After our conversation together, my grandmother transformed back into her dragon form. After bidding me farewell, she took to the sky and disappeared into the horizon. I sat there for a while after she was gone, thinking about what she said.

"They just carried a vote? That's ridiculous." I muttered with a shake of my head. They were keeping something from me. The problem is, I can't do much about it.

"Now, do I go, or do I stay?" I tapped the ground with my claws as I fell into deep thoughts.

Sidus and Immy are still gone. Essie seems like she will stay with grandmother for a while longer. That leaves Ynos, but even he is still missing. Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I turned back towards the cave.

Mother was resting inside, her eyes were closed, and her breathing was steady. Still, I knew she was not sleeping. I slowly approached her, and spoke, "Mother?"

"Hmm?" She asked without opening her eyes.

"I want to visit the mortal lands."

Hearing that, she finally opened her eyes and studied me with an unreadable expression on her face. "I see."

"T-That's it?" I asked, confused.

She let out a chuckle at my reply, and continued, "What did you expect? Did you want me to stop you?"

"Uh, no, I just thought-"

Not letting me continue, she spoke, "I'm sure your grandmother already told you. You are free to choose your path, Aether. That's the privilege of being born as a dragon."

I squinted my eyes at that, I didn't know why, but I just couldn't stop myself from asking. "Are we though?"

With a frown, my mother asked, "Are we what?"

"Are we really free, to choose I mean?"

"Of course."

Shaking my head, I pressed on, "Isn't it our duty, to fight the shades though?"

"Yes, but-"

This time I was the one to interrupt her, "So doesn't that mean, we aren't really free to choose?"

To my surprise, a loud laugh from behind me suddenly caused me to jump. I hastily turned around to glance at the entrance. My father had come back. "At least we know he didn't get his curiosity from you." He said with a grin, to which my mother rolled her eyes.

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Father then walked over and sat next to me before speaking, "You see Aether. Your mother is right, you are free to choose. You on the other hand are also right, it is our duty to fend off the shades as well."

"The King didn't impose the duty on us, you can choose to refuse it if you'd like." Mother was the one to speak this time, father simply nodded at her side before continuing.

"That's your freedom. Most of the dragons you see, the ones on the Royal road. All of them made their decision. No one forced them to."

Glancing at the both of them, I asked hesitantly, "You mean, there are dragons out there who choose not to be involved in the fight against the shades?"

Hearing my question, father lowered his head in an awkward expression while mother had a wide grin etched on her face as she replied, "Your father here," she said, tapping him with her tail, "was one of the said dragons."

Surprised, I turned toward him. He quickly shook his head, "I was young and dumb. I wanted to leave the plane and go explore."

Mother rolled her eyes and looked at me, "Sounds familiar?"

"That's not a bad thing and you know it." Father shot back.

"Anyways, the point is every dragon has passed by what you are going through at what point in their lives." She said with a gentle smile.

Father laughed and answered. "Not your mother though, she always played by the rules. She accepted the duty the second she found out about it. Next thing you know, she's off joining the battles. By the King, I'm sure your grandparents like her more than they like me."

Hearing that, she hit him with her tail. The force behind the hit made me shudder, yet father seemed unphased and continued to smile. "What your father means is, you can go to the mortal lands, you can go see the world, and then when you have seen enough, you'll know what's the right thing to do."

I nodded, and asked, "But what if after all of that, I still don't want to join the fight, instead I want to go elsewhere?"

This time father was the one to gently tap my head as he spoke. "Then so be it. You'll still be a dragon no matter the decision you make. This fight, it's a sacrifice no one can force you to make."

Nodding once more, a smile subconsciously made its way across my face as I lowered my head. "Thank you."

"Alright then, you can go out now. I need some time alone with your mother." Father said as he began pushing me out of the cave.

"Huh?"

"Who says I want some alone time with you?" Mother retorted, yet I could still sense the playful tone in her voice.

"Oh, you want to play it like that?" Father continued pushing me with his tail and turned towards my mother with a strange glint in his eyes. It was then that It finally dawned on me.

"Ohh!! 'That' alone time. Got it, got it!" With that, I hastily left the cave. Their voices still carried over, however, which forced me to leave the mountain itself.

"Looks like I might have some new baby brothers or sisters soon."

Shaking my head, I lazily made my way toward the large lake. "I wonder where Ayona is at?"

Thinking about my first follower as I landed at the lake shore. I studied my surroundings before laying down and closing my eyes. I reached out to the link between me and Ayona. Only, I couldn't feel her.

My eyes shot open, a dangerous glint shining through them. I made my way towards the water, submerging myself in it before I tried again. This time the link was there, but it was faint as if something was obstructing my vision.

"Ayona! Ayona! Ayona!" I called out to her, once, twice, three times, before finally.

"Master...?"