Chapter 143: New Life
The glowing scale inside the lantern came from the deceased dragon before them.
It lay on the ground in a peaceful posture, as if merely asleep rather than reduced to bones.
Wade wasn’t even the size of one of the dragon’s teeth, appearing insignificantly small before this creature, like a mere grain of rice.
How had it died?
Wade reached out to touch the dragon bones, imagining what this dragon must have looked like when alive.
If it had spread its wings to fly, the entire land would have been cast in shadow.
This plaza was likely built by the Silver Moon Elves for the dragon.
Those elves had guarded this plaza, preventing anyone from disturbing the dragon’s slumber.
Wade suddenly recalled Old York’s legend – when the Fairy Dragon slept, the Silver Moon Elves would sing songs and use pure water to nourish the glowing grove of the temple.
In the past, this might have been a lush green woodland.
The moon reflected on the tranquil lake as the Fairy Dragon slept upon ground covered with glowing moss, its scales pulsing faintly with each breath.
Wade wanted to examine the bones more closely. He took the scale from the lantern and held it in his palm.
As the light flickered weakly, he suddenly heard the sound of metallic scales clinking.
The scale vibrated in his hand, resonating somehow with the scattered dragon scales buried in the earth after accompanying Wade for nearly half a year.
A dense chorus of sounds arose as scales across the ground trembled like thousands of wind chimes ringing simultaneously.
The sudden commotion startled Mia into retreating completely into her seed pouch, the little ghost hiding entirely within that small pocket.
Wade too was startled – could these bones still retain something that could be called “life”?
Beneath his feet, the dragon scales all lit up, instantly illuminating the plaza center.
The hundreds-meter-long dragon skeleton was revealed before Wade.
Those empty eye sockets seemed to stare directly at him.
After the scales lit up, the skeleton itself began glowing.
Wade’s first instinct was to flee – he wasn’t prepared to communicate face-to-face with a mythical Fairy Dragon, even if only its remains.
He turned and ran, his entire skeleton squad rushing toward the exit with the ladder at the front left.
With the plaza illuminated, he could see the path clearly without the scale’s light.
Pausing briefly, he threw the scale away.
In that moment, his heart ached with reluctance.
This scale had accompanied him for so long – back when he wandered alone through the wasteland, finding this strange scale at the edge of ruins.
Memories remained vivid of sitting in the sand many days ago, fiddling with bones and leather to craft a bone shovel.
This scale had helped dig his first small homes, served as Wade’s shovel and water bowl for moss irrigation, then later hung in his study providing light after it began glowing.
The scale had helped him tremendously, accompanying him through much time.
A man inevitably grows attached to items used for so long.
Like the iron sword an adventurer carries as a novice – though it becomes increasingly useless as one grows stronger, worn and dulled, one still can’t bear to discard or sell it.
In the darkest nights when you had nothing, only gripping that iron sword brought any sense of security.
So even when unused, you’d hang it in your room.
Wade felt the same about this scale.
He’d planned to keep it forever, with no intention to modify it further.
But today’s events were unexpected – he’d never imagined the scale could trigger such phenomena.
Was it because it emitted light?
Countless scales littered the ground, yet only this one absorbed the glowing moss’s magic to shine.
That moss capable of gathering magic was indeed connected to the Fairy Dragon – after all, the Silver Moon Elves had irrigated it with blood to preserve it.
Wade hurled the scale into the distance, bidding farewell to his old companion.
Yet something unexpected happened again.
The scale hovered midair, pausing half a meter from Wade.
Faint lights from the bones and scales rose like stars, converging from all directions into the thrown scale.
A dragon’s phantom appeared briefly upon the scale, its moonbeam-pure form indescribable.
The vision lasted but a moment before the strange phenomena ceased.
Darkness returned. Turning, Wade saw only the scale floating midair, shining brighter than before with rhythmic pulsations.
Wade froze – he actually sensed life emanating from the scale.
It floated slowly toward Wade, as if knowing his location, descending before his eyes.
Wade reached out and caught the descending scale.
The bones showed no signs of revival – all lights had vanished.
The only change was Wade’s scale, which seemed to have gained consciousness, becoming a living thing.
An incredibly faint life essence emanated from it – weaker than a mosquito’s, barely qualifying as life at all.
Moreover, this essence felt unstable, as if it might dissipate any moment into lifelessness.
Wade faced two choices: leave the scale here, or take it back to the glowing moss room where it first lit up, possibly stabilizing this essence.
After hesitation, he placed the scale in his satchel and climbed toward the exit.
Leaving it might be the wiser choice to avoid trouble.
Yet when the scale floated toward him, it felt like it recognized him.
A lifeform, at its most vulnerable, had sought his help.
Having used it for digging, carrying water, and lighting, perhaps it remembering Wade made sense.
Myth portrayed Fairy Dragons not as evil, but as benevolent beings who sheltered entire races to prosperity. If this scale could restore the dragon’s life, would that be so bad?
Thus Wade swiftly returned underground with the scale, placing it among the moss cluster.
Magic flowed into it, stabilizing its essence as the moss pulsed with light, as if expressing gratitude.