Chapter 240: Mirror, Mirror

Seriously.

There were incessant voices in his head. Not one. Not two. But an entire crowd. And just like a packed concert, he could not even make sense of what he was hearing.

However, more than the ringing voices, there were all those strange sounds: gratings, breathing, pulses, something knocking, something thudding, something scraping against something else.

It was like his brain had turned into a crowded hallway.

But as if that was not enough, pain surged in.

It hit him like a tidal wave.

One moment, everything was still. Next, he was drowning. His lungs seized. His chest tightened. His body thrashed against sensations that really shouldn’t belong to just one person. Because it felt like sinking through quicksand while his nerves tried to drag him back upward.

“Ugh.”

He felt like he was being pulled in every direction at once. His body dragged. His senses yanked. And it was as if he were fighting against the impossible. As if he was dyi—

CRASH!

SPLASH!

“HA—!”

Riley bolted upright with a violent gasp, snapping from the void like a corpse that had just been possessed. His entire body jerked up so fast that his vision shook, but it cleared almost immediately.

Too immediately.

Everything sharpened at once. Every face. Every breath. Every shifting detail in the familiar room.

And that was how he most definitely saw the absolutely shocked faces of several people staring at him.

Directly by the door stood Kael.

Shellshocked.

Frozen.

Arms bent in a half-raised position like he was still carrying something, except the ceramic pot he had been holding was now on the floor in tragic, broken pieces. Water spread everywhere around his feet. That must have been the cause of the crash.

Next to him, a dragonling had somehow plastered himself against the wall like he had been flung there by a gust of panic. His wide eyes were locked on Riley with the expression of someone who had just witnessed a ghost.

Beside him stood Liam, still cute and soft, but unlike his usual smiling face, the child’s jaw was hanging open so low it could have caught flies.

But maybe what bothered the newly awoken aide the most was what sat on top of his little brother’s head.

A worm?

A fat, glossy black worm perched proudly on Liam’s head like it owned the entire house and had rented the child as a look-out tower.

Riley stared.

They all stared back.

He tilted his head.

Then the worm hissed in greeting.

Hissed? Since when did worms hiss?

Moreover, just what was wrong with everyone?

__

Everything.

Everything was wrong. Very, very wrong.

Just moments ago, Kael had been absolutely certain he had carried a bloodied Riley out of the archives along with that worm who kept directing him around without even bothering with a proper introduction.

Obviously, the dragon lord wanted answers. But he could not do much when he had practically seen red the moment he got a clear look at his twig’s injured body.

It was the odd, tiny thing that got him back on track, and it was also from its instructions that Kael had gone out to look for imbued water that Riley was allegedly going to need.

And Kael would like to believe he hadn’t taken so long, rushing back as fast as he could the moment he got what he needed.

So what was this?

Because honestly, who wouldn’t be shocked to see this?!

Because in front of the frozen golden dragon, sitting right on their bed, was a creature that should not exist. One he never imagined he would see with his own eyes, and yet somehow recognized down to the very marrow of his bones.

Those eyes.

Large, bright, emerald green, glowing like twin gems set into shadows. Far too intelligent for a newborn. Far too familiar for a stranger.

And Kael knew in his heart that they were familiar. But what he couldn’t make sense of was everything else that held up those eyes.

For he, with his impeccable vision, could definitely see what else was attached to those gems.

Black scales shimmered like polished onyx, catching the light in smooth, dark ripples that made the tiny creature look as if it had been carved from the night sky itself. Two small horns curled from the top of its head, still too soft to be fully formed. Its wings were tiny, half-unfurled, trembling like they were not yet used to the idea of supporting a body.

A short, chubby little tail wiggled behind it, tapping nervously against the blankets as it stared at Kael with a confused little frown, the scales along its cheeks shifting in what looked suspiciously like a pout.

Kael’s brain tried to process this.

Tried and failed.

His mind scrambled to make sense of what he was seeing as his entire body pounded like a giant nervous heart. His fingers twitched. His breath stuttered. His knees actually wobbled.

This could not be real.

This was not possible.

This was—

The creature blinked.

Then it tilted its tiny head.

And in that soft, bewildered voice Kael had memorized without ever admitting it, the creature said:

“Kael?”

Everything inside the mighty golden dragon stopped.

His eyes trembled.

He sucked in a breath so fast it whistled into his already struggling lungs and then stayed there, trapped, because he completely forgot how to exhale.

There was a sound. A tiny one. Almost a squeak.

Then the golden dragon lord swayed.

And without even the slightest attempt at maintaining his dignity, Kael fainted.

Lights out.

It was a sight to behold, and obviously, anyone in their right mind would have rushed forward to catch Kael before he crashed on the floor.

What if the floor got pulverized for having to break the fall of one Kael Dravaryn?

It was just that, surprisingly, the only person who lurched forward was Riley, who still felt like death was knocking politely but persistently on his door. He threw himself off the bed and shouted, “Kael!”

But instead of just one thud, there were two.

“Ow!”

Riley groaned against the sudden sting in his own side.

He had tried. Really. He had thrown himself off the bed with all the instinct and bravery of a long-suffering aide who had caught himself and others countless times before.

But instead of being able to rely on his long legs and relatively reactive reflexes to save the day, the weak twig actually toppled off the bed mid-lunge and landed with an undignified whimper, right as he saw Kael sprawled on the floor in front of him.

“Ugh.”

Riley pushed himself upright in a panic, wobbling on legs that felt unusually shaky. He ran over to Kael, heart pounding, and crouched beside him to shout for help.

“Kids, snap out of it and get help!” he began, only to freeze when he noticed something strange.

They were staring at him with absolute concern and confusion.

But more than that, they weren’t eye to eye.

No.

The children were staring down at him.

Down.

Riley blinked. Once. Twice.

Since when did Orien and Liam grow so tall? He always had to look down at them when he gave head pats. Now he was craning his neck like an elderly man checking a ceiling leak.

“???”

But he had no time to ponder sudden growth spurts or osteoporosis. Kael was still lying on the floor, so he snapped into action.

“Orien, Liam! Call the other adults! Tell them Kael fainted!” His voice was full of urgency and a little helplessness as he knew full well that he wouldn’t be able to run out in his condition.

However, much to his shock, the golden dragonling stared at him with a bewildered expression and said, “Who are you?”

“Orien! What are you talking about?!” Riley snapped back, leaning over Kael to check his breathing with his finger. “This is not the time to joke around. Kael needs to—”

His words stopped.

Because right under Kael’s nose were claws.

Like actual claws.

The bewildered rescuer froze, and his eyes fluttered ever so slowly as he followed the claws to the black, stubby paw they belonged to. Then to the unfamiliar black arm attached to that paw.

However, he could not see farther. Or maybe that was just his brain being unable to process what it was seeing.

So, acting on instinct and pure dread, Riley turned to the right, where he knew the mirror should be.

He looked.

Stared.

Then, like a delayed punch, reality hit him.

A scream ripped out of him with the force of someone possessed.

The children screamed with him.

The room filled with chaos, noise, and the kind of panic that could raise the dead.

And by the time even the dead were fully awakened, one ex-guardian stood atop the same fluffy head, silently wondering if he had actually made the right decision.

But it wasn’t like the supposed help was any better because one wor—err, snake, just ended up watching a slew of beings practically falling over themselves as they rushed in after hearing that death-defying scream.

Then again, he could tolerate it to this extent. After all, when would anyone ever get another chance to meet a living, breathing black dragon?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep