Dragonlord

Ep 17. Dear. Be Quiet. (1)

Ep 17. Dear. Be Quiet. (1)

Ep 17. Dear. Be Quiet. (1)

Bruton looked to his side, studying the figure beside him.

Brilliant streaks of white hair glowed faintly in blue, reaching just beneath her chin. Two blue eyes gleamed like the night stars. She was significantly taller, and noticeably more feminine than before. But most importantly, the two black horns jutting forth from her head and the dragon tail covered in pure white scales made sure no onlooker would mistake her origins.

Admittedly, morphing smaller features of their human body was an easy task for elder dragons. Facial features, hair lengths, even height or skin color...they could largely manipulate it to their heart’s content.

But even Bruton had never heard of a dragon being able to alter their physical age and gender at will.

On top of that, even her clothes had changed; the previous childish mage robe was nowhere to be found, now replaced with an ornate blue and black dress stretching down to her ankles.

‘Dragonlord...Serenis.’

Bruton’s doubts began to waver at the sight of Serenis’ return to her presumably original form. The human boy that had suddenly appeared at their nest was nothing short of unconvincing, but the figure he now beheld was unmistakably his kin – kin that possessed a depth he could not possibly grasp.

Once the dragons rose to their feet again, Serenis broke the silence with a lightened expression as she faced her three kin.

“To be honest, I expected questions.”

The three dragons looked at her uneasily. Ilias was first to speak up.

“Can we...ask?”

“As much as you’d like.”

“Um...”

Bruton briefly spared a glance towards his stammering daughter. Having so many questions, it seemed like she was finding it difficult to choose one – especially before the dragonlord’s looming presence. With the evident regality accompanying her, the younglings found it a tad more difficult to speak their minds freely now; after all, the little boy had suddenly become an unmistakable elder before their eyes.

Finally, it was Bruton who interjected.

“The orb. It truly was your heart, yes?”

“It was.”

“And the tribute just now was...for whom exactly?”

“...The dragonkin’s second lord, and perhaps its last. Or if you’d rather, an elder who loved you all dearly.”

“The last? But you’re here right now.”

Serenis let out a soft laugh at Ilias’ question.

The two younglings avoided her gaze at the insistence. Serenis exchanged glances between the two of them, her confusion evident.

“...Is something the matter?”

“I, um...never quite learned how to do that.”

“I rely more on my physical senses.”

With both Ilias and Raizel out of commission, Serenis looked to Bruton.

“...Bruton, not you too?”

“I...I’m able to read the air’s mana just fine, my lord. Though, I don’t notice anything peculiar nearby.”

“Are you reading the mana within the other paths?”

“Why, yes.”

“With no mana to supply their traps, there shouldn’t be anything peculiar within them. Focus your senses downwards.”

“Downwards? Hm...oh, there indeed seems to be something. They’re...”

A visible frown crossed the elder dragon’s closed eyes. He tilted his head, confused as to what his mana was sensing.

“...Metals?”

Serenis snickered as she reminisced how her son would hide his favorite meats under a rock, only to forget about them until they’d rot. It seemed that his habits hadn’t changed until the very end.

‘Vulka always did hide his most prized belongings beneath other things.’

The dragonlord hovered one of her palms out, facing downwards. White bolts began to crackle at her hand, gathering into a small ball of condensed energy. Soon after, the ball exploded downwards in a torrent of white light, cleanly blasting through the floor’s ice – and a couple more layers of ice behind it – revealing faint glimmers in the distance far beneath.

“It’d be foolish to let any go to waste. Come.”

Serenis’ white wings unfolded as she hopped into the pit she’d created. Ilias followed immediately after without a single question.

“Ilias!...You can never exercise too much caution in a place like this...”

Bruton sighed as he, too, unfolded his wings. Until he felt something heavy wrap around his waist.

Raizel had attached herself to his side.

‘...Ah. She was exercising caution after all.’

Ilias had learned her lesson on their way here. He hadn’t.

Bruton groaned as he struggled to maintain flight with the added weight, descending far quicker than he normally would’ve.