Alexander The Great Mage

"Girls, enough. A dragon silhouette could form around him when he was receiving the Blessings of Magius because Alexander had a dragon soul within him. His power only took that form because it was reflecting the nature of the dragon soul." Blackfire interrupted.

"Ah... " Caerose calmed down a little. It would be incredible if Alexander was a dragon.

Aleyria nodded in understanding as well. That made sense. Plus, she was also slightly convinced that Blackfire was what he had said he was. Afterall, not many people knew Alexander had a dragon soul in him. However, there was still a possibility that the enemy had found out about it, and then came here to find out more information.

Dangerous times call for more extreme measures. She had to be extremely careful. Especially now that this person had proven himself to be a dragon.

Of course, he could very well be Flamewing's relative, and a simple question would certainly make things clear. But Aleyria was reluctant to say or ask anything that might divulge more information than she was willing to share. So she remained quiet.

And that was why, even though he claimed that he served Alexander, Aleyria still maintained her vigilance as well.

"So, what happened to him?" Blackfire repeated his question.

Aleyria and Caerose glanced at each other. Alexander's condition was sensitive, they didn't want to reveal that he had the powers of THREE Gods to anyone they didn't fully trust. Aleyria because she loved Alexander, and Caerose because she needed Alexander to exact her revenge.

Two beautiful women, driven by vastly different motivations, but arriving at the exact same conclusion. Alexander must live at all costs.

"I will need proof that you serve him." Aleyria said. "Show me your contract with him."

"I didn't sign a contract with him." Blackfire replied. "I did, however, give him one. He wanted to give it to his beloved to sign, for her protection."

Aleyria frowned. It was a sweet gesture, and definitely something that Alexander could have done. And that was probably the source of the resonance that she was feeling. But was it true? It was too convenient to say that Alexander had it.

"There is no way to verify that unless Alexander wakes up. Move aside please, and let me try and heal him." Blackfire said politely but firmly.

"We're not letting you anywhere near him." Caerose said flatly.

Blackfire grinned. "You don't have a choice."

Whoosh! Aleyria and Caerose were gently swept aside by an invisible power and their bodies were locked in a spatial prison.

Damn it! Aleyria cursed silently. But there was absolutely nothing that she could do in the face of such a powerful dragon. She could only grit her teeth slightly, and hope that Blackfire truly was serving Alexander.

Aleyria was, however, very impressed by Blackfire. She was rather accomplished herself in spatial magic, but she never felt any energy ripple when Blackfire casted his spell. He was powerful. Very, very powerful.

Blackfire stepped closer to Alexander and examined his body with his magic. He frowned slightly.

"What's wrong with him?" Aleyria asked nervously. Blackfire had been very gentle with the two women, and had left their heads out of the prison so they could still talk.

"His body is extremely weak. And is contaminated by some sort of unique power. Without immediate and effective help, I do not think he could survive the hour."

There was a stunned silence as the two women tried to process his words.

"You're lying." Caerose finally said. "We could sense his body as well, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with his body."

"You humans can only sense his body down to the basic physical unit we call cells. However, dragons have a far more acute sense, going far beyond the cellular level to the atomic level. His body is breaking down at the atomic level. Very slowly at first, but once it reaches a certain level, his death is all but assured." Blackfire said as he rolled up his left sleeves to reveal a muscled but well-toned arm.

"What are you doing?" Aleyria asked. She was feeling strangely calm in light of such heartbreaking news. She could feel an overwhelming sense of confidence in her heart that somehow, this Blackfire person could save Alexander.

"Saving him." Blackfire said simply. His right forefinger turned into a sharp claw and slashed his own arm, which strangely didn't bleed.

"Stay calm and trust me." Blackfire glanced at the two women quickly to reassure them that he meant no harm before plunging his claw into Alexander's heart.

Caerose opened her eyes and mouth wide in shock. Did he just kill Alexander?! She turned to look at Aleyria.

Aleyria, however, was still deeply immersed in her sense of confidence, and merely frowned very slightly.

Blackfire quickly placed his left arm on top of Alexander's heart and willed his blood to flow out into Alexander's body.

A few tense seconds passed. But nothing happened.

"Hey, do you know what you're doing?!" Caerose snapped at Blackfire nervously.

Blackfire remained silent. His eyes were closed and was exerting control over his blood to nourish Alexander's body.

Slash!

Blackfire slashed at Alexander's arm, accurately slicing open a vein, missing the artery by mere millimeters.

Dark red blood began to flow out steadily.

"He's replacing Alexander's blood with his." Aleyria said softly as she finally figured out what he's doing.

Caerose remained silent. She was extremely shocked. There was now no doubt in her mind that the dragon was serving Alexander. Heck, it couldn't be considered as mere 'service'. Dragon Blood Transfusion! Having all the blood in one's body completely replaced by dragon's blood. It would give the recipient a temporary power boost that defied the imagination.

Temporary because the blood would quickly lose its power and be replaced by new blood produced by the body's marrows. If one could replace the marrows with dragon marrows, then maybe… Just maybe… The legendary fusion to become a Dragon Knight could be achieved.

However, before Caerose could feel anymore impressed, Blackfire suddenly pulled back his left arm in surprise.

"Weird." He muttered as he frowned deeply. He waved his right hand casually and both wounds, his and Alexander's, rapidly healed.

"What's weird?" Aleyria asked immediately. She was starting to become nervous.

Blackfire looked at Aleyria strangely for a moment before answering. "Alexander absorbed my blood essence."

"And?" Aleyria asked, feeling extremely confused.

"Wh-wh-what?" Caerose sputtered. She had never experienced such a series of shocking events before. "This Blackfire dragon actually gave his BLOOD ESSENCE to Alexander? What is WRONG with him??" She screamed in her mind. "And not only that, Alexander ABSORBED IT? WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM?!?!"

'My blood essence is… extremely precious. And beyond powerful. As its name might suggest, it is the essence of my blood. Along with a large amount of my normal blood, I can use my blood essence to trigger a mutation in a lesser creature's blood, causing it to grow much stronger. From that moment on, depending on how strongly the mutation was, the person would be slightly 'dragonified'.  He would become much, much stronger physically. That was my aim, to strengthen his body through mutation so that he could resist the strange contamination.

However...

After triggering the mutation, I was planning to withdraw the blood essence back into my body for the simple reason that the human body would not be able to withstand the power of having the blood essence in their bodies for too long. The human body should very naturally resist having the blood essence in their bodies.

It would not be able to utilize the blood essence at all, much less absorb it. But Alexander absorbed my blood essence. And only dragons could absorb another dragon's blood essence…"

"You're forgetting something. There is another being that could absorb a dragon's blood essence." Caerose said very softly.

Blackfire and Aleyria turned to look at Caerose.

"That is not possi-" Blackfire began. However, he suddenly stopped. His eyes grew wide and he turned to look at Alexander. "Could it be…?"

"What? Stop being so mysterious and tell me!" Aleyria cried out. She was beginning to feel her nerves starting to fray.

"Dragon Knight. Fusion between Man and Dragon. A Dragon Knight, or a person undergoing fusion with a dragon, could absorb blood essences. In fact, I believe absorbing essences would actually speed up the fusion process. However, the person could only absorb the blood essence of the dragon he is fusing with…" Caerose said as she looked at Blackfire and then Alexander, then back at Blackfire again.

"He's fusing with you?!" Aleyria asked in a slightly high pitched voice.

"No. He is not." Blackfire said very firmly.

"It is impossible that he is not." Caerose said just as firmly. "He must be fusing with you. He wouldn't absorb your blood essence if he is not fusing with you."

Blackfire remained silent for a long moment before finally saying. "You're wrong about that.. Once a person begins fusion with a dragon, he could absorb blood essence from the dragon itself, yes. However, once the fusion reaches a high enough level, he could also absorb blood essences from the dragon's close family members…"