10-16: Small Talk With The Dragon
The ride back was eerily quiet. So, to break the silence Veronica had spoken up first.
"Sable, your family and soldiers didn't seem to interested in my demonic nature. What's with that?"
"Simple! I told them everything. Well, not everything, but just enough for them to understand your predicament. Young girl from the boonies, Spirit gave you some male properties, and the only way to treat an illness was through a dangerous ritual that would've either killed you, or develop some demonic physical traits. Due to my positive disposition towards you, my men and family trust you. At least enough to not be concerned anyways. We are the family responsible for national security anyways, so if we say you're good, everyone will have to accept it."
"You're telling me I got pregnant for nothing?"
"Ver, did you just call your newborn daughter 'nothing'?" Cassidy questioned, lightly teasing Veronica.
"Of course not! Just as with all my daughters, if anything were to happen to her, I would slaughter the entire world, leaving just us."
"Good conviction. Good thing you'd actually be able to do that last part without any actual issues."
“You speak of Spirits as if they are named things.” Aeshryvael questioned, using her wings to keep up with the group. “In my time, spirit was breath, fire, or memory.”
"Spirits are a human thing. Apparently recent too. They are what gives us humans power equal to other races, they help us with a thing we call 'classes'." Eleanora explained.
“This… class you carry—Is it a binding? A shard? Or a story your kind tells itself?” Aeshryvael tilted her head, pondering.
"Something like that. If I recall correctly, these Spirits are echoes of those who have long since passed. From ordinary lumberjacks to legendary heroes. Ver is the lucky one who got a Spirit that wasn't entirely dead yet."
"I held a grudge..." Lilith explained with a sigh.
"Is it true? Did the Angels turn on you, as they did on us?”
"Indeed. I was killed by the bitch Amaranth herself. I awoke in that girl's body." Lilith answered.
"I see..."
"Vael, you've been around for the past tens of thousands of years. What do you know of what happened?" Aviris asked.
"Eighty thousand years ago, I was just a few thousand shy of being a mature Dragon at the time. The winged ones attacked without warning. T'was odd, as we had good relations with them. I was the youngest at the time, so I wasn't allowed to fight. The rest of my family went out. I was the only one left. So, I went into hiding. Only news I've heard sense was from the passing adventurers."
"That's it? No cool stories of you annihilating hundreds of soldiers? Turning encampments to ash?"
"I did not participate. So I have no stories as such."
"So, during your time in hiding, what did you do?"
“I hid, as you say. I flew. I found those of my blood who yet lived. I mated. I flew again." A pause, long and thoughtful. "Eighty thousand years pass quickly, when one does not stay still.”
"You have children?" Veronica asked.
“Yes, Zhaela. I have many children. They scatter, as Vyr do. The most recent I have seen chose song.” A small pause, as if selecting the least awkward word. "And the trade of bodies. Both are ways of surviving among mortals. I do not judge the shapes their lives take.”
"A prostitute and bard... Hey, Ver, wasn't there a dragonkin prostitute way back in Aubergine?"
"Oh yeah. I don't know if she's one of Vael's daughters though. Dragonkin are rare, so it is a coincidental possibility."
"Why is there a city named after a plant?"
"Because humans are weird." Kazue answered.
Seraph, stayed silent. Eleanora's healing was good enough for no long lasting damage, but her body ached, and there was still a dull pain from when Aeshryvael swatted her into the mountain wall. She wondered why they're taking her with them instead of just killing her. They have her right there, in a weaker human form. She shook her head, trying to get rid of such thoughts. Veronica did what she could to reduce bloodshed.
'This is a good thing... right?' She thought to herself, eyeing down the dragon woman.