Chapter 357: A Sign of Life

"An egg?" Anna’s hand stopped beside Tinateria’s handle as she looked up at Regis. Levada also turned towards him, her brows drawing together.

"That was what she called it," he replied. "She only mentioned it in passing. I was in a hurry to reach the queen."

"Is it still in the cave?" Hagios asked.

"No. I brought the whole thing."

Levada glanced towards his storage ring. "How large is it?"

"Around ten meters."

"Then don’t take it out in here."

Regis looked around the room before smiling wryly. "I wasn’t going to..."

Anna slowly withdrew her hand from the sword. "Can you contact Wisteria? If she recognised it, she might know more."

"She left a temporary soul mark on me so I could find her, but it only lasted a day." His smile faded as he remembered the spirit’s concern for Elysia. "She was the reason I knew the queen needed help."

"Did you see her after the battle?"

Regis remained quiet for a moment. He remembered Wisteria speaking through Elysia’s mouth, struggling to keep the corruption within the queen’s soul from taking control of her. Afterward, everything had happened so quickly that he had barely been able to keep track of the people before his eyes. "I don’t know what happened to her."

The admission left an uncomfortable feeling in his chest. Wisteria had helped him reach the queen, yet he could not even say whether she had survived.

Hagios did not press him further. "Anna, find somewhere clear of the survivors and examine what he brought back. Record what you can about it and the sword. I’ll look into what we know of Mehar’s last journey."

"Yes, Your Holiness."

"Regis, keep Tinateria with you for now. We may need your help locating that cave again."

He glanced towards Anna, who was still kneeling beside the weapon. "Alright. I should be able to find it."

Hagios asked a few more questions about the route before concluding their conversation. Once his voice fell silent, Anna stood and moved aside, allowing Regis to return the sword and its shard to his ring. When he finished, she turned towards the door. "Let’s go."

***

Outside, Vanessa was crouching beside a wounded elf, holding a cup steady while he drank. Perto stood nearby with a stack of folded cloth in his arms. He noticed them first and paused, his gaze moving between Regis and the two executors. "Everything alright?"

"For now," Regis answered. "We need somewhere with a little more room."

Vanessa looked up at that, but another patient called before she could ask anything. Regis gave her a reassuring nod and continued, with Killian staying close as they descended the damaged steps.

They had only gone a short distance when Marzana approached with Aeola and Raxon. Her attention immediately settled on the executors accompanying him. "What happened?"

"We’re going to examine something I found before coming here." Regis briefly explained the discovery, and her expression changed when he mentioned Wisteria.

"She saw it?"

"Yes. It was just before she went back to your mother."

Marzana lowered her eyes. For a moment, Regis wondered whether she would ask where the spirit was now, but she only nodded and followed them.

Anna led the group beyond the crowded courtyard to an open stretch between several collapsed buildings. Rubble had been piled along one side, leaving enough bare ground for what Regis had described. Levada walked around the area before motioning for everyone to move back. "Here."

Regis approached the place she indicated and raised his hand.

Thud—!

The enormous object appeared before them, settling heavily onto the ground. Loose stones shifted beneath its weight, and dust rose around its base as Regis stepped away.

Killian slowly tilted his head back. Beside him, Aeola had taken another step away, while Raxon stared at the curved surface now blocking their view of the buildings beyond.

"If that’s the egg..." Killian muttered, "how big is whatever laid it?"

Nobody answered him.

Regis looked over the object again. Its rough surface was a dull grey, with shallow pits and uneven patches that made it seem no different from an ordinary boulder. Even in the sunlight, he could understand why he had mistaken it for one. ’Wisteria, you could’ve explained a little more before leaving...’

Anna approached slowly, studying the surface before placing her hand against it. Marzana and the others remained a few steps behind her, while Levada looked towards the top and asked, "Where was the sword?"

Regis pointed upwards. "Near there. I climbed on top to compare it with the shard."

A pair of wings formed from light unfolded behind Levada. She rose above the curved surface, moving around it until she found the place he meant. "I see it."

Regis watched her lean closer. After a short examination, she descended to one side, her wings fading as her feet touched the ground.

"There’s a narrow opening. I could see part of the inside, but it goes deeper than the light reaches."

Anna looked towards Regis. "Did anything come out when you removed the sword?"

"No—I didn’t notice anything." He frowned, trying to remember whether there had been anything unusual. "I needed it during the fight. I wasn’t paying much attention to the rock."

The answer made her glance towards Tinateria’s former resting place again. Regis followed her gaze, feeling increasingly uncomfortable about how little he had examined something he had been carrying around for days.

Marzana moved closer, her fingers brushing a rough patch near Anna’s hand. "Could anything survive with a sword stuck inside it?"

"That depends on how far the blade reached," Anna replied. "And what was inside."

Regis rested his palm against the surface. It felt cool beneath his fingers, and there was no movement that he could distinguish from the slight tremor in his own hand.

’Was there something in here when that sword went in...?’

He looked up again. The opening was difficult to make out from below, but remembering the weapon protruding from the boulder made the thought harder to dismiss. "Do you think Mehar left it there?"

Anna did not answer immediately. Her hand moved over the surface, brushing away some of the loose dust before she finally shook her head. "I don’t know. I’d like to hear what His Holiness finds before making that judgment."

Regis nodded and withdrew his hand. For a moment, he considered whether Soul Possession could help him examine whatever was inside. However, a dull ache still lingered from his last treatment of Flona, and he had no idea what he might encounter. He decided to wait for what the executors found before attempting anything himself.

Nearby, Levada was circling the object, examining it from different angles. "Sagrada Dragona..." she murmured.

The name brought back the sight of the wyverns clinging to the mountain walls. Regis remembered their scales and the strength that their dragon blood gave them, along with the stronger presence he had sensed among the creatures gathered above. "Could it be a wyvern’s egg?"

"Possibly," Levada replied. "There are other creatures with dragon blood in those mountains as well."

"And an actual dragon?" Killian asked.

She looked towards him before returning her attention to the enormous object. "Let’s find out whether anything is alive in there first."

There had been no news of pure-blooded dragons for some time. Nevertheless, standing before something this large, Regis found it difficult to keep the possibility out of his thoughts. ’A dragon...? Surely I wouldn’t just stumble across one like that.’ His gaze moved towards the ring holding Tinateria, and he could not help but reconsider.

While Anna and Levada continued examining the surface, Aurelia approached his side. "Do you need to sit down?"

"In a moment." He shifted his weight away from his aching leg and rested his hand against the object again. This part was smoother, though there were still enough uneven places to make it uncomfortable beneath his palm.

Something moved.

Regis straightened, lifting his hand before looking down. Loose grit lay around his boots, but nothing nearby seemed to have shifted.

"Brother?" Pandora moved closer when she noticed his expression.

"Wait..." He placed his palm against the same spot and held it still. For several moments, he felt only the cool surface beneath his fingers. Then a faint pulse passed through it, so weak that he might have missed it had he been speaking. "Anna."

She turned towards him, and whatever she saw in his face made her approach without asking. Regis indicated the place beside his hand. "I felt something. Here."

Anna pressed her palm against the surface. The others fell quiet as she waited, her golden eyes lowered in concentration.

Nothing happened.

Regis began to wonder whether he had mistaken something else for movement. He shifted his fingers slightly, searching for the same place, but Anna quietly stopped him. "Stay still."

The next pulse came slowly, passing through the shell beneath both their hands. Anna’s eyes widened, and Regis kept his palm pressed against it as they waited for another.

A few moments later, it came again.

It was faint, but the rhythm was unmistakable. Regis looked towards Anna, whose hand had gone completely still beside his.

"It’s alive..."