Darin was a bit nervous when Blood Claw inhaled. But when she exhaled, he found himself surrounded by a multi-colored mist. He was about to ask, when the system clued him in.
Rainbow Breath:
Full HP has been restored.
Full MP has been restored.
+10 to all Base stats for 1 hour.
+100 defense for 1 hour.
Darin opened his mouth to say something, when she cut him off. “Not a word of this, to anyone. Are. We. Clear?” She asked. He gave her a sharp nod in reply. “Good. That’s a ‘special circumstances’ ability I use-Ahem, didn’t just use.”
“So, we can’t take a five minute detour to flambé a certain red whelp?” He asked, in jest. Her jaw dropped for a moment, then she threw back her head and roared with laughter.
“No Darin, I think that might just give me away. A shame too, I do like the idea.” She replied, causing him to laugh. It was amazing, how much a little laughter could turn around one’s day. “Shall we go torment Greed?”
“What have you got in mind?” He asked. He already had, but he wasn’t going to admit it aloud. Besides, he was curious. Her devious expression promised something good.
“Well you act a bit hurt and distrustful. Not too much mind you, but just a bit since he did kill you.” She began. That shouldn’t be too hard about now… “And I’ll make it sound, like you only came back in because of my request- err quest.”
“To his shop then, the timer keeps ticking.” Darin said, focusing on Greed’s Lair and sensing the way. I may never get tired of Knowing my way to places, he mused. On the way he schooled his expression back to a mask of caution. Blood Claw soon took the lead, a deep scowl masking her mirth. It wasn’t a long trip, but the few dragons they passed made no attempt to chat. Before the final corner, she drew in a deep breath and got ready to offer her best growl. She stormed around the corner in a huff, then slowed to a stop a few paces later. Darin peered around her, playing at caution, and froze in his tracks.
There in the hall, all sad and droopy, sat Greed. His eyes were fixed on the chalk outline, across the hall from his door. The 2D representation of a whelp smashed flat, seemed eerily accurate this time. Greed saw Blood Claw first, causing him to droop even more. When he spotted Darin, he cringed and tried to hide his face under his claw.
“Damn it, Greed.” She huffed out. In response, he tried to shrink away further. “I was all set to come over here and scold you good and proper. But no, by the time I get here you already look like a guilty puppy.” That one made him cringe. Even Darin was starting to feel bad for him. He opened his mouth, but she spoke first. “First you take away my chance to scold you. You go and accidentally kill a whelp, and what’s worse? You don’t even kill the right one. You really don’t let me have any fun, do you?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt him it- wait, what?” Greed asked, with a puzzled look on his face. When the others stated laughing, he sighed and shook his head. A moment later, he’d recovered and decided to play along. “Oh, so sorry dear. Which one was a supposed to smash?” He asked, doing his best to look serious.
“The red one.” Darin called out.
“One of the annoying ones.” She suggested at the same time. They looked at each other a moment, then all started laughing. With their tensions released, things felt more normal again. Once they’d regained enough of the composure, Blood Claw glanced at the door. “Shall we go inside? Or should I peck the door to get your attention?” She asked. Both of them groaned.
“Who pecks a door, really?” Greed asked aloud. A sideways look from the dragoness shut him up. Remembering his own precarious situation, he made haste to open the door.
“Someone who can’t knock loud enough or reach the handle…” Darin muttered. With everything sized for the modern adult dragons, he was begging to feel like a Lilliputian. The AIs did their best not to hear him, as they all entered the shop. Once inside, they got more comfortable, stepping out of their roles.
“Darin, I’m sorry for well…stomping on you.” Greed began, doing his best not to cringe. “I was doing what I always do. I pounce on trouble makers and pin them down. That way I can get to the truth, without needing to chase them down. But reflex…doesn’t scale very well.”
“Size matters.” Blood Claw chided him, doing her best not to snicker. Darin couldn’t help but groan.
“Crits matter too.” Greed grumbled. “That was supposed to be a zero damage stun attack. It has a -100 damage modifier on it. I didn’t even know it could go Critical.” As he spoke, she brought up a window and was typing into it. When it went away, Darin was surprised that he didn’t see any notification.
“Bug report submitted, before anyone else gets hugged to death. Oh, don’t mind me boys.” She explained with a shrug. Darin sighed.
“Apology accepted Greed. And sorry about well, armor breaking your door and denting it.” He began. “And I had no idea I get a killer peck attack. Talk about a strange racial bonus.” He mumbled out the last part. The other’s just shook their heads in quiet understanding.
“At least you’ll never die by flying into a window.” The dragoness suggested. Her joke, fell rather short of the mark. Seeing the puzzled expression on Darin’s character, Greed decided to fill the silence.
“Sweetie, did you happen to glance at which colony he grew up in?” He asked. She gave him a blank look, before furrowing her brow. When she didn’t come up with an answer, he filled her in. “One of the War Forge stations.” He hinted, and waited. After a few moments she shrugged, causing him to sigh again. “They took in processed materials and made ships parts. Cut and dry survival, no perks, no amenities. No pets, no parks…no birds.”
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“Oh,” she began, “wait then…Oh. You know, you could have just said he didn’t get it. But oh, to see his face when he sees his first flock.”
“Right. So, um quests?” Greed said, changing the topic to something less awkward. He hoped. He’s more analytical, definitely a fit for the shop keeper role.
“That’s right.” She said clicking her claws together. She brought up a window and typed in a few lines. It disappeared from sight, only to have another open in front of Darin.
Quest Complete: Get over here, now.
The mess seems to be sorted out now. Accidents flatten- err, happen.
Reward: We will answer questions for a little while.
Darin gave her a sidelong glare, then dismissed the completion notice. There was something dark and impish about her sense of humor. That aside, he carefully took off his bandoleer(amulet) and offered it over to Greed. “Sorry it got damaged a bit. Some crazy dragon jumped me outside your door.” He explained, rubbing salt in the wound while he had a chance. Greed groaned and did his best rendition of a face-palm, before accepting the amulet.
“We know how much you hate it when your merchandise gets damaged.” She reminded him, doing her best to look innocent again. He gave her dirty looks, but returned his attention to the quest window he was working in. He stopped part way though to properly ‘identify’ Darin. The first few seconds seemed normal enough. It got weird after six seconds, and downright awkward after ten.
“About those questions.” Darin suggested, turning to look at Blood Claw.
“Oh yes, I’ll answer those that I can. Within reason of course. But I’m sure you-” She told him.
“Really?” Greed asked, interrupting them. Both heads swung around towards him. “This isn’t just some bad joke Muse created. It’s true, he really is a Primal Dragon.” He said with a forced laugh.
“I didn’t take the news much better.” Blood Claw admitted. She paused to give Darin an apologetic look. “It’s not your fault.” She told him, as if that helped.
“We’ve had thousands of years, of surviving by the strength of our claws. Where bigger means stronger, and stronger means being better able to fight. Our kin scattered across the lands, seeking new ways to survive. Some even turned their back on the Mother. It wasn’t until the clans brought peace-” Greed stopped when he noticed the odd look Darin was giving him. “Oh, right. I’ll stay on topic this time. Dragons evolved, we diversified, and we splintered into subspecies. Each type competing with the others, or cross breeding where they found love or admirable traits.”
“Ahem. And?” Darin asked.
“We always knew we’d lost something, well lost a lot of things. We held up our ideals of the perfect dragons, the first born of our kind. We passed down legends, of how they controlled a huge swath of land. Stories of how they could enemies into embers, leaving only a mound of ash behind. From generation to generation, there where tales of hunting beasts of enormous size. Of claiming trophies from the very heart of a volcano. How they could cave caverns from stone with their flames. And how the bent the very lands to their will, shaping it as far as the eye could see. They could gather their magic without fire and weave it into spells. They-” Greed continued to ramble, getting more and more excited about the ancient legends his character was raised on.
“They used songs.” Darin corrected him. Both dragons twitched at hearing the word, but stopped to stare. Still touchy after the Hydra I see. “Gathering their magic without fire, weaving it into spells? They worked in harmony with each other. They sang their magic to the Mother. The rest of it isn’t really wrong either, well a bit misconstrued, but not wrong.”
“But, but, you were supposed to be HUGE. Lords, of the very sky…” Greed complained, it sounded more like a whimper. Blood Claw nodded her agreement and sighed. Disheartened, Greed returned his attention to the quest window. While they watched, he sighed and grabbed a wrapped package off a shelf. When he tapped it against the quest window the package glowed for a few seconds and squirmed in his hand. Once satisfied, he closed the window and tossed the item to Darin.
Quest Complete: A shattered Shell of Hope, part III.
Relationship with Greed has improved, you are now considered to be “On good terms.”
Despite crushing Greed’s childhood dreams of someday meeting a massive ancient dragon, you really are a Primal Dragon. By knowing your own nature, you can now carve your own path.
...
Reward: Personal bag. It will always fit you, should you ever stop being a midget.
“Are you ever going to let me live that down?” Darin asked, as he cleared the message. His eyes drifted to the package he was holding. Finally, I can have a real inventory…
- - - - -
Author’s note: More tired than I want to admit. I may be away part of the weekend, which could mess up my posting schedule. I hope you guys like the chapter. If you didn’t…I better start editing. As always, thank you for all the positive feedback. It has been really encouraging to see my reads, follows, favorites and reviews grow steadily over the last few weeks!