Case 4: Scholarly work is a threat to peaceful life

Far south from the duchy of Weave, further south even from the capital Carry, on the border of the country of Brostel and its neighbor, Mastice, lay a march called Set. There was no particular tension between Brostel and Mastice, so there was little need for military emplacements, and Set was sparsely developed indeed. The Marchis Pravna of Set was a popular enough ruler, by all accounts, but that was because she ruled with a very light touch. She barely taxed her populace, and barely supported them, either.

Set contained vast and verdant swamps, making the territory both difficult to traverse (and therefore easy to defend with minimal personnel) and deceptively rich. If anyone really cared to, the march could probably have been exploited to great profit, but being a borderland made it an unpopular prospect.

As such, there were no cities in Set, and even the Marchis herself lived in a village.

The lack of human contact made it a rather attractive home for a serpent, though. Especially a serpent who, like Kress, was engaged in transgressive work.

Kress was an amphiptere, a species of dragon with two massive bat-like wings and no other limbs. His scales were large, iridescent-yellow, and somewhat fish-like, which had always earned him uncharitable nicknames among his clutch. He wasn’t sure what had happened to the rest of them, because he’d left his nest rather early even for a serpent. He had wanted to see the world, and he certainly had seen the world, more of it than he had wanted. The idea of returning, on the other hand, had never occurred to him.

As long as he stayed on the ground and never opened his mouth, he could more-or-less pretend to be a massive snake, his wings folding into flaps along his sides and his many teeth hidden in his serpentine snout. And where would a snake live but a swamp? Even if he was seen out and about by a human, no human would think much of it. Not even the ones who had worked with amphipteres before.

After all, the wing-sheaths had been bred out of domestic amphipteres, so the idea of an amphiptere camouflageing as a snake had been bred out of the collective imagination.

But Kress the amphiptere’s days of peaceful study were numbered, and he knew it. He had studied, and constructed, and built, and consulted with his peers, and he was almost ready to present his research.

He was attempting to restore something lost to time, but in a new form that was easier to spread. After all, the old version had required magical power, something very few modern dragons possessed, and many modern dragons would be familiar enough with watching human methods that this new method would be relatively straightforward to pick up.

To put it simply, he had devised a written language for dragons.

Pentwec whined.

Valor responded seriously.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The little dragon protested with an arched back and curled tail.

Valor looked down at her. She was about as long as their snout, now, with sharp claws and prominent horns on her head and along her back. Her fur-scales, which had previously been a dirty white-grey, had developed into a brilliant white that gleamed faintly with wax from constantly wiping her tablet clean with her body. Since she had overheard the story of Waver’s visit home, she had started working unusually hard, as if it were part of her responsibility. As if either Valor or Waver wanted that from her.

Valor said with a firm growl.

Valor, for their part, had a daintier impression than before, due to their careful and deft movements, and the purple silk ribbon tied around their horn. They, too, had been doing their part to practice their movement, although various circumstances had prevented them from “sparring” with Waver any more. Indeed, that had been a harrowing night... but it had given Valor a clue about how they could protect their friend in the future.

They still had a bit of a belly, but no one in the Valor Grotto ranch was complaining about their cuddles, at least.

Pentwec wrinkled her nostrils cutely, and stretched her haunches.

While Valor watched dumbfoundedly, Pentwec opened the aperture on the cooking stove, exposing its internal storage of distilled Valor-spit to the open air. After a minute of waiting for the alcohol vapors to collect, the baize quickly rubbed her forelegs together above the knee, where her scales were fur-like. An almost imperceptible snap sounded, and the stove lit.

Pentwec narrated helpfully to Valor, who was more or less in shock. Then, even more bafflingly, she climbed up on top of the stove, which teetered dangerously before accepting her weight. She curled up just above the open flame and looked directly at Valor.

Pentwec concluded.

Valor marched up to her and delicately turned the dial to close the aperture, extinguishing the flame and ending Pentwec’s presentation.

Valor confirmed, looking suspicious.

Pentwec giggled and leaped off the stove like a cat, causing it to teeter again and scrape against the floor. She struck a pose and looked back at Valor.

“Isn’t it interesting? What do you think? We’re basically fireproof arsonists. I could be the ultimate saboteur, and yet, my mother just works on a farm. Isn’t that completely uncool?”

Valor sighed.

Before the drake could retort, an even more dangerous saboteur knocked on the door to Valor Grotto. Smelling trouble, Valor sauntered over to let trouble in.

Ori had fashioned her black hair into cornrows, and at present she was in a decidedly unfashionable light blue tunic and pleated trousers. She greeted Valor with a one-handed salute and peered around them to grin at Pentwec.

Valor said.

“Valor says we weren’t expecting you,” Pentwec translated. She mimicked their gait from earlier, trotting along slightly more quickly to make up for her short legs. “Hi, Ori!”

“Hello, Pen!” Ori said. “Sorry, I know you weren’t expecting me. I came here to fetch you and help you close up the ranch for a while. Waver’s request.”

Valor queried, followed swiftly by the diminutive baize’s translation.

Naturally, it didn’t even occur to Valor that Ori might be lying. They might consider Ori dangerous, reckless, and inconsiderate, but they also trusted her deeply. The undercover noble might make mistakes, but she would never betray their confidence or try to lead them into a trap. However, Valor was still wary of surprises.

Besides, if they were leaving town, they would lose precious time in finding a new basking rock.

“I’ll fill you in while we work! I’m excited, I never allow myself to spend enough time here.”

Pentwec got their attention with a hint of urgency.

It didn’t take long before the three of them were on their way.