Fenrir's eyes snapped open. It had been around seven days since he spoke to Vogaix. He had given the half-centaur one more batch of his blood, but that was almost five days ago now. The dragon had been alone in and around his cave for the most part. He stretched, the sun beginning to stream through the cave entrance urging him to move. It had been a lazy week, the glass-dragon had been⦠missing the company that the humans and half-humans had been giving him. The dragon sighed and looked out the cave. Maybe he should go back to the clearing, see what the others have been up to. The beast readied his massive body, wings stretching against the walls of his cavern. He stepped forwards, his wings scraped against the stone as he took a breath. The sun's blinding light reflected off his scales as he crouched, ready to take off. "Wait," He heard a small, familiar voice come from the forest at the exit to his home, "Please don't take off yet, Sire."
"What do you want, Malachi," He let his scales shift to a dull gray as he looked at the approaching half-centaur in annoyance. Something was different, this time. As it got closer to Fenrir, he saw that there was someone else with it. An old looking human. "Why have you brought someone else here," Fenrir growled, "And a full-blooded human, no less?"
"Relax, Sir Fenrir," The old woman spoke up, its voice shook with an odd confidence. The woman pulled its shirt down, revealing small, red scales around its shoulder and upper chest. A half-human⦠but very far removed from a pure-blooded one judging by the size and prevalence of the scales, "I have no more love for the kingdom than you do," The woman moved her shirt further down and revealed a massive scar that ran across her chest, "But I have been around. I see the effects your blood has on the people of the city. And I want in." The woman looked past Fenrir's claws and into the cave, "May my associate and I come in?"
"You want in?" Fenrir lifted up his leg, letting the pair of half-breeds in his home. The pathetic half-centaur stared up at the leg as it passed. Fenrir saw a small trail of drool drip from its mouth as it remembered the blood it got from the leg. Fenrir looked at it in disgust, a thought crossed the massive dragon's mind to crush the tiny half-breed here and now, but before he could act on it, the half-human stranger pulled Malachi further in. "Into what, exactly?"
"Your little⦠racket," The woman rubbed a hand through her white hair and stared at Fenrir from below. She showed surprisingly little fear for someone who was mostly human. In fact, given how combustible Fenrir knew flame-dragon-blood to be, and how flammable humans were, this stranger should fear dragons more than most, "Whatever your plan is, I want in. It's clearly a path to make⦠quite a bit of money. And I'm guessing you hate the king? Want him dead?" She looked the dragon up and down, admiring his scales.
"You want money?" The dragon huffed out hot smoke at the woman inspecting him. She coughed and backed away slightly, "I don't have any. I doubt the people taking my blood have anything, either."
"Oh, I don't just want money," The woman let her mouth twist into a sinister smile, "I want the king's money. I know there has to be quite a bit of treasure hidden in that massive castle of his. And having the population of the city at my fingertips will make that⦠easier." This human seemed like quite the schemer. Fenrir felt an idea well up in his chest.
"Fine," He stepped towards the half-human, causing her to show the first sign of fear he had seen so far, "But you don't get my blood for free."
"Of course, I didn't expect to get your blood for free. I'm not some kind of monster." She looked around the cave, and looked back up at Fenrir, "What is it you want?"
"An army," Fenrir bared his teeth at the woman, "One to helpâ¦" Fenrir paused slightly, "Me. To help me overthrow the king."
"Deal," The woman held out her hand, as if asking for a handshake, "Those of us who get addicted to your blood will be ready at your command. I will be, as well," Fenrir didn't respond to the half-human's ask for a handshake. He slightly bowed his head, "The name is Cemre. Cemre Kaya." The dragon twitched slightly, that last name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.
"Deal. Now leave me."
"Not yet, dragon," She pulled out a large leather sack and gestured her head towards it, "We need more of your blood," Fenrir looked over at Malachi, who gestured towards the sack as well.
"Very well," Fenrir lifted his leg, the same one Malachi had drank from the other day, and bit. As he released his teeth from his wound, the blood flowed freely. The thick, reflective, oil-like substance fell into the sack. He flexed his leg, letting the blood flow faster. As the sack filled, he put his leg back up, leaving the wound facing up to stop the blood's flow.
"Thank you very much, good dragon," Cemre bowed, giving Fenrir a flourish with her arms and hands, "I will be back for more in a week." Fenrir huffed and stepped aside. The pair of half-breeds stepped out of his cave, and the massive glass-dragon sighed. He wondered what he was getting into as he licked his wound, helping it heal. He couldn't risk leaving a trail back to his cave, he'd need to heal before leaving again.
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Boran's eyes fluttered open at the sound of knocking on his door. A nasally voice slipped through the wooden door to his room. Phillip. The head knight rolled his eyes and tuned out the Merlean prince's incessant prattling. He grabbed his right shoulder through his shirt. It had been forever since he'd had that dream. It was nice to have a reminder of why he hated half-breeds. They were all violent, including him. He sighed and got up, the knocking on the door growing louder. Along with a the rooster's crow, he finally responded. "What do you want, Phillip?" He opened the door, causing the prince to stumble slightly. His hair was slightly disheveled, and his leg still had a cast. It seems to have healed slightly, though.
"What is the status on the search for my Khora?" Boran had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. His Khora, as if. The only person he'd seen her show any care for was that ridiculous half-dragon. That half-glass-dragon⦠Boran's exhausted mind fired a few synapses as he realized something. Fenrir and that half-breed must be connected somehow. Could the princess have organized that escape? The prince snapped in front of the knight's face, "Excuse me!" He looked at Boran, the annoyance behind his eyes obvious, "Are you awake, sir knight?"
"I am," Boran shoved past the prince, looking down the hallway. The only one here was Phillip. "The search for the princess is going as well as it can, right now. We are still repairing from the dragon's attack, you must understand." Boran pointed to the prince's leg, "Besides, you must let that heal."
"I know." The prince limped away, muttering something to himself in Merlean. Boran did care about the princesses' location, but for now he was awaiting news from one of the scouts. None of them had come back yet. For now, the only thing he could worry about was the secret room. The one that held the monster of the castle, as him and Alaric had grown to call it. The bastard prince seemed almost reverent of the creature, but the only thing it could be to Boran was a dragon. The knight was just worried why the king had not told him about it, and what it was here for. He knew that looking into this would get him in trouble with the kingdom, either excommunicated or put to death by a knight that he had trained. Boran felt horrible about not telling YaÄmur, but this secret had to stay as tight as possible. The knight stepped back into his room to get dressed.
The knight walked towards the dungeon, it was his day to check the prisoners anyways. The light of the sun reflected off of the man's armor, creating a small spotlight under one of the Merlean wolf-dragons. It pounced on the thing like a cat, it would almost have been cute if not for its size. Boran felt himself smile softly as he walked past the beasts. He had almost gotten used to the creatures being here, even though they were not planned to stay that long. In fact, every Merlean that wasn't pulled by the wolf-dragons had already left, many of them frightened of the dragon attacking again. He stepped down the rickety stairs towards the dungeon, opening the door and giving a nod to the guard playing some kind of card game with himself at the entrance. "Sir," He saluted, standing up to unlock the door, "How has your son been?"
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"YaÄmur has been good," Boran lied as the door was being unlocked, "His first week as a knight has kept him understandably busy." In truth, the knight had barely heard anything about his son in the past week, he had been showing up to less family dinners. Boran looked back at the other door, thinking about where his son could be. After this, he'd go to the Cobbe's place, it's possible they had heard from him. His suspicion, his hope, was that he had gone with one of the scouting groups to search for the princess. He had faith in his son. He⦠had to.
Boran stepped through the door, hand resting on his blade's hilt. Inside the dark room were many more closed cells than Boran was used to seeing. It seemed anarchy had begun to break out ever since the dragon attacked. He took the parchment that hung on the wall and dipped the pen beside it in ink. The prisoners all looked up at him sadly, a few stared at him angrily as he walked by and counted them. One missing prisoner. Her cage sat open, its creaking hinges echoed throughout the stone walls of the dungeon. The knight grumbled to himself, putting the parchment in his belt as he stepped deeper into the dungeon. Turning a corner, he approached the locked door. No cages in here had prisoners, they almost never did. He tried the door. Locked. Of course it was, and the keys were nowhere to be found. He turned his shoulder towards the door and took a breath.
"Sir Boran," The king's voice caused the massive man to jump in surprise, "What are you doing?"
"Just," Boran turned around and knelt to the king, "Looking for a missing prisoner, Sire."
"A missing prisoner?" The king looked at the door and smirked, "And why would they be in there? If you can't get in, why would a prisoner be able to?"
"I am not sure, my king," The knight stood up and looked at the king, stepping out from in between him and the door, "But it can't hurt to look, can it?"
"No," The king stepped towards the door, "I suppose it can't." He placed his hand on the handle, Boran saw the king twitch slightly. He stayed still for nearly a second, before pushing the door open as if it had been unlocked the entire time. Boran stared into the room. There were chains on the wall, and a massive cobweb was splayed across the walls, it avoided the back wall and the floors. It looked like it had been abandoned for⦠years. Longer than even the princess had been alive.
"Well," The knight looked down at the king and began to walk away, "Better safe than sorry. I'll assign some guards to look for the prisoner. We can start at her family's place.
"Very well. Thank you for your service, Boran. For everything you do for this country." The king bowed slightly as he walked away. The head knight did the same, letting the king turn the corner before he stared at the door once again. That sound was most definitely not dogs.
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Khora kept her eyes shut as she squeezed her knight's body. Vogaix's soft breathing reminded the princess of the comfort of the last week. Her ankle had fully healed, thanks to some of Morgan's alchemical creations. The princess opened her eyes slightly, letting the bit of sunlight coming through the door light up her knight's face. Khora smiled and softly stroked a curled hair out of her mouth. She was adorable, like this. Made the princess wonder how anyone could even see half-dragons as intimidating. They truly were⦠beautiful. Khora closed her eyes and kissed the half-dragon's cheek, some lose scales falling into the bed. Vogaix's eyes fluttered open. She looked at the princess and smiled, her sharp teeth biting onto her lip slightly. "Did I wake you?" Khora whispered, as if trying to keep someone asleep.
"Yeah," Vogaix pulled the princess in for a kiss, lingering on her lips as the knight's clawed hands stroked through her princesses' hair, "Not that I'm complaining~" Vogaix wrapped her wings around Khora and squeezed.
"We should get up, right?"
"Mmmmh," Vogaix dug her face into Khora's shoulder, "A few more minutes?"
"Fine," The princess laughed and hugged her half-dragon back, "A few more minutes." They sat there, curled together, for minutes that felt like hours. Khora closed her eyes again and breathed in, letting Vogaix's smell into her nose. It wasn't exactly a good smell, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. Khora felt herself begin to fall asleep, but it was interrupted by the ground underneath them shaking slightly.
"What is it now," Vogaix groggily got up, not bothering to put on a shirt as she shuffled to the door. The sunlight burst into the room, being concentrated by the reflective scales right outside the door.
"Oh," Khora got up as well, throwing on a shirt that Nira had made for her, "It's him."
"Been a while, I guess," Vogaix slammed the door and began her arduous task of putting on her clothes.
"Can't we just stay in here all day?" Khora threw her arms around Vogaix.
"Listen," She interrupted her routine to kiss her princess on the forehead, "I know he may not be the most⦠likable person. But he probably didn't come here for no reason. Clearly it's not like him to just want to⦠spend time with his daughter." Vogaix tied the back of her pants together as she stared at the door.
"Hey," Khora put a hand on her half-dragon's face, forcing her to look down at the princess, "You didn't have one for the first twenty so years of your life. Just because you have one now doesn't mean he'll be a good one." Khora pushed her small frame into Vogaix's body. "You still have me, you still have Slepna and the others. You don't need him."
"I know," She began to put on her shirt, letting Khora stay underneath it, her face pushed against the knight's chest, "I just⦠wish he would spend time with me."
"Trust me sweetheart," The princess ducked out of the shirt, falling on the floor, "I know."
"Come on, let's see what he's here for, anyways." Vogaix helped her princess up and led her to the door. Fenrir was laying outside the door, his massive body curled up next to one of the hills. All of his scales were the same green as the grass, and he might have been hard to spot if not for him and Lucy actively speaking. Vogaix waved to Nira, the half-centaur was currently hanging up some clothes to dry on the branches of the nearby trees. She slightly flew over to the glass-dragon that was too engrossed in his one-sided conversation with the luck-dragon child to notice. She'd been practicing flying, and could lift herself off the ground pretty consistently, though moving without a running start was still an issue.
"Hi miss Vogaix!" Lucy stopped what she was saying and jumped off the green tail of the glass dragon, wrapping her limbs around Vogaix's thigh.
"Hey there, Luce," She let a soft laugh escape her lips, "Your flowers are growing nicely." The half-luck-dragon smiled and showed off the variety of flowers that grew on her body.
"I know!" She let go of Vogaix and stared up at her, "I was just telling mister Fenny about the last few days. I've been very busy." She nodded definitively, before rushing over and hugging Khora as well. "I'm gonna go get some more flowers. Bye!" The girl waved to the princess, the knight, and the dragon as she sprinted off. The three waved back with a coordinated giggle. At least Lucy was something they could all agree on.
"Why are you here, Fenrir," Vogaix crossed her arms, tail stiff.
"I," The dragon looked at Khora and hesitated slightly, "I figured we needed to practice some more."
"What is it we're practicing this time? Breathing glass?" Vogaix smiled sarcastically as she pulled Khora towards her.
"Can't I-" Khora began to speak, but she was interrupted by a glare from Fenrir.
"Just, let me spend time with my daughter, Khora." The princess looked at the dragon, slightly surprised at the tone of his voice. It seemed almost⦠caring.
"As if you actually see me like that," Vogaix scoffed and held Khora closer to her, claws digging into her skin slightly. Khora softly gasped and pulled her knight's claws out, rubbing the top of her hands.
"Not right now, hun," Khora smiled at her knight, causing the half-dragon to blush, "And⦠go spend some time with your dad."
"Khora," Vogaix flicked her eyes between the princess and the dragon, "Are you serious?"
"Justâ¦" Khora rubbed Vogaix's shoulder softly, "Trust me, V." Vogaix stared into Khora's eyes, her pupils slightly dilated. The princess stared at her reflection in her beloved's eyes as she thought.
"Fine," Vogaix gave her princess a quick hug before she walked over to the glass-dragon, "Let's go, Fenrir." Her half-dragon knight mounted Fenrir, hands holding onto the spines that protruded from his neck. The two took off without another word, the blast of wind from his massive wings caused the princesses' hair to flow behind her. The princess sighed and walked towards Slepna, who was currently doing target practice.