Tangled By Fate

Veronica was falling into the endless pit.

At that time, she thought her heart and soul left her body.

She was so scared that she didn't know if anything else could scare her after this.

And it was never-ending.

She was sure she was going to die.

She would be alone and no one would find out what had happened to her.

A long time later, her body crashed to the ground.

By the way, she fell, she was supposed to die instantly.

Instead, her back touched something soft and cold.

Since she was wearing light clothes as it was warm inside the temple, she shivered to feel the cold touch.

She opened her eyes and held her breath.

She forgot to be scared.

She was supposed to be in a pitch-black hole.

However, above her head, she saw thirteen stones. The stones were so bright that they illuminated the whole place.

Veronica couldn't sit on the ground for too long. Her clothes were getting wet and she was cold.

She hurriedly stood up. She looked down and realized the whole place was covered with thick snow.

Her savior.

But snow beneath the tree? Underground?

'Is this place under the tree? How is this possible? Am I dreaming or is it the afterlife?'

She looked up again and saw the thirteen stones. They circled the whole place just like the thirteen candles in the temple.

'They remind me of the thirteen candles of the prayer room… Wait, does it somehow link with the previous Saints? This must be a sacred place.'

She didn't want to speak loudly to break the silence. She felt like she would break the tranquility of this place if she made a sound.

To see all the stones properly, she stepped back a few steps.

She halted when her back touched something cold and hard.

'Hmm? A wall?'

She turned around and touched the wall. It was huge.

'It doesn't look like a stone wall or soil or snow. What is it made of?'

The wall wasn't as rough as a stone or as dusty as soil. It wasn't snow either.

It had some weird sharp edges in some places. The other places were smooth.

The wall had weird scales like a fish's but much harder.

She couldn't figure out what she was touching. She had never touched a wall like that before.

She walked clockwise and noticed that the wall wasn't straight.

It was round and she could feel the back of the wall. But there was a sharp edge above the wall as if it was guarding the place beyond.

To her surprise, the wall at one end became so small that she could grab it.

At that time, a realization dawned on her.

'Hold on. This isn't a wall. This is a tail!'

She quickly let go of the tail.

'What kind of animal has that kind of skin? The skin is so hard. Stone is nothing compared to this. It has a weird spiky shape. I only saw fish having scales but an animal having it?'

She stepped back realizing the animal would be too huge if the tail was that long.

In the light of the stones, the entirety of the animal came to her view.

Veronica forgot to breathe.

It was just like the picture was drawn in books.

A dragon.

'Unbelievable!'

With her wide emerald eyes, she stared at the sleeping dragon.

'The dragon was here all the time? Beneath the temple?'

'Just how many secrets does this place have?'

Veronica carefully walked toward the front side of the dragon.

'Is it alive?'

She was cautious.

'It's so big and mighty. No wonder the basilisk was defeated. Darius cannot win against this mighty animal. And I don't want Arthur to fight this thing.'

Veronica took a deep breath and then closed her eyes. She tried to sense if the dragon was breathing or not.

Apparently, it wasn't breathing. Its whole body was as cold as snow.

It could only mean that it's dead.

Veronica sighed in relief.

She wouldn't know what to do if she woke up this mighty dragon.

At first, she would get burned into a crisp and then the dragon would go to the human world and create havoc to calm its anger.

The head was on the ground. It seemed like it died while sleeping.

Nothing could be better than a peaceful death.

She touched the eyes of the dragon that was shut.

'It's smooth here,' she thought.

'How does it feel to be the only being left of its group? No one is there to talk or share the time with. For a big animal to stay in a small place, wasn't it suffocating? Or did you do it for the humans?'

For some reason, she felt very emotional as she tried to think about the life of this mighty and yet lonely dragon.

'I did a good thing by marrying Arthur. At least, I'm not alone. I have a friend and many people to care for me now.'

'Being so powerful, it's not as good as people think it is. It's a lonely and tiresome journey.'

She touched the spiky chin of the dragon and carefully rubbed it.

As she moved, something small touched her left foot.

She crouched down and saw a bowl made of metal.

Bowl of gold.

She had gold accessories in the Magic Tower. So, she could differentiate between real and fake gold.

She picked up the bowl realizing there was something in it.

It was filled with dark red liquid.

She took it close to her mouth and sniffed.

She immediately moved it away.

'Is it blood? Blood of the dragon? Why is it in a bowl? Is the dragon injured?'

She looked around and carefully observed the dragon but it wasn't injured or there was no bloodstain anywhere.

'Then why?'

She was confused. She couldn't understand why a bowl of blood was close to the dragon's mouth.

She touched the blood with her index finger.

The bowl was as cold as the snow but the blood was warm. Maybe that's why it didn't freeze.

How was the blood of a dead dragon still warm?

'Me staying alive till now is the biggest miracle. I shouldn't be surprised anymore.'

She stared at the blood.

She recalled the dream she had the night before.

'Why did I have that dream? Was it some kind of prophecy? Did goddess Juvena want me to find the dragon?'

However, it wasn't like she found the dragon. It would be more believable if she said the dragon found her first.

If she went on an adventure to locate the dragon, she would look anywhere but in the temple.

And surprisingly, the dragon was under the temple.

Moreover, the thirteen stones looked like they were guarding the dead dragon.

'The Saints are somehow related to the dragon, aren't they? Doesn't that mean the basilisk and the elves are their enemies? Then, why didn't Saint Ava say anything to me?' she wondered.

'And now is the blood related to them all?'

Her hands quivered in excitement and the blood moved slightly.

Afraid that she would spill it, she stilled on the spot.

She remembered that the tree opened a portal on its own. It happened when she tried to lean against the tree.

It wasn't the first time she leaned against the tree but the tree never behaved like this.

She took a trip down to memory lane and recalled Saint Ava once told her something.

"Veronica, a saint doesn't believe in accidents. A saint believes in miracles created by Goddess Juvena."

The more Veronica thought of that, the more she became determined.

'The tree did this on purpose. My dream wasn't a fluke either. The blood, it's not a whim. It's here for me. I think I have to drink it. If I ever get back from here on my own, that will be the biggest miracle.'

'But, what will happen if I drink the blood? Will I become an elf? Or a dark elf? Or a red elf? Or a small, mighty dragon who breathes fire? I don't think I want to become any of them. I love being a human and I want to stay like this for the rest of my life.'

That's the very reason she hesitated to drink the blood.

Therefore, she put down the bowl and looked around to find a place to get up.

But the huge stone wall left her with no option.

She had no hope left except for drinking the blood.

'Maybe I'll gain a pair of wings. I will fly. It won't be a bad thing.'

She didn't want to smell that blood. She held her breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and chugged down the blood in one gulp.

Afterward, she wiped her mouth and coughed vigorously.

'Disgusting! I'll never drink blood again in my life. It tastes so awful!'

How she wished a glass of water would be prepared for her.

She closed her eyes and waited for some kind of transformation.

'Am I getting wings? Why don't I feel anything? Hmm? Wait! I feel something!'