Chapter 60: Chapter Sixty: Do I look like a fool to you?
"Get him out of here!" Lio shouted at Elyria as he wielded the dagger in his hand. The dragons had sensed a strong wave of power course through the air and immediately knew something was off. The only power strong enough to penetrate a dragon’s thick senses was one stronger than its own. So who had done it?
"We can’t hold them for much longer!" Elyria shouted back as she rushed to Damien. She grabbed his wrists and vanished to the other side of the living room. "You have to go deal with them now!"
Lio, sensing the urgency of the matter, raced to the front door. He stretched out his palms and in a blink of an eye, transformed to the mighty, eight horned dragon Damien had seen at the marketplace that day.
Immediately his transformation completed, the raging dragons outside immediately calmed down. The one who pried open the roof, placed it back, slid down and bowed to him.
"What the actual hell..." Damien said from inside, more confused than ever. Elyria looked up at him and that’s when she realized they were still holding hands. Flustered, she drew her hand from his sharply, hissed and walked away from him. Damien just stared at her blankly. What was her problem?
Lio soon walked in after the dragons had left. "What happened?" Elyria asked, not wasting any time.
Lio took a deep breath before letting out an exhausted sigh and collapsing on the sofa. "They must have sensed his power and thought it was a threat." he said simply then turned to Damien who stood by a corner in the living room. "Until your awakening is complete, you have to learn to control your powers." Lio said rather sternly.
Damien scoffed. Again with that awakening crap! Well, if he were going to get back, he might as well go with whatever they say.
"Fine then." Damien said, walking towards the couch and plopping himself on it. "You say I’m the dragon sent to free your kind right?"
"Yes." Elyria and Lio answered in unison.
"So what do I have to do?"
The two looked at themselves wordlessly. Was he really agreeing to do it?
"Well th—"
Elyria grinned mockingly at his statement
"It’s about time you said that handsome prince instead of stressing us all."
Damien looked at her blankly and Lio instantly took the message. "Ignore her, please. Very soon she’ll be swooning over you again, you’ll see."
"I’d rather that never happen."he said simply.
"To free our people, you must first awaken your powers." Lio said, diverting the topic.
"And how do I do that?"
"Well, since you were able to understand that book, the first step is already completed."
Damien arched a brow at him.
"What’s so special about that book? There were only blank pages with one word drawings on them."
"That book," Lio began thoughtfully. "...is the one that will provide all the answers you seek and prepare you for what’s to come."
The book laid on the low table at the center with its front side flat against the table. Damien reached out and grabbed the book from the table, flipping through the leaves calmly.
"So what am I supposed to do with this?" he said without looking up from it.
"Read and meditate on it. Let it show you the answers you seek."
Damien looked up at him. There was no way he was serious. Each page held a single character and the book had less than ten leaves. What ’answers’ was he supposed to find there?
"Whatever." Damien said nonchalantly before getting up and going outside.
"Wait." Lio called out to him.
"What?"
"To unlock what answers your heart desire, you must read the book with a pure heart."
Damien stared at him like he had just said the stupidest thing ever. "In case you forgot, my blood is impure. I’m still trying to wrap my head around all this nonsense and now you’re telling me to read a character book with a pure heart?"
Damien didn’t even wait to finish to sentence before barging out the door.
The dragons had already cleared and the orange-red sun was still shining brightly on in the sky. He hadn’t known how many days had passed so far or how long he had even been there. As he walked down the sandy path, he took a turn and ended up in a small path lined with flowers and shrubs.
Damien settled himself on the grass in front of a tall tree and set the book in front of him. He stared at the book in his hand. It didn’t look odd or anything. In fact, it looked like any other normal book. He turned the front cover and found a dry leather with a symbol carved on the body. That symbol...it looked so familiar.
He shrugged off the feeling and opened the book.
Once opened, the same characters stared at him again. He counted the book pages again—ten old, wrinkled leaves, then closed it. He opened it again and paid more attention to the pages this time. As he looked closer at the character on the page, the meaning came to him like a rush. That ability still shocked him.
During his time as the representative of the kingdom, he had been exposed to different writings of different people. As a prince, he had first hand knowledge on calligraphy and ancient writings, runes, name it. But never for once had he seen such unique patterns before and the fact that he recognized them made him all the more curious.
"Page one. Kiriat meaning Growth." He flipped the page.
"Page two. Eyfreth meaning Pure."
"Page three. Dtopty meaning Guidance."
Damien paused at the third page. Guidance? Was that why he was sent here? To receive guidance on his...dragon powers? Damien shook his head. No matter how he tried to put it, it just didn’t make sense to him. Ever since he was little, he had been cursed and barely remembers his childhood. What made him the chosen one to liberate the dragon kind? He was a vampire and didn’t dragons hate them? Why did they need him to free their lost ones?
As he thought about it, he felt his chest ache. Then there was that again—his hunger. No matter how he saw it, he was too impure for such task. He was a vampire: a bloodsucking one and his people had destroyed the very ones he was now meant to save.
Damien dipped his hand in the shirt and ran it hand over his chest. He could see the faint patterns on his chest from the undone buttons. His hand then moved from his front body to his back.
Earlier, or whenever it was, he had felt an excruciating pain when he had met that dragon in the marketplace. He had wanted to ask Lucian what it was after seeing his reaction but there was no time. He thought about asking either of the two inside what was on him but decided not to. They’d probably use it to confirm their point and that was the last thing he wanted to hear.
Curiosity gnawed hard at him. That pain he had felt was maddening and he knew there was something on him. After a while of running his hand over the sides of his back, he stopped.
No. This wasn’t important now. He ran his fingers through his hair and looked at the book again.
"Page four. Tasern meaning Faith."
"Page five. Orqx meaning Reverenced."
"Page six. Reliorta and Derj meaning Kindness and Righteousness.
Wait.
When I had gone through them earlier, no page had two different words. Did I not see the pages clearly?
Anyways.
"...Page seven. Zephyr meaning Holy.
Damien scoffed at the word and raised a brow. Holy? And this was supposed to be for him?
"Page eight. Eoqitvha meaning Patience.
"Page nine. Medderath meaning Revenge.
What? Damien strained his eyes at the word. Up till that Chapter, the other characters spoke on values and other soft nonsenses. This particular one spoke on revenge... revenge on who? The vampires?
He pushed the thought back. ’I’ll get answers to this...all of this.’ he muttered to himself then proceeded to flipping open the last page.
Damien’s fingers paused midway. Why was he suddenly agitated? He took a deep breath, then another and another. What the heck?! Why did his heart beat suddenly quicken?! What exactly is in this Chapter?!
Unable to bear it anymore, his fingers moved on their own to open it. To his utter dismay, the page refused to flip. Damien let out a mocking chuckle. ’You can’t be serious."
He gripped the edge of the page again an made to flip it but it remained glued to the end of the book. Annoyance instantly overtook him. Was this a test?
"Damned crap." he muttered through gritted teeth to himself, running his fingers through his thick hair before pulling at it.
"Alright then..." he said, returning his attention back to the book. He looked around him and picked up a flat stone with smooth edges.
Weird. Stones like that were quite rare in their kingdom but there was no time to start analysing them. Not wanting to waste any more time, he took the stone and set it between the page and the edge of the book. Carefully, he worked his way through the hummed part of the book, cautious not to rip the page in any way.
Once it was done, Damien smiled satisfactorily to himself. "Now," he said, flinging away the helpful stone. "...let’s see what you contain."
The minute his hand flipped over the page, a blinding light struck him right in the face. Damien slumped to the
ground, unconscious with his shirt ripped from the back, revealing the glowing dragon tattoo...