A gaggle of silver dragons lounged about a spacious cavern. They were deep underground, yet if they looked up, they could see the stars and moon above their heads. But to any passerby above ground, they wouldn’t find anything amiss about the earth they walked on. Not like anyone passed through the frostlands anyway.
Lulu, the smallest silver dragon, rolled onto her back and splayed her limbs. She blinked at the stars before exhaling out a breath of pure white light. “Leila said she’s bringing her mate home soon, right?” No one responded, so she lifted her head and peered around the cavern. Her two older brothers were playing a game of golem chess that Leila had taught them the last time she came to visit. Her mother was sleeping in the largest patch of moonlight, absorbing it for sustenance. Her father was digging a hole in the ground, but she wasn’t sure why. “Anyone?”
Her father looked up. “Mm. She said sometime this year,” he said as he planted a green ball into the hole. He swept the dirt back into the hole with his tail and squinted at the patch of dirt. “Now let’s see if that tree will really grow or not…”
“Don’t you need to water trees…?” Lulu asked and tilted her head. Leila had brought them a gift, saying it was a seed for a Tree of Knowledge.
Her father shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “Leila said to just plant it in the ground and occasionally pee on it.”
“Then why’d you plant it in the living room…?” Lulu asked and sighed. She shook her head. It didn’t matter—her father would probably forget about it within the next few hours anyways. “So … since Leila found a mate, doesn’t that mean I can leave the nest to find one now?”
Her father snorted. “We still haven’t approved of her choice yet,” he said and thumped his tail against the ground. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“But he’s someone chosen by Leila,” Lulu said and pursed her lips. “Of course you’ll approve. Do you think she’d choose someone who didn’t fit your standards?”
Her father craned his neck and puffed his chest out as he sat back on his haunches. “There is no race of dragons nobler than us holy dragons. Leila said she found her mate in the central continent. I’ve never heard of any holy dragons operating in that area,” he said and wrinkled his nose. “If anything, the only one of note there is Nova, the great dragon of pestilence. And of course, the Tainted One, Gri—”
Lulu’s mother’s ears perked up. Her eyes snapped open as she bared her teeth while climbing to her feet. “Did someone say Nova?” she asked as her head swiveled around, glaring at the dragons in the cavern.
“Kondra, dear,” Lulu’s father said and cleared his throat. “I was just discussing the dragons on the central continent with Lulu. You know how they’re—”
“Crass and rude?” Kondra asked before snorting. “Barbarians, the lot of them.” Her gaze softened as she glanced at Lulu. “You know what the dragons there did when the inhabitants of the northern continent fled there and arrived on their lands? They fought and oppressed them instead of working together like civilized dragons. Unbelievable.”
Lulu sighed. This wasn’t the first time she heard her mother rant about the central continent’s dragons. Maybe that’s why Leila fled there all those years ago? Everyone knew the forbidden fruits tasted the sweetest. “Then what kind of standards would you hold Leila’s mate to?”
Kondra wrinkled her snout. “Leila seems to care for him a lot, so I won’t reject him outright. But at the very least, he has to have the dignity of a proper dragon. He can’t be one of those who targets the weak for fun,” she said and rubbed her chin. “Preferably, he should be oriented closer to light magic than dark magic. He should obtain his sustenance from mana rather than hunting. He should be generous with blessings rather than greedy for tributes. He should be aloof from two-legged affairs, and if not aloof, he should at least not be on bad terms with any sentient race.”
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Lulu nodded. Her sister’s mate should fit those requirements easily; otherwise, there’d be no way she’d bring him back home to meet their parents. Once her sister left behind an egg for her parents to take care of, they wouldn’t have time to bother her and she’d be free to leave the nest. Of course, she could always try to gain a rite of passage by confronting her mother, but she didn’t think she could fight against her mother’s meteor like Leila did.
***
Carl snacked on the leviathan’s flesh as he debated on what story to tell the two ocean crossers. Perhaps a legend about people similar to them would suffice. He glanced around, but the other fishmen were too intoxicated and joyous for him to interrupt. Besides, other than a few elders in the tribe, he knew the most about the legends. He sidled over to Vur and poured himself a cup of alcohol before pouring some for Vur and Tafel.
“I thought up the most appropriate legend to tell you two: it’s called, ‘The Tale of the Juggernaut,’” Carl said as he wet his throat with his ale. “Thousands of winters ago, fishmen dominated the coasts and interiors of the forests. The humans hadn’t arrived then, and the lands were spacious enough for all the races of the land to live in peace. That isn’t to say there weren’t any scuffles, but there weren’t any wars over territory. The holy dragons maintained peace over the continent, not letting any wanton destruction get out of hand; often times, they’d coordinate with our leaders to resolve disputes. It was a system that worked well and still works well to this day despite the inclusion of the humans and phoenixes.
“There was only one time where a sentient race arrived and waged war against the natives, ignoring the will of the dragons.” Carl licked his lips and leaned closer. Tafel could smell the alcohol on his breath as he spoke in a whisper, “They were the dwarves. Though they’re tiny in stature, they’re not to be underestimated. They arrived on this land by crossing the ocean, much like you two, but instead of swimming, they rode a massive metal beast they called the Juggernaut. The Juggernaut arrived inland by traveling up the fierce rivers, wading through the rapids and climbing up waterfalls! They conquered the natives with metal weapons that spat thunder from aboard the mighty beast, and they forced the conquered tribes to give them tributes of metal.
“The holy dragons tried to confront them, but even they were repelled by the Juggernaut. Before”—Carl looked around and lowered his voice, leaning closer to his listeners—“Kondra, the matriarch of the dragons, could even speak to the dwarves, they had fired lightning upon her, gravely injuring her. For reasons unknown to the natives at the time, the dwarves had a serious grievance against dragons, declaring them evil and worthy of purging. These days, we know the dwarves had a grudge because of a black dragon who kept robbing them of their metals and treasures. They had been raided so much that they built the Juggernaut with their remaining stores of materials and fled from their native lands.
“Through pure force, the dwarves established their city in the heart of the continent on the peak of one of the tallest mountains. To this day, the Juggernaut still resides on Mount Herz with the dwarves living beneath it deep within the earth. Rumors have it that they’re waiting to take revenge on the one who forced them out of their lands. The holy dragons leave them alone, and the dwarves stick to themselves, occasionally waging war and conquering lands every few centuries or so.”
Vur tilted his head. “If they could repel a dragon, why didn’t they fight the dragon who forced them to leave?”
Carl shrugged. “I’ve only heard rumors from the merchants, but I don’t understand what they mean. Apparently, the dwarves have great respect for their dead and refuse to fight against them. Why would they have to fight their dead? It makes no sense.”
“That black dragon sounds awfully similar to a certain dragon I know,” Tafel said and glanced at Vur with an accusing stare.
“It really does, doesn’t it?” Vur asked. “I should ask Grimmy the next time I see him. Maybe he’ll know who it was.” He glanced at the black-scaled fishman. “Do you know the name of the dragon?”
Carl glanced around again. No one was paying attention. “Don’t say it out loud, or the dwarves’ curse of bad luck will fall upon you,” he said and quickly scribbled out a name in the sand. The letters looked a bit different than the ones Vur and Tafel were used to—whether because of Carl’s handwriting or differences in the language—but they could both make out the name. It was Grimmoldesser.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Tafel said and sighed as she hung her head while Carl wiped away the sand. “How would they even know his name!?”
Vur’s body shook as he laughed. “If it was Grimmy, he’d shout it out every time he raided them. So that’s what Grimmy meant when he said he got his hoard from the short people.”
Tafel slapped her forehead with her hand and groaned.
Carl’s gaze repeatedly shifted from Vur to Tafel. He scratched his head. “My understanding of the human language isn’t that great. It seems like you two know the dwarves’ disaster?”
“Ye—”
“No!” Tafel said, interrupting Vur. “We don’t.”
Carl glanced at Vur who shrugged.