Dragonlord

Ep 35. Do You Know My Name? (1)

The sun was beginning to set by the time the two girls finished sharing tales about their odd mutual acquaintance. Ilias stretched her arms, groaning as she hopped off the park bench.

“Oh gosh, it’s getting late now! We better go home before it gets dark out.”

Light nodded as she likewise hopped off the bench. Serenis eyed the two girls as she rose to her feet after them.

“You two are acquainted as well, yes?”

Ilias and Light looked to Serenis together as they both nodded back in unison.

“Ilias used to live with us a long time ago. Professor knows her too!”

“I spent a few winters in Partivine. After all, it’s a lot cozier than our valley! And I don’t have to deal with an annoying person down here.”

Light looked towards the red dragon at her remark, curiously parroting the last bit.

“Annoying person?”

“Er…just some iron brained snake. Don’t worry about it Light, it’d be bad influence for your fluffy ears!”

Ilias playfully rubbed the half girl’s animal ears, laughing together like close siblings.

Serenis beamed a soft grin at the sight. Raizel had seemed close to the red dragon before as well, but the friendship between the two dragons wasn’t anything like what she was seeing between the Ilias and Light.

Once upon a time, it was common to see her kin spending time like this with other races. Some would build their homes around the kin’s nests, later to become devout worshippers and trusted friends. Some would even build families with the kin.

Once upon a time, that is.

“…Well, I best get going before the sun sets as well.”

Serenis summoned her mana wings as she prepared to take her leave, waving a short farewell to the two. With how late it was getting, walking would likely result in Patrick scolding her about how she shouldn’t stay outside so late – not because there was an actual reason not to, but because that was just the human thing to say to a little sibling. Humans and their weird customs.

“Bye, Zion! See you tomorrow!”

“I’ll try and pay a visit to the institute with Light later. I still want to hear about why you’re attending a school!”

The dragonlord returned a brief nod to both. She turned her back and was just about to take off into the air.

Until she felt a peculiar mana being synthesized in the distance.

Serenis sharply turned her head to the left, her eyes thinning further as she tried to make out the details of a peculiar figure in the distance. A strange creature came to emitting familiar glimmer from its body.

“That’s…?”

Crawling out of the small stream surrounding the park’s edge was a beast covered in white scales. Its elongated jaw, countless teeth, and scaled tale all suggested it to be a reptile of sorts, but its four clawed legs were much longer, almost akin to a dog’s. A mass of pink flesh jutted forth from its back, resembling that of a torn wing.

And surrounding the beast were four floating orbs, each glimmering in a prismatic light. Its low snarls and hungry eyes were focused on a passerby on the park’s walkway, who hadn’t yet taken notice of the beast staring at him.

Serenis sped through the air, holding out her hand as an invisible barrier formed beside the oblivious man. The orbs above the creature then exploded in bursts of light, shooting forth rays of white magic towards the dragonlord’s barrier.

A short scream followed as the spells exploded onto the shielding spell. Serenis’ barrier had given away to the beast’s crashing lights, and its magic managed to inflict minor burns onto its target – which sent the man running for his life afterwards.

The dragonlord’s surprised expression soon became a worried frown. Masses of lightning condensed into a pencil-sized bolt above Serenis’ hand as she skidded to a stop before the beast. The lightning zipped across the air and buried itself into the beast’s foreleg, its mana surging outwards to engulf the thing in bursts of heat.

The beast helplessly fell to the ground, whimpering in dog-like sounds as it scrambled in the dirt. The prismatic orbs it had summoned soon faded away.

‘That light just now, that was…’

“Lord! One more!”

Ilias had chased after the dragonlord with her own wings, kicking into the belly of a second beast that had thrown itself onto Serenis from behind. The beast fell backwards with a bone-crunching thud, and the red dragon sparked a ball of fire into her palms to finish off the beasts lying on the ground.

“What are these things? Where did they-”

“Wait, stop! Don’t kill them, they’re just animals!”

After Light had caught up to the two dragons, she threw herself into Ilias, tackling her waist and making the flames flicker out of the dragon’s hands. The two dragons both threw a curious glance towards the half girl.

“Wha…Light, what’s wrong? These things can’t be animals, can they?”

“No animal on this star would even remotely resemble these beasts. These are-”

Awoooo!

As a high-pitched howl echoed from the distance, the fallen beasts immediately rose to their feet. They sprinted away while carrying their limping bodies, disappearing into the large sewer tunnels that the streams led into.

Serenis’ eyes remained fixed on the fleeting creatures as they ran past. Her eyes clearly noted the small, crimson spell circles on their necks, hidden amongst their white scales and patches of fur.

‘…Marks? Curses?’

Before the dragonlord could launch herself into the air after the fleeting beasts, a tugging weight around her wrist stopped her from doing so. Light had her fingers desperately wrapped around Serenis while rapidly shaking her head.

“I, I’m really sorry, but…let’s let them go? Just this once…please?”

Light’s eyes were mixed with fear and guilt as she held onto her friend’s arm. Her entire body was trembling all over again as if her cold had suddenly returned.

Serenis returned a perplexed gaze at the half stopping her.

“I’m failing to understand your point. Those beasts just attacked civilians.”

“They’re not beasts. They’re all…”

“…All?”

“They’re all just…animals.”

“…”

‘Is this what’s been keeping her from home recently?’

Serenis let out a slow sigh. The arm Light was gripping on was madly shaking, and the desperation in the half girl’s eyes clearly stated that the matter wasn’t up for discussion. Aggressive beasts were one thing, but safety concerns for children preceded strange events.

And while the dragonlord hesitated, the surrounding civilians were busily reporting the scene to the patrolling members of the enforcement sector. Agents were beginning to gather around the park, and if her encounter with Iris was anything to go by, standing out in the sector’s plain sight was not a good idea.

“…Don’t worry child, I’ll do as you say. Head home and rest; Ilias, take care of her.”

Truthfully, Serenis wanted nothing more than to chase the beasts into the tunnels and discern their makings. The prismatic light they’d used were all too familiar to her own magic, and their white, deformed figures had eerily reminded her of a dragonkin’s – even though neither should be even remotely possible.

‘I’ll just have to return after they’re home.’

And avoiding the agents would be much easier with someone who knew them through and through, anyways.