Chapter 218 - Vol. 4 - 17

"After that," Gurron explained, "I was left with a strange child and a body to bury." 

As Gurron finished his story, Ash nodded. Sinneah still hadn't returned, so Ash had a few minutes to contemplate the things he'd said. It all sounded like something out of a fever dream, but as amazing as it all sounded, it had clearly happened, considering his presence here and Sinneah's. 

However, one thing drew Ash's attention more than anything else. Tomoe. 

"... A sword made of light," Ash muttered. "You mean, like, she picked something up and it transformed into a sword?" 

"No," Gurron replied. "The sword manifested out of thin air." 

Damn, Ash thought. What kind of magic does that? 

And, on that note, something else came to her mind. 

"Wait, back up, you said, she cut you, and then she healed you?" 

"Yes." 

"How?" Ash asked. "You're immune to that." 

"To this day I do not know, she never explained that to me, and I had no desire of knowing. Enjoying my time with her was enough for me." 

Ash couldn't say the same though. She absolutely wanted to know, just in case she ever met another dragon in the future and could find a way to use magic on it. So, she put her brain to work for a moment and thought about the different possibilities. 

Eventually, something came to her mind, and Ash's eyes widened. 

"... Wait a second," Ash said, extending a hand towards Gurron. 

"Hm?" 

"Hold on," Ash told him.

What was the incantation again?  She wondered before it came back to her, slowly. 

"For Light of grace to reach those in need, Lumina, allow our faith to dictate the power of our words. Let no prayer we utter be left unheard. To this end, show yourself in our actions and let your brilliance be seen." 

It was the incantation for the Empowered Light spell.

As Ash recited its words, Gurron was encapsulated in a field of white, and Ash's eyes widened. 

"... So that's it," she muttered. 

"What did you do?" 

"I cast a Blessing on you," Ash stated, turning her attention back on the distant trees. 

"Blessing? I am not familiar with this term."

"It's sort of like Light magic, but different," Ash began explaining. "Regular Light and Dark magic work normally, scaling off your Int and whatever. But, there are two categories that are special, I think," she lifted two fingers, remembering the lessons Takomaro had given her before the battle for Pearl, "Blessings and Curses. What makes these categories special, is that their effectiveness depends on your connection with the gods. And, from what I can tell, the Blessing I cast worked." 

"Ah... So you say, this is how she healed me?" 

"I think so," Ash shrugged. "If that's the case, then it means Blessings and Curses probably work on dragons, but none of the other forms of magic do." 

"Hm... Fascinating. Could you do the same?" 

"... I don't know any Blessings that heal. Sorry." 

"... No matter."

In Ash's mind though, that prompted another question. 

That means Tomoe had a connection to the gods or something. Was she a Savior? Or a priest? Ash wondered as suddenly, a figure appeared. 

She narrowed her eyes but calmed down when she saw that it was Sinneah, approaching from the trees. 

The draconic woman walked forward, her eyes steady as she moved over to where Gurron and Ash were. 

"Ah... What did you see?" Gurron asked. 

"There are many of them, still remaining, though they are hiding," Sinneah said. She was looking down at Gurron with a mixture of worry and confusion, as though she didn't understand why he hadn't gotten better yet. "Are you feeling better?" 

"..." Ash saw Gurron look at the woman, and she stepped away, feeling the atmosphere begin to change. "About that, child," he stated, "I am afraid there is something I need to say." 

"What is it?" Sinneah asked quickly, crouching beside him. Then, he paused before replying with:

"I will not be leaving this mountain with you." 

Ash saw a look of surprise come over Sinneah, though she maintained that firm look on her face, almost a scowl of sorts. 

"... Why?" Sinneah asked. 

"My age has caught up to me," Gurron explained. "My body is not healing itself the way it used to. At this point, I believe it is," he coughed, which closely resembled a growl, "I believe it is inevitable." 

Sinneah just looked at him for a second. Even when it came to regular people, Ash was terrible at reading others' emotions, but with Sinneah, it was particularly difficult. Her body was frozen, her hands clutched into fists at her sides, while she stared down at Gurron, unblinking. 

She was taking slow, deep breaths, while Gurron waited for her response. 

"Are you c..." Her voice broke. "Are you certain?" 

"Yes," Gurron replied. "I will be passing soon. This much is a fact." 

... Fucking hell,  Ash thought as she watched Sinneah's hands begin to tremble. 

"... Can I truly do nothing for you?" Sinneah asked. 

"Yes," Gurron replied. "There is one thing." 

"What is it!?" Sinneah asked, kneeling beside him instantly. "Is there a chance!?" 

"... That was not what I meant," Gurron chuckled, and now, it blatantly sounded pained. But, Sinneah remained by his side. "The half-demon brought to me an interesting idea. She had asked if I would allow her to kill me so that she could take the Experience from it." 

As soon as Sinneah heard this, she shot a look at Ash that, if it could kill, would have had Ash disintegrated. 

You really couldn't leave that part out?  Ash asked in her thoughts as she shook her head. 

"I rejected this, but, that did give me an idea. Sinneah," he took a breath, "I wish for you to do it."

"... What?" Sinneah stood up, taking a step back. 

"I will say it clearly," Gurron said, and Ash then saw as he tried to stand, his legs and arms shaking under his weight, as he only managed to turn himself just a little in Sinneah's direction before falling to the ground once more, all while Sinneah looked at him, horrified. "Strike me down, and allow me to make you more powerful as my final act in this world." 

"... I cannot," Sinneah shook her head. "I am not strong enough." 

"If you do not then my death will be a waste. Is that preferable?" Gurron asked her and Sinneah looked up, as tears came out from her eyes. 

That was when Ash decided to turn away, thinking she'd seen enough. Without saying anything, Ash walked over to a nearby tree stump and sat on it with her back turned to them. 

Taking a deep breath, she kept her eyes peeled just in case anything came out and attacked her. They were, after all, still in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by monsters. 

What she saw made her wonder if she could do it though. If someone like Kaori or Keiko asked her to do that, would she have it in her? 

She doubted it. She realized then that she'd sooner jump off a tall cliff than do that to one of them. 

As she contemplated this though, she heard a few things behind her. 

Some words she couldn't quite catch, a spark of fire, and then, something breaking. 

It was a while before she heard anything else. She was about to turn around to check what had happened when Sinneah walked over to her. 

It took one look to understand. Sinneah's face, still as firm as ever, had tear marks running down to her chin and her right hand was balled into a fist, with blood covering it.

"... Ash," Sinneah said, with a trembling voice. 

"Yeah?" Ash asked. 

"... Gurron told me that you came to some sort of agreement?"

"Oh. Right," Ash said, as she stood up. Just to confirm what she was guessing from her appearance, she glanced over at Gurron. Sure enough, there was a fist-sized hole in his body.

I'm guessing that's where his heart was or something,  Ash thought.  That's rough. 

"So, listen," Ash started, "your, uh, dad or whatever, asked me for something. He asked me to take you with me back to Amber, a human city that's just a couple hours' walk away." 

Ash walked past her and gestured down the mountain. 

"I'm heading back there now anyway. You can come and follow me if you want to. What do you say?" 

Hearing that, Sinneah wiped away her tears and looked up at Ash with a bit of confusion. But, as she thought more about it, she then looked back at Gurron. 

"He did?" She asked. 

"Yeah, said he wanted you to pick a new home for yourself, or something," Ash shrugged. "So, what'll it be?" 

"..." Sinneah continued to gaze upon the dragon's body for a moment before she turned toward Ash. "Yes. If that is what he wanted then... I will do it," she said, with a soft voice.

Hearing such a strong-looking person speak so meekly was jarring to Ash, though she understood why that was. Still, she nodded and started walking. 

Behind her, Sinneah took one last look at Gurron before following her. 

---

{Sinneah}

"So," Ash said, ahead of her while Sinneah tried her hardest to stop crying.  Cease this weakness,  she told herself.  You are a dragon. Though your body is different you are still his daughter and you need to be strong. "It'll be about two hours before we get there. Keep an eye out and tell me if you see anything, since your eyes are better than mine, apparently." 

Though Sinneah had no idea what an 'hour' was, she nodded. She figured it was a way of measuring time, but all she had ever needed to do that was to look up at the sky. 

"Yes. I will."

As she replied though, Sinneah looked down at what she was carrying in her hands. These were the last pieces of Gurron that she would ever physically see, surely, and they weighed so much heavier on her because of that.

One fact about dragons that, apparently, not many humans knew, according to her father, was that just above their eyes, dragons held two smaller eyes. Their larger eyes were the size of Sinneah's head, while their smaller eyes were barely bigger than her own, and so, most people missed them. 

However, when Ash turned away, Gurron had asked her to do something strange. 

"Sinneah," he'd said. "Once I am dead... Remove my eyes from my body, and hold onto them. Let no human find them." 

"Why?" Sinneah had asked. 

"... Your mother told me that they are valuable. Should you ever need to, I would want you to use them to create a place for yourself in the human world. Keep them on your person, and let no one else know that you have them. One day, they may serve of some use to you." 

"Hey, did you hear me?" Ash suddenly asked while Sinneah was thinking about that. She looked up. 

"What?" 

"I said, look," Ash pointed ahead, and from here, Sinneah saw it. 

A place that was glowing in the night, not unlike this mountain. Another beacon just like it, but wider and with many smaller lights spread throughout it. 

"That's Amber. That's where we're headed." 

"... I see," Sinneah nodded.. "I see."