162 4.24 The revival ceremony - part 3

He moved his hand close to her mouth and slowly fed her the potion. Her lips were moving, so it was apparent that she was back.

Right after drinking the potion, she coughed. It appeared as though she was trying to raise herself, so Hazel helped her sit comfortably.

"How are you feeling?" Hazel asked.

"We meet after thousands of years, and the first thing you do is worry about my well being. You have changed a lot since I last saw you."

"I am not sure if I have changed or not. However, I am simply glad to see you breathing after all this time."

"Thank you. I will cherish this life that you have given me."

I thought their reunion would be more dramatic, but it was surprisingly simple. It could be just that they didn't want to show their affection in front of the two of us.

Himiko glared at me from top to bottom. "So, you are the messenger boy who came to bring me back. You look a lot younger than how your voice sounded then."

That was a strange comment from someone who had lived for thousands of years. She just looked like she was in her early twenties, and Hazel appeared to be in his early thirties.

"Yeah, but compared to two of you, I don't think I look too young for my age."

"Ha-ha! I have nothing to say in defense of that. I can change myself to look of any age, but I prefer this one. This is the point where one is neither too young nor too old. Where one has the wisdom along with the liveliness of youth."

"There you go again, spreading your wisdom and ruining our reunion with it."

"Well, I am just telli—"

Before Hazel could complete his sentence, Himiko hugged him tightly. Hazel couldn't see, but he definitely noticed her crying on his shoulder.

He wrapped his hands around her and gently petted her. "Everything is fine now. We will be together for eternity from this point forth. I promise you that."

"I am sorry. I am so sorry. I shouldn't have done the things I did. I should have just returned to you once I realized the people I was trying to make happy were not worth it."

"No, I should be the one being sorry. I should have been there for you while you were going through all that."

"You are too kind, Hazel. Was I really worth everything that you did? You know other dragons won't like what you did, right?"

"That doesn't matter. Let's leave all those for the future. For now…"

Hazel brought his lips close to her cheeks, and while she was still lost in her emotions, he kissed her lips gently.

Her eyes opened wide in shock as if the time froze for her. That kiss made her forget everything that she was thinking about, and she calmed down.

After a few moments, the two finally let go of each other. Flare looked a little disappointed to see that happen, but I just ignored her since it was almost morning.

I hadn't slept a blink, and we were already behind schedule, so we would need to get back and resume our journey as soon as possible.

"If it's alright, I think the two of us should get going now."

"Before that—"

Himiko put her feet on the floor and tried standing up, but her body was weak, so she couldn't. Hazel, who was standing next to her, caught her arm and gently helped her stand.

"Could you please purify the souls of the one out there? I would like it if the sun spirit does that. It is said that the souls that are purified by her flames find true peace afterlife."

"Yes, we will do that on our way out," I replied.

"Then, I shall go with you as well," Himiko said. However, she was in no condition to walk, so Hazel princess carried her.

The soldiers outside were delighted to see Queen Himiko again. They raised their swords and shields and cheered in joy. I am sure if they had eyes, this whole place would have been flooded with tears.

"Queen! Queen Himiko!" Gram rushed forward, separating the crowd of soldiers from behind.

"Thank you, Gram, for being there for me and supporting me all this time"—She turned towards the skeleton soldiers—"Thank you for your loyalty, everyone."

"We are just glad you are okay, Queen. There is no need to thank us."

"No Gram, you and your soldiers are worthy of my utmost gratitude. Thank you for staying by my side all this time."

Hazel let her stand on her own. She was still having a hard time, so he supported her by holding her arm.

"Now, I think you all deserve to be free. You no longer need to bind yourself with the shackles of this manor or me. You were there for me all this time, and I am grateful to each one of you. But even though it's painful, now is the time to part. I hope you all will find peace and prosperity in the afterlife and life after that. Farewell, everyone."

"We hope you remain happy from this point forward, our queen."

"Long live queen Himiko!"

"Long live queen Himiko!"

"Long live queen Himiko!"

The cheers started, and along with that, I signed Flare to purify their bodies.

A wave of flames slowly appeared from her feet and covered the entire undead army in front of us.

They looked towards the sky and cheered in joy as their bones disintegrated in flames. With that, their souls were set free to enter the cycle of rebirth.