Dragonlord

Ep 176. Get To Work. (5)

Ep 176. Get To Work. (5)

Ironically, had Raizel not sent Aymeia here, the former deity wouldn’t even be present.

Had Aymeia not been present, there was no telling how much Ardion would’ve taken to arrive.

And had Ardion not arrived when he did, Xerun just may be under the dragonlord’s feet by now.

…Not that he knew.

“We will not allow further interruptions. Ardion, should you plan to participate as an elder, then find your seat above.”

“Har…must I?”

Once again, the kin’s eldest turned to face his lord with a warm grin.

Though, at this point, Serenis was beginning to think smiling was the elder’s default.

“I’m quite content where I am.”

“…This is the dragonlord’s questioning, Ardion. It’s ridiculous for a kin’s elder to stand at their side. Come join me then, at the very least.”

“Hmm? But are kin not standing with her already?”

“Bruton and Aether have been relieved of their elder duties at the moment.”

“And the dragonlord herself is not an elder?”

“…”

“Har…with all due respect, Xerun, I’d rather stand with the mighty.”

With another sigh, Xerun turned away from Ardion with a scowl.

And as he looked upon Serenis, his scowl deepened even further.

“Rubbish. What she possesses is not true strength, but sorcery. Underhanded trickery fueled by our kin’s treasure.”

Much to the dragonlord’s dismay, it didn’t seem like Xerun was alone in thinking so – the other elders gathered above were all nodding their heads in silence.

But before she could refute once more, Ardion’s laughter echoed through the hall.

“Har! Is that so? Then perhaps a wager would settle this matter, Elder Xerun.”

“…Wager?”

“Indeed. If the dragonlord’s strengths are all sorcery as you claim, then why not put it to the test? A contest of pure strength, with no regards to all else – magic or otherwise.”

“And you think this pretender would agree to such terms?”

Xerun’s response was instant. Aside from Ardion himself who proposed the wager, no dragon seemed to expect Serenis to accept such terms.

Once again, the eldest dragonkin looked to Serenis – and this time, the confidence in his smile was all the more evident.

“And so he says. Dragonlord…would you kindly indulge us for a short while?”

“…”

A brief pause followed as Serenis stared into Ardion’s eyes.

She didn’t have a problem engaging Xerun in a bout of strength. In fact, it was the far safer option in comparison to using magic.

What irked her, however, was how confident Ardion seemed to be – not in his own kin’s representative, but in the dragonlord he’d barely met.

Afterwards, Serenis once again took a brief glance around the room.

No other kin seemed to share their eldest’s confidence in Serenis. Even Bruton and Aether seemed worried, all too aware of how Serenis really had been a human child before; to them, it seemed unlikely that Serenis would be able to do much without magic.

Following a quiet sigh, Serenis’ gaze returned to meet Xerun’s.

“I don’t see why not. I accept.”

“…You accept? A contest of pure strength?”

“Yes. Were those not the conditions?”

“You’d dare challenge a dragonkin without the aid of your sorcery?”

“I’d restate that I am indeed a dragonkin myself, but…the claim seems lost in your ears.”

As she watched Xerun’s face grow twisted with anger and disbelief, Serenis looked away from the seething dragon, holding back the urge to snicker.

Raizel was right. Violence did bring good results sometimes.

A long while had to pass before Xerun would rein in his anger to finalize their meeting.

“…Dragonlord Serenis. You will be expected at the valley’s highest plains at sunrise. After your loss, you will be expected to resign what you’ve stolen – should you decide to flee with the treasure beforehand, the consequences will instead befall upon Bruton and his daughters.”

Serenis crossed her arms, quietly nodding her head. It was quite plain how low Xerun thought of her without magic.

“And should I emerge victorious, I understand that your…’council’...will have no further objections of my claim to the heart.”

“…Very well.”

Once the terms were finalized, Xerun looked up towards the hall’s upper platforms to exchange glances with the other elders present.

“I understand there aren’t any objections?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Nodding at the crowd’s silence, Xerun spared one last glare towards the dragon that had facilitated this ridiculous event.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

With one last look at Ardion’s beaming face, Xerun turned away to storm out of the guest hall.

“…I’ll be expecting you all at sunrise.”

As soon as Xerun disappeared from sight, Ardion let out a small chuckle. The elder slowly turned around as he beamed a sorry smile towards Serenis.

“Do forgive his rudeness. I’m afraid he’s still just a child.”

“…As are you, in my eyes.”

“Har! And I thought my halcyon days long over…”

After another hearty chuckle, the elder dragon briefly lowered his head in a respectful gesture.

“I would ask more of your time, but I’m afraid the other children are wont to make trouble of it. I do hope I can speak with you another time, dragonlord.”

“…Of course.”

As Ardion turned around, Aymeia continued to stick at the elder’s side to support his walking.

“Oh, elder, um…I’ll walk with you.”

“Mm. I would appreciate that, young lady.”

As the two began to leave, Aymeia briefly looked towards Serenis, mimicking Ardion in a curt bow.

“Dragonlord, um…I’ll…”

“Take your time. I’ll let the others know where you’ve gone.”

Serenis remained standing in place as she watched Aymeia leave with the elder dragon.

And, much to her dismay, she would soon see the other elders taking their leave – with nary a glance spared towards their eldest kin.

✧   ✧   ✧

“…This would be the highest plain within the valley.”

As Bruton gestured to the open field before him, the dragonlord’s curious glance scanned over the distant horizon.

“So tomorrow at sunrise…I was curious if anything would have changed, but not much has changed here either, I see.”

“Has it? Coming from you, I’d guess that means it hasn’t changed for an entire millennium…”

“More than that.”

Serenis leisurely walked through the grassy plain. Unlike the two worried dragons with her, the dragonlord’s expression remained free of worries.

Unable to bear the unease any longer, Aether finally caved in to her own fears.

“…Serenis? Are you sure you’d be alright with this? Xerun might not be as strong as Ilias or Raizel, but he’s still…a…dragon.”

“You sound rather convinced that I am not.”

“Well, we know you are! But you…well…”

“Aren’t a proper dragon?”

“…”

That had always been the implication: the dragonlord couldn’t morph into a proper dragonkin’s form. That was what Bruton had known, and that was what the rest of the dragonkin had been told.

The only exceptions were Raizel and Ilias, who’d both seen Serenis proper – but neither of them had been in the valley until recently.

‘…It’s small wonder they don’t see me as kin.’

Soon, Serenis shrugged off the matter with a small chuckle.

“It’ll be alright, Aether. You needn’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure? But in that form, you’re…”

“I assure you, I’ll be alright.”

Seeing the dragonlord’s indifference, the fear in Aether’s eyes finally began to give way.

Though, that soon opened room for another topic for the dragonlord.

“But, if you wouldn’t mind…I’d like to ask about that elder dragon? Ardion, was it?”

“Oh, Elder Ardion? I believe he’s actually the eldest of us all now...”

“Bruton has told me as much. How old is he, exactly?”

“…Um…”

Aether briefly opened her mouth, then closed it back.

Lacking an answer herself, she soon turned to her husband instead.

“Dear, do you know how old Elder Ardion is?”

“…Not a clue. Probably over 800 now…?”

Aether turned back to Serenis with a small shrug.

“I’m sorry. I’m not sure if anyone would know the answer to that…I don’t think Elder Ardion would know it himself.”

“…Mm. It’s alright.”

“I do know that he’s been bedridden for the past few decades…everyone thought his age was finally catching up to him. He only recently began to recover with Eline’s help.”

“Speaking of…Xerun didn’t seem too fond of non-dragons. Would that include Eline?”

“…Yes. No one speaks of it, but some of us are still unaccepting of Eline living with us…they’re only tolerating her for those that are unwell. Elder dragons aren’t too fond of outsiders in general. Especially humans.”

“I would assume that’s due to what’s happened with the empire, then.”

“…Mhm.”

A bleak shadow draped over Aether’s eyes as she answered. The current elders could remember Akeia’s invasion like yesterday.

Which confused Serenis all the more.

“…Is that so? Ardion seemed rather comfortable with Aymeia’s presence.”

“He…is. Even though Elder Ardion’s been demanding the rest of us to remain wary of outsiders, he’s been very friendly to human travelers himself. We just assume it’s his age getting to him, but…it’s one of the reasons why the kin are a bit…divided, on how they feel about him.”

“So he does the opposite of what he preaches. I suppose that’s why Xerun seemed rather harsh on this elder, then.”

“Uh…well…that too, but…”

As soon as Serenis made her comment, Aether’s expression twisted into a frown.

And, following suit, Bruton even budged in between the two to interject.

“Actually…Xerun in particular isn’t too fond of Elder Ardion. Because…”