Chapter 104: The Dragon’s Mind
Thamoryn, who currently was within Aiden’s mind, walked through a blank and dark space. Then she heard the growl of a dragon which made her body shiver for a second.
Then Thyrak’s gigantic dragon head reared out from the darkness, slowly followed by its forelimbs.
Each step it took forward resounded in the dark subconscious. The difference in size between the Great Black and Thamoryn, who stared in shock at it, was too great to even fathom.
The Grand Magus kept taking steps back the further the dragon came forth. This was not the memory she came to find. This was not even a memory at all.
This was happening in real time, and she had made the mistake even gods dared not make.
She had tried to invade the mind of a Great Existence.
Every fiber of her subconscious self quaked with fear, and she couldn’t help but go down on both knees.
That was when Aiden stepped out of the darkness of his subconscious and stood in front of the Dragon. Then he raised his index finger and pressed it above his lips, then muttered, "Shuuuu," as though asking her to be quiet.
Thyrak then bared its fangs open and roared out loud towards the Grand Magus, which forcibly kicked her out of Aiden’s subconscious.
In the real world, Thamoryn’s body had been shivering, and she was dripping with sweat as the shocked faces of the captains and the Lord watched in confusion.
Then suddenly she was jolted back to reality, involuntarily taking several steps backwards.
Aiden had opened his eyes as well, with a slight smile on his face. Almost immediately, a system notification screen had also appeared before him.
[Supplementary spell copied: Psyche Reveal]
[Spell level: God]
"What happened?" Oberon asked with a puzzled expression on his face. "What did you find?"
Thamoryn raised her head up, and blood rolled out of her nostrils. This even further shocked the captains watching, prompting a few of them to turn their heads back to Aiden.
She knew that what she had experienced was a warning from the Great Existence who was Thyrak.
Right before Thamoryn was about to speak of what she saw, she had the flashback of when she was in his subconscious and how Aiden practically gestured that she keep her mouth shut.
She then noticed her nose bleed and moved her hand to wipe it off. That was when Oberon asked again, for he was losing his patience.
"I ask you again, Thamoryn, what did you find out about him?"
"It is as he said. He ran away from Dragonhold," the Grand Magus replied, whilst staring at Aiden.
"And Jarius simply let that happen? I find that hard to believe," Oberon retorted quickly, with obvious doubt on his face.
"And what is this pathetic display from you? Why are you bleeding from your nose?" Oberon asked again.
Then she turned towards Lord Oberon and lied, "It was under meticulous planning, but he left on his own accord. I apologize for the display. I stretched the spell too far, but this is nothing."
Oberon looked at her for moments and then turned back towards Aiden, and said, "I see how it is, but however you’ll always be the son of Jarius, and as such you cannot be left alive. Not in my Kingdom. Captains, see to this."
Then he turned and started heading back to his throne seat.
Aiden’s eyes bulged in surprise. He was certain that Oberon would let him go after Thamoryn’s testimony.
That order left the captains in surprise, and some turned to exchange glances with themselves.
However, Cassian stepped forward with his hand stretched out towards Aiden, but then Katherine quickly walked in to stand between him and Aiden.
"My Lord, surely there must be another way," she said, in defense of her guild member who she didn’t want to see dead.
Oberon turned back towards them and said, "If I remember correctly, Cithron was your uncle." Then he pointed towards Aiden and said, "His father killed your uncle, yet you attempt to stand there in defense of him?"
That moment was when Aiden finally spoke up, "My Lord, I think it would interest you to know that I stand against Jarius."
It seemed like every movement in the hall had halted for a brief second at that proclamation.
"In fact, as proof of this fact, I’ll be telling you the one thing I find surprising is not already within your knowledge."
"Hm... what might that be?" Oberon asked, wanting to see what this boy could possibly say.
"The Dragon protecting Dragonhold against external forces is no more within Dragonhold."
Aiden’s proclamation sent the entire room into another wave of unexpected shock. Every single person stared at him surprisingly.
"What did you just say?" Oberon asked again, uncertain he heard what Aiden just said. He stepped down from the platform his throne was placed on and moved further towards Aiden.
"It is as you’ve heard, my lord. Thyrak, the black dragon which has protected Dragonhold for decades, is not in its lair any longer."
There was no better time to have used the knowledge of this information to his advantage.
Moreover, Oberon wanted the Wyrm seat, and to do that, he would need to kill Jarius, and to that effect, their goals aligned.
If this failed to work, however, then he had two options. Fight everyone in this room and win. Or simply teleport away without it getting to that.
Murmurs ensued within the captains, and Katherine turned back to Aiden and said, "Hey, kid. What the hell are you playing at?"
Before Aiden could give a reply, Oberon had spoken out loud to Thamoryn, "Can you confirm what this boy speaks of?"
The rest of the room turned towards the Grand Magus right now.
Thamoryn nodded at the Lord and said, "I can summon my messenger and have it fly all the way towards its lair in Dragonhold to confirm this. But it will take some time for it to go and return back to me with word."
"Good," Oberon said, then turned towards Aiden. "While the Grand Magus confirms the truth to your claim, you shall be held at the dungeons. You Captains would return to the academy and be back here at my summons."
Aiden then interjected, "We need not wait that long. I can shorten the distance for travel, and we can all wait right here for confirmation."
Oberon looked at Aiden for some moment, then said, "Show me."
Aiden then stretched his hand to the side and made a bluish hue portal form, then he spoke to the Grand Magus, "Send your messenger through this. It will go right through towards the Dragon’s lair."
Save for Katherine and the Grand Magus who already knew of his portal creation magic, every other person watched in amazement.
"Come to me, Ra’ar," Thamoryn had called onto her Crow messenger, which surfaced on her shoulders in a poof.
She gave it instructions to follow, and with that, it flew right through the portal. Due to the shared vision link between the messenger and its summoner, Thamoryn was able to see what her crow saw.
This portal appeared mid air, right above the warning signs and dried bones on the path to the lair. It flew past the massive scrapings of giant clawed fingers imprinted on the stone walls along the same path.
As Thamoryn could see through the crow’s vision, she knew for certain this was the famous path leading towards the Dragon’s lair.
However, when the crow messenger reached towards the point where the lair was meant to be, there had been nothing. The famous cavern of the Great Black wasn’t there any longer.
Thamoryn reacted with a puzzled expression, however the crow flew further and circled around the perimeter.
Messengers were magic creatures and as such could sense magical energy, especially one as high as a dragon’s, but not once did it perceive that the Dragon King was anywhere close.
Then Ra’ar the crow flew back and returned through the portal, after which Aiden closed the portal shut.
"Yes? Does he speak the truth?" Oberon questioned the very instant the messenger returned to Thamoryn’s shoulders.
Thamoryn stared at Aiden for a moment. She considered what she had seen within his subconscious and this fact that the Dragon wasn’t at the lair anymore.
And frankly she could not make sense of both things.
However, she answered Oberon, "He speaks the truth. The dragon is not within its lair."
Aiden had a smile on his face after this confirmation.
The Captains had surprised faces once again. In fact, this whole encounter at the throne room had only kept giving them one thing or the other to be shocked about.
"You’re absolutely certain the black dragon isn’t there anymore?" Oberon asked again.
Thamoryn nodded in the affirmative, "Yes. I could not even see the cavern leading into it. My Lord, I must be honest, it is really strange."
"Hm... it is not just strange. This changes things," Oberon said with a smile on his face that grew into pleasing laughter. "This changes everything!"