No matter how Ziel answered, Orthos got the impression that a fight was going to erupt again. Now that he thought of it, Ziel might be a descendant of the Monarch Emala. Before he could step in, Ziel spoke.
“Neither. I’ll show you. Her Path of the Last Oath is formed of several aspects in addition to force, most notably water.” He Forged a single green symbol over his palm. “See? Pure force. And the Rune Queen wouldn’t have horns like these.”
Ziel tapped his horns, then hesitated. “Unless she had a non-standard Goldsign with horns and she had it suppressed in the record I saw. In which case we’ll just fight, I guess.”
It was obvious the dragon wasn’t convinced; he looked like he wasn’t even listening to Ziel’s words, but was still deciding whether to launch another technique. But he stretched out his spiritual perception to scan the castle…or at least the portion of the castle still free from the seals of the Monarch of the Last Oath.
“We cannot come at the bidding of the Rune Queen,” Orthos said. “She’s dead.”
The dragon turned back to him. “I suppose I must believe you. I sense no other humans nearby. But that begs the question: what are the two of you doing here?”
Orthos knew he couldn’t say he was here to feed on black dragon Remnants, so he had come up with another excuse. “I have come to free my ancestors from their eternal torment. The human is an expert in the scripts of the Rune Queen, here to assist me.”
“Ancestors,” the dragon repeated. He slid around and examined Orthos from every angle, while Orthos tried not to show his anxiety. “…good,” the dragon said at last. “You’ve done us proud, turtle. When you advance, we will allow you to take on the form of a dragon.”
When Orthos advanced to Underlord, he had decided that his current form was the form of a dragon. But he kept that information to himself and dipped his chin to the Archlord.
Ziel hadn’t put away his hammer or shield, and while he still gave off a bored air, he was watching the dragon closely. The dragon, however, no longer seemed to mind. He drew himself up to his full length and looked down on the two of them.
“I am Helethshan, blood of the Midnight Fang, and I will accept you into my service. When we free the prince’s Remnant, you will be rewarded for your assistance.”
Orthos lowered himself to bow, but Ziel didn’t move an inch.
The dragon’s nose moved from one hallway to another. “This way. The Castle is my home, and though it is in ruins, I will guide us.”
Helethshan led the way, and Ziel looked a question at Orthos. Clearly, he was thinking about attacking the Archlord dragon from behind. Orthos frantically shook his head, though he was nervous even doing that.
What if the battle between Archlords leveled the castle? What if Helethshan’s knowledge was indispensable in finding or freeing the Herald Remnant?
More importantly, Orthos would not betray someone who hadn’t proved themselves to be an enemy. They had originally come here to take a Herald’s Remnant, yes. But they were really here for sufficient power on the Path of Black Flame to advance Orthos.
This was a highly advanced dragon on the same Path. He might be able to guide Orthos so that the Remnant wasn’t necessary.
They marched slowly, compared to what they were capable of, while keeping their perceptions extended and avoiding circles of silver script. After more than an hour, the dragon stopped at a grand door sealed within a script, similar to the one that had held all the human corpses.
“This one,” Helethshan said.
Ziel looked around. “This is the one with the Herald’s Remnant?”
“Open it, human, or I will assume you’re useless to me.”
Ziel didn’t react, but Orthos was sure he was about to attack. He slid in front of Ziel, blocking the view of Helethshan with his shell.
“We have to break it anyway,” Orthos said, as quietly as he was capable of. Not that it mattered how quietly he spoke; the Archlord could probably hear him from the other end of the castle, but this was more polite.
Ziel looked from Orthos to the dragon, then shrugged.
It took him longer to crack this script than the last one, although Orthos suspected he was taking his time to irritate Helethshan. Just before the dragon lost his patience, Ziel singled out one rune in the flow.
And, once again, he brought his hammer down precisely.
The script shattered, and Helethshan hardly waited. He flung the doors open with aura.
Within, Orthos didn’t see a single Remnant. He did see dozens of pairs of red circles, shining within the darkness.