The three of them- Percy, Mamon and Tish had come up with a strategy. They weren't sure if it was a good strategy. But it was something that made them feel....less stupid.
Tish led the group, hands stretched. Her palms glew just enough to let them see a few feet forward of them in the dark without squinting.
The plan was simple. If anything attacked them - dragon or man, alive or dead- Tish would blast them with her holy magic. Mamon would protect her right and Percival would protect her left but it felt more like they were there just for moral support.
The both men had their swords drawn, they glinted faintly from Tish's holy light. "I think I saw something moving in the dark," Percival whispered to her left urgently. "Probably a bat," Mamon whispered back from her right, "There are other creatures here. We mustn't harm innocent animals."
Percival pauses, "My Prince, the shadow seemed to be the size of a man. If that is a bat, I'm slaying it- innocent or not."
"And they say women are dramatic!"
"Stop! Both of you!" Tish hissed, "Or I'll blast you two first and then the damn bat!"
"Saintess!"
Never in her life Tish had ever thought she would be so scared of a joyous tone. The holy magic in her hand flickered dangerously too bright. But she didn't blast the man before her- bless her control.
It was Saroth. He stood with an amused expression. His skin glistened with sweat. He was rinsing his hands with a rug, "Alas, Saintess, you've come too late. The Dragon Prince had already been treated. I have handed her back to the General."
Tish's throat felt too dry. "I must make haste and return to Partha," prompted the healer, "The King must be waiting to receive a report from me. And who would dare to keep a Dragon King waiting?" He giggled like it was something funny.
He threw in a hasty bow and started walking towards the exit. "S-Saroth," Tish stuttered, "How was it?" She asked hoping to get some assurance from the healer.
"Oh, it was a successful procedure ofcourse," Saroth beamed, "I could collect a lot of information. Not to mention I could use the same method I used to help him with his first transformation then, to help him fold back into his human method now," he shook his head, awed, "Is no sort of a miracle. Sometimes we just think too hard but the solution is too simple, am I right?" He didn't wait to get an answer. He was clearly in a hurry.
"I need to note down everything I've found so far," he prompted, "The capacity of a human mind is so prone to forgetting important details!"
"Wait!" Mamon called, his voice cracking, "What kind of healer leaves right after treating the patient? Won't you oversee his recovery?"
Saroth's eyes widened. He looked confused, "You must be joking, My Prince," his voice remained soft, "That thing is not a human being. Those are dragons. They'll no matter what you do to them."
He then smiled his same eery smile, "Well then, I'll be off."
And in minutes, it was back to three of them staring at nothing in the dark. Then they heard a shaky exhale. Someone murmuring in the dark. It's too loud to be a hallucination, too quiet to be threatenings.
"Must be the General," Percy said as if reading Tish's thoughts, "Let's go. If she's alive, it cannot be that unsafe."
The space somehow became colder and deeper as the three of them walked forward into a part of the cave which probably hadn't seen sunlight since the beginning of time. Neither Tish nor Percival had ever ventured so deep before despite spending a good part of their teenage years fooling around this area. Tish had to consciously make effort to make the holy light from her palms burn brighter. Yet, no matter how much power she poured, the cave kept hungrily eating away the light, leaving everything around them hardly visible. But atleast it was enough to keep walking without tripping in the dark.
The walls of the cave wasn't exactly black. They had various shades of charcol gray veined with mineral rust and ancient water stains. Stalactites hung above their heads- low and uneven- their pointed tips weeping out mineral tears- that dropped without having any care for proper rhythm.
The dry ground beneath them got replaced by shallow water, which barely came up to their ankles. The water was oddly warm- a striking contrast to the cold temperature of the cave's cavity.
They spotted Nayan first. Sitting in the mud and water in utter darkness, her back was turned to them. The very scene almost made Tish to drop her brave face and run for the exit.
"General?" Tish called. She tried to sound sharp but even to her own ears her voice sounded funny.
Nayan turned around, squinting her eyes at the holy light glowing from Tish's palms. She had dark streaks running down her cheeks that suspiciously looked like tear streaks,"I should have insisted on accompanying Rudra." Her voice sounded exhausted and raw.
Carefully, Tish walked around Nayan and came to a halt infront of her but she kept several feet distance between them
Tish's eyes dropped to the figure before Nayan.
The Dragon Prince was hardly recognisable.
Rudra was curled to his side, like an unborn child stays in the womb of his mother. "Rudra, get up," Nayan said, her hands hovering uselessly over his shoulder, "Do not scare me. Dragons do not die,"she said those words like a spell, "They cannot die so easily."
"What.....is this?" Tish managed to ask unable to make sense of it.
Nayan looked back at her, she looked at Tish with somewhat weariness, "What do you think?" She gestured around, "Saroth must have thought wounding a dragon mortally is the best way to force him to turn back human."
It was then Tish noticed. They weren't standing on shallow mineral waters.
They were standing on pool of blood.
Dragon's blood. Rudra's blood.