Boran awoke earlier than even the roosters. The sky outside was still dark, and everyone else lay asleep. Awoke is a strong word, he had been struggling to sleep all night. Everything that happened had been swirling in his head the entire night. The dragon attack, the missing princess. The king finally wanting to get rid of that coward, Malachi. Alaric, just⦠everything about Alaric. And the little bit of sleep he got, he dreamed. Of his attack on the glass-dragon cave, the burning of their clutch. The knight rubbed his arm, the burn scars rough and leathery against his already calloused hand. The beast that burnt him like this. None of the knights at the exit of the cave saw any leave, but that cave was like a labyrinth. It could have survived. Not only that, its horns looked the same as the one that kidnapped the princess. The knight growled, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Not only was this creature a dirty dragon, it kidnapped the princess and burnt Boran's arm. He'd kill the thing, personally.
After throwing on his cloak, the knight stepped out of his room, the hall still covered in dust from the attack. First order of business was to find Malachi. The horse-bred should be in the servant's quarters. Boran stomped towards the area, passing by the hole in the castle wall. Most of the area around there had been cleaned up, and there were already workers putting up wooden scaffolding. The citizens worked quickly, as always. He greeted the workers, who waved him. They would have likely bowed were they able. The massive knight smiled softly, he loved the people of this city. He eventually made it to the door to the servant's quarters. The man ducked under the frame and looked in to the dimly lit room. Many of the non-private servants lived here, and most seemed to be getting ready for the day. Only a few were still in bed, but most of them appeared to have injuries. He looked around and was not able to spot the half-centaur's hunched back. The servant wasn't back yet. Or had already gone. He saw the half-harpy he had been speaking to earlier getting dressed groggily.
"You there!" He approached her. She yelped in surprise, using her vestigial wings to keep balanced. She was one of the few half-harpies that Boran had met with arms, most of them just had the skin covered vestigial wings, "Sara, right?" The servant nodded and bowed. She was the other one that was missing yesterday. "Where is Malachi?" She looked at him, but he was unable to discern her emotion in the dim light of the quarters.
"I don't know, Sir Boran." She looked around the room, "Is he not here?" The woman put on her jacket and sighed. "He really is always disappearing, isn't he?"
"Malachi has been missing since this morning, at the same time you were missing." The woman shrank away from him slightly, shaking her head.
"I promise you Sir. I don't know where he is." She thought for a bit before looking back at the knight, "Could it be he died during the attack yesterday?"
"No," Boran scoffed, "You half-breeds are too cowardly to get that close to the action. He must be up to something." Sara looked slightly annoyed at the knight's comment. "Harpy, if Malachi comes back, tell me as soon as you can." The half-breed hesitated.
"Yes Sir." She bowed, her wings shivering slightly. The half-harpy backed away and got to her duties. The knight looked intimidatingly at the rest of the servants, who had been watching their exchange. Every one covered their eyes and kept getting ready. Good, he still commands respect. Or fear, given his size he'd understand it being both. The knight squeezed through the door again, the frame struggling against his size. The hall was beginning to get slightly more filled, the sun having risen past the horizon while Boran was in the servant's quarters. It was reaching time for the knight recruits to be evaluated. They would have to wait, just for a bit. He had one more stop.
He pulled down his hood as he stepped into the library. The massive bookshelves reached the ceiling, and covered each wall entirely. It was the most complete collection of knowledge and stories on the continent. The entire room was bathed in the light of a massive fireplace. How could there be a hole in the wall here? It was either covered in books or in flame. The knight scoffed and turned around, the boy had clearly lied. "Leaving so soon, Boran?" Alaric's oddly smooth voice echoed from behind him.
"Of course I am, you very clearly lied about what was here!" He turned around and gestured around the room, "How could you have spotted something behind the wall. Nothing is wall!"
"Oh ye of little faith," The bastard-prince taunted the knight as he Walked towards one of the bookshelves. "Come here," He gestured for Boran to come over there. "And keep close to me, you're a big guy. Not sure if you can fit back here."
"And why would I-" He was interrupted by the prince putting a finger up to his mouth and shushing the knight.
"Just give me a chance, go ahead and trust me. For just this once?" Alaric attempted to give the knight puppy-dog eyes. Somehow, it was working.
"Fine," The knight walked over to Alaric, standing uncomfortably close to him, "Just this once." The prince smiled and pulled on a book. The room was immediately filled with a loud scraping sound. The ground underneath Boran began to spin, along with the wall. He held his hands up to his ears until the wall stopped spinning, and the two were in a small room, one that could barely fit the massive knight. "What in the gods' names is this?"
"I have no idea, some kind of secret room." The boy walked over to the old chair and sat in it, pulling out some kind of cylinder from his jacket. "Besides, the hole is there," He pointed to a small hole in the wall with his foot, "And I made this to be able to see in there better, it was basically pitch black." He sized the cylinder up to the hole, it seemed the perfect size to be thrown through.
"What is it?"
"This? It's just a little invention, a bit of alchemy, and a bit of arts and crafts. It's a portable torch basically." He tossed it in the air and smirked, "It'd be brighter if it had some flame-dragon blood." His purple eyes seemed to pierce Boran's soul, "You wouldn't happen to have any, would you? Even some very diluted stuff would do." The knight felt his muscles twitch. Does this little boy know? And if so, how?
"No," He straightened his face and knelt down, eye close to the hole, "I don't know why you think I'd have any,"
"I was just asking," Alaric shrugged and knelt with the knight. "Ready?" Boran nodded, and the prince pulled on a tab. The stick immediately lit up, and Alaric threw it down the hole. The bright red light shone a small area of visibility around it. As Boran's vision got used to the light, something caught his eye. A green scale reflecting the light of the cylinder. It seemed to be moving up and down, almost like it was breathing. Something was alive back there. A massive foot stomped down on the light. The two looked at each other, Alaric was smirking. "Told you,"
"I see that. Do you have any idea what it could be?" Boran's mind raced with ideas, it was probably some kind of dragon. But why would it be here, and why would it be alive?
"Whatever it is, the king is probably hiding its existence from us for a reason. So what is the great head knight going to do about it?"
"Nothing, not yet." The knight looked at Alaric, "Don't tell anyone else about this."
"As you wish," The bastard-prince crossed his heart with his gloved fingers. "Shouldn't you be getting to the knights in training?" How could Boran have forgotten? The knights needed their evaluations.
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Fenrir's eyes snapped open. His sister's skeleton was still wrapped around his body. The glass-dragon sighed, stroking his sister's skull with his wing. The hole that Boran's sword had made still rested in her forehead. He didn't understand how anyone could be so brutal. Fenrir's mouth watered at the idea of Boran in between his jaws, he wished that the gob of glass he had lobbed at the knight during the attack had taken off his arm. But at least now, he could drive the man to the depths of his mind. The dragon put his horns against Marath's before he left the gilded room to rest near the cave entrance.
The beast watched the sun rise as he planned. Planned for humanity's downfall, planned for the rise of dragons, the reemergence of glass-dragons. He'd have to deal with that human his daughter was so obsessed with, but that would not be too hard. It could be bought. He saw the hunched back of the half-centaur climbing up the mountain. Remarkably fast, Fenrir began to thought he underestimated the beast. "Malachi. What have you come back for?" The glass-dragon stood tall at the entrance to his cavern, shocking Malachi. The half-centaur Prostrated itself in front of Fenrir.
"I come bearing news, Sire!" It shakily got up, the side of the pathetic half-breed bulged unnaturally. It seemed he had recently had his fill, his horse-like stomach barely fit in his body. "The people of the city, they got a taste of your blood. Many of them are wanting for more." The dragon felt the tip of his mouth curve upwards. Not only could he wrap those inside the castle around his claw, he could do the same to those outside the walls. Surround the city with loyal followers.
"Good," The smile on his face widened, "You will provide it for them. Slowly, steadily. Like the ending drops of rainfall. Do you understand?" Fenrir stared at the pathetic half-breed, it wiped drool off of its chin.
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"I do, Sir Fenrir," The half-centaur looked at Fenrir's bandage, the drool quickly coming back, "But what about my⦠supply?" Its head twitched slightly as the two stared each other down.
"Use some of what I give you for yourself." The creature prostrated itself before the dragon in thanks. Its desperation for Fenrir's blood seemed to be growing. The dragon sighed in exasperation, looking at Malachi. "Do you have something to hold my gift?" The half-centaur fumbled with something on its waist. It dumped the water out of the flask it now held, eventually holding the empty leather container up to the dragon.
"Use this, Sire. Next time I'll come with a more proper container!" Malachi itched its neck, some of its skin falling on the ground. The glass-dragon knelt down to the flask and used his tooth to poke a slight hold in his lower jaw. Blood dripped from the wound, slowly filling the flask. Malachi stared at each drop of oil-like blood, transfixed by the rhythmic drops. Fenrir growled, the air from his mouth blowing back Malachi's patchy hair. The glass-dragon's tongue licked the tiny wound, letting it heal as he backed away.
"Go, make sure nobody know that you are the one supplying it. Not yet." Fenrir licked his eye with his long tongue as he thought. This would be a delectate operation. It would be nice if he could get someone other than the half-centaur, though it would be tough to beat its loyalty. "We must be smart about this, Malachi."
"I understand, Sire," The half-centaur bowed again as it backed out of the cavern. Fenrir watched it leave into the forest. He rolled his eyes and huffed out a puff of smoke. It truly was a pathetic beast, more so than most humans. Fenrir looked deeper into the forest, to the Centaur's old home. The one that they had been driven out of. They were stronger, braver, more noble than humans ever could be. The sun rose higher in the sky, shining in the glass-dragon's eyes. It was about time to train Vogaix again. He looked back into the cavern, eyes focused on the path to Marath's skeleton. Eyes closed, the glass-dragon flew into the air, heading towards the half-breed village.
The ancient glass-dragon flew through the skies, eagle-like eyes scanning the ground. The dense forest hid all the creatures that lived in it. One of his clutch-mates always asked his dad if they could burn it down. The response would always be the same, it protects us from attackers, keeps our food alive. Fenrir wondered if the clutch-mate was still out there. They left as soon as they were able, his parent's views clearly too different for the three to come to an agreement. They were too young to have chosen a gender. Not that they would have, they left before contact with humans began to be more consistent. Before the family bogged themselves down with human concepts. The wind flowed around the glass-dragon's horns and he closed his eyes. Comfort, comfort in the idea that his life goals for the past years was almost completed. Fenrir smiled, bits of flame leaking from his breath-sac and into the air.
He circled around the half-breed's clearing, a few of the children playing in between the circle of the hills already. He felt his heart warm as he remembered playing with his clutch-mates in the early morning, the dew of the forest trees covering them in water from their play. The dragon softly landed as his scales shifted back to their mirror-like reflection. The children saw him and smiled, but Lucy smiled the brightest. The half-human child bounded towards him. "Fenny!" Fenny? When did she come up with that⦠at least it wasn't Fen.
"Lucy," The dragon smiled and curled his tail in front of his claw, letting the dirt-covered girl climb it gingerly, "How are you, child?"
"I'm okay! V was all happy last nights cuz of her girlfriend bein' here!" Lucy smiled and straddled the glass-dragon's tail, "She's happier than I ever 'member her being. I like it when she's happy!" Fenrir smiled alongside the half-human. Perhaps⦠no, Khora was bad for Vogaix. It had to be. "And I'm always happy to see you mister!" Lucy smiled even bigger, a chip in one of her teeth making itself visible.
"And I'm always happy to see you, Lucy," Fenrir let a smile crawl onto his face. But not one of malice, a natural one, one of comfort. One of home. A slight purr-like growl escaped from his throat.
"Oh!" Lucy stood up, turning her back towards the glass-dragon. On it was a small bouquet of bluebells. The light purple flowers bloomed through the girl's scales beautifully. Her wings slightly flapped in excitement. Clearly glad to be showing someone new her new find. Around the flowers were clovers, grass, and some weeds. She didn't seem to care for the⦠organization that most luck-dragon's cared for. She wanted to have cute flowers on her, and that was it. "Do you like it! I found them this mornin' and I already feel their roots wrapping around my scales!" Her small tail wagged in anticipation.
"It is beautiful, I love it," He smiled softly. Memories of him and Marath in a field of lavender flooded back to him. She always loved the color purple. He recalled her scales fade from purple to white as her eyes lost all life behind them. He shook his head slightly and looked back at the half-human.
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Khora's eyes opened to Vogaix's curled hair covering her vision slightly. She smiled, her knight's body and wings were wrapped around the princess, trying to keep her from leaving. She sat like that for a bit, under the covers, the couples body heat keeping each other warm. Her hands absentmindedly stroked through Vogaix's hair, who eventually stirred. Her tail unwrapped itself around the princesses' leg. The knight groggily looked up at Khora and smiled, "Morning, princess~" She yawned and stretched in the bed almost like a cat.
"Morning, my knight," She kept curling Vogaix's hair around her fingers, "I hope I didn't wake youâ¦"
"Oh, you didn't," She pushed her head forwards to give the princess a peck on the cheek, "And I wouldn't complain if you did. The sooner I get to spend time with you, the sooner my heart gets filled with joy~" Khora blushed at Vogaix's flirty comments, slightly pushing away from her and pulling the covers with her.
"Flirtâ¦" Her eyes flicked away from the half-dragon who was smirking at her princess, eyes filled with love. Vogaix rolled herself off the bed, hiding her body with her wings. The massive tail on her knight flicked over to a closet and pulled out a loose, slightly ragged shirt.
"You love me," She smiled as she put on the shirt, slits had been cut in the back to accommodate her knight's wings. She tied the ends of the slits together as she stretched again. "Sleep well?" The half-dragon tossed Khora a shirt without slits in it. It was far too big for the princess, but it smelled like Vogaix.
"I slept better than I expected. Helps you were with me this time." She winked at Vogaix as she put on the shirt. It hung loosely against her body, and was itchier than most of her other clothes. It was somehow the most comfortable shirt she'd felt in a long time. "Back hurts, though," The princess bounced on the mattress slightly, it barely had any give.
"You get used to it," She pulled some pants up her legs and held up another pair. Her eyes flicked from the princess to the pants. "I'm⦠not sure any of my pants will fit you at all. She tied around the back of her pants, and Khora noticed there was a hole in the back for her tail to fit as well. She never considered how much work Vogaix had to do to even wear clothes.
"It's fine, I'll just wear the dress I was wearing yesterday." The princess picked the dress off of the floor and began to put it on.
"Yeah but I wanted Bailey to be able to clean your clothes today," Vogaix pouted playfully.
"It's fine, V!" Khora poked her knight's nose as she gave her a peck on the cheek. "I appreciate how accommodating you all have been," The princess opened the door and saw a massive glass-dragon lying down. Her heart skipped a beat and she slammed the door shut.
"Khora!" Vogaix ran over to her and held her close, stroking claws through her hair softly, "What's wrong?"
"It's-" She took a deep breath and pushed her weight against the half-dragon's, "I just got startled, that's all," Khora took a deep breath, letting Vogaix's hair cover her face. The dragon didn't want to kill her. She didn't think, at least, "Let's go." The pair opened the door together, the light from the early morning sun temporarily blinded the two lovers.
As her vision cleared, Khora saw the children playing some kind of game in the center. They had small nuts and were attempting to juggle them. The princess laughed softly, she'd always loved kids. Never got to see them enough in the castle. Further from the center of the clearing was the glass-dragon, Fenrir. Him and Lucy, the half-dragon child, seemed to be having a lively discussion. Discussion was a stretch, it was mostly the half-dragon talking, but the dragon seemed to be genuinely listening. Maybe it had some empathy. Fenrir looked up and saw the pair leave their hill. The dragon whispered something to Lucy and she bounded back to the other kids, her wings letting her stay in the air for a bit. Vogaix put her claws on Khora's shoulder and squeezed softly. "I gotta go, at least for a bit. Fenrir said he wanted to train me more," She rolled her eyes as she kissed the princess on her forehead, "Love you!"
"Love you too," Khora waved goodbye to her knight as she approached Fenrir. She sighed as she touched her forehead, strands of her hair floating in the air. It hadn't been taken care of in over a day. Her long strands were about to riot. One of the kids, a half-centaur, grabbed her by the hem of her dress and pulled her towards the group. She knelt down by the group, and most of the children smiled and greeted her. Lucy let herself flop down on the princess.
"Hi miss Khora!" She waved, the smile on her face reaching both of her ears, "Lemme introduce you to my friends!" She pointed to the half-centaur that pulled her over, "That's Sam, they don't talk, nobody knows why," She pointed to the half-lamia to the right of Sam, "That's Tara! She's really nice, I think you'll like her lots!" Tara waved shyly at the princess, using her long black hair to cover her face, "And that's Larry!" She ended at the closest child to her, a half-harpy, with only one arm. He waved to Khora with his wing and smiled.
"Thank you, Lucy," Khora waved softly to all of them, "I'm Khora Cosis!"
"We know who you are," A soft voice interrupted her, "You're the princess. You're really pretty," The half-lamia stroked her hand through her hair as she spoke. Khora laughed sweetly.
"Thank you, Tara," She ruffled the top of the half-lamia's head, "You're pretty too!" The kid gasped and hid her face in her hands, her skin-covered tail wrapped around itself. The princess giggled, "And how do we play this game you all were playing?" As the kids explained the rules and Lucy cuddled up to the princess, she looked up at the dragon and her knight. Vogaix seemed to be attempting to fly, Khora knows she'd tried before, but the best her knight could manage was a controlled glide. Fenrir looked over, its eyes flicked between Khora and the half-dragon in her lap, who was still explaining the rules. The princess saw a warmth behind his eyes that she'd never even seen in her father's. The beast seemed to smile as it looked back at Vogaix. Sometimes Khora wished she could read minds, maybe her and Fenrir would be able to get along better. Her attention turned towards Lucy as the child finished up the rules.
"Did you catch all of them?" Her tail wagged against the grassy ground as she looked up at Khora.
"I think so!" She looked at the dragon, eyes softer towards him than they had ever been. Looking back down at Lucy with a smile on her face, she ruffled the half-dragon's hair around her horns, "I'm sure I'll pick it up. I'm a smart girl."