The Dracomancer

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: WITHIN ENEMY LINES

Alex got there early, as he used to, but this time, he waited ten minutes before Felicia arrived. He was sure she had a good reason for being late, so he didn't complain. She had probably been healing someone or something.
"Hi, Alex. Sorry I'm late. I was busy healing Artemis. She was attacked, but she was able to defeat her attacker. She can take care of herself pretty well, considering her attack spells aren't as powerful as yours," Felicia stated, confirming what Alex had thought.
"I'm glad she's alright, but we need to find out where these attackers are coming from and put a stop to their endeavors," Alex said, realizing then that there was probably an encampment nearby.
"I agree. You should talk to Serena about it," she advised before kissing him.
"I'll do that tomorrow, before my lessons," he replied before returning the kiss.
"Good. I wish you luck," she responded.
"I'm pretty sure Serena will agree with me, once she's heard what I'll say," Alex stated.
"Come to think of it, she will definitely agree with you. She admitted that you're wiser than her, which says a lot. The queen named her acting leader for her wisdom," Felicia affirmed.
"Wow. I'm flattered, but I doubt I'm wiser than her," he responded.
"I've noticed it, too, and I'm sure the others have as well. Especially Artemis. She told me that she noticed your wisdom when she first met you. She approves of Serena's decision to put you in a ruling position once the war is settled," she told him.
"If I am wiser than Serena, then she is wise to put me in a ruling position, but I hardly consider myself fit to rule yet. I sense that I still have a lot of wisdom to attain."
"You can attain that wisdom when you become the ruler. However, you're the most fit to rule out of us."
"I guess you're right," Alex said, realizing that he was probably wiser than he was willing to admit. He also knew that someone would have to rule, and that she was probably right when she said that he was the most fit for it. He would accept the mantle of ruler, but he knew that he wasn't as wise as he would like to be. He would probably make a few mistakes, but he knew that he would learn from those mistakes, and become a better ruler because of them. "Thank you for your insight, Felicia," he said sincerely.
"You're welcome, Alex. I love you," she said, kissing him.
"I love you, too," he replied, returning the kiss.
"By the way, when the Dragon God wakes, you will be able to take on every dragon form, including Monarch Dragon form, but as I said before, Dragon God form is exponentially more powerful than Monarch Dragon form. Serena told me that you would be able to control it, so I'm almost looking forward to it waking," she stated.
"What makes Serena think that I'll be able to control it?" Alex asked.
"She mentioned that all of the ones who couldn't control it were corrupt, and that you're the least corrupt person she knows," Felicia answered.
"I hope she's right. From what I understand, absolute power corrupts, and the Dragon God basically has absolute power. I'm afraid of that power corrupting me, to be honest," he stated.
"There is that possibility, but we'll see what happens if it wakes," she replied.
"I don't know what I'll do with myself if it corrupts me, but if it corrupts me, I probably won't be able to do anything with myself. The Dragon God would take control of me, and probably use me to destroy every world in existence." Alex stated the truth of it. He knew that he would do his best to not let it corrupt him, but he also knew that even his best might not be good enough. Like Felicia had said, they would see what happened if it awakened. Only time would tell.

The next day, Alex held to his promise of the night before. He talked to Serena about what he thought about the infrequent attacks. Serena understood and agreed with him within a heartbeat. She told him to meet her in the study after his swordplay lessons. Somehow, Alex got the feeling that she was going to teach him a spell that would pinpoint the locations of all nearby enemies. If that was the case, Alex would be eager to learn this spell.
His swordplay lessons went much better today than they had the day before. Both Alex and Jaden made sure not to draw blood. Alex was glad that Jaden was making the effort.
After swordplay, Alex went to the study and found Serena dead for the second time. He revived her again, but he knew that it wasn't suicide this time. She thanked him when she came back, and told him that she had been attacked. He had already deduced that much, but said nothing about that. She then did what he had been expecting since that morning, but he had a feeling that she had been killed in an attempt to prevent this. He used the spell to find the attackers, and spotted their camp a few miles to the east. Serena then taught him a spell that would make him invisible so that he wouldn't be seen by them. He left the study to go on his mission, but Artemis stopped him briefly.
"Hey, Alex. I was attacked last night," she said, not knowing that he already knew.
"I know. Felicia told me last night. I'm on my way to do something about it right now," he said in a low tone.
"Oh. Good luck," she replied in an equally low tone.
"Thank you," he finished in the same low tone.
Alex arrived at the enemy camp and got ready to use his most powerful explosion spell. He had used the invisibility spell just before leaving the shrine, and was hoping it would hold up at least until he cast the explosion spell. He then used the explosion spell, but it only took out half of the camp. Seeing this, he hit the rest of the camp with a fire spell, then used a water spell to put the fire out once the camp had burned down. He didn't want the fire to spread to the shrine. After putting the fire out, he returned to the shrine, and told Serena that they wouldn't be bothered again.
"Good," she replied, satisfied by the news.
As Alex was leaving the study after giving Serena the mission report, he was approached by Felicia. He could tell that she was concerned about something, and had an idea of what it was. However, he would let her speak.
"I saw smoke a little way to the east earlier. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" She asked in a concerned tone.
"There was an enemy camp there," Alex answered, hinting at what had happened.
"Was? Someone burned it down?"
"That someone was me. I told you I would do something about it."
"Why did you burn it down, though?"
"I doubt they would have left if I had asked nicely."
"There were other ways you could have destroyed the camp," Felicia said, disturbed by the fact that he had used a fire spell.
"My explosion spell only took out half of the camp. I didn't want to reuse it," Alex responded.
"You could have flooded it out with a water spell, but you used combustion," she replied.
"I needed to drive a message in. I doubt flooding it would have done that," he stated. "Either way, they'll leave us alone, now," he added.
"I'm glad that you dealt with the problem, but the fire could have spread to here."
"I put it out with a water spell before it had the chance to spread. You worry too much."
"You could have died. I would have been very sad if you had. I love you. Please, don't go risking your life like that again."
"I love you, too. It won't happen again, I promise," Alex said, kissing Felicia. She returned the kiss and it became mutual. Somehow, he had a feeling that he would have to revive her again, sometime in the future. Only time would tell.