Souls Online: Mythic Ascension-Chapter 238: Draconic Eyes, Crystal Heart

No one moved.

The wind whispered through the trees, brushing leaves against one another like hushed voices too afraid to speak. The standoff stretched long and silent, the weight of unspoken accusations pressing heavy on everyone’s shoulders.

Aria slowly descended from the canopy, her wings folding behind her back as her boots touched the forest floor. Her eyes swept across the elves, then back to her party. She didn’t say a word, but her expression said enough. She was ready if things turned ugly.

The elven leader took a step forward, emerald eyes locked onto Greg and the unconscious figure in his arms. "Hand them over. Now."

Greg shifted his stance, keeping his arms firm around the elf. "They’re not some object you can just claim. We pulled them out of a prison camp. They were chained and barely breathing."

"You expect us to believe that?" one of the elves growled from behind the leader. "That outsiders just happened upon one of ours and decided to play savior?"

Crystal’s voice cut through the tension like a blade. "We don’t care what you believe. We did what had to be done."

The leader’s gaze slid sharply toward Crystal at the sound of her voice. For the first time, his focus wavered from Greg and the unconscious kin.

He studied her in silence, eyes narrowing slightly. "You," he said slowly, tone shifting from venom to curiosity. "You’re one of us. But not."

Crystal didn’t flinch. Her expression remained composed, but there was a subtle tension in the line of her shoulders.

The leader stepped closer, ignoring the warning look Leo shot him. His eyes swept over Crystal again, not in search of threat, but in quiet, deliberate examination.

"Your blood sings familiar," they muttered. "But there’s something else in it. Not human. Nor that of a beast. Something far older."

Crystal didn’t speak. Her fingers moved slowly to the fabric tied around her eyes, undoing the knot without ceremony. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

The blindfold slipped free.

What lay beneath was not the familiar gaze of anything human

Her eyes, now fully visible, gleamed with an eerie, otherworldly intensity. Vertical slits where pupils should have been, ringed in brilliant gold and fractured sapphire. They shimmered like molten metal under moonlight, catching every flicker of movement in the dark.

A hush swept over the gathered elves. Even the wind seemed to falter.

The leader’s breath caught in their throat. The shift in their posture was subtle, but it spoke volumes. Their authority faltered for the briefest of moments.

"You...You carry the blood of Dragons."

The word Dragons left the elven leader’s mouth with disbelief more than accusation. But once spoken, it spread like a ripple through the gathered elves. The forest itself seemed to hold its breath.

The elder elf near the rear stepped forward, her eyes wide, her hand trembling slightly as she pointed to Crystal’s exposed gaze. She didn’t speak at first, as if her voice might break the illusion.

Then softly, almost in awe, she whispered, "Impossible."

A murmur ran through the group. Not one of anger or fear, but wonder. Several younger elves stared at Crystal as if they were looking at a ghost from a storybook come to life.

"That bloodline should not exist," the elder continued, stepping closer. "It was spoken of in riddles, in bedtime stories meant to teach humility. Not even the oldest tomes recorded proof of it. Draconic descent among our kind is not just rare. It was considered impossible. A myth to remind us of what once was."

Crystal said nothing.

She didn’t move as the elder slowly knelt, lowering her head with a reverence that came not from duty, but from something older than law. "You carry the breath of origin. The echo of a time before our ancestors could write their names. It lives in you. That is not a thing we challenge."

Others followed, lowering their weapons and bowing their heads. The tension in the clearing began to shift. Not dissolve, but transform into something weightier, something sacred.

Crystal stood in silence, letting it pass over her. She seemed untouched by it all, but Leo could see the slight tremble in her fingers as she reached once more for her blindfold.

Wordlessly, she tied the cloth back over her eyes. Yet Leo noticed the faintest whimper of pain coming from her. He did not know how nor why but something about that exchange had hurt her.

The silence that followed her gesture was not one of peace, but reverence.

Even after the blindfold returned to her face, many of the elves refused to lift their eyes. The older ones seemed frozen in thought, as if trying to reconcile what they had just seen with everything they believed to be legend. The younger ones stared at the ground, confused, humbled, or quietly awestruck.

The leader, once so certain and sharp in posture, now stood with a softer edge in their voice. "Forgive my challenge. We did not know. Had we known, we would have approached with greater care."

Crystal gave no reply. She did not need to. Her presence alone had spoken more than words ever could. But the way her hands tightened slightly at her sides did not escape Leo’s notice.

She had never sought reverence. And now, standing in the center of it, she looked like a woman wishing for nothing more than silence and shadow.

Leo stepped forward, clearing his throat. "We didn’t come here to disrupt your order. We came to keep someone alive. That was all."

The leader nodded slowly. "And you have done so. Your actions have been seen. Your truths have been heard."

He gestured toward the forest path. "You may pass. With the kin you’ve rescued. No harm will follow you from our side."

As the group began to move, tension giving way to silence, Leo lingered.

Crystal stood a short distance behind the others, her hands still resting at her sides, the blindfold once more tied neatly over her eyes. She didn’t speak. She hadn’t spoken since the standoff ended. Even now, she remained a still, unreadable figure beneath the shade of ancient trees.

Leo turned and walked back toward her, the others pausing ahead but not interfering. When he stopped at her side, his voice was quiet, just above a whisper.

"Walk with me."

She hesitated only a moment before nodding once.

They stepped away from the path, not far, just enough to be alone under the watchful limbs of the forest. Moss cushioned their footsteps. The birds had not yet returned to song.

For a time, Leo said nothing. He simply stood beside her, arms crossed, gaze turned upward through the cracks in the canopy. Then, softly, he asked, "You alright?"

Crystal was quiet for a long breath. "I’m fine."

"You don’t sound fine."

"I said I’m fine," she repeated, but her voice cracked halfway through it.

Leo didn’t push. He waited.

sides like she was trying to hold something in. Her face remained lifted, blindfold shielding her expression, but the set of her mouth gave her away.

After a long pause, she exhaled. The breath was uneven.

"They looked at me like I was something sacred," she said. "Not a person. Just a symbol. Something old and distant."

Her voice faltered. The control she always held onto slipped, just a little.

"I’ve grown up with people doing that. Smiling at me. Praising me. Pretending they care. But it’s never me they’re looking at."

Her shoulders trembled. Her next breath shook on the way out.

"I can handle duty. I can handle expectation. But that... reverence? It felt like being put in a cage made of eyes. All watching. Not one seeing."

The tears came quiet, sliding past the blindfold without resistance. She didn’t bother to wipe them away.

"I was surrounded by people, and still it felt like standing alone."

Leo didn’t interrupt. He stayed near without crowding her, his presence steady and patient.

"It isn’t even the first time," Crystal said. "I’ve been a title since I was old enough to speak. A name people respect, not a person they understand. This time just... made it louder."

She touched the edge of the blindfold with trembling fingers but didn’t untie it. Her voice dropped lower.

"It’s lonelier than hate, sometimes. Being loved for something you’re not."

Leo shifted slightly, not to speak, but just enough to be sure she knew he was still there.

Crystal wiped her cheeks and took another breath. It came a little more evenly now.

"I’ll manage," she said softly. "I always do."

Leo nodded. His voice was quiet but firm.

"You don’t have to manage it alone. As long as I still draw breath, I will make sure never will."

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