"Don't call me a gift—I'm more than that!"
The thing Miria called Alastrian spoke again, directly inside my mind in her sarcastic, eerie tone. Her massive tail moved slowly behind her, each motion stirring up storms of ash that blanketed Miria's domain and swirled through the sky, only to be replaced by fresh clouds of gray. At the same time, Alastrian moved toward the castle. Each of her steps left a bottomless dark crater, and as she approached, she looked more and more like a towering mountain that blotted out the horizon.
I could barely stand from the tremors she caused, so I supported myself with the window frame and turned to Miria, confused.
She had said that the thing outside is my gift... but how would that even work? Even if it did—what was I supposed to do with something like that?
"Miria!" I called out, and she turned to face me. "You might want to explain... your gift a little better?!"
"I said don't call me a gift!... Both of you!" Alastrian roared again inside my head.
"Oh, shut up," Miria replied softly, but the sudden halt of one of Alastrian's massive, pillar-like limbs high above the ground made it clear Miria's voice carried a threat only Alastrian perceived. She fell silent… at least, for a moment. The creature didn't seem capable of keeping its mouth shut in any situation.
"Don't silence me!" she barked—but still, she stayed quiet. Despite her wild and defiant nature, she was clearly more afraid of Miria than anything else. Even I could see the fear reflected in the suns that were her eyes.
Alastrian continued her march, and Miria turned her attention back to me. She opened her mouth and began,
"Alastrian is one of the lesser dragon species—or used to be. Though she still bears the traits of lesser dragons, she's grown far beyond that now. You'll come to learn about them. I had planned such lessons later for you."
My eyebrows twitched slightly at the word lessons, but I kept listening.
"She was also the monster hero of the last doomed world I visited. I brought her back with me after her defeat. And now... she's your gift."
Now, Miria's words started to make some sense. She'd said before that she always brought back the heroes who lost to her, doing with them as she pleased—and killing them if she so chose. I glanced toward the general direction of the valley, where the blood and bones of former heroes flowed—a place I'd come to call the Graveyard of Heroes—but Alastrian's body now filled my entire view. Even the moon had vanished behind her size. So, I turned my gaze away and tried to refocus.
Alastrian's presence here made some sense now. She was a hero who lost to Miria, like all the others. That I understood. But what I didn't understand was—what did Miria mean by saying Alastrian was my gift? That made no sense. Did she want me to own her, despite her being a sentient, intelligent being? How would that even work?
I kept looking at Miria, puzzled. She, in turn, waited curiously for my reaction. But before I could open my mouth to ask, Alastrian once again spoke first, as if her earlier fear had waned just enough for her to run her mouth again. Not that she ever needed to open it to speak—I wasn't keen on seeing the inside of her maw. Even now, only her teeth terrified me enough.
"I didn't lose to you. I just chose not to win."
Alastrian appeared to stop in front of the castle—but that was a deception. She was still very far away. Still, her massive golden, spherical eyes locked onto the castle, larger than the structure itself. The veins within them looked like delicate roadways, threading streams of liquid gold through them in mesmerizing beauty.
"Let me tell you something, little man. Your mate, while terrifying—and I mean truly terrifying—has never looked more fearsome than now. How can someone be this scary?! Anyway, like I said, I didn't lose because I was weak. I lost because I was the biggest supporter of your lover's mission. She did a good job destroying that world—it was hilarious watching it crumble to dust. Even better were the cries of the people calling me their savior. 'You can beat her! You had her under your claws! Please, save us!' But as you can guess, your wife and I were in on the same goal—obliterating that rotten world. And we did it. In fact, your baby mama and I are best friends. And the best gift for you… is getting to know me. You can call me your big sis. Everything's good!"
I stared at the massive creature in total shock. Her words struck me like lightning—but not because I believed them. They were obviously lies. The first clue? Her entire body, from end to end, was gushing with endless rivers of blood. Now that she was closer, I could see the horrifying wounds marring her flesh. But what truly shocked me… was how she referred to Miria: mate, lover, wife. And that last one—did she have no sense of self-preservation?
I gave Miria a sidelong glance. She was looking at the golden eye with clear annoyance but stayed silent. I myself had to rein in my emotions, so I turned my focus elsewhere.
Outside the castle walls, a sea of blood slammed against the outer barrier. With each passing second, the level of blood only rose. In fact, it was already spilling over the walls in several places and beginning to flood inward.
Alastrian caught my glance and said with a mocking tone, "Oh, don't let the bleeding fool you… My words are completely true."
I ignored her nonsense and turned to Miria, pushing her slightly by the side. She turned to me, looking dazed, as if her thoughts were planets away. "That thing's blood is going to drown us if we don't do something."
Alastrian cursed a few times in my mind, but I kept my attention on Miria. She still looked dazed, glancing between me, Alastrian, and finally the flood of blood below. After a long few seconds of thought, Miria lifted her head and looked directly into the massive golden eye on the horizon.
"Transform. Now," she said coldly.
A suffocating silence fell over everything. I could no longer hear Alastrian in my mind, but when I looked into her eyes, I could somehow tell she was locked in a stare with Miria—and that she wasn't pleased about being commanded.
The first to break the silence was Alastrian herself. "You really have a memory as big as your castle. But since we're friends, I'll remind you—I can't—"
"You can't deceive me." Miria cut her off with chilling calm. "You fooled your last master, but you can't fool me. So don't pretend I'm commanding you… and just do it. If not, I have the means to make you."
Another heavy silence filled the air. Miria and the monstrous creature outside were locked in a battle of stares. Again, Alastrian broke it.
"See how she treats me? This bitch is so unfair—"
"Don't call her a bitch, you rotting shell. The only bitch here is the one who can't shut up—and that's only you!" I snapped before my brain could even process what I was saying. All I felt was a flare of rage toward the newcomer. To dare insult Miria… even in jest—I didn't like her boldness around my Miria.
Tense silence filled the space. Everyone was quiet. But it quickly turned into a peaceful stillness. Miria stepped closer to my side, clasped her hand with mine, and leaned on me. She looked ahead toward the golden eye and said with a gentle smile, "You heard him. And you'll do as he says. Now, don't make me wait."
The golden eye blinked several times, each blink releasing a powerful gust of wind that howled around the castle. The only thing protecting us from the wind was the window glass, which somehow held firm. When the storm subsided, Alastrian sighed in my mind and said, "You two really make me feel—ugh, never mind... Since you're both so eager to see my ugly, filthy form, so be it."
A few seconds later, a blinding golden light bathed the world outside the castle. It lasted no more than three seconds before vanishing, and with it, Alastrian's monstrous form disappeared completely. The only evidence of her presence was the chaos and blood she left behind.
Far, far off in the distance—barely visible—I saw a small humanoid figure flailing in the flood of blood, trying to swim… or maybe just trying to survive?
I slowly turned to Miria and asked, "Is that…?"
"Yes," Miria answered with a sly smile. "That's Alastrian."
I turned away from her and looked back at the scene. A feeling of pity mixed with amusement crept into my thoughts. Then, a small laugh escaped my lips as I watched Alastrian's human form flail helplessly, drowning.
The irony was… she was drowning in her own blood.