Chapter 16: Learning

Fenrir flew towards his cave, the small, clawed hands around his spines giving him a bit of comfort. The glass-dragon shook it off, it was just a half-human, one that was with a human, no less. He landed at the cave, scales shifting to the light gray of the stone around it. His daughter looked around and slid off his neck, her wings flapping softly to slow her descent. "Where are we now?"

"My home," He walked deeper into the cave, bowing to Marath's horn as he passed. The dragon sat down by the first crossroads of his house, letting his eyes linger on the burnt remains of his clutch for a while.

"And why'd you bring me here?" Vogaix wandered through the cave, admiring the draconic words carved throughout the entirety of it. A relatively recent addition, in the last couple years. It chronicled the story of Fenrir's people, of their rise and their fall. There was a large blank spot on the wall, for the dragon to describe their eventual future rise.

"I thought it would be nice for you to connect to your roots," Fenrir's tail curled in on itself, a sign of lying in most dragons. He truthfully just missed having someone to talk to, "So… ask me anything."

"Who's this?" Vogaix pointed at the horn that lie on its shrine.

"Marath," Fenrir looked back towards her body, feeling a sharp pain in his chest, "I believe in your language she would be called…" The dragon fully lay himself down, resting his snout on his front paws, "An aunt. My sister." Fenrir's eyes flicked towards the clutch, "More than that."

"More than your sister?" Vogaix walked towards Fenrir, following his line of sight. When she saw the remains of the clutch, she stopped. "Oh…" She rubbed her claws together and looked down, "I'm sorry." The half-human looked up at Fenrir with a slightly forced smile, "Having kids with your sister is a bit… royal of you isn't it?"

"What?" Fenrir tilted his head, his eyes individually blinked at Vogaix in confusion.

"Well the only humans that do that are usually kings and the like. I've always heard your kids turn out all weird from it."

"No," Fenrir kept staring at his daughter, the confusion in his eyes still clear, "Intermingling with clutch-mates is quite common. Happens more often than branching out. My two fathers were clutch-mates as well."

"Oh. Don't you all have… consequences from that?"

"No." Fenrir rested his head again, letting his eyes close slightly.

"So did you love her?" Vogaix sat down, leaning back on her arms, "Your sister, I mean."

"Marath was… remarkable." Fenrir let his tail worm its way underneath his body, "I still do love her." Vogaix stared at her father, eyes wandering across his scales. They stopped when they reached her reflection, and a soft smile crept onto her lips. "Do you love…" Fenrir paused, he knew Vogaix wouldn't like it if he referred to Khora as an it, "Her?"

"Khora?" Vogaix's smile grew wider as her mind wandered, "I do. More than anything. I've known her for… almost my whole life. Honestly, I'm not sure where my life would be if I hadn't met her. I wouldn't even know myself as Vogaix. She saved me. There's a reason I've already dedicated myself to being her knight. I do love her." Vogaix paused and looked at her arm, the same place she had a bandage on earlier, "Thank you. For bringing her to me."

"I see…" Fenrir stared at his daughter. He saw true care on her face. He just wished it wasn't for a human. It couldn't be trusted, and he needed to get her to see that. "What do you mean you wouldn't know yourself as Vogaix?"

"You guys have gender, right?" Fenrir shrugged slightly, and shook his head.

"Not originally, the only reason some of us are like that is because humans brought it over. We don't even have sexes, like you humans do."

"Wish I got that bit of you," Vogaix rubbed her arm, squeezing it slightly, "I wasn't a girl at first. I don't think the kingdom would even see me as one."

"Why would they not see you as one?" Fenrir leaned his head closer to Vogaix, letting his snout push on her chest, "Is it not obvious?"

"Not to anyone who knows, apparently." A tear fell down the half-human's cheek. Fenrir licked her face softly.

"Do not cry over things that can not get you. You are safe, in here." Fenrir looked at his daughter and smiled, "I am sorry that they do not understand. The fact that they make my daughter miserable makes me want to kill them even more." Vogaix laughed and wiped off her face.

"Thanks, Fenrir." She looked up at him, the smile on her face aimed at him now, "You'd be fine with it even if I can't reproduce?" The dragon looked at his daughter, his eye twitched slightly. Could she not bear offspring? Could she not help him regrow their population?

"I suppose I would have to be." He huffed out a puff of smoke. He wasn't, but he could be. He wanted to be, for his daughter. He could help his people repopulate some other way. If she wanted to stay with that human, he would… bear it. "Are you sure it actually keeps you from having children?"

"It does, according to Slepna. She hasn't tried it on anyone else though."

"I see. I am sorry, my daughter." Vogaix scoffed at the dragon's words, she played with the halberd head that lie on her waist and flicked her eyes away.

"As if," She put a clawed hand over her mouth and shook her leg against the stone floor, "You don't see me as a daughter. There's no way."

"Vogaix," Fenrir hesitated, he curled his claws into the floor and turned away, "I-" She was right, they'd barely known each other and he essentially abandoned her for no reason. It was also hard for him to see her as a daughter, when almost all he smelled on her was human. But… Ame existed, and Morgan, too. Maybe his daughter was one of the good ones, too. "I will try my best. I want to treat you as well as my fathers did. As well as Marath did."

"Whatever…" The half-human child pushed her halberd's head into the ground while the two dragons sat there quietly.

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Khora watched as the dragon took off with her knight, its wings creating a shadow across the ground. Hopefully the two would get to know each other a little more. Maybe they could start getting along, maybe Khora could even get along with her future father-in-law. The princess walked to Slepna's hill, it was her turn to help her out with alchemy anyways. She knocked on the door to her house after pulling aside the fake grass and waited at the door for a bit. She was about to leave before she heard a muffled voice come from the inside. "Come in!" Khora slowly opened the door, the inside of the hill was softly but barely lit by candles, the brightest one being on a table next to one of the walls. The white centaur-dragon stood in front of it, wearing goggles and holding a cloth up to her snout. She looked at the princess and gestured for her to cover her mouth with a cloth, which she promptly did. She stepped closer to the table, looking at the contraption on top more closely.

There were a few metal spheres that were dripping liquid out into a glass one in the center that had the candle underneath it. Inside the glass sphere was a boiling mixture, it seemed to swirl with a light green liquid that was slowly mixing with a darker green. Smoke came from the sphere, escaping the home through a small hole in the ceiling. The two sat there while the mixture boiled, but it eventually slowed down, the liquid inside the sphere still in two distinct colors. "Shit," Slepna dropped the cloth around her snout. She placed it on one of the strange symbols that sat on the table, "I thought that would've been it this time."

"What exactly were you doing?" Khora looked at the mix, it had completely stopped boiling now, "Something with Kurma's blood?" The light green color in the mixture looked kind of like the half-emerald-dragon's blood. She looked up at the white centaur-dragon with a curious look on her face. Slepna looked down at Khora, she was about twice as tall as her, and larger in every way possible. Honestly, she was kind of pretty. The centaur-dragon stared for a while before she shook her head, picking up the failed mixture and dumping it into a bucket on the floor.

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"Trying to enhance its effects," She sighed and put the glass sphere aside, opening another drawer and digging out a simple alembic, "It's losing its potency for Morgan. Are you here to help me out?"

"Yeah," Khora began to tie her hair into a ponytail, looking around the table. Slepna put aside everything but the alembic, cracking her neck as she pulled out a small metal needle attached to a glass vial. "My father never let me look into alchemy at all so I'm not sure how helpful I'll be."

"You'll be okay, it's sometimes nice just having someone to talk to. Besides, I've been meaning to get to know you better." She took off the cap and set it aside, "Could you grab the yam and mushrooms from in there?" The dragon pointed to a drawer in the table. Khora quickly pulled it open, inside were a ton of fungi and other plants, she dug a yam and a few dried mushrooms up. "Perfect," Slepna softly poked in between two of her scales. Red blood poured out of her skin and into the glass vial, when it was full she carefully placed it on the table and put a strip of cloth over her arm, "Tie this up for me?" She knelt down, giving the princess easy access to her arm.

"So what is it we're making here?" Khora tied the cloth tight enough for the blood to stop dripping on the floor.

"Your Vogaix's treatment," Slepna poured the blood into the main vial of the alembic, lighting the candle that sat underneath it. The blood began to heat up, and Slepna threw in the things Khora had gathered into a bowl, "Could you mash those up?"

The princess grabbed the pestle and began crushing the dried mushrooms and yams together, "Could you explain how it works?" The half-dragon looked at her in surprise, quickly switching her focus back to the boiling blood.

"Really?" Khora nodded and smiled, "You're the first person who's ever actually asked. Not even Vogaix has. Essentially, I'm just boiling out all the impurities from my blood. You would… not want to inject this stuff into yourself raw, whatever my other half is is some kind of ice dragon maybe? Blood cools you down a lot, it can even slow your blood-flow down to the point of death. But its boiling point is different than the centaur-dragon parts, which is what we need for her treatments." Steam began to rise up the alembic, coalescing in the top pocket, "Oh, almost done, we just wait for a little bit longer. The things that you are crushing up are just to enhance the blood's effects. The body takes it better that way."

"That's really interesting, honestly. I don't understand why father wouldn't let me research things like this."

"He probably thought it was far too dangerous for his little princess," The centaur-dragon put out the fire and leaned next to the tube. Khora saw ice begin to form around the outside as Slepna opened her mouth, then light red liquid began to drip into the other bottle. The dragon stood up and wiped her face, "Such cold breath is useful for this. Are you done with the mortar and pestle?"

"Yeah, here," Khora handed Slepna the mortar and watched as she poured it into the now-cooled blood. The mixture immediately changed color, to a brighter, pinker, red. She stared as the centaur-dragon swirled the mixture around. She released her breath onto it again, and the mixture thickened in the glass vial before the princesses' eyes. Slepna poured it into a sieve and let the thick chunks of yam and mushroom filter out. The thick liquid dripped into a glass vial with a metal needle attached to it. The dragon flicked the tip and smiled, turning back to Khora after carefully placing the potion down on the table, "Right, let's do something fun now. How about I teach you how to make a smoke bomb."

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Boran sat in Alaric's room, staring at him after explaining where he thought the mysterious creature was. The bastard prince played with a coin as he rested his boots on his table. "I see," His annoyingly smooth voice snuck into the knight's ears as he flicked a coin into the air. He caught it and smirked, "Any further ideas on what it is? And what the king is doing with it?"

"No," Boran kept tightening and loosening his grip around his blade's handle. He didn't like this situation at all, it seemed like nobody was being honest with him. He subconsciously let a growl leave his throat. Liars made the scars where his scales used to be ache.

"Well I can deal with it. Trust me," The boy smirked, planting his boots on the floor and leaning on the table, "You just make sure the king isn't suspicious of you."

"Fine," Boran scoffed and took a breath, "Keep me posted, Alaric. I am still not sure of your game. I can still tell the king everything."

"Of course, Boran." He flicked the coin into the air, catching it in his gloved hand and making a show of setting it on the table. The body of a dragon lie facing the ceiling. Tails. "Have you been keeping an eye on that son of yours? Yağmur I think his name is?"

"What about him?" The knight stiffened and stood up, chair collapsing to the floor. "Did you do something to him?"

"Oh, no. I would not be so rough as to directly harm someone. Especially not the son of my ally. What kind of tactician do you think I am?" He flicked the coin towards Boran, letting it fall on the other side, a profile of the king's head. "Not that you're not rich, but you'll need it. Now go, I need my beauty rest."

"Why would I need a single coin?"

"I said go, Boran." Alaric sarcastically pointed towards the door as if the knight didn't know where to go. Boran huffed and walked out of the room, fidgeting with the coin in his massive hands. The king had to have a reason for keeping this beast a secret. Otherwise Boran wouldn't know what to do. For now, the important thing was Yağmur. As irritating as Alaric was, he tended to know things. Boran looked at his upper arm for a second before leaving the castle. There was no way Alaric knew, no way he could know.

Boran stepped into the courtyard, a few of the knights were in the center, sparring with each other. Yağmur was nowhere to be found, but a few knights resting on a bench saluted him and threw up their helmets. "Morning, Sir!" Jane's red hair tried to escape her helmet as she stared at the massive knight's face. "Are you okay, Boran? You look exhausted." Boran put his hand up to his face and felt the bags underneath his eyes. Maybe he hadn't been sleeping well.

"I'm fine, where's my son," Jane pointed at the armory, where the new knights' armor and weapons were housed.

"He just finished sparring, he was acting kinda weird near the end though. Like he had a less strong grip on his sword. He okay?"

"I'm not sure, continue the good work."

"Oh and my brother thinks he has a lead on the princess. He saw some smoke across the forest the other day. Should we check on it tomorrow?"

"Yes, I will lead a troop of knights and other volunteers. After I check on my son though."

"Of course, good luck Boran." The knight gave a curt nod to Jane as he walked towards the storage room. The only person inside was Yağmur, he was hanging up his sword. He jumped as the head knight walked into the room.

"Yağmur," Boran walked over to his son, ruffling his hair softly. Yağmur jumped slightly at Boran's touch, the bottom of his eye seemed to be shivering. "How was your spar?"

"It was…" The boy scratched his arm, his other hand flexed in the air, "Fine, it was fine."

"Son," The knight grabbed Yağmur's shoulder, which was answered with a silent jump from his son, "Are you okay?"

"I think," His eyes flicked towards the ground as his face became slightly pale, "I might be getting… sick." Yağmur let a cough escaoe from his throat and tried to get away from Boran, who tightened his grip slightly.

"Just…" Visions of his father flashed in his mind, and the knight let go of his son, "Be safe, son. Are you going to Jasmine's place?"

"Yeah…" He stopped at the door and didn't look back, "Thanks, pa." Before the knight could answer, the door closed. He sat in the darkness of the room for a second before taking off his own armor. He knew when his son was lying, and he'd figure out what he was lying about. He just wanted his boy to be safe.

The knight left the room before the armor stopped spinning on the floor. He rushed past the remaining knights in the courtyard and scanned the area for Yağmur. When he caught sight of him, the knight kept a somewhat distant tail. They eventually got to the outer city, Yağmur's scratching had been getting worse. And the smell as Boran entered hit him like a dragon's strike. It smelled like death, like blood, like shit and piss. Moreso than usual. It was quieter than he was used to as well, there were fewer people wandering around, and those that were appeared to be walking corpses. The damage from the dragon's attack earlier was still present, like nobody had even attempted to fix it. What in the gods names was happening in Boran's kingdom?

Yağmur eventually turned in a direction Boran wasn't expecting. The path was heading further away from the Cobbe house, deeper into the bowels of the rickety wooden buildings in the outer city. Boran turned a corner and saw Yağmur by a shadowed figure, they both exchanged things that they were holding, and eventually Yağmur headed away. Boran thought about following him, but his eyes caught on the shadowed figure's face. It was Malachi. He should've known that half-breed was up to something. He looked in the bag around his shoulder and cursed under his breath.

Boran began shadowing Malachi, who crept deeper into the bowels, as they went deeper, the light of the sun began to be blocked out by buildings on top of them. The half-centaur reached a door and looked around. Boran hid behind a barrel, keeping an eye on Malachi as he stepped through the door. The head knight rushed towards the door and grabbed it, not letting it close as he followed Malachi in. He snuck up the stairs, trying not to make any noise. As he reached the top and peered through the door that lie ajar, he saw a well lit room, covered in gold trim. Malachi stood in the middle in front of a figure sitting behind a desk, he couldn't make out their face as it was obscured by Malachi's body. "Boran," He didn't need to see the face to recognize the voice, "Stop hiding and come out here." Malachi stepped aside, revealing the white haired figure at the table, her arms proudly showing red scales. His grandmother.