Liam stood there not really knowing what to think.
'Overwhelming' that was the only thing he could think of.
When he first saw Aragon fighting against Yamaru the first time, they seemed to be on equal footing, no, Yamaru had slowly been getting the edge over him to the point that Immortal Flame had his scales broken off and his body covered in cuts and lacerations.
But the moment Aragon manifested his Sea of Soul in the real world. Everything flipped.
It was as though the very world itself was working in tandem with the dragon, giving him all the advantages while heavily suppressing his enemy. That kind of power… it was truly beyond him.
The sound of wings beating against the wind reached his ears. He looked up to see Aragon had returned to his original form. He noticed something else, the World of Everlasting Flames was fading away, slowly.
He looked towards the bonfire, his pupils trembling.
The bonfire that had stood over 10 meters tall just moments ago, now looked no different from the sparks of light one would find on a lit candle. The flame was dying out. He looked towards the celestial bodies that still stood in the skies.
Was that what happened to those ones as well?
What would happen when this one faded too?
Just then ground trembled and a large shadow hovered over him. Liam faced Aragon's overbearing body but he did not find it intimidating at all.
Aragon's once glimmering scales were now a dim almost bleached color several of which were cracked and most others broken off. The cavity in his chest now had a companion at his shoulder where blood continued to fall.
Liam's voice choked once again but when he looked into those draconic eyes he held back his tears.
"My time has come to finally leave this world" Aragon's words made it difficult for him to Liam to hold back his tears.
As the world returned to his natural state, Aragon was standing in the bowl-shaped crater his head being level with Liam who now stood at the mouth of the cave once more.
When the last of Aragon's world faded the entirety of the realm trembled. It could no longer endure the abuse it had gone through. Cracks began to open up swallowing large swarths of land in the distance.
Even the mountain that had managed to endure Aragon's outbursts before showed signs withering. A pebble fell onto Liam's shoulder.
Aragon raised a clawed palm towards him.
"Come"
Liam stepped onto the dragon's palm. Aragon shot into the air once more. He flew into the skies and as he did so the world around them seemed to collapse. Cracks filled the skies, making it resemble a canvas of shattered glass.
RUMBLE!
Below them the mountain finally crumbled and collapsed.
"What it happening?" Liam asked.
"The battle pushed this realm beyond its limits" Aragon replied.
"W-where are we going?" Liam asked once more. He wanted to know where the dragon was taking him but at the same time, he just wanted to hear Aragon's voice. He knew their time together was slowly coming to an end. There was so much he wanted to know, so much he could learn.
A smile formed at Aragon's mouth. He seemed to have seen through his intentions but he didn't mind.
Instead, he entertained them. He too felt reluctant to part ways with this successor of his.
"The location where you fell through the void. It was around here. It will be the location where you start off your return journey"
"I see"
Home.
Truthfully Liam had never really thought much about home. As a matter of fact he didn't even know how much time had passed since he woke up but if he had to guess it would probably be about a day.
"So much has happened in such a short time it almost feels like a dream" he muttered
Aragon laughed.
"One of the mysteries of life is that you can never tell where it is going. Even Seers have moments where their visions of the future fail them"
"Seers are real?" Liam asked in slight wonder.
"Yes, though rare. The one I knew even warned me that I would be betrayed and imprisoned…ha ha ha, but I was too powerful and arrogant back then. I even encouraged them to come"
Liam laughed through the tears in his eyes. That sounded like something he would do.
"We are here" Aragon's words finally snapped Liam out of his thoughts.
His heart became heavy once more.
"This is it huh" Liam struggled to get the words out of his mouth.
"And so it is"
The two, man and dragon stood looking towards each other- around them the world continued to fall apart. Their gazes alone expressing what words could not.
"Don't disappoint me" Aragon said with a smile.
Liam merely nodded. Not trusting his own voice.
"Good" with the last of his will he wrapped Liam in a small orange sphere before he lifted him up into the air and right into a crack in the sky that formed one of the rifts in the air. "While it won't take you directly to where you came from you can rest assured that it will take you to your world"
Liam pressed a palm against the sphere. As it got further and further away and as Aragon's figure became smaller and more distant"
"Thank you for everything master"
The world that been Aragon's prison seemed to disappear. Soon it was replaced with nothing but silence and darkness. He was back in the void. Except unlike before he was fully conscious this time.
He sat down. His eyelids getting heavy. The fatigue from everything he had experienced finally catching up to him.
Like that a human boy who had attained the blood of Aragon, Overlord of the Immortal Flame fell asleep in the depths of empty space.
End of volume 1: The Forgotten Flame