Bound At Heart

Complications

Their moment came to pass as another pressing matter came to Ilyana's mind. She cleared her throat, making Ronan flinch as he pulled away.

"Still," Ilyana began, "Nothing explains why you let that other dragon go."

"Right, I was about to mention that before-" Ronan cleared his throat, making Ilyana already click where he was going with that statement in mind and that made her cheeks reheat. He then proceeded again, "With what happened in the attack, things got very complicated. Turned out that the other dragon... it was Archimedes."

Ilyana's eyes widened. It would explain his eyes glowing purple out of nowhere in Ronan's past memories... sort of.

"He recognized me when I thought I completely lost my temper and when I heard his voice I, too, was completely shocked. It seemed that he was cursed as well. From what he tells me, it goes along the lines of something like this;

"Apparently he – within the same night as I was coming back home – he robbed from a nearby village that wasn't this one. I think it was yours, but that's beside the point – he told me that in the dead of night when I made camp, he was on the run from guards and used the forests as his cover. When he outran them, he heard my battle with the dragon through the dragon's screams and the moment I screamed when I twisted my arm. He recognized my screams and he ran to where I was. When he found me, the mother dragon already arrived and proclaimed her curse. The last thing he remembered doing was running up to me to push me away from her flames but that only caused him to get caught by them as well.

"His situation is more complicated... he barely remembers what he has done and to him, it was a blur. All he remembers was the feeling of being lost, afraid, angry – his soul being eaten away by a greater evil...

"Then came the part of his explanation that scared me the most. When I asked him more about his situation he looked at me and said, 'I regained semi-consciousness a few weeks ago, Ronan. I knew half-heartedly what I was doing but... I've never felt so empowered, so free... As if this new life, coincidentally, built itself to appeal to my needs... And I could do what I wanted. You saw those creatures, Ronan, I made them my minions! I did something that my father could never in a million lifetimes ever hope to achieve. Being in this body is merely a huge bonus... and I love it.'

"I've never heard of him speak that way in the entirety of the time I've spent with him. He was noble and honest, and never really wanted to make others perish just for his incentive. I told him all this and yet he still didn't come to terms with me, thought that I have always stayed the same and the powers I've acquired changed me instead of him."

Ilyana then interjected with a realization, "Then it must be his powers that are consuming him."

"I guess," Ronan patted a foot down repeatedly in anxiety. "I don't want to lose him though..."

"Then what do you propose?" Ilyana asked.

"He told me he shall acquire a place to sleep just on the outskirts of the valley. We both found the place together and I shall meet with him as much as I possibly can. I need to make him see that his motive isn't really his... I just don't know how..."

"Well, we both don't know what his true motive is, Ronan–" Ilyana saw Ronan shift when he heard his name. "Hey, you alright?"

"I'm sorry, just hearing my name come from your lips..."

"Should I stop?"

"No!" he answered quickly. He fumbled around with his words before saying, "I-It's just that to hear you say it... I don't know... I haven't really been called 'Ronan' in such a long time and to hear it again, coming from you... I never knew my name would sound so nice..."