There was darkness in front of Archibald. However, the darkness wasn’t surrounding him. To his sides, he saw the tower, and behind him, his siblings were lining up. As Archibald scrambled to his feet, he saw his father flicker in and out of the place of the darkness.
His father took a step forward. Archibald stumbled away instinctually, and his father reached out to grab him.
Then he heard Sutsugua’s voice call out, “Survive.”
His father melted away, and the darkness and the tower melted away, until all he could see was a bright light staining his vision.
When he opened his eyes, Archibald was blinded by uncanny lights. Bolting his eyelids shut with his hands, he cried out. He caught the tower ward’s smell of old bandages, and hearing footsteps approach, he half-opened one of his eyes. In front of him was the vague outline of a girl.
“Archibald!” she said, “You’re awake. What’s wrong?”
He recognised the voice: Ylvia Greystone. As she grabbed his arm, he spurted out, “The lights... so bright... my eyes hurt.”
She ran off and soon returned with a man. “So it’s the lights?” he said, “Let me examine him.”
The man ripped Archibald’s hands away, prying open one of his eyes. Through his screams, the man prodded Archibald’s pupil, and finally let go of the boy to let him squirm in discomfort and pain.
“His eyes are severely lacking in melanin,” the man said, “They’re nearly white.”
“Lady Greystone,” Archibald murmured. Archibald stopped his squirming, feeling the cold metal beneath him freeze his skin as he rolled. He continued, muttering, “Who is that... man?”
“Address her as Your Majesty,” the man said.
Greystone shot back, “Do not reprimand this boy. He might’ve saved the whole country,” and she said to Archibald, “He’s a nurse from the tower where you lived.”
At Archibald’s panic, she said, “He wants to help you and your siblings. He volunteered to take care of you kids while you’re healing.”
“I didn’t recognise him without his armour,” Archibald groaned.
“Your Majesty, he’s showing symptoms similar to demons. We don’t know much about this situation, but if the eye-witness reports show anything, this might relate to the boy’s father. His other siblings are showing similar signs, and with the reports that their father was creating demons, he may have found a way after using them for experiments.”
“He was...” Archibald muttered, “...turning us into demons.”
With the attention of the two there, he explained what had happened to them.
“I... had to kill him,” Archibald finished, breaking into tears that had to squeeze through his determinedly closed eyes.
Greystone turned to the nurse, asking, “So, is there any way to put him back to how he was before?”
“Most likely, he’ll heal with time,” the nurse said, “But there’s a risk of someone else taking the role his father had. Someone needs to take care of him.”
“Sutsugua...” Archibald said.
“The dragon?” Greystone asked, and he nodded.
After tediously following Archibald’s blind directions, they brought him to the cave and found Sutsugua. “Archibald?” the dragon said, “What happened? Did you found that person creating demons?”
“He’s...” Archibald said quietly, his head drooping, “He’s dead.”
After they talked for a while, the nurse spoke up. “Sutsugua?” he said, “We wanted to ask if you could take care of Archibald while he’s healing. He’s vulnerable to anyone with too much willpower right now, so he needs to avoid being commanded by anyone. That means you wouldn’t be allowed to speak draconic or even phrase a sentence like a command.”
“I can do that,” Sutsugua said, “Archibald, do you wanna go see the world together? If there are any other dragons, we could find them.”
“Wait!” Archibald said, “What about my siblings?”
“Well,” the nurse said, “Your ‘siblings’ aren’t related to you. But, we’re taking care of the last six of them. I’m sorry to say that most have died. Their wills weren’t strong enough, and they lost all brain activity, effectively becoming braindead.”
“But those six, they’ll be okay?”
“Of course.”
Archibald climbed onto Sutsugua’s back and gripped tightly to the scales. “Tell Peter...” he shouted down to the nurse, “...tell him I’m sorry. For not believing him.”
“He’s been comatose since your father’s death,” the nurse said, “But as soon as he wakes up, I’ll make sure he knows.”
“How many are in comas?”
“Of those six still alive, five are comatose,” the nurse replied clinically, “Though Veronica is conscious.”
Archibald’s head shot up. “Can I talk to her?”
Lady Greystone and the nurse made their way back to the tower ward, and when they returned Veronica was with them.
“Archie!” she cried, and ran to him. Without question, she climbed the dragon, embracing her younger brother in a hug. “Archie, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Archibald said.
“I’m sorry, Archie. I couldn’t protect you from Father. I’m so sorry, I left you to face him on your own.”
“Veronica,” Archibald murmured, “It’s okay. He’s-”
The words were caught in his throat, but he managed to drive them out, saying, “He’s gone. He’s not coming back.”
“Archie, I should have been there for you. I haven’t been able to protect you ever since the battle at Interitus Praestatur. Archie, have you been okay? I’m sorry. I’m—”
“It’s okay, Veronica,” he said, “I’m okay. Please take care of our siblings when I’m gone.”
Veronica nodded, and stepped down from the dragon. She cleared the way, and the dragon broke off into a run, sprinting down the cave and finally leaping into the air. Wind rushing past them tried to pull Archibald’s eyes open, but he clenched them shut lest the light burn his eyes.
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With time, his eyes returned to a pale tan, but they never quite went back to normal. He could only ever open his eyes on particularly cloudy days. On one of those days, he and Sutsugua had found their way to a remote village. As Sutsugua searched the surrounding areas for some sign of another dragon, Archibald chatted with the locals.
“It’s been... three years now since me and Sutsugua set off,” he explained.
“And flying doesn’t scare you?”
“Well, I just close my eyes and pretend I’m on the ground,” Archibald started, “Really, it’s quite relax-”
From the corner of his eye, Archibald saw a family of two, a young boy and his father walking side by side. Archibald faltered. A vision of him and his own father stopped him in place.
“I miss you, Father,” he muttered under his breath.
“What?” the villagers asked, and Archibald regathered himself.
“I should be going,” he said.
“What about your siblings?” a villager asked, “I heard you were one of the stolen children.”
Archibald still couldn’t outrun that rumour, even after his father’s death. “I haven’t seen any of my siblings since I set off with Sutsugua.”
As Archibald said the name, Sutsugua came flying around and landed beside him. “The mountains around here are clear,” Sutsugua said, leaning down to Archibald, “Where do you wanna go next?”
“Let’s go north.”
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It may be unusual for a boy to reach adulthood on the back of a dragon, soaring through the air, but Archibald hadn’t met up with any of his brothers or sisters to check, so he couldn’t be sure. And for him, he couldn’t imagine any other life.
No, Archibald never got that classic life. His eyes were pale and burned if he even faced near the sun, and his twelve hundred siblings were all either dead or finding their own way after their father’s death. Despite that, he still felt free. Free to choose where to go. Free to listen to whoever he chose and free to disobey anyone else. Free to make his own decisions.
And this is what he decided: he decided he wouldn’t be caught again. He wouldn’t listen blindly to anyone ever again, or defend someone so corrupt, or listen with his heart instead of his mind. That’s what he decided.
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and then Add to home screen.