"And how exactly am I supposed to prove any of that?" Dagon asked. "It's not like I can just tear out my heart and be like 'here ya go, this is my heart, pretty pure, right?'"
"No, but you can prove yourself through actions. Thus, I will accompany you on your travels in order to judge you." Bella said.
"What about the egg? Who will guard it?" Sephtis asked.
"The mountain will." Bella said. "Don't worry, there is powerful magic that blocks out anyone other than me and whoever I permit to come here. The egg will be safe."
"Fine, but what are we even doing?" Dagon asked. "Are we supposed to find the scales for the egg?"
"Yeah, I figured that would be obvious." Bella shrugged. "Guess not."
"I was just making sure." Dagon growled. "Look, if you are gonna judge me or whatever, I'm gonna tell you right now I am no saint. I am not perfect, I have rage and wrath and I desire revenge for my father, but at the same time I want peace and freedom for the dragons. I intend on killing every last royal out of the human kingdoms, but other than that, the civilians will be left alive."
"Those are your intentions then?" Bella asked.
"Yeah."
"Fine, we will see how good you are. I am curious to see the world you would craft."
"All I want… is for this conflict to end." Dagon said.
Sephtis stared at Dagon, deep in thought. The dragon tapped a talon before turning about and exiting the cave.
"Sephtis? Where are you-"
"We are leaving, are we not? Best not to waste time." The dragon answered before Dagon could finish his question.
"Well, where is the nearest temple?" Dagon turned to Bella.
"Mm, it should be just on the other side of this mountain and in the Serrakon Region. The Temple of Wind. It's in the Skyward Forest."
"Then shall we waste more time? Or can we leave?" Sephtis asked.
"Why are you in such a rush?" Dagon asked.
"You are one to be asking that question. Usually you are the one in a rush, Dagon."
"That's why I'm confused. What's wrong?"
"I don't know. I just feel uneasy." Is all the dragon said in return before exiting the cavern.
— — —
A pile of ash lay upon the ground early that morning. The storm clouds had dissipated now and the sun's light came to reign down on the ash pile. As soon as it did, embers began to illuminate within it. And then a hand shot out from it.
What came to happen then was the ash changing form and moving, condensing and taking the shape of a man, as well as a dragon behind the man.
The man, Nargash, was without clothes and seemed to be in a state of dull thought. It was as though his mind was numb, like he was in a sleep walk. The dragon, too, was in a much similar state.
Nargash himself was not the strongest out of all the four dragon pairs of the Kingdoms, but the reason he was among their ranks was due to his Phoenix Aspect. He and his dragon, if killed, become ash and will resurrect from that ash when the sun touches it. But, if the sunlight never reaches them, then they cannot come back to life, although, the only people aware of this fact are those within the Four Kingdoms.
Smoke rose from Nargash's skin. His muscles were toned and his skin was red as though he worked on the fields under the burning sun his whole life. His black hair was loose and hung down past his shoulders and over his eyes.
"Damn it." He groaned. He thought back to how he'd been defeated. "What had that boy done?"
"Not sure. Considering his dragon is Sephtis, I imagine he made some kind of poison." Keagor growled, shaking himself.
Nargash tried to think, and then he remembered the silver material that had been formed on the earth when he had burned it with his dragon.
"I see. The kid can turn solid objects and materials into mercury, a poisonous metal. When melted, it becomes airborne, which is how I was poisoned." He grinned. "The kid is smarter than I would've thought. Quite clever indeed."
"What do you propose we do now, master?"
Nargash sighed. "Well, I am certainly not fighting naked, I refuse. It would be quite humiliating. Thus… I suppose we shall return to Serrakon."
Keagor hummed with relief.
Nargash glared at the dragon. "You are most cowardly dragon I've ever met. Get over yourself. We are coming back, I will not be defeated, and I shall kill not just Gena and that boy, but we will also kill that silver serpent." He grinned madly. "I will be king.."
— — —
"Any leads as to the location of Ayden's son?" Mourtas asked.
He was in his throne room and another soldier had come to report to him. The last soldier had been replaced, his corpse fed to the drakes.
"Er, well, no, lord. We have had no luck in finding them…" the soldier said nervously.
Mourtas sighed. "I am not surprised. I imagine they've left the region. Well, it is too bad. I want you to send a message to all the other kingdoms, inform them of the details and tell them to send out search drakes. Make sure each of the search drakes have a scrying stone writhing their headpiece, that way if they die we can see what killed them. We are bound to find that boy at some point with this."
"Yes, my liege, I understand."
"Go." Mourtas waved his hand, relieving the soldier who bowed deeply before turning to leave.
Zickarys slithered up next to his master, who in turn placed a hand on his dragon's head.
*What do you propose they are up to?* Zickarys asked.
*I assume… they are trying to awaken the Dragon Gods.* Mourtas said thoughtfully.
*What makes you believe that?*
*Well, the free dragons throughout the lands are quite scarce. There are not many left free of our control, we've enslaved most of them. Even if Dagon were to find all of them, their united might would not be nearly enough to bring down even a single kingdom. Thus, the smartest course of action would be to request assistance from the gods themselves. I also imagine the first temple they'd go to would be the one in the Serrakon region. Thus…* he grinned, *we will meet them there ourselves.*