…

After I woke up, there were different circumstances going on, such as another nation infiltrating the kingdom, causing especially the army general to have a headache. It was only later I would hear that it was the Minister’s of Alare Empires doing. He heard of the good food Alice made, and because of his selfishness, after tasting the food at a visit, he then tried to kidnap her. It was exactly on that fateful day that all this happened.

But, with the perpetrator caught and interrogated, the King tried to use this as a bargaining-chip with the empire, being relentless in his actions. I disliked using the incident as something like a favor towards someone else, but I don't really want to understand politics.

Anyway, from that day on, me and Alice were once more taken into magic-training, but this time differently. There are some old / ancient training-manuals for High-Humans remaining, as MP is different in use than mana. And following them, both me and Alice started to get the hang of it. Of course, some wiser magicians gave us tips and helped out, but in the end, we had to figure out most by ourselves. We could also link mana to MP under certain circumstance, but for now we kept that a secret, as that might change the way things were, and we are afraid enough of the changes already happening around us.

Anyway, from that day forward, my magic-training starts once more. My Light element is actually pretty useful, and only three months later I could already use Healing to mend even damaged bones.

Of course there were various obstacles, but in the end, even Alice mastered her use of MP. Unlike me though, her use is heavier and not really strong enough for combat, but still good enough for self-defense shields and… cooking. Her strength isn’t great, but due to her affinity, she can even set the heat of her flames and even let them change colors… Honestly, magic-cooked steak is the best…

My drooling aside, both me and Alice continued to grow in size and knowledge, as well as understanding. Of course, we both tried to find ways to contact our friends from earth, but until after more than a year, there was no reaction.

The prince by now cooled his head a bit, but he is still pursuing Alice. Even so, he by now tolerates my existence at least, letting me have an easier time dealing with him. Though, he is still way over his league if he believes I will just let him get Alice, but in the end, it isn’t my decision.

And so the year passed on, until a certain incident occurred even me and Alice felt. It was right after our 1st year in Treia anniversaries, causing us to become suspicious. The event occurred north of this kingdom, but rather far away. The King said that it probably has something to do with the Abryssal Canyon who is beyond the mountain, sea and forest.

But even so, the event of the massive mana-explosion somehow resonated with the MP in the air, causing me and Alice to sense it with ease. The power was of no distinct element, or all of them combined however you look at it. Anyway, this power somehow had an impact on both me and Alice, as well as several strong magicians and monsters in the vicinity. I was even told that the guardian beast of the palace, a giant wyvern, bowed his head in this direction when the explosion occurred, causing not only the king to worry.

Though, they say that it was because of the ancient Dragon living there since thousands of years, causing even the massive wyvern to show respect.

But anyway, the whole situation practically escalated as two months later, a rare flying ship with an unknown banner showed up before our door-step.

The Ship itself carried two banners, with one being from the origin-nation and the other one painted on the ship, showing the banner of the owner. The banners themselves I couldn't recognize, but the one on the flag showed a combination of various Elements depicted in front of a weird scale like of a lizard, while the one painted on the hull showed the head of a fox with ten tails behind him. I don't know who this ship belongs to, but after seeing the reaction coming from the sisters, I can be assured that they are important.

The moment it actually entered our sight, me, Alice and the twin sisters were actually playing in the garden, together with the various pets the sisters owned. I especially like the black wolf-like animal, as he often acts like a puppy.

Anyway, the moment the ship descended, most of the small animals fled or hid behind us, showing fear and respect towards the ship, or whoever was on it.

The ship itself appeared like a large scale version of the combat-ships I often see depicted in pirate-stories, while a lot more elegant and clean. It is over a hundred meters long, with three masts and giant white sails, decorated with the same banner as on the hull.

The ship itself seems to be quipped with various gadgets, as there are even some small sails attached to the sides, revealing large rows of cannons beneath. There is also the normal control unit normal boats have, what is it called... 'oar' or something like that? Anyway, the ship appears to be able to both fly and swim, so I am kind of interested how it manages to stay afloat in the air.

While I watch as this ship slowly fills my vision when it descends, more and more people enter the garden. There are many guards and knights, as well as his majesty the king himself.

Behind them the queen and prince also followed, with the general and Cedric, the fox-guy, closely behind.

They didn't even manage to completely walk out onto the field, before the ship stabilized it's position about five meters above the ground, right above the garden. Above me, I could see the hull of the ship, casing me to hurt my neck due to the unnecessary stretching.

Anyway, just as some of the soldiers start to prepare the magic-cannons installed in the castle, a hatch opens on the lower side of the hull, letting a stable stream of light settle down towards the ground. It's appearance reminds me of the beam aliens use to abduct people with, but unlike then, I could definitely sense mana and Magic-Power within it.

For whatever reason, the mana and Magic-Power supplied each other, making both me and Alice interested, as that might be the solution to our idea about them coexisting.

But before we could even take a closer look, a young man with dark blue hair and weird tattoos on his forehead and wrists descended in the beam, making a rather nervous expression while doing so.

The power he leaked was practically none, but everyone, especially the animals, knew that he is dangerous, causing us to be on guard.

But the words this being spoke the moment he stepped onto solid ground, froze even the king.

“Greetings your Majesty. I am Cyan, a messenger sent by the Ancient Dragon Aaron Geyser from the Dragon Mountains.” (Cyan)

Making a nervous bow, it completely destroyed the image of a dangerous individual, and instead exchanged it with a nervous young man, doing his job for the first time.

Anyway, the moment he spoke for the first time, the king let out a cramped smile before answering in a kind tone.

“Sir Cyan, in this case we welcome you as an ambassador from the Dragon Mountains. May I have the proof of your identity?” (King Lancio)

The moment he said that, the man pulled out a small black scale from his pocket, revealing several banners mixed with each other, with a black banner in the center. Seeing this, the king only nods towards the soldiers, making them back down. Actually, he said dragon mountains, as in the legendary mountains in the very north from here? The mountains no human enters without permission?

While asking myself question related to the origin of the man, the king invited him into the castle, but the next words startled them again.

“I~I am sorry your majesty, but I am not allowed to leave the vicinity of the ship. As for my p~purpose, I shall invite your majesty to the dragon mountains, as Sir Aaron Geyser wishes to talk to you.” (Cyan)

I don't exactly understand what this communication intaled, aside from the fact that he is invited into the motherland of dragons, but seeing the kings expression, there seems to be more to it.

“Oh, then may I know why I am invited?” (King)

Hearing the kings words, the young man tenses up, before taking out a letter and holding it out. A certain soldier reacts and instantly takes the letter before delivering it to the king, who then immediately breaks the wax and reads it.

After several minutes, and a period of thinking, the king opened his eyes once again, deeply looking at Cyan.

“I accept, but I will need time to prepare, please give me three days.” (King)

Saying so, the messenger by the name of Cyan only nods before flying back up into the ship.

Still, I have the illusion he gets abducted by aliens if he keeps floating up and down in this beam.

Well, ignoring my thoughts on the matter, as soon as the hatch closed, the king begun making arrangements.

For one, it seems that me and Alice will tag along, as well as the whole royal family. When I asked why, he only answered that there is no safer spot than the dragon mountains, unless you pissed off an important dragon.

I at first thought of this as weird, as I believe their to be about a hundred, maybe a thousand dragons, but unlike my estimation, the Dragon Mountains appear to be filled with dragons, easily surpassing the tens of thousands.

Anyway, the king organized a strong escort as well as several people to come with him. He also gave the prime minister his orders for the following days, as he and the rest of the royal family will be absent. Normally no one would do something of this kind, but as the prime minister is an old and loyal friend of the king, he entrusted him with the task.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Me and the other girls also prepared, packing clothes, makeup and other such utensils. The queen actually helped us packing, but was rather troubled at the fighting sisters who were unable to decide who gets the gold-white dress. Somehow in the end neither took it, and Alice got it instead.

Anyway, with everyone prepared and everything packed, three days later both me and Alice, the royal Family, the fox-guy, the knight commander under the general and several elite knights followed us to the garden where since three days ago a giant ship floated in the air.

It just stayed there, unmoving. Yet for some reason, there was barely any movement even on the ship. Though there are sightings of dragon like people walking around while even some dragon and fox merchants descended and did trading with the palace, causing the king to be positively surprised by the sudden increase in funds.

Anyway, we were all surprised when suddenly one to five-tailed fox-kin arrived, greeting and trading with the palace. Though the impact was slightly reduced due to me knowing Cedric, but suddenly seeing many different fox-kin with fluffy looking tails and ears, I am really tempted to ask one to let me touch them.

But, as Cedric taught me, every fox-kin above fourteen years of age would be displeased by having someone else than their marriage partner and kids touch them. Of course there are exceptions, such as fox-kin children and care-takers who deal with them, as well as some more. But knowing all of them to be adults seeing them in front of me, I don’t dare to ask, nearly going insane due to my greed to touch those fluffy things.

All of my late thoughts aside, the moment we arrived, the young man from the first day descended once again. He did have kind of a displeased face on, but it doesn’t seem to be aimed at us. Gathering some courage I asked him why he did look so down, but the answer was unexpected.

“I missed the birthday of my mas… little brother.” (Cyan)

Confused by his sudden change in voice which sounded rather gentle yet overly happy, the king interjects, interested in the part he corrected himself.

“You mentioned Master, could you explain please?” (King)

“Uhm... sorry, but my true contract master is still young and sees me more as a brother... and so...” (Cyan)

Slightly whispering, the king only nods and then looks up to the massive ship, making Sir. Cyan react and open the hatch with the beam. Following this, I experience no gravity for the first time while being sucked into the hatch attached on the ship.

The area we end up at is a storeroom of a larger size, but Cyan then quickly opens the hatch leading onto the deck, allowing us to see the surroundings. Once stepping out into the open, I am astonished by the sight.

Though the castle was huge, I already could see just barely over the roof and beyond. But it wasn't long after that Cyan yelled in a weird language, causing the people on board to go into motion. Some last preparations were made while the sails are unleashed, causing a loud flapping noise to reverberate.

And in that moment, the ship starts to ascend, slowly gaining speed as it flies towards the sky. Funnily, the wind was there, but it was warm and cozy, and there was no weird pressure like when on a airplane, so I am kind of interested in how this works.

Asking that question to a nearby sailor, he only answers that there is a special shield installed, but he lacks details as he has no experience with such things. But as I am speaking with him, I realize the gazes our small group receives. Most of the dragons are actually friendly, or at least neutral towards us, but unlike them, many of the fox-kin on board are suspicious of us, and don't even try to hide it.

That aside, as we enjoyed our day-trip on a flying boat, there was an attack made by a few passing flying monsters, but the moment Cyan stared at them for a short while, all of them escaped. I don't know what he did, but I believe him to be very strong. But for his master to be even younger than him, does that mean that he is weaker than his own master?

While contemplating things within my head, I suddenly ask myself why me and Alice were even invited, as aside from us, only royalty and knights joined the journey. I could believe it if the sisters tried to convince the king to take us with them, but the king directly invited us immediately after reading the letter, so I am kind of wondering if this journey has something to do with us.

But even so, whenever I tried asking him, he said that we will see, and that there is someone 'waiting' for us.

I am kinda getting nervous hearing this, as I don't have any acquaintances in the dragon-mountains... could it be one of my friends from the orphanage?!

Looking around I can see Alice looking at me with wide eyes, probably ending on the same conclusion.

While we remained talking, there was one greater attack. It was a dark-brown dragon with red eyes like dried blood. Only looking at him I feel fear, making me unable to move. But to mine and everyone else surprise, Cyan didn't seem to be bothered by the pressure, unlike us and the crew.

While still frozen, Lilienne, one of the sisters, silently whisperes towards me...

“This is a wild dragon, it acts on instinct... but why didn't it attack yet...” (Lilienne)

While remaining still and staring towards the dragon flying in front of us, Cyan keeps silently walking towards it, sometimes moving his hands in specific patterns, as though he is painting.

But the moment his hands formed some kind of seal, the dragon begins roaring like crazy, breathing in air which results in his chest growing exponentially in size. But seeing this, most of the dragons on board suddenly transformed from being bipedal to large dragons reminding me of European dragons in old tales. But the moment the huge dragon released his breath, Cyan's body suddenly transforms and countless scales spring forth from his whole body, covering him like a full-body armor.

And in the next moment, on his left hand, a sudden power surges and a giant shield made of larger scales appears, growing from the weird tattoo on his left wrist. But at the same moment, a beam of earthly mana fired towards him, like a unending stake. Me and the other begin to panic, fearing something to happen to Cyan, but unlike expected, the mana disperses the moment it makes contact with the shield, and that without even pushing Cyan back, nor making him flinch.

…

Mine, Alice and everyone else reaction is dulled and delayed, how did he defend against that...?!?

While still confused, Cyan finally shoots off the seal kind of thing he created in his right hand. And the moment it crashed into the dragon, he starts convulsing, letting out shrieks like a dying animal.

But the next moment, before the dragon collapses, Cyan steps forth and supports the dragon, keeping it from falling to the ground and places him on the ships deck. In that moment the eyes of the dragon once more opened, but this time differently. The eyes were in a dull gray color, but revealing clear lights of intellect instead of the insane eyes from before.

Then everything happened so fast, the dragon lifts his head, tears falling down on his cheeks, as Cyan appears to speak to him in a language I don't understand. Later, he then moves the dragon under the ships-deck, telling us that the dragon needs to rest as he only just now regained sanity.

And with that event, the king and all the guards once more revealed shocked expressions, probably of respect and fear towards Cyan. Anyway, from then on there were no more interference's and all of us safely arrived at the harbor of the dragon-mountains.

As the ship slows down, both me and Alice look around the scenery, together with the king and everyone else. One of the older dragons even introduced the landscape, allowing us to get a better picture of the surroundings. It has a beautiful scenery, with lakes, forests and huge mountains. We travel through various mountains and valleys, and only come to a slow stop once we arrived in a peculiarly large canyon, containing a huge city.

There aren't any walls, but the city is built in an orderly manner, while still containing the charm of a bigger village. But as we still fly high above the sky, the people walking around don't appear much bigger than ants from here. Though there aren't that many here yet, considering the sun only just rose here.

Even so, arriving at a certain part of the city, the ship descends onto the ground, docking in some big station like construct placed on the ground. It appears like a loading station for both people and cargo.

Anyway, the moment we land, me and Alice both react as we can sublimely feel multiple strong existences in the area. Cyan is one of them from the beginning, but beneath us I can sense more of them, with a few being actually weird as they don't even carry an aura.

Well, I guess that the dragons deserve their title as one of the strongest races.

That aside, after finally leaving the ship under the guidance of Cyan, this time over a staircase and not the alien-hatch, we arrive in front of a small group of people. There stood a tall and strong figure of a human with deep black hair and eyes, but with black horns and tail growing from his body.

He doesn't show any ill will, but the pressure he emits is already enough for us to realize that he is not to be messed with. Meanwhile, behind him stands a pair of five tailed young foxes, with one even appearing to actually be seven tailed.

But they didn't rouse my interest, as mine focused on the young boy standing right next to the black dragon. Because the moment I saw his face, I immediately feel the need to shout, as the boy has the same face as Arin, my little brother from back at the orphanage.

But before I could call him, Alice suddenly pulls me back lightly, nodding towards the boy before shaking her head. It was also then that I realized that the boy before me wasn't Arin, but a young fox-kin with bright emerald-green eyes and silver fur and tails. Well, looking at them, I feel the need to touch and pet them, but at that moment, my mind wasn't focused on that. He didn't appear to be any bigger than Arin was when we got swallowed by the weird darkness, so the real Arin should have grown by now at least a bit.

With those facts laid before me, my heart crumbles, as though it was pierced by a splinter. It hurts, believing to see someone important to you you believe to be lost, raising your hope, only to have it crushed later. And with my emotions reaching an unstable peak, Alice grabs my hand and carefully guides me as we continue walking.

While I was drowning myself in sadness, I didn't even notice that the king already greeted the dragon, and all of us boarded a carriage until we arrived in front of a mansion of massive size. As I stayed in a daze the whole time, I also couldn't see that the young silver fox-kin actually had massive problems hiding his excitement.

But with this, we arrive within the mansion that doesn't lose out to the castle back in the kingdom in splendor and charm.

But even so, right after our rooms were designated, the black dragon invited the whole royal family, the silver fox-kin, Cyan and a black furred fox-kin about my age into the lounge. If I don't remember wrong, the black fox girl stood right next to the silver fox-kin when we were greeted. Still, I am slightly jealous of her good stature, as I compare my chest with hers.

Anyway, just as I made myself comfortable, the black dragon sends all of us kids outside, as though the invitation into the lounge was a lie. Was that a test? And so, me, the silver and black fox-kin as well as Alice and the sisters left the room. We are then guided by the silver fox-kin towards the garden, where he then immediately sits down and performs something like meditation. I don't know why, but the whole way, I always have to think about Arin when I see this boys back, but I don't know why.

Actually, I still don't know the boys name, the girls name is Sumi, but the boy...?

Meanwhile, with the sister trying out the tea brought by one of the maids while enjoying the garden, I then realize that the fox-boy is peacefully sitting within the grass, not moving an inch. Though unlike his body, his three tails keep jumping back and forth, yet they don't touch the ground even once.

But I feel entranced by those three tails dancing in the air. They are of a pure silver color, making them radiate a gentle light under the sun, while at the furthest tip, a small golden spot could be seen.

Meanwhile, his small ears twitch from time to time, making me nearly getting lost in them. I am honest, but this defenseless look of his makes him appear extremely (already dangerously) cute, reminding me once again of Arin.

With my mood dampening once again, I then nearly instinctively move towards one of the tails as I want to feel something fluffy.

As my hand actually manages to grab one of the tails, the boy slightly tenses up, but only his other two tails begin moving slightly faster.

But I underestimated him, his tail is even more fluffy than my favorite fluffy bed-sheet. While nearly melting with his tail in my arms, my free hand begins to move towards one of the ears, causing the boy to completely tense up the moment I touch it. But to my surprise, this feels better than actually petting a real animal with fluffy fur, so I feel it is kinda unfair that I can't have such amazingly fluffy hair. Well, I am but a human, but even Arin back home, he was so blessed, where could he be...?

“You know, you remind me of a little brother of mine... though he didn't have such warm and nice fur... I wish I find him soon, I don't even know where he is curr...” (Anna)

Speaking my thoughts, I suddenly realize that before I could even end my sentence, the boy starts to cry. Believing myself to be at fault, I kneel in front of him. But seeing his tear filled eyes, I recall situations from back at the orphanage.

It was times when Arin was sad when he failed at something, or depressed after seeing the other kids play around in the garden while he couldn't join. He would often silently cry to himself, barely making any sound while yet showing more emotions than any of us would. It was him who, even when I was bullied at school for my rather care-free being, would motivate me because he was rather honest with his emotions. He is smart, but easily swayed by emotions, often causing him to be either the brightest sunshine, or the darkest and most depressing rain within the orphanage.

Yet, I felt at peace whenever I could see him smile, realize that even though he has it worse than me most of the times, he can still go on, fighting for his own future.

It was also then that I started hugging him whenever I found him being depressed or sad, which over time, became something natural.

And now seeing the crying face in front of me, my body already reacted before I could think about my actions, hugging the boy and trying to encourage him.

But at the moment when the boy finally recovered, a sudden bright silver light envelopes him, causing me to jump back by a bit.

…

But after the light vanished, what revealed itself was the figure of the boy I believed gone... the little brother... who was also my little sunshine...

“Arin?!?” (Anna)