Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 819: Undoing ()

When Neveah found Jian again, he was sitting in his study with Zephyroth curled up on his lap, fast asleep.

He wasn’t alone. Imagor and Garron sat across from him, while Rodrick stood dutifully by his side.

The atmosphere was grim and as she walked in with Xenon, her eyes caught Garron’s, it wasn’t difficult to tell what they had discovered in the punishment chamber had been reported.

How much of it, Neveah wasn’t sure. But she wasn’t concerned about that.

"Can we really trust the words of a dark sorcerer?" Imagor was saying. "He could be spinning a tale to stir unrest. The last thing we need right now is for word to spread that not only is a sorcerer from the dark empire still living, he’s one origin rune away from destroying the world."

He jaws clenched tightly in displeasure. Neveah could hardly blame him. She wasn’t certain there had ever been a time dragons took counsel from sorcerers.

She had gone to the punishment chamber anticipating disapproval. But the dragons had their ways... she had hers.

"I normally wouldn’t." Garron agreed. "But my findings so far support the theory. And I doubt that would be a coincidence."

"I don’t like this." Imagor shook his head. "Lodenworth, Menarx and Kirgan are already after Beoruh. I believe all our efforts should be focused on getting rid of him. It wouldn’t be too late to hear back from them before making a decision."

"Veah, what are your thoughts?" Jian extended his hand as she walked over to him. He nodded to Rodrick who picked up Zephyroth and took him out of the room.

He gestured with his eyes and Neveah took a seat on his lap. His arm went around her waist, resting on her thigh in a manner that soothed her instantly.

She hadn’t even realized she needed soothing.

"I don’t think Azkar lied." She said, leaning into his hold. "He doesn’t gain anything from lying to us."

"Except leading us on a wild goose chase to distract us from hunting Beoruh." Imagor pointed out. "Or just being malicious like a sorcerer would."

"Azkar is..." Neveah trailed off.

She felt Jian stiffen slightly. Barely. But it didn’t escape Neveah’s notice. She placed a hand over his, unconsciously rubbing a slow circle on the back of his hand.

What was she going to say? That Azkar wasn’t like that? He was true to his words? That he wouldn’t lie to her? He had misled her with a whole different identity. He was as far from honest as any sorcerer got.

But she knew without a single doubt that every word he had said was true. And if they did nothing about it because the information was from an unusual source, it would make the situation even more dire than it already was.

"His entire identity and cause is built off of being the last sorcerer after the uprising. He prides himself on mastery of the arts in the absence of guidance, building a cult of his own despite the limited resources available to him..."

"He defined what dark magic is today without any prior knowledge of it but the blood in his veins."

She wasn’t certain why she understood it so clearly. Leon had been right. She could see the motivations behind Azkar because she didn’t loathe him. Not like the dragons did.

"Beoruh’s existence and strength, invalidates everything that makes Azkar unique. Azkar probably wants him gone as much...if not more than we do."

Imagor’s brows furrowed slightly. "Does he want him gone as much as he wants the dragon dynasty gone?"

Neveah didn’t have the answer to that. Azkar detested dragons and the feeling was mutual. She couldn’t be certain this wasn’t a ploy to get to the dragons first and go after Beoruh himself later.

"Garron is confident he can translate the tome, but he will need time. Waiting around is also too much of a risk. If Beoruh gets his hands on the witch rune first, it wouldn’t matter what we know then." She said instead.

Xenon who had been quietly following the conversation finally spoke up. "I suggest we keep things quiet. Seek out the witch rune with a covert group. If it’s a farce, all it could be is a failed trip. Kirgan will keep an eye on Beoruh’s trail and we can make a final decision after Garron completes the translation."

"I have the same thoughts." Garron agreed.

"It’s been centuries since..." Imagor trailed off, passing a subtle glance to Xenon. The look in his eyes betrayed the words he wouldn’t say.

"Since the witch race was decimated. You can say it." Xenon’s tone was blank.

Imagor cleared his throat. "Right. That. If this rune exists, and somehow wasn’t destroyed in those times. Where in the stronghold would it be?"

Jian’s brows furrowed slightly. The dragons seemed to have a silent exchange between them.

"We all know where to start." Garron pointed out. His eyes conveyed his hesitation as he glanced from one man to the next.

Imagor nodded grimly. "The ruins of Ebonhollow."

Jian hadn’t spoken. But he tensed.

"Ruins of Ebonhollow..." Neveah muttered quietly. It sounded distantly familiar.

"It’s... witch territory." Xenon explained. "Or what’s left of it."

After Asrig decimated the entire race. No one had any intentions to mention it.

"If clues about the witch rune are what we need, that’s the most reasonable place to start." Garron continued. "It’s not like we have a witch somewhere we can ask."

Garron must have meant it as a joke to lighten the atmosphere, but no one laughed. Instead there was a beat of awkward silence.

"Ebonhollow..." Neveah nodded once. "If it’s witch territory, that means magic."

Xenon nodded grimly. "We have to be the ones to go."

---

After a short time, Imagor and Garron left. Neveah sat in one of the vacant seats, glancing through a map of Ebonhollow Garron had left. How he had fetched one so quickly, or where he procured it, she couldn’t say.

But if it was Garron, Neveah guessed the records in the archives were the only volumes he didn’t have access to or knowledge of, in the entire stronghold.

Not for the first time in the past few minutes, she felt Jian’s gaze on her. It lingered for a bit and then shifted back to the report he was working on.

He repeated it a few more times and she finally couldn’t take it.

"What’s on your mind?" She asked him.

He didn’t respond immediately. But finally he said, "You are well acquainted with this...Azkar..."

She had expected that. The words, but not the tone with which he said them.

She placed the map aside, turning to face him properly. "We’ve met. But I wouldn’t say well acquainted."

"He’s a sorcerer." Jian’s tone was stiffer than usual. Not cold, just stiff. Like he was holding something back.

"I know that." She replied easily, getting up to her feet. She walked over to him and perched on the desk beside him.

"Yet you trust him?" Jian continued, "You are certain he wouldn’t lie."

It wasn’t a question, more like a statement.

The words sounded bitter on his tongue, his brows were furrowed slightly and he seemed to be hesitant about his words. Like he couldn’t believe he was saying them.

Was this how the Dragon King looked when he was jealous? It seemed he didn’t even know what he was feeling, or how to feel it.

She crossed her arms over her chest, passing a helpless look to Xenon who also watched her.

Maybe not as particular as Jian, but Xenon surely wasn’t against the path this conversation was taking.

"He’s saved my life...a few times." She murmured. "Back at the hidden city, and then again when I snuck into that inn in Dune City."

"Though, I didn’t know who he was when I got to know him in the Dunes. I thought he was..." Neveah paused. "Human."

Jian nodded slowly. "Decently acquainted, then."

"Is that what you wish to hear?" Neveah asked.

Jian considered it for a moment. "No."

"I want you to know...it is alright, if you do not loathe him. I will not hesitate when I kill him."

He didn’t say ’if’. It was to him, a certainty that he would kill Azkar.

And she didn’t doubt it. She didn’t think about it at all. She thought only of the one before her eyes, the path she had chosen.

"Then don’t." Neveah replied simply.

Jian’s gaze searched hers. He must have found what he wanted to see because he relaxed visibly.

"I know now that he desires you." Jian finally spoke. "I hate that he dares... his desire is filthy as he is. Unworthy of you."

There was no distrust in his tone. This wasn’t about her. It was about the centuries long blood feud that could never be erased.

He was furious now. His expression didn’t change...it hardly ever did. But his eyes told his truth. And Neveah had learnt to read him.

What she could not read from his eyes, she felt through their bond. Anger simmering, desire churning, and possession... overwhelmingly strong.

It stirred her wolf to the surface, calling to her primal side.

Garron had told it all. Neveah wasn’t even surprised. Garron had been the one to tell Xenon everything about her back in the Dunes.

He wasn’t like most dragon lords. And because he wasn’t, he didn’t display unquestionable loyalty. He made his own decisions based on what he believed were right.

And because he was protective of her as all Dune dragons were, he must have been just as offended by what he heard.

"His desires are his..." Neveah murmured "But mine..." She trailed off, her eyes glowed with her wolf’s presence.

"Say it." Jian whispered, his tone deeper than it had been a moment ago.

"My desire is right here..." She said, "And in it, I’m ruined. Gladly... willingly... absolutely..."

Her tone dropped, almost hoarse. "And I wish the world mattered as much..."

She paused, smiling bitterly. "But that’s an unattainable wish, isn’t it?"

For a moment, he was silent.

Then he exhaled a shuddering breath. Laying his head down on her thigh. "You are my undoing, Neveah Vairheac."

"Beautiful... beautiful undoing..."