The Devil's Cursed Witch

Aureus had a sumptuous meal inside the guest room, finding himself enjoying the food tailored to the taste of a shapeshifter like him. While he ate, Erlos used that time to befriend him, telling him about various facts about the people of Agartha. Listening to Erlos make idle talk about Agartha and its residents, the young eagle started to look forward to exploring the kingdom where his mother grew up.

"Would you like to stroll around the palace?" Erlos offered him after he finished his food.

"Sure!" Aureus agreed immediately as he didn't want to simply stay sitting inside the room.

At first, he was not expecting much, merely agreeing for the sake of having something to pass the time. However, the more he saw, the more impressed he became.

The Divine Eagle could not help but find himself awed by the sight around him. Elves, shapeshifters, fairies, and witches. The palace servants he saw along the way were all non-humans, and he could see some of them using their elemental magic on the simplest tasks, like dusting furniture or watering plants.

And the palace itself...

It wasn't that the building was more extravagant than the Royal Palace of Megaris--it was that the architecture of the palace itself spoke of a design so ancient, one couldn't find an intact building like it in any of the current human kingdoms. Not to mention, even the simplest items and articles littered around the palace boasted of great history hundreds if not thousands of years old.

The garden in particular was a work of art, a perfect representation of the beauty and wildness in nature, and Erlos took that chance to brag about it being the combined effort of the fairies and elves working in the palace.

"You say you come from a human kingdom called Megaris, right? Do they treat supernatural beings the same as before?" Erlos asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You ought to know. Witchhunts and the like?" Erlos said. "There is a reason why our kind chose to isolate ourselves from greedy humans."

"Can't say if it is the same because nobody is aware of my existence. Only the King of Megaris and his knight knows about my existence. People think I am an ordinary bird."

"Hmm! But the King of Megaris is a supernatural being. Does he hide the fact that he has magic?"

"No. In fact, many people have seen him use his powers."

Erlos was surprised. "How do they treat their king then? All I know is humans hate everything supernatural."

"They don't know the true form of the King, only that he is extraordinary and blessed by the Black Dragon--"

"Black Dragon? Wait, wait, stop. I think I misheard. You said Black Dragon?"

"You heard right. The Black Dragon is the god said to be protecting the Ivanov Royal Family."

"There is only one Black Dragon, and that is my king, King Draven Aramis. Do those humans worship our king as a god?" Erlos asked, his voice still thick with surprise. In his head, he could not help but imagine a statue of the cold-faced Draven clad in ceremonial robes while having priests burning incense for him. He shivered, but as for the reason why, nobody knew.

"They don't actually worship it outside of the temple, but it is used as a symbol of the power of the king. I don't know how it happened but maybe they must have heard something about the Black Dragon centuries ago..."

Erlos had a thoughtful look. "Hmm. That can be possible. Or maybe Sire visited that part of the continent in the early days? Maybe I should ask...oh well, for those humans to treat their king equal to the Black Dragon shows the might and authority of your king."

"I believe there is probably a more personal reason. Megaris is one of the oldest kingdoms on the continent. I don't think the founder of the Ivanov Royal Family would make it a symbol of the king if there wasn't a strong connection between the two."

"Maybe you are right. I hope we will get to know it." Erlos then changed the subject. "By the way, what race does the King of Megaris belong to? From what I heard, the scouts got scared of him. He ought to be a divine beast..."

"A Red Dragon, to be exact."

Erlos' eyes widened. He never expected that there would be another Dragon other than Draven Aramis. His curiosity peaked. "How was Dragon born in a human family? Wait, if it's only one of his parents, hmm, shouldn't that make him half-human?"

"Not sure. I don't think this is something we should be talking about." Aureus didn't reveal that Drayce was not King Theron Ivanov's real child.

"Oh, pardon me!" was all Erlos said and didn't ask more about the matter. He could only let his imagination run wild, guessing about whether the King of Megaris was adopted or whether his mother had an affair.

The two felt comfortable talking to each other.

For Aureus, he never had anyone close who was of his age, the only person he could confide in before being only Lady Tyra.

Meanwhile, Erlos was such a chatterbox that most of his peers grew numb to him, often avoiding being pulled into a conversation with him. Isa was not counted, because the two would always argue whenever they had a chance. Besides, since the elf had been working in the palace, he was often following the heartless Draven around.

As such, the two youths enjoyed talking to each other about their respective kingdoms, and their exchange was not something awkward.

"Can I ask you something?" Erlos asked as they stopped on top of the palace wall. At that height, they could see the river flowing outside the palace that marked the borders of the Forest of the Elves.

Aureus watched the river as he replied, "Yes?"

"You came across that Black Witch. Is she really that powerful?" Erlos asked. "I heard that it's not easy to deal with her."

Aureus briefly closed his eyes. "She truly is. My divine powers were useless in front of her strong spells. I couldn't even land an attack on her, much less harm her. But then again, she is the first and only Black Witch I have fought with so I do not have anyone to compare how powerful she is."

"I heard about her from Sire before," Erlos admitted. "She is someone who has escaped the forces of Agartha."

"Then that means she is truly powerful."

"Black magic practitioners like her grow stronger through the sacrifice of blood. That is why black magic is the nemesis of nature. Many decades had passed, and though she must have cultivated her magic as a witch, there is a higher chance she had an additional source that makes her powers strong."

"Source?"

"Yes, something that will amplify the effects of her spell. I have read a lot of books here, and among them, there were books about Black Witches and their powers. According to them, during the previous wars against humans, the powers of Black Witches are unimaginably strong because they used the lives of the people as sources to boost their spells."

Aureus listened intently; afterall, he was never educated about the history of the supernatural beings given he was raised among humans.

Erlos continued, "I also discovered then that for black magic practitioners, the greatest source to make their black magic stronger was divine power. That was why during wartime, they often target divine beasts to use them as sources. I heard you telling Sire that the Black Witch wanted to capture you and the Queen of Megaris. Maybe this is the reason?"

Erlos' conclusion made sense to Aureus. "No wonder she desperately wanted to capture me and Seren."

'Seren?' Erlos was startled to hear Aureus call the Queen of Magaris by her name so naturally. "Are you close to the Queen of Megaris?"

Aureus paused for a while due to his slip of the tongue.

Was he close to Seren? They were close, but rather than friendship, their relationship was as master and pet. He didn't know if that relationship would remain the same once she found out that he was a shapeshifter.

Chances were, once she saw him in his human form, she would definitely distance herself from him, thinking of him as another man. It made Aureus feel bad inside.

Erlos observed his changing expressions and understood things were not simple as they seemed.

Aureus got back to his senses and asked, "How do they use that divine power source to make their spells stronger?"

"They use the blood as a medium. Think of it like a bonfire: the fire is the spell and the wood is the source. To grow the fire, you add more wood.

"It is difficult to get hold of the precious blood of a divine beast, so as much as they could, they would capture a source to have a steady supply of blood they can draw as per their need, keeping it barely alive so that it's weak enough to be unable to escape.