152 4.14 The Earth Dragon - Part 1

"How long has it been since then?" I said, looking around.

"It's been a while. It's probably already midnight."

Nothing seemed abnormal till now. The skeletons were watching us from the side, and the manor looked as it was before, which meant the seal was still intact.

"Markus, we need to be prepared. The Earth Dragon king could be coming here anytime soon. This could just be a possibility, but we should be prepared."

""WHAT!""

Markus and Jackie dropped their jaws in surprise. But compared to them, Gram and his skeleton soldiers barely reacted.

I looked at Gram, straight at his skull. "You knew about this, didn't you?"

Gram sighed as he started walking towards me. "Yes, we did. We have been waiting for this moment for years. Now we will finally have the answers to all our questions."

"But this is not what we had decided. I am sure the dragon will be furious because of what we just did."

"I knew you wouldn't be able to break the seal. And even if you were able to, I was certain that the queen wouldn't agree to come out. This was the only way to know what happened."

I guess it was partially our mistake since we trusted them and agreed too quickly without understanding the whole situation. However, this couldn't be called betrayal since he didn't lie. He just hid the complete truth from us.

I guess diplomacy was also a business of some sort where whoever keeps his cards hidden wins. In this case, he just had more experience than us.

"So, what have you planned from here, Gram? I am sure you didn't make me do all this without anything in mind."

Gram stopped right in front of me. "There is no plan. We couldn't come up with anything to make the Dragon do what we want. This was the only way we could make him come here. We will all jump at his feet and beg for answers to fulfill our lingering wishes. That's the only way we will be able to rest in peace."

This complicated the whole thing. If the dragon was calm and composed, begging like that might have work. However, as far as I could tell, dragons were short-tempered and could easily get angry.

"I don't think he is going to listen."

"Yes, that will probably be the case. Anyways, your task here is done. You fulfilled your end of the deal; now we will fulfill ours. You are free to leave this place."

Before I could say anything, Markus interrupted us. "Yes, we will take our leave then. The situation has already accelerated out of our hands, so staying here any longer can be dangerous."

That was one of the possible ways to avoid the situation, but considering how much time had already passed, it was unlikely that we would make it.

Naturally, the sensible thing to do here would be to summon Flare. However, doing that here could be dangerous as her presence itself purifies the miasma in the air. The undead that survived on miasma won't be able to survive when that happens.

"Markus, I only see one possible way out of this mess. I will go out there and try to convince the dragon. Since I won't be able to use my powers here, I would need to go outside."

"But that's—"

"That's the only way out of this."

Markus sighed. "Alright. Is there something we can do here?"

"I am afraid there is nothing at this point, but if it comes to worse, please find a way to escape while I keep the dragon distracted."

Markus reluctantly nodded. I then looked towards Gram again.

"If I use my powers here, the undead creatures will perish alongside the miasma here. I would suggest you just stay here and not come out."

It sounded like a warning, and it indeed was. At this point, I was somewhat irritated because of everything that happened.

I walked towards the only exit out of this place. Like before, the only way to get out of here was to use earth magic by supplying the mana.

Since Markus and Jackie were also at risk here, they followed me. I was planning to use force to get out of the cave and leave the two outside. That way, they will be able to escape towards the village.

I opened the door using earth magic, but probably because of territorial reasons, the undead there didn't cross the door to come inside.

"Well, let the fire festival begin."

I summoned the pure blue flames within me. These flames were several times hotter and more violent than the golden one. But I could feel it embracing me, giving me warmth and comfort.

"Flare!"

The flames became even more violent as the mana in the surrounding gathered in a single place. And from those flames, Flare appeared wearing the clothes made up of blue flames.

"Master, what is that you wish of me?"

"Flare, can you clear the way out. We have a guest arriving soon, so we are in a rush."

Flare smiled. "As you wish, master."

She collected flames in both of her hands and created a huge wave of fire ahead of us. Unlike me, she could manipulate her flames and direct their direction.

She was floating above the ground as she moved ahead, and the three of us followed her. The flames that she was manipulating around her were disintegrating the skeletons along with the evil spirits within them.

When we reached outside, it was still dark, but since it was a full moon day, we could see things around easily without any sort of lights.

Before we could even step out in the open, I could see something circling in the sky, thousands of feet above us. The radius it was circling was too big for it to be just an ordinary bird, and in this case, the suspicion of who it could be was obvious.

"Thanks, Flare"—I turned towards Markus and Jackie—"You guys should run and find somewhere to hide. He is about to land here."