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The voice replied, ‘Open your eyes, my love. You will know who I am.’

Valerian did not know why, but he felt an inexplicable trust in this voice. He opened his eyes slowly and found himself standing in a field covered with lush green grass. This place was exactly the same as the clearing where he found the carcass of the dragon.

He turned to look around but did not see anyone, the anticipation in his silver eyes was replaced with a strong disappointment. Just when he was about to give things up, he heard the same mellow voice, “I did not expect you to look forward to meeting me so much, child.”

Then followed by the warmth of the voice, Valerian sensed the warmth envelope him. He was very happy, this warmth was similar to when Diligentia would hug him.

The boy opened his mouth wanting to talk but suddenly realized that he could not. He heard the warm voice again, “Do not worry, how can I not understand your thoughts?”

The embrace loosened and Valerian felt himself turning around. He saw a beautiful lady, dressed in a light pink gown, her long silver hair laying over her back like a shawl of night, her eyes were silver, slender features, and a genial smile covering her lips.

Valerian was in a daze to watch her and the expression was well reciprocated. The woman touched his face with the tip of her finger and she said, “Val, you look like your father when he was your age.”

The boy was stunned and he asked in his mind, ‘Did you two know each other for so long, Mum?’

.....

He did not find it awkward to call this lady mum, it was like an instinct. His address also made the lady smile brightly. She hugged him closer to her bosom and said, “Yes, my child. I knew him ever since he was your age.”

The boy hugged her tightly as well. After a few minutes, they separated, Flos sat on the grass and beckoned the child to come close to her. As Valerian walked close, the woman carefully guided him to sit on her lap.

Flos said, “You must have a lot of questions, right?”

Valerian nodded and asked, ‘How come you are here? Am I dreaming?’

Flos smiled and caressed his head, “No, and yes. The real me has left the world. What you see, is a projection of my soul. I left this projection inside the pendant around your neck. It was triggered when you approached Senium.”

‘Senium?’, asked the boy.

Flos took in a deep breath and said, “Senium was my dragon companion. The Queen of Dragons.”

This simple statement made Valerian dazed. He could not believe that this gentle woman had a dragon companion. Flos was amused by his expression, she said, “Do you want to meet Senium?”

Valerian gulped and asked, ‘Can I really meet?’

Flos nodded and said, “Who in the world would not want to meet you, my sweetheart?”

Valerian heard her words and snuggled close to her. He did not know why he was feeling shy when his mother complimented him like that.

Suddenly, he heard a majestic ethereal voice in his head, ‘He is just like you imagined him to be, Flos.’

He raised his head and found a huge creature staring at him with a pair of gray eyes, with vertical pupils. A gray dragon, head like that of a lizard, two big curly horns protruding from the temples. Four legs that were as thick as old oak trees, with five talons each. A long tail and two strong flesh wings curled close to the body, yet they looked so majestic.

The whole body was covered with gray scales, from the top of the tail to the root of the horns. Valerian had no words to explain how to describe what he was feeling at this moment.

Flos said, “What do you think, Val? Is she scary?”

‘No, she is so beautiful.’, his response shocked the two presences.

Flos had never seen anyone, even her own husband never said that Senium was a beautiful dragon. She said, “Sweety, do you know, what is the special attribute of Senium’s magic?”

Valerian cast a gaze at his mother and shook his head. The woman smiled while caressing his head and said, “She has the power of Decay. Her magic can leave entire cities in ruins. When she was alive, people took her name as a dreadful thing.”

Valerian shook his head and said, ‘The world may not know your beauty but does it matter what irrelevant people think of you? They all judge what they do not understand, Mother Diligentia used to say that I am not cursed but blessed, I cannot cry, I cannot speak, that makes me less vulnerable to be tainted by the mud of this mundane world.

Are you not the same, Your Majesty?’

Flos and Senium were once again shocked, the dragon asked, ‘Why do you address me like that?’

Valerian replied, ‘Mum said you are the queen of dragons. A queen must be greeted like that.’

Flos smiled gently at him and Senium said, ‘Valerian Divinus Magnus, you are the third human who has called me by my true address, I do not have anything to give but I bless you with my power of decay. May you command it at will, and may those who look down on you suffer the wrath of Decay.’

Valerian did not know why but at this moment, he sensed a momentary chill. Flos caressed his head and the conversation between the three continued.

...

Outside, Valerian was still standing holding the pendant in front of him, but the giant carcass of Senium was being eroded by the winds.

The eroded bones turned into fine sparkling dust, and this dust did not fly away, but it all gradually gathered over Valerian’s body, slowly seeping deep inside his body.

Gleam, had woken up from her epiphany and this sight had left her in shock, she could not explain how this human child was able to absorb the skeleton of the dragon. But she could tell that it was not simple.

...

Inside the realm of projection, Flos said, “My love, it is time for mum to leave you, again. I am sorry.”

Valerian, who had been smiling constantly suddenly froze, he could not bear the feeling of his mother leaving. He raised his hands and touched her face, he kept looking at her.

Flos did not say anything, she could tell that his heart was being torn up at this moment, he was trying his best to remember her features.

Valerian asked with a pitiful expression, ‘Mum, will I ever see you again?’

Flos wanted to say a lot of things, but his innocent question left her speechless. She mustered up the courage and said, “My love, I do not know if you can see me ever again or not, but as long as you love me. I will stay inside your heart, forever, flowing through you.

As long as you remember me in your deeds, I will be there with you. Do not worry, soon, you will have a companion of your own. All you need is patience, my child.”

Valerian said, ‘I want to cry, but I cannot. Can you tell me why?’

Flos pecked his forehead and said, “That is because...”

She did not get to finish her words when her body began to turn translucent. She raised her head to look at her son and said, “My love, my time has come to an end, however, believe me, you will find the answer in the future. I love you, baby. I love you the most.”

Valerian could tell that she will vanish at any time and said, ‘I love you too mum. I love you the most. You take care of yourself. I will wait to see you again, even if it takes forever.’

His words were a reflection of not his intellect, but his innocence. He has craved the presence of his parents more than anything in his life. Today he experienced how it felt to sit in his mother’s lap. How it felt to have her caress your head ever so gently.

This feeling was strong enough to make him almost forget the cruelty of this life. The projection of Flos leaned in close after she held his face and with her fading presence she kissed him on the forehead, and then before Valerian could say anything, Flos vanished.

The boy sat on his spot lost in a daze, a gentle nudge woke him up from the side. Valerian turned around and found that it was Gleam, looking at him with golden eyes. The snake has gained a lot of things from this opportunity, she asked, ‘What happened just now?’

Valerian thought for a long time about how to reply to her, then he said, ‘I received a blessing.’