Mid Evening - Early Winter : Elder Hall, Northern Bahamut

-

*muffled rumble* -The sun is about to set...- Noticing the horizon slowly starting to turn orange, I glanced back at Grandmother. "We should be getting close to the prison. Where do we need to go specifically?"

However, she was still biting her thumbnail from anxiety. "Continue south. We don't want to get close enough to the prison that they can spot us."

"Alright..." Keeping my eye on her, I tried to brainstorm about what exactly was going on, but she still hadn't told me enough. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I already had a decent idea of what was happening, but I wasn't sure of the specifics or how she wanted to handle things.

"Even just yesterday, I planned to have you involved in this issue since it involved Siratha so deeply, but now.. I don't think I can let you..." Leaning back in my palm, she blindfolded herself with light magic to try and focus.

-So, the artifact is what escalated the situation beyond me... But...- "Why can't I get involved anymore? Something on the scale of that artifact can't hurt me, and if I'm fast enough, I can even stop-"

"No, it's not about the artifact itself..."

-Hm?- "Then what is it?"

She paused before finally letting out a sigh. "Haah..." She hesitated as if unsure what to say before continuing. "Around a week ago, Leander came to my estate in order to speak with me. He came bearing deep suspicions about that man named Holcyon Aetos and the trial he set into motion a few days prior."

Assuming she was finally giving me some details, I stayed quiet and listened intently.

"His suspicions sounded a bit far-fetched at first, but I ended up going along with it and helping him. I just didn't expect it to be such a deep rabbit hole... The deeper I dug, the more I found that connected him to the information leaks in Siratha, and the more concerned I got about finding concrete evidence to finally put an end to whatever he is scheming." She paused for a moment to fiddle with her hands. "That was when you showed up..."

-Why did she.. say it like that...-

"After coming to Siratha with you, I managed to confirm most of what Leander had already predicted with verifiable evidence... In short, the Aetos family is trying to turn Siratha into a second Bahamut, where they can essentially rule as monarchs from behind the scenes while using the trial with Amphitrite and the confiscation of her islands as their cover." Her voice slowly turned more troubled.

-So he wants the resources and military power of Siratha...- Although it sounded a bit odd at first, I couldn't help but agree that, with the aid of draconic magic and techniques, Siratha had the potential to become a major power that could even pressure Bahamut, if only slightly. -But that feels.. too simple...-

Grandmother only went to reinforce the bad feeling in my gut as well. "Had it truly remained like that, I would have been more than happy to have you help resolve the situation.. but..." She grimaced as she paused. "The fact that he managed to get a hold of one of those artifacts means he has significantly stronger and more influential backers than we originally expected... A rogue group of elders would never be able to get their hands on one, no matter where it came from, let alone know how to activate it..."

-Then...- "Do you think he could be the puppet of someone behind the scenes?"

She reluctantly shrugged. "It could go either way... Knowing the history of the Aetos family, I have my doubts, but the fact they have some sort of influential person or group behind them is a fact I cannot ignore..." Removing the light magic over her eyes, she gave me a worried, but serious look. "Regardless, the fact that this matter involves at least one influential ancient, means that it's beyond what I'm comfortable letting you get involved in..."

-Ah...- Her reasoning was something I couldn't refute. "But even if you just use me as a taxi, tell me what I need to do to help. I can't just sit on the sidelines..." -At the very least, I need to learn more about those artifacts...-

But she simply fell silent and looked away, as if she knew what I was thinking already. "I will.. consider it..."

The next several minutes passed in silence as we continued flying over the seemingly endless ocean.

But eventually, she spoke up once again. "Let's turn inland about here."

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Immediately listening, I banked right and turned toward the shore.

We were about 1,200 kilometers south of the prison by now, which was well out of their area of surveillance, but Grandmother was still just as anxious.

-Is she alright?- I was starting to get worried, but at the same time, there was almost nothing I could do. "So what is the plan once we get over land?"

She paused for a moment before finally easing up slightly. "We are going to pay someone a visit... His estate is about 300 kilometers ahead. Just be sure to turn off or hide your magic once we get over land so we aren't spotted."

"Roger that." Immediately using light magic to hide the massive blue flames, I finally started slowing down and kept my eye on the trees that were just now cresting the horizon. -Who are we meeting?-

Originally, I expected us to go straight to the Elder Hall, but evidently, Grandmother had other plans.

The next several minutes were, once again, wrapped in silence as I glided over the edge of the island and descended just below the thick rain clouds that blocked my vision.

But it didn't exactly help too much.

The dense downpours below the clouds made it impossible to see the ground, and extremely difficult to maintain speed.

But thankfully, not long after that, Grandmother tapped on my paw and pointed at the ground just ahead of us. -Is that where I need to go?-

Quickly setting a mental marker for where I needed to head, I started slowly descending until the edge of my aura could feel the auras of dragons on the ground.

At first, it made me tense up. -They're all strong...- Each and every aura I felt was at least as strong as Grandmother's, but after looking back at her, she gave me a reassuring nod. -Where.. are we?-

Continuing further ahead, I eventually made it to where Grandmother pointed and finally descended to the ground.

I was immediately noticed by the people below, but they weren't immediately hostile.

*fwoosh* *fwoosh* *fwoosh-thud* Finally landing on a stone pathway, I set down Grandmother and gave her a moment to change forms before following her toward the few closest auras.

As we walked, I couldn't help but ask, "Where are we?"

"We are going to meet Myles. He is akin to your great-uncle, so be polite."

-Myles Kalfas?!- I immediately tensed up slightly as a wave of stories about him surfaced in my mind. -Those must have been exaggerations, right?-

Continuing along the stone pathway, we quickly came up to a colossal metal gate with two nearly 80-meter-tall ancients standing by it.

Both wore shiny metal armor, but in all honesty, I wasn't sure if it did anything. -Shouldn't their scales be stronger than the metal itself?-

But the time for idle thoughts quickly came to an end.

"Miss Ragnarok, it is good to see you again." A smile came to the face of one of the guards the moment he saw us through the monsoon-like downpour.

"It's good to see you too. It has been a while."

"Indeed it has. So what brings you here?"

Her slightly forced smile vanished instantly. "I need to meet with Myles. Tell him it's an emergency."

He immediately tensed up. "R-right away!" Quickly running back to the gate, he set his claw against a blue artifact and spoke. "Sir Kalfas, Miss Ragnarok has come to meet with you. She has a guest and is saying it is an emergency."

He took his claw off it for a moment before it faintly glowed. "Let them in." The voice was deep but so heavily distorted that it was hard to understand.

-They have artifacts that can do that?- I immediately got curious about how the artifact worked but was pulled from my thoughts before I could say or do anything.

"Please follow me, young miss." *CLANG-click-click-click-click* As the massive gate opened automatically, Grandmother and I walked in behind the knight and eventually made it to the door of an estate I couldn't even feel the edges of with my aura.

-How big is this place?!- Continuing inside, we came into a massive entry hall a few hundred meters wide and nearly 250 meters tall and were immediately greeted by a young dragon around Krystallo's age in what could only be described as a draconic maid outfit.

"Miss Ragnarok, please follow me." She politely bowed her head before turning around and making her way down a gargantuan hallway.

We ended up walking for nearly two kilometers, but eventually, we came up to a massive, 140-meter-tall door.

"Sir Kalfas, the guests are here."

*Click* Hearing some kind of lock, I looked toward the door and noticed it start to open and reveal a 75-meter-tall violet-scaled ancient wearing a similar maid outfit.

But the aura that flooded through the door the moment it opened was what caught me off guard.

-What the?!- Feeling an aura that at least rivaled mine, my instincts were heightened to an insane degree.

Grandmother noticed my change in demeanor right away, but she was quick to calm me down. "It's alright, dear."

-Are you sure about that!- After waiting another moment for the door to finish opening, the violet-scaled dragon motioned us inside.

That was when I was met with a sight I would never forget.

Laying on the opposite end of the unbelievably massive room was a bulky and gargantuan dragon, likely close to 125 or 130 meters tall, with flowing blue scales that looked identical to a high-grade mythril.

But although his scales were beautiful, the air of strength that surrounded him made me anxious, and his serious expression and sharp aura didn't help.

-Those stories.. were not exaggerations...-