The Salt Mirror Lake
"Don't let go of me, no matter what. The ground's all water down there. The moment I touch it, I'll wake right up."
The next morning, before the sun had fully risen, we set out on the road.
Delphine led the way, and I followed behind her.
As we entered the forest, the air grew steadily cleaner. Walking through a place like this long enough, you felt your lungs would thank you for it. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, and the dewdrops caught the light and glittered.
How long had we been walking?
Suddenly, the view opened up before us.
It was a lake.
No—rather, it deserved to be called a salt desert.
A pure white plain stretched endlessly before our eyes.
A thin film of water covered the entire surface, as if the sky itself had been flipped upside down and laid across the ground.
With every step, footprints were carved into the salt crystals, only for the ripples to quietly wipe them away again.
The air was so clear that each breath cooled my whole body. There was barely any wind.
It felt like walking on the sky.
Of course, I'd been here before—and even now, having survived a brush with death, here I stood on this ground once more.
I walked slowly out onto the white mirror. Delphine followed a few steps behind.
Only when I called him myself would the Water Dragon reveal himself.
I drew in a deep breath and spoke his name.
"Vritra."
It felt as though a faint earthquake had struck—a rumbling rose up from beneath the earth.
Bubbles began to rise, one by one. At first they scattered sparsely, then gathered into a swarm, drawing wide, circular ripples across the surface. The salt crystals glowed softly, and the sky reflected at my feet wavered like broken glass.
An enormous shadow rose from beneath the white plain.
"...!"
Delphine stepped back three paces.
She was the one who'd insisted on coming to see him, though.
Blue scales. Drenched in water, they shimmered silver in the sunlight, then flashed a deeper teal.
A long neck rose slowly above the water's surface, revealing an elegantly sculpted jawline.
Amber eyes.
They held a depth of light that only a being who had lived through the ages could possess.
The Water Dragon floated half-submerged, looking down at us. Warm breath billowed up with every exhale.
"...It's been a while, Vritra."
Vritra's eyes narrowed.
His massive tail sliced through the current as it glided toward me. The sound of scales brushing water rippled quietly through the air.
I stood still and waited.
I am the only human alive who has touched a dragon's tail and lived to tell of it.
The tail wound around my waist.
My body lifted slightly into the air, then shifted toward the nape of his neck, where warmth rolled off in waves.
I wrapped both arms around his neck. The heat seeping out between the scales was cozy and comforting.
『It has been too long, Selene.』
"It has. I've been insanely busy lately."
『Have you been eating your meals on time?』
"...Well. More or less."
『More or less. Tsk tsk. A human must eat properly to keep a proper mind, you know.』
"Can't be helped when I'm busy."
『And your body? Nothing ailing you?』
...Aching? Yes, I ached.
As if I could hide it from him.
And Delphine was standing right there behind me besides. Better to brush past it like it was nothing.
"Just my throat's a little sore. Everything else is fine."
『Your throat?』
Vritra's eyes narrowed again.
The tail coiled around my waist loosened ever so slightly. He'd quietly eased his grip in case it hurt me.
『You were injured.』
"It's almost fully healed now. Don't worry about it."
『"Don't worry about it"—now that is a phrase that sounds to me very much like there is something to worry about.』
"...You're as sharp-tongued as ever."
Nestled in the Water Dragon's embrace while he nagged me about meals and my health, I felt something hard to put into words. It was as if all the strength was draining gently out of my body.
『You haven't changed a bit. How is it you've grown even thinner?』
I gave a faint smile.
"Just been through some rough things lately, that's all."
『If things are rough, then you should rest. Why do you gnaw away at yourself like this?』
"That's just what happens when you're busy."
『You would use busyness as an excuse to neglect even your own body? Better yet—kick that place you live to the curb and come stay with me at this lake for a while. What say you?』
"Thanks for the offer, even if it's just words."
『You know full well this is no mere greeting.』
Vritra snorted a great blast of steam.
『If you show up this gaunt again, I shall catch fish with my own claws and feed you straight into your mouth, so steel yourself for it.』
The Water Dragon catching fish and hand-feeding someone. How many people in this world would believe such a thing?
I nearly choked trying to hold back my laughter.
"That would be a bit much for me."
『Much or not, only when you are healthy can my heart rest easy.』
Honestly, this dragon—what a silver tongue he had.
『So tell me, what brings you two out here today?』
Before I could open my mouth, Delphine strode boldly forward.
"Mother's health hasn't been good lately. So I brought her here myself, to take care of her."
Vritra turned his head to look down at Delphine. The great head tilted slightly to one side.
『Ah. You are Delphine.』
"Yes. I'm Delphine."
I lifted myself a little from the dragon's neck and smiled, feeling proud.
"She's my daughter. Hasn't she grown so much?"
Vritra looked back down at me, and the corners of his eyes softened.
『She has indeed grown. Back then she would hide so tightly behind your back she could hardly show her face—and now she stands boldly before me and speaks her mind.』
"That's ancient history."
『To me it feels as fresh as yesterday. How swiftly the years flow—there is a certain melancholy in it.』
Delphine squared her shoulders once and bowed with utmost courtesy.
"...It's been a long time, Lord Vritra."
『You still remember my name. That gladdens me truly.』
The tail wrapped around me tightened just a touch—not nearly enough to hurt, just enough to betray a flicker of joy.
『Selene, to see your daughter fret over you like this—it warms me more than I can say.』
"...Same here."
Delphine could carry herself so boldly when she wanted to.
She'd come here to tattle on my condition on purpose, and yet somehow the corners of my mouth kept creeping upward anyway.
I couldn't help but smile.
Vritra gazed at Delphine for a long moment, then turned his head back toward me.
『Selene.』
"What is it?"
『It has been long since I heard your song. Might you grant me a verse here today?』
A song?
I stroked gently down the dragon's thick neck as I answered.
"Oh, of course I don't mind, it's just... my throat hasn't completely healed yet."
『If singing pains you, do not force it.』
For an ordinary person, singing after being strangled would be all but impossible.
But I wasn't an ordinary person, and my wounds healed far faster than anyone else's. Besides, this was Vritra. There wasn't a single reason I couldn't sing for him.
"My voice might not come out right."
『It matters not. Even in such a state, your voice holds its charm.』
"You know what my song can do, right?"
『You mean the power to touch minds? It has no effect on me. You learned that long ago, did you not?』
"I know. You're just too strong."
The Water Dragon is a fortress of a being.
A dragon, after all.
I couldn't manipulate his mind with my power, but in raw strength, I was the stronger of us. Back when he once went berserk, I was the one who personally subdued him.
『All the more reason I wish to hear it. Your pure song calms the heart.』
I let out a soft laugh.
"That's nice to hear..."
Someone once used to heap all manner of hyperbole on me—calling me the goddess of art, among other things.
『Even stripped of its power, heard simply as it is, your song is beautiful enough on its own.』
"Thank you for saying that."
『What is there to thank? Sing, and be quick about it. It has been so long since I heard your song beneath this white plain.』
I drew a deep breath.
Before Vritra, alone, I could open my heart without a trace of worry.
I closed my eyes.
The clear air seeped slowly down into the deepest reaches of my lungs. My heartbeat quickened little by little—not from nerves, but from the flutter of singing after so long.
I started from a low note.
The fact that my throat hadn't fully healed showed plainly in the sound. A faint rasp of hoarseness wove through the notes, but I didn't stop.
The melody climbed higher, note by note.
Emotion rose along with it, unbidden.
Everything I'd been through lately surged up all at once.
The bite of the ribbon tightening around my throat. Delphine trying to cage me. The helplessness of never being able to return to my original world.
All of it must have woven itself into the melody and poured out with the song.
Vritra listened with his eyes shut tight.
When the song was halfway through, he leaned his enormous face closer.
His smooth scales brushed lightly against my cheek.
He caressed me with exquisite care, like a mother licking clean her newborn.
It was nothing short of astonishing that something so colossal could be so gentle.
Like soothing an infant to sleep.
Like the hand that pats a baby's back—hush now, hush.
"..."
I let the strength drain from my whole body, deliberately, all at once. I decided to leave myself to Vritra's care.
I pressed my lips close to the nape of the dragon's neck and whispered.
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you. Trying to put me to sleep."
A low vibration traveled through him, something like laughter.
『You caught me.』
"Figured it out ages ago. You're too gentle for your own good—it doesn't suit you."
『Now that you know, sleep deep and sleep well. When you are at ease, so too is my heart.』
Well—it had been a while, so I'd let it slide, just this once.
I nestled my cheek into the spot where his neck melted smoothly into his body. Vritra lowered his whole frame until he lay nearly flat, becoming for me a vast, warm bed.
"...Don't let go of me, no matter what. The ground's all water down there. The moment I touch it, I'll wake right up."
『I shall never let go. Sleep soundly, and sleep long.』
The tail wound around me in one more layer. Somewhere far below, the sound of water receded into the distance.
The scales were far cozier than I'd imagined.