We were near the fire, warming ourselves against the icy cold of the night. We were discussing and enjoying the moment together when suddenly a roar could be heard from outside. As soon as we heard the sound, we sprang up in fear and surprise. We gathered our things and, as we observed around us in positions to act, we saw nothing. We just heard the sound of great breaths circling around us and getting closer and closer, each breath more violent than the last.
The dark environment, combined with the sound of breathing and the embers of the fire, contributed to establishing tension and a heavy atmosphere. Our senses were on alert, like a survival instinct signaling to us that we were in a dangerous situation on the brink of death. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, accelerating my heart to the point of suffocation.
Suddenly, surging from the darkness of the night, the head of a dragon with its fangs wide open rushed at us. Barely in time, we dodged to the sides, but it extinguished the fire, leaving us in complete darkness with only some moonlight passing through the cracks in the tower to light us. The darkness was crushing.
In this confined space, it attacked everything that moved a millimeter, destroying everything in its path thanks to its overwhelming strength. Using our aetherium, we dodged as best we could by moving between the columns and walls that made up the tower, while dodging falling debris, but especially its claws and sharp fangs that tore through the air.
The situation was becoming critical. Despite the few punches we managed to land, it did nothing to it like mosquito bites. In the current situation, we would never manage to defeat it and it would end up destroying the entire tower. We took advantage of the fact that the dragon didn't know where we were to leave through the exit without it noticing us.
We were heading towards the exit when, thanks to the rays of the moon, it caught the silhouette of a few of us heading towards the door. It opened its mouth wide and a yellow-orange light came out of it, illuminating the silhouette of the dragon, a blood-red creature about ten meters long. It was fire that it was preparing to launch from its mouth towards us. As quickly as possible, we tried to escape before its attack reached us.
But as we were leaving, I glanced behind me and saw Kael motionless, looking the dragon straight in the eyes. A sensation of ice invaded my heart. I cried out with all my strength. "Kael! What are you doing? We have to leave. As fast as possible!"
He turned his head and told me, looking straight into my eyes with unwavering determination. "Get out of here and get away from the tower."
I didn't have time to answer him before the dragon launched a giant breath of fire directly at Kael. In less than a second, I saw him overwhelmed by the flames and as I cried his name with all my strength, tears flowing freely down my cheeks, Harris paralyzed and Aria in tears, I rushed into the flames to help Kael. But Shinrei grabbed my hand. "Nozomi, we have to leave. We can't stay here."
But as I struggled to escape his grip, he also grabbed Harris's hand to pull us out. Through my tears, I caught a blue light in the flames and, as the flames dissipated, we could see Kael intact, without a scratch, surrounded by a brilliant blue aura.
He cried out, his voice piercing the night. "Get out of here, I'll handle him!"
In confusion but above all in relief at seeing him well, with Shinrei's help holding my hand and Harris's, with Aria following behind us, we left the tower and moved away to a certain distance, leaving Kael alone facing this fire dragon that was ten times his size.
In Kael's hands and feet, his elemental aetherium condensed, emanating from his limbs. The dragon launched another flame blast, but with a wave of his hand, Kael deflected the fire with stunning ease. Then he jumped from wall to wall at high speed thanks to the propulsion of his legs, his movements becoming a deadly dance. He took the opportunity to climb floor by floor and destroyed the columns that held up the tower to propel them with his hands at the dragon.
The dragon took the columns square in the face, which angered it and made it even more aggressive, roars of rage shaking the air. Once Kael at the top, with all his strength, with a single punch, he destroyed the entire ceiling and the last four floors of the tower in an explosion of debris.
Kael took advantage of the debris from the top of the tower in the air, destroyed by his attack, to gain altitude by using the debris as support. At the same time, the dragon was buried by all the debris from the top of the tower falling on it. Unfortunately, it managed to get out and, with the roof open, it was preparing to take flight towards Kael, its wings unfurling in a threatening gesture.
Having reached a certain altitude of a hundred meters high, it took support on a stone in the air and propelled itself at high speed towards the ground towards the dragon and, with his fist which he clenched very hard, scars appeared all over Kael's right arm. He struck the dragon with full force. The shock of the impact created a shockwave that reduced the entire tower to dust, with debris flying in all directions and forming an enormous and gigantic crater on the ground.
We watched the scene from afar and, in the dust cloud, after the entire tower collapsed, we caught the silhouette of Kael coming towards us. As soon as we saw him, we rushed at him, jumping on him and holding him in our arms with intensity. But we didn't have time to be relieved when we had to pull ourselves together quickly.
We got up and Kael spoke, his voice hoarse but urgent. "We have to find a shelter. We can't afford to spend the night outside."
I came to my senses and told them. "Yeah, you're right. We'll talk about it later, but for now, there's something more important. Harris, you must have a backup plan."
Harris thought for a moment, then nodded. "I've memorized the horizons. If we run in that direction, in a few minutes we'll arrive at a castle." While pointing in a direction with his finger. "I think we were just unlucky that this dragon found us. In the dark, it couldn't locate us, which proves they can't use their sense of smell to find us. So we should, once again, go into these abandoned ruins to shelter."
We decided to trust him and we set off following Harris. After a few minutes, we arrived at the temple. Without wasting a minute, exhausted from fatigue, we prepared the fire and blankets to sleep. Aria distributed water to each of us to hydrate and after a few minutes of rest, I spoke, breaking the silence. "Well, Kael, can you explain to us what happened there?"
Kael sat down, leaning his back against a stone, his breathing still panting. "It seems I've regained the use of my elemental aetherium."
We were all shocked, but we didn't have time to process the information before Kael continued, his voice becoming more hesitant.
"I even think I never lost it since we arrived in Drakaryon. Since we've been here, I've been feeling weird. I was already feeling it before, but here it's accentuated a hundredfold. I feel a flow of energy running through me, as if it never left me."
We were confused and we were asking ourselves questions about the situation. Harris asked. "How is it possible that you never lost it? Why are we not in the same situation?"
Around the fire, we were trying to find an explanation when Aria spoke, her eyes reflective. "I remember Elyra's words." She paused before continuing and we all turned to her. "Elyra told us that in order to regain our powers and the use of our elemental aetherium, we had to understand the true essence of our powers. If Kael, you never lost your powers, it means that before we landed here, you had, without realizing it, understood the meaning of your power."
I continued, rising slightly to support my words. "Aria is surely right. Try to think about what could have happened and the triggering event before we crossed the portal. It could give us a first clue so that we too can regain our powers."
"Honestly, I don't know what the triggering factor could have been," replied Kael, his expression concentrating. He remained silent, trying to understand and remember from when he felt weird. Kael looked at his hand and noticed that the scars that had appeared had disappeared. He stood up abruptly, his eyes widening. "I know! I remember now! During our confrontation against Raven, I was exhausted, but suddenly, a power ran through my entire body. If there's a moment, it must surely be that one."
Harris smiled widely, visible relief on his face. "Great! We're making progress. So when exactly was it? And what did you feel? We're finally going to get some answers to our questions."
Kael looked Harris in the eyes with intensity and he said, his voice trembling with emotion. "It was when I wanted to protect you, Harris. When you stood between me and Raven's flames. I absolutely wanted to protect you and for that, I needed strength and even more power. And suddenly, I felt stronger and, without realizing it, I launched an attack of a power I had never realized before."
I stood up and exclaimed, with a slight laugh. "Well there you go! We have the solution. It's not that complicated."
Everyone was confused and didn't understand how I could be so confident. Shinrei asked, raising his eyebrows. "Nozomi, what did you understand?"
"Kael, your power is strength and if we think about it, you're someone who always seeks to help others. You want to save everyone and you blamed yourself when you couldn't save them. If you want to achieve your objectives, you need to be strong enough to protect those you love. At that precise moment, if you wanted to protect Harris, you had no choice but to gain more power. Basically, the essence of your power is what represents you the most. Your desire to protect others. You understood it and you used your true power when you wanted to give your life to protect us against Raven."
Kael, shocked and breathless, felt Nozomi's explanations finally bring order to his mind and thoughts. Then he asked, his voice becoming softer. "So, my case is settled, but now, how are you going to do it? The method for you must be completely different."
Aria spoke, her confidence growing. "Yes, you're right. For us, it's definitely different, but now it's easier to know which direction to go. First, we need to understand what the primary purpose of our powers is and then the relationship with us."
Harris, after reflection, slowly nodded his head. "If we go along with what you're saying, Aria," he paused and looked at Shinrei, telling him with hesitation. "I'm not sure, but I might have an idea for you, Shinrei. If your power gives you superhuman speed, so basically, your power allows you to move where you want. But now, since you've been in this world, what do you feel?"
Shinrei sighed, his shoulders drooping slightly. "It's a weird feeling. On Earth, I got used to using my power. It was like being free, no one could stop me. But since I've been here, it's like being trapped. I can no longer do what I want."
Kael told him softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "So maybe that feeling of being trapped and no longer being able to move is not just a feeling. You must find a way to free yourself and maybe you'll regain your power."
Shinrei replied with doubt, shaking his head. "But that's nonsense. How can I be trapped? That makes no sense."
I spoke, expressing myself with certainty. "That's exactly why you came to the world Drakaryon to find the answer to that question. Now you know what you're looking for, Shinrei." I turned to Harris. "Harris, for your part, I have a little idea."
"You think you know how to solve my problem?" he asked, intrigued.
"Yes. One day, I read that air is the element of freedom, air is an element of harmony and peace. If we go along with that principle, your power is therefore free, without any restriction. Maybe if you lost control of your elemental aetherium, it's because you were putting, without realizing it, limits on your power. Your mind must be free and open for your power to be as well."
Harris remained silent, thinking deeply about himself, slowly digesting these words, then looked at his hands. The air no longer came at his call and yet he managed to feel it, touching his skin.
Shinrei continued, his tone becoming pragmatic. "Well, if for now we just have that, there's still the case of Aria and Nozomi to settle."
I replied to him, my expression becoming darker and more thoughtful. "My case is special. My power comes from a supremely powerful being from which I draw my main strength. My problem comes from elsewhere. I'm the only one who can solve it. Aria is also in a situation similar to mine. Your power is very rare and unique, few people master it. Furthermore, it's a power that's not linked to the principal and secondary elemental aetherium. Your power is a special case."
After I finished speaking, Aria spoke, her voice filled with wisdom despite her exhaustion. "Boys, tonight has been quite eventful and it's getting late. We should sleep to be in shape tomorrow. We've made good progress and nothing is stressing us out for now. If we keep thinking tomorrow, we'll be so tired and that could put us in danger."
We agreed with Aria and thanked her for being there to calm us down when we were getting a bit too heated. After that, we put out the fire and slept deeply. We were indeed tired because in less than five seconds, we had fallen asleep, falling into a deep sleep that finally gave us a respite from the horrors of that nightmarish night.