Chapter 6: Snakes
Han read many books on Dark Arts and Dragons over the past week.
He learned more than he expected and felt confident enough to craft his first spell. First, the Dark Arts have two important basics: corrupted mana and magic circles.
Han was born with dark mana and had committed to Dark Cauldron Art, so that was no problem. Magic Circles were easy to learn. Han drew heavily on established circles and invented his own. Whenever he felt his mana stir, he knew he had gotten it right.
He folded a piece of paper and hurled it toward the trash can. His vision wavered and blurred for a moment, and he missed it, exhausted.
I’ve been doing nothing but learning and absorbing her essence. I should slow down and maybe try some physical activity to improve my dragon body.
Peeling himself away from his desk, Han stood up and walked to his bed. He dropped face-first onto the bed; he didn’t know how to hide his wings. Just wishing they would retract into his back didn’t work. He had been sleeping on his stomach for days.
Once he shut his eyes, however, a dragon’s howl resounded in his mind. It startled him.
I can’t open my eyes?
Darkness seemed to have swallowed him whole. Then a crimson light swept past him. Turning, Han saw the crimson essence he’d absorbed from his captive. It was huge. He put it inside himself and let his Dark Flames continue burning it. Its enlarged presence here meant he had entered his subconscious.
A dragon’s howl resounded again.
It’s coming from somewhere deeper...
Han had read about the subconscious in books on Dark Arts and Dragons. He wasn’t surprised to be here, but his dragon bloodline roaring with such certainty was unexpected. He followed the roars until he found himself in a different, dark space. Here, he saw two veins, one crimson and one black, throbbing in the darkness. Snakes coiled around those veins. At the veins’ base lay discarded snake skins and a few decapitated snake parts.
What’s the meaning of this? Is it something like dragons evolving from snakes?
At this thought, Han’s bloodline erupted. A wave of howls went through him, licking the hair at the back of his head.
Okay, I’m wrong. Don’t get mad at me. Whatever you are.
Walking toward the snakes, Han picked up a mauled, discarded body part. He felt an unknown mana stemming from its flesh and blood.
It’s not my dark mana or hers. It’s completely foreign dark mana in me.
Han narrowed his eyes. Foreign mana within him didn’t spell anything good. He felt hostile thoughts rise, ones his family would despise. He looked up at the snakes scaling the black and red veins.
Let’s test my spell here.
His mana stirred. A circle of dark flames about the size of his chest coalesced in front of him. Within that circle was an image of an Eastern Dragon.
Come out, Dark Dragon.
A dragon’s head with long horns and a wide jaw peeked out from the flames before its entire snake-like body slid out of the circle. The Dark Dragon coiled around Han and settled its head close to his right shoulder, recognizing its master. Its horns lit with dark flames, its eyes reflecting a dragon’s pride.
Devour those snakes!
A howl from his dragon and from deep within his bloodline swept through his subconscious. All the white snakes perched on the veins looked at Han. Their forked tongues flicked as they hissed at his Dark Dragon rushing toward them. It devoured one snake.
Shit...
But the others used that opening to bite into the Dark Dragon’s long body, clamping down and devouring it.
Han’s mana vanished as soon as it took the form of the Dark Dragon. Then the backlash hit him and threw him out of his subconscious.
He woke in his bed, sweaty and pale, his face twisted with anger. He didn’t realize he had nearly lost all his mana in this short exchange and could have lost his life as well. He lifted himself up, but quickly plopped down onto the sheets.
The Dark Dragon works. I’m just too weak for it to handle those snakes. But for me to have snakes of foreign mana over my dragon veins... it means someone sealed my mana! An expert whose spells eluded my parents’ notice... a fucking bastard I must find and murder.
In that moment, Han realized the truth.
Han wasn’t born crippled.
He had been made crippled.
His Dragon’s Pride injected a bit of adrenaline and strength into him. He pulled himself away from his bed and walked over to the room where his captive was locked. On his way, he bumped into the corridor walls several times, steadying himself like a drunk.
He didn’t care. Ten minutes later, he barged into the captive’s room and dragged himself to her bed. It was strange for him to come this late since he stuck to his schedule for extracting her mana.
"What? You’ve come to fuck me?" she asked, then swallowed the words as Han looked drained and powerless, not his usual self.
He leaned on the bed frame and looked at her. "I hear enough from you every day."
She scoffed.
"You’re undoubtedly a part of the underworld. How much influence do you have?" Han asked.
"Enough for your bitch mother to hunt me down!"
"Good," Han said with a nod. "I’m going to ask you a lot of questions now. Don’t make this harder, and I might take you out of here soon."