Superbia

Ten-thousand years.

That was a long time to view the world with jaded eyes. That was a long time to be alive. It was scarcely enough to change the beliefs of a stubborn dragon.

A stubborn, prideful dragon at that.

xxx

On her last wings… That was what she had been on when she met Caim for the first time. His eyes read pure hatred. For her, she saw no compassion. She hadn’t expected that, however, and she found herself categorizing him as a fool human.

“A dragon!”

He wasn’t good at hiding how he felt. Humans were such fickle creatures. One day they could hate someone. A day later, they could love that person. If that was typical behaviour… She found it difficult that they could be faithful to one another.

Arrows penetrated her scales. Humans were such failures as one of the Goddess’s creations, yet they had implements of great destruction. How twisted, bizarre, and corrupt these beings were.

Her head lifted and she regarded him carefully. His armour was stained with blood, and likely not his. She was well aware of the war between the Union and the Empire. What caught her attention was the idea that like her, he was on the verge of leaving the living world. In spite of this, however, his eyes were filled with such determination. It was what she found beyond that loathing. Ambition in a human. How… unexpected.

What came next also surprised her. To think that he would be so arrogant.

“What makes you worthy of a pact with me?”

“Worthy or not, I wish to live.”

What a foolish human. Foolish, and yet something tempted her to accept.

“Now. Your answer. A pact or death.”

“We are united by our need to live.”

“Well?”

“Yes. A pact,” came the raspy voice.

Newfound strength, and a newfound alliance was created. Onto the battlefield they charged, Caim’s ambition added to her own.

xxx

“So. Your voice is lost. A trifling price to pay for a pact.”

“…”

“No matter, I shall speak for the both of us.”

Perhaps she felt sympathy for Caim. Chances were that even if he’d returned the ability to speak, he didn’t have anything to say. She could just imagine obscenities pouring over his lips.

He was rendered mute, never again able to communicate his wants and desires with mere words. His partner considered the possibility that the price paid was randomly selected. Then she thought about the man she was bonded to. Caim was the sort to react rather than to speak. Actions first, ask questions later. Wasn’t that a typical human trait?

It was a punishment, she decided. Caim took advantage of his voice and didn’t truly appreciate it. Perhaps if he’d used it more, something else would have been taken from him instead.

It was a little too late for this, however. Caim had paid his price in full and there would be no negotiations.

In spite of his inability to speak, his thoughts were shared between him and the dragon. Many times it was a variety of lines, some that connected and others that did not. She found out who he was in terms of titles. She discovered what he’d been doing on the frontlines in the first place. And she saw beneath that stern demeanour and cruel nature that his actions were not made for simply him.

“What think you of your sister’s purity? She is the goddess, yet still a woman. The three of you… Have you grown accustomed to denying the truth? Caim. Can you sense your sister’s thoughts? The passions of her soul?”

She had said it all once before and he’d offered absolutely no response. As far as she was concerned, that was proof enough. One had to admit that his dedication was admirable.

What had she gotten herself into, though?

She came to discover that Caim would do whatever he pleased. She offered her chiding words to him. She gave to him her judgements. He was a bloodthirsty man, and even when children fell by his sword, his lust could not be quenched. What a horrifying man. Frightening and cold, but also capable of being generous and warm. Two different sides to a creature that seemed so heartless.

In the end, Caim meant the best. Perhaps. What he did was for the sake of his younger sister. She could not fault him for such.

The method to his madness, however, was questionable. While she hardly considered herself close to humans, there was even a small amount of horror she felt by Caim’s actions. He killed with no mercy and nearly indiscriminately. If he had not been convinced that Verdelet and the others were set against the Empire, he likely would have struck them down as well.

She was the only one aside from his sister and Inuart who was truly safe in his midst.

xxx

If she’d had the ability to change things, Caim’s partner often wondered if she would have. Her decisions, she’d decided early on, were not meant for mankind’s benefit. They were for her, and those considered to be like her. The exception was Caim. Originally it was reluctance. After all, if something happened to him… It was bound to end up badly for both. She had no intentions of dying before her time. And Caim… Well, he had spirit and not of the typical human kind.

As they traveled together, Caim grew on her. She viewed him differently than his comrades. She’d never known a human who held a hatred as great as hers. She had noticed from the very beginning that his tone was demanding. She had assumed that he saw himself as superior. All fool humans seemed to think they were.

She was fortunate, however, for Caim was not merely a fool human. His words were not simply an abundance of confidence. Based on skill alone, he was certainly someone to be wary of. While he was an incredible leader, he worked far better on his own or with her. They traded authority and worked well together. He relied on her senses, knowing they were more acute than his. She relied on his determination, the trait that ensured neither one would fall on the field. Caim was as close to a dragon in human flesh as she would get.

This was realized perhaps too late.

The leader of the Cult of the Watchers had been subdued. It was a young girl, one that if she’d not been a dragon, the partner might have felt sympathy for. Even with Seere’s explanation, however, it did not change what had happened. If it had only been her and Caim, his company would not have stopped him from killing the Watcher’s child. Verdelet was a sentimental fool, however, and likely thinking of Seere’s position as well. He had stopped Caim and likely had overlooked the apparent.

Humans were weak creatures by nature. Only by enduring pain did their strength increase. A child who was chosen by the Watchers to represent was hardly strong. She had opened herself to the idea. Her sorrow made way for subconscious desires. To be loved by anyone; it didn’t matter by whom. As long as she could be held and coddled. She saw her possession as love and attention. Therefore, she must have been happy.

To make matters worse, Caim was placed under orders to take this girl under his proverbial wings. He was to raise her, the way a parent did a child. He was to mold her into a respectable woman, one who would never repeat her mistakes. For it was because of her that he’d lost what was held dear to him. To the depths of Hell went his sister and likely his best friend. Did Verdelet really expect him to forget all of that? Caim was strong to begin with; he did not need these events to add to that strength. Instead, little by little, he broke apart.

And even though she knew it would not ease his mourning, the dragon offered herself in Furiae’s place. Even though it would leave Caim alone in his shattered state, she wanted him to live. She was strong, not weak like Furiae had been, or the previous goddess. It would take a great amount of power to sentence her to her death. Well aware of this, she found herself moved for the first time by a human.

Caim wept, some tears for him, some tears for her, and some tears for them. How he clung like a child, frightened of what waited in the dark.

“I have never seen you weep before. There is but one thing I wish for you to remember.”

“…”

“Angelus. My name is Angelus.”

“…”

“You are the first and the last of your kind to know my name. Farewell, fool human.”

And just like that, their pathways parted. For Caim’s sake, she hoped they would never need to see each other again.

xxx

The pain was great. It was the first time she had begged for death. Had Furiae felt this way as well? Had Furiae been forced to endure this tremendous burden? Angelus had never bothered to think of it from the perspective of the goddess. She had only seen and felt what Caim had felt. She had only known what Caim had known.

Would Caim protect her with the same ferocity that he protected Furiae? Would Caim love her with the same passion that he loved his sister? Caim had lost her to the world and its unfortunate events.

Angelus knew, however, that he would lose his partner as well. She had known one day or night—as they looked the same—that it was a simple thought that registered to her. She could not hear him. She could not sense him. And yet he was still alive, this much she knew. No matter how she called through the darkness, she could not obtain a response.

Had… he forsaken her?

Never!

The world only came to light when she had been freed from her prison. She knew not how it came to be. She knew not that it was the combined efforts of the Watcher’s child and her precious partner that had brought her from her confinement. She knew only the rage within her eyes, the price for being the Goddess of the Seal. The last stronghold for the world, threatened by the loss of the other seals, she was confronted by those who would do unto her death’s sweet embrace.

It wasn’t until she saw Caim again that she realized how badly she’d wanted to. She had parted ways with him believing that it would be far more beneficial for them to never again rest eyes upon each other. What pride she’d held. And how easily he caused hers to melt away.

“Caim! You heard my voice… You heard my voice, and tried to set me free… many times.”

“…”

“How the people must have turned against you… I did not know… I could not know…”

“…”

“I had waited so long… …so long to see you again…”

He had known of the pain she went through. He had journeyed so much to free her. He did care for her as he had Furiae. She would never doubt him again.

With all things in the world, there was no eternity. Caim had aged eighteen years, and yet he looked as ambitious as he had the day beneath the dreary sky in the courtyard. She could hear his pleas finally. For both of them to be put to rest. For both of them to bury their sorrow.

So when she fell, she harboured no ill will toward the Watcher’s second rebellion. And if she had, it was masked by her commitment to her partner, the only being who had proven himself as not a man, but as a dragon.

“Caim… Is it over?”

“It’s over. We’re together now.”

Fin