Chp.33: Stealing the portable gate (part 2)

Maldor had become completely unable to think. It was as if her brain had shut down. She was no longer able to formulate the slightest reasoning, and all she could do was stand still like a statue with her mouth hanging open and her eyes bulging. After what seemed like forever, a single whisper came out of her mouth. "What...?"

"Uhm, I guess I owe you some explanations" Isaac said quickly. "Here, you see, I..."

"Did you know I was a dragon all this time!?" Maldor nearly screamed. For some reason, she suddenly felt a tremendous rage take over her. No, it wasn't rage... it was something else. It was the same horrible feeling she'd had when she saw Haku hitting Rhaegal's face. A horrendous weight on the heart, the idea that everything she knew about the other person was false… maybe that was what humans called betrayal? "So that's why!? That's why you were so friendly with me!? You were keeping an eye on me!?"

"No, no! Well, technically yes... no, listen to me, please!" Isaac exclaimed sweating slightly. "Please, let me explain..."

"Explain!? What would there be to explain!?" Maldor growled. Her body was shaking with unheard-of violence. She couldn't figure it out, why did she feel this way? Why did she suddenly feel like punching the human in front of her? "You lied to me! You've been lying to me all this time! I thought you just wanted to be my friend, but you were keeping tabs on me! You damn..."

"Well, you're not really in a position to judge... ok, ok, ignore me!" Isaac seemed to be somewhat intimidated by her. Maldor didn't know what expression she was having at that moment, but it must have been terrifying enough to make him react that way. "Please, allow me to explain! Then if you want to kill me you can do it, but at least listen to me!"

Maldor grit her teeth. She couldn't waste any more time. She had to go away. She had to escape before it was too late. She had to go to Haku. So why did her legs refuse to move? Why was something inside her screaming to hear what the human had to say? "Speak" she finally said, unable to fight that absurd feeling.

Isaac gulped. "During the first term, I really just wanted to be your friend… but after you came up with that explanation about how runes worked… well… the principal ordered me to keep an eye on you. She didn't trust about you, do you understand?" he answered. "I told her it was stupid, that you had nothing to hide, but... she didn't want to listen, so... I put a small magical item in your quarters, hidden behind your wardrobe, which allowed me to hear what you and Kotaru were saying"

Maldor's cheeks turned red and her eyes rolled in a most unreassuring way. "You did WHAT!?"

"I know, I know, I sound like a creep! But I assure you that I did it reluctantly, and that I felt terribly guilty listening to your conversations!" Isaac said quickly. "Because of its hidden location, the magical item couldn't pick up sounds well, and then the magical interference caused by you and your fake bodies made it even more problematic. Let's say I could hear one in five words on average. But that's how I found out... well, that you're a dragon"

Maldor gritted her teeth in fury, but for some reason there was something else that was troubling her even more than knowing that someone had violated her privacy. "Did you hear... what I said to Kotaru... the other day?"

"Uh? You mean when I met you covered in that block potion?" Isaac asked. At her assent, he shook his head: "At that moment I was busy with something else, I didn't have time to listen. And then, technically, I had stopped spying on you for a while"

For some reason, those words made Maldor feel a little calmer. But just a little. "So that's it? Everything else was a lie? All this time, have you just kept an eye on me? Every time we laughed, joked, talked, or even just said hello… was it all fake?"

"No, Maldor!" Isaac was waving his arms as if trying to swat a fly. "If I'd only wanted to protect the academy, I would have reported you to the principal! That wasn't my intent! I… really wanted to know the person you were!". His fingers tightened even more. "I admit it, when I found out you were a dragon I felt scared. Very scared. I didn't know what to think. I spent the entire night sleepless that day, unable to decide what to do, and for at least the entire next week I felt a shiver down my spine every time I saw you. I didn't know what to do. I was just... lost"

Maldor's eyes narrowed. Of course, it was obvious that Isaac had been afraid for her. She was a predator, the most dangerous predator in the world. He was a newcomer. Dragons ate everything, including newcomers. Isaac wouldn't have reacted otherwise to discovering that she was a dragon, the same creature that in all the stories and the tales of the newcomers people must avoid at all costs, the monster the mothers warned their children against at night, the feral and homicidal beast who devoured everything in her path. This was her to him, and it couldn't be otherwise. It was normal. So why did she feel so bad? It wasn't the first time that a newcomer was afraid of her, she was used to being feared by everyone… so why did this time it was so different? Why wasn't she indifferent to it, as she always had been? Why now… did she care about it?

But then, Isaac said something she didn't expect. "Part of me wanted to denounce you… but another, much stronger part of me didn't. I… wanted to believe that the kind, nice, teaching-loving woman I had known wasn't fake. I wanted to believe that she really existed" he exclaimed, biting his lip as if he were eating a lemon. "I was scared... but I refused to believe that you put so much enthusiasm into everything you did just to execute some evil plan. I had a feeling that you weren't like that. So I made a choice: I kept this secret to myself, and to ease my conscience I told myself that there was no point in reporting you when I had so little information about you, and that I needed to get to know you better before I acted. So I followed my instincts, and I watched you. And... how can I say... I saw how you really were". Isaac looked her straight in the eyes. "I saw your light. I don't know how to explain it… but every time you taught, laughed, talked… you were like a sun. You shone with an intensity I've seen in few people before you. It was as if you I was... tasting freedom for the first time"

Maldor's heart suddenly began to ache. Tasting freedom for the first time? Of course she had. The feeling of not having to worry about a thing, of being able to walk among people without fearing that someone would attack her at any moment, of being able to talk to them without seeing the slightest hint of terror in their faces… it was good. Very good. That was probably why she hadn't bothered to hide how much happy she was...

"That light followed you everywhere, Maldor. It didn't matter if you were angry, happy, enraged, or amused… you were always bright. There was only one moment when that light left you… and that was when Kotaru called to speak to you" Isaac continued. His face turned extremely serious. "Maldor, I know you haven't faked that. You want to stay here. And the more I looked at that light, the more I realized that you really loved this place, the more I heard you laughing and joking... and the more I forgot that you were a dragon. Even though my intent was to keep an eye on you, I still came to consider you in my heart... a friend"

Isaac looked at the scepter in his hands, and then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and threw it away. Maldor stared at this wordlessly, not understanding why the man had discarded his only weapon. But then, Isaac held out his hand. "My friendship wasn't feigned, Maldor, and I know yours wasn't either. I don't care what you are, or what life you've led outside this academy. I know you're a good person, and that's enough for me. So please... stay here. Give me that weapon"

Maldor was silent for nearly a minute, then her body jerked as if an electric current were running through it. "Are you kidding me!? Did you put your whole academy, your city or even your kingdom in danger just for a sensation? Because you didn't want to believe that I was just a cruel and destructive dragon!? That's why!?"

"You know, I'm a man who follows his instincts" Isaac replied. "I've proved it to you many times..."

"Yes, and look how good your instincts are! Now I'm here, in front of you, and I'm robbing the academy!" Maldor screamed. For some reason she could no longer control her tone of voice. "What do you know about me? What do you know about what I want? How do you know if I'm dangerous or not? I'm a dragon, you stupid fool! I deceive, kill, corrode, devastate! That's my nature! And would you have let a monster loose because... because you didn't want to believe that I was just like that!? How much stupid can you be!?"

"Maldor, you aren't a monster. That is one thing I can say with absolute certainty" Isaac said with an eerie assurance in his voice.

Maldor snapped. "HOW!? HOW CAN YOU SAY FOR SURE!? YOU KNOW ME FOR HOW LONG!? A FEW MONTHS!? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME!? HOW CAN YOU SAY I'M NOT A MONSTER!?"

Isaac heaved a slight sigh. "Because it's common knowledge that monsters don't cry"

"Eh? What are you..." Maldor touched her cheek and it felt moist. With her trembling hand she started frantically touching her whole face and she could clearly feel several drops of water falling from her eyes. "But... but... how... it's the second time already... this body no longer has functioning tear ducts... how can..."

Isaac looked sorry to see her like this. He took a step towards her, without lowering his hand. "Maldor, please. We can fix this together. Give me that weapon. I can help you fix this"

Maldor's gaze dropped to the portable gate she held in her hand. Some tears had even fallen on it. "It's not a weapon" she whispered after a moment of uncertainty.

Isaac was clearly surprised. "Uh? But then what...?"

"It's a portable gate" Maldor explained. "By breaking it, I can carry anything from one place to another". Her hand visibly trembled. "I have a brother in this city, Isaac. And this is the only thing that can save him"

"A brother...?" Isaac was confused for a moment, then his eyes widened. "Wait... the dragon of the arena... he's...?"

"My siblings and I have been studying this plan for over a year, and we won't get another chance. Between my family and my happiness, I will always choose the former... because at least the former is definitely real". Maldor raised her free hand and a magic circle formed within it. "I'm sorry, Isaac, but I'm a dragon. This is something no magic, no spell, no potion can ever change"

Isaac paled. "No, please, wait...!"

Too late: Maldor recited a spell and in an instant Isaac was struck by a gust of wind stronger than a hurricane, which hurled him like a grain of sand and sent him flying all over the laboratory until he slammed into a wall. His body hung for a moment, then fell back to the floor unconscious.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry" Maldor said looking at him. "I didn't choose to be born as a dragon, but that's what I am"

And having said that she finally turned and walked out of the laboratory, with the portable gate clutched in her hands.