Chapter 17: Legacy (4)
Flashback...
A caskets of flames, the sun dipped below the horizon, casting an orange glow across the battle-scarred landscape. The once-mighty dragon lay defeated, their corpse a stark contrast to the fiery sky. Demond and the wolf stood before the Tyrant's castle, the wolf's torso burnt beyond recognition.
It is then the wolf realised, they have indeed defeated a king, if only not for the cost of everything that once defined them.
The dawn, however, a silent ray of hope and rebirth, as it was casted upon an infant among the dragon's corpse. Ever the innocent, the child was untouched by the fiery wrath that had ravaged the land. It was as if fate had shielded the newborn from the carnage. Demond picked up the child, his weary smile hinting at a newfound purpose.
"Master."
"...ah, Leona."
"...who is this child you carry?"
Her master chuckled, the ashes from the cigarette in her mouth whizzed out. Admist the forest that smelled of tars, flesh and burnt trees, the sound was surprisingly warm. "A child from a friend. I am to watch over her, as a promise to someone I once knew."
"And so, you and our companions remained here..." the wolf's tired grunt was a question, a silent doubt of the burden her master had shouldered for her sake. She gazed at the black dragon's corpse beside them, charred and iced and torn by countless others before them, by the companions who went before them, by her and her master who remained the only ones standing.
"Yes...yes...I suppose." The youthful voice from her master could no longer bear the weight of his world crashing before his eyes. He lost everything, his companions, his pride, his home, and even his spirit wolf, injured beyond saving. Yet, the child remained, a spark of hope in his eyes, one that would paint a tale that would inspire generations, not to repeat the weakness that led to this tragedy.
"I'm sorry, Leona. I'm so, so sorry."