Chapter 23: Serene Past
23.0
Light snow enveloped Courzer, showering the tall mountains around the world of dragons with a brilliant landscape that oddly resembled chocolate triangles with powdered sugar at its vertex.
Once again, winter had arrived in Courzer, marking the end of the year for him.
The year 5621 had came and passed quickly, in just the blink of an eye, he had spent a year and half with Ephinelyth.
“Haah…”
Fogged breath appeared in the air as John watched the falling snow in the distance. He was never one for extreme weather conditions, the cold was still pleasant few weeks ago, but now it sought to freeze him to his bones.
Still, the snowy mountains of Courzer never ceases to amaze him.
“I still can’t get that chocolate analogy you said yesterday out of my head,” he spoke, loud enough for Evie across their home to hear.
“Ufufu, it is better than your mud ice cream with vanilla topping description,” Evie jest as she stirred a pot.
“Bah!” John waved a hand in the air as he pulled away from the windows. “Are you saying it doesn’t look like mud ice cream? Those dark mountains are too brown to be chocolate colored”
“Ufufu, I believe there’s this thing called dark chocolate.”
Moving with quick steps, he descended the stairs to where his wife was.
“Dark chocolate, mud chocolate, none of it matters as long I get to have Evie chocolate earlier this year!” pumping his arms towards his torso, John smiled as though he achieved the greatest of victories.
Evie chocolate, as John would coin it, was a condiment that Ephinelyth made at the start of winter, usually poured into small rectangular molds for them to harden. It was, for all intents and purposes, a seasonal chocolate that she made during winter.
Every year, after baking her chocolates and consuming them, Ephinelyth would enter winter hibernation. It was a little ritual she did for herself to pass the chilly season quickly.
While hibernation was not common among dragons, Evie being the homely dragon she was, chose to conserve her energy by sleeping.
Starting last year, Evie had not undergone winter hibernation.
And that reason was none other than…
Slap!
Her hand swiftly struck the silent culprit who had appeared behind her.
“Ow…” John complained as he recoiled from one of the molds that contained the creamy white chocolate he reached for. His face made a visible, overexaggerated frown.
“Not, yet, John.” Evie puffed her cheeks with an arm by her side. “Wait for this last batch to finish,” she referred to the current pot of milk chocolate that she was still in the process of mixing.
The frown was still hung on John’s face. As a matter of fact, right after she said that, John’s lips protruded outwards, his face stretched from an unhappy child to an angry ugly man.
“You’ll get your… pfft… Evie chocolates in due time.”
She knew he was making these horrible expressions on purpose. But the longer she stared at John who had scrunched his handsome expressions into such comical faces that can only be seen from someone like him.
“Pffftt… ufufu, stop it my love!”
At the instant Evie giggled, John’s hands flickered.
“Ha!”
“John!”
Snatch!
Before John could move an inch from where he stood, Evie’s silvery tail sprouted from her back, wrapped themselves around John as she brought him to her side. Her intelligent blue eyes latched onto his dark ones as she spoke to him tenderly.
“My love, I have made more than enough for you until next winter, please be patient…”
Her voice trailed off when she saw a haughty grin on John’s face, between his teeth, was a piece of white chocolate that he managed to grab without her notice.
“Heh…”
Slurp.
Having gloated his victory to Evie, John sucked in the chocolate as incredible bliss washed over him.
“John!” Evie raised her voice, her face was flushed at his impertinence, doing her best to not laugh at how stubborn he was. “You are 21 already!!! I…pft…pftt!!!”
John simply shrugged at Evie’s tail tightening around him.
“What? I am just enjoying my Evie chocolates while my wife has me hugged tightly with her soft tail,” with those words, he closed his eyes and rubbed his cheeks against the base of her tail.
“I…”
Ephinelyth tried furrow her eyebrows in anger, but when she felt him rubbing himself against her and how happy he was to just have one of her chocolates, her tail loosen its grip on him.
“I don’t want you repeating the events of last year!”
Bonk!
The end of her tail curled into a ball and bumped his head before turning away from him and faced the pot of chocolate that she was cooking.
John slid his arms around her waist before
Muah!
“!!!”
A kiss appeared on her left cheek when she least expected it.
“Evie, Evie, Evie…” John nuzzled his face at her neck, “That was because you make them taste so delicious. I had to eat them all. I can’t waste any Evie chocolates now, can I?”
“If you had not gone to the toilet five times in a row after that, I would have thought otherwise…”
“I told you, it was not your chocolate. It was the street food we had, I didn’t know they placed prawns in it, that was what caused it.”
Evie lowered her head, still pensive and reluctant. John himself did not fare well when it came to shellfish foods, he was not particularly allergic to it but it caused him some trouble when he consumed a large portion.
“I know, I know, but on the off chance that I… !!!”
Mmmph!!!
John had leaned in and placed his tongue into her mouth before Evie could finish, held her by her waist as he pressed his face firmly against hers, savoring her as he stroked her head like the overly protective dragon she is.
Muah…
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Evie’s face became brighter than a tomato’s, her legs weakened as they often would whenever he gave her his passionate adoration. She could feel her forehead steaming the longer his body was pressed against hers.
“Evie to go with my Evie chocolate.” John said in a small voice as he retracted his lips from her. “I know, I know, I won’t binge eat your chocolate if it makes your less worried. I will do my best to control myself this year.”
“…a little…”
“What is it, Evie?” John brought her closer to him as her eyes darted downwards with a shade of pink across her face.
“You can binge just a little this year…”
“Oh?” John raised a brow, his smile evident on his face. “Chocolate is great and all that. But I personally prefer another type of condiment.”
Using his finger, he lifted Evie by her chin and locked eyes with her.
“Love you, Evie.”
“I love y-you too.”
“So cute when you are nervous, I should tease you more.”
“Ufufu.”
The two of them continued their flirtations for the rest of the day until the last of Evie chocolates were finished.
Ding!
“I’ll get the door! Let me get it!!!”
Mizzy’s voice squeaked, leaping from her mother’s lap before tottering to the entrance with great excitement. Instinctively using magic on the door to invite the long awaited guest.
“Hello, Mizzy.”
“Lady Ephinelyth!!!” the little girl’s voice rang throughout Zondrac’s mansion as the litte wyvern jumped straight into Evie’s arms. Hugging with all her little girl strength. “Lord Sarvod, thank you for coming,” her brilliant smile contrasted the freezing temperature that was outside.
John simply nodded at the little girl.
A tender smile appeared on his face.
Mizzy, or Mizelecent as Zondrac named her, had gotten very close with Evie.
Ever since Velerion’s kidnapping of Zondrac’s family, Evie had made it a habit to check in on the wyvern and his family. For she felt responsible that her own brother had terrorized them because of her.
It turns out, Mizzy had always likened Ephinelyth as an older sister, and became much more so when she discovered Evie held the title of Silver Maiden of Judgment among the dragons.
“Ufufu, have you grown taller?” Evie doted on the little girl. “Is that…”
“Yes, lady Ephinelyth!” Mizzy squeaked excitedly when Evie’s eyes were drawn to the back of her skirt. “I now have a tail like you!” wagging her short but thick wyvern tail Mizzy let go of Ephinelyth as she grabbed Evie’s hand. “Come with me, I want to show you the wings on my back.”
“Oh my, even wings? I never expect wyverns to grow so quickly.”
“Come on, come on Lady Ephinelyth,” Mizzy tugged at Evie’s arm as she tried to monopolize Ephinelyth. Quickly turning to John and pleaded for permission “Please Lord Sar—” Mizzy paused before speaking again, “Please John, I really want to show her my wings.”
Evie raised an amused smile to John who was watching everything in silence.
“Sure, why not?” he shrugged. “Go have fun.”
“Let’s go Mizzy,” with the little girl pulling her into the mansion Evie gave John a wink before she spoke to him telepathically.
“Don’t get too lonely without me, ufufu.”
“I should be the one saying that.”
John proceeded to where the dinning room was, no doubt, that was where he would find Zondrac.
“Welcome, John. It is a pleasure to have you and Ephinelyth here again.”
“Hello again, Petunia. It’s g-good to come by again…”
John’s stood silently by the room’s entrance, his eyes darting throughout the room in search of the familiar wyvern man.
Ever since he started to live in Couzer, John habitually visited Zondrac with Evie at the start of each season. Though he did not come visit as frequent as Evie, he quite often met with Zondrac outside whenever they discussed official matters of Courzer—which was minimal when Velerion handled the majority of it.
“Zondrac went to fetch us cake. I am afraid you will have to wait for a bit.”
“Right,” snapping from his daze he moved to take a seat. “The chocolates are from Evie,” without another word, he placed the bag of ‘Evie chocolates’ on the table.
“I’ll make sure to give her my thanks.”
John only nodded at Petunia’s comment, keeping his interaction with her brief.
…
It was not that he could not hold a conversation with Petunia, a human woman. But whenever conversation came up, it was either pleasantries or dragon world related things he could talk about to her.
And most of the times he had spoken to her, was when Zondrac or Evie were in the same room as Petunia.
Unlike Ephinelyth who John could be at peace with or without speaking,
John had a few issues with dealing with people who were outside of his social range.
Especially after Aurelius murder by Prishine the succubus.
John found it difficult to treat people like…people.
When it came to Velerion or the Ancient Dragons, John regarded them as talking mechanical golems focused only on their self-interests. As long they had some work needed to be done, he could easily compartmentalize his thoughts easily.
He treated everyone with basic decency but never too much kindness.
For all intent and purposes, he rather not be involved in it all unless necessary.
To John, Petunia was the wife of Zondrac. If things came down to it, he would protect and defend her like she was his sister. But to make conversation or pretend to think he care about Petunia outside of those circumstances…
Whack!
John hit his own arm, causing himself to jolt upwards in attention.
“L-Lord Sarvo— John? Are you alright?”
Everything has come and gone, but the apathy that he developed after the Harvests’ death still lingered. If he wished to move forward, John must conquer this sense of detachment from the world, even if it is just superficially.
Aurelius’ death was meant for him to live a happier life. Not drown him in fear.
John had instinctively hit himself for daring to insult his wolfkin brother’s legacy.
“H-hey, Petunia? Mind I ask where you are from?” he quickly chirped before his courage to speak waned.
“I used to live in Courzer before moving here with Zondrac.”
“Aren’t you human t-though?” a sense of strain tugged his mind as he forced himself to speak. “I don’t think I ever saw y-you… You know, fly?”
“I am a dragon of Courzer through and through. It has been decades since I took into my dragon form. The last time I was in my dragon form plenty happened, I took an oath to never change into my original form, that is all.”
“D-dragon?!”
“Yup. I was one of the many daughters of the previous SouthWestern dragon. Gotten myself into deep trouble when they found out I eloped with Zondrac. My father excommunicated me from the family. No doubt, before your confrontation with Velerion, the other dragons thought of Zondrac as an insult to their existence.”
John could recall when Velerion shot down him and Zondrac 19months ago, while during his battle with the Elder Dragon, he could see and feel the various dragons sympathized or even rooted for him. Zondrac was outright ignored, much less given any attention.
“So that’s why…” John uttered.
“Zondrac, welcome back, darling!”
Petunia’s abrupt voice caused John to lean back frozen. He sat stiffly as he watched the dragon ran towards her wyvern husband who entered through the back door.
“Petunia. Lor— John.” Zondrac greeted John by first name basis like Petunia—insisted by John. “Where’s Lady Ephinelyth?”
“Mizzy wanted to show Evie her wings. They are in her room.”
“Zondrac, John has something he wish to say to you. I’ll leave you two gentlemen together while I prepare for dinner.”
Vanishing into the kitchen, Zondrac squinted as he watched Petunia left before giving John a look of bewilderment, “She was not happy when I left to get the cake earlier.”
“What?” John raised a brow, his left hand twisted as his head lurched forward.
“Hahaha!” Zondrac swiftly turned the nearest chair to himself and sat with his arms resting on the spine of the chair. “Petunia was pissed when she realized I forgot to bring the cake we ordered.”
“Huh…”
Zondrac then dragged his chair closer to John’s direction, his head popped towards John, gave the kitchen behind a quick glance before whispering, “I intentionally wasted 10 minutes before coming back for her cool off.”
Pfft.
John almost choaked at the wyvern, he had to resist slamming his palm against the table.
“Were you always this sneaky? If Evie finds you work for her like this…”
“By Lord Kharston’s name, no. I do my duty to the fullest of my ability, sometimes you just have dance around a woman’s ire.”
“I wouldn’t know about ire.” John leaned backwards before raising a finger, “But, I do get, dancing around certain things, especially if I can get away with it.”
Zondrac still looking back to make sure no one was watching them, continued to whisper, “Between you and me, a dragon’s desire to possess things they cherish is a powerful thing. By coming back late…”
“You turned irritation to concern. Still, wouldn’t it be better if you talked your way around it?” John placed his elbow on the table, unable to understand the elderly man’s—wyvern—train of thought.
I mean, Evie is pretty to receptive to all forms of intimacy.
John thought to himself and just kept the rest of his opinion on Zondrac’s issue to himself.
“Beats me, Lord Kharston knows I’ve tried. Else I wouldn’t have owed him and Lady Synthia such a huge debt.” Zondrac shrugged as he unbuttoned his collar and cuffs. “So, what does the man who have Velerion under his command want with this wyvern?”
“…”
“Ever since you’ve made Velerion to rule in your place, he’s been singing your praises non-stop. I am certain, whatever you ask of me, Lord Velerion will do me better—”
“I want you to help me investigate two things.”
Zondrac silenced himself as the elderly man’s silly smile disappeared on his hardened expression.
“This is private. And I rather not make a scene, because it involves the nature of subtleties.” John’s gaze turned towards the silk table cloth and the various porcelain décor on the table. “First, I want you to help me look into the deaths of my family. From what I know, the Empire claimed that it was the work of vampires. I want to know the identity of those responsible, their names, anything you can get a hold of.”
“Consider it done. I shall infiltrate the Empire and Sovereign to get to the bottom of this.”
“If you need resources or anything at all, go to Velerion, tell him I sent you. Sighhh….”
A dark shade dawned John’s expression as he continued.
“For the second matter. Even I would not know how to go about this… But…there is this person named Palter Harvest that is related to my family. Palter Harvest, the Son of Elijah Harvest…”
“How have you come to learn of this, Palter Harvest?”
“There is a spell of sorts, within a place inside Moxnet Academy, a forbidden place if you will. I sort of stumbled into it, when I was in my low point, but was sent into a place where souls were kept for over decades or even millennia. I spoke to Elijah himself and returned his soul to the underworld.”
John shook his head.
“It’s a bit fuzzy, but it feels like Elijah was in some sort of prison for souls. For what purpose I am unsure, but I highly suspect it to be something the Immortal Empress did. It should be within the academy. I lucked out and left the prison for souls, who knows how dangerous it truly is.
“I am asking you to look into Palter Harvest. Of course, if you have any leads about the magic used in the academy, please inform me, I just don’t think engaging with anything within Moxnet should be done casually. Especially not after I experienced what they were capable of.”
In all honesty, John was certain Zondrac was highly capable. It was Evie who suggested him to ask Zondrac to help with investigating such things, attesting to the Wyvern’s competence and prowess.
But on the off chance that the wyvern entered the land between the living and dead, even John who had been there once was unsure how to get out.
Everything felt like a bad dream to him back then, but the more he looked back at it, the stranger he realized the ordeal with Elijah Harvest and the ethereal people.
“Interesting proposition, John. I am sure I will enjoy the challenge you set for me.”
“Oh, oh! Another thing just came to my mind! There’s actually a third thing I need you help me with!” John spoke before they dropped the subject. “This one in particular…is important. I don’t know why it keeps slipping from my mind.”
“Anything, my lord.”
“Look into something called, the Flames of Rebirth,”
John took a deep breath as he placed his palms together.
“To Elijah Harvest and the ethereal people trapped in the soul prison, it seemed to be a prophet for their salvation. But to me…”
John opened his eyes.
“…it seemed to have known me for the longest time.”