Demadara quickly realised why Timae and Parsae had declined the invitation of their dragonette hosts. From the moment she entered the hall, her senses were assaulted without mercy. The dragonette were attempting to create music, beating their drums, slamming thin pieces of metal together, and trying to sing. Not one of them could hit a note, and they continuously descended into screaming to be louder than their competition.

Demadara could hardly see what was in front of her due to the near total lack of light, save for a large fire pit in the middle of the hall and she stumbled a few times over plates, dropped pieces of armour, or dragonette laying on the ground. She stayed close to Juun and Rhythe, her guides, who lead her to her seat.

The seats were ordered in rings, without space to move in or out, causing the dragonette to climb over the round tables instead, while the ones among them with wings hung from the ceiling, diving down to drop gnawed-off bones and take more from the pile of meat that was at the centre of the hall.

Under the supervision of a few dragonette, who had not peeled out of their armour and or clothes, a whole score of score of human and inhuman slaves worked tirelessly to cook and fry more and more meat which was dropped down from a hole in the ceiling. A few times the cooks were not on edge, and Demadara saw one almost crushed by the massive flank of an animal falling atop him, to the shrill laughter of his masters. He was given only a few moments before the guard was over him, tearing at his hair and shoving him back in line.

The outer rings had servers, younger dragonette not taller than children who carried massive trays over their heads. They walked in circles between the round tables, and their seated sisters took what they could grab.

Demadara was torn, between sheer disgust, and a growing hunger that made her mouth water. Her guides had no such reprehensions. Both Juun and Rhythe had already filled their plates and begun to devour their food. She could hear the cracking of bone.

"So what brings you here, Seraphite?" Rhythe had not taken her eyes off Demadara since they entered the hall. "Did you seek us out? Did the great lady send you to us?"

"No." Demadara could no longer hold herself back. She could not tell what kind of animal the meat was from. And it no longer mattered. She grabbed the slab and tore into it like the dragonette around her. More. She took another bite, then another, stuffing her mouth before swallowing, until she only held bone in her hand. "I have business with clan Manticore, and I am short on time, so moving through your territory was the fasted option."

Juun let out a low hiss, staring at Demadara while peeling pieces of bone from between her teeth. "What do you want with that damn stealing hag, except tear her head off and turn her beasties into a feast?"

Demadara rose an eyebrow, clinging to the table to calm her hands. She wanted to eat, but this was more important. "I need her expertise. Did she steal from you?"

"From all of us!" Juun slammed her fist on the table, causing the solid rock to crack. "Stole our home, our pools! Uses it to make her damn feeble copies!"

Demadara leaned away from the short dragonette and looked to Rhythe for answers.

"This is not our first home." Rhythe was the first to pass up on another tray of food, her eyes cast down on her plate. "Manticore descended on us with a wide coalition of other clans, and drove us here under the earth. We are born in the pools, without them we cannot replace those we lose."

"I see." Demadara ignored the blood and grease that dripped on her hands, after the meal she would need a bath anyways. "I can maybe force her to relinquish the pools to you, if you continue to fight for me."

Juun let out a shrill laugh, and began to press her shoulder into Demadara. "If? You're Seraphite, we are a dragonette. We follow where you lead us, that is why we were born!"

She leaned her head back, her voice a loud scream. "We serve the dragon!"

"We serve the dragon!" The hall screamed back in disharmonious unison.

"We break the scaleless and take their glitter!" Juun jumped on the table, raising her fist in the air.

"We break and take!" The others called.

"And then?" She called, the answer coming before her words had reached the other end of the hall.

"WE EAT!"

The feast had been an unruly gathering before, but Juun had turned it into a frenzy. The dragonette were devouring the meat, getting into scratch fights over still uncooked pieces, with the guards of the slaves now needing to keep their own sisters away from throwing the unwilling cooks onto the fire.

Demadara covered her face in her palm, her ears were already ringing. She felt a tug at her shoulder. Rhythe had stood up, and beckoned her to follow out of the hall, an opportunity Demadara gladly took.

Outside of the hall the underdeep was eerily quiet. What dragonette were around laid either on the ground, or hung from the ceiling, evidently full and just staring off into the distance. The sight caused Demadara to shudder. "They look to be resting but, why don't they sleep?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"We do not sleep, Seraphite." Rhythe continued to lead her upward, away from the scorching heat of the lower levels. "If we are tired, we simply eat to recover our strength. However we tend to like eating too much when we have abundance, so we need to wait for our bodies to adjust."

"You are a lot more, say," Demadara bit her lip and threw her hands in the air.

"Calm? Yes." Rhythe let out a sigh. Their path ended in what looked to have been a church. A few wooden seats remained, along with a statue that had once resembled a local deity. Its hands and head had been torn off, now laying in a corner. Rhythe sat down and crossed her legs. "We dragonette were never meant to have much need for thinking beyond where to find the next meal, treasure or battle. Each of our people only had a handful of minds like mine."

Demadara took a seat opposite of her, letting her eyes wander. bones and dust had gathered everywhere, one of the seats at the front even sported a complete skeleton, frozen in the same posture as when they had died. "Doesn't sound like it is getting you anywhere."

Rhythe lowered her head. "We were never meant to go anywhere on our own. We are dragonette. The dragons created us to do their work: Scouring the world, looting it of its riches and spoils and returning them to their palaces so they no longer had to. When they died out." She clung to her staff, her knuckles turning white. "We did not know what to do. So hordes of pathetic, disgusting scaleless drove us out and away, back into the dark. We were lucky that Juun is strong and smart enough to listen to me, many others are gone, for good."

Demadara closed her eyes. She could still see the fire, the heat of the magma below still burning on her skin, the rows and ranks of slaves. A harsh sting made her open her eyes and look down at her arm, where she had pierced her scarred skin with her nails.

"But now, you are here."

Rhythes words had Demadara look up. The dragonette had gotten back on her feet, and taken the two steps that separated them to fall on her knees. "A Seraphite, a successor of the dragons has found us. Under your guidance we can finally return to the surface, to retake what is ours."

"You mean take what is mine." Demadara was resting a hand on the Heart. "I don't mind working together but I have my own goals."

"Your goals are ours." Rhythe did not move from her spot. "You are Seraphite, the dragons were Seraphite. Even if you are not them in totality, you are the closest we have to our old masters. We will follow and aid you in your conquests. I may not know what your goals are." Her lips curled to a smile. "But if the great lady smiles upon your success, then I will give my all for that goal."

Demadara felt her skin crawl. Once more her gaze went across the ruins. Was this what her path was leading towards? Would this be how her future home would look like?

She shook her head. "Very well. I will need a strong force, and mounts for myself and my companions. After I have what I need from Manticore we will speak again, about how things will change."

Rhythe rose back to her feet. "I will speak with Juun about it after the feast has ended. It will take half a day or so, our leader cannot stop eating until everyone else has given up, for her pride." She turned to leave. "If I may, I would like to continue, stopping to eat this early makes me look bad in front of my sisters, unless you would need more of me."

Demadaras eyes widened. "Half a day? How do you manage to gather so much meat if you eat that much?"

"We don't." Rhythe shook her head "A feast only happens when our leader, Juun, decides an event is worthy of celebration, and the seer, I, also deem it appropriate. This was our first feast in a decade."

Demadara did not know what to say. She followed Rhythe out of the church, and crossed her arms. "You may go, but don't overdo it, my time is short."

Rhythe bowed, and took the stairs downward, back to the feast. Demadara went into the opposite direction, towards the warrens where Timaea and Parsae awaited her. The fox woman sat in a corner, holding onto her tail. She did not even raise her head when Demadara entered.

Parsae gave her a look, then left the room.

"Are you not going to welcome me back?" Demadara looked away, crossing her arms more tightly.

"My lord." Timaes voice was quiet, weak. "Do you still need me?"

Demadara just stared at her, speechless.

The fox continued. "I wished for you to become a dragon, and here you are. Safe, within land that bows before you, with a willing horde of servants and more." Her body was trembling. "You have always been decisive in cutting out those who are no longer useful. Is my time come now?"

"Of course not." Demadara stormed over to her, her face flushed red. "You stood by my side when nobody else was there, you went up against that monster of a wolf for me, if it were not for you I would have died a dozen times by now, I would never have made it here."

She reached down and grasped Timae by her shoulders, and finally she looked up, her face wet with tears.

"I throw out people who I cannot trust, who are too much of a burden or risk to let live. You are my companion, my advisor, my guardian." Demadara wrapped her arms around the fox woman, and rested her head on her shoulder so Timae could not see her tears. "You will stay by my side until the end, come what may."

Timae returned the embrace, her voice was shaking. "Come what may."

Parsae had kept the door ajar, enough to listen in, though she did not look inside. Instead the mage adjusted her clothes and stared out into the dark. A group of smaller dragonette came running down the hallway, and Parsae stopped them. They were holding gold, meat and a set of fine clothes in their hands.

"Juun told us to spoil the Seraphite, can we see her?"

Parsae let out a chuckle and shook her head. "She is busy, but you can lay them by the door, I will make sure she receives them."

They did as they were told, not without grumbling, only to skitter and scatter back down into the ruins. Parsae returned to her post, her ears perking up at the sounds coming from the room. She closed the door without a sound and rested against it.

"You're welcome, furball." She muttered with a smile.