Knowing that he couldn’t stop the next wave of arrows anymore, Alex turned around and hugged Abigail, shielding her again.
His lips landed on her forehead as a tear fell from his eye. “I’m sorry… I love you…” was all he could utter as his grip on her tightened. His body was rigid as he closed his eyes and prepared to die. He couldn’t feel his body anymore, but his heart was bleeding. All he wished right then was for Abigail to stay alive.
Alex closed his eyes, waiting for the arrows to pierce through him.
However, the arrows never came. Instead, he could feel a scorching heat wave coming from above them, and when he opened his eyes again, Alex could see that Lexus had burned all the arrows to ashes, along with part of the castle.
Lexus had come, but Alex couldn’t even feel glad as he looked at the dragon raging from above.
His eyes slowly fell on Abigail, and his heart filled with fear.
“A-Alex…” Abigail uttered as their eyes met. She had broken the spell by calling Lexus. Abigail smiled at him as blood began to flow slowly from the corner of her lips.
They both fell to their knees with Alex cradling Abigail in his arms.
“Are you okay?” she asked, reaching out to touch his face. Worry was written all over her face as she looked at him.
Alex couldn’t speak. His tears just fell silently as he looked at her. Abigail lifted her arms and hugged him tightly.
“Don’t cry,” she told him before she pulled away and looked at his face again. She caressed his face as gently as she could and pushed his hair away from his eyes. “I finally get to see your face again. I’ve missed you,” she whispered as she planted soft kisses on his lips and forehead.
And then she coughed, and blood came out of her lips. Her energy seemed to have left her, and her arms fell to her sides.
Alex trembled as he held her. His tears were flowing even more. He could tell that the witch queen didn’t lie when she said that breaking the spell forcefully could cost Abigail her life. Her heartbeat was weakening, and she was gasping for air.
Abigail was dying and, as if the dragon had sensed it, Lexus began to go berserk, flying around aimlessly and burning everything. It was as if, like Alex, he didn’t know what to do anymore, and he fell into a rage, destroying everything in his path.
Opening her eyes, Abi looked at Alex, and she weakly raised her hand to wipe Alex’s tears. He had become a broken statue, just trembling and crying silently as he held her in his arms.
Still, she smiled. That smile, his sunshine, was slowly dying. “Don’t… don’t leave me, please. Living without you will be like dying every day. Please, I can’t… I don’t think I can bear to be without you…”
Hearing his agonized voice, Abigail’s eyes watered as well. She knew how much he was hurting because she too couldn’t imagine living without him.
“I’m sorry…” she could only utter before her eyes fell on her beloved Lexus, raging like a monster from hell. She then looked at Alex again and smiled.
“Listen, Alex. I am the last dragon keeper,” she told him.
Dinah didn’t know this secret, but Abigail was the only female dragon keeper. All the previous dragon keepers in their family were male, and the male dragon keepers needed to have a son to become the successor. The successor could only come from the direct predecessor. The last keeper, Abi’s father, had failed to have a son. They thought the successor would change to another line or be gone forever, but to everyone’s surprise, Abigail had inherited it.
She didn’t tell Alex this, but that night she found him in the forest, Abigail had already envisioned Alexander’s destiny that he was the destined man to kill the last dragon and finally end the dragon era.
She grabbed his sword and let her blood drip on its blade before giving it to him.
“Kill Lexus, Alex, with this so that Lexus and I can die together. I don’t want to leave him all alone in this world. Without me, he will burn the world into ash. Kill him so he can finally rest, and so can I,” she told him. “Then… drink his blood, Alex. You will become invincible and become immortal.”
Alex couldn’t even speak. He was utterly devastated and broken.
Abi smiled again.
“It’s okay. Our tale will not end here. One day, our hearts will find each other again. No matter how long it takes, I will find my way back to you, at the right time and in the right place. So don’t cry. Smile for me so that next time, our story won’t end with sadness.”
Abigail didn’t tell him that whoever killed the dragon and drank its blood had to pay the price. The person’s mortal body will die, and he will become immortal. More than that, the memories from when they were mortal would be erased; they would be reborn again without any memories of his previous life. Abigail told him to drink the dragon’s blood because that was the only way for them to meet again. She knew that as long as the dragon’s blood was flowing in someone’s veins, one day, the last dragon keeper would be reborn.
“I love you. I will miss you, Alexander. Wait for me, my love.”
As Abi finally closed her eyes, Alex screamed in agony, calling out her name. But he wasn’t the only one who screamed in pain. A terrifying sound roared in the night sky, and Lexus went on a rampage like never before.
The beast had been let loose, and it was going to burn the world with his wrath.
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[Dear hellbounders, thank you for the prayers and understanding. I am alright but still unable to write. Please give me few more days.]
