Sephtis came rocketing down out of the sky like a meteor, rushing towards the leviathan threatening his rider's life. The Dragon Goddess had saved him and, afterwards, healed his wounds with divine magic, returning him to full power, even overcharging his magical energy.
Sephtis tucked his wings into his body, gaining speed, as he let open his jaws and reared up his talons, green flames spiraling around his body and flying up from his jaws.
"A little dragon?" Leginoss hissed, "what on earth do you think you will-"
*BOOOOM*
Sephtis slammed directly down on Leginoss's head with an insane impact, sending vibrations through the water as the shockwaves sent massive waves out in all directions from the pillar. Sephtis's talons had crashed into the leviathan's head, pushing it down and slamming it with tremendous force into the stone pillar.
Sephtis rolled away from the leviathan as its body writhed in agony, uncoiling and falling into the water. Sephtis then flew over, grasping Dagon in his talons and pulling him away from the pillar and into the air.
Then the earth and the ocean itself began to writhe and storm, trembling madly as Leginoss's head re-emerged from the water, steam rolling out of his nostrils.
"KNOW YOUR PLACE, DRAGLING!!" The leviathan roared angrily, opening its jaws and releasing a beam of steaming hot energy that gave off a pale blue glow. Sephtis banked to the right, avoiding the attack while flying towards Liorria, who still hovered, unmoving, in the sky.
Then Leginoss began swirling in the water as torrential winds began tearing through the air, tornadoes stirring the ocean in whirlpools as the sea began to rise like a tidal wave.
Sephtis rolled away from a tornado, narrowly avoiding being swallowed into the chaotic storm, before passing beneath Liorria's wing.
The Dragon Goddes raised her talons and held up her head, a divine glow illuminating the ocean, and a moment later, the storm ceased. The waters still stirred, but the they began to slowly die down as Leginoss stared defiantly up at the Dragon Goddess.
"I will not forget this, Liorria." Leginoss hissed, then dove into the dark depths below.
Liorria watched as the water below settled, glistening blindingly in the light of the newborn sun beyond in the heavens. She could only hold pity for the leviathan, her knowledge of his past and his suffering. She held no ill will towards Leginoss, even after all he's done.
Liorria turned away from the ocean, flapping her wings, which sent tremors through the air with each motion. She looked like an incarnation of the meaning of the word "divine" as she flew like an angelic giant. Compared to her size, Sephtis looked like nothing more than a hatchling.
***
Liorria had led Sephtis to an island at the center of where the storm had been. The island had a massive pillar like a mountainous tower at the center that smoothed out, becoming flat, before sinking into the sea.
Sephtis gently lowered Dagon onto the ground before landing beside his rider, whilst Liorria perched atop the pillar, her landing sending tremors through the ground.
Sephtis looked down at Dagon with worry and despair in his dragonic eyes. His rider was deathly pale and had a large gap in his chest from where he'd been skewered. Blood still poured in waves from the wound, quickly soaking into the ground beneath where he lay.
"Will he be alright?" Sephtis asked.
"You tell me, young dragon. Do you believe in your Kin?" Liorria asked.
Sephtis bared his fangs in a snarl. "Enough of your sibylline riddles! Just answer me!"
"Your answer is more important than you would think, Sephtis." Liorria spoke, her voice like that of a resounding flute or horn echoing through the clouds.
"How?!" Sephtis roared, "he is bleeding out and dying, and yet you claim my idea of our kinship matters now?!"
"Think hard, dragon." Liorria spoke. "You've not much time."
Sephtis turned his eyes to Dagon's unconscious face. He found himself surprised at how peaceful the Kin looked in that moment, even when he was on the precipice of Idoria's gates.
****Author note, in the culture of this world, Idoria is the name of hell.****
'My Kinship… with Dagon..?' Sephtis thought for a moment, his heart thrumming in his chest. 'Do I believe in this boy..?' Sephtis thought back to the first time he saw the overconfident, bright eyes boy stroll right up into his domain. He remembered scoffing at and doubting Dagon's words and goals. Even when he had accepted the Kinship, he never believed that Dagon had the power to be Dragon King…. Yet, he couldn't quite understand, but he felt so compelled to follow the boy, to be by his side… to be his Kinship.
Why did Sephtis feel that way? It was something he'd often wonder. Even though he had such doubt about Dagon, even though he found the boy immature and overconfident, even when he couldn't believe in a single word Dagon spoke, he still couldn't help but feel drawn to the boy. But why? Fate? Destiny? Could such things really hold such sway over the minds of the living?
And now, as Sephtis pondered over the events that had transpired thus far, he began to find that Dagon's power lies within his confidence; his will to never give up, to never back down, to hold fast to his ideals and beliefs… these aspects.. they all swayed Sephtis to the point that, now, he had come to believe in and trust in his rider, so much so that he would give his life.
"I believe in my rider, and I do not doubt his fate. I do not doubt his destiny. This… is not where it ends." Sephtis spoke, turning his head to Liorria.
The Dragon Goddess let out a soft hum of approval. And then Dagon's Drakeagen stone began to glow, his wounds healing over as his chest was sealed, the once fatal wound now gone, as if it had never happened. The only thing left of what had transpired, was a large scar and blood that was soaked into the dirt.
"Did you..?" Sephtis asked, turning back to Liorria.
"I did nothing. This is all the incarnation of thine bond with your Kin."