REVIVAL by Nick Venom (great book club books .TXT) 📕

onward without speaking, allowing an atmosphere of silence to arise and overtake them. It followed them throughout their adventure to the area where the wyvern was last sighted. 

Once there, they begin to look around while staying in a formation. Arson led the formation with Jessica and Milena behind him. After them was Rex as the healer and Natalie as the archer. This formation was created by Enix who believed it was the best way to utilize their abilities. His inspiration came from several games he played and those formations were often plagued with problems.

This formation, on the other hand, worked better than the ones in the games. Arson led the others as well as he could, moving them around the sighted area in search of the wyvern or clues of its existence. 

Milena was the first one to find one, jumping out of formation and running towards a side of the forest they hadn’t checked yet. She found a small piece of a metal-looking object. “Is this it?” She asked as she held up the object.

“Milena, get back!” Arson exclaimed, motioning for her to come to him. She nodded in response, running to his side. She handed the object to Arson who skimmed over it. “It does look like a wyvern scale, but you need to be more careful next time. We’re moving in formation in case we get attacked. That way we aren’t separated and vulnerable.” He reminded her, not raising his voice past a calming whisper. He didn’t want to scare her or punish her for helping them. 

Arson handed Natalie the small piece of the scale for a second opinion. “What do you think?”

“Definitely a scale…. But it doesn’t look like a wyvern’s”

“What do you mean?” Arson asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“I was born to a blacksmith father and he worked with both dragon and wyvern scales. Wyvern scales are often dull and coarse. Dragon scales are usually glossy.” She explained.

“Then we’re dealing with a dragon and not a wyvern?” He asked. She nodded, confirming Arson’s thoughts. “Well… we need to leave now.”

“I think it’s too late,” Natalie said as she shook her head.

“Why?”

“Because dragons are very intelligent and there have been many cases where they set traps. I think we’re in one of them.”

Arson nodded. “... We need to run. Now!” He said as he turned towards the direction they came from, but a sudden shake of the ground stopped him. Arson glanced at where the sound came from, finding a green dragon that used its skin to blend into the thick vegetation. It opened its crystal-blue eyes and stared at them.

“We aren’t prepared,” Arson muttered. “We never were.”

 

TBC…

Chapter 36 "The Mage With Sealed Powers S2 E4 - Dragon"

Arson materialized his chains, sicking them onto the dragon. They listened to his orders, extending father than they have ever done before. They pushed forward, attaching themselves to the dragon’s head, torso, and front legs. The chains kept the dragon in place and did little damage, but nothing that would kill the dragon before the end of their lifespans. 

“I have him stuck, everybody…” He started before glancing behind him. The formation broke apart while he wasn’t looking. Jessica and Milena had turned around and ran away to the trees some distance behind them, leaving only Rex and Natalie present. “I should’ve expected this,” He muttered.

“Focus!” Natalie shouted as she drew her bow, firing at the dragon. Her arrows, made out of her Spiritual Power, a stronger source than normal mana, reached their target but bounced off them like normal arrows. She tried again but got the same response. Her arrows weren’t making a dent in the dragon’s health, only wasting time and mana. 

“My arrows can’t do anything!” Natalie exclaimed. “We need to call our master!”

“Got it!” Arson shouted. He was trying to stop the dragon from attacking them but he couldn’t control his chains enough to maneuver them towards the dragon’s mouth and legs. Even so, his chains were limiting the dragon’s movement as they attached to different parts of his body, one of them even hitting a wing. 

“Natalie! Hit the wings!” Arson ordered. 

Natalie nodded as she pointed her bow at the less defended wings of the dragon. She drew two arrows, waiting a few seconds as she slowed her breath and squinted at her target. Once she was satisfied with the trajectory, she released her finger from the string. The arrows flew through the air and reached their target, puncturing the dragon’s wings. The arrows cut through the wings like a knife to hot butter. 

“Good one, Natalie!” Arson shouted. “Aim at the other-” He was interrupted by the dragon roaring and hiding its wings - both the function and non-functional one. 

“Where now?” Natalie asked. “We have to call for our master! We can’t defeat a dragon!”

Arson nodded his head in agreement. “I know.” He muttered as he tried to readjust the chains, using them to poison the dragon. His chains were made out of the darkness element, an extremely dangerous element that carried a hint of poison. Arson understood this effect, using it to his advantage. He poisoned the dragon while trying to limit its movement. 

Unfortunately, however, Natalie’s arrows, Rex’s healing ability, and Arson’s chains were the only real damage dealers they had. They could keep the dragon away from them but they couldn’t kill it. They had to rely on their master and North to deal with it.

“Jess… Jessica! Milena! Call our masters!” Arson suddenly shouted. “Go get them!”

“B-B-But what about you?” Jessica responded from her place behind a tree. “You’ll die here!”

“You’re not doing us any help, anyway!” Natalie retorted. “Go and get our master and North!”

Jessica glanced at the younger Milena. Milena looked up at Jessica, nodding her head. “We… We need to call… them.”

Jessica nodded. “We’ll be back!” She shouted.

“Hurry up then!” Natalie shouted back.

“Please be quick!” Arson shouted.

Jessica nodded, grabbing Milena’s hand, before running through the trees. They headed in the same direction they had come from, running through several familiar sights with regret yipping at their heels and time running ahead of them. 

With them gone, Arson glanced at Natalie. “I need you to hit the dragon’s wings!” He ordered.

Natalie shook her head. “I can’t. They’re hidden!”

“I’ll reveal them!” He shouted before taking several steps backward, nearly running into a stiff Rex. Rex quickly stepped to the side, allowing Arson to stand by his side, watching as Arson withdrew his chains. He took away his only offensive attack, at the moment, and allowed the dragon to believe that he was out of mana. The dragon pounced on the bait, revealing its wings and roaring. It extended its jaw, preparing to spew out fire at Arson and the others.

“Run!” Arson shouted. The others nodded as they went in different directions, breaking the formation temporarily, while the dragon prepared itself. In a few seconds, the clearing would be filled to the brim with fire.

Meanwhile, Jessica and Milena ran towards Citrate to retrieve their reinforcements. All they needed to do was get in contact with Enix and North and sick them on the dragon. However, the threat in their way was their lack of stamina. Jessica and Milena were getting more and more tired as they tried to reach Citrate as quickly as they could. The trip to the clearing took a near half-hour, but they were trying to achieve it in ten. 

“We can’t make it!” Milena shouted.

“Yes, we can!” Jessica exclaimed. “We will! We have to!”

Milena shook her head, but Jessica didn’t see her. She was dragging Milena, her attention not on her but on whatever was in front of her. 

“Please, I’m tired!” Milena said.

“We have to get back, now! Please!” She begged. “They’ll die if we don’t!”

Milena began moving against her, stopping their momentum. Jessica turned to face her, staring at her with furrowed eyebrows. “What are you doing? We need to go!” She shouted.

Milena shook her head. “It’s too much… I’m tired. My arms hurt.”

Jessica bit the inner part of her cheek before scanning her surroundings. “We have to keep going!”

“We need to stop… I’m too tired to leave. I need a break.”

Jessica shook her head, grabbing Milena’s arm and pulling her forward. “Let’s go!”

Milena nodded, allowing herself to move forward. However, she didn’t look happy to keep going on her sore feet. “Too fast… burn ourselves out.” She warned, but Jessica could care less. She wanted to alert the others as soon as she could. Arson and the others’ safety were being threatened and death was lingering behind them.

 

Several tens of minutes later, they arrived at the town, nearly passing out. Enix, who stood at the edge of town, found them instantly. He grabbed ahold of both girls, laying them on the ground peacefully. “What happened?” He asked Jessica.

“D-Dragon!” She blurted out.

“A dragon?” North asked, appearing out of nowhere. “It wasn’t a wyvern, right?”

Jessica nodded, sitting up. “A red dragon.”

North turned to Enix, staring at him intensely. “Won’t be difficult, huh?” She muttered. “Let’s go, your subordinates are awaiting you.”

“I’ll go!” Jessica begged.

North glanced at Enix, who was too absorbed to respond. “Fine, but stay behind us!” She told her. Jessica nodded, following North’s lead. Enix joined in, but it was his reflexes that moved him, not his mind. His mind was elsewhere

I sent them to their death. I acted recklessly and they will bear the consequences. I pushed them towards their deaths!

TBC... 

Chapter 37 "The Mage With Sealed Powers S2 E5 - I'm Sorry"

North led Enix and Jessica to assist with the dragon. Milena stayed behind as she was too tired to move. They had cut down the half-hour trip to a little over half of it, which was too much for Milena’s skinny and short legs. She was out of breath, panting heavily.

Meanwhile, the others did their best to cut down the time further. North sprinted through the forest with Jessica and Enix slightly behind her. By this time, Enix began moving at the order of his mind and not his reflexes. He wasn’t absorbed into his mind anymore but some thoughts lingered behind. It filled him with doubt and uncertainty. His mind raced through every version of events that he could see from Arson and the others being dead, lying in puddles of their blood, or all of them alive and kicking. 

North glanced at Enix, noticing the dilemma he was putting himself through. “Stop that, Enix.” She told him.

Enix snapped to her, furrowing his brows. “What do you mean?”

“Stop blaming yourself. This wasn’t your fault. We couldn’t expect there to be a