“...No,” Cessilia muttered. “Not again.”
She turned her green gaze to the two dragons. As if they had heard the two women, the two of them separated, still furiously growling at each other, but putting a bit of a distance between one another. Even if they didn’t finish, Cece was the clear winner. The Silver Dragon only had a few bite marks bleeding on random spots of its body, and a slight limp in its rear paw, but that was it. Jinn, on the other end, was in a pitiful state. On top of its ripped off limb, the Red Dragon was also now missing a large portion of its left wing and eye, and had deep lacerations all over. The red of its blood was transforming its scales into a darker red shade, and staining the sand beneath. Upon seeing Cece retreat, it kept growling, slowly retreating toward Jisel with a defensive stance.
Meanwhile, Cece’s silver body curled up around Cessilia, still letting out furious warning growls right back at Jinn. However, the Silver Water Dragon was obediently standing behind its mistress, leaving her the space to walk up closer to Jinn. The Red Dragon didn’t seem much more enthusiastic to face the woman. It kept retreating, looking like it didn’t know which one of the pair to growl at.
Cessilia kept marching toward the dragon, a bit exhausted by all the fighting, her arms sore from hanging on to Cece so tightly, but incredibly calm and composed. In fact, her glowing green eyes were somewhat scaring Jinn more than her dragon counterpart. The closer she came, the more the Red Dragon felt the need to retreat and growl. It was obvious its goal was still to protect Jisel somehow, but fear was dominating in its eyes.
“That woman doesn’t deserve to have a dragon,” Cessilia muttered, addressing the dragon itself.
“You don’t decide that!” shouted Jisel. “This dragon only survived thanks to me! I’m the reason Jinn is alive, and he has to protect me, like my brother should have! He’ll die for me if he has to!”
“No,” Cessilia muttered.
She walked even closer, and this time, Jinn’s growling turned more serious, the dragon taking a step toward her, getting ready to fight her again if needed. Behind Cessilia, Cece kept growling in warning too, but the Silver Dragon didn’t move to defend its mistress.
Cessilia suddenly got within range, and Jinn attacked. The Red Dragon jumped on her, its claws missing her by a bit as she jumped to the side. With one of its legs missing, its landing completely failed, and it rolled on its injured shoulder, making the dragon scream in pain.
“...No dragon should have to die for its owner.”
Suddenly, Cessilia stood back up, and took a deep breath in. Jinn tried to jump back on its feet, fangs out and ready to bite, but before it did, Cessilia suddenly blew out a gigantic blast of snow and ice.
The Red Dragon was violently swept back, its body hitting the external wall of the cave, and it stopped there, lying on the ground. Cessilia slowly turned to a speechless Jisel and, in an attempt to protect its owner once more, Jinn pitifully tried to stand up. That’s when Cece jumped in, and just like Cessilia, suddenly blew an impressive amount of snow and ice on the Red Dragon. Except, it was much bigger and more powerful, and soon, most of Jinn’s body was trapped in large blocks of ice.
Meanwhile, Cessilia took out her dagger and calmly approached Jisel, who was still stunned, her eyes on her dragon. She shook her head frantically, and fell back, not even trying to run.
“Th-that can’t be,” she muttered, sobbing. “That’s not a water d-dragon. It can’t be... a... a...”
“...An Ice Dragon.”
Chapter 29
Jisel’s expression changed to one of pure fear. Whatever was going on, she couldn’t accept it. She wasn’t ready for that. Her eyes went back to Cessilia, suddenly switching to anger.
“...He’ll betray you too,” she hissed. “You can’t trust men. They will always find a younger, prettier woman to chase instead of you. Just you wait. He’ll throw you away!”
“I’m not scared of Ashen changing his mind,” Cessilia retorted calmly. “Even if he betrays me, I’ll take it, and move on. You’re the one who thinks we can’t advance without a man in this world. But you’re wrong. I’ve learned my lesson already. With or without a man by my side, I’ll be fine.”
“You... You wench!” shouted Jisel, still backing away, half-crying now. “You took it all from me!”
“You’re the one who doesn’t know how to let go. You didn’t even love Ashen, yet you held on desperately. You could have stayed out of this conflict, but you chose to ally with the Yekara, Jisel. I thought you were a smart woman, but the truth is, you’re the real coward here.”
“Am I?” she scoffed.
Her eyes went down on the dagger Cessilia was holding. She was still hesitating, just a bit. She wasn’t afraid to kill anymore, but Jisel... Somehow, she was reluctant to kill her. Not because of her relationship with Ashen, or because of their history. No, Cessilia had a feeling that, in other circumstances, with another path in life, that woman would have turned out very differently. In some way, Jisel was just another victim who had turned to the worst means to survive. They even had blood in common... She was a dragon’s daughter too. Something in Cessilia’s heart held her hand, wondering if there was really nothing that could be done. Of course, Jisel had already gone too far to redeem herself, and she knew it was too late for that woman to change... or was it?
To her surprise, Jisel slowly stood up. She didn’t have any weapons anymore, and no will to fight left. Cessilia didn’t feel any danger coming from that woman... She had given up, yet a mocking smirk was on her lips.
“Are you really stronger than I am, Princess?” she said, strangely calmly. “...If your precious King betrays you, do you really think you can ever take it?”
“I can take it,” Cessilia retorted without blinking.
Jisel smiled, and stepped closer to her.
“There have been so many like me,” she muttered. “Desperate women, willing to do anything to survive. Women with no dragons to help them...”
She finally got very close to Cessilia, and touched her hand that was holding the dagger, strangely gentle. Cessilia held her weapon tighter, just in case Jisel would try to take it, or turn it against her, but it didn’t feel that way.
“If you want to help them, you should be ready to do this.”
She suddenly pulled her fist, and brutally impaled herself on the dagger.
Shocked, Cessilia stared at Jisel’s eyes, and the strange smile that appeared on her lips. The two women exchanged a stare for a long minute, and then, Jisel coughed some blood, and slowly fell back, her body dropping on the sand. Her eyes half-closed, she had stopped moving, lying completely still and her head turned toward the crying Red Dragon. Cessilia was shocked. She stared at Jisel’s breathless figure, unable to comprehend why that woman had done that. She had been so desperate to survive just a moment ago... Had she realized she had lost the moment her dragon was trapped? Or had she already been badly injured during the fall? That would explain how her death had been so quick... or perhaps she had purposely stabbed herself so she’d die quickly... Cessilia would maybe never understand why she had suddenly chosen this end, or get answers to her questions. Either way, that woman was dead.
Cessilia dropped her dagger, a bit out of breath. She felt... strange. The body of the dead woman lying in front of her didn’t feel real. She didn’t know what she should have expected, but strangely, she didn’t really feel anything... Just tired, maybe. The waves gently came up to their position, reaching Jisel’s body. If she left her like that, her body would be swept away soon. She would disappear in the sea, like many, perhaps. She could hear the long cries of the Red Dragon. Jinn’s faint squeals were heartbreaking to hear... Cessilia let out a faint sigh, a cold mist coming out of her lips. One fight she had finally ended. It didn’t feel like a victory, but it sure felt like closure.
A faint, more gentle growl came from behind her. Cessilia smiled, and turned to face Cece. The majestic Silver Dragon was standing there, with those big ruby eyes staring right at her. They faced each other on the beach, finally getting a moment to themselves. The thunder had stopped too. Now, all they could hear was the calm sea, the rain, and the cries of a mourning dragon. Cessilia slowly approached her dragon. Cece was so big now, she had to stand up to be at the same height as her dragon’s eyes. Gently, she put her hands around her dragon’s face, around what would be its cheeks. She smiled, and gently put her forehead against her cold scales.
Cece released a little breath of cold mist too. Strangely, her dragon’s coolness warmed Cessilia’s heart, and brought her peace.
“...Did you come back because you were worried about me?” she muttered.
Cece growled faintly.
“Thank you... for giving me a second chance.”
She stayed for a long moment like this, taking deep breaths with her. The cold, almost eerie white mist around her dragon was making her feel safe, and calmed her down. She could feel her lungs fill with fresh air as some heavy burden was lifted off her shoulders. With Cece there, she felt incredibly strong, serene and complete. Just like her dragon, she was different from the young woman Cece had parted with, years ago. The two of them were more mature, stronger, fiercer, and more united than ever. The two of them stood still for just a few minutes, as a quiet reunion.
