Shadow Slave

Kai poured more tea into his cup, then cradled it in his hands and looked away. He remained silent for a bit, then continued the ominous story:

"After many weeks of battles and bloodshed, the Warmongers were pushed back, and my centuria was recalled back to the Ivory City, to rest and recuperate from the hardships of war. We were met by a jubilant crowd that showered us with rose petals and sang our names… my name, too, louder than all the rest. Ah, what a beautiful sight it was! Victorious, we returned home, and everything was well. For a while, we enjoyed the beauty of the city and the warm company of our fellow citizens."

He took a sip, then shook his head slightly.

"The more I explored the beautiful Ivory City, the more elated I was by its prosperity and its harmonious way of life. It seemed as though people there were all content and happy, treating others with sincere kindness, love, and respect. It was as though they didn't have a care in the world… and there was a reason for that. The people of the Ivory City could live this way, and be this way, because they were protected by the mighty dragon, Sevirax, a true descendant of Sun God. Their lord and protector."

The young man shivered, then added in a hoarse voice:

"The dragon protected them, provided for them, and guided them with his wisdom. It was because of him that the Ivory City was safe, sound, prosperous, and welcoming. Why its citizens were so kind and happy. This… was a paradise of his creation."

Kai took a sip of tea and smiled sadly.

"...Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Ah, but it was. I was just too slow to see it."

He remained silent for a bit, then let out a long sigh.

"At first, I only felt it. A slight, vague… wrongness. As if something was off with these kind, happy, beautiful people. As if there was something hidden behind their sincere smiles. I dismissed it, thinking that it was just my prejudice speaking. A mindset that I brought with me from the waking world. But the more time I spent with them… the more strange details I started to notice. And soon, a harrowing suspicion took hold of my heart."

Kai looked at them, his face growing dark.

"...A suspicion that there was madness hidden deep in their lustrous eyes. The same madness that the Warmongers were infected with, albeit of a different shade. I had never… had never felt as disturbed and afraid as when that thought first entered my mind. I was so afraid, in fact, that for a few days, I closed my eyes to the truth and pretended that nothing was wrong. But the suspicion kept gnawing on my heart, and so, I decided to investigate. It wasn't hard to confirm it."

A bitter grimace contorted his hideous face.

dragon. Its people were indeed protected and provided for by the dragon. In return, the dragon only asked for

teacup, almost

"...To feed him."

gritted his teeth for a moment,

sacrifices had to be made to him every month, from the ranks of the citizens. And the kind, warm people of the Ivory City… were more than happy to provide. Ecstatic, even. Being devoured by the dragon was considered to be a sacred honor, and

grew silent,

who had to be fed to him. But the people of the Ivory City wanted above all else to please the dragon, and so, they always chose the best and the brightest. The most beautiful, the most talented, the most innocent, the most desirable. And there we were, young heroes who had just returned from a triumphant war. The month was up, and so, they chose me and six of my most brave and

Kai smiled bitterly.

Parents surrendering their children to death with zealous smiles, husbands sending their wives into the dragon's maw with wild joy, friends and neighbors singing and laughing as they led their fellow humans to be eaten by a hungry beast. Only little children did not share in their glee… they cried when their mothers, fathers, brothers, and

then put his cup down and looked

what is a paradise built on blood worth? …Worthless. It's worthless. And even if

silent for a

wings. The dragon landed in front of the cliff, as majestic and fearsome as he was in the legends. A great beast with beautiful ivory scales, and radiant golden eyes that were full of

she couldn't bear

you survive?! Why didn't the dragon's flames

smile appeared on Kai's disfigured

Oh… that was simple, really. When Sevirax appeared, I broke my chains and shielded my comrades, ready to defend them until my last breath. Seeing this, the dragon…

slowly disappeared, replaced by an expression of anger,

Ivory Lord. One of the Hope's eternal shackles, a Transcendent whose Transformation Ability allows him to turn into a dragon. He is a human… or at least was a human once, a

The young man sighed.

spoke, and what he told me… it broke me, a little, I think. You see, I had it all wrong. The dragon… he had never once asked the people of the Ivory City to sacrifice anyone, or anything, to him. They had invented the story themselves, and chose the number of the victims themselves, and started bringing him

Kai shook his head.

someone whom they could see, and whom they could strive to become. And so, he rarely appeared in his Transcendent form before them. But as centuries passed, he noticed that people were disturbed by his human face, and were only at peace when he came as a dragon. As if they needed him to be something else… something greater than them. And

lingered for a few