Ashes of the Heart

Coughing, Victor swatted at the dust, his vision slowly clearing. When it did, he saw Enderan, leaning heavily on the lance driven into the ground to support himself, his burning heart illuminating the muscles on his back.

“Enderan!” He rushed to his side but then noticed the Dragon Tyrant kneeling before them.

A huge, ragged crater had been blown through his right side, sizzling with residual magic. His face turned down, then slumped over and his golden crown clanked to the ground. Its red gems still glowing brightly.

“Good job Enderan!” Victor stepped forward and grabbed the crown. “We didn’t get him to break your curse, but we still might have a chance to.”

He started for the back of the room, the crown warm to the touch.

Before he took his third step past Enderan, a crushing grip seized his wrist.

“Victor!” Enderan’s voice was tight with pain. The pressure on his arm was immense.

“Enderan, what’s wrong?” Victor turned to him, wincing.

“Everything you said, was it true?”

Victor scoffed. “Of course not, he nearly killed me. All that god stuff was all talk. Thanks for sending Yoki to me, I was almost—

Victor bent over, the grip tightening on his arm causing him to yelp in pain. “Enderan you’re hurting me!”

“My chest is hurting!” He screamed. “It feels like it’s burning!”

“That’s just because you pushed your mana core to its limit, it’ll go away soon!”

“Earlier Drakan’thar kept saying I had curses on me. Curses, meaning more than one!” Enderan’s dragon eyes were searching his. “You told me that I wouldn’t be affected!”

“I said it wasn’t a sure thing. And I was wrong!” Victor winced as the grip tightened once more. “Let me go so I can try a different method!”

“What different method! You haven’t told me shit!” He was crying now. “Victor, please tell me how you’ll do it!”

“Don’t you trust me?! Why do I have to tell you?!”

“Tell me how you’ll do it! Or I’ll break your arm!” He then yanked Victor’s arm down and brought him close to his face. His dragon features were prominent. He was losing his humanity fast.

“Enderan, you’re not thinking straight. Your dragon side is taking over.”

“Why are you dodging the question!” He squeezed his wrist even harder and Victor’s eyes were closed shut against the pain. “Last chance!”

Victor looked at Enderan’s eyes and his face contorted in sympathy. “I’m sorry Enderan.”

Before Enderan could process the apology, Victor twisted his free hand. The arm holding onto Victor was cut off as a dark blade slid up through scale, flesh, and bone with ease.

Vanish!

Victor was gone.

Enderan roared and lunged forwards.

Slime Command!

Yoki shot out towards Enderan’s legs and wrapped around them before hardening.

Enderan screamed in pain as he fell over. “Victor! I’ll kill you!”

Victor’s heart was thundering in his head as he ran full tilt out of the throne room.

He gripped the crown tightly in his hand. He did it.

Victor turned a corner, and heard a dragon’s roar.

“Victor!” A bestial howl echoed out.

Victor’s invisibility wore off and he cursed.

He could hear something moving behind him, and panicked.

He looked over his shoulder and at the end of the corridor, he saw Enderan, now walking on bowed legs. Half his face was now completely covered in scales and horns jutted out through his skull, and on his back were wings.

“Get back here you liar!”

Enderan closed the distance in a blur of speed. Victor spotted an opening—a collapsed wall leading into what was once a drawing room—and scrambled through, hearing the crash as Enderan tore through the wall behind him. Ahead, he saw the stairwell and veered toward it, but Enderan was already there, blocking the path.

A jet of fire erupted from his throat. Victor dove aside, the heat scorching his back, and sprinted down the only path left: the long corridor to the vault.

I should have just killed him! It would have been a mercy! Why did I have to be so soft!

Victor ran with all his might, flinching at feeling that Enderan would sink his claws into him or burn him alive.

He reached the end of the corridor and threw himself behind the wall.

He pressed his back against it and desperately tried catching his breath. He couldn’t run anymore. He was exhausted. After all that, he didn’t have enough mana to cast any spells. He held the dagger before him. He would just have to take a chance and stab him.

However as he listened, he didn’t hear Enderan close by.

He risked a look back and his breath caught. Enderan was at the far end of the corridor, his eyes locking onto Victor’s. He took a single, shuddering step, then his legs gave out and he crashed to the floor. He tried to push himself up with the nub of his left arm, collapsing again and again before curling into a ball, his face a mask of agony.

He shot fire out at him, and Victor hid around the corner. The hall was lit up but it didn’t reach Victor.

“You tricked me you bastard! You knew this entire time I’d be cursed with a burning heart!”

Victor couldn’t meet his eyes again and hid.

“You coward! Show yourself!” Desperation entered his voice as he began to wail in pain. “If I hadn’t caught you, would you have just left me to burn alone?! It hurts so much, Victor!”

Every time he called his name, his heart broke more and more. He wanted to apologize and say everything would be fine, but what good would empty promises and lies do for Enderan?

“Victor! Please, just kill me!” He screamed. “I can’t take it anymore!” He was now crying out in agony, which then turned to pained dragon roars.

Tears began flowing down Victor’s cheeks.

“Whyyy?!” His distorted voice was of heartbreak and pain. “After everything we’ve been through! All that kindness and affection you showed me! Was that all just part of an act?!” The bawling sobs of a beast caused Victor’s knees to give out. “Was it all for that crown?! For the treasure in that vault?! I loved you like a brother, Victor! I trusted you! I believed in you!”

He slid down the wall and pressed the palms of his hands against his ears.

Cries and his name repeated in a maddening spiral, causing Victor to recall their time together only to push the memories aside as he mumbled his mantra.

“They are just characters in a story!”

I’d be glad if you could stay by me.

“They are just characters in a story!”

A shut in boy sets out with a sketchy wizard to the city to become a knight!

“They are just characters in a story!”

Deafening death roars rang out through the corridor.

“They are just characters!”

We will break the curse!

“They are just characters!”

So, you really will be staying with me?

“They are just characters!”

Thanks for everything, Victor.

The screaming then ended but Victor still kept chanting to himself.

“This is just a story.”

“This is just a story.”

“This is just a story.”

He had to remember that he was ready to do anything to achieve his goals. To kill Daigo and take back his world. He would

“Ricky!”

“…”

Even through the chanting and the cries he heard it. His real name.

Finally, Enderan stopped screaming, leaving Victor to sit in total silence.

Looking down at the dark hall, he set down his tome and the crown.

The hall was burnt black. Enderan himself was a mass of burnt human and dragon.

Victor took shaky steps towards him.

Countless sleepless nights spent writing his story. Thousands of hours spent learning how to draw, trying to get his look just right.

The happiness he felt when seeing Daigo’s final rendition of Enderan. The pride of seeing his face appearing on a cover for the first time. The tightness in his chest and the tears of joy he had shed when seeing Enderan animated.

It was an unbelievable feeling seeing his favorite character come to life.

But that joy was nothing compared to the day he sat across from Enderan in person in that dining room. A person that meant the world and more to him.

“I’m so sorry Enderan.” His voice broke upon saying his name. “I’m so sorry!”

In an endless echoing hell, Victor cursed himself and cried into the ashes of his heart.