The Dragon's Kiss

The term 'long walk' wasn't quite adequate to describe the lengthy ascent from the depths of Subterra to the Serin Empire's surface.

With heaps of unfinished business left in the eerie orange caverns below, Kel wondered what sort of shirkish energy compelled her to continue placing her foot on the next step in a series of continuous echoing taps.

tap

Lila's body, long forgotten in one of the side caverns.

tap

Soren, clinging to life like a disgusting cockroach, left to his own devices somewhere in the crowd.

tap

The cult-like pleas of the Suterrans, brainwashed from centuries of isolation.

tap

The answers to the strange fiery blood flowing through her veins that she thought she'd never find.

tap

Lucy, injured and leaning against Thane as they watched the floor below them melt into complete chaos.

tap

The emperor's mysterious oath, supposedly made long ago, utterly shattered.

tap

The undeniable guilt that in all the misfortune swelling below, she had played a key role.

..tap

When she could take the heavy silence no more, Kel paused.

"What will happen now?" she asked quietly, her head low.

The emperor, two steps in front of her, stopped at the sound of her voice, but offered no reply. Instead, after a few moments of awkward quiet, it was Roland who spoke up.

"The soldiers will take care of it, Princess," the knight's voice floated up from behind her. "There are more divisions waiting to handle things on the surface as well."

There was more than enough room for the three of them to walk side by side on the broad staircase, but somehow they ended up in a single file line, each person unwilling to stand next to the person directly in front of them.

"... the surface? Why?" Kel asked, resuming her tapping when she saw that the emperor had continued climbing.

"The sudden infiltration of such a vast society, known to very few until now, stirred a lot of interest," Roland explained.

"I see," Kel responded, not really 'seeing' at all.

The emperor didn't seem like the type of person to allow the attraction of unwanted attention unless compelled by unavoidable circumstances. And she had no idea what those circumstances could have possibly been in this case.

After several more minutes of tapping, Roland spoke again, this time in a low voice that Kel knew was meant just for her.

"That's just how these people are, Princess," he said. "You can't expect a group of nearly mindless drones, existing for one sole purpose, to listen to reason."

"Mm," Kel acknowledged curtly.

It seemed Roland was trying to cheer her up after her failed speech. His words were true, but for some reason, they didn't make her feel any better.

With the conversation officially extinguished by Roland's unfortunate consolation attempt, the three marched on without further exchanges until they reached the top of the stairs.

Using her hand to protect her eyes from the blinding winter sun as they emerged, Kel finally understood why the emperor's invasion of Subterra had caused such a stir.

Large sections of stonework had been pulled out of the ground to reveal the underground staircase--sections that had one been part of the busiest street in the capital city.

Her eyes refusing to adjust to the sunlight, Kel squinted and blinked, whipping her head around as she tried to get an idea of the scene around her. For the most part, there were only more rows of Serin soldiers, but in the distance, she glimpsed both horse-drawn and foot traffic being directed away from the gaping pit.

Seeing as members of The Yellow Marguerite had slipped in and out of Subterra far less conspicuously, Kel had to wonder if such a big commotion was really necessary for the emperor's invasion?

"A bit inconvenient," came Roland's timely explanation, "but I heard this is the best way to get multiple people down there quickly."

Right.

The emperor must have sent Thane, Lucy and the other members of his secret guard down other passages while intimidating lines of his soldiers marched down the wide stairs.

"Please follow me, Princess," another soldier Kel didn't recognize appeared in front of her, bowing politely.

"Ah…," Kel glanced toward the emperor, who had been immediately busied by his subordinates when they emerged.

"Alright, then."

Soon after that, Kel found herself back at the palace, seated in the emperor's study.

The unnamed soldier had escorted her the entire way, making happy small talk to himself while she followed quietly. At first, his chatter reminded her of Thane, which immediately plunged her thoughts back down to the situation in Subterra. An unpleasant feeling she couldn't quite describe occupied her mind for the rest of the trip.

Suddenly, the door to the study creaked open.

"Ira!" Kel jumped from her seat, instantly recognizing the arriver.

The spectacled man gave her a sarcastic smirk before slamming a stack of papers down on his desk.

"I have news," he reported nonchalantly, adjusting his glasses.

"So fast?" Kel gulped. If news reached this place shortly after she did, it probably wasn't anything good.

"Fast?" Ira chuckled. "I was told you've been here for several hours already."

Hours? Had it been so long?

Kel glanced toward the window and saw that the sun was already half sunk below the horizon. The entire afternoon must have been sucked away by her anxiety.

"A-Anyway," she shook her head, "What is the news?"

"Hmmph," Ira crossed his arms. "Well, aside from the decades-premature road construction started on main street and sudden revelation of a secret ancient civilization-"

"What about the Subterrans?" Kel interrupted.

Soren rolled his eyes.

"The Subterrans? Nothing particularly noteworthy, there," he remarked bitterly. "I suppose those people will continue to live as they always have.. under the watchful eyes of the emperor now."

Kel fell back into her seat, her muscles softening from the rigid apprehension they'd been held in all day.

"So they surrendered," she murmured.

"If that's what you want to call it," Ira shrugged. "I mean, the emperor took their leader, warned them to play nice, stationed a few guards, and then left."

"He found Soren, then?" Kel asked. "No, Soren is still alive, then?"

"Ahem, if you mean the leader of the Yellow Marguerite, he is in chains right now, probably on his way to some dark and smelly dungeon."

So it's over now, Kel let out a sigh of relief.

The Subterrans were still alive, living in their caves. Soren was also still alive- wait. Come to think of it..

"Has anything really changed from before all this then?" Kel wondered aloud.

"That's what I've been saying!!" Ira shouted. "All this time, manpower, money and resources spent on nothing! All we got out of this big show was you!"

"Me?" Kel stopped listening as Ira continued venting about the emperor wasting money and misusing his army, causing several divisions to be late to their redeployment in active war zones.

Is the emperor satisfied with this outcome? she questioned. When the only thing he truly achieved from all that is... me?