The Crown's Fire - Chapter 55

Chapter 55: A Crime
Queen Dana and wizard Lurio soon left, and Tarah smiled at the dragon with hope in her eyes. “Just hang in there, Your Highness,” she stated. “Let’s wait for Queen Mineah. I’m sure she’ll be able to merge your spirit back to your body.”

[Hah, I will not let that happen,] Vulcan scoffed. [Let her try!]

Tarah ignored the dragon and simply said, “Focus on recovering your soul for now, and condition it well.”

Vulcan growled in annoyance.

With nothing left to do, Tarah opened her journal and read the key points wizard Lurio gave her in casting a teleportation spell. Such a spell was powerful, and it would use a generous amount of energy out of anyone.

Not all could yield such a spell, but Tarah still wanted to try regardless. Besides, she wasn’t just an ordinary seer. She actually came from a family that was naturally gifted with magic. And she was a dragonrider as well!

In addition, being with Devon during his sieges helped her to study spellcraft just from mere observations alone. In particular, she practiced warlock Zoran’s spells in secret. He used a lot of different techniques in his magic that she preferred the most.

She practiced them alone, and she managed to cultivate her own inner energy to effectively wield spells and magics. However, it wasn’t enough for her to escape Devon with her brother. She couldn’t even try to kill the man for fear of losing her own brother’s life because of the damn tophet bloodchain he cast on her and her brother.

Back in reality, Tarah stood up and started gathering enough energy for the teleportation spell. She needed the spell to work in the future, so she had to master it no matter what!

Attempting the spell herself, she followed what she learned from wizard Lurio in the little time they had. Already, she could feel beads of sweat forming and trickling down her forehead as she attempted to create a portal. She was panting, but her eyes shimmered the moment she saw a small white portal opening before her.

However, she suddenly coughed blood before slumping down to the ground.

[Are you alright? Why are you forcing yourself?] Ezekiel suddenly roared. [Casting a teleportation spell takes time!]

“I told you to stay put, Your Highness,” Tarah gulped. “And don’t fight Vulcan’s authority for now!”

[I don’t care. Stop what you’re doing right now,] he hissed. [Only then will I stay put!]

Shaking her head, Tarah got back on her feet before wiping the blood off her lips. “It’s fine, Your Highness, so please don’t worry,” she muttered with a reassuring smile. “I’m a healer, and I know my own body and its limits well, Your Highness.”

[And yet you are coughing blood,] Ezekiel murmured.

[Shut up and let her cough more blood!] Vulcan interrupted, making Tarah chuckle. [And what’s so funny, dragonrider?! You’re so weak that you’re not even comparable to my Hana!]

Shrugging, Tarah sat back down in a comfortable position and simply stared at the dragon before her.

[What?!] Vulcan asked.

“You seem to adore Hana so much. And she’s the reason why you hate the bloodline of dragonriders so much because they executed her before your eyes,” Tarah curiously stated, continuing with her observations even though she didn’t expect Vulcan to entertain her. “I saw you weep for her. I felt your pain watching her die. Why did they execute her? What crime did she commit to be punished like that?”

[Crime!? She committed nothing!] Vulcan raged, smoke coming out of its nose with each breath. [Those dragonriders are just all imbeciles!!!]

Tarah blinked as she stood up and slowly walked towards Vulcan, gently patting its head. “I’m sorry, but I will need to see your past to understand you more,” she gently whispered.

Soon after, she cast a spell for Vulcan to stay still before immediately channeling her energy to touch its soul to see more of its past. Once she was in, it took her some time to navigate Vulcan’s past with how blurry everything was. But after some time, she somehow managed to follow Vulcan’s memories with Hana clearly.

*********

“We can’t live like this forever,” Hana complained. “I need to do something, and I’m confident that I can make things work Vulcan. We can be together and live like normal beings… Build a family of our own and all that. I will do everything so you can shift into a human form.”

[But it will be very dangerous, Hana,] Vulcan remarked. [They will punish you if they find out about it!]

“We’ll live on a different continent very far from this place so that no one will find us,” Hana insisted. “You’ll live a normal life with a human form, Vulcan. Trust me on this.”

[I trust you, Hana, and I will do anything for you. All I want is to stay by your side,] Vulcan lovingly stated.

*********

From there, Tarah witnessed how Hana performed a forbidden spell. She used dark magic so that Vulcan could have a human form. However, she couldn’t complete the transition because she would need to sacrifice a male human’s life for it… A pure human male…

“No…”

Tarah gasped as she witnessed how everything unfolded. Tears trickled down her eyes, and she felt like she would throw up just from the sight of it.

Abruptly removing her hand from Vulcan, she then rushed to the side to throw up. Hana… She made a huge mistake. Was it really love that she felt for Vulcan? No.. It wasn’t love, but obsession for her to kill and sacrifice a poor boy. It was madness… No wonder she had been executed…

[You have no right to judge her!] Vulcan hissed.

She hadn’t said anything, but Vulcan probably read her expression well.

Composing herself first, Tarah then faced Vulcan with her head held high. “You… You destroyed our kind because of her death. And yet you failed to see what she did just so she…”

She couldn’t even complete her words. Hana sinned because of her love for Vulcan. She wasn’t satisfied with their lingering emotions for each other. She wanted more of that. She wanted to be united with Vulcan and build a family together, but they couldn’t because their relationship was forbidden.

[Was it wrong for her to fall in love? Was it wrong for me to love her?] Vulcan all but demanded. [Was it wrong for us to hope for a normal life together?]

“Nothing is wrong with falling in love, but killing and sacrificing another innocent life for that kind of love is just wrong!” Tarah fumed. “Like how you wiped my bloodline off of this world is wrong when they just followed the law and order of the realm. Hana committed a crime, and you simply let her do it!”