The Dragon King returns

"Your Dark Holiness! Where are you going?"

Tal whipped his body toward Ana—no, Crystallis. "I told you not to call me that!"

Tynari cleared her throat, looking away. The witch murmured something under her breath.

He furrowed her breath. "What was that?"

The Freya lookalike faced him, her face blank and emotionless. "I said, you seriously can't be planning to climb up and show yourself like that."

"Like what?"

Crystallis scratched her head, acting as if she was embarrassed. "Well, you see, Supreme Lord Dragon, the casting didn't include you wearing clothes in it…"

Tal was close to ripping his scalp off. "Why do you keep calling me weird titles—wait, what?"

Slowly, the Dragon King lowered his eyes and saw that he was buck naked, not a single scrap of cloth on him.

Although belonging to a youth, it was a fine body if he ever saw one, with ripped muscles and sturdy limbs. But that's not the point here! How could these two women stand facing him with not a fazed look on them! It was as if they were used to seeing a young man without clothes.

He put a hand on his hip, the other rubbing his temple. A headache was beginning to form, and it was these two's fault. "Why the hell did you not bother to tell me earlier? Did it not even concern you to see a man without clothes on?"

"Aren't you a dragon?" asked the witch.

"I'm in human form!" he said. "That still counts."

Dear Mother, these two were making him raise his voice a few minutes into their meeting. Analin and Freya had never made him lose her cool like these. Just who were these crazy girls?

Then, a sudden realization came to him. He pointed to Crystallis. "You, you said you're a mage."

The princess straightened, and she still wore that expression of wonder from the first time he saw her. "Yes, Supreme Lord, Sir!"

"What's this about a casting you keep speaking of? What are the two of you doing here exactly? Did Raeltar send you here to play games on me?"

"I was told that your soul was here, in the underground caverns which you chose as your resting place," Crystallis explained. "I brought you back because we desperately need your help."

His help? What was going on? And with how Crystallis' eyes shifted, darkening, it sounded like this was a very serious matter.

The headache that had built up throbbed hard, and Tal was hit by a sudden onslaught of memories. His memories of when he chose to fall asleep forever…

They were a flash of fast and strobing lights playing in his head that he struggled to catch up with. Amidst the mess of memories that returned, one thing was for sure. He was not supposed to be awake. He had given up his immortal life long ago.

"What year is it?" he found himself asking.

"It's the year 5000 A.D." Crystallis tried to reach a hand to him. "Are you alright, my Dark Lord?"

Tal clutched at his head with both hands. "Why did you wake me up?! You've made a mistake, Princess! I'm not meant to be awake!"

"Please, let me explain."

"I'll go get clothes for him." Tynari obviously wanted to walk out. "It seems he might be feeling cold."

The princess took the witch's wrist. "You're leaving me?"

"You wanted this, Crys," Tynari whispered. "Tell him what you need him to hear. Plus, he's scaring the hell out of me."

The witch disappeared through the path ahead, and the princess remained.

Tal sunk to his knees, letting the memories flood in even if it hurt badly. He had chosen to end things peacefully, he bid a proper farewell to everyone. Now, five hundred years had passed and he was still alive. Most of those he came to love were clearly dead, along with Analin and Freya.

"Speak your reason, and maybe I can forgive you," he told her. Tal no longer had the desire to live on, but here he was, finding himself back in the same cavern he had chosen as his resting place.

Crystallis flinched at the coldness of his words. "The kingdom of Orion is close to collapsing."

"I don't believe you." Tal's head hang low as he let the happenings sink in.

"I am not lying, my Supreme Lord, Dragon of Freedom and Shadows Talon Frydenlund."

Seriously, when was she going to stop with those random titles?

"I have left Orion as the most prosperous kingdom in The Crescent, for thousands of years it had been that way. I put Orion in the hands of my people, knowing it would be fine even if I'm not here. You mean to tell me that the rich and flourishing land of pure amethysts is about to fall. What will I do to your tongue once I prove that you are lying?"

Princess Crystallis' face was impassive, devoid of emotion. This was in complete contrast from the brightness she had showed. "Climb the stairs to the grounds of the palace and see for yourself."

Her tone was rock hard, as if someone else had spoken. Tal was seeing two of the many sides of the princess. She was showing him that she could be the sun and the moon at different moments.

Tynari returned later with a tunic and trousers, and the two friends led Tal to the surface. Leaving the rocky cavern and purple crystals behind, the Dragon King stepped into a stone corridor with a staircase at the end. The three reached the second floor of the palace, its halls oddly empty.

Tal came upon a terrace. Walking to the railings, the wide expanse of the entirety of Orion rolled outward before him. The lush green woodlands that used to surround the capital was nothing but a barren wasteland. The bustling streets full of activity were empty, save for a few bodies littered on the sides. The once colorful roofs of the buildings and houses were gone, replaced by dingy structures with smoke coming from the chimneys.

It wasn't just the buildings smoking, large fumes of white came from various spots in the capital city. The horizon was an ashen grey, the smell of rotten flesh hanging thick in the air.

At that day, five hundred years after the dragon ruler of Orion forsook his kingdom, a black dragon was sighted surging to the sky. The powerful entity was said to have flown from the palace, damaging its domed rooftops.

For the first time in a while, wind blew through Orion, and it came from the mighty flaps of the dragon's wings. And also for the first time for so long, raindrops fell from the sky. But it was said that the raindrops weren't actually rain, but the sorrowful tears shed from the dragon's eyes upon seeing the state of the kingdom he once treasured.