widened as I finished my sentence.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“Only Marden, eh?”

<p class="MsoNormal">She gripped my cheek a level higher.

<p class="MsoNormal">“OW ow ow ow! Cut -  that  - OUT!” I swatted her arm and pushed myself free. Ada folded her arms smugly as if saying ‘I rest my case’.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You have to admit, I’m good at tormenting people. “

<p class="MsoNormal">“And you’re keen in exemplifying such ability? Do continue telling yourself that.” I snorted a good amount of steam. Seeing her probing me with this relentless yet well-played teasing, I retract my statement of her thinking of nothing but sex.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Come now. You want him dearly, Dragon. You’re just a coward in expressing it with others.”

<p class="MsoNormal">I eyed my Wurm ‘adversary’ sternly. “You… are damn impossible to understand.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Touché.” She replied in a cheeky manner, her grin broad enough to mirror a crescent moon.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">I watched the empty space of the sky, visualizing the scene where Marden was last cartered off. Every time I did, I remembered my helpless self, and I couldn’t help but growl and flare my nostrils, sending out bluish-red flames that flicker and fade as soon as they came.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">What did that Chimaera want with him really?

<p class="MsoNormal">Marden isn’t the only Hero pursuing his selfless goal. There are countless others more gifted than he is, which brings the question why he alone was chosen.

<p class="MsoNormal">She wanted his power as Mark Maker. His individual magic power as a champion of the Chief God. But for what goal?

<p class="MsoNormal">A Mamono, seeking a Hero’s strength. Quite a stray from the usual drum of mana-pleasuring from men.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">That aside, she serves someone. An all- knowing master. For him to be able to tame an unstable race like a Chimaera into absolute obedience is unheard of.

<p class="MsoNormal">Also…. He knows Ada. He knows me.

<p class="MsoNormal">Zmey Typhonas expended how my father ‘crossed him’ for so many times. Despite that, he stressed not wanting to seek revenge on me, her daughter. Am I included in some kind of plot?

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">I slammed a closed fist against my open palm. Pa fought him before. That means he must be up to no good. And I won’t spare him and his ‘pet’ if he ever lays a hand on Marden.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“Let me guess. You’re thinking about that hybrid hack and her ‘master’ aren’t you?” Ada said, slinging her arm by my shoulder. I threw her limbs aside and retreated several feet from her.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Still being cautious, are we? I’m fine with that.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“How did you know what I was thinking?” I inquired.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Let’s just say I read minds. A nifty trick my Papa taught me.”

<p class="MsoNormal">She gave me a knowing glance and thought aloud, “I’m puzzled on how that hack knew who I was even though I haven’t met her before. Ooh! I must be famous.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Probably. You’re the Wurm who loves breaking houses and breaking hearts.” I said flatly.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Pooh. Spoilsport.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">A mind-reader Wurm.

<p class="MsoNormal">What’s next in this realm? A nonchalant Salamander?

<p class="MsoNormal">I hardly think so.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">She stretched an arm behind her. “I’d rather have no one else know me except my darling little beast. That way, I wouldn’t have the pleasure of punching another person’s lights out if he trips him on the sidewalk.”

<p class="MsoNormal">I turn to Ada lifting an eyebrow.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I am curious how much more aggressive you can be. Weren’t you holding back when we battled earlier?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Mmm.. A little, yes.” She beamed at me. “Why’d you ask, Dragon-chan?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Ryla.” I grumbled.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Ryla. “

<p class="MsoNormal">“You haven’t If you are stronger than you appear to be, then……”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I’d what? Help you?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I never said that.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“But you were aiming to.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Fine.”

<p class="MsoNormal">I steeled my wits (not to fall for more of her connivance) and stared straight towards her. “Help me. Please. I can’t do this alone. None of us can do this alone.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“Lemme see…… “

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada weaved her way next to me and balanced her chin on her curled hand. “What’s in it for me?”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">In my head, part of me swore I was making a mistake.

<p class="MsoNormal">No. That’s not it.

<p class="MsoNormal">Two heads are better than one. Everyone knows that.

<p class="MsoNormal">And since both of us had the same goal, this is the better plan.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“Marden… is yours. For a day. Then we have a rematch. The one who wins will have him for real.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada’s face lit up. “Really? You seem to have put a lot at stake with this, Ryla.” She said slyly. I shook my head.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Face it. We both like Marden, and both of us feel our heads are being ripped apart just pondering where the Devil he is. Even though you’re good at not showing it.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Actually, I know how to find him.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“…….. YOU WHAT?!?!” I hollered in rage.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Why of course. Aren’t I a Wurm? I rely on smell too. Fortunately, my sense of smell outweighs a normal Wurm.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada lowered her nose and sniffed. She took in a lungful of air and searched for a bit. Her body slowly angled to the northeast dirction. ”He’s thataway.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">My aura wafted from the pores of my body and coated my exterior. All around me, plants were beginning to wilt.

<p class="MsoNormal">“IF YOU HAD THAT SKILL IN THE FIRST PLACE, WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“You didn’t ask, sweetie.” Ada replied. “And I was planning to find him myself. But now, given your terms and conditions, I’m not going to miss potential quality time with Darling. Minus you.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“I should say the same.” I stated proudly. “At the end of the day, he’s still mine.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Care to wager for that?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“We already HAVE.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Behind us, the sun had disappeared. The rains were upon us.

<p class="MsoNormal">I hate Nadredda. I still do. For now, I need her to help me, just as she needs me all the same. I’m righting my wrong. I’m getting my man back.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Alrighty, we have to track Marden before we lose him. Let’s – “

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“WAIT.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Ada and I were visibly shaken by an immediate third voice.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">We turned to the source of the husky voice. It came from a Salamander, bathed in scarlet scales worn out by battle. Her tail, like many of her own species, ran ablaze in orange flames. Her red-violet hair was tied in twin tails. A huge great sword, serrated on one end, was slung precariously on her back.

<p class="MsoNormal">The stranger snickered. She snapped the piece of sweetened stick between her teeth.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“The name’s Silah. Silah Alhalaqah” She declared. “And I have a bone to pick with Marden Bale.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:23.25pt;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0level1lfo1;tab-stops:364.5pt"><span style="font-size:22.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri">-<span style="font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"TimesNewRoman";">        TO BE CONTINUED -

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<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:23.25pt;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0level1lfo1;tab-stops:364.5pt">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:5.25pt;tab-stops:364.5pt"> AUTHOR’S NOTE –

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:5.25pt;tab-stops:364.5pt">''‘Potzblitz’ is a German swear that is translated as ‘upon my soul’, while ‘bollocks’ is a British slang for… yeah, some of you may know it – a man’s balls. Since Ryla is based on the old European Dragon, her swearing is loosely, old-aged European.''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:5.25pt;tab-stops:364.5pt">''‘Silah alhalaqa’ is actually an Arabic term. It is translated as ‘razor weapon’.''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:5.25pt;tab-stops:364.5pt">   

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:5.25pt;tab-stops:364.5pt"> (The next one.. is back on Marden’s case..)

<p class="MsoNormal">