Chapter Four: Galatemple

## Summary

Cyrus and Emrys argue, but they're going to need to get Galatine sooner or later, and they're running out of time.

## Story

Emrys explained his idea to me.

“So what you’re saying is that you know where the mythical sword- Galatine- that’s hidden in the Ethian Ruins is?’ I repeated, “And you think we’re going to be able to get past all of the traps hidden in that place? It’s a mythical sword for heaven's sake!”

“Yeah? You have a problem with that?” Emrys asked.

“I mean, I don’t know if the sword will be as easy to access as you think.” I laughed.

“Oh, I see what this is.” Emrys laughed bitterly, “You just want *me* to do all of the work here, while you just watch, entertained, as I fight all of the shadowmonsters that might attack us?”

“I thought you were just “dropping me off.”” my eyebrows raised high.

Ermys snarled, “Well, change of plans. Morgana invaded my cave, so I hold a grudge. Also, she’s probably tracking me by the minute, so I think it’s better if I-” Emrys coughed, “Stay with you.”

“*Really*?” I smiled, amused.

I couldn’t help myself.

“Do NOT get on a high-horse. But you may be… useful… after you retrieve the sword.”

“Useful?” I asked.

“Well, you see, no offense, but you are nothing to me.” Emrys stated, “Think of yourself as a hunting dog, assisting a most talented hunter who had the best weapons in the world. You *could* potentially actually do something good, though I can handle everything myself just fine.”

“That was a horrible metaphor.” I laughed, “Also, you repeated the word ‘hunt’ too many times.”

“Did I?” Emrys asked sourly.

Incredibly sharp and pointy nodes grew out of Emrys’ back.

“OW!” I cried, as one cut me, “Okay, fine you’re ***so right***. Just remove those from your back!”

Emrys let out a soft chortle as he withdrew the sharp scales from his back.

“Bast\*rd.” I muttered.

Emrys ignored that

We teleported again, and I tested something out.

I held my hand in front of Emrys’ eyes, and used my magic to create a blinding flash. *YES! My magic was back!*

I just wanted to annoy him, and did not think about the consequences of shining bright light in front of his eyes. I saw his eyes scrunch closed, watery, and we lost balance around the air, falling to our doom.

“AAHHHHHh!” I shrieked.

Emrys flapped his wing, making us fly up, centimeters before we hit the ground.

“WHAT THE H\*LL IS WRONG WITH YOU, BOY?!” he cried.

“Sorry. That one’s on me. Just seeing if I had my magic back.” I blushed.

“Idiot!” he grunted.

“What?” I shouted, defensively, hands up to my heart.

I realized I wasn’t steady on his back with my hands up, and quickly put them back around his horns.

“First of all, blinding your ride? While you were on me tens of thousands of meters above the land? Horrible idea!” Emrys criticized.

“Hey!” I interjected, “I said I was sorry!”

“First of all, “sorry” won’t help your stupidity.” Emrys replied, “And second of all, you don’t “run out of magic.””

I raised an eyebrow.

“Then why do *I* run out of magic?”

“You don’t!” Emrys repeated, “Anyone who possesses magic has magic inside of them. It’s what makes them magical! Just like anyone who’s really happy is happy deep inside!”

“I kind of get what you’re saying there, but you’re not really good at explaining things.” I remarked.

“No, you’re just not good at understanding things.” Emrys sighed, “Here, look at it this way. You know what matter is?”

“Yeah.” I replied, “Duh.”

“You can’t run out of matter. I mean you may be a able to transform one thing into another, like how you can make a raw egg a scrambled egg-” Emrys tried.

“You’re losing me here.” I noted.

“And **you’re** hopeless.”

“*Rude!*” I cried.

“Well, yeah, I’m going to be rude.” Emrys laughed sarcastically, “I could always throw you off my back if you don’t like it. Then you won’t have to deal with me anymore. Or anyone else annoying for that matter. Or anyone else period. Well, unless there’s an afterlife…?”

“Why do you always have to do that?” I asked.

“Do what?”

“Escalate things to a whole other level. I called you rude, so you threaten my life?”

“I mean, I’m sorry. I guess it’s just funnier when your life is in my jokes. It gives your life a purpose.”

I ignored that comment.

We teleported again, and I saw that even in the sky, it seemed we were underground.

A humongous temple rose from the sky to the atmosphere, standing on a humongous mountain that rose from the Earth to millions of miles in the air.

“I can breathe without oxygen.” Emrys informed me, “Can you?”

“No.”

“Well, can you cast a spell so you don’t need oxygen, because we’re going in between the Thermosphere and the Exosphere. Or would you rather hold your breath for an hour or so?” Emrys inquired.

I stared at him, horrified.

“You cannot be serious, dragon.”

“Emrys.” Emrys corrected, “I gave you my name for a reason. It wasn’t for a little chit-chat.”

“Well, no. I don’t know a spell that will help in this situation.” I paused, “Unless…”

“Unless…?” the dragon asked.

“Maybe I can expand the troposphere.” I thought aloud.

The dragon laughed. It wasn’t sarcastic or rude, he actually thought I was joking.

“What’s funny?” I scrunched my eyebrows together.

The dragon paused.

“Oh… you weren’t joking.” he said sincerely, his expression turning serious.

I felt my face warm up.

Then he started laughing again. Literally cracking up.

“Calling you... an amateur... wizard... is a compliment… and… you thought that... you could expand... the Stratosphere... all the…. way to... the exosphere!” the dragon managed through bits of laughter, wheezing and snorting, “I bet you couldn’t even... expand the Stratosphere... by a centimeter!”

“No!” I cried, “Not the whole Stratosphere, just a little part of it so I could breathe!”

“BAHAHAHAHA!” the dragon cried in mirth, “Of course not the whole thing-”

“Okay, you can shut up now.” I grunted, my face flushed, “Your laughter makes you sound like a pig.”

The dragon couldn’t hear me, he was laughing too loud, “I… I can perform better magic… than you… and I’m not… even a wiz..ard!”

“Okay, stop.” I snarled, “You’re completely killing my self esteem!”

“You have an ego?” the dragon asked, his laughter fading. He looked at me, curiously, “How did that form? You have nothing to be proud of! You’re not good at anything!”

“Utter another word, and I swear, I will drive a knife through your heart.” I threatened.

“Says the person who came to **me** for help!” the dragon remarked, “Also, now that I think about it, I can just toss you off my back, so you shouldn’t be giving me the threats while I’m 1- Way more competent than you, period, 2- Have the upper hand, and 3. Your only hope of saving your kingdom.”

“You know what, just fly up to get the sword!” I growled.

“So you want to die?” Emrys asked.

I had to think about what he was saying for a second.

“Oh, right. I won’t be able to breathe up there.” I rubbed my head, sheepishly.

“No, actually we can test it out.” Emrys suggested.

“What?” I asked.

Then, I processed what he meant.

“Very funny.” I hissed through clenched teeth.

Then, Emrys’ eyes widened.

“What!” I demanded, “You know something we can do!”

“No!” Emrys objected, a bit too quickly.

It was obvious that he was lying.

“You know what- why don’t I just go up and get the sword myself!” Emrys shouted.

Then he paused, thinking aloud, “Oh, but I can’t carry Galatine, I’m a dragon… Nevermind, we don’t need it.”

But now that I had the idea of getting a legendary sword, I wanted it. Bad.

“It’s fine. Whatever you don’t like is better for me!” I smiled.

“No, it’s not something you’ll like either.” Emrys snorted, “Definitely not.”

I was flooded with curiosity.

“No- I can’t say it out loud. It’s too… horrible...” Emrys groaned.

“Stop being a drama queen and tell me.” I sighed.

“Drama *king*.” Emrys corrected.

“Same thing,” I waved that off, “If it’s going to get us up there-”

“We’re going to have to kiss!” Emrys blurted.

“What!” I cried, “How will that help?”

“It’s not a kiss, technically, but our lips have to touch each other and I need to breathe into your mouth.” the dragon made an attempt to explain.

“Yeah! How will that help?” I cried.

“It’s complicated, but it will provide you with oxygen for two hours. Like CPR.” the dragon said.

“Okay, and we’re back to square one.” I sighed, “How will I get up there…”

“We don’t need to. I’ll just do all of the work.” Emrys snorted.

“No. I’ll kiss you.” I choked out the words.

There was silence.

Then, Emrys asked, “Is it a crush? ‘Cause I’m sorry, well not sorry to break your heart, but like, I don’t date pathetic worms.”

“Yeah, and I don’t date nefarious jerks. Especially when their egos are bigger than their brains.” I snapped back, “I’m just not a complete baby and it’s literally just like CPR. It’s not a \*COUGH\* um, big… deal.”

I barely managed to gag the last words. I had to keep reminding myself I was mature- I was a **fifteen** year old, I could handle this. The thought of kissing anybody on the lips made me sick. The thought of kissing a dragon made me sicker. The thought of kissing **EMRYS**, the worst dragon out of all of them, made my head want to explode with throw up.

“ᚠᛟᚱᚲᛖᛊ ᛟᚠ ᚾᚨᛏᚢᚱᛖ, ᛟᛒᛖᛁ ᛗᛁ ᚲᛟᛗᛗᚨᚾᛞᛊ, ᚨᚾᛞ ᛚᛖᛏ ᚷᚱᚨᚢᛁᛏᛁ ᚠᛚᛟᚹ ᛏᛟ ᛗᛁ ᚹᛁᛚᛚ. ᚨᛚᛏᛖᚱ ᚦᛖ ᚷᚱᚨᚢᛁᛏᚨᛏᛁᛟᚾᚨᛚ ᛈᚢᛚᛚ ᛟᚠ ᚦᛖ ᛚᚨᚾᛞ.” Emrys chanted, under his breath.

As soon as he whispered the last word, the world felt weird. It was as if… gravity changed.

We spun around, which felt normal, weirdly, and landed on Galatemple (the temple that Galatine is in.)

“Get. Off.” Emrys enunciated each word, clearly and sternly.

I slid off of his humongous bumpy back.

“You want to do it? Fine.”

Apparently the fact that I, a “pathetic mortal,” called him a baby had triggered him to do something he’d never do.

“Uh-” I gulped, taken aback.

I flushed.

And I’m not even going to narrate the rest, because it’s too weird.

“Satisfied now?” Emrys inquired, pulling back.

My face was burning. I knew it wasn’t really a “kiss” but imagine if a dragon’s lips touched *yours*.

“Whatever.” I murmured.

Emrys used his tail to grab me, and threw me into the air.

At first I thought he was trying to attack me, but then, I crashed into his back, and I realized he was just being careless and annoying, and wanted me to get onto his back quickly.

“Since we can’t share a breath in a place with low oxygen, we’re going to have to do this quickly.” Emrys sighed, “Even though I would enjoy to see you suffocate to death, alas, you can’t die yet.”

“Why not?”

I valued my life, but I didn’t know that **he** valued my life.

The dragon laughed, “Why not? I mean, if you want I’ll leave you with a swarm of Shadowmonsters.”

“Okay, I’m sorry but can you stop talking. Your voice is atrocious.” I barked, aggressively.

“PFFT.” the dragon snorted, “You get that I’m not “speaking” to you. I’m communicating with you via telepathy. I can’t pronounce your vowels and most of your consonants.”

I paused, “Oh, no. I completely forgot about that.”

The dragon snorted with laughter again.

“What?” I seethed.

“Oh, nothing. Just remembering the look on your face when we shared a breath.” the dragon nearly choked, laughing.

I quickly tried to change the subject.

“Speaking of which, are we going to get the sword or not? About how long have we spent arguing?”

“Well, you’re just a horrible partner.”

I rolled my eyes, but didn’t have the energy to reply. And we had to get moving.