Chương 1267: 1297 - Draconic Farewells

With sharp concentration, Leon channeled his power. Origin power resolved before him, the object he desired resolving first into light, and then into physical matter—a scroll of paper, the ancient rune of lightning written perfectly upon it. He hadn't just conjured paper and discolored it; he'd created paper and the dry ink of the rune—a rather more complex feat than simply conjuring paper with rune-shaped discoloration, but the complexity of the feat was the point, not the resulting spell.

Leon grinned as the scroll settled into his hand. It had taken more time than he'd have needed to do it 'by hand'—in reality, he would've done it using elementless magic, which allowed him to create thousands of spells every day if he wanted—but it had been impressive enough that Elise gasped appreciatively beside him.

"Oooh! Can you make something for me?" She gave him such a hopeful look that Leon couldn't possibly refuse her. He settled into his chair and quietly planned what to make. Elise sat beside him and leaned over his shoulder, her arms folding over him before her head came to a rest on her arms. Her fire-red hair tickled Leon's ear, but her comfort was worth far more to him than his own. Once he had an idea of what to make, he concentrated again. Creating the paper was, oddly enough, harder to do than metal.

Metal was far more defined in form, if not in matter, and that was far more important for the magic than the actual physical structure of what was to be made. Light flashed, first taking the form of a half-circle. Small filaments of light bent up, quickly taking on floral patterns, while brighter beads of light concentrated within those flower patterns. Most of the light soon resolved into pure gold, while within the floral patterns, the beads of light took on a red hue and solidified into glittering rubies.

A diadem had taken form, while the inside had been enchanted to maintain the diadem's durability and luster.

"Phwoooarrr," Leon exclaimed dramatically as he grinned at Elise, the gleaming diadem slowly turning around above his palm, showing off the entire thing. Elise all but screamed; her head shot up as her arms went around Leon's neck. She lavished his cheek with kisses, only stopping when Leon brought the diadem closer and nestled it into her hair.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Elise repeated. Leon could only smile; it was hardly the most elaborate or even the most beautiful piece he'd made for her, but not only was her joy infectious, he also deeply enjoyed making the thing, too. Suddenly, another presence appeared next to Leon. He turned his head expecting to see Cassandra, but instead, he found blue eyes and silver hair filling his vision.

Valeria didn't say anything, but she took his arm and snuggled against him, her body a cool and calm contrast to Elise's warm exuberance. Still, Leon could easily read into her expression. He carefully extricated himself from Elise's embrace, who only allowed him to go once she realized the silver-haired woman had arrived. Leon then snaked an arm around Valeria's waist and pulled her as close to himself as he could. He nuzzled into her neck, inhaling her scent, enjoying her company.

He didn't allow this to distract him from the job at hand, though, and he ran his fingers along her arm, his touch feather-light and bringing out goosebumps all over her. She shivered for a moment, but she relaxed into him even as his power gathered around her wrist. Silver crawled up her arm like vines, sapphires appearing like grapes until her arm glimmered beautifully. He smiled proudly, but her returned smile was less enthusiastic.

"I love it," she whispered tentatively, "but how am I supposed to move?" Leon frowned, realizing he'd gotten a bit too into showing off. With a snap of his fingers, the delicate silver shattered, and he created a vine-like bangle embedded with sapphires, this one much easier to take on and off.

"Much better," she quietly breathed into his ear. Her lips grazed his earlobe just as Leon saw Cassandra stalking towards him, a gleam in her ruby-red eyes, and Maia poked her head out of a small decorative pond she'd melded into in the room. Leon grinned, ready to take on the challenge, when he sensed someone approaching the door mere moments before they sharply rapped their knuckles against it. He'd gotten so into having fun with his wives that he'd forgotten why they were waiting here.

After several seconds of quickly straightening themselves out—or in Maia's case, returning into the pond and vanishing from sight entirely—Leon called for the door to open, and Anzu, Serana, and Alix entered.

"Brother," Anzu said.

"Leon," Serana added with a warm smile.

"Our kin are here." Leon nodded. It hadn't even been a day since the end of the Games, but already, Lords were leaving. Truthfully, he would've gotten the hells away from the plane at full speed if he had no other social obligations. Archelaus would be accompanying him back to the Nexus as he'd joined him on the journey to Belicenion, and Gwarim wasn't going to do the same, but Leon expected a hearty farewell from the veritable giant—he expected the same from others, too, especially from Storm Lords.

It was the Great Dragons that he was most concerned with, however, and it seemed they were in something of a hurry if they were visiting Storm Herald already.

"Let us meet them, then," Leon said as he rose from his seat, Elise and Valeria beside him, their new jewelry glimmering in the ark's soft, indirect lighting. A somewhat envious Cassandra joined them just as the dragons were shown in. Twelve dragons entered the room, led by radiant Prasinos and his son Ryonos.

They were followed by viridian Merenni and her son Varon; ashen Tiir and his son Ianu; vermilion Kallon and his daughter Karina; azure Ouros and his daughter Jennifyr; and finally aureate Rayos and his daughter Nyra. The everdark Clan was represented only by Serana, and she was joining Leon in Artorion, not returning to Arushae with the rest of the dragons.

"My everdark kinsman," Prasinos said with a wide grin, his arms open wide, "we have come to say our farewells."

"And to extend an invitation," Merenni added.

"All who bear the blood of Great Dragons are welcome in Arushae."

"Indeed," Tiir continued, "we are typically quite anxious when members of our Clans are not present." Leon blinked. It shouldn't have been much of a surprise, but it still took him aback at just how communal the dragons were. They were utterly dismissive to the point of contempt of anyone who wasn't one of them, but one of them was one of them, and they made sure everyone knew it.

"You honor me," he said.

"But I am needed in Artorion. As anxious as you may be about me, I am very much so anxious about the Kingdom I've built. A King should not be long from his Kingdom, and I've spent the better part of three years absent."

"Responsibility is good in one so young," Ouros stated pridefully.

"But I've found that many who bear such responsibility will shoulder too much of it. We are kin; do not treat us as strangers." The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

'You still are, for the most part.' Leon wisely didn't give voice to the thought, instead smiling and thanking the Blue Dragon. Then Kallon stepped forward, a look of deadly seriousness on his severe features.

"Should you need us, kinsman… reach out. For anything." Again, Leon blinked in surprise, with Rayos swiftly coming to further explain.

"Dragons are always under threat," the Gold Dragon said.

"We are envied and hated for our power. Other Clans are, too, but dragons most of all. Dragons must fly together, or we will be struck from the sky by mankind's endless hordes, as the Primal Beings were so many millennia ago."

"Should I need you," Leon said, "I'll get in touch. Shouldn't be too hard now that we're aware of each other."

"Your man gave us some of your 'comm lotuses'," Merenni said with a nod to Anzu.

"My brother passed on a gift," Leon replied, noting the slight tightening around Merenni's eyes, though she didn't comment on the stated relation.

"It will be easy to communicate if we use the same techniques."

"Yes, it should," Prasinos said as he led the others in stepping back in what seemed to almost be a scripted motion. Filling the gap came their children, Leon's 'uncles' and 'aunts'.

"You really should come to Arushae soon, my everdark nephew," Ryonos exclaimed as he gave Leon a tight, familial hug. He was larger than Leon, easily lifting him several inches off the ground.

"We lost the ability to spoil you as the first member of the newest generation," Jennifyr added as Ryonos put him down.

"We've had to make do with our youngest sister, but it would've been nice to have you to practice on, first." She nodded to Nyra, and the other dragons went silent as the girl fidgeted under their combined stares. Without preamble, she closed her eyes and blurted out, "I'm sorry!" Surprise kept Leon's eyes well-hydrated as he blinked several more times in rapid succession.

"… Why?" he asked, though he was sure he knew the reason already.

"For not believing you!" Nyra continued, her eyes still shut tight.

"I was wrong! I'm sorry!" A sigh broke through Leon's tightly shut lips. On the one hand, he considered himself vengeful, remembering consequential damage inflicted upon him, his family, and his Kingdom forever. On the other hand, he also considered himself almost too merciful, choosing to forgive and move on when those slights were not consequential, or directed only against himself. In this case, after his surprise dulled, his answer came quickly.

"Not that I think it's entirely necessary, I forgive you," he said, causing Nyra's eyes to shoot open.

"R-Really?" she sputtered uncertainly.

"Sure," Leon said as he clapped her on the shoulder, causing her to almost jump in shock.

"A few heated words are nothing to hold grudges over." Nyra beamed at him, her smile seeming to change from embarrassed to joyous and back again with every passing millisecond.

"Then…" she whispered after a quick glance at her father, who gave her an encouraging nod, "… can I go to Artorion with you?" Leon blinked so much he wondered how it was possible that he still had eyeballs left.

"You… want to go with me?" Nyra rapidly nodded several times, her eyes flitting between him and Serana.

"Please? Please, please? I've heard so much about you, big sister Serana, please?" Serana stepped forward and took Nyra's hands.

"I'd love to have my aureate sister with me."

"Then it's settled," Leon said as he looked at the elder dragon generation and saw no objections.

"Then it's time," Karina responded, drawing his attention, "to give you our proper farewells. So, Leon, my everdark nephew: may you fare well."

"Not just well," Ianu added, "may you thrive."

"And should you not," Varon continued, "once again, we dragons fly together." Leon nodded, an unabashed smile breaking out despite his efforts to contain it.

"In that case…" he whispered as he summoned several stacks of paper, each large sheet covered in highly detailed notes regarding his transformation enchantment.

"Have this. You should be able to inscribe this enchantment into your soul realm, and when activated, it will stimulate your Inherited Bloodline enough to cause you to transform. It's how I was able to assume the form of the Thunderbird during my duel with Bennu. I haven't been able to use it with my Great Black Dragon bloodline yet, but no other bearer of inherited power that I have in my Kingdom has yet had such trouble, so I assume it's just something to do with having two bloodlines.

It should work fine for all of you." As he spoke, the others were already leafing through the sheets and passing them around. Were they not properly numbered to make organization easier, Leon might've immediately face-palmed at the seeming lack of care for how the notes were meant to be read. Regardless, the dragons received his gift, just as Serana had not long before.

They couldn't do so until they left Belicenion, if only for the sake of privacy, but Leon was excited to see how the enchantment affected his mother, if at all. He could think of few greater allies than seven Clans of true dragons, but he wasn't going to take it for granted.

"Will you mind if we share this?" Prasinos asked.

"With whom?" asked Leon tentatively, though he could already hazard a guess.

"With Fargrim," Prasinos answered, this time not shocking Leon at all.

"A secret like this ought not to be kept from kin. We will not share it with anyone else, however."

"Only with the Great Black Dragon Clan, then I won't argue against it," Leon said. And with that, the transformation enchantment was truly shared, and the results, Leon was sure, would shake the universe…

"Look at them," Antipatra hissed as the dragons left the Thunderbird ark, their power arrogantly unrestrained, which ensured that they weren't challenged as they returned to their own foul arks.

"Acting as if they are the masters of the universe. Would that Kamran succeeded…"

"Even Kamran makes mistakes," Triton said with a sage nod.

"Our Lord is many things, but he is not infallible."

"The events of the past few centuries have been proof enough of that," the Basilissa responded.

"Is that rebellion I'm hearing buried in your voice?" Triton teased. Antipatra lent him a sarcastic smile and took it back with a friendly slap on his upper arm.

"Ow!" he said, clearly only to continue teasing her.

"So violent!"

"I can be much more violent if I need to be," she said with a wide smile.

"I know, I know. To get back on topic, not that I don't enjoy you—""Or I, you."

"—We are left with the question of how to deal with our Thunderbird problem. This bloodline was supposed to have been exterminated. If Kamran learns of this…"

"He already knows. Or he should. Stories have spread more than far enough to reach my ears, let alone his. Does he not take the stories seriously?"

"Perhaps he considers it a low-priority threat?" Triton frowned and started slowly pacing.

"How many 'heirs of the Thunderbird' have there been? And how many have gone from eleventh-tier to thirteenth in less than two centuries?"

"Now he's locked down with Halbast," Antipatra stated as her glaring eyes turned slowly toward Anushirawan's grand palace complex, far below the ark they'd met in.

"And our newest 'recruit' seems… uncommitted …"

"So were we when Kamran first approached us. Are we not now reliable? Do we hesitate to do what must be done? Khosrow asks much of us, and I'm not surprised that so few are able to answer. But Kamran… with Kamran, we can fulfill the Great Lord's will. No one else can." The fiery Basilissa scoffed.

"Leave it to us, then! Not Akeron, not Anushirawan, us! Seems unwise. This threat should be cut down before he grows any stronger."

"We are too few," Triton said conciliatingly.

"We are thousands strong, and yet we are too few. There are too many threats out there, and we find more all the time. We may lament Anax Akeron's absence, but…" He trailed off, only turning to look at Antipatra when she pinched his arm and smiled sweetly at him.

"But… what?" Scowling, he replied, "I heard something about what he might be doing."

"Loosen tongue, then. Come on, you know I won't tell anyone else…" He smirked.

"Sure you won't. But it's not like this is necessarily true, anyways… Anax Drenthor went missing." Antipatra drew in a sharp breath, and her eyes went as wide as saucers.

"You're certain?"

"Yes. Some unidentified force struck Iaivi Fortress. All I know is that a cleansing fleet was returning from sterilizing a plane when they were ambushed. Even retreating to the fortress didn't aid them, and they were slaughtered to a man. Drenthor went missing shortly after, and it looks to me a lot like his territory was assaulted. We'll find out more when Akeron returns."" If he returns…" Antipatra whispered.

"Drenthor was no pushover."

"Others will replace him," Triton said.

"Should we fall, others will replace us. Until Khosrow's will has been fulfilled, we are all expendable."

"Don't be defeatist. Come on, let's start coordinating. It seems like the dragons won't be with this last vestige of the Thunderbird Clan, so we'll be able to crush him quickly. Once we finish what Kamran started, you'll see that we're closer than we've ever been, and that our goal can be reached." Triton nodded, grateful for her words. He allowed her to take his arm and pull him away. They had a war to plan, both within the Nexus and without…