Into The Flames

But they weren’t out of danger just yet. The dragon had taken to the sky once more, not letting them out of its sight.

Mikkah could still barely keep herself upright, but she was at least awake. Iuria had gotten better, and clearly used her healing talent on both herself and Phorok.

“You’re alive! Thank Lucine you’re alive,” she sobbed.

Berus glanced at Phorok. He didn’t know if he told Iuria what had happened, but he was pretty sure she connected the dots. He looked at least appropriately rueful.

“We barely made it,” Berus said.

Thankfully, he didn’t need any air, or else he wouldn’t have been able to speak. His limbs were still too hot to move, and his leg was trashed. It was a strange feeling. It wasn’t real pain, as he didn’t have nerves, or a brain they could connect to. But his soul hurt all over, a sort of phantom pain. He was sure that Mikkah could fix that, once she got better, but right now he knew he had to endure.

Iuria hurried to Mikkah’s side, and hovered her hand over her injuries. The royal insignia on her hand glowed brightly, and Berus could watch how Mikkah’s injuries slowly healed.

“It’s not much, but it’ll help,” Iuria huffed. “Sorry that I didn’t ask if it’s alright, Mikkah.”

Mikkah couldn’t answer still, but she smiled at Iuria.

“The barrier is gone,” Iuria noted, her voice hopeful. “We can go now.”

“Not if the dragon is still there.” Phorok finally joined them. He had a grim expression on his face.

“Won’t it get tired of chasing us?”

“Why would it? It stayed here the entire time. No, I doubt it will let us go.”
“Hm…. I guess you’re right. Going into the forest now would be too risky.”

Once more, Berus realized this was not the game he knew. In the game, the dragon would leave them alone once they escaped its dungeon. But this was the real world. They had angered the dragon, several times, and now nothing would keep it away from them.

“Then we have to finish this somehow.” Berus looked at Phorok. “Can you still fight?”
He nodded.

“And, will you fight? If not for us, then at least for Iuria.”

Berus knew that his words hurt the former adventurer. And he intended them to hurt. He still couldn’t believe than Phorok would leave Mikkah behind like that. How could he trust him?

“I will,” Phorok said with determination in his voice.

“I’ll take care of Mikkah,” Iuria said. “And take cover under the trees. You don’t have to worry about us.”

“Don’t go in too deep,” Phorok warned her. “We can’t exclude the possibility of a forest fire yet.”

“I understand. We’ll stay in view.”

Iuria looked at him with both determination and a hardness Berus hadn’t seen from her before. With those words she gently lifted Mikkah and supported her on their way to the tree line.

“Then we’ll just have to kill the dragon somehow.” Berus let out a sigh. “It’s a shame. I barely have enough mana left to keep running.”

“That doesn’t matter anymore.” Phorok looked at him with a serious expression on his face. “I told you already. I’ve fought dragons before. I know their weak points.”

Berus nodded, but he couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed. “I also know their weak points. That doesn’t help us much, does it? Just blinding the dragon won’t be enough this time.”

For a moment, Phorok kept silent. And as he looked at Berus, his expression grew into something more serene. And Berus hated that, together with the growing sense of unease.

“I know you don’t trust me right now,” Phorok said. “And I know I’ll have to work to earn your trust back. But just this once, for this fight, I have to ask you to trust me again.”

“I don’t know if I can do that. Not after you left Mikkah behind.”

“I know.” He took a deep breath and got up. “But you promised me you would take care of Iuria. Does that promise still stand?”

“Of course. This has nothing to do with our current situation, though.”

“It’s enough for me.”

With a small sigh, Phorok got out a different weapon from his inventory. It was a spear, ancient and heavy. The tip was as long as his usual sword, and the shaft was made from a type of wood he didn’t recognize. It was thick enough that even Phorok struggled to grab it. He turned it a few times in his hands as if to re-familiarize himself with it.

“You’re still hurt. Still, I would like to ask you to distract the dragon once more. Then, I will attack it.”

“Sure.” Berus got up with a groan. “Do you have a more specific plan than that?”

“Not really.”

He let out a loud cry, as if to challenge the dragon. And the dragon reacted. Berus barely had time to get into some sort of combat stance before the dragon landed. He let some sparks play in his hands, even though he wasn’t sure if he had another lightning bolt in him.

“Hey! Over here, you giant lizard!” he called out to the dragon.

The dragon snapped its head in his direction, away from Phorok.

That’s good, I guess, Berus thought. But what now? It’s not like we have some secret strategy now to actually kill it.

“Attack! For the Order of Ash!” Phorok yelled out, and ran towards the dragon.

Berus on the other side tried to keep the dragon’s attention, but his mind was on Phorok’s words. The Order of Ash… he had heard about it. Not in the game, as far as he knew, but from some lore video where a MYSTALE ONLINE content creator had pieced together the sparse in-game information on said order. An item description here, a grave inscription there… there was not much known in the actual game about the order, and casual players would probably never encounter the name.

But he remembered. There was a small location on this world shard where a little grave was hidden, the gravestone made from the skull of a dragon. And the gravestone had the following inscription: Dragons are almost invincible. Unless you’re in their jaws.

It was bad and cheesy. Back when Berus had first watched the video, he had rolled his eyes at it, and the endless explanation the video creator had followed up with. Basically anything was taken from thin air, with no explanations present in-game. But now, those words haunted him.

“Phorok!”

But he was too late. He had realized too late what his plan was. Phorok was too far away for him to do anything. He could only watch as he jumped into the open jaws of the dragon. And then, the dragon shut its mouth.

Berus ran. But not towards the dragon, but instead towards the forest. He could hear the dragon’s screams of pain, but he was focused on Mikkah and Iuria.

“Dad!”

This time, it was Iuria who cried out for Phorok. She was too weak to do anything, just like he was. But at least, Berus still had enough strength to hold her back.

“Don’t do it,” he told her. “Or he would have sacrificed himself in vain.”

“But…”

“Please, Iuria. You have to live.”

He could barely stand to watch it himself. The dragon glowed from within. Phorok had used the spear to stab the dragon through the magical organ in its throat. And yet, the dragon kept its mouth firmly shut, as if it would rather die than let Phorok out. Berus knew this was the way of the Order of Ash, and now it made sense that Phorok had seen so many of his people die. Now, he joined them in death.

“Thank you,” Berus muttered.

Then, he picked up both Iuria and Mikkah and ran as fast as he could. He put as much distance between them and the dragon as he could, and shielded them with his body as the magical energy of the dragon exploded, and it burst into flames. At his side, Iuria sobbed quietly.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered to her.

He felt empty. Maybe there was a certain sadness, as well, but he had trouble figuring out his own emotions. There was anger, mixed with sadness, confusion and fear. Why had Phorok sacrificed himself? Was there really no other way?

But he knew it didn’t matter if they could have done things differently. This was not the game. He couldn’t load a save state.

Phorok was dead, and nothing could bring him back.