“Gary!” Zerine shouted, running and leaping into the air.
The four armed Verash laughed, catching Zerine with his top two arms, while the lower two held two bags in each hand. He spun Zerine around, who laughed.
“See, told you he was her favorite,” Selara said in a stage whisper to Grace, a Beastkin wolf with silver eyes who elbowed her Elven teammate, getting a chuckle out of her. Ivron a human, shock his head, smiling at their antics.
“I heard that,” Gary said, letting Zerine down.
“If you bring bribes, I’m sure you can overtake him,” Zerine teased as she embraced Ivron who laughed.
Gary clutched his chest with one of his uppers arm. “Your words wound me. I’m deeply wounded,” he said theatrically, swaying slightly as if her mere words staggered him.
“Hey, at least we now know the fastest way to your heart,” Grace said, grinning. Her tail swished happily as she and Zerine embraced.
“Bribery will get you so far. But I will have to say beating Gary may not be easy. He is, after all, the one you made my gear.”
“Oh yeah, let’s talk about the fact most of your gear is gone. And that punch to a certain C-rank,” Selara said, her slender frame hiding the fact that she was one of the few ones on their team that could go toe to toe with Gary in the strength department. She picked up Zerine when they embraced.
“Plenty of time to talk about that…but,” Zerine stepped back, glancing from each one. “How much did you hear?”
“Hear?” Ivron wondered. His normally short, curly hair had grown out since the last time Zerine had seen her uncle. His gold and brown eye glinted as his smile broadened at Zerine’s dawning dismay grew.
“Yeaaaah, so Raith and Ava gave us copies to watch,” Grace said while Selara snorted before cracking up as Zerine facepalmed.
“Everything?” Zerine said, still facepalming.
“Everything,” Ivron confirmed, chuckling.
“Wonderful,” Zerine said dryly.
“Most of my gear gone, my bribes and hard work…gone!” Gary complained good-naturedly.
Before Zerine could say anything more, Raith and Varino joined them, soon followed by her siblings and parents. Oh, and dragons.
Estel tugged Zerine’s sleeve, Zerine leaned down, but found she didn’t need to lean down nearly as far as she remembered. The influence of having a crest on a person's development was still something that Zerine found envious. She was still shorter than most her age, but at least she grew a bit making it so it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been when she was fourteen.
“You might want to explain some things to Milli. She is still at the table, stunned,” Estel whispered.
Oh shit…whoops, Zerine thought. They had completely forgotten to prepare Milli for meeting the fairies and…well, nothing would really prepare someone to just casually meet hatchling dragons. Like how was she supposed to bring the subject up in a believable manner?
“Hey, I know this is crazy, but I have friends that are dragons and fairies. Oh, and Varino is a dragon rider, is my nephew’s partner.”
Even her internal hypothecial conversations went off the rails.
“Naro can do that,” Zerine replied.
Estel raised an eyebrow, clearly saying, “it’s your birthday and your friends.”
“Fine, I’ll introduce her to my friends. But you should also chat with Octra. She mentioned last time I hung out wanting to discuss something with you.”
Estel's eyes lit up. She and Octra had become close, maybe not as close as she was with Zerine, but still. Zerine was happy that Naro and Estel had fit right in with her dragon friends and seemed to be accepted by the other dragons, albeit some were withholding judgement for the time being from what Terri had told her.
“Did she hint at it?” Estel wondered, her mint green eyes glowing brighter than normal, probably from her excitement Zerine assumed.
“Nope, but it looks like they’re getting food before saying hello, so we got time to chat with the family,” Zerine said, which Estel nodded and went to hug Grace.
The celebration started in full swing as the fairies and dragons settled in.
Terrinixis, Octralamoz, and Fulguramoz flew landing on the table around where Zerine was sitting at the dining table with her friends. Kamar Hestia's fiery wings glimmered in the light of the glow stones. She was sitting next to Neil, who seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. Valnari Castis was on Neil’s other side, which seemingly only made Neil’s condition get worse, much to Zerine’s and Milli’s amusement.
Keldrick Litho had his ocean green wings were folded and sat next to Milli, who had somewhat recovered from her initial almost comatose-like state she had been when the fairest and dragons had appeared. Keldrick’s sister, Nerel Litho, sat on the other side of Zerine.
They chatted and were introduced to Milli. Bronte eventually showed up to say hello. Milli watched the purple dragon get scooped up in a hug by Zerine. It even seemed to be happy if the humming sound coming from the deadly creature was anything to go by. For Milli, the entire birthday celebration was an eye opening experience to the sheer insanity of a family she had found herself joining. Although, to her surprise, she found herself not as surprised by Zerine’s…oddities. It was mostly how everyone seemed like this was absolutely normal.
Fairies tend to keep to themselves, which is the same with dragons, but here I am hatchling dragons and fairies all around me, she thought, still finding it crazy.
Zerine abruptly got up, holding the three dragons that Milli had learned were named Terri, Fulgur, and Octra, in her arms.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” Zerine said, looking to Milli like the smile she gave them was a little forced.
After Zerine, along with a small group of people and dragons left, Milli wondered something that she knew Neil was wondering based on the little frown he had since Zerine left.
“What’s going on? Some of the dragon people have left,” Milli said, not exactly sure what to call the dragons that had taken on the appearance of an elf or humanoid.
“Hmm, I think they are leaving the region tonight,” the fiery fairy named Kamar replied, glancing towards the entranceway that the group had left.
“How do you know?” Neil wondered. He had steadily relaxed after looking like he didn’t know how to move or breathe after the two beauties sat on either side of him.
“I heard my mom saying something about wind and water current conditions being good enough for the hatchlings.”
“Water currents?” Neil said, confused.
“Silly,” Valnari said, playfully nudging Neil with her shoulder. “Many of the dragons here are water or storm types. They all can fly or swim.”
Milli had to stop herself from giggling. The fairy had been flirting with Neil since sitting next to him, and Neil clearly had no idea how to handle it. Did she feel a little bad for Neil? Kinda, but Neil had also reciprocated, albeit in a slightly awkward way.
“Buut,” Kamar said, saving Neil from having to reply, which was good because Milli was certain that he probably wouldn’t make a coherent sound. “The intersection is ending within the next month or so, which is probably the reason the flight is leaving early.”
“They’ve been friends longer than we all have known Zerine, so we’ll have to bring back the smile I’m sure will be missing when she comes back,” Nerel said, which the others agreed.
***
Zerine, Varino, and three dragons walked along the beach after being teleported by Falkor. Varino sat on Zerine’s shoulder, looking just as sad as Zerine felt. Terri, Fulgur, and Octra weren’t in their full size, but somewhere between the size of bear and horse, which still meant the three dragons toward over Zerine.
It was a cloudless night with one of the three moons full, shining brightly. The silver light from the moon was so bright it created shadows as they moved along the beach.
The three dragons turned the sadness the two were feeling into smiles as they filled them in on a recent trip that they had returned from yesterday. Evidently, Sithera had taken the three out to the depths of the ocean and high in the sky over a four-day trip.
The dragons took turns sharing memories and telling their experiences. The ocean fighting and exploration sounded stressful to Zerine. Being in an area so dark and slowed seemed like a bad idea. And that wasn’t considering that creatures down there tended to have the dark affinity, it just sounded like asking for trouble.
As for their excursion far into the sky…
“Sky islands?” Zerine wondered incredulously.
“Right!” Octra thought, her excitement coming across the mental connection. “They’re so big! The mana around them feels so tingly, too.”
Out of the three, Octra was the one that was easily excitable. It was currently her turn to share and was passing images through their mental connection. Zerine had read about sky islands mostly because they were so fantastical that they were on her list to explore if she ever had the chance to.
She thought back to what she had read about them. There are sky islands all around their world moving along the ley lines as if they were vessels and the threads of mana their seas. The secrets to why they came to exist is in unknown, but many theorize it having to do with permanent ley line intersections because they are some of the only things that pass through those areas with no harm. Sometimes the islands come out looking different with entirely different biomes.
Currently, the island that Octra was sharing looked to an exotic jungle. The plants and trees had a mix of green and vibrant orange. Even the grass was a different color, with it being coral pink. At the center of this island, surrounded by that coral grass, was a large pool of crystal clear water.
“That pool is a spirit well,” Terri commented.
Zerine gasped. “How do you know?”
People considered spirit wells to be healing miracles. Many were protected by a spirit that manifested from its waters similar to some trees that had dryad spirits form, but weren’t linked to the water like dryads were.
Another oddity of spirit wells was that its energy was entirely natural. Why does this matter? Because spirit well water could work at healing and restoring the metaphysical channels and a person’s body as a healer worked on more severe damage with their own mana. This basically means a person being treated had two healers working at once, something that normally couldn’t be possible because everyone’s mana varies in compatibility. It’s similar to how soul bonding worked in that way.
“We met the spirit,” Fulgur answered.
“It lets us drink the water, which replenished our stamina and mana,” Octra added.
“Wow,” Zerine said aloud, echoed by a matching whistle from Varino, who was sitting on Zerine’s right shoulder. “I wish I could have gone.”
“Your next journey isn’t that far away,” Terri said.
“Speaking of journeys…” Octra thought and to Zerine she felt all three dragons’ emotions shift to sadness and Zerine knew the dreaded conversation had arrived.
“We will be leaving tonight,” Fulgur said. He had always been the one to speak up when the other two were reluctant.
“I-I, um...my mom said some flights were going to be leaving before the intersection ended,” Zerine said. It had been difficult just to speak.
“The water, wind, and mana currents are favorable for our riot to leave, so it’s time,” Terri spoke, well thought to them all.
Zerine sniffed, trying and failing to hold back sudden tears. She had been mentally preparing herself for this, but it still hurt.
“Wh-why does it feel like it will be a very long time till we see each other again?” Zerine asked somehow, only having her voice break on the first word. Silent tears were freely flowing now, and she worked to keep her breath steady. Varino hugged her cheek, which only made keeping her composure that much harder.
“We migrate, but our home is in the…what’s it in their tongue?” Fulgur wondered.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Dragon Spine archipelago,” Terri inserted.
“Practically the other side of the world from us,” Zerine sad.
“We’ll meet again. I know it,” Octra thought, ever the optimist.
“Father has a gift that will help you find us when you start your journey and we can always stay in connect through our parents,” Terri said.
At this Varino, who had been quiet, started wind chime-like cries and flew on a cloud, flying into Terri’s neck, her tiny arms hugging the dragon. With that, Zerine’s own sobs came and joined Varino, wrapping her arms partly around the dragon’s neck. The three dragons made their soothing humming sound and nuzzled the crying pair with their heads.
“Do you want to go on one last flight?” Terri thought to Zerine as she sniffled, stepping back.
Zerine managed a nodded in reply. Varino whistled and scrambled her way up Terri’s neck till she sat in between several of the large spikes on the top of Terri’s head. It had become her favorite spot to sit while they flew.
The flight helped, she had to admit to herself. She admired the calm night sky. Varino’s bright, cheerful laughter also helped, as the spirit loved the flying. Another thing that helped was how they just talked about anything and everything.
***
Falkor watched as Sithera flew to keep an eye on their hatchlings.
“So, leaving tonight?” Sashi wondered, stepping out of a ripple in space. Falkor raised an eyebrow.
“And your teleportation has improved, so your ascension is coming up soon then.”
Sashi smiled. “I wanted to practice and saw how you had done it and got some inspiration. Plus, I wanted to see what you all were up to.”
“They’re just saying their farewells. The rest have been teleported to where we will depart from.”
Sashi’s smile faltered. “I have to admit, being surprised at how close they are. Was it Varino that made it possible?”
“Only partly. It was Zerine just being herself that made them get that close over the years,” Falkor replied, turning to look over the water once again. “I’m glad though. We both know the pride of dragons, but Zerine and Varino helped give my hatchlings a broader perspective. And they have grown quite a lot from just knowing the two.”
Sashi’s smile returned. “Those two are quite the pair.”
Falkor chuckled. “That they are. I plan on gifting Zerine this.”
He held up a necklace made from a dark metal. A blue bead glinted in the moon’s light. Sashi leaned forward and saw that the blue bead appeared to contain a swirl mass of water.
“So, you’re marking her as your chosen, then?” Sashi wondered, not quite controlling her tone enough to mask the accusatory nature of it.
“Not quite. She is on my short list, though. This will simply let me keep an eye on her from afar, While Varino can hide within it to recover or meditate. Along with being a high quality spatial storage device. Oh, and it’s soul bound,” Falkor said, not reacting to Sashi’s tone.
“Hmm, she will love it. But will you explain the importance of it?” Sashi wondered, folding her arms, her tone more civil.
“I haven’t made my decision yet, so no. And before you give me a lecture, it’s better that she doesn’t know. I don’t want it to go to her head or affect how she would approach things in the future.”
Sashi sighed. “I guess I can accept those reasons…barely. But why a crestless and her?”
Falkor looked at her, clearly surprised. “You and I both know she will be a little monster when she gets her crest.”
“If she lives to get her crest,” Sashi said.
Falkor waved her words aside. “Of course if, but I’m will to wait and see. Those two tend to surprise everyone.”
“Then why not make Varino your chosen instead?”
“She would be a fine choice, but is lacking one thing. The chosen has to be a force of change. The Lord of Fire selected the first Solar fairy in eras who is making waves of changes in the fairies. If Zerine becomes a Fate Breaker, then change would be part of her very existence.”
“You have other reasons to have Zerine on your short list.” Her tone making it obvious she knew exactly how short of a list it was. “So tell me what actually caught your attention,” Sashi wondered. Both could hear the distant sounds of flapping wings approaching, meaning their conversation would be ending soon.
“What if I said that Zerine’s soul was partially awakened when she was born and only grew when she did that ceremony?” Falkor remarked, turning back to the ocean.
“I would say you're crazy,” Sashi said.
Falkor nodded. “I thought it was crazy too, but from what Ava and Cal have told me over the years, I believe something hid her fate on top of her being a fate breaker.”
Sashi blinked several times. “She’s a Celarian so-”
“No, she is a mana born. Sure, she has the colored hair and eyes, while also having the slightly pointed ears of a half human half elf like Celarians. But before they were called that they were called mana born. Celarians are just the line of mixed elf and human mana born. Also, have you noticed her ears are more pointy than that of her siblings and mothers?”
Sashi had to think for a moment. “You know then, don’t you?”
“That Zerine isn’t Cal and Ava’s first, of course, but do I know if my suspicions are right?” he shrugged. “It’s only my suspicion, but I believe the purple she chose for her hair and eyes is more accurate than she even knows.”
Sashi was going to ask for clarifications when the hatching dragons came into view and she sighed, frustrated knowing their conversation was over.
***
The dragons landed a safe distance from Falkor and Sashi. She got off Terri’s back, sliding a few feet down her scaley side.
“So Fulgur, are you going to bond with Naro since Octra intends to bond with Estel when we all meet back up?” Zerine wondered teasingly.
Fulgur turned his head away and chuffed. “Maybe, but I won’t rush into a bond like Bronte.”
“Aw, are you shy?” Zerine said, laughing as Varino echoed her interest in the dragon’s clearly embarrassed demeanour. Octra and Terri chuffed a deep rumbling in their chests as they laughed.
“But I thought you all weren’t going to bond at all, so what changed?” Zerine wondered.
“Bonding didn’t seem like something we would do, but now we see it as a way to grow in power and have a partner as close as a life mate,” Octra replied.
“Huh,” Zerine said.
Before they could continue the conversation, Falkor appeared in front of their group.
“Had a nice flight?” he wondered with a smile. His ocean-like eyes appeared to gleam in the light of the moon.
Varino replied with bright, happy chimes, saying that it was great.
“I’m glad you all got to fly one last time. I assume you said your farewells to the others,” he asked, looking at his hatchlings, who bobbed their heads in affirmation.
“Perfect, so that just leaves our gift for Zerine’s birthday,” Falkor said and walked to stand in front of Zerine. He gave her a warm smile. “Happy birthday from our flight to you,” he said, holding up the necklace.
“Thank you so much,” Zerine said, putting the necklace on.
“Its soul bound, and will let Varino go inside it to meditate or recover quicker with her magic. It also acts as a high-quality spatial storage device,” Falkor said, enjoying how Zerine’s expression kept getting more and more astonished.
“Th-thank you so much!” Zerine said and to Falkor’s surprise she gave him a hug along with Varino, who chimed her own thank you.
“Anything for family,” Falkor said, patting Zerine’s back. “But I believe you have a party to get back to and we should leave while the wheatear is in our favor.”
Zerine stepped back then ran to the embrace Terri, Fulgur, and Octra.
“Fly safe and fly well,” Zerine said as Varino said her final farewells.
“Same to you,” the others thought to her. Once Varino moved to sit on Zerine’s shoulder, the two watched as the dragons moved into the water, swimming out to where Sithera and Falkor were already waiting.
Varino chimed and waved.
“Bye!” Zerine called, waving.
The two waved till the dragons vanished from sight.
Zerine took a shaky breath.
“Do you need a minute?” Sashi asked.
“No, I’m good Varino?”
Varino whistled, saying she was ready. Zerine nodded to Sashi, and they were suddenly back in the courtyard.
“What type of teleportation was that?” Zerine wondered.
“Something that only peak Iridesium-rank and those becoming an ascendent can do,” Sashi replied as they headed towards the main building, where the sounds of the party were leaking out from.
“That felt…odd, did we step into another plane of existence for a moment?” Zerine remarked, thinking back. It had been so fast she could barely sense anything.
“Sort of, but I won’t explain more. It simply wouldn’t make sense to you, not till you're a far higher rank, that is,” Sashi said, opening the door to the dining area.
“Now that’s just an incentive to make it that rank,” Zerine said. Varino chimed in agreement.
Sashi chuckled. “Go enjoy the celebration, you two.”
***
Zerine was standing with Kamar and Marigold when Varino flew over with two tarts in her hands. The spirit landed lightly on Zerine’s shoulder and happily bit into one treat after handing over the other to Zerine. Zerine looked at the tart, which was blue and looked delicious.
“Um, Zerine-” Kamar said, but Zerine bit into the treat and made a happy sound.
“Huh, didn’t expect that,” Marigold said.
“Why?” Zerine asked in between bites.
“If Varino can eat it, then it’s made by and infused with spirit manifestation fruits,” Marigold said.
“Ooooh,” Zerine said, then took another bite.
“And yet you take another bite,” Kamar said incredulously, while Marigold laughed.
“I don’t have a crest, so it should be fine, right?” Zerine wondered while Varino chowed down on her tart.
“It’s a treat for fairies, pixies, and spirits. Generally speaking, regular people can’t eat it. It could cause potion sickness or other side effects,” Marigold said, finally getting her composure back.
“I don’t feel a thing, and they are really tasty fruits, but the potion sickness sounds bad,” Zerine said, before taking another bite. Potion sickness, as the name hints towards, is when someone has too many potions. It’s caused by the mana of the potion interfering with the natural flow of the individual, who was silly enough to drink too many.
“She will be fine Kamar,” Marigold said as the young fairy looked like she was going to slap the tart out of Zerine’s hands. “She doesn’t have a crest, so she should be fine. But I do wonder what effect it will have in the long term.”
“I won’t become some sort of mutant, right?” Zerine wondered.
“Gods no,” Marigold said, letting out a musical laugh. “It’s just that manifestation fruits, if eaten enough of, can increase a fairy or spirits connection to their concepts or increase their mana pool. It’s kinda like a natural treasure,” Marigold explained.
“Hmm, hypothetically if let’s just say someone ate a lot over nearly a month-long trip,” Zerine said.
“Hypothetically,” Kamar said dryly.
“It is usually around two dozen, but where would you have gone to find so many?” Marigold wondered.
“You sh9uld ask my mom that,” Zerine replied as Kamar facepalmed.
“And you ate more…then that, right?” Marigold clarified.
“Umm,” Zerine looked up at the ceiling and spotted four pixies struggling to fly away with a tart. “Varino, how many did we eat?”
Varino thought for a moment and shrugged, whistling.
“Way more than that,” Zerine translated.
“Huh, and you haven’t exploded?” Marigold wondered.
“Moom!” Zerine called to Ava. Ava appeared in a just of wind.
“What’s up?” Ava wondered.
“Your eldest has eaten waay more than two dozen spirit manifestation fruits,” Marigold said.
“Wait really?” Ava said, turning to Zerine, surprised. “And you haven’t exploded?”
“What! It really can do that!?” Zerine said her voice going up an octave, making Varino jumped and whistle in alarm.
“Well yeah, but I guess since you don’t have your crest you're fine,” Ava said, grinning, which turned into a chuckle as Zerine lightly punched her in the forearm.
“Raith has already confirmed that it shouldn’t…well probably won’t impact you in the future,” Ava said.
“That doesn’t help!” Zerine said.
Varino patted her cheek, chiming, saying, “It’ll be fine. But maybe you’ll become some sort of spirit! Oooh, now that would be fun, wouldn’t it!?”
Zerine started to laugh, while the others looked on confused till Zerine still laughing explained Varino’s words and they joined her in laughing. Varino pouted slightly, thinking it was a reasonable possibility.
“Marigold, have you told Zerine about the surprise?” Ava wondered after they had regained their composure.
“No, and based on the necklace, we can now give you our gift. It’s something we worked together with the dragons, and don’t expect anything till you achieve A-rank from us, though,” Marigold said with a smile and held her palm out to Zerine where a green glass bead rested.
“Thank you so much. I really didn’t expect any gifts. I know fairies and dragons don’t celebrate birthdays because you all live so long and instead celebrate ranks,” Zerine said. She went to take the bead, but it floated up, then added itself to her necklace right next to the other bead.
“This bead has just added itself to the soul bonded necklace. This bead can store food and alchemic plants where they will not spoil or lose potency,” Marigold said, smiling at Zerine’s shock.
“Thank you!” Zerine said.
“That wasn’t the surprise though,” Ava said.
“Your coming to live with us sooner!” Kamar said excitedly.
“Wait really!?” Zerine said. She had been marking each day that came closer to her extended trip with Varino.
“Yeah!” Kamar said excitedly.
“Wait, how soon is soon? And will I be back in time to see Sashi ascend?” Zerine wondered. It wasn’t something she wanted to miss, nor did she really want to lose out on more time with her amazing great grandmother.
“Soon as in tomorrow. And yes, you will. And Sashi will be going on some small trips before she comes back to ascend,” Ava said, somehow knowing Zerine’s internal thoughts.
Sadness shot through Zerine, knowing that she wouldn’t have much more time with Sashi, but was glad she would be able to see her before she ascended. Once she excepted that, her excitement returned in full force.
“We have to talk to the others to plan things!” Zerine said, looking around the large dining area.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Kamar said, pulling Zerine along.
“Um, thanks again!” Zerine said before the three were out of earshot.
“You all didn’t have to give her a gift, but thank you and thanks for taking her early. Sashi said it appeared Zerine and Varino had hit a bit of plateau, so this will be good for them both,” Ava said.
“The gift was Kamar’s idea after talking with Falkor’s hatchlings. And I have to agree with Falkor that it’s a good idea to monitor her,” Marigold said.
Ava’s gaze sharpened at her words.
“Oooh yes, the fairies will watch as much as the dragons. Just like we will with Estel and Naro. I gotta admit you and Cal have raised some little monsters,” Marigold teased.
“I was really hoping that your gift was just an incredible spatial storage, but I should have guessed there would be more to it,” Ava said.
“Times are changing and we are all going to be dragged into it. The dragons and fairies simply want to keep an eye on those we suspect will be in the middle of it. And Zerine and Varino certainly will. Granted, only if certain things occur, of course,” Marigold said. Both knew she meant if Zerine survived, becoming a fate breaker.
“It feels like everyone has secret plans or is preparing for what’s coming even though no one knows what is coming,” Ava said.
“If Esteron turns its gaze to continental conquest, then that will lead to nothing but trouble, but we both know that is currently the least of our concerns. The ancient ones reemerging, the rise of curse and corrupted magic, and then there are the ones pulling the strings behind Esteron’s civil war. Those will be the genuine problems of this era and that’s just the obvious ones. With Chaos involved, who knows what else may just pop up. It’s going to be an eventful era, one we all suspect will have long-lasting impacts on this world.”
AVa sighed. “That is depressing. Let’s enjoy the fun times while we can. We can talk about those topics another time.” Marigold smiled, and the two rejoined the celebration.
The rest of the night was simply fun, something that when Zerine looked back to it, she would miss the carefree times. Meanwhile, the next day would mark the start of Zerine’s world expanding. An experience she and Varino would never forget.
***
A small riot of dragons with their riders landed at their new outpost. Waiting for them was a massive serpent dragon. Its ocean blue scales glittering in the light of a single full moon. The dragon bowed their heads, recognizing the strength of the dragon before them. Their dragon riders quickly moved into a straight line and bowed, mimicking their dragon’s actions.
“Lord of Water left tasks for you all,” the serpent dragon thought to them all. “Welcome to the renewal project. This was once a major region for fairy and dragon kind, but was plundered over the centuries along with…other interference. Your task on top of patrols will be to check in areas that are recovering and report back to me. My bonded partner has made it, so the other annoying beings have to abide by rules, but that doesn’t mean others will try to interfere and are to be captured, not kill. Unless given no other choice.” A trail of smoke escaped the serpent dragon’s nose, a sign of vexation. The other dragons also made growling sounds, showing they would prefer scorching any of those that would dare even stand before them.
“The last is that a recruit will need to be trained. A hatchling bonded with an elemental spirit recently,” the serpent dragon continued.
Surprised grumbling came from the dragons. The dragon riders who were still bowing glanced towards one another. It wasn’t common for a hatchling to bond. To have the instincts take over to form a bond, it must have meant the elemental, and dragon was extremely compatible.
“They are both storm elementals and their concepts are aligned as well, just like me and my partner. The expectations on this pairing are high, but both are still quite young, so you’ll be tasked with preparing the spirit for when the hatchling is ready.”
“It will be done,” the dragon thought in near unison.
“There is one more that will be coming along with the spirit. She comes with the recommendation from the Lord of Water and myself and is crestless.”
That got the most surprise out of the dragons. Meanwhile, the dragon riders were now very confused.
“You will see when you meet her and the spirit in a few days. Now rest and explore you rnew home.”