"I don't see how this changes our plan moving forward," Valerius said as the grouped entered the tavern.

To him, it felt like Azara had gone on and on about the knight for the past hour. She didn't seem scared though, just worried. The details she had listed off were boring, and she promised to tell it all in a more organized fashion later. However, what he had gathered from it was that this gentleman was dangerous, and that made sense. Valerius himself had heard of the Paladin's epic adventures and feats. It had been a blow to all the followers of light in Ursulam, few as they were, to hear of his death. Furthermore, it had been a shock to those who loved peace in Aericia, as his seat spelled chaos. He also acted as a counterweight to the Magi's near-total religious monopoly. Some were afraid the Magi would send inquisitors after his followers.

As for the many stories of him, of a star who was his very companion, and having a child, Valerius had always had some doubts. As much as he cared for Irinia and understood her piety, he had never liked what he saw as an Aerician religion. The Magi, after all, had always claimed to be directed by a star. That being hadn't been seen in hundreds of years though, locked away in the Magi's monastery in Aethera. Similarly, it was claimed that the Paladin's very wife was a star, and it was her blessing that had turned him into the being of power that he had become. However, aside from reports from many years ago of her appearance, she had hardly ever been seen. Fitting of course. It was all show and trickery in Valerius's mind. Sure, the power was real, but everything else? He wasn’t convinced.

But Azara seemed convinced, and since she was a mage Valerius couldn't afford too much doubt. Still, he hoped she would relax about it. He was on edge regarding his business in the city already, and the future. It was a time to relax, and even though they hadn't found a place with baths for Azara to enjoy, he hoped that at least some food and drink would satisfy her for the evening.

With that in mind, he sat down at the bar with his companions, ate some food, and thought of relaxing ideas.

The next day they would meet up with Kasper's friends to get the information about the artifact that would help them hunt down the monster in the north. He would also be told the other piece of information - if Issawast would support him in his bid for the crown or not. He was sure they would. After that, everything would go smoothly, and he didn't have to stress about it anymore. They wouldn't be discovered, some random person wouldn't recognize him, and all would be well.

He felt content and looked around the room at the middle-class tavern. It was a relaxing place, lit by the warm glow of candles and firelight. Everyone was just relaxing and enjoying the evening, no ridiculous ambitions or great stresses of any sort.

That was, except Azara, who seemed intent on finding all the alcohol in Ursulam. She approached the bar and asked what the local drinks and favorites were, and to have one of each. Specifically, she wanted spirits. The barkeep complied, though he was a little confused at the sight of a woman like herself in his tavern. Kasper ordered himself something as well and sat down beside her, and Joakim beside him. Azara chatted with the barkeep, something about the drinks.

Valerius sighed when he saw this and left his table to sit beside Azara. He didn't want her acting up. Irinia followed and sat down on his other side. He wondered if his paranoia and stress was misplaced, but reminded himself that what they were undertaking required the utmost care, their lives were on the line in many respects. If it wasn't the dragon, then his father would have their heads.

"A Souster Stout, if you will sir," he asked the barkeep.

"Certainly." the barkeep responded. "Don't take to the spirits like this Arussan lass here?"

"What? How did you know that?" he asked and looked over at Azara, who was at that moment tasting some of the Midton spirits, a sort of vodka made from fermented wheat. Her Urusulan was near perfect, and though the barkeep could have picked up a slight accent, it was not enough to tell the man that she was from Aruslan in particular. Valerius began to panic just a little, his nerves getting to him. Was this a trap? Had they walked into a trap? Had his father orchestrated this?

“She mentioned that she usually drinks spirits made from potatoes. I just happen to know that is how they make them in Aruslan, so I assumed. And since I was right, I hold to the old truth that you can tell a lot about a person by their drink." the barkeeper explained.

"Ah, I see," Valerius replied and realized how much they must have stuck out. He was already speaking too formal and probably looked like nobility, despite wearing rather common clothes for the sake of their travels. He also realized that even with the short-sword at his side, just by being armed he stuck out. Irinia, being Veyorn, also stuck out to those that could spot a Veyorn from anyone else. He felt a hand on his shoulder, it was Irinia.

"Just calm down. I doubt there is any danger right now," she said, her tone voice was comforting.

"You're - you're right," he said. His body relaxed at her words, and he felt his heart beating a little slower. Valerius then raised his flagon. His body relaxed at her words, and he felt his heart beating a little slower. "To the future of our travels."

Azara, who had already finished the one glass the barkeep had placed in front of her, had ordered a flagon of the same stout as Valerius, and soon raised it. "Hear, hear!"

"Aye lad!" Joakim said, then Kasper's voice followed suit.

When they had raised their drinks to their lips, Azara's face soured. Luckily, she spat nothing out but seemed unsatisfied.

"Yes, I can positively say I do not like this, ugh," she said, but regardless began to finish the entire flagon.

Before she could, however, she spotted a most unusual thing out of the corner of her eye. It was a woman in the tavern. The woman's attire could have passed her off as a barmaid, but she was not selling drinks. Instead, she seemed to simply be chatting with patrons. On a belt around her waist hung some chimes, little charms, and a few satchels. A bard perhaps? Yet, these things were not what caught Azara's eye. It was the woman's appearance. Her hair was of gold like Azara's own, and her eyes reflected a golden color in the firelight. As Azara began to watch, wide-eyed, the woman's clothing seemed to change into different garments. Her simple attire became a heavenly gown. The woman looked Azara's way, catching her stare.

Then Azara blinked, and there was just a middle-aged woman in front of her, with brown hair that had bits of gray in it. She was still pretty for her age, but no goddess. She smiled in Azara's direction before walking over. Azara smiled back.

"Well hello there, I noticed you looking." the barmaid said, smirking. "Find me nice on the eyes or do you want to sit by the fire?"

"Um, uh, sit by the fire," Azara said, looking up at the woman. "Not to say you aren’t lovely looking."

“Well thank you!" the woman said, smiling bright, her tone somewhat patronizing. Azara looked into her eyes and was surprised. They were a very light blue, just like Valerius’s eyes. Like they held the sky within them.

"You don't need to worry about going to sit with those guys, I promise they won't bite. We don't have many female customers here, but I assure you not one of these men will act out of line towards you."

On one hand, Azara wanted to speak up and say she could take care of herself, and on the other, she enjoyed the woman's almost motherly approach and kindness. She was about to respond when the woman looked to the rest of her companions and spoke again.

"Come over to the fire if you all want to get warmed up and hear a song or a story," she said, before going back over to the fire.

Not waiting for her companions, Azara did just this, and Valerius sighed before following. The rest of the group soon did as well. When they had all sat down, Valerius opened his mouth to tell Azara that interacting with locals was unnecessary, but before he could the woman spoke again, having already begun to tell a tale of some sort.

"So I've heard there is a dragon up north in Issawast. In the mountains." the woman said, and a few heads nodded in the group of people gathered. "Well I don't know about any of you but I think that any dragon in Ursulan lands should probably leave as fast as it can. Or else we'll have our bellies full of dragon meat before long!"

A couple of men yelled an agreement as a couple of others laughed. Ursulans were known for their hard spirit and fighting attitude. Besides, if anything in the North could be eaten, it probably would be.

"Maybe a couple of princesses saved or something along those lines?" she said, smiling.

A couple more laughs, which then erupted when one of the older men in the group spouted off. "I'd save you."

"Well thank you!" she replied, taking the comment in good humor before moving on. "Well, then tonight I will be telling a tale of dragons. It is quite to tell such a story in this establishment."

A couple of chuckles were brought from this comment, though Azara couldn't understand why. Kasper even snickered.

“Well then, I shall begin!" she said, before continuing. She reached into the fire with tongs and pulled out a small ember. She threw it to the ground and it popped with a loud sound, cinders scattering as a strange golden smoke rose from the spot it had struck the ground. A couple of whispers of sorcery were heard, but these were put to rest by the regulars who had seen this woman perform such tricks before.

"Millenia ago, in an age before men, there was an age of magic. In these days, it was said trees walked like crowds of people and mountains moved like waves upon the ocean. The seas rose and fell, the winds spoke to the water with no sails to catch their breath. Phoenix and griffin flew in the skies. Elves, fae, and all manner of creatures lived in the day, communing with nature. Vampires and undead frights roamed the night.

The sun was said to look down on all this. She marveled at all the wonders the earth had upon it. She loved it, for upon the earth many creatures adored her love and warmth. As they loved her, she loved them.

None among these were greater to her than the lizards of the desert sands. All the other creatures had their warmth, but not they. So they would bask in the sun, living because of her warm rays.

This also caused her to pity the creatures. For in seeking her love they were made into prey for both the birds of the sky and the creatures of the land.

To save them, she could not do anything. If she burned all the birds from the air, they would no longer sing their beautiful songs, and even then the other creatures of the land would kill the poor cold creatures. If she blinded all the creatures then they would surely die as well. Nothing in her power, her light, and warmth, could stop the small and poor things from being taken advantage of for their love of her warm and caring light. Therefore, she had no recourse except to remove their need for her.

Thus, the sun blessed the creatures. No more would they need her light and warmth, because she gave them their own inner fire."

As the woman said these final words she reached within the fire and pulled out another glowing ember. This one she dropped from the tongs directly into her mouth, swallowing it with a smile. Someone gasped.

"With divine blessing came many other consequences. The small little animals grew to titanic size and became beings of powerful magic. They became intelligent, able to speak, and grew wings to fly. Their scales became like armor and their teeth like scythes. They also became beautiful, since their scales shined and sparkled like gemstones, and they were filled with avarice. Among all of nature, there were none so blessed as they, and they became proud of it. Alongside their sacred fire came a great hunger.

In the tongue of men, these creatures became known as ‘Dragons’. They called the great sun above their celestial mother, and no more longed for her warmth, but only for her attention and care. They saw her as their guide and their truest aspiration, to be ever like her. Perhaps this is why they became known as creatures that loved all that shined, hoarding gold, jewels, and relics, for no other reason than to have them. They became greedy.

Eventually, humans came to live on the earth, and the Sun also showed these creatures her love too. She gave her light to their fields to grow their crops and warmth in the day to their hairless bodies. The dragons grew jealous of this, indeed, jealous of how the world received their mother's attention, which they thought to be theirs and theirs alone.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Little did they know, the sun had long been displeased with her children. Their pride and greed were not things she desired, and despite their jealousy, she yet again blessed the frail human creatures - giving them powers of fire."

The woman then took a spirit from a table nearby and poured it on her hand, before briefly sticking her hand in the fire. She then appeared to toss the fire around in her hands, before cupping her hands and pouring the flaming liquid into her mouth - drinking it down.

"That seems more like the powers of whiskey I say!" someone shouted, causing some half-hearted drunken laughs. The woman just shrugged and rolled her eyes and the interruption, before going on.

"This enraged the Dragons. In anger and arrogance, one among them, who is now called Apotheos, devised a great plan. He gathered many of the dragon kind, beings which usually lived alone, and convinced them to use their great magic all combined - to call the sun from the sky. They were convinced that they alone could withstand her full light and fire and that nothing else would survive. Then, they alone would be the recipients of her blessing.

When they began their plan, hundreds of dragons had gathered together, and their combined magic was indeed powerful. Their call was irresistible."

She paused her story and walked up to the man who had made the earlier comment about saving her. She bent down and her face eased in close to his, and this gave him a bit of a view down her shirt.

"As irresistible as can be..."

She then went back to telling her story, leaving the man stunned in place a second.

"For even the sun could not ignore the call of her power - the call of her own children, and slowly, she began to descend from the heavens.

Her light and heat became so terrible that the very mountains melted, and much of all that was green withered and burned. Seeing these terrible things, and knowing that she could not resist their call, the great mother of light and warmth did the only thing that she could. She struck down her children before it was too late. By scores, dragons perished and fell from the sky, and others fled in horror and sorrow. The act achieved its purpose, however, and once more the sun rose into the heavens, and her great power did no more harm to the earth or its creatures. The land remained scarred, and thus the deserts of Sukarram were formed, and the mountains there came from the bodies of the largest dragons.

The few dragons that remained vowed revenge upon their mother. Forever on, dragons would ravage the earth, and be signs of terrible times. All living things which the sun loved would face their fury, and most notable of those was humankind. For a very long time, all living things suffered under their brutal vengeance.

It was not to last however, for there were few dragons left after that cataclysm, and human life is a stubborn thing. The humans, blessed with magic, fought back against the dragons with a will that could not be conquered. Though many fell, others became very powerful, and even hunted dragons for sport. They claimed the title of dragon slayers and did many renowned feats. Many even became ancient rulers, kings and queens. Several, particularly, ruled the land of Ursulam and Aruslan, for there the dragons were most plentiful, and the respect given to dragon slayers was the greatest."

"Long live Dreifregis line! To the kings of old!" shouted a man. Several agreeing cries went up. Ursulans were proud of their dragon-slaying legends. Drinks were thrown back here and there. Soon they quieted, and the bard continued.

"As all things come to an end though, even this age past. The dragons realized they could never win their battle with humanity, and retreated far away from humankind. Many went to sleep, content to not wake again forever, while others went into hiding or on the run, either far from where the dragon slayers could find them or too well hidden to ever be found -using magic to conceal them in ways we still do not know. Dragons were very cunning after all. Some came to believe that dragons were extinct, never to be seen again. But they are wrong, and like the dragon new know in the north, the dragons are waiting, waiting to return, and destroy mankind."

She then produced a small cup and held it out to the group gathered. "Well, that concludes that, thank you all for listening, and have a good evening. Toss a coin please, and you shall hear many more tales, and see many more things!"

Everyone clapped and a few people got up to put a coin into the cup. Valerius did so, and the group went back to the bar to get some more drinks. When they did, Valerius commented to Azara. "Why didn't you tell us something like that? That was useful information for this quest I think!"

"It was just a tale, and you never asked,” Azara said with a shrug. "I knew it, though there are different versions. How is that useful?"

"Well knowing the history of your enemies is always useful." the prince replied. "I had only ever read of dragons in a couple of histories I was given as a child. I never thought of peasant stories being informative. However, with a lack of good academic writing on this subject...tales may be helpful."

Azara rolled her eyes. She then went on to another glass the barkeep had given her, containing another spirit. This she tossed back and then smiled. "That was...wonderful. Barkeep, what was that?"

The barkeep walked over. "Hm? Oh, that was whiskey from the High Field distillery. They are to the northwest of here and make the whiskey there in oak barrels from the nearby Red Forest. They say that type of oak gives it the taste."

"Really? More please," she said, eager. She liked the feel of it, like fire in the throat. He did as requested, and she also began drinking this. The man stopped and watched her go, unblinking. He then looked down at a couple of empty glasses in front of Azara before speaking. "Uh, don't you think you are going a little fast there miss? Haven't you already had two before this as well?"

She shook her head no, and Valerius wanted to ram his head into the bar. He wondered for a moment if the wild woman, who acted more like a girl than a lady, was going to even pay for the drinks. Not that it mattered, it was an inconsequential amount of money to him, but he couldn't go throwing coin around and appearing extremely rich, or people would wonder who he was. Luckily she did pay - producing several coins and handing them to the barkeep. It was much more than the cost, which brought the barkeeper around to being happy with giving her yet more alcohol.

"I have an idea." Kasper proclaimed. "Azara, you seem to be able to take your drink - why don't you take on Joakim and me? A challenge for the front seat of the wagon which you so audaciously have taken! Without asking even!"

Azara rolled her eyes. "I've only done that a few times, or - well yeah, most of the time. I've sat in the back with Irinia a few times though."

"It doesn't matter, whoever wins gets to take the seat whenever they please."

"Why does it matter anyway?"

"It has a cushion! Do you know how hard the back of the wagon is on your rump?" Kasper replied. "Whoever loses also has to pay for the drinks!"

"Kasper, I wouldn't do that, I -" Joakim began before the blond-headed young man hushed him.

"You are a soldier Joakim, she is just a girl, and this isn't going to be hard. I'd be more worried about me if I were you."

"That is why I am worried...agh, nevermind, sure," he said, deciding to put the young man in his place for being so silly.

"First though," Kasper said. ", we must catch up to Azara. Barkeep, get us exactly what she just had."

"No need," she interjected. "Let’s just go as is. That High Field Whiskey for all please."

The following contest was, unfortunately, ridiculously one-sided. Valerius and Irinia both watched in horror as Kasper and Joakim became incapacitated - while Azara was unaffected. At first, that is how it was, anyway. Eventually, Joakim gave up, and Kasper had to run outside and puke twice before he also gave up. At that point, Valerius decided it was best to get out of the tavern, as someone from among the patrons tried to pick up the game for them. Despite losing, they didn't end up paying a single coin, as Azara covered their cost. It didn’t matter though - between Azara and Valerius the cost was nothing. He tried to persuade Azara to come along, but she adamantly refused, and even Irinia's pleadings didn't help. After some time, Valerius carried Kasper, and Irinia hopelessly tried to support Joakim, and they left. Irinia still hadn't drunk anything, staying silent while not being served.

That was how Azara remembered it anyways. She blinked her eyes, trying to bring into focus her surroundings outside the tavern. She had just finished her business in the tavern privy and then left, but she now had no idea where it was she was going. She couldn't even remember what sort of "business" she had done just a few moments ago. Had she pissed or puked? It was one of those two she was sure. Did it matter?

The cold wind of the spring night blew on her face, and she knew that she had overdone it. She looked up at the tavern's sign swinging in the light wind. It was fuzzy in her vision.

The Drunken Dragon.

"Huh, well that name makes sense now," she said to herself, before beginning to stumble forward. She felt just a little lost as she wandered around, questioning what she had been doing originally...exploring the town, was it? Oh right, getting back home. Where was home? No, she was traveling. She had to find the place that Valerius and the rest of her friends were staying. It wasn't that far away.

She felt sad as she wandered around for the next couple of hours, trying to find the place. She'd left home as soon as she'd got back, to go on a diplomatic mission that hadn't worked out. Now, what was she doing? Delaying her trip home with some crazy adventure.

Then, her necklace glowed on her chest. Then it began spitting out letters of fire. Despite the fire touching her, it didn't burn. The letters hovered in front of her before disappearing, and then the next one appeared.

What did her mother want now? Why was she sending a message so far?

It was a hard thing to do. Azara knew that it would be exhausting. Then, when the message was complete Azara groaned. The message was also far too late.

As if on queue, she saw someone approaching on the road. He was quite tall, and he had a friend he was supporting on his shoulder. She wondered if it was Valerius with Kasper for a moment. she remembered Valerius supporting Kasper and walking out of the tavern.

Then as she approached the figure and got closer she realized how silly that was. Valerius looked way different, and he had black hair. They were the same height, but this guy had weird colored hair. Silver hair. Beautiful and strange. He was as handsome as she remembered Konrad being. Just like Konrad actually.

She approaching until she bumped into him, stumbled over. She nearly fell to the ground but caught herself.

"Umm, helllooo- oh," he said, looking a bit out of it. "It - It’s you."

Azara's stupor kept her from realizing what was going on right away, but as she did so, even in her somewhat drunk state, she knew the very immediate problem with this chance meeting. She couldn't think up a solution at the moment, however, and so she waved awkwardly.

"Oh, hi there. What are you...what are you doing...here?" she asked.

Konrad, standing rather dumbfounded, just waved back. "Uuhm..uh...hunting that, that uh, the dragon I guess. Not you, obviously. You’re not a mean dragon."

"Yeah, I’m not. I also think people would taste weird," she said and shrugged. The chill in the air was helping her sober up a tad, and she was starting to feel anxious about the situation. This was not a good thing. She looked over her body for a second, as if confused with it. "Besides, I’ve been like this most of my life. I like it. I’m pretty and loved and - agh, but, you...you know all that already. I sometimes think I'd rather be a person, y'know."

The knight shrugged. "Yeah, I know. Don't worry, Lysander here is totally out, he won't hear."

"Oh, well uh...that is good, I guess," Azara said, and she smiled. She was feeling both wary and daring now. The reality of the conversation was setting in, and her sober thoughts were starting to win over her drunk thoughts.

"So what about you? What are you doing here?" Konrad asked.

"Well, um, also hunting the dragon. I think it may be a relative. Mother warned me about that." she replied. she didn't quite meet his gaze and looked to her side instead.

"Huh, that is...weird...well, need any help with that?" he asked, a carefree sort of smile appearing on his face. It was a wonderful smile to Azara. It was why she had resolved to smile so much in life. It was because she'd always seen him doing it.

Azara returned the smile, and her perfect teeth were lit up brightly in the street lantern light. "No, I've already got some people helping me out. I don't know whether you joining in would be for the best."

He nodded knowingly. "Huh, alright then...that makes sense. I guess I should go. I've got to get this guy back to a bed to sleep off his drink. He can't hold as much as people like us."

"What do you mean 'like us'?" she asked and giggled. "And I wasn't telling you to leave. I would like to talk, it has been...a while."

He stood there pondering the thought for a bit. It was clear he had also had his fill of Midton's alcohol. "Well you know, like us, as in children of stars I guess."

Azara laughed, even though this comment wasn't funny at all. "I suppose so...I'd never really thought of it like that though."

He smiled at her laughter and then shrugged. "So how long are you going to be here?"

"Only till the day after tomorrow. The race is on I guess. That is if you are after it too." she said, looking up to look in Konrad's silver eyes to try and read his question. To her surprise, they weren't playful or flirtatious like she expected them to be, and like they had once been.

He had not asked the question with anything in mind. Rather, within his eyes, she saw exposed sorrow, loss, and a terrible longing for something gone. Gone was the boy she had known as a kid, whom she had sneaked off to play with at those diplomatic meetings between their parents. Gone was the teenager she had romped around Aruslan or Verum with in secret. He was quite tall now, even compared to Azara's height, and he was more broad-shouldered. His face was a little more chiseled, but not too much so. It was the perfect mix between soft and tough. This made the scar which went down the left side of his face, from between his eye and ear at his hairline then down his cheek to his jaw, seem quite out of place. She wondered how such a horrible wound had occurred.

"Oh, well that is unfortunate," he replied, looking a little down, before he chuckled. "What a weird way to meet up after all this time. Why would you even want to be hunting a dragon anyway? To say ‘hello uncle!’ or something like that?”

He then turned away and started walking, still snickering. Azara laughed at his question, but would not let it be his last statement before leaving. When she spoke again her tone was serious and pitying.

"Konrad," she said.

The silver-haired knight looked back. "What?"

"Are you alright?" she asked. She had heard of all the things he had gone through in recent years, of his father's death, and about the Magi taking his mother into their custody. Yes, she had heard of all that. However, seeing it in his soul was another thing.

His face dropped a little before he shrugged. "You could see, couldn’t you?"

She nodded. “Of course. And you? What of me? What does my soul look like now?”

He frowned and shook his head. “You still need things I can’t give, and still have battles I can’t fight for you. Destiny is still waiting, and you are still searching.”

They paused a moment, looking at one another before he smiled again. It was a weak and pained smile this time. “I’m alright, Azara. I’ve been better.”

Then, without another word, he continued off down the street, and Azara went her own way.