14 The Witch's Prophecy

The witch was placed into a dungeon underneath the Den of Dragonslayers. Akai wondered why there was a cell, and apparently the building was originally owned by the Shieldrake Inquisition. The cell was surrounded by runes that counter magic and would prevent the witch from casting any. Akai worried that it wouldn't be enough. He was unsure how powerful this dark mage was, but was certain that she was very powerful considering she broke off the previous restraints that the inquisitors placed on her.

Now, Akai had to worry about his own kind's degenerative minds as well as a dark mage.

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As Akai was walking around the den thinking about what to do, he noticed the young boy watching him. The boy named Leo approached and asked "Is something bothering you?"

Akai stopped and said "Nothing, really. Just thinking."

There was a brief pause.

"Thank you for saving me back at the town. I would have been dead if it wasn't for you." Leo said.

Akai listened and was full of relief. He remember about saving the boy and gave him a sense of satisfaction. A sense of fulfillment that showed that he wasn't just killing monsters and dragons, but actually saving people.

He smiled and said "It was nothing. It was just luck that I was there."

The boy smiled looking up towards Akai.

"I'm going to work hard and become a great knight. A great hunter just like you." Leo said in a joyful tone.

"Don't you have to do some work or something?"

"Oh, right. Bye, mister."

"My name is Akai." Akai said as Leo ran off to clean the tables.

Akai thought he was a good kid, but as he watched the boy clean the tables, he remembered the ashes of Butterton Town. He closed his eyes as he tried to erase that memory. He didn't want to be reminded of that massacre. As he opened them, he was back at that town. He heard the screams of men, women, and children. He saw a dragon above, but not Jezeboyah. It was himself spitting fire across the town. As he blinked, the screams ceased and looked around a ruined world. A world bathed in fire as armies of dragons rained fire down upon the ruined landscape. The smoke blocked out the sun. The oceans dried. The forests turned to ash. The mountains spewing lava from its sides. He blinked once more and he returned to watching Leo cleaning the tables.

He had sweat coming down off of his face and he wiped it off.

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Captain Halido came out of a hatch that led to the witch's cell.

"We locked her up, but she insists on only speaking to you, Akai. So, I want you to get any information out of her. I want to know what she wants before I hand her back over to the inquisition." Halido explained.

"Fine." Akai agreed and headed down into the dungeons.

As he went down he saw some rows of cells. All of them were empty with the exception of one. Two dragonslayers were guarding the witch from outside the cell. Akai could see the dark mage sitting handcuffed in her cage. Runes were placed all around the cell preventing her from using magic, but Akai doubted that they would work against her.

The witch looked up at Akai and smiled, not that anybody could tell because of her mask. "Ahh. There you are. I wanted to speak to you", the witch said.

Akai was right outside of the cell crossing his arms.

"I'm here. What did you want to say before they hand you right back to the inquisitors?"

"I want to speak to you alone. I know a lot about you. Like... for example... Jezeboyah."

Akai eyes widened in shock. How would she know that name, he wondered. Akai stayed calm and told the two dragonslayers to go back up.

"We have orders, sir. We can't leave you alone."

"It'll only be 5 minutes. And the captain does want to know what this witch is planning. I need some time to interrogate her."

The other dragonslayers paused, but nodded after a while. They left the dungeon.

Now, only the dark mage and Akai were there in that dark, dank dungeon.

"Who are you?" Akai asked. He didn't recognize the dark mage.

As soon as he asked this question, the witch broke off her handcuffs with ease.

Akai reached for his blade, but didn't feel any aggression from the mage. The witch raised her pale hands with long claws. She took her right hand and removed the mask that hid her face.

She took the mask and dropped it to the floor. As it dropped, the mask shattered into glass and the fragments turned to dust.

Her face was white as snow. Lips red with her own blood. Short dark hair. Her eyes were surrounded by black eye-shadow. Akai still didn't recognize her.

"You don't know who I am. But I know you. I have seen you in my visions.", the woman said while the runes around the cell shattered into glass and dust.

"And I know you saw one of my visions. Upstairs."

Akai did recall seeing that horrid vision of a destroyed world.

"So, you put illusions in my head. Very clever, but not even your magic can stop me." Akai replied.

"Illusions? No. I said visions. Visions of possible futures. Your future."

Akai continued to listen while he had his hand on his sword ready to unsheathe it at a moment's notice.

"I showed you one vision that I have seen. A future of ruin. And you, young Akai, are in the middle of it. When I first saw you playing with those dragonslayers, I knew you were the one in my visions. "

"How do you know Jezeboyah?"

"That was my first vision long ago. A vision of you slaying him. A dragon slaying another dragon. But not just any. The fall of an ancient dragon is far more important knowledge. "

She paused to catch her breath. She smiled gently, but Akai didn't trust her.

"Who are you?" Akai asked.

"My name is Miura Kentworth, self-proclaimed witch of the western seas. You may just call me Miura."

Akai gripped his teeth. This witch couldn't be trusted, he thought.

"Before you take your sword and cut my head off, I have only shown you a possible future. A future where you fail to save the dragons from their own minds. A future where all life will suffer because of your failure. But that is only one future. I can show you another."

She reached her hand out and in the next moment, Akai was on the ground.

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Akai awoke on the ground rubbing his head. He looked around and saw pillars of glass and steel. Towers that struck the heavens. Higher than any dragon has ever flown. He saw hundreds of people walking around. Wagons made of metal. The streets stone. The bustling people would move right past him without acknowledging his presence. He couldn't sense any dragons anywhere in the world. A world without dragons.

He walked forward in awe and put out his hand towards one of the towers. He touched it and a ripple formed like touching a puddle. He laughed, but in the next instant, the tower that he touched began to shake. The ground beneath him shook. The people running in panic. The metal wagons collided with each other causing fire to burst out. The part of the tower that he touched began to crack. The tower began tipping over. Akai tryed to hold the tower together, but as soon as he touched a part of it, that part would turn to dust. The tower cracked like an egg and burst open. Glass fell around Akai and as he looked around, he noticed the other towers bursting open spreading glass to the stone floors. Each tower tipped over and melted like lava. As the melting tower came on top of Akai, his vision went black.

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Akai awoke sweating. The witch still in her cage, but with her hands back down to her sides.

"What the hell was that!?" Akai questioned.

"A possible future. A future without people needing to worry about dragons. A world where it's as if your kind never existed."

"But when I touched that tower, it broke. It's not a future, it's an illusion. You're trying to trick me." He said angrily as he entered the cage with his sword in hand.

Miura said without flinching, "I have shown you visions of the future. Your future. You will be the great decider for where this world ends up to be."

"Shut up." Akai said as he grabbed the witch's neck. His wings and tail grew out. His eyes turned yellow with rage. He pushed her to the end of the cage wall and pointed his sword at Miura's face.

"You saw what happened at Butterton Town. You know that the existence of dragons are dangerous. You know what you have to do."

Akai calmed himself down trying not to let his violent urges control him. His eyes turned back to normal. His wings and tail retracted. But he still held the witch in his hand with the sword pointing at her.

"What to do you want?"

"I want to follow you. I know that whatever the future holds, you will be able to change it. I want to be a part of that."

Akai let go of her neck, but still kept his sword in hand.

"Why don't I just kill you, right now?"

"You could. But you know I could have escaped here many times. Why would I put myself in danger? Why would I risk being tortured by inquisitors to the point of insanity? It was to find you."

She paused and looked at Akai in the eyes. Akai looked back and believed that she was telling the truth. He sheathed his blade. His sword would have been useless against this witch, anyways, he thought.

"I wish to follow you." She bowed like a princess. "I wish to be put under a command spell, if you'd like. So, that I wouldn't be able to disobey your orders."

"Why? When you can just break it, anyways?"

In that instant, she casted a spell on herself and on Akai.

"What are you doing!?" Akai yelled as he unsheathed his blade, but it was too late.

In that moment, he noticed a string of runes tattooed onto his wrist. He tried to scratch it, but it wouldn't come off. He looked at the witch and noticed the same kind of markings on her neck.

"Now, you may command me as you like with no chance of betrayal", she said while bowing her head.

Akai looked at the carvings on his wrist and her neck. It looked like ancient master-slave magic that was used hundreds of years ago.

"You chained yourself? And even I can tell that these magic can't be undone by any mage. This kind of magic hasn't been used in a long time."

He looked at her and asked "Who are you?"

"I told you. I'm Miura Kentwood -" At that moment, a burning sensation came to her. The carvings on both the wrist and neck were glowing. Then, after a brief moment of respite, she said, "Miura Kentworth. Just wanted to show you that I couldn't lie to you, either."

Akai was aware with the kind of magic, and so he began setting rules.

"Looks like you gave me no choice. I could kill you, but I do think that you are strong enough to take on armies alone. First thing, you can't hurt anybody without my consent." As he said this, the carving glowed, but didn't cause any harm to Miura.

"Also, you can't use any magic without my consent." It glowed, again. The restraints were setting up rules by the set master. It glowed each time a new rule has been set.

"You can't lie, but I guess you already put that one in. You must tell me if you see any more visions. You must inform me of anything that is worth notice." That last rule didn't make the runes glow.

"Sorry. That last one was too broad." Miura said with a smug smile.

Akai was not amused, but he thought that she may be useful to her in other ways.

"Fine. You're following me. Come on." With that statement, the runes glowed one more time. Every time Akai gives an order to his newfound witch "slave", the runes on his arms and her neck glow.

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As Akai opened the hatch to the main floor, he noticed all of the dragonslayers on the floor and tables. He quickly got up and checked up on one of them. He heard them snoring. Each and every one of them.

"I didn't want any interruptions. You were very loud." Miura said as she walked up the steps holding her red chain dress.

Akai looked at the witch and said aloud, "Maybe, I should just kill you and get it over with."

The witch smiled showing her pristine white teeth and blood red lips. There was no way to tell what she was thinking.

"Wake them up." Akai commanded.

With that order, Miura cast a spell around the Den of Dragonslayers and each and every one of them awoke.