The Dragon Lord's Aide Wants to Quit [BL]

See?

Hell no, right?

It took everything in Riley not to collapse right then and there on the ground that had clearly been soaked in the elder’s blood. His legs gave way anyway, going weak without warning, and the only reason he didn’t hit the floor was because Kael caught him the moment he started to fold.

His breathing turned uneven, shallow, and too fast for anyone’s liking.

Kael’s arm tightened around him from behind, steady and firm as he pulled him back against his chest. One hand came up to cover Riley’s eyes, blocking out the sight that had already burned itself into his mind.

"Breathe."

The command was quiet, but it held.

It was a reminder that he genuinely needed, especially after feeling like fate had dropped a bomb on his head.

Not just the sight.

Not just the corpse.

But everything that came with it.

Since learning about the truth of his identity, there had been no way to escape the fact that his existence in this era was tied to something bigger. That there were enemies that needed to be dealt with, and he had been kept in one piece both out of love and hope that he’d be able to whip something up.

But it wasn’t until now, standing in front of that... and superimposed into Elder Ysvara’s premonition, did he truly feel the connection, urgency, and reality of it.

The word surfaced before he could stop it.

Azh’Kareth.

It ran at him like a truck, fast and nail-biting, like it had reason to chase him down from every direction.

Because in the end, that was really the summary of what was happening.

He was being chased.

Chased by the inevitable that was closing in far too quickly.

Riley felt like there was something tightening around his throat, invisible but unrelenting, making it harder to think, harder to breathe, especially when he thought he’d given himself enough breathing space.

But with this glaring situation, he would have to be extremely dumb or utterly naive to deny the situation.

The connection between himself, the death of the iron dragon, and the looming end that his ancestors had tried so hard to prepare for.

Azh’Kareth.

All paths end here.

So the only questions left were how, how much longer he had left, and in what order everything would come crashing down?

Riley’s head spun, his weight leaning more heavily against Kael as he tried to ground himself. His thoughts raced ahead, jumping from one possibility to another as he thought about the trajectory of his—no, their lives.

While it was great that they had finally gotten the confirmation they figured they needed, it was actually bad because he ended up being right which absolutely sucked.

Worse, it made him realize just how stupid he had been.

Thinking he had time.

Thinking he could ease into this.

That he could get used to things, get stronger, maybe come up with a better plan before everything caught up to him.

But clearly that was too much wishful thinking for the guy that apparently received too many good things already.

Seriously!

"Haaah!"

"Breathe, Riley."

"...Breathe."

Kael’s hold tightened around him slightly, and the black dragon felt like the only thing stopping him from spiraling and laughing himself into insanity were those strong arms that had been literally holding him together.

Riley swallowed, forcing himself to speak despite the dryness in his throat.

"...Has he been dead for a long time?"

It was an odd question, one that probably should’ve been directed to someone else like a forensic expert.

But in the case of dragons, their blood, and their bodies, there really would be no one better to ask than the rare being who could rightfully witness the end of an immortal.

Yes, that’s right. "Rightfully," was an important distinction as ideally only the dragon lord would be able to send an immortal dragon to their merry way.

And while yes, clearly there were other ways to go, such as via the forbidden flame, draconic punishment, relinquishing immortality to the gods—

Well, apparently, they should also include illegal organ trafficking into the list.

Kael didn’t answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the massive body ahead, his expression dark as he took in the state of it.

"If you’re asking about this body, then, yes."

His voice was low.

Certain.

"By the looks of it, even before I became the dragon lord."

Riley closed his eyes.

It felt like a headache was forming, pressing at his temples.

But what else could they have expected?

At this rate, it almost felt like meeting Kael had been a clutch.

Because if things hadn’t sped up the way they did, if none of this had been pushed forward then—

When would anyone have found this?

When would anyone have realized what had already happened?

Would there have even been enough time for him to live, to grow old, only to eventually die and come back as a black dragon like he was supposed to?

Likely not.

Because even now, standing in front of the remains of someone who should have been untouchable, they didn’t have the luxury of time to give the elder iron dragon the kind of farewell he deserved.

Not when they had to figure out who did this, as well as the whereabouts of his missing heart.

__

Riley stayed quiet for a moment, his gaze lingering on the blue flames engulfing the massive body before him.

Then, almost hesitantly, he spoke.

"...Is this how we’re meant to do it?"

Kael didn’t look at him right away and Riley swallowed before continuing, his voice quieter now.

"Burning the corpse with our blue flames... instead of burying it like the others?"

There was a pause.

"Ideally, no," the golden dragon answered.

"As you already know, dragons who choose to pass prefer to leave their remains in their clan crypt for the betterment of their next generation."

Riley’s gaze lowered slightly.

"But in his case," Kael continued, his tone steady, "as the last iron dragon, and as a victim of this, this is the least we can do for him."

"Someone had already desecrated his body by taking his heart, and since they’ve done it before, they could likely do it again if we leave him here as is."

Riley’s head dipped.

He actually understood the reasoning behind what they ended up doing.

Of course he did.

It was just—

He couldn’t help it.

That small, stubborn hope that maybe Elder Zephyros wasn’t actually the last of his kind. That maybe, somewhere out there, there was someone else. Just like how Riley had shown up on behalf of the black dragons.

Then again...

Maybe he was just being sensitive.

Because his own ancestors didn’t get to rest the way they should have either.

When it came down to it, what Riley had received wasn’t their remains.

It was everything they chose to leave behind before they went into battle, knowing that they wouldn’t return.

Their mana.

Their knowledge.

Their will.

He had told Kael about their sacrifice. But not exactly how he personally reacted after discovering it.

Because before coming to terms with what happened, he did wonder whether things could have been different.

If they had gone all in instead of leaving something behind.

If maybe, just maybe, someone could have come back alive.

But that was already in the past.

There was no changing it.

All he could do now was honor their sacrifice and keep his wishful thinking to himself.

Riley lifted his hand and slapped his own face lightly.

Smack!

A quiet but deep breath followed as he forced himself to steady.

"Alright..."

He exhaled, hyping himself up as the blue flames began to rise, consuming the elder’s body in a quiet, almost reverent blaze.

Riley lowered his head slightly.

"I’m sorry we got here too late," he murmured under his breath.

"We’ll figure out what happened."

"And who did this to you."

Kael glanced at his twig who earlier looked like he needed to lay down and rest.

But looking at him now, there was something different in him.

The hesitation was still there, but it was no longer in control as his expression changed.

His green eyes had sharpened into determined focus.

When he looked up again, it wasn’t with uncertainty.

"Okay," Riley said, turning to Kael, his tone more composed and even more domineering. "I guess we need to establish the facts we currently have and think about why only the heart had been taken."

He scrunched his face slightly, thinking, trying to piece everything together.

Then Kael spoke.

"They’ve got a better body."

Riley blinked.

"Huh? Sorry, what?"

It wasn’t that he didn’t hear it. As a black dragon with enhanced hearing abilities, of course he heard that.

It was just that he needed to hear it again for the sake of interpretation and confirmation.

Kael’s gaze remained steady.

"They likely left the rest of the Elder’s body because they’ve got a better shell."

"...!"

Riley’s breath hitched.

"There could have been many reasons to steal the heart of a dragon," Kael continued, "as it has always had many uses."

It has happened several times before and the dragon lord didn’t see a future where such would stop, as greed for power felt as normal as breathing to some beings.

"But see, instead of being used as a catalyst for a spell, the heart had been left beating for the longest time."

Riley’s stomach dropped.

"For the only reason why no one expected the Elder’s death was because the dragon heart had since been registering as alive."

"Ugh...!"

Riley pressed a hand to his head.

Yeah.

He was definitely getting a migraine over this.