Chapter 123


    #123 The Old Legend


    Cassandra slowly woke up to the sound of something dripping next to her.


    She suddenly felt a horrible sensation in her throat and started coughing out some water, almost


    suffocating as she was trying to get some air back. She felt exhausted, and a bit dizzy, though she was


    lying down. Underneath her, was something cold… and wet. It wasn’t veryfortable either. She


    struggled to move her body, pushing on her numb arms to help herself sit up. Her hands met with cold


    rocky ground. Cassandra coughed a little, spitting some water again. She felt exhausted, but her


    instincts quickly reminded her of the dangerous situation.


    She sat up, looking around anxiously. She had no idea where she was, but somehow, the presence of


    light disturbed her. Her memories were slowlying back, and she was almost sure she had lost


    consciousness in the deep, dark waters of the Lake of the Imperial Pce. So the question was, where


    was she now? Against all expectations, she was alive, but with no idea where she had ended.


    As her eyes got used to the blinding lighting from above, Cassandra slowly started realizing she


    was surrounded by rock walls. In all shades of grey, sometimes silverish, the undefined walls of this


    cave were making a semi-sphere above her head. She could still hear water clearly dripping all around


    her. How far was she under the surface level? If there was this much light, she couldn’t be too deep…


    She barely had any strength length to remain seated, but somehow, she could just stay still either. How


    had she even gotten there? A few meters away from her, there was what looked like arge pond, or a


    littleke. It waspletely still and quiet, and everything else was echoing inside the cave. She could


    almost hear her own heartbeat echoing. Cassandra realized her body was cold, but not as wet as


    someone who had just gotten out of the water. How long had she been there? She waspletely at a


    loss and even more panicked due to that. What of Opheus, and Missandra? What about the Old


    Emperor?


    Her head was aching a little bit. She touched her forehead and felt a vivid pain. It was a bit swollen…


    So she had bumped her head into something, on top of the headache. Cassandra sighed. What had


    Copyright N?v/el/Dra/ma.Org.


    she gotten herself into this time? She looked around, trying to look for the creature from before, just in


    case, but she was obviouslypletely alone. After much effort, she finally got back on her feet. She


    was in a poor state… Her legs and arms were covered in bruises as if she had been dragged around


    on that same rocky ground. Cassandra looked at the water again. Had she been taken out of there,


    then? By whom…? She was obviously alone here.


    She tried to walk to the walls, checking if there wasn’t some opening she may have missed. It was a bit


    tricky because the walls and the ground were a heap of thousands of little stones, and she couldn’t see


    all of the different levels of the wall. It was sharp, too, but some had iridescent reflections, like pink or


    blue. They almost looked like dark gemstones…


    Cassandra’s eyes were attracted to the light above again. What she had taken for a bright light was


    actually some long slit in the ceiling, letting in what was most likely natural light. Cassandra squinted


    her eyes, trying to see anything. She was almost sure she had seen some movement up there. Was


    she actually that close to the ground floor?


    Suddenly, something moved in the water. She retreated towards the wall as a reflex, but there was


    nowhere to run. Slowly, scales started appearing at the surface. Cassandra felt her blood go cold


    again. She could see parts of the body undte in the water and surface at some ces like a snake


    swimming around. How big was it really? She had been unable to see the whole body in the water, but


    now, she could see it move in so many ces, she was only starting to get the reality of this creature’s


    real size. Then, the head slowly merged out of the water. First, the two horns she had seen, one of


    them broken at half its length. Then, the silver eyes appeared. They were so clear, if it wasn’t clearing


    staring at her, Cassandra would have wondered if it wasn’t actually blind. Then, the nose and maw


    came out of the water, dripping. She tried to keep breathing normally, but no matter how she looked at


    it, this creature was part dragon.


    A very, veryrge and strange dragon. With an elongated head and neck, there was plenty of space for


    the many gills moving with each breathing the creature took. Cassandra didn’t even know if she should


    have been surprised, scared, or amazed, but she was all of that at the same time. The dragon let out a


    long, high-pitched growl that


    echoed along the cave’s walls, and more of its body came out.


    The front limbs weren’t like what she had seen before. She had thought they were short, but unlike the


    Dragons short paws, those were longer and more retractable. Moreover, they were obviously half-way


    between arms and fins. Even the “fingers” of the creature had curved ws and were tied together like


    palmed. Moreover, he didn’t actually use his limbs to move around, his body was more crawling like a


    snake’s. Cassandra retreated further, not even daring to blink for one second. She felt like her own


    breathing was way too loud.


    The creature too didn’t lose her for a second. It was all focused on her as it wasing out of the


    water, more and more of its body crawling out. Cassandra had wrongly judged it’s size. If she had to


    she had seen before, it’s head was about as big as had’s, but there was no realparison in


    terms of its body. It would have been likeparing a cat and a snake. While its neck was very thick,


    the rest of its body didn’t grow in size at all. It was all the same width, but very, very long. It felt like the


    end was nevering, and the body almost had to spiral on itself to find enough space, as Cassandra


    kept retreating further and further away. She was grateful was so vast, because there were few rooms


    inside the Imperial Pce that could have weed that creaturefortably. How old was that


    creature to have gotten so big? Its body was meters and meters long! When she finally spotted the little


    legs, she realized those were in no way meant to walk either, but just to stabilize the end of the body.


    They were thinner and shorter than the front paws.


    Finally, the tail came out, almost ridiculously little and simplepared to the rest of that majestic


    creature. Cassandra was at a loss for words as they were just staring at each other. This thing was not


    a dragon as the Dragon Empire knew them. It was something alike, maybe a rted species.


    Cassandra exhaled, realizing she had been holding her breath for a while now. Thank the gods, this


    creature wasn’t menacing at all. It only stared at all, and had only growled once, if a growl that was.


    Cassandra had seen much scarier dragons, so she wasn’t exactly afraid. More like cautious. She could


    tell when a beast was angry or menacing, and that creature wasn’t. Moreover, she highly suspected it


    had actually saved her life by bringing her here, which showed a high form of intelligence.


    She decided to take a slow step forward, seeing how the creature would react. It didn’t seem panicked


    in any way, and actually, came gently to her. She could see it’s thin nostrils moving a bit, smelling her.


    Cassandra suddenly realized what was that shimmering on its scales that had been disturbing her for a


    while now. Salt! Was that water salty? Could it be linked to the actual sea? The creature kept moving


    its iridescent scales and, just like it’s size, Cassandra had been wrong about its color as well. It wasn’t


    dark, but actually, of a shimmery grey. There were some other colors shimmering at some moments,


    making her think those scales opal-like. Just like the stones of that cave. Was it this Creature’sir?


    An idea was beginning to grow in Cassandra’s mind, and somehow, she started to really believe in it.


    She remembered what she had been taught when she was much, much younger. She hesitated,


    putting an arm out and extending her hand, though she was a bit scared and probably crazy to do so.


    The Creature didn’t try to sniff it as Krai would have. Instead, it slid it’s long body past it, making


    Cassandra touch it’s strange, polished scales. She chuckled, impressed. The Creature began circling


    around her, making one, two rings with its body, keeping Cassandra inside. It still wasn’t menacing, but


    she felt like it was establishing some sort of protection around her. Cassandra smiled.


    “I think I know who you are…” she whispered, amazed.


    The Creature didn’t react to her word but, after taking a deep breath, the young woman started singing.


    She used her native tongue, careful about her voice and her words, and sang the Mermaid’s Requiem.


    After listening to her for a few seconds, the Creature started making a high-pitched song too. It


    sounded like a wind blowing against some ss, a high-pitched but gentle sound. When she was done,


    the Creature put its head closer to her, and, after a hesitation, Cassandra gently caressed its head. Her


    heart was beating crazy, almost sure she was right. All the legends from her childhood were taking


    form in this amazing creature in front of her.


    “You’re really… The Water God…” she whispered.?


    She was submerged with emotion, almost to the point of crying. She had never questioned it’s


    existence, but having the deity-like being right next to her was an amazing sensation. The Creature


    sang softly again, making Cassandra chuckle, a tear escaping her eye. She took a deep breath.


    Though it was a beautiful moment, she didn’t have much time for that. She couldn’t forget the crisis that


    was going on outside this cave, and how her family needed her. She extended her arm to caress the


    scales again.


    “I need your help,” she whispered in her native tongue. “I really need to get back to the others… to my


    family.”


    She wasn’t sure he would understand her, but, just then, the Creature looked up, at the long slit in the


    ceiling. Just as she thought, there was something up there. The exact moment when Cassandra looked


    up, she very clearly saw a shadow for a second. What was upstairs?


    “Kyun!”


    Cassandra jumped, as the baby dragon suddenly jumped out of the water, pping it’s little wings and


    chasing the


    water.


    “Kian? How did you get here!”


    She ran to the baby dragon, who happily jumped in her arms with many little squeaks. Kian kept


    rubbing its head against her chest while Cassandra looked at the pond again. This was definitely


    connected to theke somehow! If so, how deep and wide was theke under the surface, and beneath


    which room could it have spread?


    “Kyuuuu…”


    Kian seemed to have just noticed the gigantic Creature, and very boldly jumped from Cassandra’s arm


    to run to it. Without any fear, the little dragon hopped onto the first sing of the body, under the


    Creature’s eyes. Its white eyes were on Kian with a bit of interest, watching the baby dragon’s moves.


    Kian jumped higher, onto the second and higher ring, and nced at Cassandra. Was he showing off?


    She tried to call him, but the little dragon ignored her and turned to the head of the body he had just


    climbed.


    The Water God seemed interested in the baby dragon and brought it’s head closer, sniffing him.


    However, a sniff from such a big creature was like a gush of wind to Kian, and he was ejected away.


    Just as Cassandra feared he might fall, he started flipping its little wings and looked up. Now that she


    saw them together, there was a bit of resemnce in their bodies’ shape, though Kian was still more


    like Krai.


    “Kyun!”


    The baby dragon started flying higher, looking suddenly attracted to that slit in the ceiling. The Water


    God, looking curious about the baby dragon, followed his flight up, extending its body to raise it.


    Cassandra immediately saw her chance. With a silent apology, she climbed on the creature’s body just


    like Kian had done before. She was bigger than the baby dragon, but still no bigger than a kitten


    at all. Cassandra struggled to keep going, with her aching muscles, overall exhaustion, and the climb


    that was going more and more vertical and abrupt. Whatever was above them, she silently prayed it


    wasn’t going to be another terrible ce to fall into.


    Just when she had finally climbed past the second ring, she realized she wouldn’t be able to climb up


    the “neck” of the Creature. Just then, it seemed to finally spot her and, before she could do a thing,


    pushed her to be on its head, hanging on to its horns! Cassandra couldn’t help but let out a little


    scream in fear, but Kian apparently took it for an excited cry, and made a simr high-pitched noise, all


    happy and flying around her.


    The Creature kept going higher, understanding her goal and Kian’s. As they finally reached the breach,


    Cassandra realized it would be justrge enough to let her in, but there was no way the Creature could


    follow her. She bit her lip, and Kian jumped above, disappearing between the two edges. She was


    worried for him for a few seconds, but then, she heard him happily squeak from somewhere above.


    With a sigh of relief, she found a grip as soon as she could, ready to climb up. Just then, she looked at


    the Creature, whose eye was very close. She smiled at it.


    “Thank you…” She whispered, and then, with a push from the Creature’s head, she climbed up.