27: Dragons

Jessica’s view

“Change of plans, time to head somewhere not even on the map.”

“That is on the map, it’s just a mountain.”

“Yeah, but it’s so completely unimportant that it doesn’t even have a name. Yet that’s where the soul of a dragon seems to be.”

“You actually managed to track down a soul after death?”

“I told you I was working on it, Sia.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t really think you’d succeed. I half expected you to somehow conjure up a revival spell that doesn’t even track down the soul.”

“... now that you mention it, that might be possible. I’d just have to exploit the existing conceptual connection…”

“I recognize that look. You found a problem, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. It’d only work if the soul wasn’t already bound to something else. This likely limits how long it can be since the target died. Since I’ve tracked this soul to somewhere in Demi, I can only assume it’s reincarnated or something.”

…

Well, we found a lake… with a dragon deep inside it. Thankfully, spells that make it easy to travel and breathe while underwater are no trouble for me. Thus the three of us, (Osia, Revenna, and I) paid a visit to the strange looking palace at the bottom of the lake.

What we found was a young, serpentine dragon. It spoke shortly after seeing us.

“Aren’t you too old to be here already? You’re older than I am!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I suppose I can’t expect you to remember your past life… except, you are too old. You’ve got the same soul as the one who slew me a few years ago. Obviously a different body, since humans don’t come here.”

“I’m sorry, you’ve completely lost me. Why are you talking about past lives and humans? Do you remember your past life?”

“Of course I remember. Dragons are immortal! Even if slain, we are just reborn, and we always remember. That’s why I’m so confused to see you here. It has only been a few years since I saw you last, and back then you were human in the human lands.”

“I see. That would make it easier to explain I suppose. Except for all the new questions I have. I guess I’ll start with something simple: I apologize for killing you. It was a foolish thing for me to have done.”

“Why are you apologizing for something you can’t even remember? Heck, why would you even believe me?”

“I believe you, because I remember. It was not a past life, but one I still live. For some reason, I am currently living as both a denizen of Demi, and a member of the human kingdom.”

The dragon’s eyes narrowed as they examined me. “Hmmm… you don’t show any signs of time acceleration. I suppose I’ll believe you for now. Normally I’d declare such a thing impossible, but it’s a better explanation than any other I can think of right now. Then, why are you here? It couldn’t just be to apologize, could it?”

“I had been thinking of trying to undo my mistake and revive you. It seems that was a bit foolish now.”

“Indeed. No such thing is needed. I suppose you’re the one responsible for that tracking spell then. I’d been wondering who cast such a ridiculous thing. If it’s you though… yes, the new demon king would be fitting as one who could do such a thing.”

“May I ask a few questions then?”

“Go ahead. Sate your curiosity. You demon kings are always curious.”

“If dragons are immortal, does that mean the extinction of dragons in Demi, is a lie?”

“No. As far as I can tell, I’m currently the only dragon living in Demi. When we die, we are reincarnated on the other side of the world. All souls go through that cycle. Dragons just don’t lose their memories, and have fewer requirements for being reborn.”

“... all souls in this world do? You mean that when a human dies, they are reborn in Demi, and when a demon dies, they are reborn as one of the humans?”

“That’s right. It’s why there’s so many wars between the two sides… at least, that’s how the first demon king explained it. They were literally waging war on humanity to increase the demon population. The second demon king had somehow become convinced that exterminating all humans could somehow end death itself. I’m pretty sure she was wrong about that. I stopped paying attention so I’m not sure what the other wars were over.”

...wtf? “Does this mean the number of souls and population of the world is fixed?”

“No. Sometimes new souls are brought in. It’s a pretty slow process though. Typically only about one new soul per year. Most are not granted any special powers and won’t remember their past lives, but every once in a while, one of the gods will give a blessing to a new soul, to encourage them to change things. I’m still not sure what the gods are trying to do.”

… While the conversation continued for a long long time after that, it wasn’t really anything important. Mostly just explaining my own situation, and convincing Osia and Revenna that it was okay to talk casually with a dragon, while the majority of my mental attention wandered off to contemplate what it meant that humans and demons were reincarnations of each other.

***Author Note***

Well, that finally gave me the necessary excuse to introduce an idea I’d had a long time ago: The cycle of souls going between the two sides of the world. I’m not quite sure where I’m actually going to go with that yet, but I don’t think the main character is the sort to just ignore this bit of information.