'Ah! My head hurts… so heavy… I can't breathe…' Ae-rin slowly opened her eyes… to find Jihoon laying on top of her, unconscious. 'WHA! W-what happened…'
"Jihoon…" She tried to shake him. "Jihoon! Please wake up…!" She might just die suffocating at this point.
"Jihoon!!" The said man finally slowly opened his eyes. "Thank goodness… Are you ok? C-can you get up?"
Jihoon had come to his senses and took in what situation he was in. He jumped and crawled 10 steps back right up against the wall. Well, good for Ae-rin; she could breathe now…. Or would rather not? Well, you decide.
Nonetheless, Ae-rin got up and looked at the 'red-faced' Jihoon.
"Are you sure you're ok?"
*Coughs* *vigorously coughs*
"I am. D-don't worry about me…"
Ae-rin's sweat dropped.
'Sure… But what happened… and more importantly, where are we?'
Ae-rin looked around the place. It seemed to be inside a cave. She and the group had looked around the caves the day before, but it didn't seem to be one of them.
'Remember Ae-rin! What happened… before…"
*Flashback*
The monster moved its mouth at them, and a flash of light glowed through the water. Ae-rin held onto Jihoon, and it seemed he understood what was about to happen. Both closed their eyes, expecting an impact. But it never came. Jihoon opened his eyes slightly and saw a golden magic spell cube surrounded them encircling them and the girl who was holding onto him as if her life depended on it, glowed brighter than he had ever known possible.
The magic spell closed in on them and even for a brief moment he held onto her as well.
*End of flashback*
'A teleportation spell?! This girl… she performed a spell that takes years for any spatial mage to learn, and she never knew magic and spells? How can that even be possible…This doesn't even look like somewhere we have been before… it shouldn't be possible to teleport to a place the caster hadn't been to…. And that too…'
Jihoon remembered Ae-rin glowing so brightly, and yet there was a warm feeling to it.
As if his own consciousness was telling him, 'I won't let you forget that Ae-rin's gorgeous as it is, and then if she glows…
He felt his face burn again.
"Jihoon." He looked over to her.
"Do you know where we are?"
He didn't answer at first.
"It must be one of the caves we haven't inspected yet… But to think, those monsters have invaded the Fountain Falls too… Where is the 'Divine guardian'? Shouldn't it be protecting this place?"
'That again…' Ae-rin thought.
"Umm… Jihoon-ssi, do yo-"
"Just call me Jihoon. I am the same age as you're."
"Oh, ok. Well, do you know anything about the 'Divine guardian'?"
He looked a little shocked but then…
"Oh yes, you aren't from here, so you don't know. 'Divine guardians' are the celestial protectors. Those who keep the balance between the light and darkness. Dragons with immense power, said to be greater than any lord ever existed and the closest to the primordial one."
Ae-rin was amazed. A powerful being like that was residing there. She could possibly meet it.
"Dragons? Really!"
"You like them?"
"Umm… in my world, they're just mythical creatures."
"Well, we never saw our lords with our own eyes, but we can feel their power flowing through us, and there are many rituals … deadly, but they would let you meet our lord. So, they do exist and are not mythical creatures. The 'Mighty priestess' was the one to manifest the two 'Divine guardians' in our world… alone. Yes, she had that much power in her calling. They were part of the reason why every nation used to respect 'Her' so much. They forged their oath to protect the land even after 'She' sacrificed herself. One of the 'Divine guardians' chose to stay here."
"That's incredible. So, we might meet the Divine guardian here."
"Easier said than done. As we mentioned before, we, the worshipers of Raven, have been granted the power of 'Black wings'. Everyone can fly; do you think nobody has tried finding them before? Of course, they did, but never found them. But the people in Maru believe that they are still here because, in all the millennia, the village never fell to any kind of problem. And they say it's partially because of the Guardian sleeping inside."
"We do have to find them if we're to find something about the '4 Divine cosmic sorceries', no?"
Jihoon couldn't deny that. After all, Ae-rin was there for that reason primarily.
"You look really excited to know they are dragons. Do you like them?" He inquired.
"Yes, as I said, they are mythical creatures to us but the stories involving them are really awesome. I used to love to read those."
"Is that so? Heh…" He genuinely smiled, 'huh'-ing Ae-rin.
"If you want to read about them more, you can ask me. I'll lend you one or two… if I feel like it."
'Did he just … what?'
"Now, get over that shocked face and let's look for a way out."
"Oh-ah- yes, yes."
-------------------------
Two of them went along, walking through the cave hoping to find an exit.
"Wait, didn't Tanaka-san say he was the sound 'dragon' sorcerer?"
"Yes, some clans had impressed the prestress with their power, knowledge, or their understanding of life. She let the guardians give their drops of blood to those clans. Since the clans had taken up the title 'Dragon' as an honour. And that loud- *AHEM* I mean, Tanaka is from one of those clans."
"Oh, I understand now. You seemed to know quite a lot about Dragons in general."
"Ya, they might be the most interesting beings in this world."
'It's not Dinosaurs but Dragons in this case, hah!"
"Ya, they're really cool."
Jihoon did open up more comfortably than Ae-rin believed he would have.
They found an open place at the end of the path, but it was still inside the cave.
But it almost looked like another dimension. A tree was shining in the middle of the place. Jihoon and Ae-rin slowly got down to where the tree was, both astonished to see it.
"Do you know something about this tree, Jihoon?"
"No, I have never read about a giant glowing tree in the Fountain Falls… What is it doing here?"
Ae-rin went closer to take a look at it. The tree was saying something, and Ae-rin could only make out some words in between.
"What are you doing? Don't go any closer to that!"
"It's saying something?"
"What?"
Ae-rin put her ears to the tree.
Silence.
And then the ground started to shake again.
"Oh no. Is that the monster again? No…"
The ground turned into water, but both of them stayed standing on top.
A massive figure rose from the 'water'.
.
.
.
A dragon.
.
.
.
A real-life dragon loomed over the two. Both of their hearts stopped with just one roar from it. Ae-rin took a few steps back, but not out of fear, but from its giant size. The majestic being felt oddly familiar, and it looked so marvellous. Ae-rin was in awe.
"The Divine guardian" She heard Jihoon say. Like a locked-up memory in her unconscious, trying to come forth into her consciousness, but it couldn't.
'Who? Do I know you?'
It landed right in front of her, closing the distance even more with his long neck.
A slight tinge of silence.
"Hi there." Ae-rin raised her arm in greeting.
It growled lowly, almost as a response.
Its face came even closer. Almost as though it was looking for something… looking into her eyes… looking for a sign…looking into her soul…
An unknown feeling surged through Ae-rin's body… an unknown power. 'Rise' She heard at the back of her head.
"Rise?"
The Dragon halted at Ae-rin's word.
Her eyes flashed; it glowed similarly to the glowing tree. A daze she was in. But she didn't feel scared even for a second.
The divine guardian lowered itself, sitting on the 'water'. It didn't seem to notice Jihoon standing a bit behind Ae-rin. So, when he stepped closer to her, the Dragon growled loudly and stood in protecting stance with its wings spread wide. Jihoon took a few steps back.
"D-Don't worry. He's a friend." It looked back at Ae-rin. "A friend."
It understood Ae-rin's words and got back to its sitting position. It snuggled a little closer, enough for Ae-rin to hold its face. She smiled ever so brightly.
Jihoon, on the other hand, was completely dumbfounded.
'What's even happening?'
Come to your senses, dude. It's a grand reunion! What else!
It wasn't long before the cave wall started to shake again…
'Is it the monster again?' Ae-rin saw a big rock was about topple over her. 'Oh no.'
*clank*
She opened her eyes to find herself underwater again, the body of water that she and Jihoon had both been standing on top of so far. But she could breathe. And then the familiar figure swam right beside her. Jihoon was already holding onto the divine guardian. She did too. And it literally 'flew' through the water. The clanking sounds kept following. It sounded as though spells were being dispelled.
Soon, both of them saw light over them. They were outside!
The dragon shot flying right into the air, leaving another massive ripple in the water. Ae-rin could make out the other three people they left behind. Fighting the monster from before. The ripple definitely caught their attention.
"Friends!" Ae-rin pointed at the crew and mentioned to the Dragon. It soared through the sky and landed right in front of them.
"AE-RIN!!!" "JIHOON!!!! YOU TWO ARE OK!!" "WHAT IS TH- The Divine guardian…" The other two halted upon hearing Hyunwoo's words. "That is the 'Divine guardian'?"
They somehow found themselves calm down at the thought. But before they inquired further, the massive octopus-looking monster made its existence known to the group again. The monster struck its tentacles at the dragon, but the dragon held its wings down to the ground to ensure Ae-rin's safety. Hyunwoo didn't lose a beat, though. He slammed the ground with his feet, and many giant rock pillars appeared from the ground underneath the water.
"You'll not take from us anymore." The resolve in his eyes made everyone else stand their ground.
Ae-rin and Jihoon quickly got down from the dragon's back.
It was a dream come true for Jihoon, riding on a dragon's back, A GUARDIAN'S BACK!!! But he couldn't possibly be focusing on that right now.
*COUGHS*
He adjusted his glasses. Wait, they are still intact??
Alright, anyway… moving on.
The dragon kept resisting the monster. As if it couldn't find a way to use its powers. But it got frustrated and threw the monster a bit farther into the water. That was the chance.
Jihoon mattered something. Only the last of it got to Ae-rin's ears.
"The mystic illusions" And the monster stopped and looked almost panicked, out of his mind. Hyunwoo and Yoon-hwan followed. The water around the monster got heavy or was it only the monster who felt that way. Hyunwoo trapped it in his giant rock pillars. Seung-Tae flew around to the pillars and casted a binding spell around the pillars. The monster only kept floating over the water but it didn't move.
The dragon however, was looking at Ae-rin the whole time, and when the monster stopped moving, it growled loudly.
"What's wrong?"
The guardian growled lowly but deeply this time, pointing at the monster.
Ae-rin blinked twice, and it clicked. It didn't attack back because it thought Ae-rin had mentioned it to be her friend too. And now that it wasn't moving, the dragon was sad.
"Oh! They are friends. That's the enemy. The bad guy who was giving us trouble, almost killed us and also made those earthquakes."
"Ae-rin, they might not get what you're saying."
Yoon-hwan said. But as a response from the guardian, it turned its neck towards the pillars. Seung-Tae was still there on the pillars. It nudged the guy to come back to the rest of the group and then…
It opened its mouth. Blue inferno came right out of it, destroying the monster and the binding spells and the rock pillars with it. It looked like the dragon was creating a star standing in the middle of the stream. The moment the monster was gone, the 'earth' vigorously shook again,
'What is up with the earth shaking so much! We are on a floating island in the sky! Please stop!'
I know, Ae-rin, I know. The plots are twisting themselves now, I know.
But this time, it was because of the massive amount of water getting its flow back, and that means the Sky rivers should start flowing again.
The divine guardian stayed there for a bit and then came back to the group. No, it didn't even barp.
Everyone sat down and took in whatever happened in the last few hours, now that the adrenaline in their system had gone down.
-------------
"Now, what happened before? Explain." Yoon-hwan's aura got dark again.
However, Ae-rin chose to cheerfully narrate the story.
"You do understand how awesome it is, right?" Hyunwoo said. Ae-rin looked happy and excited, uplifting everyone's mood there.
"Jihoon, your dream came true! I am so happy for you!!"
"Shut up, Seung-Tae!"
Ae-rin looked confused. So, Seung-Tae explained. "Jihoon always wanted to ride a dragon, and now he did. It's all because of you, Ae-rin. Thank you so much!!!"
"I said shut up, Seung-Tae!"
"That's great! I am happy for you too, Jihoon!"
Ae-rin's such a nice kid! AWW!
Well, Jihoon couldn't deny the fact that it was because of her.
So, even with flushed red ears and neck, he managed to say, "Thank you" … shocking everyone else.
Oh well…
-------------------------------