Chapter 35: Northern Wind’s Eagle Guard (Part Six)
Alger was blindfolded, winding through twists and turns in the passageway.
When the cloth was removed, he stood before a cavernous expanse, with the red dragoing atop a massive ro the ter, eyes half-closed as if dozing.
The bugbear shoved Alger forward, f him to kneel before bowing respectfully, saying, “Master, I’ve brought the human.”
The dragon zily opes eyes and casually said, “Well done. You may go now.”
Alger could feel the sulfuric heat from the dragon’s breath.
“Yes, Master.”
The bugbear withdrew respectfully.
Struggling to rise from the ground, Alger gritted his teeth and decred, “Wretched dragon, whatever scheme you have, I won’t let you succeed—not even if it means my death!”
He shut his eyes, standing tall, prepared to face the dragon’s wrath.
Whether he would be met with searing fmes or razor-sharp cws, he was fearless.
But to his surprise, the dragon’s tone wasn’t angry; it merely asked, “Why did Brad La send you here?”
Alger kept his eyes closed, refusing to answer.
Alger’s rea, coupled with the timing, Cassius deduced the mission’s purpose: the infamously brutal “Tiefling Camp Massacre” of his previous life.
Hundreds of Eagle Guards would scour the area, sughtering any Tiefling they entered, sparing no one—young or old, burning the site and obliterating all witnesses.
The operation was meant to be swift and .
Unfortunately for them, they entered the Ember .
Eyeing Alger’s silence, Cassius mogly asked, “Alger Yoman, do you know how your parents died?”
At this, Alger’s expression shifted drastically, as a hidden wound was ripped open. He couldn’t help but open his eyes and shout:
“That’s impossible!”
“How do you know?!”
The dragon unhurriedly replied, “You don’t o know how I know—just aruthfully.”
Cassius repeated:
“So tell me, how did your parents die?”
“They were…”
Alger didn’t notice the faint red glow flickering in the dragon’s pupils—nor the same light refleg in his own eyes.
“They were sacrificed to devils by those damiefling scum!”
His eyes turned red as he recalled the traumatic memories, his voice seething with hatred.
Cassius indifferently asked, “And who told you that?”
“It was…it was…the Duke.”
“Then why is it, I know otherwise?”
“What do you know?”
“I know that your beloved Duke, in his quest for eternal life, in his desire to bee an undead bloodsucker, sacrificed thousands from the city…among them—”
Cassius paused.
“—were your parents.”
The dragon loomed over him, like a demon from hell, weaving words that chipped away at Alger’s mind.
“No…no, that’s impossible!”
“You’re lying!”
Alger’s voice shook with desperation.
But Cassius’s persistent questions forced him to front the terrifying possibility—that his beor, his godfather, his Duke, was also his greatest enemy.
Cassius pressed on, spreading his wings to cast a shadow er, gazing down at him:
“Think carefully. Has your beloved Duke ever left his fortress?”
“Has he ever stood in the sunlight, outside the shadows—even while delivering his noble speeches?”
“With your keen senses, have you ever heard the cries of victims from the La fortress’s backyard, or smelled the stench of blood mixed in the soil?”
“When you sughtered is, did you realize they would be sacrificial s for the Duke’s quest for immortality?”
Cassius’s words triggered images of bzing fires, g children, and mothers clutg their babies fshing before Alger’s eyes.
“No, no, I didn’t…”
“I didn’t.”
Alger staggered back, shaking his head.
His mind was reeling, his head throbbing, memories once blurred now painfully clear, as though all the pieces fit this horrifying truth.
“No…”
“You’re lying, trying to manipute me.”
“I refuse to believe you, the Duke…”
Alger sank to the ground, mumbling, his eyes clouded with shadows.
After a long silence, crity returned briefly to his eyes, aammered, “Dragon!”
“What…what did you do to me?”
Cassius looked down at him coldly, replying, “Just a little trick to help you accept the truth.”
“Besides, after all you’ve done, do you think you’re in any position to call me a ‘wretched dragon’?”
“No, I don’t believe it.”
“This must be part of your scheme!”
“You’re deceiving me, aren’t you? You bewitched me! I…I won’t believe your lies.”
“Your tricks mean nothing against the loyalty of the Northern Wind Eagle Guard!”
Alger forced himself to his feet, trying to suppress the terrifying thoughts, but his denials sounded hollow and desperate.
“I have no reason to deceive you.”
“And…you’ll see for yourself soon enough.”
Cassius didn’t argue further; he merely y back down, calling the bugbear at the door.
“Take him back to the dungeon.”
“Yes, Master.”
Three burly bugbears approached, dragging the struggling Alger away.
As they lifted him to carry him out, he tio shout, voice choked with anger.
“Dragon, you won’t fool me!”
“You’ll never she Duke!”
“You’re in league with devils!”
Years of loyalty training had instilled an unbreakable sense of duty; he was just one of the family’s bdes, a on without morality.
His task was simply to execute orders.
That’s what his old instructor used to say.
And so, as a dutiful Eagle Guard, Alger had learo clear his mind, refusing to think abht , habitually deceiving himself—especially during massacres, especially when fag defenseless refugees.
But now, for once, Alger found himself questioning it all.
And now that he had begun to question, his defenses showed cracks—just a little more, and they’d crumble entirely.
Cassius had achieved his goal.
