“Zerine, I feel like being bedridden has happened a bit too much to you,” Neil commented as he sat next to Estel, who was frowning down at a puzzle of runes that Zerine had made for her.
“It's not like I planned to punch a C-rank in the face,” Zerine said without thinking.
Neil sat there, his eyes wide in utter shock. Zerine took the moment, enjoying his handsome face, seemingly frozen at her words. It was rare to see him like this. Zerine made sure she would remember this.
“Umm, C-rank, what kind of C-rank?” he croaked.
“Yep, a C-rank and-” she paused. Her next words would probably break him for a moment.
Well, this will be fun, she thought.
“Metal Head scout.”
Neil’s eyebrows shot so high that they practically left his head behind, while his mouth was frozen in a “Oh.”
Estel looked up and giggled.
“Before you ask, it’s true. Also, that is quite the look,” Estel teased, which was when Zerine cracked up.
“I don’t think I have ever seen you like this,” Zerine said between fits of laughter.
“And yet he still looks handsome despite it,” Estel said, giggling as Neil started at her comment and sighed as both girls laughed again. Neil just shook his head.
Once they settled, Zerine said. “I’ve told my story about my little trip so many times it’s draining, but some other friends will be here in a bit and you can hear the entire story then,” she said, giving him a smile that sent warmth through him. He promptly shoved the feeling aside, not really wanting to think about what he was feeling.
“I hope it’s not as crazy as I am thinking,” Neil said, regaining his usual small smile.
“Oooh, it’s crazy, from what I heard Mom and Dad say. There is even a recording that I’m not allowed to watch till I’m older,” Estel complained.
“Gods, can I watch it?” Neil asked.
“Umm, probably not. You're welcome to ask, though,” Zerine said, shrugging.
“Sooo, how did it actually go? Did you pas-” Neil asked, but Zerine interrupted.
“I failed. But it was…alright. Honestly, the ending was waay too much, but other than that it wasn’t that bad. Granted, I had to get used to always having to fight something. I even got used to fighting D-ranks. Although, those were mostly handled by Kimi and Varino,” Zerine said.
“Riiight and we are sure you don’t have your crest?” Neil wondered.
Zerine tapped her cheek. “I checked my body when I woke up and nope, not a mark.”
Neil shook his head. “Your insane, you know that?”
Estel giggled. “Yeah, I think Varino has influenced you, Zerine, because you seem to have fun with all the fighting and craziness.”
“I did get tired of bumming it in the wild. Not worrying about food, monsters, creatures, and a mana storm brings quite a lot of peace of mind,” Zerine said, folding her arms.
“I’m sorry…did you say mana storm?” Neil asked, but before anyone could answer, they heard muffled running feet down the halls.
The door to her room burst open with a bright chime announcing Varino. If it were just her, Neil’s mind wouldn’t currently be reeling attempting to figure out what he was witnessing was real or not. The spirit landed next to Zerine, but wasn’t alone. Three, no make that four dragons that had scales with shades of lube, green, and purple scales. Well, not all those colors at once, but he didn’t have time to think, as the dragons weren’t alone. Oooh, no, five fairies ran into the room laughing. Their wings glittered. One even brought a fire elemental, who flitted about the room excitedly. He heard a scuttling sound and looked up at the ceiling to see…
What the hell!? he thought as his gaze met that of a damn Runic Spider!
The spider in question landed lightly next to Varino, while Zerine called out happily.
“I didn’t expect all of you at once! This is awesome!” she said. Her smile lit her eyes and her presence felt so different it startled Neil. Zerine was kind, sarcastic, and smart, but now…
Zerine scooped up the four dragons in her arms. The smallest a tiny purple dragon, made a high squeak sound, and squirmed. Zerine didn’t seem to mind as her blue and teal eyes sparkled. Her expression seemed so open and relaxed, even with a small group of dragons in her arms it surprised him. Other than the one tiny purple one, the other three made a humming sound, rubbing their heads into her chest.
What the f- he thought.
“I missed you guys. You will have to tell me all about your trip too!” Zerine said down to the dragons, who made deeper squeaks than the tiny purple who was still struggling to get free.
Neil didn’t know what to think. He knew they were friends and had been for over a year now, but this side of Zerine was new to him.
“You know, my mother was saying that Ava had some crazy story about you and Varino on top of the discussion about the Metal Heads Horde,” A fairy with fiery wings that match her hair and eyes said steeping next to Zerine placing a hand on Zerine’s shoulder. She raised an eyebrow. “Your body is recovering from some intense healing, I see. What the hell did you do?”
“She punched a C-rank Metal Head, that’s what,” Estel said.
Everyone stared at Zerine wide eyed, except for the tiny purple dragon who chuffed. A tiny light grey cloud escaped its nostrils. Zerine let the dragons go, but for the tiny purple one, much to its chagrin.
“I’ll tell you the story in a second. I have to introduce myself to my nephew,” Zerine said.
“Your what!?” Neil said, his voice cracking, but no one paid attention, but for Estel, who leaned over as Zerine held the dragon up, who chirped indignantly.
“He hatched during the mana storm. We went to see the dragon’s nesting grounds before she left, and we met Dad’s brother. Well, sorta brother. They grew up together. It’s rather a long story, but this one was in his egg, still waiting for his element to hatch,” Estel whispered as Zerine and Varino introduced themselves to the dragon.
“That’s real!? They are like elementals in that way then?” Neil whispered.
Estel nodded. “This one hatched a week ago during the end of the mana storm. So, he’s a storm dragon like his dad and my dad’s partner.”
Neil’s mind struggled to fully comprehend everything. The Baron was a dragon rider, apparently! Zerine was friends with fairies, dragons, and Runic spiders. They were allowed to go to a hatching ground, which would mean death for anyone who wasn’t a dragon. And the icing on top of the mind-blowing cake, Zerine had punched a C-rank and was currently cradling a hatchling like a baby even when the tiny dragon snapped at her finger.
Gods, do I know anything about her or this family, truly!? Also, what the actual fuck is going on!? he thought incredulously.
The dragon with blue and green scales growled and snapped at the little purple one, who jumped in Zerine’s arms.
“Fulgur, he is a little hangry and I won’t let him bite my finger off. Terri, you got his food?” Zerine wondered.
Terri, the dark blue scaled dragon, rolled its eyes and meat, appeared on a plate that rested upon Zerine’s desk. The fire elemental flitted over to the food and waved a hand. Neil felt a ripple of heat. Soon, the scent of cooked meat filled the space. The little purple dragon was drooling in Zerine’s arms.
“Thank you, Fiamma,” Zerine said, patting the flame elemental on the head, who brightened then flew to the fairy with fiery gold and orange wings, hair, and eyes. She smiled as the elemental flew over, making a crackling and popping sounds.
Stolen story; please report.
“Yeah, you did a great job not burning the food,” the fairy said. Neil tried not to stare at the fairy, but it was hard not to. Her appearance was striking. She had somewhat angular features with slanted eyes that didn’t have pupils or white, just that incredible fiery gold that matched her four wings. Speaking of those wings, they didn’t have rounded tips like the others, but ended in points. Her hair was in a braided ponytail, which she flipped to another shoulder as the elemental sat on her shoulder. Full lips turned into a smile as she looked fondly at what Neil assumed was her familiar.
“Hey Kamar, since you're the closest, do you mind cutting the meat into pieces?” Zerine wondered, holding a little tighter as the hatchling squirmed in her arms. A knife slid out from under Zerine’s pillow and drifted to Kamar, who grinned and Gods, Neil thought his heart would stop just by seeing it. Although one side glance from Zerine worked to make him stop staring at the fairy.
“Sure can. Now tell us about this little purple one,” Kamar wondered, slicing the meat into bite-sized pieces.
“That and the pretty human,” a fairy with blue and purple wings added. Oddly, she had black hair, unlike Kamar, which made Neil wonder why Kamar had such an appearance compared to the others.
“Valnari, really!?” Zerine said, while Estel giggled next to Neil, who felt all the other fairies’ gaze land upon him. There was only one boy out of the group of fairies who gave Neil a strange look. He wasn’t sure if it was meant to be intimidating or a warning, so Neil simply ignored it and listened.
“What? Those emerald eyes and gold flecks are pretty. He also is a look-er-,” the fairy called Valnari said, a teasing grin spreading across her face.
“This,” Zerine said loudly, “is Neil Garnier, a noble and a friend…who I just realized had no idea about of this. Sorry Neil,” Zerine said, wincing as she took the plate of cut meat handed to her by Kamar.
“It's nice to meet you all.”
“The three dragons are Terrinixis, Octralamoz, and Fulguramoz.” At each of their names, a dragon bobbed a head to Neil, who returned the gesture. “Then we have Kamar Hestia,” Zerine said, holding the plate above the now still dragon. The fiery gold fairy gave him a small wave. “The one that called you pretty,” Zerine said dryly, “is Valnari Castis.” Valnari wiggled her fingers at him with a smile he would describe as predatory. “Keldrick Litho, who actually has the same affinities as you,” the other boy with ocean green wings nodded his head politely to Neil. “Next to Keldrick is his sister, Nerel Litho.” Nerel nodded her head and similar wings to her brother but with lighter shades of blue. “And-”
“I’m Celina Clodeer, pleasure to meet you. Zerine has written about you in her letters. I’m glad to put a name to the face,” Celina said, who had emerald eyes and wings.
“The pleasure is all mine,” Neil said.
“Alright with that, no more formalities. The purple little one in my arms trying his best to get at his food is Bronte. He hatched during the mana storm a week ago. His parents are my dad’s adopted siblings. Oooh, Neil, yeah, you're going to need a secrecy spell…now I’m really sorry,” Zerine said, wincing.
“Don’t worry about it. I assumed something like that once the dragons flew into the room,” Neil said, giving Zerine a reassuring smile.
Just then, Bronte tried to snap at Zerine’s hand.
“Hey, be nice, I’m getting to it,” Zerine said, then did something that surprised everyone in the room, including Bronte. She tapped Bronte’s nose while saying, “Boop.”
Everyone stared at Zerine, stunned. She grabbed a piece of meat and went to hand feed the dragon, who snapped the meat up, nearly getting Zerine’s fingers.
“Right, I know that you can’t just eat all the food at once this young, so you will have to be patient,” she scolded the dragon, who grumbled. She then moved her finger, and Bronte followed with his head moving like a snake. He tried to bite, but again got boopped. This time the boop was a little stronger and the dragon’s eyes became round before it sneezed, releasing a puff of smoke. After that, the dragon gently took the next piece, its eyes still round, looking at Zerine in shock. And was it respect? Neil wasn’t certain.
The stunned silence was broken when Terrinixis started to laugh, a deep chortle that grew as she laughed harder and harder till the dragon’s eyes were closed, patting a foreleg into the bed. At this point, Estel and the fairies had joined in, while Neil and the other two dragons just stared in stunned silence.
Bronte happily ate being hand fed by Zerine.
“You know I don’t believe I have ever heard of someone hand feeding a dragon,” Valnari commented. Zerine only grinned in response.
“It’s Zerine. Dragon riding is in her blood,” Keldrick replied.
“He’s family and baby dragons are not as scary as a C-rank Metal Head,” Zerine said.
Before the others could ask for more details, Varino chimed and grabbed a piece of meat and held it up to the Bronte, who still kept an eye on Zerine, but when Varino chirped his golden gaze flicked to Varino. His eyes went wide seeing the spirit. There was a strange pulse of energy, and everyone fell quiet, except for Bronte and Varino, who patted the dragon’s head happily and chimed. Bronte hummed, closing his eyes happily at her touch.
“What just happened?” Zerine asked, glancing at the dragons, and had to stop herself from laughing. All three dragons were clearly stunned, their eyes round and wide, just like Bronte moments ago. “Riiight, so something crazy. A Vairno moment, I have no doubt,” she said, then sighed as Vairno cheered and Bronte squeaked just as happily.
***
Ava, Cal, Marigold, Falkor, Sashi, and a few other dragons and fairies were sitting in Ava’s study. They all sat around a table that showed a floating image of the coastline with a glowing red line on it.
“That concludes our investigation into the Metal Head horde path,” Ava said, as the floating image faded.
“So, we have to be ready for a near constant supply of Metal Heads till we find the rift’s location,” Marigold said dryly.
“Liliana has already spread word to all the guilds, and the Heartstone allies to be on the lookout,” Ava said.
“Yes, but we all know based on the directions the horde had come from, they either came from the northern continent or,” Trevor Litho said, leaning forward, his wings twitched agitatedly, “Esteron allied lands. We all know both sides of that gods damn civil war have gone to the darker aspects of magic crossing lines that should never be crossed. Gods, our kin, have even reported the reemergence of long-lost and forbidden magic. Ascendents are playing in a grey area, and we are going to be the ones paying for it.”
“Ascendents are currently at parity along with Iridesium-ranks,” Sashi said, her soft voice cutting through the conversation.
“You're ascending. So, how much longer will that last?” Trevor wondered.
“There is another that will replace me in the Triarch Coven. Her process has also begun,” Sashi said calmly.
“If that is the case, then that’s fine, but will have to act sooner than later. Gods know what other magic they may spread! Do we want necromancy, vampirism, and cursed magic to become a problem?” Nelco Marigold’s sister said, her gaze flashing with frustration.
“We all have preparations in progress,” Falkor said, stroking his trimmed beard, his ocean-like eyes looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "The problem is that everyone is focused on Esteron and their allies," he said, waving a hand and a glowing map of their continent appeared floating over the table. “Esteron and their ilk are just a symptom. The Wastelands imprisoned ancient ones are stirring, the ley line intersection is shifting sooner than it should, then an ice storm spirit has told my kin that in the northern content a minor intersection has ended abruptly.”
“All of those are concerning on their own. Together, they are alarming,” Callahan agreed, looking grim.
“That’s true. There is clearly a large game that we can’t see yet,” Marigold said as the map suddenly had glowing lines representing the ley lines creating a complex web over and under the land.
“What if the ley line was affected by something similar to what we prevented?” Callahan wondered.
“That is what I believe, too,” Falkor said, nodding. “The only problem is that we stopped the circle before we saw any pattern or runes, so we can’t determine what exactly they are after. Even the recovered notes and materials didn’t help us.”
“Messing with the ley lines will only lead to unforeseeable effects or disasters,” Sithera said. She sat next to Ava glaring at the map that had shifted, showing the next major intersection would be on teh boarder of the great forest and Esteron.
“At least, the next large intersection won’t happen for another six years or more. Even if this intersection ends early,” Ava said.
Suddenly Falkor grinned and chuckled.
“Is there something you find funny, dear?” Sithera said icily.
Falkor cleared his throat, struggling to stay grim. “Nothing overly important, just something Zerine and Varino have done.”
“Gods, what happened?” Ava asked.
“Well, Zerine is hand feeding Bronte,” Falkor said. Everyone at the table stared as stunned silence met his words. “Oh, it gets better,” Falkor said, beginning to chuckle. “She boopped him on the nose with a finger when he snapped at her finger. She-she did it twice,” he said, laughing now. “And he had this wide eye shocked look just like all of you right now.” At that, Falkor cracked up.
“Cal, are you sure we can’t have your children do the dragon rider training?” Draco wondered. He sat next to Callahan and was Bronte’s father and Callahan’s adopted brother.
Cal grinned, “you know what, maybe we-”
“Caaal,” Ava half complained. She had an elbow on the table and was rubbing her temples.
“What? It’s a good idea. Zerine won’t be going to the adventurer academy at sixteen now, so there is plenty of time. Marigold, since Draco’s nesting grounds are near you all, couldn’t she live with you? You all could train her, too. Fairy fighting styles and training would be a great experience on top of it,” Cal said.
Ava slumped over the table and groaned, which made the others at the table grin.
“Hmm,” Marigold said, thinking it over.
“Mari, you can’t be seriously considering it. We only let those soul ponded to a fairy to have access like that,” Nelco said incredulously.
“She could learn our alchemy techniques and fighting styles. She would probably love getting access to our libraries too,” Marigold said thoughtfully, smiling at Ava’s reaction.
“See prefect,” Cal said.
“You're both serious?” Nelco said.
“Yes,” Marigold replied, then flicked her gaze to Ava, who was still slumped over. “Ava, do you have any plans if Zerine survives becoming a Fate Breaker?”
“No, she will make her own path, whether or not we like it. And…and if she trained with you all, it would give her a better chance at surviving her fate breaking moment even if I’m still worried about her,” Ava said. Sithera patted Ava’s back.
“We will be leaving once the ley line intersection ends, so it might be good for her to spend time with her friends too,” she said. “The fairies will also ensure Zerine gets used to dealing with etiquette, while also exposing her to new cultures.”
“Yes, she would have to get used to some of that, but we can focus on courtly manners as well. We wouldn’t mind working with Naro and Estel either,” Marigold said. “But speaking of training, can we have access to your dimensional training space?”
Ava sat up and sighed. “There is so much space I don’t see why not, and this way, we could keep an eye on Zerine and Varino while you train there.”
“Oh, that fun spirit would come along!? Then I say yes,” Nelco said.
“That is what gets you to agree? Not a child that punched a C-rank while somehow directing unstable mana?” Marigold said, turning to her sister.
“Well, the spirit became friends with my familiar, and she wanted to see Varino again. And you know I hate saying no,” Nelco said.
“Gods,” Marigold said, sighing.
“Now that is settled,” Callahan said, leaning forward, “let’s get the training details ironed out, and then we can discuss more grim matters.”