“Aerin!”

“Aerin Kil'ara, wake up.”

The familiar, gentle voice of the dragon priest stirred her from her deep rest. Opening her eyes, she found herself in a small room with a single small bed just large enough for one person. “Where am I?”

“You lost a fight and passed out. Like all contestants, you were brought to a room to rest. However, we couldn’t keep you in public because there seems to be more than a few visitor requests. Until you recovered, we didn’t want you to be disturbed.”

Aerin recalled the events leading up to it and nodded. “I’m sorry for being a bother.”

The Dragon Priest looked at her without batting an eye. “It is my duty to perform this task.”

“Err right…I don’t believe I got your name.”

“Priest Meran,” he stood up, not going into further detail. “I will check to see if anyone is still waiting for you.”

Aerin slowly got up from her bed and looked around the room. A map of Draakin territory lay on a small table; it was divided among noble clans and their territories within the empire. Beside it was a larger map of the known world, consisting mostly of coastlines and the seemingly endless untamed wilderness, also known as the Wildlands.

Carefully scanning the northern territory for her family's village, she couldn’t find it, but that didn’t entirely surprise her considering just how small it was.

“Miss Aerin, the first visitor has requested to meet you. Are you ready to let him come in?”

Aerin looked at the door, quickly fixed her hair, and checked to make sure her clothes were in order. “Yes! Please let them in.” Looking up at the door, Aerin tried putting on a smile to greet a potential patron.

“Well, who would have thought that it would be my lucky day, that the girl who I had met the other day was the same girl who wowed the entire capital city.”

The man before her was the very one who had assisted her at the main gate of Flamespire, Lord Fenmair Sar’fae.

“Milord!” Aerin burst out. “It is a pleasure to see you again!”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“I’m glad to hear it! Hopefully that means you would be willing to accept my invitation to be recruited by my family?” Fenmiar smiled as he sat down at the table where she had looked at the maps of Endris.

Taking a seat across from him as he gestured for her to sit, Aerin said, “I know this must be a lot for you to take in, and I already know the line of people waiting outside the door. Many of them can offer you things even better than I can. What I can do, though, is give you the chance to bloom on your own with our foundation. It would greatly help you.”

Aerin didn’t know what she could say; it was more than she could have hoped for. Lord Fenmiar had been kind to her despite not knowing of her bloodline and knowing she was from simple peasantry. This alone was reason enough for her to accept. “Honestly, Lord Fenmiar, I gladly accept your offer, but I was hoping you could perhaps answer a few questions first.”

“If they are within my ability to answer, I will do so!”

With a cautious smile, Aerin sat up straighter. “I will be honest with you, Lord Fenmiar…I don’t know what Wyrm bloodline is; it isn't something I have ever heard about. If you could please explain it to me, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, what benefit does it give your family to recruit me?”

Fenmiar nodded. “As you know, Draakin people have dragonic blood in their veins—drake, Wyvern, and Dragon, including all the various subspecies, of course. This is common knowledge, but what isn’t as common is that there is a fourth, which is called a Wyrm. For a long time, they were considered a special morph of drake, but it was determined they are highly specialized and unique. They were known to live mostly along the coasts and islands near the human Xi Long empire to the east of us. What is known is they were incredibly potent in magic. Legend says they could even fly without wings, but none of that had ever been verified since they are long thought to be extinct now.”

“So my bloodline is related to these Wyrms, which makes me unique? I assume this is also why your family wants to recruit me,” Aerin answered her second question unintentionally.

“Precisely. Frankly, Wyrms are so uncommon not much is known about them nor the Draakin who are bloodline related to them. They aren’t superior to the other species certainly, but they do seem to have their benefits.”

Aerin felt like there was a lot unanswered yet, but she couldn’t help but feel excited by the mystery of it all. “Thank you for answering, Lord Fenmiar. I greatly appreciate it,” Aerin said, giving a small bow.

“It is my pleasure. I will send guards to your room tomorrow in the city to escort you to where you will be calling home. We will work out the rest of the details then. Unfortunately, I have many things to prepare for right now. I will chase away the vultures in the meantime for you.”

Lord Fenmiar stood up and left the room after a small bow, leaving Aerin alone to her thoughts. What she wanted was to notify her family immediately, but she didn’t have the time to do so yet. Everything had gone phenomenally well, even if Lord Fenmiar wasn’t a major noble family; she felt he would be honorable and was someone she could rely on. A faint blush rose onto her cheeks as she thought about the kiss on the hand from the other day.

“Don't get weird ideas!” she thought to herself.

After a brief pause, she sat back on the bed, thinking about what the coming days would bring.