Fate of Mirithia [LitRPG, Isekai]

Meera watched with horror as the two dragon brothers showed up in the skies of Drurith. Leonel and his stone spears reacted immediately. Calls to battle rang throughout the city. Far off in the distance, she heard bells tolling, and she knew if they attacked, the brothers would retaliate, and they would be justified in doing so.

Leonel, who was barking orders to his men, was about to rush off to his death, as there was no fighting an archdragon.

"Get the ballistae ready," Leonel ordered. "We're not letting these lizards leave today."

"Stop!" Meera interjected. "Don't attack. They're with me."

But even as she said it, she knew she was too late, as a barrage of stones shot into the sky towards the dragons from all over the city. She hadn't expected the response from the stone spears to be this fast. Thankfully, the brothers rose higher into the air to avoid the bolts, which prevented any real damage, but Tigris wouldn't see it that way. If she knew him and she knew him, she doubted his transformation into an archdragon had simmered his anger. If anything, it had enflamed it. Any second, the dragons would rain hellfire on the city, reducing it to rubble once more.

"Meera!" Thundered Tigris from the heavens. "What is the meaning of this?"

Meera gripped Leonel by the collar. "Call off your men, if you don't want your city to be pulverized. That is an archdragon up there. No matter what weapons you might have, you cannot fight an archdragon."

One of the guards spoke with the bravado of an arrogant man. "We can still try. You don't know what we have."

Meera sighed in exasperation. She could feel the anger bubbling inside Tigris, and it was affecting her mood as well.

"You can't even fight me!" She retorted, dropping her veil, letting the full force of her wash over them. Her aura was enough for some of the soldiers to shirk away.

She looked Leonel in the eye. "All we want is a Gateway Mirror. Any will do. The sooner you can get me one, the sooner the dragons will be gone."

More bolts shot into the sky, and she knew she was running out of time.

"And for the love of all that you care for, stop your men." Meera was already taking to the air. "Just yell my name when you have one ready for me."

Thankfully, Leonel realized the gravity of Meera's words and nodded. That was confirmation enough for her. She blasted off into the sky, towards the archdragon, whose anger was just about to burst out and wash the city in flames. She could only imagine what sort of skills he had gained after his transformation. And she really did not want it to be unleashed on the city, whose people were screaming as they ran for protection. She hoped they were heading towards the underground city and safety.

She flew as fast as she could towards the dragons. Her mental link to Tigris guided the way. Not to mention, the dragon's shadow also helped.

But she was too late.

Flames burst from the sky, turning an entire neighborhood to ash. The column of fire was hot enough that she felt the heat all the way over here. It turned the cool morning into as hot as noon on a hot summer day, but that was not all. The worst thing was the screams that silenced all at once. As the flames withered away, Meera saw a blackened crater with the charred corpses of people who must've thought it was safe, now that the dragons were gone.

A ballista shot at the dragons once more, and the dragons responded in kind. The destruction was unparalleled. She couldn't take it anymore. She blasted towards the archdragon and arrived just in the nick of time, before he could unleash his fury once more. Tigris was ready to wash the entire city in flames. Fire danced around his maw. Meera put herself between him and the city.

"Tigris, stop!" She shouted.

"They dared to attack us," he roared. "They will pay the price of daring to think that they can raise their hand against a dragon."

"And what would you have done in their place. What would you have done when you saw the very same people that nearly reduced your home to ash, killed all your people, return? You would have acted in the same manner as they did. I told you to let me handle this. I nearly had it, but you couldn't wait for a few more minutes."

"How dare you talk to me like that?" Tigris thundered.

Meera had been biting her tongue for some time, holding back her anger. Now, she let it explode. Let the twin dragons feel her rage. Let her aura wash over the newly evolved archdragon and his brother. She was sure Tigris would be feeling it even more, given their connection.

"How dare I? How dare you? Who do you think you're talking to? I'm no longer the girl that you chased off into the forest. I made you into an archdragon, and if you keep attacking this city, I swear on my brother's life, I will unmake you." She retrieved her level 3 chakram. Its glow was unmatched even in daylight.

Tigris's chest began to glow red, and it travelled up his neck. She knew what was coming next, but he was the size of a small hill. His maneuverability would be slow, and she was sure her chakram would be enough to cut through even an archdragon's scales.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Brother, stop," Ignis said, stepping in the middle of them. "Meera speaks the truth. Humans have just cause to fear us. She has been true to her words so far. There is no reason she will lead us astray now. We will wait in the forest."

It took Tigris a long moment to calm down, but he did. It was good that even this rabid dog listened to someone, or this fight would've undone everything Meera had worked so hard for.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Meera pocketed her chakram.

Tigris's eyes lingered on her a moment longer before the two brothers departed. The ballistae calmed down. Though they did trail after the dragons until the sky over Drurith was clear. She waited patiently, but it wasn't long until she heard Leonel's voice.

"Meera! We have a Gateway Mirror for you."

Meera sighed in relief as she descended to the city. She immediately saw the raised column that held the mirror, along with Leonel. He stood alone with the Gateway Mirror. She knew what he would think of her. What the city would think of her after this, but she had no choice. All this was to find her brother. She had to find him, but when she saw the smoking husks of the people that Tigris had just burnt to death…the cost of each life for his brother's weighed heavily on her heart. And if she didn't need Tigris, she would've killed the archdragon, no matter what it took.

These worlds were changing her, forcing her to make decisions that would've made the old Meera disgusted with herself. Knowing that the Cosmarians were after his brother had forced her hand on too many occasions.

Leonel watched her with a mixture of anger and disappointment. "Your mirror." That was all he said, but his eyes spoke more than enough.

Meera landed beside the mirror. Placed a hand on the mirror and sighed. "I'm sorry, Leonel. It was not my intent to bring them here. I wanted to take this mirror and be gone before they arrived."

"If you want to give justification for your actions, then do that to the dead. Explain to them why you're working with their killers. Explain to the cowering people of my city why you're working with the very things that made it a sport to hunt them down. Made it a spot to bash their loved ones against the walls or drop them from high up in the sky and watch them plummet and shatter as if they were glass dolls."

Meera couldn't meet his gaze any longer. "I'm sorry…" She repeated.

She hung her head, picked up the Gateway Mirror, and flew off towards the forest. It didn't take her long to find the dragons. They weren't hard to miss. Meera wanted to chuck the mirror at the archdragon and be done with him, but he had made a deal with the devils and would have to see it through.

She held up the mirror. "Here, and I didn't even need to kill any innocents for it."

Tigris made a guttural sound, but she was past being scared of him. He held up his hand, and she set the mirror down on it.

"Put one hand on the mirror, girl, and think of the location that we're going to," Tigris asked.

Meera floated down to his palm, placed a hand on the mirror, and thought of the village, but immediately changed her mind. She didn't want this archdragon to unleash his fury on the sorceresses. So, she pictured the glacial wall to the south of it—the Pale Mantle.

It was far enough away that these two dragons would be hidden from the Frostweavers while simultaneously being away from the sorceresses. The untrustworthy sorceresses might as well be out of the fight, or maybe they should be in the fight, and the dragons could take care of them as well. But the evil crones were too smart for that.

She nodded to Tigris. "Ready. Just be ready for the extreme cold."

The brothers glanced at each other and snorted.

Tigris touched the Gateway Mirror with one of his massive claws and spoke an incantation in his language. His hand started to glow with an ethereal blue light.

"Move," Tigris ordered.

Meera took flight, moving away from the archdragon. Tigris turned his hand around, and the Gateway Mirror crashed to the forest floor. For a second, Meera was worried, but then she remembered that they were indestructible. Only someone with divine essence could shatter them. It quickly became an afterthought because of what Tigris did next.

He slashed his glowing hand in an arc, and the fabric of the world was ripped open. A jagged, shimmering white light that was almost too bright to look at, yet not so much as to be discomforting, shone in mid-air. Tigris took hold of the white light with both hands and pulled it apart with ease. On the other side, she saw the Pale Mantle, rising impossibly high into the sky.

"Go," Tigris ordered.

Meera shared a glance with Ignis, and neither of them wanted to be the first to step through.

"Once I step through here, this portal will close," Tigris growled. "So, get moving, it's wasting my Mana."

Ignis moved first, and Meera followed him. They crossed the threshold together. One moment, they were in the warm, almost soupy air of the Wiryar Forest, and the next, they were in the cold, frigid borderlands of the Varshan Empire.

A chill went through Meera's spine as she drew a deep breath. Ignis stared at the surroundings wide-eyed, his gaze affixed to the glacial wall that rose thousands upon thousands of feet into the air.

"Never saw an ice wall that high?" Meera asked.

Tigris stepped through before the king could answer, and he, too, was taken aback by the size of the glacier.

"Is this the wall that you want me to…"

"Oh, God no," Meera said. "No, this is the border of the natural world on Ealisto. I've been to the top, and it's all ice and snow…"

Then an idea struck her.

"There is a beast up there that Elrasil has deployed from time to time," Meera said. "It's called a Glacidrak. It can split itself into pieces and remake itself from the ice. I only managed to destroy one piece of it before I had to run. Do you think you could remove it from the battlefield before the real fight begins?"

"Why?" Tigris asked.

"Because it will come after us, eventually. Best to take care of it now, but if you think you can't, then that's fine."

Tigris growled, and smoke leaked from the sides of his mouth. "Say that again, and you and I will have that fight, after all."

Meera raised her hands in surrender. "Besides, it'll give you something to do while I go tell the Princess that I'm back. All you need to do is breathe some fire, and the Glacidrak will come running."

Ignis looked at her for a long moment. Then nodded. "Fine, we will hunt this beast. How will you find us?"

"Don't worry, I'll find you." She motioned to Tigris, then to herself. "We're connected, remember."

Tigris looked as happy about that statement as Meera felt.

"Happy hunting."