Rise of the Devourer

Book 3: Chapter 29 — Royal Palace

As morning rolled around and they began to prepare for their visit to the royal court, Noah realized that he’d forgotten to get an explanation from Zax on what had happened with him and Valros.

Nighttime had passed by in meditation and his thoughts going over the quest rewards and what implications it held for him. He decided he’d just let the dragon tell him. Zax wasn’t the type to forget, so if he hadn’t told him yet, there was likely a reason for it.

Abyssal awareness spread outwards as Noah sensed Kaelan arriving outside, and he teleported to join the man. Valros stood next to him, alongside Aurelia, and a moment later, Zax arrived as well.

“Where are the rest?” Noah asked.

“This is all of us,” Zax replied.

“Erwest and Valeria are busy with something. And Seraphina is teaching Snow some spells, so it’s just us,” Aurelia said.

“It’s best not to bring too many people to the royal court as well,” Kaelan added.

Noah hummed to himself, but did not comment any further. Instead, he looked around, trying to see how they’d be traveling.

“Uh, are we going to walk there?” He asked.

“Nope, we’re going to fly,” Kaelan replied, wings spreading behind him.

Noah looked at Zax before shaking his head. Magic flowed from Zax, lifting Noah and Aurelia off the ground as well, and the group took to the skies.

They flew through the skies and Noah took in the sights of the city all around him. The island was certainly beautiful, and he could see why draconians preferred to fly so often. It really did beat walking.

Within a few minutes they could see the castle and began to fly over the walls. Noah spotted a few guards rising to intercept but Valros signaled something to them and they stopped quickly.

The palace itself was rather simple. Made primarily of stones it was more like a fortress, with lots of areas where he could see warriors training and sparring against one another.

“Is there something I should keep in mind when meeting the King?” Noah asked, glancing towards his group. “Like, etiquettes or whatever.”

“It surprises me that you’re asking that now, when you never bothered to learn any when we met a goddess, or the lords,” Aurelia said and Noah shrugged.

“Not really. Just follow what we do and you’ll be fine, but we aren’t all that big on etiquettes. Just don’t act rude and you’ll be fine,” Kaelan said.

“We do not ascribe to the customs of the northern and central kingdoms. It is not the little social details that makes a man, and the king prefers us to speak with our heart. It tells more about someone’s nature when they do so. Keeps men honest, and keeps them sharp,” Valros added with a snort.

“Anyway, you’ll be fine. The king likes strong people Noah. I’ve met him a few times before on official things because of my father. He’s intense! And really strong. Some of the councilmen say he may end up becoming another one of the Ascendant Monarchs,” Kaelan said.

“I’ve heard that term. What’s an Ascendant Monarch?” Noah asked.

“Guess we never explained, huh?” Aurelia replied. “There are four primary empires, made up of all the known kingdoms, and then some extraneous territories.”

“First is the Celestial empire. It is the only empire with three Ascendants. They are part of the ruling council, but the empire follows a quasi-democratic system. All celestials. Then there are the Human kingdoms. This is comprised of most of the southern kingdoms. We have an Ascendant Monarch… technically. But he doesn’t do much, the empire is more of an alliance of kingdoms. After that we have the Holy City. Run by the leaders of the pantheon, and governed directly by the gods, at the top there is the Pope, who is also an Ascendant Monarch. Also human. And lastly we have the Southern alliance. Includes a lot of the non human kingdoms primarily, including Drakonias but also Nyxis and the Crimson blighted lands. Two monarchs currently, a beast-man and a mer-woman,” Aurelia said.

“If the King becomes an Ascendant, we will be the second empire to match the Celestians,” Valros said.

Aurelia nodded. “There are of course, other ascendants too. It is known that a Lich Ascendant rules over Death Valley. Some others simply dislike being tied down to responsibility and roam the world. But either way, there are only a handful of them in the entire world. It’s a pretty big deal.”

Noah glanced towards Zax. His companion, Ryugan had been an Ascendant hadn’t he? And an outerworlder as well.

I wonder if Zax knows any other Ascendants. Alive ones anyway.

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They reached the central castle soon after, descending at the entrance of the palace. The guards bowed as they made their way inside.

Noah found it a little difficult to call this place a palace, it was more of a fort. The entire structure of this place seemed to be set up with a military structure, instead of a more typical aristocratic setup.

Everyone here that Noah passed was strong, quite strong, that much was certainly obvious.

Their group moved quickly, reaching one of the central gates where a taller draconian man stood waiting for them with his hands behind his back. Noah recognized him from the many portraits at Kaelan’s home. He was tall, almost as tall as Caesar, and had a sharp gaze that seemed to pierce through everything. Noah used Identify.

[Royal Guard Commander - ???]

“Brother, these are our guests,” Valros spoke, and then he introduced all of them. When he got to Zax, the man gave him a nod of his head in acknowledgment.

“This is my brother, Averos. Commander of the Royal Guards,” Valros said.

“I have heard of your party. I hope my troublesome son hasn’t caused much trouble during your travels,” Averos said.

“Oh come on, I’m not that bad,” Kaelan protested, and his father shot him a look.

“No such thing, it has been a rather pleasant and enjoyable journey,” Zax replied, smiling to himself.

The man chuckled, and Noah caught surprise reflected on Kaelan’s face. “With one of your stature, anything would appear so,” Averos said, before turning towards the gate. “Let us bring you to our king, there, we can discuss the details further.”

Zax nodded. Noah looked at the dragon to try and probe an answer, but the group simply continued as the large stone gates shuddered open, and they walked through the entrance.

Inside was a rather simple room, with a carved throne made of rock present on the other end, on top of which sat a man. Banners decorated the room, weapons displayed behind the throne, but it was quite simple, and sparingly decorated for the throne room of a kingdom.

Yet, it was the man that caught Noah’s attention. His scales were pristine, a slight smile present on his face and folded wings closed behind his back. His aura swept over the entire room and Noah felt the power of the man in front of him sweep over them.

You’re in the presence of Royalty. You’ve partially resisted [Draconian King’s Aura].

All attributes and abilities reduced by 75%.

Valros, Kaelan and his father all bowed to the king, and the rest of the party followed. All except Zax.

The king raised his hand, and Noah felt the pressure on his shoulders lighten.

Attribute and ability reduction reduced to 25%

“It is a pleasure to have you here, adventurers. Welcome to our kingdom,” the man said, as Noah and the others raised their heads. The king looked towards Zax a moment later, and then stood up from his throne. Descending from his steps, he walked up in front of the dragon, standing taller than Zax did in this form.

Then, he put a fist to his chest and dipped his head ever so slightly.

“It is an honor, especially to have you here. We are graced by your presence,” the man said.

Abyssal Awareness let Noah see the room all around him, which is why he spotted the exact moment when Kaelan’s jaw dropped open. But at the same time, Valros and Averos did not react visibly.

So they know. Which means it is likely that they have another dragon here.

Noah’s eyes went to the king. He tried to assess the man, to look for anything. There was power, a lot of power behind him, and Noah instinctively knew that using Identify would be pointless, the king was shielded from prying eyes, but his power also felt like a mix of his burden, of the weight of the kingdom that he carried.

It didn’t feel like a dragon to him. Draconian, certainly, more than any other he had seen. But more like Noah, like something partly there, but not entirely so.

“We had always intended to visit this place sometime. Our memories of here are not the fondest, but we do owe this place many things. But now that we know Axeros’ legacy remains, we feel that it is our duty to look after it,” Zax said, before looking at the king. “It must have been difficult.”

A wry smile came upon the king’s face.

“She is old enough now. In her second century. The first two had been the most difficult. But there are some things we simply cannot teach her. And in many ways… she is still a child,” the king said.

Zax nodded. “Children. They are never easy. Much less of our kin,” Zax said giving the man a sympathetic nod. “Where is she?”

The king glanced at Averos who stood up, putting his fist over his heart before he went out of the chamber.

“We might need to go outside. She’s arriving soon,” the king said.

The rest of them overheard the conversation, each picking up pieces. A lot of things worked in Noah’s mind, but he followed Zax and the king outside, into one of the training chambers as they stood waiting.

It took a minute, before he spotted something moving rapidly towards them from the distance, growing bigger by the minute. When close enough to see, Noah finally realized what it was.

A girl, a human girl, stood upon a giant Wyvern, grabbing its neck with her arms and a wild grin on her face as she rapidly descended towards their group.

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!” The girl screamed, as they all jumped back from the inevitable crash that kicked up a giant pile of dust. The earth shook for a moment and Noah watched in surprise as the girl laughed to herself, a sweet laugh that rang from her chest, before stepping out of the dust cloud to look at the rest of them.

“We had almost broken him in! Why did you have to call us urgently? This better be something actually important,” the girl said, glaring up at the king, fire gently licking her body. The wyvern behind her was dying, its neck having broken from the impact.

The king spoke something to the girl but Noah didn’t pay attention, his eyes captured by her visage. Her hair was a deep red, her eyes orange and fiery and she wore a simple adventurer’s attire. By all means and for all purposes she looked as human as someone could.

Yet, in that moment, when her eyes turned to meet his, he knew her true identity in his soul.

She was a dragon.