Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 835: Too Late ()

For a split second, an image flashed in her mind’s eyes.

A scene from many decades ago. A scene much like this one. Where in the place of an ashen scaled dragon, there had been one of onyx scales.

A scene of brother turning on brother. Of a woman with eyes wild with bloodthirst and vengeance and a need to tear out the heart of the Dragon King by turning his most trusted on him.

A dragon he considered as dear as a brother.

A dragon he considered as dear as a son.

But it couldn’t be, could it? She was dead! Xenon had sacrificed his own life to kill her! He had paid his dues by sacrificing what was dearest to him...love, for loyalty, and he atoned for his betrayal! He atoned even up till this day!

Yet at this moment, Neveah knew without the slightest doubt that this impossible thought she had was true. She knew exactly why traces of Verothrax’s void were left on Xenon’s mind. A kind of magic Verothrax couldn’t have had after centuries in slumber.

She knew exactly why Xenon awakened from his nightmares and would not share what they had been about, yet he wouldn’t dare meet her eyes, and that told her that he did remember...he did know,

And he knew, that what haunted his nightmares would break Neveah’s heart.

She should have known...on that night when he called that name, that cursed name! She should have known!

She had brushed it off, letting her anger get the best of her rather than seeing beneath the surface that the only reason Xenon would mistake her for another...was because his mind had been tampered.

Xenon...he had been used as a tool to lure them out here, lure Jian out here. This wasn’t a coincidence...

This was a trap! One set for two purposes, by the alliance of two depraved foes...Misha of the past, and Beoruh of the present.

Jian’s life... and the witch rune, they wanted it all!

But the witch rune wasn’t that damned box. No. All along, she wondered how one single witch had been powerful enough to manipulate a dragon like Xenon,

But the witch origin rune stood for one thing... control.

And the pieces finally clicked. It had never been about the rune box... the true rune, was the witch herself.

And out here, in these cursed lands, Beoruh would aid in Jian’s death in return for what was in the witch’s possession. The stronghold... would fall to ruins.

And Jian...

Her mind spun as she watched him. The world believed the strongest dragon was Xenon of Onyx scales. This common knowledge stemmed from a duel battled long before, where the Dragon King had lost a challenge to the death to his King’s guard.

But they didn’t know these men like Neveah did. They didn’t know their hearts like she did. They didn’t know their fears and weaknesses like she did. They didn’t!

The strongest dragon in the stronghold, the dragon who had frozen an active volcano with barely any effort...how could he have lost to Xenon?! It wasn’t possible in any version of reality!

She knew it! Xenon knew it! Jian knew it! The Creator knew it!

So why had that battle ended the way it had? It was because Xenon had in his grasp Jian’s greatest weakness.

His own self!

And here it was, history about to repeat itself. With another dragon lord Jian would give his life for... because the cold, distant and detached Dragon King, was just this kind of man...

A man who had been plagued for centuries by the death of a brother that very much deserved his end and would have killed him with no hesitation had he gotten the chance.

Jian...he was a man who could not harm those he loved. This was the Dragon King’s weakness.

And there were only a handful of people who were dearer to him than his own life.

Verothrax, the little dragon boy he had raised when the entire empire demanded he be killed for being tainted by darkness, was one of them.

Once, Neveah had asked Xenon how...

How could he break out of Misha’s mind manipulation? How did he make the right decision at the very last moment?

His answer had been peculiar. Aggravating even, because she loathed when he spoke so casually about matters of death,

He didn’t know what death was as clearly as she did. He didn’t know that painfully cold chill, that hollowness as your life force seeped out of you, the injustice and regrets like boulders sitting on your chest, crushing you with the weight of a life you didn’t get to live.

Yet he had said "A man prepared to die, cannot lose." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Only now did Neveah understand what it meant.

A man willing to die... this was the only person worthy of changing the course of fate.

Asrig’s words echoed in the back of her mind at this moment.

"Do you know why you got a second chance at life?"

"All along...this was my brother’s chance, to truly gain enlightenment."

"He failed once...he won’t fail again. He’s stronger now, and that’s all thanks to you. You’ve played your part well..."

"...so Neveah Vairheac...your only path from this point, is death."

She hated to hear it. Loathed the truth in them. But now, she saw... she saw it clearly.

Perhaps no mortal could truly overcome their fate. Perhaps, the best they could hope for was one chance, that one chance to make it all worthwhile...life, and death alike.

She had fought death all her life... for both lives! She had lived in constant fear of a bitter, untimely end.

But now, at this moment, she wondered...

Why had she ever been so terrified of it? Why had she spent most of her life living in fear of the end, rather than just... living?

Life was never promised. Not everything went as planned. Sometimes, you lost more than you ever won. If you ever won at all.

But to have lived, to have ever lived...that in itself was beautiful.

Her heart eased, the doubts and uncertainties disappeared.

Her fate had always been set in stone, and this time, she was okay with it.

Sunset was fast approaching. Kaideon and Jian could battle the orc and Beoruh with their combined efforts,

But to be safe from the shadow people, they would need Verothrax.

Verothrax in his right mind. There was only one thing she had to do. Only one way she could effectively free Verothrax and Xenon both.

One way she could ensure Beoruh never got his hands on that rune he wanted so dearly.

’Veah!!! No!!!!’

Kaideon figured out her thoughts too late to stop her.

Too late to prevent the portal taking her to where she needed to be.

Too late to prevent her from tackling a surprised Ida, right off of Verothrax’s back.

Too late to stop the force of their magic clashing from sending them spiraling out of control, flying through the dark lands,

Too late to prevent them from tumbling right into the canyon, and the abyss of darkness churning in its depth.

The miasma shrieked, loud enough to echo for miles. Surging up rapidly to swallow them up.

But this time...it was okay.