Chapter 30: The Emerald Draconis
Sam inhaled sharply and snapped his eyes open. He was staring up at what looked like a night sky, but the stars were much brighter, and there were swirls of colorful mist and weird geometric shapes that his mind was struggling to comprehend. He sat up and looked around, finding himself on the deck of a huge ship. His wounds were completely gone, and so were his clothes - he was sitting there butt naked.
"What the fuck..." he said as he rose to his feet. He looked over the edge of the ship, and gasped as he realized it was flying, the strange night sky above and a sea of white clouds below. The ship had a pair of green dragon wings extending from the sides, flapping to keep it afloat. He also noticed a huge metallic green dragon head mounted at the front of the ship.
"Where the fuck am I?" he cried out.
"Not quite dead, not quite alive!" came a voice from behind him. He spun around to find an old human woman standing there. She had wrinkled, dark brown skin, silver-purple eyes, and white hair pulled into a neat bun. She was clad in white robes that reminded Sam of what the Clerics wore back in Luminary’s Landing.
"Who... Who are you?" Sam asked.
"Someone who is a little bit here and a little bit there," she said with a big smile.
"I mean, like, your name..."
"You can call me Madam Verda!" she replied with another grin.
He then gestured to the space around him. "And where is this?"
"This fine vessel is the Emerald Draconis," she revealed. "One of the last great dragonships of Voloxia!"
"I don’t know that location..."
She nodded. "Oh yes, I wouldn’t expect you to. Knowledge of the Lost City of Voloxia has been, well, lost to most mortals for ages!"
Sam raised his eyebrows. "Wait, so you’re not a mortal?"
Verda laughed. "I’d hope not! No, dear, I’m a Spirit of Destiny. I’ve been here, watching over this ship, for over five thousand years."
"Where is here?" he asked.
"This is the Void Between Worlds," she revealed. "If you have found yourself here in my presence, it means your destiny has not yet concluded."
Sam raised his eyebrows. "Does that mean I get to go back?"
She nodded. "But not empty-handed!"
"What do you mean?"
"You are now the owner of the Emerald Draconis!" she revealed with a wide gesture of her arms.
"WHAT?!" he cried out. "You’re giving me your ship?"
She shook her head. "No, I’m giving you your ship. It was never mine. I was only watching over it until its true owner arrived to claim it."
"I’m not sure if I’m the person you’ve been waiting for," Sam suggested. "I think there has been some kind of mistake."
"Destiny makes no mistakes," she said firmly, crossing her arms. "You are here because this vessel is meant to be yours. And now that you are bound to it, it will respond to your call."
Sam just shrugged. "Okay, fine. I’ll accept it. What now?"
Verda pointed with her thumb towards the edge of the ship. "Up and over. Off you go, now."
"Wait, you want me to jump off?!" he cried out. "Are you crazy?! I’ll end up as just a splatter against whatever surface is below the clouds!"
"Nonsense," she said with a laugh, waving off his worries. "You don’t even have a real body here to be damaged! You’ll be fine!"
"I don’t know..." he said nervously.
Verda swiped her hand through the air, which caused the entire ship to suddenly spin upside down.
"What the - AAAAHHHHH!" he screamed out as he began falling straight down towards the white clouds. Verda was still standing on the ship as if her feet were stuck to the deck.
Sam fell through the clouds, his vision completely obscured. It felt like he was falling faster and faster, like a shooting star. He was flying at such intense speeds that he began to black out, eventually fading to darkness...
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And then Sam snapped his eyes open and inhaled sharply again. He was laying back in the courtyard, looking up at the shocked faces of Calista and Lazula.
"Oh my god - Sam!" Calista screamed out when he returned to life. She held him even tighter.
"Sam!" Lazula said too, wrapping herself around him as well.
Calista then quickly checked his wounds, finding them completely healed.
"We thought we’d lost you, kid," Koga said. Sam looked over and saw everyone there.
"I don’t know what happened! My healing wasn’t working, you didn’t have a pulse! We thought... We thought you were gone for good..." Calista explained, then began weeping anew.
"We were so distraught," added Lazula. "We are so grateful you’re still with us!"
Sam and his girls just held each other for a long moment, crying together.
"I’m glad you’re okay, dude," Marmalade said, giving Sam a fist bump. "Your friend Gabrielle here came to get us at the tavern."
Sam looked up at her. "Gabbie, thank you."
"I’d still like to know how the hell you came back after being dead," Gabbie asked. Sam explained everything to the group about Madam Verda and the Emerald Draconis.
"Check your stat book in your mind," Koga instructed.
"What, why?" Sam asked.
"Check it and tell me what it says for your name," Koga added.
Sam shrugged and did so.
Name: Sam Draconis
Race: Dracozian
Class: A-Rank Dragon Warlock
Specialization: Dragonfire Samurai
Current Mana Power Level: 57
Max Mana Power Level: 18,000
"Oh, weird," Sam said. "My name now says Sam Draconis, and my Max Power Level jumped to 18,000."
"Your last name must have changed because you bonded with the Emerald Draconis," Koga speculated. "I remember reading old legends talking about that happening with old dragonships."
"But why does my first name say just Sam now?" he wondered.
Koga shrugged. "Maybe you’ve subconsciously discarded your former identity as Prince Samreon."
Sam thought for a moment and then nodded. "So I guess Samreon Qhousalar truly did die and was replaced with Sam Draconis."
Suddenly, their attention was drawn to a group of new people arriving in the courtyard.
"What have you done to my son?!" Lucifer screamed out as he ran over and dropped to his knees in front of Ladarsa’s decapitated, burnt body. He then turned and glared at Sam.
Oooooh fuck!