Touch of Flame

As Ares treated his painful wounds he remembered the time Ravina took care of him. He thought of her every day since the day she left, worrying, wondering if she was alright. He was stuck between fighting the recent attacks from dragons, three in a row, and finding people who could help him find her.

Ares wondered why there were suddenly so many attacks. Did it perhaps have anything to do with her? It wasn't the black dragons attacking but he knew all the clans somehow knew of each other. Did he make a mistake letting her go? Did he hasten her death or lead her into torture?

And who was this group who came to help them fight the dragons? They seemed well trained and had their own weaponry. It wasn't Pythagoras, then who? Without them, they wouldn't have been able to save all the people they saved.

After he was done bandaging himself he put his shirt on and left the room. He came across Ester in the hall. She looked sad since Ravina left and she would ask him each time if she was found.

"Good evening, My Lord."

"Good evening."

"I heard what happened. I hope you are not badly injured."

"I am alright."

She gave a slight nod and proceeded. Ares continued his way to the laboratory. Richard was so deeply lost in thought he didn't notice his arrival until he came to sit at the table.

"Ah… how are your injuries?"

"Healing faster now," Ares replied. Richard's health seemed to get worse. It was bad timing, right when they were fighting a lot of dragons.

Richard sat down with a thoughtful look. There was a deep frown between his brows.

"We need to find out who this new group of dragon fighters are," he said.

"My men are working on it."

He remained silent and thoughtful. "I think… I saw Corinna."

Ares frowned. "Where?"

"After we fought the dragons, I saw her there. It was only a glimpse but… I feel like it was her. I followed her and once I came around the corner, she was… gone. Just like that."

Maybe he was hallucinating. The experiment could do that and he missed Ravina.

"How do you know it was Corinna and not Ravina?"

He smiled a little. "They might look identical but they are different. Corinna is… was…" his jaw clenched. "Nevermind. If you ever become a father, don't be anything close to what I am."

Richard had indeed become a changed man. Ares thought that it was mostly guilt that messed with his head. The fact that his brother died in his place, it was as if by keeping the disguise, he was keeping his brother alive.

Ares wished the man could live, meet his daughter and be truthful. Allow her to make a decision for herself whether she wanted to forgive him or not. This didn't feel right. Him dying without her knowing and not getting a chance didn't feel right.

Ravina. What a woman. He hoped that the dragon was taking care of her as much as he didn't want to think of how. It had been five days since she left. Perhaps she was fine and it was just too soon to see any change.

"Have you found any new about Ravina?"

"No," Ares replied.

He smiled faintly and Ares wondered why. "You won't find her. That is how difficult it is to find them." He stood up from his seat. "Good night," he said and left him.

Ares went to his room, discouraged despite already knowing that it wouldn't be easy to find her. He kept repeating that goodbye kiss in his head. She had taken him by surprise and then he had seen the pain and fear in her eyes as she ran away.

He could not sleep thinking of it. It weighed on and pained him more than the injuries that covered his body. As he kept turning back and forth, he finally fell asleep.

In his slumber, he dreamt of sailing in the storms while trying to survive, and as he continued to fight the sky cleared and his ship arrived at the shore. Ares got off the ship and found himself on a strange island with a thousand temples ahead. He went to one of the temples and walked inside.

He found a woman seated on her knees in the middle. "Excuse me," he called.

Slowly, she rose from her seat and turned around. She was draped in green silk and her honey-colored eyes settled on him. "You are here," she smiled reaching for his hand.

She took it and kissed his knuckled. "You keep coming back, My Lord. Why don't you settle here? This is where you belong."

He was confused.

"Who are you?"

"Your guide. Whenever you come, I will be here to guide you. Why don't you come to us, My Lord?"

He said nothing.

"You can find us in the mountains. In the greenest of lands, above the ground and below the clouds," she said. "I will be waiting for you. We will be waiting for you."

Gently she reached for his shoulder, allowing her hand to travel down his arm. "You are hurt," she said. She ran her hand up again and then down. He felt a strange tingling and then she smiled. "It should be fine now."

"What is your name?" He asked.

"Ankine, My Lord."

Ankine.

"We will wait for you."

Her words were like echoes as he slowly woke up.

Ankine.

Who was she? Who were they and why were they waiting?

He sat up, overcome by a strange feeling as if this wasn't a dream. It had felt real. He touched his injured arm. His bandage… it was gone.

Rushing out of bed he took off his shirt in front of the mirror. His injuries were gone. Unbelievable. Was he hallucinating now? He touched his body unwilling to believe and then he looked around the room. No signs of someone coming inside.

He went straight to the laboratory, barging inside. Richard looked up from his papers with a frown. "It is possible that the new experiment could make me heal overnight?" He asked to make sure he wasn't getting crazy.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Is there even a little possibility?"

"Well, anything is possible but it would still be too fast with the kind of injuries you had."

Then how would he explain this?