The Runaway's Hope (Part 7 - Finale)
Vola’s body felt different than before.
Her hand fell upon the core she’d used to kill the serpent, still lodged in Suviklarg’s windpipe. When she touched its surface, the soft orange glow appeared, a beating rhythm to match her heart. Vola’s eyes widened as light refracted through the constricting crystals. A confused hope filled her heart as Suviklarg’s memories overwhelmed her mind.
When she placed her other hand on the core, strange sensations shocked her body. The blood-filled cuts on her arms glowed as light pulsed from the core up her arms and through to the rest of her body. The slick acid burns covering her legs illuminated the surroundings with the power from the core. The light increased until it blinded her.
A new wave of shocking pain caused spasms to course through her body. The petrified flesh around the her shattered.
Vola pulled the core closer as if through mist. Thousands of cracking crystals doused her like a rainstorm. The crystals piercing her chest dissolved away. The dust fell as a suffocating blanket. The flood of her master’s memories subsided.
Not daring to let go to the glowing orb, she stood up. The serpent’s fangs holding her prisoner shattered across her back as she stood. She emerged and took a deep breath of the disgustingly wonderful volcanic air.
Vola felt the weight of the core resting in her hands. All of the stone remains of the deer had shattered away. An enormous, unpolished orange gemstone remained. New memories formed as she pondered the depths of the stone’s beauty.
Balancing the gemstone in one hand, she drew shapes in the air with the other. As a new light grew from the gemstone, power caressed her body.
She traced more complicated shapes in the air, the gemstone’s power at her disposal. It gently floated out of her hand. Both arms waved through the air, her fingers making new, more intricate patterns found in the transferred memories.
She rose from the serpent’s mouth. Her arms gestured into larger swaths through the air. The movements of her hands, wrists, and fingers felt like feathers bending the wind to her will. They moved with the grace of hundreds of years of practice. The glow from the gemstone enveloped her as ecstasy coursed through her body.
After a moment that ended too quickly, the glow faded and Vola slowly descended to the cavern’s floor. When she caught the gemstone in her hands, she knew the magical power it stored was gone, but the magic in her heart filled her soul.
Vola turned to see Suviklarg’s corpse continue to crumble to dust. She knew no core would be found in there. She was the last living thing in Suviklarg when he died. All of the power of the dragon was now within her. She was something new.
She inspected the rest of her body through the shredded rags that survived the acid. The dissolved skin was restored with no traces of the acid’s devastation. Her legs and arms were smooth and free from the countless cuts from the crystals that had almost crushed her. Even scars from the years of slaughtering familiars were gone. The taint of slain familiars no longer stained the light brown wool of her repaired robe. As she stared at her unstained hands, a long forgotten smile appeared.
She was free.
